Facebook led detectives to pair suspected in Monument death

The couple who had been eluding authorities for almost two months are now named as suspects in the case of a 7-year-old girl found dead in the crawl space of a Monument townhome.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said detectives tracked their Facebook message, sent to a local television station, back to a motel in Henderson, Nev., where they  arrested Monique Lynch and Hanif Sims on Wednesday. During a press conference Thursday morning, Maketa said the pair were sleeping when Henderson police arrived to arrest them.

Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office issued arrest warrants for Lynch and Sims, suspected of child abuse resulting in death. Both will be held on $500,000 bond.

Lynch and Sims will be extradited and returned to El Paso County, though the Sherriff’s Office withheld details for “security reasons.”

Authorities have been searching for the couple since the decomposed body of 7-year-old Genesis Sims was found May 14.

In June, an arrest warrant was written for the girl’s father, Hanif Sims, for suspected second-degree assault and misdemeanor child abuse against her. Lynch, who is the wife or girlfriend of Sims’, was arrested on a probation violation warrant from New Jersey.

Though New Jersey has the right to extradite Lynch first, the Sheriff’s Office said hoped those officials will work with them to ensure that she returns to Colorado, said Lt. Lari Sevene, sheriff’s  spokeswoman. The couple’s next court date is July 15.

The couple’s two other children — a toddler son and Lynch’s son Davon – were not with the couple when they were arrested. Sevene said the couple left the children with a friend in California, and the boys were later taken by the California Department of Human Services.

Maketa said the El Paso County Coroner’s Office has not released the cause of the girl’s death. He said the state of her body, because it was partially decomposed, has made it difficult for the coroner’s office to investigate.

Maketa said the couple has thus far been cooperative with investigators.

“We’re getting some good information that helps us fill in the blanks in this case,” he said.

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Gazette writer Carlyn Mitchell contributed to this report.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect the correct age of Genesis Sims.