"Eventually the state installed surveillance cameras at the Morrilton rest stop, but those cameras were not working the day that Laurite was killed, Flowers said."
Why? Bet nobody will be called on the carpet. Just another example of State incompetency. And they tell us not to arm ourselves as the State will ptotect us?
And, I'll bet the poor woman complied with her captor's wishes, as per the anti propaganda, and allowed herself to be taken to a secondary crime scene.
http://www.ardemgaz.com/today/ark/bdxrestded29.html
N.J. woman killed at rest stop planned new life in California
JAY MEISEL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
MORRILTON -- Kristin Ann Laurite, 25, planned to relocate from New Jersey to northern California where a friend lived and hoped to find a job there as a preschool teacher, her father, Ed Laurite, said Monday.
But something went terribly wrong Saturday at the rest stop on the south side of Interstate 40 near Morrilton. Authorities found Kristin Laurite's nude body on the banks of a nearby pond.
The surveillance cameras at the rest stop were not functioning over the weekend, authorities said.
A preliminary autopsy showed that Laurite died from "multiple stab wounds to the neck," Conway County Sheriff Mark Flowers said Monday.
The preliminary autopsy also found no evidence that she was sexually assaulted, Flowers said.
Who killed Laurite remained a mystery Monday, Flowers said, and so far there are no suspects.
Authorities also are puzzled about where she was killed. Flowers said deputies found no traces of blood in the area, despite the fact that Laurite had been stabbed numerous times. "We haven't ruled out that there could be another crime scene in the area," he said.
Laurite was traveling in a 1971 gold and white Volkswagen bus with her two dogs -- Winter, a border collie, and Sativa, a German shepherd mix. About 2 p.m. Friday, Laurite called her mother, Lynn McCue, at work in New Jersey and told her she was at the rest stop and planned to leave in about three hours, Ed Laurite said. Because the Volkswagen's engine is air-cooled, it was easier to travel at night when it wasn't as hot, he said.
Kristin Laurite's telephone call to her mother was the last time anyone in her family talked with her.
On Saturday, Flowers said, a truck driver found the two dogs wandering around the rest stop and noticed a telephone number on the dogs' tags. The truck driver called the number, which belongs to McCue, and McCue told him that her daughter "didn't go anywhere without the dogs," Flowers said.
McCue told the truck driver that her daughter was traveling in a Volkswagen bus and the driver found the vehicle, but no trace of Laurite, Flowers said.
Ed Laurite said his daughter generally would feed her dogs between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day. The dog food was still in the dog bowls when the bus was discovered, he said.
After the truck driver talked again with McCue, the sheriff's office was notified. Deputies searched the area and found Kristin Laurite's body about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Flowers said.
Since then, deputies have been draining the pond and looking for evidence, he said. As of Monday afternoon, they had found what is believed to be some of her clothing there, he said.
Investigators are hoping to find the murder weapon in the area, Flowers said.
In recent years, two people have been killed and one severely beaten at rest stops in Arkansas.
Police patrols at rest stops were increased after the November 1996 death of Russell D. Hinkle, 71, of Millstadt, Ill., who was shot and killed while he, his wife and daughter were at a tourist information center on Interstate 55 near Blytheville.
Laurite's death comes less than four years after that of Arthur Joe Cotton, 71, of Sheridan, a truck driver who was found shot to death in a restroom at the same Morrilton rest stop in January 1997. Two half brothers from West Virginia were subsequently arrested and convicted in Cotton's death.
In April 1997, William McDonald, another traveler from Illinois, was beaten and robbed by two brothers at a rest stop on Interstate 40 near Forrest City.
There was considerable interest in the rest stop violence that year and a number of preventative measures were discussed -- improved lighting, installing telephones in various locations and staffing the rest stops 24 hours a day.
The 24-hour staffing idea was immediately dismissed because of the cost -- an estimated $6.9 million annually, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Eventually the state installed surveillance cameras at the Morrilton rest stop, but those cameras were not working the day that Laurite was killed, Flowers said.
Ed Laurite described his daughter as a "very strong-willed, independent person" who also was very loving, giving and outgoing. "She was great with kids," he said.
During the last couple of years, Kristin Laurite had done a lot of traveling and had lived in Oregon for a time, her father said.
