Innocent Girl Held A Week In North Platte Jail

[BEK]

Innocent Girl Held A Week In North Platte Jail

NORTH PLATTE BULLETIN

November 02, 2006

“We are horribly sorry,” the cop said.

The 17-year-old girl who was wrongly locked in jail for seven days might be feeling terribly lucky.

Amanda Sylvester might still be in jail, facing criminal charges that included aiding and abetting a robbery, were it not for an anonymous tip to a Crimestopper hotline.

Her arrest and arraignment stemmed from mistaken identity, according to Lieutenant Rick Ryan of the North Platte Police Department. One of the men involved in the recent robbery of a Kwik Shop identified Sylvester through a photograph, but said he didn’t know her name.

“Amanda Sylvester was not involved in the robbery,” Ryan said. “We have no information or any reason to believe that Amanda is involved in drugs or any illegal activity. We are horribly sorry about what happened.”

To make matters worse for Sylvester, she had been arraigned as a adult and County Judge Kent Turnbull set bail at $250,000; she would have had to post $25,000 to be released.

Sylvester cried in court October 24 as Turnbull read the charges to her.

"I wasn't even there," Sylvester said. "I know these guys but don't understand why they're using my name."

"That may be all true but at this point; I just don't know," Turnbull said. "Talk to your attorney."

Although she is only 17, Sylvester was arraigned as an adult.

A week later, the Crimestopper tip led to the arrest of Kayce Schildhauer, 19, of North Platte.

Ryan said the women have very similar looks, and that the mistake was easily understood because of it. (The photographs published with this story were taken from Nebraska drivers' licenses.)

“They have the same color hair, they’re about the same size and they wear the same earrings,” Ryan said. “But they are two different people.”

Her guardian said she was concerned about the way Sylvester had been treated by the system – especially the fact that she was arraigned as an adult.

Investigators brought Schildhauer in for questioning, which resulted in her arrest, Ryan said.

Sylvester’s photograph and name had previously been used by local media, informing the community that she was a suspect.

"There have been some really nasty, ugly, things said about Amanda that never should have been allowed," Ryan said.

Police Chief Martin Sutschenritter apologized for the error, adding “There is a lesson to be learned here, that everything isn’t always what it appears.”

In addition to Schildhauer, three suspects have been arrested in the case: Nicholas T. Zierke, 19; Jesse S. Dorris, 25; Erik C. Ritter, 19.

[osugirlP103]

they have to be related thats way to close, nope i think its the same girl or a made up story

[BEK]

hate to tell ya its not http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews.../454a32dc2d927

[osugirlP103]

that is crazy i cant believe the photos

[Piggybank Cop]

Holy doppelganger Batman.

[dlocke1419]

I would have arrested her to.

[Jenna]

What's really strange is that their earrings are identical and they have identical jewelry on their left eyelids.

[Willowdared]

Noses, ears and chins are different....

Glad someone phoned in a tip!

[resdepbrian]

Wow, that's almost unbelievable, and in the same community too.

[Beans]

Damn, they look like twins!

[Pinki]

Holy Milkman!

[countybear]

Holy Milkman!

[Ducky]

Well, the innocent one can now get away with almost anything, so long as she blames it on the other one.

[jmur5074]

Holy doppelganger Batman.

Thats what I was thinking

[BEB]

What I wonder about this case isn't how Amanda was picked out based on the witness report. She fit to a reasonable standard.

I'm not even all that upset about her being picked up based on the witness report. The bit about wearing the same earrings is weak to say the least, (tip for Lieutenant Ryan, girls often have more than one set of earrings) but the eyebrow piercing makes up for that. The identifying traits part, not the lame CYA explanation part.

What I'd like someone to explain is the inner workings of the machine once someone is picked up.

Here we have a town of 25K with 1 highschool. They probably even have yearbooks and stuff like that. We have a 17 and 19 year old - they usually don't run in the same circles in HS. We have Amanda denying from the first instant that she was involved. (ok, everyone claims to be innocent, even the ones that are, throw that one out) After the initial arrest was made though, whose responsibility was it to make sure they had the right person?

Who was sitting on their thumb for a week? Is it handed off to the DA at that point?

[Star Man]

I would have arrested her to.

Waaayy too much alike! Almost like twins, down to the earrings, clothing and eyebrow piercing.....

[BEB]

Waaayy too much alike! Almost like twins, down to the earrings, clothing and eyebrow piercing.....

Those are the driver's license photos. I'm sure they've both since changed clothes, probably even changed earrings a time or two since they got their picture take for their licenses. Now if they both wore gray clothes and hoop rings with their hair pulled back while standing in front of a blue background with an bright flash in their face constantly those two pictures being so similar would be much much more important.

That the driver's license shots look so much alike distracts. Did Kayce wear hoop earrings and gray clothes with her hair tied back and a flash in her face while robbing the store? Could be...

You have two HS girls, two years apart, with red hair and the same eyebrow piercing. That's what you have. We have no report of clothing or earrings from the witness.