CASEY CROWDER - 17yr Arkansas missing since 8/27/2006(BODY FOUND)

[klaasend]

FBI Joins Search for Missing Arkansas Teen

Friday , September 01, 2006
 
DUMAS, Ark. — Officials in Desha County intensified the search for a missing Pine Bluff girl Friday, bringing in more people to scour the area where she was last seen: along a busy highway after running out of gasoline last weekend.

Desha County Sheriff-elect Jim Snyder said contrary to some reports, the search for 17-year-old Casey Crowder, a senior at Watson Chapel High School, was not scaled back.

"We have not scaled anything back," Snyder said. "Today has actually been one of our busiest days."

Desha County Sheriff Don Smith on Thursday had said the search would be scaled back.

Snyder said the ground and air search was expanded Friday, and several people were out on horseback and walking roads, ditches and canals hoping to find any evidence that Crowder was in the area.

Crowder, traveling back from a friend's house in Pickens on Sunday morning, telephoned her mother to say she had run out of gas and would walk to a gas station. She was never heard from again.

Snyder called the search Friday "relatively unproductive," but said officials will continue looking.

"We're getting leads, now that this has gone national, and we're following every lead we can," Snyder said. "We will continue to do so."

The FBI also has joined investigators in looking for Crowder.

Crowder's car was found earlier this week along U.S. 65 south of Dumas, with her purse and cell phone gone but a softball bat and glove left behind. The car was out of gas, and its emergency flashers apparently had run the battery down.

Smith said volunteers searched farmland north and east of Dumas on Thursday before returning to an area they'd searched earlier this week. This includes a Pickens farm where Crowder's boyfriend lives.

"I think we've almost covered the Pickens plantation," Smith said. "We're running down every tip we get but so far we haven't found anybody who has seen or heard anything."

U.S. 65 is a major route, mostly two-lane, between Little Rock and Natchez, Miss.

Crowder has blonde hair, green eyes, is 5-1 and weighs about 105 pounds. She also has a pierced navel.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211670,00.html

http://www.nvfc.us/content/view/3181/2/

CASEY CROWDER  
DOB:  Feb 24, 1989
Missing:  Aug 27, 2006
Height:  5'1" (155 cm)
Eyes:  Green
Race:  White
 Age Now:  17
Sex:  Female
Weight:  Unknown
Hair:  Blonde  
Missing From:
PICKENS
AR
United States  
Casey was last known to be on Highway 65 near Dumas, Arkansas, the morning of August 27, 2006. She called a relative and said her car ran out of gas. The car has been located, but Casey has not been heard from since. Casey's navel is pierced.

[Jacqueline]

Thanks for posting this Klaas.

I caught the tail end of this story but did not get to see much.

[Red]

A Morgan Nick Amber Alert was issued Monday for 17-year-old Casey Crowder



http://missingexploited.com/2006/08/31/a-morgan-nick-amber-alert-was-issued-monday-for-17-year-old-casey-crowder/

Story, Amber Alert and many updates in this post.

[yapperz1]

Police just announced they have found a body within the search area. They have not confirmed identity.

[Jacqueline]

Breaking News: Body Found in Dumas

Posted on 9/2/2006 7:17:26 PM
by Nicole Holt

Desha County Sheriff Jim Snyder has confirmed that a female body has been found in a rural area of Dumas.

FOX 16 News independently confirmed that the victim was found around 3:30 this afternoon, none of the girls personal belongings were with her.

FOX 16 News is still waiting on a positive ID of the girl. A FOX16 news crew is on the scene.

Authorities in Desha County have been looking for 17 year old Casey Crowder. State police say Crowder was last seen early Sunday morning. She was leaving Pine Bluff to go to Dumas and reportedly ran out of gas on Highway 65 in Dumas. Police say her car was found, but no one's heard from her since.

[Jacqueline]

state police confirm:
Body found is Crowder.

They do not believe she ever made it to the gas station.

Between the car and the gas station, is where the police believe something happened.

[Jacqueline]

state police confirm:
Body found is Crowder.

They do not believe she ever made it to the gas station.

Between the car and the gas station, is where the police believe something happened.

Update:

I posted this from Fox News, as they had stated the police had confirmed this is Crowder.
However after they stated that, Kimberly Gilfoyle interviewed the sherrif, he said that there has been no positive identfication, but they believe that this is indeed the missing woman.

