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LISA
 Posted:
Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:33 pm |
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Brooke Bennett - Missing 12-Year-Old Vermont Girl
Missing 12-Year-Old Vermont Girl Apparently Lied and Went to See Person She Met Online
Thursday, June 26, 2008
FOX NEWS
A 12-year-old girl who vanished after being dropped off to meet a friend apparently lied and was actually going to see someone she'd been communicating with online.
The family of Brooke Bennett believes the girl made up the story of accompanying a friend to visit a sick relative in the hospital, police said Thursday.
Instead, she was apparently planning to meet an unknown person she had been in touch with on the Internet. Vermont's FOX 44 reported it may have been someone she had met on the social networking site MySpace.
The Vermont State Police issued an Amber Alert Thursday in their search for the girl, who hasn't been seen since Wednesday morning.
Brooke, of Braintree, was reported missing around 9 p.m. Wednesday, about 12 hours after her uncle dropped her off at a convenience store in Randolph, Vt.
She told family members she was going to meet a girlfriend and then go to visit a sick relative of the girlfriend at a hospital, according to Vermont State Police Capt. David Covell.
"It is the family members' opinion that that was a ruse to the family to get to that location," said Covell. "There's been no interview conducted that supported that that was a legitimate meeting."
Surveillance camera footage from the Cumberland Farms store showed Brooke being dropped off by her uncle and cousin, who drove off, according to Covell.
The footage showed Brooke walking away from the store by herself, he said. That was the last time she was seen.
A family member searching for her Thursday in Brookfield — near her uncle's home, where she spent the night — found items belonging to her near Route 65 that were similar to what she had been wearing, prompting an intensive search by police and dogs in the area of the Floating Bridge.
In the Amber Alert, police said they had no information about a suspect or any vehicle.
Police have not identified the person she was communicating with, but Vermont State Police computer experts were analyzing the computer in a bid to learn more, authorities said. Police said they don't know if it was a woman or a man.
Vermont State Police divers will begin searching Sunset Lake on Friday, according to Covell. About 14 detectives are currently working on the case, he said.
The girl's father, James Bennett, 41, of Bethel, said he hadn't seen his daughter in two weeks and that she lives with her mother.
"I'm sitting here waiting for a phone call, hoping it's good news. This is a very difficult time," Bennett said.
The girl, who just finished seventh grade, is described as 4-foot-11 inches tall, 98 pounds, wearing blue jeans, a pink sweater and white sneakers with pink lettering. Police won't say what items were found by the relative.
Anyone with information about Brooke's whereabouts is asked to call the state police at (802) 234-9933.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372224,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime
Last edited by LISA on Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| LISA
Posted:
Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:37 pm |
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Brooke Bennett / Vermont State Police
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| LISA
Posted:
Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:46 pm |
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NEW INFORMATION: Vermont Issues First Amber Alert
Posted: June 26, 2008 11:30 AM EDT
Updated: June 26, 2008 07:43 PM EDT
The first Amber Alert used in the state of Vermont was activated Thursday afternoon in the case of a missing 12-year old girl. Brooke Bennett was last seen Wednesday morning at a convenience store in Randolph.
An uncle and cousin dropped the girl off for a pre-arranged meeting with a friend. Bennett told her family she was going to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to visit the friend's relative. Police now suspect that was a lie.
Fox 44 News has learned the Vermont State Police Computer Crime Unit is examining Bennett's computer to determine the identity of the person she was communicating with via the internet.
Right now, State Police along with K-9 teams and the State Police Search and Rescue Team are searching for the Braintree, Vermont girl. Items of clothing belonging to Bennett have been found. The clothes have been sent to the Vermont Forensic Labratory for testing.
Vermont State Police describe the search as active and aggressive. Bennett is 5' 03" and weighs 98 pounds. She has brown hair with purple highlights and blue eyes. She was wearing blue jeans, a pink sweater and white sneakers with pink lettering. If anyone has seen her or has any information , call the Vermont State Police at (802) 234-9933.
http://www.fox44.net/Global/story.asp?S=8559001
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Joined: 13 Apr 2006
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| Arubalover
Posted:
Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:57 am |
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I hope they find this girl alive. What goes through these girls heads?? There is no telling how old the guy is that she went and met. I just hope he hasn't harmed her. 
