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

JerseyGirl said:
Thanks. So the biological mother was 18-19 when Reachelle was born. Certainly not too young to care for a child. I'm guessing that there were other issues.
I am going to disagree somewhat, while we would like to hope that most 18-19 year olds could care for a child, truth is that most in this age group will not be mature enough to handle all that goes with raising a child. In fact many mothers even in their early twenties have a difficult time.



But like you said, other issues probably existed. I was twenty-eight before I had my first and only child, it is still difficult every other day. Seems my son rotates his good and bad days.
smile.gif
 
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. 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.
My sister is a state cop in PA. If you send me the license plate number, I can see if she can pull it up and check things out.

What do you think? You can PM me if you like.
 
cammy-g said:
I am going to disagree somewhat, while we would like to hope that most 18-19 year olds could care for a child, truth is that most in this age group will not be mature enough to handle all that goes with raising a child. In fact many mothers even in their early twenties have a difficult time.
I'm not saying that it's easy. I'm just saying that it's not too young to raise a child. I was 19 when my first was born, and as a young mother, I knew a lot of other young mothers. We were all young, and we all did a great job taking care of our children. Sure, it was hard at times. But the difference is that some 18 and 19 year-olds live up to their responsibilities and others don't. Not that they can't. In my own personal experiences, every young mother with whom I came into contact did a good job, and handled the responsibility just fine. (ETA: Those in similar situations that don't tend to either have addiction issues or mental/emotional issues, however minor those might be.)
 
JerseyGirl said:
Welcome to WS, ED.

Do you know how long before Reachelle went missing Cowan found out that he was not her father?
I've been told that he had just found out, and I've heard others say that he had known for a while.
 
JerseyGirl said:
Thanks. So the biological mother was 18-19 when Reachelle was born. Certainly not too young to care for a child. I'm guessing that there were other issues.

Really, she was a young adult. I do not know why she gave her sister the legal guardianship at Reachelle's birth; I also don't know why the early press reports claimed that the mother was in England.
 
Eoanthropus Dawsoni said:
There were many issues.
Hi, do you know IF Reachelle's mom was ever in England, and if so, why she was there, and for how long?


TIA
 
wondering22 said:
Hi, do you know IF Reachelle's mom was ever in England, and if so, why she was there, and for how long?


TIA
Not that I know of and I would be very surprised if she was. The England connection is through Cowan's family. This is an Air Force town with people being transferred in and out from bases all over the world.
 
Eoanthropus Dawsoni said:
Not that I know of and I would be very surprised if she was. The England connection is through Cowan's family. This is an Air Force town with people being transferred in and out from bases all over the world.

Thank you.

Another thing is, I don't recall the biological father of Reachelle ever being identified publically.

Correct?
 
Thanks Jersey girl, I did not mean to sound like I did not think that young girls can not care for a child.



It is very difficult at times and I am glad that I am older and my husband is also.

PS. I truly would not have wanted to see him raise children when he was younger.

We both have our hands full each and everyday!
 
In a case like this a caller with a potential tip is highly unlikely going to be able to speak with the officer in charge of the case. That officer will be much too busy working the case to take calls, so the caller will be referred to another detective or perhaps even a patrol officer.

The tips are then sorted through in order to prioritize them. Calls from people who were close associates of the suspect and with information regarding places he liked to frequent are given more immediate attention. The investigators are also very interested in reports from people who are reasonably sure they saw the suspect's van during the period between the child's disappearance and the suspect's suicide. Then there are the many calls from people who think they "might have" seen Cowan, the van, or Reachelle. If those tips are within the Minot region they will get a higher priority than calls from possible out of state sightings.

Since there was really no extended period of time during which the suspect was outside of the Minot area after Reachelle's disappearance, investigators believe that it is highly probable that she was not taken from the area. Therefore, possible sightings of Reachelle outside of North Dakota are given a lower priority for follow up.

