CELINA CASS - 11 yo (2011) Stewartstown (Canada, NH-VT Border) NH

New Hampshire Authorities Say 11-Year-Old Celina Cass Was Murdered

Published September 22, 2011

| Associated Press

WEST STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. – The death of an 11-year-old girl whose body was found in a river last month was a homicide, New Hampshire authorities said Thursday.

Investigators said they also know what caused the death of Celina Cass, but they aren't making it public.They say doing so could harm the integrity of the investigation.

"The investigation into the facts and circumstances of Celina Cass's murder remains active," Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said in a statement.

Celina was reported missing July 26. Her body was found a week later in the Connecticut River, not far from her West Stewartstown home.

A reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest. No suspects have been named.

Young said Thursday that the cause of death was determined through information gleaned from the investigation and from toxicology tests.

The news came after investigators met with Celina's mother and sister for two hours. Luisia Cass told The Associated Press she had no comment after leaving the Coos County attorney's office in Lancaster.

Luisia Cass was accompanied Thursday by a friend and her 13-year-old daughter, who was clutching a stuffed panda bear.

A family friend confirmed that Luisia Cass has separated from Celina's stepfather, Wendell Noyes. He has a history of psychiatric issues and has been in and out of hospitals since Celina disappeared.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/22/new-hampshire-authorities-say-11-year-old-celina-cass-was-murdered/?test=latestnews#ixzz1YivPuSLH

Poster's Note: As a general practice I do not usually post Op/Ed articles about cases we feature here. This one struck me as something that really needed to be said and we have run into this situation before.

When 11-year-old Celina Cass went missing, it was scary for everyone in Massachusetts
and New Hampshire but particularly for those who lived in her small
town. Then her autopsy was inconclusive and only now, nearly two months
later, do we know for sure that it was murder. But
that's all they're telling in order to not compromise the investigation.
And while I understand and respect the decision, I'm still anxious to
know what it is they found.
After all, I have children, too. My heart breaks for this family
whose daughter went missing on July 25. A week later, her body was found
about a quarter mile from her home. The autopsy results, however,
proved inconclusive and the cause of her death remained a mystery --
until yesterday.

It was murder. But that's all they are saying. According to the New Hampshire attorney general:

The premature public disclosure of Cass’s cause of death could have
an impact on the integrity of the investigation in a negative manner.
The investigation into the facts and circumstances of Celina Cass’s
murder remains active.

Obviously, I understand and don't want them to compromise the
investigation. But all the same, I want to know. Hearing they won't tell
us only makes the mind wander to the worst possible scenarios for the
end of this poor little girl. And as a mom, it scares me.

Since the murder, Cass's family has fallen apart. Her mother and stepfather have split. Reportedly her stepfather Wendell Noyes had a breakdown and, though suspicion has surrounded him, no arrests have been made.

Knowing the gory details of how a child was murdered isn't a positive
thing, but the reason to know isn't always just because of some sick
fascination. There is also a practical reason. Do we need to worry? I
don't want to know, really. Let's face it: A child is dead. It's a
completely horrible thing.

But as a mom and someone who is trained as a journalist, I need to
know. Was this someone she knew? Was she drugged? Did she drown?

Wanting to know these things doesn't make me sick. It makes me a
normal mom who is worried for my own kids. Somehow if the details were
more public, it could make it less scary. Nothing could make it less sad
or horrifying, but less mystery is always a good thing.

The first priority is the investigation always, but I do hope at some
point more information is available. Otherwise, we will always have to
wonder and speculate.

My heart breaks for her family and I do hope that their little girl gets justice. Whatever that looks like.

Do you want to know what happened?
http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/126408/hearing_details_of_11yearold_celina




Sasha Brown-Worsham


Subscribe to posts I am a mother, runner, wife, editor, and writer. My work has appeared in The New York Times, Parents, Parenting, Runner's World and many other publications over the years. I also make a mean margarita and run races (everything from 5ks to marathons).

I live outside of Boston, MA in a 1,000 square foot condo in a
neighborhood nicknamed "Little Brasilia" with my husband, our two
children (Sam, 4, and Alan, 2), a corpulent cat and a chihuahua with
emotional issues. It's a full life in a small house, but I love it.

