ELIZABETH OLTEN - 9 yo - St. Martin's MO

Police are searching for a missing 9-year-old St. Martins girl. Elizabeth
Olten was last seen around 6:15 p.m. coming back from a friend's house,
a quarter mile from her own home, according to Cole County Sheriff Greg
White. A family member says Elizabeth was last seen around 5:15 p.m. walking on Route D. She was returning home but never showed up.

Search teams are using flashlights to comb the area. Elizabeth was last seen
wearing a pink sweater over a T-shirt with butterflies when she
disappeared. She was also wearing blue jeans and white sneakers.Police are searching and have a search team assembled at the Extreme Body and Paint shop where they have been since 7:30 p.m.So far the highway patrol has not issued an Amber Alert.No other details are available as of 10:20 p.m., when White confirmed crews were still searching for the missing girl.

Dozen of people were searching a rural, wooded area in central
Missouri today for a 9-year-old girl who did not return home a night
earlier after visiting a friend. Cole County Sheriff Greg White
said Elizabeth Olten left the friend’s house about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday
and was supposed to walk a quarter mile to her home in St. Martins,
just west of Jefferson City. She was reported missing around 7 p.m.
Elizabeth was listed as an “endangered missing person” and the FBI had
joined the case, White said. The sheriff said it did not appear that
the girl had run away from home, but no Amber Alert had been issued
because there was no evidence of an abduction or foul play. The
Jefferson City News-Tribune reported that Elizabeth’s family members
said she is afraid of the woods and the dark, so she wouldn’t normally
be out at night. Elizabeth, who has long brown hair and brown
eyes, is about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 102 pounds. She was last
seen wearing a pink scarf, sweater and T-shirt with butterflies, blue
jeans and white shoes. The search focused on a section of woods
several hundred yards in diameter, which police had narrowed by
triangulating the girl’s cell phone location, White said. But the
battery had died by this morning. An uneven terrain, high brush and
soaking weather hampered the search effort. “If you go to Iowa
and look at a flat piece of farmland that’s 140 acres, you go, well
it’s not that big.’ You translate that to Missouri and you use the same
thing, you walk a long time to cover that same amount of land,” White
said. “It’s muddy out there now. It’s difficult terrain, it’s difficult
weather.” On Wednesday night, the Missouri State Highway Patrol
searched for Elizabeth using a helicopter with a thermal imaging radar.
But White said fall foliage hindered that effort.When the full
search of about 60 people resumed this morning, a team with dogs used
by the Department of Corrections joined officials from nearby fire
departments and numerous state and local police agencies.

It's been
well over 24 hours since nine year old Elizabeth Olten was last seen.
The girl from St. Martins near Jefferson City disappeared Wednesday
evening as she was walking home from a friend's house. Investigators
say they have found no signs of foul play in the case. But there is
also no sign of Elizabeth.

The search was called off for the night on Thursday after the sun went
down.
Crews spent hours earlier on Thursday searching rural, wooded and muddy
terrain looking for the nine year old.
As more time goes by, everyone is becoming more concerned.
"She's a beautiful young girl who's got a full life ahead of her. She
does not deserve this. Her family does not deserve this," said

Elizabeth's aunt, Vicki Olten, about her niece.
Elizabeth disappeared after she left her friend's house about 6:15
Wednesday evening to walk home.
That walk less than a quarter of a mile along Route D in St. Martins.
A tearful Vicki said, "Have you ever had somebody go in, just reach
inside you and pull your heart out? That's what its like. She is an
angel."

A massive search Thursday produced no sign of Elizabeth.
100 public safety officials from the FBI to the Missouri Highway Patrol
to Cole County Sheriff's Deputies took part.
Also searching some 300 volunteers- people like Shay Patterson.
Shay told us, "I don't know the child but I have children of my own.
And I just know that if something happened to one of them, I would want
as many people to come out as possible."
Cole County Sheriff Greg White tells us signals were picked up from
Elizabeth's cell phone Wednesday night near the area where she
disappeared.

