Madeleine McCann

Day 55: Vigil As Reporter Backs Up Claim
Updated: 12:22, Wednesday June 27, 2007

A vigil for Madeleine McCann will be held at Ireland's holiest shrine, as a Spanish investigator prepares to hand over evidence about her alleged abductor.

Alleged sighting of girl on yacht
It is now 55 days since the four-year-old disappeared from a holiday apartment in a Portuguese seaside resort.

Hundreds of well-wishers in Ireland have been sending messages of support to the girl's parents Gerry and Kate McCann, including many from Knock Shrine.

Madeleine's maternal grandparents Sue and Brian Healy, from Liverpool, asked for the service at the church in County Mayo. It will run from 8pm until midnight on Friday.

Spanish investigator Antonio Toscano has insisted the four-year-old was abducted by a French sex offender, as part of a Europe-wide paedophile network.

He is set to hand over his evidence to police in Portugal this afternoon.

Meanwhile, a girl resembling Madeleine was reportedly spotted being taken aboard the yacht of an Arab family in Malta, the Daily Express said.

Police have been trying to find the boat.

A Portuguese official told the paper: "It is a distinct possibility that Madeleine has been held captive on a vessel like the one seen in Malta, so we are very keen to track this boat very quickly".

There have been a total of 29 alleged sightings of Madeleine on the island so far.

But officers have investigated reports of sightings across the world and none of them have been proven to be Madeleine.

Nancy Lyons

From the CUE's case files

http://www.carolesundfoundation.com/sections/homicide?person=334

Kristen Modaferri,Kristin Smart and Kent Jacobs

It was on this date a decade ago that Kristen Modaferri vanished without a trace. Please take a moment with us to remember Kristen today. Her family is still needing answers for that fateful day. Please visit Kristen's website for more detailed information on her ongoing case. I've also provided some links from the google search engine that will show you some TV broadcasts of her parents and their TV interviews and various search efforts for Kristen. These are worth taking a look at. Thanks to all who took time out to read over this information today.
Kristen is still missing but NOT forgotten.



www.FindKristen.Com

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5406224462698729390&q=Kristin+Smart

http://www.hallontheweb.com/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=kj&report=sp&ID=000--


www.FindCarrieCulberson.Com
www.Myspace.Com/FindCarrie
www.AngelGardenOfHope.Com
http://FindCarrie.BlogSpot.Com

Rachel Cooke

Saturday, June 16, 2007

The last time Michael Keith Moore surfaced in public, he was expected to
admit to kidnapping and killing Rachel Cooke, whose 2002 disappearance
still haunts her family and Williamson County.

But Moore, serving life sentences for a 2003 murder, pleaded not guilty
in November in the Cooke case — reneging on a deal with prosecutors and
dragging the Cooke family through another round of bitter disappointment.

Now Moore, in his first prison interview since that surprise plea, said
he was telling the truth when he pleaded not guilty. He claims he duped
investigators because he was getting special treatment in prison,
including extra visits with his ex-wife and having prison infractions
wiped off his record, as long as he cooperated.

Investigators, calling Moore a born manipulator, aren't buying his story.

Cooke's father isn't sure what to think.

"It's kind of hard to tell with this guy. He's probably a compulsive
liar. He's a predator, and that's part of the way he goes after people
is to lie," Robert Cooke said. "He's definitely a suspect, and they have
to look closely at him. But based on his history, how much of what he
says can you believe?

"I'm hoping somehow we can piece all this together. Either get more
evidence on him, or else omit him," Robert Cooke said.

Shortly after his not guilty plea, Moore scheduled — then canceled —
interviews with several TV and newspaper reporters. The
American-Statesman published a profile of Moore in December that
characterized him as a narcissist who craves attention and who believes
his intelligence allows him to toy with, and outwit, investigators.

Moore, who has spent most of his adult life in prison, took exception to
that article in a January letter to the newspaper, but fell silent when
invited to give his version of events.

Since January, no investigators have interviewed Moore in prison, and
after four months without contact, Moore sent a letter to the Statesman
in mid-May offering to talk. "Earlier the better for me," he wrote. "I
will not cancel out this time."

Sitting behind the bullet-proof glass in the visitors lounge of the
Hughes Unit in Gatesville, with his thick forearms heavily tattooed,
Moore was wary at first and asked if the reporter was acting on behalf
of the FBI or Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley.

He warmed to the task of describing how investigators should have seen
the holes in his story about kidnapping Cooke, who was 19 when she
disappeared. And he apologized to the Cooke family for promising closure
in the case and then failing to deliver.

"I can imagine them thinking their daughter, their loved one, just
disappeared again right there in that court. That's what I feel so bad
about," said Moore, 31.

For Robert Cooke, the apology rings hollow: "That's the part I don't
believe. I don't think he cares."

Moore insists that he got caught up in a game with investigators,
especially Fred Rhea with the FBI's violent crimes task force. Rhea was
the one who brought up Rachel Cooke, Moore said, and he played along,
right up to his confession.

"I already went so far, I guess you could say I made my bed, so I had to
lie in it," Moore said. "I guess you could say I was basically being an
(expletive), thinking about what benefits I could get from this guy
coming to see me, this FBI guy."

Changing his story

Moore told investigators that he was driving around Georgetown on the
morning of Jan. 10, 2002, in search of businesses or homes to break
into. He said he drove past Cooke, who was jogging. He pulled over and
parked, he said, and then ran a short distance in front of his truck
before turning around. Pretending to be out jogging, Moore said, he
timed his run so he and Cooke would meet at his truck, where he hit her
in the head with a hammer.

He told investigators he drove her to another location and raped her,
hid her body in the truck's large toolbox, and then drove to Matagorda
Bay to hide the body.

He changed his plea in court, Moore said, because he didn't want to help
"somebody get away with murder."

Bradley, the district attorney, scoffs at that notion.

"I would note that Michael Keith Moore is serving four life sentences,
is a psychopathic killer, a proven pathological liar, and has repeatedly
used the media to manipulate his circumstances. It would appear to me
that he's attempting to manipulate the media once again," Bradley said.

Before his February 2006 trial in the murder of Christina Moore, no
relation, Michael Moore made several calls to KVUE-TV, saying he was
innocent but knew who had killed the Round Rock woman. He declined to
reveal names for fear that his wife would be killed, KVUE reported.

In fact, Moore slit Christina Moore's throat as she kneeled in her
bedroom closet on Sept. 23, 2003. She was 35 and three months pregnant.

Prosecutors sought a capital murder verdict, and possible death
sentence, but jurors declined — finding Moore guilty of murder,
aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping.

Before his sentence could be imposed, Moore pleaded guilty and received
concurrent life sentences.

Investigators, stumped for years by Cooke's disappearance, approached
Moore last year in the belief that somebody who had killed once might
have killed before.

Moore's confession was the product of repeated meetings, including a
supervised visit to Matagorda Bay, where Moore said he pointed out the
cove where he threw Cooke's body, covered in a tarp and weighed down by
rocks.

Searches revealed no sign of her body.

Speaking this week from prison, Moore said he lied about the cove,
choosing a secluded spot after being driven around the bay for several
hours.

He also said his confession about Cooke's disappearance should have
raised questions, such as:

How could he have feigned jogging in street clothes?

Wouldn't a hammer-carrying jogger, or one running with one arm behind
his back, raise suspicions?

If Moore was casing businesses for a break-in, wouldn't they have been
open by the time Cooke disappeared, estimated to be after 9:15 a.m.?

Moore also said he gave away the large metal toolbox, which he had
claimed was used to hide Cooke's body, two months before Cooke's
disappearance.

Finally, he said, he was so muscular after lifting weights before his
2000 release from prison, "I wouldn't need a hammer. That's something
(investigators) would know."

Bradley declined to discuss an ongoing investigation.

