Missing and Murdered Children

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This guest post is contributed by Brooklyn White, who writes on the topic of Forensic Science Technician Programs. She can be reached at brookwhite26-AT-Gmail.com.

It’s one of the worst things that could happen to any parent; it’s sometimes a fate worse than death because while death brings closure, knowing that your child is missing and not knowing what happened to them torments more than you would think possible. Parents of missing children are in a quandary of the worst kind – they are in a sort of limbo that is hard to get out of. They don’t know if they must mourn the loss of their child or continue to hope that they will be found soon, and this dilemma tears them apart and does not let them heal and go on with their lives. If you know someone whose child is missing, you can help in various ways, some of which are detailed below:

• Don’t intrude: There are times when people whose children are lost want to be left alone; they don’t want to repeat the details of the horror they have faced to every person who comes calling, whether out of curiosity or even if it is to help. So know when you’re intruding on their privacy and when they need to be left to themselves. Also, don’t take it the wrong way when they ask you to leave because they wish to be alone with their thoughts and misery.
• Don’t judge: People have different ways to cope with grief, so just because your idea of coping does not coincide with theirs, don’t judge the parents of missing children. Be of help in any way you can, but don’t think that this gives you the right to decide if what they do is morally or ethically right or wrong. Be supportive without judging what they say or what they do.
• Help out: There are various ways you can help parents of missing children – by looking after their other children, taking care of routine activities like cooking and cleaning, driving their kids to school and other activities like soccer or softball, and others. In short, your time and efforts spent on helping to provide them with a sense of normalcy will go a long way in alleviating their anxiety.
• Understand: Parents of missing children are bound to behave irrationally, have extreme mood swings, and sink into a depression because they are worried about their child and because they are under a great deal of stress. So understand their psyche and don’t take it personally if you’re at the receiving end of their bad moods.
• Cooperate with law enforcement: And finally, you must cooperate with law enforcement officials without hiding any information, even if it means people you know are going to be accused or come under suspicion. You must do all you can to help find the missing child at the earliest, because the more time goes by, the less the chances of finding him/her alive.

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.

Updates 

Latest Updates

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.

Sources 

Death Penalty Sought Against Mother in Toddler’s Death, WRAL.com, Last Accessed: November 11, 2009.

1. Missing Harnett County Baby Found Dead in Attic, WRAL.com. [↩]
2. Mom Charged with Murder After Baby Found Dead, WRAL.com. [↩]
3. Autopsy Finds Nicotine in 11-month-old’s Remains, WRAL.com, March 11, 2008. [↩]
4. Infant’s Cause of Death Remains Under Investigation, WRAL.com, March 18, 2008. [↩]

Original Post: June 28, 2009Updated: July 28, 2009Contact InfoView Sources

According to news reports all 10-year-old Lindsey Baum was doing Friday night was walking four blocks to her home from a friend’s house.

Lindsey had some sort of argument with her brother on the way to the friend’s house. She was only at the friends home for a short while until the friend’s father, Scott Williams, encouraged Lindsey to return to her home before it got too dark. The time was 9:15 p.m. in McCleary, Washington. In that part of the United States McCleary is just becoming blanketed by darkness. A friend even walked with Lindsey half way to her home. According to the friend nothing untoward happened while they walked together.

Lindsey’s mother, Melissa Baum, says her daughter has never run away from home. She did acknowledge that Lindsey has had difficulty adjusting to her parent’s recent split but she feels confident her daughter would not run away from home. First of all, she does not have money to run away with. Well, when children run away they don’t usually think first about how they will support themselves on the streets. They just go on emotion and run.

Lindsey’s father has been contacted at his home in Tennessee and he is not suspected in his daughter’s disappearance.

According to news accounts McCleary is a small town and the neighbors know each other very well. According to Dave Pimentel of the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office:

“Such a small community like this – you can’t do much in a town this size without everybody knowing about it,”… “Everybody in town knows she’s unaccounted for.”¹

Not only does everyone in town know she is unaccounted for, they are all out looking for her. Most of the search is being conducted in the town and surrounding forests. A bloodhound brought into the search failed to pick up Lindsey’s scent.