Crews searched that area meticulously on Thursday.
Law officers also set up a road block in the area exactly 24 hours
after Elizabeth disappeared.
"The theory in mind that the same people drive the same road the same
time every night and that somebody may have driven through there last
night that may have seen something," explained Colonel Jim Keathley,
the head of the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Sheriff White added, "The primary search area has been covered at least
twice, literally every square foot of it. And we have significant
number of dog teams."

Vicki just wants her niece back. "my niece is afraid of the dark," said Vicki. "All of us want is her home and safe," she added.
The violent crime unit from the highway patrol has been activated.
But Sheriff White says no amber alert has been issued because there is no sign of a crime.
Right now, the case is being classified as an endangered child.
White says information about the case has been sent to other law enforcement agencies across the country.

Some volunteer searchers were turned away Thursday because the sheriff
said there were simply too many people. That left some upset. The
search for Elizabeth Olten resumes at 7:30 Friday morning.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call the tipline toll-free at 866-362-6422.

The body of a 9-year-old Missouri girl who vanished walking home from a friend's house was found in a heavily wooded area Friday.

An "older juvenile" suspect led authorities to Elizabeth Olten's body, deep in the woods near where an exhaustive search for the child was under way for much of the day.

Elizabeth disappeared just after she started walking home from a friend's house Wednesday night.

"There's been no contact with her since then," Cole County Sheriff Greg White said earlier Friday, before Elizabeth was found dead.

White said Elizabeth spoke with her parents on the phone before she left her friend's house.

"Her parents said she should leave and get home," he told Fox.

About 70 investigators worked on leads Friday and another 70 people spent the day scouring woody, uneven terrain west of Jefferson City, Mo.

Police found the body of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten who went missing Wednesday night.The body was found near the wooden area of Elizabeth's home.Physical
evidence and written evidence led police to develop a person of
interest. Police interviewed the person of interest, a older teen, who
then led police to Elizabeth's body.Police have the teen in custody. The teen lives in the area and is not connected to the family.There
was search crew of 70 people was on the ground in addition to 70 law
enforcement officers on Friday. Officials said the search will be more
"pin-pointed and directed," than it was Thursday. Also, the Missouri
Highway Patrol is using a helicopter with infrared imaging equipment to
assist with the search.When Olten was reported missing Wednesday evening just after 6 p.m., authorities learned that she had a cell phone with her.Investigators
worked with the phone carrier AT&T to send “pings” to the phone in
an attempt to locate it. The “ping” put the cell phone in the woods
behind Elizabeth’s home. However, by Thursday afternoon, the pings were
no longer working. Police believe that the phone battery had died.White
also said the department has some phone records back from Elizabeth's
cell phone and investigators are going through those.A 24-hour
tip line was established at (866) 362-6422. White said the tip line got
calls overnight, but he wouldn't say if any leads have come from it At
the time she was reported missing, Olten was believed to be wearing a
pink T-shirt with a darker pink vest and blue jeans with pink ribbons
on them.Elizabeth’s aunt, Vicki Olten, said the family doesn’t
believe that the 9-year-old wandered off on her own because the girl is
afraid of the dark. She believes the fourth grader was abducted.Cole County Sheriff Greg White said that at this time, investigators have no evidence of foul play, but are not ruling it out.The FBI has been contacted, but does not have jurisdiction on the case.The
response by local residents to help with the search has been
tremendous. On Thursday, 300 volunteers assisted 100 law enforcement
personnel in a search of the area surrounding Olten’s home.“We’ve
done far more than the capability we’ve got,” White said. “And that’s
simply because of the level of citizen involvement and they willingness
(to help) they’ve had.”So many volunteers showed up that police started to turn them away, like Gene Bauer.“We’ve
got plenty of gravel roads in this area that could have been checked,”
Bauer said. “The last thing I wanted to hear from somebody is, ‘Oh,
we’ve got insurance concerns.’ Well, people aren’t out her concerned
about insurance or liability. They’re out here concerned for that
little girl.”White encouraged anyone who wants to help out to contact the local Red Cross.The strain of not knowing what happened to Elizabeth has been taking its toll on family members.“I
want my niece home, I want her safe,” a tearful Vicki Olten said.
“She’s a beautiful young girl and (has) a full life ahead of her. She
does not deserve this. Her family does not deserve this.”The family is working with the "Missouri Missing" organization to make pins and flyers to hand out.Police
did not issue an Amber Alert when Olten was reported missing because
the law outlines specific conditions that must be met before an alert
can be issued. Instead, an endangered person advisory was issued.Without
an Amber Alert status, there is no activation of the automatic warning
system through television, radio or highway signs.“We put this
out to law enforcement all through the Region F area, which is a
13-county area, and of course, entered it into the NCIC, which covers
the United States,” White said. “So the simple difference would be how
much the average citizen would get on it.”

