AA issued: 6 year old Chance Smith, North Carolina

[mindys]

"The Locust North Carolina Police Department issued the Amber Alert after the boy went missing while playing with his dog on Saturday afternoon.

Chance Smith went missing in Locust North Carolina on Saturday afternoon December 13.

He is 6 yrs., 4', 45 lbs. with brown hair and eyes and a light complection. He was last seen wearing a camouflage jacket, a green toboggan, and mustard colored pants.

Police are looking for a red truck, possibly a small pick up, seen in the area.

Locust is about 15 miles East of Charlotte North Carolina.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Locust PD at (704) 986-3700 or dial 911."

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=48626

[alpharee]

Amber Alert Canceled for 6 Year Old North Carolina Boy
Updated: Saturday 12/13/03 10:57 PM CST

The Locust North Carolina Police Department canceled the Amber Alert after the boy was found late Saturday night. He was in transit to a local hospital with hypothermia at last report.

[mindys]

Yeah!! Prayer Answered!!!

[alpharee]

When prayers are answered it feels good doesn't it? :D

[seamless]

The little boy was not able to overcome the injuries he sufferred.

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp
?ArID=48626

:boohoo:

[alpharee]

oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this breaks my heart :boohoo: :boohoo: :boohoo:

[mindys]

WHAT??? He passed???! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! OMG, I have to read the post above. NOT FAIR, NOT FAIR!!

[mindys]

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=48672

Too sad for anymore comment.

[Love_Mama]

Oh God.....this is horrible. Can you imagine how bad that grandma feel's?
I have two little 6 year old grandchildren..who I love so much.

This is simply tragic! Horrible.
Poor little guy.

xxxxxxxoooooo
mama

[johnny]

Me and my three year old boy both set here and cried and said a prayer for you Chance...........may Jesus cradle you in his arms!

[Ghostwheel]

Take comfort in the fact that he was not kidnapped, but only lost. Think of how much more terrifying it could have been for the family if he hadn't turned up.

[mindys]

Thanks Ghostwheel. I do take comfort. And I have to believe God didn't let him suffer, he had him in His arms before the end came. Gasp though.

[Alice253]

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=49024

This poor little boy's death has now been ruled a homicide. This is so sad.

[Hammerized]

:(
I'm thinkin'...

"and they finally found Smith, who was lying face-down in a horse pasture."

Any horses in that horse pasture? Could he have been kicked by one he approached, could his dog have spooked one?

[Alice253]

Hammerized, I thought about that, too, but the article definitely said homicide, so LE probably knows more than they're releasing.

[alpharee]

anyone heard anymore about this?
This is so sad. I thought we were gonna have a happy ending and now it's considered a homicide.

[partyuv5]

If this is truly a homicide, let's bring the perp to justice. Chance deserved more than a "chance" didn't he. God love him!

[cole]

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/stanly/?SecID=10&ArID=51136

Smith died of traumatic injuries to the head, and Haigler said Wednesday that there are no suspects in the case yet.

The chief hopes to know something more definite within the next 60 days, however, and he said it is a complex case they are handling with care.

“We don't want to solve this case, make an arrest, then lose it because we didn't do something properly,” Haigler said. “We're going to be extremely cautious about that.”

The small community in Stanly County has never seen a murder case before. But in spite of the little boy's death, Haigler said people should not be worried.

“I don't think there is a predator out here trying to target children in our community,” he said. “I still feel Locust is a safe place to live.”

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In all of the articles I read on this the officials state that there is no reason to fear a predator. This would indicate to me that they are pretty sure who killed him, know it's not some traveling out of town crazy, and are trying to pull the evidence together to make sure it's solid enough to stick so that they can make a successful case. That's my observation based on what I've read, of course, but I believe that if a traveling crazy was on the loose they'd be warning the natives.

[mindys]

Wow, I wonder if its possible, if LE is thinking, he never got lost to begin with, perhaps he was put in that area after the injury.

[jat]

I am not so sure because we had a murder in a neighboring city of Round Rock, TX this past fall and the police chief was saying that there is not a predator on the loose, everyone is safe, etc. Then, a few months later they release two photos of some wiley looking fellas that are being sought as "witnesses". I think they just say that so that no one panics.

[cole]

I wonder if its possible, if LE is thinking, he never got lost to begin with, perhaps he was put in that area after the injury.

A good theory yes and has a high probability IMO. It could be he heard something in the woods and followed the sound. Like maybe he heard voices and decided to investigate and then stumbled on something he shouldn't have seen and got killed that way. Or could be he was killed by a playmate by accident = which is actually what I suspect. Tough to say really. The close proximity to his grandparents house pretty much makes me think it was one of the above ideas.

[cole]

I think they just say that so that no one panics.

I would agree. It likely depends on the LE and how they handle things. Then again in your example it could be they really didn't believe it was a stranger. In this boy's case I think if it were a stranger that his body would've been further away from the grandparents property.