TEEN CHEERLEADER FRENZY STABBED BY BOY, 15, DAD TRIES TRACKING APP TO FIND BODY

Savannah Copeland cheered at Powell Middle School’s first basketball game of the year. Her father, Michael Copeland, got up early before the rest of the family and was pulling into work when he received a call from his wife, Amanda. She told him that Savannah was not in her bed when they woke up, and she couldn’t find her. Savannah was missing.

Michael rushed back home to search for their daughter. Using the Life360 app, which tracks phone movements, they were able to see the path Savannah had taken and the time of her movements. The app indicated that she went missing between midnight and 2:30 a.m., but it did not show her exact location. Starting in the general area, the family went door-to-door asking if anyone had a doorbell camera that might have recorded the direction Savannah was heading, but they had no luck.

They contacted the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies began searching for Savannah Copeland. Nearly 12 hours after the deputies were called in, Michael Copeland heard sirens and immediately feared they were for Savannah. A teenager walking along a popular trail behind a public swimming pool in the Broadacres neighborhood of Powell found Savannah’s lifeless body.

Deputies arrived at the scene and secured the area. Detectives from Major Crimes and Juvenile Crimes, along with the Knox County Medical Examiner, began collecting evidence and processing the scene. Savannah Copeland had been stabbed multiple times with what appeared to be a small knife and was left to bleed to death alone on the dirt trail.

been stabbed multiple times by what appears to be a small knife and left to bleed to death alone on the dirt trail.

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• Philip Dubé – Court-Appointed Counsel, Los Angeles County Public Defenders: Criminal & Constitutional Law; Forensics & Mental Health Advocacy
• Dr. Jorey Krawczyn – Police Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty with Saint Leo University; Research Consultant with Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S. – Practical Recommendations to Help “Stop Officer Suicide”
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