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

[no rose colored glasses]

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I'm shocked, I really am  

I am also, that doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense. Maybe with a press conference this morning things like this will be cleared up?  

[joesamas mama]

BLOCKED WEBSITE



I'm shocked, I really am  

  I am shocked too Klaas. Have you in all your years of helping with missing children ever seen a "fund" thing set up for the missing child's sibling? TIA JSM

[jill]

is there going to be a press conference this am, rose?

[klaasend]

JSM - no I haven't 

Jill - I'm not sure if they will be doing a press conference.  I hope so.

[Northern Rose]

Missing on Oct 21 and by Oct 23 they already have 2 funds set up?     Why are we donating to the older brother's education fund?   

I don't understand it.  I have never seen that before.

[Northern Rose]

JSM - no I haven't 

Jill - I'm not sure if they will be doing a press conference.  I hope so.

Presser was scheduled for 11am CST today.

[no rose colored glasses]

is there going to be a press conference this am, rose?

Jill, I thought I had read that, I sure hope so, to think that such a young person did this to Elizabeth    I mean I know that young people commit crimes, just so sickening.

[no rose colored glasses]

JSM - no I haven't 

Jill - I'm not sure if they will be doing a press conference.  I hope so.

Presser was scheduled for 11am CST today.

Thank-you

[joesamas mama]

JSM - no I haven't 

Jill - I'm not sure if they will be doing a press conference.  I hope so.

Thanks Klaas, I thought that would be the answer. 

[Brandi]

So sad to hear about Elizabeth.

Wanted to tell Northern Rose that the work she requested is ready.

[Northern Rose]

ST. MARTINS — This little town west of Jefferson City got the news yesterday that everyone was dreading.

Information from a juvenile suspect led officials to the body of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten. The body was discovered in a wooded area off Route D, where an exhaustive search had been under way for more than two days involving hundreds of people on foot, ATVs and horseback.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White said a juvenile was in custody in connection with the death. White described the suspect only as being older than Elizabeth and “an acquaintance.”

The sheriff released no details of how Elizabeth died. He said physical and written evidence helped authorities locate the juvenile who, after an interview, led them to the girl’s body. White said he spoke with Elizabeth’s mother, who is “deeply grieving.”

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers last night blocked all foot and motor traffic from using a road near the Olten home. Authorities said the move was to prevent reporters or onlookers from disturbing the grieving family.

Two hours after the announcement, Elizabeth’s aunt, Vicki Olten of Russellville, stood outside the town’s VFW hall that had been the staging area for search-and-rescue efforts. She watched, her eyes full of tears, as rescue workers packed up equipment and prepared to leave. She said she had barely slept since getting news of her niece’s disappearance and had volunteered by serving meals donated by the American Red Cross.

“I couldn’t go out and look for her,” she said. “I was afraid of what I might find.”

She remembered Elizabeth as a tomboy who loved to swim in a nearby stream and could “give back as much as she could take” from the boys. She loved scary movies but hated the dark, she said. “She was just an angel,” Vicki Olten said.


Hundreds of volunteers spent long hours Thursday braving wind and rain to trudge up and down the steep ridges and valleys near the Olten home. Elizabeth was last seen about 6 p.m. Wednesday leaving a friend’s house to walk the quarter-mile distance home. A “ping” from her cell phone was traced to a nearby wooded area, leading search crews to concentrate their efforts on several hundred yards around the signal triangulation — efforts hindered when the phone’s battery died.

In the two days since Elizabeth’s disappearance, posters of the fourth-grader went up in most shop windows in the town of 1,100. St. Martins’ main thoroughfare has no stop lights and includes a Catholic school for grades K-8, a catfish restaurant and an archery supply store.

Amber Pearre, 23, the manager of Stacy’s Market and Grille on St. Martins Boulevard, said customers had been streaming into the store virtually non-stop since Thursday asking for information and, sometimes, spreading false rumors about the disappearance. Pearre took it upon herself to check news Web sites every hour to ensure she gave customers only reliable updates.

“It’s kind of hard to decide what’s true and what’s not with everything in and out here,” she said.

Pearre said that after it was confirmed yesterday the body had been found, people reacted in horror. “I’ve had a lot of people just kind of gasp,” she said.

Bobby Rackers, a security guard who took part in the search effort, said the entire town has been on edge. At Elston Acres Mobile Home Community, where he works, the owners yesterday instituted a policy requiring that everybody who comes inside the community first show identification.

“We just realized that with all the kids playing outside, this could be a Mecca for child killers or child molesters,” he said.

Rackers said Elizabeth was one of the children who visited the community and played with friends. He remembers her as outgoing, funny and even “mouthy” at times. “It brings it close to home because we all knew her,” he said. “There’s kids down there bawling their eyes out tonight.”

