Dec. 23, 2007
Leah Hickman's Body Removed from Apartment Bldg.
Dress Barn Closed for Weekend in Memorium; Story Is National News
Images from two national news stories about Leah's disappearance then death
By Tony Seaton
Huntingtonnews.net City Editor
Huntington police investigators around 1 p.m. on Saturday removed Leah Hickman's body from under her apartment in the laundry room/crawl space area where it was found, some 20 hours earlier at about 5 p.m., Friday.
Police say they still aren't positvitely identifiying the body as that of the 21-year-old Marshall Journalism student--they say that's up the state medical examiner's office to declare--but Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook and HPD Lt. Rocky Johnson both indicated at the Friday night press conference that there is no doubt this is Leah Hickman's body.
Asked on Saturday why, once the body was removed from the crawl space, HPD coudn't make the positive identification merely by visual confirmation, Chief Holbrook said is was "protocol, in this specific case," for the Medical Examiner to make that determination, and "that's all I can say about it."
Contacted earlier, Sgt. John Williams said that all information about the case would now be coming only from Chief Holbrook.
Chief Holbrook said that investigators continue combing the scene of the homicide for clues and that the autopsy will likely take place Sunday.
Reports are the The Dress Barn on Merritt's Creek closed after Leah's body was found and will remain closed in her honor on Sunday.
The case of the missing Marshall student has become a national story, with Hickman's half-sister Jessica Vickers and Lt. Rocky Johnson first being interviewed by Greta Van Susteren of Fox Wednesday, and this reporter being interviewed on national cable channel MSNBC six times, first on Friday, when it was still a missing person case and again on Saturday, after the body had been found.
MSNBC producers say they'll be calling HNN again on Sunday for further updates, as the last time they interviewed this reporter Saturday morning, Hickman's body had not yet been removed.
tektonivideo@gmail.com
Dress Barn Closed for Weekend in Memorium; Story Is National News
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| Images: MSNBC |
Images from two national news stories about Leah's disappearance then death
By Tony Seaton
Huntingtonnews.net City Editor
Huntington police investigators around 1 p.m. on Saturday removed Leah Hickman's body from under her apartment in the laundry room/crawl space area where it was found, some 20 hours earlier at about 5 p.m., Friday.
Police say they still aren't positvitely identifiying the body as that of the 21-year-old Marshall Journalism student--they say that's up the state medical examiner's office to declare--but Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook and HPD Lt. Rocky Johnson both indicated at the Friday night press conference that there is no doubt this is Leah Hickman's body.
Asked on Saturday why, once the body was removed from the crawl space, HPD coudn't make the positive identification merely by visual confirmation, Chief Holbrook said is was "protocol, in this specific case," for the Medical Examiner to make that determination, and "that's all I can say about it."
Contacted earlier, Sgt. John Williams said that all information about the case would now be coming only from Chief Holbrook.
Chief Holbrook said that investigators continue combing the scene of the homicide for clues and that the autopsy will likely take place Sunday.
Reports are the The Dress Barn on Merritt's Creek closed after Leah's body was found and will remain closed in her honor on Sunday.
The case of the missing Marshall student has become a national story, with Hickman's half-sister Jessica Vickers and Lt. Rocky Johnson first being interviewed by Greta Van Susteren of Fox Wednesday, and this reporter being interviewed on national cable channel MSNBC six times, first on Friday, when it was still a missing person case and again on Saturday, after the body had been found.
MSNBC producers say they'll be calling HNN again on Sunday for further updates, as the last time they interviewed this reporter Saturday morning, Hickman's body had not yet been removed.
tektonivideo@gmail.com
