Mo. Town Reeling After Girl's Death
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Mo. Town Reeling After Girl's Death
By JIM SALTER
PACIFIC, Mo. (AP) -- Police have two suspects in the death of a
3-year-old girl
left in a cold field while her mother was passed out drunk at home: an
8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy.
Police Chief Ronald Reed would not provide any more details or say
Friday
whether the two children would face charges. There are no other
suspects.
The story began in this small community a half-hour west of St. Louis on
the
afternoon of Feb. 19, when Butch Horner returned home from work.
According to
Reed, Horner found Billie Karns, 42, the mother of his daughter, passed
out
drunk on the kitchen table.
Their daughter, Ciara Horner, couldn't be found.
Horner flagged down officers and after an hour's search, Ciara was found
naked
and unconscious in a soggy field near a drainage ditch, about a
quarter-mile
from her home. Her clothes were found nearby. She died a short time
later of
hypothermia. The temperature was in the 40s that day.
There was no evidence she had been sexually assaulted. Reed said
interviews and
other physical evidence led him to conclude that the two neighborhood
children
were responsible for Ciara's death.
Jody Hicks, whose husband runs a resale shop across the street from the
trailer
park where Ciara lived, smiled as she recalled the quiet little
mop-haired
blonde in Teletubbies sneakers.
``Shy little girl -- a little bitty thing. Cute as a bug,'' she said,
her smile
turning to a gentle sob.
Horner has moved out of the trailer and couldn't be reached Friday. But
on
Thursday, he said the children should not be blamed for Ciara's death.
``I don't know who they are, and I don't want to know,'' he told the St.
Louis
Post-Dispatch. ``I'm sure whatever happened was an accident. I'm sure
those
young kids couldn't have wanted to hurt Ciara.''
Karns was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment. She is being held
in
jail on $2,500 bond.
AP-NY-02-27-99
------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 2/26/99 online edition of The
St. Louis
Post-Dispatch newspaper:
8- and 6-year-old are held in the death of girl, 3, from Pacific
Friday, February 26, 1999
By Lance Williams
Of The Post-Dispatch
Two children are in juvenile custody in connection with the death of
3-year-old
Ciara Horner, a Pacific girl who died of exposure last weekend.
But more questions remain about the child's death than have been
answered.
Police announced Thursday that an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy
from
Ciara's neighborhood were taken under the supervision of Franklin County
juvenile authorities and the Missouri Division of Family Services.
But officials would not say why or whether they plan to seek any charges
against the children. Pacific Police Chief Ronald Reed said only that
interviews and physical evidence led to the action.
Reed's press conference also contained few details about Ciara's final
hours
Feb. 19. Even Ciara's father said does not know how his daughter died.
Reed said Ciara's death is still considered a homicide, but the case has
been
solved. He said his investigators feel confident they know what happened
and
there are no other potential suspects in the case.
As for the two children, Reed declined to call them suspects. He would
say only
that they were with Ciara on the night she died, at a ditch near her
mother's
trailer.
"The three of them went to the ditch Friday night, but only two of them
came
back," Reed said.
He said it will be up to juvenile authorities to decide whether to
charge the
children with any criminal offense. County juvenile authorities refused
comment.
Ciara's father, Butch Horner, said Thursday that he did not know who the
two
children in custody were. But, he said, they should not be blamed for
Ciara's
death.
"I don't know who they are, and I don't want to know," he said in a
telephone
interview. "I'm sure whatever happened was an accident. I'm sure those
young
kids couldn't have wanted to hurt Ciara."
Neighbors told police that they last saw Ciara about 4 p.m. on Feb. 19.
Later
that evening, Butch Horner, 42, returned from work to find the girl's
mother,
Billie Karns, 42, intoxicated and passed out at the kitchen table.
Karns and Ciara lived in the Shaffer Mobile Home Park on the west side
of
Pacific, about 35 miles southwest of St. Louis.
When Horner couldn't find his daughter, he flagged down a police officer
for
help. Neighbors, police officers and fire officials searched for an
hour.
