Unnamed Girl - 8 yo - ST Paul MN

Missing eight-year-old St. Paul girl has been found



Updated: 05/01/2011 10:05:39 PM CDT


The
8-year-old St. Paul girl reported missing earlier this evening has been
found, according to an official with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension. An Amber Alert had been sent at about 8 p.m. tonight.
"The alert has been canceled," said Jill Oliveira of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Oliveira didn't provide details on the girl's whereabouts or her safety.



— Andy Greder

Man arrested in kidnapping of St. Paul girl

Man arrested in kidnapping of St. Paul girl, 8

05/03/2011

The little girl was scared and thirsty, so she asked the stranger for a glass of water. When the man — who had abducted her Sunday night from a St. Paul laundromat — went to the kitchen, she escaped, her father said Monday.

On Monday evening, police investigating the abduction arrested a 48-year-old man at his Anoka County home on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct.

The 8-year-old girl was reunited with her family later Sunday evening after a couple driving in Spring Lake Park saw her walking, and they stopped. She told them what street she lived on in St. Paul and said, "Somebody took me."

The couple called police.

"I think she's very, very smart, very clever," the girl's father said of her escape. "I'm really proud of her that she could help herself out of this danger."

Twenty-four hours after the kidnapping, police found John Craig Heuer, 48, hiding under a vehicle in a garage at his Spring Lake Park home at 6:30 p.m. Monday, St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith said.

Heuer, who is being held in the Anoka County Jail, has not been charged. No one answered the phone at his home Monday night.

The girl was at the Giant Wash Coin Laundry on Rice Street near Larpenteur Avenue when a man asked the girl if she liked puppies, her father said.

"He said, 'My little cutie puppy is in the car,' " the father said, relating what his daughter had told him. "Then he grabbed her arm, pulled her and put her in the car. He locked the door immediately."

As the man drove, the girl cried. "He was just ignoring her crying," the father said.

The abduction, which triggered an Amber Alert, occurred about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Spring Lake Park police notified their St. Paul counterparts about 7:50 p.m. that a girl had been found, police said.

The girl's father said she is 8; police had information that she is 7. The Pioneer Press is not naming her father to avoid identifying the girl because the newspaper generally does not name victims of sexual assault.

Michael Hullum and his girlfriend, Latisha Leith, were washing clothes at the laundromat.

"It was packed," Hullum said, estimating 50 to 60 people were there and every washer was taken. The couple saw a little girl walk past them.

"A man grabbed at her arm and said, 'Oh, you look pretty today,' " Hullum said. "It put up red flags for us because, as a grown man, you don't grab a little girl and tell her that."

The girl's mother came up, brushed the man away from her daughter and got the girl to come with her, Hullum said. The man was sitting on a chair and wasn't washing clothes, Hullum said.

"That was another flag that came up. What was he doing there?" Hullum said, adding that the man smelled like liquor.

"I looked at him, and he put his head down, to his chest, like he didn't want anyone to see his face," Leith said.

A little later, as the girl and her sister were running around and playing, the man asked the girls whether they wanted to see his puppy and the younger one left with him, Hullum said. They did not see the man and the girl get into a car.

The victim's father, who spoke to the Pioneer Press through a Karen language interpreter, said the man brought the girl to what she
believed was his home. There was no dog in the car or at his home.

"When she escaped, he was yelling, 'Wait, wait, wait,' " he said.

Shuja Ahmed and his wife, Tahmina Ahmed, of Spring Lake Park were on their way to a family dinner in Burnsville. Near Minnesota 65 and Anoka County Road 10 in Spring Lake Park, "I spotted a little girl wandering by herself," Shuja Ahmed said. "It was pretty cold, and she wasn't wearing anything suitable for the weather."

The girl was wearing blue jeans, a lightweight pink-and-red top and sandals, Tahmina Ahmed said.

They pulled over. "I asked if she was OK, what was going on, was she lost or anything," Shuja Ahmed said. She didn't say much, but kept telling the couple what street she lived on in St. Paul and saying, "Somebody took me."

"When she said that a few times, that's when I got kind of worried and scared that this was something that was not what it seemed," said Shuja Ahmed. He and his wife didn't know about the Amber Alert.

The girl provided her father's phone number, but he couldn't communicate with Ahmed in English. The couple drove her to the Spring Lake Park police department. It was closed for the night. They called 911, and police arrived. The girl was taken to the hospital.

The girl was at the laundromat with her mother and 9-year-old sister, said her father, who was at work. Her sister saw what happened and told her mother.

The victim "is just a resilient little girl," said Smith, the police chief. "She gave us a lot of information, enough information that we were able to canvas a neighborhood, continue with investigators talking with some different neighbors, knocking on some doors and eventually we came to the residence that we believe this suspect resided at."

Asked whether the victim was sexually assaulted, Smith said he couldn't get into details.

Police were checking with other law enforcement agencies to find out if they have similar cases, Smith said.

Heuer's only criminal history appears to be driving related. He was convicted of a vehicle weight limitation violation in 2009 and driving while impaired in 2002 and 1995.

The victim's family has lived in Minnesota for just over a year.

They came from a refugee camp in Thailand, the girl's father said.

The Karen ethnic group is a repressed minority in the mostly northern and eastern regions of Myanmar that has been fighting for autonomy and against the military-controlled government for decades.

Many have fled to refugee camps in Thailand.

"As a refugee, we came here for safety," the victim's father said. "I want to see the man who did this and ask, 'Why?' We were persecuted back in our country. We respect the people here ... and I can't believe he did this."

