Shasta Groene Found Alive

[Belle Céline]

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho - An 8-year-old girl who disappeared with her brother six weeks ago from a home where family members were bludgeoned to death was found early Saturday at a Denny’s restaurant with a registered sex offender, officials said.

 

Shasta Groene was spotted in her hometown by a waitress who apparently recognized her from photographs in the media. Officers arrested the man she was with, but the girl’s 9-year-old brother, Dylan, remained missing, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said.

 

Joseph Edward Duncan III, of Fargo, N.D., was charged with kidnapping and was being held without bond, Wolfinger said.

 

 

Shasta seemed well and was being interviewed by investigators. Her father was on his way to Coeur d’Alene to be reunited with her, a relative said.

 

“She was sitting in a restaurant eating a meal. She’s obviously well enough to do that,” Wolfinger said.

 

As for Dylan, "Our initial information is that he may be deceased," Wolfinger said. He would provide no further details, emphasized that the information was not confirmed and said officers were following leads.

 

Dylan and Shasta Groene had been missing since at least May 16, when sheriff’s deputies responded to their rural home after a neighbor reported that dogs were barking and the door of one vehicle was open but no one was in sight.

 

The deputies found the bound bodies of Brenda Groene, 40, Slade Groene, 13, and Mark McKenzie, 37. The victims were bound and then bludgeoned to death.

 

FBI agents and local officers interviewed hundreds of people, searched through 800 tons of animal carcasses and other trash and devoted thousands of hours to the search.

Edited July 2, 2005 at 07:08 PM by PrincessCeline21