KY KY - Katie Gray, 10 months, West Paducah, 29 Nov 2004

[Mare]

bump...I keep checking and hoping for some news...

 

[lisag]

I haven't read through this entire thread yet, but I did have a comment here. The baby is only 10 months old and therefore still in an infant car seat. Many of these are designed to be easily removed and used as a carrier for the baby. Mine was that way. It would have been much faster for me to remove the whole seat (push only one button and it pops right out) than to try to remove the baby. To me, this is entirely plausible.

Not all 10month old babies would still be in the infant carrier/car seat. I took my little guy out of the carrier and used a rear facing car seat (the type that is later used as a front facing car seat) at about 7 months old. It was just getting to dang difficult to carry him in the carrier.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

Kentucky - The Search for Katie Gray Still on Hold
Staff Report
Wednesday, December 15, 2004

The search for ten month old Katie Gray is still on hold. Katie disappeared more than two weeks ago when her parents' SUV stalled in Massac Creek in West Paducah.

Katie's father says the baby was in her car seat and slipped out of his hands as he was trying to get out of the creek. Detective Tom Emory from the McCracken County Sheriff's Department says the search for Katie will most likely resume next week. It was originally put on hold because of the high water levels in the Massac Creek. Katie's mother, Sandy Gray, is still in the McCracken County Jail with her third driving under the influence charge. - http://www.wpsdtv.com/articles/stories/public/200412/15/0ytt_local_news.html

 

[LovelyPigeon]

I have not read the exact kind of car seat Katie was supposed to be in. I haven't read whether the Grays said the seat was strapped in with a car seat, either.

I do know the vehicle didn't belong to them--they were allegedly taking it for a late night "test drive"-- so the arrangement mightn't have been the same as if it had been their own car, one regularly driven with Katie in the car seat. The seat might have just been sitting on the seat, or even held in mother's lap, rather than strapped in the back seat with the adult seat belt.

The weather has been mild this fall, but the last week it's been cold and falling colder. Sunday's high is only predicted at 27 degrees. Miserable conditions for searching, but there will be searchers, regardless.

 

[TisHerself]

They were probably drunk when it happened and needed time to sober up before calling police.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

The Grays showed up at their friends' house 30-45 minutes after they say Katie was lost in the creek, but I've not read anything about whether alcohol was smelled on them or not. It was 2 1/2 hours later that the Grays were first confronted face-to-face by police, and again, no mention of alcohol.

Sandy Gray's 3rd DUI does make it more likely IMO that alcohol was a factor, though.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

From News Channel 6, Paducah, hurry up and wait:

Kentucky - Search Still on Hold For Missing Baby Katie Gray
Staff Report
Friday, December 17, 2004
The McCracken County Sheriff's Department says it hopes to resume the search for ten-month-old Katie Gray next week. Katie Gray is the baby that allegedly washed away in Massac Creek in West Paducah over two weeks ago. Her parents say they accidentally let go of the baby when their S.U.V. stalled in the middle of the creek. The search has been suspended because of the high water levels. Friday the Sheriff's Department said the water level is going down. Katie's mother, Sandy Gray, is still in the McCracken County Jail awaiting her preliminary hearing on December 21st for her third D.U.I. charge.

 

[Rag Doll 02]

Please keep us posted on this.....

 

[Fran Bancroft]

There is always a grand jury in Kentucky.

Yep! That's the truth...and they don't tend to be very compassionate.

 

[Maybe So]

I haven't read through this entire thread yet, but I did have a comment here. The baby is only 10 months old and therefore still in an infant car seat. Many of these are designed to be easily removed and used as a carrier for the baby. Mine was that way. It would have been much faster for me to remove the whole seat (push only one button and it pops right out) than to try to remove the baby. To me, this is entirely plausible.

10 months old is sort of old for being in an infant carrier with handles any more...and any other kind of car seat would be pretty cumbersome to carry. Much easier to hold the child in my arms or on my hip at that point.

I don't think I have ever seen a child as large as a 10 month old fit into an infant carrier....

 

[tybee204]

This is an insane amount of time to wait to look for this baby. It just dosent make sense to me. Im begining to think that authorities dont really think the baby was in the creek.

 

[Arielle]

10 months old is sort of old for being in an infant carrier with handles any more...and any other kind of car seat would be pretty cumbersome to carry. Much easier to hold the child in my arms or on my hip at that point.

I don't think I have ever seen a child as large as a 10 month old fit into an infant carrier....

Mine stayed in her infant carrier until 10months old and she is/was large for her age. At that point, her little legs were scrunched up into the carrier because she was too big for it so we switched to a regular car seat. But based on my personal experience, Katie could have still been in one. Yes, its heavy and cumbersome to carry, but for a sleeping child, much easier than trying to pick her up out of the seat and keep her asleep. Supposedly the whole point of the drive was to get Katie to go to sleep.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

tybee, the police and volunteers have searched since that first night. Only flooded creek and surrounding areas have prevented further searching. Searches will resume when conditions make it possible. We're expecting 6-8 inches of snow Wednesday, so that will add to wet conditions.

But from what I hear locally, you're right that most LE think the baby was never in the creek. Nevertheless, the search at and around the creek will continue until all hope is lost of finding Katie thereabouts.

Arielle, the reason stated by the Grays for going "for a ride" on that night was to "test drive" the vehicle Gray said he'd done repairs on. He just happened to take Katie and her mother along--into a low area, off road, in the pouring rain, across an already swollen and still rising creek.

 

[CaliKid]

I've read all the posts and this just seems really suspicious. I'm wondering if LE has the clothes the parents were wearing that night and have checked out the vehicle for bloodstains.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

CaliKid, the police were waiting for the car to dry out before checking it forensically. It had been 3/4 underwater when towed from the stream and the interior was soaked. I haven't heard any results from the examination, though, which has surely taken place by now.

There's also been no information in the media about whether the parents turned over the clothes they had been wearing when the car stalled in the creek. I'm sure they had changed clothes when they returned to their friends' house 2 hours later and the friends called 911.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

Kentucky: Missing Baby's Mother Pleads Guilty to DUI Charge
Staff Report
Tuesday, December 21, 2004

The mother of missing ten month old Katie Gray in court Tuesday, pleading guilty on her third driving under the influence charge. McCracken County Judge Bard Brian is verifying Gray's employment this afternoon and will decide if Gray can serve her six months in jail on the weekends. Gray was arrested December 12th, after she drove off the road and hit a stop sign. Paducah Police say she failed three field sobriety tests before she was arrested.

The McCracken County Sheriff's Department is not searching for Baby Katie this week. - http://www.wpsdtv.com/articles/stories/public/200412/21/00zA_local_news.html

 

[Casshew]

Poor little baby has not been found yet out there alone in the cold.

 

[TisHerself]

LP big city gal here so not familiar with creeks. Was there no water when he first went across and then when police went back it was 3/4 submerged because of the rain? I,m not understanding why he would drive in a creek with water in it in the first place. Unless that is something you do where you live I don't know.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

This creek, like others around here, is wide with a sandy bottom and is very shallow during periods when there isn't heavy rain. Creeks run across farm land in some areas and since there're wide and shallow, farmers and hunters regularly cross them on vehicles (trucks, tractors, 4-wheelers) in the same spots. When it's wet weather fall and winter the creeks fill with water and even flood out of the banks when there's lot of rain.

There was water flowing in the creek when the Grays first went across it that night. They said they parked for 15 minutes or so and listened to the water of the creek rushing along. They also said they didn't realize the water was rising as fast as it was when they attempted to re-cross.

What they did was either terribly dumb or criminal.

Hours went by before the police/fire departments were called and arrived at the scene. The Grays said they lost Katie about 10:30 but 911 wasn't called until 1 a.m. I don't know how much the creek rose during those hours but it was several feet deep in rushing water by midnight.

 

[TisHerself]

Thank you LP that helps me understand better. Thier whole story sounds way off to me, even if they did wait 15mins the water would have to be moving really fast for Riley to get swept away. I can tell you if it were me and my child were in that creek I would no doubt have drowned too. I would not have left till I found her. I don't believe she is in the creek either poor baby.

MERRY CHRISTMAS