WESTON — The prosecution believes it has a number of significant holes in the story that Lena Lunsford-Conaway told police about Aliayah Lunsford’s disappearance on Sept. 24, 2011.
Prosecutors believe there are holes in both the statements Lunsford made in the immediate aftermath of Aliayah Lunsford’s disappearance and holes in the idea that she was kidnapped.
Five members of law enforcement from local, state and federal agencies testified about the early days in the investigation.
FBI Special Agent Fred Aldridge told the court Tuesday afternoon that it seemed highly unlikely that a kidnapper could have removed Aliayah from her bed, considering how close the beds were to two of her siblings who shared a room with her.
Aldridge said it is likely a person in the room would have disturbed the other children. He also noticed that the screen door of the Bendale home emitted significant noise when it was opened or closed. He suggested that someone would have heard if the home had been broken into and that there had been no signs a break-in had occurred at all.
Weston Police Chief Josh Thomas also testified, mostly reading Lena Lunsford’s statement about the events of Sept. 23, 2011 and Sept. 24, 2011.
Christopher Smith of the State Police also testified. He spoke mostly about the protocol of searching homes in missing children cases.
During the course of the afternoon, the state played audio recordings of a drive Lunsford took with an FBI agent following Aliayah’s disappearance. The FBI agent said the point of the drive with Lena was to “establish a timeline of events” and “see if she talked to anyone and where she looked for Aliayah.”
It was noted that Lunsford’s search consisted of mostly driving, but no searching on foot. She claimed she had “tunnel vision” and just hoped “someone had seen her.”
The defense, led by attorney Tom Dyer, is arguing that without a body, there’s no actual evidence the crime took place, other than testimony from the witness identified as DC — who testified on Monday.
State Police Sgt. Shannon Loudin was the second member of law enforcement to take the stand in the trial, recounting the opening days after Aliayah Lunsford’s disappearance was reported.
Loudin recounted discrepancies, including that Lena Lunsford told police she had been looking for Aliayah around 9:30 Saturday morning, Sept. 24. But Loudin said video surveillance shows the Lunsford van leaving their Bendale home at 9:13 and going directly out of town.
At 11:27 a.m., the Lunsford van returned to their Bendale home. At 11:31 a.m., Lunsford called 911.
DC told the court on Monday that the Lunsford family was in the van with Lena Lunsford, en route to a small community called Vadis.
She claims that’s where Lena Lunsford buried the remains of then 3-year-old Aliayah Lunsford.
Loudin interviewed two of Lunsford’s other children during the initial investigation phase in 2011, telling the court he felt the children’s stories felt rehearsed and emotionless.
As the investigation progressed, Loudin said he was part of a number of follow-up’s on leads and tips provided to law enforcement. Each one was disproven, including a wild claim that Aliayah Lunsford had been seen at Disney World.
But Loudin believed the information he received from DC in October 2016 might have panned out. Loudin told the court that DC and another witness, known as KC, were able to separately bring investigators to the same location where they claimed Aliayah Lunsford’s body had been left in 2011.
It was Sgt. Loudin who served the warrant for Lunsford-Conaway’s arrest in Florida in November 2016. He recalled her reaction upon seeing him.
“She said, ‘Oh my God. Did you find Aliayah? Am I in trouble?'” Loudin told the court.
But the defense took an opportunity to cross-examine Loudin, suggesting that there remains no evidence that Lena Lunsford killed Aliayah Lunsford, no evidence that — if dead — Aliayah died from a blow to the head, and that the wooden bed slat was never taken into evidence.
It was also revealed that Aliayah had been suffering from the flu at the time of her disappearance. Dyer also suggested that it was possible that medication provided to Aliayah could have caused death, even at one point suggesting that Lena Lunsford had “found a dead 3-year-old.”
Tom Dyer walked that back though, saying that was part of the state’s theory about how the events of Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 occurred.
Additionally, Dyer claimed that, without a body or remains, there isn’t much proof that a crime occurred.
Sgt. Shannon Loudin also testified that there was a “slim chance” of police finding Lunsford’s body in the Vadis area, due to the time that had passed since the original allegation.
He suggested, if anything, they might find bones and hair.
Following the conclusion of the second day of the trial, Judge Jacob E. Reger told the jury that the prosecution was “flying through the witness list” and that he did not expect the trial to last the projected two weeks.
WV Metronews’ Alex Wiederspiel, Brittany Murray, and Carrie Hodousek all contributed to this report.