The body of a missing 9-year-old
Missouri girl was found in a wooded area near the state capital on
Friday, two days after she was last seen walking from a neighbor's
home, police said.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White said a juvenile, described only as a
"person of interest," was taken into custody. The juvenile was
acquainted with the girl, Elizabeth Olten, White said.
The sheriff did not give any details on how Elizabeth died or about the
juvenile in custody except to say that the person lived in the area
west of Jefferson City and was older than the girl. Police said
Elizabeth's body was found just before 3 p.m. "We were
able to obtain some physical evidence and through some analysis of some
of the evidence and in all honesty some written evidence, we were able
to develop a person of interest," White said. "Once we reached that
person and interviewed them, ultimately they led us to where we've
recovered Elizabeth's body." Elizabeth was last seen
when she started walking home from a neighbor's house on Wednesday
evening. A woman who answered a family spokeswoman's phone Friday said
Elizabeth's family had no immediate comment. White said had spoken with Elizabeth's mother and said the family is "deeply grieving." "I'm a parent, and I know how I would feel. I would simply leave it to you that they are grieving," he said.
Earlier Friday, about 70 people had searched for Elizabeth on
horseback, with all-terrain vehicles and on foot while another 70
investigators checked leads, White said. Several hundred people had
joined the search Thursday despite a steady rain and rough terrain.
Police focused their search area after they figured out roughly where
Elizabeth's phone was located. White said the phone was later found but
declined to say if it had turned up evidence. The
Missouri State Highway Patrol searched by helicopter with thermal
imaging radar, and the Missouri State Water Patrol checked ponds in the
area with sonar. Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. James Keathley said he wishes the outcome was better.
"It's been quite an ordeal for the last few days. There's a lot
emotions involved in this. It's been tough on everybody involved in
this case," Keathley said. David Schulte, who lives
nearby, said Elizabeth typically would walk through his front yard
about 30 or 40 feet away from the road on her way back home from the
friend's house. Schulte said he didn't know Elizabeth well but that she
had come through the neighborhood to sell cookie dough for a school
fundraiser. Schulte, who had helped with the search,
said the area around where the phone was transmitting signals was about
one-quarter of a mile away from the county highway and in the middle of
the woods. He said it is easy to get turned around and difficult to
hold straight search lines because the terrain is all "ridges and
valleys" along with brambles. "You'd have to want to be back there," said Schulte, before police announced that Elizabeth's body had been found. Finding Missing Children

Authorities
said every detail is important when looking for a missing child. In
Olten's case, she had left her friend's house to walk a quarter-mile
home.Police said no Amber Alert was issued in her case because there was no evidence of abduction or foul play."One
thing to keep in mind is that although an Amber Alert has not been
issued in this instance, a missing and endangered child report was
issued immediately and that was sent out all across the United States.
FBI Agent Bridget Patton said.Experts with KC Child Search
said it's painful, but parents should have a plan, such as going over
safety tips with your child, have a current close-up picture of your
child, writing down your child's height, weight, and other descriptive
characteristics and periodically update that data. Officials said every
second counts when a child is missing, and the faster you can get the
correct information to police, the better off you are.

