Samantha Koenig (18) was murdered after she was abducted from the coffee shop she worked at

[puzzld]

http://mydeathspace.com/article/2012..._she_worked_at

Surrounded by friends, family and supporters, James Koenig has pleaded for the safe return of his 18-year-old daughter Samantha, who police in Alaska say was abducted from the coffee bar where she worked.

Surveillance video shows Samantha taken from Common Grounds Espresso in Anchorage by an armed man on Wednesday. Her father is using the scene of the crime as a meeting place for those who want to help. He says Samantha is a sweet girl, describes her as "everybody's best friend" and says he knew something was wrong when she didn't come home from work on Wednesday.
"I want to ask for her captors that they will please send my daughter home, I will give you anything in this world. Call me anonymously, you don't have to go through the police, I will meet you, I will give you whatever you want," says Koenig.

See the full story here at KTUU.com



Samantha's boyfriend Dwayne says he spoke with her just minutes before she was abducted and says "everything was fine." He was supposed to give her a ride home from work.

"I had the only means of transportation for her and I got off work and went to go get her, and she wasn't there. It was a mess," says Dwayne.

There are no new details in the investigation since Friday, when APD called it an abduction. Samantha's family is offering more than $12,500 as a reward for her return and is hoping to sell green ribbons, Samantha's favorite color, to raise the reward money.

"Every day she's gone the odds are against us -- and I need the whole community to find my daughter, go door-to-door, every neighborhood. Anything suspicious, no matter how small you think it is, call the police," Koenig said. "Just please help find my daughter."

Anyone with information on the abduction is asked to call APD at 786-8900. Supporters created a Facebook page where people can download fliers and offer support. The family is accepting donations for the reward. An account is set up at Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union.


http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...for-her-return

[beli]

[rachy]

link to the protective order
http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/p...t_lst?16193451

http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/p...e_sum?15256958

article about the dude http://www.jdnews.com/articles/break...g-deloney.html

http://www.facebook.com/WhyteTyson?sk=wall

[rachy]

her twitter http://twitter.com/ridethe907
private myspace http://www.myspace.com/ridethe907ak
her dad's facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000489952656



http://www.facebook.com/help.find.samantha?sk=wall
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Please...28733013838027

[rachy]

the place where she works at.


http://www.facebook.com/commongroundsespresso?sk=wall

[poppy213]

So what is the back story on the Protective Order?

[rachy]

So what is the back story on the Protective Order?

Koenig filed for a protective order against a man in November, the Alaska Daily News reported, however the order was not issued after she failed to appear in court.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headline...laska-barista/

[rachy]

Missing Alaska Teen 'Too Afraid' to Follow Through With Protective Order, Dad Says

The tearful father of missing Alaska teenager Samantha Koenig abducted by an armed man said that she filed a protective order against a man in November but was too scared to follow it through.

"She filed for a restraining order against a person she barely knew and was too afraid to go through with it in court," James Koenig told ABCNews.com.

He said he could not elaborate on the situation or the man's identity, but he did not believe that his daughter felt that she was in danger or that someone wanted to hurt her before she disappeared.

When asked if he had any theories about what may have happened to her daughter, he said, "I do, but I cannot divulge."

In November, Samantha Koenig filed the protective order, but she did not show up for a hearing and the order was never issued.

Samantha Koenig, 18, was last seen Wednesday evening on surveillance video that showed her leaving the Common Grounds Espresso stand with an armed man, who police said was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and possibly a baseball cap.

All of the coffee stand's cash was also missing.

The reward for a Koenig more than tripled over the weekend to $41,000.

The Anchorage Police Department has received criticism for not releasing the surveillance tape, but police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said they won't do it because, "There's no way this video is going to further the investigation."

Parker said the tape has "evidentiary qualities" that make it valuable to investigators but that it would not be useful to release it because the alleged kidnapper's face is not visible. He said the key to the video for investigators is Koenig's response to the perpetrator.

"You can clearly see that she is being taken against her will. You can see her reaction," Parker said. Police will not disclose what type of weapon the abductor had, but said the man is armed.

"We know they left the area on foot. Did he have a car parked somewhere? Did he go to a friend's house?" Parker said. "[Investigators] are absolutely beating the boards in the investigation and they are working very hard."

Parker said that numerous detective units are working hard on the case as tips come in, but they do not have any hard leads that they could share.

"She's still gone. We don't know where she went," Parker said. "At this time, they have not released the name or description of anyone who is a person of interest."

