Abbygail Dice 1 month old, Msg 09/18/07, St Thomas Canada

[sarahhod]

Abbygail hearing begins
Thu, January 15, 2009
Her mom is charged with causing an indignity to the infant's body

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/01/15/8030566-sun.html




ST. THOMAS -- A preliminary hearing for a St. Thomas mother whose month-old baby mysteriously disappeared from her apartment more than a year ago began yesterday.

Sara Whittington, 33, charged with causing an indignity to her infant daughter's body, sat quietly in court beside her lawyer, Bill Glover, sometimes taking notes as evidence began in the disappearance of Abbygail Dice.

Baby Abbygail was one month old when she vanished without a trace on Sept. 18, 2007.

Justice Gregory Pockele ordered a publication ban on evidence at the hearing, held to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

Whittington has been out of custody and on bail since her arrest last May.


At that time, St. Thomas police said they believed the baby's body was disposed at Hawk Cliff, just east of Port Stanley along Lake Erie.

No body has ever been found.

Glover has been steadfast in support of his client, holding news conferences in the early days of the investigation proclaiming Whittington's innocence and standing by her after her arrest.

Whittington was found alone in her Confederation Drive apartment in Sept. 20, 2007. She claimed to have no memory about what happened to the child. There were reports she was in a diabetic coma.

Whittington spent several days in hospital.

The baby's disappearance sparked a groundswell of community support and a reward was offered for the baby's return.

The hearing is expected to last the rest of the week.

[sarahhod]

Whittington back on Dec. 23
Posted By Kyle Rea, TIMES-JOURNAL STAFF

http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1327941


The case of a St. Thomas woman charged with causing an indignity to a body after her one-month-old daughter went missing last September will return to court in three weeks' time.

Sara Whittington, 33, didn't appear in St. Thomas court Tuesday, but her lawyer Bill Glover appeared on her behalf.

Crown attorney Doug Walker asked that the case be adjourned to Dec. 23 so they can subpoena one remaining witness, a police officer, in the case.

Justice Michael O'Dea agreed to the adjournment.

Whittington was charged with causing an indignity to a human body on May 1 in connection with the disappearance of one-month-old Abbygail Dice on Sept. 18, 2007. Abbygail, her daughter, has never been found. Whittington was released on bail with a $25,000 surety and agreed to comply with conditions.

A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 14-16 in the Ontario Court of Justice, St. Thomas.

The maximum sentence for causing an indignity to a body is five years in prison.

[sarahhod]

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=14485338
MISSING ABBYGAIL ELIZABETH DICE

[sarahhod]

Monday, June 02, 2008


Abbygails mother out on bail, and pregnant....
Current mood: nauseated
Category: News and Politics


The spot where Police beleive abbygails body was laid to rest illegally.

BABY ABBYGAIL: Sara Whittington is charged with causing an indignity to a body in her infant's disappearance
Mother gets bail


ST. THOMAS -- Lake Erie's waters roil and crash at the edge of steep Hawk Cliff.

The wind picks up at the bird watcher's haven, with its breathtaking view of the lake, just east of Port Stanley.

It's there, St. Thomas police believe, that Sara Whittington, 33, disposed of the body of her baby girl, Abbygail Dice.

Police made the startling revelation in a news release yesterday, just as Whittington -- six months pregnant -- was in court here for a bail hearing, charged with causing an indignity to a body.

Police have searched the Hawk Cliff area a number of times during the last seven months, looking for the child who was one month old when she vanished from her mother's care.

They were there again last Saturday, a day after Whittington was charged.

But no body has been found.

"We come here to enjoy this spot," Kristina Nethercott, who lives near the cliff, said yesterday while dog-walking.

Whittington was released on $25,000, no-deposit bail into the care of her parents, Gail and William Dice of London, with whom she's lived since the infant's bizarre disappearance in September from her St. Thomas apartment.

The expressionless Whittington, dressed in a loud paisley-print maternity shirt, hair pulled back in a loose bun, sat quietly in the prisoner's box, eyeglasses in her hand, as Justice of the Peace Jamie Shortt made the order to release her.

A publication ban was imposed on all the evidence at the hearing.

Whittington must live with her parents and go to court for approval should she want to make an address change.

She must also stay in Ontario and is prohibited from having any weapons.

Whittington said a soft "yes" -- so softly, she had to say it twice for the court reporter to hear -- when asked if she understood.

Her lawyer, Bill Glover, who has offered unwavering support for his client for months, asked that the case return to court May 13 for Crown disclosure.

He said he wants to "fast-track" the case.

Outside court -- after Whittington and her parents tried to avoid the media, leaving through a side door and speeding away in the family's car -- Glover said he wants a preliminary hearing held "in the next month or two."

"I want the wheels of justice to move quickly," Glover said, mainly because Whittington is pregnant.

His client suffers from diabetes and was found confused and disoriented in her apartment last Sept. 20, two days after the baby was last seen.

She was hospitalized several days while police looked for the child.

