That search ended in a heartbreak so horrifying, that this case has remained one of deep emotional impact for residence of St. Louis, Missouri -- and across the country. Who kidnapped and murdered this trusting nine-year-old child? Will we ever find out?
A little over a week after Angie Housman disappeared, a hunter discovered her body. She had been tied to a tree and left to die of exposure in the bitter cold. Her hands were cuffed behind her back. Her mouth and eyes were covered with duct-tape, which was wrapped around her head. She looked emaciated, as though she had been starved over the course of her disappearance -- and she was covered with frost, from sitting in the open cold. The horrifying discovery shocked the public, but that wasn't the only atrocity in the child's case. Medical examiners found that the missing nine-year-old had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by her kidnapper over a course of the nine days that she was missing. She had also reportedly been tortured. Her body was found nude, which presumably led to her dying of exposure, but items were found nearby her body.
DNA evidence was obtained, along with a fingerprint off the duct tape used to bind the child's head. However, the DNA has never been positively matched to anyone in all of these many years. It seems that whomever kidnapped, raped and killed this child did not have any criminal record. This has made it impossible to identify the perpetrator, leading to the unsolved nature of the case.
The slain child's loved ones have long-believed that she may have known her killer, but it's also reported that she was an incredibly trusting child. It's as likely that a stranger preyed on her, even though stranger abductions account for only one percent of child kidnappings. Regardless of whether or not she knew her killer, this child was taken and killed by someone who has never been matched to DNA. So what could this mean?
The lack of there being a match to the DNA found on the slain child could mean a number of things. I can't help but suspect that the person who preyed on her may have been a minor himself, and had no interactions with law enforcement. She was left tied to a tree, had been starved and died of exposure, which leads me to believe that she may have been kept there -- unless there is evidence that alludes to this being a secondary crime scene.
Do you think we'll ever find out who killed Angie Housman?