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Topic: Abductions (Read 1260 times)

Rhune
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Abductions
« on: Aug 1^st, 2002, 4:20pm »

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I decided to start a separate thread for abductions, from the protecting our children thread. I realize most of these are sad stories, but I feel like some good is being done by getting the word out. With the story I'm about to add, 3 people have now managed to get away from their abductors. I read an article recently that stated the actual number of stranger abductions hasn't been growing, we are just hearing about it in the press for a change. This has had a positive effect over all, because the more people who know, the less places the abductor has to hide. I think it's important to spread the word and act as a community watch dog, looking out for each other and all our children.

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Rhune
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #1 on: Aug 1^st, 2002, 4:21pm »

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Teen girls found after lovers' lane abduction
Suspect shot, killed; wanted on rape charges
August 1, 2002 Posted: 5:11 PM EDT (2111 GMT)

Police say Jaqueline Marris, 17, left, and Tamera Brooks, 16, were abducted at gunpoint early Thursday morning.

LANCASTER, California (CNN) -- Two teenage girls were found alive and the man suspected of kidnapping them Thursday morning was shot and killed by police in Kern County, California, hours after the abduction, officials said.

"The girls are safe and in the care of the Kern County Sheriff's Department," said Los Angeles Assistant Sheriff Larry Waldie. "The suspect is deceased. He has been killed at the scene."

The suspect, Roy Ratliff, had been wanted on rape charges, he said.

The girl's parents would be flown to Kern County, northeast of Los Angeles, in a department plane, Waldie said.

Upon hearing the news, Joanna Peres, a mother whose daughter is the best friend of Tamera Brooks, one of the kidnapped girls, said she "cried for joy. I'm so happy. I'm just thankful both of the girls are fine."

She and others had gathered to support the families and await news.

The suspect's stolen white Bronco had been spotted at least twice during the day, Waldie said. He was apprehended about 100 miles from where authorities said Ratliff kidnapped a pair of teenage girls at gunpoint from a popular lovers' lane in Los Angeles County, California.

The suspect left the scene with Brooks, 16, and Jacqueline Marris, 17, who had been in separate vehicles with male friends at a Quartz Hill parking area shortly before 2 a.m. PDT Thursday, near Lancaster, police said.

As law enforcement officials spread the search over the entire Southwestern United States, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonivich announced a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

The suspect took a Bronco belonging to Brooks' friend, Joshua Brown, according to Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Deputy Brian Lendman.

Authorities said the Bronco was the only vehicle in the parking lot when the suspect arrived at the Quartz Hill water tower -- popular with teens because of its seclusion and sweeping views of the valley below -- in a stolen Saturn. That car was reported stolen in a car-jacking in Las Vegas, Nevada, but authorities said they did not have details of that crime.

Brown, who said he turned 18 Thursday, said that moments after he heard a car pull into the parking lot, the suspect was at his window with a semiautomatic handgun.

"He told me to give him all my money," he said. "I thought he was going to kill us."

The suspect left the girl in the truck, he said, warning her to keep her head down, tied Brown to a pole and blindfolded him. The man pointed a gun to the back of Brown's head, the young man told investigators.

"He told me he was going to kill me, but he didn't want to," he said. "He actually just wanted to tie me up. He wanted the truck. ... It sounded like he was trying to decide if he was going to kill me or not."

As the suspect was preparing to leave, Brown said, he heard another car pull into the parking lot, apparently Marris and her companion.

The companion, who identified himself as Frank, said the suspect first tried to tape the two teenagers together in the car, but when that didn't work, he taped Frank to his car seat and steering wheel and left with both girls in the Bronco.

One of the young men worked himself free and ran down the hill to a pay phone, said Capt. Tom Pigott of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Pigott also said that the suspect apparently doused the Saturn in gasoline or some other flammable liquid, apparently intending to set fire to it, "but for some reason elected not to do that."

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BlankWillWin
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #2 on: Aug 13^th, 2002, 5:05am »

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4-year-old girl abducted in L.A.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12 A 4-year-old girl who was initially thought to have drowned in a Los Angeles park was abducted, police said.

