SARAH KINSLOW - 14 yo (2001) - Greenville TX

SARAH KINSLOW
DOB: Jun 14, 1986
Missing:
May 1, 2001
Height: 5'4" (163 cm)
Eyes: Blue
Race: White
Age
at disappearance: 14
Age Now: 23
Sex: Female
Weight: 105 lbs
(48 kg)
Hair: Blonde
Missing From: GREENVILLE TX United
States
Sarah was last seen in Greenville, Texas and has not been seen
since. She may have traveled to the Beaverton, Oregon area. Sarah has a
tattoo of the letter "I" on the inside of her ankle, a chicken pox scar
on her left temple, and her teeth are crooked. Sarah may go by the
nickname of Chiquita.

Greenville Police Department (Texas) -
1-903-457-2900

Website : sarahkinslow

Hey, I have tried to leave this a couple of other places, but the posts somehow don't work or get removed. I will try to be as specific as possible, but it is difficult as it has been a while, and at the time I didn't believe it would be necessary to be able to recall the events in the future.

Somewhere not long after the start of school in the fall of 2001, I went to Walmart with my kids to get some school supplies. As we were exiting our vehicle, I saw Sarah Kinslow getting into a pickup truck in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Greenville. My kid waved to her as she was getting out. This was broad daylight and the place was packed. I mentioned to my child, who is the same age as Sarah, wasn't that the girl they sent the note home from school in our start of school packet she was missing? My child affirmed it was indeed Sarah Kinslow, and she named her. My daughter told me even at the time the note was sent home, everyone knew she was living with someone out in the county just her parents wanted to force her to come home. According to my daughter, there were some pretty severe problems at home. Because of that, authorities were unwilling to force the girl back home and she thought something was being done about making the situation permanent.

About a year ago, I by complete chance happened across the page for Sarah on the web and left this information. From what happened when I submitted, it appeared the owners have to approve postings in some way, but I was never contacted and my post didn't seem to show up. The reason I am here posting tonight, I was watching a missing person program with my kids and this whole situation came up. My child who is the same age said a message they left also never appeared, nor was there any contact. I thought someone should know at least as late as fall 2001, Sarah appeared perfectly healthy, and smiled and waved at us. She did not seem at all concerned we saw her right there in broad daylight in the parking lot of a store right in Greenville. My child maintains she was told by other children the family was fully aware of what was happening, just didn't like it. My child also says other kids in Greenville who were closer friends with Sarah spoke with her before and after our sighting, she thinks possibly via myspace or cell phone texting. According to my child at that time, Sarah had walked over to a back road or street near her home to meet the people she was with when she left. My child at the time named the street, but neither of us recall the name now.

Trying to remember details of our sighting, what I recall for certain:

Sarah quite clearly did not appear to be under any duress. She was laughing and talking with the two people she was with as she approached the vehicle, and she waved to us with a smile.

Sarah was dressed in completely different clothing from when she left. She had on shorts and a light top of some sort.

The vehicle they got into was an older pickup truck. I think something like late 60s or early 70s, but may have been as recent as late 70s. I'm not terribly good with types of vehicles.

The people with her appeared to be a father and son. Both had darker hair than Sarah, and her hair was slightly darker than the big picture above.

I now wish I had maybe called someone at the time, but it just seemed so unlikely someone could still be missing yet obviously have been walking around the local Wal-mart where everyone shopped. That was why I didn't really stop to question my kid's assertion the family knew who she was with and why.

Thanks "me" for your post. I can assure you that first person accounts such as yours will not be removed unless they are derogatory or inflammatory.

You indicate that there was some trouble at her family home and that she chose to live elsewhere. While I applaud her decison to escape she chose the wrong pathway to accomplish this. At that age she should have been aware that there are authorities who will act as her advocate in an abusing situation.. Her actions teach others to run away from the problem instead of seeking help. Meanwhile these abusers, as you have intimated, go on with life as "relatively normal" and perhaps abusing others in their path.

It's a difficult decison to "blow in" your guardians but it must be taken in order to stop the cycle.

Please do not misunderstand. I do not know Sarah Kinslow's family AT ALL. I have never met them to my knowledge. I have no idea if there actual was any sort of abuse at home. I only reported what was told to me as being the reason she was seen by me shopping right there in Greenville shortly after flyers were sent home with all students from her school. Because Greenville is a pretty small town and I saw Sarah clearly having spent some time shopping at a popular local store where I could not have been the only person who recognized her from the flyers that were pretty well blanketing town, I made an assumption. I assumed whatever the truth might be, it had to be impossible for her family and authorities not to hear about the shopping trip pretty quickly. That is the reason I didn't call anyone at the time. I really thought the whole thing boiled down to some sort of family drama which was in the process of being handled. It came as a complete shock to me to find years later she is still listed all over the net as still missing, as it sure seemed like she wouldn't be prancing around town openly if she was still a runaway at the time I saw her. Just wanted to make sure no one makes the same sort of mistake I made. Clearly something was going on, but I am not the one to be able to give you complete, correct details. I just reported the details of what I saw and what went on at the time which kept me from flagging down an officer at the time it happened.

While Sarah is now of the age of majority (and thereby doesn't legally have to declare anything) it would be nice if she could just confirm her well-being and her desire to remain without family contact. The fact is that she will always be a missing person until she isn't. Only she can clear this up.

