CA CA - Georgia Moses, 12, strangled, Petaluma, 13 Aug 1997

flowerlady

New Member
Joined
May 1, 2010
Messages
154
Reaction score
13
Moses' badly decomposed body was found August 23, 1997 [other reports say the 22nd] under a tree next to the on-ramp to Highway 101 South at Petaluma Boulevard South in Sonoma County, Northern California.

She had been missing since August 13th, when she was last seen in the company of an unknown adult male near the intersection of Dutton Avenue and Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa CA.

Abducted and murdered at the tender age of 12 like Polly Klaas, her body was found on the west side of Petaluma, not far from Polly Klaas's house. Like Polly, Georgia was bright, beautiful, intelligent and well-loved by her circle of friends. But that's where the similarities end. While Polly Klaas was "America's child," Georgia Lee Moses was America's throw-away child, according to those who mourned her death in 1997 and the way it was treated by the community. While Polly's abduction and death was front-page news around the country, Georgia's tragedy was relegated to short news stories about the discovery of her body near the freeway and the unsuccessful search for her killer that followed.

The difference between the death of Polly Klaas and the killing of Georgia Moses, say those who were critical of the lack of apparent sympathy for Georgia, is that Georgia was a poor black child of a single, mentally incapacitated mother. She was also a sometime runaway and a school truant, most likely attempting to escape from the sad conditions of her life. After her death, many people who rallied to her cause blamed school officials and Child Protective Services officials for letting her slip through the cracks. They also criticized the media for portraying her and her family in less than respectful terms, almost making it appear that she was the cause of her own death.

Among the many Sonoma County agencies that had failed to act in the face of repeated indications that Georgia's family was in severe distress was the office of the District Attorney -- (at that time) Mike Mullins. In both late April and early August of 1997, just weeks before Georgia's murder, Mullins had refused to file charges on new sex offenses against Eddie Pope, a convicted child molester who had moved in on Georgia's disabled mom. Friends say Georgia hated and feared Eddie, who is suspected by many to be the murderer and by others to be the reason Georgia was driven in the streets.

From narrative of training materials for "A Time to Smile", community outreach non-profit organization for young, at-risk girls in Sonoma County:

"When Georgia Moses, a young Black girl from a poor family, was murdered in the same county as Polly Klass (a 12 year old white girl whose murder drew national attention) the community barely took notice. Georgia took care of both her mentally ill mother and her 7 year old sister. She had been doing so since she was 7. She was a 12 year old woman and not by her own hand. She reached out to the community as a 12 year old with no boundaries and no rules and there was no one there to got to bat for her. Georgia sought her validation from men and was taken advantage of in the most horrific way."

No one has, as yet, been arrested for this horrible crime even though suspicion had squarely centered on the mother's live-in sex-offender boyfriend.

At the time, police were looking for an African American male, approximately 25 to 30 years old with closely cropped hair and medium complexion, for questioning in connection with the Georgia's death. They said man was driving a small, white, four-door vehicle.

In memory of Georgia, musician Tom Waits wrote and recorded a song called "Georgia Lee". Lyrics to his song can be found: HERE

Tom graciously also maintains the texts of many of the articles written about Georgia by reporters with local newspapers on that same page.

WHY NO JUSTICE FOR GEORGIA LEE?
 
Moses' badly decomposed body was found August 23, 1997 [other reports say the 22nd] under a tree next to the on-ramp to Highway 101 South at Petaluma Boulevard South in Sonoma County, Northern California.

She had been missing since August 13th, when she was last seen in the company of an unknown adult male near the intersection of Dutton Avenue and Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa CA.

Abducted and murdered at the tender age of 12 like Polly Klaas, her body was found on the west side of Petaluma, not far from Polly Klaas's house. Like Polly, Georgia was bright, beautiful, intelligent and well-loved by her circle of friends. But that's where the similarities end. While Polly Klaas was "America's child," Georgia Lee Moses was America's throw-away child, according to those who mourned her death in 1997 and the way it was treated by the community. While Polly's abduction and death was front-page news around the country, Georgia's tragedy was relegated to short news stories about the discovery of her body near the freeway and the unsuccessful search for her killer that followed.

The difference between the death of Polly Klaas and the killing of Georgia Moses, say those who were critical of the lack of apparent sympathy for Georgia, is that Georgia was a poor black child of a single, mentally incapacitated mother. She was also a sometime runaway and a school truant, most likely attempting to escape from the sad conditions of her life. After her death, many people who rallied to her cause blamed school officials and Child Protective Services officials for letting her slip through the cracks. They also criticized the media for portraying her and her family in less than respectful terms, almost making it appear that she was the cause of her own death.

Among the many Sonoma County agencies that had failed to act in the face of repeated indications that Georgia's family was in severe distress was the office of the District Attorney -- (at that time) Mike Mullins. In both late April and early August of 1997, just weeks before Georgia's murder, Mullins had refused to file charges on new sex offenses against Eddie Pope, a convicted child molester who had moved in on Georgia's disabled mom. Friends say Georgia hated and feared Eddie, who is suspected by many to be the murderer and by others to be the reason Georgia was driven in the streets.

From narrative of training materials for "A Time to Smile", community outreach non-profit organization for young, at-risk girls in Sonoma County:

"When Georgia Moses, a young Black girl from a poor family, was murdered in the same county as Polly Klass (a 12 year old white girl whose murder drew national attention) the community barely took notice. Georgia took care of both her mentally ill mother and her 7 year old sister. She had been doing so since she was 7. She was a 12 year old woman and not by her own hand. She reached out to the community as a 12 year old with no boundaries and no rules and there was no one there to got to bat for her. Georgia sought her validation from men and was taken advantage of in the most horrific way."

No one has, as yet, been arrested for this horrible crime even though suspicion had squarely centered on the mother's live-in sex-offender boyfriend.

At the time, police were looking for an African American male, approximately 25 to 30 years old with closely cropped hair and medium complexion, for questioning in connection with the Georgia's death. They said man was driving a small, white, four-door vehicle.

In memory of Georgia, musician Tom Waits wrote and recorded a song called "Georgia Lee". Lyrics to his song can be found: HERE

Tom graciously also maintains the texts of many of the articles written about Georgia by reporters with local newspapers on that same page.

WHY NO JUSTICE FOR GEORGIA LEE?

Flowergirl,
I thank you for this post I have looked for something on this case since I joined last year. I personally however believe that Eddie Pope may not have been the perpetrator here, I believe that the perpetrator may be another active Sex Offender in the area at that time by the name of Gary Cassano. I personally know that Cassano will never be able to defend himself in this claim but I also know that he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for a rape murder and a sexual crime with another youth.
I also remember this case from when it happened because I am also from the area of this crime.
Thanks again,
Bagger
 
Flowergirl,
I thank you for this post I have looked for something on this case since I joined last year. I personally however believe that Eddie Pope may not have been the perpetrator here, I believe that the perpetrator may be another active Sex Offender in the area at that time by the name of Gary Cassano. I personally know that Cassano will never be able to defend himself in this claim but I also know that he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for a rape murder and a sexual crime with another youth.
I also remember this case from when it happened because I am also from the area of this crime.
Thanks again,
Bagger

I hope you're right, that whoever did this is in prison. But 17 years seems like not nearly enough for someone so dangerous. My opinion is that we need to keep people like that locked up for their entire lives, that no non-violent drug offenders should be taking up space we could use for those who are permanently dangerous to others.

Ugh. This poor little girl! Her case is so much sadder than Polly Klaas's, with her sick mom and dropping out of ELEMENTARY school to take care of her, never reported missing, so you'd think it'd get more attention on the tragedy aspect alone.

But NO, of course not! Because she's black and poor, and this is the United States.

