KRISTINA VLASSENKO - 10 yo/ Autistic - Arvada CO

Autistic Girl Reported Missing in Arvada

Kristina Vlassenko Last Seen Monday Afternoon

POSTED: 8:38 pm MDT May 30, 2011
ARVADA, Colo. -- A 10-year-old autistic Arvada girl was reported missing Monday afternoon and a search was on Monday night.Kristina Vlassenko was last seen in the area of 58th Avenue and Miller Street just after 3:30 p.m.Police said Vlassenko has limited speaking ability and is from Russia.
Members of the Arvada Police Department canvassed the area in an effort to determine where Vlassenko may have gone.Several
members of the volunteer Arvada Search Team were called to look for
Vlassenko; however, there have been no signs of the girl.Vlassenko is also equipped with a LifeTrak tracking system; however, the device has not yielded any results thus far.Vlassenko has a very limited speaking ability.She
is described as 3 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 40 pounds, with hazel
eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a red Mickey Mouse
T-shirt and blue jeans. She was also wearing a white undershirt and pink
sandals.Anyone with information on Vlassenko is asked to call the Arvada Police Department at 720-898-6900.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28076502/detail.html

ARVADA - Authorities are working to figure out what caused the death of a
missing autistic girl found on Tuesday morning at a construction site.
Arvada Police say the body of 10-year-old Kristina Vlassenko was
discovered near 58th Avenue and Oak Street. She was found by a
construction worker in an area excavated for the foundation of a new
recreation center around 7 a.m. Tuesday. The worker says water appears
to have seeped into the area where Kristina was found.

Investigators do not believe foul play was involved.

"It's never easy. You just want to bring that child home and in this
case we didn't get to do that," Susan Medina with Arvada Police said.

Kristina was last seen near 58th Avenue and Miller Street Monday at
about 3:30 p.m. She was missing for about 45 minutes before police were
alerted. Members of the Arvada Search Team, and police officers were
involved in the search for her.

They say she was equipped with a Life Trak system, which is a
transmitter about the size of a wrist watch used to locate at-risk
people when they go missing, like those with Alzheimer's and autism.
Arvada started using the program in 2008 at no cost to families that
qualified.

According to officers, Kristina's Life Trak had never been activated
before, since she did not have a history of wandering off. They were not
able to get a signal from it when it was activated Monday.

Officers say Kristina's transmitter probably wasn't emitting a traceable signal because it was under water.

The coroner's office has yet to determine her cause of death.

Investigators are asking anyone who may have seen the girl from the time
she was reported missing to the time she was found to call police at
720-898-6900.

http://www.kpsplocal2.com/Content/Headlines/story/Missing-Palm-Desert-Teen-Found-Safe/AN8l00XaaEimRmwPxogGFQ.cspx

Profoundly autistic and largely
speechless, 10-year-old Kristina Vlassenko was clearly at risk if she
became lost, even within her Arvada neighborhood. So her family took
steps to protect her, including putting a beacon around her wrist
designed to send a signal when activated so authorities could quickly
find her.
But when it was most needed, the beacon somehow failed to lead searchers to the girl.


Kristina, who disappeared Monday afternoon, was found dead Tuesday
morning in a water-filled hole at a construction site just 400 yards
from where she was last seen.
While investigators do not suspect foul play, they still have several
questions surrounding her death in the Harold D. Lutz Sports Complex,
said Susan Medina, spokeswoman for the Arvada Police Department.
Foremost among them is why the Life Trak device Kristina was wearing
did not lead officers to her Monday. Police activated the device less
than an hour after the girl was reported missing, but they never
received a signal.
Every month, Kristina and her family went to the police station to
test the beacon and have the battery changed. Police are working with
the manufacturer to determine why they could not detect a signal Monday.
Investigators also are working on creating a timeline of Kristina's path to the construction site.
Since she was reported missing about 3:30 p.m. Monday, friends and
family members had scoured the neighborhood looking for the girl.
Ellen Milton provided respite care for Kristina a couple of times
during the past few weeks, she said. When she heard the girl was
missing, she grabbed a flashlight and warned others that she liked to
play in water and dirt.
"She was just such a wonderful, silly little girl," said Milton, who
runs the Wayside Day Services at King of Glory Lutheran Church. "I met
her and fell in love with her."
Kristina did not sit still for long and loved physical activity. In addition tomusic, she loved to play on her trampoline, Milton said.
"The family is so wonderful," Milton said, wiping away tears.
The Vlassenko family moved to Colorado from Russia, and Kristina's
parents speak little English. Grief counselors and translators are
working with the family, who declined to comment to the media.
Police do not know how Kristina got through the fence surrounding the
hole, or who was responsible for the girl when she disappeared, Medina
said.
On Tuesday, investigators walked around the 8-foot-high chain-link
fence surrounding the construction area, looking for an entry point.
A pair of school bus drivers and a driver's assistant with Jefferson
County Public Schools were among people who looked at the accident site
from a nearby hill.
The three said they drove the girl to and from school this past year.
"We just thought the world of her," said Carl Trump, one of the drivers.
Kristina attended Fremont Elementary School. Counselors and translators will be available at the school today, Medina said.
Kristina was typically met at the bus stop by her mother, who showered her with affection.
"The mom adored her," said Liz Garcia, the bus driver's aide. "She always hugged and kissed her when she got off the bus."
Police ask that anyone who saw Kristina on Monday afternoon call them at 720-898-6900.
"Whenever there is a case of a missing child, the end result is you
want to bring that child home," said Medina of Arvada police. "We didn't
get to do that this time."
Read more: Arvada police question why beacon didn't lead to missing girl's body - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18179723#ixzz1O2HHMgxM