Investigators Work To Crack Cold Case

[mysteriew]

One of the country's top cold case detectives is hot on the trail of the person who killed a young woman seven and a half years ago. Now a special team of river investigators is helping to solve this Tri-State mystery. The murder of Laney Gwinner was seven and a half years ago, but in recent months tips have poured in. It started when Butler County's cold case investigator started reworking the case. Frank Smith has received enough new information to have an idea of what happened, and get the right people with the right equipment to help him look for a key piece of evidence.

Frank Smith, Butler County Sheriff's Cold Case Squad: "We've received information from as far away as Florida and Chicago. We continue to receive information on a weekly basis in the Gwinner disappearance."
http://wkrc.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=90B9CC5E-FC7C-4DD7-804B-CDF0805C457F

[Laney's Legacy]

http://laneyslegacy.com/images/Cowgirl.jpg

December 10, 1997 is a day we will never forget. Laney Gwinner was out with a friend at Gilmore Bowling Lanes in Fairfield, Ohio the night before. It is estimated that she left the bowling alley around 1:00am. By 10:00am the next morning, friends and co-workers began talking; it was unlike Laney not to let a friend know where she was, let alone, to not call into work. As day turned to night, we became more concerned for her but we had faith that she would walk through the door at any moment. Although the news reports were heart-wrenching, they never swayed us into considering the worst-case scenario. On January 4th, the Cincinnati news channels were buzzing about Officer Mike Partins (http://www.enquirer.com/partin/index.html) who fell from the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge while chasing a suspect. We all took a break from our own sorrow and turned our thoughts to his young wife, Lisa and their daughter.

A day, a week, a month went by and then it happened… On January 11, 1998 while searching for Officer Partins, Kentucky State Police found the body of Alana “Laney” Gwinner. (http://www.kypost.com/news/1998/search011298.html) Everything fell silent. Watching the news, flipping through channels thinking one of them will tell us otherwise, hearing the phone ring but unable to speak to anyone… Can this really be happening? How? Who? Why? So many questions…some that will remain unanswered.

On January 17, 1998, a memorial service was held at St. John Church in Westchester, Ohio. She would have been proud of the number of friends and family that came to show their respects. Now that the worst is over, we begin to look for answers.

Laney’s 1993 Honda Del Sol has never been found (License # AKP-3607). The case was recently reassigned to the Cold Case Unit in Butler County, Ohio. (http://www.pulsejournal.com/hp/content/news/stories/2005/05/05/pj0505gwinner.html) Detective Frank Smith has given all of Laney’s friends and family hope. Detective Smith says this is a solvable case…we will have closure. It has been a long time coming…

If you have any information regarding the case of Alana “Laney” Gwinner, please contact the Butler County Sheriff’s Department at 513-785-1000.


Please visit our website : http://www.laneyslegacy.com/ (http://www.laneyslegacy.com/)

[mysteriew]

An obsession over murder, one of Butler County's Cold Cases sets off a massive river search for a clue. Four search vessels from three counties teamed up for a 51 nautical mile search Monday. They used divers, salvage teams and a new high tech underwater camera to search for a murder victim's car.

Laney Gwinner was found in the Ohio River in Warsaw Kentucky in January 1997, one month after she disappeared. There are scientific reasons to believe her car in still in the river. As Local 12's Deborah Dixon tells, there is a haunting reason to believe people know where it is.

Search teams moved from the Great Miami River to Warsaw Kentucky on the Indiana side...and back on the Kentucky side focusing on anywhere a boat...or car could go in. If a car sinks in the river it pretty much goes to the bottom and sticks there. Even with a flood, it wouldn't go far. And new high tech Sidescan Sonar can locate and identify images from the river floor. Monday's search is the first of several target areas for Laney Gwinner's car, believed to be her first watery grave.

http://www.wkrc.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=92DFD18C-C230-4171-BDB4-6D7A6E348F47

[PrayersForMaura]

Billboards seek help in cold case
FAIRFIELD – Eight years after Alana “Laney” Gwinner disappeared from the Gilmore Lanes here, the Butler County sheriff’s cold case squad is using billboards to help find her killer.

The first of six billboards bearing Laney’s picture was unveiled today at Ohio 4 and Maple Avenue in Hamilton, promoting a $10,000 reward. Det. Frank Smith hopes it will help jog someone’s memory and help police find a key piece of evidence – her car.

The 23-year-old Fairfield woman’s body was found in the Ohio River near in Warsaw, Ky., about one month after she disappeared Dec. 10, 1997, from the bowling alley on Dixie Highway. Laney left the alley after making a call to a boyfriend, whom she planned to visit at his apartment...

More: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060224/NEWS01/302240018/-1/rss

[PrayersForMaura]

Detectives Compare Notes On Murder Mysteries

Cold Case detectives in Ohio and kentucky are comparing two murder mysteries. The disappearances eight years ago of two dark haired young women in two months. There are similarities in the Laney Gwinner case in Butler County and Erica Fraysure in Bracken County. The one big difference is that Fraysure is still missing. Local 12's Deborah Dixon has exclusive details from the tiny town still haunted by the teen's disappearance.

8 years of changes in this tiny Kentucky town are subtle. The town restaurant has changed hands. And most of the regulars at the so called gossip table have died, so has talk about 17 year-old Erica Fraysure's disappearance.

Angie White, Carbo's Cafe: "Now everything's went on with their ways, thinking well, some day we'll know."

More: http://www.wkrc.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4D0D3EFB-E167-42F5-AD0C-07E55B7F2683

[PrayersForMaura]

Ok, kind of spooky to me, but I think Laney and Erica DO kind of look similar.

Pictures of Laney: http://laneyslegacy.com/sub/Pictures.html

(I swear it reminds me of me and my friends posing the same way in all of these pictures from younger years to teen years to college years!) :(


And here's Erica: http://www.geocities.com/findericafraysure/EricasPhotos.html

[mysteriew]

New leads are coming in

When it comes to suspects, there are new ones and old ones.

"Most likely an acquaintance, not necessarily friends, maybe just someone."

Somebody she rejected?

"Very well, very well"

Sheriff Richard Jones, Butler County: "We're sharing resources with Fairfield. If Frank says it's solvable, I believe Frank. We've got some leads we can't discuss and we hope to have more."

http://www.wkrc.com/crimestoppers/story.aspx?content_id=1CBA0653-286D-478D-AC1A-B2448AC23B1F

[Old Broad]

More information coming out about this case.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060630/NEWS01/606300400/1056

FAIRFIELD - A document found in a central Florida home and a tip about the possible whereabouts of Alana "Laney" Gwinner's car might help heat up a cold case.

Gwinner disappeared Dec. 10, 1997, from the Gilmore Lanes bowling alley. The Fairfield resident's body was found in the Ohio River near Warsaw, Ky., about one month later.

Her killer hasn't been found. Neither has her car.


More at link.
Old Broad