ND ND - Reachelle Smith, 3, Minot, 16 May 2006

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AP Wire | 05/27/2006 | Search for missing N. Dakota girl being shut down

Searchers looking for a missing 3-year-old girl began winding down their efforts on Saturday after bloodhounds failed to turn up any trace of Reachelle Smith.

Police Capt. Al Hanson said any new leads would be checked out, but "we've had virtually no leads coming in," he said. "(The search) has pretty much been shut down."

Searches might resume in the coming days, but nothing was scheduled Sunday, Hanson said...

Authorities also finished draining a section of the river near the girl's home "as far down as we can get it," Hanson said. "The dogs were run past that this morning..."
 
"we've had virtually no leads coming in"

BS. Now I know what the tone in his voice was for. :silenced:

From that statement I pray to god and everything holy I was wrong.
 
Dex said:
"we've had virtually no leads coming in"

BS. Now I know what the tone in his voice was for. :silenced:

From that statement I pray to god and everything holy I was wrong.
Click to expand...

Surely America's Most Wanted will have a segment on Reachelle this evening -- and then you could call them up with your information. Then there will be a record of it, and LEOs more likely to follow up the tip.
 
I think I would be tempted to call back and ask to speak to one of the detectives on Reachelle's case. I would just ask if they've had a chance to check that license plate number and the person who owns the vehicle. I would let them know that you read the article in the paper and it sounded like they had gotten very few leads so you were curious to see where your lead went.

Do you know anyone who works for the police department anywhere? I would be tempted to contact that person...if you know one...and ask them to check that license plate and tell you the name and address of the person who owns the vehicle. I would probably go park near the home and see what was happening there :hand: That's me though. If the cops won't check out that lead then someone else should if you can get a name and addresss that is. It might be nothing but it very well could be something. I wonder if there is a way to check a license plate number on the net. Heaven only knows you can check out everything else on here.

Wouldn't that be something if LE neglected to check out your tip and you did it yourself and found it to be Reachelle with that man :dance:
 
Dex said:
"we've had virtually no leads coming in"

BS. Now I know what the tone in his voice was for. :silenced:

From that statement I pray to god and everything holy I was wrong.
Click to expand...
They may have checked out your tip but sadly, it may have been one of only a few. :( It never hurts to check up though if you're worried that they didn't take you seriously. Maybe you could check the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Maybe they have a different number you can call.
 
Amber Alert Case (Reachelle's page)

Contact: If you have information (on Reachelle), please contact North Dakota Highway Patrol, 701-852-0111

Through NCMEC:

Report a Sighting of a Missing Child

Please report any information regarding a missing child to our Call Center. We have operators available 24-hours a day to receive "sightings" by telephone or via the Internet.

Telephone

Internet

Telephone

Call our toll-free Hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678) 24-hours a day.

[url="http://as00.estara.com/icons/smallpill_wht_grndot.gif"]http://as00.estara.com/icons/smallpill_wht_grndot.gif[/url] (There's a "button" called "push to talk" on the site -

The Push to Talk™ system allows you to use your Internet connection to report a sighting. If your computer is equipped with a microphone and speakers you can speak to a Call Center Specialist.

You can also ask one of our Call Center Specialists to call you back by supplying a telephone number.
 
The number at the top is the number I called, I even asked for the officer in charge that they put on one of the pages, and they said he wasn't employed there. So I said I think I have a possible lead for Reachelle Smith, and they transferred me. I did spot another gentlemen that drove another vehicle going the same route that I saw them coming from, that looked very similar to the man I saw driving the SUV with her in it. I have located him and am waiting to drive by to see if I spot the SUV outside. I didn't want to give LE the new information because I "could" be wrong on the second spotting of the man and dont want to deter them from looking into the prior information. I wouldn't be as suspicious about the second one, but I have my reasons which I'll keep to myself just incase they might stumble acrossed this board.
 
Dex, I'm glad you called that information in. Sadly, there are sooo many cases where cops don't take leads seriously because they have certain theories in mind, and if your info doesn't fit their theory, they assume it to be a false lead, rather than following it up. It is interesting that Cowen's Mom was at one time living at that same airforce base. It said that Cowen was into drugs. I certainly hope he didn't sell this girl to someone for money or drugs!!

