Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10 missing 7/13/12 Evansdale, IA

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/14/iowa-mom-says-thinks-daughter-cousin-abducted-after-bikes-found-abandoned/



Iowa mom says she thinks daughter, cousin abducted after bikes found abandoned

Published July 14, 2012

Associated Press

EVANSDALE, Iowa –  The mother of a missing eastern Iowa girl says she believes the 10-year-old and her 8-year-old cousin were abducted.

Misty Cook Morrissey told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier Saturday that it's out of character for her daughter, Lyric Cook, to wander too far from home. The girl often stays at the home of her younger cousin, Elizabeth Collins, in Evansdale while her mother works.

The girls were last seen shortly after noon on Friday in downtown Evansdale. Their bikes were located along a trail on the southeast corner of Meyers Lake. Investigators say they have found no other traces of the girls.
 ::snipping2::


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/14/iowa-mom-says-thinks-daughter-cousin-abducted-after-bikes-found-abandoned/#ixzz20eJA7rjj
Edit to fix typo in subject line from IO to IA, in replies 1 -22.  MB

[klaasend]

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/07/14/search-for-2-missing-eastern-iowa-girls-continues/




2 eastern Iowa girls now missing for over 30 hours
6:52 PM, Jul 14, 2012 | by Emily Schettler

EVANSDALE, Ia. – Authorities continued to search Saturday evening for two eastern Iowa girls police say haven’t been seen since Friday afternoon.

The hunt for cousins Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, swelled Saturday to include more than 400 volunteers, and the FBI and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Rick Abben, chief deputy sheriff for Black Hawk County, said the girls were last seen by their grandmother when the two left her Evansdale home at about 12:15 p.m. Friday to ride their bicycles.

The girls’ grandmother notified police two hours later when they hadn’t returned. A firefighter located their bikes close to nearby Meyers Lake at about 4 p.m. Friday.

Abben said no other signs of the girls have turned up, despite an extensive ground and aerial search.

The volunteer search has been suspended for the day, though law enforcement officials will continue to work through the night, Abben said.

The main focus at this time is to finish dragging Meyers Lake, he said.

If nothing new is found, crews likely will conduct a more thorough search of other area bodies of water and extend the ground search.
 ::snipping2::

[klaasend]

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/2-girls-missing-near-Iowa-lake/-/9357080/15517598/-/nerj95/-/index.html


2 girls missing near Iowa lake
Bicycles found near trial
UPDATED 12:06 PM CDT Jul 14, 2012



EVANSDALE, Iowa -

Two young girls last seen Friday around noon were still missing Saturday morning.

Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyrica Morrisey, 11, were last seen riding their bicycles in Evansdale, Iowa.  Their bicycles were later found along the bike trial at Myer's Lake.

 ::snipping2::

[cookie]

Praying that these little girls are found safe.maybe they are lost in the woods? Please let it be so....

[labubske]

I am sending prayers for you Elizabeth and Lyric.  I pray that you are simply lost and someone will be finding you two real soon.  God Bless.

[labubske]

Lyric has an innocent little FB...full of the aquarium game I really hope that they are okay.

[KittyMom]

Is this lake being searched and have dogs been used?

[KittyMom]

http://www.winneshiekwild.com/recreation-trails

Myers Lake Recreation Trails


map of trail
http://www.winneshiekwild.com/images/pdfs/pfrt%20brochure.pdf

[tupelohoney]

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/Search-continues-for-missing-girls/-/9357080/15517598/-/scies8z/-/index.html

Search continues for missing girls
Bicycles found near trial
UPDATED 7:23 AM CDT Jul 15, 2012

 ::snipping2::

Evansdale police and fire chief Kent Smock said authorities still view it as a missing-person case, but he isn't ruling out the possibility that the girls were abducted.

 ::snipping2::

See VIDEO at link

[tupelohoney]

Hat tip to Hollye from WS for this map

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=218199748434644937742.0004c4d3e1a9fb56b4658&msa=0&ll=42.47944,-92.362061&spn=0.204844,0.308647&iwloc=0004c4d406effc9c7306f

[Red]

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2012/07/15/8-year-old-elizabeth-collins-her-cousin-10-year-old-lyric-cook-missing-since-71312-in-evansdale-iowa/

Seems a bit odd that both would go missing. Usually an abductor targets only one person not two, but anything is possible these days. I wonder if there was any cameras in buildings, banks, etc that may have caught them on tape riding from town to the lake?

Officials have drug about 40 percent of the lake in their search for the girls. It could take into Monday to complete the search.
 
Meyers Lake is about 20 yards from Interstate Highway 380, providing easy access to the lake and bike trail, Abben said at the press conference.
 
Law enforcement officials are interviewing family and friends as well as registered sex offenders who live in the area.
 
Officials said that on Saturday about 40 percent of Meyers Lake was dragged and searched. It could take through part of Monday for the entire lake to be completely searched.

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/07/15/families-hold-out-hope-for-two-missing-iowa-girls/

[tupelohoney]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/update-clock-ticks-away-as-search-continues-for-two-missing/article_18411a90-cd32-11e1-a656-0019bb2963f4.html

UPDATE: Search for missing girls in Evansdale enters third day
Posted: Sunday, July 15, 2012 11:45 am

EVANSDALE, Iowa --- Search parties headed out at about 8 a.m. today to help find two girls that went missing in Evansdale Friday afternoon.
Now in the third day of the search, family and authorities aren’t giving out hope that Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, of Waterloo and her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins of Evansdale will be found.

More than 200 volunteers and emergency workers gathered at the Evansdale Community Response Center this morning.
About 400 people looked for the girls Saturday, and authorities expect even more today.
::snipping2::

 ::snipping2::
During a 9 a.m. press conference, Capt. Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department said the whereabouts of the girls is still a mystery.
Despite almost three days of searching the lake, nearby wooded areas, homes and corn fields, no credible clues have been found.

“For a lack of a better word, it’s just like they vanished. There’s just nothing,” Abben said.

Authorities say the main focus of the search is still Meyers Lake and the surrounding area since that’s where the bikes were found. Abben said 40 percent of the lake has been dragged as of this morning.

Divers assisted in the search. Evansdale, Waterloo and La Porte City fire boats will continue dragging the lake until finished, which will probably be sometime Monday, Abben said.

The ground search was expanded today. Searchers will cover the same ground as before, but more of the city and neighboring communities and rural subdivisions, like the RayMar addition, will be scoured. That includes all wooded areas, other small lakes, farm fields and the Cedar River.

Abben said it’s still considered a missing-persons case, but authorities haven’t ruled out the children were abducted as their parents believe.
Law enforcement continues to interview the family, friends of the family and other children. They are contacting registered sex offenders in the area as to their whereabouts on Friday.

“We’re grasping at straws too to take every avenue we can,” Abben said.

Shortly after 8 a.m., six search parties — ranging from 10 to 60 people — left in school busses. Many people on all-terrain-vehicles are also out.
Heather and Drew Collins, Elizabeth’s parents, said they’ll never give up hope their daughter will be found despite the lack of clues. They hope the rest of the Cedar Valley doesn’t as well.

“Just don’t give up or lose faith. Just keep looking for them,” Heather said. “It’s not if we will find them, there’s no ifs.”

“In all honesty, (hope) is all we have left,” Drew added. “God will bring them home.”

The couple, along with Heather’s sister, Misty Cook-Morrissey, Lyric’s mother, remain blown away by the support of the community and law enforcement.
Misty is confident that the search will be successful.

“I still believe good things will happen today,” she said
.
Authorities are asking anyone that was on the bike trail Friday to call the Tip Line, (319) 232-6682. It’s manned 24 hours.

A few tips have been received but none have panned out, Abben said.

“Anybody who has seen anything about these two girls we want to be notified,” Abben said. “Law enforcement is working this 24/7.”
An anonymous person has offered a $5,000 reward that leads to information that results in Lyric and Elizabeth being located.

[Blink34]

If this is an abduction, and it may be based on my brief review- they are focusing efforts in the wrong place to catch a possible offender, imo.

Based on the location where they were last seen, and that their bikes are found together nearly 2 miles away off the trail next to an ungated area, etc...

http://blinkoncrime.com/2012/07/15/search-intensifies-for-missing-iowa-girls-lyric-cook-11-and-elizabeth-collins-8-after-30-hours/

Update From Blink:  Having had an opportunity to review the map of the last known location, their are two areas of great immediate concern I am focused on.

1. The area where they were last seen on their bikes is next to a safety shoe ( think workboot) store, and adjacent to the rear or parking area of a bar at lunchtime on a Friday and likely a payday.  Lefty’s Lounge is also a truck stop.  This location is just a few blocks from the Grandmother’s residence and some areas of it can be seen from the home if one was standing outside.   The residence also appears to be the office of Planetary Tree Services, unclear if employees report directly for the day’s jobs but the map reflects what could be utility trucks used for tree cutting.   It is not uncommon for some day laborors

2. The girls bikes and bag/cell phone are located together, in an area approximately 2 miles from the area where they were last seen.   Their are no bike trails on the roadway and only heavy traffic “highway” leading straight to the lake,  alternative routes through the neighborhood are possible,  but then they likely would have been seen.

The girls apparently rode bike s close to home frequently with no report of wandering off and the mother’s first reaction upon hearing the bike’s locations were that the girls were abducted.   That tells me that she is reasonably certain that the children would not chosen the lake as a bike riding destination as it is a natural tendency for a parent to want to NOT believe a child has been abducted as a first “option”.  She also has knowledge about what time the grandmother began calling the girls with no answer,  and the call to police came at 2.    Were they sent for anything from a store?

