GUILTY IN - Katlyn 'Katie' Collman, 10, Crothersville, 25 Jan 2005

[Dark Knight]

May I print this first sentence on a T-shirt? I'm truly tempted.

Amber Alert did not fail this child, but in my opinion LE did.
They also failed her family, imo, by not issuing the AA immediately.

TEN year olds don't just disappear.

The parents know their child better than anyone.

If you must question the parents, do it, but please do NOT delay the search.

Immediate alerts and SAR is what brings them home safely. I cannot express that enough. The first few minutes and hours (probably three) are the most crucial in an abduction.

Search and Rescue teams cannot do their work if LE doesn't notify them of missing children and adults.

There is something each of you can do to help with this problem. Please write your local LE agency about how important it is to work with other people to get our missing, lost and abducted home ALIVE. I'll be happy to send you the information to include in your letter.

The only way we are going to save more lives is if we have a combined effort.
The community has to unite to find our missing loved ones.

If anyone has any questions about things you can do to raise awareness, pls. e-mail me at HelpForTheMissing@yahoo.com

With prayers of HOPE for the future, Lanie

I am extremely angry over this, as you can tell. This happened in my state, and we in the media did what we could when we could, but after 2 days, it was pointless. She was likely dead within 24 hours, statistically, and the killer was laughing at LE for issuing an AA a day or two after he already killed her, I'll just bet. I am just furious!!! :furious: :furious: :furious:

PS: You're right about the 3 hour period being essential. They don't wait very long, for obvious reasons. And a t-shirt might be a good idea to remind LE of their responsibilities for an immediate search. One day MAYBE I could somehow understand, but two days is indefensible.

 

[Love_Mama]

OMG....just yesterday I checked in and posted and today they're found this little Katy dead.
Laine......you see this all the time, you work with these cases all the time. I have a question. Are ALL the states in the US almost the same with as to reporting these cases as soon as possible or are they all completely different! I guess I'm not just talking about all the states but I guess all off the towns or cities where children go missing. Here is just another case a little missing girl and LE takes two days to put out and Amber alert! This is crazy.

Lanie...you say you have a letter that we could write to our own police dept. Why don't you just post it here for everyone to print out.........I will write my police dept, but I think they're pretty fast here in San Diego when there is a child missing to get out an Amber alert......so saying that, I will thank them for being so efficient and caring! They were right on the Jahi boy's boy case, the one where they searched the dump...and who I am sure was murdered by the mom's boyfriend! Maybe if you post the letter.......they could make it a 'sticky'.

Let us know.
xxo
mama

 

[Dark Knight]

OMG....just yesterday I checked in and posted and today they're found this little Katy dead.
Laine......you see this all the time, you work with these cases all the time. I have a question. Are ALL the states in the US almost the same with as to reporting these cases as soon as possible or are they all completely different! I guess I'm not just talking about all the states but I guess all off the towns or cities where children go missing. Here is just another case a little missing girl and LE takes two days to put out and Amber alert! This is crazy.

Lanie...you say you have a letter that we could write to our own police dept. Why don't you just post it here for everyone to print out.........I will write my police dept, but I think they're pretty fast here in San Diego when there is a child missing to get out an Amber alert......so saying that, I will thank them for being so efficient and caring! They were right on the Jahi boy's boy case, the one where they searched the dump...and who I am sure was murdered by the mom's boyfriend! Maybe if you post the letter.......they could make it a 'sticky'.

Let us know.
xxo
mama

Public scrutiny is often best to influence LE, so I'd recommend letters to the editors of various local papers as well as major ones like the Indy Star. The rules of Amber Alerts needs to be tweaked, apparently.

Indiana has a brand new Governor. Might be a good time to get his attention.

 

[WasBlind]

....Are ALL the states in the US almost the same with as to reporting these cases as soon as possible or are they all completely different! ...

Lanie...you say you have a letter that we could write...
...Maybe if you post the letter.......they could make it a 'sticky'.

Let us know.
xxo
mama

Hi Mama! I'm glad you asked about the various states policies. By law, the missing are to be in the NCIC database within 24 hours after being reported missing, and we encourage a missing persons report to be done immediately in ALL cases. Some departments will tell a family they have a waiting period for older kids, teens, and adults. That may be a policy, but it is not a law, not that I have ever heard of. To me, not taking the report is laziness.