"We're going to behave professionally and not have a public debate about
Michael Moore," Bradley said.

"We are going to continue to collect evidence in hopes that someday we
can prosecute him for the death of Rachel Cooke."

Rachel's Cooke's father said he merely hopes for some finality.

"We just don't know. We've got (Moore) out there, but I don't think we
should 100 percent focus on him, based on the lies that he's told in the
past," Robert Cooke said.

"It's hard for me to know what part of that story is true right now."

clindell@statesman.com, 912-2569




Monica Caison
CUE Center for Missing Persons
PO Box 12714
Wilmington, NC 28405
(910) 343-1131
(910) 232-1687 24 Hour Line
Email: cuecenter@aol.com
Website: http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/

Candace Clark

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) -- One of four housemates accused of helping kill a woman and torture the woman's 11-year-old son said the group took its cues from the only man implicated in the case.

"I am not a monster," Candace Clark, 23, told reporters from the Portage Daily Register and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who interviewed her at Columbia County Jail on Friday night.

She described her boyfriend, Michael Sisk, 25, as the ringleader at the house they rented in Portage, some 40 miles north of Madison.

Clark denied involvement in the killing of 36-year-old Tammie Garlin, whose body police found buried in the yard.

As for the other charges she and three others face, Clark said, "No one's innocent in this."

All four -- Clark, Sisk, Michaela Clerc, 20, and a 15-year-old girl -- are charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, mutilation, hiding a corpse, false imprisonment, aggravated battery, three other felonies and a misdemeanor. The three adults are also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a child.

Earlier Friday, the secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families called it "unconscionable" that state child welfare workers took four months to alert police that Clark had taken her 2-year-old daughter from a foster home in Florida. The Florida Department of Children and Families is investigating and hopes to have answers next week.

Acting on a tip from Florida detectives, Wisconsin police visited the Portage house on June 14.

They found Clark and her three children, including the 2-year-old, as well as Clerc and Felicia Garlin, Tammie Garlin's teenage daughter. They all gave police false names, according to a criminal complaint.

Police: Injured 11-year-old locked in closet
Police found Tammie Garlin's 11-year-old son, bloody and covered with burns, locked in a closet, and Garlin's body buried in the yard. A preliminary autopsy indicated she had been strangled.

Investigators took the women into custody and captured Sisk later at a Milwaukee bus terminal. Authorities believe all of them were part of a band of identity thieves who crisscrossed the U.S., surviving through financial fraud schemes.

The children were placed in the state's care.

Clark earlier told the Orlando Sentinel from jail that her boyfriend, Sisk, was controlling and considered the group to be a cult. She said she lied to police about her name because she was afraid Sisk might kill her.

"You don't call the police when you and your kids were threatened," Clark said.

Clark says she led police to buried body
Clark refused to tell the newspaper who killed Tammie Garlin, saying only that one person did it. She said she led police to the body.

"That was a burden that I had on my chest that I had to get off," Clark said.

Others in the group took turns beating and torturing the boy, Clark said, calling him unruly. He would bite, kick and punch, and even Tammie Garlin said he had to be disciplined.

Clark called the kidnapping accusations overblown.

She said the foster parents dropped the 2-year-old off at her home in Sanford, Florida, last July and told her they couldn't afford her any longer. She tried calling a caseworker, but never heard from the woman.

Sisk and Clark are both wanted in Colorado -- Sisk for walking away from jail while out on work release and Clark for failing to show up in court for allegedly writing bad checks and stealing a car, prosecutors say.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Missing! In the News Now

