Thread: has anyone heard anything about the indiana girl (katie)

A friend and I were on the phone when the amber alert came on the tv. I looked it up on the website and even a day or so later and no word yet. Weird thing was, she had been missing a couple days before the amber alert came out that evening?????? And it even said it was believed she was in "exteme danger"????????? How sad, this is the first I've heard she was found dead. How awful. Hope they find the sicko!

I never even saw an amber alert for the girl ? Im only in MI but thats close enough to bradcast amber alerts here also, I would think and hope!!

They found here body in a creek

http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/219029-1085-009.html



Sleepy Indiana town is shaken by slaying
Girl's death stirs anger, fear among residents

CROTHERSVILLE, Ind. -- The hottest-selling item in this southern Indiana town is a homemade T-shirt with little Katie Collman's picture on the front.

"We Found You Honey!" it says under the 10-year-old's smiling face -- a lasting image of a girl whose body was found Sunday in a creek.

On the back of the shirt is quite a different message. Above the police sketch of the man suspected in the girl's abduction and slaying, are the words: "We will find you next."

"He's a dirt bag," said Eddie Hodge, 39, who designed the T-shirt at his business, Redneck Computers. "Originally, the shirt was just to have her picture circulated as much as possible."

Late last week, Hodge printed up a handful of shirts for friends and volunteers searching for the missing girl. On Sunday, after Katie was found near Cypress Lake about 20 miles north of town, he decided to change the shirt, adding the police sketch.

"We need to stop this guy. He needs to be taken off the streets."

Police on Monday said they had no new information to release on Katie's death. The girl's body was taken to Louisville, Ky., about 40 miles south, where an autopsy was performed Monday morning.

Results have not been released. No suspects have been identified or taken into custody.

So Crothersville focused on grieving Monday. In a community of 1,600 -- with one stoplight and 17 churches -- sorrow spreads fast.

"It wasn't an ordinary day. It was a very somber mood," said Terry Goodin, superintendent of Crothersville Schools. "But I would say the children are on their way to recovery."

Counselors were available to meet with the 280 students at Crothersville Elementary School where Katie attended fourth grade.

The girl's death was the first homicide in Crothersville in 30 years. The last one, in 1975, was a domestic dispute involving a battered wife who killed her husband. Before that, in 1973, a woman was strangled and her body found in the trunk of a burning car.

Three decades of relative calm had almost lulled this town to sleep. Most people here leave every morning for jobs in nearby Seymour or Scottsburg. More than 300 work at the town's largest employer, Aisin Drivetrain, a relatively new factory near the I-65 interchange.

The old downtown area -- once bustling with business spurred by the Louisville-to-Indy railroad line to the west and U.S. 31 -- has steadily declined over the years. Many businesses are boarded up.

"The best place for lunch is next door at Subway," said Teddi Ashcraft, manager of the local library, a single-room repository with four computers and about 3,000 books. "This was a thriving little place before the interstate came through."

But residents still find a lot to enjoy about living in this small town, where the superintendent is related to the local state trooper and everyone has a familiar face.

Katlyn Maria Collman was last seen a week ago today after she ran an errand to the Dollar General store just a few blocks from her home. Somebody saw her inside a white truck with a tall, white male. She did not appear to be struggling to get out of the vehicle.

An Amber Alert was issued, and her story made statewide news late last week. By the time a state trooper found her body Sunday, the story had grown into national news, filling the town Monday with reporters and television trucks from Indianapolis, Louisville and Evansville.

Eddie Hodge, with his T-shirt idea, did not know what he was getting into.

By late morning, dozens of people lined up outside the store to place orders. The phone rang nonstop, including calls from companies in Jeffersonville and Indianapolis who wanted to place bulk orders.

"We were just going to make a few more, but looking at the line, we might be in trouble," he said. "I guess this is just people's way to show support for the family."

The shirts sell for $8. Proceeds of the sale will benefit the Katie Fund, established by the local People's Bank, to help the family with expenses.

Theresa Eversole, 32, ordered eight shirts for her family, including her three young daughters -- ages 13, 12 and 12 (twins) -- who knew Katie.

