Alicia Moore was just 16-years-old when her life was violently snatched from her; now her devastated family is searching for answers.
The Greenville, Texas teen was last seen exiting a school bus on November 2nd at 3:25 p.m., according to Greenville Police Chief Dan Busken, about a block from her home. Three days later, her body was discovered by a construction worker 40 miles away in a furniture trunk on the side of a remote stretch of Highway 47.
An Amber Alert was not issued for the girl and anger has been building over the perceived negligence of the police department.
“If somebody is missing that should have been at home, the police need to step up and reach out,” said Alicia’s aunt, Jessica Byrd. “I feel like I’ve been the investigator trying to get the word out.”
During a press conference, Chief Buskin said that Alicia’s disappearance did not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert, and that even now, authorities couldn’t be sure she was abducted.
Her mother, Aretha Moore, is not only devastated by her daughter’s murder, but confused, reports CBS News.
“Why? I don’t know why,” she said at candlelight vigil. “She was quiet, a home-body. Didn’t bother no one.”
Tragically, there were signs of trauma on Alicia’s body and this is not the first time that she was assaulted.
Months before Moore was killed, her mother told police that 49-year-old Terry Dwayne Ramsire abused her daughter, according to police. Ramsire was charged with sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact, according to a city spokesperson. He’s being held in the Hunt County Jail on $70,000 bond, and while Ramsire was locked up at the time of Moore’s disappearance and homicide, police say they are working to determine if a connection exists.
[Editor's Note: NewsOne's policy is to not reveal the identify of alleged sexual assault victims, but Moore's identity was made public before the allegations were reported.]
Another man, Tobias Whetstone, was also questioned in Alicia’s disappearance, and is now in custody on an unrelated charge.
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