It’s been two months since the body of 11-year-old Celina Cass was pulled from the river a half mile from her West Stewartston, N.H., home. Still there are no definitive answers as to how the young girl died or why.
Cass’ mother Louisa is meeting with investigators Thursday, hoping to learn what they’ve found out so far about what happened to her daughter.
Louisa Cass no longer lives in the home she and Celina shared with Cass’ sister, stepfather Wendell Noyes and family friend Kevin Mullaney. The home is being sold.
Louisa has also separated from her husband. The couple had been married nine months when Celina disappeared. Numerous unsettling facts came to public attention about Noyes and his associates during the investigation:
* Noyes maintained a Facebook page expressing interest in meeting girls. Many of his Facebook friends worked in the porn industry.
* Noyes’ father is a registered sex offender on parole for 15 counts of child porn and rape of a 16-year-old girl.
* The Associated Press reports Noyes was involuntarily hospitalized for treatment of paranoid schizophrenia in 2003.
* He was the subject of a restraining order that year after breaking into an ex-girlfriend’s home and threatening her.
* As investigators searched the river in the area where Celina’s body was ultimately found, Noyes became agitated. First he turned photographs of Celina that had been set out by well-wishers keeping vigil face down, the Colebrook Chronicle reported. Then he began rolling around on the driveway. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, and has been in and out of psychiatric facilities since.
* Noyes refused to cooperate with investigators.
* Police impounded Noyes’ truck shortly after finding Celina’s body.
* Family members removed Noyes as a Facebook friend, though the timing is not specified.
While the troubling details of Noyes’ life cast public suspicion his way, investigators have not declared him a suspect in Celina’s disappearance. Nor have investigators pointed the finger at any other potential suspect. There’s been virtually no news in the case since the inconclusive autopsy report was released. The toxicology reports from the autopsy are expected next week.