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| Phantom
Posted:
Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:16 am |
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Divers Launch Lake Search for Missing 12-Year-Old Vermont Girl
Police divers in Vermont were launching a water search Friday for a missing 12-year-old girl, who lied to her family about where she was going and instead apparently went to see someone she met on MySpace.
Several items of Brooke Bennett's clothing were found Thursday by a family member near Sunset Lake, which dive teams were planning to investigate.
Police haven't identified any suspects in the child's disappearance, which prompted Vermont's first-ever Amber Alert.
The Braintree, Vt., girl was reported missing around 9 p.m. Wednesday after her uncle dropped her off at a convenience store about 12 hours earlier in Randolph, where she'd said she was going to meet a girlfriend to visit a sick relative in the hospital.
But police believe that Brooke fibbed and may have been bound for a meeting with an unknown person whom she'd been communicating with on MySpace.com, an online social networking site.
A press conference was planned for 10:30 a.m. EDT Friday.
She told family members she was going to meet her friend and then go to visit a sick relative of the friend at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, N.H., according to Vermont State Police Capt. David Covell.
"It is the family members' opinion that that was a ruse to the family to get to that location," said Covell. "There's been no interview conducted that supported that that was a legitimate meeting."
Surveillance camera footage from the Cumberland Farms store showed Brooke being dropped off by her uncle and cousin, according to Covell. The footage, which police would not release, showed Brooke walking away from the store by herself, headed toward the village of Randolph, they said.
She hasn't been seen since.
A family member searching for her Thursday in Brookfield — near her uncle's home, where she spent the night — found items belonging to her near Route 65 that were similar to what she had been wearing, prompting an intensive search by police and dogs in the area of the Floating Bridge. Police wouldn't say what the items were.
In the Amber Alert, police said they had no information about a suspect or any vehicle.
Police haven't identified the person she was communicating with, but Vermont State Police computer experts were analyzing the computer in a bid to learn more, authorities said. Police said they don't know if it was a woman or a man.
The girl established her first MySpace account under her father's supervision, but he later pulled the plug on it a couple of months ago after they learned about some of her activity on it, according to the father, James Bennett, 41, of Bethel.
"We told her when we set it up there that's things you're not gonna' do," he said. "We had a little respect problem after a month or so, so we shut it off. There was an issue, and we decided it was not appropriate for her to have it. We changed the password so she couldn't use it," he said.
She later set up an account from another computer, which Bennett said he didn't know until a week ago. The girl lives with her mother in Braintree, not with Bennett.
MySpace.com, the Web's most popular social networking site, has more than 110 million active users. It's a free site, but registration is required.
On Friday, Vermont State Police divers will begin searching Sunset Lake, which is close to the place where the girl's belongings were found. On Thursday, a New England K-9 Search and Rescue dog walked a floating bridge that spans it, under the guidance of handler Nancy Lyons.
Police cordoned off the road that leads to the west side of the lake, and search dogs looked in that vicinity, too, to no avail.
"The floating bridge is a common place for teens to hang out," said Orange County Sheriff Bill Bohnyak. "It's very common for local kids from Randolph, Braintree, Brookfield, Chelsea to come over to the floating bridge."
Capt. Ed Ledo of the Vermont State Police said the Amber Alert wasn't issued earlier because police needed more information. The alert was issued about 5:25 p.m. Thursday, nearly 18 hours after the girl was reported missing.
"Because someone's missing, you can't just put an Amber Alert out. There are certain criteria we're bound by," Ledo said.
About 14 detectives were currently working on the case, he said.
"I'm sitting here waiting for a phone call, hoping it's good news. This is a very difficult time," said James Bennett, her father.
