Joseph Duncan

Shasta Groene was asleep in bed the night of May 15 when her mother woke her up and took her into the living room. That's when she first encountered convicted rapist and accused child molester Joseph E. Duncan III, of Fargo, N.D., according to a probable cause hearing before a Kootenai County magistrate judge Tuesday morning.

Steve Groene says being united with his daughter, Shasta, on Saturday was "one of the happiest moments of my life." Groene made his comments during an exclusive interview with Fox television personality Geraldo Rivera in a live appearance Sunday evening.

Now that Shasta Groene has been found, the 8-year-old has the dual challenge of overcoming intense grief over her loss, and her exposure to violence, according to victims' advocates. "Often people say young children are resilient," said Jenny Wieland, executive director of Washington-based Family and Friends of Violent Crime Victims. "That's true, but they are extremely traumatized if they witness a violent crime."

Customers and workers at the Denny's Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene where Shasta Groene was rescued early Saturday say they tried to stay calm during the moments before police arrived, despite being filled with a sense of panic that the little girl might again vanish. