April Pennington--End. Missing--May 29, 1996--CT
April Dawn Pennington April was 16 years old when she disappeared form Uncasville Connecticut on May 29, 1996. April's photo is show progressed to age 21. She has not been seen or heard from since she left her home in the middle of the night. April's picture and age composite, along with more information, can be seen at http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=819031&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

Affidavit: Man charged in 1996 killing dumped body in ocean By John Christoffersen Associated Press Writer / April 17, 2008 NEW HAVEN, Conn.—A sex offender charged with killing a Montville teen who disappeared more than a decade ago told a prison cellmate he killed her and then dumped her body in the ocean in Rhode Island, according to an arrest affidavit unsealed Thursday. more stories like thisGeorge Leniart, a 42-year-old prisoner at Corrigan Correction Center in Uncasville, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and three counts of capitol felony. He was charged earlier this month with killing April Dawn Pennington, who had been missing since 1996. Leniart told a cellmate that he choked the girl during sex and then realized she was dead, according to the affidavit. The affidavit says Leniart told his cellmate he transported the body to a fishing boat in Rhode Island, chopped it up and dumped it in the water. The affidavit quotes another witness whose name is blacked out as saying that when he was 10 Leniart took him down a path into the woods where he saw a girl's body. A few weeks later, the boy said he was fishing with his father in Rhode Island when he saw Leniart and someone else throw a large black bag in the ocean. He said the bag resembled what he saw covering the girl's body he had seen in the woods. Leniart's attorney, Raul Davila, declined to comment. Leniart was already in prison because he is accused of a sexual assault involving a teenage boy. He was also convicted in 1997 of sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor in another case and sentenced to five years in prison, authorities said. That 13-year-old girl said she was choked until she was nearly unconscious. Police have said they believe Leniart and a local teenager picked up April after she sneaked out. In 1997, the teen told police he and Leniart picked up April on her street after she agreed to meet them. He said the three drank beer and smoked marijuana and he and Leniart had sex with April. Leniart then dropped him off, telling him later "Remember your friend April, she's no longer around," the affidavit says. Leniart also told him he put April in a lobster pot and put her "under mud," according to the affidavit, which also says Leniart told the teen he taped April to a tree and later returned and drowned her by holding her head under water. The teen said he initially lied to police because Leniart put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him. He later admitted he knew something bad was going to happen to April but feared calling police because he was involved in raping her. In 2006, Leniart told police he had information about April and would like to help bring closure but "he did not wish to negotiate from prison." "Look me up when I get out and maybe we will go fishing and I will tell you about it," Leniart told investigators, according to the affidavit. Last year, the affidavit says, another cellmate of Leniart's told police that Leniart told him he hid the body in a well and then put her on his boat and dumped her in Long Island Sound. The girl's mother, Hazel Pennington, said she has agonized over what happened the night her 15-year-old daughter tucked stuffed animals under her sheets, climbed out the window of her Montville home and vanished. Her body was never recovered. Pennington said the release of the evidence in the case made it harder for her to hold out hope that her daughter was still alive. Pennington said she had a heart attack in 1998, a few weeks after learning that Leniart was out on bail at the time her daughter disappeared. "I felt all along he knew what happened to her and they couldn't prove it," Pennington said. "Why didn't he tell the truth in the beginning instead of putting us through hell for the past 12 years?" Pennington said she would like to see Leniart get the death penalty if he is convicted, but authorities have said they will not pursue the death penalty because no body was recovered. The three capital felony counts are for kidnapping and sexual assault during a murder and April's age, authorities said http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2008/04/17/affidavit_man_charged_in_1996_killing_dumped_body_in_ocean/

