Elizabeth Olten #1 10/22/09 - 10/29/09

[Northern Rose]

Missing Girl Search: Called Off For the Night

Rescue crews in Mid-Missouri are taking a much-needed break after looking all day for a missing girl.

Hundreds of volunteers have been scouring the area around St. Martins, Missouri.

They've been looking for Elizabeth Olten, who hasn't been seen since Wednesday afternoon.

Cole County authorities say the 9-year-old was last seen leaving a friend's home.

They stopped the search when it got too dark.

"We've in essence taken a Google map of the area, put a grid over the top of it, and we check every square of that grid twice," says Cole County Sheriff Greg White.

Elizabeth was supposed to walk the quarter mile home but never made it.

She was wearing a pink t-shirt with a darker pink vest over that when she went missing.

She was wearing blue jeans with pink ribbons on them.

Volunteers were turned away after authorities said they had 300 search members and 100 emergency personnel.

"And I was saying, 'Well I have a ten year-old son myself', and I was like, can't really let this go. So we got together to come on down here to try to see what we can do to help out," said search volunteer Scott Lamm.

A 24-hour manned tip line has been set up to take calls from anyone who might have information in the case.

Here's the number: 1-866-362-6422.

No Amber Alert has been issued because there's no evidence Elizabeth has been abducted.

Teams will head back out tomorrow.

http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=198391#

[Northern Rose]

How Your Cell Phone Could Help In A Crisis

The missing 9-year-old Missouri Girl, Elizabeth Olten, had a cell phone with her when she disappeared.
   
This makes a lot of parents start to wonder if their cell phone could help in a crisis.
   
Cell phones can be used to track our movements through GPS. Parents are turning to these to find out where their kids are and now there's even a phone that lets you know where sexual predators are exactly where your standing.

Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Niles uses her i-Phone to stay in touch with her not so safe surroundings. "I live on the west side and it blew me away because I had a feeling there were quite a few offenders, but it blew me away to know how close they were.," explains Niles.

That's because she has the new i-Phone offender locater application. "It definitely has made me more aware and cautious," adds Niles.

You can search offenders based on where your at or by an address. It then shows their picture, their address, and what they are convicted of doing.

"If your on vacation your going to know to pull up the address that your hotel is, the address of where your camping , even if you're looking for a house while your're there with your realtor," explains Richard James,  a Manager at Springfield's Best Buy.

If you don't have the i-Phone there is another service that could help you, it's called Family Map. It's called different thins based on your carrier. What you do is you sign up and you can be notified as to where your child is at any point of the day.

"Its best for if your child is walking home from school and you want a text to let you know your child is at home, so then they have piece of mind," adds James.

This service will only work while the phone is on. Some people are critical of how updated the sex offenders databases are, but for those like Niles she say it's already working.

"I definitely think its prevented some situations just for me," adds Niles.
   
The i-Phone Application only costs a couple of dollars.
The Family Maps will differ depending on the carrier.
AT&T charges $9.99

If you don't want to shell out the money for cell phones for your kids, there are family plans to sign up for. The family plans cost less and you can choose to sign up for only the basic services.

http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=198401

[Northern Rose]

Authorities Suspend Search for Missing Girl Until Morning

COLE COUNTY - Authorities have suspended the search for Elizabeth Olten, a 9-year-old girl from the St. Martins area who went missing Wednesday evening, because of nightfall.

Authorities and volunteers will resume the search at 10 a.m. Friday. About 250 volunteers came out Thursday, joining about 100 officials, to search for the missing girl.

Officials are interviewing registered sex offenders in the area, but they haven't named any persons of interest. No Amber Alert has been issued because the disappearance has not been confirmed as an abduction.

Authorities have little evidence. Olten was carrying a cell phone when she disappeared. Officials have confirmed that the cell phone is located in the woods within the search area. The woods weren't on Olten's route home. The phone's battery has died, and without the signal, officials can't track the phone. Investigators are also looking into her call history.

Officials and volunteers have combed through the one-half square mile search area twice, Cole County Sheriff Greg White said. They expect to search the surrounding area starting at 7 a.m. Friday.

Olten went missing around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. She was supposed to be walking home from a friend's house only a few blocks away in the 600 block of Route D south of St. Martins, but never came home.

