Lexis Roberts

[Ell]

This is in Lousianna but thought I would post it here in case someone is missing from Ms. that is not listed on this site
Remains of girl have yet to be identified
By Zack Southwell • zsouthwell@monroe.gannett.com • October 20, 2010

Comments (0) Recommend Print this page E-mail this article Share
Del.icio.us Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine
Buzz up!Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A Catahoula Parish Sheriff James Kelly said investigators have made progress in the investigation into the remains of a young girl found by hunters earlier this month.



"Since no local agency had any missing persons reported, the FBI and state police were contacted to help us," Kelly said. He said the identity of the girl has yet to be determined.
Dr. Mary Manhein, director of the LSU FACES (Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services) Laboratory, who is assisting with the investigation, said cases such as these are difficult.
"It's difficult, partly because there was a lack of physical evidence," Manhein said.
Kelly said deputies have been working with the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children to determine the identity of the remains. He said investigators have also created an e-mail databank, linking dentists and orthodontists, to see if they can help investigators identify the dental records of the remains.
"We have already eliminated four or five teens based on dental records," Kelly said.
Manhein said a facial reconstruction may be the next step in determining the girl's identity.
The remains are that of a young, white female, between the ages of 12 and 16, according to Kelly. He said she was less than 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with long, thick brown hair. She also appeared to have braces on her upper teeth with pink rubber bands.
Kelly said the remains appeared to have been in the location where they were found between three weeks and six months.
For any information that might be connected to the case, contact the Catahoula Parish Sheriff's Office at (318) 744-5411.

[Ell]

Remains Found in Louisiana Identified as a Nevada Girl
Posted: Oct 28, 2010 5:16 AM by Posted by Sharlee Barriere

ShareShare Rating: 12345 1.0 (2 votes) Topics: Remains, found, louisiana. identified, nevada, girl
HARRISONBURG, La. (AP) - Louisiana authorities have identified skeletal remains found earlier this month near Harrisonburg as being those of a Nevada girl.
Catahoula Parish Sheriff's Office Detective Toney Edwards says the girl was positively identified by dental records on Tuesday as 12-year-old Lexis Kaye Roberts of Las Vegas.
Authorities say the girl was last seen traveling with her mother, Suellen Roberts, and a man, Thomas Sanders, who was not a relative.
Edwards says the case is still an ongoing investigation, but Suellen Roberts and Sanders are definitely people of interest.
The girls' skeletal remains were found by hunters Oct. 8 in a wooded area north of Harrisonburg.
http://www.katc.com/news/remains-found-in-...-a-nevada-girl/

[Ell]

LAS VEGAS -- The remains of a 12-year-old Las Vegas girl were found this month by hunters in Louisiana, authorities said Wednesday.

Lexis Roberts disappeared in early September after police said she and her mother, 31-year-old Suellen Roberts, left town for a trip to Arizona with Thomas "Spider" Sanders.

Sanders and Suellen Roberts met at a storage facility where they worked in Las Vegas.

There had been no sign of the trio since Sept. 5, when Roberts' phone was used in Williams, Ariz.

The Catahoula Parish Sheriff's Office said Lexis' remains were identified through dental records on Tuesday. A cause of death hasn't been released.




Police are looking for Suellen Roberts' 2001 Kia Spectra with the Nevada license plate 153UCR.

Anyone with information about the disappearance is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.Copyright 2010 by KVVU.com
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/25540252/detail.html

Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

[Ell]

FBI: Man once thought dead arrested in kidnapping
(AP) – 1 hour ago

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man who was declared legally dead 16 years ago in Mississippi was arrested Sunday in the kidnapping of a slain Las Vegas girl whose body was found in the woods of central Louisiana, the FBI said.

FBI spokeswoman Sheila Thorne said Thomas Steven Sanders was arrested early Sunday at a truck stop in Gulfport, Miss. The arrest capped a massive manhunt in a bizarre case that stretched across the country.

Court documents obtained by The Associated Press show Sanders abandoned his family in 1987 and was declared dead by a Mississippi court 1994. He lived unnoticed for years despite being arrested several times.

Sanders, 53, was wanted in the kidnapping 12-year-old Lexis Roberts, whose skeleton was found by hunters early last month. Her 31-year-old mother, Suellen Roberts, is missing. Officials say she is not a suspect in her daughter's death — and they hope she has not met with foul play.

Thorne said Sanders was alone when he was arrested at the Flying J Truck Stop by FBI agents and Harrison County sheriff's deputies. She would not release other details about his arrest.

Despite being declared dead, Sanders had been able to move about the country easily. Investigators know he lived in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada. He worked as a laborer, a welder and a scrap metal collector.

According to records obtained by the AP, his arrests included possession of drug paraphernalia and a number of traffic and motor vehicle incidents, all in Tennessee. He was sentenced to two years in Georgia for simple battery. State and federal authorities have said some of the charges involved minors, but they refused to elaborate.