Koenig's father James Koenig has his own theories, but is similarly tight-lipped.

"I have suspicions, but that's all they are," Koenig said. He said he did not wish to name any people that may, in fact, be innocent.

Samantha Koenig had been working at the Common Grounds Espresso stand for about a month and her father said she was really enjoying it.

"She's a sweetheart. She's got the biggest heart and she has genuine love and care for people. She befriends people so easily," Koenig said through tears. "Everyone that meets her, they call her their best friend. That's just her personality. She's funny and she loves life."

Koenig is the fourth of six children. She has three sisters and two brothers who James Koenig said are working hard to search for Samantha.

"No one is holding up," he said. "They're doing all they can. They're handing out flyers and talking to whoever will listen."

Koenig is 5-foot-5 and weighs about 140 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes. Authorities are asking that anyone with information contact the Anchorage Police Department at 907-786-8900.

"I want her to come home and I want the people who did this to go away forever," Koenig said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/missing-ala...7#.TzDFFCZlmIA

[rachy]

Families of the Missing Preyed On By Tormentors

James Koenig's 18-year-old daughter Samantha Koenig has been missing since Feb. 1 from Anchorage, Alaska. Her distraught father posted his phone numbers on missing person flyers and now he is getting phone calls with fake leads from people looking to cash in on his pain.

"People come out of the woodwork for a reward," James Koenig told ABCNews.com.

The Anchorage Police Department is investigating his daughter's disappearance and is being flooded with calls from "psychics" claiming to have information about Samantha.

"We've never had a psychic lead that turns out to be correct," Anchorage Police Lt. Dave Parker told ABCNews.com.

The targeting of Koenig, the attempts to capitalize on his suffering, the frauds that distract police, the demented late night pranks played on grieving parents are not unique.

Monica Caison, the founder and director of the North Carolina-based CUE Center for Missing Persons, has had clients get terrifying phone calls in the middle of the night with someone wailing "Mommy" and pretending to be their missing child. Caison said the mother had a "complete nervous breakdown" following the call.

Others fend off virtual attacks.

"It's a scary thing when you open up a friend request and it's your kids," Caison said. "For two seconds, your heart drops. For 10 minutes, you wonder if it's the thing you've been waiting for."

When a person goes missing, devastated family members are thrust into the unfamiliar roles of advocate, investigator, organizer and often suspect. They represent the missing at press conferences and vigils. But away from the public eye, these families become the targets for hecklers and unimaginable cruelties.

The families are tormented by letters from psychics, fake Facebook pages, anonymous letters and mysterious phone calls, among other attacks.

"It's very hard. I went through everything. My son was missing for two years, two months and 12 days," Dwayne Baker told ABCNews.com. "Psychics called me. I even received a DVD in the mail that a guy claimed he could talk to the dead and this was Travis' voice, with no return address. I don't understand why people would want to do that."

Baker's son Travis disappeared on April 14, 2007 in Taylorsville, N.C. He was last seen driving a 1998 candy apple red Camero to a friend's house. More than two years later, his skeletal remains were found and a man was charged with his murder.

"The psychics?" Dwayne Baker, 45, said before pausing to let out a long sigh. "I hate to say how many of those called me and said they knew where Travis was. My mother and wife went to one and paid them $100."

When asked what the psychic told them, Baker said, "Where Travis is at, 'Yeah, he's deceased, by the river, under the rock.' They just have no respect for someone in that situation."

Baker said that sometimes people arrested for other crimes would tell police that they had information about his son's disappearance, in an attempt to avoid punishment.

"That's so hurtful because you may not hear something for a while and then someone gets arrested and does not want to do time and then, all of a sudden, they think they've got a lead," he said. "You never give up hope to start with, but when someone gives you false hope, it's just not right."

Perhaps most painfully, sometimes the perpetrators aren't looking for money or a get-out-of-jail-free card, they are just being cruel.

"We were definitely caught by surprise. We had no idea of the cruelty out there," Karen Bobo, the mother of missing Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo, told ABCNews.com.

Holly Bobo's Family Tormented on Facebook

Holly Bobo, 20, disappeared on April 13, 2011 when a man in camouflage dragged her into the woods near her home in rural Decatur County, about three hours from Nashville. Her brother Clint, 25, saw her go into the woods, but mistakenly believed the man was her boyfriend. Police have since called off her searches and have no suspects in her disappearance.

Karen Bobo said that after her daughter's disappearance, people started going on Holly's Facebook and taking photos of her in her swimsuit by the river during her summer breaks. The family later made the account private.