The girl, who just finished seventh grade, is described as 4-foot-11 inches tall, 98 pounds, wearing blue jeans, a pink sweater and white sneakers with pink lettering. She has blue eyes, brown hair with purple highlights and has pierced ears "top and bottom," according to the Amber Alert.
At the Randolph convenience store, a flier with a black-and-white photo of Brooke was taped to the glass door in front, and clerks handed out copies of it to customers inside. A store manager there declined comment on the girl's disappearance.
"It is certainly our hope that Miss Bennett is out there and has just failed for whatever reason to contact family and friends," said Covell. "At this point, we're looking at all possibilities."
Amber Alerts, which are named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old Texas girl slain in 1996, are a partnership between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies and the wireless industry to alert the public in the most serious child-abduction cases.
Anyone with information about Brooke's whereabouts is asked to call the state police at 802-234-9933.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372726,00.html
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Joined: 05 Jun 2006
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Location: My only friend, the end
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| gwen
Posted:
Fri Jun 27, 2008 1:06 pm |
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AKA Gagal_05
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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| gwen
Posted:
Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:05 pm |
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Vermont Police Release Surveillance Tape in Case of Missing 12-Year-Old Girl, FBI Joins Search
Friday, June 27, 2008
As the FBI joined the search for a missing 12-year-old Vermont girl, state police on Friday released a surveillance video believed to show footage of one of the last glimses of Brooke Bennett before her disappearance.
State troopers had previously refrained from publicizing the footage from a security camera inside the Cumberland Farms store, where Brooke said she was meeting a female friend.
The tape shows the girl and her uncle walk into the shop, go to the register to buy something and then leave, each going in separate directions, with Brooke apparently walking away by herself.
She was seen about 45 minutes later inside the Randolph Village Laundromat, police said.
Baker wouldn't say whether she was alone at that point, nor would he say whether police suspect foul play.
Also Friday, a team of police divers searched Sunset Lake and a popular teen hangout known as the Floating Bridge, near where a relative of Brooke's discovered some of her clothes a day earlier.
Police haven't identified any suspects in the child's disappearance, which prompted Vermont's first-ever Amber Alert.
Col. James Baker, director of Vermont State Police, said Friday that investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that Brooke may now be out of state.
Vermont state troopers told reporters that there had been sightings of Brooke and numerous phone tips had come in. They urged anyone who might have seen the girl to call state police.
Investigators from the Vermont State Police, FBI and other agencies were trying to track Brooke's movements after she was dropped off by her uncle and cousin.
The FBI, which had assigned two agents to the case Thursday, plans to send a five-person team made up of agents who specialize in child abduction cases, police said.
A major focus of the investigation was centered on her online activities.
"As we all know, warnings have gone out countless times, in this world that we live in today, there are folks that visit places, social networking spaces such as MySpace, whose intentions are not good. And they come from far away," said Baker.
Police want to hear from anyone who was in Randolph on Wednesday between 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m., even if they don't think they saw anything, Baker said.
The girl was reported missing around 9 p.m. Wednesday after her uncle dropped her off at a convenience store about 12 hours earlier in Randolph, where she'd said she was going to meet a girlfriend to visit the friend's sick relative in the hospital.
But police believe that Brooke fibbed and may have been bound for a meeting with an unknown person whom she'd been communicating with on the social networking site MySpace.com.
Her dad asked for anyone with information about Brooke to come forward.
"Obviously, I'm upset," said James Bennett, choking back tears. "We just want her home. ... Help us find her."
Authorities haven't identified the person she was communicating with, but state police computer experts were analyzing the computer in a bid to learn more. They don't know if it was a woman or a man.
The girl established her first MySpace account under her father's supervision, but he later pulled the plug on it a couple of months ago after they learned about some of her activity on it, according to Bennett, 41, of Bethel, Vt.
"We told her when we set it up there that's things you're not gonna' do," he said. "We had a little respect problem after a month or so, so we shut it off. There was an issue, and we decided it was not appropriate for her to have it. We changed the password so she couldn't use it," he said.
