Suspect arrested in connection with 2009 disappearance of Alliance-area teen
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Authorities have made an arrest in the 2009 disappearance of an Alliance-area teenager.
Robert Lindsey Moore, 51, was taken into custody around 7:30 a.m. Friday at his Watson Avenue home in Alliance by members of the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force.
The U.S. Marshals Service was assisted by Alliance and Smith Township Police, as well Ohio Highway Patrol's aviation section.
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Moore was indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury on counts of aggravated murder and murder for the 2009 disappearance of Glenna Jean White, according to the Portage County Sheriff's Office, which it said had a deputy assisting with the case.
A copy of the indictment was not available Friday.
What happened to Glenna Jean White?
White was 17 years old when she and her boyfriend ran away from home, investigators said. Two days after running away, she went missing on June 2, 2009, and was never found.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, White and her boyfriend went to stay with their friend, who was Moore's girlfriend's teenage son in 2009. The pair went to Moore's residence in Smith Township to stay a few nights.
During that time, White accused Moore of rape and witnesses reported that Moore was going to drive her home, according to U.S. Marshal Detective Eric Midoc. Moore later returned to his home covered in blood and mud, he said.
A missing person report was later filed in Smith Township but White was never found. She remains listed an endangered runaway/missing person on the the Ohio Attorney General's website.
What led to Moore's arrest?
The Portage County Sheriff's Office said it was investigating other cold cases in March 2020 when Detective Ed Kennedy got a tip about White's disappearance from Mahoning County.
The U.S. Marshals Service, Smith Township and Alliance Police departments worked to give the cold case file a fresh look.
Law enforcement and cadaver dogs teams searched Lake Park in Smith Township earlier this year. The dogs had several strong hits, leading to the lake being drained, according to investigators.
Once drained, the scent dwindled, making it harder to pick up on, U.S. Marshals said.
Moore's history of violence
Moore was convicted in 1993 of manslaughter in Stark County for the death of Virginia Lecorchick, 22, who was beaten to death. According to court records, Lecorchick's body was found by swimmers in Berlin Lake on July 10, 1993.
According to trial testimony described in Canton Repository archives, Moore confessed he "lost it" after Lecorchick rebuffed his sexual advancements at the reservoir. The pair had gone there after meeting at the Town Tavern in Alliance.
Moore was charged with murder but jurors convicted of him of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, according to court records, and he was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison.
He was released in 2008, a year before White went missing.
Reach Cassandra at cnist@gannett.com; Twitter @Cassienist
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Robert Moore charged with murder in disappearance of Glenna Jean White
