ANGELA ALLEN - 16 yo - VanBuren AR

VAN BUREN, Ark. -- The search for a missing Van Buren teen continued Wednesday

Authorities with the Van Buren Police Department said Angela Allen, 16, disappeared Friday, and investigators believe she is in danger.


The FBI has joined the investigation, and Allen's family has reached out in hopes that someone has seen Allen or knows where she is.


The teen's grandmother, Colleen Allen, said she would go outside and blow off steam if she ever got angry and would come home. This time, she didn't come back.


"She did that Friday evening about 7 or 7:30 p.m., and she was gone about 10 minutes, and she never did come back home," Colleen Allen said.


"There has been no calls or no nothing, and that's just unlike her because she's always called, kept in contact with the family or someone," her aunt, Abigail Stultz, said.


Allen's family is looking everywhere, passing out flyers and working with the Morgan Nick Foundation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.


"She is so sweet and loving. Every time you see her, she hugs you," friend Lara Vanderbush said.


The family said Angela Allen is very active online and uses chat groups. They said she lived another life on the Internet.


"Unfortunately, that's what a lot of teenagers do now," Vanderbush said.


Family and friends wonder if she may have reached out to the wrong person.


"I think so, and that's what we're afraid of," Vanderbush said.


The family has searched phone records and has tried to find the location of her cellphone.


"No matter how small it might seem, it might be really important. Just call," Vanderbush said.


"Most of all, Angie, get a hold of someone so we know where you're at and if you're OK so we can have you home," Stultz said.


Anyone with information on Angela Allen's whereabouts is asked to call the Van Buren Police Department.

Read more: http://www.4029tv.com/news/30464800/detail.html#ixzz1mYBcHroh

Sebastian County investigators announced today, level 3
sex offender Lloyd Jones is a suspect in the disappearance of
16-year-old Angela Allen. He is being held in police custody on an
aggravated assault charge.

Allen has been missing since February
10th. Police say she left her mother's house to go for a walk around
7:30 p.m. and never returned.

Police say the two met online and arranged a meeting.

Dive
team members from the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office are searching
water near an area where Jones lives in the Vache Grass Creek.

Jones
was convicted of raping his estranged wife, which led to the level 3
status as a sex offender. Level three sex offenders are considered high
risk, according to the Arkansas Crime Information Center.

http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext?nxd_id=510762

Authorities in western Arkansas say
they've arrested a man in the case of a 16-year-old Van Buren girl who's
been missing since last week.
Angela Allen was reported missing
Saturday and the Southwest Times Record reports that authorities have
arrested a 36-year-old man with whom police believe Allen had a
relationship.

Investigators say the man led them to
an area near the Arkansas River north of Lavaca, where police are
searching for Allen with dive teams and dogs.

Van Buren Police and the Sebastian and Crawford County sheriffs say they believe the man was the last person to see the girl.

He's being held on an aggravated assault charge.

Police said the relationship between the two began on a social-media site and further developed via text messaging.
http://www.ktts.com/news/139556723.html

Sebastian County deputies confirm that a body has been found on land off
Highway 96 in north of Lavaca. Police say the land belongs to Lloyd
Jones’s family. Jones is in custody for the disappearance a missing Van
Buren teen Angela Allen.

Read more: http://www.4029tv.com/slideshow/news/30487452/detail.html#ixzz1mhUULrCw

Deputies: Human Remains Appear Female, Clothing Consistent with Description of Missing Teen

Human remains found in a barrel buried on property that belongs to
the family of convicted rapist Lloyd Jones Friday night, appear to be
female with "clothing consistent to the description" of a missing Van
Buren teen, according to Sebastian County deputies.
"It is important to note that this is not a positive ID of our victim," Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said.
Jones
is being held on an aggravated assault charge in connection with the
disappearance of 16-year-old Angela Allen. Sheriff Hollenbeck says Jones
will appear in court February 22, at 9 a.m.
A complete autopsy of the victim to determine cause of death and identificatioin will be conducted on Tuesday, the sheriff said.
According to Sheriff Hollenbeck, the barrel was buried three feet deep in a shallow grave.
Information
obtained from Jones led investigators to also search the Arkansas River
and bottoms north of Lavaca near where Jones lives Thursday and Friday.
Allen
has been missing since Feb. 10. That night around 7:30 p.m., Allen told
her grandmother she was going for a walk in her Van Buren neighborhood
and never returned, according to police.
Investigators believe
Allen and Jones met on a social media site and arranged a meeting. The
two had been communicating via text messages for several days, says
Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown.
Lead investigators with the Van Buren Police Department, Crawford County Sheriff's Office, Lavaca Police Department and the FBI are meeting on Tuesday in a joint and coordinated effort continue to follow up all leads on this case.
Stay with 5NEWSonline.com for more information on this developing story.
http://www.5newsonline.com/news/kfsm-human-remains-found-on-suspects-property-20120217,0,5379800.story