Celina Cass' Stepfather Talks

Someone Else In Apartment, He Says

Associated Press
POSTED: 10:34 am EDT October 12, 2011


WEST STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. -- The stepfather of a New Hampshire girl whose body was pulled from the Connecticut River on Aug. 1 says he had nothing to do with her disappearance and death.
Wendell Noyes told WMUR-TV that he discovered that 11-year-old Celina Cass was missing the morning after she was last seen on the family computer on July 25. He says the door to the duplex in West Stewartstown had been left unlocked the night before and that someone else was in the apartment after he and Celina's mother, Luisia Cass, went to bed.
Celina Cass' death has been ruled a homicide.
An autopsy failed to pinpoint how she died. Toxicology tests are pending.
There have been no arrests.
Noyes initially spoke to reporters about Celina's disappearance but later stopped speaking out.

Read more: http://www.wptz.com/news/29461090/detail.html#ixzz1adGYvFPr

Mother of slain NH girl frustrated by case

October 14, 2011

COLEBROOK, N.H. (AP) - The mother of the New Hampshire girl found dead in the Connecticut River last summer says she's frustrated that police are unable to provide answers about her daughter's murder.

Luisia Noyes told the Boston Herald the case is for her "frustrating, haunting and unbearable."

Noyes' daughter, 11-year-old Celina Cass, disappeared in July from her West Stewartstown home. Her body was later found in the Connecticut River.

Noyes told the Herald police would not allow her to see her daughter's body, even after a funeral director's restorative efforts, nor would they allow her to see the blanket the body was wrapped in.

Last month, the New Hampshire attorney general's office classified Celina's death as a homicide, but investigators say they don't have enough evidence to make an arrest.

http://www.wcax.com/story/15695552/mother-of-slain-nh-girl-frustrated-by-case

House guest says he didn't see missing NH girl

October 19, 2011

WEST STEWARTSTOWN, N.H (AP) - A guest in the house of an 11-year-old New Hampshire girl whose body was pulled from the Connecticut River in West Stewartstown in August says he didn't see Celina Cass the night she was reported missing.

Kevin Mullaney, who had moved in with the family, said the door to the duplex was open when he returned home around midnight, and that he watched TV and then went to bed around 1 a.m.

The 23-year-old Mullaney told WMUR-TV that he left for work at 6:15 a.m. and that none of the vehicles in the driveway appeared to have moved overnight.

He said Celina's mother, Luisia Cass, was like a mother to him, and Celina was like a sister.

Celina's body was found Aug. 1, a week after she disappeared. Her death has been declared a homicide but no arrests have been made.

http://www.wcax.com/story/15735447/house-guest-says-he-didnt-see-missing-nh-girl

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111211/NEWS03/712119984

A Christmas tree will decorate Celina Cass' grave as her grieving loved ones await word on who will be called to account for the summer slaying of their sweet 11-year-old North Country girl.

Her mother, Louisia Noyes, visited the grave last week to see the newly placed donated tombstone with Celina's face exquisitely etched in black granite.

“It's hard, very hard,” Noyes said in a telephone interview. “I want my baby home for Christmas, and she won't be.”

Noyes plans to carry a small, decorated Christmas tree to Celina's grave sometime today.

“She deserves to have a Christmas tree,” Noyes said.

Tonight at 7, Noyes plans to attend a Worldwide Candle Lighting at the Armstrong-Charron Funeral Home in Groveton to remember Celina and all children who have died in the area and around the world.

A massive, weeklong search ended in the discovery of Celina's body wrapped in a blanket Aug. 1, submerged in the Connecticut River not far from her West Stewartstown home.

It's been a tumultuous time for Noyes and her other daughter, Kayla, coping with their loss and not knowing for sure who killed Celina. Stressed finances have added to her burden, as Noyes is starting over in Lemington, Vt., after splitting from her husband, Wendell Noyes.

Noyes still works full time at Lads and Ladybugs Consignment shop in Colebrook. She is looking for another apartment after a disagreement with her landlord.

“I don't know how much more I can take,” Noyes said, emotion in her voice.

Trying to come up with enough money for Kayla's upcoming 14th birthday and to make a decent Christmas for her family weigh heavily on her mind. The usual bills still have to be paid.

“I don't think we're going to have a Christmas,” Noyes said. “There's no money.”

Noyes does appreciate the emotional support provided by friends and the community.

