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   Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive

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Topic: Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive (Read 163 times)

Rhune
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Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive
« on: Jul 5^th, 2005, 12:37pm »

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Idaho police: Searchers find remains
Search of sex offender's stolen vehicle yields 'strong leads'

Tuesday, July 5, 2005; Posted: 12:39 p.m. EDT (16:39 GMT)

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (CNN) -- Investigators searching for a 9-year-old Idaho boy found what they believe are human remains at a location in western Montana, the Kootenai County sheriff said Monday.

In a brief statement, Sheriff Rocky Watson told reporters the remains were being collected and would be sent to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for identification.

Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister, Shasta, disappeared May 16, when authorities discovered a triple homicide at their mother's home in Coeur d'Alene.

Shasta was found at 2 a.m. Saturday at a Coeur d'Alene Denny's restaurant in the company of Joseph Edward Duncan III, 42, convicted of raping a 14-year-old boy in 1980. Duncan, a registered sex offender, was arrested and charged with kidnapping.

Also Tuesday, authorities released a convenience store surveillance tape that shows Duncan and Shasta arriving in a red SUV, entering the store, making purchases and leaving again. At one point, the girl is alone while Duncan looks at a newspaper.

The girl's return has been mixed with further tragedy for the family.

"All indications are that Dylan is deceased," Kootenai County Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said Monday.

A DNA analysis of the remains was expected to take about 72 hours, Wolfinger said. In the meantime, the search for the boy will continue.

Wolfinger said investigators have looked at physical evidence and taken statements. Shasta provided helpful information, he said.

Authorities "were able to identify several areas" where they believe Duncan and the Groene children may have stayed over the past six weeks, Wolfinger said.

The sites were primarily in northern Idaho, western Montana and eastern Washington, within a range that's about 100 miles wide, Wolfinger said.

The children's father, Steve Groene, was reunited with Shasta on Saturday afternoon at the Kootenai Medical Center.

Shasta was still being treated Monday, with her father by her side. Photos released by authorities showed her with her father at the hospital and smiling with a doll.

Wolfinger said the girl appeared to be in good condition.

"She's extremely happy being with her father," he said. "She's going to remain at the hospital a little while longer until they medically release her."

On Sunday, authorities released tapes of two 911 calls -- one from a customer at the Denny's and one from the restaurant's manager -- reporting the presence of a girl they thought might be Shasta. (Full story)

Wolfinger said the "next big question" in the investigation is any possible link between Duncan and the triple homicide in Coeur d'Alene.

"We've got a lot of evidence to go through," he said.

According to authorities, the children's mother, 40-year-old Brenda Groene, another brother, 13-year-old Slade, and their mother's 37-year-old boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, were found bound and bludgeoned to death.

Some "strong leads" came from the Jeep Duncan was using, Wolfinger said. The vehicle was reported stolen in early May in St. Paul, Minnesota. The license plates were stolen in Newton County, Missouri, a few days before.

Wolfinger said more than 100 tips have poured in from people in the area who reported seeing the vehicle. Investigators are using that information to piece together his possible movements over the past seven weeks, he said.

Authorities also searched Duncan's home in Fargo, North Dakota, some 1,000 miles east of Coeur d'Alene, investigators said.

Duncan is scheduled to appear in court in connection with kidnapping charges Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Criminal background
When he was 16, Duncan was convicted of raping a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint in 1980 in Pierce County, Washington, and was charged in March with child molestation almost a year ago in Minnesota.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape conviction. He was released on parole in 1994 but returned to prison three years later for a parole violation.

He served the remainder of his term and was released on July 14, 2000. A week later, he was in Fargo preparing to enter North Dakota State University.

On his personal Web site at the school, Duncan claimed he was an honor student studying computer science and said he expected to graduate in May. But NDSU spokesman David Wahlberg said Duncan did not graduate. (Full story)

Charges against him in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota -- about 45 miles east of Fargo -- may have had something to do with that. Duncan had been under investigation since late July 2004 for an incident involving two boys near a middle school

The Detroit Lakes Police Department issued a warrant for his arrest on child molestation charges March 5. He was released on bail April 5, but soon after the Detroit Lakes police were looking for him again, this time for violating his terms of release.

He apparently was no longer living at his last listed address in Fargo, and both the North Dakota and Washington state registries of sex offenders listed him as delinquent.

In a Web log Duncan maintained, he portrays himself as increasingly paranoid and nervous. (Full story)

"My intent is to harm society as much as I can, then die," the blog reads in an entry dated May 11.

Duncan also ran a Web site called "Fifthnail.com," on which he claimed in a mission statement "that State Sanctioned Discrimination serves no public interest and in fact creates an even more dangerous class of criminals by denying x-convicts a place in our society, forcing them to feel like outcasts with little to loose [sic]."

Fifthnail.com was no longer operational; CNN located archived copies of some pages.

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Pocket
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Re: Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive
« Reply #1 on: Jul 5^th, 2005, 1:39pm »

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My heart grieves for this poor child and what she's been through. I'm glad Shasta has been recovered, no doubt to face a long time in therapy. I certainly hope her father will get her whatever help she needs. As to Duncan, he deserves the worst society can hand out. While there's no proof yet that he did the murders, how did else did he get the children?

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Rhune
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Re: Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive
« Reply #2 on: Jul 5^th, 2005, 7:08pm »

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COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (CNN) -- The man suspected of abducting 8-year-old Shasta Groene and her brother was formally charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree kidnapping.

If convicted, Joseph Edward Duncan III, 42, could face the death penalty or life in prison.

Shasta and her 9-year-old brother, Dylan, disappeared May 16, the same day that authorities discovered a triple homicide at their mother's home in Coeur d'Alene.

