Post by mysticsnowangel on May 22, 2006 20:06:04 GMT -5
The four-day investigation into the disappearance of 19-year-old Brooke Wilberger from a Corvallis apartment complex focused Friday on a handful of individuals described by Corvallis police Lt. Ron Noble as "people we are definitely interested in."
Noble said five people were singled out Friday in part because of their histories but refused to say whether any of them were registered sex offenders or whether they live locally. By 8 p.m. Friday, Noble said one of the individuals had been cleared.
"We are not calling them suspects," Noble said. "We haven't in any way tied them to Brooke's disappearance. As we're looking at backgrounds, history, behavior, we are finding things that make us somewhat concerned. These just may be people who treat blonde, white women poorly."
Noble stressed, however, that none of the people had ever had any previous contact with the missing woman. He would not say whether investigators were led to the individuals via a tip or other sources.
The focus on the four is the first breakthrough in the investigation, which has included searches of 1,000 acres and follow-up on more than 650 tips from the public. The Benton County Sheriff's Office and the FBI are assisting in the case.
"We have a feeling we are actually starting to make some headway into this investigation," Noble said. "We're not just spinning our wheels. There are people we are spending some time on."
An Oregon State Police forensics team sifted through dirt on the grounds of a Morse Bros. gravel operation four miles from the apartment complex Friday morning after a searcher reported freshly disturbed dirt and tire tracks "in an area where you wouldn't expect them to be," Noble said.
Cadaver dogs were brought in, Noble said, but the search yielded nothing related to the case.
On Friday, about 120 searchers focused on an overgrown Christmas tree farm west of Corvallis, said Peggy Peirson, emergency services coordinator with the Benton County Sheriff's Office. More searches were planned throughout the Memorial Day weekend.
Wilberger, a sophomore at Brigham Young University from Veneta, vanished Monday morning from an apartment complex where her sister lives, leaving behind a pair of flip-flops in a parking lot. Wilberger was cleaning the bulb covers of the tall lamps that line the complex's parking lot when her sister, Stephani Hansen, left to drop off her child at preschool. Wilberger was gone when Hansen returned.
The missing girl's father, Greg Wilberger, told reporters Friday night that he is optimistic his daughter is alive because searchers should have found her if she was dead.
"We feel really good today; we feel more optimistic than we did earlier," he said. "We believe she is alive somewhere. We just need to keep searching."
Throughout the quiet university town Friday, the rallying theme was unanimous: Find Brooke.
Fliers with Wilberger's photo and description were posted on light poles, on doors and in shop windows. A banner advertising a Web site with up-to-date information on the search, www.findbrooke.com, was unveiled in downtown Corvallis.
At the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' stake building, the center for volunteer operations seeking the young Mormon woman, a new crop of volunteers replaced people who had been working since Tuesday. The new volunteers stamped out buttons with images of Brooke's smiling face and tied huge pink ribbons to wrap around trees.
Church members Lorraine and Richard Firth of Cottage Grove took time off work Friday to drive to Corvallis and volunteer. Richard went out with a search party while Lorraine remained at the center, pressing buttons.
"We have two daughters," Lorraine Firth said. "It hits close to home."
Noble said five people were singled out Friday in part because of their histories but refused to say whether any of them were registered sex offenders or whether they live locally. By 8 p.m. Friday, Noble said one of the individuals had been cleared.
"We are not calling them suspects," Noble said. "We haven't in any way tied them to Brooke's disappearance. As we're looking at backgrounds, history, behavior, we are finding things that make us somewhat concerned. These just may be people who treat blonde, white women poorly."
Noble stressed, however, that none of the people had ever had any previous contact with the missing woman. He would not say whether investigators were led to the individuals via a tip or other sources.
The focus on the four is the first breakthrough in the investigation, which has included searches of 1,000 acres and follow-up on more than 650 tips from the public. The Benton County Sheriff's Office and the FBI are assisting in the case.
"We have a feeling we are actually starting to make some headway into this investigation," Noble said. "We're not just spinning our wheels. There are people we are spending some time on."
An Oregon State Police forensics team sifted through dirt on the grounds of a Morse Bros. gravel operation four miles from the apartment complex Friday morning after a searcher reported freshly disturbed dirt and tire tracks "in an area where you wouldn't expect them to be," Noble said.
Cadaver dogs were brought in, Noble said, but the search yielded nothing related to the case.
On Friday, about 120 searchers focused on an overgrown Christmas tree farm west of Corvallis, said Peggy Peirson, emergency services coordinator with the Benton County Sheriff's Office. More searches were planned throughout the Memorial Day weekend.
Wilberger, a sophomore at Brigham Young University from Veneta, vanished Monday morning from an apartment complex where her sister lives, leaving behind a pair of flip-flops in a parking lot. Wilberger was cleaning the bulb covers of the tall lamps that line the complex's parking lot when her sister, Stephani Hansen, left to drop off her child at preschool. Wilberger was gone when Hansen returned.
The missing girl's father, Greg Wilberger, told reporters Friday night that he is optimistic his daughter is alive because searchers should have found her if she was dead.
"We feel really good today; we feel more optimistic than we did earlier," he said. "We believe she is alive somewhere. We just need to keep searching."
Throughout the quiet university town Friday, the rallying theme was unanimous: Find Brooke.
Fliers with Wilberger's photo and description were posted on light poles, on doors and in shop windows. A banner advertising a Web site with up-to-date information on the search, www.findbrooke.com, was unveiled in downtown Corvallis.
At the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' stake building, the center for volunteer operations seeking the young Mormon woman, a new crop of volunteers replaced people who had been working since Tuesday. The new volunteers stamped out buttons with images of Brooke's smiling face and tied huge pink ribbons to wrap around trees.
Church members Lorraine and Richard Firth of Cottage Grove took time off work Friday to drive to Corvallis and volunteer. Richard went out with a search party while Lorraine remained at the center, pressing buttons.
"We have two daughters," Lorraine Firth said. "It hits close to home."