PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Saturday, October 25, 1997

Authorities search manure for clues in teen's disappearance

HOUSTON (AP) - Authorities looking for clues in the disappearance of a Tiki Island teen-ager shoveled a manure pile at a Brazoria County ranch Friday.

They apparently were searching for signs to link the prime suspect in the slaying of a 12-year-old girl to the disappearance of 17-year-old Jessica Cain.

The man identified as the prime suspect in Laura Kate Smither's murder by authorities earlier this week once boarded a palomino horse at the ranch. Authorities were digging through the manure with the help of prison inmates.

A cadaver-sniffing dog led searchers to a spot in the manure, but nothing had turned up as of Friday afternoon.

On Thursday, an attorney was appointed to defend the suspect against charges he kidnapped and assaulted another woman, now 20 years old.

He was arrested last week in that abduction. The woman, who identified him in a police lineup, jumped from a speeding truck May 16 after she was forced into her attacker's pickup truck at knifepoint.

The man remained in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond Friday.

His attorney, Anthony Osso, asked state District Judge Jan Krocker Thursday to preserve evidence in the April 3 kidnapping of Laura and the Aug. 17 disappearance of Jessica, acknowledging that his client was a suspect in the two cases.

"Let's face it, Friendswood Police Department has been quick to indicate that he's their suspect," Osso said after the hearing.

Friendswood Police Chief Jared Stout has not identified the suspect by name but did say this week that a 38-year-old white construction worker is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Laura, whose body was found in a Pasadena retention pond on April 20.

No charges have been filed in Laura's murder or in Jessica's disappearance.

The suspect was working at a construction site about a mile from where Laura was last seen.

In an interview this week with a television reporter, the suspect denied killing Laura and said he never even saw her. He said he also was innocent in the other two cases.Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: