I live just south of her neighborhood and joined the search for a few hours this afternoon today. Our group searched a park/open space area in my neighborhood, about 2 miles south (as the crow flies) of where she disappeared.
FWIW, she does not have a 1.3-mile walk to school. Like any of the kids around here, I'm sure she took the straightest path, which would be across the open space to the back end of the school and then to wherever her classroom is. That's typical for all the schools in the area. The news reports seem to assume that she stays on the road the entire way, but if she did, there's no way she'd make it to school on time (she reportedly left at 8:30 and school starts at 8:50. The average person walks about 1 mile in 20 minutes, kids tend to be slower). Many kids walk to school in this area.
Regarding the attempted abductions in the area: those both took place miles south, around 58th Ave and maybe a little further north. Last fall a man tried to lure kids into his car a couple of times too, though not near a school, and none of them were north of 80th Ave. All of these attempts were several miles south. Obviously, that doesn't stop someone from coming further north, but all other attempts had been concentrated in a very different area that's at least a 15-20 minute drive with traffic and stoplights and all.
What is more concerning is that on Memorial Day, a man grabbed a woman jogging and put a cloth smelling like some sort of chemicals over her mouth and nose. She fought her way free. There was a similar attempt in 2010. Reports that say Labor Day are incorrect, and I know this because I'd just run that same trail at Ketner Reservoir the evening before. IIRC, the attempt took place on the west or northwest part of the reservoir; Witt Elementary is directly north of the reservoir, just across the street.
This is typical suburbia. There are no homeless people hanging out in our parks, much less sleeping there overnight. Unfortunately, that makes it much more likely that it was someone she knew, probably living very close to her house, or someone who had been watching the school kids for a few days.
lease:
