OK OK - Logan Tucker, 6, Woodward, 23 June 2002 *K. Rutan guilty*

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tucker_logan.jpg
tucker_logan_ap.jpg

Missing Since: June 23, 2002 from Woodward, Oklahoma
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: April 10, 1996
Age: 6 years old
Height and Weight: 3'6, 42 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes.

Details of Disappearance

During June 2002, Tucker was living with his mother, Katherine Rutan (sometimes referred to as as Katherine Gougler, Katherine Pollard or Catherine Daggett); his four-year-old brother; and a roommate, Melody Lennington. A photograph of Rutan is posted below this case summary. Tucker's father had not had contact with the child since his infancy.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) had previously taken custody of Tucker and his brother after Rutan threatened to harm them. The children were returned to her care within a few days, however. Tucker had been caught playing with matches shortly before his disappearance, and Rutan had stated Tucker was "dangerous" and she was afraid he would hurt his younger brother. She requested help for Tucker from local officials, stating he had burned down one of their previous residences. Three days before Tucker's given date of disappearance, she had told the DHS she wanted to relinquish her parental rights towards both children. The DHS agreed to place Tucker in residential treatment, but did not have an opening at a treatment center for several days. Rutan reacted angrily when she learned Tucker would not be placed immediately.

Lennington last saw Tucker on the evening of June 22, when she put the child and his brother to bed. Between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., Lennington woke up to the sound of Tucker screaming and crying. She went back to sleep. At 6:00 a.m. when Lennington got up to go work, she asked Rutan what had happened with Tucker. Rutan replied that Tucker was sick and she had put him in the basement. Later that day, when asked about Tucker, Rutan variously stated the DHS had taken him away and she would not be allowed to see him until he was grown; that Tucker was with his father; and that Tucker was in a psychiatric hospital.

The DHS had not taken Tucker; they were not scheduled to do so until the following day. Witnesses stated Rutan appeared relieved that Tucker was gone and attempted to give away his clothing and belongings, all of which were left behind when he went missing. Rutan told several conflicting stories about where Tucker was after he disappeared; she told the DHS that he had been put in another facility or that he was camping with her brother, and told others that he was with various different relatives. On the early morning of June 24, Rutan borrowed a shovel from her boyfriend and did not return it to him until after dark that same day.

Tucker's grandparents reported his disappearance on July 7, after trying to contact Tucker and getting evasive answers from his mother as to his whereabouts. She told his grandparents that he was in a residential facility, and they offered to take custody of him, but she refused to tell them what facility he was in. When the police went to question Rutan, she told them Tucker was with her brother. Tucker's uncle, however, claimed he had not seen the child in over a year. The uncle has cooperated with police and is not considered a suspect in his nephew's disappearance.

When authorities searched Rutan and Lennington's home, they found bloodstains and masking tape with hairs stuck to it in the basement of the residence. The blood was tested for DNA and was proven to be Tucker's. Investigators also found plastic sheeting, cotton rope and drain cleaner in Rutan's car. They determined that Tucker was not enrolled at any of the facilities Rutan had claimed she had placed him in, or with any of the people she had claimed were caring for him. In addition, Rutan asked male acquaintances of hers to call police and claim to be Rutan's brother and say they had Tucker. When authorities interviewed Tucker's brother, his brother told a story of how he, Tucker and Rutan had driven out into the country and Rutan had a shovel, and she carried Tucker and the shovel away from the car and later returned alone.

Rutan. who moved away from Woodward in September 2002, never called the police to inquire as to the status of her son's missing person case. She was arrested on bad check charges in September 2002 and was incarcerated for a time and then released. She hired an attorney and refused to cooperate with the Tucker investigation or take a polygraph test. Rutan's boyfriend was questioned as a possible suspect in his case and was cleared.

In February 2006, Rutan was charged with first-degree murder in Tucker's case. Prosecutors allege she used "unreasonable force" which caused "mortal wounds" to her son. The case against Rutan was mainly circumstantial. His younger brother testified for the prosecution. Rutan was convicted of murder in August 2007. The jury deliberated only two hours before reaching a verdict. It recommended a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Foul play is suspected in Tucker's case due to the circumstances involved. He is believed to be buried in the woods or fields of Woodward County, or possibly dumped in Fort Supply Lake.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Woodward County Sheriff's Office

580-256-3264
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SS, it sounds like the police did not check the 6 sites the psychic led them to because they had already been searched.

I've heard of several cases where a body was found in an area that had already been searched in the past.
 