As of this morning the FBI has been brought into the search because of their experience in solving missing children cases.

Missing Child: Lindsey J. Baum

Lindsey is described as a 10-year-old white female with brown hair and brown eyes. She stands 4’9″ tall and weighs approximately 80 pounds. When last seen she was wearing a gray or blue pullover sweatshirt with blue jeans and black shoes.²

Anyone knowing Lindsey’s whereabouts or the circumstances surrounding her disappearance is asked to call the Grays Harbor 911 Center at (800) 281-6944 or the McCleary Police Department at (360) 495-3107.

Pictures

Contacts

Tipline: 1 (866) 915-8299

Grays Harbor 911 Center: 1 (800) 281-6944

McCleary Police Department: 1 (360) 495-3107

Websites:

1. Lindsey Baum.com
2. Find Lindsey Baum.com

Updates

July 1, 2009

There is really no news in the search for Lindsey Baum. Her mother has been quoted in the local media that she believes her daughter is still alive but no longer in McCleary. She believes someone abducted her daughter. She bases her belief in the fact that the town has been thoroughly searched with no sign of her daughter.

I looked at the list of registered sex offenders in McCleary – list totals four and they all appear to be under the age of 30. One registered sex offender piqued my interest because his offense was communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. It is not a stretch to think he may have had contact with Lindsey because they both have MySpace pages. I was dismayed to see that Lindsey’s MySpace is not set to private. This is not a judgment, but an observation and my opinion. Some of the content on her page makes her appear much older than 10. I am not referring to pictures on her site because I did not see any pictures other than her profile picture. It is just my opinion that Lindsey should have kept her profile private.
I visited the MySpace page of the sex offender in question and I think he professes his desire or attraction for adult females too much. One would never suspect he has a conviction for being a pedophile because he has so many ‘seductive looking’ adult female friends. Oh, well I guess it is a good cover.

I hope Lindsey is found safe and sound and she did just decide to run away from home. Maybe she decided to head out to Tennessee to live with her dad and he is unaware of her plans. The longer Lindsey is missing, the worse the outcome is apt to be.

July 2, 2009

Lindsey’s mother and the father of the friend where Lindsey was last seen volunteered to take polygraph exams. According to a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s office both individuals passed their exams and authorities are happy with their cooperation and timeline of events.
Specialists from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have been brought in to aide in the investigation. Henry Schmidt, one of the investigators with the NCMEC opined that Lindsey most likely left with someone she knows:

“From what knowledge we have and the information that I have that it’s someone that she possibly knows, somebody that is in the area.”…³

Maybe she did meet up with one of the local sex offenders.

I think of two cases in particular of children who went missing and later found murdered. Jamie Rose Bolin went missing and her body was found in the apartment of a neighbor who lived below the family. She was 10-years-old. Destiny Norton was last seen playing on her front porch. Her body was found in a neighbor’s basement. He lived on the other side of a backyard fence. Destiny was just 5-years-old. I guess my point is you really can’t trust anyone just because they are a neighbor and you have known them for quite some time.

July 28, 2009: 2 p.m. PST

Search teams made up of the FBI, Gray’s Harbor and Pierce County Sheriff’s office are in McCleary today following up on leads. They are utilizing search dogs to aid them in the search for Lindsey Baum. CrimeStoppers has offered a $6,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the whereabouts of Lindsey Baum.⁴

Sources

1. FBI Joins Search for Missing 10-Year-Old Girl, KOMONews.com, Last Accessed: June 28, 2009. [↩]
2. Lindsey J. Baum Missing Poster, NCMEC, Last Accessed: June 28, 2009. [↩]
3. FBI: Stranger Not Likely Behind Girl’s Disappearance, KOMO News.com, Last Accessed: July 28, 2009. [↩]
4. Searchers With Dogs Looking for Missing McCleary Girl, KIROTV.com, Last Accessed: July 28, 2009. [↩]