The Cole County Sheriff's Department has issued an Endangered Person Advisory as it continues to search for Olten. She is a white, 9-year-old female. She is 5' 2" and 108 lbs. with brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion with physical marks. She was last seen wearing a pink scarf, pink shirt, pink vest and blue jeans with pink ribbons. Olten was wearing white sneakers.

The Cole County Sheriff's Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the FBI are desperately trying to find the young girl.

"Well, I think the woods are a possibility (where the girl may be). Kids in this area play in the woods and farm areas," White speculated, when asked about where the girl may have gone.

The huge group of volunteer searchers included military members, housewives, public servants, and construction workers who left their day jobs to join in the search.

"I contacted my supervisor and asked him if we were going to assist in anyway," said Mark Zimmerman, a Cole County Public Works employee and a rescue volunteer. "He said he was going to ask for some volunteers."


Authorities and volunteers have been coordinating the search all day from local VFW Post 35. On Wednesday afternoon, officials were asking for no more volunteers. The outpour from the community had been overwhelming and they said they couldn't coordinate any more searchers.


The terrain in the search area is rough, hilly, and includes fields, forests, and ponds.

If you have any information, contact the Cole County Sheriff's Department at 573-634-9160 or the 24-hour tip line at 866-362-6422. For more information click on the link to visit the 'Help Find Elizabeth Olten' page on Facebook.

http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba8a4513-c0a8-2f11-0063-9bd94c70b769/7f2e673e-80ce-0971-01cf-bae15c87f75b

[Northern Rose]

UPDATE: Authorities to widen search for missing 9-year-old

JEFFERSON CITY — The Cole County Sheriff's Department announced late Thursday it would widen the search for a missing St. Martins girl after one day of combing local woods turned up nothing.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White said local law enforcement would work in an expanded search area tomorrow morning as part of a continued effort to locate 9-year-old Elizabeth K. Olten, who disappeared Wednesday night. The original area of interest has been searched thoroughly at least two times by nearly 300 volunteers, White said.

Olten left a friend's home along the 600 block of Route D in St. Martins to walk to her home less than a quarter of a mile away. She had been missing for less than 45 minutes when her disappearance was reported at 6:56 p.m Wednesday.

According to the Cole County Sheriff's Office, Olten is white, 5 feet 2 inches, 102 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink scarf, pink shirt and sweater, blue jeans and white sneakers.

White could not comment on the Olten family's state of mind at this time, but said, "I'm a daddy. If my child was missing, I would be struggling."

One of Elizabeth's family members, however, did speak out Thursday.

As she sobbed before a small gathering of volunteers, community members and reporters, Elizabeth's aunt, Vicki Olten, pleaded with the community to help.

"I want my niece home," Vicki Olten said. "I want her safe."

Although law enforcement officials said they had no evidence foul play led to Elizabeth's disappearance, Vicki Olten suspects her niece was kidnapped.

"She would not have just wandered off," she said.

An Amber Alert cannot be issued unless officials rule that Elizabeth was abducted.

White said law enforcement officials have already conducted a "tremendous amount" of interviews but that there are no persons of interest at this time.

Lt. Jim Keathley of the Missouri Highway Patrol said officials were also conducting interviews of drivers at a roadblock near where Elizabeth was last seen in a continued search for leads.

"We were all hoping this would be over by now," Keathley said.

White said officials will turn their focus to investigating leads in the case. He encourages parties with information on the disappearance of Elizabeth Olten to call the tip line set up by the Cole County Sheriff's Department at 866-362-6422.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/10/22/authorities-search-missing-cole-county-nine-year-old/

[Tracygirl]

Northern Rose, Thank you so much for all of the updates, I certainly appreciate them. You have done good today, please go to sleep knowing that.

At lease a body was not found...Maybe tomorrow will bring us knews they found her alive and well. We can only pray...

[klaasend]

BLOCKED WEBSITE

[no rose colored glasses]

Thank-you for all the updates  Maybe today Elizabeth will be found. 

[Northern Rose]

Elizabeth Olten went missing while walking home from a friend's home



ST. MARTINS -- UPDATE:  Friday 8 a.m.

The highway patrol will be using a helicopter to search for Elizabeth Olten today.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White also told KRCG investigators have questioned registered sex offenders in the county and calls some of those interviews "very strong."

White says information from the public likely will help them solve the mystery of what happened to the little girl.