She later set up an account from another computer, which Bennett said he didn't know until a week ago. The girl lives with her mother in Braintree, not with Bennett.
Brooke told family members that she was going to see a friend's sick relative at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, N.H., according to Vermont State Police Capt. David Covell.
"It is the family members' opinion that that was a ruse to the family to get to that location," said Covell. "There's been no interview conducted that supported that that was a legitimate meeting."
A family member searching for her Thursday in Brookfield — near her uncle's home, where she spent the night — found items belonging to her near Route 65 that were similar to what she had been wearing, prompting an intensive search by police and dogs in the area of the Floating Bridge, a popular hangout among local teens.
In the Amber Alert, police said they had no information about a suspect or any vehicle.
On Thursday, New England K-9 units searched the area around the bridge. Nothing of significance was found.
The girl, who just finished seventh grade, is described as 4-foot-11 inches tall, 98 pounds, wearing blue jeans, a pink sweater and white sneakers with pink lettering. She has blue eyes, brown hair with purple highlights and has pierced ears "top and bottom," according to the Amber Alert.
At the Randolph convenience store, a flier with a black-and-white photo of Brooke was taped to the glass door in front, and clerks handed out copies of it to customers inside. A store manager there declined comment on the girl's disappearance.
"It is certainly our hope that Miss Bennett is out there and has just failed for whatever reason to contact family and friends," said Covell. "At this point, we're looking at all possibilities."
Amber Alerts, which are named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old Texas girl slain in 1996, are a partnership between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies and the wireless industry to alert the public in the most serious child-abduction cases.
MySpace.com, the Web's most popular social networking site, has more than 110 million active users. It's a free site, but registration is required.
Anyone with information about Brooke's whereabouts is asked to call the state police at 802-234-9933.
This image is from a surveillance video that, police say, briefly shows Brooke Bennett with her uncle before she disappeared.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372726,00.html
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AKA Gagal_05
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 15229
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| Phantom
Posted:
Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:14 pm |
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After she left the Cumberland Farms store, she was seen at a Dunkin' Donuts type store and a laundarymat further on down the road.
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Joined: 05 Jun 2006
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Location: My only friend, the end
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| Arubalover
Posted:
Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:08 pm |
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It sounds like she was alone for quite some time if she was seen alone 45 minutes after her uncle left.
It's not a good sign though if her things were found by the side of the road.  I pray they find her alive.
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Joined: 24 Nov 2007
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| gwen
Posted:
Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:24 pm |
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| Quote: | | The girl was reported missing around 9 p.m. Wednesday after her uncle dropped her off at a convenience store about 12 hours earlier in Randolph, where she'd said she was going to meet a girlfriend to visit the friend's sick relative in the hospital. |
Why such a long time to report her missing? She was only 12 yrs old...
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AKA Gagal_05
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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| Arubalover
Posted:
Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:59 am |
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Have any of you noticed how little attention this case is getting, especially by Fox news? It is way down in the "old story" section of the web page. I guess if it isn't a well connected family involved, it just isn't important news. 
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| SavannahStar
Posted:
Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:51 am |
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| Arubalover wrote: | | Have any of you noticed how little attention this case is getting, especially by Fox news? It is way down in the "old story" section of the web page. I guess if it isn't a well connected family involved, it just isn't important news. |
That IS odd. Well it's getting HUGE coverage on various message boards....two others that I'm on in particular.
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**SuperStar**
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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Location: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
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| Arubalover
Posted:
Sat Jun 28, 2008 12:53 pm |
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I saw the dad on CNN asking for people to stop spreading rumors. He was so sad. His voice was breaking as he said "we don't need this."
I haven't heard anything about the mom, other than Brooke lived with her. Has she said anything to the media?
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| gwen
Posted:
Sat Jun 28, 2008 12:54 pm |
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| Arubalover wrote: | I saw the dad on CNN asking for people to stop spreading rumors. He was so sad. His voice was breaking as he said "we don't need this."
I haven't heard anything about the mom, other than Brooke lived with her. Has she said anything to the media? |
I have not seen anything from the mom...
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AKA Gagal_05
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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| Arubalover
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:12 am |
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Uncle of Missing Girl Arrested On Unrelated Sex Charges
Monday, June 30, 2008
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont State Police say the uncle of a missing 12-year-old girl — one of the last people to see her before she vanished — has been arrested on unrelated sex charges developed as part of the investigation into her disappearance.
Michael Jacques, 42, of Randolph, who dropped off Brooke Bennett at a convenience store Wednesday and was seen leaving it in a different direction on a surveillance camera video, was charged with aggravated sexual assault against a minor — the victim wasn't Bennett.
She remained missing Sunday, despite an intensive search by state police, the FBI and other agencies.
Jacques, who is married to Bennett's mother's sister, is listed on Vermont sex offender registry. He was convicted of sexual assault and kidnapping in 1993.
The arrest came as the result of information uncovered by investigators assigned to the disappearance. The victim wasn't identified.
He was being held at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, pending an arraignment in Orange County District Court on Monday. If convicted, he could get 10 years to life in prison.
The Search for Brooke Bennett Police say Jacques and a cousin of Bennett's dropped the girl at Cumberland Farms in Randolph about 9 a.m. Wednesday. On the video, which was released Friday, the two are seen in the store, where Jacques makes a purchase with Bennett at his side. They walk out together, then part ways.
Her grandmother reported Bennett missing 12 hours later, and on Thursday an Amber Alert — the first in Vermont history — was issued for Bennett.
Police have said they believe Bennett may have been headed to meet someone with whom she had been communicating online. On Friday, Vermont State Police director Col. James Baker said the investigation centered on contacts involving Bennett on the MySpace.com social networking site.
No suspects have been named in her disappearance.
Oh, why do I have a feeling the police think the uncle had something to do with her disappearance, and have arrested him so they can hold him until they get more info???
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| gwen
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:19 am |
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| Arubalover wrote: | Uncle of Missing Girl Arrested On Unrelated Sex Charges
Monday, June 30, 2008
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont State Police say the uncle of a missing 12-year-old girl — one of the last people to see her before she vanished — has been arrested on unrelated sex charges developed as part of the investigation into her disappearance.
Michael Jacques, 42, of Randolph, who dropped off Brooke Bennett at a convenience store Wednesday and was seen leaving it in a different direction on a surveillance camera video, was charged with aggravated sexual assault against a minor — the victim wasn't Bennett.
She remained missing Sunday, despite an intensive search by state police, the FBI and other agencies.
Jacques, who is married to Bennett's mother's sister, is listed on Vermont sex offender registry. He was convicted of sexual assault and kidnapping in 1993.
The arrest came as the result of information uncovered by investigators assigned to the disappearance. The victim wasn't identified.
He was being held at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, pending an arraignment in Orange County District Court on Monday. If convicted, he could get 10 years to life in prison.
The Search for Brooke Bennett Police say Jacques and a cousin of Bennett's dropped the girl at Cumberland Farms in Randolph about 9 a.m. Wednesday. On the video, which was released Friday, the two are seen in the store, where Jacques makes a purchase with Bennett at his side. They walk out together, then part ways.
Her grandmother reported Bennett missing 12 hours later, and on Thursday an Amber Alert — the first in Vermont history — was issued for Bennett.
Police have said they believe Bennett may have been headed to meet someone with whom she had been communicating online. On Friday, Vermont State Police director Col. James Baker said the investigation centered on contacts involving Bennett on the MySpace.com social networking site.
No suspects have been named in her disappearance.
Oh, why do I have a feeling the police think the uncle had something to do with her disappearance, and have arrested him so they can hold him until they get more info??? |
I think the same thing and have wondered about him since I found out that he dropped her off...
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AKA Gagal_05
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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| Arubalover
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:01 am |
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This article also now says that a cousin was with the uncle when she was dropped off. That is the first I had heard that.
