
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030626
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ARLINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

MISSING GIRL'S KIN CRITICIZE POLICE

The grandfather of a girl missing from Fairfax County says police procedures hindered the search for his granddaugher in the first hours after 5-year-old Melissa Brannen disappeared from a holiday party.

Col. Larry Pigue, whose granddaughter dissappeared Dec. 5, praised police Monday for their search efforts but said they could have conducted a number of simultaneous operations, instead of focusing solely on the runaway aspect.

Despite an intense two-county police search, Melissa has not been found. Police could have announced they were investigating a missing child case, Pigue said. "It doesn't hurt anything to make an announcement of a missing child," he said. - Associated Press

by CNB