Elizabeth Olten Dead: Body Of 9-Year-Old Girl Found After 3 Day Search

UPDATE: AP reports that a 15-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder.

ST. MARTINS, Mo. � Authorities have charged a 15-year-old with first-degree murder for the death of 9-year-old girl in central Missouri.

Cole County Juvenile Court Administrator Michael Couty (koo-TEE') said Saturday that the 15-year-old is being detained for the death of Elizabeth Olten. Police did not release the teen's gender or name.

Elizabeth's body was found Friday � two days after she went missing � after the suspect led police to a wooded area near her home west of Jefferson City. Cole County Sheriff Greg White said Saturday that the girl was found in an area that had previously been searched but she had been "very well concealed."

White said Elizabeth was acquainted with the suspect but declined to elaborate.

KSPR News is reporting that 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten's body was found, after she had gone missing on Wednesday night.

The search is over for 9-year old Elizabeth Olten. She's the Jefferson City -area girl who went missing Wednesday night after she left a friend's house.

A Missouri sheriff said that the police have a juvenile in custody in connection with the death.

Comments

[sharpeningmyclaws]

This is sad--it seems that girls are becoming more aggressive and violent these days. There have been a few news stories lately about girls beating or killing another girl. It seems to be a shock value thing for girls to do, like a new game, and then they post it online for entertainment.

[marianproletarian]

It was a girl? This says they didn't release the 15 year old's name or gender.

[GBoy]

I have to agree with all the individuals on here that are arguing that we have become a desensitized society due to video games and TV. Lets also not forget the music that advocates violence and treating women like possessions. However, I would like to take this one step further and place some blame on our Internet society. Under this new society we have gained a sense of anonymity. We believe that by hiding behind our user names we can get away with anything. Over time we tend to blur what is acceptable reality.

Finally, I would like to place some blame on our society that will not let children be children. We expect our kids to be adults before they are ready. For example, in Jefferson City (the community that Elizabeth is from) the whole focus of the schools is on sports. Jefferson City and several of the surrounding communities win at least one state title in some sport each year. The children are recruited for sports clinics at the age of 3. Children that excel at sports, and their families, are given preferential treatment in the community. This places undue pressure on these children to perform. In the end, something has to break....

[ReverseUniversal]

Next time you start thinking video games and the internet have made us more violent or immoral because you read about some tragic story, go to the news section at google and search for "suicide bomber." Find the most recent story, probably within the last few days, and remind yourself how lucky you are to live in a place where dozens of people aren't blown up in market places, places of worship, schools, hospitals, etc every week. One girl's mental instability does not indicate a nation in decline.

Major attacks in Pakistan in the past month
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gz6rxXInWF4fSlqV7kA9bPEcp61QD9BNCT300

[harriettubman]

This is reported out of the St. Louis news. When a teen k*lled a cop, his face, name and age were given until he was caught!! Now this teen's face, gender or age is not announced. Why the double standard? Is it because it was a cop in the first case?

[sharpeningmyclaws]

Maybe because the teen is already in custody?

[houstonobserver]

Which of you been a teenager, and not remember?

There is a time when the brain has to switch from "everything is play" to "actions have serious consequences" mode during adolescence.

Usually this process happens without anyone getting seriously hurt, but when this transition is unsupervised, the process may take a little longer and have more serious repercussions.

My opinion is that it is more difficult to develop the ability to discern between the two when they are chronically exposed to virtual worlds, e.g. through video games, TV and other media.

That being said, I am hugging both my kids and saying a prayer tonight.

[SuesW]

Umm ... I think most 15 year olds get thru their teenage years without killing someone, regardless of all that "stuff" you mentioned.

[harriettubman]

Huh? At 15 you know right from wrong, barring any learning disorders.

[Brautigan]

I for one know where you're coming from with this. I don't think it's a dumb comment, and although it seems vague, what your trying to explain is foggy topic to think about because of the very nature of adolescence. I can tell you, though, that I'm grateful that at 15 I never did anything so horrible.

[shikita87]

WELL, SOMEONE IS NOT DOING THEIR JOB VERY GOOD.. HOW CAN A TEENAGER OUTBEAT POLICEFORCE, THEY DINT FIND THE BODY BECAUSE IT WAS "VERY WELL CONCEALED".THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE. ITS NOT A NEEDLE. ITS A 9 YEAR OLD PERSONS BODY. THIS MAKES ME MAD!!!!!!!!!!!! I FEEL TERRIBLE FOR THE PARENTS. ARE THEY NOT WATCHING THE NEWS?ODVIOUS THEY DONT CARE.EVRYONE THINKS IT WOUNT HAPPEN TO THEM. EVEN GOING OUT SIDE OF YOUR PORCH CAN BE DANGEROUS AT THIS TIME. MY CHILDREN ARE ON MY SIGHT 24/7. I KNOW EXCATLY WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND WHERE.PEOPLE WATCH YOUR KIDS.

[iplaw]

At 3 days a human body is very easy to find. You can smell it from hundreds of feet. There are few things as distinctive and pungent as the smell of rotting human.

