Iowa, Elizabeth Collins(8yrs), Lyric Cook (10 yrs)

[Pawleys]

Search on for missing Iowa girls; 'It's like they vanished,' official says


By the CNN Wire Staff
July 16, 2012 -- Updated 1728 GMT (0128 HKT)

Video at the link: edition.cnn.com/2012/07/16/us/iowa-missing-cousins/index.html


A search was in its fourth day Monday for two girls last seen riding their bicycles near a lake in Evansdale, Iowa, as authorities suspended a volunteer effort that drew hundreds over the weekend.

The girls -- 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins and 10-year-old Lyric Cook -- were last seen by their grandmother on Friday when the two, who are cousins, left her home to ride their bicycles, authorities said.

A massive volunteer search effort over the weekend failed to locate the girls.

"As we evaluate the accomplishments and results of the searches conducted this past weekend, we are not asking for any additional assistance from the general public," Evansdale Police Chief Kent Smock said in an e-mail early Monday sent to news outlets.

He said the volunteer effort is suspended for now.

"We really have nothing new that I can tell you, other than the fact the search is continuing," Rick Abben, chief deputy for the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, told reporters Monday. "... We're still looking for both of them. There's no new evidence or anything that's been found."

Nearly 1,000 volunteers helped in the search Saturday, and nearly 900 on Sunday, he said.

Calls are coming in to a tip line, he said, and each bit of information is being checked out. Police ask that anyone who may have seen the girls on Friday contact authorities, he said.

Abben said the volunteer effort was suspended because authorities did not feel there was a benefit in having more people search. However, he said, "we can always call those folks back out."

There are more questions than answers about what happened to the girls, whose bicycles were located hours after they were reported missing near Meyers Lake.

Since then, authorities say, little evidence has turned up.

"It's like they vanished," Abben told CNN affiliate KWWL. "There's just nothing."

The search for the girls remains a missing persons case.

"We have no indication of foul play," Abben said.

He said there has been nothing to indicate problems with "custodial issues."

"We've talked with the parents and they've been cooperative," he told CNN affiliate KGAN.

He told reporters Monday there was no indication the girls were outside Evansdale, a town of about 4,700 located about 12 miles southeast of Cedar Falls.

"Obviously, this is something that's very different for the community," Abben said. "... We have two missing girls, and we have no idea why."

The family now wonders if the girls were abducted, said Tammy Brousseau, an aunt to both girls.

"In the area where the bikes were found there is a very brushy area where somebody could have pulled up -- maybe had been watching them for a little bit of time," she said.

Elizabeth's parents say it gets harder every day that passes without news of the girls.

"Positive thinking is all we have right now and our faith that God will bring them back," Elizabeth's mother, Heather Collins, told KGAN on Sunday.

The girls' grandmother, Wylma Cook, told the CNN affiliate she was the last person to see them.

"They asked me to go for a short bike ride, and I said go ahead for a short bike ride. They never came back," she said.

Authorities began dragging Meyers Lake over the weekend for a sign of the girls.

The more time that goes by, the harder it gets for Wylma Cook to remain positive, she said.

"Time is what bothers me," Cook said. "Too long, something's not right."

Agents from the FBI and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation joined the search on Saturday, authorities said.

CNN's Leslie Tripp contributed to this report.

[meme]

Elizabeth Collins, Lyric Cook-Morrissey: Authorities "grasping for straws" in missing Iowa girls case, sheriff deputy says

July 16, 2012

DES MOINES, Iowa - Authorities say they've uncovered no significant evidence in the search for missing cousins Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, three days after their bicycles were found near a lake in northeast Iowa.

Black Hawk County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Abben says local, state and federal authorities have been "grasping for straws" in the frantic search for 8-year-old Elizabeth and her 10-year-old cousin, Lyric.

Abben says no eyewitnesses have reported seeing the girls. They've been missing since leaving their grandmother's house Friday afternoon in Evansdale.

Several hundred volunteers helped search the area Saturday and Sunday around Meyers Lake in Evansdale.

Abben says authorities have been doing house-to-house searches around the clock. He says it's still considered a missing persons case.

m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57473199&feed_id=999&videofeed=999

[meme]

Elizabeth Collins, Lyric Cook-Morrissey: Authorities begin draining Meyers Lake in search for missing Iowa girls

July 17, 2012

DES MOINES, Iowa - Local authorities are now draining Meyers Lake, located in the northeast Iowa city of Evansdale in a frantic attempt to search for clues in the disappearance of the two missing Iowa cousins.

This is where the bicycles of Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook-Morrissey were found.

Elizabeth, 8, and her 10-year-old cousin, Lyric, were last seen Friday afternoon leaving their grandmother's house. Their bicycles and Elizabeth's purse were found later that day near a bike trail at the edge of the lake.

Hundreds of volunteers took a massive sweep of the area over the weekend, but authorities suspended that effort Monday saying it failed to produce significant leads. With the heat and people going back to work, authorities decided not to do another large-scale search. "Right now, we don't feel putting more civilians on the street looking for us is going to be a benefit," said Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben.

Instead, rescue teams searched the lake by boat again Monday morning and began the draining process in the afternoon. Officers reportedly stopped cars at a number of intersections in town, questioning some drivers and searching trunks while others passed out fliers about the girls. Abben said draining the nearly 5-acre lake could take up to three days. Officials believe it will go faster due to the low level of the lake and the Cedar River into which it drains. Authorities previously scoured through the lake and interviewed family, friends and registered sex offenders who lived in the area, which led to no new information. Abben said local, state and federal officials have been "grasping for straws" in the frantic search.

A tip line turned up numerous reports of articles of clothing that had been found, but none belonged to the girls. He said it was as if they had just disappeared. "It wouldn't be proper for me to stand here and tell you we have a theory, because we don't," he said. "We have two missing girls, and we have no idea why."

He said the decision to drain the lake was made to rule out with 100 percent certainty that the girls are not in the water. Once that's done, all resources can be used elsewhere. FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said the agency was working to put up billboards of the missing girls, as well as sending in tracking dogs to search in the area where the girls went missing.

Abben said the case is still considered a missing persons investigation and there was nothing to suggest the girls left Evansdale or had been abducted.

More on Crimesider July 16, 2012 - Search resumes for missing cousins, Iowa police say July 16, 2012 - Authorities "grasping for straws" in missing Iowa girls case, sheriff deputy says

m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57473616&feed_id=999&videofeed=999

[meme]

Elizabeth Collins, Lyric Cook-Morrissey: Very few significant leads in search for missing Iowa cousins, police say

July 17, 2012

EVANSDALE, Iowa - Other than an officer examining and bagging as evidence an object found near where authorities are draining an Iowa lake in search for Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, there was very little activity in the massive search for the missing cousins Tuesday.

Officials didn't identify the object that an officer discovered while walking the shoreline near where the girls' bicycles were found, nor can they confirm whether the object is related to the search for Collins, 8, and her 10-year-old cousin, Lyric.

Chief Deputy Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office said the case was still considered a missing persons investigation, and the decision to drain the lake was made to rule out with 100 percent certainty that the girls are not in the water. Once that's done, all resources can be used elsewhere, he said.

