Aurora – Police went on the defensive Saturday over a newly resurrected report that a bus driver remembered having Aaroné Thompson as a passenger a few days after she was reported missing by her father.
“We have been unable to corroborate that report,” said police spokesman Marcus Dudley. “It’s just not possible that he saw her when he did. … It simply could not have happened the way he said it happened.”
Police heard the allegation before and investigated it. But they said bus driver Wayne Jones would have had to assume what Aaroné looked like because the only recent photograph of her was taken 19 months ago.
Jones’ account of the girl’s appearance is “not consistent with what we believe Aaroné would look like,” Dudley said at a news conference Saturday.
Jones couldn’t be reached for comment.
The subject was brought up again in television reports during the weekend. One station interviewed the bus driver. That prompted Aurora police to hold the news conference.
Aaroné, who would be 7 years old, was reported missing by her father, Aaron Thompson, 38, on Nov. 14. Police searched for the girl for three days before determining the case was a homicide.
Jones’ tip also didn’t mesh with what witnesses told police that made them believe Aaroné was killed, Dudley said.
Police believe Aaroné has been dead for as long as 19 months. No arrests or suspects have been named in the disappearance, but Thompson and his live-in girlfriend, Shelley Lowe, 32, are considered persons of interest. They have refused to cooperate with the police’s homicide investigation.
“They are the key to the investigation,” Dudley said. “And we still have not had that opportunity to talk to them.”
On Friday, for the first time in more than a month, Thompson and Lowe saw the eight children who were taken from their care because of the criminal allegations. The children, who range from 1 month to 15 years old, are in foster care.
About 11 a.m. Friday, Thompson and Lowe arrived in a rental car and carried pizza, soda and wrapped Christmas presents to the supervised visitation at the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services building. Two and a half hours later, the couple emerged from the building but didn’t respond to reporters’ questions, offering only a quiet “Merry Christmas.”
A stranger jumped from his parked car and shouted to the couple, “God bless you two.”
Lowe quietly said, “Thank you.”
Lowe and Thompson are embroiled in an ongoing court case to regain custody of the children – the couple’s 1-month-old daughter; Thompson’s son, Aaron Thompson Jr.; and Lowe’s five children and her 15-year- old brother.
The Rev. Acen Phillips spoke to Thompson and Lowe after their visitation Friday, saying the couple treated the event like Christmas.
“It was an awesome day,” Phillips said. “This was a bright light for them. Aaron was more excited than I ever had seen him.”
Before the meeting, lead Detective Randy Hansen went into the building and didn’t emerge until after Thompson and Lowe left.
Sources close to the investigation say serious limitations were placed on the visit. The parents weren’t allowed to privately speak with the children. Caseworkers were present at all times.
Nevertheless, Phillips said, he was told the meeting was emotional and uplifting.
“If you can imagine how they felt not being able to touch these children. And (Friday), to see them,” he said. “For a moment I think they forgot all about the tragedies.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer may be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