Since anyone who would be reporting someone missing is surely someone who knows them well, you have to make them listen to you (i.e. my child did not just run off, my wife did not just leave and not say goodbye to her kids). The tools are there, but sadly many in LE don't even know we're out here, and many do not contact SAR units. The stories I could share would startle you. I think I may just start a thread about this in the private forums.

I'd like to leave this thread to honor the memory of this beautiful child.
To say I am grieving this child is an understatement.

Something has to change, y'all. Our children are our future.
We have to fight for them, now.

With love and HOPE, Lanie

 

[JrZyChris]

So true, you really can't let your kids out of sight anymore. When I was lyoung(in the 80s and early 90s) I could walk the mile to school, go down to the park and ride my bike to the store with friends. Kids can't do that anymore
Maybe part of the reason for the child obesity epidemic is that children can no longer play outside without close adult supervision.

It's unreal. My son is 8 - I hate to give the "I walked to and from school 10 miles uphill each way in a blizzard" speech, but this is really the way it was!! I walked railroad tracks (in service!) to school in first grade and so did every other kid in the neighborhood! I told my husband last night, I don't know how I'm going to let go when my son is in high school ~ I don't trust ANYONE ANYWHERE and I don't want to ruin his life with my paranoid ways but there is too much crazy stuff going on out there. Now I'm going to read the rest of this thread and hope there is good news on the next page...

 

[JrZyChris]

Now I'm going to read the rest of this thread and hope there is good news on the next page...

Horrific - I'm so sorry for the parents of this precious little angel. May God have mercy on the animal responsible for this crime.

 

[englishleigh]

Oh, how I prayed that this case would turn out happily. How horrible. :furious: :furious: :furious: Prayers for the family of this little angel, who is now in Jesus' arms. Prayers for justice!!

 

[deespoohbear]

Like Dark Knight, I also live in the Hoosier State. This is the second child in 5 weeks that has been murdered in this state. That is two too many. 10 year olds don't run away from home, and even if they do LE should still have the responsibility to search for them. A child's life is too precious. You know for sure that if Katy or Christiana (the little girl who was murdered on Christmas Eve in Indy) had been the children of LE personnel it would have been no holds barred in searching for them.

Another child has lost her life. Maybe the state of Indiana will get their heads out of their butts and do some revising of the Amber Alert guidelines.

RIP, Katy.

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/4145109/detail.html

CROTHERSVILLE, Ind. -- The body of a southern Indiana girl who police believe was abducted last week was found Sunday morning in a stream about five miles north of Seymour, authorities said.
A state trooper on routine patrol found the body of Katlyn "Katie" Collman, 10, state police Sgt. Jerry Goodin said at a news conference.

Police said they're investigating the Crothersville-area girl's death as a murder. Details of how the girl died were not released. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday in Louisville, Ky., Goodin said.

An Amber Alert had been issued Thursday for Collman, who police said was abducted Tuesday from Crothersville. Police said she left a Crothersville store on foot, and someone saw her later that day with a man in a pickup truck outside a school in town.

Authorities said they believe the man abducted Collman, and they released a composite image of him Friday. He was described as a white male who was between 18 and 20 years old, between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet tall, and very skinny with short dark hair and a fair complexion.

The vehicle was described as a white Ford F-150 pickup that was about 15 years old and appeared to be clean and well-maintained, police said.

The sketch of the man sparked a rash of telephone tips, but none that provided solid information, police said.

"This is a saddening day for law enforcement officials," Goodin said. "We've come to know Katie. It hits everyone very hard."

 

[ariel7]

May I print this first sentence on a T-shirt? I'm truly tempted.

Amber Alert did not fail this child, but in my opinion LE did.
They also failed her family, imo, by not issuing the AA immediately.

TEN year olds don't just disappear.

The parents know their child better than anyone.

If you must question the parents, do it, but please do NOT delay the search.

Immediate alerts and SAR is what brings them home safely. I cannot express that enough. The first few minutes and hours (probably three) are the most crucial in an abduction.

Search and Rescue teams cannot do their work if LE doesn't notify them of missing children and adults.

This news is so crushing. I was just hoping she'd be ok. Why did they not issue an
alert immediately? HOW can anyone do this kind of thing to a child.....
:furious: :banghead: wish they had a crying smiley---
that is how I really feel.........

http://www.geocities.com/bat3193/smiley24/cry09.gif (Thank you for
the crying smiley Lanie. )

 

[Sassygerl]

Now, it is a murder investigation.
www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2876883

Prayers for her family and friends.