At least 30 FBI investigators joined the search for the girls, who were last seen Friday afternoon leaving their grandmother's house in Evansdale. Their bicycles and Elizabeth's purse were found later that day near a bike trail at the edge of Meyers Lake.

Officers slowly paddled around the lake in kayaks on Tuesday morning. An officer with gloves and an evidence bag picked up an object along the shoreline and took it back to a patrol car. The area was just a few feet from where the girls' bicycles were found. FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said the agency worked with a team of tracking dogs until around 11 p.m. Monday, when investigators removed the dogs after they failed to find either girl.

Breault said the pace of the search has been slowed down because of the time required to drain the lake. The draining began Monday afternoon and could take up to three days. But local officials said the draining likely will go faster because of the already low level of the lake and the Cedar River into which it drains.

m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57474042&feed_id=999&videofeed=999

[meme]

FBI dogs detect scents of missing cousins near Iowa lake; family suspects they were abducted

FBI dogs detect scents of Iowa cousins near lake

July 17, 2012 3:40 PM CDT

Authorities searching for two young cousins drained an Iowa lake Tuesday after FBI dogs detected the girls' scents near where their bicycles were found four days earlier, heightening suspicion from family members that they might have been abducted.

FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said the reaction from the dogs Monday night indicated a "strong possibility" the girls had been at the lake, less than a mile from their grandmother's house where they were last reported seen Friday. However, Breault said because there were no reported sightings, authorities couldn't be certain.

Chief Deputy Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office said the case was still considered a missing persons investigation. The decision to drain the lake was made to rule out that the girls are not in the water, he said. Once that's done, all resources can be used elsewhere.

Officers slowly paddled around the lake in kayaks on Tuesday morning. A group of three officers walking along the southeast shoreline stopped to study something. An officer with gloves and an evidence bag picked up an object and took it back to a patrol car sitting along the bank.

Officials didn't identify the object or even confirm whether it was related to the search for Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, but it was a rare sign of activity in a massive search that has produced few if any significant leads.

"I don't think that they're in the lake not at all but it is just like a dead end as far as we know so far," said Dan Morrissey, Lyric's father. "We've never gone through anything like this. It's hard enough just to get up and deal with the reality that your daughter is gone."

Tammy Brousseau, 48, an aunt to both girls, said all the signs were pointing to a stranger _ possibility a pedophile _ abducting them from the area near the lake where their bikes were found.

Brousseau said that just last week she taught Lyric how to "save someone if they went limp in the water." She said she also taught both girls how to "drop to the ground and fight" if someone tried to abduct them.

Lyric's parents said they didn't suspect a drowning either, noting the girls' swimming abilities and the fact that no shoes were recovered on the bank of the lake.

"The area where the bikes were found is fenced on both sides, and it is right where maintenance gate is it is a spot that looks to me like a trap," Dan Morrissey said. "Somebody could have just come along right then or followed them down it would have been the worst spot to be in right there."

At least 30 FBI investigators joined the search for the girls, who were last reported seen Friday afternoon leaving their grandmother's house in Evansdale. Their bicycles and Elizabeth's purse were found later that day near a bike trail at the edge of Meyers Lake.

Breault said the search has been slowed because of the time required to drain the lake. The draining began Monday afternoon and could take up to three days. But local officials said the draining likely will go faster because of the already low level of the lake and the Cedar River into which it drains.

A massive sweep of the area that drew hundreds of volunteers over the weekend failed to find any evidence. Authorities previously dredged the lake and have been interviewing family, friends and registered sex offenders who live in the area.

Abben said that local, state and federal officials have been "grasping for straws" in the search. A tip line turned up numerous reports of articles of clothing that had been found, but none belonged to the girls. He said it was as if they had just disappeared.

Lyric's mother, Misty Morrissey, said the family members were trying to stay as upbeat as possible considering the circumstances.

"We're pretty emotional, pretty sad, trying to remain positive and trying to hold on to our faith and know that God is still in control and we're going to find a resolution to this," she said.

m.newser.com/article/da02sre01/fbi-dogs-detect-scents-of-missing-cousins-near-iowa-lake-family-suspects-they-were-abducted.html

[meme]

Missing Girl's Father Feels He's Being Treated Like Suspect

Story Updated: Jul 18, 2012

Misty and Dan Morrissey speak to the media near Meyers Lake where their daughter Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, disappeared last Friday, Tuesday, July 17, 2012, in Evansdale, Iowa. The girls' bikes were found Friday afternoon near a bike trail at the edge of the lake. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

EVANSDALE, Iowa - Police in Evansdale said Tuesday that they have no evidence two missing girls were abducted, but tips are pouring in from across the country.

Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, disappeared on Friday afternoon.

Family members tell KCCI that the interrogation started with them.

"You tell them (detectives) the truth and they say, 'You're holding something back,' and you're not. What is left to talk about? You know, we go over and over and over again. It made me feel like, yeah, they're looking at me like a suspect," said Dan Morrissey, Lyric's father. "But as far as what I know, I know the truth, I know I am telling the truth, so it is offensive."

As Meyers Lake continued to drain and kayakers kept up their search, family members comforted Morrissey. Police are questioning the entire family, including his wife.

"(I was) polygraphed, questioned and interviewed, absolutely," Misty Cook-Morrissey said.

The Morrisseys said they don't have a lawyer and don't intend on getting one. Instead, they're spending their time at the lake and on national TV.

With questions coming from every direction, they said the ones from police seem to be the hardest.

"It's not normal to us; it's awkward. But we know it's part of the investigation and very necessary and they want to rule out everything, if it’s someone we've encountered over the years, so I understand that," Misty Cook-Morrissey said.

Lyric's paternal grandmother, Vicky Weikert, said she spent Tuesday afternoon staring at Meyers Lake, waiting for answers. Like the rest of the family, she said she believes the girls were abducted.

"The only thing that makes sense is that somebody has to have them. They're not in the woods or the lake; they didn't run away," Weikert said.

Morrissey said he's trying to focus on seeing his daughter again. All of the family members said they're relying on God to bring the girls home.

"It's weighing on everybody's hearts," Morrissey said.

"Honestly, it is very difficult and gets more difficult every day. And the reality that hours have passed and days have passed, you know that something is terribly wrong," Misty Cook-Morrissey said.

At least 30 FBI agents, along with K-9 units, have joined the search for the girls.

FBI dogs picked up the girls' scents near the lake where their bicycles were found, but they are not elaborating on what was found.

It could take another day or two before the lake is completely drained.

Authorities said on Tuesday that everyone is considered a suspect until they find something.

Law enforcement did not return calls seeking comment on Morrissey's claims that he feels like he's being treated like a suspect.

www.kcrg.com/news/local/Missing-Girls-Father-Feels-Hes-Being-Treated-Like-Suspect-162891386.html?m=y&smobile=y

[meme]

July 19, 2012

Cops Suspect Dad in Missing Iowa Girls Case, Family Member Says

EVANSDALE, Iowa – The aunt of the two missing Iowa cousins said Thursday that authorities have accused a family member of involvement with the girls' disappearance.

Tammy Brousseau, the sister of Misty Morrissey and Heather Collins, whose daughters Lyric Cook, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, vanished last Friday, said Morrissey's estranged husband Daniel Morrissey has been the subject of intense police scrutiny.