   DIVERS HAD searched the lake in Echo Park, on the edge of downtown, for two days after hearing from Jessica Cortezs 5-year-old brother that she might have fallen in. At the same time, other officers went door to door interviewing witnesses around the park, and police concluded late Monday that she had been kidnapped.
   In the last few hours we have switched to make this an abduction as opposed to a drowning and we have had additional information that has led us to believe that we are focusing on a specific individual, police Capt. Douglas Shur told reporters at a news conference at the park Monday night.
   More than 200 police officers investigated the case, Shur said.
   Several people recognized a composite drawing of the suspect as someone who frequented the park regularly with his brown Chihuahua dog, Shur said. Among them were the girls parents who made a tearful plea in Spanish for her return.
   Dont be afraid of police. Please return her safe. Please bring her back, her father said.
   Jessica, who was last seen wearing a white dress with pink flowers, was at Echo Park with her parents and brother Sunday when the family discovered she was missing at about 7:30 p.m.
   Sometime between 8 and 9 p.m., witnesses saw her in the park with the man accompanied by a brown Chihuahua, Shur said.
He described the man as a male Hispanic, 20 to 25 years old, 5-feet-8 to 6-feet tall, with a tattoo of a cross on his lower left leg. He was last seen wearing blue shorts and a white T-shirt.
   This is our best lead that we have in locating young Jessica, Shur said. We hope that he will come forward and give us information so that we can find her safe and sound.
   The nation has seen several kidnappings in recent months, but Southern California has been especially hard hit.
   Danielle van Dam, 7, was taken in February from her home in a San Diego suburb, and a man is on trial in her slaying. Samantha Runnion, 5, was snatched outside her Orange County home last month while playing with a friend. A man has been charged in her death.

« Last Edit: Aug 13^th, 2002, 5:06am by BlankWillWin »

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Rhune
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More good news :)
« Reply #3 on: Aug 13^th, 2002, 9:33pm »

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Missing Los Angeles girl found alive
August 13, 2002 Posted: 10:14 PM EDT (0214 GMT)

A woman is taken into custody at the Los Angeles hospital where Jessica Cortez was found Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Police found missing 4-year-old Jessica Cortez alive Tuesday evening, two days after she disappeared from a neighborhood park, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

She "appears to be OK," Officer Jason Lee said.

The girl was brought into the St. John's Well Child Center, a non-profit health care clinic in Los Angeles, by a well-dressed woman with long hair, said Jim Mangia, executive director of the clinic. Lee said the woman has been detained for questioning.

The staff recognized the girl and called police, all the while trying to keep the woman and child from leaving.

Tip hotline for
Jessica Cortez
213-485-4061

"We were crying in joy and we were so relieved and thankful that we were able to save her life," Mangia said. "We're just crying from happiness. We're just so grateful that she came in here."

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn said Jessica was reunited with her mother at the clinic.

ON CNN TV

All this week, Connie Chung looks at the fact and fiction of missing children at 8 p.m. ET

LAPD Interim Chief Martin Pomeroy said the girl "appeared to be dirty and disheveled" and was being checked by doctors.

The unidentified woman who brought the girl to the clinic was later seen being led away by police in handcuffs, but Pomeroy said "no suspect has been clearly identified yet" and that the reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect was still in effect.

A $45,000 reward from the FBI and the Los Angeles City Council was established for information leading a suspect.

"This begins, really, the investigation. We want to make certain that whomever is the suspect that they never, ever do this to one of our children again," said Pomeroy. "We won't rest until that person is in custody."

Pomeroy thanked the community and the media for mobilizing to find the girl.

"I have to believe that the great effort that went into looking for Jessica, as reported by the media, had some influence on those who held her," he said. "They just didn't want to face what they knew was coming, so they turned her back."

The FBI is still on the case.

"We still have a suspect out there," said FBI agent Richard Garcia. "We still need your help, we still need your information, we still need you to call in."

Neighbors who had gathered at the park expecting to hold a prayer vigil later in the evening cheered, clapped, and whistled with joy when the news broke of Jessica's rescue.

"Gracias, senor, gracias!" yelled one man to the police nearby. Another shouted, "All right, Jessica!"

Jessica had been at Echo Park with her family Sunday evening when her parents reported her missing. Police sent divers into the park's lake when the girl's 5-year-old brother said his sister may have fallen into the dark, murky water.

Though they had no evidence of an abduction, police canvassed the neighborhood and continued to search the area.

Late Monday, witnesses reported seeing a man taking Jessica out of the park, and police compiled a sketch based on the man's description.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles City lifeguards, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the FBI assisted police in the investigation.