Jeannine Brady, who owns the consignment shop, encourages friends to send Christmas cards to Louisia in care of the shop, at 154 Main St., Colebrook NH 03576, or to email her at Brady's email bradybunch7@hughes.net.

The support means a lot to her friend and employee, Brady said.

“Louisia continues to be a victim, and she is struggling to make ends meet financially. She is trying the best she can to provide a happy environment for her other daughter,” Brady said.

Noyes shares her apartment with former boyfriend, Mark Mullaney, an unemployed cook, and his adult son, Kevin Mullaney, who lived with the Noyes family in West Stewartstown at the time of Celina's death.

Brady said Noyes feels protected having Mark Mullaney with her.

“I don't think anybody can imagine how difficult it is for Louisia unless they have lost their own child,” Brady said.

“Louisia struggles every day with the fact that Celina's gone. Louisia wants desperately to have what she can't have — and that is to have her back.”

Last week, Noyes placed pink and purple silk flowers on her daughter's grave, at Northumberland Cemetery. Celina's final resting place is next to that of her maternal grandparents, just a few yards from the Connecticut River.

“Last Christmas, we loved to go shopping,” Noyes said. “(Celina) picked out her own present, a Ninento BS video game she liked to play.”

Wonderful memories, including Celina singing last year at a school program patterned on the “American Idol'' TV show, help sustain her.

Brady said Noyes and area people are frustrated there have been no arrests, but she believes authorities are following new leads.

“There are new developments,” Brady said, “but none that can be discussed. Unfortunately for Louisia, a lot of things that develop involve people that she knows.”

In the meantime, local children continue to place small gifts at a makeshift memorial near where Celina was found. Someone put a pumpkin there for Halloween.

“The children are continuing to think about her,” Brady said.

Wendell Noyes, who could not be reached for comment, was often seen walking around Colebrook after police impounded his truck shortly after Celina's murder, Brady said. But Noyes has nothing to do with him, she said.

Senior Assistant Attorney Jane Young wouldn't say whether Mr. Noyes' truck is still being held by the state. Young won't say what caused Celina's death, just that it was a homicide.

On Wednesday, Young met with investigators in Twin Mountain, as she does every few weeks.

“Investigators work on this case consistently,” Young said. “We have information coming in from different sources and determine what steps we will take.”

A $30,000 reward is still pending for anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Celina's death.

Noyes said she thinks she knows who killed Celina, but can't prove it.

“I want them to catch the person who did this to my baby girl,” Noyes said.

And when the killer is caught, Noyes wants the state to bring a capital murder charge.

“I just want the person who did this to be punished,” Noyes said.

“I want the death penalty.”

CONCORD, N.H.—A New Hampshire man who lived in the same apartment with an 11-year-old Stewartstown girl who was found dead in the Connecticut River is in custody on charges unrelated to her killing.

Coos County House of Corrections Superintendent Craig Hamelin says
23-year-old Kevin Mullaney has been held at the jail since Jan. 10, with bail set at $31,000.

Hamelin says Mullaney is charged with receiving stolen property, breach of bail, possession of a firearm by a felon and forgery.

Mullaney shared an apartment with Celina Cass and her family at the time Celina
disappeared from her home July 25. Celina's death has been declared a homicide but no arrests have been made.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young says the investigation remains as active. She would not comment on Mullaney.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2012/01/20/man_who_lived_with_missing_nh_girl_facing_charges/

Celina Cass' stepdad questioned by grand jury

Updated: Tuesday, 13 Mar 2012, 11:11 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 13 Mar 2012, 11:11 AM EDT

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - One of the last people to see a New Hampshire girl alive last summer has been questioned by a grand jury.

According to the Union Leader, Celina Cass' stepfather, Wendell Noyes, was interviewed behind closed doors Monday.

Noyes told reporters outside the courthouse that he doesn't expect charges to be brought against him.

Noyes was living in the Stewartstown home that Cass disappeared from back in July. A week later, her body was found less than a mile away in the Connecticut River.

So far, no one has been charged.

Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/celina-cass-stepdad-questioned-by-grand-jury-20120313#ixzz1p0v3foON

Coos County grand jury questions Celina Cass' stepfather
By BOB HOOKWAY
Union Leader Correspondent
Published Mar 13, 2012 at 3:00 am (Updated Mar 12, 2012)

LANCASTER — The stepfather of Celina Cass appeared before a Coos County grand jury Monday, testifying behind closed doors for most of the day.