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| pax
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:27 am |
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Thanks for that article AL. So the uncle was convicted of sexual assault and kidnapping in 1993 and has now been arrested and is being held on a newer charge of aggravated assault against a minor, not Brooke Bennett.
Any news on the current charge? Did Brooke Bennett's parents know the uncle (Michael Jacques) is a convicted sex offender? How did Brooke Bennett get from her home to the convenience store? So many questions.
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| Phantom
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:03 pm |
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The police are now searching the property around the home of the uncle.
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Location: My only friend, the end
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| Arubalover
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:37 pm |
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So, if he is responsible for her disappearance, I wonder if he picked her back up later on or what? She was seen on security cameras for 45 minutes after she left the convienence store, at a laundry mat and some other place. So, did he come back for her?
This is not looking good for the girl. I just hope the uncle or cousin tell the truth and let this family know where their daughter is, if he/they are responsible for her disappearance.
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| gwen
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:08 pm |
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Missing Girl's Uncle Named 'Person of Interest' in Her Disappearance
Monday, June 30, 2008
CHELSEA, Vt. — A probe into the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl zeroed in on her uncle Monday, with police calling him a "person of interest" and searching his home while he was being arraigned on sex charges in an unrelated case.
Michael Jacques, 42, of Randolph, a registered sex offender who was one of the last people to see Brooke Bennett before she vanished, pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault and was being held on $250,000 bail.
The alleged victim, a relative of Jacques', was a girl who says Jacques assaulted her over a five-year period, beginning when she was 9 years old and ending a few weeks ago, Orange County State's Attorney Will Porter said.
In an affidavit released afterward, Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. William Jenkins said the girl told police that when she was 9 or 10, she was told — in a telephone call and in a note left under her pillow — that she had been selected for enrollment in a "program for sex" and that Jacques was to be her trainer.
The alleged victim, identified only as "A.R." in court papers, said she was told two other girls were in the program, too.
"The first who does it lives and the second gets her throat cut," she told police, according to the affidavit.
At Jacques' home in Randolph, meanwhile, Vermont State Police called in state police units from Connecticut and Massachusetts and used a helicopter and dogs to search Jacques' home and an adjoining property. Troopers swarmed around Jacques' home — a large two-story house — beginning around 4 a.m. Monday.
Police haven't named him as a suspect in Bennett's disappearance, and seemed last week to be ruling him out. They wouldn't answer questions Monday, pending a 4 p.m. briefing.
Jacques, who is married to the sister of Bennett's mother, dropped Bennett off at a Cumberland Farms convenience store in Randolph on Wednesday after she told family members she was going to meet a friend and visit a relative of the friend's in the hospital.
Police believe that was a lie, and that Bennett may have bound for a meeting with an unknown individual she had been communicating with through MySpace.com, the social networking site. On Friday, Vermont State Police director James Baker said the MySpace communications were the main focus of the probe.
Surveillance video from the store showed Bennett and Jacques leave the store and go in separate directions.
Bennett, who just finished seventh grade at Randolph Union High School, has not been seen since. She is the subject of Vermont's first-ever Amber Alert, which was issued Friday.
In court Monday, a pallid Jacques — handcuffed and shackled at the waist — entered a not guilty plea through public defender L. Brooke Dingledine, who persuaded Judge Theresa DiMauro to grant bail over the objections of Porter.
Jacques has 1993 convictions for kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault and there is "a threat of prejudicial violence to this particular juvenile complainant," said Porter, in arguing for no bail. "Her personal safety was threatened."
He also noted the serious nature of the crime, which could lead to a life prison term, and said Jacques had violated his probation.
"There's no condition or series of conditions that could guarantee the safety of the juvenile complainant in this case," said Porter.
Dingledine said Jacques has a full-time job as an operations manager for a company in West Lebanon, N.H., owns his home and a rental property next door, has strong family ties and a family that depends on his income.
DiMauro said she was considering barring Jacques from leaving the county, but Dingledine — who called the corroborating evidence on the sex charge "very sparse" — said he needed to get to work. So the judge ordered a 24-hour curfew — except for work — if he makes bail.
