Aurora – Cadaver dogs on Friday searched the central Aurora house where police believe 6-year-old Aaroné Thompson was killed in the past year and a half.
Police wouldn’t say whether the dogs found anything or whether interviews with Aaroné’s brother or other children who lived at the home, at 16551 E. Kepner Place, revealed new information. The dogs were on loan from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Texas.
“We were able to obtain information that (tells us) we are on the right track,” said Aurora interim Police Chief Terry Jones. “This will be a long investigation and a difficult investigation. It all depends on what comes out of the interviews. It’s probably safe to say that every square inch of this property will be thoroughly investigated.”
The case already has spanned nearly a week.
Aaroné was reported missing Monday by her father, 38-year- old Aaron Thompson. A search of more than 48 hours was halted Wednesday night when police said they learned from a person close to the family that Aaroné was killed in the home. They used the information to obtain a search warrant and remove the other children from the home and place them with Arapahoe County social services.
The seven children, ranging in age from 8 to 15, are in separate foster homes and appear to be comfortable and relaxed, Jones said.
No arrests have been made. Thompson and his live-in girlfriend, Shelley Lowe, 32, remain people of interest whom police say they would like to interview.
The couple apparently have refused to be interviewed by police since the case became a homicide investigation. Before that, authorities said, the pair weren’t as cooperative as they could have been during the search for the girl.
However, the couple and Aaroné’s grandfather sought to counter that claim in a statement released Friday through Denver lawyer Leta Holden:
“Our family would like to express our deepest gratitude to those who have supported us through this difficult period. Despite the reports that have been circulated, our family has been and remains fully committed to cooperating with the authorities in helping end this nightmare. The home has been searched several times and each member of the family has submitted a DNA sample and fingerprints. Our family remains steadfast to the hope that our prayers will be answered and Aaroné is returned home safely.”
The case continues to draw attention from media and neighbors.
Rebecca Studley, 18, lives a few doors down from the Thompsons on the cul-de-sac in the Toll Gate Plaza neighborhood.
She returned for the weekend from college Friday to a street filled with news trucks.
“You hardly saw them,” she said about the children who lived in the house. “That’s the weirdest part of it all. When I was that age, I was always outside wreaking havoc.”
Jones on Friday couldn’t say for sure whether Aaroné had ever been in the house.
Authorities believe Aaroné last was alive 18 months ago, when a photograph of the smiling girl squinting into the sun was taken. It is the only recent photograph provided by the family.
Neighborhood children who frequented the home to play with the seven other children say they never met a girl named Aaroné. She wasn’t registered in any Colorado school, though she would have been in second grade.
“They never even mentioned her name,” said Tierra Stripling, 13. “I didn’t even know they had a little sister.”
Lynette Thompson, Aaroné’s mother, said she hadn’t seen her daughter since Aaron Thompson took the girl away in 2001. Lynette Thompson lives in a shelter in Detroit.
“It’s all Aaron’s fault,” she said. “Someone needs to arrest that man and lock him up. Something happened in that house. And I think it was the both of them.”
Lynette Thompson said she also wonders whether her daughter was killed.
“They might have traded her off. I’m not convinced she is dead. Until I see (proof), I’m not going to believe it.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
