Nevaeh Buchanan -- Found Deceased 6/4/09

I can't believe people actually think the killer has been found. I pray that Nevaeh's family will one day receive answers and we will see justice in this case.

This child was buried alive, she had dirt in her lungs! Then partially encased in instant concrete.......I cannot believe even local people think her killer has been found! Are people so callous they can just forget about this child, and who did this to her?

Carnival event to honor Nevaeh's memory

Posted: 7:08 a.m. May 18, 2010
By Tammy Stables Battaglia

Those still searching for her killer will commemorate 5-year-old Nevaeh's life with a carnival-type event in Monroe on Saturday, nearly a year after her death.

The community group Justice for Nevaeh is sponsoring "Remembering Nevaeh - One Year Later" at the Moose Lodge near the Monroe apartment complex where the girl was kidnapped May 24, 2009.

"We didn’t want to word it as a celebration, we didn’t want it to call it an anniversary," the group's co-chairwoman Risa Thompson, 42, of Livonia, a distant cousin of Nevaeh's father, said today. "But since Nevaeh was so young and innocent, we wanted to gear it toward the kids. We wanted the kids to have fun, and enjoy being a child. But at the same time it’s going to give the parents the knowledge to protect their child against another heinous crime."

From noon to 9 p.m., bounce houses, carnival games with prizes, food, live entertainment and exhibitions by local gymnastics and karate students will take place in the parking lot at 1320 North Macomb Street, where volunteers gathered a year ago to mobilize searches.

The event will also host presentations on child safety, abuse prevention, counseling and creating a child safety contingency plan. Pastor Dale Hayford of the Community Crosswalk Church in Monroe, who helped host the little girl's funeral, will open the event with a prayer.

Two fisherman found her body on June 4, buried in dirt and covered with concrete along the River Raisin. An autopsy showed the preschooler suffocated after inhaling dirt. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is still searching for her killer.

The event is also designed to raise money for a preschool scholarship offered through the Monroe Public Schools. So far, the group has raised $1800 to pay for other children to attend Riverside Early Learning Center, Nevaeh's school, and to place a memorial bench outside.

Information about her disappearance can be forwarded to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office Nevaeh Buchanan Task Force at 734-457-6713.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100518/NEWS02/100518014/1320/Carnival-event-to-honor-Nevaehs-memory

Monroe to remember Nevaeh one year after death

by Amulya Raghuveer
Posted: 05.21.2010 at 8:22 AM






MONROE, MICH. -- Nearly one year has passed since the death of 5-year-old Nevaeh Buchanan.

The Monroe, Mich. girl was kidnapped from outside the apartment building in which she lived with her mother and grandmother. After weeks of searching for the missing girl, two fishermen found her body buried in a shallow grave along the River Raisin in Monroe Co. May 24 marks the first anniversary of that day.

A $20,000 reward is being offered for any information regarding the crime. If you know anything, you are asked to call the Nevaeh Buchanan Task Force at 734-457-6713.

Nevaeh will be remembered Saturday, May 22 during an event at the Moose Lodge on North Macomb St. in Monroe. Event organizers say there will be games, food and live entertainment. The event runs from Noon until 9:00 p.m.

http://www.toledoonthemove.com/news/story.aspx?id=460139

Remembering Nevaeh, a year later

Updated: Friday, 21 May 2010, 10:27 PM EDT
Heather Miller
FOX Toledo News reporter



MONROE, Mich. (WUPW) - It's been nearly a year since 5-year-old Nevaeh Buchanan was snatched from her Monroe apartment complex.

This weekend the group Justice for Nevaeh is seeking justice for the little girl will mark the occasion with an event aimed at keeping other kids safe.

They aren't calling it an anniversary, just simply "Remembering Nevaeh: One Year Later."

The 5-year-old was last seen May 24, 2009, the day before Memorial Day. Her body was found a week and a half later on the banks of the River Raisin in Raisinville Township buried and covered in quick-crete.

"I've looked at a lot of her baby pictures and all of that's gone. I've got memories and no one is going to be able to take that away from me," said Sherry Buchanan, Nevaeh’s grandmother. "It is hard to keep going every day. I mean she's in my mind constantly. I ask the good Lord every night to bring her justice."