Wendell Noyes tried to avoid a reporter and asked his picture not be taken. But he said “no” when asked if he believed the Coos County grand jury would bring charges against him in the murder of his stepdaughter.

Noyes was one of the last persons to see Cass, 11, alive. She was reported missing from their West Stewartstown home on July 26. Her blanket-shrouded body was discovered a week later after a massive search, submerged in the Connecticut River, a quarter-mile from home.

Since the discovery, Noyes has been estranged from Cass' mother, Louisia Noyes. On Monday, Louisia said she was glad to hear that Wendell was appearing before the grand jury.

“It needs to be done,” she said in a brief conversation with the New Hampshire Union Leader. She said she doesn't know whether Wendell is cooperating with authorities or not.

A grand jury can be seated in order to subpoena people reluctant to speak to police and force them to testify. A grand jury also issues formal felony charges called indictments.

All grand jury proceedings are secret, and homicide prosecutors have tried to keep a tight wrap on the Cass grand jury.

But in late January, several of Noyes' relatives, including his mother and two of her children, testified before the grand jury.

“They took me over the coals,” said his mother, Eunice Richards of Canann, Vt., about her testimony in January. On Monday, Richards said she wasn't aware of her son's appearance and didn't know what to expect.

In January, she said she thought prosecutors were trying to implicate her son in Cass' murder.

Police have also jailed Kevin Mullaney, 23, a boarder who was living in the Noyes-Cass home last July, on unrelated charges. Monday's focus seemed to be on Noyes.

“Not very good,” is how Noyes described his treatment on Monday.

He spoke briefly as he left the courthouse for a noon lunch break.

He said he could not discuss his testimony. Nor would he identify the prosecutor who was questioning him.

After lunch, he returned to the courthouse in his black, four-door Volkswagen. He would not answer further questions.

Noyes arrived at the courthouse Monday morning in the company of a sheriff's deputy and three plainclothes officers. He wore a black sweater and light blue jeans.

The police led him into a small conference room, where he closed the door.

Outside the grand jury room in the afternoon, Noyes paced back and forth on the third floor, at times peering through large picture windows.

One set overlooks a portion of downtown Lancaster. Another looks out to Mounts Adams, Jefferson and Washington in the White Mountains Presidential Range.

If indictments were handed up Monday, they were not made public. The Superior Court Clerk office closes at 4 p.m., and the grand jury had not finished for the day by then.

Noyes left the courthouse shortly after 4, and again declined to answer questions.

The grand jurors left at 4:15. They were followed later by a group of people that included homicide prosecutors Jane Young and James Vara of the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.

“We continue to work this investigation diligently,” Young said.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120313/NEWS03/703139975

Posted on 04 April 2012 by WMNadmin




LANCASTER–Two down state reporters from the Union Leader and WMUR-TV 9
staked out the Coos County Court House in Lancaster last Friday looking
for news on the homicide case of 11-year old Celina Cass. Inside the
grand jury was meeting – presumably handling indictments – unrelated to
the high profile case that brought them here.

The young girl disappeared last July from her West Stewartstown home
and weeks later her body was pulled from the Connecticut River. The
state has only released that it was indeed a homicide, but refuse to say
how she was killed.

The state’s Attorney General’s office as well as a grand jury has met
several times to interview various people – among them two men,
Wendell Noyes, Cass’ stepfather, and Kevin Mullaney, a 24-year-old
border in the Noyes-Cass household at the time of the incident.

Speculation from the start has been that this was not a random act of
horrifying violence, but a crime committed by someone with close ties –
possibly within the same dysfunctional household. It now appears based
upon the repeated questioning of the two men that the prosecutor’s
focus is tightening around Noyes and Mullaney.

Both have troubled pasts, Noyes has avoided prosecution for domestic
violence due to his mental condition and Mullaney has had several
run-ins with the law and is being held on separate charges in the Coos
County correctional facility.

The prosecutors, led by Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young,
seemed to biding their time – or possibly hoping someone or something
cracks. Observers contend that possibly the state is without physical
evidence and therefore must build a more complicated case.

It has been 9 months since the young girl was murdered and still
there is little information and lots of speculation and, on this day
last week, both reporters went home empty handed.
http://www.whitemtnews.com/?p=8657

Justice for Celina.