The eleventh anniversary of the disappearance of 14-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Kinslow is a painful reminder for her mother.


"It is very difficult not knowing where she is," Louise Kinslow told
The Huffington Post. "Somebody out there knows something and I just wish
they would come forward."



Sarah Kinslow was last seen by her parents on May 1, 2001, when her
dad dropped her off at Greenville Middle School in her hometown of
Greenville, Texas, at approximately 7:20 a.m. It was not until after the
school day ended that the Kinslows were notified their daughter had not
attended any of her classes.


When Louise Kinslow spoke to her daughter's friends, they said her
daughter was supposed to skip school with them that day and meet up at
nearby East Mount Cemetery. Concerned, Kinslow contacted police and
reported the teen missing.


Authorities took an article of Sarah Kinslow's clothing from the
family home and brought a tracking dog to the school. Investigators were
able to pick up her scent where she had exited her father's car. The
dog followed the scent around the school and to a location two blocks
away, where it ended in the middle of a street.


"The dog ran out of scent and I feel like at that point she might
have gotten into [a vehicle]," former Greenville Police Chief Barry
Parris said in a May 4, 2001, interview with the Herald Banner.


During the course of the investigation, a teen witness told police
she thought she saw Sarah Kinslow getting into a light blue truck,
driven by a white male, at the location where the scent trail ended.


The case took a twist on May 7, when Sarah Kinslow's boyfriend,
18-year-old Quinlan resident Curtis Wayne Bell, was arrested for
aggravated sexual assault of a child. Bell, according to police, was one
of the individuals the teen was supposed to meet the day she
disappeared. Bell was freed on $50,000 bond.


Louise Kinslow said she was aware her daughter had been seeing Bell,
but said she did not approve of the relationship and did not allow her
daughter to be alone with him. In a diary found after she went missing,
her daughter wrote of her love for Bell and her desire for them to run
away and be together.


According to Louise Kinslow, her daughter had never run away in the
past and was unprepared to be gone for an extended period of time when
she went to school that day.


"She did not take her purse, extra clothes or any personal belongings," she said.


In the weeks that followed, police received tips placing the missing
teen in various locations, including a Greenville gas station, where a
clerk claimed to recognize her from a missing person flyer. This time,
however, police had surveillance footage from the station.


"She is seen on the video with Bell," Louise Kinslow said. "We have
it on tape. He initially denied it was her and said it was a different
girl. When he was asked about it again later, he denied he was the
person in the video."


The last sighting of Sarah Kinslow, although not confirmed, occurred on December 25, 2001.


"My neighbors said they saw her in a car in Quinlan," her mother said. "They are positive it was her."


Authorities were provided with the vehicle's license plate number and
traced it to an owner in another town. When police questioned the man,
he denied knowing Sarah Kinslow, and the lead fizzled.


The case quickly went cold.
In July 2009, Bell pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault of a child. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 10 years of deferred adjudication probation.


Sometime around the nine-year anniversary of Kinslow's disappearance, her parents found an anonymous note in their mailbox.


"It didn't say who it was from," Louise Kinslow said. "In essence, it
told us to speak with a specific individual. The note said if we did,
'I believe you will find the answers you are looking for.'"


The woman, according to Kinslow, was the ex-wife of a close friend of
Bell's. But she denied any knowledge of Sarah Kinslow's whereabouts.


The Kinslows said they later discovered the identity of the individual who had put the note in their mailbox.


"After we convinced him to talk, he said he heard our daughter had
been killed and disposed of in a rock quarry that is full of water,"
Louise Kinslow said. "I have begged police to please go look there and
nothing has been done."


Is the story about Sarah Kinslow's demise fact or fiction? Nobody
knows yet. One thing is certain though: There have been no confirmed
sightings since 2001.


Greenville's current police chief, Daniel Busken, agreed to respond to questions but was unable to do so by press time.


As for Bell, he was in the news again last month, when his probation was revoked and he was sentenced to nine years in prison. Meanwhile, time has left Louise Kinslow hopeless.


"I think someone has done something to her. I do not believe she is alive," she said.


"We will have a balloon release today to mark the anniversary of her
disappearance," she added. "The balloon release will be a celebration of
her life and the time we had with her."


The balloon release is open to the public and will be held at 7 p.m.
at Southwood Christian Church in Greenville, at 1304 Jack Finney Blvd.


Louise Kinslow said she is hoping members of the public will come out
to show their support, but is doubtful, given the attendance of
previous years.


"The newspaper here won't cover things like this," she said. "I have
contacted them before and said, 'please publish a tiny article saying
the public is invited,' and they won’t do it. So, nobody ever comes."


For now, the Kinslow family's search for answers will continue.


"It is a daily struggle," Louise Kinslow said. "I know it is a cold
case, but I would like to see something done. I would like to have some
answers. I would like to know where my daughter is. We love her and we
miss her."


Sarah Kinslow would be 25 years old today. At the time of her
disappearance, she was 5'4" tall, 105 lbs., with blonde hair and blue
eyes. Her teeth were crooked and she had several ear piercings, a tattoo
of the letter "I" on the inside of her ankle, a chicken pox scar on her
left temple, and two chicken pox scars on her left cheek. There are two websites and a Facebook page devoted to the case.


Anyone with information is asked to call the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) or
the Greenville Police Department at 903-457-2900.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/sarah-kinslow-missing_n_1467959.html