Aliayah Lunsford, 3, West Va. missing

[aileen]

Still praying for closure on this case also!!

It breaks my heart to think about little Aliayah's sad face in all her pictures. I whole heartedly believe she is in a much better place now. Too much time has passed to think any differently. I pray they find her body and lay her to rest respectfully.

I also hope that she (and so many others) know that they were/are loved and thought of all the time.

God Bless you, Aliayah ♥

[Jezreel]

It's been a year today since this precious beautiful child went missing and still not one step closer to finding her. Drug whore mummy obviously did something to/with her, it's hard to believe a bunch of redneck inbreds can get away with something like this.

Always thinking of you Aliayah :heart:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Her mother is in prison for welfare fraud. Her stepfather is lying low. Her six siblings, some just infants, are in the custody of child welfare authorities. And Aliayah Lunsford, the brown-eyed 3-year-old who vanished from her West Virginia home a year ago Monday, is still missing.
"It just seems like everybody's forgotten her," said Aliayah's great-aunt Vickie Bowen, "but we're never going to forget."
In the year since Aliayah disappeared from her family's rented house in the Bendale section of Lewis County, Bowen has concluded the girl is probably dead, though she avoids using the word.
"But we still need to know. We need that closure," Bowen said. "We need to take care of her."
Aliayah's mother, Lena Lunsford, told police her daughter was in bed, wearing purple pajama pants and a pink sweat shirt, at 6:30 a.m. Sept. 24, 2011. But she said the child was missing when she checked on her a few hours later.
Six months later, an FBI official said investigators had a working theory about what happened — and it didn't involve a break-in. The agency has since refused to say what agents believe happened to Aliayah or whether they think she's still alive, though it is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to her recovery or an arrest.
Authorities have made no arrests and named no suspects, only describing the people of interest as "a small universe."
Lewis County Sheriff's Deputy Lt. David Parks declined to discuss details of the investigation this week and referred questions to the FBI, which didn't return several messages. However, local authorities have put information about Aliayah in a brochure for people attending a hunting and fishing expo this weekend.
"It's something that stays in our minds all the time here," Parks said. "It's not something you can forget: There's a little girl missing."
Parks said the case is still active and tips are still coming in, though relatives complain they've had no updates in months.
"If there were more to do, we'd be doing it," he said. "Unfortunately, right now we're doing what we can with what we have."
Aliayah Lunsford's case has gotten little attention beyond the boundaries of her small home state, failing to resonate with the public in the way that Caylee Anthony's story did even though both girls were toddlers with chubby cheeks and brown hair.
The body of the 2-year-old Florida girl was found a month after she was reported missing in 2008. Anthony's mother, Casey, was charged with murder after telling a string of lies to police but was later acquitted.
However, Aliayah's case is different in several ways: Neither the immediate family nor the police sought national media attention. Investigators have been tight-lipped about the case, the family and their working theories from the start.
Aliayah's parents were also poor, and their family relationships were splintered before the girl vanished, so there has been no prominent spokesman.
And Aliayah has never been found, dead or alive.
The girl's mother was indicted weeks after Aliayah's disappearance on charges she illegally swapped welfare benefits for cash five times in two months. She was sentenced in May to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to selling $114 worth of credit on her food-stamp card for $50 cash and reported to prison in late June.
Attorney Mike Woelfel, who has represented Lena Lunsford in unrelated civil matters, has said Lena doesn't believe her daughter wandered off and has cooperated with investigators. She's also certain "no blood relative of Aliayah knows what has happened to her," though Woelfel has never elaborated.
Woelfel said he spoke to Lena Lunsford on Friday, and she told him she still believes "Aliayah is out there, alive."
"She's told the FBI everything she knows," he said, "so she's basically powerless to do anything other than sit and wait."
Lena Lunsford filed for divorce from her husband, Ralph Keith Lunsford, after her daughter's disappearance, and is still waiting for it to be finalized. She'd been ordered by a judge to live apart from Ralph after he acknowledged buying and using synthetic drugs called bath salts.
Both parents have repeatedly refused to comment on Aliayah's disappearance, but in a court proceeding, Ralph Lunsford acknowledged police had considered him a person of interest and repeatedly questioned him in the case.
Lena Lunsford gave birth to twins after Aliayah disappeared and before she went to prison. Bowen, their great-aunt, has never met them. Nor does she know where the other children are.
"Until we find answers for Aliayah," she said, "there's no chance of seeing them."
After a year with no solid leads, Bowen is frustrated — but she and a group of about 10 people still search regularly for Aliayah.
"If we hear anything, anything at all, we're there. No matter how unbelievable it seems to us, we go check it out," she said.
On Monday, Bowen and others will plant flowers near the welcome sign in Weston to honor Aliayah. They'll distribute flyers with her picture and post them at area businesses. They're even planning a small afternoon demonstration at the Lewis County Courthouse.
"We're not giving up," Bowen said. "There's no way we're going to give up. A child does not simply disappear."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/24/fam...#ixzz27Os8^STQH

[Jezreel]

There was a dove release for Aliayah yesterday, her step father Ralph Lunsford who is now estranged from Lena made an appearance and Lena's sister Wendy
Aliayah's brother Trenton released the fist of 3 doves for her, bless his heart, it's always been said that they were very close.

[HairOfTheDog]

I was so glad to read that mom Lena Lunsford has been arrested in the death of little Aliayah over five years ago.

The photos of the abused little girl always make me wanna cry.




