Iowa lawmaker wants death penalty reinstated following death of missing girls

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Dec 8, 2012

The discovery this week of the bodies of two missing Iowa girls has spurred a lawmaker to seek at least a partial reinstatement of the death penalty in the state, the Des Moines Register reports.

Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8 -- who were cousins -- went missing in July in Northeast Iowa. Authorities soon after considered their disappearance to be a case of abduction.

Hunters found two bodies believed to those of the girls on Wednesday, and their identities were later confirmed by authorities.

Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson (R-Milo) said he intends to introduce a bill in the upcoming session to allow the death penalty in part, a move motivated by the girls' deaths.

The state repealed its death penalty in 1965.

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Iowa Senate told the Register that bill would not likely have enough support to pass.

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Investigators reclassified the disappearance of two missing Iowa cousins as an abduction case Friday after an FBI dive team failed to find their bodies in a lake near where they were last seen a week ago. Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, vanished after riding bikes near Meyers Lake in Evansdale, a small town in northeast Iowa that has been devastated by their disappearance. Police are also keeping a closer watch on Lyric's father, who has stopped cooperating with police.

State Rep. Glen Gruenhagen says modern day use of DNA and forensic technology make it unlikely the wrong person will be convicted of murder. He favors a return to the death penalty that Minnesota junked 101 years ago.

An FBI spokeswoman said Saturday that investigators searching for two missing Iowa cousins have information that leads them to believe both girls are still alive. Sandy Breault refused to say what led authorities to their conclusion about 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins, but urged anyone with information about their disappearance to contact law enforcement.

FBI divers ended their search for two missing cousins in a northeast Iowa lake as federal authorities have decided to shift the focus of their investigation, an FBI spokeswoman said Saturday. The cousins -- 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins -- disappeared a week ago and authorities believe they have been abducted.

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