The Writing On The Wall: The Case Of Elizabeth Olten

thank you nine-year-old Elizabeth Olton was the youngest of three children and lived with her mother Patty in Saint Martin's Missouri foreign town of just over a thousand people Elizabeth loved all things theater and Performing and had just been cast in the school play which she was throwing herself into wholeheartedly she was running through her lines every day with anyone that would read the other parts with her practicing her songs and asking her siblings to act alongside her she would find any excuse to dress up and sing along to Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift everyone said she was a very sweet innocent and kind-hearted girl always so friendly and caring and looking out for everyone she knew she and her mother Patty were especially close loving to bake together and play puzzles in games October 21st 2009 was a typical Wednesday everybody was back from school and the dinner was being cooked one of Elizabeth's friends Emma knocked on Patty's door and asked if Elizabeth could go out and play with her Patty at first said no because it was a school night and the family meal was almost ready but after her daughter heard Emma at the door both girls were Relentless in trying to go out together jumping up and down and begging for Patty to let them go Emma lived just four houses away and the pair and their other siblings were at each other's homes a lot Patty told Elizabeth she had one hour and no more and she wanted her home by six 6 15 pm Elizabeth was still not home and it was 15 minutes past the agreed time which for a child as conscientious as Elizabeth was a reason to be concerned the sun was setting and Patty said there was no way her daughter would still be out voluntarily as she was terrified of the dark Patty called her phone but it went straight to voicemail she then rang Emma's grandmother Karen whom Emma and her siblings lived with to her horror Karen said she hadn't seen Elizabeth either and she had no idea that Emma had even knocked at her door that afternoon Patty hung up straight away and called the police by 6 30 officers were at Patty's house and combing through the area the street the family lived on was very close to about 60 Acres of Woodland and this was a huge yet overwhelming Focus for the search teams the police headed over to Emma's house but they all maintained she hadn't been there Karen and Gary Emma's Grandparents were so upset they had no idea this had all happened but they simply couldn't give any information that would help all they could do was join in the search despite the fact their houses were connected by the street which would have only taken a few minutes to walk Emma said they had been walking through and around the woods and had been darting in and out of the neighboring Lawns and backyards she said an hour later the incredibly diligent Elizabeth set off home as instructed Emma said she watched her walk off and that was the last time she had seen her officers said they still couldn't see any evidence that pointed towards Foul Play or anything into Ward suggesting maybe she had become lost in the woods to which Patty replied she's nine years old she wouldn't just walk off by herself soon almost a third of the whole town was out and looking but the search party eventually had to slow down and stop for the night because of how dark it was as soon as the sun rose they were out in force again foreign a few hours later with the concern continuing to mount the FBI was called in to help and they moved quickly this is KOMU 8 News at 6. truly is a family's worst nightmare in this case nine-year-old Elizabeth Olton from Cole County has been missing since yesterday evening good evening I'm Angie Bailey and I'm Ryan Takeo in for Jim Cole County authorities and volunteers have been searching for Elizabeth all day Kayla Miller's brookhash is at the scene Brooke is there anything new Ryan I can tell you that the number of Volunteers in law enforcement across the state have tripled since last night to more than 300 people they are covering a half square mile grid search near Elizabeth olton's home that is just behind me she went missing last night around 6 p.m on her way home from a friend's house just four blocks away the search has not ended since then there's no decision if or when it will end and no Amber Alert has been issued the train is rough hilly and includes Fields forests and ponds well I think that the woods possibility is you know kids in this area play in the in the woods in those Farm areas back there behind me here is the VFW this is where authorities and volunteers have been coordinating the search all day now they're actually asking for no new volunteers the outpour from the community has been outstanding they just can't handle any more volunteers Elizabeth reportedly had a cell phone on her when she disappeared officials hope they will be able to trace her location and are investigating her call History Michael Almonte yeah KOMU 8 News Coal County now if you have any information of course contact the Cole County Sheriff's Department the number is 573-634-9160 registered sex offenders in the area were all interviewed each car coming in and out was stopped and searched dive teams and helicopters were deployed and sniffer dogs were brought in too the team started looking at Elizabeth's phone activity and ordered the information from her cell phone provider the data arrived quickly and showed that her phone was still on and was actually pinging near her home and in the woods it was now 24 hours later a painfully long amount of time when dealing with a missing child there were no items of clothing found no dropped phone no clues at all unfortunately when they were searching the location that linked to her phone her phone battery suddenly went dead and the pings stopped the forest was dense dark damp and cold and there was a huge amount of ground to