That’s what everyone who loves Celina Cass wants for the murdered 11-year-old North
Country girl. As the one-year anniversary of her death nears, Celina’s
community plans a candlelight vigil to tell the world she has not been forgotten.

T-shirts have just been printed with her picture and
those words — "Justice for Celina" — that many plan to wear to the vigil
in the West Stewartstown town square on July 26 at 7 p.m.

Townspeople say they are angry no one has been arrested in connection with Celina’s
slaying, that there is a murderer on the loose who may still be among them.

“I really want whoever did this to know her murder will be
solved; you will be caught,” said Amanda Chapple, who is helping with
the vigil. “She was too good a girl. We won’t forget her.”

Chapple, who babysat Celina and her sister, Kayla, when they were younger, said
she wants to keep the pressure on to find Celina’s killer. The vigil is a group effort, she said.

“This is a collaboration of the whole community — the teachers, classmates, parents of classmates. This
community is a family,” Chapple said.

Celina’s mother, Louisia Noyes, has moved again, this time to Colebrook. Citing irreconcilable
differences, she filed for divorce against Wendell Noyes, Celina’s
stepfather, in April. Divorce records show Wendell Noyes was ordered to
temporarily pay Louisia Noyes $600 a month in alimony and her health
insurance, but they shed no light on the criminal investigation.

Mrs. Noyes didn’t seek a restraining order, and had sought $289 a week in alimony, according to court records.

Her lawyer, Philip Waystack, said in the records that Mr. Noyes receives
$4,000 a month from a military pension and Social Security. Mrs. Noyes’
total income was listed at $2,127 a month, which included $550 in child
support benefits for Kayla paid through Social Security benefits of her
father, Adam Laro, plus $320 in food stamps. The divorce has not been finalized.

They were married for less than a year when Celina
disappeared, but had lived together for five years before that,
according to court records. Waystack wrote that Mrs. Noyes was so
traumatized by her daughter’s death that she is still unable to work.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young has released little information
about the investigation, including the cause of death, to the
frustration of many in this town of about 1,000 people near the Canadian border.

“Celina has not been forgotten,” Young said on Friday. “I still talk to investigators more days of the week than not.”

Celina’s body was found wrapped in a blanket submerged in the Connecticut River
on Aug. 1, 2011, not far from the apartment she shared with her mother,
stepfather, sister, and a boarder in West Stewartstown.

Celina was last seen alive on July 25, 2011, sitting at a computer in her
living room. Her disappearance drew national attention as hundreds
searched for the little girl who loved to play basketball and was
looking forward to starting the sixth grade.

“State police continue to actively investigate this case. Any lead that came in has been investigated,” Young said.

She also confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is also still involved in the case.

“To what extent we need them, they are involved,” Young said.

Celina’s mother wants someone to be held accountable.

“I want justice,” Mrs. Noyes said. “Yes, I’ll fight for justice for Celina.”

Authorities have not updated her about the investigation, she said.

“My life is a living hell,” Mrs. Noyes said. “I have my good days and my bad days.”

Jeannine Brady, the owner of Lads and Ladybugs consignment shop in Colebrook,
Louisia Noyes’ friend and former employer, said the anger is growing in
the area as weeks turned to months, and now a year with no arrest.

“About once a week, someone asks me if I heard anything,” Brady said. “I know
that it’s very important for people to do the vigil for the one-year
anniversary.” People speculate all the time about who may have done it,
she said. “What is it that they haven’t gotten that they need? Why have
they not been able to solve this?”

People need to know, she said. “The reality is there is somebody out there who committed her murder,” Brady said.

Kevin Mullaney, 24, the boarder who was living with the Noyes family when
Celina disappeared, has been sent to state prison in Berlin for crimes
unrelated to Celina’s murder. He was sentenced to three to six years
after having been convicted of reckless conduct.

He was also sentenced to two concurrent sentences of two to four years each for
receiving stolen property and being a felon in possession of a firearm,
according to Jeffrey Lyons, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.

Mrs. Noyes has rekindled her relationship with Mullaney’s father, Mark Mullaney.

“I want the person that murdered my daughter to be convicted. I want the death penalty,” Mrs. Noyes said.

“My daughter did not deserve to die. She did not deserve to have someone who came in my home and took her away.’’

Amanda Hurlbert of Colebrook said she barely knew the Noyes family, but wants to see justice for Celina.

