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Amanda Bynes accused of murder
-- Once a respected actress on Nickelodeon, Amanda Bynes is now the focus of an international manhunt -- accused of child molestation and murder.
The allegations against Bynes left one South Carolina woman "in total shock." "I was scared," said Leslie, who asked that her last name not be used because she is accusing Bynes of molesting her 11-year-old daughter.
Leslie said her daughter met Bynes in karate class. She showed no interest in the mother but a strong interest in the girl, who is younger than her. She took her shopping, bought her expensive gifts, drove her to karate class and twice sent her flowers.
Leslie, a single mom, said she was suspicious at first but grew to trust Bynes. She even planned to designate Bynes as the girl's legal guardian in case of emergency.
"She stepped in as a mother to my daughter, and I used to thank God for her," Leslie said. "I would pray and thank my God."
Leslie said that changed when, after watching a video about inappropriate touching at school, the girl told her mother that Bynes had been touching her. "I gave her a hug and I told her everything was going to be OK," she said through tears. "That was hard."
According to police, Bynes would take the girl to places such as a Wal-Mart parking lot, fondle her repeatedly and make the girl touch her.
"She said that every time that they passed by there that she knew what was going to happen, especially when she noticed that the truck was slowing down," Leslie said. "And that she was just too scared to do anything."
Leslie said Bynes threatened her daughter, telling her she'd get in trouble if she talked about the alleged abuse and that no one would believe her because she was an actress.
But investigators did believe her. They moved to arrest Bynes and charge her with lewd acts with a minor. It was then they discovered Bynes had a husband.
'None of us knew'
Bynes met Milo Cohe de Araujo in 2003 when he was vacationing in Miami, Florida, from Brazil. She was 17 and he was 15. They married two years later. "I believe my family, everybody, was fooled by her," said Milo's sister, Alassandra Cohe de Araujo.
Alassandra said she remembers how charming Bynes could be. She also remembers how distant she became as her husband grew older.
"They didn't have a normal sexual life. They used to pass a month or three months without having any kind of contact," she said.
The couple eventually stopped going out together.
A local karate instructor called the fact that Bynes was married "the biggest shock."
"We had no clue she had a husband. None of us knew," Dale Coker said. Coker owns the karate school where Bynes befriended Leslie's daughter. He said he talked with Bynes every week and never heard any mention of a husband. "We never saw a husband; she never brought him for any special events we had. We've never seen him," he said.
Leslie said she and her daughter never met Bynes' husband, either. She told them he had gone back to Brazil to file for divorce.
"She is mysterious, very much mysterious," Alassandra said.
Alassandra said her brother pleaded with Bynes to stop spending so much time with Leslie's daughter.
Alassandra said her brother once told her, "Amanda loves to stay with the little girls. I think that when we have children, she'd want to be the mother of a girl."
International search
Then police began to uncover disturbing evidence of Bynes' alleged treatment of Leslie's daughter. As she was about to face more serious charges of molestation, the case took a deadly turn.
After Bynes failed to turn herself in March 15 to face a second round of charges, her husband was found dead at their home. Bynes was missing, launching an international manhunt.
According to police, Milo was shot while he slept, and neighbors reported seeing Bynes going in and out of the house at about the time of the killing. Hours later, a surveillance camera captured Bynes at a gas station. She withdrew several hundred dollars from the store's ATM, waved to the cashier on her way out -- and hasn't been seen since.
In Bynes' hometown of Thousand Oaks, California, wanted posters hang in store windows, and the manhunt is still front-page news. But many who knew her and her husband refuse to believe the charges.
"They were very happy," said Tracie Anderson, a family friend. "She'd whisper in his ear, and hug up on him.
"He was shy guy," Anderson said. "It was cute to watch them. She was very loving to him."
Pastor Kelly Fox, a spiritual adviser to the family, said he hopes Bynes turns herself in to prove her innocence.
"I would have to have a picture of her doing it before I could believe it," he said. "It does not make sense."
But as the charges against Bynes mounted, authorities said she may have been preparing for life on the run, growing mustache and gaining weight. A grainy picture taken with a friend's cellular telephone camera shortly before Bynes disappeared, authorities said, shows Bynes experimenting with her appearance. U.S. marshals said they're developing strong leads as they hunt for a young woman some now believe was leading two lives.
"We're stuck here until she's found," Leslie said.
The waiting, Alassandra said, is "terrible."
"We don't have a word to say what we are feeling," she said.
