Nevaeh investigators probe carpet fibers

Monroe -- Investigators in the Nevaeh Buchanan murder case are focusing on carpet fibers taken from the slain 5-year-old's apartment to see if they match fibers found on her body, neighbors and relatives said Wednesday.

Brittany Green, who lives in the Charlotte Arms Apartments, where Nevaeh lived, said police have been in and out of the complex in recent weeks gathering evidence, including swatches of brown carpet.

"They took pieces of carpet from the apartment (Tuesday), I think," said Green, 21. "I see detectives coming in and out of the building all the time. One time they were carrying big brown bags out of here."

Monroe County Sheriff's Department officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Nevaeh's autopsy revealed that carpet fibers were found under her fingernails, or on another part of her body, said her second cousin, Shawn Lawson, who said he spoke with police when they revealed the autopsy's results to the Buchanan family.

"The police told us they found carpet fibers," Lawson said. He confirmed that investigators took carpet samples from the girl's apartment.

The autopsy, details of which were released Tuesday, also showed that Nevaeh, who disappeared May 24, had dirt in her throat, indicating that she may have been buried alive.

Lawson said his cousin is grieving after hearing the results of Nevaeh's autopsy.

"It's rough," he said. "Just ask yourself how you would handle something like this. She's taking it hard. It's hard to deal with."

Buchanan spent most of the day Tuesday inside her basement apartment, behind a green door with a brass ornament bearing the number 63. Buchanan's mother, Sherry, her brother, Mike, and a friend spent the day with her, Lawson said.

Buchanan is "a prisoner in her own home," hiding not only from the news crews, which have been camped out in front of her apartment for the past two days, but from people who think she had something to do with her daughter's murder.

"Everyone's pointing the finger," Shawn Lawson said. "Everyone's playing the blame game."

Meanwhile, the case has become muddied by a swirl of rumors, even as police remain tight-lipped.

Nevaeh's great-aunt, Diana Lawson, refuted reports that Buchanan had disappeared.

"She's here," she said. "She's around. She's with her mother. People keep coming up with all these rumors, but Jennifer has not been charged with anything. She's innocent."

Jennifer Buchanan told The News last month she was hearing whispers from people who think she had something to do with her daughter's murder.

"I realize some people think I had something to do with it," Buchanan said during a June 18 interview. "I hear the rumors. I hear what people are saying. But none of it's true."

But the rumors continue.

Tuesday night, as Diana Lawson discussed the case with reporters, a friend approached and asked whether the autopsy report showed Nevaeh was alive for seven days after her abduction.

Lawson's eyes flashed angrily. "No, that ain't true," she said. "The cops never told us that. Where do people keep coming up with this stuff?"

Adding to the confusion was a false Amber Alert, which was sent Tuesday evening to the cell phones of several Charlotte Arms residents. The report claimed a 3-year-old girl was missing. A Monroe police dispatcher said the alert was a hoax, although since Nevaeh's disappearance, few parents allow their children to play in the parking lot of the apartment complex.

Otherwise, investigators have been tight-lipped about the case, although Shawn Lawson said he understood why police have been reluctant to speak.

"They don't want to let the suspect know about their investigation," he said. "We know they have to hold their tongues. There's information they don't want out there."

Sherry Buchanan, Nevaeh's grandmother, said she talked to Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield on Wednesday, and he said there was "stuff they want to keep secret."

She said her daughter, Jennifer, is cooperating with police.

Detectives on the case told Sherry Buchanan that the case is affecting them.

"They said they had kids themselves," she said, adding that she's devastated by the loss of Nevaeh.

"I still hurt," she said. "Every night before I got to sleep I look at her picture and tell her good night."

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