JENISE PAULETTE WRIGHT - 6 yo (8/2014) - Bremerton WA

FBI Joins Search For Missing 6-Year-Old Jenise Wright

First published August 5th 2014, 4:03 am
BY TONY DOKOUPIL AND DIANE DUTHWEILER



BREMERTON, Wash.—After dinner on Saturday night, the parents of six-year-old Jenise Paulette Wright say their daughter went safely to bed. In the morning, however, that bed was empty and more than 48 hours later their first grader is still missing. As dog teams scoured the Washington state mobile home park where she lived, police searched cars and checked identification at the entrance to the community. But on Tuesday the entrance was closed completely to non-residents and the FBI stepped in to take over the search.

“This is heartwrenching. Our hearts just go out for this little girl, and were going to do everything we can to find her,” Kitsap County Steve Boyer told reporters Tuesday. “We’re going to hope for the very best.”

Investigators are going door to door, asking to search every trailer and out-building in the mobile home park, and were halfway done with the sweep by Tuesday afternoon. They said they would request search warrants for all who don’t comply voluntarily.

Authorities also requested surveillance video and assigned sheriff’s deputies to call and question all registered sex offenders in the area. “My mind is still spinning,” James Wright, the little girl’s father, told NBC affiliate KING-5 as the search began to widen. “It’s just completely unclear, just a bad day gone wrong.”

The case has elicited an outpouring of sympathy and support, with neighbors searching through the night after they heard James calling his daughter’s name in the dark. But on Tuesday, after both parents faced increased scrutiny from law enforcement—including lie detector tests and a search of their tiny cream-colored home—the normally friendly, tight-knit neighborhood started to wonder: had the Wrights done all they could to keep their daughter safe?

They didn't call 911 until 24 hours after she was missing, telling law enforcement that she had wandered off before. Even in a community of unlocked doors, where kids roam in friendly packs, that struck some residents as odd.

“I wouldn't let my six year run around by herself and she has been doing it since she was 3-years-old,” said Phyllis Tindall, 76, who lives a few houses from the Wrights and has grandkids in the community.

She says the neighborhood is safe and family-friendly. Her daughter, who manages the complex, runs background checks on all new owners. But at the same time, she added, the Wrights seemed to feel safer than most modern parents and seemed to allow their daughter to walk freely.

Tindall says she woke up one morning a couple years ago to find the then 4-year-old Jenise standing on her lawn in nothing but a man’s shirt. Another neighbor, 25-year-old David Pfister, recalls seeing Jenise walking around barefoot from early in the morning until late at night.

"That doesn't seem right for a six year old," he said.

While many people in the neighborhood were used to watching out for the inquisitive little girl, they also worried that one day the child would run into the wrong person. By Tuesday neighbors had begun to fear that day had come.

In a brief statement to reports, Kitsap county deputy Scott Wilson said there was no evidence the girl was snatched from her bedroom. But some witnesses have told police they saw Jenise in the complex on Sunday, raising the possibility that she was taken while outside.

“If someone pulled up with a chocolate or a puppy, she would come over to them and she would probably get in the car," said Tindall. "She is just such an outgoing girl, she would go with anyone.”

Jenise's parents have not officially been named suspects, but state child welfare workers decided to remove two other children — an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl — in the aftermath of her disappearance.

The circumstances of the loss has sent a wave of concern through the family. “It’s pretty hard to take,” says Herman Almojera, Jenise’s uncle. “I would not let my child roam that freely.”

While he said he’s been unable to reach Jenise’s mother, he spoke to her grandfather and grandmother. They were on vacation in New Mexico when they heard the news, and they canceled the rest of their trip. “My brother is pretty darned worried,” he said, adding that he could hear Jenise’s grandmother sobbing in the background of the call. “We’re all praying,” he said. “I ask the creator to help us out.”

The neighbors, for their part, are also still taking off work and using lunch hours to aid the search, said Susan Williams, 67, who has lived in the community for more than 20 years. The neighborhood feels like a family, she said.

“It has hit us hard.”