Missing! In the News Now

Karen Jo Smith Missing

http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200300706W

Bring Madeleine Home Madeleine McCann

Bring Madeleine Home

The Official Website to find Madeleine McCann

Residents Fight For Legislation William Smolinski Jr

Residents Fight For Legislation

by Josh Morgan
Herald Staff

Talk to any mom and you’ll quickly discover there is no stronger force in nature than a mother’s love for her children. It is a force that can turn even the most quiet and reserved woman into an outspoken advocate for change in Connecticut.
Just ask Cheshire resident Janice Smolinski.
The strange story of her son’s disappearance began nearly three years ago, and the flaws the Smolinski family has encountered during the investigation has turned Janice into a different woman.
With her newfound strength, Janice Smolinski spearheaded legislation — with the help of State Rep. Vickie Nardello, D-Prospect — that will change the way missing person cases are handled in Connecticut. The legislation was unanimously approved by both the state House of Representatives and state Senate this session. Last week, Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed the bill. The Smolinskis now hope change in Connecticut, and hopefully across the United States, will be on the way.
“Not only does Connecticut have a problem,” Janice said, “the entire country has a problem.” She believes the law enforcement system is broken when it comes to handling missing persons cases.
Getting changes implemented, however, has been a long and emotional journey that also exposed flaws in the system. Flaws the Smolinski family hope will change. From lost DNA samples to slow responses from the police, Janice’s hopes are that the system will be revamped; a system that she says has treated her family unfairly.
Her story begins on August 24, 2004, the day Janice’s 31-year-old son, William Smolinski Jr., went missing. Billy, as he often was called, asked a neighbor to watch his dog Harley while he was out of town for a few days. When the neighbor went to Billy’s house, the dog was locked inside, but no key had been left out as planned. Immediately the family knew something was wrong. After waiting three days to file a missing persons report, the Waterbury police stepped in. They found Billy’s keys and wallet under the seat of his truck, which was parked in his driveway. Other than that, William Smolinski Sr. said the police weren’t much help. “We had to do everything ourselves,” he said. “We organized our own search parties to look for our son.”
The family offered up DNA samples to the police. But after several weeks, there was still no word. Janice went back to the police department and asked if the DNA had been entered into federal databases like CODIS. CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, is a universal database that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies can access to help link crimes or to identify remains across the country. They were told it had not been entered, and in fact, were told the department had not even heard of CODIS.
“My wife had to explain how to use the DNA to the police,” William Sr. said. “Imagine that.”
The new act calls for the state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council to review the way they handle missing person cases and adopt and implement a policy no later than January 1, 2008. Not a lot of attention was paid to Billy’s case since he was a healthy 31-year-old male, but the Smolinskis are hoping that all missing person cases will be handled the same way, regardless of age or sex.
They also hope that law enforcement agencies across the country will have specially trained officers who will be able to help with crisis situations like a missing child.
“Every state needs someone on staff that can help,” Janice said.
Her thoughts were echoed by her husband who said there should be “one or two” trained officers who can “take control of the situation” when needed.
Frustrated at the lack of knowledge the Waterbury Police Department had on DNA, Janice Smolinski wants additional training for officers so they are more knowledgeable on the subject.
“The most important part of this is to educate them on DNA,” she said. “We are in 2007. It’s time to educate.”
U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-5th District and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman have both contacted her within the last couple of weeks, and she hopes that, with their help, the legislation can be taken to a federal level.
In addition to the new legislation, Janice wants to put faces of missing persons on playing cards that can be distributed among prisons.
The idea is similar to the “most wanted” playing cards that U.S. soldiers were given in Iraq. In Polk County, Fla., unsolved homicide cards were distributed to 2,500 inmates and fresh leads and tips came in almost immediately for some of the cold cases.
Her husband said cards like these are a great idea and he thinks they would work for missing persons as well. “Criminals like to talk and brag,” he said. “They also might be interested in reward money that they can collect when they get out of jail. Any little tip could help.”
Despite their efforts, there has been no word or sign of Billy Smolinski since August 2004. The Smolinskis are all but certain that he was murdered.
Although their story is ongoing, Janice hopes changes to the system will help other families whose worries might just be starting. “These changes aren’t going to help Billy,” Janice said. “But maybe they will help another family.”
For more information about Billy Smolinski Jr. and his story, visit www.justice4billy.com.

Missing! In the News Now

Missing! In the News Now

KARA KOPETSKY