36 replies to this topic

[Jenn]

Charley Project profile for Samantha: http://www.charleypr...s_samantha.html

[Jenn]

http://www.herald-di...n-past-10-years

Tragedies, successes topped news in past 10 years

December 23, 2009 @ 12:00 AM  2009/The Herald-Dispatch

Over the past 10 years, the Tri-State was in the national spotlight and also felt the effects of national, state and local tragedies.

The tragic news in the past decade has involved a terrorist attack, the deaths of a dozen miners, the killings of two Marshall students, the murder of four teens, and a deadly fire that killed nine people.

But there also have been positive developments, from a major project that has aided Huntington's downtown, to a resurgent airport and the growth of the local health care industry.

Here are the stories that captivated the Tri-State over the past decade as chosen by the editors of The Herald-Dispatch.

.....

Murders still wrapped in mystery

Marshall University student Samantha Burns, 19, of West Hamlin, W.Va., disappeared in 2002 after last being seen at the Huntington Mall. Chadrick Fulks and co-defendant Brandon Basham await execution after being convicted of killing Burns and a South Carolina woman during the 17-day crime spree that started after they escaped from a Kentucky jail in November 2002.

Fulks and Basham were convicted of carjackings that led to the death of both victims. They received the death penalty in Donovan's case.

A national group has attempted to locate Burns body on more than one occasion, but have never recovered her remains.

[Jenn]

http://www.lincolnjo...rnalinc&he=.com

Rally for Samantha Burns set for August 25

By RON GREGORY Staff Writer

WEST HAMLIN - For the seventh year, volunteers from the North Carolina-based CUE Center for Missing Persons will travel across the United States to raise awareness of missing children and adults, including a stop in West Hamlin.

The featured missing person from West Hamlin is Samantha Burns, who has been the subject of searches led by CUE volunteers.

The team will be in West Hamlin at 6:30 p.m. on August 25 to attend their pre-planned rally stop hosted by the family and friends of Burns. The public is invited to attend the event at the ball field at West Hamlin Elementary School.

Burns was 19 years old when she disappeared on November 11, 2002. A student at Marshall University, she telephoned her mother, Kandi, to tell her she was leaving the Huntington Mall on her way to their West Hamlin home. She was never seen again. Her burned-out car was found on a rural road in neighboring Wayne County about six hours after the call was made.

Chadrick Fulks and Brandon Basham pleaded guilty to carjacking and murdering Burns but her body has never been found despite claims by the pair that they have attempted to aid officials in searching for her remains. The two also confessed to killing Alice Donovan, 44, of Gallivants Ferry, South Carolina. Her remains were later found with the assistance of CUE.

CUE will be distributing DVDs, press kits, t-shirts and information throughout the path of the tour concerning missing persons and unsolved homicide cases that have gone cold.

"After so many years, these cases fade from the public's radar, but for the families and friends of a missing person, the nightmare continues -- every minute of every day their loved one is absent," said CUE founder Monica Caison, who is leading the caravan of volunteers. "We are traveling across the country to make sure that no case fades from memory and we come to West Hamlin in an effort to remind everyone of these featured cases in need of a resolution. They need our help and the community's help to bring them home."

This year's One the Road to Remember Tour begins in Carrboro, North Carolina on August 19 and ends on August 28 with close to 3,272 miles logged in the group's hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina. Hundreds of volunteers, families of the missing, law enforcement agencies, volunteer groups and officials will take part in various legs of the tour, which will include 21 pre-planned rally stops in 10 states to promote a mixture of 109 cold cases.

Burns was a standout athlete at Guyan Valley High School, where she was captain of the state's top-ranked Class A softball team.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wvmetrone...y&storyid=38932

Still Searching for Samantha
Staff
West Hamlin
08/25/2010

She's been missing for nearly 8 years. Two men have been convicted of her death. But the body of Marshall co-ed Samantha Burns has yet to be recovered.

Wednesday night family, friends and members of the CUE Center for Missing Persons will gather in West Hamlin, Burns' hometown, for a rally in her honor.

CUE volunteer Lisa Valentino says people have not yet given up hope that Burns will one day be returned to her parents.

"The community, West Hamlin, and West Virginia has been very, very supportive of the family and that's so, so important,” Valentino said.

CUE is on a 10-state tour highlighting missing person cases, including Burns.

"It's a public awareness campaign to get out the message that there are missing people all over the country and that there are families out there who need resolution,” she said.

Chad Fulks and Brandon Basham, both convicted of Burns' abduction and murder, are on death row at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. for the murder of an elderly South Carolina woman.

Over the years Fulks has given police several sites to search saying that's where Burns' body would be found. But the information has turned up nothing.

However, Valentino believes one day Burns remains will be located.