There's a lot of good detail and info posted by Lady Cop and case followers upthread. Here's a quick recap of the case:

Lena Lunsford said that she checked on her daughter in her bed early the morning of Sept. 24, 2011, and then found her gone when she looked in on her again later that morning. At the time, there were several other children in the home and Lena was eight months pregnant. She subsequently gave birth to twins.

Hundreds of people aided federal, state and local authorities in the search for the girl as FBI investigators went door to door and dive teams scoured a local river, but Aliayah was not located.

Suspicion fell on Lena Lunsford early on, but there was no body and investigators didn't have enough evidence to charge her.

However, Lunsford spent eight months in prison for welfare fraud after her daughter vanished, along with additional short stays on probation violations. Her parental rights were terminated by the West Virginia courts, and her six other children were put in state custody.

[HairOfTheDog]

Lena Lunsford (finally) Arrested for Death by Child Abuse



According to the criminal complaint against Lena Lunsford, police believe Aliayah died in her home as the result of blunt force trauma inflicted by her mother inside their Lewis County, W.V., home.

Police allege that Lunsford struck the little girl in the head with “a solid hand held object” then did not allow anyone present to help Aliayah or call for help. The little girl allegedly died within hours.

The complaint alleges that Lena Lunsford, 34, then attempted to conceal the crime by making up a kidnapping story, “destroying evidence, concealing the victim’s body” and telling witnesses to keep quiet.

Sheriff Adam Gissy in West Virginia’s Lewis County told The Exponent Telegram that Lena Lunsford was in custody in Pinellas County, Florida. He added that she was awaiting extradition on a charge of death of a child by a parent by child abuse.

Gissy declined to tell the newspaper whether the girl’s body had been found.

Refs:
http://www.theet.com/news/free/sheriff-l...5fa3d.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/aliayah-luns...r-charged/

[HairOfTheDog]

After being extradited from Florida back to West Virginia, lying bitch mom Lena Lunsford Conaway was indicted on murder charges on Monday. Good. I imagine LC is smiling.



She is charged with murder of a child by parent by failure to provide necessities, death of a child by parent by child abuse, child abuse resulting in injury and concealment of a dead human body.

According to a criminal complaint, witnesses saw Conaway bludgeoning her daughter, Aliayah Lunsford. Witnesses said Aliayah fell to the ground and died hours later.

The complaint says Conaway then withheld medical attention and prevented others from summoning help, then allegedly took steps to conceal the crime.

The child’s body hasn’t been recovered.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/aliayah-luns...ers-death/

[Duchess]

I went back to read the first page in order to refresh my memory and saw LC's post about another child in the home. A little girl with a FB account who says she's 9 years old and in the fourth grade and her interest is: men. Holy shit.

[RJs-Ex]

After being extradited from Florida back to West Virginia, lying bitch mom Lena Lunsford Conaway was indicted on murder charges on Monday. Good. I imagine LC is smiling.

She is charged with murder of a child by parent by failure to provide necessities, death of a child by parent by child abuse, child abuse resulting in injury and concealment of a dead human body.

According to a criminal complaint, witnesses saw Conaway bludgeoning her daughter, Aliayah Lunsford. Witnesses said Aliayah fell to the ground and died hours later.

The complaint says Conaway then withheld medical attention and prevented others from summoning help, then allegedly took steps to conceal the crime.

The child’s body hasn’t been recovered.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/aliayah-luns...ers-death/

So, Lena was probably pissed about something stupid and took it out on her 3 year old. I'm sure not the first time, but this time Aliayah didn't get up, and disgusting-pig-Lena's only concern was for herself, not her baby's suffering. Got it. No real surprise there, Lena is one mean, nasty bitch.

Lena "prevented others from summoning help." I'm assuming "others" are other children in the home and not fucking ADULTS! Though anymore, nothing would surprise me.

[HairOfTheDog]

So, Lena was probably pissed about something stupid and took it out on her 3 year old. I'm sure not the first time, but this time Aliayah didn't get up, and disgusting-pig-Lena's only concern was for herself, not her baby's suffering. Got it. No real surprise there, Lena is one mean, nasty bitch.

Lena "prevented others from summoning help." I'm assuming "others" are other children in the home and not fucking ADULTS! Though anymore, nothing would surprise me.

It does appear that among the witnesses who saw her bludgeoning little Aliayah and were prevented from seeking help were her 4 other children at the home.

Aliayah suffered the most at the hands of the mean nasty bitch, but Lena also abused her other children terribly by putting them through such a devastating trauma and loss.

Lena Lunsford deserves the max. I hope a jury finds her guilty and sentences her to life without parole.

[Cheyne]

The jury found Lena Lunsford guilty on all four counts including murder. The jury has recommended no mercy so Lena is facing life without parole.

Verdict

I remember when Aliayah went missing and those two pictures of her. She looked so sad and hopeless in one and had a huge bruise on her cheek in the other. I wish the death penalty was on the table for this one.

RIP Aliayah.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thank you for the update Cheyne.

Good job by the jury.

It's been a long time coming.

[Duchess]

I remember when Aliayah went missing and those two pictures of her. She looked so sad and hopeless in one and had a huge bruise on her cheek in the other. I wish the death penalty was on the table for this one.

RIP Aliayah.

I went back to the beginning to refresh my memory and saw LC. That was nice.

Her mother doesn't deserve the air she breathes. Poor child. I hope I never understand why parents, especially mothers, do this kind of thing.