Intensive searches have also been conducted in areas where it might be convenient to dispose of a body (river, lakes, landfill, etc) even if there was no connection to the suspect. I used to be on the local dive rescue team and we often trained in the lake where Cowan was found. That water is very murky and once one goes below a depth of one foot, the visibility is totally zero. There is nothing but blackness, so any searching is none by touch. Divers have searched the more probable areas along the shore, but it is a big lake and it would be impossible to search everything.
 
Michelle Read said:
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


This is such a moving article, I don't think I'll ever forget it, just like he'll never forget not locating Reachelle.
 
cammy-g said:
We both have our hands full each and everyday!
Oh, I totally agree ... I have a young child also that I completely adore but boy is she tiring at times! :)
 
I asked the officer if he could confirm that they lived on an airforce base and if their was any connection to Colorado, he did NOT say no. I go to bed each night wondering if that was her, wondering if they followed up on it, wondering if it was her, is she still alive, was that her father or a pedophile. I don't know how I'll take anyone in LE seriously if they find her with this man. If her body turns up in Ohio...All they had to do was call Walmart and pull the damn surveillance cameras for positive ID , I bet they didn't even do that. :(


I understand priority, but the officer had this tone in his voice like either I was full of it, or onto something. If it was the later, that was really unprofessional. It just deters people from calling in potential tips. Sure he asked for more information but he sounded careless in doing so and a bit rude. Then LE wonders why people don't report possible crimes or refuse to write a witness statement....its how they are treated when they do.
 
The suspect's mother lived on the Air Force base, the biological father is in Colorado. I do not know what, if any, contact he has ever had with the child. I am still waiting for a call back from a friend of mine who knows the family and used to babysit Reachelle.
 
My initial thought after seeing them, or what I thought was them. Was the father maybe saw it on the news, got peed off, and came to handle it himself. I had concerns about whether or not the guy they found in the van did it himself, or someone found him and knocked him out and left him there to die as he did. I remember seeing the tags on the ride, and they had US AIR FORCE acrossed the bottom and were colorado tags. I wondered if her father himself wasn't in the airforce or someone else from that base took her from him to cover someone else's tracks.
 
I didn't even hear about it on the news. I saw what I saw and went with it, came here and started looking for amber alerts that matched. Thats what irked me the most. . I wasn't looking for her, I just noticed when the man was driving behind us, after I looked at his tags, he went from trailing behind, to riding our bumper. I just hope it wasn't her, and if it was, I hope it was her father who is going to take care of her like she needs.
 
Dex said:
My initial thought after seeing them, or what I thought was them. Was the father maybe saw it on the news, got peed off, and came to handle it himself. I had concerns about whether or not the guy they found in the van did it himself, or someone found him and knocked him out and left him there to die as he did. I remember seeing the tags on the ride, and they had US AIR FORCE acrossed the bottom and were colorado tags. I wondered if her father himself wasn't in the airforce or someone else from that base took her from him to cover someone else's tracks.



Dex, what state were you in when you saw the vehicle with the Colorado plates? Are you going to send the license number to the person on here that could have them run? It would be interesting to see who the vehicle is registered to.

I wonder if the guy that killed himself knew the bio father of the little girl? If so, maybe he had contacted the bio father and they made arrangements for him to pick her up. Maybe that is where he took her instead of to his mothers.
It could be that the dead guy had planned to kill himself for some reason and he felt that he had been the caretaken of the little girl. With him gone there wouldn't be anyone responsible to watch over her so he contacted her dad.
It also may have had something to do with him finding out who the real bio dad was.

I don't know. It's as good a theory as any I guess. We need to get that person that you saw ruled out. Did you see the man up close enough to remember what he looks like? We need the name of the father. The whole thing with you seeing this man with a little girl that looks like this little girl is worth checking into...darn it. He could have flown there and been driving a buddys car from the base or it might have been his car. If someone can identify the license number with a name and address you could check out the house and see if you see the same car, man, and little girl. It would be wonderful if she is still alive.
 

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