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Author Topic: Jodi Parrack-found dead - 11 - Michigan !!ANOTHER DEAD CHILD!!  (Read 15453 times)
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Nut44x4
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« Reply #20 on: August 11, 2009, 03:19:06 PM »

Kalamazoo Gazette (Michigan) 
August 11, 2009 Tuesday   
 
UNSOLVED CONSTANTINE CASE
Girl's murder gnaws at new police chief

Former state police detective studies file on Jodi Parrack, 11

CONSTANTINE -- As he toils each day in his little office, the eyes of a young girl with flowing blonde hair gaze from a bumper sticker Jim Bedell keeps propped on his cluttered desk.

Jodi Parrack's smile beams from the decal and, Bedell said, reminds him of the pledge he made in June when he became Constantine's new police chief: He is determined to find the 11-year-old's killer.

"My main priority is to work that case," said Bedell, 65, who retired in 1999 as a detective sergeant after 25 years with the Michigan State Police. "I work on it every opportunity I have ... I just don't want this thing to go cold, and it's not going to as long as I'm working here."

Jodi, a fifth-grader at Riverside Elementary in the St. Joseph County town of Constantine, left a friend's house in the 100 block of East Third Street at about 4:45 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2007. She was last seen riding a silver Mongoose bicycle near East Third and South Washington Street wearing a black sweater over a black T-shirt, jeans and black tennis shoes.

Jodi's mother, Valerie Carver, reported her missing at about 7 that night after Jodi failed to return home by 5:30 p.m. Police said Carver was with friends searching for her daughter at about 10:30 p.m. when they found Jodi dead in the Constantine Township Cemetery. Her bike was found nearby.

Jodi's death was ruled a homicide, but the cause of her death has not been disclosed.

Bedell is a former state police investigator who ran his own private investigation business for nine years after his retirement.

The case caught his attention the first day it was reported. Now, as the village's top cop, he said his "No. 1 priority" is investigating the homicide and making an arrest.

It's a task the small-town chief says he's gladly taking. His officers are busy dealing with daily reports and calls for service and, while the agencies still provide assistance, investigators from the state police, St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office and the FBI have had to move on to other investigations.

"They've done a very good job investigating it, and I'm no miracle worker," Bedell said. "The only difference is now I can make it a priority ... I'm not going to forget about her. I just feel like I'm getting close."

Bedell said he spends at least two hours each day reviewing the thousands of pages in the case file, doing research and tracking down information on tips. He said police had received 766 tips in the case as of Monday, which includes 40 tips that still need to be followed up. About seven new tips have been received since Bedell started the job, including one from a person who contacted police this past weekend.

"Any homicide is a horrible crime, but when it's an innocent child ... it is a tough one to handle and to think that person is still out there and can do it again," the chief said.

Beneath Bedell's calm, warm demeanor is a confidence that he will solve the case. He said police have collected hundreds of DNA samples as part of their investigation, including two he submitted for analysis just two weeks ago to a state police lab.

He declined Monday to comment when asked whether police have suspects in Jodi's killing, but did say he has "some good leads."

"We just haven't run across that one right clue," Bedell said. "But we're going to ... We're going to get this guy." 
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1021072488&start=1
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« Reply #21 on: November 08, 2010, 08:10:42 AM »

Police increase efforts to find Constantine girl's killer
Michigan State Police join investigation of Jodi Parrack's death
11.8.10

CONSTANTINE— It was a crime that shocked the small village of Constantine. Jodi Parrack, 11, left a friend’s house on her bike and never made it home. Her body was found in a nearby cemetery that night. Three years after Parrack’s death, her killer has still not been found.

Instead of giving up on the investigation, police are putting forth more effort to solve the crime.

“I’m determined to find this person,” said Jim Bedell, the Constantine police chief.  “An 11-year-old girl, it’s just not right. I have an 11-year-old granddaughter and I just can’t imagine anybody doing that.”

Chief Bedell said he lives and sleeps the case.

“I dream about it. Geez, it’s just consumed me,” he said.

He started investigating Parrack’s murder as soon as he became chief of police in June of 2009. Her pictures hang on his office walls, and every week he investigates new tips. Still, he has not been able to track down her killer.

“Unfortunately, we're not much more ahead then we were,” Bedell said.

The Constantine Police Department has a staff of 10. He is the only one with time to work the case, and recently decided to ask the Michigan State Police for assistance with the investigation. Two trooper investigators will be assigned to the case starting in January.

“I'm confident this case can be solved, which is why we're here to help,” said Lt. Chuck Christensen, Michigan State Police.

Chief Bedell believes with their help, Parrack’s killer will be found, giving her family and the community great relief.

“I'm sure we're going to solve this, I’m very confident we are,” Bedell said.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-police-increase-efforts-to-fin-110810,0,3503454.story
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Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware/Of giving your heart to a dog to tear  -- Rudyard Kipling

One who doesn't trust is never deceived...

'I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind' -Edgar Allen Poe
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