Authorities said Saturday that a
15-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder for the death of
a 9-year-old central Missouri girl found in the woods two days after
she went missing.
Police did not release the teen's gender or name and provided few other
details about the person suspected of killing Elizabeth Olten. Cole
County Sheriff Greg White has said the teenage suspect is not related
to Elizabeth but was acquainted with her and is from the same area just
west of Jefferson City.
Several hundred people braved soaking rain and cold weather to search a heavily wooded
area near Elizabeth's home after she was reported missing Wednesday
evening. Police found Elizabeth's body Friday afternoon after the
suspect led them to a wooded area several hundred yards from her St.
Martins house, White said.
"We had been in that area — actually more than once. The body was very well concealed,"
said White, who would not say whether police believed Elizabeth had
been killed there.
Under Missouri law, children as young as 12 can be charged as adults with first-degree
murder. But the case must start in the juvenile court system while a
hearing is held on whether to transfer it to an adult court. Juvenile
court records generally are closed under Missouri law unless a judge
grants an exception.
Cole County Juvenile Court Administrator Michael Couty said the suspect was
in the custody of the juvenile justice system and would undergo a
background and psychological check. Couty planned to request a hearing
next week before a family court judge to determine whether the suspect
should be tried as a juvenile or as an adult. That hearing would be
closed to the public.
Police initially had said Elizabeth was last seen walking home from a neighbor's house on
Wednesday night. White said that timeline was developed through
interviews.
But on Saturday, White declined to say whether police believed Elizabeth had started walking
home when she encountered the suspect. He said many details could not
be released to avoid risking the prosecution's case and because the
suspect is a juvenile.
An autopsy was being conducted Saturday to determine the time and cause of death.
Police would not say Saturday whether there had been a confession, nor would
they describe the teen's demeanor or offer more details about written
documents that led them to the suspect. White also declined to say
whether calls had been made from Elizabeth's cell phone, which was
found "very, very close" to her.
Police narrowed the primary search area after tracing the phone's general
location, but the phone's battery had died by Thursday morning.
The Olten family has received help since Elizabeth's disappearance from
Missouri Missing, a group that highlights missing-person cases and
provides emergency aid to families. Group spokeswoman Ra'Vae Edwards
relayed a request for comment Saturday to Elizabeth's family.
"They don't have anything to say right now other than they're working on
arrangements for the funeral," Edwards said, "And they wanted to thank
the community for their support and prayers."

They came out by the dozens -- law enforcement, firefighters,
first responder-types and just citizen volunteers -- all with the hopes
of finding a missing little girl.

Even after officials discovered Friday that Elizabeth Olten had been murdered, her family still was thankful.

"I met with Elizabeth's mom before I came here," Cole County Sheriff Greg
White told reporters Saturday morning, during a briefing at the St.
Martins VFW Hall. "As you all know, anyone walking through this is
going through just a horrific grieving process. It's a very difficult
time for the family. ...

"(But) they asked me to share that they had deep gratitude for all of the efforts that were put forward."

White and Maj. Ron Replogle of the Missouri Highway Patrol's Criminal
Investigations Bureau praised and thanked the many trained emergency
people who came to help with the search Wednesday night, Thursday and
Friday.

"Obviously, this was a case that needed the resources of
many different agencies," Replogle said. "It was tremendous to see how
all the agencies worked together, and brought this case to the results
that we have today."

White said he felt "deeply blessed and pleased with the volunteers that we've
had and shown up and worked with us. They're incredible."

But perhaps the biggest surprise, to some, was the response from mid-Missourians who came out just to help.

"I've gotten calls from all over the country -- people were astounded that we
had more than 50 volunteers -- much less the 300 when we cut it off,"
White said. "This is a good area, with good people (who) desire to
serve."

The sheriff acknowledged some were unhappy they were turned away, after volunteering to help.

"No fault with any of the people that couldn't work with us, but really
wanted to," he said. "If you've never worked the concept of
search-and-rescue before, you have to truly have coordinated effort.

