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05/07/2007Search urged on by sister
This photo of Dawnette Harrell was taken the night she disappeared in April 2006. TRAVERSE CITY — Deanna Fredrickson urged state police on more than one occasion to look for her missing sister in the Williamsburg woods where authorities believe they found Dawnette Marie Harrell's body. But early on in their year-long investigation, police refused to comb the woods near the home of Justin Stair, the alleged father of Harrell's unborn child and the last person to see the Traverse City woman before she disappeared in April 2006, Fredrickson said. Last month, Fredrickson again demanded that investigators look in the woods. "I had a meeting with Detective (Mark) Harris and I told him that I wanted them to go out in the Williamsburg area near Justin's house and search in the woods. That is what I told them in the beginning and they refused to do it. They said it was a waste of time,” Fredrickson said Sunday. "The second time I went in there ... I asked them and told them that they needed to go out there and search that area. (He) was the last one to see her and I thought that that was where you would begin looking.” Friday, police searched and found remains they believe to be Harrell's in a shallow grave just outside the property line of Stair's parents' Whitewater Township home, family members said. State police Lt. William Elliott, post commander in Traverse City, said investigators are awaiting a report on the remains from a forensic anthropologist at Michigan State University to determine a possible cause of death and how long the body had been buried. "Hopefully, they can give us some timeframe there,” Elliott said Sunday. Elliott said investigators completed most of their work at the scene by Friday night, but continued to conduct interviews over the weekend. "There's still a few people we need to talk to,” Elliott said. "At least we know what direction we need to go in.” Harrell's mother, Dona Hart, was paged at work Friday afternoon and met detectives and a chaplain at her Traverse City home to receive the news. "They knew it was her because she had the same clothes on as the night she disappeared. The same shoes and the same top,” Hart said Sunday. "They should have searched for her a year ago. They put me through hell for seven months before they did anything. Then Mark Harris came on the case and things started happening.” In a short, emotional conversation with the Record-Eagle, Hart said state police told her that they don't have an official suspect and haven't made any arrests, but said Stair is considered "a person of interest.” "He is just a person of interest until they get back some results from Dawnette,” Hart said. "They can't say he is a suspect, but they are working hard.” Hart said the waiting has been frustrating and she is eager to put her daughter to rest. "I just need to be by her and plan for her funeral, but I can't even do that because they had to take her to Lansing,” Hart said "I have already been waiting a whole year.” Hart's sister, Char Smith, has been by Hart's side for emotional support since Dawnette vanished. The unknown has weighed heavily on the family, Smith said. "We always worried during mushroom season and deer hunting season that she would be found. You know something may have happened, but on the other hand, you always hold that hope,” Smith said. "That is the thought that keeps you going. In reality, nothing ever pointed to the fact that she was still alive. There was just no word from her or of her.” Smith said family members are still struggling to understand what really happened. "It is an issue that has dragged on for a very long time,” Smith said. "There is a closure to that, however it is difficult because ... we don't have all of the answers and they will come in time. That will make it extremely difficult.” Smith said Dawnette's family is grateful she has been found and hopes people will remember her as the perpetually happy and always-smiling girl they all knew. "By looking at Dawnette, she was just a small, petite young lady with an infectious smile. We have been going through pictures and in every one she was smiling,” Smith said. "She had struggles and she was working two jobs just to survive. Being pregnant was something she had wanted for a very long time. She had always wanted to be a mother.” Record-Eagle staff writer Bill O'Brien contributed to this report.
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