"They have accused him," Brousseau said. "They told him they had proof that he did it."

"They found out a couple of family members have a criminal history so they're focusing really hard on them," she told reporters today.

Brousseau told reporters that the family was at a hotel last night when the FBI showed up to interrogate them. Daniel, she said, kept telling investigators that he needed to sleep, a comment that prompted authorities to ask him how he could sleep at a time like this.

"They're working with them 100 percent despite what they're saying," Brousseau said of Daniel and Misty.

In the past day, investigators have seized the couple's computers. Now, Tammy said, the couple has been advised by an attorney not to talk to the police or the media or take any more polygraph tests.

Brousseau acknowledged that Misty is currently on federal probation. Also, Tammy noted, the couple is under a restraining order but are now allowed to spend time with each other as long as they don't fight.

Earlier, Misty and Daniel Morrissey had said they have been questioned so extensively by police that it is now getting on their nerves.

"You tell them the truth and they say, 'You're holding something back,' and you're not. What is left to talk about? You know, we go over and over and over again," Daniel Morrissey told KCCI Des Moines this week. "It made me feel like, 'Yeah, they're looking at me like a suspect.'"

Both Daniel and Misty have criminal records. In fact, Misty, whose maiden name is Cook, was just released from federal prison on May 30 after being convicted of nine crimes, including illegal drug use, association with persons involved in criminal activity, excessive alcohol use, and failure to comply with drug testing.

Eight years earlier, in 2003, she was sentenced to four years behind bars after she plead guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. Her sentence was later shortened to five months in prison and one year of supervised release. In 1998 she was found guilty of having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle and in 1997 she plead guilty a false report to law enforcement, a crime for which she was sentenced to six days in jail.

Misty also ran into trouble along with one of her bosses. According to court papers, Misty played a role in a meth operation run by David Mickelson, her former boss at the BIG Ten Mart in Waterloo, Iowa.

"Cook testified that she obtained pseudoephedrine pills from various people and provided them to Scott Reavis, who used them to make methamphetamine," court records state.

Cook twice purchased case quantities of pseudoephedrine pills from Mickelson – for $1,400 a case – and provided them to Reavis to make meth. Mickelson was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture meth and distribute pseudoephedrine with that intent. He was sentenced to 121 months in jail.

The revelation of Misty's criminal past comes at a time when she finds herself in the national spotlight. In an interview with ABC News Wednesday morning, she said she had talked to the police time and time again as authorities have investigated what happened to Lyric and Elizabeth.

"We've done extensive interviews, hours at a time. We've done polygraphs. We have taken many phone calls, answered many questions," she said. "We've given our phones up. All of our data has been, you know, taken off of our phones. In fact, my sister and my phone is now not – our touch screens aren't working very well. So we've cooperated to the fullest, you know."

Former FBI special agent Brad Garrett believes investigators are looking closely at every aspect of the parents' lives.

"What comes into question is how does that play into what is presently going on in their lives? And more particular, does it have any relationship to these two missing girls?" Garrett said.

In the weeks before the girls' disappearance, Misty and Daniel were having problems at home – they were preparing to file for divorce after being separated for years.

"They are not a couple," Misty's sister Tammy Brousseau told ABC News Wednesday. "They are currently separated and maybe well on the way to a divorce."

Daniel Morrissey, who has a criminal record himself, told ABC News Tuesday that he was trying to keep his emotions in check during this difficult time.

"I'll tell you something about emotions. A lot of people base their decisions off emotions and it doesn't work out too well. They're angry, they make a bad decision, whatever," he said. "So emotions I try to keep control of and keep my head straight. During this time, it's definitely challenging, but I have to keep my mind right."

Authorities, meanwhile, have steadfastly maintained that both Misty and Daniel have cooperated fully with their investigation.

"They are still continuing to cooperate with us as we would expect," Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office spokesman Rick Abben said Wednesday at his daily press briefing on the missing girls' case.

Asked about Daniel Morrissey's comments that he felt "like a suspect," Abben replied, "I haven't talked to Mr. Morrissey. I don't know why he feels that way. We expect cooperation from everyone – 100 percent cooperation. So I don't know why he feels that way."

abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16810959

[meme]

Judge puts dad of missing girl under supervision

11:39 AM, Jul 20, 2012

EVANSDALE, Iowa - Authorities will keep a closer watch on the father of one of two missing Iowa cousins, a man with a lengthy criminal history who stopped cooperating with police in the week-old investigation.

A judge granted a prosecution request Thursday to put Dan Morrissey under pretrial supervision while he faces September trials in two drug cases. It means parole officers will make sure Morrissey doesn't violate the terms of his release.

Morrissey is the father of 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey, who vanished near an Evansdale lake while riding bikes with her cousin, 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins.

Morrissey is the father of 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey, who vanished near an Evansdale lake while riding bikes with her cousin, 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins.

Authorities said Thursday that Morrissey and his wife have stopped cooperating with the investigation. Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben says he's not sure why they've taken that approach, but they aren't considered suspects.

www.kare11.com/news/article/983891/391/Judge-puts-dad-of-missing-girl-under-supervision

[meme]

Police now say missing Iowa girls abducted

Investigators are saying two Iowa cousins who disappeared a week ago have been abducted after a search of the lake where their bikes were found came up empty.

Cousins Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins, went missing July 13 while the pair were riding bikes near Meyers Lake in Evansdale.

Investigators began draining the lake Monday, but stopped at the FBI's request so divers could conduct a search with special sonar equipment, The Associated Press reported.

The sonar doesn't work in less than six feet of water.

Black Hawk County Sheriff Chief Deputy Rick Abben told reporters at a news conference Friday that evidence was collected and sent to a lab to be tested. He did not say what the evidence was.

The announcement comes the same day a judge put Lyric’s father, 36-year-old Daniel Morrissey, on pretrial supervision until September when he is scheduled to face drug charges.

Authorities said Morrissey and his wife, Misty Cook-Morrissey, 34, stopped cooperating with police as of Thursday, The AP reported.

The AP reported Abben said neither is considered a suspect and wasn't sure why they had stopped talking with police.

Cook's sister, Tammy Brousseau, told the AP the girl's parents felt like they were being treated as suspects. Both stopped cooperating after their attorney advised them to do so.

"They've been cooperating with the police 100 percent, but because police don't have a silver Cadillac that tore off with the kids, they don't have no leads," she told AP.

Cook told the Des Moines Register Thursday that Daniel walked out of a police interview earlier in the week after police accused him of killing the two girls.

Authorities also have sifted through trash, examined a laptop and computer, and dug into the parents' past criminal histories.

Cook has a meth-related drug charge from 10 years ago and Daniel has multiple drug charges along with burglary and domestic assault.

Morrissey is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and other crimes.

The Register reported Morrissey's eight-year marriage to Cook has been rocky at times. The domestic assault charges stems from a 2011 incident where Cook told police he smashed her face into the floor and placed his knee over her neck, making it difficult for her to breath.

Brousseau told the station the pair had a no contact order with each other but has since been modified since both girls went missing.

usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/20/12859020-police-now-say-missing-iowa-girls-abducted?lite

[meme]

Iowa cousins' disappearance deemed abduction, as one dad put under supervision

Published July 20, 2012

EVANSDALE, IOWA – Law enforcement officials in Iowa reclassified the disappearance of two missing cousins as an abduction Friday after an FBI dive team failed to find their bodies in an Iowa lake.

Ten-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins disappeared a week ago while riding bikes near Meyers Lake in Evansdale. Their bikes were later found on a path near the lake.

A special 10-member FBI dive team used sonar equipment on a boat for hours Friday to search the 26-acre lake. Divers waded through the water looking for evidence but did not appear to go beneath the surface. By mid-afternoon, an FBI truck and many other police officers had left and little search activity was going on.

Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben told reporters later Friday that the divers were confident the girls' bodies were not in the lake. He also said investigators do not believe the girls got lost because they would have been found by now.

Abben said some evidence in the case has been sent to a state crime lab for analysis, but he would not elaborate on that.

The reclassification came as Iowa authorities took steps to keep a closer watch on Lyric's father, a man with a lengthy criminal history who stopped cooperating with police in the week-old investigation.

Court records showed Friday that a judge has ordered Daniel Morrissey, 36, placed in a pretrial supervision program of the Iowa Department of Corrections while he faces September trials in two separate drug cases. The change means Morrissey, who has been free on bond, will be supervised by parole officers who will make sure he shows up in court and does not violate the terms of his release.

Black Hawk County prosecutor Brad Walz petitioned to place Morrissey under supervision Thursday, the day authorities said he and his wife had stopped cooperating with investigators. Walz cited Morrissey's arrests on methamphetamine-related charges and noted Iowa law allows a person on bond who is considered "a habitual felon" to remain under supervision as a condition of release.

Authorities have said Morrissey and his wife aren't considered suspects and they are not sure why the couple stopped cooperating.

Tammy Brousseau, an aunt of both girls, has said an attorney advised the couple to stop talking to reporters, discontinue television interviews and not agree to take any more polygraph tests.

The order issued by Senior Judge Jon Fister on Thursday said the sheriff's office should deliver the supervision notice personally to Morrissey, who was directed to report to corrections officials immediately after receiving it. Messages left for Morrissey's defense lawyer were not returned.

Morrissey has been charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and other crimes. He posted bond and was released in May.

Walz said Morrissey should have been placed under supervision then, but he declined comment on what prompted Thursday's order. He said Morrissey faces five charges that carry 45-year prison terms each.

Morrissey's wife, Misty Cook-Morrissey, 34, also has a criminal history, having pleaded guilty in 2003 in federal court to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, court documents show. She also has theft and alcohol violations in state court and is on supervised release after her probation was revoked in September because of drug and excessive alcohol use and failure to comply with drug tests.

Cook-Morrissey, told KWWL-TV on Friday that she believed authorities were unfairly scrutinizing her and her husband because of their criminal histories. She said she believed police were getting frustrated after searching extensively for a week and coming up empty.

"It's frustrating for us as well," she said.

The working-class community of 4,700 near Waterloo has rallied to show support for the girls even as speculation about what happened to them swirls. Many residents have been wearing t-shirts bearing the girls' pictures and posted hand-written notes to them at the lake. One note urged the girls to "stay strong" and said they had the world's love.

Residents planned to release balloons at a local park Friday evening, and a benefit run for the girls' families is scheduled for Saturday morning in Waterloo.

www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/20/fbi-divers-to-use-sonar-in-hunt-for-iowa-cousins/

[meme]

Lyric Cook-Morrissey And Elizabeth Collins Search: FBI Believes Missing Iowa Girls Are Still Alive

Authorities searching for two missing Iowa cousins have information that leads them to believe both girls are still alive, an FBI spokeswoman said Saturday.

FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said authorities "feel strongly" that 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins have not been killed. She refused to say what led authorities to that conclusion, but urged anyone with information about their disappearance to contact law enforcement.

"We believe these girls are alive,and we are not discouraged by the passage of time since their disappearance," Breault said. "We are urging anyone with information to come forward. Any information, as insignificant as it may seem, could be vital to this investigation."

The announcement came a day after authorities finished searching Meyers Lake in the northeast Iowa town of Evansdale, which is near a path where the girls' bikes were found. The girls vanished July 13.

They now say they believe the girls were abducted, but that searching and draining part of lake was part of a thorough investigation.

"We have to cover everything," Breault told The Associated Press after Saturday's news conference. "If there's even a chance (the girls were in the lake), we have to make sure."

The lake is close to Interstate 380, just outside of Waterloo, which is about 120 miles northeast of Des Moines.

Breault said investigators are interviewing multiple "persons of interest" in the case, whom she declined to identify. She said authorities are still receiving tips on the case, mostly from within the area.

Authorities have said they are watching Lyric's father, Daniel Morrisey, although they have not named him as a suspect.

Morrisey, 36, has a long criminal history and has stopped cooperating with police. Breault said the lack of cooperation from some family members has hindered the investigation.

"Unfortunately, in this case, law enforcement has not received total cooperation from all families and close friends," Breault said. "It's important to note that a majority of the family has cooperated 100 percent. We feel there's someone out there that has pertinent information about the girls' whereabouts, and we'd like to take this opportunity to ask them to come forward."

A judge on Thursday granted a prosecution request to place Morrissey in a pretrial supervision program of the Iowa Department of Corrections while he faces September trials in two separate drug cases that could land him in prison for decades.

The change means Morrissey, who has been free on bond, will be supervised by parole officers who will make sure he shows up in court and does not violate the terms of his release.

Morrissey's wife, Misty Cook-Morrissey, 34, pleaded guilty in 2003 in federal court to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, court documents show. She also has theft and alcohol violations in state court and is on supervised release after her probation was revoked in September because of drug and excessive alcohol use and failure to comply with drug tests.

In nearby Waterloo on Saturday, about 165 people participated in a 3-mile run/walk to benefit the girls' families, the Waterloo Courier reported. The Collinses, who have kept a low profile during the last week,were in attendance.

www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/07/21/authorities-believe-missing-iowa-girls-still-alive_n_1691989.html

[Pawleys]

KWWL subpoenaed for video interviews with family of missing Evansdale cousins


WATERLOO, Iowa --- KWWL-TV has been served a subpoena for raw video interviews with family members of the missing Evansdale cousins.

The document states that the Waterloo-based television station “may have knowledge, regarding a criminal offense which occurred in Black Hawk County, Iowa, on or about July 13.”

That is the day Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, vanished after leaving for a neighborhood bike ride. Authorities on Friday classified the disappearance as an abduction and are asking area residents who may have seen the girls to step forward.

The four-paragraph subpoena was filed by the county clerk of district court July 23.

Being requested is any and all video, including unedited clips, of interviews with Lyric’s mother, Misty Cook-Morrissey, and/or the girls’ grandmother, Wylma Cook, on July 19 or 20.

Without the production of documents from KWWL, the applicant — county attorney Tom Ferugson — “feels a complete investigation of the matter is impossible.”

“There is at this time not enough evidence available to the county attorney’s office to warrant an information being filed,” the subpoena states.

