Missing Adult, HELP NEEDED (crime in progress?) [SC]

Hi there Cascadians-

Just got home from work a little while ago so I didn't get your message until now. However, I talked to PL earlier today and am going to pick her up on Wed and take her to lunch (depending of course on what's happening). I couldn't go to the Prayer vigil tonight because I couldn't take any more time off from work - I was out a bunch last week cause my Dad was in the hospital. I felt really horrid about missing this but there wasn't anything I could do......ugh!!!!

Good night you guys... sorry for the delay in my report... got home to kids bed times and lots of other craziness (I'm going out of town tomorrow -- KY for a family reunion)...

The service went well... PL actually got there after it ended because they got caught in traffic... I was just starting to believe I wasn't going to get to meet her when they walked in... Alice daughter brought her... and Alice's husbands brother was also there...

Anyway, the pastor prayed with us that were left all in a circle when they got there.... so that was nice... Got to talk and exchange lots of hugs...

PL did answer a couple questions to the News channel 6 (Wilmington)... she wasn't going to but then decided to ... I'm glad she was able to since I think sometimes you have to give the media something to print to keep it alive...

They told me "something good" was going to happen... I think it was what you posted above Velveeta... about Fulks being brought to SC... I told them to beg for "just a few minutes alone" to talk to him... Grrrrrrrr... Can't believe the dude won't talk... :(

Talked to a couple women that work for the sheriff's dept and have been searching... they said that leads are still coming in and they're still following up on them... but evidently that's the only searching going on ... following up on leads... they feel they've searched all the areas they know to search... very thoroughly. There were some guys out searching still during the service... So we will see...

Let's pray that Fulks talks tomorrow.... !!!! There's such a SMALL window left... I was wondering as I read those news articles above about whether Basham gave them info and that's why they're giving him the psych eval.... to get him a lighter sentence?? I know they're still getting little "tips"... and maybe they got Fulks to agree to "speedily" coming down here because it's his only chance to have her found alive (if even)... Just surmisings...

Anyway, it was good to meet PL before I take off to go out of town... Love to all... Prayers to God... and goodnight...

TG- I just want to say thanks and send you <<<<>>>> for all that you have done for PL. You are a very special kind of lady!!!!!! Have a very safe trip and a great family reunion in KY. See ya' when you get home. Mama

Thanks VG... I'll have a "sort of" rest starting tomorrow... driving to Asheville and then to KY for a family reunion... so though it is actually kinda wild with my moms' family, I will be getting a much needed computer break... I'm pretty much here 15 hours a day (usually working 'cept for recently)... :)

Thanks.... that's sweet of you... You know truly, I look back and I say, "I could have handed out more flyers"... "I could have finished the picture of Alice with short hair"... "I could have ignored the cops and gone tromping through the woods earlier"... You know?? It's like that whole second guessing thing... how could we have found her? But then hind-sight is always 20/20...

I woulda done the same thing for any of you though... :)

bttt

"I do feel the same way. They shouldn't waste a dime for a hearing about bond for someone who has escaped."

Me, too. If they are warm and fed, they've already gotten too much IMO!

I hope tonight's prayer vigil provided comfort to Prairie Lady.

Thanks for the report, TG.

I agree with 2nd Ammemdment Mama, you are a special person! You can second guess yourself forever, but we know and more importantly, God knows, you have put your heart and soul into finding Alice.

What usually happens is that the lawyer tells the client there is no way he will be released on bond. The client insists on the hearing, and the lawyer has to do it to preserve the client's rights.

No lawyer I know has time to waste on tactics to delay matters. Especially when they defend indigent criminals, as is likely the case here, and even when paid privately unless it's a ton of moola.

TankGurrrl, I've been following this thread closely, and there was nothing else you could have done, IMHO. The police, OTOH, could do a lot of second-guessing, and improve their procedures for the next time something like this happens. It's an atrocity that LE waited so long to get involved. I know their rationale, and even if the facts are taken on a case-by-case basis, I don't see how this initially pointed to a runaway wife. Once LE did get involved, I think they did a good job, though.

