ND ND - Reachelle Smith, 3, Minot, 16 May 2006

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JerseyGirl said:
She reminds me SO MUCH of beautiful, little Riley Fox:

americasmissingchildrennews.com - Police trying to 'think outside the box' in search for 3-year-old (Reachelle)

http://www.justiceforriley.com/images/images2/rileybrother.jpg (Riley)
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I agree. I just hope that the results aren't the same. There are so many little ones missing. I wonder if they will ever find Reachelle? I just wish that guy that committed suicide...if that is what it was...would have left a note if he did something with her. Wouldn't you think he would have? If he did something to her he sure couldn't get in any trouble for it. It's so frustrating.
All we have to go on with this whole story is the aunts word. Maybe the guy didn't even take her anywhere that night. Maybe he was just an easy target now that he is dead. If he was into drugs someone could have given him something to knock him out...if he had found something out...driven him out to that area he was found at...hooked up a hose and he would have died.

That aunts story doesn't make sense to me. If someone took my 3 year old daughter somewhere in the middle of the night without my permission....especially to someone's house that had only kept her one time in her life...I would have been at that house as soon as I found out where she was. I'm beginning to think the aunts whole story is total bullchit!

The sister of the dead man said that her mother had only babysat Reachelle one time. Which means that Reachelle didn't know her well. Seeing the picture of Reachelle and the dead man together it is easy to see why he thought she was his. Maybe she was and the aunt is lying about the blood test too.
 
IMO, the reason that the aunt's story doesn't make sense is because she realizes that perhaps she wasn't the best care-giver and is embarassed. Don't get me wrong; I feel absolutely horrible for everyone involved. But I don't think that this beautiful angel was being cared for the way that she should have been. I think that those caring for her were probably very caught up in their own situations and Reachelle wasn't necessarily the priority.
 
Does anyone think that the guy who took her (ugh, he has my name) could have traded her for drugs or anything? I just pray that this little angel isn't dead.

I have a good friend who just moved to North Dakota...I will ask him when I talk to him if he is hearing anything where he is on this case. He isn't too far from Minot, I don't think.
 
KFYR-TV North Dakota's NBC News Leader

... leads have virtually dried up.

Authorities say hundreds of searchers have gone over thousands of acres of land and water, but there`s still no sign of Reachelle...

Police Detective Dan Strandberg says no new leads have come in for several days. He says the hope that the girl will be found alive is starting to fade.
 
Local Red Cross could use some help. Apparently they've been helping with the search for Reachelle:

Minot Daily News

According to Alan McGeough, executive director of the Mid-Dakota Chapter of the American Red Cross, several families were being lodged by the Red Cross at Sleep Inn-Inn and Suites in Minot, (after an apartment building fire)...

McGeough told The Minot Daily News that, although the Sleep Inn is providing rooms at a discount, the Red Cross has already spent around $5,000 to assist the displaced fire victims.

‘‘Between that and the search for the little girl (Reachelle Smith) recently, our available funding is starting to get pretty tight,’’ he said.

McGeough encouraged anyone who might want to help to donate to the Mid-Dakota Chapter of the American Red Cross by stopping by the office at 2021-4th Ave. NW, in Minot; mailing donations to P.O. Box 456, Minot, ND 58702; calling the office to donate by credit card at 701-852-2828.
 
Dex said:
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]An interview about Reachelle is going to be shown after "Without a Trace" on CBS[/font]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Thursday, June 29, 10PM ET/PT (tonight)

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/withou...reachelle.shtml[/font]
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I saw "Without A Trace" last night and the little bit about Reachelle too. The picture that they showed of her and the pic of the man who thought he was her father...Leigh... holding her on the missing childrens site look nothing alike. I would like to know which picture actually looks like her. The pic on the missing children's site is a much clearer picture. If the media keeps showing the one pic but she actually looks like the one on the missing children's site then people wouldn't recognice her if they saw her.

I wonder what they are doing as far as this case goes. Is LE still trying to find Reachelle? I still wonder about that man and little girl that you saw. Did you ever get the picture of Reachelle's supposed bio dad from that friend of his?

I just don't know why Leigh would have gone to the trouble of hiding her body if he did something to her when he committed suicide. Why not take her with him in the van instead? Even if something happened the night before why not take her with him. Or..why would he not have left a note if he did something to her? Just doesn't make sense to me.
 
Bobbisangel said:
Nothing. I just hope that this little one is somewhere safe. This whole picture still feels wrong to me.
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It feels very wrong to me too.
 