Police have yet to name a suspect in the case. That adds even more heartbreak to the little girl’s family.

"I want someone to come forward,” said Buchanan. “I can forgive them, but they are going to have to forgive themselves. And the only way they can do that is to come out.”

Ever since her death, Justice for Nevaeh has been holding events and poster drives to keep her story fresh in everyone's minds and reminding everyone her killer is still out there.

"As fast as it came up, a lot of information stopped," said Risa Thompson. "So people weren't aware. I know when we did our first poster campaign in September I was amazed at how many people didn't know. They thought it was solved. It was a done deal."

The "Remembering Nevaeh" event will feature food, games, and entertainment geared for families. Special presentations will be held each hour for parents and tips on how to talk to your kids and what to do to make sure they don't become a target.

It will be held Saturday from 12- 9.p.m. at the Moose Lodge on North Macomb Street in Monroe.

Police have not made any arrests in the case.

If you know anything, you are being asked to call Nevaeh Task Force at 734-457-6713.

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/Remembering-Nevaeh--a-year-later-hm

Nevaeh Buchanan timeline of events

May 23. 2010 12:09AM

2009

May 24 – 6:30 p.m. Nevaeh Buchanan discovered missing from the parking lot of the Charlotte Arms apartment complex on N. Macomb St.; 8 p.m. police notified; 12:30 a.m. May 25 Amber Alert issued

May 25 – George Kennedy and Roy Smith, two registered sex offenders, are taken into custody for violating their probation

May 26 – Hundreds of community members gather in the Kmart parking lot and search a large part of Monroe County

May 27 – Divers search two quarries in Monroe; Jennifer Buchanan questioned for hours by investigators

May 28 – Tips number 500; 240 people at Charlotte Arms interviewed by police

May 29 – DNA extracted from blood on property owned by George Kennedy fails to match Nevaeh

May 30 – Tips number 700; hundreds attend candlelight vigil

May 31 – Man, 64, picked up for questioning after investigators learn he visited the apartment complex and was seen burning items in his back yard

June 1 – Tips number 800; up to 100 investigators involved in the case

June 2 – FBI warns the public that the case could take years to solve; police announce they are searching for two vans — one green, one silver — that were near Hollywood Elementary School and were questioning an ice cream truck driver; final press conference held

June 3 – FBI announces $20,000 reward for information in the case, with a second, private $8,000 reward being offered; prayer vigil held at apartment complex

June 4 – Fishermen discover Nevaeh’s body along the banks of the River Raisin in Raisinville Township

June 5 – Groups of people gather and pray at river site, which becomes a memorial; sheriff announces that he believes the killer is a local person

June 7 – Tips number 1,000

June 8 – Cantrick School hosts seminar for the community mourners; Jennifer Buchanan walks off during interview with CNN’s Nancy Grace

June 9 – DNA results confirm the body in the crude grave was in fact 5-year-old Nevaeh Buchanan; George Kennedy and Roy Smith both are sent to prison

June 11 – First of two days of visitation begins for Nevaeh’s funeral

June 12 – Tips reach 1,100

June 13 – Funeral held after an estimated 1,500 people offer condolences during visitation; motorcycle hearse proceeds through Monroe past the Custer Statue and Munson Park; community members line the streets and balloons released

June 14 – Tips reach an estimated 1,200

June 20 – Jennifer Buchanan, in an Evening News interview, again denies knowledge of involvement in her daughter’s disappearance and says many in the community have shunned her or treated her poorly

July 14 – Autopsy results released and show Nevaeh died of asphyxiation and was most likely buried alive; family says they hope she was unconscious

Aug. 6 – FBI announces a $20,000 reward is available for information leading to the arrest of a suspect; number of tips slow considerably

Aug. 25 – Justice for Nevaeh forms and announces it is raising money for a bench in her honor to be placed at Riverside School at W. Elm Ave. and N. Roessler St.