"And, if you let people just run through an area, you lose that coordinated
process. ... The fact is, there's a saturation limit to how many people
we can use at a given time (and) we had reached that saturation point."

More help came from the FBI.

"If you had a kidnapping, the FBI has jurisdiction," White said, so their
presence -- at least in part -- was doing basic work that would be
useful if the Olten case had been a kidnapping.

"We have a very close working relationship with our (local FBI) office and the
supervisory special agent," White added. "I contacted him early (and)
he did some checking and said that resources were available if we
desired them ... and they have some depth, certainly, from across the
nation that's more than we can generate."

White also noted he got phone calls from Gov. Jay Nixon and U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, both
voicing concerns and pledging support if it were needed.

Police served a warrant at a neighbor's house hours after finding
the body of a missing 9-year-old girl in a heavily wooded area of
central Missouri.



Records reviewed Monday show the Cole County Sheriff's Department served the warrant late Friday night just several homes south of where Elizabeth Olten lived in St. Martins. Police records do not indicate the type of warrant, and the department declined to elaborate Monday.
Authorities
are seeking a first-degree murder charge against a 15-year-old who is
in custody of the juvenile justice system, but police have not released
the teen's name or gender and have provided few other details about the
suspect.
A phone number registered to the house where the
warrant was served was disconnected, and there was no answer at the
door Monday.
Cole County Sheriff Greg White previously has said that the suspect lived in the same area as Elizabeth, which is just west of Jefferson City, and was acquainted with Elizabeth but not a relative.
Police
say Elizabeth on Wednesday was to walk home from a friend's house that
was about a quarter-mile away. After she was reported missing, several
hundred people searched through soaking rain in a heavily wooded area
near her home.
White said the 15-year-old on Friday led police
to Elizabeth's body, which he said had been in the primary search area
but was "very well concealed."
Police focused the search on a
tract of woods after they were able to trace the general location of
Elizabeth's cell phone. The phone's battery had died by Thursday
morning. White said police found the phone near Elizabeth's body.
Cole
County Juvenile Court Administrator Michael Couty said Monday that a
hearing to determine whether the teen should be treated as an adult or
juvenile is likely to occur within 30 days. Couty said that the suspect
would undergo a background and psychological check.
Under Missouri
law, children as young as 12 can be charged as adults with first-degree
murder. But the case must start in the juvenile court system while a
hearing is held on whether to transfer it to an adult court. Juvenile
court records generally are closed under Missouri law unless a judge
grants an exception.

A Missouri town is gathering in mourning today for the funeral services
of a 9-year-old girl, who according to investigators was murdered by a 15-year-old female acquaintance.
The child, Elizabeth Olton, vanished Oct. 21, sparking a massive search
expanding from the girl's home outside St. Martens, Mo. The unnamed
suspect, has been charged with first degree murder, reportedly led
police through the woods near Olton's home to the child's body Friday
after she was fingered as a person of interest.
"We were able to obtain some physical evidence and through some
analysis of some of the evidence and in all honesty some written
evidence, we were able to develop a person of interest," Cole County
Sheriff Greg White has said. "Once we reached that person and
interviewed them, ultimately they led us to where we've recovered
Elizabeth's body."

A mid-Missouri juvenile faces first-degree murder charges in the death of 9-year old Elizabeth Olten.
Authorities
took the 15-year-old into custody last Friday. The Cole County sheriff
has not released the suspect's name or gender, but the first hearing in
the case will take place Wednesday. Some reports indicate that the suspect is a female.

Most juvenile offenders are held in the Prenger Family Center in
Jefferson City, but the court is not stating where the suspect in the
Olten case is being held, nor will they comment on her demeanor.
The court says it is taking every precaution to protect the suspect.
The first hearing will take place at 9 a.m. by video conference and
will determine whether the 15-year old suspect will remain in custody
or be released to her home to await trial. A Cole County
juvenile court administrator said his office will ask that a judge
order the juvenile to remain in detention at a juvenile facility.
The next trial date is set for Nov. 18, which is when the court
decide if the 15-year-old will be tried as a juvenile or an adult.
Olten went missing last Wednesday and nearly 1,000 volunteers joined
in the search. Police discovered physical and written evidence that led
them to the suspect, and after an interview the suspect led police to
Olten's body.
Olten's funeral is later today.

