By Calvin Palmer
The body of a five-year-old Michigan girl missing since May 24 was found today by two men fishing on the River Raisin in Raisinville Township.
Nevaeh Buchanan was found about seven miles from where she was last seen in the parking lot of her apartment complex in Monroe.
Guy Bickley, 51, was fishing with his father around 11:00 a.m. when he spotted a block of poured cement on the river bank and noticed a smell that he likened to a decomposing body.
Bickley chipped away a piece of cement and revealed what appeared to be human skin. The men notified the police.
Investigators worked into the evening recovering evidence from what appeared to be a shallow grave at the water’s edge that had been covered with quick-drying cement.
The Rev Dale Hayford, senior pastor of Monroe Crosswalk Community Church and a friend of the family, said police told the family they are 99 percent sure the body is that of Nevaeh. Some additional testing will have to be done to confirm her identity beyond doubt, he said.
Since Nevaeh’s disappearance, police have targeted a few men with histories of sex assault convictions, but no one has been charged in the case.
One man, George Kennedy, 39, told the Toledo Blade newspaper this week he had nothing to do with the girl’s disappearance and had, in fact,.helped the girl’s mother search for Nevaeh.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Department is due to hold a news conference tomorrow morning.
[Based on reports by the Associated Press and Detroit Free Press.]
2 Comments
June 5, 2009 at 3:02 pm
When are we going to get serious about predators. How many children have to die? This girl in her short life has probably affected 100’s of people around her who will never see her smile again. I am getting so sick of hearing cases like this.
June 7, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Sadly, we can’t stop or sense every predator there is so as parents we must keep it in the backs of our minds that they ARE out there and no, it’s not fair and children above anyone else should have the freedom to run for miles without being afraid of abduction BUT that isn’t reality. Don’t assume a child at the tender age of 5, for example, is able to defend themselves. Nevaeh’s mom said that her daughter had the mind of a 10 year old. It doesn’t matter. A child that young, especially in an area with several registered sex offenders shouldn’t be unsupervised. Nothing in your life should be that important to take priority over your child. Granted, abductions do happen no matter how much you are there for them but this case takes the cake. I just don’t know what can be done to stop this from happening. Laws should be stronger, they will reoffend, so the shouldn’t technically be back in society, IMO. Parents need to be more cautious. Other than that, I just don’t know.