Alexis Murphy, Abductions in Central Virginia, Samantha Clarke

UPDATE

NELSON COUNTY, Va. -- A Nelson County judge has denied bond for abduction-suspect Randy Taylor.

WDBJ reported the ruling was made in court Thursday afternoon.
...

Hallahan claimed in court Thursday that evidence against his client wasn't enough to justify the abduction charge.

Taylor waived his right to a preliminary hearing, according to WDBJ. The case will go to a grand jury September 26.

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5:38 EDT

Below is an additional update. It seems the page I linked above continues to be updated with more details of the search being conducted at an undisclosed location...

Nelson Co., VA – Officials in Nelson County are searching a piece of land in connection with the disappearance investigation of Alexis Murphy. The search started around 9 a.m. Thursday and could last into the evening.

They're at the same property investigators visited last week where they found tire tracks. Monday, officials took a casting of that track to compare to the tires on Taylor's truck. The land owner says that officials confirmed the track on his property did NOT match that of suspect Randy Taylor's truck.

But that doesn't mean the investigation here is over.

Investigators do not want us to release the exact location of the property and we are not revealing the property owner's name, but after seeing our coverage of Alexis Murphy's disappearance, the owner decided to take a look at his property just to see if there was anything out of place.

Still, a search team of about a dozen people took four four-wheelers and four police dogs onto that land Thursday.

Investigators would not say if they intended to search all of the 500 acre property, and they would not let us past their base camp at the property line. They also would not say what exactly they are looking for.

Officials are combing through multiple areas in the search for Alexis.

Car show raises $5,000 for Alexis Murphy family
Posted on: 2:45 pm, August 26, 2013, by Jennifer Burns

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WTVR) – A community pitched in and raised $5,000 dollars for the family of a missing Nelson County teenager.
Pink bows were tied to the cars entered in Saturday’s car show in Charlottesville, to raise money for the parents of Alexis Murphy.
Organizers asked spectators for donations. The 17-year -old was last seen on August 3.
Randy Taylor is charged with abduction in connection to her disappearance and is being held without bond.

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Randy Taylor in Court, Trial Date Set for Probation Violation

--snip--
The prime suspect in the disappearance of a Nelson County teenager emerged from jail Thursday morning. Randy Allen Taylor, 48, made a brief appearance in Albemarle Circuit Court – for another case.

Taylor now faces allegations of probation violation on a 2005 arson conviction. Court records reveal this is the second charge of probation violation on the same conviction - he pleaded guilty to setting a car on fire almost eight years ago.

Part of his sentence required him to pay back more than $6,000 to replace money Taylor collected from an insurance company. In June 2011, he appeared in court on the first probation violation for not paying that money. He was put on a monthly payment plan but hasn't paid since last January.

The new probation violation came up during last week's bond hearing in the Alexis Murphy case as a reason for the court to keep Taylor in jail.

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Dozens of Personnel, Search Dog Teams, Dive Team, Search for Alexis Murphy
August 31 2013

--snip--
Nelson Co., VA – Multiple search and rescue teams, more than 50 personnel in all, are currently searching for Alexis Murphy in Nelson County Saturday.

The search crews gathered Saturday morning around 7 a.m.

A dive team is searching Rockfish River, and 12 search dog teams are also searching multiple locations.

ABC 13 is working to find out what spawned the search Saturday morning.

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Rescuers, Family, Not Giving Up On Finding Alexis Murphy


--snip--
It has been nearly a month since 17-year-old Alexis Murphy was last seen.

Investigators say they won't quit searching until they find her and bring her home.

More than 50 professional search and rescue personnel were on the ground in Nelson County Saturday, looking for anything that may lead them to Alexis.

Their search focused right around Route 29, Rockfish River, and other secondary roads in the area.
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Mays says some of the areas are where residents claim to have seen Taylor in the days after Alexis went missing.

"Some of the areas that we are searching there's been witnesses that think they may have seen Taylor in these areas. Some of the areas are in close proximity to where he was residing, then other areas are just secondary roads that are very secluded and off the beaten path," Mays said.

As for the family, they are staying positive and are confident that Alexis is coming home.

"I can't focus on negative thoughts right now, it's why I don't respond to negative thoughts on social media and negative thoughts from other people. It's just I don't have the energy nor the time to deal with that right now I just need to focus on finding Alexis," Trina Murphy said.

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Alexis Murphy search teams find red sweater
Posted: Aug 31, 2013 9:18 PM MDT Updated: Aug 31, 2013 9:42 PM MDT

There has been a possible development in the search for 17-year old Alexis Murphy.

The Times Dispatch is reporting that Saturday, search teams found a red sweater under a rock in the Rockfish River.

Murphy was seen on surveillance tape wearing a red sweater before her disappearance.

Search teams have turned the sweater over to investigators.

We are continuing to follow this development and will bring you more details as they become available.

Investigators mum about Alexis Murphy river search
Posted on: 1:39 pm, September 2, 2013, by Nick Dutton and Rob Cardwell


NELSON COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) — Investigators in Nelson County are being tightlipped about what, if anything, they discovered during a river search for clues about a missing teen.
Authorities will not say if they found a piece of Alexis Murphy’s clothing in a river over the weekend. ...

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Parker Slaybaugh ABC 13

NEW INFORMATION: ALEXIS MURPHY'S CELL PHONE HAS BEEN FOUND. THEY WON'T SAY WHEN OR WHERE IT WAS FOUND BUT IT WAS FOUND BEFORE THIS PAST SATURDAY.

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Alexis Murphy's Cell Phone Found

---snip---
During this investigation, the Murphy family and investigators requested the public’s assistance in locating Alexis’ phone. Law enforcement have since confirmed that several phones were recovered during the course of this investigation; however until analysis of items sent to the FBI Laboratory were completed it was not clear if any of the phones were Alexis’.

The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office of Nelson County and the Investigative Partners in the Murphy investigation are announcing that one of the phones located has since been positively identified as that of Alexis Murphy. Since this is an on-going sensitive investigation, where evidentiary items and search information is sealed; no further discussion will be entertained. This sole release of information is only being made to advise the public that we no longer need assistance looking for that one item.

In order to protect the integrity of the investigation and ensure that Mr. Randy Allen Taylor gets a fair trial in Nelson County, Virginia, absolutely no further information will be released about this investigation.


--more@link

Parker Slaybaugh ABC 13

BREAKING: Investigators have just confirmed to me that a red sweater that was pulled from Rockfish River this past weekend IS NOT Alexis Murphy's!

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Lead Investigator in the Alexis Murphy Case: 'I Have No Doubt We Have the Right Person'

--snip--

Lead investigator Billy Mays has been in law enforcement for more than 13 years.

"This as a whole, this is the largest case of my career, as far as the man power and the magnitude it's a very, very large case," Mays said.

Mays has said from the very beginning that Alexis Murphy's cell phone was important to find. Now that the phone has been found, Mays says it has proven to be a critical piece of evidence.

"I feel that it is going to prove crucial to this case," Mays said.

Investigator Mays won't say what was found on Murphy's phone, but knowing what he knows, he says he's confident Randy Taylor is her abductor.

"This gentleman is a predator, and if he is out on the street he's going to do it again, and keeping him where he is probably going to save lives. I have no doubt that we have the right person," Mays said.
--more@link.

Thanks for the update, ellejay. This isn't sounding good for Alexis Murphy. She hasn't been seen for over a month. My heart goes out to her family and friends.

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BREAKING: New details in case of missing Nelson County teen Alexis Murphy

We have new details into the Alexis Murphy abduction case in Nelson County. According to investigators, they have made contact with someone they describe as a "person of interest" in the case.

Investigators could not give anymore details but say they are following up with this person in regards to the teen's disappearance.

Back in August, Randy Taylor's attorney told WDBJ7 that Taylor was not the last person to see Murphy before she went missing. He said Murphy left Taylor's home with another man.

Investigators plan to follow up with this person of interest and will release more details when they can.

September 24,2013.

Nelson Co grand jury indicts Randy  Taylor for the abduction of #AlexisMurphy and an unrelated charge of possessing a stolen ATV.

NBC29 ‏@NBC29    
Randy Taylor’s next court appearance will be in the Nelson Circuit Court on October 23 at 3:00 p.m. for a trial date to be set.

ellejay wrote:September 24,2013.

Nelson Co grand jury indicts Randy  Taylor for the abduction of #AlexisMurphy and an unrelated charge of possessing a stolen ATV.

NBC29 ‏@NBC29    
Randy Taylor’s next court appearance will be in the Nelson Circuit Court on October 23 at 3:00 p.m. for a trial date to be set.

Great News!

Just heard they had enough evidence to take this to trial. Saw it on our local news.

Thanks for the updates.