SewingDeb said:
It feels very wrong to me too.
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I might believe the whole story if it wasn't the aunt who has given LE all of the info that they have. It doesn't make sense to me that the man who committed suicide...if he did...told her that he took Reachelle to his mother's in the middle of the night and she had no problem with that. I would have been asking him what he thought he was doing taking her out in the middle of the night...it doesn't even make sense. And then she doesn't even call his mother for days. The cops might believe this story but it doesn't ring true to me. Now we hear from the man's sister that their mother only ever kept Reachelle once for a short period of time!! There isn't any reason that he would have taken her to his mom's or anywhere else for that matter. And there is every reason for a good mother/aunt to make a call that morning to see what is going on or if Reachelle needed clothes, meds, etc. But she doesn't even bother. I just don't believe her story.
 
http://www.minotdailynews.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=4063

Detectives holding out hope in search
Eight weeks have passed since the disappearance of a little Minot girl, but Minot police detectives investigating the case are still pursuing all leads.


and

‘‘We’re continuing to get leads,’’ Strandberg said. ‘‘Most of the leads we’re getting are not local leads, they’re from some distance away.’’

The detectives listed New York, Montana, Wyoming, California and Iowa as states they have received leads from recently.

‘‘We’re following up on anything that has any information we can follow up on,’’ Strandberg said.

Unfortunately, many of the leads the detectives receive are simply not anything that can be followed up on, and their frustration with being unable to crack the case peeks through.

‘‘We’ll get some that will say; ‘We saw her at Fred’s Barbecue and she left in a green pickup,’’’ Strandberg said, ‘‘but what’s there to follow up on there? We might be able to find Fred’s Barbecue, but is he going to know who left in the green pickup Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.? No, he’s not.’’

However, Strandberg added, some of the leads have been solid enough to pursue.

‘‘Some of them have stuff we can follow up on, and we are,’’ he said. ‘‘For the most part we – or the authorities there – are finding the child that was seen and it hasn’t been her, so far.’’

~much more at link~
 
SewingDeb said:
http://www.minotdailynews.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=4063
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Thanks so much for posting this. I was unable to find anything new on this case. There are two things from the article that I wanted to copy & paste here:

"... The detectives reiterated that if anyone locally that they haven’t talked to wishes to come forward with any information, that they can contact the police department any time at 852-0111.

... ‘‘I knew,’’ (Minot police sergeant Dan) Strandberg said, describing the feeling on the very first day of the investigation as he stood in the little girl’s home, ‘‘that this was going to be the one that keeps us up at night.’’
 
I think that they should question the aunt some more. She hasn't been honest about much since Reachelle went missing. She said that she had blood tests done after Reachelle went missing or right before to prove paternity. The mother of Reachelle's bio father posts on CTV message boards and she said that her son had blood tests done right after Reachelle was born and he was 99.9 percent the father. So why did the aunt tell that lie. The bio mother has been telling Leigh for the last 2 years that he is Reachelle's father. She looks enough like him for the aunt to make him believe it. She even had Leigh's family convinced.

Everything LE has been told has come from the aunt or the bio mother. At first the aunt said that Leigh told her that he took Reachelle to his mothers in the middle of the night. He knew his mother had moved but did the aunt know? Maybe she didn't and that is why she said Leigh took Reachelle to his mothers. Then she finds out that Leighs mother had moved. So now she says that she thinks Leigh gave Reachelle to someone.

Leigh's sister said that Leigh had attempted suicide before and he always left a note...always. No note this time. Well, according to the aunt he didn't leave a note. If he did leave one and she found it I wonder what it said. Maybe something that she didn't want LE to read?

I don't think that Leigh hurt that little girl. His sister said that he just loved her. If he planned to commit suicide and he didn't think that the little girl was being taken care of or was being neglected or whatever maybe he did take her to someone that he knew would love her and take good care of her. I sure hope so anyway. I can't stand to think that something horrible happened to this little girl.
 