I would recommend that the neighborhood closest to the home be canvassed and each shop at the strip mall be visited for customers and employee timecards be reviewed with specific emphasis on any surveillance footage, traffic cams and of course, Lefty’s Lounge logs, immediately.  Close attention should be paid to anyone leaving any of the merchants between 12:15 PM and 1:15PM abruptly,  anyone leaving a shift early, or anyone taking their break out of turn, etc.

This is an incredibly tight window of time for an abduction of two , if it is one,   the bikes are found near an unfenced section directly on the other side of Route 20 with no evidence of foul play.  The trail itself is paved and very visible from the road.

[tupelohoney]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/evansdale-police-search-for-two-missing-girls/article_18411a90-cd32-11e1-a656-0019bb2963f4.html

Donations roll in for volunteers


12:45 p.m. Sunday (July 15,2012) - EVANSDALE, Iowa --- Area residents and businesses are making sure hundreds of volunteers and emergency workers searching for two missing girls are well fed and stay hydrated.

Donations of water, sports drinks, food and ice are constantly arriving at the Evansdale Community Response Center. The police and fire station, located at 911 S. Evans Road, is ground zero in the attempt to locate 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey of Waterloo and her 8-year-old cousin, Elizabeth Collins, of Evansdale.

The children were last seen at about 12:15 p.m. Friday near downtown Evansdale riding their bikes. Their bicycles were found about four hours later on the southeast corner of Meyers Lake along the bike trail.

Family, friends, volunteers and emergency workers from throughout Northeast Iowa have been looking for the girls almost nonstop since Friday afternoon. No clues to their whereabouts have been found.

Supplies to aid the search have poured in. Some arrive by the truckload, while other concerned residents bring just a few bags of chips or ice.
At about 9:30 a.m. today, a representative from Kwik Trip Inc, a convenience store chain based in La Crosse, Wis., called food coordinators to say a semi from the company containing several pallets of food and goods — 1,000 hamburgers, 1,000 hot dogs, buns, fruit, bananas, etc. — would arrive later this afternoon.

The gesture, along with the generosity of others, brought Marlene Schaefer to tears.

“It’s just the kindness,” she said, while sobbing and wiping her eyes.

Beth Kamp of Cedar Falls is coordinating the food and drink effort. Her 14-year-old son, Hunter Dally, along with about eight others are assisting. Schaefer is in that group.

Kamp arrived early Saturday morning to drop off some water and volunteer. Officials asked if she wanted to be in charge of food and drink donations and feeding people. She didn’t think twice about accepting.

Kamp said people and businesses don’t hesitate to donate when asked, and goods just show up. Her and her son were out soliciting donations until 10 p.m. Saturday.

“At least right now, (supplies) are good. But things go fast,” she said, urging others to donate because its unknown how long the search will last.

The biggest need is for prepackaged food, like snacks, to keep searchers fed, Kamp said. Water and meat isn’t an issue at this time.

Pallet after pallet of bottled water has arrived since Friday afternoon. Local Casey’s General Stores and Papa Johns have donated hundreds of pizzas. Area Subway stores sent sandwiches. Fareway stores have sent deli meats and bread.

Panera Bread donated hundreds of bagels, Hy-Vee stores donated about 400 hot dogs and buns and other supplies. The list of donors is too extensive to name them all, Kamp said.

Food volunteer April Schultz of Evansdale is overwhelmed by the community response.
“It just shows amazing things (occur),” she said. “People will come together at a time like this.”




Link for Twitter Updates....    http://wcfcourier.com/twitter-updates-hundreds-search-for/html_7502e29a-ce9a-11e1-80bf-0019bb2963f4.html

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/15/hundreds-search-around-iowa-lake-for-missing-girls/

Hundreds search around Iowa lake for missing girls

Published July 15, 2012

Hundreds of volunteers are searching around an Iowa lake for two girls who disappeared from the area, authorities say.

Cousins Lyric Cook, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, were last seen shortly after noon on Friday in downtown Evansdale. Their bikes were located along a trail on the southeast corner of Meyers Lake. Black Hawk County investigators say they have found no other traces of the girls.

Authorities say about 40 percent of the lake has been searched, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports. Investigators also are contacting registered sex offenders, the girls' family and friends of the family for possible clues.


 ::snipping2::

[tupelohoney]

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/07/15/families-hold-out-hope-for-two-missing-iowa-girls/

Families hold out hope for two missing Iowa girls
9:34 AM, Jul 15, 2012 | by Emily Schettler

[klaasend]

http://wcfcourier.com/twitter-updates-hundreds-search-for/html_7502e29a-ce9a-11e1-80bf-0019bb2963f4.html


Twitter updates: Hundreds search for missing girls in Evansdale

Posted: Sunday, July 15, 2012 11:30 am

Hundreds of volunteers and emergency workers are searching for two missing girls from Evansdale. Here's updates via Twitter on the search for Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins.


