skeletal remains found in Monmouth County's Clayton ParkDNA test may solve mystery
Police doubt remains found in N.J. are of missing S.C. girl
Home News Tribune Online 09/2/07
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By RICHARD KHAVKINE
STAFF WRITER
rkhavkine@thnt.com
Detectives in both New Jersey and South Carolina doubt that the skeletal remains found in Monmouth County's Clayton Park in March 2005 are those of a South Carolina girl presumed killed by her mother in their hometown of Conway, S.C.
"Other than the fact that it's a missing girl and it fits the general characteristics, we have no other reason independent of that to think that that's our girl here," New Jersey State Police detective Geoff Noble said Friday. "We're looking for some connection to New Jersey, Upper Freehold, Monmouth County."
State Police believe the remains, found by a hunter walking near Route 526, are those of a black female who was between 5 and 9 years old at the time of her death. The child, whom State Police are calling Jane Doe, is believed to have died between 2001 and 2004.
The Conway child, Kynande Bennett, was 4 years old when her mother reported her missing in September 2002. The child was never found and a criminal investigation implicated her parents, Vartasha McCollough-White and Eddie Kevin Bennett Jr.
Charges against Bennett were later dropped but McCollough-White was convicted last year of homicide by child abuse and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Conway Police are also skeptical that the remains found in the Monmouth County park are those of Kynande Bennett.
"I know of no ties that the Bennett family had to New Jersey or why, if it was Kynande Bennett, what brought Kynande Bennett to New Jersey. That's unknown right now," said Conway Police detective Sean Addison. "It would certainly surprise me if it was her. . . . It's quite a ways from here."
Nevertheless, DNA taken from the parents is being tested by a Texas firm against that found in the Monmouth County remains.
"The probability is very low but as long as as there probability there, even if it's .01 percent, we're still going to rule it in or rule it out," Noble said. "Because this is a little child we're not going to stop. We're going to pursue every lead with the same vigor. We have just don't have any reason to believe that's our girl."
Meanwhile, authorities are hopeful that a California foundation's offer of a $5,000 reward will help solve a mystery that has confounded police since the hunter, walking in a rural section of the park, found a partially buried skull and jawbone in some tall grass.
A State Police forensic anthropologist and detectives excavated the site. In addition to a complete skeleton, they discovered a child's Nike Air Force One shoe and a piece of canvas material, possibly from a handbag or book bag, with a distinctive print of the cartoon cat Sylvester.
Police believe the sneaker and the child's teeth, which had burns on them, had possibly been set on fire to throw off any investigation.
The dated evidence has since revealed little otherwise, with investigators still unable to determine how she died.
Though is it not officially classified as such, "We are handling this as a homicide," Noble said in August. "It's definitely a suspicious death . . . until proven otherwise."
Police two weeks ago released a computer-generated image based on the found remains and have since received tips from several states, Noble said.
"We have a couple leads. We're going down some of those roads," Noble said. "We need to keep this fresh because at some point we need to connect with the right person."
Detectives contacted the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation in Modesto, Calif., which seeks to call attention to the issue of missing persons, including those who have gone missing under suspicious circumstances, about two weeks ago.
The foundation this week offered the reward for information that leads to the identification of the remains and to the arrest and conviction in the death of the child.
"They have been exceptional to work with," the foundation's office manager, Jennifer Hicks, said Thursday afternoon. "They are informed and involved. They are staying on top of it."
The foundation, which has documented 454 cases since its inception in 1999, has about 40 active cases, most of which are classified as unsolved homicides. Hicks said the purpose of a reward is to refocus media and public attention on dormant missing-persons cases or homicides.
The foundation has offered 258 rewards since 1999, and paid out on 27, Hicks said.
"We try to get (cases) as much exposure as we can. Some cases take off, and others don't get the same type of attention," she said.
State Police investigators hope that the computerized image, pieced together from her remains, will also help trigger someone's recognition.
The computer-generated image, based on a CAT scan of the child's skull made by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, shows the child at 5 years old. The other, a technical drawing by a State Police artist, shows her at age 9.
"We've tried to solve this case, identify this girl through all the traditional means. We are at a dead end," Noble said.
People with knowledge that could help police uncover the identity of the child or any other aspects of the case are asked to call Detective Christopher Stafyleras of the New Jersey State Police at (866) 657-7411 or (609) 584-5000, Ext. 5288.
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