NC Amber Alert – Harmony Jade Creech
11.11.09: Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Heuser.
Original PostUpdated: 11.11.09Sources
There are some stories that come out about missing children that I hesitate to blog about because I can almost feel the outcome is going to be bad. I read the story last night about missing 11-month-old Harmony Creech last night. There wasn’t much information available at that time so I decided to wait.
I read another article this afternoon and I discussed the story with a friend.
Below is what was told to police:
“…Harmony was last seen in her crib in the family’s Spring Lake home, at 1680 Ray Road, around 11 p.m. Thursday. Investigators said Harmony’s mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, claimed to be the last one to see the child after putting her to bed Thursday night.(…)”
“…A pink bed sheet, a few bibs and most of her clothing were also taken, authorities said.(…)”
“…Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said the window in the baby’s room was open. The screen had been removed and was sitting outside of the house…”
The father of the missing child has been deployed to Iraq and was not in the country when Harmony was born. However, he flew into the country on Friday morning and Harmony’s grandmother picked him up at the airport, leaving a sleeping Harmony and the mother behind with her other 3 children.
When I read this account things just did not ring true. The first thing that did not ring true was not bringing this returning soldier’s new baby to the airport to greet her new father. The second thing not ringing true was the grandmother picking him up at the airport.
The last thing that did not ring true was the baby was not discovered missing until approximately 11:00 a.m. after the grandmother and father returned from the airport. Having been a mother I know children just do not sleep in until almost noon at 11 months of age.
So I discussed my misgivings with my friend. She was quick to ask me why I thought the child was dead. What could be the reason for someone killing a baby? Well, my response was of all of the babies and children I have heard of being murdered by someone, there never has been a good reason for the murder – there never can be a good reason to murder a child.
So I just checked for new developments in the story. Harmony’s body was located this afternoon in the attic of the home where she lived. Apparently she has been dead for several weeks. I suppose they needed to come up with a story to explain to the father why his daughter was not there to greet him at the airport.1
There have been no arrests made at this time. The baby’s mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, told police she discovered Harmony’s deceased body in her crib a few weeks ago and concealed the death out of fear. An autopsy will determine if there was anything the mother should have been fearful about regarding the death of her baby.
I will continue to update this story.
That poor little baby. If she did die of natural causes she deserved to have a decent burial — not stuck up in an attack like an unwanted doll.
After several hours of questioning regarding the death of her 11-month-old daughter Harmony, Johni Michelle Heuser was charged with first-degree murder. She is being housed at the Harnett County Detention Center on a no bond hold.
An autopsy is scheduled to determine the cause of death. Johni told authorities that she found her daughter dead in her crib a few weeks ago and decided to hide the body and the death because she was afraid. News accounts do not elaborate on the cause of that fear.2
September 4, 2008
October 20th will mark the 1 year anniversary of Harmony Jade Creech’s alleged murder at the hands of her mother. At least that will mark the anniversary of the discovery of her badly decomposed body. Harmony’s mother has yet to be indicted for the crime.
In case you don’t recall Hueser reportedly discovered her baby dead in the crib several weeks prior to reporting her missing. Instead of calling authorites on the day of the discovery Hueser decided to place her dead baby in a plastic bag, place that inside a diaper box and put the box up in the corner of the attic.
She then waited until the day the baby’s father was returning from a tour of duty in Iraq to report the baby missing which prompted the activation of a statewide Amber Alert.
What a piece of work.
In January of this year authorities were awaiting test results from Harmony’s skeletal remains that had been sent to a Texas lab for analysis. Then on March 11 it was reported that the autopsy discovered nicotine in Harmony’s body and there was no way to figure out how that happened.3
On March 18 it was determined that the cause of death was inconclusive. Other tests are being conducted and the investigation is ongoing.4
November 11, 2009
Prosecutors have decided to seek the death penalty in the first-degree murder case of Johni Heuser. It has been difficult for investigators to determine exactly how Harmony Creech died in 2007. What they have determined after having Harmony’s remains examined by an anthropologist is that Harmony was starved to death.
Harmony’s remains were found in the attic of her mother’s home on Oct. 20, 2007. Investigators believe Harmony died sometime between August 31, 2007, September 30, 2007.
Death Penalty Sought Against Mother in Toddler’s Death, WRAL.com, Last Accessed: November 11, 2009.
- Missing Harnett County Baby Found Dead in Attic, WRAL.com. [↩]
- Mom Charged with Murder After Baby Found Dead, WRAL.com. [↩]
- Autopsy Finds Nicotine in 11-month-old’s Remains, WRAL.com, March 11, 2008. [↩]
- Infant’s Cause of Death Remains Under Investigation, WRAL.com, March 18, 2008. [↩]
Aaroné Thompson Dead?
