Right now, it's 28 degrees there -- 19 with wind chill -- and it'll be colder tonight, and raining all day tomorrow. Not a good time to be lost.
Update, 12:35 pm
Double crap. This might be a cadaver search.
Sex Offender Charged in Kidnapping of Md. Girl, Authorities SayUpdate, 12/25/09, 5:00 pm
A massive search is underway for Sarah Haley Foxwell, who was last seen by family wearing fuzzy red pajama bottoms with Christmas trees on them and a pink John Deere T-shirt. ... Searchers on Wednesday were fanning out over several miles of fields and dense woods looking for any sign of the girl. ... They also are searching residential areas.
Thomas James Leggs, 30, a registered sex offender, is in custody and has been charged with kidnapping and burglary, authorities said. Leggs has a prior conviction for a third-degree sex offense. Maryland ... lists him as a "child sexual offender." Leggs also is registered ... in Delaware [as] a "high risk" offender who had a 2001 conviction for the rape of a teenager.
I just got back from a 5-hour trip to Salisbury, 4 hours of which was driving. Amount of searching done: none. I don't mind, though. It was a lot more worthwhile than most searches.
Thought it would be hard to get people on Xmas? By 9 am, they had 3,000 volunteers. The cops were overwhelmed. They sent them to search areas already covered -- supposedly to see if anything was missed, but maybe just to give them something to do. After all, you don't want mobs of untrained people trampling the area and screwing up any evidence.
At mid-day, they said they'd use law enforcement only from then on. However, we did talk directly to the detective in charge, and he seemed perfectly happy that we came. He got our leader's business card, and there's a chance they'll call us back in this weekend.
Oh crap. Just got a page saying they found her -- deceased. Not surprising, but you always hope for a miracle. I don't support the death penalty, but if anyone deserves it, it's people like him.
Follow-up:
The Baltimore Sun reported that Leggs had pled guilty to a sex offense 11 years earlier, and since then was charged five other times for crimes against young girls and women, including a conviction for raping a minor. Despite that and multiple parole violations, he'd escaped serious jail time.
Follow-up #2:
In March 2011, threatened with the death penalty, Leggs plead guilty to kidnapping, sexual abuse, and murder, and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without chance of parole, plus another 50 years.
Follow-up #3
In May 2011, Leggs was attacked by another prisoner and slashed in the hand, neck, and head. While I don't know the motive, those who molest or kill children are looked at with disgust and hate by other prisoners, and are more likely to be attacked and killed by them. Apparently, even those who've committed violent crimes against adults think harming kids crosses the line.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
