Robert Manwill 8, missing 7/24/09 Boise, Idaho (BODY FOUND)

[A_News_Junkie_Monkey]

Where on this map is willis property?  Also, does the canal flow away from his property or area of town down to where the body was found? 

[pink angel]

1.) Apartment
2.) The house on Southdale
4.) Where little man was found
3.) The City of Kuna

If you jumped in at the canal about where the two is on the map, the flow would carry you down to where little man was found.

Hope that makes sense.

[pink angel]

Community response to Stockdale, Manwill

Updated 2 hours 40 minutes ago

A Middleton family the Treasure Valley got to know recently finds itself facing financial difficulties when the patriarch learns his insurance won't cover an expensive potential remedy to a terrible malady.

A young Boise boy is reported missing and there are no clues to his whereabouts.

Two different stories with very different outcomes. Yet two stories which also have one common thread that should make everybody who lives here glad they do.

Ryan Stockdale became well-known in the area in 2007 when his family was given a medically-sound house as part of the popular television series "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." His four children all suffer from a rare white blood cell disease.

We learned last month that Ryan has a rare form of headaches that occur constantly and are so severe they are often referred to as "suicide headaches." And when the public learned that the surgery required to treat the ailment was considered experimental and not covered by his insurance policy, they stepped up. In just 27 hours, a fund-raiser spearheaded by Nampa-based Impact Radio Group had already raised more than the $80,000 needed for the operation.

Late last month, the Boise Police Department asked the public's help in finding 8-year-old Robert Manwill, who had been reported missing the night before. Family members said he had left their home on foot and had not returned.

Volunteers were requested in the search, which went on for days. More than 2,000 people volunteered their time to comb the area in temperatures near 100 degrees.

For the Stockdales, the story had a happy ending. For Manwill's family, it was a tragic conclusion when the coroner tentatively identified the boy's body found in a canal near Kuna.

But for everyone else who lives in the Treasure Valley, the conclusion from both events was a positive affirmation that, even when times are tough, their neighbors are willing to step in and help.

What we should all get from these two stories is the inspiration to see what we can do — perhaps on a more modest, less-publicized scale in our own neighborhoods or even half a world away — to find someone who needs a helping hand and lend it to them.

We've already shown we can — and will — do it.
http://www.idahopress.com/sports/?2009-08-05-Community-response-to-Stockdale-Manwill

[pink angel]

Robert Manwill's body found in New York Canal

Posted: Aug 4, 2009 07:11 PM

Boise, Idaho -- Now that we know eight year old Robert Manwill has been found,  the next big step in this investigation is how did the little boy end up in the canal. The boy either accidently fell into the canal, jumped in,  or someone put him there.  So, if  the body went into the canal by his house on Vista - it would have travelled about 14 miles before it got to the south portion of Cloverdale Road.

  Project manager Paul Deveau is in charge of the New York Canal and says Robert's body could easily have travelled that far.   There is only one grate on the entire system, but it wasn't even down.  "If a body goes in the canal in Boise, somewhere between Gowen Road, that's considered Boise, and we figure at least a week before the body gets down here, sometimes it'll take two weeks," said Paul Deveau, Boise Project Board of Control.

  It's also possible he went in closer to the spot where he was found. What detectives will try to figure out now, is did the little boy jump in, fall in, or did somebody kill him before he was even in the water.  As we first reported, police last week eliminated the canal as an area to search for Robert.  No word from police, as to why the canal was eliminated as a possible location for the boy.

Reported by: Mike Vogal

http://www.fox12idaho.com/Global/story.asp?S=10848412&nav=menu439_2_1

[pink angel]

Body tentatively identified as Robert Manwill
Story Published: Aug 4, 2009 at 11:20 PM MDT
Story Updated: Aug 4, 2009 at 11:20 PM MDT
By Eyewitness News

BOISE - After 11 days of searching for missing 8-year old Robert Manwill, authorities say his body has been found. The Ada County Coroner's Office is tentatively identifying the body pulled from the New York Canal in Boise Monday as Robert.

While the search may be over, people say their support isn't. They've opened their homes and let this little boy into their hearts.

"She heard Robert's favorite color was green and she wanted her stuff animal to keep him safe," says neighbor, Shelly Bingham.

For 11 days, these neighbors, friends, and family members of missing Robert have remained hopeful he would come home.

"I have an 8-year old daughter and I can't imagine if something happened to her. I can't imagine how the family is feeling," says Shelly Cornford, another neighbor.

That's what makes hearing the latest news...

"... tentative identification made of body found in New York Canal as that of Robert Manwill," says Deputy Police Chief, Jim Kerns.

... so hard.

"It's just sad. Just want his family to know that we pray for him and that we all support them," adds Dotty Levasseur.

