Mother Arrested In Boy's Death -- 6-Year-Old's Body Was Found At Boat Landing
EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon state police arrested the mother of Ryan Bird early today in the killing of the 6-year-old Cottage Grove boy.
Tamara Cherie Bird, 27, was held at the Lane County Jail for investigation of murder. Police arrested the woman about 2:45 a.m. in Cottage Grove, about 20 miles south of Eugene.
Ryan was believed to have died in a home about two miles from Cottage Grove, according to prosecutors.He vanished Sunday afternoon, reportedly after going for a bike ride.
His body was found yesterday morning in a portable toilet at the Scotts Creek boat landing on the Umpqua River 45 miles southwest of Cottage Grove.
The boy lived in Lane County, the body was found in Douglas County.
Police gave no details on the condition of the boy's body or how the boy died.
Duane Marcotte, the child's grandfather, fought back tears upon hearing that the boy's body had been found.
``It's just pretty damn bad,'' he said. ``You just don't replace little children.''
About 40 members of the Lane County Search and Rescue team, aided by another 30 volunteers, searched the hillsides and river banks near the boy's home Sunday night and early yesterday.
The boy's bicycle was found beneath the trunk of a tree near the bank of the north fork of the Willamette River, about a mile from his house.
``He never would have left his bicycle,'' Marcotte said. ``That was his pride and joy.''
``He was a real good kid with a real big heart,'' the boy's uncle, Greg Marcotte, said. ``Ryan and that bicycle went everywhere together.''
Ryan and his 9-year-old sister, Tiffany, moved back to Cottage Grove from Texas with their mother last month.
They lived with the boy's grandparents, Howard and Shirley Bird, at the grandparents' home.
The youngsters and their mother returned after the mother, a nursing student, and her husband, Daniel Bird, 26, separated.
Daniel Bird, a paramedic, flew to Oregon yesterday after being notified of his son's disappearance.
Family members said yesterday that Ryan had been upset about his parents' separation. He reportedly had just spoken to his father long-distance before leaving home on his bicycle.
Ryan's maternal grandmother, Cheryl Olson of Cottage Grove, described her grandson as ``a real smart, intelligent little kid'' who loved going to school and to church.
The family is active in the Mormon Church in Cottage Grove, she said.