[Jacqueline]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211956,00.html

[Jacqueline]

Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:48 AM CDT

Patty Wooten/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

 
 
The body of a young female found in rural Desha County on Saturday afternoon has been identified as Casey Crowder, a 17-year-old Pine Bluff girl who has been missing since Aug. 27.

Tenth Judicial District Prosecutor Thomas Deen said the state medical examiner identified the body through dental records.

“It just confirms what we already believed to be the case,” Deen said.

He declined to comment on the specific manner or cause of the girl’s death until he receives the medical examiner’s written report, except to say it was a homicide.

Police are currently interviewing “persons of interest” and are asking witnesses who may have seen Casey in a late-model white Chevrolet pickup between 5 a.m. and noon on Aug. 27 to call the Southeast Arkansas Law Enforcement Center at (870) 382-6212. The truck has distinctive graphics running the length of the truck.

Casey, a senior at Watson Chapel High School, disappeared during the early morning hours of Aug. 27 after her vehicle ran out of gas on U.S. 65 at Dumas. She was returning home to Pine Bluff from her boyfriend’s home at Pickens, according to police.

Police said Casey phoned her mother at 5:47 a.m. to tell her she was on her way home. She placed a second call to her mother at 6:08 a.m. saying she had run out of gas and she would call a friend for help.

That was the last time anyone spoke with the blond-haired, green-eyed Pine Bluff girl, though she did call and leave a message for her boyfriend’s brother, asking him to tell her boyfriend she needed him to bring her some gas, according to Desha County Sheriff Don Smith.

Smith said the boyfriend’s brother had left his cell phone at home and didn’t get the message until he returned from work the afternoon of Aug. 27.

Casey’s vehicle was found on the highway within walking distance of a gas station. According to police, the gas tank was empty. Her purse and cell phone were gone, but a softball bat and glove were in the vehicle.

[Carnut]

Beginning to like a pretty lousy world when young ladies aren't safe to run out of gas and go for help.

[Carnut]

aaah, 'beginning to look like'.

[Jacqueline]

DUMAS, Ark. Desha County officials say they have a suspect in the death of 17-year-old Pine Bluff girl Casey Crowder.

Sheriff-elect Jim Snyder told television station KLRT Tuesday that a suspect has been interviewed.

"We do have a suspect," Snyder told the station. "There's no arrest that's been made at this time."

[klaasend]

"Person of Interest" in Crowder Case
( Air Date: 9/6/2006 )
The Desha County Sheriff`s Department says they have a person of interest in the case of a 17 year old Casey Crowder.
His name is not being released, but Sheriff Elect Jim Snyder says his the owner of a white Chevy Silverado which was named a suspect vehicle on Wednesday.
Snyder adds he is from Southeast Arkansas and is not in custody.
Snyder says he was interviewed multiple times after he was stopped at a roadblock on Sunday.

http://www.kark.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=7429

[Jacqueline]

PERSON OF INTEREST’ QUESTIONED IN CROWDER CASE


By Patty Wooten/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, September 7, 2006 9:44 AM CDT

Police say they don’t know if a man who has been questioned in connection with the death of Casey Crowder knew the 17-year-old Pine Bluff girl.
 
 
“We don’t know if he knew her or not,” said Desha County Sheriff-elect Jim Snyder. “We’re treating it as ‘time and opportunity.’”

The man, a Southeast Arkansas resident, owns a white Chevrolet pickup truck police stopped Sunday during a roadblock on U.S. 65 in the area where Casey’s abandoned vehicle was found the previous Sunday.

“The owner of that vehicle is a ‘person of interest,’” Snyder said. “We’ve interviewed him several times. He’s not in custody. We have other leads we’re following.”

Casey’s vehicle ran out of gas on U.S. 65 around 6 a.m. Aug. 27, as she was returning home to Pine Bluff from her boyfriend’s home at Pickens, a small farming community south of Dumas.

“It was just the perfect time of day and opportunity,” Snyder said, referring to the lack of traffic during the early morning hours on Sundays.

The man’s vehicle is currently being processed at the state Crime Lab.

Police won’t say why this particular truck is of any more interest than any other vehicle stopped at the roadblock.

Casey, who had just began her senior year at Watson Chapel High School, was a “spunky tomboy,” who loved to fish and hunt, according to her mother, Melinda Crowder.

She played softball, sang in the school choir, and was active member of her church’s youth program.

While authorities have confirmed that Casey’s death was a homicide, they remain tight-lipped about the manner in which she died.