"We all got to know Katie over the past year. She was at our house a lot," Eversole said. "She was so friendly. She'd talk to anybody."

Up until last week, children in this town of modest homes, most of them built after World War II, felt comfortable walking and biking their way up and down neighborhood streets that connect to the main drag, U.S. 31. Most of the heavy traffic was sucked up by I-65, just east of the town's limits, making it pretty safe for pedestrians.

The school system has buses, but only for those living outside the town. About 60 percent of the students at the K-12 school complex live in town and either walk, bike or catch a ride to school with parents.

Eversole said she recently had been letting her daughters have a little more freedom. "Just this year, I let them walk to the Dollar General store, as long as the oldest went with them."

That has now changed.

"They all know that right now they are back on their leash," Eversole said. "And they are real scared.

"It's kind of bad when you have to let the dog sleep with them at night because of how afraid they are."

I hope they put this guy in general population when they catch him. The daily beatings the other inmates will give him is still not nearly enough punishment. I can't remember, does Indy have the death penalty?

Where is Crothersville? I was born in Terre Haute.





I passed this on to everyone I know - just in case he heads south.




The suspect is described as a tall white male, 5'8" tall - 6'0", very skinny, 18 to 20 years old, short dark hair, fair complexion. Police released a composite sketch of the suspect (shown right) on Friday.

The suspect vehicle is a white Ford F-150 pickup truck, late 80's or early 90's which was last seen in the Crothersville area.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Crothersville Police Department at 1-888-58AMBER (888-582-6237) or dial 911.

I am curious----the article never spoke about the girl's family.

Stage to me.

Originally Posted by pwright

I am curious----the article never spoke about the girl's family.

Stage to me.

I read another article that spoke of the family before Katie was found. I don't think its too strange for them to not talk about the family at a time like this, especially in a small town like that. They are giving the family the respect and space they need and I am sure someone will speak out soon... just on their own terms.

AMBER Alert Arrest
- Action 10 News Staff
2/3/2005 12:11:52 AM

Police arrest a Crothersville, Indiana man for the murder of Katlyn Collman.

Authorities charged 25 year old Charles "Chuckie" James Hickman of Crothersville of abducting and killing 10 year old Katlyn "Katie" Collman.

A state trooper found Katie's body in a stream last Sunday just north of Crothersville.

Hickman faces preliminarily charges of murder, felony murder and criminal confinement.

If convicted he could face the death penalty or life in prison.

Hickman remains in the Jackson County Jail awaiting his initial court hearing.


AND>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
AMBER Alert
- Liam McHugh
2/2/2005 7:08:40 PM

The AMBER Alert System started in Indiana in October, 2002, to help find kids who have been abducted. But the recent death of a southern Indiana girl has some questioning the system.



Katie Collman disappeared on January 25, two days before police issued an AMBER Alert.

This time lapse is concerning several parents.



"Somehow, somewhere the ball's been dropped and we don't need to do that again," said Jeff James, a father of two. “Time is of the essence and getting it out quick enough and having people looking."



A statewide missing child alert was issued the day Katie went missing, but not a public AMBER Alert.



"We have a certain criteria to meet. When the criteria are met, we will activate an AMBER Alert,” explains Sgt. Joe Watts of the Indiana State Police. “We would like nothing better than to return a child safely to their parents."



That criteria:



Child must be younger than 18.
It must be believed to have been abducted and considered in serious danger of physical harm or death.
There must be enough information to make it broadcast valuable.
It must be recommended by law enforcement.

Watts says if Police didn’t follow these guidelines, they’d be issuing AMBER Alerts all day, every day.

"In 2004, there were 11,536 children reported missing in Indiana. We've equated this to if we issued an AMBER Alert on every missing child, we would be doing 33 AMBER Alerts a day or one every 43 minutes. We've had 15 AMBER Alerts activated and 19 children recovered. We believe the system's working well. Working as it's designed to work."

Hate for this to happen in my area...(or any area for that matter) you never would expect it here......