JENNI-LYN WATSON - 20 yo - Liverpool/Syracuse NY

Poster's Note: From time to time we will post a case that, though the missing is an adult in chronology, is still a young person who has disappeared without any contact. This is such a case.

Police in New York are searching for a missing Mercyhurst College student last seen Friday at her home in Liverpool, N.Y., near Syracuse.Jenni-Lyn Watson, 20, was last seen at about 12:30 p.m. at her parents' house, where she was visiting for the holidays.

Ms. Watson is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighs about 100 pounds with dark blond hair and brown eyes. She may have been wearing a black Northface brand jacket and black pants.The Sheriff's office in Onondaga County, N.Y., said Friday that they were searching a 200-acre field and wooded area near her home in New York where her cell phone was last active.The sheriff's office said they had no reason to believe that Ms. Watson would return to college unannounced but that her friends at home and at Mercyhurst have been contacting media throughout the region for help in finding her.Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff's office at 315-435-3081.

Friends, family and former classmates Wednesday said they are not going to give up hope of finding Jenni-Lyn Watson, the 20-year-old college student who went missing last week.Watson, of Clay, has been missing since Friday from her home at 7406 Donegal Way. She arrived home from Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania Nov. 18 to spend Thanksgiving with her family.Onondaga County Undersheriff Warren Darby said search and rescue teams have searched 600 acres of the wooded area two miles from her home. Use of Watson’s cell phone on the day she disappeared helped to determine the search area, wooded land bordered by Morgan Road, Henry Clay Boulevard, Buckley Road and Route 481.Deputies will continue to search today and volunteer search and rescue crews will return Friday. Darby said they may be asking the public to join the search this weekend.Darby said the department has also sent detectives to Erie, Pa., to interview people who know Watson from the college she attends, Mercyhurst College. “We’ve been talking to anybody who knew Jenni-Lyn including people that she dated both here and in Erie,” Darby said.Darby is also asking the public for help in identifying the driver of a pickup truck reported in the area of Watson’s residence the day she disappeared. The dark-colored pickup truck was seen between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday on Watson’s street, Donegal Way. Darby believes the driver may be able to provide information about the investigation into Watson’s disappearance.Darby said information about the pickup truck came as the result of a call from the department’s tip line. He is urging the public to still call the Sheriff’s Office with any information they have on the case. “We are following up on every tip that comes in.” Darby said. “Has one of those tips led us to where Jenni-Lyn is? Not yet. But that’s our prayer.”Watson classmates from Liverpool High School joined hundreds of community members Wednesday afternoon for a prayer service at St. Margaret Church in Mattydale. Watson’s parents and 17-year-old sister sat in the front row of the crowded church. Watson’s friends from the Liverpool High School class of 2008, most home from college on Thanksgiving break, said they were in shock.“It’s been really overwhelming,” said Karista Lewis, a close friend of Watson. “We were suppose to get together this week.”Julia Merulla, also graduated with Watson, said she was heartened by the amount community support.” “It’s comforting to see how many people have come out to support her and especially people from the class of 2008,” Merulla said. “I know if she could see how much she is loved, she would appreciate it.”Members of the class of 2008 student council brought pens and paper to the prayer service in hope that people would write notes of support to the family.Watson’s disappearance is also getting national recognition. Her story was featured on television shows Good Morning American and Nancy Grace. Lamar Outdoor Advertising has expanded their donation of electronic billboards and will be featuring Watson’s picture across the nation.Watson is described as 5-foot, 2-inches tall and 100 pounds, with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Watson’s whereabouts is asked to call 435-3081.

My opinion: Either a former boyfriend from the home area or a stranger pedo.
She is tiny and could easily be mistaken for someone much younger.
Either way, this one probably will not end well.

CLAY, N.Y. — Police near Syracuse will provide updates in the search for a 20-year-old college student missing since returning home for the Thanksgiving break last week.Nearly 100 law enforcement officers and volunteers spent Friday searching in a Syracuse suburb for Jenni-Lyn Watson. A news conference is set for 5:30 p.m. in Clay to release the latest information.Authorities say Watson went missing last Friday, a day after arriving at her family's home north of Syracuse. Friday's search was focused on a wooded area near Watson's home.Watson, a junior dance major at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., is described as 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds, with dark blonde hair and brown eyes.http://online.wsj.com/article/AP900cbf7f7886481ba6d8a79f031562ea.html

TomTerrific0420 wrote:My opinion: Either a former boyfriend from the home area or a stranger pedo.
She is tiny and could easily be mistaken for someone much younger.
Either way, this one probably will not end well.

I'm afraid your probably right. She's so tiny so it wouldn't take much for someone to grab her.
Keeping the prayers going for her and her family.

http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=546198

Neighbors Support Jenni-Lyn Watson's Family

The turn off of Bear Road is marked with a yellow ribbon but that is just the beginning. Yellow ribbons are everywhere on Jenni-Lyn Watson's street, her neighborhood and her development. It was the idea of several neighbors who wanted to show their support for Jenni-Lyn's family."Everybody
wants to do something but at least by seeing the yellow ribbons - the
important thing is that the family realizes everybody is here for your
support," said Joe Arcuri.

Many of the ribbons were placed by Brandon Arcuri. He's known Jenni-Lyn for years and went to Liverpool High with her. Brandon Arcuri said he wanted to help with the search and hopes the ribbons keep Jenni-Lyn in everyone's thoughts.

"We know that we wanted to get it out as much as we can - so we tried hitting every type of light post and oak tree around the neighborhood," said Arcuri. "Any tree, mailbox, get the word out."

In all, there are hundreds of ribbons supporting the search for Jenni-Lyn and her family on this Thanksgiving weekend.

"It's just so touching to see the neighborhood supporting the family and knowing we want Jenni-Lyn to come home," said neighbor Robert Becker.

The Onondaga County Undersheriff said search crews may ask for civilian help this weekend. Several of jenni-Lyn's neighbors said they are ready to do anything they can to help with that process.

For the latest information on the investigation and search click here.

http://findjennilynwatson.com/default.aspx

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Civilian-search-volunteers-not-needed-as-search/jyuxyRaWU0qP-WqAU3Q-qw.cspx

Civilian search volunteers not needed as search for Jenni-Lyn continues

Town of Clay (WSYR-TV) – One week since Jenni-Lyn Watson was last seen, the sheriff’s department says the size of search teams has tripled, and they won’t need civilian volunteers as the effort continues Saturday. Detectives expanded the search area Friday and finalized the search in areas already covered.

At an evening news conference, Undersheriff Warren Darby said search and rescue crews plan to be back out in the morning looking for 20-year-old Jenni-Lyn, who was last seen November 19.

Police set up road-side canvassing near the Watson family’s home on Donegal Way in Clay, the area Jenni-Lyn was last seen. She was home from college on Thanksgiving break.

In their expanded search, crews began covering an area east of Henry Clay Blvd.

Darby said the number of law enforcement and professional search and rescue personnel was large enough that they do not need members of the community to volunteer for the search. The department is worried that citizens might disrupt the process.

But volunteers were helping in other ways on Friday. Flyers with Jenni-Lyn’s photo and description were being handed out to Black Friday shoppers and placed on car windshields.

At this time Darby says there are no suspects or persons of interest.

State Police say Jenni-Lyn Watson was last seen wearing a tan sweatshirt; blue, green and white pajama pants; and white socks. She also carries a Verizon LG V3 cellphone with a blue cover.

Anyone with information about Jenni-Lyn's whereabouts should call the Sheriff's Office at (315) 435-3081.

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/body-found-in-ny-thought-to-be-missing-student-jenni-lyn-watson/19735064?icid=maing|main5|1|link1|28151

Body Found in NY Thought to Be Missing Student's
Updated: one minute ago

CLAY, N.Y. (Nov. 27) - Searchers combing through woods for any sign of a 20-year-old dance major who vanished last week found the body of a woman believed to be the missing student covered in debris behind a storage shed, the district attorney said Saturday.

The body was discovered in swampy area in Clay Central Park, part of a 1,200-acre area canvassed by more than 100 police and volunteers in suburban Syracuse.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said the remains have not been positively identified but were consistent in age and race with Jenni-Lyn Watson, who disappeared after returning home for Thanksgiving break last week.

Her parents were notified, Fitzpatrick said.

"That says it all - how awful," he told the Syracuse Post-Standard.

He wouldn't say whether a suspect had been identified in the death. A news conference was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday to discuss developments in the case.

Watson went missing last Friday, a day after arriving at her family's home north of Syracuse. She is a junior dance major at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., and was described as 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds, with dark blonde hair and brown eyes.

The search effort was stepped up Friday. Undersheriff Warren Darby said they doubled the area where they were looking, and volunteers copied and handed out thousands of fliers and held vigils.

The body was found in the search, about two miles north of Watson's home. Investigators were led to the wooded area near her home after a cell phone transmission the day she disappeared. Fitzpatrick said the body appeared to be placed there to conceal it.

"It appears she was laid flat and covered up with vegetation," he told the newspaper.

A call by The Associated Press to the district attorney rang unanswered Saturday.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/body_found_believed_to_be_jenn.html

Jenni-Lyn Watson's body found; ex-boyfriend charged with murder
Published: Saturday, November 27, 2010, 5:17 PM Updated: Saturday, November 27, 2010, 6:02 PM

Authorities say they have charged 21-year-old Steven M. Pieper, of Coconut Tree Drive, Liverpool, with murder after searchers discovered a body believed to be that of dance student Jenni-Lyn Watson in a park in Clay. They expect he will be arraigned tonight in town court.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Pieper and Watson had been involved in an on-and-off relationship, which Watson tried to end in early October, and Pieper did not take to that well.

Fitzpatrick said that authorities believe Watson was removed from her parent's home by Pieper Friday Nov. 19, and very shortly after, "dumped, frankly like garbage," in Clay Central Park.

"We do not believe she left that house alive," Fitzpatrick said.

He said Pieper had a minor police record but there had been no police intervention in their relationship.

The discovery brought a grim close to the eight-day search for the Mercyhurst College dance student, an effort that gripped the Syracuse community and commanded national media attention.

Watson arrived home Nov. 18 to spend Thanksgiving with her family and was last seen at her family’s home a day later.

She was not home when family members returned Nov. 19. She was reported missing at 9 p.m. that night.

Scores of law-enforcement officers and search and rescue professionals had scoured 1,200 acres of wooded country about two miles from the Watson home on Donegal Way, Clay, where she had last been seen. Volunteers copied and handed out thousands of fliers, held vigils and prepared to enter the search sometime this weekend.

As the week progressed, officials released more information, including the clothing she was believed to have been wearing. They also asked the public’s help to determine whether a dark-colored pickup truck had been seen in her neighborhood and the identity of its driver.

More than 60 police and search and rescue officers resumed the search this morning, the sheriff’s office said.

A team of 18 searchers found the remains in a heavily wooded area surrounding the park, the sheriff’s office said. Fitzpatrick described the area as a spot down a slope behind the shed, some 350 yards north of Wetzel Road, They were about two miles north of Watson’s home.

Investigators labored this afternoon to recover the remains and preserve evidence connected to it.

“It appears whoever put her there attempted to conceal her presence there,” Fitzpatrick said. “It appears she was laid flat and covered up with vegetation.”

Investigators also had asked anyone who had found a cell phone in a blue cover like Watson’s to call them. A transmission from that phone on the day Watson disappeared led officials to search the woodlands and marshes around Henry Clay Boulevard. Clay Central Park is nearly surrounded by the Stanley J. Hamlin State Wildlife Management Area, also called Hamlin Marsh.

Fitzpatrick said he, his chief assistant, Rick Trunfio, and sheriff’s Lt. Craig Costanzo had been standing Friday about 60 yards from where the remains were found, he said.

Fitzpatrick credited “good legwork by the sheriff’s department.”

“They were not going to leave this area until they were convinced she wasn’t there,” he said.

Watson graduated from Liverpool High School in 2008. She has a younger sister, Lauren, who attends Liverpool High School.

There are several Facebook pages devoted to Watson. “Missing: Jenni-Lyn Watson” had 27,613 members as of 4 p.m. Saturday. Minutes after reports that police found a body believed to be Watson, a new page went up: “RIP Jenni-Lyn Watson.” Comments ranged from calls for prayers to calls for justice and vengeance.

Watson’s MySpace page includes many photos of Watson and a post that apparently she wrote:

“im jenni-lyn, everyone calls me Jenn-ay (like in forest gump). I’m going to be a sophomore at Mercyhurst college, im majoring in dance!! i love all my friends they are the best!! I’m a pretty simple person and usually pretty happy, especially at college!! i love black and white photography, watching the clouds, chillen at my camp, happy endings and disney movies, drinking hot coco after being out in the snow, and just the simple things in life. i’ve had some experiences that opened my eyes and made me who i am now but with that comes my huge trust issue... i dont trust people easily so don’t take it personally. I love my boyfriend he is the best thing that's ever happened to me” .

An ex-boyfriend of Jenni-Lyn Watson, the 20-year-old ballerina who went missing after coming home to suburban Syracuse, N.Y., to spend Thanksgiving with her family, has been arrested and charged with her murder.
Police announced the arrest just hours after they said they had found the remains of a body in the park where they had been searching for the missing woman.Steven Pieper, 21, of Liverpool, N.Y., was arrested at around 4 p.m. today, and charged with second degree murder.He pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned this evening in Clay Town Court. Town Justice Brian Lauri ordered Pieper held without bail and he was taken to the Onondaga County Justice Center.He is due back in court on Friday, Dec. 3.did not have anything to say, but did answer routine questions from the judge. Police said he was expected to be arraigned Saturday evening in Clay Town Court.Watson had decided in October to end her relationship with Pieper, which had been on-again, off-again for 18 months, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said.Investigators believe that Pieper, who was a suspect early on in the case, killed Watson at her parents' home shortly before noon on Friday, Nov. 19, then took her to the wooded area near the Clay Town Park, where her body was discovered this morning, Fitzpatrick said.The district attorney said there there were no visible signs of struggle from Watson.Earlier today, Fitzpatrick announced that the remains of a body had been cound in Clay Central Park, about four miles from Watson's home.Even before investigators had positively identified the body, Fitzpatrick said the remains were consistent with that of a young, white woman in her 20s."Logic and common sense tell us it is likely the remains of Ms. Watson," Fitzpatrick said.Watson's family has been notified, he said.The remains were to be sent to the chief medical examiner's office in Syracuse, and he said it was expected that the remains would be identified and a cause of death will be determined today.

For days, Police searched more than 1,200 acres of woods surrounding her family's home in Onondaga County, focusing on the area where her cell phone was last reported active."In fact, we tripled the number of personnel that were out here searching because we got involved all of Onondaga County law enforcement," Onondaga County Undersheriff Warren Darby said today on "Good Morning America."Investigators are also working at Mercyhurst College, in Erie, Pa., where Watson is a junior majoring in dance, looking for any clue as to what might have happened to her.Watson, a petite 5-foot-2 ballerina, went missing Friday, Nov. 19, after she returned home from Mercyhurst to spend Thanksgiving with her family.Watson was last seen at home that morning with her parents and 17-year-old sister. When they returned home in the afternoon, Watson was gone, along with her cell phone, though her purse, wallet and house keys were still there.Neighbors said it was not like the young woman to be out of touch with her family for so long."This is out of character for her to be gone for five days is completely out of character," family friend Kelly Kinahan said today on "GMA." "She would communicate with her friends and family on a daily basis. That phone was always glued to her hand.""She's a ballerina, a wonderful student, keeps in touch with her family, loves her family. It's very out of character for her not to contact anybody," Stacey Kinahan said.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:My opinion: Either a former boyfriend from the home area or a stranger pedo.
She is tiny and could easily be mistaken for someone much younger.
Either way, this one probably will not end well.

This story seemed pretty much told at the very beginning. So very sad, two families ruined.