Leah Freeman Case has breaking news

Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels was tight lipped Saturday regarding any news into the nearly 10-year-old investigation into the death of Leah Freeman, but a press conference regarding the case has been scheduled for today.


News Conference is being held at 2:30 today!!!! Stay TUNED!!



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As most of you know, Leah's mother Cory is a member of this site. With all due respect to her, lets please not bombard her with questions and respect her privacy :)

We shall all wait patiently for the 2:30 news conference. I am going to post a link to any live feeds I can find on it

Aww everyone for being so patient! I too have to wait patiently just like the rest of you! It sux, I know, but we can do it!! LOL!!

The World [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] usually has updates and they will most likely be at the press release today and they always put a video up. I am trying to see if anyone will have a live feed!!

COQUILLE — Cory Courtright knew when the police cars pulled into her driveway Sunday something was up. It will be 10 years ago this June that her daughter, Leah Freeman, disappeared.

Today, Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier publicly announced why he and officers visited Courtright. They’re creating a special cold case team to focus on solving her daughter’s murder.

“I’ve been demanding a cold case for months, maybe years now and was just kind of shrugged off about it,” Courtright said.

Now she knows why.

Frasier and Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels held a press conference in Coquille, announcing there is new evidence in the case. The DA still refuses to say how Leah died, but the cold case team has begun doing new interviews.

The 15-year-old disappeared June 28, 2000. Thirty-seven days later, investigators found her body in the brush off Fairview Road.

“My confidence certainly has been boosted immensely,” said Courtright, 53, following the press conference.

The DA said investigators hit the case hard for a year, but wound down in 2001.

“We started running out of things we could do,” Frasier said.

With a new Coquille police chief, about 15 months ago Frasier began rethinking how to approach the investigation. Now, about 25 officers and support staff will focus on the investigation. The team will include members from the Coquille, Coos Bay, North Bend and Bandon police departments, along with Oregon State Police, Coos County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon Department of Justice representatives.http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2010/01/25/news/doc4b5e2dac1a746617601481.txt

By KCBY.com staff
COQUILLE, Ore. -- Over a month after 15-year-old Leah Freeman disappeared from Coquille in June 2000, her body was found off a nearby dirt road.

The investigation into her death went cold long ago. Now, almost 10 years later, the investigation is heating up again: as of Sunday, the Freeman murder case was active again.

Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels and Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier made the announcement Monday. The two have been putting in a lot of hours on the road doing some extensive work on the decade-old homicide investigation.

"The case has been revitalized from all aspects, all the way from the evidence, all the way from the leads, all the way from the files," Dannels said. "New technology has been applied, new leads have been added that weren't there initially to bring this case to a point where we're comfortable today that we can take this case, hopefully, into some resolution."

Freeman was last seen alive on June 28, 2000. Ever since her body was discovered, a little over a month later, investigators have only disclosed that she died as a result of homicidal violence.

For the past 10 years, her mother, Cory Courtright, has been working hard to keep her daughter's death in the public eye, but even she was surprised by the sudden re-opening of the case.

"I was just shocked," said Cory Courtright, Freeman's mother. "I had no idea this was coming and I was surprised and very excited. Very excited."

"A lot of cold cases, people look at it as time can be a negative thing," Dannels said. "Time can also be a very positive thing because of many reasons we won't go into today, but it's helping us."

Police will be taking tipline calls 24 hours a day at (541) 396-2411.http://www.kcby.com/news/local/82645927.html

A press conference held by Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels and Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier to update the status of the investigation into the murder of Leah Freeman yielded no new information this afternoon.

During the last 15 months the case has been reorganized and revitalized. In addition a new team of detectives has been put into place to work on the case.

“The development of new leads and evidence has brought new hope and confidence in solving this case,” Dannels said. “With all that said we are here to announce today that the death investigation of Leah Freeman is now revitalized.”

According to Frasier, he is unwilling to name any suspects or persons of interest in the nearly 10-year-old case.

“We’ve done a lot of background work in the last 15 months. Here in the last month or so we decided it was now time to go public with what we’re doing to let people know we are investigating this case,” Frasier said. “We are optimistic with what we’ve found so far and with the work that’s being done we can bring this case to a resolution.”

