Evansdale, Iowa
Hunters reportedly find bodies of missing Iowa cousins
Hunters found two bodies Wednesday believed to be those of young Iowa cousins who vanished five months ago while riding their bikes near a lake, authorities said.
The families of 11-year-old Lyric Cook and 9-year-old Elizabeth Collins have been notified of the discovery, said Capt. Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office. Abben wouldn't say where the bodies were found.
Appearing to fight back tears as he broke the news in Evansdale, near where the girls disappeared in July, Abben said: "It's definitely not the outcome that we wanted, obviously. "This is a difficult thing for us to go through. It's a difficult thing for the community," he added, recalling how officers had worked around the clock looking for the girls.
The girls' families have asked the media to respect their privacy, and they offered no immediate comment.
The bodies are being sent to the state medical examiner's office to confirm their identities, and the area where they were found around 12:45 p.m. is still being searched, Abben said.
The girls disappeared the afternoon of July 13 while riding bikes in Evansdale, about 110 miles northeast of Des Moines, near a popular recreational lake in the middle of town. Investigators found their bikes and a pink purse near the lake hours later, but no sign of the girls. Hundreds of volunteers canvassed the area in the following days, traipsing through cornfields and wooded areas. The mayor even flew above in his private plane looking for them. Abben said additional details would be released at a news briefing Thursday.
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Special thanks to Dr. Juris and slb3334.
This is just so very sad and tragic. My heart goes out to all of the family and friends of those poor girls.
ReplyDeleteOh no!!
ReplyDeleteNot the outcome any of us wanted.
So sorry to the families who are grieving today.
My thoughts + prayers will be w/you all for life.
:(
They are in a much better place. I feel sorry for those left behind.
ReplyDeleteSo very sad. I hope the soon catch the person or persons responsible.
ReplyDeleteIt's horrible anytime of year, but now that it's the holidays it seems so much sadder.
From Iowa. This is so sad.
ReplyDeleteI hope they catch the trash that did this. Its sad because you have to be leary to let your kids ride their bikes alone. Lets face it most of us rode our bikes as kids when we were 11 years of age without our parents following us.
ReplyDeleteSad world we live in
It most definitely is a SAD SAD world we all live in when these two little girls cannot ride their bikes outside like I and many others once did. Whoever did this is worse than a monster....words cannot even convey my anger and disgust at someone who would take the precious lives of two innocent girls and ruin the lives of two loving families. It scares me that he or she or they are still on the loose and I hope they are caught very soon and that justice is severe + swift for them.
ReplyDeleteHow tragic....to happen so close to Christmas.
Can anything be crueler???????
This is so sad. I really hope it's not the girls, but then I can't imagine it not being them. Rest in peace sweet angels.
ReplyDelete".... erase the two last annoying comments on here?"
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ericsmom... I have been so busy this weekend.
Readers:
I will try to catch up with the blog tonight, sorry for getting behind.