During recent months, there has been a $25,000 reward offered by Whittington for the baby's return and Glover has suggested someone else was at Whittington's Confederation Drive apartment that night.

Asked about his client's health, Glover was coy.

"Who could feel well in these circumstances?" he asked.

The criminal charge has shocked the community, especially those who took up Whittington's cause, held vigils for Abbygail, wore peach ribbons of support and started web pages in her honour.

"I'm very disgusted with this, it's awful," said Tiffany Adams, who started a Facebook page with her mother for Abbygail and was in the courtroom for the hearing.

"I, myself, am a mother and I don't understand how that happens," she said.

Adams said she still "has faith" the baby will be found, but has lost hope she will be alive.

St. Thomas Const. Anders Nielsen said searchers have found no trace of the baby.

"They haven't found anything and I can't say how many times we've been out there (Hawk Cliff)," he said.

He declined to go into details of the investigation or any evidence that has been gathered.

Nielsen said Hawk Cliff -- only minutes south of St. Thomas, at the end of what is the city's Fairview Avenue -- is "a very rough area" and "very difficult terrain to search."

All attempts to find the missing girl have come up "negative," he said.

The birds have returned to the cliff and so will the nature lovers. But the police belief that the missing baby's body was, or still is, there has suddenly changed the place.

"You don't think of that in a small area, a small rural area," Nethercott said.

"Or even in St. Thomas."

Jane Sims is a Free Press justice reporter.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=14485338&blogID=401781343

[sarahhod]

http://i44.tinypic.com/2chnmdv.jpghttp://i42.tinypic.com/14w4oqd.jpg

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=14485338&albumId=1371470

[sarahhod]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2zfih7b.jpg
This is abbygails mom sarah whom is the only poi

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=14485338&albumId=1371470

[sarahhod]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nc92rW25Sn0

[sarahhod]

Few attend Abbygail hearing
Posted By Kyle Rea, TIMES-JOURNAL STAFF
Posted 1 hour ago

http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1389378


A preliminary hearing opened Wednesday for a St. Thomas mother charged with indignity to a human body after the disappearance of her one-month-old daughter, Abbygail.

But a case that generated plenty of public interest when it first broke in September, 2007, drew only four people to court proceedings.

Dressed in a green top with a green-and-white skirt, Sara Whittington, 33, sat quietly, taking notes and listening to testimony during her appearance in St. Thomas court. She was flanked by her two lawyers, Bill Glover and Bevan Earhart.

Justice Gregory Pockele is hearing the case.

A preliminary hearing allows both the Crown and defence to call witnesses and test the evidence in a case. At the end, the presiding judge will determine if there's enough evidence to send the case to trial.

Details of the hearing are under a court-ordered publication ban.

Only four people -- two members of the public, along with representatives from the Times-Journal and London Free Press -- attended the hearing Wednesday morning. Two people were in the public gallery for afternoon proceedings.

Abbygail was last seen with her mother on Sept. 18, 2007. Two days later, Whittington was found unconscious and in a diabetic coma in her 88 Confederation Dr. apartment. Her daughter was nowhere to be found and that immediately sparked an extensive police investigation. Abbygail's disappearance also galvanized the community which came together to search nearby neighbourhoods as well as wooded areas and fields for the infant.

Abbygail has never been found.

Whittington was subsequently arrested in May, 2008 and charged with indignity to a human body.

She was released on bail May 5 with a $25,000 surety with conditions.

The preliminary hearing is set to resume at 10 a.m. today and continue on Friday. Feb. 2 has also been set aside as a fourth day, if necessary.

[Roamer]

For that sweet little baby girl. :1222423:

[Amusedtdth]

I don't understand what gives LE the idea she threw her baby over the cliffs?!?

[sarahhod]

Mother on trial after girl vanishes

Posted By SUN MEDIA

Posted 55 mins ago

Sarah Whittington was ordered committed to stand trial Tuesday by an Ontario Court of Justice on a charge of causing an indignity to a human body in connection with the disappearance of a one-month old baby girl in 2007.
Justice Gregory Pockele ruled Whittington committed to stand trial at the conclusion of the preliminary hearing Monday in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Thomas.
The hearing lasted four days with four Crown witnesses testifying and no defence witnesses called.
An order was made at the start of the hearing banning publication of evidence.
Whittington, 34, was charged with causing an indignity to a human body on May 1 in connection with the disappearance of one-month-old Abbygail Dice on Sept. 18, 2007. Abbygail, Whittington's daughter, has never been found.
Her next court appearance will be Feb. 20 in Superior Court in St. Thomas at assignment court.

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1416594

[Carriedenaee]

I don't understand what gives LE the idea she threw her baby over the cliffs?!?

im with you..i guess i am missing something????

[grammybears]

My memory may be wrong but it seems to me early on in the case, the mother had said she had a dream about being at Hawkes Cliffe and the child went down in the water or something like that. I believe that may be where the theory came from. I do not have a link so I will just say jmoo