ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 17, 1996 TAG: 9611180069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MANASSAS
SOURCE: Associated Press
Police have closed their criminal investigation into the death of a 2-year-old girl whose disappearance led to an intense six-day search in Prince William County.
Police officially ruled Friday that Karynne Sheldon accidentally drowned.
``The odds that foul play was involved in the child's death are very minimal,'' Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Deane told reporters.
Police said they had resolved several questions that had lingered since Karynne's body was found Oct. 31 floating in the Occoquan River. She had disappeared 10 days earlier from the yard of a house where her mother, Danielle Sheldon, worked.
During the search for the toddler, police said a bloodhound had tracked Karynne's scent in the opposite direction from the river, to a nearby intersection.
Police said Friday that the action was an ``error by the dog'' that occurred because the area had been contaminated by the scents of more than 60 searchers who looked for Karynne the night she disappeared.
Police said they believe that when Sheldon went inside the house, Karynne ambled through the front yard and the yards of several neighbors until she reached a park and tumbled down an incline into the Occoquan. The water is 2 to 3 feet deep at that point, police said.
Sheldon said that she left the girl unattended for no more than three minutes and that she then alerted co-workers who helped her look for Karynne.
Karynne's father, Scott Sheldon, said Friday that although he and his wife may never have all the answers, they are fairly confident now that Karynne's death was accidental.
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB