GUILTY TX - Riley 'Baby Grace' Sawyers, 2, brutally murdered, Spring, 24 July 2007

[mahmoo]

thank you for showing me that.....i did a search on baby grace and nothing came up.....i was wondering why there was nothing on it.

 

[mahmoo]

I don't know if this thought is good or bad......but, I really don't feel like this little girl's parents reported her missing.......so i don't think she's on any missing kid website.

 

[interestedmom]

I wonder if investigators have had any luck tracing the origins of the Sterlite container. I know that Wal-Mart has a central computer that tracks every purchase made. If a container of that size was sold in any of the Wal-Mart stores recently, maybe there's footage of the transaction.

I was thinking about that too. Too bad the UPC label is gone. I'm assuming it is since it floated in the water for some time. The thing is, who's to say it was bought for this reason? Whoever did it might have had the container anyway.

 

[SewingDeb]

HOUSTON — Police in Texas say the body of a young girl washed ashore in a storage box in Galveston Bay last week could have come from as far away as Europe, but officially ruled out it being British toddler Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal six months ago.

"We're confident it's not her," Galveston County Sheriff's Department spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo told FOX News.

After receiving several tips suggesting that the body may have belonged to McCann, Galveston authorities worked with Interpol, the FBI and Portuguese authorities to eliminate that possibility.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307962,00.html

 

[NewMom2003]

TIKI ISLAND — The last time Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller built a cross with his own hands for someone was more than a decade ago.

That cross was for his 16-year-old daughter whose body was found dumped in a field in League City 17 months after her kidnapping.

This time the plaque on the 4-foot-tall wooden cross bears the words "In loving Memory of Baby Grace," the name given to a child whose body was found stuffed into a storage bin that was floating in Galveston Bay a week ago.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5273134.html

My gut feeling on this is that Baby Grace is none of the children posted on the missing children websites. I could be completely wrong, but I believe this child was killed (either purposefully or accidentally) somewhere in South Texas or Louisiana and then dumped near where she was found. Actually the conversations before about San Luis Pass sound plausible. I think she's from one of the surrounding areas if not Galveston itself. I have no idea why no one has come forward yet. I think there will be a break this week. Just my gut feeling. Someone has got to come forward.

My heart breaks for this baby . May God Bless her.

 

[interestedmom]

I don't understand why, as bad as this sounds, the killer would 'dispose' of her like they did. It's almost like they wanted her to eventually be found. There has to be a reason that she was put into this container instead of just put out into the ocean.
There is no telling where this child came from and how far away. The Galveston newspaper stated that they are studying the current to see which direction the container drifted from. Does anyone know if they are looking for missing children outside of the U.S.? Would it be possible for this container to float so far, if coming from another country. There was also sand in the container, as if there were hopes that it would sink.

 

[NewMom2003]

I understand what you are saying interestedmom. Like I said before, this is just my gut feeling.

 

[believe09]

I sort of feel that she was killed by a non stranger and transported for a while or put in storage before she washed ashore. She might have been killed by abuse or she might have been killed to facilitate the adult being able to disappear more easily. If they have been working with FBI and Interpol, I wonder if they have looked at visas/passports into Mexico around the same time frame to see if a foreigner was supposed to be traveling with family...am I making sense?

 

[Earthbound Misfit I]

Wasn't there a big fishing contest that weekend she was found? Could one of the fishermen who was in that contest have placed the container that Baby Grace was found in in his boat and then placed her in the water? Maybe a container of that sort wouldn't have looked out of place?
I wonder if LE has accounted for all the fishermen who were in the contest?

 

[believe09]

Wasn't there a big fishing contest that weekend she was found? Could one of the fishermen who was in that contest have placed the container that Baby Grace was found in in his boat and then placed her in the water? Maybe a container of that sort wouldn't have looked out of place?
I wonder if LE has accounted for all the fishermen who were in the contest?

Or perhaps the perp paid one of the fisherman to dump it and they are afraid to come forward...I am sure they have well verified the story of the fisherman who found it?? I just listened to the lead investigators interview from CNN this morning and he stated that the tub was "placed" on the island. Sounds like they have decided for sure it didn't wash there.

 

[KT Can]

IMO if the container was disposed of from a boat within the bay itself then whoever did this would not be someone local to Galveston, Houston or even the nearby coastal areas. Almost anyone familiar with the bay would know how busy the intracoastal waterway is with vessels in route to the Port of Houston as well as how many sandbars there are for things in the water to get caught up on. I just can't imagine that anyone with any knowledge of the area would think that this would be a good dumping ground. This of course is dependant upon how much common sense the monster actually has.

IMO I think it is more likely that the container was disposed of in one of these ways:

The perp disposed of it out in the Gulf of Mexico thinking that it would be lost at sea forever which means they could be local or from anywhere in the gulf coast region. If this were the case I'd have to think the container entered the bay through San Luis Pass.

The perp is someone local to Galveston Island or one of the surrounding communities along the west bay or the one of the inlets and rivers that lead into the west bay. The person didn't have access to a boat or a vehicle of their own to transport the container to another location forcing them to dispose of the container near the place that they reside. Maybe they saw the container sink and assumed it would stay on the bottom, or maybe they attemped to weigh it down thinking they had done a good enough job to keep it on the bottom only to have the container break free of its moorings and float to location it was Found.

Baby Grace could very well be from another country, with the container having been disposed of from one of the thousands of vessels, barges, container ships, etc. that travel the intracoastal waterway on their way to the Port of Houston.

http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/overview1.html#galveston

The port is ranked first in the United States in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in the U.S. in total tonnage, and tenth in the world in total tonnage.

