scaldwellk
06-06-2007, 04:54 PM
Why do people have to be so sick?
Police believe body is that of missing Kan. teen
Forensic tests point to Kelsey Smith; search for man seen on tape continues
MSNBC video
Police believe body is missing girl
June 6: Overland Park, Kansas, Police Chief John Douglass announces that a body discovered today, is likely that of missing teen Kelsey Smith.
MSNBC
Updated: 25 minutes ago
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Police found a body believed to be missing teenager Kelsey Smith on Wednesday, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said.
Smith, 18, had been missing since Saturday night, when she was apparently abducted from a Target store parking lot just in Overland Park, Kan.
Douglass said the body was found across the state line at a Grandview, Mo., lake. Positive identification was pending, but Douglass said volunteer searchers could stop their work.
Story continues below ↓
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Investigators have been seeking a young, goateed man videotaped leaving the Target store moments before the apparent abduction.
The man had not been identified and was not being called a suspect, but he might have information about Smith's disappearance, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglas said.
Kelsey’s parents, Greg and Missy Smith, said Wednesday on “The Early Show” that they do not know the man in the surveillance video.
“None of our immediate family recognize him,” Greg Smith told CBS.
Police on Tuesday released surveillance video showing an older-model Chevrolet pickup truck that they believe was involved in the teen’s disappearance. They earlier released video showing a woman they believe is Smith being forced into her car.
Just before 7 p.m. Saturday, the 1970s-model pickup pulled into the parking lot aisle where Smith had parked about one minute earlier, police said. A man is seen leaving the pickup and going into the Target store Smith had entered.
Smith, who graduated from high school less than two weeks ago, left the store around 7:10 p.m. and put packages into her car when someone ran toward her, police said.
“You see two individuals come together, and there is no separation of those two individuals,” Douglas said. “So it is easy to conclude there was some kind of incident at the back of the car. Then the car leaves.”
But the tape was “just not detailed enough” and was being enhanced at a forensics lab, Douglas said.
Click for related content
TODAY: Teen’s family pleads for her safe return
MSNBC analyst Clint Van Zandt describes the case
Web site: Findkelsey.com
“We see activity,” Douglas said of the videotape. “We are moving on the assumption — because the prudent thing to do is to treat this as an abduction — that there was some kind of force involved.”
More than 50 detectives and officers from the area and the FBI were involved in the case, he said.
About two hours after Smith disappeared, her grandparents found her gray 1987 Buick in a parking lot at a mall in suburban Kansas City with her purse and packages still inside.
Investigators said they don’t know if Smith was picked at random or abducted by someone she knew. But Kelsey Smith’s 23-year-old sister, Stevie Hockersmith, said she was sure her sister did not know the man police were seeking.
Police believe body is that of missing Kan. teen
Forensic tests point to Kelsey Smith; search for man seen on tape continues
MSNBC video
Police believe body is missing girl
June 6: Overland Park, Kansas, Police Chief John Douglass announces that a body discovered today, is likely that of missing teen Kelsey Smith.
MSNBC
Updated: 25 minutes ago
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Police found a body believed to be missing teenager Kelsey Smith on Wednesday, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said.
Smith, 18, had been missing since Saturday night, when she was apparently abducted from a Target store parking lot just in Overland Park, Kan.
Douglass said the body was found across the state line at a Grandview, Mo., lake. Positive identification was pending, but Douglass said volunteer searchers could stop their work.
Story continues below ↓
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Investigators have been seeking a young, goateed man videotaped leaving the Target store moments before the apparent abduction.
The man had not been identified and was not being called a suspect, but he might have information about Smith's disappearance, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglas said.
Kelsey’s parents, Greg and Missy Smith, said Wednesday on “The Early Show” that they do not know the man in the surveillance video.
“None of our immediate family recognize him,” Greg Smith told CBS.
Police on Tuesday released surveillance video showing an older-model Chevrolet pickup truck that they believe was involved in the teen’s disappearance. They earlier released video showing a woman they believe is Smith being forced into her car.
Just before 7 p.m. Saturday, the 1970s-model pickup pulled into the parking lot aisle where Smith had parked about one minute earlier, police said. A man is seen leaving the pickup and going into the Target store Smith had entered.
Smith, who graduated from high school less than two weeks ago, left the store around 7:10 p.m. and put packages into her car when someone ran toward her, police said.
“You see two individuals come together, and there is no separation of those two individuals,” Douglas said. “So it is easy to conclude there was some kind of incident at the back of the car. Then the car leaves.”
But the tape was “just not detailed enough” and was being enhanced at a forensics lab, Douglas said.
Click for related content
TODAY: Teen’s family pleads for her safe return
MSNBC analyst Clint Van Zandt describes the case
Web site: Findkelsey.com
“We see activity,” Douglas said of the videotape. “We are moving on the assumption — because the prudent thing to do is to treat this as an abduction — that there was some kind of force involved.”
More than 50 detectives and officers from the area and the FBI were involved in the case, he said.
About two hours after Smith disappeared, her grandparents found her gray 1987 Buick in a parking lot at a mall in suburban Kansas City with her purse and packages still inside.
Investigators said they don’t know if Smith was picked at random or abducted by someone she knew. But Kelsey Smith’s 23-year-old sister, Stevie Hockersmith, said she was sure her sister did not know the man police were seeking.