Story Created: August 28, 2005
Richard Holland is Missing
I don’t know why the disappearance of Richard Holland bothers me so much except for the fact that 
he is still missing and he is only 7-years-old.
- It does not satisfy me that they “think” he ran away from home.
- It does not satisfy me that they looked for him as long as they could and then stopped looking.
- It does not satisfy me that there has been virtually no media coverage of his disappearance, including his hometown of Williamston, MI.
- It does not satisfy me that his parents have failed to make his disappearance well-known.
While I realize it is easy to make comments about this investigation should have been handled, it is baffling that there has not been more effort put forward to find this child. The last article I believe was published on August 13 in the Lansing State Journal. The link will take you to their achives, if you want to read the story there you have to pay for the article.
Here is that article:
The Ingham County Sheriff’s Office, with help from Michigan State University’s anthropology department, dug up a dog’s body Friday in Tim and Lisa Holland’s backyard.
Police obtained a search warrant in an effort to confirm it was a dog buried in the yard and not the couple’s missing 7-year-old son, Ricky Holland, said Detective Sgt. Roy Holliday. Ricky was last seen July 1.
Ingham Undersheriff Matthew Myers said authorities obtained a warrant and performed the dig “just to be on the safe side.”
Holliday said the Hollands were not home at the time.
Ricky disappeared from his Williamston home after his parents tucked him into bed July 1. Police believe he may have run away but have not ruled out the possibility that he then was abducted. His disappearance has drawn national attention.
Myers said the Hollands called the sheriff’s department a couple of weeks ago to let them know that their dog died and they were going to bury it in the backyard.
Holliday said the investigation has shifted but would not elaborate. He also would not say if the Hollands are suspects at this time.
The Hollands’ attorney, Neal Rockind, said Friday that his clients were frustrated about the day’s events.
“They want to get the investigation focused in the right direction,” Rockind said. He said that direction is away from the Hollands.
“My fear about what the police did today is that people will stop trying to find that boy,” Rockind said. “He’s out there, and we want him to come home.”
Holliday encouraged anyone with information to call the department.
Contact Tricia Bobeda at 377-1213 or tbobeda@lsj.com.
I am glad the police checked out the story that the parents gave them about the burial of the family dog. As it turns out LE had known about the burial of the family pet a month prior to the execution of the search warrant. This is just one instance of LE taking their time instead of really working the case.
I don’t recall where I read this bit of information yesterday but I thought it was interesting. Apparently LE has sent out letters to the school districts telling personnel to be on the lookout for Richard Holland, I guess in case someone tries to register him for school. The other suggestion is that if Richard tries to board a school bus, the drivers are to allow him to board, take him to school and call police. To me, these ideas seem like a long-shot.
I wish we heard more from the parents.
I am reminded of the disappearance and murder of Evelyn Celeste Miller that took place on the same night that Richard disappeared. Evelyn also disappeared out of her home in the middle of the night. Her disappearance occured in a small town in Iowa. I remember the concern of the searchers, the mother’s plea on television for her safe return, as well as the search being conducted over the long 4th of July weekend. People cared.
There are still no suspects in the Evelyn Miller murder just as there are still no suspects in the disappearance of Richard Holland. Two both sad and baffling cases. Evelyn Miller’s grandpa, Richard Christy has a blog. I encourage you to visit his blog and support his quest for justice for his granddaughter Evelyn Celeste Miller.
Story Created: August 4, 2005
The Disappearance of Richard Paul Holland Vs Evelyn Celeste Miller
Richard Paul Holland, age seven years, pictured at the left, went missing on July 1, 2005 from his home in Williamston, Michigan. It has been one month and three days since his disappearance. Law enforcement seemed a bit reluctant to call him a “true” missing child because he apparently had a history of running away in the past according to his adoptive parents.I cannot imagine a 7-year-old in a withdrawl syndrome not drawing attention to himself if he were out in public.
The circumstances of the disappearance of Ricky Holland to me seems a bit suspicous. The coverage of his disappearance has been almost nonexistent. I am comparing the coverage of his disappearance to that of the disappearance of Evelyn Miller during the same week and in a small town in the state of Iowa.
Evelyn Miller’s coverage was extensive in both the media as well as on the Internet. A simple google search of Evelyn Miller’s name brought hits to many links to read about her disappearance and the progress of the search for her. Even today as I write this entry I had to include the words “missing child” to get any sort of hits on google while searching for information regarding Richard Holland. Even the links that were retrieved contained old information from approximately 3 weeks ago.We have heard nothing from the parents. When Evelyn Miller went missing her parents were on the news pleading for her safe return. Even if Richard’s parents are of the belief that he did in fact run away from home I would think they would be on the news begging for him to come home or at the least letting him know it was safe for him to come home and that they still love him.
The differences between the disappearance of Evelyn Miller and Ricky Holland:
- Gender
- History of being a runaway
- History of a mental disorder
- History of being adopted
- Age
- Disappearance in the middle of the night
In my estimation it should not matter if there is a past history of running away in a child as young as Richard Holland especially when there are significant safety factors involved such as a mental illness requiring medication.
We all know the outcome of Evelyn Miller’s disappearance, she was murdered.
It is still troubling to me that we have not heard more from Richard’s parents in the media. I don’t believe Richard ran away. I believe the answers to his disappearance lie within his own family. I believe his adoptive parents know where Richard is now and have known since July 1, 2005.
Evelyn’s murderer has not yet been named.
The article has
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