[...]
Scott said investigators have slogged through thousands of leads and tips. There have been eight to 12 “persons of interest” at various points during the investigation, but none panned out, he said.
[...]

Crumb and Scott said the case has drawn a number of amateur sleuths who haven’t necessarily been helpful. Crumb said that over the summer, someone went to the McCleary assessor’s office, got the names and addresses of everyone who lives on Maple Street, and posted that information on a message board devoted to Lindsey’s case, leaving the impression that any of those residents could have been responsible.

Crumb said that although posting such information online is legal, “it’s inappropriate.”

“I wish they’d tone that down,” he added.

Scott said some who have posted information about Lindsey’s case on the Internet have created “suspects du jour” who have had “nothing to do with anything,” he said.

“I think there’s a fine line between wanting to help and being irresponsible, and some people have crossed that line in making speculations and opinions that become accusatory.”
[...]

In July and August, law enforcement officers and volunteers “tipped McCleary upside down” in a massive search for Lindsey, Scott said. The search included helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft from the State Patrol and search-and rescue-dogs from throughout the Puget Sound area, he said.

“I would find it hard to believe that you could find a piece of ground in McCleary that didn’t have one of their footprints,” Scott said.

Detective Davin said that during the first few weeks of the investigation, between 40 and 50 law enforcement officers were working on the case, including FBI agents.

Police spoke to every resident and searched inside and outside more than 150 homes on or near Maple Street, Scott said.
[...]

Melissa Baum now is in charge of the volunteer searches in and around McCleary every weekend. Searchers took Halloween weekend off; three weekends ago, the search team included more than 70 soldiers from Fort Lewis who scoured the wooded areas around McCleary, she said.

Crumb said that even though the searches have covered a lot of ground, the vastness of the forests and swampland around McCleary makes it impossible to say definitively that searchers have checked every place where Lindsey could be.

McCleary’s location near several highways increases the number of locations where an abductor could have taken her, Scott said. The roads out of McCleary include state Route 8, which leads to U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate 5; and state Route 108, which leads past Little Creek Casino toward Shelton.

Melissa Baum said she knows investigators are doing all they can but is frustrated by the lack of progress.

“I just feel like it’s taking too long,” she said. “I don’t know what I expect them to do that they’re not doing.”
[...]

Law enforcement officers also have had to contend with false sightings of Lindsey, Scott said. Early in the investigation, one of Melissa Baum’s family members called to report that she thought Lindsey was in the back of a car headed west on state Route 8, he said.

Police assumed it was a legitimate sighting because it was reported by someone who knows what Lindsey looks like, he said.

“Multiple units from multiple agencies set up to converge on the vehicle,” Scott said. “I’ve got guys doing 100 miles per hour, setting up to intercept this car.”

It turned out that the woman didn’t actually see Lindsey; she had information from a psychic that Lindsey was in the back of a car that looked like a vehicle she later spotted on the highway, he said.

Scott said the example illustrates not only the family’s desperate search, but also how police have to respond rapidly to every tip, because they never know which one will be the break that leads to finding Lindsey.
[...]

Read Full Article

Friday morning, Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office investigators, along with FBI agents and members of the King County Sheriff’s Office, began serving search warrants in and around the McCleary area. The warrants allow investigators a chance to thoroughly search private properties.
A Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the search warrants were a result of their “continuing investigation.” Detectives said they had “credible information” to conduct the searches.

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_092509WAB-missing-mccleary-girl-KS.1b5660aae.html

surely the person of interest more not hit same neighborhood

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2009/08/31/matthew-ortiz-picked-the-wrong-girl/?wpc=dlc#comment-113248

I hate to hear that. Unsupervised play is a fundamental part of childhood development. Kids who don’t get any are, statistically, less fit, less social, less able to use executive functions like self control and judgment. These are things that are best developed pre-pubescently. A 9 year old is running out of time.

If you keep your child on a leash out of fear that something with one in a million odds might happen to them, I highly recommend you try to apply that bad logic to the rest of your child’s life. You will quickly find that she will be locked in a room, unable to leave for any reason. She won’t be able to ride in the car with you, as auto accidents are a MUCH more common cause of death among kids than abduction; she won’t be able to eat – a child is more likely to choke on mashed potatoes than get abducted by a stranger.

The world we live in today is far safer than it was when you and I were kids, unless you’ve failed in some other way – moved to the ghetto or have not equipped your child with knowledge of how to react when strangers approach. But if you’ve got confidence in yourself as a parent and live in a decent neighborhood, but still can’t bring yourself to let your child play unattended, you’re doing herself a grave disservice that may affect her for the rest of her life.

I disagree. I think times are not safer. Kids had much more freedom when I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. I think that keeping an eye on small children, say 9 and under is okay to do. I think it depends on the child some are more developed than others. I have a child 8 years old and has been taught all the right things, how to handle strangers and manners etc. No matter how much they are educated and where you live there still is a chance of danger. Yes, I agree you can’t keep your child on a leash but to let them roam the neighborhood for hours not knowing where they are isn’t right either. Also, small children no matter how educated are not a match for a big adult. Alone they are vulnerable targets. As adults we are responsible to protect kids, so if children are at your home I don’t see how you could even consider letting a child out and assume they make it home. Or as a parent meet up with them to walk them home. I guess I worry but I love my kids too much and they are all I have. I can’t see how a parent can’t take the 5 minutes to make sure they get home okay.

Not much of an update, just heartbreaking they haven’t found this child.