Elizabeth Collins 8 and Lyric Cook 10
It is with profound sadness that I pass on this update.
The bodies of Elizabeth and Lyric have been positively identified.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/lyric-cook-morrissey-elizabeth-collins-found_n_2250043.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57561901-504083/lyric-cook-and-elizabeth-collins-case-iowa-cousins-death-details-kept-confidential-by-police/
Authorities draining lake in search for missing Iowa girls
ReplyDeletePublished July 17, 2012
Associated Press
EVANSDALE, Iowa – As authorities drained an Iowa lake Tuesday in the search for two young cousins, an officer walking the shoreline picked up an object near where the girls' bicycles were found four days earlier and placed it in an evidence bag.
Officials didn't identify the object or even confirm whether it was related to the search for Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, but it was a rare sign of activity in a massive search that so far has produced few significant leads.
Chief Deputy Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office said the case was still considered a missing persons investigation. The decision to drain the lake was made to rule out with 100 percent certainty that the girls are not in the water, he said. Once that's done, all resources can be used elsewhere.
At least 30 FBI investigators joined the search for the girls, who were last reported seen Friday afternoon leaving their grandmother's house in Evansdale. Their bicycles and Elizabeth's purse were found later that day near a bike trail at the edge of Meyers Lake.
Officers slowly paddled around the lake in kayaks on Tuesday morning. A group of three officers walking along the southeast shoreline stopped to study something. An officer with gloves and an evidence bag picked up an object and took it back to a patrol car sitting along the bank.
The area was just a few feet from where the girls' bicycles were found. The lake is less than a mile from downtown Evansdale, where their grandmother was baby-sitting.
The FBI worked with a team of human scent detecting dogs until around 11 p.m. Monday. But FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said Tuesday that investigators had removed the dogs the bureau had sent from Quantico, Va., after they failed to find either girl.
Breault said the search has been slowed because of the time required to drain the lake. The draining began Monday afternoon and could take up to three days. But local officials said the draining likely will go faster because of the already low level of the lake and the Cedar River into which it drains.
A massive sweep of the area that drew hundreds of volunteers over the weekend failed to find any evidence. Authorities previously dredged the lake and have been interviewing family, friends and registered sex offenders who live in the area.
Abben said Monday that local, state and federal officials have been "grasping for straws" in the search. A tip line turned up numerous reports of articles of clothing that had been found, but none belonged to the girls. He said it was as if they had just disappeared.
"It wouldn't be proper for me to stand here and tell you we have a theory, because we don't," he said. "We have two missing girls, and we have no idea why."
The FBI's Breault has said the agency was working to get photos of the missing girls onto more billboards and websites.
Lyric's mother described her daughter as a good swimmer, and Elizabeth's mother has said she didn't think the girls would stray far from home.
Elizabeth's parents haven't responded to calls from The Associated Press, and Lyric's family couldn't be reached to comment.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/17/fbi-dogs-join-search-for-missing-iowa-girls/
Authorities drain lake in search for missing Iowa girls
ReplyDeletePublished July 16, 2012
FoxNews.com
Authorities in Evansdale, Iowa, are draining an Iowa lake as they continue their search Monday for two missing cousins who disappeared and whose bicycles were found nearby. Authorities called off all volunteer search efforts after hundreds turned out to help over the weekend.
More than 350 volunteers helped search the area around Meyers Lake for 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins and her 10-year-old cousin, Lyric Cook-Morrissey. The cousins were last seen shortly after noon Friday.
Their bikes were found near Meyers Lake a few hours after they were reported missing. Investigators found Collins’ purse 25 feet away from her bike, the Des Moines Register reports, but no other belongings.
Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben says the draining of the nearly 5-acre lake began Monday and it could take up to three days. Officials believe it will go faster due to the low level of the lake and the Cedar River into which it drains.
Authorities had been dragging the lake and have been interviewing family, friends and registered sex offenders who live in the Evansdale area, but have no firm leads. Police are now searching door-to-door for leads.
“There’s nothing to indicate anything at this time other than that we have two missing girls,” Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Abben told the Des Moines Register.
Authorities told the newspaper that they believe the girls are not in the lake, but since no suspects or vehicles have been identified in connection to their disappearance, it’s still being treated as a missing persons case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/16/hundreds-to-resume-search-for-missing-iowa-girls-442532481/?intcmp=related#ixzz20u2eun1U
Scent dogs join search for missing Iowa girls
ReplyDeleteBy the CNN Wire Staff
updated 1:34 PM EDT, Tue July 17, 2012
Evansdale, Iowa (CNN) -- Searchers are using scent dogs as they look for any sign of two young girls who were last seen on Friday, riding their bikes near a lake in Evansdale, Iowa.
The FBI brought two dogs to the area Monday night, and the dogs may be used again on Tuesday, FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said.
The girls -- 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins and 10-year-old Lyric Cook -- were last seen by their grandmother on Friday when the two, who are cousins, left to go on a bike ride, authorities said.
The dogs used scent pad samples taken from the girls' shoes and did pick up a scent trail, but Breault couldn't say what, if anything, it led investigators to.
"We just want our girls home," Tammy Brousseau, an aunt to both girls, told CNN's "AC360." "We're bracing for the worst, but hoping for the best."...Meyers Lake is being drained as part of the effort to find the girls. Their bicycles were found near that lake hours after they were reported missing, and the sheriff's department said on its website that a purse belonging to one of the girls was found not far from the bikes.
It might take two to three days to drain the lake to a point where searchers will know if anyone is there, Deutsch said.
The search remains a missing persons case, authorities said...Agents from the FBI and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation joined the search on Saturday, authorities said.
Abben told reporters Monday there was no indication the girls were outside Evansdale, which is located about 12 miles southeast of Cedar Falls. Nor was there any indication of foul play, he said.
"It's like they vanished," he told CNN affiliate KWWL. "There's just nothing."
CNN's Martin Savidge, Tristan Smith and Leslie Tripp contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/us/iowa-missing-cousins/