Man arrested in Kansas teenager's death
Man arrested in Kansas teenager's death
By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER, Associated Press Writer 52 minutes ago
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A man seen on surveillance video leaving a store shortly before a teenager was abducted in the parking lot has been arrested, hours after her body was found in a park, authorities said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Edwin R. Hall, 26, was expected to be charged Thursday morning with premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said.
Kelsey Smith, 18, had been missing since Saturday night, when she went to a Target store in this Kansas City suburb to buy a gift for her boyfriend.
Surveillance video showed her being forced into her car around 7:10 p.m., and the car drove off. It was found in a nearby mall parking lot about two hours later.
Douglass said Hall appeared to be the same person shown in the video leaving the Target soon after Smith. He was wearing a white T-shirt, sneakers, shorts and a goatee.
"This community has lost a vibrant and promising life and a family has suffered unimaginable tragedy," said Phill Kline, prosecutor for Johnson County, Kan.
Police said Hall's vehicle matched the description of a dark mid-1970s Chevrolet pickup that was seen entering the Target parking lot shortly after Smith's car.
"I want to again express my condolences to the Smith family," Douglass said. "I realize that this is not the preferred conclusion. While we cannot give them their daughter back, we can at least give them justice."
Douglass said police had received more than 500 tips in the case and had questioned numerous people, including Hall, who was arrested at the end of his interview Wednesday.
Douglass said there was no evidence that Hall and Smith knew each other. He declined to offer a motive for the attack or specify whether investigators had determined that Smith was killed in Kansas, where the murder charge was to be filed.
Police found Smith's body in a wooded area near Grandview, Mo., about 20 miles east of the Target store. Authorities did not say how she died.
"As I understand she was found at a wooded area, but I can't say whether she was directly concealed by bushes," Douglass told reporters.
Officers had been searching the lake area since Tuesday after tracing signals from Smith's cell phone. Investigators isolated two signals from an area in south Kansas City, Mo.
Before a memorial service Wednesday evening, Smith's father, Greg Smith, thanked the hundreds of volunteers and everyone else involved in the search for his daughter.
"She could walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends," Smith told the gathering, fighting tears.
"Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched," he said. "She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time."
After his daughter's body was found, Kimberly Kincade, 39, was one of only a few people who remained at the makeshift staging area for searchers in the Target parking lot, surrounded by stacks of fliers and cases of water and soda.
"The person who is going to keep us the strongest is Kelsey," Kincade said, fighting tears. "She's up there looking down and saying, 'I know this is bad, and I know that I'm not there with you anymore. I can't hold you, and I can't hug you. But both of my arms are wrapping around you, and I'm there with you.'"
* Email Story
* IM Story
* Printable View
RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It: Not at All Somewhat Moderately Highly Very Highly
Average (760 votes)
4.7 stars
? Recommended Stories
U.S. News
* Girl found in hidden room; 3 arrested AP
* Ex-Wis. state senator had ties to Hmong AP
* Trying times for NYC Guyanese community AP
* Iraq war veteran loses protest appeal AP
* Gay groups decry surgeon general nominee AP
Most Viewed - U.S.
* Girl found in hidden room; 3 arrested AP
* Satellites to watch for Darfur violence AP
* D-Day soldier's dog tag found in sand AP
* Gay groups decry surgeon general nominee AP
* Ex-Wis. state senator had ties to Hmong AP
U.S. News Video
* Man to be charged for dragging death AP - 41 minutes ago
* Friends, family grieve Kansas teen's murder AP - 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
* Missing woman's body found CNN - Thu Jun 7, 4:05 AM ET
* Summer scorcher in LA CNN - Thu Jun 7, 3:05 AM ET
Sponsored Links
( What's this? )
* Mortgage Rates Fall Again
$430,000 Loan $1299/mo. Think you pay too much? No SSN required.
www.LowerMyBills.com
* Vonage - Official Site
Talk all you want for just $24.99 per month & get 1 month free.
www.Vonage.com
* Refinance with Bad Credit
Compare up to 4 free quotes. Serious refinance requests only.
www.homeloanhelpline.com
This undated photo provided by the family shows missing Overland Park, Kan., teen Kelsey Smith. Smith has been missing since Saturday, June 2, 2007, when she did not return from a trip to a nearby store in Overland Park. A surveillance video shows a missing 18-year-old being forced into her car at a Target store where she had stopped for an errand over the weekend, police said. (AP Photo/ Family via the Kansas City Star)
By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER, Associated Press Writer 52 minutes ago
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A man seen on surveillance video leaving a store shortly before a teenager was abducted in the parking lot has been arrested, hours after her body was found in a park, authorities said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Edwin R. Hall, 26, was expected to be charged Thursday morning with premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said.
Kelsey Smith, 18, had been missing since Saturday night, when she went to a Target store in this Kansas City suburb to buy a gift for her boyfriend.
Surveillance video showed her being forced into her car around 7:10 p.m., and the car drove off. It was found in a nearby mall parking lot about two hours later.
Douglass said Hall appeared to be the same person shown in the video leaving the Target soon after Smith. He was wearing a white T-shirt, sneakers, shorts and a goatee.
"This community has lost a vibrant and promising life and a family has suffered unimaginable tragedy," said Phill Kline, prosecutor for Johnson County, Kan.
Police said Hall's vehicle matched the description of a dark mid-1970s Chevrolet pickup that was seen entering the Target parking lot shortly after Smith's car.