Chief Deputy Rick Abben, with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department, said he learned of the subpoena during a Wednesday evening KWWL newscast, which showed the two women speaking with reporter John Wilmer a day after families said they wouldn’t speak with media or police under the advice of an attorney.

KWWL news director Dan Schillinger said getting a subpoena is not unusual and happens about five or six times a year.

wcfcourier.com/news/evansdale_search/kwwl-subpoenaed-for-video-interviews-with-family-of-missing-evansdale/article_13d99a62-d6b6-11e1-b52a-0019bb2963f4.html?comment_form=true

[Pawleys]

Dad of one of the missing Iowa cousins faces trial during search


Dan Morrissey, 36, was scheduled to appear Friday in Black Hawk County court in Waterloo for a pretrial conference covering four separate cases, including one in which he is charged with assaulting his estranged wife, Misty Morrissey, the mother of missing 10-year-old Lyric Cook. Three other cases charge him with possessing, dealing and making methamphetamines and a range of other drug charges that could lock up him up for decades if he's convicted.



Read more: www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/25/dad-one-missing-iowa-cousins-faces-trial-during-search/#ixzz21j651MGY

[meme]

Missing Iowa Cousins: Surveillance Video of Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook Discovered

Good Morning America - 25 Jul 2012

Authorities in Iowa investigating the disappearance of 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins and her 10-year-old cousin, Lyric Cook, have obtained new video of the missing girls from the day they vanished 12 days ago.

Although the girls only look like a blur as they cross the frame on their bicycles in the video, and the footage of the two girls lasts only seconds, investigators say they now are analyzing it for any clues that could lead to information about the girls whose bicycles were later recovered on a trail by nearby Meyers Lake in Evansdale, Iowa.

"It looked kind of grainy, I mean just zoom they were by the thing and so it's very hard to really make much out of the thing," Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben said. "The girls were less than a block from the house when this camera captured them riding by, important to note they were riding away from Meyers Lake."

The video also matches the police timeline. Investigators say the girls left the home to ride their bikes shortly after noon July 13. The camera's clock shows it was 12:11 p.m. when they rode by.

Both of their bicycles were recovered on a trial near the lake about four hours after they were reported missing, after they left for a neighborhood bike ride and haven't been seen since.

The surveillance camera belongs to a local auction house. With few clues in the investigation, the house's manager. Joe Pahl. thought to look for the video and turned it over to the FBI.

"Anything we can do to help," Pahl said. "We want to see the girls come back safe and alive."

Authorities reclassified the case as an abduction Friday. FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said Monday that investigators believe the two girls are alive, although she would not offer any details to explain their confidence. The optimism in this small northeast Iowa town, she noted, was inspiring.

"If hope alone can bring them home, they'll come home," Breault said.

Misty Morrissey and husband Dan, the separated parents of Lyric, had stopped answering investigators' questions on the advice of their attorney late last week, although Misty submitted to a second polygraph test Tuesday.

The move came as the pair bristled under intense scrutiny because of their criminal histories. Both of them have been convicted of felony drug charges and served time behind bars.

A USD 50,000 reward is now being offered for information that would lead to their being found.

m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/missing-iowa-cousins-surveillance-video-elizabeth-collins-lyric-110522212--abc-news-topstories.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=US&.lang=en-US

[meme]

Mother of Missing Iowa Girl Takes Second Polygraph Test

July 24, 2012

The mother of one of the missing Iowa cousins has submitted to a second polygraph test, days after she stopped cooperating with investigators, officials said.

Misty Morrissey and husband Dan, the separated parents of 10-year old Lyric Cook, had stopped answering investigators' questions on the advice of their attorney late last week.

The move came as the pair bristled under intense scrutiny because of their criminal histories. Both of them have been convicted of felony drug charges and served time behind bars.

Misty's sister Heather Collins, whose 8-year old daughter Elizabeth disappeared along with Lyric July 13, told ABC News early Monday morning that investigators had "enough to worry about" and "don't need other distractions" such as family members not cooperating with them.

Misty Morrissey submitted to the polygraph test later Monday.

"We are getting the cooperation we are asking for, so it's getting better," Black Hawk County Sheriff spokesman Rick Abben said at a news briefing Monday.

The two young cousins disappeared after leaving for a bike ride around noon July 13. Their bicycles were recovered on a trail near Meyers Lake about four hours later, but the girls have yet to be found.

FBI spokesperson Sandy Breault said Monday that investigators believe the two girls are alive, although she would not offer any details to explain their confidence. The optimism in this small northeast Iowa town, she noted, was inspiring.

"If hope alone can bring them home, they'll come home," Breault said.

For now, though, the agonizing wait for Heather Collins continues.

"A day doesn't seem like a normal day," Collins said. "It's just like it doesn't stop. It keeps dragging and dragging. You're just waiting for a time to go up to your room. You're just waiting, waiting, waiting.

"Whoever's out there, we're just begging you to bring our girls back home," she pleaded. "You've had them long enough. This has gone on long enough. Just please bring them back home."

abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16842660

[meme]

Missing Iowa cousins 'may have been abducted by DRUG DEALERS': Grandmother of 10-year-old says girl's father is police informant as he is arrested for domestic abuse

Girls may have been abducted by drug lords who Dan Morrissey, father of Lyric Cook, 10, dobbed in to police

'Dan 'narc-ed' on a bunch of people,' grandmother Wylma Cook said

Investigators searching Morrissey's phone contacts

Morrissey's trial for beating his wife and making and selling methamphetamines delayed until August 28

'I can understand why recent events may have had your mind and attention on matters other than preparing for trial,' judge said today

Grainy video suggests girls were abducted and did not drown in lake

Police say evidence points to girls being alive

Young cousins Lyric and Elizabeth Collins, 8, last seen on July 13

PUBLISHED: 20:00 EST, 27 July 2012
UPDATED: 20:38 EST, 27 July 2012


Missing Iowa cousins could have been abducted by drug dealers as payback after one of the girls' fathers snitched to police.

The grandmother of Lyric Cook, 10, who disappeared on July 13 with cousin Elizabeth Collins, 8, said today that Lyric's father, Dan Morrissey, could have made an enemy after giving investigators information on local drug users and dealers to shave time off his own possible sentence.

'Dan 'narc-ed' on a bunch of people,' Wylma Cook, 72, said. 'Everybody knows that.'

Mr Morrissey, 36, was due to stand trial for multiple charges of methamphetamine possession, making and delivering and for beating his estranged wife as early as Tuesday but a judge today delayed the case a month saying she 'understood' the search for his daughter had distracted him.

Ms Cook said 'it's possible' her son-in-law made an enemy through his cooperation with police, adding that investigators were scrutinizing Mr Morrissey's associates as they search for the girls.

According to the grandmother, he recently met with police to allow them to go through all the contacts in his phone.

Ms Cook said Mr Morrissey had been expected to accept a plea agreement July 12, the day before the girls vanished, but decided not to do so because he was not ready to go jail.

She said prosecutors had shaved his sentence from more than 45 years to 30 years and then to 10 years, with a mandatory five years behind bars, because of his cooperation.

Prosecutor Brad Walz did not object to the delay in Mr Morrissey's trials.

Authorities said this week that the young cousins who vanished from a small Iowa community did not drown in the nearby lake but were, in fact, abducted, as the last known footage of the two girls proves.

FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said investigators were aware of Mr Morrissey's plea negotiations but that she could not comment on their significance to the girls' disappearance.

Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson said on Friday that investigators were casting a wide net as they chase leads in the case.

His agency is working jointly with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the FBI.

'We're not ruling anything out with regard to the investigation, to include Daniel Morrissey's criminal history, his known associates, any prior or future criminal activities,' he said. 'We're not ruling out any of those.'

Cousins Lyric and Elizabeth went missing after leaving to ride their bikes in Evansdale, just miles from their home in Waterloo.

Mr Morrissey has come under intense scrutiny from police because of his ties to the local methamphetamine trade. But authorities have said he is not considered a suspect is the girls' disappearance.

In today's hearing, Judge Andrea Dryer said: 'I can understand why recent events may have had your mind and attention on matters other than preparing for trial.'

But she warned Mr Morrissey that he faces 'very serious charges' and must be ready to face a jury on August 28.

A surveillance camera on an auction barn shows Lyric and Elizabeth riding their bicycles away from Meyers Lake in Evansdale, Iowa, shortly after they left home on July 13.

After examining the fleeting footage of the girls racing through a corner of the screen, police concluded that they must have been kidnapped.

Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben told ABC News: 'It looked kind of grainy, I mean just -- zoom -- they were by the thing and so it's very hard to really make much out of the thing.'

He added: 'The girls were less than a block from the house when this camera captured them riding by, important to note they were riding away from Meyers Lake.'

The footage, taken just after noon, runs in accordance with the police timeline of the case.

FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said on Monday that investigators want to interview a person who was seen paddleboating on the lake around the time the girls disappeared.

On Tuesday, Wylma Cook, who was babysitting the girls on the day they disappeared said that she has no idea how they ended up across town by a lake.

Ms Cook said that Lyric and Elizabeth occasionally went biking while she babysat them several days a week at Collins' parents' home in Evansdale.

But she said they almost always stayed within blocks and had never gone to Meyers Lake, a mile away. 'It shocks me, OK. The girls never rode that far, never.

It was in a two-block area, that's it. They always returned like I told them,' Ms Cook said.

But she said they almost always stayed within blocks and had never gone to Meyers Lake, a mile away. 'It shocks me, OK.

The girls never rode that far, never. It was in a two-block area, that's it. They always returned like I told them,' Ms Cook said.

Authorities found the girls' bikes and a purse on a path, hours after they were reported missing in Evansdale, a northeast Iowa town of 4,700.

FBI bloodhounds picked up on the girls' apparent scent near the lake last week and investigators have ruled out the possibility of drowning.

An extensive search involving local, state and federal investigators has failed to find them. FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said there was 'nothing new' about the case Tuesday.

Ms Breault stood by her assertion, first made Saturday, that investigators believe the girls are alive.

'They are not going to reveal the reasons why. You wouldn't want them to do that. It would jeopardize the investigation and the children,' she said.

David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, said that claim means investigators could 'have something quite important' for evidence.

He said cases of two children being abducted by a stranger were rare since it would be hard for one person to control both, which makes the common motive of sexual gratification less likely in this case.

He said it makes sense to look into whether the abduction is linked to the pending drug charges against Mr Morrissey.

In other cases, children have been kidnapped by rivals out of retaliation or held hostage to prevent incriminating testimony, he said.

'If they do think the dynamics are primarily around the drug cases, investigators might be more likely to think the girls are alive. They lose their value if they have been murdered,' he said.

Court records show Mr Morrissey, 36, had been expected in court for a change of plea hearing in one of his drug cases the day before the kids vanished.

Prosecutor Brad Walz said such hearings usually indicate a guilty plea it likely to be entered, but he declined to comment directly on Mr Morrissey's case.

David Mullin, a defense attorney for Jason Stolfus, who was arrested with Mr Morrissey and faces the same charges, said police reports show Mr Morrissey implicated his client in crimes after both were arrested in December.

But he said Stolfus would not have a motive to take the children because he has been offered a favorable plea deal in which he would likely avoid prison.

'The consequences will be so little that it would hardly be a motive to witness tamper or anything like that,' Mr Mullin said.

The charges against Mr Morrissey, on the other hand, carry 45 years in prison apiece because he is a repeat offender.

Also this week, Misty Cook-Morrissey, Lyric's mother - who also has a previous criminal history - said she went through a lengthy polygraph test that proves she had nothing to do with the girls' disappearance.

Ms Cook-Morrissey said a state agent asked several questions during Monday's test about whether she had anything to do with the abduction of her daughter.

She said that a test she took last week came back inconclusive but that she passed Monday's test. She says she made peace with investigators, who 'can rule me out of their book.'

Ms Cook said Dan Morrissey voluntarily turned his cellphone over to investigators in recent days and explained all the calls he made and received.

Ms Cook said she is 'praying so hard' for the girls' safety while picking over the details of the day she last saw them, when they left for a bike ride at 11:30 a.m.

Ms Cook said Lyric knew she had to return home shortly because Lyric and Cook planned to leave for the home they shared in nearby Waterloo with Lyric's mother, Misty Cook-Morrissey, by 1:30pm.

She said that she expected the girls to return for lunch or a drink of water or juice as they always did when they were playing in the heat.

'That's what's just so strange about all of it,' she said.

Ms Cook said she got nervous when they weren't back by 12:30 p.m. and started driving around town looking for them.

After an hour of searching, she returned to the home. Ms Cook said that Misty Cook-Morrissey stopped by after getting off work.

'Misty said, "Mom, you go home and I'll just wait for Lyric and bring her home,'' Ms Cook recalled.

Ms Cook said she drove to her home but was soon told by Elizabeth's father the girls hadn't surfaced. A firefighter found the bikes two hours later, and the manhunt began.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180143/Missing-Iowa-cousins-Lyric-Cook-Elizabeth-Collins-abducted-drug-dealers.html

[Pawleys]

From Jane Velez Mitchell Transcripts
Aired August 17, 2012

transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1208/17/ijvm.01.html

Jon Lieberman, HLN contributor, investigative journalist:

LIEBERMAN: Quite simply the FBI believes they have a theory of what happened to these girls. They believe these two girls are still alive. And based on the information -- which they haven`t released publicly; they`re keeping it close to their vest -- they believe they know how this went down. And this other attempted abduction does not fit into their theory of what happened to these two cousins.

TAMMY BROUSSEAU, AUNT OF MISSING GIRLS:

ROUSSEAU: Well, of course they`re going to say that they`re alive, number one, because we don`t have two dead bodies. And of course, we all want to believe that the two children are still alive. That`s our hopes. We want our children returned to us alive, yes.

They have no other leads that they`ve told us. And if the FBI does have any leads or something that they`re going off of, they`re certainly not going to tell us because they don`t want to botch up any situation that could potentially lead to the abductor and to getting our kids back.

[meme]

Mother of missing Iowa girl hospitalised after 'going on a drinking binge and then becoming unresponsive'

Grainy video suggests girls were abducted and did not drown in lake

Police say evidence points to girls being alive

Mother of Lyric Cook, cousin of missing Elizabeth Collins, takento hospital earlier this week after found unresponsive

PUBLISHED: 09:36 EST, 22 August 2012 | UPDATED: 10:17 EST, 22 August 2012

The mother of one of two Iowa cousins missing for more than a month was taken to a hospital after police found her unresponsive at a relative’s home, police say.