Cory Courtright, Freeman’s mother, expressed confidence that the case would be solved and those responsible brought to justice.

“To say I’m excited doesn’t even come close,” Courtright said. “I am revitalized and I have all of the confidence in the world in the Coquille Police Department and the District Attorney’s office and I welcome the new case team.”

According to Frasier, a $10,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the case. Coquille Police Department can be reached at (541) 396 - 2114.

Freeman was last seen alive sometime after 9 p.m. on June 28, 2000 walking home from a friend's home on Elm Street. Her boyfriend Nick McGuffin had dropped her off hours earlier and had by planned to pick up Freeman at her friend's house around 9 p.m. However, the 15-year-old girl began walking to her mother's house on Knott Street before he arrived.

About 3 a.m. that morning, Courtright awakened and when she checked on her daughter, she wasn’t there. Frantically, Courtright looked for her daughter, but the effort was to no avail.

Courtright called McGuffin who told her he had dropped her off at a girlfriend’s home and he too began looking for her.

In July of 2000, two shoes were found along the road. A private citizen turned in the first shoe, found across the street from Coquille High School, to police on July 4.

The second shoe was recovered July 5 by a deputy from the Coos County Sheriff's about 13 miles northwest of Coquille. In August that same year, DNA showed the shoes had belonged to Freeman.

On August 3, 2000 Freeman’s body was discovered in a wooded area on Lee Valley Road near Fairview.All police have told the family is that the girl died of “homicidal violence.” No further details have been released.http://www.coquillecommunitynews.com/

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Task Force Formed to Solve 10-year Coquille Cold Case

By Lindsey Doi

COQUILLE, Ore. -- The formation of a task force in Coquille has renewed hope for solving a 10-year-old cold case.

On Monday, investigators announced its renewed focus in the murder investigation of 15-year-old Leah Freeman.

Freeman disappeared on her way home from a friend's house on June 28th, 2000. Her body would be discovered five weeks later, dumped in the woods. Since then, the case has gone cold, with few answers about what happened. However, detectives announced that more than 20 investigators are dedicated to re-examining Freeman's death in its entirety.

The Coquille Police Chief says they've spent hundreds of hours following up on both old and new leads over the past 15 months, giving hope to the Freeman family that justice will be served.

"To say I'm excited doesn't even come close. I am revitalized," said Leah's mother Cory Courtright.

"We are optimistic based on what we found so far and with the work that's being done that we can bring this case to a resolution," said Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier.

Investigators say they're starting back at square one as if Freeman's murder happened yesterday. While it's been nearly a decade since she disappeared, detectives say advances in technology are helping uncover clues that were missed the first time around.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction. If you have a tip, call the Coquille Police Department. They're manning the phones around the clock to ensure all tips go directly to officers.

:thanks: to Michelle

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To say that I am overjoyed with this news that I just came across today, would be a vast understatement. To Leah's Mother, I told you long ago that I would help as much as I could however I could. I did personally spend many hours and days researching calling etc., and was and still am determined. Unfortunately I have had medical problems that have not allowed for me to follow through with a lot of things including my passion which is helping to find missing children, and working on this case. This is my first day back to the sight in a long time and I am beyond words overjoyed to see this news! I knew something had to happen! To Leahs Mother, God Bless you and my prayers are still with you.

Welcome back aanncc!! :cheers: Isn't this news just WONDERFUL!!!! Woo Hoo, it's about time! dancing moon walking

aanncc!! Long time no see! I am happy you are here. Mommy said it all. It IS about time. This is long, long overdue!

aanncc wrote:To say that I am overjoyed with this news that I just came across today, would be a vast understatement. To Leah's Mother, I told you long ago that I would help as much as I could however I could. I did personally spend many hours and days researching calling etc., and was and still am determined. Unfortunately I have had medical problems that have not allowed for me to follow through with a lot of things including my passion which is helping to find missing children, and working on this case. This is my first day back to the sight in a long time and I am beyond words overjoyed to see this news! I knew something had to happen! To Leahs Mother, God Bless you and my prayers are still with you.

YIKES!!! I missed this one some how!!! Thank you sooooooooo much aanncc!!! Sorry to hear about your medical problems!