It's a waiting game for the
family of a missing Van Buren teen after authorities find a body with
clothes matching what the teen was last seen wearing.
Pictures and drawings of 16-year-old Angela Allen are displayed in the living room of her home waiting to welcome her back.
"There's still hope,” says family friend Lara Vanderbush, “Yes, we still have hope."
The Sebastian County
Sheriff's Office says the body of a woman was found buried in a barrel
Friday off Highway 96 near Lavaca. They say the victim's clothes are
consistent with what Allen was last seen wearing; however, authorities
have not yet identified the victim.
For family, it's a waiting game on autopsy results. They say they’re preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.
"The days are long,” says Allen’s Aunt Mary Harrison, “The days are really
long right now, so Tuesday I'm anxious, but I don't want to find out."
Investigators say the autopsy to determine cause of death and identification will
begin Tuesday. It's the same day convicted rapist Lloyd Jones is due in court.
Jones is currently being held at the Sebastian County
Detention Center in connection to Allen's disappearance. Detectives say
the body recovered Friday was also found on his family's property.
Despite the bleak outlook, friends and family enjoy talking about Allen and remain hopeful they’ll see her again.
"We're pulling together and just leaning on each other,” says Harrison, “We
have to. It's been hard though. It's been really hard."
“Every time she seen you, she would run and hug you and say she loved you,” says family friend Janell Garrett.
Friends and family say a candlelight vigil to honor Allen will be held Monday
at 7 p.m. at the Community Center on South 17 Street in Van Buren. The
event is open to everyone, but candles are still needed for the vigil.
A memorial account has also been set up at Citizen’s Bank. You can donate
to the Allen family under the account Angela Dawn Allen. Family members
say money left over from expenses will be donated to the Morgan Nick
Foundation who they say has helped them since the day Allen went missing.
http://www.dailyamerican.com/kfsm-missing-teens-family-waits-for-autopsy-results-20120219,0,2496150.story

Investigators say missing 16 year-old Angela Allen was corresponding with the main suspect in her disappearance, Lloyd Jones, through text message and a social networking site.

The Sebastian County sheriff took the opportunity Friday to encourage parents, to get more involved in their kids lives online, but some are asking whether law enforcement should do more to keep sex offenders off-line.

It's been eight years since Robert Combs was convicted of mailing child pornography from overseas to Arkansas.

"I did what they said I did, I really screwed up, I violated the boundaries, that's not me anymore," said Combs.

Now, he volunteers as an advocate and says his biggest challenge is making sure the law doesn't make it impossible for those who've paid their debts to society to find a place in it.

"If you can't find housing if you can't find employment and you don't have support in the community, there is a good chance you'll go back to prison," Combs added.

Right now authorities are investigating the case of a missing girl who's body may have been found stuffed in a barrel in Sebastian county and a sex offender she met online. The case is re-igniting the debate on whether sex offenders should have access to social networking sites.

Last week a Louisiana judge ruled the state's newest law banning sex offenders from many social networking sites violated the first amendment, and Combs agreed with the ruling.

Right now sex offenders are supposed to self-report email and social media use.

"Most of the sex offenders I come talk to in North Little Rock never mention they have any type of social networking or email addresses," said North Little Rock Police Detective Kasey Hanson.

Hanson says the web is an open field for sex offenders searching for prey.

"It's a tool for sex offenders and bad guys who want to continue what they've been doing with adults and maybe children," he added.

But he also says a law banning sex offenders from logging on, the way Facebook currently does, would be too hard to enforce.


http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext?nxd_id=511482

An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday after investigators searching
for a missing Van Buren teenager found a body stuffed inside a barrel.Sebastian
County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck says the human remains are female and
the clothing is consistent with what 16-year-old Angela Allen was
wearing when she disappeared Feb. 10. Investigators are still awaiting
identification of the body.
Police have arrested a 36-year-old Lavaca man on suspicion of aggravated assault in connection with Allen’s disappearance.
The
Times Record reports that investigators believe the man and Allen met
on a social media website and developed a relationship via text
messaging. Police say the man is a registered sex offender.
The sheriff says any additional charges against the man depend on the autopsy results.

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20120221/NEWS01/302210032/State-Brief

By the end of today I expect this storyline to be moved to Murdered.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:By the end of today I expect this storyline to be moved to Murdered.

Body Identified as Angela Adams.

http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext?nxd_id=511822

TomTerrific0420 wrote:By the end of today I expect this storyline to be moved to Murdered.