Police said Karns was too drunk to assist in the search.
Ciara was found on a bank of the drainage ditch. Officials said there
was no
evidence of physical or sexual assault, though Ciara's muddy clothes
were found
near her body. She later died of hypothermia.
Police spent the weekend questioning neighbors and relatives. On
Wednesday,
Karns was charged with first-degree child endangerment.
She is being held in Franklin County jail on $2,500 bond. Beyond the
endangerment charge, she is not considered a suspect in her daughter's
death,
Reed said.
During his press conference, Reed called for greater parental
supervision.
He said his officers have repeatedly picked up children in Ciara's
neighborhood
who were violating the city's curfew and were unsupervised.
------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 2/27/99 online edition of The
St. Louis
Post-Dispatch newspaper:
Neighbors say toddler had little supervision
Friday, February 26, 1999
By Lance Williams
Of the Post-Dispatch
Even before 3-year-old Ciara Horner's death last week, neighbors and
friends in
the Shaffer Mobile Home Park in Pacific said they often worried about
her
welfare.
"She would always be outside, running and playing with her brother, but
I never
saw any (adult) watching her," said Debbie Dugger, a neighbor in the
park. "I
was always sending her home, because she would be running around in
nothing but
a dirty diaper."
Dugger said her son often played with Ciara and her brother, Chris, 6.
But
Dugger said she rarely saw their parents, perhaps a handful of times in
the
past year.
Sometimes their father, Butch Horner, would come home in the evening
after work
and begin looking for his children, she said.
"I would sometimes hear the father calling for the kids, but I hardly
ever saw
the mother looking for them," Dugger said. "I just really felt for those
kids."
Ciara's death has rattled many Pacific residents - especially residents
in the
mobile home park where Ciara and her family lived. The park, on the west
side
of Pacific near Interstate 44, contains about 50 mobile homes grouped in
pockets; there were six trailers in the Horners' area, including
Dugger's home.
Police have released few details about the girl's death or about the two
children - an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy - who are in juvenile
custody in connection with her death.
"There are just so many questions that are still unanswered," said Kelly
Brickey, 29, another nearby neighbor and mother of two boys.
Ciara was found naked Friday night near a drainage ditch about a quarter
mile
away from her home, and she later died of hypothermia. She wasn't abused
physically or sexually.
In this small trailer park, an absence of facts has created a host of
rumors.
"I'm afraid to let my children out of my sight," Brickey said. "It's
made me
more cautious about who I let my children play with."
Many of the neighborhood rumors surround Ciara's brother, Chris. Many
believe
Chris is the 6-year-old boy in custody, but his father, Butch Horner,
says
another boy is in custody.
Still, neighbors said, Chris' behavior that night has puzzled them. As
police
canvassed the neighborhood Friday after Ciara was reported missing,
Chris
tagged along, skipping from door to door, Dugger said.
"It seems like he would have been more concerned," she said.
Authorities have refused to release any information about the two
children in
custody and will only say they are being kept by the Franklin County
juvenile
authorities and the Missouri Division of Family Services.
Ciara's mother, Billie Karns, 42, is the only person facing charges in
the
case. She was arrested late Wednesday afternoon by Pacific police and
charged
with a felony count of first-degree child endangerment. She is being
held in
the Franklin County jail on $2,500 bond.
Brickey said neighbors claim to have seen Karns return from a
convenience store
Friday morning with a case of beer in one hand and Ciara's hand in the
other.
That surprised Brickey because Karns has told family and friends that
she
stopped drinking a month ago.
When Butch Horner got home from work last Friday, he found his daughter
gone
and Karns in a drunken sleep at the kitchen table. Police said she was
so
intoxicated that she didn't know her daughter was gone and couldn't help
them
find her.
The trailer where Ciara's family lived is almost empty now. Butch Horner
spent
most of last Saturday and Sunday moving things out. He is staying with
relatives in the area.
He said he has custody of Chris and the couple's 1-year-old daughter.
"I guess he didn't feel like he could live here anymore," Brickey said.
"I
don't blame him, I couldn't either."