Eastern District Information Wanted - Disappearance of 15 Year Old Female April Dawn Pennington The Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad is seeking information concerning the 1996 disappearance of a fifteen year old female child in Montville Connecticut. Victim: April Dawn Pennington, a white female with brown hair and green eyes was born in 1980 (age 15 in 1996). April was 5'2" tall and weighed 100 pounds. She has a tan birthmark on her right tricep. April was last seen at her home on Orchard Drive in Montville. She possibly had a black duffel bag. There is no description of clothing available. Medical and Dental records are available. Circumstances: April left her home in the early morning hours of May 29, 1996 to meet with friends and was never seen again. Contact: Any person with information about this crime is requested to contact CSP at (860) 886-6603 during regular business hours EST or via the State Police message Center at (860) 685-8190, 24 hours a day. Content Last Modified on 7/26/2005 9:14:41 AM http://www.ct.gov/dps/cwp/view.asp?a=2143&q=294126

Details of Disappearance Pennington was last seen leaving her family's residence on Orchard Drive in Montville, Connecticut during the early morning hours of May 29, 1996. She climbed through her brother's window and planned to meet friends, but she never returned home. Her mother discovered her missing at 5:30 a.m. when she went to wake her for school. The window was left open and one of Pennington's stuffed animals was tucked in the bed. Pennington is believed to have been picked up by a 15-year-old classmate, Patrick J. "PJ" Allain, and a 30-year-old man, George Leniart, after she left her home. A photograph of Leniart is posted below this case summary. Allain later stated he, Leniart and Pennington went into the woods, drank beer and smoked marijuana that night. He stated he and Leniart had consensual sex with Pennington, then changed his story and said Leniart had raped her and had planned to murder her. Allain told investigators that Leniart dropped him off at his house and left with Pennington, and he did not know what happened to her after that. Leniart was awaiting trial for raping a teenage girl when Pennington disappeared in 1996; he was later convicted. In 2007, he was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy. Authorities interviewed several witnesses who stated Allain and Leniart murdered Pennington on the night she went missing. Leniart told investigators he knew Allain, but he later denied this. He also denies having ever met Pennington, but it was proven that he called her house five times on the day of her disappearance. Pennington's mother does not believe her daughter ran away. She stated there was $950 in cash in the house for the family's rent payment on the night Pennington disappeared and Pennington knew where it was, but she did not take it when she left her home. She also took no personal belongings with her, not even her purse. She was originally thought to have taken her black bookbag, but it was later found in her locker at school. A family friend, Adrian Butler, told authorities that he spoke to Pennington for fifteen to thirty minutes at a Blockbuster video rental store in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1999. He did not realize that she had been reported missing. Butler stated he did not recognize Pennington until she introduced herself, and that she looked haggard, as if she had been abusing drugs. He said she was accompanied by a toddler while he spoke to her, and that they stopped talking after a man in his late twenties walked into the store and insisted Pennington leave without renting a movie. Butler told the Penningtons about seeing their daughter after they called him three weeks after the alleged sighting. Investigators have since discounted his story. In April 2008, Leniart, who is still incarcerated on the 2007 sexual assault conviction, was charged with capital murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in Pennington's case. Authorities will not seek the death penalty against him; if convicted, he faces life in prison. Leniart allegedly confessed Pennington's murder to several individuals; he supposedly said he bound and raped her, then killed her because she was screaming. Pennington's body was not been recovered. Leniart was a fisherman at the time of her disappearance and may have dumped it in the ocean. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Pennington's family moved to Montville in 1994; her father, a mechanic, was transferred to the area by the United States Navy. She enrolled in Montville High School as a freshman. She had been a good student, but her grades began slipping in 1996 and she argued with her parents over it. She also broke up with her boyfriend shortly prior to her disappearance. However, her mother stated she believed her daughter was just going through a normal rebellious phase and was not having any serious problems. Pennington's father has since retired from the Navy and has moved to North Carolina. Pennington's mother believes that her daughter was involved with a rough crowd at the time of her 1996 disappearance. Her mother said that she feared Pennington was sold into prostitution. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved. Some agencies state that Pennington vanished from Uncasville, Connecticut. Above: Leniart in 2008 Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Connecticut State Police 860-886-6603 OR 860-848-7510 OR 800-953-7747 Updated 6 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated April 26, 2008; details of disappearance updated. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/pennington_april.html