“At this point, most people are angry that nothing has happened,” Hurlbert
said. “They wonder if it was brushed aside because of bigger cases in
the state, like the shooting of the Greenland police chief.”

Chapple cleaned the apartment after the Noyes family moved out after Celina’s death.

Much had been left behind, she said. “There were photo albums, a picture of
Celina in a cap and gown graduating from kindergarten, all left behind.”

Her youngest daughter has sometimes been fearful since Celina’s murder.

“She’s getting better, but at night she goes around the whole house and makes
sure all windows and doors are locked. It’s rough,” Chapple said.

“It’s gotten to the point we feel we are such small community that the authorities have forgotten about us.

“We have been left in the dark. It’s not fair.”

Chapple said she worries that Celina has been forgotten.

“My heart breaks for Celina,” Chapple said.

[/size]http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120708/NEWS03/707089967

I'm suspicious of the roommate, personally.

As for her bed time, or lack there of: My 9 year old currently goes to bed at 830. Quite often I'm in bed by 930. When she's older, probably not 11, but 13 or 14, if I go to bed at 930 I won't be expecting her to do the same. It's not her fault I go to bed super early and I won't punish her for it. However, my house has an alarm on it and 3 large dogs so I'll know if someone comes in, and I'll know if someone goes out.

Nearly a year after an 11-year-old girl vanished from her northern
New Hampshire home and was found slain a week later, no arrests have
been made, and investigators still aren’t revealing any details about
her death.The anniversary of Celina Cass’
disappearance and death has brought media back to West Stewartstown,
population 800, but locals say the fear and anxiety never subsided.
“It’s
not an old wound,” says Shannon Towle, owner of the local convenience
store. She says she and others are rankled daily by the lack of an
arrest.
Senior
Assistant State’s Attorney Jane Young says the investigation remains
open and active, with three state troopers from the nearby Twin Mountain
barracks assigned nearly full-time.
“Sometimes these cases are marathons, not sprints,” Young said. “It’s clearly not a cold case.”
Celina’s
body was retrieved from the Connecticut River on Aug. 1, near the
borders of Canada and Vermont and less than a quarter-mile from her
home. Prosecutors have labeled her death a homicide but have not
revealed how she died.
Young
acknowledged the community’s frustration with scant information from
authorities, but stressed her goal is to bring Celina’s killer or
killers to justice. That way, she said, authorities can ensure that they
obtain first-hand information from any suspects, rather than details
suspects might have learned from news reports on the case.
Celina’s
disappearance launched a massive search unprecedented in recent state
history, with more than 100 law enforcement officials turning the
Stewartstown Elementary School into a makeshift barracks. Searchers used
police dogs and helicopters. A mobile cellphone tower was trucked in to
enhance communications between teams in the field.
Meanwhile,
children under the watchful eye of parents distributed flyers bearing
Celina’s picture to drivers on the town’s main thoroughfare, a stone’s
throw from the girl’s house. She was last seen hunched over the family’s
computer at about 9 p.m. July 25, after watching her favorite
television show, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” with her
mother.
Her Facebook page, which vanished shortly after she did, carried the
post, “You can’t stand to live with your family but you can’t stand to
live without them” with a heart symbol where the punctuation would be.
Celina’s 13-year-old sister, Kayla, with whom she shared a room, was sleeping over at a friend’s house that night.
In
the days following her disappearance, candles burned on picnic tables
in a local park where children and adults held vigils to pray for
Celina’s return. Friends said she was timid, a stickler for getting her
homework done early and would not run away from home.
Her
body was located in the water near a dam and railroad trestle that is a
popular fishing spot for locals, easily accessible by a wide dirt path
and visible from the road. The vigil of hope turned to one of grief.
At
the time of her disappearance, Celina lived with her mother, Luisia,
her sister, her stepfather, Wendell Noyes, and 22-year-old Kevin
Mullaney — the son of one of Luisia’s former boyfriends.
Mullaney and Wendell Noyes have been subpoenaed to testify at grand jury proceedings on Celina’s case.
Mullaney
has been imprisoned since June 12 on convictions on charges unrelated
to the Celina Cass investigation. Those charges include reckless
conduct, receiving stolen property, possession of a weapon by a felon
and criminal mischief. He will not be eligible for parole until at least
January 2014.
Noyes,
47, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was committed to a
state psychiatric hospital in 2003 after breaking into the home of an
ex-girlfriend and threatening to harm her. He has been in and out of
hospitals since Celina disappeared.
“I’d
just as soon not talk,” Wendell Noyes said last week. Asked if he had
been warned not to talk about the case, he replied, “Yeah, more or
less,” but declined to say by whom.
Noyes’
mother, Eunice Richards, who was also subpoenaed to testify before the
grand jury, said the past year “has been a living hell for the whole
family.”
“It’s so sad, so sad,” Richards said. “They’ve got to have something to nail it to somebody.”
Celina’s mother separated from Wendell Noyes within months of her disappearance, after a year of marriage.
Celina
was cremated. Her mother and Kayla wear crosses containing some of
Celina’s ashes; the rest of the ashes are buried with her maternal
grandmother in Groveton.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/viewart/20120723/NEWS/307230006/One-year-later-no-arrest-missing-girl-s-death?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Mother Of Celina Cass Says The Last Year Has Been “Hell”