The sheriff says that no new volunteers are needed. Today the focus is on smaller, more specific areas. If you would like to help contact the Red Cross.

UPDATE: Thursday 11 p.m.

The mood was somber among searches as as the crucial 24-hour mark passed earlier this evening.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White says information from the public likely will help them solve the mystery of what happened to 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten of St. Martins.

Elizabeth was last seen around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday night when police say she vanished walking home from a friend's house along Route D near Highway 50.

Thursday's search has been called off for the night and will resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday.

'I want my niece home'

After a day of searching turned up no trace of the Cole County fourth grader. At a news conference, her aunt made a desperate plea for her safe return.

"I want my niece home, I want her safe," said Vicki Olten, crying. "She's a beautiful young girl and [has] a full life ahead of her. She does not deserve this. Her family does not deserve this."

Olten says Elizabeth wouldn't have wandered off because she was afraid of the dark and believes she was abducted.

The sheriff says the investigation so far has uncovered no evidence of foul play but says that could change.

Volunteers turned away

On Thursday 300 volunteers and 100 law enforcement personnel combed the area around her home. Rescuers covered more than a half-mile by half-mile grid twice.

"We've done far more than the capability we've got," said Sheriff Greg White. "And that's simply because of the level of citizen involvement and the willingness they've had."

By late afternoon, so many volunteers showed up that many, like Gene Bauer, had to be turned away.

"We've got plenty of gravel roads in this area that could have been checked," said Bauer. "The last thing I wanted to hear from somebody is, 'Oh we've got insurance concerns.' Well people aren't out here concerned about insurance or liability. They're out here concerned for that little girl."

False rumors spread

While searchers were being turned away, a rumor started that Elizabeth's body had been found. The sheriff said that is absolutely false and criticized those who spread the rumor.

"I have spent more time telling people that rumors are incorrect," said White. "And it's really doing a disservice to the family for people to put out incorrect rumors."

Around the time Elizabeth went missing, the highway patrol set up a road block not far from her home.

"Just handing these [flyers] out to everybody coming through the area here," an officer said handing out a flyer with Elizabeth's picture.

Officers stopped traffic for several hours and talked with drivers to see if they saw or heard anything.

Authorities also slightly changed the description of what Elizabeth was wearing. She had on a pink T-shirt with a darker pink vest and blue jeans with pink ribbons on them.

During Thursday's evening news conference authorities also announced they've started a new 24-hour tip line. Anyone with any information is urged to call (866) 362-6422.

The highway patrol has committed to using a helicopter when the search continues Friday morning. The sheriff also says investigators have questioned registered sex offenders in the county and called some of those interviews "very strong."

Elizabeth lives with her mother. Her father, Dale Olten Sr., has been in prison since April serving a four-year sentence for drug possession.

http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=366189

[klaasend]

http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba8a4513-c0a8-2f11-0063-9bd94c70b769/7f2e673e-80ce-0971-01cf-bae15c87f75b

 Authorities Resume Search for Missing Girl

COLE COUNTY - Authorities are back searching for Elizabeth Olten, a 9-year-old girl from the St. Martins area who went missing Wednesday evening.

About 250 volunteers came out Thursday, joining about 100 officials, to search for the missing girl. Volunteers are currently gathering at the VFW in St. Martins.

Officials are interviewing registered sex offenders in the area, but they haven't named any persons of interest. No Amber Alert has been issued because the disappearance has not been confirmed as an abduction.

Authorities have little evidence. Olten was carrying a cell phone when she disappeared. Officials have confirmed that the cell phone is located in the woods within the search area. The woods weren't on Olten's route home. The phone's battery has died, and without the signal, officials can't track the phone. Investigators are also looking into her call history.

Officals have searched every "square foot" of the search area at least twice, Cole County Sheriff Greg White said. They will search the periphery of the surrounding area starting at 7 a.m. Friday.

Olten went missing around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. She was supposed to be walking home from a friend's house only a few blocks away in the 600 block of Route D south of St. Martins, but never came home.

The Cole County Sheriff's Department has issued an Endangered Person Advisory as it continues to search for Olten. She is a white, 9-year-old female. She is 5' 2" and 108 lbs. with brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion with physical marks. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt with a darker pink vest, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

The Cole County Sheriff's Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the FBI are desperately trying to find the young girl.

