KAYLEAH WILSON - 12 yo (2010) - Greeley CO

A 12-year-old Colorado girl missing for seven weeks before she was
found dead near her home was remembered as a girl who loved to laugh,
and dreamed of becoming a veterinarian and visiting Ireland.Tuesday's
memorial in Greeley for Kayleah Wilson drew about 400 mourners. The
girl's mother, April Wilson, thanked neighbors who helped search after
Kayleah vanished March 28 on her way to a friend's birthday party.Wilson's
body was found last week in an irrigation ditch about a half-mile from
her house. Police say homicide is suspected, but no one has been charged
in the death.

April Wilson fought tears and said Kayleah "will be missed and
loved."An 18-year-old man has been charged with having a sexual
relationship with Kayleah.

Mourners Tuesday were told that Kayleah
Wilson's killer eventually will face justice either on Earth or
elsewhere.
"That person, one day, will stand before God. And he will avenge her
death," said Pastor Arron Chambers of Journey Christian Church.
Chambers presided over a memorial service that drew about 450
mourners to the Plaza Hotel and Conference Center Ballroom in downtown
Greeley.
Kayleah, who loved Ireland and snowball fights, cherished above all
peace and forgiveness.
"This just doesn't make sense," Chambers said. "She should be outside
laughing with her friends and enjoying this beautiful day.
"She should have made it to that birthday party."
Kayleah, 12, was reportedmissing March 28 after she failed to show up at a friend's
birthday party. Police and volunteer searchers combed the area around
the Wilson family apartment near the Greeley Mall for weeks. Her body
was found last week in a drainage ditch about a half-mile from her home.

The Weld County coroner ruled her death a homicide. Robert Laurencio
Montoya, 18, is in the Weld County Jail on $100,000 bail, facing charges
of sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child as a pattern
of abuse in connection with his reported relationship with Kayleah.

Montoya on Tuesday waived a hearing to reduce his $100,000 bail. He
is due back in court June 15.
Greeley police have not named Montoya as a suspect in her
disappearance or death but say he is a "person of interest."
Kayleah's mother, April Wilson, spoke briefly Tuesday and thanked
those who searched for her daughter. "It's just so sad that it took a
tragedy like this to let people know something I already knew — what an
amazing little girl she was."
Kayleah's brother, Mackenzie, said he took a lot of long walks with
his sister in attempt to iron out their problems. "She was the kindest
little sister."
Kayleah was entranced by Irelanda nd wanted to travel there with her mother,
Chambers said. She also wanted to be a veterinarian and wore a pink hat
decorated with a button that said: "No Place For Hate."
She also was a regular churchgoer, Chambers said, and attended
services the day she disappeared. No one can explain why she was taken
from her family and friends, he said, adding that her new journey is
just beginning.
"Kayleah is now living in the glory of God's love," he said.
After Chambers spoke, a montage of Kayleah's life was projected on a
huge screen that was bordered by flowers and pink, black and silver
balloons. Musical selections were from Celtic Thunder, Kayleah's
favorite group.
Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner, who vowed last week that finding
Kayleah was a top priority in his department, attended the memorial, as
did parents and teachers from Brentwood Middle School, where Kayleah was
a sixth-grader.
The memorial was "beautiful and thoughtful," said Cheyenne Parmer,
14, who knew Kayleah at Brentwood. "I know she would have loved it too."

Another Brentwood student, 14-year-old Cassandra Mathias, said
Kayleah's death has made her more suspicious of Greeley.
"I always thought Greeley was a nice little town and people were
safe," Cassandra said. "Now it makes me think that whoever did this to
Kayleah might still be out there."

Kayleah Wilson's boyfriend waives bond hearing
Web Staff
KDVR Denver
2:55 PM MDT, May 25, 2010


Robert Montoya in Weld Co. District Court.
(May 25, 2010)
GREELEY, Colo. - The man accused of having a sexual relationship with Kayleah Wilson, the 12-year-old
Greeley girl whose body was found in an irrigation ditch last week, appeared in court for the first time Tuesday.

Robert Laurencio Montoya, 18, waived a hearing to reduce his $100,000 bond. A judge set his next court date for June 15.

Montoya's public defender, Kevin Strobel, and a woman at Montoya's home declined to comment Tuesday.

Police say Montoya's arrest is "separate and distinct" from the murder case currently under investigation. They would not, however, exclude
Montoya as a possible 'person of interest' in Kayleah's death.

Kayleah Wilson disappeared March 28 after she left home in south Greeley to attend a birthday party.

This spawned an intense search involving more than 50 FBI agents, dozens of Greeley police and Weld County sheriff's deputies.

Police will not reveal the cause of Kayleah's death, saying it could compromise the investigation and eventual prosecution
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-montoya-kayleah-case-txt,0,3222991.story?track=rss

May 25, 2010 7:09 pm US/Mountain
Kayleah Wilson
Remembered In Tearful Service
By P. Solomon Banda, AP
Writer
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4/AP) ― A 12-year-old girl missing for seven weeks before she was found dead near her home was remembered as a girl who loved to laugh and dreamed ofbecoming a veterinarian and visiting Ireland.

Tuesday's memorialfor Kayleah Wilson drew about 400 mourners. The girl's mother, April Wilson, thanked neighbors and complete strangers
who came to Greeley to help search after Kayleah vanished March 28 on her way to a friend's birthday party.

Wilson's body was found last week in an irrigation ditch about a half-mile from her house. Homicide is suspected, but no one has been
charged, police said.

April Wilson fought tears and said Kayleah "will be missed and loved."

"She'ssafe," her mother said.

An 18-year-old man has been charged with having a sexual relationship with Kayleah from January until March 28, the day she disappeared,
according to court documents. Robert Laurencio Montoya appeared in courtin the morning and his attorney waived a bond reduction hearing. Montoya's next court date is June 15.

A woman who spoke through a door at an address listed for Montoya declined to comment, as did Montoya's public defender, Kevin
Strobel.

Montoya's case is "separate and distinct" from the homicide investigation, police said.

Kayleah was also remembered as a girl who enjoyed plants and flowers, jewelry making,drawing and making bath salts with her mother. She also enjoyed Celtic music and had a favorite band, Celtic Thunder, that inspired
her to someday visit Ireland. She also was slightly deaf and knew some sign language, including the symbol for love, which Kayleah would
sometimes flash at her mother, said Journey Christian Church Pastor Arron Chambers.

He also shared a poem that Kayleah wrote and framed for her mother in which she describes a little girl with no food. Kayleah wrote that when she asked God what he was going to do about it, the answer was "I made you."

"Kayleah believed thatGod made her to help people and to bring hope to their lives," Chambers said, adding that hope is what fueled the
community to spend hours, days and weeks searching for Kayleah.

"She was more than the cute girl you see on TV and the flyers on the street," he said.

Chambers also tried to reassure mourners that Kayleah's killer would be found. "The person who took her life will face justice. We're all hoping it happens soon," he said. But Chambers also pointed to a button that Kayleah wore on her favorite hat with the saying: "No place for hate."

Kayleah was a sixth-grader at Brentwood Middle School a few blocks from her home. Several of her schoolmates attended the service.

"When she came up to me at school she told me how excited she was that it was almost summer," said Cheyenne Parmer, 14.

Pink, silver and black balloons framed aprojection screen where mourners saw pictures of Kayleah at variousevents -- the beach, a
birthday party, a Christmas from some years ago, and also pictures that have become familiar in the past weeks -- her school picture that was used on a missing person flyer and another where she's wearing oven mitts.

Meanwhile, Greeley Police Sgt. Joe Tymkowych, who attended the service, said investigators were reviewing their missing person investigation and looking at a range of individuals who had the time and opportunity to killKayleah.

"It's scary how there's somebody still out there and how it happen to somebody else," said Cassandra Mathias, 14, another of Kayleah's
schoolmates.
http://cbs4denver.com/local/Kayleah.Wilson.tearful.2.1715048.html