Three buses from the Waterloo Community School District are aiding volunteers in their search effort.
by Chris Essig - Courier via mobile 12:38 PM

Community Response Center on the corner of Gilbert and Evans in Evansdale has become the hub for volunteers to eat, rest and apply sunscreen.
by Chris Essig - Courier via mobile 12:34 PM

Correction. Spoke with missing girl's aunt. #evansdalesearch
by DaveFranzman via twitter 12:30 PM
Just spoke with missing girl's. Family fears abduction but no evidence. Older girl has had stranger danger talk. #evansdalesearch
by DaveFranzman via twitter 12:27 PM

Sun screen, bug spray and hand sanitizer for the hundreds of volunteers in Evansdale.
by Chris Essig - Courier via mobile 12:25 PM
Deputies say 50% of entire city of evansdale searched for girls. Searchers now spreading out farther. #evansdalesearch
by DaveFranzman via twitter 11:54 AM
On the scene with @eschettler in Evansdale. Hundreds of volunteers still scouring the town. Lake should be completely dragged by end of day.
by timeinch via twitter 11:52 AM
RT @DMRegister: Missing Evansdale girls: Follow presser updates from @eschettler and @timeinch. dmreg.co #evansdalesearch
by timeinch via twitter 11:47 AM
RT @kbolten: Read @eSchettler interview with moms of two missing northeast Iowa girls. dmreg.co
by timeinch via twitter 11:46 AM

Volunteers drag Meyer Lake while while the search continues for missing girls Lyric Morrisey, 11, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, both of Evansdale, Iowa on Sunday, July 15, 2012 in Evansdale, Iowa. (DAWN J. SAGERT / Courier Staff Photographer)
by Chris Essig - Courier 11:39 AM
Hopefully the raised award will turn up some clues if anyone knows ANYTHING! Praying harder!
by AmandaSmith8 11:38 AM
Press conference was very short...It is now over.
by Chris Essig - Courier 11:36 AM
Jane: Only real update is the reward has been boosted from $5,000 to $15,500. No other progress made in search.
by Chris Essig - Courier 11:36 AM
any updates with addressing media???
by Jane Foster 11:35 AM
No real new developments in search for missing girls. Reward now $15,500 for information#evansdalesearch
by DaveFranzman via twitter 11:33 AM
No progress in search...Authorities still looking for clues.
by Chris Essig - Courier 11:31 AM
Reward has been boosted from $5,000 to $15,500.
by Chris Essig - Courier 11:30 AM
From our reporter in Evansdale: 50% of Evansdale has been searched
by Chris Essig - Courier 11:29 AM
Capt. Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department is addressing the media right now
by Chris Essig - Courier 11:20 AM
Abben: 80% of Meyers Lake has been dragged. The Waterloo fire department will search the Cedar River again this afternoon. #evansdalesearch
by eSchettler via twitter 11:19 AM
Press briefing for missing evansdale girls starting soon#evansdalesearch
by DaveFranzman via twitter 11:11 AM
Black Hawk deputy Rick Abben should be updating media briefly on the search. More tents, tables for volunteers at station. #evansdalesearch
by eSchettler via twitter 11:01 AM
Search for missing evansdale girls has at least 650 volunteers. Press briefing at 1:00.
by DaveFranzman via twitter 10:54 AM

Volunteers search a wooded area near the Cedar River for signs of two missing girls. #Evansdalesearch p.twimg.com
by eSchettler via twitter 10:30 AM
If you have any information or photos to share, please post them in our chat
by Chris Essig - Courier 9:45 AM
The search continued at 8 a.m. today. To help go to the Evansdale Community Response Center @ 911 S. Evans Rd.
by Chris Essig - Courier 9:37 AM

Volunteers get instructions for their search. Many of the areas are wooded and conditions are hot. #evansdalesearch p.twimg.com


Read More: http://wcfcourier.com/twitter-updates-hundreds-search-for/html_7502e29a-ce9a-11e1-80bf-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz20ipQLWeg

[cookie]

Fingers crossed for these 2.....  I have a feeling they will be found ok...hope I am right

[tupelohoney]

https://twitter.com/DaveFranzman

Dave Franzman ‏@DaveFranzman
Next press briefing about missing girls set for 6pm. ‪#evansdalesearch‬  3m

[tupelohoney]

https://twitter.com/timeinch

Timothy M. Meinch ‏@timeinch
Incident Commander with Evansdale Fire Department said the entire city limits have been searched by foot, dog, plane and other means.  5m