"Shannon VerHage"<BR> Posted by Ishtar93 on Jan-19-01 at 10:27 PM (EST)<BR> Police to dredge lake for evidence of missing persons <P> Friday, January 19, 2001<P> NEWAYGO -- State police have been issued a permit allowing them to dredge sections of the murky<BR> Oxford Lake in Newaygo County to find evidence related to the case of a missing 1-year-old and<BR> three men who disappeared in 1997.<P> That summer, turtle hunters found the body of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman in the lake. The Cedar<BR> Springs woman's mouth had been covered with tape and her body weighted down with cinder blocks<BR> and chains. Police believe she was alive when she was put in the water.<P> She had disappeared a month earlier during an outing with her baby daughter, Shannon VerHage.<P> The child was not found.<P> They disappeared two days before Timmerman was to appear in court to testify against Marvin<BR> Gabrion Jr., whom she had accused of sexually assaulting her.<P> Federal prosecutors have charged Gabrion with Timmerman's murder and have said they believe the<BR> child may be dead, too.<P> No trial date has been set, but federal prosecutors have said evidence against him includes a map of<BR> Oxford Lake with a reference to three bodies in the water, allegedly written by Gabrion. Baby bottle<BR> nipples and diapers were found at Gabrion's camp site near the lake.<P> Three other men who allegedly had contact with Gabrion also are missing, police have said.<P> Authorities already have searched the lake several times with divers and cadaver-sniffing dogs. The<BR> dogs have reacted to areas of the lake, barking or biting at the water, police have said.<P> State police last fall applied for a permit from the state's Department of Environmental Quality to<BR> remove soil and muck from the lake's bottom in specific areas.<P> The dredging request was granted in November, said Charles Dogers, an environmental quality<BR> analyst. It's good through the end of this year, and allows them to remove up to 300 cubic yards of<BR> material from the lake.<P> Dogers said he does not know when police plan to dredge the lake. They are not required to notify<BR> the DEQ before they begin.<P> Detectives working on the case declined to comment, saying a federal judge's order prevented them<BR> from discussing the investigation.<P><BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> SHANNON DALE VERHAGE <BR> Case Type :Nonfamily Abduction<BR> DOB :jun-15-1996 Age :4 years<BR> Height : 2' 6" - 76 cm <BR> Weight : 30 lbs - 14 kg <BR> Eyes :Blue Hair : Blonde <BR> Circumstances : Shannon's photo is shown age-progressed to 2 1/2 years. Age-progression by the<BR> FBI (10/26/98). Shannon was last seen on June 3, 1997 in Cedar Springs, Michigan, with her mother.<BR> Her mother has since been found deceased. Shannon's whereabouts are unknown. She was last seen<BR> wearing a tricolored dress and a diaper. <BR> Date Missing :jun-03-1997 <BR> City of Report :CEDAR SPRINGS <BR> State of Report :MI <BR> Country of Report :USA <BR> Case Number :835530 <P> National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

She would be 6 now