ARCHIVED ARTICLE: Search To Resume For Missing Girl After Man Found Dead - 5/24/2006

Search To Resume For Missing Girl After Man Found Dead
May 24 2006 12:00AM
http://www.ap.org

Associated Press

Minot, N.D. - Searchers locked arms and walked through a wildlife refuge north of here for signs of a missing 3-year-old girl, after the body of a man believed to have been with her was found in a van nearby.

The search was to resume Wednesday for 3-year-old Reachelle Smith, at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge, Ward County Sheriff Vern Erck said.

Minot Police Capt. Al Hanson said the body of Leigh Cowen, 22, was found inside a van on a gravel road at the refuge Tuesday. Hanson said Cowen appeared to have killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning. He said authorities could find no trace of the girl, who was last seen the night of May 16.

"We absolutely felt like we had to do a grid search since the van and the body was found here, Erck said. The search was called off about 9 p.m. Tuesday. It was a tough effort, with searchers battling wood ticks and heat, he said.

"We're hoping to get more people out here, and we'll have gone over this refuge with a fine-toothed comb," the sheriff said. The National Guard may be available to help, he said.

Reachelle Smith was put to bed at about 10:30 p.m. on May 16 at her home in Minot, Minot Police Sgt. Winston Black said. The following day she was gone, he said.

The Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert for Reachelle after she was reported missing Monday by her aunt.

Authorities had thought the child was with Cowen, a man who had been living with her aunt, the child's legal guardian. Police said his mother sometimes looked after Reachelle in Minot.

Police said Cowen first said the girl had been staying with his mother, but they found out his mother had moved to Derby, Kan., within the past few days. When Cowen turned up missing, they thought he might have taken Reachelle and headed for Kansas.

The van in which his body was found was taken to the Police Department for a more thorough search.

State officials said Cowen was on probation for theft of property in Ward County and was being supervised in Fargo when he 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.