Baby Grace, Riley Sawyers: Going Home

Galveston County District Judge David Garner approved an agreement which will release little Riley's body to her family back in Mentor, Ohio.

Riley's mother, Kimberly Trenor, 19, and Royce Zeigler, 26, are charged with Capital Murder and tampering with evidence in the death of Riley. The judge has given the Galveston County Prosecutor until April 16th to decide whether he will ask for the Death Penalty.

Judge Garner said a trial for Zeigler and Treynor might be scheduled for early or late summer, exactly one year after Riley Sawyers and her mother moved to Spring, Texas to be with Zeigler.

It's alleged that Zeigler and Trenor murdered Riley on July 25th then placed her body in a plastic storage tote bought at Walmart. The couple put the little girl's body in a shed in the backyard until, no one is quite sure, they drove 75 miles to the Galveston Causeway and dumped the plastic tote.

Zeigler's attorney, Neil Davis III, maintains his client's innocence while claiming Zeigler is "remorseful".

Both Trenor and Zeigler remain in the Galveston County Jail, their bonds posted at $350,000. It's been reported that Trenor is pregnant.

Riley's father and Grandmother came in December to Texas to visit the place where Riley's body was found and the home in Spring where she spent her last day on this Earth.

The long journey for 'Baby Grace', Riley Sawyers, is almost over, while the two people who allegedly took her life, their journey through the Texas courts system has just begun.

By LBG
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Source - Houston Chronicle
Source - DBKP - Riley Sawyers: Loved One's Sad Journey to Texas





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Riley Sawyers: Loved Ones' Sad Journey to Texas

"There are days when you feel like you are going to lose your mind"

In an interview with ABC 13 Sheryl Sawyers' grief was raw. Sheryl said she felt as if she were in a bad dream, that this was something that only happened to other people. Both Sheryl and Robert's love for their little Riley was apparent.

Robert and Sheryl came to Galveston, Texas, the little city that sits on an island east of the giant metropolis of Houston. A place where the green-blue waves of the Gulf of Mexico roll up to sandy beaches that stretch for 32 miles. Where the seagulls chase after the shrimp boats and ships come to port from all over the world.

A city that seems old fashioned with trolleys and quaint architecture. A place to come to unwind and relax. Where one can sit on the beach and watch the sun sparkle and dance across the waves. Where on the late afternoon of October 29th a fisherman made a gruesome discovery. A plastic storage tote which had come to rest on a sand bar. Inside, the decomposing body of a little girl.

Sheryl and Robert came to Galveston to trace the route of Riley's last journey. They took a boat out to the place where Riley was found. With them they carried a little purse, because Sheryl said Riley was a real "girly girl". Along with the purse, a stuffed teddy bear, for Riley.

Riley's father, Robert and mother, Kimberly Trenor, were high school sweethearts back in Mentor, Ohio. When Kimberly became pregnant she moved in with Robert and his family. After Kimberly had Riley they continued to live with the Sawyers.

Sheryl was there every step of the way for little Riley. She watched her little granddaughter grow: from a little baby to a toddler, to a tiny little girl who loved her grandmother's makeup.

Kimberly had been in a long-term online relationship with a man from Texas, Royce Zeigler. In June Kimberly moved to be with Royce taking Riley with her. Within a month Kimberly and Royce were married. A few weeks later Riley was dead. Her tiny body wrapped in plastic, stored in a storage tote in a shed in the back yard of a house in Spring, Texas, 74 miles northwest of Galveston.

Riley's body remained in the shed, one month--maybe two--no one is quite sure. Kimberly and Royce drove the 70 plus miles to the Galveston Causeway and set the storage tote adrift with Riley's body inside.

Robert and Sheryl plan on going to the neighborhood in Spring to talk with the neighbors; to the last place Riley was alive. Riley's body remains with the Galveston County Coroner.

Royce Zeigler's attorney has made a motion to allow an expert to perform an independent exam on Riley's body. No cause of death has been released by the Galveston County Prosecutor's office.

Initial findings indicate that Riley had 3 skull fractures to the back of her head. Both Kimberly and Royce have been charged with Capital Murder and remain in jail on $350,000 bond.

Kimberly is now pregnant with her second child.

Sheryl said in the ABC interview that she is haunted by Riley's last hours: of the precious little girl being tortured by Kimberly and Royce.

"I think of that night and I get that picture of her crying and screaming for somebody to help her and there was nobody, nobody not even her mother," Sheryl said. [abc13.com]

Grief has no expiration date. It is our sincerest hope that some day Sheryl's nightmares of Riley's last hours are replaced by the other happier memories of her little Riley. We never knew Riley, but we grieve for her family: for their loss, for their pain.

Riley's storage tote came to rest near the island of Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico. For the most part, the gulf is tranquil where the blue sky and white puffy clouds meet the blue green sea. Where one can look out over the eastern horizon and feel the warm gulf breezes blow, smell the salty air watch the gentle waves that wash upon the shore.

A place of meditation, a place of solace, but also a playful place: where at times dolphins frolic near the shore and pesky seagulls keep watch for morsels to steal.

Riley's no longer here but her memory is now carried in the hearts of those who love her, who mourn her. Her journey here on Earth was a short one; Robert and Sheryl's has just begun.

A journey of grief, of mourning, of questioning, and someday, of acceptance.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Riley's family.