Elizabeth’s father, Dale “Bo” Olten Sr., learned of his daughter’s death while watching TV in the Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green, where he is serving a four-year sentence for drug possession. Elizabeth’s eldest brother, Dale Olten Jr., is serving a seven-year sentence at the same facility.

Nancy Hanks, a family friend who works for the attorney who represented Dale Olten Sr., said the father feels helpless behind bars and desperately wanted to be part of the search for Elizabeth. “He’s actually a good person,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/oct/24/body-of-st-martins-girl-recovered-from-woods/

[Northern Rose]

So sad to hear about Elizabeth.

Wanted to tell Northern Rose that the work she requested is ready.

Thank you Brandi you are a   

[cookie]

Missing on Oct 21 and by Oct 23 they already have 2 funds set up?     Why are we donating to the older brother's education fund?   

I agree.  Weird.

Also, one of the articles posted above has a family member stating that Dale Olten (dad) is in prison for drug charges.  Why would they state that when he is in jail awaiting trial for slew of burglary and gun charges after a manhunt for him and his son last spring?

this is weird....
is the education fund for the older brother the older brother that is in jail? Is the brother/son of Dale Olten Elizabeth's half brother, step brother or full brother? sorry...just confused as to why there would be an education fund for any brother ....

[Northern Rose]

Missing on Oct 21 and by Oct 23 they already have 2 funds set up?     Why are we donating to the older brother's education fund?   

I agree.  Weird.

Also, one of the articles posted above has a family member stating that Dale Olten (dad) is in prison for drug charges.  Why would they state that when he is in jail awaiting trial for slew of burglary and gun charges after a manhunt for him and his son last spring?

He as well as Dale Jr are both serving 4 years for possession. 

[cookie]

Missing on Oct 21 and by Oct 23 they already have 2 funds set up?     Why are we donating to the older brother's education fund?   

I agree.  Weird.

Also, one of the articles posted above has a family member stating that Dale Olten (dad) is in prison for drug charges.  Why would they state that when he is in jail awaiting trial for slew of burglary and gun charges after a manhunt for him and his son last spring?

this is weird....
is the education fund for the older brother the older brother that is in jail? Is the brother/son of Dale Olten Elizabeth's half brother, step brother or full brother? sorry...just confused as to why there would be an education fund for any brother ....

errrrr...never mind...I re read the previous posts and got my answers....

still is weird asking for the brother's education fund if you ask me...

[Northern Rose]

Missing on Oct 21 and by Oct 23 they already have 2 funds set up?     Why are we donating to the older brother's education fund?   

I agree.  Weird.

Also, one of the articles posted above has a family member stating that Dale Olten (dad) is in prison for drug charges.  Why would they state that when he is in jail awaiting trial for slew of burglary and gun charges after a manhunt for him and his son last spring?

this is weird....
is the education fund for the older brother the older brother that is in jail? Is the brother/son of Dale Olten Elizabeth's half brother, step brother or full brother? sorry...just confused as to why there would be an education fund for any brother ....

The older brother in Jail is Dale Olten JR.  I do not know if he is  a half brother or not.  Anthony Olten is not much older than Elizabeth.  I found his Myspace page last night by searching Anthony Olten.  His picture looks like Elizabeth and he has put RIP Elizabeth on it.

[jill]

thanks Klaas, Northern, Rose.

I was thinking that they certainly could've just had one fund and earmarked some of the funds for that for Anthony's education, if they wished.

MAYBE - some people in the community would prefer that the money does go straight to an education fund for the brother?  So that it can not be spent in other ways?

btw - one of the people speaking for the family - Nancy Hanks.  I have seen her described both as a "family friend", and also "an employee of Dale Olten, Senior's LAWYER".  She describes Dale Olten, Sr. in one news article as a "genuinely nice guy", or something like that. 

I'll go find it.

[jill]

here it is:

"...Nancy Hanks, a family friend who works for the attorney who represented Dale Olten Sr., said the father feels helpless behind bars and desperately wanted to be part of the search for Elizabeth. “He’s actually a good person,” she said.

 ..."

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/oct/24/body-of-st-martins-girl-recovered-from-woods/

[cookie]

thanks NORose....
how sad for her whole family...


I have seen in obits where family and friends are asked to donate to a child's education fund in lieu of flowers when a parent passes, but never for a sibling

[cookie]

here it is:

"...Nancy Hanks, a family friend who works for the attorney who represented Dale Olten Sr., said the father feels helpless behind bars and desperately wanted to be part of the search for Elizabeth. “He’s actually a good person,” she said.

 ..."

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/oct/24/body-of-st-martins-girl-recovered-from-woods/

wonder if he will be allowed out of prison to attend the funeral?