Jul 14, 2008 5:58 pm US/Central
Family Of Missing Teen To File Police Complaint
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Relatives of a missing Chicago teenager have demanded an investigation into how Chicago police have handled the case. Seven months after Yasmin Acree went missing, her family took their demands to independent police watchdogs. But they got little help there.
Family members and friends spent more than an hour in the office of the Independent Police Review Authority's director. Their claim: the police investigation into the disappearance of 15-year-old Yasmin Acree was reckless.
Yasmin's cousin, Rev. Ira Acree said, "We're here to basically … voice our frustration at how it appears Chicago Police Department Area Five detectives may have fumbled the ball."
Yasmin's mother, Rose Starnes said, "I miss Yasmin. I want Yasmin back at home."
Starnes left her daughter, an honors student, at home alone in January. Starnes said when she came back, she found the locks on two gates cut and signs that a basement door had been forced open.
Last week, the family criticized police for taking two days to take the lock as evidence.
The family said detectives ignored that physical evidence and said they believed she was a runaway. Relatives and Yasmin's YMCA counselor disagreed.
Kim George said, "Her last words were basically, 'See you Thursday.' There were, like, no indications, no goodbyes or anything like that."
Even though Yasmin's cousin is a faith based community activist, he said Yasmin's disappearance has not been given enough attention.
"We want the same sense of urgency in Austin and Garfield that there is in Wrigleyville and Bridgeport," Rev. Acree said.
Despite Monday's meeting, the IPRA said it will not investigate the family's complaint. A spokesman said it has no jurisdiction and will pass it on to the police department's Internal Affairs unit.
Rev. Acree said, "We feel like this is first base. We got to go to second base, we got to go to third base. We got to get home."
Chicago police denied mishandling the case. They said detectives have gone out of state in their search for Yasmin, have enlisted the state crime lab to examine evidence and have spent 2,000 man-hours on the case, but they haven't received full cooperation from everyone that they've interviewed.
The Area Five commander called the criticism of their performance "insulting."
CBS 2's Mike Parker and Joanie Lum contributed to this report.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Video: CBS 2's Picks To Click
