Shabby trailer park where Aliahna slain to be sold

3-6-2012 Indiana:

A north-side trailer park where a resident is accused of killing and dismembering 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon may cease to exist in a few months.

Northway mobile home park, at North Clinton Street and Diebold Road, is on the auction block and will be for sale April 14, according to Steffen Group Inc., the company handling the sale.

Consisting of about two dozen units – many of them dilapidated, boarded up or apparently abandoned – the park became the center of a national media storm when Aliahna went missing there just before Christmas.

The country’s attention on the case intensified when her babysitter, 39-year-old Michael Plumadore, allegedly confessed to her killing.

According to police, Plumadore, who lived with Aliahna’s now deceased grandfather in the trailer park, watched the little girl for a week while her mother recuperated from an illness. He then admitted to striking Aliahna with a brick before chopping up her body.

Parts of the girl’s remains were found in a dumpster near a gas station, while her hands, feet and head were found in Plumadore’s freezer.

Plumadore is facing a trial for murder this summer.

Aside from the grisly aspects of the killing, the trailer park itself drew criticism and surprise from the public for being the home to a seemingly inordinate number of registered sex offenders.

At the time of Aliahna’s death, at least 14 sex offenders – none of whom is implicated in the killing – were living in the park. As of Monday, the Allen County sheriff’s sex offender registry website showed that 18 sex offenders had the park’s address listed as their home.

The park’s popularity among sex offenders is due to its location. Nestled in a lightly wooded area across the street from some fields, it’s far outside the 1,000 feet offenders are required by law to live from any school, daycare or public park.

If the property does not sell at the auction, it will continue to operate as a trailer park, though for how much longer is unclear. Residents of the trailer park will have to vacate the premises if the park is sold, according to Josh Lewis, vice president of the Steffen Group.

That means more than a dozen sex offenders will need new homes.

Cpl. Jeff Shimkus, a member of the Allen County Sheriff’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification team, said he was aware of the impending auction and has received several calls from offenders who are looking for a new place to live that complies with the sex offender law.

Although the park’s closing won’t be a huge effect, he said similar closings do cause headaches for all involved since state law makes it difficult for offenders to find legal homes.

“It causes problems, because now 14 people don’t know where they are going to go,” said Shimkus, whose team keeps tabs on sex offenders and ensures the local registry is up to date. “It took them forever to find this place. Any area that closes cuts down on the available choices they can choose from.”

The listed owner and manager of the park referred all questions to the Steffen Group. According to the Indiana Department of Health’s website, the owner’s license to operate a mobile home park will expire at the end of this year.

The Steffen Group is advertising the property – which not only includes the trailer park but also six other tracts of land ranging from 2 to 21 acres – as an excellent place for development.

Dubbed the Dupont Triangle, the property already has a self-storage facility and lies near the Carmike Cinema and the new Parkview Hospital. It’s unlikely any prospective buyer would want to keep the mobile home park there, according to Lewis.

“I don’t think that’s the best use for the property,” Lewis said. “The potential is a lot greater.” ..Source.. by Jeff Wiehe