"Well, I think the woods are a possibility (where the girl may be). Kids in this area play in the woods and farm areas," White speculated, when asked about where the girl may have gone.

The huge group of volunteer searchers included military members, housewives, public servants, and construction workers who left their day jobs to join in the search.

"I contacted my supervisor and asked him if we were going to assist in anyway," said Mark Zimmerman, a Cole County Public Works employee and a rescue volunteer. "He said he was going to ask for some volunteers."

Authorities and volunteers have been coordinating the search all day from local VFW Post 35. On Wednesday afternoon, officials were asking for no more volunteers. The outpour from the community had been overwhelming and they said they couldn't coordinate any more searchers.

The terrain in the search area is rough, hilly, and includes fields, forests, and ponds.

If you have any information, contact the Cole County Sheriff's Department at 573-634-9160 or the 24-hour tip line at 866-362-6422. For more information click on the link to visit the 'Help Find Elizabeth Olten' page on Facebook.

Reported by: Brooke Hasch
Reported by: Michael Amantea
Reported by: Alyssa Caverley

Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Last Updated: Friday, October 23, 2009 at 8:36 AM

[Northern Rose]

BLOCKED WEBSITE

[no rose colored glasses]

Interesting comments 

[Northern Rose]

Interesting comments 

Yes everyone seems to know Dale Sr and his sister Vicki and not fondly.  There was another comment about Dale JR and that he thought the world of Elizabeth.

[Northern Rose]

Search Resumes At Daybreak For Missing Cole County Girl

COLE COUNTY, MO (KTVI - FOX2now.com) - It's been well over 24 hours since nine year old Elizabeth Olten was last seen. The girl from St. Martins near Jefferson City disappeared Wednesday evening as she was walking home from a friend's house. Investigators say they have found no signs of foul play in the case. But there is also no sign of Elizabeth.

The search was called off for the night on Thursday after the sun went down. Crews spent hours earlier on Thursday searching rural, wooded and muddy terrain looking for the nine year old. As more time goes by, everyone is becoming more concerned. "She's a beautiful young girl who's got a full life ahead of her. She does not deserve this. Her family does not deserve this," said

Elizabeth's aunt, Vicki Olten, about her niece. Elizabeth disappeared after she left her friend's house about 6:15 Wednesday evening to walk home. That walk less than a quarter of a mile along Route D in St. Martins. A tearful Vicki said, "Have you ever had somebody go in, just reach inside you and pull your heart out? That's what its like. She is an angel."

A massive search Thursday produced no sign of Elizabeth. 100 public safety officials from the FBI to the Missouri Highway Patrol to Cole County Sheriff's Deputies took part. Also searching some 300 volunteers- people like Shay Patterson. Shay told us, "I don't know the child but I have children of my own. And I just know that if something happened to one of them, I would want as many people to come out as possible." Cole County Sheriff Greg White tells us signals were picked up from Elizabeth's cell phone Wednesday night near the area where she disappeared.

Crews searched that area meticulously on Thursday. Law officers also set up a road block in the area exactly 24 hours after Elizabeth disappeared. "The theory in mind that the same people drive the same road the same time every night and that somebody may have driven through there last night that may have seen something," explained Colonel Jim Keathley, the head of the Missouri Highway Patrol. Sheriff White added, "The primary search area has been covered at least twice, literally every square foot of it. And we have significant number of dog teams."

Vicki just wants her niece back. "my niece is afraid of the dark," said Vicki. "All of us want is her home and safe," she added. The violent crime unit from the highway patrol has been activated. But Sheriff White says no amber alert has been issued because there is no sign of a crime. Right now, the case is being classified as an endangered child. White says information about the case has been sent to other law enforcement agencies across the country.

Some volunteer searchers were turned away Thursday because the sheriff said there were simply too many people. That left some upset. The search for Elizabeth Olten resumes at 7:30 Friday morning.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call the tipline toll-free at 866-362-6422.


VIDEO HERE AS WELL
http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-elizabeth-olten-missing-girl-thurs-102309,0,77198.story

[Northern Rose]

Looking at all the comments about Binder Park.  It is 1.4 miles from the house and takes 4mins to get there.  There is a huge lake, RV park and many woods there.

[Northern Rose]

BINDER PARK

With 644 acres, the city's largest park, Binder Park, is located off Rainbow Dr. and Henwick Lane, 5840 Rainbow Dr., west of Jefferson City. When combined with the adjacent 66-acre Joseph C. Miller Park, a huge, beautiful, and largely natural park emerges and provides for a wide variety of activities.

Binder Park is named after Fred C., Fred H., and Frederick Binder. Fred C. Binder established a trust fund in 1918 to build a park as a memorial to his father, himself, and his son. Property was purchased from 11 owners in 1965 and 1966 and the Department of Conservation began construction of a 155 acre fishing lake.

In addition to the beautiful lake, Binder Park has a nice handicap-fishing pier and a boat ramp built and maintained by the Department of Conservation. It also houses the lighted softball fields Wisch, Williams, and Kremer. Numerous picnic sites exist throughout the park as well as many walking trails and bike trails. Two sand volleyball courts, an 18-site full hook-up RV campground with laundry and shower-house, a playground, and a covered deck/picnic shelter overlooking the lake is also located on site. The deck rents as a shelter and can accommodate groups of up to 75 people.

Scott and Byrd Softball Fields and the Radio Control Flying Field are located in Joseph Miller Park located adjacent to the south-east conrner of Binder Park.

http://www.jeffcitymo.org/parks/binderpark.html

[Northern Rose]

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[Northern Rose]

BLOCKED WEBSITE

[Northern Rose]

<snipped>


The primary search on Thursday focused on a section of woods about half a mile wide and half a mile long, which police zeroed in on by triangulating the girl's cell phone location, White said. The phone has not been found, and the battery died by Thursday morning. Uneven terrain, high brush and soaking weather were hindrances.
 
David Wininger, a volunteer firefighter who helped look until early Thursday morning and returned after work, said it was "overwhelming" and "beautiful" to see the outpouring of assistance. Wininger, 51, said groups of searchers spread out in lines across fields and woods to cover every square foot.
 
"It's very brushy. It's very hilly. There's a lot of rocks, trees and brush piles," Wininger said. "It's a very rough place to be."
 
More than 200 volunteers showed to help nearly 100 emergency personnel, and some were turned away.
 
That angered Gene Bauer, who drove 45 minutes from Eldon to help. Bauer criticized how the search had been conducted and said he would examine gravel roads on his own if needed.
 
Vicki Olten, who is Elizabeth's aunt, called the girl a "tough tomboy," but that she was afraid someone had tried to hurt her.
 
"I want my niece home. I want her safe," said Olten, of Russellville. "She's a beautiful young girl and got a full life ahead of her. She does not deserve this. Her family does not deserve this."
 
The Missouri State Highway Patrol set up a check point on a highway near the house and interviewed motorists. The Patrol used a helicopter with a thermal imaging radar on Wednesday, but poor weather prevented a repeat of that on Thursday. Officials hoped it could be used again Friday.


http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/95471F955D5EB6EA86257658000761AF?OpenDocument

[Northern Rose]

Reader comments:

gotbanned October 23, 2009 9:05AM CST
This one and the little girl in Florida are just the ones that made the news. In Florida they plan to question a bunch of sex offenders that live in the area. The only question they should ask is "bullet or rope"?. Garrido was a sex offender, and should have been put down long before he kidnapped and raped a child. Pray for the girls safe return. Don't let your kids walk ANYWHERE!!!
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gotbanned October 23, 2009 9:12AM CST
The sex offender registry should be used as a hit list. Someday our society is going to snap. Murderers and rapists should face a firing squad, or swing from a short rope in a tall tree. The piece of trash that killed Jessica Lunsford died in prison after a long illness when he should have been buried alive like his victim. Should have dug a hole big enough for his lawyer, too.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/comments?ReadForm&db=stltoday%5Cnews%5Cstories.nsf&docid=95471F955D5EB6EA86257658000761AF

[Northern Rose]

ST. MARTINS -- UPDATE:  Friday 10 a.m.

A press conference is underway with the Cole County Sheriff's Department about what the department is doing to help search for Elizabeth Olten.

Sheriff Greg White said search crew 67 people were on the ground at 7:30 a.m.

In contrast to yesterday, which was a "mass saturation search", White said today's search will be more pin pointed and directed.

White also said that they have some phone records back from AT&T from Elizabeth's cell phone and investigators are going through those.

The FBI is helping but does not have jurisdication in the case.


http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=366189