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Dannariah Finley of Orange, Texas (another abducted child found dead)
The Orange Leader Online News ^ | July 23, 2002 | Royal M. Hopper III

Posted on 07/23/2002 2:37:40 PM PDT by whenigettime

Hundreds attend girl's funeral

People came from as far away as Beaumont to attend Dannariah Finley's funeral and help her family say goodbye to her.

"My heart would just burst if I went in there," said Christian Ash of Beaumont, who stood across the street from Mount Zion Baptist Church when the services were going on.

Dannariah was discovered missing from her home July 4 by her mother Jamie Arnold around 10 a.m. and reported missing to police after a three-hour search of relatives turned up nothing.

Her disappearance sparked massive searches by hundreds of volunteers the following Saturday and Sunday and part of Monday until her body was found on Pleasure Island by oil pipeline workers.

Like many of the nearly 300 people who attended the service, Ash said she was there to support the family in their time of need. She was also there, she said, to pay respects to the girl whose disappearance had moved a community to action and whose death moved them to tears and anger.

"When they find the person who did this, I hope they catch hell," Toshia Watkins of Orange said. Watkins, who said she was a friend of the family, said she remembered Dannariah Finley as a child who laughed and played and sat by her "mama" all day; a child who never hurt anybody.

Support for the family came from as far away as Louisiana where Dannariah's grandmother, Wanda Jack, works as a guard in the Phelps prison unit.

Fellow guard Sgt. Eric Ellison said eight guards and four supervisors, including the warden and assistant warden, were attending the funeral service.

The guards in the prison risk their lives daily in their jobs together and are like a family. Like any good family, he said, they came out to the funeral to support Jack and her family.

Carolyn Winzer, a cousin of Danarriah's mother Jamie, attended her funeral services. She said Dannariah's death has made her more wary of where her 22-month-old granddaughter goes and who is around her.

Karon Carter said she keeps an eye on her two children, 8 and 12 years old, wherever they go.

Twelve-year-old Calvin Carter said Danarriah's funeral made him sad and much more watchful of the safety of his 8-year-old sister.

Arielle Foster, also a distant cousin of Dannariah, also attended the funeral service. She was there to lend support to the family as best she could but, like many, wishes she could do more.

"If I could have given my soul to save that little girl, I would have," Foster said.


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: dannariahfinley; kidnapping; missingchild
Anyone hear of this on national news? This very sad and sick crime occurred July 4th, 2002. I heard of this from a talk show aired in Utah this past weekend, can't recall the name of the show I was listening to. Thought this was worth posting since we all are tuning in more to missing children.
1 posted on 07/23/2002 2:37:40 PM PDT by whenigettime
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To: whenigettime
Anyone hear of this on national news?

Nope. I wonder what guidelines the National media outlets use to choose which missing or murdered child story to cover. Interesting.

2 posted on 07/23/2002 4:54:52 PM PDT by Cagey
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To: whenigettime
This was on my nightly local news. The child was described as shy and not likely to have been friendly with a stranger. Her body was found in Pt. Arthur--several miles from where she lived.

In TV news reports, the father seemed much more upset than the mother. He lived in another town and had an alibi. Not true of the mother.

The child was one of several children--none had the same name.

The mother said the children were aleep when she checked on them and went to bed about 3 a.m.

3 posted on 07/23/2002 5:05:02 PM PDT by lonestar
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To: Cagey
Nope. I wonder what guidelines the National media outlets use to choose which missing or murdered child story to cover. Interesting.

I saw it on FOX News. She was reported missing on July 4, the day of the shooting at LAX. That was the primary focus of the national news.

The local TV stations gave this a lot of coverage and there were daily, organized searches by a lot of people. Her body was found around Pleasure Island in Pt. Arthur.

4 posted on 07/23/2002 5:21:05 PM PDT by lonestar
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To: lonestar
So the mother doesn't have an alibi... in that maybe she wasn't home while the children slept? Horrid thought!
5 posted on 07/23/2002 5:31:36 PM PDT by whenigettime
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To: whenigettime
The mother said she went to bed in the early morning (3 or 4 a.m.) hours and checked on the kids before going to bed.

The kids didn't go to bed 'til 1 or 2 a.m. and the mother didn't miss the child for a couple of hours after she got up. There were several other kids.

6 posted on 07/23/2002 7:00:34 PM PDT by lonestar
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