“I respectfully decline to disclose it other than it was homicide,” said 10th Judicial District Prosecutor Thomas Deen.

“I feel very circumspect about what should be released at this point in the investigation,” he said. “I expect to try this case in front of a jury one day and I don’t want anything I, or law enforcement officers, have said to prejudice that trial.”

Memorial services for Casey Crowder will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at First Christian Church at Pine Bluff. Burial will be private.

[Jacqueline]

Snyder says he’s asked the crime lab to speed up test results and hopes for charges in the case next week. No suspect has been named.


Clippped from news article on Casey Crowder.

Over 1000 mourners attended her funeral service.

Rest in Peace, Casey.

[Jacqueline]

State News

Sheriff's office says arrest could come soon in Crowder case

Sunday, September 10, 2006 12:46 PM CDT

PINE BLUFF, Ark. - Desha County authorities say they're awaiting results of DNA tests to try to find out who killed a Pine Bluff teen who disappeared near Dumas.

 
 
"We're at a point of an arrest," sheriff-elect Jim Snyder said Saturday. "We're looking at a southeast Arkansan."

More than 600 people gathered in Pine Bluff on Saturday for a memorial service for Casey Crowder, 17, who disappeared Aug. 27. Crowder had been visiting her boyfriend at Pickens before running out of gas on U.S. 65. Her body was found Sept. 2 in woods east of Dumas, about six miles from where the Crowders found her car the day after she called home.

"Today, we are here to find comfort," the Rev. Delores Stroud told the crowd, gathered in two auditoriums. "Most of those things are out of our reach for the moment."

Snyder said he plans to meet with prosecutors this week to discuss an arrest.

"We do have a person of interest," he said, refusing to disclose further details.

Crowder was a senior at Watson Chapel High School. Her vehicle was found on the highway within walking distance of a gas station. According to police, the gas tank was empty. Her purse and cell phone were gone but a softball bat and glove were in the car.

Searchers including a number of volunteers and officers from other law enforcement agencies spent six days looking for Crowder before finding the body.

David White, a friend speaking on behalf of the Crowder family, said the Crowders are anxious for an arrest.

"There was some closure," White said. "We're not standing here today wondering where she is and if she's hurt. I don't know if you ever have total closure on something like this."

Snyder said the investigation has taken its toll on some officials, and that many are taking a personal interest in the case.

"Its an unusual thing _ a hurting thing that even older policemen, even veteran policemen are taking very seriously," Snyder said.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

Print this story   |   Email this story

[Jacqueline]

News

LAB DONE PROCESSING TRUCK LINKED TO CASEY CROWDER CASE
By Patty Wooten/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, September 14, 2006 11:15 PM CDT

The state Crime Lab has completed the processing and testing of a “vehicle of interest” in the Casey Crowder abduction and murder case, according to Desha County Sheriff-elect Jim Snyder.

 
 
“We released (the vehicle) to the family this afternoon,” Snyder said Thursday evening. “The crime lab is finished with it and we’re waiting for the report.”

Snyder said he doesn’t know if the crime lab found any evidence that would link the white Chevrolet pickup truck to the 17-year-old Pine Bluff girl. Casey disappeared during the early morning hours of Aug. 27 after running out of gas on U.S. 65 at Dumas while returning home to Pine Bluff from her boyfriend’s house at Pickens.

“We won’t know until we get the final report and they said it would be next week,” Snyder said.

He declined to identify the owner of the vehicle, but did say it belonged to a Southeast Arkansas man.

Casey’s body was found in a wooded area in eastern Desha County on Sept. 2, six days after she disappeared.

Snyder said police are still following leads in the case.

“We’re following leads every day,” Snyder said. “Most are turning out to be dead ends but now and then we’ll get a lead that is beneficial to us.”

Asked if any of those leads involve a party Casey reportedly attended the night before she disappeared, Snyder said police do have information that she attended a party but it was a brief visit.

“She picked her boyfriend up and after a short stay, left,” Snyder said. “I do believe that to be the case.”

Snyder said police believe they may know why Casey was killed but declined to disclose the possible motive.

“We don’t have anything in stone as to why this abduction and murder took place, but we think we know,” he said.

[Jennifer34]

I wonder what makes them think they know?

[mrs. red]

Me too... Jennifer, that's interesting.

[Jacqueline]

Me too... Jennifer, that's interesting.

I'm thinking...

Someone talked.