Amber Alert suspect dead, girl missing

My question about Amber Alerts couldn't have come on a worse case. This guy, who lived with the girl's legal guardian, killed himself, authorities said. The girl, Reachelle Smith, known as "Peanut", hasn't been found:

MINOT, N.D. (AP) - Authorities searched a wildlife refuge Wednesday for a missing 3-year-old girl after the body of the man who authorities suspect took her was found following an apparent suicide.
Leigh Cowen, 22, was found Tuesday inside a van on a gravel road at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge, authorities said. Cowen appeared to have killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning.
There was no trace of Reachelle Smith, who was last seen the night of May 16 when she was put to bed in her home.

Suspect in North Dakota girl's abduction dies

Searchers look for 3-year-old Reachelle Smith near Minot, N.D. (AP Photo/Will Kincaid)

Comments

[G]

Some of the most tragic cases are the ones where innocent children are used as expendable pawns by maniacal adults bent on inflicting the worst kinds of hurt upon those with whom they have disagreements.

Seems we've seen several of these recently. The Porter mess comes to mind.

Sure hope this guy released the girl unharmed before he did himself in.

[Hawkeye in OP]

Situations like this have been seen many times, and sadly I would think that the outcome is not going to be a good one for the child and her family.

[Tim]

there is a lot more going on with this story then we all know.

[Samone]

When are these women going to learn and stop bringing these crazy men home around their children.

[David]

Everybody has desperate moments, but why drag a child into it???? Get some help!! Call a friend, a pastor or priest, the mental health center, somebody....Don't get stuck in a moment and try a permanent solution to a short term problem - especially one that hurts a child.
Tim - I'm sure there is more to the story, but what are you trying to say?

[lr]

Please women, if you have children and you are a single parent, get to know your men friends, boyfriends,etc. MUCH better before allowing them to freely be around your children! Your children are priceless and their safety should come first before your loneliness, etc.

[G]

Tim, you can't just post a teaser like that and then not dish out the goods.

Come on, what else is going on with this story that we don't know about?

[christina]

Why are we ALWAYS blaming the Women??! I am a single mom with three girls. Some people do not show sign of craziness before they snap. WE dont know the whole story as to whats going on here. So some shouldnt be so quick to judge, especially ALL WOMEN.

[Angie]

If Tim knows anything about the news industry, he's correct in what he's saying. It may not be that he has any "exclusive" information, but as an employee of an office that sees and hears most of everything that occurs out there, we know first hand that the news media of all branches can distort any detail that they hear, see, or read. Everyone is looking for that ONE special detail to outdo their "competition", and the lengths that they will go to are extreme. So take what you hear and read with a grain of salt. It may be totally truth or partial truth with a lot of embellishing.

[christina]

Again to NONAME, you can sure talk crap when you dont have your name attatched to the remarks.

[christina]

Greg wasnt kidding hwen he said that children visits these blogs. Greg Can we do something about this person?

[Crime Scene KC]

christina,

The no-name poster comes up under your IP address. How is that possible?

Greg Reeves

[lr]

Okay, this is getting really strange. Is this Champion of Justice reincarnated today on the blog?

[lr]

A freak has entered the building.

[lr]

So's yours. She helped to create you. Now, you're veering off the blog subject. Get back on task.

[Crime Scene KC]

Dear no-name,

I have identified you as a Sprint employee and will report you to that company as such. I'm not deleting your comments, I'm saving them for the case against you.

Greg Reeves

[lr]

Greg, could you please remove this COJ imposter?

[Crime Scene KC]

christina,

I need to hear from you about no-name having the same IP address as you. Could he be in the same office? The IP comes back to Sprint.

Greg Reeves

[BF]

Unfortunately, this little girl is probably already dead. Why else would he kill himself?

[christina]

Greg check this one out.

[christina]

We will not know for sure she is dead till we find a body...so why give up when there is hope.

[christina]

Check this one out Greg.

[onetime]

I'm sure the family's hopes took a blow when he was found though :(

[christina]

As a parent if you dont have the visual proof to confirm something, you will never loose hope. People who have lost children and never seen a body, they still believe that they are alive. I know i would!

[Jamie]

Hmm......Sprint employees. I am sorry I missed the comments.

On topic, I hope they find the little girl. I know if I was her mother I would not give up hope.....not until she was actually found. I can picture all different kinds of scenarios in my head about what is going on, and not a one of them is any good.

