Private funding of DNA test in missing girl case refused

Two law enforcement agencies appear to have turned down offers to privately pay for and expedite DNA testing on an unidentifed Wisconsin girl who could be Everlyse Cabrera, a North Las Vegas foster child who disappeared in 2006.

In a Tuesday federal court hearing, attorney Dara Goldsmith, the court-appointed guardian for Everlyse, told Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leavitt that she was willing to use funds held in trust to bypass the public DNA testing backlog, which in Wisconsin is at least four months long.

That offer was extended to both North Las Vegas police and Green Bay, Wis., police, Goldsmith said.

"Both law enforcement agencies declined our offers," Goldsmith said at the hearing.

Goldsmith represents the interests of Everlyse in a civil action brought by the girl's birth parents against the child welfare system and the individuals responsible for oversight of the toddler while in foster care. Foster parents Manuel and Vilma Carrascal agreed to a $300,000 settlement and are no longer part of the case.

The settlement was paid by the insurance company that used to cover Clark County foster parents. The settlement is the source of the funding Goldsmith wanted to use to support private DNA testing of the mystery girl recently found by police in a Green Bay drug house.

North Las Vegas police spokesman Mark Hoyt denied that such an offer had been made. Even if it had been, Hoyt said it could not be accepted. The case belongs to Wisconsin police, Hoyt said. And lacking proof that the girl is Everlyse, North Las Vegas has no authority to act.

"I know for a fact that if we had a positive match, we'd send detectives there now," Hoyt said. "If the little girl said: 'My name is Everlyse,' we'd be there in a heartbeat. But we don't know who this little girl is. We can't go there. It's not our case."

Green Bay police officials could not be reached for comment on the case.

When called at her office, Goldsmith reaffirmed that the offers for private DNA testing had been made through private investigator David Groover. Groover has been retained to look into the disappearance of Everlyse, last seen by the Carrascals.

Groover confirmed Tuesday that he had made the offers of private DNA testing to both North Las Vegas and Green Bay police agencies. Goldsmith said she was even willing to pay for the cost of a North Las Vegas police officer to fly to Green Bay with the DNA sample to speed up the process of identification.

"We're trying to do our best to find her," Goldsmith said.

Leavitt noted during the hearing that the identity of the Wisconsin girl is an important element of the pending case, which is still in the discovery stage. Leavitt said it's not likely the case would go to trial until early 2009.

Last week, Green Bay police backed away from the idea that the girl they have in custody is Everlyse, a theory they developed after searching a database of missing children and finding photos of Everlyse that resembled the child they recovered. Investigators now think the girl they rescued is the child of a former inmate at a North Las Vegas women's prison.

But Goldsmith said the possibility of Everlyse being found, however slim, can't be discounted without DNA test results.

Wisconsin police said that it could take up to three months for the DNA test results in this case to become available. That's why Goldsmith wanted to speed up the process.

She's also seeking photos of the child Green Bay has in custody. To her knowledge, Goldsmith said that Everlyse's birth mother, Marlena Olivas, has not been shown a photo of the girl.

Olivas and Ernesto Cabrera retain parental rights over Everlyse, who was taken from them after they had problems with illegal drug use. Their lawsuit alleges that Everlyse was endangered by flaws in the child welfare system, including a lack of supervision of the foster home and poor screening and training of foster parents.

Everlyse was 2 1/2 years old when she was reported missing on June 10, 2006. In their only interview with police, the Carrascals said the girl had pulled a chair up to the front door and let herself out of the house sometime between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt, pink shorts and no shoes. The Carrascals have since refused to be reinterviewed. During the course of the lawsuit, they exercised their Fifth Amendment rights during deposition.

Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Lisa Kim Bach at lbach@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0287.