This case is so frustrating. I was just in ND a couple of weeks ago and wondering about this little sweetheart. I've been wondering about the aunt's story, how she claims Leigh told her he took Reachelle to his mother's house in the middle of the night. Maybe the aunt completely made that up. She knew Leigh wasn't coming back. It could be that she fabricated the whole story to throw off the investigation. Leigh looks guilty of something with all of the stories told up to now. Maybe he is being framed. I really feel the mother and aunt know a lot more about what happened to this little girl and it doesn't look good.
 
dulcinea said:
This case is so frustrating. I was just in ND a couple of weeks ago and wondering about this little sweetheart. I've been wondering about the aunt's story, how she claims Leigh told her he took Reachelle to his mother's house in the middle of the night. Maybe the aunt completely made that up. She knew Leigh wasn't coming back. It could be that she fabricated the whole story to throw off the investigation. Leigh looks guilty of something with all of the stories told up to now. Maybe he is being framed. I really feel the mother and aunt know a lot more about what happened to this little girl and it doesn't look good.
Click to expand...



Nearly everyone on the boards about Reachelle have the same feelings about the aunt as least. I wonder if LE feels the same way but they aren't saying anything? If we can see all of the holes in this story I'm sure that they can.

Leigh isn't here to defend himself and so the aunt can say anything that she want about him. I don't believe that Leigh told the aunt that he took Reachelle to his mothers. The aunt made that up because she didn't know the mom had moved..IMO. She's doing some back tracking now but still blaming Leigh. I even have doubts about the suicide....or was it murder? How can LE know for sure if the was a hose in the tailpipe into the van? Anyone could do that. If they find drugs in his blood does that mean he used them or does that mean that someone could have doctored something he was drinking? Because he has tried suicide before does lean the story towards suicide but I don't trust that aunt. He drove her van all of the time. Why did she turn it in this time?

I still want to know why she waited days before she notified LE that Reachelle was missing. She says she thought Reachelle was at Leigh's mothers. His mother had kept Reachelle one time in her life. Why would she not bother to call for days when Reachelle barely knew Leigh's mom? This is one big ole red flag to me. I would have been on the phone as soon as I found out Reachelle wasn't at home. I would have been furious for one thing. You don't take a child out of the home without talking to the mother/aunt first. I guess she wasn't mad or worried though. That says a lot to me.
 
There are two things that make me lean toward the aunt's information being at least mostly truthful. 1) The emotions displayed during their pleas seemed completely real. 2) Leigh's suicide days AFTER Reachelle was missing would be too coincidental for the aunt to have done something and pin it on Leigh. How would she have known that days later he wouldn't be around to defend himself anymore?

I'm hoping for one scenario but believing another. I'm hoping that he adored her and gave her to someone for better care before "leaving". Sadly however, the realistic side of me thinks that it's more likely that he sexually assaulted this child, "disposed" of her, and then killed himself, maybe out of sheer guilt for the betrayal of this child that loved him or that he loved.
 
I know that with a lot of missing children, after a while they seem to be forgotten by the press. I just want to keep this one out there just in case someone knows something.

Back in May a little girl name Reachelle Smith (age 3) went missing. the man who was suspected of taking her (he was the boyfriend of her foster mother) committed suicide soon after. This was in the North Dakota area, close to Minnesota. Here's a link for more info

http://amw.com/missing_children/brief.cfm?id=38883

I have a little girl about the same age and I would want someone to care enough about her to keep the interest up.

Thanks for all you guys do for the missing!
 
The Rapid City Journal

A South Dakota man brought his bloodhounds to help in the search for 3-year-old Reachelle Smith, missing more than three months, and police said they were checking a flashlight found in his search.

Denny Adams of Conde, S.D., who runs Dakota Territory Search Dogs, has spent the past couple of days searching the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge, where a stolen van and the body of 22-year old Leigh Cowen was discovered in late May...

Minot Police Sgt. Jason Sundbakken said (the item of interest) was a flashlight that could be from a search party.

Bloodhounds were put in a small boat Monday along the banks of the Mouse River, but they did not react. Other searches, on banks of lower pools in the refuge, also didn’t alert the dogs...

“We’re not expecting to find a little girl standing in the weeds waving at us,” Adams said. “These are reality checks the family has to be prepared for...“
 
Hunters Asked to Become Searchers

Captain Al Hanson of the Minot Police Department says hunters can provide the kind of searching thouroughness that's not possible for authorities.

(Capt. Al Hanson / Minot Police) We'd like to have the hunters when they're out with their bird dogs in upland game hunting or waterfowl hunting or sitting in a tree stand with archery, they're going to over hundreds of thousands of square miles of this state and they know it as well as anybody and most of them hunt the same area year after year. We're just asking for their help. If they come across something that they think, common sense-wise, might be beneficial to our case, we need them to contact us or their local law enforcement...

Photo gallery: Hunters Asked to Become Searchers Photo Gallery
 
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