Perez said Jessica's family did not recognize a composite drawing of the initial male suspect, who was described as 20 to 25 years old, between 5 feet, 8 inches and 6 feet tall, 160 to 180 pounds, wearing blue shorts and a white T-shirt, with a cross tattoo on his lower left leg and a dark complexion.

Perez said area residents said they had seen the man in the park on other occasions, sometimes with a Chihuahua dog. Pomeroy said more than 100 clues were being actively investigated and more than 300 officers were on the case.

After an initial sputter over how to classify the investigation, police activated the newly initiated "Amber Alert" system -- which proved successful in its first use last week, helping authorities locate two kidnapped teenage girls. The man who abducted them was shot to death by police officers.

During an "Amber Alert," California uses its emergency alert system to quickly distribute information on radio, television, the Internet and electronic traffic signs when a child under 18 is missing. Perez said traffic signs had not been activated in this case because there was no description of a vehicle.

The Amber Alert was created in response to the murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, in 1996 and later killed.

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BlankWillWin
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Stranger Abductions Actually on Decline
« Reply #4 on: Aug 14^th, 2002, 5:39am »

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For a little perspective:

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About 200 to 300 children are taken in such kidnappings by strangers each year, with about 100 of those kids found murdered. Typically, black, Hispanic and poor children are disproportionately represented among that number.
By contrast, most of the more than 350,000 children abducted in America each year are taken by relatives.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/782232.asp

Eric.

« Last Edit: Aug 14^th, 2002, 5:40am by BlankWillWin »

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Roo94
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #5 on: Aug 14^th, 2002, 7:11am »

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Sigh, here's another one. Let's hope this one has a happy ending too!

ABILENE, Texas (AP) Authorities continued to search Wednesday for a month-old infant who was snatched from a minivan while her mother turned away to return a shopping cart in a parking lot.

The mother screamed as she desperately tried to stop the getaway car. She held on and was dragged more than 30 feet.

Police Sgt. Kim Vickers said numerous leads have failed to help police find the female kidnapper and the infant, Nancy Crystal Chavez.

''The longer time goes, the harder it gets to solve any case,'' Vickers said in Wednesday's editions of the Abilene Reporter-News. ''We have really gone to the public to ask for information, and people are really trying to help.''

Local authorities have called the FBI and state police to aid in the investigation.

''I have put this in the hands of the Lord,'' said the baby's father, Salvador Chavez, his voice trembling. ''Hopefully, someone sees her, and we'll get our child as soon as possible.''

Margarita Chavez was taken to an Abilene hospital and treated for some scratches, her husband said.

Police said the woman had just finished shopping at the Wal-Mart Supercenter when she placed her three children a 2-year-old, a 6-year-old and Nancy in her minivan and left the sliding door open as she stepped about 10 feet away to return a shopping cart.

She saw a woman remove the infant and her car seat, which had not been fastened to the seat, and put them in another car, investigators said.

''The woman started screaming and trying to get the lady to stop,'' Vickers said.

A man heard Chavez's screams as she was being dragged. He smashed into the passenger side of the fleeing car, possibly breaking the window, police said. Authorities said a second person may have been in the car with the abductor.

A surveillance video captured the car circling the parking lot in ''some type of stalking manner'' before the abduction, Vickers said. The video did not reveal the car's license plate number.

The Texas Department of Transportation was programming electronic highway signs to provide information on the missing child, officials said.

The suspect was described as heavy set, 5-foot-6 to 5-8, with shoulder-length brownish blonde hair. She is believed to be in her late 20s or early 30s.

Abilene is about 170 miles west of Dallas.

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Roo94
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #6 on: Aug 14^th, 2002, 2:26pm »

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on Aug 14^th, 2002, 7:11am, Roo94 wrote:

The Associated Press is reporting that they may have found this child! Police pulled over a car matching the description which also had an infant matching the description.

HURRAY! :tup:

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Irishlass
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #7 on: Aug 14^th, 2002, 2:54pm »

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on Aug 14^th, 2002, 2:26pm, Roo94 wrote:

The Associated Press is reporting that they may have found this child! Police pulled over a car matching the description which also had an infant matching the description.

HURRAY! :tup:

I find this abduction really frightening. The child was with the mother and still snatched away. I can't imagine what that mother was feeling, did you see the tape of her trying to hang on to the abductor's car.......heart wrenching.