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-joins-search-missing-6-year-old-jenise-wright-n172721

Revealed: Father of missing Jenise, six, had been charged with child molestation after 8-year-old accused him of touching her 'inappropriately'

○ Jenise Wright, of Bremerton, Washington, was last seen on Saturday night
○ Her father, James, was charged in 2000 with two counts of child molestation after two girls, aged 8 and 16, accused him of touching them inappropriately
○ Charges were eventually dropped when he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor assault relating to the older girl
○ Police say parents have co-operated fully during the huge hunt being undertaken by 100 officers and dozens of volunteers
○ Parents have taken lie detector tests but FBI have not revealed the results

The father of a missing six-year-old girl in Washington state was charged with molesting two young girls over a decade ago, it emerged today.

James Aaron Wright has been co-operating with the investigation into the disappearance of his daughter Jenise, who was last seen by her family on Saturday going to bed in their mobile home in a rural section of Bremerton, near Seattle.

It was not until the little girl missed dinner Sunday night that her parents called police, authorities said.

Today it emerged James Wright, who goes by Jim, was arrested in 2000 on felony charges of child molestation in the first degree after an 8-year-old girl said he inappropriately touched them after a night of drinking.

More than a year later, in June 2001, the charges were amended to include third-degree child molestation after a 15-year-old girl who was babysitting the girl during New Year's Eve 2000 said that Wright touched her breasts and put his hands down her pants.

In court records filed in Whatcom County, Washington, the younger of his accusers said she had reported the incident to her mother who told her she would 'get a spanking' if she spoke of the incident again.

The felony charges against Wright were eventually dropped, and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault relating to the older child, court records show.

A judge in Whatcom County Superior Court sentenced Wright to a year in jail but suspended the entire jail time provided he followed certain conditions, including paying fees.

It is not clear why the molestation charges were dropped. But Wright's attorney argued in court records that the young girl later told relatives she had been prompted to lie about the incident.

James Wright and Jenise’s mother, Denise, took lie detector tests Monday but the results were not made public. Law enforcement wouldn't be drawn on Jim's past and referred questions about it to the prosecutor's office.

The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation aided by the FBI, said both parents were distraught and cooperating fully with police.

Jenise was well-known to all her neighbors, who described her as a talkative child who was unfazed by strangers. It was also not unusual for Jenise to be left without supervision for long periods of time, her parents told investigators.

'She's really independent, she's tenacious,' the little girl's father told KOMO-TV.

More than 100 officers and dozens of community volunteers were helping authorities search the woods around the Wright family's mobile park community in hopes of turning up clues about Jenise's whereabouts.

The girl was either barefoot or in flip-flops upon her disappearance, officials said.

Investigators were also interviewing all sex offenders in the vicinity as well as transients in the mobile park, sheriff’s spokesman Scott Wilson said.

Jenise was the youngest child in the Wright household, a blended family that included both parents and three other siblings under the age of 18, authorities said. Two other adult children also live in the home. It was unclear what her parents did for work.

The family’s home was searched twice and police were keeping a 24-hour blockade around the neighborhood’s perimeter, he said.

James Wright said earlier this week he and his wife were stunned by Jenise’s disappearance.

'My head’s just swimming, I don't know what to think,' Wright told local Fox affiliate Q13. 'She went to bed (Saturday night), she was asleep. Wake up, (and think) she’s probably out running and playing,' he said.

The family has not made a public appearance to plead for help in finding their daughter, but friends and neighbors said they were extremely worried.

Mary Pelnar, 14, said she was friends with Jenise and the girl’s older sister, and described Jim and Denise as being 'like family'.

'I watched her mom sit on the couch and look out the window and not talk, and I've never seen her mom that upset'.

Shortly after Jenise's disappearance, Washington Child Protective Services took an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl from the home.

Deputy Wilson would not disclose why the children were taken but said authorities believed the move was 'prudent'.

Pelnar said she believed the move left the family torn apart in their darkest hour.

'I think they should have left them with the mom and dad because I've been in that house, and been there enough to know that the parents wouldn't do anything to their kids and it's a safe house,' she said.

Distraught members of the community said their community has always been safe for children, though some questioned why the young girl was allowed to roam for extended periods without checking in with adults.