[bethani]

I understand both of your frustrations but I was on one of the search teams that was searching for her. Its was VERY cold and raining almost nonstop. Both of those factors decrease the rate of decomposition.
There are several people in our comunity that believe there could have been someone that helped her conceal the body because of the level of weight of the branches and such that was covering the body. The body was covered completely. It looked like a pile of branches and leaves.

[FoxyBrown]

The police have not released the name or gender of the teen suspect in custody.

[Ifticar2]

Is the 15 year old perp a male or a female? I wonder why the news reports are omitting this major detail? I have guess but I will keep it to myself.

[Boadicea]

Female. She led police to the body.

[Marnieblue]

Is that the 15 year olds photo? I can't believe they are allowed to put her photo up since she is a minor and not found guilty yet.

[talkingdog]

I don't think you've got it right. it's my understanding that She's the dead girl.
They often don't show the perp., when they're minors.

Another life cast away like a styrofoam cup.

[dogman44]

"And as the nation rolls along,
like a semi down the highway,
casting lonely broken bodies
in the trash beside the road"

[NotMcCain]

She looks older than 9 in the photo, but I believe that is Elizabeth's picture.

They aren't releasing information about the 15 year old suspect yet.

[PhineasGage730]

Nah, that's the nine year old...

[harriettubman]

They release that info when a teen kills a cop but not for this child! I don't get it.

[bethani]

They are not releasing information on the offender because they have to have a certification hearing to determine whether to try her as an adult or juvenile. Juvenile records are sealed and not privy to the public.

[elizlucinda]

We all seeming to forget one thing. As person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law...and even then it is shaky!!

[VTL]

True, but leading them to the body does not exactly bode well for the suspect.

Ya think??

[seattle music]

There you go, being logical.

[iplaw]

You are deluded if you think convictions are "shaky". I would say that 99% of people are convicted for exactly what they did.

[elizlucinda]

iPlaw......I'm not sure what you base that 99% on!!! A person can be convicted and still not be guilty. It happens all the time!

I'm also not sure why you would call me deluded. Unless you are a barrister and solicitor ( attorney in the U.S.), I think I have more experience than you in this area!.

[amdezurik]

ask the Innocence Project about that and maybe stop guessing and learn

[Lantzali]

Do you know how many people have been exonerated after being convicted? It happens quite often. You might want to read up a little on that. Here's a partial list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_exonerated_death_row_inmates

[ubatuba]

thank you for stating the oft-forgotten obvious. with widespread media and fear-mongering, 'innocent until proven guilty' is often trumped by the hateful court of public opinion...

[clamperken]

Enough already! I've heard all of the arguments which claim mass media and the entertainment industry are not responsible for the violent society in which we have become accustomed to living in. I read somewhere that by the age of 18 children have witnessed at least 10,000 deaths thru T.V. and movies. This probably doesn't account for the thousands of animated killings which many teenagers witness or actually commit thru violent video games. When children see that they need not remain dead in these horrible "games" do they then become desensitized to the permanents of death? We have become a society of violence and destructive behavior, and I for one have had enough to make me sick. Media does have a responsibility to curb this lust for violence, although I doubt their greed for the almighty dollar will outwiegh their moral obligation to society.

[jessicadevyn]

So why will less that .1% of them commit murder?

Our society has ALWAYS been violent. People have been killing each other, including children, since time immemorial.

[iplaw]

Murder was not invented until it was shown on Hill Street Blues in 1984.

[Grannysue]

What's wrong with our society, children killing children?

[Willow207]

Like the young honors student walking home in Chicago beaten to death by a group of youth?

[iplaw]

I find it very strange that every person murdered in the country has been an "honors" student. How is this possible?

[ie]

Why are we all discussing and speculating when we don't know JACK about what happened?
Condolences to the families and friends--how very sad for all.

[NeverRepublican]

I guess it's called "free-will"

[elizlucinda]

It is highly likely the child who allegedly murdered this girl is suffering from some sort of mental illness which has not been treated. It is very usual from a statistical basis for a female to commit this type of crime. It will also be interesting to see if this child comes from a background where she was abused herself.

[NotARhetoricalQuestion]

I don't believe the suspect's gender has been released.

[feuille0d0erable]

The fact that the gender hasn't been released is because of the gender.

[balancedsolution]

violent entertainment and violence are cause and effect, each one promoting the other.

it's a circular pattern.

this is a very very very SAD story

[darker]

VIOLENT entertainment: common sense version--
MONKEY SEE. MONKEY DO.

kid sees killings. kill kills.
STOP the violence in media.

This is not rocket science, folks.

[NotARhetoricalQuestion]

Most kids don't kill.

[rich misty]

They usually start with insects and small animals, like frogs.

http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-3nov2000-frogs.html

[Validusername]

Children killing children is not new. There may be more of it now, but part of that is because of the accessiblilty of weapons. I don't know that, for example, Columbine would have been possible at my high school over 50 years ago. However, a young girl was killed by a gang in a drive-by shooting when I was a teenager . This appears to be a different kind of killing-one on one and face to face. Mental illness is what immediately comes to mind.

[Peacedog]

Maybe we should try to apply a little science to the question instead of relying on your personal bias.