Yes, it's time to move it. I always hope they will be moved to "found" but as with this one, it seems inevitable sometimes that they will be moved to the murdered children section.

The Arkansas State Crime Lab used dental records to identify human
remains found in Sebastian County as 16-year-old Angela Allen of Van
Buren, who was reported missing by her grandmother more than a week ago.
The medical examiner ruled her cause of death as strangulation. At a news
conference Tuesday afternoon, Major Nickson said the medical examiner
did not say if there were any other signs of trauma or sexual assault.
The Sebastian County Sheriff's Office is seeking a warrant for a first
degree murder charge in connection with Allen’s death for 36-year-old
convicted rapist Lloyd Jones, of Lavaca. He is currently being held on
an aggravated assault charge at the Sebastian County Jail.
Court documents state that during a recorded interview with
his father at the jail, Jones admitted to the killing. When his father
asked what was going on, Jones stated "Did they find her?" and "I
panicked - I did it," according to the arrest warrant.Allen was
last seen on Feb. 10. According to police, she told her grandmother she
was going for a walk around 7:30 p.m. Allen never returned and was
reported missing the next day.
Allen's body was found inside a
blue plastic barrel buried on the property belonging to Jones' family
off Highway 96 in Lavaca, on Feb. 17.
According to the arrest
warrant, deputies could identify a human hand and a pair of shoes
through a hole that was cut inside the barrel.
Investigators say Jones began communicating with Allen on a social networking site called
Mbuzzy.com and arranged a meeting with her on the night she disappeared.
Police found that the two had communicated via text messages on their cell phones, as well.
The affidavits for a search warrant and a murder arrest states Jones told
investigators he picked Allen up that night at the Summit Hospital
parking lot in Van Buren. He planned to take her to his home in Lavaca,
but said he decided he shouldn't because his girlfriend would be upset,
according to the affidavit.
Jones told investigators took Allen
down by the Arkansas River in an area off Highway 253 in Lavaca,
commonly known as the "Mud Town Bottoms," and the two began "making out."
The affidavit states Jones became upset with Allen after she told him she was only 16.
Jones said he forcibly struck her in the chest with both hands, knocking her
into and under the water, according to the affidavit. The document
states he claimed he left her there. However, the medical examiner found
no fluid in her lungs, according to the affidavit for warrant of arrest.
The affidavit also states that Amanda Cox, one of Jones'
girlfriend at the time of his arrest, said that his clothes were covered
in mud when he came home.
Investigators searched Jones' home and
recovered several pieces of evidence including his cell phone, hard
drive files and computers.
A memorial account has also been set up
at Citizen’s Bank. You can donate to the Allen family under the account
Angela Dawn Allen. Family members say money left over from expenses
will be donated to the Morgan Nick Foundation who they say has helped
them since the day Allen went missing.
http://www.kspr.com/news/kfsm-autopsy-confirms-human-remains-belong-to-missing-van-buren-teen-20120221,0,4886889.story

I wish there were a way to convince young girls not to communicate with strangers on social media sites. This happens so often, yet girls are so naive and think it will never happen to them. RIP Angela. I hope your story will save other girls in the future.

There must be some desperate women out there. Did you notice the articles say he has "girlfriends." Why in the world would a woman in her right mind go out with a sex offender, let alone several. He looks like a scuzbag too. C'mon women friends...please make better choices and know who the heck you are going out with. I hope this jerk gets the death penalty this time.

Wonder if they can tie him to other "missing" girls.

Kids that age don't have the maturity to know how dangerous making friends on the internet can be. A good reason to keep a family computer in the family room out in the open. A good reason to check up on teenagers and see what they are doing on line.

Poor little girl. This POS is the kind that will whine and beg for mercy. He doesn't deserve anything, least of all mercy.

A convicted rapist accused of killing a 16-year-old girl he met
online pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder Wednesday, several days
after authorities found the girl's body in a blue, plastic barrel in western Arkansas.


A judge appointed a public defender to represent Lloyd
Jones, 36, in the case of Angela Allen's death. The public defender's
office said an attorney hasn't yet been assigned.

He was being held at the Sebastian County jail on $1 million bond.

Allen went missing Feb. 10 after telling a relative she
was going for a walk. Her body was found Friday inside the barrel on
land owned by Jones' brother near Lavaca, about 15 miles east of Fort Smith.

Authorities said Jones told investigators that he picked
the teenager up Feb. 10 at a hospital parking lot in Van Buren and took
her to the Arkansas River. Court documents allege he told investigators
he decided not to take her to his home in nearby Lavaca because "his
girlfriends might become upset with him."

According to the documents, Jones said he was making out
with Allen, but then "violently pushed her into the water and left her
there" after she told him her age.

