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

[believe09]

Hello everyone first time poster here.

Some folk have been talking about how someone has tried to dispose of this child. I think that the telling thing is that someone has NOT wanted to dispose of her. Anyone wanting to properly dispose of the body could have used one of any number of (unfortunatley) commonly used methods of disposal, burial in the woods, body weighted and propped in a lake/river/the sea etc. etc.

This person has wanted to "protect" Baby Grace, she has been put in a sturdy storage container which has protected her and maybe even preserved her (I don't know if these containers are air-tight).

I just hope that those involved are found soon.

Welcome, Humbug! I don't know that I completely agree with you, but I see what you are saying. My view is that the perp had been carrying Grace around in the plastic tub for a bit and made a quick attempt to sink it once they were ready to let go of her. The tub emerged and the rest is history...

 

[Indigo]

Hello everyone first time poster here.

Some folk have been talking about how someone has tried to dispose of this child. I think that the telling thing is that someone has NOT wanted to dispose of her. Anyone wanting to properly dispose of the body could have used one of any number of (unfortunatley) commonly used methods of disposal, burial in the woods, body weighted and propped in a lake/river/the sea etc. etc.

This person has wanted to "protect" Baby Grace, she has been put in a sturdy storage container which has protected her and maybe even preserved her (I don't know if these containers are air-tight).

I just hope that those involved are found soon.

Welcome Humbug!

I agree that protection seemed to be very important to this perpetrator. Here's some interesting info from Crimelibrary.com regarding this:

(snip)​

It is interesting to note that according to a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children study of murdered children in the United States, completed in the mid-1990s, mothers who murdered their children disposed of their bodies in a distinctively womb-like manner. The study found that some victims were submerged in water and others were found carefully wrapped in plastic. Furthermore, the study also described how all the victims’ bodies were found within ten miles of their family home.

(snip)​

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/smith/confess_8.html

 

[txsvicki]

Whoever did this to Baby Grace sure didn't want the body to be found.

 

[diamondgirl]

I agree that protection seemed to be very important to this perpetrator. Here's some interesting info from Crimelibrary.com regarding this:

(snip)​

It is interesting to note that according to a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children study of murdered children in the United States, completed in the mid-1990s, mothers who murdered their children disposed of their bodies in a distinctively womb-like manner. The study found that some victims were submerged in water and others were found carefully wrapped in plastic. Furthermore, the study also described how all the victims’ bodies were found within ten miles of their family home.

(snip)​

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/smith/confess_8.html

Interesting

 

[Humbug]

Thanks everyone.

Can anyone please remind me if we know that the box containing Baby Grace was washed up where it was found or had it been left in position by someone? I seem to remember reading that it couldn't have been washed in to position.

 

[Indigo]

Thanks everyone.

Can anyone please remind me if we know that the box containing Baby Grace was washed up where it was found or had it been left in position by someone? I seem to remember reading that it couldn't have been washed in to position.

I've been wondering the same thing. Nearly every account I've read in the news describes the box as being "washed up" on the shore. However, the box contained no water, only "sand and vegetation," according to reports.

This leads to many more questions. Was the box truly waterproof and airtight or was it engineered in some way to make it so?(tape, etc) If taped, DNA could provide a huge clue. Will the sand and vegetation prove to be from the inlet it was found on, or will it contain clues to some other location?

 

[believe09]

I believe that the position of the investigators has been the box was placed on the inlet, although they are revisiting the possibility of it having surfaced and been washed to where it was after some of the phone tips they received. (Didn't one of the callers state she saw a box floating by her house and didn't give it a thought until the press released it contained Baby Grace?)

 

[interestedmom]

Yes, I do remember the report of the woman saying she seen it but didn't think twice about it until the story broke.
I keep checking the Galveston newspaper, but still can't seem to find any breaking news. There is no telling how long this will take.

 

[interestedmom]

I've been wondering the same thing. Nearly every account I've read in the news describes the box as being "washed up" on the shore. However, the box contained no water, only "sand and vegetation," according to reports.

This leads to many more questions. Was the box truly waterproof and airtight or was it engineered in some way to make it so?(tape, etc) If taped, DNA could provide a huge clue. Will the sand and vegetation prove to be from the inlet it was found on, or will it contain clues to some other location?

