Kayleah Wilson case: Search evokes 25-year-old dashed hopes
Mike Peters / The GreeleyTibune / April 2, 2010
As days go by and the disappearance of 12-year-old Kayleah Wilson continues to be a mystery, it brings back haunting memories for the police officers involved in another child disappearance in Greeley 25 years ago.
On Dec. 20, 1984, Jonelle Matthews, a 12-year-old middle school student, disappeared from her west Greeley home. She has never been found.
The search for Jonelle became a national story. Numerous ground searches were organized to look for her, and her parents, Jim and Gloria Matthews, appeared on national television to plead for Jonelle's return. President Reagan mentioned Jonelle in his State of the Union speech.
While there is no connection to Wilson's disappearance, the ages of the girls and the mysterious circumstances remind police of what happened 25 years ago.
“There, of course, are similarities between the cases, primarily because of the ages of the girls,” said police spokesman Sgt. Joe Tymkowych. “Because of that, the case has crossed our minds in the past few days.”
In the early days of the Matthews investigation, police learned that Jonelle was brought home that night by family friends. She sang in the Franklin Middle School choir, which had performed Christmas carols at a nursing home.
Because of all family activities that night, Jonelle knew the house would be empty. Her father, an elementary school principal, was at Jonelle's older sister's basketball game, and her mother was visiting relatives out of the state.
Police determined Jonelle arrived home and went to the family room in the basement, where she set up a space heater to keep warm and sat on the floor to watch TV.
When her father came home about an hour later, he found the space heater and her shoes on the floor, but Jonelle was gone. Police were called and a search was launched, but she was never found. Police found scuffmarks and footprints in the snow outside the house.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20100402/ NEWS/100409918/1002&parentprofile=1001
HELP FIND THE MISSING. HELP FIND JONELLE MATTHEWS
http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?p=704751
"TAKING BITES OUT OF CRIME NEWS!" MURDERS, VANISHED, MISSING, MYSTERIES, FORENSICS, COLD CASE, MOST WANTED, CRIME TIP LINES
Saturday, April 3, 2010
GREELEY: KAYLEAH WILSON, 12, "WE HAVE TO ASSUME THE WORST."
Investigators question drivers in case of missing 12-year-old
Matt Clough written by: Jeffrey Wolf
COLORADO 9NEWS.COM / KUSATV / April 2,2010
GREELEY - While making a plea to the public for help on Friday afternoon, the FBI and Greeley Police Department say they do have some leads in the disappearance of a missing 12-year-old girl.
"We have to assume the worst. That's our job. We assume the worst and hope for the best. And that's the way we're proceeding with this investigation," FBI Special Agent in Charge Jim Davis said during a news conference.
Kayleah Wilson has not been since Sunday around 3:40 p.m. when she left her house to walk to a birthday party. The walk was supposed to only be eight to 10 blocks, but Kayleah never arrived at the party. Friday night, 9NEWS spoke with April Wilson, Kayleah's mother, who says several of her friends were out posting fliers, although she would not say where.
Investigators say they do not believe this is a runaway situation, but have also found no signs of foul play.
Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner says they are going through "foot-slogging police work" to try and find the girl.
"We've been working this case pretty much around the clock since Sunday night," Garner said. "We have a huge amount of leads in this case. Every single one of them has to be tracked down."
(snip)
Kayleah is described as 5-foot, 1-inch tall, 145 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a white and pink shirt over a white tank top, blue jeans and white and red shoes. She is a student at Brentwood Middle School.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact
READ DETAILS OF KAYLEAH WILSON'S DISAPPEARANCE...
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=135843&catid=339
Matt Clough written by: Jeffrey Wolf
COLORADO 9NEWS.COM / KUSATV / April 2,2010
GREELEY - While making a plea to the public for help on Friday afternoon, the FBI and Greeley Police Department say they do have some leads in the disappearance of a missing 12-year-old girl.
"We have to assume the worst. That's our job. We assume the worst and hope for the best. And that's the way we're proceeding with this investigation," FBI Special Agent in Charge Jim Davis said during a news conference.
Kayleah Wilson has not been since Sunday around 3:40 p.m. when she left her house to walk to a birthday party. The walk was supposed to only be eight to 10 blocks, but Kayleah never arrived at the party. Friday night, 9NEWS spoke with April Wilson, Kayleah's mother, who says several of her friends were out posting fliers, although she would not say where.