Misty Morrissey was taken Monday to Allen Hospital, according to a police report obtained by the The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

Morrissey is the mother of 10-year-old Lyric Cook. She and her cousin, Elizabeth Collins, who has since turned 9, were reported missing July 13 from the Waterloo suburb of Evansdale.

Authorities believe the girls were abducted.

Police Lt. Michael McNamee says a relative says Morrissey was at the hospital earlier Monday and was given medication.

He said she drank alcohol and the relative grew alarmed when she couldn’t be wakened.

The hospital says Morrissey wasn’t listed as a patient Tuesday.

Cousins Lyric and Elizabeth went missing after leaving to ride their bikes in Evansdale, just miles from their home in Waterloo.

Mr Morrissey has come under intense scrutiny from police because of his ties to the local methamphetamine trade. But authorities have said he is not considered a suspect is the girls' disappearance.

A surveillance camera on an auction barn shows Lyric and Elizabeth riding their bicycles away from Meyers Lake in Evansdale, Iowa, shortly after they left home on July 13.

After examining the fleeting footage of the girls racing through a corner of the screen, police concluded that they must have been kidnapped.

Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben told ABC News: 'It looked kind of grainy, I mean just -- zoom -- they were by the thing and so it's very hard to really make much out of the thing.'

He added: 'The girls were less than a block from the house when this camera captured them riding by, important to note they were riding away from Meyers Lake.'

The footage, taken just after noon, runs in accordance with the police timeline of the case.

Authorities found the girls' bikes and a purse on a path, hours after they were reported missing in Evansdale, a northeast Iowa town of 4,700.

FBI bloodhounds picked up on the girls' apparent scent near the lake last week and investigators have ruled out the possibility of drowning.

An extensive search involving local, state and federal investigators has failed to find them. FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said there was 'nothing new' about the case Tuesday.

Ms Breault stood by her assertion, first made Saturday, that investigators believe the girls are alive.

'They are not going to reveal the reasons why. You wouldn't want them to do that. It would jeopardize the investigation and the children,' she said.

David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, said that claim means investigators could 'have something quite important' for evidence.

He said cases of two children being abducted by a stranger were rare since it would be hard for one person to control both, which makes the common motive of sexual gratification less likely in this case.

He said it makes sense to look into whether the abduction is linked to the pending drug charges against Mr Morrissey.

In other cases, children have been kidnapped by rivals out of retaliation or held hostage to prevent incriminating testimony, he said.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192056/Mother-missing-Iowa-girl-Lyric-Cook-hospitalised-unresponsive.html

[meme]

Missing girls: Officers return to Evansdale neighborhoods

UPDATED 12:08 PM CDT Oct 18, 2012

Law enforcement officers are re-canvassing Evansdale neighborhoods, the Waterloo Courier newspaper reported.

Local and state investigators went door-to-door to ask residents questions about the case starting on Wednesday night, hoping to generate new leads in the case.

"We continue to dig for more information," Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson told the Courier. "We continue to search for details that might have been overlooked."

Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 11, and Elizabeth Collins, 9, disappeared July 13. The case was classified as an abduction a couple weeks later.

"If re-canvassing aids in developing information for us to further pursue, we are committed to that effort, in addition to continuing our original investigative agenda," Thompson told the Courier.

Anyone with information in the case should call Evansdale police 319-232-6682 or the FBI at 402-493-8688 or email [e-mail].

www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/Missing-girls-Officers-return-to-Evansdale-neighborhoods/-/9357080/17041370/-/plif5hz/-/index.html

[meme]

Missing Girls: Hunters report finding 2 bodies

UPDATED 6:22 PM CST Dec 05, 2012

EVANSDALE, Iowa — Law enforcement officials in Evansdale will not confirm that the bodies found Wednesday are those of two missing girls, but from all appearances, law officers were unhappy at news of the discovery.

Black Hawk County Sheriff's Capt. Rick Abben said that about 12:45 p.m. hunters reported finding two bodies in a wooded area.

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Collins and 11-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey disappeared while riding bikes in Evansdale on July 13th. Authorities have felt all along the girls were abducted. Their bikes were found on the trail around Meyers Lake in Evansdale.

The Cook and Collins families have been notified of the discovery, Abben said. You can leave messages for the families on the KCCI Facebook page or in the comments box below.

"This is definitely not the outcome we wanted, obviously" said Abben. "Numerous officers from many many jurisdictions have worked on this case around the clock since the 13th of July when we were notified of this. This is a difficult thing for us to go through. It's a difficult thing for the people of the community, not just the community of Evansdale, but also the whole community. -- it all came together and showed their support for the family and also for law enforcement."

Abben said the remains are being taken to Ankeny to the state medical examiner's office for identification. He said investigators are at the scene and continuing to process evidence.

Abben would not identify where hunters found the remains and would not say if the bodies appeared to be children. He would not confirm their gender.

Abben said anyone with information is asked to call the tip line.

Abbens said the case is an ongoing investigation.

www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/Missing-Girls-Hunters-report-finding-2-bodies/-/9357080/17668070/-/6murdvz/-/index.html#ixzz2EDiHC0nZ

[meme]

Hunters reportedly find bodies of missing Iowa cousins,.police say

Published December 05, 2012

EVANSDALE, IOWA – Hunters found two bodies Wednesday believed to be those of young Iowa cousins who vanished five months ago while riding their bikes near a lake, authorities said.

The families of 11-year-old Lyric Cook and 9-year-old Elizabeth Collins have been notified of the discovery, said Capt. Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office. Abben wouldn't say where the bodies were found.

Appearing to fight back tears as he broke the news in Evansdale, near where the girls disappeared in July, Abben said: "It's definitely not the outcome that we wanted, obviously."

"This is a difficult thing for us to go through. It's a difficult thing for the community," he added, recalling how officers had worked around the clock looking for the girls.

The girls' families have asked the media to respect their privacy, and they offered no immediate comment.

The bodies are being sent to the state medical examiner's office to confirm their identities, and the area where they were found around 12:45 p.m. is still being searched, Abben said.

The girls disappeared the afternoon of July 13 while riding bikes in Evansdale, about 110 miles northeast of Des Moines, near a popular recreational lake in the middle of town. Investigators found their bikes and a pink purse near the lake hours later, but no sign of the girls.

Hundreds of volunteers canvassed the area in the following days, traipsing through cornfields and wooded areas. The mayor even flew above in his private plane looking for them.

Abben said additional details would be released at a news briefing Thursday

www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/05/hunters-reportedly-find-bodies-missing-iowa-cousins-police-say/?test=latestnews

[meme]

Missing cousins update: Heather Collins confirms bodies are the girls : The hunt for Lyric and Eliza

EVANSDALE, Iowa --- The mother and aunt of two young girls missing from Evansdale since July 13 has confirmed in a Facebook post the two bodies found in a wooded area Wednesday are those of her daughter and niece.

“We have been so blessed by...all the prayers and support tonight with the gut wrenching news that my beautiful daughter and niece’s bodies were found by hunters today,” Heather Collins said of her daughter, Elizabeth Collins, 9 and niece, Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 11, in a late Wednesday Facebook post.

While authorities have delayed public confirmation until a 4 p.m. press conference today following official identification by the state medical examiner, they did note the girls’ parents were informed of the development Wednesday.

It is not the desired outcome, Heather Collins continued in her Facebook post, but the girls “are up in heaven with our Savior,” and the “nightmare of where they are and what is happening to them has been answered.

“Lord we know that you have them in your loving arms and we are so blessed or that,” Collins added.

After 145 days and hundreds of volunteers, the hunt for the missing cousins apparently came to a close Wednesday afternoon with deer hunters.

Authorities with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office said hunters found the remains of two bodies at about 12:45 p.m.

Capt. Rick Abben said the bodies haven’t been identified as of Wednesday evening and had been taken to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny for identification. He declined to comment on the condition of the bodies or any indications of gender or size.

“It’s definitely not the outcome we wanted. Numerous officers from many, many jurisdictions have worked on this case around the clock since the 13th of July,” Abben said. “This is a difficult thing for us to go through. It’s a difficult thing for the people in the community, not just the community of Evansdale. The whole community came together to show their support for the family.”

Abben said parents of both girls had been notified and have asked for privacy. Close family members gathered Wednesday night at Countryside Vineyard Church, which has been the scene of regular vigils since the disappearance. Other supporters gathered at Meyers Lake Park, where the girls’ bikes and a purse — last trace of them — where found July 13.

The bodies were found at Seven Bridges Wildlife Area, about 25 miles from Evansdale, authorities said. Investigators from several agencies were working in the tree-covered area, which is intersected by the Wapsipinicon River and is popular for hunting and fishing.

"I would call it more of a secluded area," said Bremer County Sheriff Dewey Hildebrandt. "But it does get regular visits from people that like to use the outdoors."

Hildebrandt said investigators from his agency, the FBI and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and others were processing the area as a crime scene and asked the media to stay away.

After sundown Wednesday, a lone Iowa State trooper guarded the entrance to the 7 Bridges Park, and a cadre of officers with the patrol, Bremer County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Iowa Department of Natural Resources met in the outbuilding of a nearby farm to go over plans for Thursday.

Officers near the park declined to comment.

Neighbors said they noticed increased activity at Seven Bridges, a 125-acre wildlife area about 20 miles north of the Meyers Lake area.

“I noticed a lot of traffic tonight,” said Randall Riley, who lives near the entrance.

Riley said he only saw pickup trucks, but another neighbor, who declined to give his name, said he noticed a squad car parked with flashing lights around 2:30 p.m.

“We saw the police presence there today, we had no idea why,” the man said. “We assumed he was checking hunters. We didn’t think anything of it.”

Jennifer Lancaster, Department of Natural Resources law enforcement supervisor for Northeast Iowa, said DNR conservation officers have been involved with the recovery, but they, like all involved officers from all agencies, have been instructed not to comment on the specific location, which is being investigated as a crime scene.

Riley said 7 Bridges had been a full-fledged park at one time but county officials ceased maintaining it several years ago.

“It’ not really a park anymore, more of a hunting access,” Riley said. “Usually pretty quiet.”

Other residents said it is popular for fishing, mushroom hunting and underage beer parties.

The park has been used to dispose of evidence in the past. In November 2007, Martaves Keys went to the park to get rid of the gun he used to kill Anissa Schroeder and Ronald Scullark in Waterloo and burn his bloody clothing. A search diver recovered the weapon from the Wapsipinicon River after a witness came forward.

Lancaster said the odds of finding missing persons’ remains — or evidence of other crimes — increase during the shotgun deer season, when more than 70,000 hunters comb through remote woods and fields.

More Iowans are afield during the two shotgun deer seasons (Dec. 1-5 and Dec. 8-16) than at any other time of the year, she said.

Lancaster said it is not uncommon for outdoors enthusiasts to play a role in law enforcement efforts.

For example, kayakers found the body of 5-year-old Evelyn Miller in the Cedar River, days after she was abducted from her Floyd home in 2005, and anglers and boaters often discover the bodies of drowning victims.

“During recent years deer hunters have also found evidence of meth labs throughout the state,” Lancaster said.

No arrests have been made in the case, and Abben declined to say if investigators had any suspects.

He encouraged anyone with information to come forward and call the tip line at [phone] or e-mail to OURMISSINGIOWAG [e-mail].

A reward has been established for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers continues to accept donations toward their reward at (855) 300-TIPS.


m.wcfcourier.com/mobile-touch-2/?disableTNStatsTracker=1&asset=394b71f6-3f2c-11e2-8ae9-0019bb2963f4#index

[meme]

Lyric Cook And Elizabeth Collins' Bodies Positively Identified

Dec 10, 2012

Two bodies found in a cluster of trees in Iowa were positively identified Monday as two young Iowa cousins missing for nearly five months.

According to the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office,the Iowa Medical Examiner's Office identified the bodies as those of Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, of Waterloo and her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins of Evansdale, the Associated Press reported.

The full results of the autopsy have not yet been released to police.

"We have been so blessed by the [outpouring] of all the (prayers) and support tonight with the gut wrenching news that my beautiful daughter and niece's bodies were found by hunters ... This was [not] the outcome we wanted but we know that they are up in heaven with our Savior and [our] nightmare of where they are and what is happening to them has been answered," Elizabeth's mother, Heather Collins, posted on her Facebook page on Wednesday after the bodies were tentatively identified. The comment is no longer public or has since been removed.

The girl's bodies were found by hunters at about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities were still searching the area for clues last week,and the exact location of the discovery has not been released.

"Preservation of that scene is paramount," Black Hawk County Chief Deputy Rick Abben said.

No arrests have been made, and police have not elaborated on what, if any, evidence was found at the crime scene.

Wednesday's discovery was just the latest chapter in one of the widest missing person searches in Iowa history.

Lyric and Elizabeth were last seen July 13, when they left their grandmother's Evansdale home on a bike ride. The girls' bikes and one of their purses were found later that day on a nature trail that runs along Meyers Lake.

The sheriff's office conducted multiple searches of the lake, but nothing of interest was found. Multiple large-scale searches for the girls were also conducted on land, but their whereabouts remained a mystery until Monday.

Investigators previously said they suspected the girls were kidnapped. There was initial speculation that they may have been held prisoner.

The anguish in the children's close-knit community intensified Wednesday night, when detectives announced the two bodies were discovered. About 50 people attended a vigil for the girls at Meyers Lake, about 5 miles outside Waterloo.

"The hope was very high that these girls were going to come home alive,so this is quite traumatic for everybody that was involved," Barb Collins, a local resident who attended the vigil, told the Press-Citizen.

The families of the girls have yet to comment and have requested privacy.

Last week,a reward for information in the case reached $150,000, after an anonymous donor contributed $100,000.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the tip line at 319-232-6682 or 1-800-346-5507.

www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/12/10/lyric-cook-morrissey-elizabeth-collins-found_n_2250043.html

[earl]

Thanks for the update. Sure hope there were some clues where the bodies were found.

[Pawleys]

I hope they catch the monster who did this.