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| We’re learning more about the events surrounding the disappearance of 11-year old Sarah Foxwell whose body was found on Christmas Day. |
The grandfather was home at the time she was abducted. Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis also tells WGMD that the aunt was not home at that time. He adds that the entire family including the mother, the aunt and the grandfather were all extremely cooperative, and that there is no indication that they knew the abduction was about to happen.
Meanwhile the autopsy has shown that Sarah died of multiple injuries, and her death is officially being called a homicide. 30 year old Thomas Leggs Junior who is a former boyfriend of Sarah's aunt and is charged with burglary and kidnapping. So far he has not been charged in her death, but additional charges are coming within the next 30 days.
Funeral Held For Slain Maryland Girl
SALISBURY, Md. (WJZ/AP) ―
- Sarah Haley Foxwell, 11, was found dead on the Eastern Shore.
- Thomas James Leggs Jr., a convicted sex offender, has been charged with burglary and kidnapping in the case of Sarah Haley Foxwell.
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Suzanne Collins reports 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell's body was found on Christmas Day.
Sarah Foxwell's grandmother said at the child's funeral Saturday in Salisbury that, "she [Sarah] loved to laugh".
Now that she's laid to rest, the investigation turns to the man police say killed her.
The mourners came to Emmanuel Wesleyan Church in Salisbury to remember Sarah, a child whose body was found Christmas Day near the Maryland/Delaware shore.
Police say a convicted child sex molester, Thomas Leggs, Jr. is responsible.
"As for everybody else in area, it was just tear jerking, devastating. I have two daughters, four grandsons, and I couldn't imagine going through what they are going through," said Sharon Martin, Salisbury resident.
Sarah and her sister live with their aunt. That woman has dated Leggs in the past. Police say Sarah's sister told them she saw the 30-year-old Leggs take the child from her bed. A vast search ensued until her body was found Christmas Day.
"This is not the way we wanted to find our young lady, but at least there's closure for her family, and for that we are grateful," said Davis Ruark.
Police say Leggs, who's been charged with kidnapping and burglary, will also soon face murder charges.
"We're going to recover every single piece of evidence needed to successfully put his man behind bars," said Sheriff Mike Lewis.
The sheriff and states attorney for Wicomico County attended the child's funeral. Sarah Foxwell's family thanked all the volunteers who spent hours searching for her body.
Leggs attorney says his client denies every harming Sarah.
What you DON'T KNOW about Registered Sex Offenders can Hurt You and Your Family! What happened to Sarah Foxwell does not HAVE TO HAPPEN AGAIN!
Sex offender registries give 'false' security
Maryland list limited to those convicted; Delaware names only high- and moderate
I am OUTRAGED that there is such a determination made and we are not allowed to know!
SALISBURY -- Residents mourned the death of Sarah Haley Foxwell after investigators found her body two days after she was reported missing.
She was one of 2,185 children across the country who are reported missing each day, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The 11-year-old girl was abducted from her bedroom during the night and reported missing Dec. 23.
When investigators reported Thomas James Leggs Jr., a registered sex offender in Maryland and Delaware, had been charged with abducting the girl, many parents turned to the Internet to check the sex offender registry. The news sent parents searching for sex offenders in their neighborhoods.
But professionals who work with sexual assault victims say checking registries for neighboring sex offenders is not the best means of protecting children.
"The sex offender registry gives people a false sense of security," said Donna Leffew, a clinical director for the Life Crisis Center who has 17 years of experience with victims of child sex abuse. "When children are sexually abused, they rarely tell."
And when they do tell, many times child victims will recant their story, she added.
Residents often assume that a person not listed in the sex offender registry is safe, but the Maryland sex offender registry only includes individuals who have been convicted of a sex offense.
In Delaware, only high- and moderate-risk offenders are included in the registry. Individuals classified as high-risk sex offenders have been convicted on charges that include first- or second-degree rape, first-degree unlawful sexual contact and sexual exploitation of a child.
Moderate-risk offenders have been convicted on charges that include third- or fourth-degree rape, second-degree unlawful sexual contact and committing a dangerous crime against a child.
Leggs case still on; lower court dismisses duplicate charges
Thomas
James Leggs Jr., a 30-year-old Salisbury resident and sex offender
registered in Maryland and Delaware, was charged with burglary and two
counts of kidnapping on Dec. 23, several hours after the family of
11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell reported her missing the same day.
Leggs knew the victim, according to charging documents, and a juvenile witness saw them together the night she was abducted.
Amy
Fothergill, Foxwell's aunt with whom she was living, told police she
dated Leggs for a short period
before the abduction. She said Leggs
knew about a house key she had hidden, so he had access to her home.
Foxwell's badly burned remains were found by investigators in a wooded area off Melson Road, near Hampton Court.
The
defendant's attorney, Arch McFadden of the Maryland Public Defender's
Office, has previously reported that Leggs denies any involvement in
the crime.
The
charges came almost two months after he was released from the Worcester
County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond in connection with a case
where a woman accused him of breaking into her home and standing near
her bed with his shirt off and pants around his ankles while she was
sleeping, according to court records.
Leggs
was indicted on burglary and kidnapping charges by a grand jury on Jan.
11., and the Wicomico
State's Attorney's Office expects additional charges -- including a charge for Foxwell's murder -- to be filed by late February. Leggs continues to be held without bond at the Wicomico County Detention Center and is being kept away from the general prison population, according to police. He remains the sole suspect in Foxwell's murder.
We REMEMBER Sarah Foxwell Here!
Thomas Leggs Pleads Guilty to Sarah Foxwell's Murder... Hope they accept that and go ahead and throw him in jail and move on!!
Accused Child Killer in Court for Pre-Trial Hearing
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