Oct. 16 – During an Evening News interview, family members say they are frustrated by a lack of progress in the case and plea for the killer to come forward; Jennifer Buchanan says Nevaeh’s body had no signs of trauma or sexual assault; her body also showed that there were no drugs in her system, only caffeine

2010

April 26 – Justice for Nevaeh holds a rally at the Monroe Moose Family Center on N. Macomb St. just down the street from the site of the kidnapping, and organizers say 5,000 fliers have been printed and 2,500 had been distributed earlier; Sherry Buchanan says she has moved out of the Charlotte Arms apartment and Jennifer is staying with a friend; while Jennifer is at the rally, she declines to speak with the media.

May 22 – Justice for Nevaeh holds another rally at the Moose Lodge called “Remembering Nevaeh: One Year Later”; the event includes bounce houses, carnival games, food, live entertainment, exhibitions by local gymnastics and karate students and presentations on child safety and abuse prevention

May 24 – The Rev. Dale Hayford, pastor of Crosswalk Community Church, is expected to lead family members in prayer during a quiet and private gravesite visit to observe the one-year anniversary of Nevaeh’s abduction

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100523/NEWS01/705239967

Visitors trek to Monroe grave site as search goes on for child's killer

Visitors trek to Monroe grave site as search goes on for child's killer

May 23, 2010
By MARK REITER
BLADE STAFF WRITER



MONROE - Jim DuBay said a day doesn't go by that someone doesn't drive into St. Joseph Cemetery in search of Nevaeh Buchanan's grave.

They have left stuffed animals, toys, and bouquets of artificial flowers at the granite headstone for the 5-year-old girl whose killing remains unsolved, said Mr. DuBay, manager of the Catholic cemetery.

"There has been a steady stream of people into here. There is no question that she has attracted a lot of visitors," he said. "Some people come into the office to ask where they can find her grave. They want to know where Nevaeh is buried."

Tomorrow will mark the one-year anniversary of her disappearance while playing outside the Monroe apartment complex where she lived with her grandmother and mother.



Finding the missing girl became the community's top priority.

Hundreds of volunteers and law-enforcement officers scoured woods and fields throughout the county. Divers explored the deep waters of quarries and lakes, and police officers took to the air in helicopters in search of clues.

A mammoth memorial of candles, notes, stuffed animals, flowers, and toys sprang up around a towering cottonwood tree outside the girl's home at Charlotte Arms apartments.

The high-profile search gained national attention. Television, radio, and newspaper reporters from Detroit and Toledo and as far away as New York descended on the North Macomb Street apartment complex.



Candlelight vigils were held nearly nightly at Charlotte Arms and other locations in Monroe, drawing hundreds of concerned people.

For 11 days, Nevaeh's mother, Jennifer Buchanan, her grandmother, Sherry Buchanan, and other relatives clung to hope she would be found alive and unharmed.

Their hopes gave way to tragic reality June 4 with the grisly discovery of the girl's body buried in concrete along a remote stretch of the River Raisin.

Days later, scores of people watched along Monroe's streets as a Harley-Davidson motorcycle pulled the glass-enclosed hearse containing her tiny white coffin to the cemetery.

Nearly a year later, there have been no arrests. Nevaeh's mother and grandmother no longer live in the two-bedroom apartment at Charlotte Arms.

Sherry Buchanan, who was Nevaeh's legal guardian, now lives with her sister and brother-in-law across town at the Willow Green Mobile Home Park.

A poster offering $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the girl's abduction and killing hangs on the fence outside the couple's well-kept mobile home.

Mrs. Buchanan said in an interview last week that she often thinks of Nevaeh, especially at night after working shifts at a Monroe grocery store.

"She is never out of my mind," she said. "She was like my little sidekick. Me and her did everything together."

Nevaeh's father, Shane Hinojosa of Toledo, said knowing that the person responsible for his daughter's death is still on the loose is both worrisome and painful.

"There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about what happened. All I can do is to keep the memories that I have of her," Mr. Hinojosa said.

An open case
In the days after the abduction, a task force of local, state, and federal investigators was handling more than 100 calls a day, leading to nearly 1,300 tips collected in the case.

On the three-month anniversary of her disappearance, investigators with the task force said daily tips in the case had trickled to single digits.

Detroit FBI Special Agent Sandra Berchtold said the investigation is continuing and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, the lead agency, is still seeking tips.

