12-year-old girl, rescues investigators: Randy Lee Allen is prosecuted.
In Freeport, Texas, teen boys are playing basketball under a streetlight, when a 12-year-old girl approaches. She tells the boys she was kidnapped, raped, locked in a wooden box, and then let go. The boys called the police. I will refer to her as Dana. It is significant to note that her actual name is unknown, as the names of minor victims are hidden in the court records for their own protection. I’m using a name because I want it clear that this was a real, 6th grade girl, who lived through this.
At the police station, Dana reported she had gone to church looking for a class. She didn’t know where the classroom was, so she walked around the outside of the church. A man approached her and offered to take her to the classroom. When they walked by a white van, he pushed her inside, duct taped her wrist and mouth, and tied her ankles with a blue rope. He then drove to the gulf and raped her. After, he placed her in a wooden box and drove her back to the city. He brought her to a motel and tried to rape her again. However, Dana said she was angry and told him “Just let me go. I’m not doing it anymore.” She said her kidnapper drove her to a deserted part of the city and dropped her off. She knew a boy who lived near the area, and was somewhat familiar with it, so she walked toward a playground and found some boys playing basketball.
Investigators couldn’t believe how calm she was. They wondered if it was just a young girl who wanted attention. Finally, two separate investigators told her they didn’t believe her and they sent her home. They kept her clothes, and gave her the night to think about what she was saying. She could retract her statement the next day.
When Dana returned, the investigators noticed bruising began to emerge on her wrists and across her mouth, where she said she had been duct taped. Dana repeated the same story, but unfortunately she had now bathed so they couldn’t get DNA evidence off of her body. To the investigators credit, they realized they may have been mistaken and wanted to look further into her report. They asked if there was anything else she remembered. Dana said the van had the word “Wood” engraved in the window. Inside was an orange Igloo cooler, with the cover off. The cooler had a Home Depot sticker on the outside and cans of Dr. Pepper inside. There was gray carpet on the floor of the van and she was locked in a wooden coffin-like-box with blue carpeting on it, after being raped.
Outstanding work by Forensic Trace Evidence Expert, Devin Crago-Stasicha, found gray carpet fibers and separate blue fibers on Dana’s clothing. In addition, Ms. Crago-Stasicha found blue rope fibers on Dana’s stockings. All of the trace evidence on Dana’s clothing corroborated her story.
Investigators immediately went to work interviewing neighbors of the church. A man reported he saw a white van that read, “Surfside Installation, Tile & Wood” on the side, driving through the church parking lot throughout the morning.
The van belonged to 37-year-old Randy Lee Allen from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Randy had been married for 17 years and had a 7-year-old son. Randy stated he couldn’t have committed the crime, as he was out to eat with his wife and son at the time. His alibi is confirmed. Before leaving, the police asked to peek inside his van. It has a gray carpeted floor. There is a blue rope. There’s an orange Igloo cooler with a Home Depot sticker on it, with the cover off, full of Dr. Pepper. So they go to Allen’s home and find pieces of a wooden box. They ask him to reassemble it and he does. While doing so, Allen mutters, “She’s a little one, so this is how I did it.” The coffin-like box is covered with blue carpet. Forensic Expert Devin Crago-Stasicha, found the carpet and the fibers on Dana’s clothing were both made of a compound called Nylon 66. A microspectrophotometer found the samples were the exact same color. Additional testing is done with the rope, indicating they match in material and color also. A picture of suspects, including Randy Lee Allen, were presented to Dana to view. She was told that the rapist might not be in this group. Dana immediately identified Allen as the man who kidnapped and raped her.
Still, the investigators were stuck on Allen’s corroborated statement that he was out to eat with his wife and son during this crime.
Randy Lee Allen was confronted with the forensic evidence and he confessed. He admitted that he sat in the church parking lot waiting for a victim. He saw Dana, and told her he could help her find her classroom. He walked her toward the van, wrestled her inside, duct taped her mouth and wrists, tied her legs and forced her into a coffin like wooden box. He locked the box and drove her to an isolated area overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, where he took her out of the box and raped her. He then forced her back into the box and locked it. Allen drove back home, leaving the van parked in front of his home. Dana remained locked inside her coffin. He went out to eat with his son and his wife and returned over an hour later. He then drove Dana to a motel. She refused to cooperate, stating, “I’m not doing anymore. I’m demanding you release me now.” Taken off balance by her sudden rebellion, he drove her to a deserted area of the city and let her go. Did Randy Lee Allen have other victims? He only confessed to this one. The prosecutor and investigators believe there were other victims. Allen lived in an area of Dallas where a number of young girls disappeared.
I give credit to a resilient 12-year-old girl, who toughed it out first with a psychopath, and then with investigators, to make certain a terrible man was brought to justice. I hope the very best for you and your endeavors, wherever you are, today!
Sneak peek at Burning Bridges
It’s a good time to get caught up on my books, as book 5 in the Jon Frederick series will be sent to be published at the end of January. I am sharing the 1st chapter, and part of the 2nd chapter below, and asking for feedback. Thank you in advance!
Thanks for listening, Frank
I spoke at The Friends of the Brainerd Public Library's Brown Bag Author Event On January 4th. The Brown Bag Author Events have been a part of The Friends of the Brainerd Public Library for over 20 years! You can join them on first Mondays September - May at noon on The Friends on the Brainerd Public Library Facebook page. Authors will speak LIVE on the Facebook page and you can watch from the comfort of your home. You will be able to type in questions and correspond with the Author. Below is my presentation from this event (presentation begins at 14:37).
11 Comments
|
AuthorFrank F. Weber is a forensic psychologist specializing in homicide and sexual and physical assault cases. He uses his unique understanding of how predator’s think, knowledge of victim trauma, actual court cases, and passion for writing true crime thrillers. His Award Winning books include "Murder Book" (2017) "The I-94 Murders" (2018) "Last Call" (2019) and "Lying Close" (September 2020). Archives
April 2024
Categories |