This is a case from my hometown area. There seems to be more than enough evidence to send this girl and boy to jail for a very long time. Sadly, that will not bring Adrienne Reynolds back.
Posted on 10/30/2005 7:24:31 AM PST by conservativebabe
Focus returns to Reynolds murder as Kolb trial opens By Kurt Allemeier, kallemeier@qconline.com
Tony Reynolds was first angry, then distraught, when he reported his 16-year-old daughter missing one Friday in January. He looked for her and hoped she would come home. She never did.
What happened to Adrianne Leigh Reynolds on that day and the events that followed -- the discovery of the girl's dismembered and burned body and the arrest of three teens -- will be heard in court this week.
One of the teens, Sarah Anne Kolb, 17, of 1003 W. 10th St., Milan, is to go on trial Monday on two counts of first degree murder and one count of concealing a homicide. If convicted, Ms. Kolb could be sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison under Illinois sentencing guidelines. Rock Island County State's Attorney Jeff Terronez is not seeking the death penalty.
Because of media attention in the case, jury selection likely will be a lengthy process, Mr. Terronez said. Trial testimony is expected to take about 10 days.
He compares the case to that of Jonathan Corey Posey, who was accused of first-degree murder in the dragging death of Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Stanley Talbot at a police safety checkpoint in 2001.
Though the investigation drew widespread attention and spurred outrage over the death of a police officer, a jury chose to convict Mr. Posey of failing to report an accident and reckless homicide.
"I think the people who are prospective jurors will look at (this case) with an open mind," Mr. Terronez said.
Ms. Kolb's attorney, assistant public defender David Hoffman, who also defended Mr. Posey, was unavailable for comment Friday.
Some of the details that led to the arrests of Ms. Kolb; Cory Charles Gregory, 17, of 716 21st St. A, Moline, who faces similar charges, and Nathan Gaudet, 16, of Moline, have already been heard.
Mr. Gaudet pleaded guilty in February to a juvenile count of concealing a homicide, and was sentenced to a juvenile detention center until his 21st birthday. He is expected to testify.
Mr. Terronez is unsure if Mr. Gregory will testify against Ms. Kolb. During a hearing Oct. 20, Mr. Terronez said Mr. Gregory was offered a plea agreement. The defendant's attorneys have said it is being considered. Mr. Gregory's trial is scheduled for Feb. 7.
Court testimony from several hearings and court documents lay out part of the case, while classmates at Black Hawk College Outreach Center have said in media interviews they heard threats by Ms. Kolb against Ms. Reynolds.
"I think we know a lot already," Joanne Reynolds, Ms. Reynolds' stepmother, said last week. "We need to be strong for her.
"It feels like it happened not that long ago, but I don't know if I can handle it any more," she said.
Late last year, Adrianne Reynolds moved to the Quad-Cities from Texas because of problems with her mother. She enrolled in the Outreach Center's GED program and found a job at a fast-food restaurant.
She was scheduled to work the evening of Jan. 21 but never showed up. Her father reported her missing.
East Moline police entered the girl's description in the database and interviewed Ms. Reynolds' few friends and other classmates from the Outreach Center. Ms. Reynolds and Ms. Kolb knew each other from a circle of people called "Juggalos," fans of the band "Insane Clown Posse."
Ms. Kolb told police she dropped off Ms. Reynolds at the East Moline McDonald's the day she went missing. Investigators allege Ms. Kolb killed Ms. Reynolds in the parking lot of a Taco Bell on Avenue of the Cities in Moline.
In an interview with police on Jan. 25, Mr. Gregory said the girls argued as they sat in a parked car at the restaurant, began fighting, and Ms. Kolb allegedly strangled Ms. Reynolds while he just watched, according to police testimony from Ms. Kolb's preliminary hearing in February.
Another teenager, Sean McKittrick, was in the car but got out when the girls started arguing.
Ms. Kolb and Mr. Gregory then went to Ms. Kolb's house in Milan where they got gasoline before going to Big Island where they put Ms. Reynolds' body in the trunk, according to testimony.
The teens took the body to Ms. Kolb's grandparents' farm near Millersburg in Mercer County, where they wrapped it in a tarp and spent six hours trying to burn it, according to testimony.
They eventually gave up. The teens recruited Mr. Gaudet to help dispose of the body, according to police. They returned to the farm two days later and cut up the body.