Imagine if Lonnie Franklin Jr. had been killing mostly white women all those years. More people with power would have given a damn and probably could have stopped him sooner. Especially since he's black. Gah, racism is just so many kinds of messed up. I hate that there are so many cases like Georgia Lee's. Her picture makes me tear up, she could've been one of my classmates.
 
Petaluma's Georgia Moses memorial relocated due to freeway work

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2...ses-memorial-relocated?ref=related&artslide=0

dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls
 
Moses' badly decomposed body was found August 23, 1997 [other reports say the 22nd] under a tree next to the on-ramp to Highway 101 South at Petaluma Boulevard South in Sonoma County, Northern California.

She had been missing since August 13th, when she was last seen in the company of an unknown adult male near the intersection of Dutton Avenue and Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa CA.

Abducted and murdered at the tender age of 12 like Polly Klaas, her body was found on the west side of Petaluma, not far from Polly Klaas's house. Like Polly, Georgia was bright, beautiful, intelligent and well-loved by her circle of friends. But that's where the similarities end. While Polly Klaas was "America's child," Georgia Lee Moses was America's throw-away child, according to those who mourned her death in 1997 and the way it was treated by the community. While Polly's abduction and death was front-page news around the country, Georgia's tragedy was relegated to short news stories about the discovery of her body near the freeway and the unsuccessful search for her killer that followed.

The difference between the death of Polly Klaas and the killing of Georgia Moses, say those who were critical of the lack of apparent sympathy for Georgia, is that Georgia was a poor black child of a single, mentally incapacitated mother. She was also a sometime runaway and a school truant, most likely attempting to escape from the sad conditions of her life. After her death, many people who rallied to her cause blamed school officials and Child Protective Services officials for letting her slip through the cracks. They also criticized the media for portraying her and her family in less than respectful terms, almost making it appear that she was the cause of her own death.

Among the many Sonoma County agencies that had failed to act in the face of repeated indications that Georgia's family was in severe distress was the office of the District Attorney -- (at that time) Mike Mullins. In both late April and early August of 1997, just weeks before Georgia's murder, Mullins had refused to file charges on new sex offenses against Eddie Pope, a convicted child molester who had moved in on Georgia's disabled mom. Friends say Georgia hated and feared Eddie, who is suspected by many to be the murderer and by others to be the reason Georgia was driven in the streets.

From narrative of training materials for "A Time to Smile", community outreach non-profit organization for young, at-risk girls in Sonoma County:

"When Georgia Moses, a young Black girl from a poor family, was murdered in the same county as Polly Klass (a 12 year old white girl whose murder drew national attention) the community barely took notice. Georgia took care of both her mentally ill mother and her 7 year old sister. She had been doing so since she was 7. She was a 12 year old woman and not by her own hand. She reached out to the community as a 12 year old with no boundaries and no rules and there was no one there to got to bat for her. Georgia sought her validation from men and was taken advantage of in the most horrific way."

No one has, as yet, been arrested for this horrible crime even though suspicion had squarely centered on the mother's live-in sex-offender boyfriend.

At the time, police were looking for an African American male, approximately 25 to 30 years old with closely cropped hair and medium complexion, for questioning in connection with the Georgia's death. They said man was driving a small, white, four-door vehicle.

In memory of Georgia, musician Tom Waits wrote and recorded a song called "Georgia Lee". Lyrics to his song can be found: HERE

Tom graciously also maintains the texts of many of the articles written about Georgia by reporters with local newspapers on that same page.

WHY NO JUSTICE FOR GEORGIA LEE?


Georgia Lee - Tom Waits

[video]https://youtu.be/h52nXW4AcpI[/video]
 
I am sorry, Gerogia. :(

Woe the minority girl who has troubles or needs in Sonoma County! Who will even see her? And if by chance this girl comes into momentary view, bearing hurt and reminders of poverty and social ills, who is there for her who hasn't made a virtue of avoiding the stress? Can there be any doubt that it was repeated looking away that put 12 year old Georgia Moses on the streets in dangers' way? A looking away so reflexive that even when Georgia was found murdered on the side of the road, one local paper gave Georgia's murder a mere two paragraphs on page three, and another gave her a heaping dose of blame.

http://www.tomwaitsfan.com/tom wait...ary.com/lyrics/mulevariations/georgialee.html
 
From 1997:
Body Found; Could Be Missing Girl

Yesterday police said a nude body found near the freeway in Petaluma has been tentatively identified as hers.

The girl disappeared from her Santa Rosa home on August 13, but no one reported her missing to police. She was last seen at night with a man twice her age. Police are now looking for him.

On August 22, eight days after she disappeared, a Caltrans worker found a body in a grove of trees near the southbound on-ramp to Highway 101 at Petaluma Boulevard South.

The body was badly decomposed and detectives thought it was an adult, but three days later an anonymous caller familiar with Georgia's family told police that the remains could be hers.

Sonoma County and Santa Rosa detectives say they don't know whether she was abducted or ran away. They are awaiting results of an autopsy and toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.

"Right now, we're classifying it as a suspicious death," said Detective Lieutenant Mike Brown, head of investigations for the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department. "Hopefully, at some point in time we will have all the pieces to this puzzle."

Georgia lived with her ill mother, Ida Moses, her mother's boyfriend, Ed Pope, 50, and her 7-year- old sister in the working-class neighborhood of Roseland. Both adults are unemployed.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Body-Found-Could-Be-Missing-Girl-2806971.php
 
I came across this.. a site on the Killer Edward Wayne Edwards... I don't know if its true or not, but he claims he did it? But he claims a lot of things I don't know.. I just came across this and wanted to post it.. even though I don't think he did it.

1997, August 13th. Petaluma, California. Edwards kidnaps 12 year old Georgia Moses, an impoverished black female from the same community as Polly Klass. Polly was kidnapped October 1, 1993 from her home by a man wielding a knife.*Richard Allen Davis was convicted for her murder June 18, 1996. Edwards went to Petaluma and kidnapped Georgia Moses a year later and dumped her body 10 days later on Highway 101 near*Polly Klass’ home. Edwards was trying to prove a point with this murder. Polly Klass was a 12 year old white girl who’s kidnapping caused a national outrage. Georgia Moses was a 12 year old poor black child and the media ignored her kidnapping.

1997, September 16th. Petaluma, California. Georgia Moses body found. Anonymous calls made to family. Georgia Moses body found


http://coldcasecameron.com/killers-timeline/1990-1999/
 
I also came across this .. it made me sad to read about this poor little girl..


UNSOLVED CHILD MURDER : GEORGIA MOSES


Santa Rosa, CA -- June 18, 1998 -- Georgia Moses was killed 10 months ago, but until Wednesday her friends and family had no idea where her body lay.
Sheriff's investigators explained that the body had to be tested, that they wanted to examine every part of her, in case the killer had left some slight trace behind.

So, they waited, unable to put an end to the tragedy of the 12-year-old's death and denied of the closure that comes with witnessing a body returned to the earth.

On Wednesday, that changed. One day after investigators released Georgia's body, a tiny group of close friends gathered to watch her remains be buried. Slowly, the friends lifted Georgia's white casket from the black hearse and placed it on the ground at Sebastopol Memorial Lawn. Several placed bouquets of flowers on her headstone.

``At least now I know where she is,'' said 14-year-old Christie Broussard. ``Now we can take care of her.''

Funny, smart and independent, Georgia grew up in Rohnert Park and was the one girl who everyone believed ``could survive on her own,'' Christie said. Hers was a troubled family, headed by a mentally ill mother, but somehow, Georgia managed. In fact, she not only watched out for herself, but also mothered her 7-year-old sister, Angel Greene. And, friends and school officials said, in recent years, she had emerged as a leader among her peers.

So, when sheriff's officials told the family that the nude, decomposed body found near a ramp under Highway 101 in Petaluma on Aug. 22 was Georgia's, no one believed it. Georgia had been missing for nine days, nothing unusual for her, and everyone was sure she would walk back in the door and start telling her usual round of jokes.

But the lanky 12-year-old never returned. Reluctantly, everyone began to believe she was gone. Still, without a body as confirmation and no explanation of what had happened, it was very hard.

``You don't have anything to hold onto,'' said Christie's mother, Christine Broussard. ``I keep wanting to open up that casket and look inside, just to make sure it's her.'' And, she added, to have a final chance to say goodbye.

Georgia was last seen at 10 p.m. Aug. 13 as she stood talking to a man in his 20s outside Jack in the Box on Dutton Avenue and Sebastopol Road. Sheriff's officials have put out a composite sketch of the man and would like to question him, detectives said.

Even officials have not been able to pinpoint when Georgia died and the family chose Aug. 13 as the date to inscribe on her headstone.

``That's the last day we know anything about her, and so it was the date they picked,'' said Jeannie Walker, a family friend who attended the 40-minute service, which was led by the Rev. James E. Coffee of Community Baptist Church.

Georgia's mother, Ida Moses, and her sister Angel, moved to the state of Georgia to be with family members and could not attend the service.

Since her death, Georgia has become a symbol in the community, a reminder of the importance of looking out for troubled and at-risk youths. ``Her death has reminded us to pay attention to each other and to those who need help in our community,'' Walker said.

All of the funeral arrangements- including the cemetery plot, the casket and the headstone -were donated to the family.

During the service, Coffee spoke warmly of Georgia, and icily of the ``evil that took her from us.'' Though the physical closure was complete, he said there can be no psychological peace in the community until Georgia's killer is found.

He begged anyone who had any information about Georgia, or believes they might have seen her, to call police. The smallest detail could make a difference, he said.

In the meantime, he called on the community to remember Georgia and to keep her memory alive. ``We will not let Georgia be our forgotten child,'' he said.

August 13, 1999 -- Sheriff's Detective Russ Davidson has a file on his desk that won't let him be.

``It's on my mind a lot,'' he says. ``Is there anything we've missed? Is there more we can do?

``It's always here, right next to me.''

The file contains the sad facts of the case of Georgia Moses, a 12-year-old girl who two years ago today got into a car with a man in Roseland and drove away. It took almost a week for anyone to notice that she was missing, a week in which her body lay under a redwood tree next to Highway 101 in Petaluma. A Caltrans worker found her there 10 days after she disappeared.

A bit of a community outcry followed the murder of this young, impoverished, neglected African-American girl. Hundreds attended her memorial service, including public officials and people who never met her. West county musician Tom Waits included a song for her on his latest album.

But two years have passed. A thick layer of gray dust coats the stuffed animals that are piled on the roadside memorial where her body was found. A skinny tree and a small plaque in her honor near Rohnert Park's Mountain Shadows Middle School are unknown to many of those who work within 100 feet of that memorial.

Her memory fades.

Davidson remembers, though, because the killer remains unidentified. And we should remember, too, because there are other Georgias out there.

Like too many kids, Georgia didn't get much of a chance to be a child. Sure, she laughed with her friends, hung out at the mall and loved to dance. But when she went home she often shouldered the adult responsibilities of the household, taking care of her mentally ill mother and her sister, Angel -- five years younger.

She often didn't go to school, and quit going altogether a month before the end of sixth grade. She'd been in minor trouble with the police. Teachers, friends and other parents worried about her.

But Georgia wasn't a ``bad kid.'' She was bright and personable and remarkably self-sufficient for her age. So despite the many problems in her life, no one thought them serious enough to intervene.

Until it was too late.

Georgia lived in Rohnert Park until a few months before her disappearance, but moved to Santa Rosa when her mother was evicted from their apartment. They moved into a one-bedroom place with the mother's boyfriend.

On Aug. 13, 1997, Georgia spent much of the evening at a friend's apartment in Roseland, listening to music, talking on the phone, drinking soda -- ``the usual teen-age stuff,'' Davidson says.

Not long before 10 p.m., someone paged Georgia. She used her friend's phone to return the call, and arranged to meet a man at the 76 station at the corner of Sebastopol Road and Dutton Avenue.
`
`This was someone she knew,'' the detective says. ``He would page her and meet her occasionally.''

A friend saw Georgia get into the man's car that night. She described him as an African-American, 24-28 years old, about 6-3 and 200 pounds. He was driving a small white car, maybe a Honda. And he may have been from San Francisco.

Georgia called her friend a short time later, possibly from a cell phone in the man's car. She said she wouldn't be back for a while.

Investigators believe Georgia was killed that night, or a short time later. But no one reported her missing for another six days, when Santa Rosa police received an anonymous tip that a 12-year-old girl had disappeared.

``Georgia was advanced beyond her years in terms of her development, her responsibilities,'' Davidson says. ``It wasn't uncommon for her to be away from home for days at a time. She was hanging out with older men. That leaves a variety of possibilities as to what happened.''

What Davidson does know is that Georgia Moses's death was a tragedy.

``Every homicide is bad, but this one really ...'' he pauses, sucks a breath, and continues. ``Georgia did nothing to contribute to her own death. She wasn't dealing drugs; she wasn't in a gang. She was a pure victim.''

About a year ago ``America's Most Wanted'' told Georgia's story, and detectives received a flurry of calls. But nothing panned out. Then last fall, their hopes were raised again when Eureka truck driver Wayne Adam Ford confessed to killing several women in his travels around the state. But an interview with Ford convinced detectives he wasn't involved in Georgia's death.

Georgia's mother has moved out of state. Her sister is in foster care. The touching road-side memorial where her body lay for nearly 10 days is neglected and dusty.

But there's no dust on the file on Davidson's desk.

``This case is still active and very much open,'' he says. ``There's $15,000 in rewards offered. We'd still very much like to talk to the man in the white car.''

http://missing87975.yuku.com/topic/1728/UNSOLVED-CHILD-MURDER-GEORGIA-MOSES#.WJrAk4WcHBQ
 
I can't even find a photo of Georgia :( Can anyone else find one?
 
I came across this.. a site on the Killer Edward Wayne Edwards... I don't know if its true or not, but he claims he did it? But he claims a lot of things I don't know.. I just came across this and wanted to post it.. even though I don't think he did it.

1997, August 13th. Petaluma, California. Edwards kidnaps 12 year old Georgia Moses, an impoverished black female from the same community as Polly Klass. Polly was kidnapped October 1, 1993 from her home by a man wielding a knife.*Richard Allen Davis was convicted for her murder June 18, 1996. Edwards went to Petaluma and kidnapped Georgia Moses a year later and dumped her body 10 days later on Highway 101 near*Polly Klass’ home. Edwards was trying to prove a point with this murder. Polly Klass was a 12 year old white girl who’s kidnapping caused a national outrage. Georgia Moses was a 12 year old poor black child and the media ignored her kidnapping.

1997, September 16th. Petaluma, California. Georgia Moses body found. Anonymous calls made to family. Georgia Moses body found


http://coldcasecameron.com/killers-timeline/1990-1999/

What an "interesting" website. Those are the details it gives about his "connection" to Georgia's death. But it looks like the site seemingly ties Edwards to just about every famous unsolved (and solved) murder of the 20th Century. From the Zodiac murders to the West Memphis Three case to Adam Walsh and Jonbenet! Seriously...

I hadn't heard of him being involved with most of those cases. And I knew a little bit about him because he was arrested right up the road in Louisville.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
198
Guests online
1,964
Total visitors
2,162

Forum statistics

Threads
589,955
Messages
17,928,266
Members
228,016
Latest member
ignoreme123
Back
Top