The Ada County Coroner says dental records are being evaluated to make a positive identification, but Tuesday, during a press conference, Boise Police said finding Robert is now only the beginning of the investigation into exactly what happened to the little boy.

"Our priority remains finding answers for Robert's family and this community," adds Chief Kerns.

While police ask for patience in this case, they also ask people to continue to keep Robert and his family in their hearts. A request many here say they're listening to.

"Asking God to please watch over him and to make sure that he has a golden seat right next to God, because he didn't deserve what he got," says Bingham.

Eyewitness News has learned the Boise community is planning a vigil for Robert this Friday night.

http://www.kidk.com/news/local/52484967.html
video also @ the link

[pink angel]

Who was the last to see Robert Manwill alive?
A 7-year-old neighbor girl says she sat on the swings with him on the playground the night he disappeared.

BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: © 2009 Idaho Statesman
Published: 08/05/09

Much about Robert Manwill's disappearance remains a mystery.

The 8-year-old was reported missing shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday, July 24, according to Boise police.

But when was he last seen alive by family or others?

Police quickly backed away from their early reports of 7 to 9 p.m. They originally said both family members and others saw Robert during that time at the Boise apartment complex where Robert's mother, Melissa Jenkins, and her boyfriend, Daniel Ehrlick Jr., live.

But one person says she is certain she saw him that night.

Kimberlly Davidson, 7, who lives with her parents at the Oak Park Village apartments off Vista Avenue in Boise, said she was with Robert on the playground next to the pool, which has apartments overlooking it on three sides.

"I was on the green swing, and he was on the red swing," she told the Statesman.

At some point, Kimberlly said, Robert jumped off to play on a playground motorcycle, next to the swings, then soon after went up to his mom's apartment. She went to her own family's apartment.

Kimberlly's parents say they believe she came inside at about 7:30 p.m. - around the same time as their other kids changed and went down to the pool to go swimming. The pool was filled with kids that night, they said.

When Robert was reported missing at about 10 p.m., word spread quickly around the apartment complex. That night, Kimberlly told her dad that she had been playing with Robert earlier.

"She gave me a very vivid description," Jim Davidson said.

He and wife, Kandi, say their daughter would not confuse Robert with another boy. Jim Davidson said some friends confirmed they, too, saw Kimberlly and Robert on the playground.

A resident in the building who did not want to be identified said Ehrlick Jr. told her that Robert was in the hot tub and pool the night he went missing. She said he told her a heavy-set couple, including a man with a mustache, had invited the boy to a birthday party, and he'd gone to ask Ehrlick Jr. for permission several times.

But the Davidsons said no one saw the boy in the hot tub or pool.

Police initially said the boy may have been wanting to go to a party, but then stepped back, saying that might not be true. They did the same on an early report that Robert was last seen at the playground.

AFTER HE WAS GONE

As soon as the Davidson family heard Robert was missing that Friday night, they grabbed flashlights and joined dozens of neighbors in searching for the boy. They were out looking until 2 a.m. Saturday.

"The parents around here are always looking out for each other's kids," Jim Davidson said. "Kids can run up to any apartment, go inside and get help."

There are often adults sitting outside their apartments in lawn chairs, and some leave pool-side doors open.

Many in the neighborhood gathered after dark Monday at a sidewalk memorial on Shoshone Street, within view of Robert's mom's apartment at Oak Park. They lit candles in front a pile of teddy bears and other toys.

Safar Takhsilov, who has lived at Oak Park for about a year, has two boys, including an 8-year-old. He said children who have gone missing from time to time at the apartment complex have always been found within a few hours.

The day after Robert disappeared, the Davidsons got the boy's school photos and had them photocopied for distribution in the neighborhood.

"If that was my kid, I pray that someone would be helping us," Kandi Davidson said.

They spoke with FBI agents every day for about a week - agents were interested in Kimberlly's account, among other things - and allowed searches of their apartment and garage.

It took four or five officers to sift through boxes in their garage.

A neighbor of Jenkins and Ehrlick said that that night, she heard a police officer helping Jenkins search her apartment for the boy. She said she heard the officer also wanted to search Jenkins' car - a red Blazer - but she told him she wasn't home at the time the boy went missing.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/856161.html

[pink angel]

Teachers say Robert Manwill was affectionate, quick to learn
Robert Manwill, 8, believed to be the boy found dead in a canal Monday, made a good impression in a short time in New Plymouth.
BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: © 2009 Idaho Statesman
Published: 08/05/09


Robert Manwill was a hugger.

Every day at school, Robert hugged his teachers. He freely embraced his best buddies, including some who felt they were getting too grown up for such unsolicited displays of affection.

"He was a sweet, sweet boy, always wanting hugs, and hugging other kids," said Christy Morales, who was Robert's second-grade teacher.

