11-18-2007, 10:27 AM
Coralrose's mom cleared Police will not say if father
is suspected in girl's death but assert case is not cold
By HEATHER ALLEN
heather.allen@heraldtribune.com
Police investigating the death of Coralrose Fullwood said Monday that her mother and siblings have been cleared as suspects in the 6-year-old's rape and murder.
But they did nothing to dispel suspicion of Coralrose's father, Dale Fullwood, who is serving a one-year jail sentence for possessing child pornography.
And they announced that the North Fort Myers bar where Fullwood once worked, and the people who frequented it, are part of the investigation.
Marking the one-year anniversary of the death of Coralrose Fullwood,, North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis held a press conference to announce the case has not gone cold, though no arrests have been made.
Lewis announced that the department will rent two billboards, one in North Port and one in North Fort Myers near the Motorsports Cafe where Dale Fullwood once worked as a bartender.
The billboards have pictures of Coralrose and the question: "Who Murdered This Child?"
The Motorsports Cafe is now closed, but Lewis said investigators would like to speak to regular patrons.
Lewis would not comment on whether he believes Fullwood was involved in the crime.
"We have never cleared Mr. Fullwood or named Mr. Fullwood as a suspect, and I'd like to leave it at that," Lewis said. "It's a game I'm not going to get into playing."
Coralrose's mother, Ellen-Beth Fullwood, was present at the press briefing but hung back behind Lewis. She said she thinks the billboards are a good idea.
"Anything that's going to generate leads that might lead to an arrest and conviction, I am absolutely behind," she said.
She said she had known for months she had been cleared as a possible suspect.
"I don't think that most people seriously ever thought I was involved in any way. If they did, then they were definitely wrong."
>Coralrose Fullwood was last seen by her father when he arrived home from work about 2 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2006. Family members noticed she was missing about 7 a.m.
She was found by a neighbor about noon, wrapped in a comforter at a vacant lot a few blocks from the Fullwoods' North Port home.
A month after his daughter was killed, Dale Fullwood was arrested for possessing two pornographic videos, which depicted a girl under the age of 12 being raped. Chief Lewis said at the time that the two cases were unrelated and that no one should jump to conclusions.
Dale Fullwood pleaded no contest to a felony charge of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of sexual offender probation in July.
And the investigation has continued. Detectives are still looking for a red pickup truck and its driver, which were reportedly seen in the area around the time that Coralrose may have been killed.
Investigators are trying to find a match to DNA they found on Coralrose's body. Each week the DNA sample is run through a national database. So far, no matches have been made.
"Every day I wake up saying: This is going to be the day," said Lt. Kevin Sullivan, head of the police department's criminal investigations unit. Sullivan, who spent hours in the woods, watching over the little girl's body while the investigation unfolded, said investigators know what happened. It is just a matter of finding the man whose DNA was found on Coralrose.
"The person who did this, we're still coming after you and we will get you," Sullivan said. "You will pay for what you did to this child."
is suspected in girl's death but assert case is not cold
By HEATHER ALLEN
heather.allen@heraldtribune.com
Police investigating the death of Coralrose Fullwood said Monday that her mother and siblings have been cleared as suspects in the 6-year-old's rape and murder.
But they did nothing to dispel suspicion of Coralrose's father, Dale Fullwood, who is serving a one-year jail sentence for possessing child pornography.
And they announced that the North Fort Myers bar where Fullwood once worked, and the people who frequented it, are part of the investigation.
Marking the one-year anniversary of the death of Coralrose Fullwood,, North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis held a press conference to announce the case has not gone cold, though no arrests have been made.
Lewis announced that the department will rent two billboards, one in North Port and one in North Fort Myers near the Motorsports Cafe where Dale Fullwood once worked as a bartender.
The billboards have pictures of Coralrose and the question: "Who Murdered This Child?"
The Motorsports Cafe is now closed, but Lewis said investigators would like to speak to regular patrons.
Lewis would not comment on whether he believes Fullwood was involved in the crime.
"We have never cleared Mr. Fullwood or named Mr. Fullwood as a suspect, and I'd like to leave it at that," Lewis said. "It's a game I'm not going to get into playing."
Coralrose's mother, Ellen-Beth Fullwood, was present at the press briefing but hung back behind Lewis. She said she thinks the billboards are a good idea.
"Anything that's going to generate leads that might lead to an arrest and conviction, I am absolutely behind," she said.
She said she had known for months she had been cleared as a possible suspect.
"I don't think that most people seriously ever thought I was involved in any way. If they did, then they were definitely wrong."
>Coralrose Fullwood was last seen by her father when he arrived home from work about 2 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2006. Family members noticed she was missing about 7 a.m.
She was found by a neighbor about noon, wrapped in a comforter at a vacant lot a few blocks from the Fullwoods' North Port home.
A month after his daughter was killed, Dale Fullwood was arrested for possessing two pornographic videos, which depicted a girl under the age of 12 being raped. Chief Lewis said at the time that the two cases were unrelated and that no one should jump to conclusions.
Dale Fullwood pleaded no contest to a felony charge of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of sexual offender probation in July.
And the investigation has continued. Detectives are still looking for a red pickup truck and its driver, which were reportedly seen in the area around the time that Coralrose may have been killed.
Investigators are trying to find a match to DNA they found on Coralrose's body. Each week the DNA sample is run through a national database. So far, no matches have been made.
"Every day I wake up saying: This is going to be the day," said Lt. Kevin Sullivan, head of the police department's criminal investigations unit. Sullivan, who spent hours in the woods, watching over the little girl's body while the investigation unfolded, said investigators know what happened. It is just a matter of finding the man whose DNA was found on Coralrose.
"The person who did this, we're still coming after you and we will get you," Sullivan said. "You will pay for what you did to this child."