I do question why civilian searchers weren't permitted by LE, only because they so often are when a minor is missing. What makes this case different, other than the age of the victim?

I understand that LE in small towns have limited resources, too, and a plan should be developed on how to handle probable abductions of anyone, with help in place from other jurisdictions.

This is just an uneducated opinion -- I could be entirely wrong -- except for the part about you.

Thanks CD... I've decided to just "let it go"... you know sometimes you have to accept that you did what you could do... but for me that was difficult... especially the way it appears the outcome will be for Alice... :(

Thanks for the report, TankGurrrl. I'm so glad you got to meet PL.

Have a safe trip to KY - hard to leave, I know, when you've been so involved emotionally and physically with the search for Alice, especially when there's still so much uncertainty. We all feel such a kinship with Alice and her family. But I hope you can enjoy your visit.

Prayers continuing for all.

I'm so glad you were able to meet with PL. I feel like your hug to her represented a hug from all of us. Thank you for that. TG, you've done all that you could have done and with grace and dignity to boot.

You're a remarkable woman, God Bless.

Hard to type right now with tears clouding my vision.

p.s. have a great trip!!

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2002/November/26/LNtop1b.htm

Prayer vigil held for two missing women
By REBECCAH CANTLEY-FALK - The Herald-Dispatch

The disappearances of 19-year-old Marshall University student Samantha Burns and a South Carolina woman drew prayers Monday from people in both states and throughout the country.

Community United Effort, a center for missing persons in Wilmington, N.C., sponsored a prayer vigil for the two women Monday at the Highest Praise Worship Center in Shallotte, N.C. Burns, who lives in West Hamlin, W.Va., has been missing since Nov. 11. Alice Donovan, a 44-year-old woman from Galavants Ferry, S.C., has been missing since Nov. 14.

Volunteers with Community United Effort have assisted in searches and distributed fliers about Burns and Donovan, said founder Monica Caison. The organization, with 18 chapters, is dedicated to the recovery of missing persons and support of their family members.

The vigil included prayer, singing, photo displays of Burns and Donovan and a map detailing the movements of two Kentucky fugitives -- now in custody, who are suspects in both cases.

"Our effort for both of these cases has been nationwide," Caison said. "We’re networking with a lot of contacts from California to Maine."

The organization became involved in the Donovan case because of its close proximity to Wilmington, Caison said. Volunteers began wondering last week whether Donovan’s and Burns’ disappearances were related, she said.

"We have been in contact with a lot of people who know Samantha, and they have been e-mailing us," Caison said. "We decided to go ahead and do both vigils together."

Chadrick E. Fulks, 25, and Leon Branden Basham, 21, are suspects in both disappearances, although police say they have not made a definite link between them and the Burns case. The men escaped from the Hopkins County Jail in Kentucky on Nov. 4. Basham admitted to kidnapping Donovan, according to an affidavit presented Thursday in U.S. District Court in South Bend, Ind.

Joe Cicarelli, senior agent with the FBI in Charleston, said he could not comment Monday on whether the two had been interviewed about Burns’ disappearance. Ongoing searches for both women have not turned up information about their whereabouts, according to police.

Burns and Donovan are featured on the Community United Effort Web page. The two also were featured Saturday on the television crime show, "America’s Most Wanted."

Related Stories
• Mental evaluation ordered for Basham
• Fulks to face kidnapping charges in S.C.

• Samantha Burns coverage
Samantha Burns’ father, John, said he was glad to know about Monday’s prayer vigil. Support in the form of prayers and people volunteering to search has helped the family, he said.

As of Monday afternoon, the Samantha Burns Web site had received 16,771 unique hits and contained 143 pages of words of encouragement from people throughout the United States and Canada.

"It’s been unbelievable," John Burns said. "Family and friends, even people we don’t know, have helped. There were probably 10 to 15 people I’d never seen before in my life that helped search Saturday."