This June, the boy - who was reported missing from his mother's Boise apartment complex 11 days ago and was found in a canal near Kuna on Monday - completed second grade at the 450-student New Plymouth Elementary School in the tight-knit Payette County community of 1,400 people.

Robert lived in both halves of a broken home, spending most of the past year and a half of his life with his dad, Charles Manwill, in New Plymouth, and occasionally visiting his mom, Melissa Jenkins, in Boise.

When the story of his disappearance got out, and his school photo - featuring his wide-eyed face and impish grin - was plastered from pillar to post, Treasure Valley residents searched for the boy as if he were their own.

About 2,300 people searched Boise on Friday, including a busload of 60 who made the hour-and-a-half round-trip from New Plymouth.

Robert's second-grade teacher was among them, and it was the fourth search she had gone on last week.

"I'm a praying person," Morales said. "I just prayed the whole time, 'Help us find him.' We just need some closure."

Robert was one of the younger kids in his second-grade class, turning 8 at the end of the school year.

"By the end of second grade, he was a very strong student ... He just made great progress. It was fun to watch him gain skills so quickly," said New Plymouth Principal Carrie Agus.

He's remembered as a tiny kid, who liked superhero T-shirts and wore too-big brown loafers. He is described as funny, often making silly comments or telling funny stories.

Several residents at the Boise apartment complex where his mom lives described Robert as a quiet, polite boy who regularly carried out the trash and walked the family's dog - a pit bull - that seemed almost too big for him to control.

Morales said he had a cute, quirky way of answering questions.

"He'd throw out his hands and say, 'Wellllll ... ,'" she said.

"He was very verbal that way. For his age, he was very verbal. He'd go into these explanations."

Tammy Schlett, a teaching assistant at New Plymouth, tutored Robert and other kids in his class in math every day.

"He'd lean his head on you, and say, 'I love you,'" Schlett said. Robert gave her a hug on the way out of the lunchroom every day.

When she heard Robert was missing, she wept.

"I cry, even now," she said.

Katy Moeller: 377-6413

Edit to add link per pink angel: http://www.idahostatesman.com/robertmanwill/story/856164.html

[pink angel]

edit correction if a mod or admin strolls through:
I forgot the link for the above article. Thanks.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/robertmanwill/story/856164.html

Done. MB

[cookie]

sounds as if Robert wanted/needed affection from a "mother figure"  too sad for words...
thankfully these teachers filled a void for this little boy...
RIP Robert....

[trimmonthelake]

Thanks Pink. 

[pink angel]

Good morning monkeys.

Thank you Ms. MuffyBee. Sometimes I feel like a kid that has left clothes on the floor and you mods and admins follow behind me and pick them up. I appreciate all that do. ::monkeysmooches::

[A_News_Junkie_Monkey]

Pink - thank you, that answered my questions!   So both locations of interest, the apartment area and the willis house were both up current from where little Robert was found.

If Robert's teachers read here - THANK YOU for caring for this precious boy.

[pink angel]

Pink - thank you, that answered my questions!   So both locations of interest, the apartment area and the willis house were both up current from where little Robert was found.

If Robert's teachers read here - THANK YOU for caring for this precious boy.

You are welcome hon!

Wasn't it wonderful hearing about him? You can tell how much they loved, cared and nurtured Robert.

If they are reading here, you are amazing teachers and little man and all his classmates were/are lucky to have teachers like you in their lives. Thank you.

[no rose colored glasses]

Pink - thank you, that answered my questions!   So both locations of interest, the apartment area and the willis house were both up current from where little Robert was found.

If Robert's teachers read here - THANK YOU for caring for this precious boy.

I want to thank the teachers also    Thanks for all the updates    One thing I was thinking about, the boyfriends father, in that one article he was talking about the mother of Robert, and he didn't have many kind words. Could he have been saying that because he has a feeling his son was the one to have done this to Robert?  It appears the mom was at work, unless a report comes out later that she wasn't. Maybe the boyfriend got mad at Robert for one reason or another? I'm not excusing the mother for what she did to her infant, I'm still in shock for the punishment she got for that. Just thinking maybe the boyfriend and the boyfriend alone did this?

[pink angel]

Pink - thank you, that answered my questions!   So both locations of interest, the apartment area and the willis house were both up current from where little Robert was found.

If Robert's teachers read here - THANK YOU for caring for this precious boy.

I want to thank the teachers also    Thanks for all the updates    One thing I was thinking about, the boyfriends father, in that one article he was talking about the mother of Robert, and he didn't have many kind words. Could he have been saying that because he has a feeling his son was the one to have done this to Robert?  It appears the mom was at work, unless a report comes out later that she wasn't. Maybe the boyfriend got mad at Robert for one reason or another? I'm not excusing the mother for what she did to her infant, I'm still in shock for the punishment she got for that. Just thinking maybe the boyfriend and the boyfriend alone did this?

