CHARLES CITY (AP) --- Authorities investigating the death of Evelyn Miller referred to the state's sex offender registry in their effort to find her killer.
The 5-year-old girl was reported missing from her mother's apartment in Floyd on July 1. Her body was found six days later in the Cedar River after an extensive search. The death was ruled a homicide, but no arrests have been made.
Floyd County Attorney Marilyn Dettmer said the registry was among the tools investigators used, though she wasn't certain how many people on the list were interviewed.
The Iowa Sex Offender Registry lists about 6,000 offenders statewide. Five are listed in Floyd County, including one who lives next door to Evelyn's maternal grandmother in Charles City.
One registered sex offender, Roy Coblentz of Greene, said authorities haven't talked to him about the case. Coblentz was convicted in 1993 on two counts of indecent contact with a child in Chickasaw County.
"They never came by," Coblentz said. "I was kind of expecting them to do that, but they never did."
Coblentz, 55, said he turned himself in after harming two young girls. Floyd County deputies have stopped by to check on him a few times each year, he said, but they haven't talked to him about Evelyn Miller.
"They know my life has changed. I feel the Lord has given me the right path to follow," Coblentz said while working on a pickup and listening to a Christian radio station.
"I hope they find out who did it because that was sinister," he added.
On Tuesday, Evelyn's mother, Noel Miller, and her live-in boyfriend, Casey Frederiksen, were in Floyd County District Court for a custody hearing on their two children.
Gabriel, 2, and Damian, 1, were put in the care of Frederiksen's mother, Sandy Kuykendall of Floyd, shortly after Evelyn's disappearance. The children were placed in foster care outside the area on July 12, according to court records.
Associate Juvenile Judge Gerald Magee, who placed the toddlers in foster care, closed the hearing and sealed his ruling. But a family friend told The Des Moines Register that Miller and Frederiksen volunteered to leave the boys in foster care.
The Iowa Department of Human Services was involved with Evelyn Miller's family before her disappearance. Gov. Tom Vilsack said last week his review of records showed state workers handled the case properly.
Good catch. Just for the record (to show that no policies were violated in the posting of the text of that story), here's a link:
http://www.crgazette.com/2005/07/20/Home/evelynmillerinvestigation.htm