Evelyn Miller, age five
Posted on 07/12/2005 8:55:22 PM PDT by PLK
Governor Vilsack to Review Evelyn Miller Case File Tuesday, July 12, 2005, 6:39:22 PM
(Cedar Rapids – KCRG) -- Investigators are looking for five year old Evelyn Miller's killer and there's new information that the Department of Human Services had contact with the girl's family before her July 1st disappearance.
Her body was found on the banks of the Cedar River six days later.
It was reported that DHS had more than a dozen complaints made about the safety of Evelyn's home life from other relatives, friends and even school officials.
Now Governor Vilsack is stepping in to review the case files and steps taken by DHS.
Evelyn Miller, age five
Richard Christie of Des Moines said he learned about 10:30 last night that the body was found.
"She was murdered and her body was put in the river," Christie said. "She was not drowned."
He did not know how she was murdered or when, but he said he was told one person was in custody.
The Christies told The Des Moines Register more than a dozen complaints of abuse or neglect were made to child welfare officials. They said they never called the Department of Human Services but knew other relatives, friends and school officials reported concerns about Evelyn's home life.
The Christies said their son, Andy Christie of Waterloo, was told of the complaints, and the family expected state officials to investigate the allegations and work with the girl's mother, Noel Miller, and her live-in fiance, Casey Frederiksen.
"I think the DHS was negligent," Linda Christie said Monday. "This never should've happened to this little girl.
"It's their job to make sure these kids are taken care of, and I think their investigation was not thorough enough."
The Christies said Noel Miller and Frederiksen did a good job of making Evelyn feel loved, but the girl sometimes had an air of sadness.
snip
Evelyn was last seen by two acquaintances of her mother's fiance about 2 a.m. July 1. Her mother reportedly came home around 6:20 a.m. and found the door open and the child missing. Two other children, Gabriel, 2, and Damian, 1, were home at the time.
Richard Christie said the lock was broken.
"They showed me how you could take a screwdriver and just open it," he said. "I don't know if the person or persons who took Evelyn were aware of that or not."
Unfortunately some murderers are never found.
I posted this news item because it was the first I had read of the previous complaints to DHS about this child. How many children, whom the DHS has already received reports on, have to die at the hands of abusers in the state of Iowa before the DHS is cleaned out and competent people put in place there???? This has happened before, and recently, in this state.
It's tragic....DHS in many states fails the most vulnerable among us - the children.
It will be interesting to find out why they DHS was called into this home - and I'm sure LE is working on different theories about what happened to that sweet little girl.
And Vilsack is going to let felons vote.
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