georgiagirl
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Seven years, one child, still no justice
Levi Frady's homicide still an unsolved mystery
By RHONDA COOK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/22/04
A year has passed since little Levi Frady last visited his mother in her dreams.
They're all she has now since her 11-year-old son pedaled his beloved bike into the hands of a killer in 1997.
JEAN SHIFRIN / Staff
The 20-inch bicycle Levi was riding when he was abducted and killed is among evidence kept by state investigators.
Jean Shifrin/AJC STAFF
Levi Frady was last seen leaving a friend's house Oct. 22, 1997. His body was found 22 miles away.
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"It's still hard," Marilyn Hamby said of life without Levi.
There have been no arrests and no suspects, despite a $100,000 reward put up by two Forsyth County businessmen.
The disappearance and death of Hamby's son triggered the creation of Levi's Call, a statewide emergency warning system for alerting the public about a missing child. Levi is one of 31 children whose murders remain unsolved, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
"It's really hard for us to talk about Levi, but it's an honor for him that something good has come out of something so terrible," Hamby said of Levi's Call.
The warning system is Georgia's version of the national Amber Alerts, named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old Texas girl who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996. Amber Alerts are activated when the child may have been removed from the area of abduction.
Some Georgia authorities also rely on computer and telephone technology alerts provided by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based A Child iIs Missing. Those alerts target residents in an area where a child is reported missing as soon as A Child Is Missing is notified by police. It is activated for children up to age 17, the physically or mentally challenged or Alzheimer's patients.
In Atlanta, there have been efforts on the City Council to create a "Mattie's Call" alert for locating Alzheimer's patients. It would be named for Mattie Moore, an elderly Atlantan who walked away from her home on April 21 of this year and remains missing.
Levi's Calls have led to the rescue of 16 of the 17 Georgia children whose disappearances prompted an alert since its creation. In all 17 cases, suspects have been quickly identified.
Levi's case, however, remains a mystery.
"It is ironic that Levi Frady's case remains unsolved," said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan.
'A tough investigation'
The child was last seen leaving a friend's house Oct. 22, 1997, as night approached. His bike was found the next morning about a half-mile from his Forsyth County home.
Hunters scouting locations for the opening of deer season found Levi's body22 miles away in Dawson County, on property owned by the city of Atlanta. He had been shot once in the head and twice in the chest, and his body lay partially submerged in a pit of water.
"It's really a tough investigation," said John Cagle, the special agent in charge of the GBI office in Cleveland, in White County. "There's really not much [evidence]."
What evidence there is is kept behind a steel door secured by a combination lock. It includes 66 volumes of information, bullets and bullet casings, and a red 20-inch bicycle with orange handlebar grips.
Investigators are fairly certain the boy, who was afraid of the dark but loved roller coasters, was killed at the place where he was found. "We would love to find the weapon," Cagle said, refusing to release the type of gun used in the killing.
Close to 1,000 people have been interviewed over the years, and investigators are considering re-interviewing some of Levi's friends, who are now grown.
From time to time, the sheriffs' offices in Forsyth and Dawson counties will get bogus tips that drug dealers were responsible for the boy's disappearance on that Wednesday evening. They attribute those "tips" to competing drug dealers.
If there had been an alert system when Levi disappeared, investigators think he could have been saved, especially if they had been called as soon as his family decided he was tardy.
'Did we cover this?'
The case is the only unsolved homicide Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle's department has, so "you're always thinking about it," he said.
"Just yesterday, I was reading through that timeline again, thinking 'Did we cover this? Did we check this out?' " Carlisle said days before the anniversary of Levi's death. "It's always on everybody's mind. What did we do? What could we have done? What do we need to do now? I don't think anybody wants to give up. You're always looking for that one little lead that you need to go on."
Levi's mother started the week with the same thought she has at this time every year. "I think seven years ago I still had him," Hamby said.
The family doesn't talk much about him; they only occasionally discuss the stalled investigation. "It's still really hard for us to talk about Levi," Hamby said.
And it took a long time for him to appear in Hamby's dreams, she said.
"It wasn't a bad dream. It was a good feeling," she said. "I just remember seeing him and holding him. I remember him as that little boy, even though he would be 18.
"I just pray that there will be justice done for him," the mother added, "even though it won't bring him back."
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/1004/22levi.html
Levi Frady's homicide still an unsolved mystery
By RHONDA COOK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/22/04
A year has passed since little Levi Frady last visited his mother in her dreams.
They're all she has now since her 11-year-old son pedaled his beloved bike into the hands of a killer in 1997.
JEAN SHIFRIN / Staff
The 20-inch bicycle Levi was riding when he was abducted and killed is among evidence kept by state investigators.
Jean Shifrin/AJC STAFF
Levi Frady was last seen leaving a friend's house Oct. 22, 1997. His body was found 22 miles away.
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"It's still hard," Marilyn Hamby said of life without Levi.
There have been no arrests and no suspects, despite a $100,000 reward put up by two Forsyth County businessmen.
The disappearance and death of Hamby's son triggered the creation of Levi's Call, a statewide emergency warning system for alerting the public about a missing child. Levi is one of 31 children whose murders remain unsolved, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
"It's really hard for us to talk about Levi, but it's an honor for him that something good has come out of something so terrible," Hamby said of Levi's Call.
The warning system is Georgia's version of the national Amber Alerts, named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old Texas girl who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996. Amber Alerts are activated when the child may have been removed from the area of abduction.
Some Georgia authorities also rely on computer and telephone technology alerts provided by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based A Child iIs Missing. Those alerts target residents in an area where a child is reported missing as soon as A Child Is Missing is notified by police. It is activated for children up to age 17, the physically or mentally challenged or Alzheimer's patients.
In Atlanta, there have been efforts on the City Council to create a "Mattie's Call" alert for locating Alzheimer's patients. It would be named for Mattie Moore, an elderly Atlantan who walked away from her home on April 21 of this year and remains missing.
Levi's Calls have led to the rescue of 16 of the 17 Georgia children whose disappearances prompted an alert since its creation. In all 17 cases, suspects have been quickly identified.
Levi's case, however, remains a mystery.
"It is ironic that Levi Frady's case remains unsolved," said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan.
'A tough investigation'
The child was last seen leaving a friend's house Oct. 22, 1997, as night approached. His bike was found the next morning about a half-mile from his Forsyth County home.
Hunters scouting locations for the opening of deer season found Levi's body22 miles away in Dawson County, on property owned by the city of Atlanta. He had been shot once in the head and twice in the chest, and his body lay partially submerged in a pit of water.
"It's really a tough investigation," said John Cagle, the special agent in charge of the GBI office in Cleveland, in White County. "There's really not much [evidence]."
What evidence there is is kept behind a steel door secured by a combination lock. It includes 66 volumes of information, bullets and bullet casings, and a red 20-inch bicycle with orange handlebar grips.
Investigators are fairly certain the boy, who was afraid of the dark but loved roller coasters, was killed at the place where he was found. "We would love to find the weapon," Cagle said, refusing to release the type of gun used in the killing.
Close to 1,000 people have been interviewed over the years, and investigators are considering re-interviewing some of Levi's friends, who are now grown.
From time to time, the sheriffs' offices in Forsyth and Dawson counties will get bogus tips that drug dealers were responsible for the boy's disappearance on that Wednesday evening. They attribute those "tips" to competing drug dealers.
If there had been an alert system when Levi disappeared, investigators think he could have been saved, especially if they had been called as soon as his family decided he was tardy.
'Did we cover this?'
The case is the only unsolved homicide Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle's department has, so "you're always thinking about it," he said.
"Just yesterday, I was reading through that timeline again, thinking 'Did we cover this? Did we check this out?' " Carlisle said days before the anniversary of Levi's death. "It's always on everybody's mind. What did we do? What could we have done? What do we need to do now? I don't think anybody wants to give up. You're always looking for that one little lead that you need to go on."
Levi's mother started the week with the same thought she has at this time every year. "I think seven years ago I still had him," Hamby said.
The family doesn't talk much about him; they only occasionally discuss the stalled investigation. "It's still really hard for us to talk about Levi," Hamby said.
And it took a long time for him to appear in Hamby's dreams, she said.
"It wasn't a bad dream. It was a good feeling," she said. "I just remember seeing him and holding him. I remember him as that little boy, even though he would be 18.
"I just pray that there will be justice done for him," the mother added, "even though it won't bring him back."
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/1004/22levi.html