Good thinking! Maybe they can check the sand and see if that can lead them to where this all started.

 

[NewMom2003]

Sadly, I haven't seen any updates on the progress of Baby Grace's case in the Houston newspapers lately.

I'm praying something happens soon.

 

[Maral]

Could 'Baby Grace' soon be identified?

(11/19/07 - KTRK/GALVESTON, TX) - Eyewitness News has exclusive information on a case that made international headlines. There's new information on the possible identity of 'Baby Grace,' the little girl whose body was found in a plastic box on a Galveston Bay island three weeks ago.

We've learned Galveston County deputies are trying to figure out whether a missing girl from Spring is the answer to the world-wide hunt.

More at link:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5771686

 

[MeoW333]

Whoever killed her either didn't know it would float or wanted it to. Trapping air inside the box with her would make it less likely to sink. If there was no water in it, i would guess that the sand and debris was from wherever she was placed in the box.

 

[Teresa Larson]

If there was sand and debris in the container I am sure water was in there at some point too. The coroner would know this from the condition of her skin. I hope and pray they find out soon who she is.

 

[Indigo]

Could 'Baby Grace' soon be identified?

(11/19/07 - KTRK/GALVESTON, TX) - Eyewitness News has exclusive information on a case that made international headlines. There's new information on the possible identity of 'Baby Grace,' the little girl whose body was found in a plastic box on a Galveston Bay island three weeks ago.

We've learned Galveston County deputies are trying to figure out whether a missing girl from Spring is the answer to the world-wide hunt.

More at link:
[URL="http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5771686"]http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5771686[/URL]

Thanks Maral,

This really does look like the anwer to this sad mystery. What a strange story this is. Here's more from that link:

(snip) Tips came in from around the world immediately. Families convinced 'Baby Grace' had to be their missing little girl.


These three were ruled out early on, but the missing girl we're looking at hasn't been seen. A father in Ohio thought the same thing and he says the similarities are striking and eerily similar.


"My gut tells me that it might be here, but I'm hoping to God it is not," said Robert Sawyer.


The girl's mother is from Ohio, but now lives in Spring. She told law enforcement authorities someone came to her Spring home with documents from Ohio demanding custody of the little girl in July. Ohio authorities tell us they didn't write the letter and it may be a forgery. The baby's father claims not to have custody of the little girl but no law enforcement official we spoke with knows where she is. (snip)

 

[Trino]

"My gut tells me that it might be here, but I'm hoping to God it is not," said Robert Sawyer. The girl's mother is from Ohio, but now lives in Spring. She told law enforcement authorities someone came to her Spring home with documents from Ohio demanding custody of the little girl in July. Ohio authorities tell us they didn't write the letter and it may be a forgery. The baby's father claims not to have custody of the little girl but no law enforcement official we spoke with knows where she is. (snip)

So, the 19 yr.old mother is not being called a suspect? There were "papers" from Ohio demanding custody, and the mother just gave the child to the person who came to her door? No one knows where this little girl is. If she isn't Baby Grace, the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the Spring girl is sad in itself.

 

[JDB]

I just read they are holding a Presser now

 

[interestedmom]

There has been breaking news from Galveston! Authorities said you can go to www.fbi.gov to see the latest. I can't find anything. If anyone does, Please let us know! they had breaking news on Foxnews.com.......

 

[Squishified]

There is a little bit about the presser here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312331,00.html

 

[Texana]

I heard the news on the radio and couldn't wait to get home and check in with you guys hwere.

The woman in Spring is a former resident of Ohio. Doesn't her story sound odd? slightly suspicious?

Spring, Texas, is off I-45, north Houston basically. It's a straight shot down I-45 to Galveston.

 

[interestedmom]

The story is odd enough for her to just let her child go with "Ohio Authorities" without 'incident'..... why would that mother even let her child go without contacting real Ohio authorities to begin with. In this case, maybe she was nieve enough to believe it and that's why she did it, or maybe that was her story to 'back up' her story of the missing child. I really don't know what to believe on that story. It does seem a little strange. Being a mother myself, I would not let my child go to anyone with or without incident until I have notification or have a good explanation as to what is going on. She must not have put up a fight because if she would have, then she would have seen the true side to these people who came and took her baby and seen what the consenquences would have been for not letting the child go.