Police Search Uncle's Property for Missing Girl

A 12-year-old Vermont girl, whose disappearance last week touched off the state's first-ever Amber Alert, is still missing and authorities are searching the property of her uncle, a registered sex offender. Michael Jacques, the uncle of Brooke Bennett, has been arrested on an unrelated charge of aggravated sexual assault and is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

As police began to look for clue in Brooke's disappearance, they developed evidence against Jacques in connection with the sexual assault of another relative.

Vermont State Police Col. James Baker said in a news conference that Jacques became a "person of interest" in the case over the weekend as investigators began to examine Brooke's computer records.

Last Wednesday, Brooke Bennett was dropped off at a convenience store by her uncle, Michael Jacques, and her cousin. Surveillance video showed them leaving the store in different directions, Brooke walking toward downtown Randolph.

Authorities originally suspected that Brooke may have run away in order to meet up with someone whom she met on Facebook, a social networking site. Their investigation of Brooke's online activities apparently lead detectives in Jacques' direction.

9-Year-Old Sexually Assaulted

They also interviewed another girl, a relative of Jacques', who told police that she was sexually assaulted by him for five years, from age nine until a few weeks ago. The girl told police that when she was 9, she was told - by a telephone call and a note left under her pillow - that she had been selected for enrollment in a "program for sex" and that Jacques was to be her trainer.

The girl was threatened with death if she did not cooperate.

Investigators are not sure if the sex ring really existed or it was a ploy by Jacques to get the girl to have sex with him. "The State Police would like to speak with any child or teenager who may have had contact with Michael Jacques," Col. Baker said.

After Jacques' arrest, police searched his home and property, on the ground and in the air, for evidence of the missing Brooke Bennett.

See Also:
Police Hunt for Missing 12-Year-Old Girl
Uncle of Missing Vermont Girl Arrested
Search for Missing Girl Turns to Uncle's Property

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^{Photo: Family Photo}