Robert Manwillkilled by mother Melissa Jenkins & Daniel Ehrlick Jr

Search for missing Boise boy, Robert Manwill...8 year old little boy missing since Friday, July 24, 2008 - Boise, Idaho

Boise police worked Tuesday to recreate a detailed timeline of what Robert Manwill did on Friday — the day the 8-year-old disappeared and sparked a more than three-day intensive search in his neighborhood around south Vista Boulevard in Southwest Boise.

Police now say the boy was last seen wearing a faded blue T-shirt with a Superman logo, blue jeans and dark tennis shoes. He went missing from his mother's apartment complex near the intersection of Vista and Targee Street — about half a mile from Interstate 84 and even closer to the New York Canal.

Police, FBI agents and more than 100 volunteers have scoured the neighborhood, looking for nooks and crannies where the boy may have hidden — including tiny places where a small boy could tuck himself.

"Act like you're looking for a lost baseball," Officer Will Reimers told a group of volunteer searchers Monday.

"The family has said that he likes to sneak around and crawl in little places. He's an inquisitive little kid," said police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower.

Robert lives with his father in New Plymouth, but was visiting his mother and her family Friday, police said.

Police stopped traffic and searched nearby homes over the weekend. They have interviewed more than 100 registered sex offenders living nearby and chased 100 leads — none of which have panned out.

From an Idaho National Guard helicopter, police scanned the New York Canal and nearby railroad tracks and pools. A pond near the apartment complex was drained and searched.

Police have set up a dedicated tip line and e-mail address: 208-570-6457 and findrobert@cityofboise.org.

The family has thanked the more than 100 volunteers for their aid. But police said Tuesday they no longer need people to offer up their help in the search — although they still want anyone living in the area to take an extra close look at any place in and around their property the boy may be hidden.

Mom of missing Boise boy on probation

Associated Press - July 29, 2009 1:04 PM ET

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The mother of a boy missing since Friday is on probation for fracturing the skull of the boy's infant half brother, who was removed from her custody by the state.

Robert Manwill, 8, was last seen near his mother's apartment in Boise on Friday. An extensive search by police detectives, FBI agents and more than 100 volunteers has failed to find him.

The Idaho Statesman reports that Melissa Scott Jenkins pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor charge of injury to a child following an October 2008 incident that fractured her infant son's skull.

Jenkins has declined to comment.

Boise police say there is no evidence of foul play in the disappearance of Robert and that the family is cooperating fully.

Missing Boise boy 'may be the victim of a tragic event'

Jul 31, 2009

http://www.2news.tv/news/52202712.html?video=YHI&t=a

The mothers plea
http://www.2news.tv/news/52693382.html?video=YHI&t=a



Search for missing Boise boy takes grim turn

By JESSIE L. BONNER (AP) – Jul 31, 2009

BOISE, Idaho — A Boise search for a missing 8-year-old took a grim turn as police suggested he may be hurt — or worse — and searched the apartment of his mother, who has a history of harming another child.

Police and FBI detectives Friday coordinated more than 1,500 volunteers in a massive search for Robert Manwill, who reportedly disappeared July 24 after leaving his mother's apartment on the southwest side of Idaho's capitol city.

Early in the week, investigators said they had no evidence suggesting foul play.

But Deputy Chief Jim Kerns changed course Friday, saying new evidence recovered in a Thursday night search of the apartment of the boy's mother, Melissa Scott Jenkins, has detectives tracking new leads.

"The evidence we've uncovered shows that there are suspicious circumstances surrounding Robert's disappearance," Kerns said during a press conference. "Volunteers assisting in the search today are being given the information by search team officers that Robert may indeed be injured or the victim of a tragic event."

So far, police say there are no arrests or suspects in the case. Investigators were seen taking an SUV and other items during the search of Jenkins' apartment Thursday night.

Jenkins has been at previous press conferences, but didn't attend Friday. Police wouldn't say where she was.

The boy was visiting her the night he disappeared. His father, Charles Manwill, has had custody since 2008 and lives in New Plymouth, about 45 miles northwest of Boise.

Court records show a history of family tragedies involving young children.

Jenkins pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor charge of injury to a child following an October 2008 incident that fractured her infant son's skull.

Jenkins "did willfully inflict" the injury to her other son "by striking the child's head on a surface, causing a fracture to the child's skull," on Oct. 19, 2008. She was sentenced to 29 days of work release, fined $75.50 and put on probation for two years, according to court documents.

That child is the son of Jenkins' boyfriend, Daniel Edward Ehrlick. The boy was in the care of the state Department of Health and Welfare through at least February, according to court documents. The agency will not release his whereabouts, citing policy.

Jenkins has a third child, a 2-year-old daughter fathered by a third man, who has custody of her. Jenkins has visitation rights. Ehrlick, who has been convicted of burglary, battery and possession of drug paraphernalia, is banned from being alone with the girl, but court documents don't say why.

In another case, Charles Manwill's former wife stabbed their 4-year-old son, Michael, in the chest in 1993, killing him. Silke Fatma Manwill pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, was sentenced to federal prison and released in 2002.