"I want to again express my condolences to the Smith family," Douglass said. "I realize that this is not the preferred conclusion. While we cannot give them their daughter back, we can at least give them justice."
Douglass said police had received more than 500 tips in the case and had questioned numerous people, including Hall, who was arrested at the end of his interview Wednesday.
Douglass said there was no evidence that Hall and Smith knew each other. He declined to offer a motive for the attack or specify whether investigators had determined that Smith was killed in Kansas, where the murder charge was to be filed.
Police found Smith's body in a wooded area near Grandview, Mo., about 20 miles east of the Target store. Authorities did not say how she died.
"As I understand she was found at a wooded area, but I can't say whether she was directly concealed by bushes," Douglass told reporters.
Officers had been searching the lake area since Tuesday after tracing signals from Smith's cell phone. Investigators isolated two signals from an area in south Kansas City, Mo.
Before a memorial service Wednesday evening, Smith's father, Greg Smith, thanked the hundreds of volunteers and everyone else involved in the search for his daughter.
"She could walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends," Smith told the gathering, fighting tears.
"Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched," he said. "She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time."
After his daughter's body was found, Kimberly Kincade, 39, was one of only a few people who remained at the makeshift staging area for searchers in the Target parking lot, surrounded by stacks of fliers and cases of water and soda.
"The person who is going to keep us the strongest is Kelsey," Kincade said, fighting tears. "She's up there looking down and saying, 'I know this is bad, and I know that I'm not there with you anymore. I can't hold you, and I can't hug you. But both of my arms are wrapping around you, and I'm there with you.'"
* Email Story
* IM Story
* Printable View
RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It: Not at All Somewhat Moderately Highly Very Highly
Average (760 votes)
4.7 stars
? Recommended Stories
U.S. News
* Girl found in hidden room; 3 arrested AP
* Ex-Wis. state senator had ties to Hmong AP
* Trying times for NYC Guyanese community AP
* Iraq war veteran loses protest appeal AP
* Gay groups decry surgeon general nominee AP
Most Viewed - U.S.
* Girl found in hidden room; 3 arrested AP
* Satellites to watch for Darfur violence AP
* D-Day soldier's dog tag found in sand AP
* Gay groups decry surgeon general nominee AP
* Ex-Wis. state senator had ties to Hmong AP
U.S. News Video
* Man to be charged for dragging death AP - 41 minutes ago
* Friends, family grieve Kansas teen's murder AP - 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
* Missing woman's body found CNN - Thu Jun 7, 4:05 AM ET
* Summer scorcher in LA CNN - Thu Jun 7, 3:05 AM ET
Sponsored Links
( What's this? )
* Mortgage Rates Fall Again
$430,000 Loan $1299/mo. Think you pay too much? No SSN required.
www.LowerMyBills.com
* Vonage - Official Site
Talk all you want for just $24.99 per month & get 1 month free.
www.Vonage.com
* Refinance with Bad Credit
Compare up to 4 free quotes. Serious refinance requests only.
www.homeloanhelpline.com
This undated photo provided by the family shows missing Overland Park, Kan., teen Kelsey Smith. Smith has been missing since Saturday, June 2, 2007, when she did not return from a trip to a nearby store in Overland Park. A surveillance video shows a missing 18-year-old being forced into her car at a Target store where she had stopped for an errand over the weekend, police said. (AP Photo/ Family via the Kansas City Star)
0
-
Yes, they caught the piece of garbage. One of the attorneys that work in the same firm as my daughter recognized him from the video and called in what I'm sure was one of many tips. I hope he is not permitted to cop a plea and escape the death penalty. Though maybe death would be too kind. He may have problems in the general prison population. 0 -
After a fair trial and being sentenced to death he will languish on death row for 20 years or so. He will be eating free food while gaining sympathy from the media for his poor childhood. He will have free legal help and a law library to study. He might even get a degree while waiting for his just reward. Maybe he will write a children's novel.....
Will somebody please just kill the SOB.0 -
quote:Originally posted by bpost1958
After a fair trial and being sentenced to death he will languish on death row for 20 years or so. He will be eating free food while gaining sympathy from the media for his poor childhood. He will have free legal help and a law library to study. He might even get a degree while waiting for his just reward. Maybe he will write a children's novel.....
Will somebody please just kill the SOB.
Ditto. Could not have said it any better.0 -
quote:Originally posted by bpost1958
After a fair trial and being sentenced to death he will languish on death row for 20 years or so. He will be eating free food while gaining sympathy from the media for his poor childhood. He will have free legal help and a law library to study. He might even get a degree while waiting for his just reward. Maybe he will write a children's novel.....
Will somebody please just kill the SOB.
I'm in. Might be a few (hundred) misplaced shots though.[;)]0 -
Ok I'm lost here...the news just said this dude could 100 yrs to life for the abduction and murder of Kelsey Smith. But Prosecutors were looking at more severe charges in the case...What the heck does that mean? 0 -
I think the prosecutors are looking (as usual) at the chances of getting a jury to agree on death. The first thing a defense attorney is going to bring up is that the homicide was not intentional. He just took her someplace to talk, she attacked him, he lost his head......... you know the procedure. I guess they are going to charge him in Kansas, too bad it's not Missouri, tho the death penalty is now valid in Kansas. 0 -
If guilty ( they must have good evidence )he needs to fry !!! Big time. 0 -
Kill him? Nah... that would be inhumane.
I say let him rot in jail for life with Big Bubba as his boyfriend.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
8 comments