GUILTY MO - Hailey Owens, 10, Springfield, 18 Feb 2014 #1

[Leader6518]

Life can be so cruel at times. Just yesterday this sweet angel was celebrating her "half birthday" , texting all her buddies and joyfully playing with her little neighborhood friend. Within moments she stared evil in the face and was terrified I'm sure.

My heart aches for her and her family.

RIP Hailey Owens

I love you even without knowing you in this life

I was having the same thoughts looking at her picture. Walking home with not a care in the world and then looking evil in the face. There are just no words...

 

[Melanie]

he reminds me a bit (so far) of John Albert Gardener (Chelsea King and Amber Dubois)

bbm: I believe I have read that he was a para (not a teacher)?

I'm not sure how accurate the 8:30am search warrant issuing was. According to the 11:00am presser they executed the search warrant at 2:30 and found her body at 2:50am and didn't confirm it was a female body until 10:45am.

Yes, and thank goodness they obtained a SW, because we all know some smarmy Defense Attorney would have tried to throw all the evidence out of court if LE did not.

MOO

Mel

 

[Plumeria5]

CW used his dad's truck.
CW most likely was able to buy his house because his dad co-signed. (Tax record upstream.)
CW is 45 years old.
Lives alone evidently.

I see the same old pattern. A man 45 still conducting his life like a teenager that still depends on his parents to bail him out of everything. I think CW's luck has run out. Dad seems in shock and does not seem to deny his son wouldn't do this. Not yet at least.

 

[Knox]

Timeline of Hailey Owens Abduction

4:48 pm Police respond to reported abduction
Springfield Police responded to the 3200 block of West Lombard Street in reference to a reported child abduction. Witnesses say that Hailey Owens ignored the male suspect at first but then got closer and was taken. Two witnesses tried to stop the abduction, one on foot and the other pursued the suspect in a car.
--
5:00 PM Police gather information
Officers obtained preliminary information from witnesses regarding vehicle description, license plate and a suspect. Based on this information, SPD was able to develop information leading to a potential suspect's vehicle.
__
Feb 18 6:00 PM Police inform public and start Amber Alert
SPD issued a news release and posted to social media information about the abduction, including victim and vehicle details.
Following Amber Alert protocol, information was provided to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Work continued throughout the night with partners in area law enforcement agencies at the city, county, state and federal level.
__
Feb 18 7:07 PM Amber Alert issued
A statewide Amber Alert was issued and information was distributed to all area law enforcement agencies and media outlets, including the suspect description and a description of the suspect vehicle, at 7:07 p.m. - two hours after police were dispatched to the abduction call at 3247 W. Lombard. Two additional alerts were issued for Kansas and Oklahoma around 9 p.m.
__
Feb 18 Between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. Police begin searching for Craig Michael Wood
Based on the witness information about the license plate number, police were able to contact the registered owner of the vehicle, an individual from Ash Grove. The owner said Craig Michael Wood had borrowed the vehicle from him. Police then began searching for the 45-year-old.
__
Feb 18, 2014 8:30 PM Police find suspect
Following up on a lead, investigators located the suspect vehicle at a residence at 1538 E. Stanford St. in Springfield. The suspect accompanied the investigators to police headquarters for questioning.
That suspect, Craig M. Wood, 45, of Springfield, was taken into custody and booked into the Greene County Jail. Police say he refused to cooperate with the investigation. He also requested an attorney.
__
Feb 18 just after 8:30 PM Police do initial search of home
After Wood was arrested, police conducted an initial search inside the residence to make sure no one needed immediate help. Police Chief Paul Williams at this time did not say whether a body had been found but said that police didn't find anyone who needed help
__
Feb 19, 2014 2:15 AM Search warrant obtained
Based on evidence found, SPD obtained a search warrant for the residence. The FBI evidence response team arrived and assisted with the search of the residence.
The investigation continued through the morning, with efforts focused on the Stanford property.
Throughout the investigation, SPD kept the family apprised of ongoing developments.
__
Feb 19 3:00 AM Police inform family of a body found
Police informed the family of Hailey Owens that a body had been found at the suspect's residence but cannot yet confirm who it is.
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Feb 19 6:30 AM Suspect indentified
Police identify Craig Michael Wood as the suspect. He is being held in Greene County Jail on allegations of first-degree murder.
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Feb 19 8:00 AM Amber Alert canceled
About 8 a.m. - The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported the Amber Alert had been canceled.
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Feb 19 11:00 AM Police confirm body likely Hailey Owens
Police confirmed a body was found at the Stanford Street home and said they believed it was Owens, though an autopsy would be needed to confirm her identity and cause of death.

http://www.news-leader.com/interact...line-of-Hailey-Owens-abduction?nclick_check=1

 

[atm9533]

http://www.news-leader.com/article/...-He-s-my-son-he-s-lot-trouble-?nclick_check=1

He borrowed the truck from his dad.

 

[gliving]

Has there ever been a case of TOTAL stranger abduction of a young child where an Amber Alert was fundamental to the recovery of the child before he/she was murdered? Sounds like its more useful for parental/custodial/seedy uncle cases than it is for the ones most vulnerable and deserving of immediate response.

"in 76 percent of the murders of an abducted child, the child was murdered within 3 hours of the abduction"


http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/p...bruary-2012/crimes-against-children-spotlight

 

[darkstar105]

That absolutely breaks my heart. How powerless he must have felt, then the moment he realized he couldn't run anymore, out of breath in the middle of the street.. It helps, at least, knowing that there are so many neighborhoods that look after others' children. For some it's easier to close the blinds and shrug.

Angie Hammond, 20, was kidnapped from a pay phone in Clinton, MO in 1991 in a similar situation. She was on the phone to her boyfriend and suddenly screamed. He had been working on his transmission but jumped in his car and drove to the pay phone just in time to see a truck taking off with the kidnapped Angie. He tried to chase the truck but his transmission failed. This case was on Unsolved Mysteries. There were two other abductions in that area around that time, besides the Springfield Three. One was a clerk at a convenience store. I can't remember the third--maybe the third case actually was the Springfield Three.

http://stillunsolved.wordpress.com/...on-missouri-woman-still-a-unsolved-cold-case/

 

[Jacie Estes]

If you go to the photos there are a few of him.

One of the photos has a young girl in the foreground.

 

[Methodical]

At a time when it is much easier to turn their heads and pretend they don't see or hear anything, I am proud that these witnesses stepped up and tried to help.

I find that quite sad for the state of the world today if that's how most ppl think. I would consider it not easy, but extremely hard,, in fact impossible, to turn my head if an abduction was taking place within my eyesight.

I hate to see a world where we now give "special" praise for doing simple human obligations, like calling 911 after crimes, or jotting down license numbers off child abductor's vehicles. IMO, any self-respecting person does not have the "option" of dismissing or turning their heads to these humanity obligations.

 

[2girlzmm]

So they were issued the search warrant at 8:30am and at 10:30am they confirmed they had a body that "likely was a girl". 2 hours went by then they said it was likely a girl?? What does that mean? :banghead:

Also I wanted to address the post about a student who had ISS with CW as the supervisor. He said CW was a pothead. How did he know that? Did CW sit around with the students talking about it?

To address this. A very close friend of mine went to school with him in HS. He also dated my dh cousin in HS. The child that had him for ISS DID NOT call him a pot head but my friend from his hs class did. She said he was very nice but was a pothead.

 

[Jo in Calif]

How far was his house from the abduction location?

 

[jadejazzkayla]

With all the screaming and people chasing I am surprised he didn't drop her off. He was pretty ballsy.

i'm surprised too. he has to be pretty naive to think he wouldn't be caught. he is my candidate for stupidest criminal of the year.

 

[Paige SC]

"in 76 percent of the murders of an abducted child, the child was murdered within 3 hours of the abduction"


http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/p...bruary-2012/crimes-against-children-spotlight

The lesson here is : Do not depend on an Amber Alert to be of much use if your child should ever be abducted. It's a formality riddled with stringent criteria and applied differently from state to state. Everyone is always up in arms about the time it took for an AA to be issued in cases like this one but the truth of the matter is AA's are rarely, if EVER, of any use at all in total stranger abductions. I say of zero statistical benefit.

 

[CHERIE.T]

To address this. A very close friend of mine went to school with him in HS. He also dated my dh cousin in HS. The child that had him for ISS DID NOT call him a pot head but my friend from his hs class did. She said he was very nice but was a pothead.

umm Who called him a pothead?
A student or an adult? tia

 

[IBsleuthin]

Well, I think the answer is, this is exceptionally rare. I read a stat once that jagged sidewalks kill more people (by causing horrible bike wrecks and causing runners/joggers to trip) than children killed by stranger abductions.