"There's always hope and I do believe over time, yes, eventually, hopefully she will too be recovered," she said.

Valentino says the rally for Burns is special for her parents.

"It's very, very important that the family sees everyone there and knows that the community is still behind them,” she said.

The rally is being held at the West Hamlin ball field starting at 6:30 p.m.

[Lori Davis]

http://wowktv.com/st...y&storyid=85095
Vigil Held for Missing Persons
Posted Wednesday, August 25, 2010 ; 11:23 PM
Updated Wednesday, August 25, 2010; 11:53 PM

The Community United Effort Center out of North Carolina helps organize searches and vigils for missing persons throughout the nation.
By Kelly Brennan

WEST HAMLIN -- Time passes, but the heart does not heal.
Samantha Burns disappeared eight years ago on her way home from the Huntington Mall. She was a Marshall University student at the time, a young and active woman.

Two prison escapees are charged with her death, but her body has not been found. Without her body, her mother says she has no closure.

That's where the Cue Center steps in. This group travels throughout the nation helping families continue the search effort for loved ones.

Also missing is Melanie Matheney, a mother who was last seen dropping off her children at a daycare in Belle. Four years later, authorities have not found her body either.

Recently, Kathie Goble of Kanawha County went missing. The 62-year-old stopped by a friend's house in South Charleston four months ago, and the only clue to her disappearance is her car that was found on I-64 in Putnam County.

Wednesday night, a vigil in their honor was held at West Hamlin Elementary on the Samantha Burns Memorial Field. The efforts continue and families ask that if anyone has information, no matter how small, to please contact authorities.

[Jenn]

http://www.wsaz.com/.../101528058.html

Keeping Samantha Burns Memory Alive

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a Marshall University student almost a decade ago still keeps an entire community searching, but now a group which focuses on finding people who have disappeared is back in our area.

Posted: 10:46 PM Aug 25, 2010 Reporter: Stephanie Schelkun Updated: 5:21 AM Aug 26, 2010

WEST HAMLIN, W. Va. (WSAZ) -- Sometimes the biggest fear in a missing person's case is the fear of forgetting -- forgetting about the kidnapping, the search, the agony the family went through and continues living with. And that's what one very special group is making sure doesn't happen with Samantha Burns.

"It's been like roller coaster," says Candy Burns, the mother of Samantha. "You don't know if you're going to be up one day or down the next, or both the same day."

It's been eight and a half years since 19-year-old Samantha Burns disappeared from the Huntington Mall parking lot.

After years of questioning and digging, two men are paying for her murder, but the search for her still remains.

"There is parts of her out there somewhere and we just want to bring her home so that we can give her a proper burial and we can have somewhere to go pay our respects to her," Tammy Adkins, Samantha's aunt tells WSAZ.com.

The CUE Center for Missing Persons made a stop in West Hamlin Wednesday to not only bring awareness to Samantha's case, but to hold the hands of those going through such tragedy.

"It's amazing to know a total stranger coming in to look for your daughter's remains and before she leaves, you're all a family," says Candy.

Chad Fulks is sitting on death row for Samantha's murder. Over the past several years, he's given up information and even locations of where to find her, but with little luck.

WSAZ.com's Stephanie Schelkun asked Candy if she ever feel like Chad Fulks is toying with her family, giving her false locations of Samantha's remains. All Candy replied was, "sometimes, but he's the only one that knows."

Samantha's remains may still be missing, but she is not forgotten.

She is very much alive in the hearts of family, friends and so many in the community.

Chad Fulks and his accomplice Brandon Basham have both pleaded guilty to Samantha's abduction and murder, and are on death row in Indiana.

They have also pleaded guilty to another murder of a woman in South Carolina around the same time Samantha was taken.

[Kelly]

http://www.abcnews4.....asp?S=14013851

Man wants to drop appeals in SC woman's murder

Associated Press - February 11, 2011 1:35 PM ET

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A man on federal death row for killing a South Carolina woman says he wants to drop his appeals.

Chadrick Fulks says in a letter filed in federal court this week that he respects a federal judge's denial in August of his request for a new trial.

Fulks pleaded guilty and co-defendant Brandon Basham was convicted of kidnapping and killing 44-year-old Alice Donovan during a two-week crime spree after they escaped from a Hopkins County, Ky., jail in 2002.

Both men were sentenced to death by federal juries, and the U.S. Supreme Court has turned down their individual appeals.

Fulks and Basham also have pleaded guilty to killing a West Virginia woman, 19-year-old Marshall University student Samantha Burns, during their spree.

[Lori Davis]

UPDATE: Samantha Burns' Killer Wants Sentence and Conviction Vacated
Lawyers argue in court documents filed Tuesday that original attorneys for 29-year-old Brandon Basham made mistakes during his 2004 trial.