More thant 200 million tons of cargo moved through the Port of Houston in 2006. A total of 7,550 vessel calls were recorded at the Port of Houston during the year 2006. The Houston Pilots navigate each vessel through the Houston Ship Channel.

 

[KT Can]

One more thought, there are many people all along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Mexico and even beyond that have boats that they live on full time. We have some friends who live on their luxary yacht and dock their boat in an area near Galveston called Kemah for several months out of the year and as the seasons change they'll move on to Florida, Mexico, the Carribean or whever else floats their boat, I believe they've even done done the Panama Canal thing and moored places on the Pacific coast line. From what I understand there is a LARGE community of international boaters who live and travel this way, including people with families, and a lot of them use the intracoastal waterway when traveling the gulf coast.

 

[SuziQ]

SuziQ, did you call this one in?

Another poster found this one as well. I believe she called it in?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Does anyone know if they are looking for missing children outside of the U.S.? Yes, she was mentioned earlier and looks remarkably like Baby Grace. (Post #82 Dennoa Shipman) Would it be possible for this container to float so far, if coming from another country? My personal opinion is it would be not possible with rough seas and currents, not to mention weather for this container to remain intact for that far. There was also sand in the container, as if there were hopes that it would sink.

I think this sounds plausible...whoever placed her in that container had counted on it sinking. I don't think it was tossed from a bridge or otherwise...because the container would have broken or come open. It doesn't mean it had to be from a boat either tho. Someone could have placed her in the water from simply walking out and pushing it off in a current thinking it would sink further down.

 

[Texana]

I cannot see a long-term local or BOI (born on the Island) dumping Baby Grace, just because they would be likely to know about the currents. Long term BOI and area people even know that after the Great Storm, the bodies of the victims that were dumped at sea washed back ashore in great numbers.

There are definitely pockets of lower income areas on the island where a more transient family could land for a bit, but I really do think Baby Grace would have been more memorable due to her coloring, and those places are inhabited more by minorities.

My guess is either a coastal town or even one of the larger cities like Galveston, or out of state but not too far, such as Louisiana. It's a straight shot in not only from Louisiana but other southern states, via 1-10. And Dallas is a straight shot up I-45 as well.

I can't see the container surviving a foreign country or container ship dumping, and the clothing just says local/U.S. resident in every way.

 

[txsvicki]

I hope that all daycare,preschool, and Headstart workers are taking note of the sketch, the description of clothing, and any little girls who suddenly quit coming to class or "moved". The description of a little hoodie shirt, skirt, and new light up shoes sound like something just bought to start school a couple of months ago and the weather around the coast is still very mild. The mid back length hair would be about age 3-4, just the right age to go to Headstart or preschool.

 

[KT Can]

I cannot see a long-term local or BOI (born on the Island) dumping Baby Grace, just because they would be likely to know about the currents. Long term BOI and area people even know that after the Great Storm, the bodies of the victims that were dumped at sea washed back ashore in great numbers.

There are definitely pockets of lower income areas on the island where a more transient family could land for a bit, but I really do think Baby Grace would have been more memorable due to her coloring, and those places are inhabited more by minorities.

My guess is either a coastal town or even one of the larger cities like Galveston, or out of state but not too far, such as Louisiana. It's a straight shot in not only from Louisiana but other southern states, via 1-10. And Dallas is a straight shot up I-45 as well.

I can't see the container surviving a foreign country or container ship dumping, and the clothing just says local/U.S. resident in every way.

I agree with you about the perp not being a local term local or BOI & I've definately thought about it being someone from inland who drove to Galveston but the only problem I have with that is where and how did the container enter the water to end up wher it did? Did the perp drive from out of town bring a boat with him or did they put the container in the water at a bridge or Pier such as San Luis Pass? There's not a lot of places to rent a boat around here and from my previous post I can't see it being deposited on the other side of the causeway and ending up where it did, but then again I'm not a tide expert.

 

[KT Can]

Another option is that the perp put the container in the water at the Texas City Dike, which is a long road/dike and popular fishing spot that stretches more than half way across the bay. Someone disposing of the container here would have to know the area I would think.

 

[NewMom2003]

I cannot see a long-term local or BOI (born on the Island) dumping Baby Grace, just because they would be likely to know about the currents. Long term BOI and area people even know that after the Great Storm, the bodies of the victims that were dumped at sea washed back ashore in great numbers.

There are definitely pockets of lower income areas on the island where a more transient family could land for a bit, but I really do think Baby Grace would have been more memorable due to her coloring, and those places are inhabited more by minorities.

My guess is either a coastal town or even one of the larger cities like Galveston, or out of state but not too far, such as Louisiana. It's a straight shot in not only from Louisiana but other southern states, via 1-10. And Dallas is a straight shot up I-45 as well.

I can't see the container surviving a foreign country or container ship dumping, and the clothing just says local/U.S. resident in every way.

Texana, I agree with your post. I don't think it's a long term local or BOI either. If Baby Grace is from Galveston, I don't think her family has been there long either or they would know the currents, history, etc.

I can't get Louisiana as a possibility out of my mind either.

My heart just breaks for this baby. One of the articles from The Chronicle said she was wearing panties with a Disney label and what was most likely a princess on them. That really got me. My daughter is into the Disney Princesses and has tons of panties with them on it. I can't help but think of Baby Grace when I see them.

 

[NewMom2003]

Another gut feeling of mine is that this child was killed accidentally by a family member and they didn't know what else to do. This certainly doesn't excuse what's become of this baby by any means.

I've been thinking along these lines since the story broke.