Do what you feel in your heart. I once read of a case where a woman saw something she felt suspiscious in a store, and she called the cops. They didn't do anything about it. Wish I could remember the details, because it is very interesting. Since they wouldn't do anything about it, she went back to the place where she saw what she saw, and either she herself asked the store to show their surveillance, or there was a detective in the store at the time, and she told him about it. Anyway, she didn't give up. Had to keep coaxing and begging for someone to follow up on it. I think she and the detective went to some couple's place after someone knew the people on the surveillance, and they said the little girl with them was theirs. Later on, they found out the people gave them the wrong names, and this girl actually had been abducted and a few weeks later were able to get her away from them. They had been abusing her for a long time.
so You do what your heart tells you.
Follow up on that license plate number. Do NOT assume the cops will.

Good luck
 
Dex said:
The number at the top is the number I called, I even asked for the officer in charge that they put on one of the pages, and they said he wasn't employed there. So I said I think I have a possible lead for Reachelle Smith, and they transferred me.
Click to expand...
If you feel that you're not being taken seriously, try the number to contact NCMEC directly - the 1-800-THE-LOST number.

I commend you for following your gut on this. Keep on pushing until they listen.
 
AP Wire | 05/30/2006 | Police trying to 'think outside the box' in search for 3-year-old

More checks and double-checks are planned around the city as authorities seek clues in the disappearance of 3-year-old Reachelle Smith.

"It's going to change day to day, as leads and stuff come in, or things we think we need to look at again," Minot Police Capt. Al Hanson said Tuesday.

Checks were planned in "couple of areas close by town that need to be walked," and possibly some flyovers, he said.

"We've thought about storm sewers," he said. "We may look at some of them this week ... just trying to think outside the box in some cases, to make sure we cover all the bases..."
 
Grand Forks Herald | 06/01/2006 | MISSING GIRL: Authorities plan area search on horseback

Ward County officials hope to line up some 200 horses and riders for a weekend search for 3-year-old Reachelle Smith...

Minot Police Capt. Al Hanson said most of the ground in the city has been searched more than once, and more searches there are unlikely unless a lead develops. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is working to mail out fliers within a 25-mile radius of Minot, he said.

"We're going to mail out close to 31,000 fliers to every mailing address with 17 zip codes," Hanson said Wednesday...
 
KXMA News

... authorities have received hundreds of calls from people wanting to help out in the search.

... Hanson says authorities still hope to find Reachelle alive. But he says the chances are getting slimmer as time passes...
 
Police Chief Dan Draovitch had difficulty sleeping the night before he handed in his badge after 38 years in law enforcement. It wasn't his retirement keeping him awake — but a case he was leaving behind.

The disappearance of 3-year-old Reachelle Smith, who was last seen May 16, has been one of the most complex and frustrating cases ever investigated by his department, he said.

Searches have turned up no trace of the girl known as "Peanut." And leads in the case have dried up.

more at link~

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/ap/0606/0502_search_continues_3yr_old_nd_girl.html
 
Michelle Read said:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/ap/0606/0502_search_continues_3yr_old_nd_girl.html
Click to expand...
I didn't realize it was the guy's birthday on the day he apparently took Reachelle. That combined with the possible jail time he was facing and the fact that he claimed that he was Reachelle's father in spite of DNA tests that prove he wasn't make me wonder what was going on in his mind and if he perhaps snapped. Well, at this point, I don't really care; I just wish they'd find this little girl already.
 
Once Cowan was found dead, any hope of finding Reachelle alive dropped to almost zero. There has been a lot of speculation as to what may have happened but at this time they seem to be leaning towards the thought that he probably killed Reachelle out of anger, once he found out he was not the biological father.

This little girl came from a very messed up "family." Her biological mother was not capable of caring for her so custody was given to the aunt. Cowan was the aunt's boyfriend, but had also been involved with the biological mother. Reachelle grew up thinking that her aunt was her mother and that her biological mother was her sister, and that Cowan was her father. Cowan was a criminal and a meth user. Reachelle was often left with friends or Cowan's mother while her "parents" were out partying.

It took the aunt almost a week to realize that something was wrong. Once Cowan realized that the aunt was going to contact the police, he stole her van and vanished. The Amber Alert was issued as soon as the police were notified. The next afternoon the stolen van was found, with Cowan dead inside due to suicide. It was at that point that authorities realized that they probably also had a homicide on their hands, but with no idea where to look for her body.
 
Welcome to WS, ED.

Do you know how long before Reachelle went missing Cowan found out that he was not her father?

About finding Reachelle, she was missing so long before it was realized that something was wrong that she could probably be just about anywhere by now. :( I think that if she is ever found, it will be simply by chance and perhaps very far away.

ETA: How old are Reachelle's mother and aunt?
 
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