Relatives of Bennett watched from the gallery as Jacques made his appearance.
http://www.foxnews.com/images/386941/3_66_063008_mike.jpg
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AKA Gagal_05
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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| pax
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:19 pm |
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I'm still wondering how or why a registered sex offender drove a twelve year old girl to the store.
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Location: Wish You Were Here
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| gwen
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:39 pm |
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| pax wrote: | | I'm still wondering how or why a registered sex offender drove a twelve year old girl to the store. |
I don't get it either. Relative or not, he would not have been alone with my child...
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AKA Gagal_05
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 15229
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| AC
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:42 pm |
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I agree...there sure are some crazy parents out there.
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Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 4467
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| tulsad
Posted:
Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:51 pm |
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PRESS CONFERENCE UPDATE ON MISSING BROOKE BENNETT
STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
VERMONT STATE POLICE
Date of Press Conference: June 30, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Statement of Colonel James Baker, Director of the Vermont State Police:
Good Afternoon. Thank you all for coming. For those of you that don’t already know me, I’m Colonel James Baker, Director of the Vermont State Police.
I would first like to start out by thanking the media and the public for their patience and understanding throughout this investigation. We have reached out to you several times for assistance, and each time you’ve pulled through for us and have assisted in any way possible. The level of professionalism that you all have displayed is a true testament to yourself and the news organizations you represent. For that, I am grateful. It is clear that the goals of the media and the public are that of the Vermont State Police and the law enforcement partners working this investigation to find Brooke Bennett.
This case remains very active, and I can say, as a result of the tireless effort and hard work of the investigators, the scope of this investigation has narrowed and we are making progress. We have eliminated several scenarios that were potential possibilities in the disappearance of Brooke. Behavioral Scientists from the FBI have played and continue to play a major role in this elimination process.
On Sunday, the investigation discovered that Michael Jacques of Randolph, Vermont sexually assaulted a minor, who was being interviewed as a result of the Brooke Bennett investigation. The State Police called in detectives of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations, which includes a Vermont State Trooper assigned to the unit, to investigate the sexual assault. Investigators are looking into the possibility there may be more victims of sexual abuse by Jacques. The State Police would like to speak with any child or teenager who may have had contact with Michael Jacques.
The focus of today’s investigation is to search the Jacques’ property in Randolph, Vermont. The Connecticut State Police and the Massachusetts State Police brought in assets to assist in the search, to include a helicopter and K-9 Units. Forensic work is continuing to be done and analyzed. We continue to search for evidence that may help explain Brooke’s disappearance.
The preliminary forensic testing shows that articles found on VT Rt. 65 are connected to Brooke Bennett.
Late Saturday into early Sunday morning, information was developed as a result of forensic examination of computers that helped us change the direction of the investigation. As a result of that, Michael Jacques became a person of interest into the disappearance of Brooke. This is not the only avenue we continue to pursue and we continue to explore other investigative leads. With that said, I will re-confirm my statement from before that this case is about social networking on the internet.
The Vermont State Police are exhausting all of our resources to help locate Brooke Bennett. It is critical that the public continues to have faith in the State Police, and the protection that we provide the citizens of the State of Vermont. We ask that you remain cautious, not fearful, as again, we are making progress in the investigation into the disappearance of Brooke Bennett.
I would like to acknowledge and thank the support from the greater Randolph, Bethel community for providing food, refreshments and other logistical support for the investigators. The Whitcomb High School graciously opened their doors to us to make these press conferences possible. On behalf of the Vermont State Police, I thank you all.
I would also like to thank the assistance of the FBI, the US Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the Orange County State’s Attorney Wil Porter, the Connecticut State Police, the Massachusetts State Police, the Burlington Police Department, the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) team for their continued assistance in this investigation.
I will now open it up for questions. Again, please raise you hand and state your name and who you represent in an attempt to be fair to all that have attended.
http://www.dps.state.vt.us/vtsp/press/press_063008c_royalton.html
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Sparkly Tree
Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 10139
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