Investigators say they do not believe this is a runaway situation, but have also found no signs of foul play.
Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner says they are going through "foot-slogging police work" to try and find the girl.
"We've been working this case pretty much around the clock since Sunday night," Garner said. "We have a huge amount of leads in this case. Every single one of them has to be tracked down."
(snip)
Kayleah is described as 5-foot, 1-inch tall, 145 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a white and pink shirt over a white tank top, blue jeans and white and red shoes. She is a student at Brentwood Middle School.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact
the Greeley Police Department at 970-350-9600.
Or you can call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
READ DETAILS OF KAYLEAH WILSON'S DISAPPEARANCE...
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=135843&catid=339
SF TECHNICIAN STEALS DRUGS FROM EVIDENCE LAB
SF crime lab scandal strains justice system
AP / FOXNEWS / April 2, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — The first hint of scandal at the San Francisco crime lab came in December when officials received a tip that a technician might be stealing cocaine used as evidence.
An investigation soon revealed that small amounts of cocaine were missing, and the scandal has just snowballed from there.
Hundreds of narcotics cases may have to be thrown out, the drug-testing lab has been closed indefinitely, and outside reviews have unmasked even deeper concerns with how evidence is handled at the facility. The scandal has served as an embarrassment to the police department and raised questions about why officials weren't more proactive in dealing with the problems.
"Anybody who doesn't see the magnitude of this problem is either blind or stupid," San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon said after a review cited bad management at the lab has led to poor practices.
The district attorney's office has already thrown out or not charged 550 cases because of possible evidence tampering, and is reviewing about 1,400 more for possible dismissal.
A final decision hasn't been made on how many ultimately will be tossed, but may come Friday. Authorities are trying to salvage some cases by having drugs retested at other labs; they also may refile some of the dropped cases.
The woman accused of skimming drugs from the lab for her own use, Deborah Madden, has not been charged. Madden took a leave of absence from the lab in December following an audit that found cocaine was missing from the lab, then retired last month. She was a criminalist for 29 years.
LOST EVIDENCE, LOST CONVICTIONS, GUILTY GO FREE...
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/02/sf-crime-lab-scandal-strains-justice/
AP / FOXNEWS / April 2, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — The first hint of scandal at the San Francisco crime lab came in December when officials received a tip that a technician might be stealing cocaine used as evidence.
An investigation soon revealed that small amounts of cocaine were missing, and the scandal has just snowballed from there.
Hundreds of narcotics cases may have to be thrown out, the drug-testing lab has been closed indefinitely, and outside reviews have unmasked even deeper concerns with how evidence is handled at the facility. The scandal has served as an embarrassment to the police department and raised questions about why officials weren't more proactive in dealing with the problems.
"Anybody who doesn't see the magnitude of this problem is either blind or stupid," San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon said after a review cited bad management at the lab has led to poor practices.
The district attorney's office has already thrown out or not charged 550 cases because of possible evidence tampering, and is reviewing about 1,400 more for possible dismissal.
A final decision hasn't been made on how many ultimately will be tossed, but may come Friday. Authorities are trying to salvage some cases by having drugs retested at other labs; they also may refile some of the dropped cases.
The woman accused of skimming drugs from the lab for her own use, Deborah Madden, has not been charged. Madden took a leave of absence from the lab in December following an audit that found cocaine was missing from the lab, then retired last month. She was a criminalist for 29 years.
LOST EVIDENCE, LOST CONVICTIONS, GUILTY GO FREE...
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/02/sf-crime-lab-scandal-strains-justice/
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
SEATTLE: SHANTINA SMILEY, WHERE ARE YOU?
Autopsy Confirms Body is Azriel Carver; Cause of Death, Drowning
by Susan Marie Kovalinsky March 19, 2010
Update: Autopsy confirms body is Azriel Carver; cause of death was drowning
Police believe a body that washed to shore is that of missing 8 year old boy Azriel Carver. Carver had been missing since Saturday night, when he and his mother, Shantina “Kat” Smiley, 29, last were seen north of Olympia.
The body was found yesterday afternoon on the southern tip of Fox Island of Puget Sound. Sheriff’s officials received a call just before 2 p.m. that a body was found by a woman walking along Pebble Beach, below a steep bluff off Paiute Trail road.
County officials had to comfort the boy's father, who had come from New York state to help in the search.