Police found some of Ms. Reynolds' remains hidden under brush near Millersburg. The rest was dumped under a manhole cover at Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island.
Ms. Kolb was arrested Jan. 26, followed by Mr. Gregory's arrest the next day. Mr. Gaudet was arrested Jan. 31. During their court hearings, security was tight. Extra security precautions are expected during Ms. Kolb's trial.
Though charged as an adult, Ms. Kolb was held in a juvenile detention center until she turned 17. She was transferred in May to the Rock Island County Jail, where she has been held on $1 million bail. Mr. Gregory is also in the Rock Island County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
During the investigation, police searched Ms. Kolb's car and residence and also her grandparents' farm. Police found blood, four lighters, a belt, coat and shoes in the 1991 Geo Prism, according to a search warrant inventory.
Officers took a 24-inch wooden handle wrapped in duct tape, two handsaws, a 2.5-liter gas container and clothes during a search of the house, according to a search warrant inventory.
A search of the property owned by Ms. Kolb's grandparents turned up melted blue material believed to be part of a plastic tarp, plant material bearing "blood-like stains," burned clothing, a soda bottle and beer can, according to Mercer County search warrant inventory.
This is a case from my hometown area. There seems to be more than enough evidence to send this girl and boy to jail for a very long time. Sadly, that will not bring Adrienne Reynolds back.
Above picture is the victim, Adrienne Reynolds
I'm also from the Quad Cities and I follow the news back home on the internet since I live out west now. I thought Court TV would have picked up on this by now, as it is a highly unusual murder. How they could have even stomached the disposal of her body was an attributed to how messed up those kids are in the head. Grown men couldn't stomache that, at least I couldnt. They have a lot of hate. She will one day have her day of rekoning. May justice be served.
Well, it's awesome to meet someone here from the Q.C. FINALLY!
I live out west too! Colorado to be exact, but we are moving back to the Q.C. the end of DEC. Can't wait to get back!
I have been fascinated with this case for the reasons you described. Such brutality for such unimportant reasons. It boggles the mind. This girl could not have been dumber, going around talking about what she was going to do, making threats in front of others, telling others, writing in a journal. Not the shiniest marble in the pouch. I expect her to get the toughest sentence possible when all is said and done. They have more than enough evidence against her and the other boy.
Scarier, it doesn't seem that she exhibits any signs of remorse. I have often thought that her family must be a bunch of real winners too. I mean, already she was in alternative school, then to have the disposition she does. That or she was one bad seed that should not have been born.
Kolb obviously had previous Psychological and upbringing problems. This by no means excuses what she did but imagine what it must have took to make her that way. Don't get me wrong, she needs the most severe punishment we can allow. But what she did was not spur of the moment anger. She thought this out and had plenty of time to realize the consequences. What she did was not human. She obviously didn't respect the life of Adriannes, herself or any friends or family. Ive felt like kicking the @#$% out of people before but it never occured to me to chop somebody up and go for lunch while they were in the trunk. OK im sorry Im just rambling. Its my way of trying to figure this out. But I dont think we can. Its truly scarry to see such evil.
PS I would move back to the QC if there were decent paying jobs. I miss my family and I want my children to know the rest of thier family but I earn twice what I did there. Until an opportunity from there comes close I'll stay here in Nev.
What were the reasons? I couldn't figure them out from the article. (Not that there could possibly be a good one)
Apologies, this case has been going on for a while and a single article doesn't give all the background.
Adrienne, the deceased, was new to the area. She was becoming popular at the school and her "friend" Sarah, was becoming jealous of the attention Adrienne was getting. This Sarah character, by witness accounts so far, was a real peach anyway. She was bisexual, and evidently wanted to "get with" Adrienne but didn't want to be with a slut. Then, Adrienne evidently had sex with a friend of Sarah's, enraging her.
Sarah Kolb, being the twit she seems, appearantly meant to do Adrienne harm, even murder. She told friends what she was going to do, wrote about it in a class journal, made threats in front of others. NOT a bright girl.
They have more than enough evidence against this beast, but unfortunately, she is not eligible for the death penalty, thanks to the SC decision recently.
Such utter insanity is just shocking. This is a twisted story that I cannot believe was never picked up by Court TV.
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