Ruby Faaita, whose six-year-old daughter Mona is a classmate and friend of the missing girl, said she would not feel comfortable leaving her child with little supervision.

'I can't really say what their position was in it but I wouldn't let my daughter be out that way,' she said.

Jenise is 3 feet tall, weighs 45 pounds and is white, Native American and Filipino. She has black hair and brown eyes.

The FBI urges anyone with information to call 1-800-225-5324

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2718339/Revealed-Father-missing-Jenise-six-charged-child-molestation-8-year-old-accused-touching-inappropriately.html#ixzz39eKTbyDl

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2718339/Revealed-Father-missing-Jenise-six-charged-child-molestation-8-year-old-accused-touching-inappropriately.html

Search for Washington girl leads to child's body

© AP Photo: FBI
24 min ago | By PHUONG LE of Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Law enforcement officers searching for a 6-year-old Washington state girl said Thursday they found a child's body in the vicinity of the mobile home park where the girl vanished over the weekend.

Authorities in Kitsap County said the remains have not been identified and an autopsy will determine the manner and cause of death. Earl Smith, incident commander for the Kitsap County Sheriff's department, said Jenise Wright's family had been notified.

Wright was last seen when she went to bed Saturday night at her home near Bremerton. Bremerton is on the west side of Puget Sound, across from Seattle.

Smith said the area where the body was discovered was being processed but provided few other details, saying more information would be available at an afternoon briefing.

Wright's family said they didn't call for help until Sunday night because the child had left the home on previous occasions and wandered around the neighborhood, authorities have said. They felt it was relatively safe because the mobile home park is fenced.

The parents took FBI lie-detector tests Monday night, but the results have not been disclosed. Their home was also searched twice by different sets of authorities, Wilson said Wednesday.

Court records show the father, James Wright was charged more than a decade ago with molesting two girls, ages 8 and 15. He pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court in December 2001 to a misdemeanor assault charge related to the older girl. It was not immediately clear why the molestation charges were dropped. Prosecutors there did not immediately return a call.

"That has nothing to do with this investigation right now," Kitsap County sheriff's Deputy Scott Wilson said at a news briefing Wednesday.

Of the parents, he said at the time: "I can't emphasize enough how cooperative they both have been with law enforcement authorities in the course of this investigation."

A listed number for James Wright could not be found. The Bellingham defense attorney who represented him during the previous charges did not immediately return a call or email.

Dozens of officers from more than 15 law enforcement agencies including the FBI were involved in the search. Officers have been going door to door at the mobile home park. They were also pulling surveillance video from nearby businesses and checking in with sex offenders in the county.

According to court records, the girl's father was charged with first-degree child molestation in February 2000, accused of molesting an 8-year-old girl following a New Year's Eve celebration. The girl told a detective and case worker that he inappropriately touched her, according to court documents.

More than a year later, in June 2001, the charges were amended to include third-degree child molestation after a 15-year-old girl who was babysitting the girl during New Year's Eve 2000 said that Wright touched her breasts and put his hands down her pants, according to court documents.

A judge in Whatcom County Superior Court sentenced Wright to a year in jail but suspended the entire jail time provided he followed certain conditions, including paying fees.



http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/missing-girls-dad-previous-molestation-charge-24871411

Shame on the judge who let him walk after sexually abusing two girls.  My money says he did it again and knew she would tell, so he killed her.  JMO.

Hope you're wrong on this one twink; I'm thinking that he was probably drunk at the NY Eve celebration and alcohol shouldn't have been served if children were around.  Either way it is so horrible for what this happy little girl must have gone through before she was murdered.  But I do agree that molesters need to serve their time and certainly no pleading down to lesser, insignificant charges.

Investigators believe Jenise Wright was murdered

Posted: 7:20 a.m. Friday, Aug. 8, 2014
By KIRO 7 STAFF

BREMERTON, Wash. —  Special agents and the FBI’s evidence research team found the body of missing Bremerton girl  Jenise Wright about 11:30 a.m. Thursday in a forested area next to the Steele Creek Motor Home park where the girl lived.

“This is going to be a criminal investigation, there’s no doubt about that,” said Kitsap County Sheriff’s spokesman deputy Scott Wilson.

There are no suspects and no persons of interest yet in the case.

The Kitsap County coroner is expected to release the cause and manner of death Friday,  but investigators say everything leads them to believe the 6-year-old was killed.   The autopsy will help investigators focus on the search for the girl's killer.

“I have three children so it’s very hard to hear that,” said Jaqueline Zappy, who came by to volunteer to hand out flyers to locate Jenise. “We just went and hung up a bunch of posters all over east Bremerton. So I was hoping that they would find her safely. That’s really so sad.”

Alex Despres said he hopes the little girl’s death will help bring the community closer.

“Hopefully, this will open a few eyes and allow people to come together as a community,” said Despres, “So we watch out for each other.”

Video from Chopper 7 showed several officers gathered at the entrance to a wooded area near the mobile home park.  Police cars were seen in a field and investigators dressed in white protective suits were spotted going in and out of the mobile home where Jenise and her family live Thursday afternoon.

The family's mobile home was previously searched by the Washington State Patrol and the FBI.

FBI investigators went door-to-door collecting DNA from residents as they searched for the girl's killer.

See photos from the scene here.

“They just put a thing in your mouth to get your saliva. I said sure, they've got to find who did this,” said neighbor Renee Greene.

Authorities are urging anyone to report any kind of activity in the mobile home park from last Friday through Sunday.  The number to call is 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Neighbors started a memorial for Jenise at the entrance to the mobile home park. They left flowers, cards and Disney princess balloons. Carol Johnson lives in the area and came to pay her respects.

"I have grandchildren that age, “said Johnson, “I can’t imagine the pain the people who searched for this child are having. All the hope they had for four days thinking they would find some little child alive somewhere.”

Wright was last seen by her family Saturday night, Aug. 2. After the search was initiated, more than 200 officers from multiple agencies, including the FBI, searched for the 6-year-old around the clock.

Authorities said there was no Amber Alert in this case because there is no indication the girl was abducted.  According to her parents, she was last seen in her family’s mobile home in East Bremerton.

See a timeline of events in the case here.

Family members didn’t start looking for her until 8:30 p.m. Sunday, when they knocked on doors of the mobile home park. Police said Wednesday authorities searched all 103 homes and all the residents were cooperative.

Jenise’s family called 911 at 9:55 p.m. Sunday.  A ground search included police dogs, and investigators also searched with a thermal imaging device.

KIRO 7 found Jenise's father, James Wright, was charged with molestation in 2000 for inappropriately touching a stepdaughter. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault.

Speaking to KIRO 7’s Graham Johnson on Monday, Aug. 4, Jenise’s father said he was upset about his daughter’s disappearance. He also called her “a spoiled little brat” and “the princess of the household” who “always gets her way most of the time.”

Both Jenise’s mother and father took lie-detector tests, but police would not publicly reveal the results.

Police also worked on contacting sex offenders in the area.

http://m.kirotv.com/news/news/childs-body-found-near-mobile-home-park-where-miss/ngxX6/

Washington Teenager Arrested in 6-Year-Old's Death

BREMERTON, Wash. — Aug 9, 2014, 10:53 PM ET



A 17-year-old was arrested Saturday in the death and sexual assault of a 6-year-old girl whose body was found near the Washington state mobile home park she vanished from last weekend, authorities said.

The boy was arrested without incident by deputies and FBI agents at his home in the same Bremerton-area mobile home park, Kitsap County sheriff's Detective Earl Smith said at a news conference.

The Washington state crime lab made positive confirmation of the suspect through forensic evidence. Earlier in the week, the sheriff's office had collected DNA cheek swabs from dozens of nearby residents.

Smith said Saturday that the boy was being interviewed and will be booked with second-degree murder, manslaughter and rape in the girl's death.

The FBI's Specialty Search Dogs Unit discovered the body of Jenise Wright on Thursday amid thick brush in a wooded area near the trailer park. Volunteer canine search teams had previously reported that their dogs had showed interest in a particular area.

Jenise was last seen when she went to bed on the night of Aug. 2. Her parents waited a day before calling for help because they say the girl had wandered around the Steele Creek Mobile Home Park on her own in the past.

