By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Detectives ran into somewhat of a dead end when they followed up a family member’s lead that the 2010 disappearance of Lewis County teen Kayla Croft-Payne may be related to a photographer she met with on a website called Model Mayhem, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said today.
[1]Kayla Croft-Payne
Using a search warrant to get information in mid-March from the company that houses information for the site, deputies were told there was no account history on the website for Croft-Payne, according to the sheriff’s office.
Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said in a news release detectives worked with Internet Brands Inc. looking at all the accounts from Western Washington. They checked the young woman’s identity information, email addresses and used facial recognition imagery in reverse, according to Brown.
Croft-Payne was 18 and living in rural Chehalis when she was reported missing in the spring of 2010, by a roommate who hadn’t seen her for several days.
Her aunt, Karen Hinton, recently told detectives the girl’s last posting on social media sites suggested she had gone to get pictures taken for a modeling portfolio and asked them to look into Model Mayhem. Hinton had begun working with a Vancouver, Wash.-based organization.
In March, National Women’s Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation contacted numerous members of the press to describe how Croft-Payne is one of three young women around the country who posted photos and information about themselves on the same modeling website and left for modeling only to never return home.
Brown indicated today that when detectives briefed family members of what they discovered, they were told a family member had located the particular account she had seen and it turned out to be on a different modeling website.
The sheriff’s office will follow up on the new information, Brown stated.
Last week, the Vancouver group announced it has created a task force to investigate online modeling sites which are involved in criminal activity, saying it is aware of many cases that involve rape, trafficking, murder and other violence and abuse toward females.
Brown says the sheriff’s office is actively following up on all leads and tips related to Croft-Payne’s disappearance. They ask anyone who knows anything about the case please call them or contact Crime Stoppers of Lewis County, at 1-800-748-6422.
•••
For background, read “Kayla Croft-Payne: Family of missing girl questions link to modeling website” from Monday April 29, 2013, here [2]