"We are still very proactive in this case," Agent Berchtold said. "By far, this is not a cold case. It is still open. There is still sufficient work to be done. We are still receiving tips and we still want tips."

Sherry Buchanan said she last talked to sheriff's investigators about a month ago when a detective asked to obtain a copy of a digital video recording taken of Nevaeh's graduation from preschool just days before her abduction.

For the most part, she said, detectives have been tight-lipped, limiting details of the investigation.

"It is frustrating. Not knowing just exactly what is going on and how close in the investigation they are," Mrs. Buchanan said.

Quest for closure
The investigation almost immediately focused on George Kennedy, a convicted sex offender who had been in a relationship with Nevaeh's mother.

Kennedy and Roy Lee Smith, also a convicted sex offender and acquaintance of Jennifer Buchanan, were arrested for parole violations.

Described as "persons of interest" in the investigation, neither was charged but both men were sent back to prison for parole violations.

Kennedy, 40, who was transferred in January to a low-level correctional facility in Jackson. Mich., will have his next parole hearing one year from tomorrow, said John Cordell, Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman.

Smith, 49, who is locked up in a state prison near Traverse City, Mich., will go before the parole board on May 25, 2011, the spokesman said.

Sherry Buchanan said she cannot begin to feel closure until an arrest is made and someone is prosecuted.

"The hardest part is not knowing. If anybody knows anything, and if they can understand the pain I am going through, just please come forward," she said.

Justice for Nevaeh
The lack of an arrest has spurred Risa Thompson, a cousin of Mr. Hinojosa, and others to form a group that strives to keep Nevaeh in the public spotlight.

Called Justice for Nevaeh, the organization has launched a poster campaign and offered a $1,500 reward for information in the crime. That reward is separate from the $20,000 reward offered by law enforcement.

"Our group decided that we need to do a totally anonymous reward to get people to start talking," said Ms. Thompson, 42. Through spaghetti dinners and raffles, the charity group has raised money for the reward and funded a scholarship for youngsters in the Monroe Public Schools preschool where Nevaeh was enrolled.

The Discovery Preschool program for children ages 2 to 5 moved from Cantrick Elementary near Charlotte Arms to the Riverside Learning Center in September.

A wrought-iron bench donated in memory of Nevaeh by a local greenhouse overlooks the school playground. Plans are in the works to install a plaque on the back with an inscription and the little girl's name.

Karen Herkimer, director of Discovery Preschool, said the bench gives a place for parents to keep an eye on their children or sit together and talk.

More important, Mrs. Herkimer said, she hopes the bench serves as a reminder of the tragedy and the importance of protecting youngsters.

"We can never forget what happened," she said. "We also cannot forget that somebody is still walking around out there who is responsible. That is a hard memory and a hard thought to have to think that someone has not been caught yet," she said.

Yesterday, Justice for Neveah marked the one-year anniversary with a carnival at the Moose Lodge on North Macomb near Charlotte Arms.

Games, entertainment, and children's activities were scheduled as well as informational booths on child-safety awareness and abuse and counseling programs.

Gabby's Ladder, a grief and counseling service in Monroe that consoled Nevaeh's classmates and offered counseling support in community sessions after the tragedy, was among the groups that had literature available.

"Life is precious. Life is fragile. We need to be watchful all the time," said Kaye Lani Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit group.

A healing effect
The carnival and tributes such as the playground bench, she said, can have a healing effect for children and their families.

"When it hits so close to home like it did for these kids, it is very frightening. Children and adults and most everyone felt very vulnerable and probably felt that anything can happen at any time," she said. "The bench is a place of reflection and place to remember the short life of a very beautiful girl who was tragically taken from us."

Information about the reward offered by Justice for Nevaeh can be obtained at 412-849-0079 or by contacting Ms. Thompson at 734-419-3232. Tips and information can be left with the Nevaeh Buchanan Task Force at 734-457-6713.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100523/NEWS16/5230312

This is a hard day because it was a year ago around 6:30 on a Sunday evening when Nevaeh disappeared.

R.I.P. Monroe's Little Angel! We will never forget you.

Here is a great tribute made around the time of Nevaeh's funeral last year.

A Song To Remember Nevaeh

And here is a beautiful tribute I found on youtube.