cover the more time that was passing the less likely it was seeming that they were going to have a positive outcome in the search for Elizabeth the sheriff says the search is focusing on a section of woods which police have narrowed By triangulating Elizabeth's cell phone location however the battery has now died also the search is being hampered by an uneven terrain High brush and soaking weather I just want my little sister at home safely and right now she's listed as an endangered missing person Elizabeth's phone records also came back and they were able to look at her last contacts and messages as well as some of the Patty and several others that could be easily accounted for she had received a call that afternoon from someone called Alyssa six-year-old Emma then asked to talk to the police again she now had a new story but seemed scared to tell the detectives she said that her half-sister had been the one to get her to knock on Elizabeth's door that afternoon her half-sister was 15 year old Alyssa Bustamante Emma said that when the two were outside playing together Alyssa came and joined them and encouraged Emma to leave them alone but Elizabeth said she had to head home and started walking off this timed perfectly with the call that came from Alyssa Emma walked back to her house and stayed outside playing alone leaving Elizabeth and Alyssa out together a while later Emma who was now back in her garden fell over and caught herself on some Thorns she called out for help Alyssa heard her from her bedroom and came outside Emma said as she was helping her she noticed something that looked like blood on Alyssa's clothes detectives asked Alyssa a few routine questions and despite the fact she seemed open and forthcoming something about what Emma had told them wasn't sitting right if what Emma was saying was true it meant that she hadn't been the last person to see Elizabeth that day as far as they now knew it was actually 15 year old Alyssa Bustamonte [Music] it was now 48 hours later and the investigating team had to regroup it was now glaringly obvious that Elizabeth had not run away she had either been LED somewhere or forced somewhere an officer started looking closer to home as they began doing rounds of the houses again a search party inside the woods made a strange discovery a group of volunteers had stumbled upon a huge hole that had been dug up then covered back over they alerted police right away but there was nothing under the soil there was still no sign of Elizabeth or anything belonging to her in that area when detectives have been at the Bustamante house talking to Emma and Alyssa they had noticed several holes in the garden that looked similar in size and shape to this one given this a warrant was issued to properly and intensely search the home although Elizabeth definitely hadn't been there that day she would often go over and play so they needed to take a good look around everything seemed normal and in order until they entered Alyssa's room it painted a very troubling and chilling picture everything was everywhere and there was writing all over the walls some parts in blood there was also a drawing of an outline of a person with the name Emma next to it her six-year-old sister cards from her father who was in prison were scattered around the room and buried into everything detectives found Alyssa's diary one entry read if I don't talk about it I bottle it up and when I explode someone's going to die they also noticed a paragraph that was scribbled over in blue pen fortunately investigators were able to uncover some of the original writing by shining a light on the back of the paper two words stood out slit and throat despite Alyssa saying she had been at school that day it would turn out she had actually skipped lessons and her whereabouts around the time Elizabeth was last seen as Emma was saying goodbye to her weren't able to be confirmed by anyone either things were slowly being pieced together but there were still so many gaps Alyssa's diary was seized by the FBI and handed over to Sergeant David Rice who was now preparing to interview the teen [Music] born in 1994 Alyssa came from a troubled and very broken family both her parents had substance addictions her father was in and out of prison and her mother would often leave the family home on drug spinges eventually Alyssa and her siblings went to live with her grandparents Karen and Gary who soon gained full custody of them Karen said she adored Alyssa and although the children had had a tough life she did her best to raise them well shower them with love and care and be a constant and supportive presence in their lives [Music] as she entered her teenage years Alyssa started self-harming and expressing suicidal feelings she was omitted into a psychiatric hospital after she overdosed and began to cut words into her arms doctors that assessed her described her as violent and angry she was diagnosed with severe depression and prescribed antidepressants when she was released things only began to get worse and more concerning on her various social media platforms she changed her list of hobbies to killing people and cutting she often told friends and her boyfriend she wanted to know what it was like to kill someone and had a dream of burning down a house with a family inside her Twitter feed talked about a hatred of authority and people telling her what to do one of her posts read bad decisions make great stories foreign she also posted a video to her YouTube channel called idiots getting electrocuted by electric fence the video showed her trying to get her two brothers to touch a fence that she knew would electrocute them a disturbing pattern of behavior was clear to see and the more the FBI looked into her background the more they found pointed towards her being a dangerous individual that wanted to inflict pain on people in the worst ways imaginable [Music] after going through her diary