Mikayla Alice Marie VALENTINE

VALENTINE, MOVALL, CRAPSER, RASMUSSEN, YOUNG

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/16/2011 at 10:47:26

September 13, 2005 --- January 8, 2011

Mikayla Alice Marie Valentine, the daughter of Robert M. Valentine, Jr. and Michelle L. Movall, was born on September 13, 2005, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Mikayla passed away on Saturday, January 8, 2011, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Cinincs in Iowa City at the age of 5 years, much too soon but not before she touched all of our hearts. She was greatly loved and will be missed by all who knew her.

Mikayla is survived by her father, Robert Valentine; mother Michelle Movall; five siblings: Robert, Johnny and Avalon Valentine, Tristan Crapser, and Ryan Rasmussen; grandmothers, Georgia Valentine and Carolyn Young and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Memorials may be sent to Foust Funeral Home.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, January 18, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Eagle Grove with Father Nils Hernandez officiating. Foust Funeral Home & Cremation of Eagle Grove in charge of arrangements.

http://www.funeralplan.com/foustfh/obits?id=214830

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Mikayla Valentine remembered
Criminal investigation into her death continues

By LINDSEY MUTCHLER and SANDY MICKELSON Messenger staff writers

EAGLE GROVE - A kindergartener, 5-year-old Mikayla Valentine loved playing the princess, but also loved being huddled on the floor playing cars with her big brother. That won't happen any more. She died Saturday at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics.

"They pronounced her dead at 8:30, 9 o'clock on Saturday morning," said her mother, Michele Movall. "Her godmother called me and said Mikayla had been in an accident and she was (flown) to Iowa City."

Movall, 27, of Fort Dodge, and John Rasmussen immediately left Fort Dodge for Iowa City, but she "was unconscious when we got there," Movall said. "It's just sad. It was worse once we saw her in the bed." She said authorities wouldn't be able to pinpoint a cause of death until the autopsy report comes back, and that is expected within a week. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has launched a criminal investigation into Valentine's death and is being assisted by the Eagle Grove Police Department and Wright County Sheriff's office. No charges have been filed yet.

Emergency personnel responded to a call regarding an unresponsive child at 208 N. Wright Ave. in Eagle Grove on Jan. 7.

"She always liked her Barbie dolls," Rasmussen said. "She liked playing with the boys. She always had a smile on her face. She was so cheerful."

Stacy Taylor, of Fort Dodge, said Mikayla lived next door to her and her mother last year with Robert Valentine, the girl's father, and his girlfriend, Kara Crapser. The couple moved to Eagle Grove in November.

"She was so cute with long, beautiful hair," Taylor said, adding Mikayla would play with her kids at their home from time to time. "She was a wonderful, kind, sweet girl." The child's death has left those who knew her in shock. "This just seems, just so wrong," Movall said, turning her head and breathing deeply.

"She was always easy going," Rasmussen said. "She always found a way to bring out the joy. She touched hearts." Doctors pronounced Mikayla dead after three separate brain wave tests. "They were keeping her alive because we were going to donate her organs," Movall said. "But there was an infection in her stomach," Rasmussen added. "They said they still get to use her lungs for research." Movall sighed. "There was nothing else they could do, so we decided to get her baptized."

January 12, 2011
Copyright - Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa