Reachelle Marie Smith Missing Child Email

Summary:
Email forward claims that 3-year-old Reachelle Marie Smith is missing from her Minot, North Dakota home (Full commentary below).

Status:
True

Update - February 2008:
A different version of the email circulates with an alternative photograph of Reachelle but omits important information about the case (Details in commentary below).


Example:(Submitted March 2007)
Commentary:
The information in the above message is true. Reachelle Marie Smith went missing from her Minot North Dakota home on May 17th 2006.

Authorities believed that Reachelle, who was three years old when the abduction occurred, was taken by Leigh Cowen who lived with the girl's aunt and legal guardian. Cowan at first told told the girl's aunt that she was staying with her mother but this proved to be untrue and police issued an Amber Alert. On the 22nd May Cowan's body was found inside a van at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge. He apparently committed suicide in the van via carbon monoxide poisoning.

However, there was no evidence that Reachelle had been inside the van and an extensive search of the wildlife refuge found no trace of the child.

Subsequent searches have revealed no new leads in the case. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Reachelle, please contact the FBI or local police.

Update: February 2008
In early 2008, I began receiving submissions about a new, abridged version of the Reachelle Marie Smith message. An example of the newer version is included below:

IF YOUR CHILD WAS MISSING WOULDN'T YOU PRAY THAT EVERYONE PASSED THIS EMAIL ON!!!!! DO THE RIGHT THING AND LOOK AND FORWARD!?

Missing Girl from North Dakota !!!!!!!!!!

You never know where this email could end up and I'm not going to stop passing this one around if it means a little girl can be found!!!

Please spread this picture far and wide..... You just never know.

BEFORE YOU SKIP THIS, LOOK AT THE CHILD. DO IT AGAIN. NOW SEND IT TO ALL IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK. IT TAKES 10 SECONDS. PEOPLE ARE MISSING HER AND SHE WANTS TO BE HOME. DO SOMETHING GOOD.

Unfortunately, the new version omits important details about the case, including the child's name and police contact details. A recipient who has no prior knowledge of the case would have no way of knowing who the child is or if the case described is genuine. Because many such "missing child" emails turn out to contain false information, some recipients have dismissed the new version of the email as just another hoax.

This illustrates a real problem with such missing person emails. They tend to mutate as they travel. False or misleading information can be added, or, as in this case, important facts can be removed. In other cases, they continue to circulate needlessly long after the missing person has been located.

It is therefore important to check the facts before forwarding any missing person email. If you receive the new, abridged version of the Reachelle Smith email, please take a moment to add the child's name and a link to the FBI fact sheet about the case before forwarding the message

References:
FBI - REACHELLE SMITH
Suspect in N.D. Girl's Abduction Dies

Last updated: 10th February 2008
First published: 28th March 2007

Write-up by Brett M. Christensen