some more Sergeant rice asked Alyssa to come in for a formal interview alongside her grandmother and a juvenile officer he said as the interview progressed his tactic was to ask a question and sit in silence for as long as possible sometimes for up to a minute at a time he said as uncomfortable as it was he knew the team would break eventually if there was something to say which he was certain there was he needed to know what had happened to Elizabeth that day and he wasn't going to stop until he got to the truth Alyssa started off by recounting her day she said she had come back from school at around 3 30 and then had gone for a walk in the forest at around 4 30 5 PM they now knew she was never at school that day so she was already trapping herself in lies she said she was supposed to take hammer on a walk with her but ditched her as she was annoying and instead when walking alone she claimed she had come back about an hour later and was up in her room when she heard Emma shouting for help from outside Sergeant rice got her to retrace her steps with a map he had printed out did you try to like draw this for years there's another thing about this this map I don't think it has where you're actually houses so the way I understand the new house would be right back here is that right okay let's say the new house is ballpark here um I'm not exactly sure how far back it goes it's like past all the clearings and then when it starts to get to like a smaller Trail so how long when you got home about 3 30 how long were you at home messing around before you went on your walk do you think I was home at least at least an hour all right so it's about 4 30 or 5 years well there's there's a surely that this little line here is the trail or something did you go out all this way over here then where'd you go from here I just kept following the uh where does it go from here show people I mean show me what does it look back around now no it doesn't look it like it goes this way I think okay and then what you do and then the other I just hung out degree and then then what you do I came back then you walk back yes and then what you do I went oh it takes about how long were you on your walk so 15 or 20 minutes yes you were going about an hour Alyssa said after this everybody went to church and got home at around 8 pm rice then changed the line of questioning and moves on to the holes around her garden and around the woods Alyssa calmly admitted to having dug them herself but said it was because she liked digging holes and sometimes buried dead animals in them well you know there's been uh there were some folks out there of course I guess digging some holes or looking at some holes um yeah and I guess they said that you like to go out there and dig holes so I mean I'm gonna have to ask you some stuff about yourself tell me about these holes you dig well you think I'm a certain way to wherever they're at I mean you dig at a certain spot or what and you can understand why as uh if people were out in the woods looking for yeah looking for a person if they were lost or God forbid looking for if they thought it was a you know God forbid a body have you dug a hole like this before then or is this the first time it's not completely like this but it's like kind of like that okay so they're gonna offer a shoe box okay but this is the first time of that size yes yeah I mean they're huge there's like three or four of them he then said what kind of person do you think would do this to a nine-year-old girl Alyssa Shrugged and said I don't know a sick person someone that can put down all their morals she was still maintaining that she had never been out with Elizabeth on her own it was always in a group of siblings and she had been trying her best to help find her as well what do you know about this whole investigation or mess are you still missing they're out looking for her they don't want more volunteer it's this is really big they've had helicopters searching as well and that's pretty much I really don't think she would run away because she's nine I think that maybe someone kidnapped her or something it's a terrible thing I I don't know what else to assume is there anybody in that area you can think of that would that comes to mind that you would think that that would that would do that is there anybody that knowing your neighbors that you would you know after this he started asking questions about Elizabeth's phone explaining that the data did not lie and it was indicating that her phone was somewhere behind Alyssa's house which she showed her on a map he then moved on to Alyssa's house and her bedroom now it's my understanding that uh did the FBI do uh search or something of the house where you guys live tell me about that what what was that all about you said they searched your room yes other marijuana seeds and that sort of stuff did they did they find anything nope okay did they take anything um they took my sheet and grabbed a pillowcase did they take anything else um I don't think so I would surveyed anything okay okay I think they should close in a diary where they gave us the list it's not all coming to me what was on the list but there's a long list it's a good diary okay you ever gone through the diary yes okay did you know that no does it make you angry yeah it's kind of your private private personal thoughts isn't it when rice confronted her about the entries including the one that had been scribbled over the interview would take a drastic turn we talked a little bit earlier about technology even if you write something down and then you take a pen and try a real real to scratch it out that doesn't make it go away okay it's still there what we want to do is find out what have what happened over I need to know what the truth is we have your diary we've read your diary including the last entry where's she at I don't know you need to tell us the truth you need to tell us what happened