When looking at police statements in this case over time, one can see they haven't made any firm indication about what they believe happened to Lisa or who they think is responsible. No person or scenario has been publicly ruled in or ruled out. Police apparently have not developed enough information to turn over the case to homicide detectives, or at least they hadn't before April 2012. At that point the case was reported to be classified as a missing or abducted child. One of Det. Zink's statements in her interview stuck out to me also..."there’s still a baby missing and
we don’t know how.” On the one year anniversary, police said they wanted to interview Deborah one-on-one again in person, but Chief Forte said that they no longer needed to speak with her when he was asked a year later. Did she agree to be formally interviewed again during that time period, or did police decide it was no longer necessary for whatever reason? The most recent specific information from police about the parent's cooperation is from October 2014, when Capt. Tye Grant said concerns about lack of cooperation have dissipated and the lines of communication are open.
Most recently, Maj. Steve Young said "truly, there isn’t anybody that is or isn’t" a suspect. In the same article, family attorney Cyndy Short said she hopes that investigators have dismissed the idea of Lisa’s parents involvement; “But I don’t know, if you’re in law enforcement, you have to keep all avenues open until you have a clear pathway to go down, which they clearly don’t.” I find it hard to imagine police not having at least some idea of what happened, but based on what they have said, it seems there is probably very little evidence pointing clearly toward the guilty party, or obviously at least not enough evidence to charge that person or persons. I continue to hope for the truth to come out and for police to receive the one valuable tip they need to move forward.
Of course, there are many reasons why police would or would not choose to share information, and every department, investigation and set of facts are different from each other, but I have a few comparisons between police statements in this case and police statements made in two other cases.
Ayla Reynolds, 20 months, and Aliyah Lunsford, 3, were both reported missing from their homes by their parents in the later part of 2011. On the surface, the circumstances of both disappearances seem similar - late 2011, parent(s) report a young child missing from their bed. Upon closer inspection, it's clear that, in many ways, these cases are quite different from Lisa's case.
Ayla was reported missing by her father, Justin DiPietro, on the morning of Dec. 17, 2011. She was staying with him at the time of her disappearance, in his mother’s house. His girlfriend, her child, his sister and her child were also in the home. He said he last saw Ayla when he put her to bed the night before. In December 2011, police publicly stated that they believe
foul play has occurred in Ayla's case. Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said, “The case has evolved from the search for a missing child to a criminal investigation.” Police have determined Ayla did not walk out of the house on her own, and said
there was no evidence of an abduction. In May 2012, police said Ayla is
unlikely to be found alive. It was later reported that
Ayla's blood was found in several places in the home. Ayla's father and the other adults have never been arrested, and Ayla has never been found. Over the years,
police have continually stated the adults who were in the home at the time of her disappearance have not been truthful and know more about Ayla’s disappearance than they are sharing.
KCPD have not publicly ruled out an abduction, or indicated they believe Lisa is likely deceased. Although they heavily investigated the parents in the initial months of the investigation, KCPD have never publicly said they believe Lisa's parents know more about the night Lisa disappeared than they are sharing, as Waterville police have continually said about adults in Ayla's case.
Aliayah was reported missing by her mother, Lena Lunsford, on Sept. 24, 2011. She told police that Aliayah had been sick and she had checked on her at about 6:30am. She said she went back to check on her at around 9:30am, only to discover she was missing. Lena Lunsford was jailed three times on unrelated charges in the two years following her daughter's disappearance. Six months into the investigation, the
FBI held a news conference. At that time, Agent John Hambrick did not say whether or not they believed Aliayah was still alive, did not say what they believed happened to her, and also did not name a suspect. When asked about persons of interest, he said: "It's a small universe." He did say investigators had ruled out an intruder as the cause of her disappearance. "The initial concerns of somebody slipping in and taking Aliayah -- a break-in -- we found no evidence of that." Aliayah has never been found. The FBI remained tight lipped about the investigation for years afterwards. In late 2016,
Lena Lunsford was charged with death of a child by a parent by child abuse, murder of a child by parent by failure to provide necessities, and child abuse resulting in injury and concealment of a dead human body. She is awaiting trial.
I didn't follow Aliayah's case closely, but from what I can tell from reviewing news reports, the FBI was very quiet about the investigation from early on up until Lena's arrest. Police in Lisa's case have been similarly quiet, but again, have not publicly ruled out an abduction, as was the case for Aliayah. For the FBI, 6 months in, to publicly rule out someone coming into the home and taking Aliayah, and having previously ruled out her walking out on her own - that essentially left only one option for what police suspected, which was confirmed when Lena was arrested. Obviously, a big difference between the cases is Lisa's mother has not been arrested for the death of her child. Personally, taking into account what is publicly known at this time, I think it is unlikely Lisa's mother will be arrested on charges related to her disappearance.
What do you make of what police have and have not publicly stated in Lisa's case? What other comparable cases are there?