"I know there’s a lot of crazy questions that are going to be coming, from why it happened, how it happened and what had happened,” Carver said. 'They ended up in the water, and the tidal pattern was really high and really fast, and it just ended very tragic. It’s a crazy series of events that unfolded and ended so tragically,' he said."
MORE ABOUT SHANTINA AND AZRIEL...
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/autopsy-confirms-body-azriel-carver-cause-death-drowning
by Susan Marie Kovalinsky March 19, 2010
Update: Autopsy confirms body is Azriel Carver; cause of death was drowning
Police believe a body that washed to shore is that of missing 8 year old boy Azriel Carver. Carver had been missing since Saturday night, when he and his mother, Shantina “Kat” Smiley, 29, last were seen north of Olympia.
The body was found yesterday afternoon on the southern tip of Fox Island of Puget Sound. Sheriff’s officials received a call just before 2 p.m. that a body was found by a woman walking along Pebble Beach, below a steep bluff off Paiute Trail road.
County officials had to comfort the boy's father, who had come from New York state to help in the search.
"I know there’s a lot of crazy questions that are going to be coming, from why it happened, how it happened and what had happened,” Carver said. 'They ended up in the water, and the tidal pattern was really high and really fast, and it just ended very tragic. It’s a crazy series of events that unfolded and ended so tragically,' he said."
MORE ABOUT SHANTINA AND AZRIEL...
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/autopsy-confirms-body-azriel-carver-cause-death-drowning
RODNEY ALCALA, DEATH SENTENCE: "I'M WAITING FOR THE DAY HE DIES."
'Dating Game' Killer, Rodney Alcala, Sentenced to Death
This is the third time Alcala has been sentenced to death row for killing Robin Samsoe.
Watch Brandon Rudat's Report
KTLA News / 5:11 PM PDT, March 30, 2010
SANTA ANA -- Convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala has been sentenced to death for killing a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl and four Los Angeles County women in the 1970s.
Tuesday's sentencing marked the third time Rodney Alcala has been sent to death row for killing 12-year-old Robin Samsoe.
His two previous convictions for the killing were overturned on appeal.
Marianne Connelly, the mother of Robin Samsoe read this statement to the court before Alcala's sentence was announced:
"He is a cold blooded evil mass murdering monster that should have died years ago. Losing my precious Robin was the worst tragedy of my life and knowing the defendant tortured his victims makes it even harder to accept. I'm waiting for the day he dies. I only wish I could be the one to administer the (lethal) injection."
(snip)
Alcala was also convicted of killing four other women: Jill Barcomb, an 18-year-old runaway who was killed in the Hollywood Hills on Nov. 10, 1977; Georgia Wixted, a 27-year-old registered nurse killed on Dec. 16, 1978; Charlotte Lamb, 32, slain on June 24, 1978; and Jill Parenteau, 21, who was killed June 14, 1979.
READ...RODNEY ALCALA SENTENCED TO DEATH...AGAIN
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-alcala-trial,0,2151331.story
This is the third time Alcala has been sentenced to death row for killing Robin Samsoe.
Watch Brandon Rudat's Report
KTLA News / 5:11 PM PDT, March 30, 2010
SANTA ANA -- Convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala has been sentenced to death for killing a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl and four Los Angeles County women in the 1970s.
Tuesday's sentencing marked the third time Rodney Alcala has been sent to death row for killing 12-year-old Robin Samsoe.
His two previous convictions for the killing were overturned on appeal.
Marianne Connelly, the mother of Robin Samsoe read this statement to the court before Alcala's sentence was announced:
"He is a cold blooded evil mass murdering monster that should have died years ago. Losing my precious Robin was the worst tragedy of my life and knowing the defendant tortured his victims makes it even harder to accept. I'm waiting for the day he dies. I only wish I could be the one to administer the (lethal) injection."
(snip)
Alcala was also convicted of killing four other women: Jill Barcomb, an 18-year-old runaway who was killed in the Hollywood Hills on Nov. 10, 1977; Georgia Wixted, a 27-year-old registered nurse killed on Dec. 16, 1978; Charlotte Lamb, 32, slain on June 24, 1978; and Jill Parenteau, 21, who was killed June 14, 1979.
READ...RODNEY ALCALA SENTENCED TO DEATH...AGAIN
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-alcala-trial,0,2151331.story