The Bobo family has also received "strange" and "hurtful" emails and letters.

"At the moment when you do receive a letter or something, there's an instant panic that sets in and then you get past that and you have to remember to keep focus where it should be and that's finding Holly," Bobo said. "It's extremely hard for me to comprehend what someone would gain from something like that."

The anguish takes a toll on families already coping with the disappearance.

Lisa Valentino's sister Allison Jackson Foy, 34, disappeared in 2006 and her remains were found with another woman's remains two years later. Authorities are still investigating the case and have had suspects, but no charges have been filed.

Valentino and her family experienced the torment of psychic phone calls, nasty blog posts and cruel emails and it took a toll on her family.

"It tears family apart," Valentino told ABCNews.com, speaking about how the experience affected her and her siblings. "What ended up happening for us is there became a lot of resentment. I never stopped talking to them, but we couldn't talk about the case. It was too contentious."

Even if the family knows the leads won't help, there is the temptation to follow them.

"If you're desperate and you're grieving and someone says they know something, you'll do anything to see if it's true," Valentino said.

Unfortunately, desperate families are all too familiar to Caison. "Families endure a lot behind the scenes that I don't think the general public realizes. People work off the desperation of these families," she said.

Caison guides the families through the disappearance of a loved one, involving herself in every aspect of the case, from the search itself to helping vulnerable families avoid these nasty pitfalls.

The attacks have gotten worse with the advent of the Internet and social media, according to Ernie Allen, the president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The ease with which people can remain anonymous online makes it difficult for families to defend themselves.

"In many ways, this is either simple cruelty for the sake of cruelty or it's just people doing things, mindless things, without really thinking about the fact that there are people harmed by it," Allen said. "The frequency with which this is done to these families is just an outrage."

Families of the Missing Targeted By Cruel Hucksters and Pranksters

When asked if there are any laws that protect the families of the missing, Allen said this is a gray area because while states do have laws regarding fraud and harassing communications, they don't always apply to this type of activity.

"A lot of this is just simply not traceable and a lot of it doesn't really rise to the level of criminal activity," Allen said. "It's just cruelty and insensitivity."

Despite the hardships and painful memories, some family members of the missing dedicate their lives to the cause. Dwayne Baker now works with the CUE Center.

"When I go to search for someone else's loved one, I'll give 110 percent," Baker said. "When I get in the field, I'll be the one that will go anywhere [Caison] needs anytime because I'm going to find that person, if possible, because I know that my boy is looking down thinking, 'Way to go, Dad.'"

Baker uses his own experiences to help families whose lives turn to turmoil when a loved one disappears and his message for others is simple: "Have respect for the families of the missing."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/families-ho...0#.TzS08yZlmIA

[poppy213]

Amazing article Rachy! I had no idea how bad it could get for the family of the missing. It boggles the mind how cruel people can be to prank these heartbroken families!

[rachy]

Amazing article Rachy! I had no idea how bad it could get for the family of the missing. It boggles the mind how cruel people can be to prank these heartbroken families!

me either,i feel sorry for their families. i wouldn't want to be in their shoes.

[rachy]

GA sex offender found in Alaska posing as private investigator

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -

A former Georgia man and twice-convicted sex offender, who had been exposed by CBS Atlanta for doing jobs he's not allowed to do, has been found posing as a private investigator in Alaska.

KTVA reported that John Bacon offered his expertise to help find a missing 18-year-old woman in Anchorage. Police said Samantha Koenig was kidnapped from a coffee stand earlier this month.

According to the Alaska Investigations Association, Bacon does not have the required license to work as a private investigator in Anchorage.

CBS Atlanta's hidden cameras caught Bacon posing as a plumber in 2010. He ignored a state order prohibiting him from doing plumbing work in Georgia.

In 2011, CBS Atlanta found Bacon working as psychologist. He met with an undercover CBS Atlanta producer at a restaurant for a counseling session. According to the secretary of state's website, Bacon does not have a license to practice psychology.

After CBS Atlanta aired the investigations, Bacon moved to Alaska.

Bacon had been convicted twice in the 1990s for sex crimes against children. One conviction occurred while he was serving in the military.

After KTVA uncovered Bacon's history, he told reporters he planned to drop the search for Koenig and is moving to Virginia.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/1692...e-investigator

[Justin King]

I wish I knew who these psychics and other douchebags are because I probably would torment them even more

[Ron_NYC]

I wish I knew who these psychics and other douchebags are because I probably would torment them even more

As long as there are people who believe in that shit, it's gonna be hard to call out those phonies.