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Addams
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #8 on: Aug 14^th, 2002, 6:00pm »

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Radio announced that they are about to reunite baby with mom. Wow - two happy endings here. That's so wonderful. Very scary events both of them when kids are with their parents.

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Rhune
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #9 on: Aug 14^th, 2002, 6:06pm »

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Nod, all 3 abductions ended with happy stories and the press attention and the Amber Alerts are really making a difference.

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Re: Abductions
« Reply #10 on: Aug 14^th, 2002, 6:14pm »

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on Aug 14^th, 2002, 6:06pm, Rhune wrote:

Nod, all 3 abductions ended with happy stories and the press attention and the Amber Alerts are really making a difference.

Here's what the authorities are saying in this case:

"This is the first time the Amber system has been used on a statewide basis. I think the results speak for themselves. I believe it had an impact on our ability to get this baby back in the time we did."

By the way it seems the mother took the child back to a small town of about 3000 and started to show it off as if she had just had the baby the day before but the child was clearly more than 1 day old.

Someone reported it and they pulled her over in her stepfather's car. Her mother was with her but not charged.

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Rhune
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #11 on: Aug 17^th, 2002, 12:50am »

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Virginia Girl Missing, Feared Kidnapped
BASSETT, Va., August 16, 2002
Jennifer Renee Short (AP)

"Nobody knows where this child is. That's not normal."
Sheriff's Capt. Kimmy Nester

Jennifer's parents, Mary Short, 36, and Michael Short, 50, were found shot to death in their western Virginia home. (AP)

(AP) A 9-year-old girl who may have witnessed the fatal shootings of her parents was missing and feared kidnapped Friday, 24 hours after the couple was found dead in their western Virginia home.

Authorities said they have no suspects in the shootings or Jennifer Short's disappearance, and they were going through records of people who had recently been in the family's home, which was for sale.

Evidence seemed to rule out the possibility that the parents died in a murder-suicide, investigators said.

Asked whether Jennifer could have had anything to do with the shootings, Henry County Sheriff F.H. Cassell said Friday: "I don't think there is any likelihood of that, of course anything is possible, but we certainly don't believe that."

"There's nothing right now to lead us in any particular direction," Cassell said. "We're interviewing associates of the father, neighbors, relatives, employees."

The bodies of Michael Short, 50, and Mary Short, 36, were found Thursday morning by a co-worker who dropped by the home 35 miles south of Roanoke, Franklin County Sheriff W. Quint Overton said.

Michael Short, a self-employed mobile home mover, was found on a couch in an enclosed carport; Mary Short was found in a bedroom. Both had been shot in the head. Jennifer was no where to be found.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert for Jennifer on Thursday, relaying information about the case to television and radio stations in the hope of finding her, and police officers searched the rolling hills behind the house. Family members who live in the immediate area didn't know anything about the girl's whereabouts, Sheriff's Capt. Kimmy Nester said.

"Nobody knows where this child is. That's not normal," he said.

The family lived in a red brick home surrounded by motels and gas stations on U.S. 220, a busy north-south highway. Traffic crept along the road late Thursday as police set up a command center.

Mary Short's brother-in-law, Thomas Lynch, stared in disbelief as a hearse carried away the bodies, crossing over the yellow tape circling the home.

"They were good people," he said. "I don't know what else to say."

The Shorts were a tight-knit family who enjoyed spending time together, neighbors and family members said. Jennifer helped her parents work in the yard. On Wednesday, she told the owner of the convenience store next door that she was excited about going back to school.

"She's a good kid," said Chris Young, another brother-in-law of Mary Short's and a Franklin County sheriff's deputy. "She had a dog and a cat and she loved them. I just wish I knew where she is."

The nearest neighbor, Ruby Emberson, 74, said she had no idea of anything wrong with the family.

"They were always outdoors together in the yard mowing the grass or whatever," she said. "They seemed as happy as could be."

Real estate agent Marlene Dalton said the Shorts asked her Aug. 5 to put their house up for sale.

"Mr. Short said business was just slow," she said. "He said, 'I've got a trailer of my own and we're going to move and live in that for a while."'

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Addams
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #12 on: Aug 17^th, 2002, 8:54pm »

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The anger I feel - it is so strong. It appears that two 10 year old girls (they were friends in the same class at school) who went missing in England about a fortnight ago may have been found, dead. Two bodies have been found and confirmation is awaited.