By LBG
Source - ABC13.com
Source - DBPK - Baby Grace Timeline
Source - DBKP - Baby Grace, Riley Sawyers: Mother's Grim Tale of Abuse and Death
Source - DBKP - Riley Sawyers: Mom, Stepfather Claim Their Innocence

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Baby Grace And The Little Lost Girl, Riley Sawyers

The strange and baffling case of Baby Grace, the name given to the unidentified body of a little girl found October 29 on Galveston Bay, now has an added twist.

It was determined by autopsy that Baby Grace was between the ages of 2-4 with light brown to blond hair. In their attempt to solve the mystery of who Baby Grace is the local Galveston County Sheriff's Department and the FBI turned to cases of little girls reported missing that were close to Baby Grace's description.

GALVESTON — Investigators have requested DNA samples from the families of eight missing children, one of them from Spring, who fit the description of Baby Grace, a 2- to 3-year-old girl whose body was found in a plastic box on a sandbar in West Galveston Bay.

After receiving about 350 leads, investigators chose the eight cases from among 110 cases of missing children who matched the girl's description, Galveston County sheriff's spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said Wednesday.

The eight cases are from all over the United States, he said.

Authorities requested a DNA sample from the father and mother of the Spring girl, Tuttoilmondo said. The father lives in Ohio and the mother lives in Spring, he said.
DNA results from Baby Grace are expected late this week or early next week. Tuttoilmondo did not know whether the DNA samples from the Spring girl's father had been received. He said it takes two to three weeks to obtain DNA results once the samples arrive at the lab. [1]

The authorities didn't know little Riley Sawyers was missing until her father, Robert Sawyers, and grandmother Sheryl Sawyers in Ohio happened to see the story of Baby Grace and the sketch supplied by the authorities.



Who is Riley Sawyers?

Riley’s mother Kim had moved to Spring, Texas, last summer taking 2 1/2-year-old Riley with her.

Sheryl Sawyers told the station 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers moved to Texas with her mother, Kim Sawyers, last summer, after meeting a man on the Internet.

Since Riley was born, she and her mother were living with Sheryl Sawyers, Riley's paternal grandmother; however, Sheryl Sawyers said neither she nor her son, Robert, have heard from Kim since she moved Texas, MyFoxCleveland reports.

This week, Kim Sawyers told Texas police someone from Ohio came with papers demanding custody of the little girl and took her, the station reports. According to MyFoxCleveland, she never checked into the validity of the person.[2]

Riley’s Story

The Sawyers family can't sleep. Ever since they found out about the unidentified body of a girl in Galveston, Texas, the nightmares began to intensify.

Last summer, 2 1/2 year old Riley Sawyers went missing in Texas. Sheryl Sawyers had been helping her son and his girlfriend, Kimberly Zigler, raise the child. Last summer, Kimberly suddenly moved the child to Spring, Texas.

Kimberly had apparently met a new lover on the internet as she played the game, "World of Warcraft". Royce Zigler convinced Kim to move to Texas with her child.

A few months later, Kimberly Zigler told family members that a social worker from Ohio had taken Riley away from her last summer. However, no agency in Ohio has any information on removing any child from Texas.

Riley's grandmother doesn't buy Kim's story.

"To hand your child over and not call police and not file a missing person's report," said Sawyers. "It doesn't make sense."

Ray Sawyers, Riley's grandfather added, "That tells me something's fishy and something's suspicious. Very!" [3]

Riley Sawyers is missing

A little girl is now missing. Who is in charge of investigating her case in Harris County, separate from the Galveston County Sheriff's Department and the FBI whose focus is on identifying Baby Grace?

If Riley’s mother’s tale were true, that she thought she was handing her daughter over to someone from Ohio Social Services, the fact remains that the state of Ohio checked into her claim and said no one from their state is involved. This would make Riley's case an abduction by a stranger.

Riley’s information would have been added to the Amber Alert, to organizations such as National Center For Missing Or Exploited Children. The Harris County Sheriff’s Department would have begun a missing person’s case on Riley. A stranger abduction case means the child is in imminent danger.

On the other hand, Riley’s mother cannot produce her little girl and may have given a false statement as to the whereabouts of Riley. When a little three-year-old girl has disappeared and the custodial parent, Riley’s mother, cannot prove the child’s whereabouts shouldn’t the authorities launch a full-scale investigation of their own?

Shouldn’t there be some kind of concern for the health and welfare of little Riley Sawyers other than waiting for results from a DNA test which could take anywhere from one to three weeks?

DNA results from Baby Grace are expected late this week or early next week. Tuttoilmondo did not know whether the DNA samples from the Spring girl's father had been received. He said it takes two to three weeks to obtain DNA results once the samples arrive at the lab. [1]

“Two to three weeks to obtain DNA results”



A little three-year-old girl from Spring, Texas is missing, either abducted by a stranger or is possibly Baby Grace. Will the police begin an official investigation into where Riley is and/or what happened to her other than waiting "one to three weeks for the DNA results" to return? If she is not the dead Baby Grace in Galveston then time is wasting, evidence will disappear, as perhaps, those who are involved, will slip away too.

By LBG

Image [1] [MyFox Cleveland]
Image [2] [Galveston County Sheriff's Department]

Source [1]– Houston Chronicle – DNA samples may offer clue to Baby Grace’s identity

Source – [2] – Fox News.com - Ohio Family Thinks They Know Identity of 'Baby Grace'
Source – [3] - wkyc.com - Is 'Baby Grace' really 'Baby Riley' from Menton, Ohio?

MORE BABY GRACE-RILEY SAWYERS:
NEW: Baby Grace, Riley Sawyers: Possible Match

NEW! FBI Reward Comparisons

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See Baby Grace news ticker in upper left-hand corner of this page.




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