if this isn't if this was an accident that's fine we can deal with that this family needs closure let's start at the beginning is this something that was planned out or was this just an accident foreign I didn't know what to do so I burned your body who helped you nobody we're at a divorced I have a great dad had a great day Alyssa said the pair had been playing out in the forest and Elizabeth had fallen hit her head and died instantly panicked she had tried to conceal her body by burning it but given the final entry in her diary rice knew this wasn't true but it was the start of the truth coming out he just had to keep chipping away and poking holes in her Stories the entry in her diary that had been scribbled over had now been completely uncovered and it read as follows I just [ __ ] killed someone I strangled them and slit their throats and stabbed them now they're dead I don't know how to feel at the moment it was amazing as soon as you get over the oh my God I can't do this feeling it's pretty enjoyable I'm kinda nervous and shaky though right now okay I gotta go to church now LOL it had been written on the same day Elizabeth had gone missing October 21st rice told her they would find Elizabeth's body eventually and when they did an autopsy would tell them the full story [Music] they will know on the autopsy if she was shot if she was getting ahead if her throat was cut how did she die nine-year-old girls don't just die was her throat cut oh so I'm not going to ask you any questions right now until we get and is it true you said then you burn her body okay is that part true so is your body should still be there um scattered it over the creek into the creek yeah it's a creek full of water yes Alyssa told rice that she had bumped into Elizabeth and Emma outside and once Emma had gone everything started to unravel despite her denials it was pre-planned she was already armed with a kitchen knife holding the nine-year-old's hand the pair walked for 15 minutes deep into the forest with Alyssa telling her she had something to show her they just had to walk further in once they reached a certain spot Alyssa said she beat and strangled her before slitting her throat and stabbing her repeatedly the fear that Elizabeth must have felt as the forest got darker and she realized her life was in danger is unimaginable Alyssa then said she had attempted to burn her body before digging a hole to bury her and disposing of everything else in the creek however rice knew that the hole had not been dug on that day it had been dug days before as were all the other holes they had found she didn't go out there with a shovel or anything she could have used to do this and there was no way she could have killed Elizabeth dug a hole to bury her and been back home within the hour to go to church if rice could get her to admit to pre-digging the hole it would help to prove pre-meditation I don't know you didn't dig that hole with an eye you did an idea I was out there for five hours you didn't dig that hole everybody still found it hard to believe that Alyssa had managed to do this all by herself but she swore it was just her and she was the only one that knew about it okay what we're going to do right now is kind of get some things lined back to uh to go out there and have you point out the side where she's at her or should be able to do that [Music] Alyssa Bustamante agreed to take rice to her remains and with this just 15 minutes from her home the Search for Elizabeth Alton came to a devastating end a day after Elizabeth was found police announced that they had placed the 15 year old under arrest and she had been charged with first-degree murder the neighborhood was horrified confirm today they are seeking a petition of first-degree murder against a 15 year old suspect for the killing of nine-year-old Elizabeth Alton the case now centers on letting the Court decide if the suspect should stay in trial as an adult that starts with a closed detention hearing tomorrow after the detention hearing the court will hold a certification hearing November 18th to determine whether or not to try the suspect as an adult among factors the court will consider are whether a History of Violence is present as well as the suspect's age maturity and sophistication now there's only about six houses on the entire Street it's a very small community so even though officials won't release the identity of the person being held for the killing many people have already figured it out until after a certification hearing that you not release the identity of that individual that's what we're asking at this point police had also interviewed Alyssa's boyfriend and asked him to undertake a polygraph test we know a lot more stuff than we're leading on to believe we've talked to several people so what do you know why is the paragraph telling me different why is your body telling me differently what do you say you know although they suspected he likely knew something had happened they determined he didn't have anything to do with the murder of Elizabeth and he was never implicated in anything other than the fact she had just wanted to know what it was like to kill someone given her diary entry there was no other explanation she had dug two graves in the weeks before and essentially waited for an opportunity it remains undetermined who if anyone the second grave was intended for but police suspected she was actually planning to kill her two younger brothers on October 28th a week after she had gone missing nine-year-old Elizabeth Alton was laid to rest her favorite color was pink and her funeral was filled with the color a horse-drawn carriage carried her pink and white casket the community was a close one and it was packed with people standing along the sides and waiting outside the emergency responders and investigators were also sat in the first several rows the case had deeply affected and moved everybody I hope