TWENTY-SEVEN YEAR OLD TOM BEGAYE WILL BE IN COURT WEDNESDAY. HE’S THE MAN CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING AND KILLING 11 YEAR OLD AMBER ALERT SUBJECT ASHLYNNE MIKE LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE GIRL’S BODY WAS FOUND SIX MILES SOUTH OF THE SHIPROCK MONUMENT AROUND 11:30 TUESDAY MORNING. BEGAYE WAS ARRESTED AROUND 7:00 MONDAY NIGHT.
THE FBI ISN’T SAYING WHAT LED THEM TO BEGAYE. HE’LL APPEAR BEFORE A U-S MAGISTRATE JUDGE WEDNESDAY IN FARMINGTON.
AUTHORITIES SAY ASHLYNNE AND HER NINE YEAR OLD BROTHER WERE PLAYING IN THEIR YARD WHEN THEY WERE COAXED INTO A MAROON VAN MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE BROTHER, IAN MIKE, WAS LATER RELEASED AND FOUND BY A RANDOM DRIVER AROUND 7:00 PM MONDAY EVENING. HE WAS TAKEN TO THE SHIPROCK POLICE DEPARTMENT, WHERE HE TOLD POLICE HIS SISTER WAS STILL WITH THE MAN, BELIEVED TO BE BEGAYE.
THE AMBER ALERT WAS ISSUED AROUND 2:15 TUESDAY MORNING. QUESTIONS REMAINS AS TO WHY IT TOOK SO LONG TO PUT OUT THE ALERT.
THE COMMUNITY TURNED OUT TUESDAY NIGHT FOR A PRAYER VIGIL AT THE SAN JUAN CHAPTER HOUSE TO REMEMBER THE SLAIN 11 YEAR OLD NAVAJO GIRL. COUNSELORS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT IN TO OJO AMARILLO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN FRUITLAND, WHERE ASHLYNNE WAS A 5TH GRADER. CENTRAL CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS HAS INSTRUCTED PARENTS TO BE AT THEIR CHILD’S BUS DROP OFF LOCATION TO ENSURE THEIR CHILD IS SAFE.