It will be one year since Celina Cass disappeared from her home in
tiny West Stewartstown, New Hampshire. A week later, divers found her
body in the Connecticut River about a half mile from her home.

As the anniversary approaches, Celina’s family is frustrated that no one has been arrested or charged.
Every day is a battle for me. I miss her so very very much,” says a teary Louisa Cass, Celina’s mother,

She describes the year since her daughter was murdered as “hell.” The
11-year-old was found at the bottom of a dam. All Louisa knows is that
her daughter was “brutally killed.”

While Louisa grieves, that killer walks free.

“We have a feeling we know who did this,” Louisa says. “But feeling and justification isn’t there. You have to have proof.”
Louisa won’t reveal who she thinks killed her daughter, except to say she believes it is a person she knows.

“Do you feel this person would do something to other children?” asked
WBZ-TV. “Yes and I fear for me and Kayla’s lives,” she answered,
referring to Celina’s older sister.

Louisa separated from Celina’s stepfather Wendell Noyes shortly after the murder. He was the subject of a number of questions during grand jury proceedings earlier this year.

WBZ-TV attempted to speak with Noyes but he closed the door on them.

The lead prosecutor on the case, Jane Young has never named a
suspect. But she now confirms investigators do have a working theory.
“The investigation is a focused investigation. We continue to gather
evidence to vet out whether our theory is accurate or not,” she
explained.

Young says the number of man hours devoted to the case are unprecedented.

Louisa wears Celina’s ashes in a cross around her neck, close to her
heart. She prays for the evidence that will finally solve this case. And
she hopes her daughter’s killer is haunted by what happened a year ago.

“I hope he lives a living hell,” she says. “I hope he goes through what I go through every day.”

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/07/19/mother-of-celina-cass-says-the-last-year-has-been-hell/

Authorities: No link seen with serial killer, Celina Cass

December 03. 2012 7:12PM
By MARK HAYWARD, New Hampshire Union Leader

Authorities said Monday there appears to be no connection between Celina Cass, the Coos County 11-year-old murdered 17 months ago, and Israel Keyes, a serial killer whose victims included a couple in neighboring Vermont. Keyes was found dead in his Anchorage, Alaska, jail cell Sunday.

Keyes has been implicated in the disappearance and believed murder of an Essex, Vt., couple in early June 2011, nearly two months before Cass was reported missing from her West Stewartstown home and then found a week later submerged in a Connecticut River impoundment.

Keyes, who was awaiting trial in the random abduction-murder of an Anchorage woman in February, also disposed of her body in water, using a chain saw to cut through ice and then slip her body into a lake outside of Anchorage.

A federal prosecutor in Alaska told the New Hampshire Union Leader that Keyes, 34, was not believed to be in New Hampshire during Cass' late July 2011 disappearance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis said investigators tracked Keyes' travel through credit cards, plane tickets and rental cars.

Records show he was in Alaska when Cass disappeared in late July.

"Our investigation indicates he was not in New Hampshire at that period of time," Feldis said.

Feldis said Keyes talked to investigators about several murders, and investigators believe he is responsible for four in Washington, one in upstate New York, the Vermont couple and Samantha Koenig, the 18-year-old Alaskan woman murdered in early February. He said Keyes never mentioned the Cass murder in his discussions with investigators.

He said authorities believe Keyes is responsible for more than seven murders.

