How Nevaeh Buchanan’s Fate Was Sealed

There are creatures across the US who use little girls to satisfy an unnatural craving. Too often they quickly kill the girl because she is also a witness. See my article ‘A Child Abductor and Killer is on the loose in Southeast Michigan,’ Newsflavor.com, 6/18/09.

An autopsy of Nevaeh Buchanan reveals that her death was unusually nasty. The pathologist found dirt in Nevaeh’s lungs, the cause of death is listed as asphyxiation.

That means her killer either pressed her face into the dirt or, more likely, buried her alive in a shallow grave. Examiner.com, 7/14/09. There were no visible signs of trauma on the body, according to Monroe County Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield. ABC News, 7/17/09.

The killer then covered the grave with concrete. Obviously the man worked quickly and sloppily, because the odor of decomposition piqued the interest of the fishermen who discovered Nevaeh’s remains.

The final thoughts of the five year old, undoubtedly molested, alone with no hope of rescue, and facing imminent death, can only be imagined.

Carpet fibers were also found beneath Nevaeh’s fingernails. Police have taken samples of the carpet in Aaron Baker’s apartment, where Nevaeh played with Aaron’s son Austin the day she was abducted. Freep.com, 7/16/09. Aaron is not a suspect, and it’s common for kids that age to pick up such trace evidence while playing, but if the fibers did not match, they may have been picked up later, possibly from the killer’s home or vehicle.

It has not yet been revealed whether Nevaeh was molested, but that’s a damn good bet, and should be confirmed shortly.

Bad Company

The Buchanan household was markedly dysfunctional. Nevaeh lived with mother Jennifer and her grandmother, who was the child’s legal guardian, the result of Jennifer’s conviction on a charge of first degree home invasion. Jennifer’s list of male friends reads like a Who’s Who of registered sex offenders. George Kennedy, Roy Smith and James Easter have been under police scrutiny since the investigation began. Freep.com, 7/16/09.

George Kennedy spent enough time with Jennifer that she considered him a father figure to Nevaeh. That gave Kennedy an understanding of the low level of supervision Nevaeh received. After Nevaeh vanished, Jennifer seemed more apologetic to her friends than concerned about her own daughter. When asked if she thought Kennedy or Smith would be capable of abducting her daughter, she lamely replied: “Anybody is capable of doing anything.” With recidivism rates so high in sex offenders, Jennifer should have kept a keen eye on her daughter, yet she believed in giving people like sex offenders a second chance. It was that attitude that made Nevaeh so horribly vulnerable. Jennifer was slouched on the sofa watching television as her daughter was being abducted.