11.11.09: Aaron Thompson sentenced to 114 years. Read about it at The End of the Story
Aaroné Thompson was reported missing Monday afternoon from her home in Aurora, Colorado by her father Aaron Thompson. He told police that there was some sort of disagreement about discipline and she walked out of the house. I don’t recall reading information about how long she was gone before her father went to look for her, but he claims he searched for her and then called police.
That night Aaroné did not return home during that bitterly cold night. I believe the temperature dropped to 12 degrees. She did not return home on Tuesday, or Wednesday. It snowed Tuesday night.
Police called off the search for Aaroné today saying that they had searched every place a child that young could have gone. Aaroné is only six-years-old.
When police began searching on Monday afternoon they made comments to the media indicating that the family was not being too cooperative with the search. They were reluctant to discuss what problems they were having with the family because they felt the investigation might turn into one of a criminal nature later on and they did not want to jeopardize the investigation. One thing police did mention was that they were unable to obtain a recent photo of the girl; the only photo provided to law enforcement was 1 1/2 years old. That is the photo at the top of this blog entry.
Police believe the girl has been dead for at least 1 1/2 years and the request for help for her recent disappearance was fabricated. Search warrants have been served on the home and the father and the live-in girlfriend are being looked at as ‘persons of interest’ in the death of six-year-old Aaroné.
Seven other children live in the home. They have been removed from their home and placed in protective custody with Child Protective Services.
The family is upset with how they have been treated. They feel that they have been treated unfairly and have hired a family friend to be their spokesperson. They are considering hiring an attorney. I believe it may be a good idea to get an attorney at this point, but not for the reasons they want to hire an attorney. Other information learned during the investigation was that the girl did not attend school. Her mother lives in a woman’s shelter in Michigan. She told reporters she could not afford the cost of travel to come and look for her daughter.
Perhaps they are innocent of any wrong-doing. In my last blog entry I wrote of how we have had at least one child murdered each month this year in the United States. So far, if Aaroné was murdered this month instead of a few years ago then that will be a total of two murdered children for the month of November.
I wonder when will it end, the slaughtering of our children.
I am trying to understand why a parent who had murdered a child would report that child as missing 1 1/2 years after the fact. It would seem to me that a secret like that kept for so long would be kept as a secret and taken to the grave.
The police are pretty confident that Aaroné Thompson was murdered in her home at least 1 ½ years ago. They cite some interesting reasons; there were no pictures of Aaroné in the home older than 4 ½ years and she had never been enrolled in school. It is as if she had fallen off of the face of the earth. They also received a tip from someone close to the family indicating that Aaroné most likely is deceased and has been for some time.
According to law enforcement officials, interviews conducted with the children indicate they have acknowledged that Aaroné has been gone from the home for a considerable length of time. If this is true, Aaroné was not the only victim. It is a horrible thought that these children have had to keep that secret. I wonder what the effects on their psyches will be in the years to come.
Thus far Aaroné’s father and his live-in girlfriend have not cooperated with the investigation.
Again, I wonder why someone would fabricate a story of a missing child for one that they knew was murdered. The only excuse I have come up with that is logical to me is that someone was coming to visit the family. Aaroné’s birthday was approaching on November 30th. Perhaps this person, a relative was particularly interested in seeing Aaroné. There was no way of getting around her not being there unless she was reported missing, possibly a victim of a kidnapping. This would bring sympathy for the family and it would also get them off the hook as being involved in their child’s murder; at least for a while until they could dispose of the body in a remote location. Could the murderer be that ignorant to the fact that law enforcement, once finding the remains would be able to pinpoint just how long she had been deceased?
Time will tell if Aaroné was murdered or if she in fact walked out her door on Monday, November 14, 2005 never to be seen again.
Much has happened over the past few years with this case. Aaron Thompson and his live-in girlfriend Shelly lost permanent custody of their children. Shelly died sometime last year from a heart condition.
Aaron was indicted earlier this year and will stand trial November 3, 2008. It is interesting because the deceased former live-in girlfriend was also named in the indictment.
I will be covering this trial on my other blog, The End of the Story.
Well, I Left Her in the Car…
10.09: Trial Date Engelica Castillo - March 2010
Original Post: June 17, 2009Last Updated: 10.26.2009View Sources
This story is eerily similar to the October 2008 disappearance of two-year-old Tangena Hussain in Michigan. She has never been found.
Last night Gary, Indiana police received a call about a missing two-year-old female. According to the babysitter, Angelica Castillo, 18, she left the toddler in her car while she ran into a the Glen Park Gas Station, at 1401 E. Ridge Rd. in Gary, Indiana to purchase a gallon of milk and cigarettes. According to the babysitter, when she returned to the vehicle the child was gone. She called police at 9:30p.m.
According to the child’s mother, the babysitter is her cousin and her daughter has been staying with the cousin for about eight days. She says the last time she spoke to her daughter it was either Thursday or Friday.
I don’t know. If I had left my two-year-old with relatives for a planned two-week summer stay I think I would be calling my child each night to say good-night and to see how she was adjusting to the visit. I watched the video of the interview with the mother and she seems sort of detached about the whole thing. I could not see if she was crying real tears or not because of the sunglasses she was wearing during the interview. The father seems more concerned and has made statement that he does not believe the babysitter’s account of what happened.
“I think it was more like, ‘I made a mistake, I did something,’” said Jada’s father Clarence Justice. “To me, that’s the vibes I got is like, ‘I did something.’ I don’t want to speak on it, I don’t want to speak on the worst.’”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to feel. There are so many different speculations,” said Jada’s mother Melissa Swiontek. “I feel like I’m going to find her. I mean, I do feel like she can’t be gone, like it’s not even happening.”1
As in the Hussain disappearance, there is no video to show what went on at the vehicle.
However, in this disappearance witnesses have come forward stating they did not see a child in the car. The storekeeper stated the babysitter was only in the store a little over a minute and search dogs have not picked up Jada’s scent at the gas station. I don’t know how search dogs work but maybe they can’t pick up a scent because it was raining that night.
Other concerns involve fresh burns on the boyfriend’s arms and face for which he has not given a reasonable explanation. The boyfriend and babysitter are still being questioned by Gary, Indiana police.
Strangely enough as of this evening an AMBER Alert has not been issued for the this child. Michigan authorities issued an AMBER Alert for Tangena when she was reported missing under similar circumstances. I don’t suppose an AMBER Alert will help in this situation anyway. It didn’t help find Tangena.
If you know the whereabouts of Jada Justice or the circumstances surrounding her disappearance you are asked to call either the Hobart, Indiana Police Department at 1-219-942-1125 or the F.B.I. hotline at 317-639-3301.
Jada is a 2-year-old black female. She is 2′2″ tall and weighs 35lbs. Jada has brown eyes and black hair. Her date of birth is August 3, 2006. When last seen Jada was wearing an orange skirt and striped shirt.
The FBI has entered the case as of this evening. They are treating the case as a possible abduction. Law enforcement, the FBI, and family members converged on the convenience store property this evening. They were searching the area and handing out Jada’s picture.
Law enforcement are trying to put together a time line. They are asking people to come forward and tell them the last time they saw Jada, where she was, and who she was with at the time.
Police plan to charge the 18-year-old babysitter with felony child neglect for leaving Jada in the car unattended. Police also served a search warrant on the babysitter’s home. The took away some articles of clothing.
Sunday June 21, 2009
There really isn’t much to write about regarding Jada’s disappearance. By that I mean she is still ‘missing’. Police do not buy into the claim the babysitter, Angelica Castillo, of how Jada disappeared. The home the 18-year-old former gang member shares with her boyfriend was searched. Investigators did some digging in the backyard of the home; however, they determined the child was not buried there.
Angelica Castillo was arrested on charges of felony child neglect, but the charges were later dropped.
Police believe there are witnesses out there who know what happened to Jada. They may have witnessed something that they don’t realize is important to the investigation. They are asking for the public’s help. They want to know the following information:
Police are looking for anyone who may have seen her (Angelica Castillo) or her boyfriend, Tim Tkachik, between Sunday June 14 and Tuesday June 16. They may have been driving either a 1991 maroon Cadillac Fleetwood or a 1999 Chevy Tahoe…
…”We believe there are individuals who have information important to this investigation who have not yet come forward because they did not feel their information was important, they thought someone else may have reported it, or they believe it was not relevant,” said Deputy Chief Jeff White, Hobart Police.2
(The bold text in the quote above was added by me for clarification purposes).
Police announced there would be no search conducted for Jada today. They did not give a reason for halting the search; however, they did say the search would resume tomorrow. I don’t know, maybe the search was put on hold because it is Father’s Day.
Jada’s mother, Melissa Swiontek, issued a plea in the media on Friday night.
“I have no idea. I just want her home. I have no idea. She just needs to come home. Somebody has an idea. Somebody knows something and they need to talk,” said Melissa Swiontek, Jada’s (sic) mothe.3
Rewards & Contacts
The family is offering a $6,000 reward for information leading to Jada’s recovery.
