A nationally known private investigator is now working with Lisa Irwin’s family to find the missing infant, who disappeared more than a week ago.
“Wild Bill” Stanton, a former New York policeman who has served as an ABC News and NBC News security consultant, told reporters that he’ll be conducting an independent investigation, but added that he hopes to meet with police.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
“I’m here to seek the truth,” Stanton told reporters late Tuesday. “And wherever the truth leads, that’s where I’m going to go.”
Kansas City police will welcome any tips or information that Stanton can provide, but he won’t have access to the case file or any sensitive information in the case, a department spokeswoman said.
Stanton said his focus is on finding the little girl.
“We know she’s out there, and we know what the obvious focus is,” he said. “We want to expand that focus.”
Stanton’s statement followed an unsuccessful search by police earlier Tuesday at a vacant Northland home near the Irwin residence. Investigators focused on a 40-foot-deep well.
Police spokeswoman Sgt. Stacey Graves said the well was drained and nothing was recovered. She said investigators would continue to follow up on tips.
A tipster had suggested checking the decaying home in the 3800 block of North Brighton Avenue, about four blocks from the Irwin home on North Lister Avenue.
In other developments Tuesday, Lisa’s aunt announced on a national news show that the family expected police to charge Lisa’s mother in the case. The aunt later toned down that statement.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials have worked on the case since Lisa’s father reported her missing Oct. 4.
On Tuesday, investigators arrived at the North Brighton home about 10:30 a.m. They searched inside before turning their attention to a well in the backyard.
After lowering firefighters into the well twice and finding nothing, they drained about 10 feet of water from the well.
They lowered a firefighter a third time to make sure no evidence sat at the bottom.
Again, they found nothing.
Neighbors said the home, a well-known eyesore, had been unoccupied for years.
Crews began tearing down the house later Tuesday.
In other developments Tuesday, an aunt of Lisa’s told The Star that comments she gave on “Good Morning America” were taken out of context and that she had no knowledge of any police plan to arrest the girl’s mother, Deborah Bradley.
“It is my fault because I did not choose my words carefully enough to articulate the point I was trying to convey,” said Ashley Irwin.
Irwin said police tend to focus their investigation on the parents of a missing child if other leads fail to materialize.
“When they don’t have suspects, when they don’t have any leads, then it always circles back around to square one, which is the parents,” she told The Star.
Earlier on television she said: “It is what the police do. They don’t have any leads, so they have to pin it on somebody.”
In response, police spokesman Capt. Steve Young said any claim that police were trying to pin the disappearance on the child’s mother “was absolutely not true.”
“We don’t feel any pressure to accuse anybody,” Young said. “We are under pressure to do what we can to find a child.”
Lisa was reported missing about 4 a.m. Oct. 4 after her father, Jeremy Irwin, returned home from work and discovered she was gone from her crib.
On Monday, a Clay County grand jury issued subpoenas to all the local network TV affiliates, requesting any raw footage of interviews with Lisa’s family, friends or neighbors.
Several TV stations said Tuesday that they would provide investigators with copies of their news stories but not raw video of their interviews.
“We comply with all subpoenas, but we do not release raw material,” said Bryan McGruder, WDAF news director
Sherrie Brown, KMBC’s news director, said the station’s legal counsel was reviewing the subpoena and declined further comment.
Bernard J. Rhodes, an attorney with the Lathrop & Gage law firm who represents KSHB and KCTV on the matter, said he referred authorities to a video clipping service that the stations use and a list of stories they have broadcast.
“We are working cooperatively with them to get them what they really need,” he said.
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