In Nevada, Sanders met Suellen Roberts and her daughter Lexis a few months ago, the slain girl's grandmother told investigators. The trio was in Williams and Flagstaff Ariz., and the Grand Canyon National Park over the Labor Day weekend, authorities said.

Hunters found Lexis' remains in Catahoula Parish Oct. 8. There was evidence she had been shot.

Officials said security cameras showed Sanders buying ammunition on Sept. 3 at a Walmart in Las Vegas. The bullets he bought were consistent with the weapon used to kill Lexis, police said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...805c8dcb2f88511

[Ell]

'Legally dead' man pleads not guilty to kidnapping
(AP) – 3 hours ago

ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — A Mississippi man who authorities thought had been be dead for more than 15 years pleaded not guilty Friday to kidnapping a 12-year-old girl who was found dead in remote Louisiana woods.

Thomas Steven Sanders, suspected of shooting Lexis Roberts of Las Vegas before dumping her body in central Louisiana's Catahoula Parish, said little Friday during the hearing in federal court in Alexandria, La.

Shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, the 53-year-old Sanders spent much of the hearing leaning forward in his seat and reading documents with his lawyer. Sanders had shaven off the bushy, white beard seen in police photographs before his capture.

James Kelly, sheriff of the parish where Roberts' body was found by hunters Oct. 8, also was at the hearing. Kelly said he'll charge Sanders with first-degree murder in state court when the federal government finishes processing him, possibly early next week.

Authorities said security footage showed Sanders buying ammunition Sept. 3 at a Walmart in Las Vegas. The bullets are allegedly the same type that killed the girl.

Sanders also is a suspect in the disappearance and likely death of the girl's mother, 31-year-old Suellen Roberts. Investigators are using dental records to determine whether a body found Monday in Arizona is hers.

If that body turns out to be Suellen Roberts, it's likely Sanders will at some point be charged in Arizona state court. Arizona, Louisiana and federal officials have been working together on the case.

"We're kind of third in line," Yavapai County Sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said Friday. "Fortunately, he's in custody so we have the luxury of time."

Sanders was arrested Sunday in Gulfport, Miss., after a massive manhunt to find the missing woman and her daughter. Authorities say Sanders and Suellen Roberts were in a relationship and took Lexis on a road trip for the Labor Day weekend. The last place they were seen alive was in Arizona.

The case took a bizarre twist when authorities realized their prime suspect in the disappearances had been declared legally dead in 1994.

Sanders' parents, brother and ex-wife petitioned a Mississippi court for the death declaration in 1994, saying nobody had heard from him in seven years. Even so, Sanders drifted from state to state unnoticed despite being arrested in Georgia and Tennessee under his real name.

Sanders was arrested in January 1994 and charged with two counts of cruelty to children in Winder, Ga., where prosecutors said he repeatedly hit a boy on the back of the legs and put a pair of soiled underwear in the boy's face, according to court records. Sanders was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $500.

In November 2002, he was arrested in Clarksville, Tenn., for driving on a revoked license. Police records indicated he had Tennessee identification even though he was from McComb, Miss. He listed his address as a room at a motel where many transients live. Sanders was arrested in Tennessee again in March 2003 for alleged possession of drug paraphernalia.

Little else is known about Sanders' life after being declared dead. He didn't buy property or establish many bills in his name, things that create paper trails for most people.

He has worked as a laborer, a welder and a scrap metal collector. Authorities said he sometimes gave his name as Tom or Steve or the nickname "Spider."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...17877713f39cde8

[Ell]

Remains found in Arizona are of missing mother

By MIKE BLASKY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Suellen Roberts

The remains of a woman found in Arizona last month were confirmed Tuesday as 31-year-old Suellen Roberts, authorities said.

The Yavapai County sheriff's office said Roberts' family in Las Vegas has been notified.











Roberts' body was found near Seligman, Ariz., about 40 miles from the amusement park she and 12-year-old daughter Lexis Roberts planned to visit with Suellen Roberts' boyfriend, Thomas Steven "Spider" Sanders, who was arrested in Mississippi last month.

Lexis' body was found Oct. 8 by hunters in the woods of central Louisiana.

Relatives of Roberts told the Review-Journal that Sanders had cooperated with FBI after his arrest on Nov. 14 and provided information on where to find Roberts' body.

Sanders is facing a federal kidnapping charge related to Lexis' disappearance. If convicted, Sanders could face life in prison or the death penalty, authorities said.

Authorities in Louisiana said Sanders will be charged with murder in state court when the federal government finishes processing him.

Sanders, who was declared legally dead 16 years ago, was targeted in a nationwide manhunt after the mother and daughter were reported missing after Labor Day weekend.

The FBI coordinated the investigation, which involved multiple law enforcement agencies and four states.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/remains-found-in-...-112254009.html