- FBI: 1-800-FBI
- Gary Police Commander Anthony Titus: (219) 881-1237, (219) 881-1229, (219) 881-1209 or (219) 881-1210.
The FBI is treating Jada’s disappearance as a possible abduction. Gary and Hobart Police contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to see if an AMBER Alert could now be issued for Jada. The answer was no, that Jada’s disappearance does not meet their criteria for an AMBER Alert. OK, I am scratching my head once again regarding the decision of who qualifies for an AMBER Alert.
Gary police contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but learned the case involving Jada did not meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert because investigators do not have detailed information on a suspect.4
I say BULL***.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has recently issued AMBER Alerts in the following cases on their AMBER Alert site:
- Haleigh Cummings – Florida No longer active: Still Missing
She was discovered missing from her Florida home in the middle of the night in February 2009. There were no witnesses to her alleged abduction and no suspects or suspect vehicle. The AMBER Alert is still in effect. - Daisja Weaver – Texas No longer active: Still Missing
Daisjai’s mother reported that her child was abducted in the middle of the night from her apartment by an unknown Hispanic male wearing a hoodie type sweatshirt. He allegedly tried to sexually assault the woman and when she fought him off the suspect grabbed her baby and escaped over the balcony.
During the investigation the mother came forward and told authorities that she and the baby’s father threw the child’s body in the local river after the father killed the child. Both parents are in jail. The body has not been found. Why is the AMBER Alert still in effect? - Emanuel Guzman – Colorado No longer active: Still Missing
In the Guzman case, the non-custodial parents are the suspects and they are wanted for child abuse. At the time the child was reported missing CPS had just been given jurisdiction over the child because the parents failed to make a court appearance. In my opinion, the NCMEC has issued this AMBER Alert to help CPS in Colorado clean up their mess. Emmanuel had gone to the hospital with severe burns on his hands. For whatever reason he was allowed to go home with his parents. The burns happened in April of this year and the court date that was missed was in May. In my opinion, CPS should have been given at least temporary custody of Emmanuel and placed in a foster home at least so he could get care for his burns. Burns caused by child abuse have patterns indicating intentional or deliberate injury to the child. - Gabriela Patricia Velazquez – North Carolina Located safe on June 22, 2009
Police think Gabriela, 14, was maybe taken from the Monroe County National Guard Armory by Ciro Alonso Salina, 20. They don’t have a description of a vehicle or direction of travel. They also do not have a picture of Salina. Gabriela is described as a Hispanic girl, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. She has black hair, brown eyes and a birthmark on her right calf. She was last seen wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and high heels. Salina is described as a Hispanic man, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 140 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, black dress pants and black shoes. Police ask if you see them or recognize their names making purchases call 9-1-1.
Does this case rise to the AMBER Alert criteria? We don’t know if Gabriela left of her own accord. There is no picture of the suspect. Many Hispanic males could fit Salina’s physical description.
- Tangena Hussain – Michigan No longer active: Still Missing
The circumstances of Tangena’s disappearance are almost identical to Jada’s disappearance. The mother’s boyfriend stopped at a gas station convenience store to purchase juice and gum. He left 2-year-old Tangena in the car parked on the side of the convenience store. He claims the doors to the car were locked. When he returned a few minutes later to the car Tangena was no longer in the vehicle. Instead of calling authorities right away, the boyfriend drove to a mall to pick up the girl’s mother from work. They then drove to back to the gas station and notified authorities. Tangena has not been found. Her AMBER Alert no longer appears on the NCMEC site.
Out of the five cases listed above with AMBER Alert status only two cases had suspect information. The other three cases, Weaver, Cummings and Hussain had no suspect information.
Somebody is not telling the truth regarding the AMBER Alert issue as far as Jada’s case is concerned. Here is the answer to the question from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on who issues AMBER Alerts:
Does NCMEC issue AMBER Alerts?
NCMEC releases AMBER Alerts to secondary distributors, once we are notified by law enforcement that an Alert has been released for a specific geographical area. Once NCMEC validates the AMBER Alert, it is entered into a secure system and transmitted to authorized secondary distributors for dissemination to customers within the geographic areas specified.
Secondary distributors are defined as companies, businesses, or organizations that have the capability to deliver geographically targeted messages to their customers; and have a signed Memorandum of Understanding with NCMEC. Internet service providers (ISPs) are an example of secondary distributors.
Only law enforcement can initiate and release AMBER Alerts for primary distribution.5
The emphasis is mine in the above quote. Who is telling the truth or misleading the public?