OH NO..how did I miss this horrible news????? What a sad ending

 

[dannyodie]

what a tragic ending. I have this vision that the person that did this works in the general area where the child lived, not so much in the neighborhood but near there. took her the 40 miles or so away and assulted her leaving her body in the area that he did, he is familiar with that area, and the location she was found is most likely not far from where he lives, within 5 to 10 miles. marking the time of day she was picked up, he was most likely getting off of work at that time of day, reminds me of the man that took carlie brucia in florida. this man most likely travels the same general route to and from work but may not travel it now for the next few weeks or so to allude being seen. I wouldn't doubt that if le would watch the route along where she was located that they will find him.

 

[Love_Mama]

Public scrutiny is often best to influence LE, so I'd recommend letters to the editors of various local papers as well as major ones like the Indy Star. The rules of Amber Alerts needs to be tweaked, apparently.

Indiana has a brand new Governor. Might be a good time to get his attention.

Go for it DK. A brand new Governor is much more likely to respond. Letter's to the Editor. Right on! They almost always work because the 'type' of people who read them are pretty intelligent people who are most likely to get with a 'cause' :woohoo:

xxoooooxxxx
mama

 

[Love_Mama]

Hi Mama! I'm glad you asked about the various states policies. By law, the missing are to be in the NCIC database within 24 hours after being reported missing, and we encourage a missing persons report to be done immediately in ALL cases. Some departments will tell a family they have a waiting period for older kids, teens, and adults. That may be a policy, but it is not a law, not that I have ever heard of. To me, not taking the report is laziness.

Since anyone who would be reporting someone missing is surely someone who knows them well, you have to make them listen to you (i.e. my child did not just run off, my wife did not just leave and not say goodbye to her kids). The tools are there, but sadly many in LE don't even know we're out here, and many do not contact SAR units. The stories I could share would startle you.


I think I may just start a thread about this in the private forums.

Lanie

Please do start a thread Lanie! :clap:
God Bless you!
xxxo
mama

 

[WasBlind]

what a tragic ending. I have this vision that the person that did this works in the general area where the child lived, not so much in the neighborhood but near there. took her the 40 miles or so away and assulted her leaving her body in the area that he did, he is familiar with that area, and the location she was found is most likely not far from where he lives, within 5 to 10 miles. marking the time of day she was picked up, he was most likely getting off of work at that time of day, reminds me of the man that took carlie brucia in florida. this man most likely travels the same general route to and from work but may not travel it now for the next few weeks or so to allude being seen. I wouldn't doubt that if le would watch the route along where she was located that they will find him.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Crothersville Police Department at 1-888-58AMBER (888-582-6237).

If you have information, pls call and report it to LE, danny.
Let us know what they say when you call, Lanie

 

[tezi]

I am also hearbroken about this news. I agree with Lanie, LE failed this child. I'm sure it wasn't the first time LE has failed a child. Ten-year-olds just don't run away.

DK, I feel your pain. Perhaps a letter to the new governor would help, maybe he can hold the LE officers responsible, and maybe change the guidelines for the AA.

These murdering morons have to be stopped. Somehow, someway!

 

[englishleigh]

ANYTIME a child goes missing, ANYTIME, an Amber Alert should be issued. It's no skin off anyone's nose to do this, and the line about not having enough info to do it right away is BS...at the very minimum, they will always have a description of the child and a photo, and the immediate area that the child went missing from.

LE DID fail Katie, and if it were not for the Nodaway County, MO sheriff, Ben Espey, who pushed for the Amber Alert for Baby Victoria Stinnett back in December, she might not have been found as quickly, either, although in the end, it was computer forensics and the online friends of Bobbie Stinnett who helped solve that case.

The Amber Alert cannot work unless it is used, and used in EVERY missing child case, IMMEDIATELY.

Prayers for Katie's poor family. Katie is at peace.

 

[packerdog]

This is very sad news, I was hopeful that she knew this guy and that he wasn't a murderer.

 

[englishleigh]

This is very sad news, I was hopeful that she knew this guy and that he wasn't a murderer.

I think it's quite possible that she DID know this guy...witnesses who saw her in the truck with the man driving away said she looked relaxed and happy and not scared. :behindbar

 

[packerdog]

englishleigh, I didn't know that, how terrible. May she rest in peace.