GUILTY IL - Chyenne Kircher, 14, East Dubuque, 12 Oct 2011

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you waited two years to say you knew it all along? really?

I don't believe I'm the only one that has been reading while thinking the same thing. :twocents:

We aren't allowed to discuss anyone who isn't named a suspect.
Websleuths is victim friendly and the entire family was considered victims until this arrest.
If I had said "I think the stepfather killed her" it would have just been deleted.
I try to avoid posting things the mods will only have to delete.

I believed the stepfather killed her from the first day I heard about Chy, yes.
Statistically that is where the odds were and I didn't feel they investigated that possibility.
Since there wasn't a thorough investigation there I didn't believe he could be eliminated. :twocents:
 
I made a lengthy poster earlier (several months ago) but avoided commenting again because there was never really any new information. I knew Chyenne, and I never would have said the stepfather killed her. I would have said she left because of her stepfather's mistreatment. I don't know the type of problems she faced in that house, but I know that I would see her around East Dubuque no matter what time of the day as long as it was daylight, and it wasn't school time..

Rain, shine, hot, cold....from the time I first saw her when she was probably around 10, she avoided going home like the plague. She talked to everybody....I don't know how many people were total strangers when she started talking to them, but I felt she probably chatted it up with someone and decided to leave town with them. Maybe she did and that is why she wrote the note, but her plan was intercepted. The state crime lab would presumably have someone who can detect distress in a writing within a pretty slim margin of error. It is also possible she was conned into writing the note and then killed.

It is hard to say if she was killed as part of a larger, escalated altercation or because she decided not to continue in the situation she was living in and the stepfather was afraid of the consequences. Strangulation isn't like tossing something across the room at your stepdaughter and accidentally killing her in a moment of anger. Chyenne wasn't a small girl. She was of average height and a bit meaty. She would have fought back to some extent after she realized what was happening if he didn't incapacitate her beforehand. He had to think about her dying the whole time he did that. To my untrained eye that indicates fear because of punishment for something done beforehand or a sustained period of anger.

Even without what I gathered from seeing her avoid home and what I heard from other people after she went missing (they also believed she ran away to escape), I would say that someone who could be angry long enough to strangle someone has probably been angry to an unseemly level previously. In short, he may have been the murderer, but there was a household climate of acceptance beforehand. People have reasons that make sense in their own heads but that doesn't make them right.

I feel guilty for not calling CPS and reporting a child running around all the time without supervision. I always thought nobody would listen to someone who wasn't a friend, a family member, or in a position of authority -- like a teacher. But maybe they would have listened or it would have added that little something extra needed to other information. I can't imagine the guilt on the shoulders of others more intimately involved. I just can't believe this final act of violence was an isolated incident.

I feel so sorry for her two brothers and the other relatives she had (step-siblings I believe). I remember the older but don't think I ever saw the younger around town with Chyenne. It will be hard for a child so young to deal with the death of his sister (if he remembers her), and doubly so as he gets older and realizes that his father was responsible and the level to which he was.

When I went to the TH website this morning, I never expected to see that Chyenne was dead, and it breaks my heart. I will always remember her. I can't believe her earthly light has been extinguished forever.
 
There are many members here who read a lot of threads and don't post on them. For me personally, it's because I don't have anything to add, the WS'ers already posting have said what I've wanted to say and more (while we are following TOS) anything I would have to add would be redundant. Many of us are following a number of cases...even if we aren't posting, we are here. You can always tell by how many people have viewed the thread...of course that includes all the people reading who haven't joined and it would be great to hear their voice too! That's one of the great things about this online community...we are all here, for the victims, everyday. :)
 
There are many members here who read a lot of threads and don't post on them. For me personally, it's because I don't have anything to add, the WS'ers already posting have said what I've wanted to say and more (while we are following TOS) anything I would have to add would be redundant. Many of us are following a number of cases...even if we aren't posting, we are here. You can always tell by how many people have viewed the thread...of course that includes all the people reading who haven't joined and it would be great to hear their voice too! That's one of the great things about this online community...we are all here, for the victims, everyday. :)

Yes, I lurk in many many threads in addition to the dozens of cases where I post. It's nice to see such a show of support for Chyenne. I have noticed on WS that often when a person is labeled a runaway the case doesn't get as much traction. The cases that seem to have a sketchy cast of characters get more attention too. This case has a very sketchy family it seems, but the media is sparse in that neck of the woods so sometimes we went many months without any updates on Chyenne.
 
I think it will be interesting to see if further charges are brought against Abbas as was strongly hinted at in the brief 2 pm presser today.

I'm also not completely convinced Abbas is the only one who should be facing charges, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
All of you guests out there reading this thread right now, please take a few minutes to sign up on WS and join us here! We would love to hear what you think of this case!
 
Thank you, DianeBrown. I remember your previous post and how much insight you gave us into Chyenne's personality and life. A local's perspective and input is priceless in these cases. You really helped us understand more about who Chyenne was and what her life may have been like.

I really hope you don't feel guilty. You could not possibly have known that her stepfather would murder her. Even if you knew he was a bad guy, how could you ever have known just how bad?

As for the note, I think he forced Chyenne to write it before he killed her, but that's just my opinion based on the little we know and the articles stating that the crime lab analysis of the note did not indicate foul play. I think if the crime lab couldn't match the handwriting in the note to Chyenne's handwriting, the case might have moved in a criminal direction sooner. Hindsight of course.
 
Poor Chyenne.

I'm glad she's finally going to get justice.