Thursday June 25, 2009
Police received a tip this afternoon that led them to a field in LaPorte county, Indiana. The location is approximately thirty miles from the gas station where Jada was reportedly last seen. A body was found there this afternoon – it is believed to be the body of missing Jada Justice. A coroner was called to the scene. Authorities say they have two people in custody. If the investigation goes as planned may come as soon as Friday.
June 28, 2009
No matter how long I write about missing and murdered children I don’t think I will ever get over how utterly cruel people can be, especially when the children murdered are related to the accused.
Engelica Castillo and her boyfriend were arrested last Friday morning and charged with murder among other lesser charges in connection with the death of 2-year-old Jada Justice. Engelica is or was Jada’s older cousin. Jada was left in her care for what was supposed to be a six week stay while Jada’s mother went out-of-town.
According to the interview with police Engelica’s boyfriend, Timothy Tkachik, claims Engelica is the one who administered the series of blows to Jada’s body and head that took her life, the last blow sending her head into contact with a nearby table.
Tkachik claims that one morning in June, Engelica became upset with Jada because of an issue with potty training and she began to spank Jada. When Jada refused to cry from the spanking this upset Engelica and she proceeded to strike the child about the head and pull her hair. At some point Jada fell striking her head on a table. Still not happy with Jada’s behavior, Engelica stood Jada in a corner for a ‘time out’. Jada was not complying so Engelica proceeded to rap the child in the head with her knuckles.
Oh wait, I forgot to mention, this was happening the morning after Engelica and Tkachik did several lines of heroin the night before.
At some point that afternoon it was time for the couple to go out a score some more heroin so they put Jada in her car seat and left to run that little errand. According to Tkachik while driving to the connection’s house they realized Jada was no longer breathing. They drove back to the house and went inside with the child and tried to administer CPR but it did not work. Doing what any normal person would do, Tkachik, noticing the bumps and bruises all over Jada’s body, decided to place Jada inside three garbage bags and put her body in the basement. They then went out to continue with their heroin purchase, returned home and went to bed for the night.
Just like any addict’s worst nightmare, when they awoke they realized the nightmare was really their life and they still had to figure out what to do with Jada’s body. Of course, the only thing to do was to burn her body. So they set off to purchase a metal trash can, propane and charcoal. After making their purchase they set off to a remote area where they found a hole. Tkachik placed Jada’s body inside the hole still encased in the garbage bags. Something happened with the fire when he threw the lit charcoal bag in the hole and the fire exploded in his face. That is where he got those burns he had so much trouble explaining. After still failing to rid themselves of Jada’s body, they decided to leave her there and go do some more heroin to help them think better.
Tkachik went back out and retrieved Jada’s partially burned body and placed it in the back of his truck. He then went to purchase a plastic container and cement and went back to the house. He took Jada’s body back down to the basement and there he encased her body in cement inside of the plastic container, using a space heater to speed up the hardening of the cement. When the cement had hardened enough he and Engelica went to a former haunt of Tkachik’s father. I use this term loosely. Many years ago when the Tkachik was still a child his father took his mother and his aunt to the same spot and shot them dead. He then turned the gun on himself. This is the area Tkachik chose for Jada’s final resting place. He brought along a power saw of some sort so he could cut away the plastic from the cement. (He did not want to leave any fingerprints behind). Then he and Engelica shoved Jada’s cement encased body into the swamp. With the dirty deed accomplished they decided it was time for Engelica to give her Camille-like performance at the Gary, Indiana gas station feigning Jada’s abduction.
It not only makes me weary to relate this story, it sickens me as well.
Trial Dates
Engelica Castillo will be the first of two co-defendants to stand trial for Jada Justice’s murder. Her trial date is set for December 7, 2009. Castillo is charged with murder, neglect of a dependent, battery and false informing for the June 2009 death of 2-year-old Jada Justice.
October 26, 2009
Castillo’s trial date has been pushed back to March 2010 because prosecutors have decided to pursue a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for her. The defense claims it will take more time and money now to prepare for the defense. They will have to hire experts regarding mitigating circumstances. This means experts who will look into Castillo’s childhood to see if there were problems in her childhood that could have caused her to murder Jada. Yep.
- Mai Martinez, 2-Year-Old Vanishes from Car in Gary, CBS2Chicago.com, Last Accessed: June 17, 2009. [↩]
- John Garcia, Police Ask for Tips in Search for Missing Girl, WLS-TV Chicago, Last Accessed: June 21, 2009. [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
- Mai Martinez, 2-Year-Old Vanishes from Car in Gary, CBS2Chicago.com, Last Accessed: June 17, 2009. [↩]
- NCMEC [↩]