BF's dad is giving BF money to live on, BF points the finger at grandpops and grandpops only talks bad about mom.

grandpop sounds like a enabler. could he be another Cindy...covering for his son and pointing the finger elsewhere?

That's why I think he said "he believes he saw" Robert. He wants to give his son's story to LE more credibility.

[Gypsy DD]

Teachers say Robert Manwill was affectionate, quick to learn
Robert Manwill, 8, believed to be the boy found dead in a canal Monday, made a good impression in a short time in New Plymouth.
BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: © 2009 Idaho Statesman
Published: 08/05/09


Robert Manwill was a hugger.

Every day at school, Robert hugged his teachers. He freely embraced his best buddies, including some who felt they were getting too grown up for such unsolicited displays of affection.

"He was a sweet, sweet boy, always wanting hugs, and hugging other kids," said Christy Morales, who was Robert's second-grade teacher.

This June, the boy - who was reported missing from his mother's Boise apartment complex 11 days ago and was found in a canal near Kuna on Monday - completed second grade at the 450-student New Plymouth Elementary School in the tight-knit Payette County community of 1,400 people.

Robert lived in both halves of a broken home, spending most of the past year and a half of his life with his dad, Charles Manwill, in New Plymouth, and occasionally visiting his mom, Melissa Jenkins, in Boise.

When the story of his disappearance got out, and his school photo - featuring his wide-eyed face and impish grin - was plastered from pillar to post, Treasure Valley residents searched for the boy as if he were their own.

About 2,300 people searched Boise on Friday, including a busload of 60 who made the hour-and-a-half round-trip from New Plymouth.

Robert's second-grade teacher was among them, and it was the fourth search she had gone on last week.

"I'm a praying person," Morales said. "I just prayed the whole time, 'Help us find him.' We just need some closure."

Robert was one of the younger kids in his second-grade class, turning 8 at the end of the school year.

"By the end of second grade, he was a very strong student ... He just made great progress. It was fun to watch him gain skills so quickly," said New Plymouth Principal Carrie Agus.

He's remembered as a tiny kid, who liked superhero T-shirts and wore too-big brown loafers. He is described as funny, often making silly comments or telling funny stories.

Several residents at the Boise apartment complex where his mom lives described Robert as a quiet, polite boy who regularly carried out the trash and walked the family's dog - a pit bull - that seemed almost too big for him to control.
Morales said he had a cute, quirky way of answering questions.

"He'd throw out his hands and say, 'Wellllll ... ,'" she said.

"He was very verbal that way. For his age, he was very verbal. He'd go into these explanations."

Tammy Schlett, a teaching assistant at New Plymouth, tutored Robert and other kids in his class in math every day.

"He'd lean his head on you, and say, 'I love you,'" Schlett said. Robert gave her a hug on the way out of the lunchroom every day.

When she heard Robert was missing, she wept.

"I cry, even now," she said.

Katy Moeller: 377-6413

Edit to add link per pink angel: http://www.idahostatesman.com/robertmanwill/story/856164.html

Thank you for this article Pink.  It sounds like Robert thrived in his school and his home with his Dad.

I bolded the part of the article about his Mom's residence.  It appears he was a different boy when he was with his Mom.  Maybe more withdrawn I would say.
It also concerns me they had a pit bull that he walked.  Lord I hope that dog wasn't told to attack this child by the Mom or BF.  Just remembering the carpet etc coming out of the apartment.

I am certain when he was with his Dad life was like a dream compared to being with his Mom.  I am so happy to read how much his teachers were involved with him and the self confidence they gave him.  No one in the apartment complex has described Robert's personality....probably because they didn't see much of Robert and when they did he felt he couldn't joke and carry on like a normal 8 year old. 

I am just so sad and angry beyond words right now.

The female judge who heard the baby cracking head case should have removed Robert permanently from his Mom...that would have been the Mom's loss not his.  His Mom also should have had to serve time, attend anger management and parenting classes....and at the very least if allowed to see Robert only supervised visits of a few hours at a time.  People in Idaho should be calling for that judge's resignation.  She has very poor judgement and needs to be removed from her position.

[luvmyboys]

Has anyone heard rather or not. If anyone has been asked to take a lie detector test or not?

[no rose colored glasses]

Has anyone heard rather or not. If anyone has been asked to take a lie detector test or not?

I know I haven't read anything about that.

[cookie]

rosie..I had not realized that the mom was at work that night..

I bet the bio father is really really upset that he had to send Robert to his mother's for visitation...I wonder if he would have refused to send Robert if this mother would have fought to have seen him or would she have just shrugged it off....now we will never know..sadly.

[luvmyboys]

Did someone say that little roberts mom was at work when he went missing. And if so what time did she go to work?