Missing child found in Mexico
Reunited with father
from Cannon Falls
Internet social media and mainly some good old fashioned sleuthing resulted in the return of the six-year-old daughter of former Cannon Falls resident Dayton Clevenger, who had moved to Denver, Colorado to be closer to his child, according to the child’s grandmother, Dawn Clevenger, who also moved there. The family is living together.
After approximately seven months of searching by U.S. authorities, six-year-old Eden Marie was found in Mexico with her mother, Brittany Nunn, step-father, Peter Barr, and four-year-old sister, Gema, who was also being searched for by a separate father. Two other siblings were with the group.
Originally, the Rochester/Pine Island area in Minnesota had been on alert as it was possible the group could locate here.
Disappearance...
The Nunn-Barr family disappeared after Dayton was given certain custody rights at the end of November, according to newspaper reports.
Dawn Clevenger notified her Facebook friends of the situation. On Dec. 29, 2014 she pleaded with the mother and step-father of her granddaughter to “stop running and turn yourselves in...”
A Colorado judge had issued warrants for the mother’s arrest and said the child was in “imminent danger.”
Investigation...
According to newspaper reports, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office Investigator had filed many search warrants to trace the Nunn/Barr location.
A private investigator from Minnesota, Hilary DeVary, explained that she investigated leads from the general public, used her investigative databases along with surveillance in Colorado and “dumpster diving” certain people who may have had contact with family with the result that she was able to find out that they were in Mexico.
Hilary added that she found various American stores in Mexico like CostCo, etc. so she was able to confirm that the family was in Cabo San Lucas and received packages at a mail-packaging store. She even tracked down an order from a clothing store for maternity clothes back in May apparently for Brittany Nunn.
Hilary had a contact with immigration and with “extreme careful surveilance” found where they lived. She added, that she put her investigator in a nearby vacant apartment to monitor the situation while immigration was organizing their plan.
On July 7th Hilary explained, the family was detained and “19 hours later deported back to Denver.”
Meanwhile, back at home...
Back at home Dawn recalled that the missing family still had a Colorado vehicle with a Wyoming license plate on their car.
Dawn had also been interviewed on Unsolved Mysteries which was aired on their website on March 13, 2015.
Working together with Federal authorities in the U.S. and Mexico, the Nunn/Barr’s were brought back to the U.S. and father and daughter were reunited on July 8.
Now the Clevenger family can watch little Eden open the birthday, Christmas and Easter presents that have been waiting for her.
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All three Clevengers are coming back to Cannon Falls for a fundraiser for Eden Marie planned by the Wangen Prairie Church on Saturday, Sept 12 from 2-5 p.m. It will be an Ice Cream Social with Silent Auction, craft and bake sale along with a picnic lunch. Missing Children Minnesota will attend and explain their program and support.
The funds raised, Dawn explained, are to help with all the expenses: court costs, attorney fees, private investigators and intensive emotional therapy for the child.
The $2000 reward that had been donated by Dawn and two others was given to the private investigator, who Dawn explained, “is like an angel to us”.
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Pictures:
Dayton Clevenger, daughter Eden Marie and Dawn Clevenger reunited. Photo by Ryan Martin of Colorado.
Missing persons flyer posted by grandmother, Dawn Clevenger, on Facebook.