Charles Manwill was among family members who flanked chief Kerns as he spoke to reporters Friday.

"We want everyone not to give up hope," said Trisha Burrill, the boy's aunt. "Please help us bring Robert home."

Boise police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower said volunteers on Friday covered a 1 1/2-mile to 2-mile radius around the scene where the boy was reported missing.

The search is believed to be the biggest attempt to find a missing person in the city's history, Hightower said.

Boise Police Department Sgt. P.D. Burch supervised a volunteer post at South Junior High School, and said 200 volunteers from New Plymouth, where the boy was supposed to enroll in third grade next month, were being bused to Boise to help in the search.

Family members gathered under a tent at the edge of the high school football field, where a 31-year-old mother of two from Meridian approached the group and asked if she could bring them lunch.

"We wanted to do something," said Randee Fratto, who walked away clutching her 4-month-old daughter, Olivia, and a handful of missing posters with pictures of Robert Manwill wearing a shy smile.

"It breaks your heart," Fratto said. "It makes you want to hug your babies and never let go."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hUXzIn-qwIqEY9RjeTeHqMRo83PgD99PM7481

Robert Manwill investigation: Details of mother's past emerge


Public records, interviews give some insight into Melissa Jenkins and Daniel Ehrlick Jr.
STATESMAN STAFF - Idaho Statesman

The last two people looking after 8-year-old Robert Manwill before he disappeared were his mother, Melissa Scott Jenkins, 30, and her boyfriend, Daniel Edward Ehrlick Jr., 36.

JENKINS: 3 CHILDREN, NONE LIVE WITH HER

Jenkins has at least three children by three fathers. They are: Robert, 8, son of Charles Manwill; RayLynn Scott Ames, 2, daughter of Russell Ames; and Aidan James Ehrlick, 1, son of Daniel Ehrlick Jr. She was married to one of the men, Manwill. Two of the three children, Robert and RayLynn, live with their fathers.

Jenkins is on probation for fracturing the skull of the third child, Aidan. A tape recording of her sentencing describes what happened:

When Jenkins pleaded guilty to misdemeanor injury to a child on March 31, 2009, Judge Cathleen MacGregor Irby asked Jenkins what she did that "would make her guilty of that offense."

"I was burping my son and I accidentally hit his head on the table," Jenkins said.
Ada County prosecutor Fafa Alidjani gave Irby more details. When the parents brought Aidan to the hospital, "the child had swelling to the side of his head. É The side of the head kind of felt mushy and swollen, and the child was in distress. The X-ray revealed the child had about a 3- to 4-centimeter horizontal fracture to the side of his head," Alidjani said.

"Neither parent could provide a history as to what would cause that kind of injury to the child's head, ..." Alidjani said. Eventually, Jenkins told police she had been frustrated and tired because she was unable to take a nap, and while burping the child she flipped him over and hit his head.

It is unclear if the toddler is still in state custody.

Melissa Seiber worked as a general telemarketer, and she did her job well at first, Lindstrom said. Seiber expressed an interest in a higher-paying job as a retention specialist. Instead of working toward that position, Seiber started missing work and eventually just left, Lindstrom said.

Little is known about Jenkins' boyfriend. Daniel Ehrlick Jr. is a stay-at-home dad, according to his brother, David. Daniel relies on their father, Daniel Ehrlick Sr., for financial support. "He bails 'em out," David Ehrlick said.

Daniel Ehrlick Jr. has been convicted of burglary, battery and possession of drug paraphernalia, and he is banned by the courts from being alone with Robert's half sister, RayLynn. Ehrlick was sentenced to four years in prison in July 1998 and released in March 2002.

Little Robert Found

http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/855363.html

In a Tuesday press conference scheduled after the Ada County Coronor "tentatively" identified a dead boy found in the New York Canal as Robert, Kerns said police were engaged in a "very active" investigation, but cautioned against speculating about what could have happened and not to jump to any conclusions.

Police have to "focus on evidence," he said.

Kerns said Robert's family is still in close contact with police and being updated throughout the investigation.

"We ask that you continue to keep Robert, his family and the dedicated investigators in your thoughts," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, the coroner's office said that the boy found in a canal between Boise and Kuna Monday was most likely Robert.

"Positive identification will be released as soon as this office receives the dental records and the forensic odontologist can compare the findings," the office said in a release. "We are working closely with the Boise Police Department and our preliminary results are being turned over to Boise police to help further their investigation."

Coroners regularly use dental records to confirm identity of victims, said Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg.

"We feel tentatively that's him and we need to do the dental identification" Sonnenberg said. "That would be a bizarre situation...another kid the same size."

The report issued Tuesday does not indicate a cause of death, that is "pending investigation." It also says the place of death is "unknown."

"I'm sure a cause of death will be released down the road," Sonnenberg said Tuesday. "Everything has got to be put together to find out just what has happened."

Sonnenberg said water complicates his work.

"You can't assume as much as quickly," he said. "Now you have to add the fact that you have...decomposition in water which greatly complicates the case."