"That's one of the tragedies here. We may never know what Israel Keyes did and may never know all his victims," Feldis said.

In New Hampshire, homicide prosecutor Jane Young said "our investigation into Celina's murder continues, and that death (of Keyes) does not impact the course of our investigation." She said state police did look into the possibility of Keyes involvement in the Cass murder after national news reported his connection to the disappearance of the Vermont couple, Bill and Lorraine Currier. Their bodies have not been found.

In January, New Hampshire authorities empaneled an investigative grand jury and called several witnesses involved in the Cass case, including people who were at the family's West Stewartstown home on the night of her disappearance. Nothing publicly has come of the grand jury work, and Young said she is barred from discussing grand jury proceedings.

She said leads still surface in the case, and investigators are reviewing past witness statements.

"There's not a week that goes by when I don't have contact with state police (about the Cass murder)," Young said. Asked if authorities have a suspect, she said, "At this juncture, we are not poised to make an arrest."

Before they can make an arrest, police need to assemble enough credible, admissible evidence to prove guilt, she said.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20121204/NEWS03/121209728

3 years on, girl's unsolved slaying haunts town

© AP Photo: Charles Krupa, File

15 hr ago | By LYNNE TUOHY of Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An 11-year-old girl whose disappearance prompted a massive search before her body was found against a dam in the Connecticut River remains a haunting presence in her small rural town.

Celina Cass was last seen hunched over a computer in her family's apartment in West Stewartstown on July 25, 2011. Three years later, no one has been charged with her death, which investigators have called a homicide.

As of the weekend, there were no public memorial services planned to commemorate the third anniversary of Celina's death, and resident Shannon Towle hopes it stays that way. The previous anniversaries have attracted hordes of media, she said, and only served to unnerve children still struggling to cope with the security of their town being shattered.

"The kids who were her close friends are still dealing with this," said Towle, whose family owns the gas station and convenience store across from Celina's apartment in northern New Hampshire. She said news of an arrest would be cause for celebration.

"Without that, it just kind of rubs it in your face that whoever did this is still out and about," Towle said.

Celina was reported missing July 26, and a trickle of investigators soon turned to scores. They turned the town's elementary school into a barracks and combed the woods and remote roads.

Neighbors stood along the town's main drag handing out fliers bearing her picture and description a stone's throw from the cordoned-off apartment house where she lived.

Hope faded to grief a week later when divers found her submerged body, less than a quarter mile from her home.

The case has yet to be added to the long list of unsolved murder cases investigated by the state's cold case unit.

"The initial team, including myself, continues to work on this," said prosecutor Jane Young, who heads the criminal bureau for the attorney general's office. "There has not been a period of time when it's been dormant or there haven't been leads to investigate."

She continued: "When there is sufficient evidence to prove a case against an individual or individuals beyond a reasonable doubt for Celina's murder, an arrest will occur."

At the time of her disappearance, Celina lived with her 13-year-old sister, her mother, Luisia Cass, her stepfather, Wendell Noyes, and 22-year-old Kevin Mullaney — the son of one of Luisia's former boyfriends.

Mullaney and Noyes were subpoenaed to testify at grand jury proceedings on Celina's case. Court documents show that Noyes had a history of psychiatric issues and was declared unfit to stand trial in a 2003 case in which he was charged with breaking into an ex-girlfriend's home and threatening her.

Mullaney is serving two to six years for receiving stolen property, reckless conduct and being a felon in possession of a handgun for crimes unrelated to Celina's case.

Celina's mother and Noyes didn't return recent calls to their phone numbers listed in public records. Cass separated from Noyes soon after her daughter's body was recovered.

The home where Celina was last seen alive was heavily damaged by fire in December and will likely be razed.

"We pray about it and talk about it and keep her alive by talking about her," said Kirsten Lyons, a school nurse who spoke at Celina's memorial service about the "happy, loving girl with a beautiful smile."

Lyons said there is widespread frustration that the case has not been solved.

"We recently had a case of someone grave-robbing in Colebrook, and it was solved in two weeks," Lyons said. "You wonder how that can be so quickly resolved when we have the death of a young girl coming up on three years and it's still not solved."



http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/ap/nation/years-on-girl-s-unsolved-slaying-haunts-town/article_62736e2e-1d2b-52a0-8fec-15535ed1e93b.html