What a smart, brave little girl. Had she not acted so smart, this might well have ended up in the "Murdered Children" thread. Or, she might have been on the Amber Alert for a long time.

twinkletoes wrote:What a smart, brave little girl. Had she not acted so smart, this might well have ended up in the "Murdered Children" thread. Or, she might have been on the Amber Alert for a long time.

What a wonderful ending to what could have been a tragic ending......this little girl is her own hero

A Spring Lake Park man was charged Wednesday morning in the
kidnapping and sexual assault of an 8-year-old St. Paul girl he
allegedly lured from a laundromat, triggering an Amber Alert on Sunday. FOX
9 News cameras caught footage of 48-year-old John Craig Heuer as he was
arrested at his townhome Monday, where he was found hiding under his
car in his garage. Heuer didn’t appear in court Wednesday after he was
transferred to a medical facility for undisclosed reasons. Heuer
is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, on
count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of
kidnapping. The Amber Alert was issued in St. Paul after the girl
was lured away from a laundromat on the 1600 block of Rice Street by a
man who said he wanted her to “come see his puppy.” According to the criminal complaint, Heuer forced the girl to perform oral sex on him. She escaped when he went to the bathroom. One
of Heuer's neighbors found the girl Sunday night. Shuja Ahmed and his
wife were pulling their car out of the garage at the Spring Crest
Estates when they saw the girl outside, cold and alone. They asked the
girl if she needed help.

Ahmed said the girl tried to give them
directions to her home but couldn’t remember. She had no idea she was
more than 13 miles from home. Heuer told investigators he paid
the girl’s mother $100 to have the child perform sexual favors. He
alleges the girl’s mother agreed the sex could occur at his house. The
girl’s mother says those allegations are false and says she didn’t
consent to Heuer having any contact with her daughter. Heuer admitted to spending most of the afternoon drinking at Lamplighter Lounge, a strip club in St. Paul. A judge has issued a warrant for Heuer to return to jail as soon as possible.
Read more: Spring Lake Park Man Charged With Kidnapping, Sexual Assault of 8-Year-Old Girl http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/minnesota/stpaul-amber-alert-kidnapping-sex-charges-may-3-2011#ixzz1LOqcOHSf

Female Garments Found in Accused Kidnapper's Safe

Investigators find child pornography strewn about

Updated: Thursday, 05 May 2011, 4:38 PM CDTST. PAUL, Minn. - Bail for the Spring Lake
Park man was accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting of an
8-year-old St. Paul girl he allegedly lured from a laundromat has been
set at $800,000, and investigators say they have made more disturbing
discoveries in the man's home, including child porn and female garments. FOX
9 News cameras caught footage of 48-year-old John Craig Heuer as he was
arrested at his townhome Monday, where he was found hiding under his
car in his garage. On Thursday, Heuer made his first court
appearance after he was charged while absent on Wednesday due to an
undisclosed medical issue. In court, investigators released new
findings in the case, saying they found child pornography strewn about
Heuer's home as well as female garments inside a safe. Heuer is
charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one
count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of
kidnapping in connection with the St. Paul abduction that triggered an
Amber Alert. "These are extremely serious charges," said Tony
Palumbo, Anoka County attorney. "Obviously, next to a murder, it's one
of the most heinous crimes we can find against society." Officials are still investigating to see if there are any additional victims. "Because
of his occupation as an over-the-road truck driver, he could have
committed offenses anywhere," said Cmdr. Paul Sommer, with the Anoka
County Sheriff's Office. Heuer's most recent job had his him
driving a set route between the Twin Cities and Fargo, but he had only
held that job for 8 months. The Amber Alert was issued in St.
Paul after the girl was lured away from a laundromat on the 1600 block
of Rice Street by a man who said he wanted her to “come see his puppy.” According to the criminal complaint, Heuer forced the girl to perform oral sex on him. She escaped when he went to the bathroom. The
complaint states that Heuer told investigators that the girl was a
prostitute, and he paid the girl's mother $100 for the child's sexual
services. He also told investigators that he didn't know the child's age
and didn't want to guess because 'Asian girls' can look different than
their age." He alleged the girl’s mother agreed the sex could
occur at his house. The girl’s mother says those allegations are false
and says she didn’t consent to Heuer having any contact with her
daughter. Heuer admitted to spending most of the afternoon
drinking at Lamplighter Lounge, a strip club in St. Paul, and detectives
said that Heuer told them he knew what he did was wrong. One of Heuer's neighbors found the girl Sunday night. She was more than 13 miles away from her home.


Read more: Female Garments Found in Accused Kidnapper's Safe http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/minnesota/bail-set-in-kidnapping-of-girl-john-heuer-may-4-2011#ixzz1LWEnINu3

This creep is could be responsible for a few missing children. I hope they will be able to get DNA from the other clothes they found. He probably would have killed this child if she hadn't have run off.

Kiwi, I think so also.

I'm so impressed with this little girl.

Man Accused of Kidnapping, Assaulting Girl Appears in Court

06/01/2011


Prosecutors will ask for an extended sentence against a man charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl.

John Heuer appeared in court Wednesday afternoon in a green jumpsuit with his hands and feet shackled. Deputies say he's in protective custody in jail.

Police say Heuer lured the girl from a St. Paul laundromat last month, leading to an Amber Alert.

They say he took the girl to his home in Spring Lake Park. Eventually, she was able to run away.

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2137601.shtml?cat=1