Robert was reported missing at 10:11 p.m. on Friday, July 24. Since then, hundreds of local and federal law enforcement officers and more than 2,000 citizen volunteers have been searching to find him.

Two people called 911 Monday after seeing the body of a small boy floating in the New York Canal — the same one that crosses Vista Avenue less than a half-mile from the apartment where Robert was reportedly last seen.

The New York Canal is 47 miles long between the diversion dam on the Boise River and Lake Lowell, according to Paul Deveau, project manager for the Boise Project Board of Control.

Deveau estimates from the Vista Avenue apartment to where Manwill's body was found as a roughly 18-mile stretch.

There are no gates or grates between those two locations to stop a body, he said. And it would take more than a week for a body to float that far, he said.

"We deal with this a lot," Devaue said. "Usually, any place from Broadway to Gowen Road...if somebody goes in that area, it's going to be one to two weeks before we see them at Cloverdale."

Deveau said the canal company opened up access roads for Boise Police to conduct a thorough search of the canal after Manwill went missing.

There are a set of "body gates" at Cloverdale Road, Deveau said, but the canal company must lower them into place. That didn't happen, because Boise police "thought he wasn't in the canal so we didn't put the gates in," he said.

Boise police officials announced last week they had found undisclosed evidence indicating that Robert could be injured or the "victim of a tragic event." They still have not identified any suspects or people of interest in the case.

Someone killed 8-year-old Robert Manwill

Police say the boy was NOT abducted by a stranger, and the coroner has ruled his death was NOT an accident.


As Boise Deputy Police Chief Jim Kerns promised Wednesday to "determine how and when Robert Manwill died, and who is responsible," his comments narrowed the field of suspects to people who knew Robert.

Police still won't name any suspects or even people of interest. Kerns said police would not prematurely release anything that could "compromise the legal procedures" and the integrity of their case.

A neighbor said she heard Melissa Jenkins tell police she was working the night 8-year-old Robert disappeared. Another neighbor said she saw Daniel Ehrlick Jr. about 7:45 that night outside his home. He often stayed home to care for Robert and the couple's 18-month-old son, Aidan.

State Health and Welfare officials had taken the younger boy away from Jenkins and Ehrlick Jr. last October, after Jenkins was charged with fracturing the child's skull.

Jenkins later was convicted of misdemeanor injury to a child and is on probation until March 2011.

A neighbor and friend, Carol Carrillo, said Aidan had been back in their custody for about two months. She said the couple worked hard to meet Health and Welfare standards to get him back.

Robert lived primarily with his father, Charles, in New Plymouth - an arrangement crafted after Jenkins was laid up in the hospital for a few weeks before Aidan was born and she had no one to take care of Robert.

An affidavit that Charles Manwill filed at the time to get temporary custody of Robert states that Jenkins told him she "was being physically abused by her ex-boyfriend (the apparent father of the unborn child)."

He added that the hospital "has kept the admission of mother Melissa, and her room number, secret because mother Melissa is concerned that the ex-boyfriend may storm into the hospital and mother Melissa's room and cause extreme trouble."

Ehrlick Jr. also has been barred from being around Jenkins' daughter, not from anything he did, but because the father, Raymond Ames, said he didn't like him or want him around the toddler. The girl lived with Melissa Jenkins until Ames got custody last year.

Family and neighbors say Ehrlick Jr. has given at least two separate explanations about the night Robert disappeared.

Ehrlick Jr.'s father said his son accused him of taking Robert, but he denied it. A resident in the building who did not want to be identified said Ehrlick Jr. told her that Robert was in the hot tub and pool the night he went missing and that a heavy-set couple invited the child to a birthday party. Other neighbors say Robert was never near the pool that night.

Neighbors said neither Jenkins nor Ehrlick Jr. have been at the apartment since Wednesday. One neighbor and KBCI-TV said Ehrlick Jr. has been in a treatment center since being treated at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise for an undisclosed reason.

Dorothy Aydelotte, Robert's aunt and sister of his father, said Charles Manwill is doing his best to deal with Robert's death.

"He's better than he was a couple days ago, but not good," Aydelotte said. "He's upset, understandably. Robert was very close with his dad."

On Wednesday, Carrillo, Jenkins' upstairs neighbor, said she trusted Jenkins and Ehrlick with her four kids and doesn't believe either of them could be involved.

"There's a little boy who's dead," she said. "There can be no common sense to that. Who could do that? It's hard for me to see that someone that I interacted with on a daily basis could do something like that. ... I'm not in the grieving stage, I'm in the shock stage."

Mindy Clark, who lives in the apartment complex, visited the makeshift memorial to Robert that has been growing for days.

"I feel kind of devastated ... . I've seen him playing," Clark said. "(Today's news is) just kind of hard to swallow. It's just hard ... . Who would hurt a child and just throw him away?"

http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/857401.html

That is horrible. I'm sick to my stomach now. I hate some people! RIP Robert

Sleep tight, Robert xx

RIP Robert.

No words can express my feelings...poor little lad.