Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 10, 1994 TAG: 9405100145
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KIRBY, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
But the mother of Victor D. Shoemaker Jr. of Leesburg, Va., believes the two boys ages 8 and 9 haven't told all that they know.
Victor disappeared May1 while playing with his cousins in the woods surrounding their grandfather's Hampshire County home. The boys told police last week that Victor said he was hungry, then ran off.
Interview sessions among the cousins, a psychologist and a state police polygraph examiner proved they were not involved in foul play, said Trooper C.J. Ellyson, who heads the investigation.
"Some of the things they did relate to us weren't true," Ellyson said. "But at this point I think the only reason they lied about the things they did were because they were afraid they would get in trouble for not paying attention to what [Shoemaker] was doing."
Authorities have refused to identify the two boys because of their ages.
The official search was called off Thursday after more than 350 volunteers aided by heat-sensing equipment found no sign of the child. Family, friends and volunteers continued to search the woods about 90 miles west of Washington, D.C.
Any clues have led down false trails since the boy was reported missing on May1.
"This isn't the only mystery we've ever had down here," Ellyson said. "But it is the first missing person that I've worked where there haven't been any leads turn up."
Reports of tiny tracks in the woods and of a small shelter have failed to help search teams, and reported sightings of the boy outside the area have turned up empty, he said.
"They've all been young boys who look like [Shoemaker]," Ellyson said.
Authorities have not ruled out foul play.
Victor's mother, Nettie Shoemaker, said Sunday family members had questioned the two cousins but were "getting nowhere."
"I think the children he was with know what happened. It's just not being told," she said.
She said she had "no idea" where Victor could be.
"It's been the same thing all week. I felt the same ever since the first day ... just lost. Just like it's unreal," Shoemaker said.
by CNB