McCue has arranged to have the truck driver return the dogs to her, Flowers said.
Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Why? Bet nobody will be called on the carpet. Just another example of State incompetency. And they tell us not to arm ourselves as the State will ptotect us?
And, I'll bet the poor woman complied with her captor's wishes, as per the anti propaganda, and allowed herself to be taken to a secondary crime scene.
http://www.ardemgaz.com/today/ark/bdxrestded29.html
N.J. woman killed at rest stop planned new life in California
JAY MEISEL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
MORRILTON -- Kristin Ann Laurite, 25, planned to relocate from New Jersey to northern California where a friend lived and hoped to find a job there as a preschool teacher, her father, Ed Laurite, said Monday.
But something went terribly wrong Saturday at the rest stop on the south side of Interstate 40 near Morrilton. Authorities found Kristin Laurite's nude body on the banks of a nearby pond.
The surveillance cameras at the rest stop were not functioning over the weekend, authorities said.
A preliminary autopsy showed that Laurite died from "multiple stab wounds to the neck," Conway County Sheriff Mark Flowers said Monday.
The preliminary autopsy also found no evidence that she was sexually assaulted, Flowers said.
Who killed Laurite remained a mystery Monday, Flowers said, and so far there are no suspects.
Authorities also are puzzled about where she was killed. Flowers said deputies found no traces of blood in the area, despite the fact that Laurite had been stabbed numerous times. "We haven't ruled out that there could be another crime scene in the area," he said.
Laurite was traveling in a 1971 gold and white Volkswagen bus with her two dogs -- Winter, a border collie, and Sativa, a German shepherd mix. About 2 p.m. Friday, Laurite called her mother, Lynn McCue, at work in New Jersey and told her she was at the rest stop and planned to leave in about three hours, Ed Laurite said. Because the Volkswagen's engine is air-cooled, it was easier to travel at night when it wasn't as hot, he said.
Kristin Laurite's telephone call to her mother was the last time anyone in her family talked with her.
On Saturday, Flowers said, a truck driver found the two dogs wandering around the rest stop and noticed a telephone number on the dogs' tags. The truck driver called the number, which belongs to McCue, and McCue told him that her daughter "didn't go anywhere without the dogs," Flowers said.
McCue told the truck driver that her daughter was traveling in a Volkswagen bus and the driver found the vehicle, but no trace of Laurite, Flowers said.
Ed Laurite said his daughter generally would feed her dogs between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day. The dog food was still in the dog bowls when the bus was discovered, he said.
After the truck driver talked again with McCue, the sheriff's office was notified. Deputies searched the area and found Kristin Laurite's body about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Flowers said.
Since then, deputies have been draining the pond and looking for evidence, he said. As of Monday afternoon, they had found what is believed to be some of her clothing there, he said.
Investigators are hoping to find the murder weapon in the area, Flowers said.
In recent years, two people have been killed and one severely beaten at rest stops in Arkansas.
Police patrols at rest stops were increased after the November 1996 death of Russell D. Hinkle, 71, of Millstadt, Ill., who was shot and killed while he, his wife and daughter were at a tourist information center on Interstate 55 near Blytheville.
Laurite's death comes less than four years after that of Arthur Joe Cotton, 71, of Sheridan, a truck driver who was found shot to death in a restroom at the same Morrilton rest stop in January 1997. Two half brothers from West Virginia were subsequently arrested and convicted in Cotton's death.
In April 1997, William McDonald, another traveler from Illinois, was beaten and robbed by two brothers at a rest stop on Interstate 40 near Forrest City.
There was considerable interest in the rest stop violence that year and a number of preventative measures were discussed -- improved lighting, installing telephones in various locations and staffing the rest stops 24 hours a day.
The 24-hour staffing idea was immediately dismissed because of the cost -- an estimated $6.9 million annually, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Eventually the state installed surveillance cameras at the Morrilton rest stop, but those cameras were not working the day that Laurite was killed, Flowers said.
Ed Laurite described his daughter as a "very strong-willed, independent person" who also was very loving, giving and outgoing. "She was great with kids," he said.
During the last couple of years, Kristin Laurite had done a lot of traveling and had lived in Oregon for a time, her father said.
McCue has arranged to have the truck driver return the dogs to her, Flowers said.
Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.