The Hell that their parents have gone through. After living through the hell of two Ontario parents who's daughters were murdered by Paul Bernardo and his girlfriend I feel the same complete and total hatred and anger towards a couple arrested and charged with the murder of these two girls. One of the people was the girls school teacher last year.

Whoever the perpetrators of this heinous crime, let me say that my prayers go out today to all the parents of missing children and especially to the Wells and Chapman families in England who are not going to be taking their girls back to school this year.

There may not be any more abductions than in the past but I for one am glad that we are hearing about them. If this information saves one life, like the Amber alerts, then it is worth it. Plus these children are special innocent joyful human beings whose short lives must still be acknowledged for the joy they brought into the world.

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Rhune
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Re: Abductions
« Reply #13 on: Aug 18^th, 2002, 4:02am »

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Precious few clues in VA killing-kidnapping

August 17, 2002 Posted: 8:14 PM EDT (0014 GMT)

BASSETT, Virginia (CNN) -- The sheriff heading the hunt for a 9-year-old southwestern Virginia girl said Saturday evening that investigators have no new leads despite
nationwide appeals and publicity.

The search for Jennifer Renee Short has extended across Virginia and as far away as Florida, said Sheriff Frank Cassell.

Cassell said that the publicity surrounding the case and appeals for information had produced "lots of response," but so far nothing that had led to Jennifer.

Police issued new photographs of Jennifer, daughter of 50-year-old Michael Wayne Short and 36-year-old Mary Hall Short, who were found murdered in their home in Henry County, Virginia, Thursday.

At an evening news briefing, Cassell repeated his earlier assertion that whoever killed the girl's parents and abducted her was "someone the whole family knew."

" I feel, and I think most of the investigators feel, and we may be wrong, that this crime was committed by someone who knew this family," he said.

Early Saturday, officials suspended a 200-volunteer search effort that covered 100 square miles but failed to produce any evidence.

Jennifer's parents were found dead -- the father on a couch and the mother in her bed. Cassell said earlier that preliminary autopsy results confirmed that each of the parents died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Cassell did not explain why he believed the killer or killers knew the victims, and said that authorities had questioned "dozens of people so far" but had no new
information.

"It's frustrating, but we persevere," the sheriff said. "But obviously, the longer the time frame, the more
desperate it becomes."

Exhaustion and a lack of evidence led Old Dominion Search and Rescue team commander Richard Cox to suspend the efforts of about 200 volunteers. He said the search, which had covered about 100 square miles around the Short home, ended at 4 a.m. EDT Saturday.

Cassell said the official investigation, now involving more than 40 local, state and federal law enforcement officials, would continue unabated and stressed his optimism.

"Until we find the worst we hope for the best," he said.

The killings and abduction have shocked the town of 1,300 in southwestern Virginia.

"This is a very unusual case. We don't see many like this," Cassell said. "We've had a lot of horrific murders, but I don't remember a genuine child abduction in this area."

Cassell said authorities have interviewed Christopher Thompson, the man who discovered the slain parents, and would likely do so again. But Thompson has provided no new information, he said.

Thompson worked for Michael Short and had been at their house the night before, working on a vehicle, Cassell said. Thompson has told investigators the parents were alive when he left the home around midnight and that the girl was in her bed.

"So far, he's been very cooperative," Cassell told CNN.

Authorities have said little about the crime scene, such as whether there was any sign of forced entry or any sign of a struggle inside the house. But Cassell said nothing appeared to be missing from the home, apparently eliminating robbery as a motive.

Jennifer has brown hair, is 4 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 58 pounds.

With the focus on saving the girl, an "Amber Alert" -- named after a 9-year-old girl abducted and killed in Texas six years ago -- was issued for Jennifer, with billboards and signs posted throughout the state urging Virginians to be on the lookout for the girl.

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Re: Abductions
« Reply #14 on: Aug 18^th, 2002, 11:56pm »

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A really sad case, this one here in Virginia. The area is a mostly rural one and from what has been reported on TV, robbery does not appear to be the motive.

Details concerning method of entry to the home, caliber of weapon used, etc. have not been released. Authorities are speculating that the victims knew their attacker.
I suspect that there are some details that the authorities are holding close to the vest for the time being. . . .

In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are for the safe return of this child.

« Last Edit: Aug 18^th, 2002, 11:58pm by Bumper »

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