Posted on 04/11/2006 10:49:50 AM PDT by Kansas Democrat
http://www.ksamber.org/srv-ksamber/showAlert.do?alert=381#latest
Amber Alert issued for Independence teen
Kelsey Stelting, 17, of Independence, was abducted around 6:35 a.m. from her home, approximately two blocks from Wood Lumber, an Independence-based business. She was forced into a white van, of unknown year and make.
According to the Kansas Amber Web site, the van's possible direction of travel is south on U.S. Highway 75.
Stelting is described as a white female, 5 feet 4 inches, weighing 110 pounds, blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing black gym or workout clothes.
For more information, visit www.ksamber.org.
Anyone with information on Kelsey Stelting is urged to call the Independence Police Department at (620) 332-1700, or call 911 or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) at (800) KS-CRIME.
Make sure the folks in Iram are aware.
Amber alert for a girl kidnapped in Independence, MO.
Low volume ping list.
To be on, or off, this ping list please FReepmail me.
I think that's Independence Kansas.
Let's get it right: Independence KANSAS
Yes, it's Kansas. Also very close to the Oklahoma border.
Please let us all send up a prayer for her fast recovery.
Thanks for pinging.
Ooooops, my mistake. All you Missourians - downgrade.
Neewollah! Wow, I hadn't thought of that in many, many years. Used to have it in Caney and Coffeyville, KS, too. In my small OK hometown growing up, that was like Mardi Gras! I used to have cousins in Independence, KS.
Wasn't able to call up the missing girl's pic there, however. I guess they're past B'ville by now if still on US 75 heading south.
Prayers up for the young lady.
FWIW, she is technically only 16, won't be 17 until June.
Prayers for her safe return. God Bless Kansas...
Click on the 'cache' for some reason the page won't come up but it does quickly on cache.
Well, I never did find it that way, but wandered around and found her in 2004 Queen Neelah Debs. She is very pretty, you're right.
And so accomplished! Champion tennis player. Award-winning lead actress in the community college musicals. Singer, dancer. National Honor Society. Prom Committee officer. Yearbook. Active in Methodist Church.
Prayers for her parents, the Coxes and Steltings. May her rescue be swift and successful.
Prayers sent out that she will be found alive and well, very soon!
Saw this on the news this morning. May she be returned safely. Prayers up for her and her family during this scary time!
Not sure the links here emphasized this, but the news stories online say "abducted at gunpoint ..."
oh no......by gunpoint......keep eyes and ears open out there.......
INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - Kansas and Oklahoma authorities were searching Tuesday for a 16-year-old girl who reportedly was abducted from her home in Independence.
Kelsey Lynn Stelting was last seen about 6:30 a.m. while getting ready for school, said her mother, Kelly Cox. The softball player was getting a bag of softball bats from the family car and did not return to the house, Cox said.
Police believe she was approached by a man with a gun who told her to run about six blocks to Woods Lumber Co. or she would be killed along with her family, her stepfather Doug Cox told the Independence Daily Reporter.
"He told her where to run and what to do and what would happen if she didn't follow his directions," Independence Police Chief Lee A. Bynum told the newspaper.
When she got to Woods Lumber, she was told to get into a white van, which apparently was waiting at the business, Bynum said.
The van, whose make and model were not known, was last seen going south on U.S. 75 toward Oklahoma, which is only about 15 miles from Independence.
Cox said when she went outside to see where Kelsey was, the doors to the family's car were open, with the keys on the ground. Cox said she didn't see or hear anything before she went outside.
"Shortly after that we called authorities," Cox said in a telephone interview. "We knew something was wrong right away."
The family had not heard from the girl by Tuesday afternoon, she said. The family was offering a $50,000 reward for the girl's safe return.
Kelsey is blond, blue-eyed weighs 110 pounds and is 5-foot-4 inches tall. She was last seen wearing black shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes.
"As far as everyone knows, we can't determine any motive. There hasn't been any threats, no kind of vendetta," Cox said.
Kelsey was happy, well-liked and active, with no reason to run away, her mother said. The junior in high school was preparing to play in a softball doubleheader Tuesday evening, was doing well academically, a member of the student council and was captain of the dance team, she said.
Her family said a 911 call was made from Kelsey's cell phone about 6:35 a.m., but Bynum refused to discuss the call because of the ongoing investigation.
Kelsey's father, Gerald Stelting, lives in Houston, Texas, and arrived in Independence after noon. He told the Independence Daily Reporter he was "in shock."
Bynum said Cessna Aircraft planes were searching along Highway 75 and in the rural areas of Montgomery County. Law enforcement officials also were scouring the list of registered sex offenders in the area.
Students from the high school and members of the Independence Community College track and football teams were helping distribute fliers about Kelsey as far away as Bartlesville, Okla. A prayer service also was organized for Tuesday afternoon.
High school principal Jim Runge said students were close to Kelsey and "very distressed" by her disappearance.
"The students feel a little bit powerless," Runge said. "I think everybody does."
Kelsey was in the process of raising funds for a 21-day trip to China this summer to work with the underprivileged, Runge said.
"She is an exceptional young person," he said. "Students are staying strong and we are doing everything we can to help find Kelsey."
Anyone with information has been asked to call the Independence Police Department at (620) 332-1700 or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (800) KS-CRIME.
ON THE NET
Kansas Bureau of Investigation Amber Alert: http://www.ksamber.org
Thank you for posting that. Whew, this hits close to home in several ways. Man oh man, I can't imagine what happened with Kelsey. So bizarre. No ransom call yet? We can only hope that it's something like that and can get resolved in the best possible way.
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