ARCHIVED ARTICLE: Search of Wildlife Refuge Brings No Sign of Missing 3-Year-Old - 5/24/2006

Search of Wildlife Refuge Brings No Sign of Missing 3-Year-Old
May 24 2006 12:00AM
http://www.ap.org
JAMES MacPHERSON

Associated Press

Minot, N.D. - Reachelle Smith's mother and aunt tearfully pleaded for her safe return as searchers fanned out through a wildlife refuge north of here to look for the 3-year-old girl known as "Peanut."

The search centered around an area where the body of a man suspected of taking her was found Tuesday.

Leigh Cowen, 22, was found inside a van on a gravel road at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge, and authorities said he apparently killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning.

There was no trace of Reachelle, who was last seen the night of May 16 when
she was put to bed at her home.

National Guard members, law enforcement officers, horseback riders and others on foot and in all-terrain vehicles, battled heat and then rain in searching the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge, which covers some 32,000 acres northwest of Minot. They found no sign of the child.

"We figure we searched at least 2,500 acres of the Upper Souris Wildlife Refuge," said Capt. Todd Keller, of the Ward County Sheriff's Department at the end of the day Wednesday.

"We really didn't have any indication that she was here. The only reason we
wanted to search this area so thoroughly was that he was found there," Keller
said.

Stephanie Smith, the girl's aunt and legal guardian, and Samantha Smith, her mother, joined other relatives and friends at a news conference with law enforcement officials Wednesday.

They said the 3-year-old needs treatment for asthma, and clutched her doll in tears as they spoke about how Reachelle knows the alphabet, likes puzzles and likes to have her picture taken.

"She's our Peanut," Stephanie Smith said.

"Right now, we just want her back," Samantha said.

Authorities said dive teams were searching part of the Souris River in Minot's Oak Park, near the girl's home. The search also included in the Surrey area, where a farmer thought he had recently seen the van in which Cowen's body was found.

"We're going where the evidence takes us. We're not going to leave any leaf
unturned. We're not going to close the door on other suspects," Police Capt. Al Hanson
said.

Reachelle Smith was put to bed at about 10:30 p.m. on May 16 at her home in Minot and was missing the next day, police said.

Authorities said Cowen lived with Stephanie Smith and had told her that the girl was staying with his mother. Police later learned that Cowen's mother had moved to Kansas and did not know the girl's whereabouts. They issued an Amber Alert.

State officials said Cowen was on probation for theft of property in Ward County and had failed to report in as required. A warrant was issued last month for his arrest on charges of violating his probation.

Reachelle Smith is described as white, about 3-foot-4 and weighs about 40 pounds, authorities said. She has brown eyes and straight, light brown hair.