She Was Only 9… And Trusted The Wrong Person | True Crime Documentary

“I just want my little sister home safely. And is this something that was planned out, or was this just an accident?”

“Yeah.”

“Grandma, oh my God.”

9-year-old Elizabeth Olten was the youngest of three children and lived with her mother, Patty, in St. Martins, Missouri, a small rural town of just over a thousand people.

Elizabeth loved all things theater and performing and had just been cast in the school play, which she was throwing herself into wholeheartedly. She was running through her lines every day with anyone that would read the other parts with her, practicing her songs, and asking her siblings to act alongside her. She would find any excuse to dress up and sing along to Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift. Everyone said she was a very sweet, innocent, and kind-hearted girl, always so friendly and caring and looking out for everyone she knew. She and her mother, Patty, were especially close, loving to bake together and play puzzles and games.

October 21st, 2009, was a typical Wednesday.

Everybody was back from school and the dinner was being cooked. One of Elizabeth’s friends, Emma, knocked on Patty’s door and asked if Elizabeth could go out and play with her. Patty at first said no because it was a school night and the family meal was almost ready, but after her daughter heard Emma at the door, both girls were relentless in trying to go out together, jumping up and down and begging for Patty to let them go. Emma lived just four houses away, and the pair and their other siblings were at each other’s homes a lot.

Patty told Elizabeth she had 1 hour and no more, and she wanted her home by 6:00.

6:15 p.m., Elizabeth was still not home, and it was 15 minutes past the agreed time, which for a child as conscientious as Elizabeth was a reason to be concerned. The sun was setting, and Patty said there was no way her daughter would still be out voluntarily as she was terrified of the dark. Patty called her phone, but it went straight to voicemail. She then rang Emma’s grandmother, Karen, whom Emma and her siblings lived with. To her horror, Karen said she hadn’t seen Elizabeth either, and she had no idea that Emma had even knocked at her door that afternoon.

Patty hung up straight away and called the police. By 6:30, officers were at Patty’s house and combing through the area. The street the family lived on was very close to about 60 acres of woodland, and this was a huge yet overwhelming focus for the search teams. The police headed over to Emma’s house, but they all maintained she hadn’t been there. Karen and Gary, Emma’s grandparents, were so upset they had no idea this had all happened, but they simply couldn’t give any information that would help. All they could do was join in the search.

Despite the fact their houses were connected by the street which would have only taken a few minutes to walk, Emma said they had been walking through and around the woods and had been darting in and out of the neighboring lawns and backyards. She said an hour later, the incredibly diligent Elizabeth set off home as instructed. Emma said she watched her walk off, and that was the last time she had seen her. Officers said they still couldn’t see any evidence that pointed towards foul play or anything untoward, suggesting maybe she’d become lost in the woods.

To which Patty replied:

“She’s 9 years old. She wouldn’t just walk off by herself.”

Soon, almost a third of the whole town was out and looking, but the search party eventually had to slow down and stop for the night because of how dark it was. As soon as the sun rose, they were out in force again. A few hours later, with the concern continuing to mount, the FBI was called in to help, and they moved quickly.

“This is KMI8 News at 6:00. Truly is a family’s worst nightmare. In this case, 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten from Cole County has been missing since yesterday evening. Good evening, I’m Angie Bailey, and I’m Ryan Tequo, in for Jim. Cole County authorities and volunteers have been searching for Elizabeth all day. KMI8’s Brooke Hash is at the scene. Brooke, is there anything new?”

 

“Ryan, I can tell you that the number of volunteers and law enforcement across the state have tripled since last night to more than 300 people. They are covering a half-square-mile grid search near Elizabeth Olten’s home that is just behind me. She went missing last night around 6:00 p.m. on her way home from a friend’s house just four blocks away. The search has not ended since then. There’s no decision if or when it will end, and no Amber Alert has been issued. The terrain is rough, hilly, and includes fields, forests, and ponds.”

 

“Well, I think that the woods possibility is, you know, kids in this area play in the… in the woods, in… in the farm areas back there. Behind me here is the VFW. This is where authorities and volunteers have been coordinating the search all day. Now, they’re actually asking for no new volunteers. The outpouring from the community has been outstanding; they just can’t handle any more volunteers. Elizabeth reportedly had a cell phone on her when she disappeared. Officials hope they will be able to trace her location and are investigating her call history.”