A Denny's waitress in Coeur d'Alene recognized Shasta when she came into the restaurant about 2 a.m. Saturday with Duncan. (Full story)

Dylan has not been found, but investigators fear human remains found Monday in western Montana may be his.

Authorities said the children's mother, 40-year-old Brenda Groene, a brother, 13-year-old Slade, and their mother's 37-year-old boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, were found bound and bludgeoned to death.

Shasta told investigators she saw Duncan tie up members of her family the day they were killed, according to an investigative report released Tuesday.

Shasta also told investigators she and Dylan were repeatedly raped by Duncan at camp sites in Montana, the report said.

It does not say if Shasta witnessed the killings, but it marks the first time anyone has put Duncan at the scene.

Duncan was subdued when he made his first appearance in Kootenai County Superior Court via a video link Tuesday.

Judge Scott Wayman told Duncan he could not enter a plea on the felony charges. He is not eligible for bail, and the next court date was not set. A public defender was appointed for him.

Duncan also was charged with being a fugitive from a prior criminal charge in Minnesota. Wayman set bail of $2 million on that count.

Throughout the brief court appearance, only the children's initials were used.

Duncan, with dark curly hair and a mustache, wore a yellow jumpsuit and a shackle around his waist.

Asked if he understood the nature of the charges, Duncan replied, "I believe I do, yes."

Asked if he had any questions, he said, "No, none."

Remains found
The remains found in Montana are "most likely" those of Dylan, said Kootenai County Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger.

He said investigators have determined that the area where the remains were found "is one of the many sites where we believe that Duncan held the Groene children or stayed with the Groene children."

"However, we're not going to make that 100 percent until we get the DNA confirmation later in the week."

Also Tuesday, a convenience store released a surveillance tape that shows Duncan and Shasta Groene arriving in a red SUV, entering the store, making purchases and leaving again.

The video was taken Friday evening in Kellogg, Idaho, about 40 miles east of the Denny's where Shasta was recognized just hours later.

At one point on the tape, the girl walked the aisles of the store by herself while Duncan looked at a newspaper on a different row.

Shasta walked by several people but did not ask for help. In much of the video, the she walks around with her arms folded across her chest, appearing timid.

Wolfinger said Duncan also faces outstanding warrants in Pierce County, Washington, and Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Duncan is charged in Washington with failure to file a change of address with the state sex offender registry and in Minnesota with failure to contact his probation officer, a condition of his release on bail after he was charged with child molestation and attempted molestation earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Shasta continues to recover at a local hospital. "She's doing very well," Wolfinger said said. "Her medical condition is listed as good."

Criminal background
In 1980, when he was 16, Duncan was convicted in Washington of raping a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint. He was charged in March by authorities in Minnesota with child molestation that allegedly took place almost a year ago.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape conviction. He was released on parole in 1994 but returned to prison three years later for a parole violation.

He served the remainder of his term and was released on July 14, 2000. A week later, he was in Fargo preparing to enter North Dakota State University.

On his personal Web site at the school, Duncan claimed he was an honor student studying computer science and said he expected to graduate in May. But NDSU spokesman David Wahlberg said Duncan did not graduate. (Full story)

Duncan, who kept a blog online for 17 months, made his last post on May 13, the day he expected to graduate. He wrote, "Right now, the only thing I'm sure about is that I'm sure about nothing." (Full story)

Wolfinger said investigators have "looked at" Duncan's blog -- which provides a disturbing look at the mind of a man who blames society for his behavior, may have committed other crimes and may even have contemplated a large and final crime -- but said "it's a lot of information."

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Rhune
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Re: Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive
« Reply #3 on: Jul 5^th, 2005, 7:09pm »

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Poor baby... Cry

I hope she gets therapy.

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Pocket
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Re: Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive
« Reply #4 on: Jul 6^th, 2005, 12:21pm »

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I've been thinking about this case and I wondered what the statistics are, on pedophiles. How many of them were molested as children? It seems to me that we're on a slippery slope when it comes to child molestation. If every generation increases the numbers.......well, it boggles the mind. While it's true that some kids get help, how many thousands do not report it out of fear or shame? Of those pedophiles caught, how many are truly rehabilitated, or are they just warehoused until they get out and offend again? I'm scared for the kids and I'm starting to dispair of the human race.

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Rhune
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Re: Missing Idaho Children - Daughter Found Alive
« Reply #5 on: Jul 6^th, 2005, 12:54pm »

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I think it's important to recognize that there are 2 different beasts here - molesters and pedafiles. Now a molester is someone who is a product of circumstance/environment, they are not born that way. Their crimes are often violent and have more to do with control than sexuality. They are all about causing pain and were abused and/or molested as children. This guy is clearly a molester based on everything I see here.

A pedafile is born that way. They are not violent by nature and some of them will go their entire lives without actually touching a child, but get off on imagery of things like children naked or in their underwear. They are absolutely incapable of being aroused by an adult, they are only attracted to children. True pedafiles are actually fairly rare. They are not normally agressive people, but will molest a child if given the right circumstances. A good example of pedafiles is some of these catholic priests we have heard about where they have molested children and most adults are simply shocked to find out that this person who comes across so soft spoken and kind would do such a thing.

One of the horrific things that this marvelous internet of ours has done is to bring the child molesters and the pedafiles together. The pedafiles get off on the kiddie porn imagery and the child molesters enjoy torturing children and creating it. They get off on feeding it to their audience, because it gives them an even greater sense of power. These groups also encourage the true pedafiles to leave their homes and go out and molest, because from what I have read, most of them require that new members submit new photos, or that members submit new photos from time to time, to maintain membership. So those that might not have ever committed a crime are empowered to do so. Much of the kiddie porn trade had been stamped out in america until the internet came along. As much as I love the internet, I personally feel that it's the largest contributor to the growing number of these folk in our society.

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