[g r ee n ey e s]

I wish I knew who these psychics and other douchebags are because I probably would torment them even more

There are douchebags everywhere. There isn't enough time in the day.

[Justin King]

Good point

[rachy]

Two Weeks Since Samantha Koenig's Disappearance, APD Says It's Making Progress

ANCHORAGE, Alaska —

Two weeks after Samantha Koenig's disappearance, her father James says he's trying hard to stay hopeful.

Samantha was abducted from Common Grounds Espresso on February 1. Her father describes the past two weeks as a roller coaster.

"I can't lose sight, I can't lose hope on this. That's what's driving me. You know, that kid's my heart and I'm hers," says Koenig.

Hope is what Samantha's family is leaning on.

Anchorage police say they are following up on any new leads and conducting more interviews. While many of the leads have come from the internet, police say rumors circulating online are also hindering their investigative efforts. Multiple rumors were recently posted on sites like Facebook, claiming Samantha's body was found.

"Everyone is aware there are rumors running rampant on the internet and those are very destructive. People should not post things they don't know to be true," says Lt. Dave Parker, police spokesman.

While police continue to gather details about Samantha Koenig's kidnapping, APD is also looking ahead.

The department is organizing a safety presentation for baristas at the APD Training Center. So far, anywhere between 100 to 200 baristas are expected to attend.

"We are going to come down and talk to them a little bit about situational awareness, a little bit about self defense, how to be aware of their surroundings, personal safety and things like that," says Sr. Patrol Officer Jennifer Haywood, who will help with the training.

Police are encouraging anyone with information about Samantha Koenig's abduction to call 786-8900.

http://articles.ktuu.com/2012-02-15/...olice_31065256

[rachy]

i guess we lost some of the comments on this thread.

Marshals use Taser on Keyes after he leaps courtroom rail

Accused killer of Samantha Koenig isrupts routine proceeding.

During what was supposed to be a routine court hearing Wednesday in a notorious Anchorage murder case, defendant Israel Keyes vaulted over the courtroom railing into the spectator area and was wrestled to the ground by deputy marshals, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. They used a Taser to shock and subdue him.

Keyes, 34, is accused of kidnapping Anchorage teenager Samantha Koenig in February from a Midtown coffee stand, killing her within hours and hiding her body under the ice in a Mat-Su lake. He could face the death penalty. She was missing for weeks in a case that gripped Anchorage.

Just before 2 p.m. on Wednesday, three prosecutors and two of Keyes' defense attorneys appeared before U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess in federal Courtroom 1 to discuss setting a trial date. A number of Koenig's family and friends were in the courtroom, as were several news reporters and law enforcement agents.

Jackie Walsh, one of his Seattle-based attorneys, was mid-sentence when chaos broke out, according to an audio recording of the incident.

"Our position is that at this particular juncture we're not --"

People started screaming.

"Get him!" someone yelled. "Get him!"

Deputy marshals directed people in the courtroom to move out of the way.

"Get back!" deputies ordered.

"Kill him!" a woman in the spectator area shouted.

People in the next courtroom could hear a thud. A deputy rushed out to see what was happening.

Within seven seconds, Keyes was subdued, said David Long, supervisory deputy with the Marshals Service in Anchorage. He wasn't in the courtroom but watched a security video of what happened. The marshals won't release the video, he said.

From the audio recording, the clamor quiets down in less than 20 seconds. A woman can be heard sobbing. Another says "I had a feeling he was going to do that."

Keyes wasn't handcuffed during the hearing, which is normal. Somehow, the leg irons that were supposed to restrain him broke -- it's not yet known how that happened, Long said. "We're investigating that right now." The leg irons worked correctly when deputies collected Keyes from the Anchorage jail earlier in the day, the deputy said.

The courthouse section of the Federal Building in Anchorage is under heightened security because of the ongoing Fairbanks militia trial in the courtroom next door.

At Keyes' hearing, no one was sitting in the front row. Long initially said it was cleared for security reasons but later said he couldn't say whether it had been reserved for law enforcement, people had been directed to stay further back, or no one chose to sit up front. More deputies than usual were in the courtroom for the hearing, but marshals won't release details of their security operation, Long said.

"He tried to get over the rail and I think a deputy had a hold of him before he could get out of the well there," Long said. As a deputy tackled him from behind, the momentum may have carried him over the railing into the vacant first row.

"He didn't get far," Long said.