Officials have said that there were no signs of forced entry at Jenise's home and no indication she was taken from her room.

Hundreds of people, including officers from 15 law enforcement agencies, searched for Jenise, went door to door at the mobile home park on the west side of Puget Sound, across from Seattle. They also pulled surveillance video from nearby businesses and checked in with sex offenders in the county.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/official-teen-arrested-washington-girls-death-24916087

Records: 6-year-old died of blunt-force trauma

© AP
3 hr ago | By RACHEL LA CORTE of Associated Press

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) — Prosecutors in Kitsap County expect to charge a 17-year-old boy as an adult for the death and sexual assault of a 6-year-old Washington state girl.

Prosecutors said in court documents released Monday that they had probable cause to charge Gabriel Gaeta with first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child.

The teen was scheduled to make a preliminary appearance Monday afternoon in Kitsap County Superior Court, where prosecutors planned to ask a judge to set bail at $1 million. It was not immediately clear whether Gaeta had a lawyer.

According to court documents, Jenise Wright died of blunt force trauma to the head, and there was evidence she was strangled. It appeared that her body was moved between a half-hour and three hours after she died, according to the probable-cause statement.

Her body was found Thursday almost entirely submerged in a muddy bog in the woods next to the mobile-home park where she lived. Searchers found a small wood pallet over the body, and also located a nylon duffel bag.

Earlier in the week, searchers discovered Jenise's underwear and shorts in a heavily wooded area near the mobile-home park.

Authorities say forensic evidence analyzed by the Washington state crime lab linked the clothing to the teen's DNA. During the investigation, the sheriff's office collected DNA cheek swabs from dozens of nearby residents, including Gaeta.

Detectives interviewed the teen Saturday, during which time he nodded yes when the detective asked whether he was the only one involved, according to court documents. Authorities then served a search warrant on his home and found evidence, including a blood- and mud-covered shirt and a bloody towel in Gaeta's bedroom.

The teen's residence is two homes away from the access to a wooded trail leading to where the body was found, according to the court document.

A growing memorial at the entrance to the neighborhood includes silver balloons, stuffed animals, lit candles and flowers.

Jenise was last seen when she went to bed the night of Aug. 2. Officials have said there were no signs of forced entry at her home and no indication she was taken from her room.

Hundreds of people, including officers from 15 law enforcement agencies, searched for Jenise and went door to door at the mobile home park on the west side of Puget Sound, across from Seattle. They also pulled surveillance video from nearby businesses and checked in with sex offenders in the county.


http://www.ksby.com/news/records-6-year-old-died-of-blunt-force-trauma/

Jenise Wright’s parents still don’t know when they will regain custody of their kids

POSTED 5:55 PM, AUGUST 18, 2014,
BY Q13 FOX NEWS STAFF

PORT ORCHARD — Despite an official hearing on the issue Monday, the parents of slain 6-year-old Jenise Wright still don’t know when they will regain custody of their other three children who were removed by Child Protective Services.

At a hearing Monday afternoon, Jim and Denise Wright, of East Bremerton, learned their kids will remain with their grandparents until further notice.

“We’ve been controlled about what we can say and what we can’t say. There is still an ongoing investigation so I can’t speak about it,” said Jim Wright.

The kids, ages 8, 12 and 16, were removed from the Wright home two weeks ago during the criminal investigation into Jenise’s disappearance.

Investigators later arrested Gabe Gaeta, 17, in connection to the rape and murder of Jenise. The little girl’s body was discovered in a wooded area near her mobile home community.

Jim Wright said it has been tough to grieve as a family without his other children.

“Thank God they are with family. If they were in a strange home, I would be even more concerned than I am now,” said Wright.

Due to privacy issues, it is unclear why the kids have not been returned to their parents. A juvenile court official said typically these cases deal with the safety and well-being of the kids.

The children are Native American so the Wright family has reached out to tribal officials to help them through the process.

“This is a process. We are cooperating with the process and it is what it is,” said Wright.

Another status hearing about the children has been set for next month.

http://q13fox.com/2014/08/18/jenise-wrights-parents-still-dont-know-when-they-will-regain-custody-of-their-kids/