Justice is served I really do because it's not right it's you're just innocent she didn't do nothing do you deserve to be killed the way she was killed she didn't have a chance at life it was all hugs and I mean holding each other and so it's like God I mean it just it was harder to leave than he was to get there like I said she was my bug I mean she's excuse my heart I mean I bought a house and out in Russellville and whole room was painting is all Barbie and everything she was outgoing she's active loved riding her bike I have her picture on my wall okay every time I look up at it I want to cry I get mad I get angry I feel sorry every night I tell her I love her and I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect her every single night okay I just wish that it never happened people who don't know you may see you on camera and and think you know what he's Behind Bars why should I feel sorry for this guy don't feel sorry for me feels hard for my daughter okay I feel sorry for her siblings okay it feels hard for the world because they're missing out on beautiful child I have my guilt okay I've done wrong okay I wouldn't be here otherwise you know I should have been out there protecting my daughter I should be out there every day protect my family if I could I'd go back and do that in November 2009 despite her lawyers pushing for her to get a lesser charge on the grounds of a troubled childhood and her age 15 year old girl from Jefferson City area will be tried as an adult a first degree murder charges Alyssa Bustamante is the judge ruled that Alyssa Bustamante would be tried as an adult and she was therefore indicted she ended a plea of not guilty and trial preparation got underway just as Elizabeth's family and the prosecution thought they were finally getting somewhere a huge blow came in June 2011 her defense team requested that her lengthy confession to Sergeant rice was thrown out a judge ruled that because of her age and the line of questioning put forward by the juvenile officer working alongside rice at least part of her statement would not be admissible in court after this her trial was delayed and set for early 2012. foreign the prosecution knew they were really up against it and after going back and forth thinking of the best approach they decided to offer the option of a plea deal to Alyssa second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder with this Alyssa Bustamante withdrew her not guilty plea for first-degree murder and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder instead this also spared her the chances of receiving the death penalty the courtroom was packed and everybody wanted to know what would happen as part of the deal Alyssa had to recount what had happened that day as she went through what she had done in all its awful detail reporters in the court said the tension was palpable with everybody sitting in stunned silence her defense team also spoke and leaned heavily on her childhood and upbringing mental health issues and claiming that her prescribed medication made her more prone to violence despite all of this Alyssa Bustamante was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder and 30 years for armed criminal action and the sentences were to be served consecutively several months after she pleaded guilty however the United States Supreme Court ruled that juveniles cannot face automatic life sentences without the possibility of parole so under Missouri's law Alyssa May seek parole after 30 years Patty gave a speech at her sentencing she was so upset and physically shaking the judge eventually asked her to stop talking all Alyssa could say in response was I cannot even understand what you guys are going through adding that she would give her life to bring Elizabeth back a detective said it was in this moment Karen and Gary got up and walked out of the courtroom and everybody could see Alyssa suddenly realize that the only two people that had stuck by her and tried to be a constant in her life had just walked away Patty said that everything that came out of Alyssa's mouth was a lie she had no remorse and she was being told what to say by her lawyers the prosecutor Mark Richardson said he had never seen anything like this in his life and he hoped to never have to try a case like it again the motive has to be the most senseless reprehensible that could be in humankind and that is to take a life for a thrill he said a forensic psychologist added it was clear from her patterns of behavior over the years it was only a matter of time before she killed somebody Patty went on to sue not only Alyssa but the hospital where Alyssa sought treatment she believes that the Health Care System should have seen the red flags and taken preventative measures a judge throughout the lawsuit against the hospital but the lawsuit against Alyssa was successful and she will ultimately owe Patty five million dollars Alyssa appealed her sentence in 2014 but this was denied the events that transpired so very quickly on October 21 2009 rocked the town and shattered the closeness of the community Patty said she misses her daughter's kindness and her ability to see the good in everyone and everything a friendly and innocent young girl excited for her starring role in the school play just playing with her friends and siblings enjoying the Simple Pleasures that childhood brings her life was snatched away in the most frightening way imaginable and the Damage Done to so many people on that day will forever be felt [Music] thank you all for tuning in and we hope you found this video interesting if you'd like to support our Channel and help us to continue to make content please don't forget to like comment share and subscribe it helps us so much and we really appreciate it [Music]

Channel: Truly Criminal

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Length: 39min 39sec (2379 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022