Crime and Courts

New details surrounding Cody abduction, sexual assault

Posted: Oct 10, 2012 8:43 PM by Q2 News Staff/Cody Enterprise
Updated: Oct 10, 2012 8:53 PM

CODY, WY - One of the hunters who found the 11-year-old girl abducted in Cody on Monday considers it a blessing from above.

Shane Larsen spoke with The Cody Enterprise in great detail about what he encountered that night and what the little girl told him.

Within the article, written by Mark Heinz, Larsen said once she was on the phone with her mother, the girl started sobbing, and saying things that "ripped my heart out."

The girl told Larsen that the man had "lots and lots of pictures of naked little girls" in his vehicle, according to the article. She also told Larsen that at one point they got into a physical struggle and she kicked him in the nose, causing it to bleed.

To read the full article at codyenterprise.com, click here.

As law enforcement in Wyoming continue to search for a man suspected of abducting and sexually assaulting the young girl, before releasing her, the community is coming together to show support for the victim and her family.

A candle light observance was held Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Recreation Center within the Park County Complex.

According to Cody Police Chief Perry Rockvam, the girl was abducted shortly before 4 p.m. Monday at the Park County Complex on Stampede Avenue in Cody. About 45 minutes later, a friend of the girl reported to authorities that the 11-year-old had gotten into a white vehicle with a man to help him find his dog and had not returned.

When officers arrived at the Park County Complex, the girl's friend told police that she, along with the victim and another girl, were standing outside the front of the Park County Complex when a man pulled up to the front sidewalk in a vehicle, exited the vehicle, approached the girls and stated that he was missing his black lab puppy and asked if they could help him find it.

The victim apparently told the man that she would help him and entered the front passenger side of the vehicle. She later told police that when she approached the vehicle, he revealed a pistol and told her to get in the front seat.

The man is described as a white male, 55 to 60-years-old, 185 to 200 pounds, with short strawberry blond or white hair. He has a neatly or newly trimmed beard or mustache. He was wearing a brown shirt, blue jeans and a tan baseball cap.

He was driving a white SUV, but it is unknown where he was from.

Anyone with any information about Monday's crime is asked to contact the Cody Police Department at (307) 527-8700 or a local law enforcement agency.