Reachelle Marie Smith, Birthdate: 9/10/02. Answers to Peanut. BEFORE YOU
SKIP THIS, LOOK AT THE CHILD. DO IT AGAIN.. NOW SEND IT TO ALL IN YOUR ADDRESS
BOOK. IT TAKES
10 SECONDS. PEOPLE ARE MISSING HER AND SHE WANTS TO BE HOME. DO SOMETHING GOOD.
-- Sue & Barry Wilcox (406) 961-4064
Claim: A 3-year-old girl named Reachelle Marie Smith is missing from her Minot, North Dakota, home.
TRUE
Example:[Collected via e-mail, June 2006]
Please look out for this little one.
AMBER ALERT!!!!! Body: I need everyones help!!!! Please repost this
ASAP. This is the daughter of a very close personal friend. Her worst
nightmare came true as a parent. Her little girl was abducted by what
they thought was a family friend. We need to get the word around so we
can get this sweet little girl back to her family. Follow the
instructions at the bottom to repost this message please!!
BEFORE YOU SKIP THIS, LOOK AT THE KID. DO IT AGAIN. NOW TRY TO REPOST. IT TAKES 10 SECONDS. PEOPLE ARE MISSING HER AND SHE WANTS TO BE HOME. DO
SOMETHING GOOD.
(701)852-0111.
Variations: An April 2009 version changed the missing girl's location to Tamworth, Australia.
Origins: The above-quoted message
is a legitimate missing child alert. The girl pictured, three-year-old
Reachelle Marie Smith, has been missing from her home in Minot, North Dakota, since mid-May 2006. (She would now be six years old.) While an Amber Alert was issued for her on 22 May 2006, it has since been rescinded due to the age of the case. (Active Amber Alerts can be viewed here.)
Initial reports indicated that Reachelle was believed to be in the company of a 22-year-old man named Leigh Cowen,
who lived with Reachelle's aunt, her legal guardian. However, Cowen has
since been found dead of an apparent suicide, and Reachelle has not yet
been located.
Reachelle's case has been profiled on the America's Most Wanted television program, and although the case remains open, authorities say they now have few leads to go on, and the active search for her has effectively ended:
Cops in Minot, N.D., are now searching
for new clues that will lead them to Reachelle Smith. Investigators say
they initially thought the little girl may have been traveling with
22-year-old Leigh Cowen. But any hopes of finding the 3-year-old with
him vanished when cops found Cowen's dead body following what appeared
to
be a suicide.
Unfortunately, the discovery of Cowen's body didn't shed any light on
where Reachelle might be. But that doesn't mean investigators are
giving up. As of May 26th, a force of 200 searchers continued the mission to find the little girl.
Search teams scoured parks, a local river and a city landfill in hopes
of finding clues. The National Guard also joined the search.
But following the weekend search, police say the search is taking a new turn — things
are starting to wind down in the search for little Reachelle.
Investigators say the fact that they've received few new leads is
putting a damper on their mission.
Reachelle Smith was last seen at her house on Tuesday, May 16, 2006, at about 10:30 p.m., when she was put to bed. She is about 3' feet tall and weighs about 40 pounds. She has brown eyes and straight, light brown hair.
Additional information:
Missing Person: Reachelle Smith (FBI)
Last updated: 9 July 2009
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/missing/reachelle.asp