Elizabeth Olten Found: Body of 9-Year-Old Missouri Girl Found

Elizabeth Olten's body has been found. The body of the missing 9-year-old Missouri girl that disappeared Wednesday evening was found Friday when investigators were led to it. The Associated Press and Fox News reported that authorities were taken by a juvenile to Elizabeth Olten's lifeless body, which was in a heavily wooded area close to where they had been concentrating their efforts.

Elizabeth Olten disappeared around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday evening on her way home from a friend's house. She was walking alone, along a path she had traveled many times before. She had called her family just before leaving her friend's home. By 7 p.m., the Olten family, knowing that Elizabeth was afraid of the dark and wouldn't be caught out after sundown, called the police.

An extensive search was mounted. So many volunteers showed up to help, Cole County Sheriff Greg White had to turn some away. Search teams were using infra-red detection devices, he explained, and it was necessary to monitor everyone searching. A helicopter, also equipped with infra-red sensing equipment, was brought in the first night to help in the search.

Although it is not clear yet when Elizabeth Olten died, or even how she died, the possibility exists that she may have already been dead before the searches began, thus rendering the infra-red dectectors without a heat source to detect.

Investigators were focusing on an area believed to be where the last signal emanated from Elizabeth Olten's cell phone. When they recovered her body, they also recovered the cell phone.

The "older juvenile" who led police to the body had been a "person of interest" but was later arrested, according to KansasCity.com. The juvenile was an acquaintance of Elizabeth Olten, Sheriff White said at a televised press conference, but he would give no further details. The juvenile's name, age, and relationship with Elizabeth Olten were not disclosed.

An Amber Alert was never issued for Elizabeth Olten and many wonder why. At a press conference Thursday evening, Vicki Olten, Elizabeth's aunt, questioned the decision not to use an Amber Alert and suggested that the guidelines needed changing.

Sheriff White explained that there was never any evidence to support an Amber Alert being issued, which involves abduction. However, there was enough for White to consider the 9-year-old an endangered missing child. An "endangered person advisory," which can be issued for an individual of any age and for just about any reason, was issued, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Sheriff White explained: We put this out to law enforcement all through the region F area, which is a 13-county area, and of course entered it into the NCIC which covers the United States. So the simple difference would be how much the average citizen would get on it."

According to ConnectMidMissouri.com, the Missouri Amber Alert system was created to keep it from overuse and having a desensitizing effect. It was limited to abduction cases within the parameters of defined by organizations expert in dealing with missing children cases.

In a similar case, 8-year-old Sandra Cantu went missing in Tracy, California, on March 27. Her body was found in a suitcase sunk to the bottom of an irrigation pond 10 days later. Melissa Huckaby, a neighbor, would later be arrested and charged with the kidnap, rape, and murder of Sandra Cantu.

Tracy Police maintained that they never employed an Amber Alert because guidelines were never met for the Alert to be issued. Instead, an electronic alert went out to all West Coast law enforcement agencies.

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Sources:

Associated Press
FoxNews.com
KansasCity.com
ConnectMidMissouri.com
NYDailyNews.com