Sad, sad world we now live in. Amber Alerts, abductions by non-strangers, being told how to discipline our kids, taking the Pledge of Allegiance / prayer out of schools, debate over the words "IN GOD WE TRUST" on money. There is such a thing as being too politically correct and letting the government rule our lives totally and completely.

I hope they find her and she is not out there wondering around alone and scared. Or worse. What is happening right here is one of a parent's worst fears.

[Regina]

I can not believe all of you that are out there blaming this poor little girls mother! I am a single Mom and Do not introduce my kids to a guy untill I know them fairly well. I am sure that the mom in this case did not know that she had meet up with someone that would harm her beautiful little little girl. Lets give her the Benfit of the doubt and keep her and this Baby in our thoughts and prayers until they find her Now more than ever in light of the News of him killing himself!

[lr]

Regina, I re-read the posts and don't see where tons of individuals are blatantly blaming the mother for this tragic situation. Maybe you have read this inference somewhere else. On this post, for the most part, it is more of a cautionary statement just to reiterate that it is very important to be careful who spends a lot of time around one's children. I have single parent girlfriends (and a couple guy friends for that matter) who are extremely cautious about this. In some cases it was a full ten months of dating the same person before they would allow that person to spend ANY time at all around their child (ren). So it's just a reminder to be careful, as it appears these tragic situations are happening more and more frequently.

[christina]

Regina, understand you anger. I too am a single mommy. I dont even let guys come over to my house or be around my kids till i know they are ok. Even then i do not leave them alone with anyone.

For the rest, we dont know how long she knew this guy, she may have know him for years. No one can EVER really see all the bad in someone. Specially if that someone is someone you love. We all try to see the good in those we care about.

[ezzie]

i hope the lil girl is found safe and can go back home

[jenn]

any way he could of been in independence,MO on Sunday morning? i seen two guys and a little girl that looks just like him and her at a restaurant off the highway?

[NLA]

Jenn, you should give the police that info.

[Kat]

there is also a another man missing from minot. possible connection?

[Jim]

Greg

Because someone has a different comment or take on an event why would you threaten to contact their employer? Is your goal to get them reprimanded or fired? If so I think you are the one out of bounds.

Jim

[Pam]

It's not just single Moms with the worries. Just go to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to find out how many and who the parents are.
Pedophiles can be anyone from strangers to the child's grandparents or parent.

[John Boy]

Jim
Before you get all over Greg, let it be known he took those comments out of the dialog. I believe he is doing the correct thing. Have you seen No Names comments? If not, maybe you need to back off, and let Greg do his job. He is trying to keep this a clean format.

[Dave]

Well, I've been reading and to maybe shed a little light on why we tend to lay the blame on women, is because it's easy for us to do so. It seems they are always easy to blame,
This is completely wrong. There is a vast majority of people out there that may disagree with this thinking and opinion however I do not.
"G" I completely agree with your posting.

"NONAME", you make me sick. and there is an old addage, " What goes arounds comes around."

[Rick]

I know personal case of a man who killed his ex-wife, their child, and her new husband.

What the press failed to present was the fact that the ex-wife and her new husband had used the child as a pawn to mess with the ex-husband. He would drive up from Texas for visitation and they would not be home, not answer the door, etc. Then, he would have to file a complaint for denial of visitation, drive up from Texas for the hearing, hear a judge give the ex-wife a slap on the wrist..only to have the ex-wife and her new hubby (an attorney) deny visitation again and again and again.

Finally, the guy snapped and drove up here and murdered them all.

Not to say it's right....but sometimes, there's a lot more to the story.

[Clara]

I too am a single mom and it took a long time before I would let my son be alone with the man I am seeing.

If my son wasn't cool with the guy I was dating them I stopped seeing him.

My prayers are with this little girl's family and I hope she is found real soon

[Crime Scene KC]

Jim,

I appreciate your comment, but John Boy is right. no-name didn't have a point of view - he was just aggressively creepy and vulgar toward a female user of this blog. When I learned they both had the same IP address, I realized he could be sitting next to her in the office. That's why I wrote what I did.

Greg Reeves

[lr]

I agree with Greg. This no name's comments were ridiculous.

[christina]

Any news greg on this little girl?

[christina]

Sorry Greg i didnt capitalize your name wont happen again.

[Veronica Corningstone]

I totally missed the comments. Were they that bad? Sounds like we have some major drama.

[christina]

Veronica, They were AWEFUL! I cant belive this guy kissed his momma with that mouth!

[Veronica Corningstone]

And they came from some dude who works right next to you? That would freak me out!

[Reminder - Please sign your comments]

Freaky