Horrible as this is, it's rare.

It seems that every time one of these cases comes up someone brings up how rare it is.

Yet we sure seem to have an enormously lengthy list of rare cases.

So many rare cases in fact that crime scientists/police experts who study this type of crime are able to put together a classic scenario for this situation.

THIS particular crime is SO classic and typical that I'd dare say any number of us on here could have written this out on a piece of paper ahead of time and it would have been very accurate description of what we are now seeing play out in the news.

While I understand that in the total number of a given population this event is a statistically low number, I don't think that the frequency of the event is the answer to why it happens nor how to protect our children and it certainly gives no comfort to the parents of a dead child.

 

[trigger]

There's been a lot of speculation about the condition of poor Hailey's body, understandably. The lack of forthright answers from LE when questioned about it contributes to that but I know they have their reasons for containing information. IMO, it's entirely possible that her body was semi-hidden and therefore could not be immediately identified. (Maybe I'm just trying to be optimistic) LE could have seen a portion of her body, then went to get their search warrant, came back and had to extricate her. They would be intent on preserving evidence at that point, not rapidly trying to save a life. Just a thought.....

I wonder if they thought she was a older girl because Hailey is so tall for her age. lease:

 

[CHERIE.T]

i'm surprised too. he has to be pretty naive to think he wouldn't be caught. he is my candidate for stupidest criminal of the year.

That means his urge was greater than his fear of being caught!

 

[2girlzmm]

umm Who called him a pothead?
A student or an adult? tia

Again...my friend the adult who went to high school with him...

 

[iamnotagolem]

I'm by all means a paranoid, hyper vigilant parent. 90% of the time I walk my daughter to class and pick her up from her classroom. The other 10% of the time I park right outside the school and watch her walk in/out.

There are many kindergartners that walk to and from school. I think this is absurd, I keep an eye on a couple of them as they walk part of the route I take to drop my daughter off.

At what age do most people allow their kids to walk to and from school? I don't know that I'll ever be okay with it. Once she has her own car she can drive, until then I plan to drive her.

It seems, based on no statistics and only on cases I've followed, that most kids that are abducted by strangers off of the street are 8-11 year old girls.

 

[Jacie Estes]

Everyone is *repeatedly* missing the point and replying with things the witnesses did AFTER she was grabbed. I won't pursue this any longer as you all continue to state only what actions were done AFTER she was abducted.
Because the reality is there was no shout, or no action taken BEFORE Hailey was grabbed.

I'll refer to the USA Today video, which is the witness himself, in his own words. He was in a garage extremely close to Wood's vehicle and Hailey, and he did not shout out while he sat there hearing Wood ask Hailey questions. The fact is,, nobody did anything or move an inch prior to Hailey being grabbed (outside the vehicle and after the perp opened the door)

USA Today Witness Video

Honest question (for those brave enuf to answer):
Now if your 10 yr old were seen talking to a 45 yr old male stranger in a car, honestly, would you be completely understanding and comfortable with a nearby adult merely watching an obvious (to me) setup for a possible abduction, without that adult taking action BEFORE your child was grabbed? Just so long as he took the perp's license tag number, all would be ok?

I'd like to concentrate on the actual perp now, but keep getting an influx of faulty defenses re the witness's actions.

If the witnesses didn't know the child, for all they knew it could have been someone connected to her that was coming to get her or someone just asking a question. For Mr Edwards and his wife to get a LP number, description of the truck and of the guy that was as detailed as it was, shows, IMHO, that they did do something.

Not every one sees evil in others; short of the guy driving a van with Free Candy written on the side, there was no way for them to know this man's intent beforehand. What they did in those moments of understanding is what helped to find the murderer.

Sadly, it didn't save Hailey's life but I think that Wood may well have panicked and Hailey was not conscious by the time they got to his house. To drive 60 MPH through neighborhoods, while being chased, is difficult while trying to contain a 10 year old who was likely struggling. He may even have had some substance on a cloth to knock her out once in the car. We just don't know this yet. Again, another variable, just like 'is this guy a good guy or bad guy' when people first saw him talking to Hailey.