A teen girl is reportedly the
suspected killer of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten of Missouri, who
vanished after leaving a friend's house last week and was found dead
days later.
The unidentified 15-year-old suspect, who some media outlets say is a girl,
has been charged with first-degree murder in Elizabeth's death.
She is being held as a juvenile while the judge decides whether the case in St. Martins, Mo., should be tried in adult court.
An attorney for the teen waived a scheduled detention hearing on Wednesday.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem did hear arguments on whether the
public should be allowed at a Nov. 18 hearing to determine whether the
suspect should be tried as an adult.
Beetem made no immediate ruling.
Funeral services for Elizabeth are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Jefferson City.
She was found dead Friday in a wooded area near her St. Martins home, two days after she was reported missing.

Mourners wore pink and released
balloons Wednesday to honor a slain 9-year-old from Missouri who was
remembered at her funeral as a "precious little girl" who liked horses
and music. Hours earlier, a judge ruled that the 15-year-old
suspect in Elizabeth Olten's death would remain in juvenile custody
until he decides next month whether the first-degree murder case should
be tried in adult court. Elizabeth disappeared last week on the
way to her home in St. Martins from a friend's house. She was found
dead Friday in a wooded area near her house. The Rev. Monte Shinkle,
who presided at the funeral, said Elizabeth cared for others. "She was a giver.
She gave of her love to family and friends," Shinkle said. The
fourth-grader particularly liked Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift. She
also baked cookies and worked puzzles with her mother and played
dress-up with her animals. Elizabeth's favorite color was pink,
and some who attended her funeral wore pink shirts. Others wore buttons
with her photo or ribbons that were pink or purple. Pallbearers wore
pink ties and a pink flower. Bouquets with pink, red, white and purple
flowers were placed on white stands. During the service,
a slideshow using pictures of Elizabeth was set to music. Emergency
responders and law officers involved with the search for her last week
sat to the side and in the first several rows. Two white horses pulled her casket in a glass hearse
from the Jefferson City church to a nearby cemetery. Several dozen
people stood along the road and released pink balloons when the funeral
procession reached the entrance to the cemetery. After a graveside service,
mourners released two white doves and more pink balloons. Earlier
Wednesday, Cole County Judge Jon Beetem said the suspect in Elizabeth's
killing would remain in custody pending a decision about whether the
15-year-old should be tried as an adult or as a juvenile. An attorney
for the suspect, who has not been identified, waived a scheduled
detention hearing Wednesday that was to be closed to the public. Beetem
also ruled Wednesday that a Nov. 18 hearing on whether to try the
teenager as an adult would be open to the public. However, the judge is
barring the recording or broadcasting of that hearing and is not
permitting photographs from it. Kurt Valentine, the teen's
lawyer, said Elizabeth's death has put Jefferson City in "turmoil," and
had argued that opening the hearing could hamper the chances for a fair
trial. "There's been a lot of speculation, but now we will have
in giant headlines my client's name," Valentine said. "There is no way
in the world that could possibly be in the best interest of this
particular juvenile." Samantha Green, the attorney for the
juvenile office, argued that the state Supreme Court has ruled that
hearings can be open for juveniles accused of crimes that would be the
most serious felonies if committed by an adult. She said court records
and the exhibits to be presented could be closed or sealed to protect
the suspect's privacy. The 15-year-old was arrested Friday
after leading authorities to Elizabeth's body just west of Jefferson
City. Hundreds of people had searched the area last week after she
disappeared. The Cole County Sheriff's Department has said
Elizabeth was well concealed, but have not said how she was believed to
have encountered the teenager or where she was thought to have been
killed. Sheriff Greg White said previously that the two lived in the
same area and were acquainted but not related.