This article is 1993 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
'PLAYGROUND' IRRESISTIBLE TO KIDS NOW HOLDS NEIGHBORHOOD'S GRIEF
Date: Friday, May 7, 1993
Section: News
Page: A1
Source: By John Beifuss The Commercial Appeal
Staff reporter Richard Kelley contributed to this story.
Dateline:
Memo: Different version, Tenn A1
Edition: Final
The three 8-year-old boys lived in a quiet neighborhood of ranch houses and twisting streets, dotted with "Slow - Children At Play" signs and Neighborhood Watch warnings.
But the neat green lawns and the fields of Weaver Elementary School weren't the favorite playgrounds of the children. Many of them couldn't resist the lure of swampy Robin Hood Park, where the bodies of slain schoolmates Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were discovered Thursday afternoon.
"It's a crazy world anymore," said Stella Vaughn, 32, a neighbor whose 6- year-old son, Jeremy, attended Weaver with the boys.
"They were my friends," said Jeremy, shirtless and cheerful and not seeming to understand.
The boys had been missing since early Wednesday evening. Their bound and mutilated bodies were found by police Thursday afternoon, submerged in one of the deep rainwater-filled ditches that scar the Ten-Mile Bayou area.
The area leading to the weed-choked bayou was blocked by police Thursday afternoon. Neighborhood residents gathered to discuss the news and stare at the familiar faces of television reporters.
Vaughn, like most other parents there, said she was shocked to learn the dangers of the bayou go beyond sinkholes and snakes.
"I think they ought to take it all down," Vaughn said. "That's a dangerous place. Those kids can't stop going back there."
"I play back there all the time," said Chris Husband, 14, who said he sometimes played there with Christopher Byers. "There's ramps, bike trails,
hills; it's fun back there. We catch turtles and snakes and stuff."
But he said he and his friends also have found hypodermic needles in the area, as well as a 22 rifle and "a pistol that was all messed up."
Bo Hamrick, 21, said scores of people helped look for the missing children Thursday.
He and his friend Tony Smith, 22, rode all-terrain vehicles throughout the area for about eight hours - even stopping in the early morning near the pool where the boys were found.
"It was kind of a let-down to know we were so close and couldn't see them," Hamrick said. "Maybe we could've done something."
Carolyn Love, 28, said she was "very scared" for her three children. ''I'll tell them, 'Do not go anywhere without telling me unless I'm there with you at all times.' And I'm making a special trip to get them on the school bus and pick them up - at all times."
Clifford Exley, 27, whose son is now in Florida visiting relatives, said he
hasn't decided whether to bring the boy back to West Memphis.
Said Mark Moise, 31, who lives with his three children in the Mayfair Apartments adjacent to Robin Hood Park: "We plan on moving out of here. There's too many things going on."
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
'PLAYGROUND' IRRESISTIBLE TO KIDS NOW HOLDS NEIGHBORHOOD'S GRIEF
Date: Friday, May 7, 1993
Section: News
Page: A1
Source: By John Beifuss The Commercial Appeal
Staff reporter Richard Kelley contributed to this story.
Dateline:
Memo: Different version, Tenn A1
Edition: Final
The three 8-year-old boys lived in a quiet neighborhood of ranch houses and twisting streets, dotted with "Slow - Children At Play" signs and Neighborhood Watch warnings.
But the neat green lawns and the fields of Weaver Elementary School weren't the favorite playgrounds of the children. Many of them couldn't resist the lure of swampy Robin Hood Park, where the bodies of slain schoolmates Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were discovered Thursday afternoon.
"It's a crazy world anymore," said Stella Vaughn, 32, a neighbor whose 6- year-old son, Jeremy, attended Weaver with the boys.
"They were my friends," said Jeremy, shirtless and cheerful and not seeming to understand.
The boys had been missing since early Wednesday evening. Their bound and mutilated bodies were found by police Thursday afternoon, submerged in one of the deep rainwater-filled ditches that scar the Ten-Mile Bayou area.
The area leading to the weed-choked bayou was blocked by police Thursday afternoon. Neighborhood residents gathered to discuss the news and stare at the familiar faces of television reporters.
Vaughn, like most other parents there, said she was shocked to learn the dangers of the bayou go beyond sinkholes and snakes.
"I think they ought to take it all down," Vaughn said. "That's a dangerous place. Those kids can't stop going back there."
"I play back there all the time," said Chris Husband, 14, who said he sometimes played there with Christopher Byers. "There's ramps, bike trails,
hills; it's fun back there. We catch turtles and snakes and stuff."
But he said he and his friends also have found hypodermic needles in the area, as well as a 22 rifle and "a pistol that was all messed up."
Bo Hamrick, 21, said scores of people helped look for the missing children Thursday.
He and his friend Tony Smith, 22, rode all-terrain vehicles throughout the area for about eight hours - even stopping in the early morning near the pool where the boys were found.
"It was kind of a let-down to know we were so close and couldn't see them," Hamrick said. "Maybe we could've done something."
Carolyn Love, 28, said she was "very scared" for her three children. ''I'll tell them, 'Do not go anywhere without telling me unless I'm there with you at all times.' And I'm making a special trip to get them on the school bus and pick them up - at all times."
Clifford Exley, 27, whose son is now in Florida visiting relatives, said he
hasn't decided whether to bring the boy back to West Memphis.
Said Mark Moise, 31, who lives with his three children in the Mayfair Apartments adjacent to Robin Hood Park: "We plan on moving out of here. There's too many things going on."
