Family Photo via KTVT-TV
Shown in this undated family photo is 6-year-old Hannah Mack of Corsicana, Texas. Her body was discovered Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, hanging inside her family's garage. Police said Wednesday the child was sexually assaulted.
Posted on 09/12/2007 6:59:47 PM PDT by Libloather
6-year-old girl found hanged in Texas
By PAUL J. WEBER - The Associated Press
Posted on Wed, Sep. 12, 2007
Family Photo via KTVT-TV
Shown in this undated family photo is 6-year-old Hannah Mack of Corsicana, Texas. Her body was discovered Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, hanging inside her family's garage. Police said Wednesday the child was sexually assaulted.
CORSICANA, Texas --A 6-year-old girl was found hanged inside her family's garage and had been sexually assaulted before she died, police said Wednesday.
Authorities have made no arrests or named any suspects since Hannah Mack's body was discovered by her mother on Monday. They are saying little about their investigation.
"I will confirm that the hanging and sexual assault were part of this scenario," Navarro County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Mike Cox said.
Cox said several people have been interviewed and no one has been ruled out as a suspect.
"We don't want to do anything that would compromise a successful prosecution of this case," Cox said Wednesday before abruptly ending a brief news conference.
Neighbors in the rural lakeside community in east Texas are frustrated by the silence so far and worry that a predator remains on the loose.
In a letter to the sheriff's department, Navarro County Judge Vicki Gray said an autopsy of the body showed "a multitude of events that together caused the death of this child." No other details were released.
Dana Mack found her youngest daughter's body in a garage behind the family's secluded home in Navarro Mills Lake, about 65 miles south of Dallas.
Police said Dana Mack began searching after she realized Hannah was missing at a time she would have been getting ready for school.
The mother last saw Hannah sleeping on the couch around 1 a.m., according to Jean Langford, the girl's great-grandmother.
"(Dana) is just devastated. We all are," Langford said. "This is the worst thing that's ever happened to this family. Hannah was our pride and joy. She was our little sweetheart."
Langford said the family had hoped police would be further along in their investigation.
"What makes this so bad is that we still don't know who did this awful thing."
Those concerns are shared by neighbors. They say imaginations in town are starting to run wild.
"My kids sleep in the bed with me," said Pam Gray, who lives next door and whose children rode the school bus with Hannah. "They get off of school and they've heard all the rumors and wild things, and they're terrified."
"I'm just concerned about the kids out there," said Harold Hocutt, 75, a neighbor who knows the girl's family. "Little girls. Little boys. It's just something you don't forget. Every time I drive by (Hannah's house), I cry."
Police asked state caseworkers to not say whether Hannah's family had been investigated by child welfare officers, said Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. She characterized the request as uncommon.
This seems like it was more than just a sexual assault, that could’ve been done anywhere with an attempt to hide the deed later, but this hanging seems more like a brazen act meant to issue a ‘statement’ of sorts to someone.
This is one of the most horrible stories I’ve heard in a long time. Prayers for this innocent little girl’s soul, and for her family and friends.
Thanks for the sketch. It captures my mood as well.
When I first read of this horrific crime a few hours ago, I wondered if a series of acts against Hannah had been filmed for internet distribution, and if the attacker was worried that she might blab too much in school.
I’m so glad the rapist/murderer was caught.
Don’t forget Aunt Jessie and little Chloe :(
my guess: family friend. not mother's boyfriend but you never know. somebody who knew that little girl personally did this. i cannot imagine her last few seconds of life. what she was feeling and seeing...the cops had better find this animal and kill them. once you do something like this it could only be the beginning. let's hope they find them quick.
Crossed my mind.
Even a little kids futon bed that you can get at wal mart for cheap would be a lil bed she could have called her own if the living room was the only room.
Aw crap....
Prayers up for her family; this is awful. (And I can’t help but wonder if the perp’s an illegal.)
Don’t forget Jewish folks. Should say Judeo-Christian ethics.
I understand that studies show that “boyfriends” and “stepfathers” are a disportunately large group of offenders.
That is not always the case. Some men are better at fathering than the biological father.
As for the child sleeping on the couch, that is not that unusual. My little one was very stressed out during the campaign of attrition, and had to watch TV to fall asleep. The doors were dead bolted, and I was on the other side of the wall. Sometimes she slept with me. Ooops call CPS! Inappropriate!!!!
We should hold our fire until there is an arrest made, if there is one.
The next liberal who tells me that society today is what it “always has been” is going to get this article up shoved in front of them up close and personal! I can testify that none of my friends or schoolmates ended up sexually molested and hung inside a garage! Evil is growing in our world - those who deny it have their heads in the sand.
let's not start in on this mother and her child, okay.....
Thanks for the ping - I have avoided posting on this thread all evening. It makes me literally sick to my stomach to think of the terror and anguish this little angel endured at the hands of this monster(s).
Absolutely disgusting. I couldn’t imagine the thought of that having happened to one of my daughters...sick, sick, sick!
I remember the BTK killer did this to a young girl early on in his "career" ...hanged her.....I also have read of a case that happened the same day as Columbine...somewhere in Minnisota IIRC.....young girl found assaulted and killed.....
hanging a child....what kind of perverted and evil animal would do that?
OMG......
I detest all porn, and I don't care who it is of or how "consenting" the victims are....
porn makes all women and children potential victims....
From an article in the Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091307dnmetgirl.c9e564ee.html
Tanya Arnett, whose 6-year-old son, Hunter, attended school with Hanna, said she remembers seeing Ms. Mack with a black eye not long ago. She never asked what happened and Ms. Mack never volunteered, she said.
Evidently, there’s supposed to be a news conference in the morning. I suppose we’ll find out then if it was in fact the boyfriend or not. My bets are on him.
you have to understand that a lot of women are just desparate.....and some are clueless....and like men, sometimes they let their hormones dictate their behaviour, instead of letting their mother instincts rule the day.....<
I don't want him killed fast.
Me too. There’s no punishment that could possibly be cruel enough for the one responsible for this. Prayers for the family.
But as far as the future, "all she really talked about was she wanted to be a princess," Ms. Runion said, adding that Hanna will be buried in a frilly purple-and-white dress and her tiara.
I read this statement at a point where I thought I couldn't weep any more.
I was wrong.
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