I can't believe she was so close to home this whole time.
 
ETA: I see the note comparison is already being discussed.

I'm reading through this thread tonight and I am confused about the note being matched to her schoolwork. I guess that was a bogus determination?

From the very first page of this thread. Although it no longer works, I'm providing the link from post #25

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher...4&Em=7&start=7


Quote:
O’Connell said, “we sent her note along with numerous samples of her handwriting to the state police lab. A handwriting specialist who compared her homework along with the note and they’re written by the same person.”
 
Has the media published the contents of the note? If she wrote it, perhaps she planned to run away but decided to return home or was snatched by him before she got very far. And maybe he strangled her after she got home. It could have been that same day or a few days or weeks later.
 
Has the media published the contents of the note? If she wrote it, perhaps she planned to run away but decided to return home or was snatched by him before she got very far. And maybe he strangled her after she got home. It could have been that same day or a few days or weeks later.

A note left behind seemed to support the theory, with Kircher allegedly writing, “Don’t look for me because I don’t want to be found.” Police initially said she was last seen walking toward a friend’s house.

http://www.thonline.com/news/breaking/article_a7422258-2131-11e3-a5ff-001a4bcf6878.html
 
The Jo Daviess County Critical Incident Response Team took over the case about six months ago at the request of the East Dubuque Police. The team, which includes officers from multiple county law enforcement agencies and the state police, came in with “fresh eyes,” Hachmeister said.

“We had an open mind from the beginning,” he said. “We didn’t treat it as merely a runaway from the very beginning. We had fresh eyes looking at it, looking at all aspects of what had taken place.”
Hachmeister declined to comment on the details, but he said Abbas did not turn himself in and that the arrest was the result of the CIRT investigation.

http://www.thonline.com/news/breaking/article_a7422258-2131-11e3-a5ff-001a4bcf6878.html
 
The note is puzzling, and while I would expect some clarity about whether they have found the body, etc. at the press conference in the morning, I'm unsure about how many of the little questions will be answered until the court case is over...and maybe not even then in a public way. I'm not sure what they can legally say.

I do feel like the EDPD did as much as they could given the resources and information available and they turned the case over for further inquiry (I'm not sure if there was a timeframe before a case could be turned over or not?) to help either find her or a bit of justice. I would be interested in finding out what broke it or allowed for an arrest warrant that lead to the confession.

As I mentioned above, given her home situation, it was plausible that she would run away. I never thought about the stepdad as the killer because I figured the police must have an alibi or something that allowed them to rule out foul play on his part. They may have let him not feel like a suspect in an effort to keep him on the radar until a case could be built. Basically, I wouldn't yet agree that LE could have cracked this open faster within the confines of the law.

Since she was dead the entire time, I would rather it take this long for him to be arrested and have him punished for Chyenne's death than arrested right away with incomplete evidence that could let him get out or receive a reduced sentence deal based on a technicality. Ideally, however, friends and family would have known she was gone right away and been spared the not knowing aspect of the grief they have endured for the past two years.

Earlier this year when a man committed suicide in an East Dubuque alley, a headline read that a body was found, and I remember thinking "Please, let it not be Chyenne." It's still a bit hard to believe that it came to pass.
 
http://www.kcrg.com/streaming
I think the morning press conference should be starting soon.

ETA: Mics are open and I can hear reporters occasionally discussing the story, but I can't make out the details. Something about prosecutors bringing the murder charges before the body is recovered.
 
JDC sheriff rep reading from press release, giving timeline of events surrounding Chyenne Kircher's disappearance and death

Leads/tips came from Texas, Alaska, Florida, among others.

At this time we have no reason to believe anyone but Terry Abbas involved.

Remains have been found in place authorities believe Chyenne Kircher's body was buried

Remains were found directly behind home in wooded area.

We anticipate there may be other charges.

Remains are scheduled for an autopsy on Monday.

Don't think much new info after today. "We think we have it pretty well wrapped up

JDC sheriff rep thanking other law enforcement agencies. "We were very fortunate in having as many people available to us."

https://twitter.com/TelegraphHerald
 
Kids threaten to run away all the time. Heck I did all the time, but I don't remember if I actually left a note telling my mother I was leaving. Usually I just told my mom I was running away. She would simply say "OK" knowing I would be back soon, likely before dinner time. I wasn't 14 at the time though. Thinking back now I don't know how I thought I was going to survive on my own at only 6-7 years old.

The note in question could very well have been written by Chyenne. I wonder if the note was dated or could a date have been added to the note by someone other than Chyenne?

I never seen the actual note or a transcript of the note's complete contents but it is possible that the note found in the vehicle at the time Chyenne disappeared was written by Chyenne at some time prior to Chyenne's actual disappearance. This note that Chyenne might have left during an earlier run away event might have been discovered by Abbas which he saved and later used as a red herring after he killed her.

JMO
 
East Dubuque Mourns Chyenne Kircher

As the investigation continues, East Dubuque residents are trying to cope with the loss of a child in their community.

“Just to know that she’s been right under our toes, it makes us sick,” said Kathy Accola, whose son went to school with Chyenne.

In a moment of solidarity at East Dubuque schools, students wore yellow shirts Thursday to honor Kircher's memory.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/East-Dubuque--224516661.html
 
“The weather kind of says how everybody feels today,” said Kyle Schultz. Schultz was in the same grade as Kircher. He said she was somebody everyone knew. “She was out going. She always had a smile on her face. No matter who said what to her. She just let it go. She was always smiling."

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/East-Dubuque--224516661.html
 

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