These crimes are sickening because as always, there are SO MANY warning signs. The woman actually said she wanted to kill her children if she could get away with it. She called the police on herself expressing her fear of wanting to hurt Tucker and they only get taken away for a few day? If I truly felt like my grandchildren were in a life or death situation I would do more than worry about it I would fight for them. Logan's death was 100% preventable as most of the deaths in these kinds of situations are. You have children showing up to school black and blue, digging through trashcans for food, telling teachers 'mommy beat me' and still nothing gets done. The parents might get a vist from child services but most of the time they just don't answer the door and so the case is closed. I don't know how many times I have heard that one.
It makes me so angry. How is it that football players are making millions of dollars but yet we cannot allot a proper amount of money so these public services can actually perform their duties and successfully protect children? It is all about money. Children are returned again and again to abusive, dangerous situations because there is not enough money for the state to take care of them so they just return them back into the hands of their abusers. It takes a girl like Nixmary Brown here in NYC who was routinely tortured, weighted 30lbs at eight years old and finally was beaten to death by her parents for any attention to be drawn to this situation but within a few months that attention has waned and everything is back to normal - normal being children falling through the cracks and being returned back to the situation they were taken away from, case workers closing cases because the parents won't answer the door when they come by. This is unacceptable! I cannot believe it is not more of an issue in this country.
Sorry for ranting but this just makes me so angry. THIS DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN.
 
It kills me also, the sad thing is that it happens every day!!! I dont understand the system at all!!!
 
Thamk you SewingDeb for the case info and links about Katherine Rutan. Wow that is soooo strange how that case and Caylee's are much alike. I hope it doesn't take five years to finsh Caylee's.
 
I don't think it will take that long for Caylee's case. I grew up in the town where this happened and I think they probably didn't have the resources to be able to go forward as soon as they wanted to. Who knows though, I could be completely wrong. I just know that it's not a high murder area. We have had a few but they are always years apart. We did have a fairly high profile case back in the 1970's. That was the Thrasher murders. That was their last name.
 
I agree. Caylee's case has the latest in forensics, the FBI, and so many other things which have come together to be able to solve it that Logan's case did not have.

Every time I see that photo, I want to hug him. He looks like he had a runny nose when it was taken and it looks like the school photographer was trying hard to draw out a smile there. He had a bashful quality. Such a sweet innocent about him. :(

I am so glad his mother is going to rot in jail. I cannot fathom how she continued to thrive so long without people knowing the real she is.
 
http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor...mwQa+(KFOR+-+Local+News)&utm_content=My+Yahoo

Another article about these bones can be found at the link.
Tucker's mother, Katherine Pollard, was convicted of first degree murder in 2007 for the death, but the body was never found.
Now people in town hope this search is the last one.
Taylor says, "It can be closure for his family. They can bury his remains and let him go to heaven."
 
That murderous wretch could at least tell LE where the body of her son is. What does the ????? have to lose?
 
http://enidnews.com/localnews/x996059266/Sheriff-Remains-not-human

October 7, 2010

Sheriff: Remains not human
By Rowynn Ricks. CNHI News Service
Enid News and Eagle The Enid News and Eagle
Thu Oct 07, 2010, 10:19 PM CDT

FORT SUPPLY — Skeletal remains discovered by three young hunters in a field near Fort Supply Tuesday have been deemed not human, dashing hopes of authorities seeking a break in an 8-year-old missing-child case.
Click to expand...
 
ChatteringBirds said:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Bumping up. In the hope that by some miracle, Logan will still be found and laid to rest with dignity.
I'm sorry this happened to you, sweet boy.
Click to expand...
Hoping for a miracle. Many of us haven't stopped looking for Logan.
Sadly though, Les Morton passed away last month. When I got the news, my first thought was ok Les, now you know where Logan is, now give us a sign to help us locate his remains.
 
I am starting this thread in hopes to bring this case back into the light. His name is Logan tucker and he was only 6 years old when he went missing. This is the first case to ever stick with me but it was just so strange and nothing seems to ever add up. She seems like she is playing a game even years later even though she has been convicted of murder and sitting in prison. There is a pod cast about this entire case if anyone would like to listen to it. I moved to woodward in 2004 and still have not stopped thinking about Logan. I also remember all the things people would say that sent all the detectives on a wild goose chase, let me tell ya some of it was really wild. Please help me try and find Logan.
 
I can't believe it's been so many years and he still has not been found. I have been following this case since I moved to woodward in 2004. I have read of article, listened to the pod casts and have even talked to people close to her including some of the name you hear on the pod cast. I have been told so many far fetched scenarios and listened to many stories. I will never stop searching.
 
Logan Lynn Tucker – The Charley Project

Details of Disappearance​

During June 2002, Logan, his mother, Katherine L. Rutan, and his four-year-old brother, Justin Daggett, moved in with a roommate, Melody Lennington. Photographs of Rutan are posted below this case summary. She has been married five times and may be referred to in the media by one of her married names.

In April that year, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) had taken custody of Logan and Justin after Rutan called a crisis hotline and said she was afraid she was going to hurt the children, particularly Logan. The children were returned to her care within a few days, however.

Rutan had stated Logan was "dangerous" and she was afraid he would hurt his younger brother. She told multiple people that he had a history of setting fires, and told one witness that if Logan set another fire, she would "be forced to do something to Logan that I don't want to do" in order to protect Justin.

Rutan again requested help from the DHS about Logan's alleged fire-setting behavior. A DHS worker Rutan spoke to agreed to place Logan in a children's psychiatric hospital for a series of tests, but the facility didn't have an opening for another four days. Rutan reacted angrily when she learned Logan would not be placed immediately.

In spite of his mother's characterization of Logan as "a child murderer and a house burner," the DHS worker who spoke to Rutan and Logan thought he was acting normally and appeared friendly and well-mannered.

Lennington last saw Logan on the evening of June 22, when she put the child and his brother to bed. Between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., Lennington woke up to the sound of Logan screaming and crying. She went back to sleep.

At 6:00 a.m. when Lennington got up to go work, she asked Rutan what had happened with Logan. Rutan replied that Logan was sick and she had put him in the basement. Later that day, when asked about Logan, Rutan told her boyfriend and Lennington that DHS had taken him and would place him with his biological father. She had a bruise on her arm, which she said Logan had inflicted when he taken.

The DHS had not taken Logan; they were not scheduled to do so until the following day. Witnesses stated Rutan appeared relieved that Logan was gone and attempted to give away his clothing and belongings. Justin told a visitor, "Logan won’t be home anymore."

Logan's maternal grandparents reported his disappearance on July 7, after trying to contact Logan and getting evasive answers from his mother as to his whereabouts. She told his grandparents that he was in a residential facility, and they offered to take custody of him, but she refused to tell them what facility he was in.

When the police went to question Rutan, she told them Logan was with her brother and that her brother traveled for work and she did not have his contact information. Logan's uncle, however, had not seen the child in over a year. The uncle has cooperated with police and is not considered a suspect in his nephew's disappearance.

When authorities searched Rutan and Lennington's home, they found candle wax, bloodstains and masking tape with hairs stuck to it in the basement of the residence. The blood was tested for DNA and was proven to be Logan's. Investigators also found rope, drain cleaner and a large amount of plastic sheeting in Rutan's car. Investigators later learned Rutan had borrowed the plastic and a shovel from her boyfriend, saying she wanted to plant wildflowers, but she never planted any.

Police determined that Logan was not enrolled at any of the facilities Rutan had claimed she had placed him in, or with any of the people she had claimed were caring for him. In addition, Rutan asked a male acquaintance to claim he was Rutan's brother and that he had Logan.

When authorities interviewed Justin, he told a story of how he, Logan and Rutan had driven out into the country. Logan's skin was white and he wasn't moving. Rutan had a shovel and some plastic.

Justin's mother took Logan, the shovel and the plastic away from the car. She told Justin not to get out of the car because there were snakes. When she returned hours later, she was alone, and when Justin asked where Logan was, Rutan reportedly said, "He went to where the bad boys go, and if you ever do anything like he did, you’ll end up in the same place."

Rutan. who moved away from Woodward in September 2002, never called the police to inquire as to the status of her son's missing person case. She was arrested on bad check charges in September 2002 and was incarcerated for a time and then released. She hired an attorney and refused to cooperate with the investigation or take a polygraph test.

Prior to Logan's disappearance, Rutan had repeatedly said to many people that she didn't want him in her life, saw him as a hindrance and wanted him gone. She reportedly treated Justin well and showed affection for him, but she abused and neglected Logan. After her fourth husband's trailer burned down, she blamed Logan for starting the fire, but there was never any proof that Logan was responsible for it.

Various witnesses saw her beat the boy severely and attempt to abandon him, and one of her boyfriends said Rutan had told him said as far back as 1999 that she wished there was some way she could kill her children and get away with it. Earlier in 2002, Rutan had asked her parents to take Logan, but they were unable to do so.

In February 2006, Rutan was charged with first-degree murder in Logan's case. Prosecutors allege she used "unreasonable force" which caused "mortal wounds" to her son. The case against Rutan was mainly circumstantial. Justin testified for the prosecution, as did several of Rutan's former boyfriends.

A sanitation worker also testified; he remembered seeing a blue suitcase, wrapped in plastic and tied with rope, out for trash pickup on Rutan's block on the day Logan was last seen. He said the suitcase smelled like something dead and weighed forty to sixty pounds, and a woman watched him put it in the garbage truck. A blue suitcase belonging to Lennington disappeared at about the same time.

Rutan was convicted of murder in August 2007. The jury deliberated only two hours before reaching a verdict. They recommended a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Foul play is suspected in Logan's case due to the circumstances involved.
 
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