-- Once a respected actress on Nickelodeon, Amanda Bynes is now the focus of an international manhunt -- accused of child molestation and murder.
The allegations against Bynes left one South Carolina woman "in total shock." "I was scared," said Leslie, who asked that her last name not be used because she is accusing Bynes of molesting her 11-year-old daughter.
Leslie said her daughter met Bynes in karate class. She showed no interest in the mother but a strong interest in the girl, who is younger than her. She took her shopping, bought her expensive gifts, drove her to karate class and twice sent her flowers.
Leslie, a single mom, said she was suspicious at first but grew to trust Bynes. She even planned to designate Bynes as the girl's legal guardian in case of emergency.
"She stepped in as a mother to my daughter, and I used to thank God for her," Leslie said. "I would pray and thank my God."
Leslie said that changed when, after watching a video about inappropriate touching at school, the girl told her mother that Bynes had been touching her. "I gave her a hug and I told her everything was going to be OK," she said through tears. "That was hard."
According to police, Bynes would take the girl to places such as a Wal-Mart parking lot, fondle her repeatedly and make the girl touch her.
"She said that every time that they passed by there that she knew what was going to happen, especially when she noticed that the truck was slowing down," Leslie said. "And that she was just too scared to do anything."
Leslie said Bynes threatened her daughter, telling her she'd get in trouble if she talked about the alleged abuse and that no one would believe her because she was an actress.
But investigators did believe her. They moved to arrest Bynes and charge her with lewd acts with a minor. It was then they discovered Bynes had a husband.
'None of us knew'
Bynes met Milo Cohe de Araujo in 2003 when he was vacationing in Miami, Florida, from Brazil. She was 17 and he was 15. They married two years later. "I believe my family, everybody, was fooled by her," said Milo's sister, Alassandra Cohe de Araujo.
Alassandra said she remembers how charming Bynes could be. She also remembers how distant she became as her husband grew older.
"They didn't have a normal sexual life. They used to pass a month or three months without having any kind of contact," she said.
The couple eventually stopped going out together.
A local karate instructor called the fact that Bynes was married "the biggest shock."
"We had no clue she had a husband. None of us knew," Dale Coker said. Coker owns the karate school where Bynes befriended Leslie's daughter. He said he talked with Bynes every week and never heard any mention of a husband. "We never saw a husband; she never brought him for any special events we had. We've never seen him," he said.
Leslie said she and her daughter never met Bynes' husband, either. She told them he had gone back to Brazil to file for divorce.
"She is mysterious, very much mysterious," Alassandra said.
Alassandra said her brother pleaded with Bynes to stop spending so much time with Leslie's daughter.
Alassandra said her brother once told her, "Amanda loves to stay with the little girls. I think that when we have children, she'd want to be the mother of a girl."
International search
Then police began to uncover disturbing evidence of Bynes' alleged treatment of Leslie's daughter. As she was about to face more serious charges of molestation, the case took a deadly turn.
After Bynes failed to turn herself in March 15 to face a second round of charges, her husband was found dead at their home. Bynes was missing, launching an international manhunt.
According to police, Milo was shot while he slept, and neighbors reported seeing Bynes going in and out of the house at about the time of the killing. Hours later, a surveillance camera captured Bynes at a gas station. She withdrew several hundred dollars from the store's ATM, waved to the cashier on her way out -- and hasn't been seen since.
In Bynes' hometown of Thousand Oaks, California, wanted posters hang in store windows, and the manhunt is still front-page news. But many who knew her and her husband refuse to believe the charges.
"They were very happy," said Tracie Anderson, a family friend. "She'd whisper in his ear, and hug up on him.
"He was shy guy," Anderson said. "It was cute to watch them. She was very loving to him."
Pastor Kelly Fox, a spiritual adviser to the family, said he hopes Bynes turns herself in to prove her innocence.
"I would have to have a picture of her doing it before I could believe it," he said. "It does not make sense."
But as the charges against Bynes mounted, authorities said she may have been preparing for life on the run, growing mustache and gaining weight. A grainy picture taken with a friend's cellular telephone camera shortly before Bynes disappeared, authorities said, shows Bynes experimenting with her appearance. U.S. marshals said they're developing strong leads as they hunt for a young woman some now believe was leading two lives.
"We're stuck here until she's found," Leslie said.
The waiting, Alassandra said, is "terrible."
"We don't have a word to say what we are feeling," she said.
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