May 27 2006 12:00AM
http://www.ap.org
Associated Press
Minot, N.D. - Searchers looking for a missing 3-year-old girl began winding down their efforts on Saturday after bloodhounds failed to turn up any trace of Reachelle Smith.
Police Capt. Al Hanson said any new leads would be checked out, but "we've had virtually no leads coming in," he said. "(The search) has pretty much been shut down."
Searches might resume in the coming days, but nothing was scheduled Sunday, Hanson said.
Reachelle has not been seen since the night of May 16. Hundreds of people have been searching for days on the ground, in the air and in the Mouse River. Hanson said only about three dozen people searched on Saturday, and only on the ground.
They revisited a wildlife refuge northwest of Minot as well as the area around the girl's home.
Three bloodhounds were brought in from southern North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota.
"We completed a neighborhood canvas for the fourth time with no positive results," Hanson said. "We want to double- and triple-check to make sure we haven't missed anything."
Authorities also finished draining a section of the river near the girl's home "as far down as we can get it," Hanson said. "The dogs were run past that this morning."
Searchers on Saturday also returned to the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge, where the body of Leigh Cowen, 22, was found in a van Tuesday. Authorities say he knew Reachelle's family, and they suspected he had taken the girl.
They said he killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning. Hanson said Cowen had made previous attempts at suicide, though not in Minot.
The captain said Cowen moved to Minot to live with Stephanie Smith, Reachelle's
aunt and legal guardian.
Cowen had grown up with Smith and Samantha Smith, the girl's biological mother, Hanson said.
He said Cowen had told Stephanie Smith that he was Reachelle's father, which she accepted until Cowen disappeared with the van.
Cowen's mother, who had sometimes cared for Reachelle, had moved to Derby, Kan. She has been questioned several times in Kansas, and authorities say they do not believe she is involved in the girl's disappearance.
Hanson said other people were being interviewed on Saturday, but he
declined to say who they were.
Police on Saturday also asked area residents to check sheds, bushes and vehicles on their property.
Hanson said authorities still hope to find Reachelle alive.
"Obviously, the longer things go on, statistically the less likely it is to be a search operation," he said. "But you're always going to have to hold out some hope."
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