“Michael Aantea, KMU8 News, Cole County. Now, if you have any information, of course, contact the Cole County Sheriff’s Department. The number is 573-634-9160.”

Registered sex offenders in the area were all interviewed. Each car coming in and out was stopped and searched. Dive teams and helicopters were deployed, and sniffer dogs were brought in, too. The team started looking at Elizabeth’s phone activity and ordered the information from her cell phone provider. The data arrived quickly and showed that her phone was still on and was actually pinging near her home and in the woods.

It was now 24 hours later, a painfully long amount of time when dealing with a missing child. There were no items of clothing found, no dropped phone, no clues at all. Unfortunately, when they were searching the location that linked to her phone, her phone battery suddenly went dead and the pings stopped.

The forest was dense, dark, damp, and cold, and there was a huge amount of ground to cover. The more time that was passing, the less likely it was seeming that they were going to have a positive outcome in the search for Elizabeth.

“The sheriff says the search is focusing on a section of woods which police have narrowed by triangulating Elizabeth’s cell phone location. However, the battery has now died. Also, the search is being hampered by an uneven terrain, high brush, and soaking weather.”

“I just want my little sister home safely, and right now she’s listed as an endangered missing person.”

Elizabeth’s phone records also came back, and they were able to look at her last contacts and messages as well as her mother Patty and several others that could be easily accounted for. She had received a call that afternoon from someone called Alyssa. 6-year-old Emma then asked to talk to the police again. She now had a new story but seemed scared to tell the detectives. She said that her half-sister had been the one to get her to knock on Elizabeth’s door that afternoon. Her half-sister was 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante. Emma said that…

To Sergeant Rice was thrown out. A judge ruled that because of her age and the line of questioning put forward by the juvenile officer working alongside Rice, at least part of her statement would not be admissible in court.

After this, her trial was delayed and set for early 2012.

The prosecution knew they were really up against it, and after going back and forth thinking of the best approach, they decided to offer the option of a plea deal to Alyssa: second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder. With this, Alyssa Bustamante withdrew her not guilty plea for first-degree murder and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder instead. This also spared her the chances of receiving the death penalty.

The courtroom was packed and everybody wanted to know what would happen. As part of the deal, Alyssa had to recount what had happened that day as she went through what she had done in all its awful detail. Reporters in the court said the tension was palpable with everybody sitting in stunned silence. Her defense team also spoke and leaned heavily on her childhood and upbringing, mental health issues, and claiming that her prescribed medication made her more prone to violence.

 

Despite all of this, Alyssa Bustamante was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder and 30 years for armed criminal action, and the sentences were to be served consecutively. Several months after she pleaded guilty, however, the United States Supreme Court ruled that juveniles cannot face automatic life sentences without the possibility of parole, so under Missouri’s law, Alyssa may seek parole after 30 years.

 

Patty gave a speech at her sentencing. She was so upset and physically shaking. The judge eventually asked her to stop talking. All Alyssa could say in response was:

“I cannot even understand what you guys are going through.”

Adding that she would give her life to bring Elizabeth back. A detective said it was in this moment Karen and Gary got up and walked out of the courtroom, and everybody could see Alyssa suddenly realized that the only two people that had stuck by her and tried to be a constant in her life had just walked away. Patty said that everything that came out of Alyssa’s mouth was a lie. She had no remorse and she was being told what to say by her lawyers. The prosecutor, Mark Richardson, said he had never seen anything like this in his life and he hoped to never have to try a case like it again.

“The motive has to be the most senseless, reprehensible that could be in humankind, and that is to take a life for a thrill,” he said.

A forensic psychologist added it was clear from her patterns of behavior over the years, it was only a matter of time before she killed somebody.

Patty went on to sue not only Alyssa but the hospital where Alyssa sought treatment. She believes that the health care system should have seen the red flags and taken preventative measures. A judge threw out the lawsuit against the hospital, but the lawsuit against Alyssa was successful, and she will ultimately owe Patty $5 million. Alyssa appealed her sentence in 2014, but this was denied.

The events that transpired so very quickly on October 21st, 2009, rocked the town and shattered the closeness of the community. Patty said she misses her daughter’s kindness and her ability to see the good in everyone and everything. A friendly and innocent young girl excited for her starring role in the school play, just playing with her friends and siblings, enjoying the simple pleasures that childhood brings. Her life was snatched away in the most frightening way imaginable, and the damage done to so many people on that day will forever be felt.