Sheriff's deputies searching land owned by Jones' brother
found a body and identified it as Allen using dental records. A
preliminary autopsy showed she died of strangulation and that no fluid was in her lungs.

Officers tracked down Jones after finding multiple text
messages on the teen's cellphone from his number, a sheriff's
investigator wrote in an affidavit. Authorities discovered that Jones
was convicted of rape in 2001 and found him by tracing his cellphone.

Sheriff's spokesman Maj. Kevin Nickson said Jones was living with his parents, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend and nephew.

One of the girlfriends told investigators that Jones
would take his laptop to Starbucks to talk to people through social networking websites.

Jones told authorities he used one site, Mbuzzy.com,
to communicate with Allen, who also had an account with that site,
sheriff's investigator Anthony Sacco wrote. Court documents allege that
Jones also told investigators that when he and Allen were at the river,
he hit her in the chest and knocked her into the water.

"He thought that (Angela) might have been unable to swim,
because her arms might have been injured when she was struck," Sacco wrote.

One of Jones' girlfriends told authorities that his clothes and shoes were covered in mud when he came home that night.

Authorities arrested him last week in connection with
Allen's disappearance. While he was in jail, authorities said, Jones'
father stopped by and asked him what was going on.

During the recorded visit, authorities allege that Jones asked, "Did they find her?" and said, "I panicked _ I did it."

Court records filed in 2001 show a jury found Jones
guilty of rape after a prosecutor said he held a box cutter to a woman's
throat, duct-taped her mouth and sexually assaulted her. A judge
sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

He was paroled in 2008 and discharged in 2010, according to a prison spokeswoman.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/ark-man-pleads-not-guilty-in-death-of-teen/article_38cf82f0-8f8f-59c7-ac0e-d6c14bab805d.html#ixzz1nB486aRm

Whenever Colleen Allen called, she knew her adopted daughter Angela would come home -- with a slight delay to be expected, because folks in their western Arkansas neighborhood inevitably wanted to talk to the teenager with the big heart.
"It'd take her maybe 10 or 15 minutes because she'd always have to stop to visit Mom No. 25 or Mom No. 5, because all of these other parents adopted her just like she was a member of their family," Colleen Allen, who is also the girl's biological grandmother, told HLN's Nancy Grace on Friday.

But just over three hours after Allen tried to reach her on her cell phone the night of February 10, 16-year-old Angela still wasn't back from her "walk around the block -- which she had done hundreds of times." And when she woke up Saturday morning, Angela's bed hadn't been touched.

"I said, 'Oh my god, something's happened,'" Allen said.

Her nightmare came true more than a week later, when cadaver dogs detected the presence of human remains on property belonging to the brother of Lloyd Jones, a 36-year-old convicted rapist, according to an arrest affidavit.

Investigators dug up a "large, blue, plastic barrel," in which sheriff's deputies soon noticed a "human hand and a pair of shoes through a hole," the affidavit stated. Days later, the body inside was identified as Angela Allen's.

On Wednesday, Jones pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the girl's death.

His court-appointed lawyer, Rita Watkins, confirmed that he is being held on $1 million cash bond. She said Thursday that while she'd met with Jones, they hadn't discussed the case yet.

Authorities, however, have laid out what they claim Jones said in the arrest affidavit.

Jones came to investigators' attention after they learned he and Angela Allen met each other over mBuzzy, a social network that helps "users to instantly locate and IM with new friends using your wireless devices location," as described on the service's website. The pair also had exchanged text messages, according to the affidavit.

After being read his Miranda rights, Jones admitted to picking up Angela in her hometown of Van Buren, Arkansas, and "making out" with her by the Arkansas River, according to the arrest affidavit.

When he learned the girl was 16, Jones told police "he violently pushed her into the water and left her there."

Investigators pressed on, getting consent from Jones' brother to search his property outside Lavaca where he was building a shack.

The affidavit also details a February 19 meeting between Jones and his father at the Sebastian County Detention Center. In a recording of the meeting, Jones is heard saying, "I panicked -- I did it."

Two days later, an autopsy revealed that Angela died after being strangled, with evidence of trauma around her throat and no fluid left in her lungs, said the affidavit.

According to court documents, Jones was arrested in December 2000 on rape charges and convicted less than six months later.

What comes next for Jones is secondary for Colleen Allen. She's still struggling to come to grips with the idea that Angela's dreams of becoming a registered nurse will never be realized.

Nor is it easy to understand how a girl who brought so many smiles to others and "just loved life" could have her own extinguished so suddenly.

"Angela was a fun-loving child, she was trusting, she loved children, she loved her school, she loved her church," Colleen Allen recalled. "She would find the most simplest thing (and) take the simplest joy out of it."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/24/justice/arkansas-girl-killed/index.html