SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
Former Member
Missing Since: November 14, 2005 from Aurora, Colorado
Classification: Endangered Runaway
Date of Birth: November 30, 1998
Age: 6 years old
Height and Weight: 4'0, 60 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Aarone's hair was in a ponytail when she was last seen. Her top right canine tooth is missing. Her name is pronounced "Ah-run-ay."
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white sweater, a gray hooded sweatshirt that zipped up the front, pink sweatpants, white sneakers and a pink rubber hair band.
Details of Disappearance
Aarone reportedly resided with her father, Aaron Thompson; his girlfriend, Shely Mary Lowe (also known as Shelley Marie Lowe), who was pregnant; Aarone's older brother; Lowe's teenage brother; and Lowe's five children in the 16500 block of east Kepner Place, near the corner of south Buckley Road and east Mississippi Avenue, in Aurora, Colorado in November 2005. The children in the family ranged from five to fifteen years in age. Photographs of Aaron and Lowe are posted below this case summary. On November 14, 2005, Aaron notified authorities that Aarone had disappeared. He said she got into an argument with Lowe over a cookie and ran away from home between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. She has never been heard from again. An extensive search of the neighborhood turned up no signs of her.
Aarone's mother, Lynette Thompson, lived in Detroit, Michigan when her daughter disappeared. She has not seen the child since October 2001 and is not considered a suspect in her disappearance. Within a day of Aarone's disappearance, Lynette gave media interviews stating she disbelieved Aaron's story and believed Aarone met with foul play. Lynette stated that Aarone and her brother had been born in Michigan. Aaron and the children moved to Colorado in 2001. Lynette was supposed to go with them, but she became ill and had to be hospitalized, so she stayed behind. After she recovered, she planned to join them in their new home, but Aaron called her and told her not to come. Since then he had refused to tell her where he and their children were living.
Three days after Aarone disappeared, investigators announced they did not believe she disappeared on November 14. They theorized that instead, Aarone had been murdered inside her home and had been dead for some time before her disappearance was reported, perhaps as long as a year and a half. Lowe's former boyfriend, Eric Williams, told them Lowe told him Aarone stopped breathing in the bathtub. Lowe then attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but was unable to revive the child. She denied being responsible for Aarone's death and stated the girl had simply died suddenly and no one had done anything to cause her death. Lowe allegedly stated she and Aaron had concealed Aarone's death and buried her body in a field because the child have been sexually abused by a sibling and had a scar on her body from previous abuse. Williams has a nine-year criminal history, most of it concerned with drugs, and is currently incarcerated. His account has not been verified.
The Thompson/Lowe children were all taken into protective custody, as was Lowe's baby daughter when she was born. Authorities cited abuse, neglect and poor living conditions as the reasons. Aaron and Lowe were allowed supervised visitation only. When they were interviewed, the children told investigators they had not seen Aarone in over a year. Both Aaron and Lowe were named as persons of interest in Aarone's disappearance and presumed death, and their home was designated a crime scene. Police stated they refused to take lie detector tests and have not cooperated with authorities.
Investigators stated that no "credible" person claimed to have seen Aarone for a year and a half and that the other children in her family were told to lie about her disappearance. Interestingly, Aarone was reported missing just hours before a social worker was scheduled to visit her home. The family had been receiving a housing subsidy from a charitable organization and the social worker was supposed to detemine if they were still eligible. Aarone did not attend any school in the Aurora area and was not registered as a home-schooled student; Lowe reportedly told one individual that she had been unable to register Aarone at school because the child's birth certificate had been lost. When her father reported her missing, he said she was seven years old; she would have actually been six. The picture he provided was 18 months old; he said the family had no more recent photographs. Weeks before Aarone was reported missing, Aaron requested that a non-profit foundation help provide Christmas presents for his children. He did not list Aarone on the application form.
In March 2006, four months after Aarone's disappearance was reported, individuals claiming to be Lowe's brother and son in foster care called the Denver Post and stated she had not been murdered and had run away from home like Aaron had said. They said they had been coerced by the police into making false statements to the contrary. The callers gave the Lowe children's correct birthdates over the phone, but investigators stated the call was most likely a hoax and denied mistreating the children during interviews.
In May 2006, a grand jury was convened to investigate Aarone's disappearance. That same month, Lowe died suddenly at the age of 33. The cause of death was heart disease; she has had previous heart problems and also experienced complications from her final pregnancy. Lowe maintained her innocence in Aarone's case until her death. She was never interviewed by police, as she refused to speak to them.
In February 2007, authorities confirmed that they had a tape-recorded telephone conversation between Lowe and one of her friends and Lowe stated Aarone was dead. She referred to Aarone in the past tense and her friend asked Lowe if she would place flowers on the child's grave. Investigators have interviewed over 450 people, searched the Thompson home, and dug up the yard. False identification, including driver's licenses, were found in the home, but there was no evidence as to Aarone's whereabouts.
Aaron maintains his innocence in Aarone's disappearance. In early 2007, a civil dependency and neglect jury investigating the alleged abuse of Aarone's siblings ruled that Aaron "was responsible for serious bodily injury or the death" of Aarone. The civil jury's finding cannot be admitted as evidence in a criminal case because a civil jury has a lower standard of proof than a criminal jury. In May 2007 Aaron was indicted on sixty charges, the most serious of which is child abuse resulting in death. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 48 years to life in prison. The other charges include multiple counts of conspiracy to commit child abuse resulting in death, false reporting to authorities, concealing a death, conspiracy to conceal a death, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse, seven counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and multiple counts of child abuse resulting in injury. Aaron is awaiting trial on the charges. Authorities have not detailed the evidence against him, but they have stated that Aarone's siblings will testify for the prosecution.
All the Thompson/Lowe children remain in foster care. Various members of their families are fighting for custody of them. Foul play is suspected in Aarone's disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Aurora Police Department
303-627-3100