John Burns spoke Monday with West Virginia State Police, he said. Police are keeping in contact with the family, but aren’t releasing every detail of the investigation, he said.

"We’re still in the same place," John Burns said. "There’s nothing new. (Police) are still being reined in on what they tell us, which I understand."

With no new leads developing, John Burns is afraid his daughter’s disappearance will fade from public attention, he said. Monday marked two weeks since Samantha Burns was reported missing.

"What I’m afraid is going to happen is that time will go by and if something doesn’t develop soon, it’s going to be forgotten," he said.

Samantha Burns’ family hasn’t lost hope, although each day becomes more difficult, said Arlenea Hughes, her grandmother.

"Just to think of so many things that could have happened to her," Hughes said. "But I still trust in the Lord. He can do all things."

Approximately 18 of Samantha Burns’ family members gathered at Hughes’ home Sunday for dinner, she said. For now, the family is still planning to celebrate Thanksgiving, she said.

"As far as right now, we’re going to have Thanksgiving," Hughes said. "It won’t be easy, but we’ll go ahead and do it."

For the Burns family, time stopped Nov. 11, John Burns said.

"It happened two weeks ago, and it’s like it was yesterday," he said.

"It doesn’t get any easier. She’s my only daughter, and we’re really a close-knit family. It’s just like somebody reaches in and rips your heart out."

Have a great Thanksgiving in Kentucky. Thanks for everything you have done. You are truly a special person.

You are amazing, TG. On behalf of the waiting-at-the-keyboard-for-news gang, thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into searching for Alice and getting the word out. I pray for the sake of the families that Samantha and Alice are found, so that they can all be at peace.

Have a safe trip, and an uplifting, fun time with your family in KY.

Wishing all you wonderful FReepers a blessed Thanksgiving.

The sadness that hangs over us all is nothing compared to the grief in dear Alice's family. No matter what I do, it is always there --- even tho I am far from the situation. My heart just breaks when I think of the injustice of it all and how two bast***s have upset the lives of so many, just for their own criminal gain.

As I start to make pies, and cut vegetables, and prepare for my family, I will have part of me with another family far away from me.

Dear Lord, please give Alice's family some reason, any reason to find some kind of thanks as the holiday approaches. May all our prayers comfort them in whatever little way they can.

Tuesday morning prayer ...

Last modified: November 26. 2002 12:00AM
BRUNSWICK COUNTY
Sheriff is reducing search efforts

By Millard K. Ives
Staff Writer
millard.ives@wilmingtonstar.com

Announcing Monday that they have acted on all initial tips and sightings, Brunswick County Sheriff’s Department officials have scaled back their search for a missing South Carolina woman.

Groups of county search-and-rescue officials who participated in a several-day hunt for Alice Donovan last week are now on standby and will act only on new information, said Lt. David Crocker, a detective with the Sheriff’s Department.

"We have not given up hope and will continue to work as we receive new information," Lt. Crocker said.

Officials say Ms. Donovan was kidnapped from a Conway S.C., Wal-Mart on Nov. 14 by two Kentucky jail escapees. There were reported sightings of the three in Brunswick County. Officials believe she might have been left in the woods or tied to a tree.

More than a 100 Brunswick County search-and-rescue team members and other officials were used by the Sheriff’s Department in its search that and acted on more than 50 tips.

Lt. Crocker said tips continue to pour in but have slowed considerably.

"We still have hope that she will be found alive, but the chances are getting slim," he said.

Suspects Chadrick Fulks and Branden Basham are believed to have kidnapped Ms. Donovan in the middle of a multi-state crime spree and have since been arrested.

The Conway Police Department reported no new leads Monday concerning Ms. Donovan’s whereabouts.

Members from the Community United Effort’s Center for Missing Persons in Wilmington are evaluating the possibility of organizing its own search, said

CUE held a prayer vigil Monday night for Ms. Donovan and a West Virginia also believed to have been kidnapped by the suspects.

"We just want to pray that new information becomes available," Ms. Caison said.