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Alisa Maier returned to Louisiana Thursday afternoon for the first time since she was kidnapped from the front yard of her home Monday night.
Although quieted by all of the media attention outside the house at Fourth and North Carolina, the four-year-old girl smiled and hugged family members and friends.
“I appreciate all the community effort,” said Alisa’s father, David Maier. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m speechless.”
“It’s a great day,” said Alisa’s grandfather, Roy Harrison of Louisiana. “It’s like every Christmas I’ve ever had.”
“We’re so happy,” said a great aunt, Angela Reddick of Palmyra. “When she got out of that car with that big, old smile on her face, I started crying.”
The suspect in Alisa’s abduction, 38-year-old registered sex offender Paul S. Smith of Hawk Point, shot himself in the head with a handgun Wednesday afternoon and died later in the evening at a St. Charles Hospital.
The only witness to the crime was Alisa’s six-year-old brother, Blake, whom authorities credited with providing descriptions of the suspect and his car.
A nationwide Amber Alert was issued and sparked a search by hundreds of law enforcement officers and volunteers.
Alisa was found unhurt Tuesday night at a car wash in Fenton. Chief Tim Fitch of the St. Louis County Police Department credited “good, old-fashioned detective work” for breaking the case.
Tags on the clothes Alisa was wearing led authorities to the Troy Wal-Mart. Security video showed Smith buying children’s clothing about 9 a.m. Tuesday, an investigator said. Authorities were able to track Smith down using the state’s sex offender registry.
Smith shot himself as Lincoln County deputies arrived to question him at his home on Highway D north of Hawk Point at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Though Smith died, Fitch said the investigation would continue. He would not say if Smith was connected to other child abductions or the murder last weekend of a Hawk Point businessman.
The Courier-Post will have more later today on www.hannibal.net and complete coverage in Friday’s print edition.
Alisa Maier returned to Louisiana Thursday afternoon for the first time since she was kidnapped from the front yard of her home Monday night.
Although quieted by all of the media attention outside the house at Fourth and North Carolina, the four-year-old girl smiled and hugged family members and friends.
“I appreciate all the community effort,” said Alisa’s father, David Maier. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m speechless.”
“It’s a great day,” said Alisa’s grandfather, Roy Harrison of Louisiana. “It’s like every Christmas I’ve ever had.”
“We’re so happy,” said a great aunt, Angela Reddick of Palmyra. “When she got out of that car with that big, old smile on her face, I started crying.”
The suspect in Alisa’s abduction, 38-year-old registered sex offender Paul S. Smith of Hawk Point, shot himself in the head with a handgun Wednesday afternoon and died later in the evening at a St. Charles Hospital.
The only witness to the crime was Alisa’s six-year-old brother, Blake, whom authorities credited with providing descriptions of the suspect and his car.
A nationwide Amber Alert was issued and sparked a search by hundreds of law enforcement officers and volunteers.
Alisa was found unhurt Tuesday night at a car wash in Fenton. Chief Tim Fitch of the St. Louis County Police Department credited “good, old-fashioned detective work” for breaking the case.
Tags on the clothes Alisa was wearing led authorities to the Troy Wal-Mart. Security video showed Smith buying children’s clothing about 9 a.m. Tuesday, an investigator said. Authorities were able to track Smith down using the state’s sex offender registry.
Smith shot himself as Lincoln County deputies arrived to question him at his home on Highway D north of Hawk Point at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Though Smith died, Fitch said the investigation would continue. He would not say if Smith was connected to other child abductions or the murder last weekend of a Hawk Point businessman.
The Courier-Post will have more later today on www.hannibal.net and complete coverage in Friday’s print edition.