Posted: 12:24 PM Jun 16, 2010
Updated: 7:49 AM Jun 2, 2011
Reporter: WSAZ News Staff; The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A man on federal death row for killing women in South Carolina and West Virginia says he wants his sentence and conviction vacated.

Lawyers argue in court documents filed Tuesday that original attorneys for 29-year-old Brandon Basham made mistakes during his 2004 trial.

Basham and Chadrick Fulks were convicted of killing 19-year-old Marshall University student Samantha Burns and 44-year-old Alice Donovan of Galivants Ferry after they escaped from a Kentucky jail in November 2002.

A year ago, Basham asked that he be allowed to drop any remaining appeals and be executed. Basham had also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence because of a juror's misconduct. But the justices turned down that request without comment.

Donovan's remains were found last year. Burns' body has never been found.

Read more: http://www.wsaz.com/...s/59941737.html

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wowktv.co...y-missing-woman

NEW: Search will resume Friday for Samantha Burns after police receive tip

Posted: Mar 27, 2013 7:12 PM EDT
Updated: Mar 28, 2013 6:49 PM EDT
By Ben Nandy, Reporter
By Nicky Walters, Reporter

WAYNE COUNTY, Wv. - NEW:

The search for Samantha Burns' remains will resume on Friday. Teams stopped their search at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

Members of the Burns family were on hand throughout the day, watching as teams brought in heavy equipment to clear debris in the area. They used weed trimmers to clear ground cover

The FBI and West Virginia State Police also used a "forensics trained dog" to help in the search.

Investigators have not said if they've uncovered any remains or evidence. They will only say that they will continue to look.

Burns' aunt, Tammy Adkins, said it's been a roller coaster. "I mean you have your ups and downs and when we have a search and we don't find her it is always a big let down. But we just keep hoping and have faith that one of these days she will be found," said Adkins.

NEW:

The FBI and local police resumed the search for a Marshall student who vanished more than ten years ago.

Samantha Burns was 19 when she went missing in November 2002.

Officials on the scene couldn't release much information, but they are acting on a tip they find credible.  Burns' family was at the scene of the search.

Police brought in heavy equipment to help clear debris from the search area and used weed trimmers to clear ground cover.  They also used a forensics trained dog to help search for Burns' body.

Burns' aunt Tammy Adkins said, "It has been a roller coaster. I mean you have your ups and downs and when we have a search and we don't find her it is always a big let down but we just keep hoping and have faith that one of these days she will be found."

ORIGINAL:

Police have resumed the search for the Marshall student that vanished more than ten years ago.

Samantha Burns was 19 when she went missing in November 2002, and on Wednesday, police say a tip led them to begin searching a wooded area in Wayne County for her remains.

Investigators with the FBI and West Virginia State Police spent hours searching the area off of Buffalo Creek Road on Wednesday, and plan to resume searching on Thursday morning.

Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks were convicted of murdering Burns in the midst of a 17-day crime spree.

Authorities say the two men escaped from prison, hijacked Burns's car, killed her and set the car on fire near the Cabell-Wayne County line.

We'll have a crew on scene when the FBI and State Police resume their search on Thursday morning.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wsaz.com/...on_Vacated.html

 

UPDATE: FBI Used Death Row Inmate to Search for Samantha Burns

 

Updated: Thu 10:49 PM, Oct 10, 2013

By: WSAZ News Staff; The Associated Press; Andrew Colegrove; Olivia Fecteau

UPDATE 10/10/13 @ 8 p.m.

 

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- FBI agents took the unusual step of temporarily letting a federal death row inmate out of his cell to help with the search for remains of one of two women he killed.

 

According to court order, the FBI took 36-year-old Chadrick Fulks from an Indiana prison to West Virginia in March to help with the search for the remains of 19-year-old Samantha Nicole Burns.

 

In a letter to the AP, Fulks confirmed his role in the search for the Marshall University student last seen in 2002.

Fulks said he showed agents the area where Burns was buried during a 17-day crime spree after he and another inmate escaped a western Kentucky jail in 2002.

 

Burns' body has never been located.

 

"The tone is very remorseful,” Brett Barrouquere, the AP reporter who Fulks responded to, said “t sounds like he wants to, when his time comes, he wants a clear conscience knowing either they found Miss Burns, or he did all he could to help them."

 

"He says he's remorseful,” Samantha’s aunt Tammy Adkins said after reading the letter Thursday evening. “I would hope that he is remorseful for what he did to Samantha."

 

Adkins says the family has exchanged letters with Fulks before, and they believe his efforts to help find Samantha's remains are sincere.

 

“Hopefully one of these days he'll tell us the exact spot and be on top of her, and we'll find her," she said.

[Deborah]

Samantha is still missing.

 

West Virginia State Police
(304) 528-5555