In all, five or six deputies brought Keyes down, Long said. He struggled as they tried to handcuff him, so a deputy used a Taser. No one was injured. He appeared to be heading for the doors out trying to escape, rather than going after someone, Long said.

Deputies cleared the courtroom.

Keyes' defense lawyers declined to comment about the incident, as did Judge Burgess.

Prosecutors said little.

"There was an incident in the courtroom today," said assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis. "Proceedings were postponed."

The marshals acted fast and professionally, he said.

Disturbances are fairly rare in the busy federal courthouse but happen maybe once a year, Long said.

During Wednesday's hearing, assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Russo told the judge prosecutors expected the trial to take a month and they could be ready to go in March 2013. The defense wanted two years to prepare, prosecutors said. Walsh said the defense position was misconstrued, but she didn't have a chance to correct things before the disruption.

While prosecutors turned over voluminous investigative materials to the defense, 90 percent of it related to false leads early in the case, Russo said.

A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made by the U.S. Department of Justice capital case unit. Prosecutors must file a notice of their intent 150 days before the start of a trial, Russo said.

"Everybody here wants their day in court without unreasonable delay, the victims, Mr. Keyes and the government," Russo told Burgess.

The judge rescheduled the trial-setting conference for Friday at 2 p.m.

http://www.adn.com/2012/05/23/247715...estrained.html

[rachy]

and samantha's father got a dui

James Koenig charged with DUI, other charges

Slain barista's dad at Bush Company with father of recently killed airman.

Anchorage police arrested James Koenig, father of homicide victim Samantha Koenig, early Tuesday morning and charged him with drunken driving, assault and weapons misconduct, a police spokesman said.

Koenig, 42, had apparently been spending time with another homicide victim's father: Terry Reeves, father of slain Airman Clinton Reeves.

The two men were leaving the Great Alaska Bush Company, a popular Midtown Anchorage strip club, when a doorman tried to stop Koenig from driving shortly after 2 a.m., said Lt. Dave Parker. The doorman thought Koenig was too drunk to drive and offered to get the men a taxi, Parker said.

Koenig told the doorman, "Get back from my door or meet my 1911," Parker said.

Koenig was apparently talking about a Colt M1911 .45-caliber handgun and reached for the pickup's center console, Parker said. The doorman backed away, afraid he would be shot, the police spokesman said.

Koenig drove away in his 2012 Ford F150 Harley-Davidson edition pickup, Parker said. The doorman called police, who drove to Koenig's home on Iowa Drive. They charged Koenig with drunken driving, misconduct involving a weapon and assault, Parker said. Koenig also refused to provide a sample of his breath and did not go to jail peacefully, the police spokesman said.

"He did challenge the officers to fight, according to one of the officers this morning, but he was not charged with that," Parker said.

Police impounded Koenig's pickup and found a handgun inside, Parker said. He declined to say the exact make and model.

Koenig's daughter, abducted Feb. 1, and missing for weeks, was found dead under ice in a lake north of Anchorage in early April.

Reeves was at Koenig's home at the time of the arrest and not charged with any crime, Parker said.

The two men told the Daily News earlier that they met when Koenig offered to help Reeves and his ex-wife find their only child, who disappeared April 19 and was later found dead in Eagle River on May 8.

http://www.adn.com/2012/05/15/246614...i-assault.html

[bowieluva]

That's sad. My mom had a friend whose daughter was murdered and shortly afterwards, she killed an old man drunk driving. Like, my mom understood what motivated her to drink but she was like now you're just as culpable.

[Ron_NYC]

You're doing it wrong.

[White trash bitchy blonde]

My mom went to a psychic and a tea leaf reader. When you are desperate for answers, you will do anything.
And my heart sank when I read what some people do to these families. The woman that got the phone call with a child crying mommy breaks my heart. People are cruel.

[UncomfortablyNumb]

My mom went to a psychic and a tea leaf reader. When you are desperate for answers, you will do anything.
And my heart sank when I read what some people do to these families. The woman that got the phone call with a child crying mommy breaks my heart. People are cruel.

I agree..what is wrong with people? I can't imagine preying on people who are already in pain. :( I feel for her father.

[angelaiscaustic]

My mom went to a psychic and a tea leaf reader. When you are desperate for answers, you will do anything.
And my heart sank when I read what some people do to these families. The woman that got the phone call with a child crying mommy breaks my heart. People are cruel.

Wasn't that the "an hero" kid's mom?

[Ron_NYC]

Wasn't that the "an hero" kid's mom?

They fucking tortured those people. Nicky Catsouras too.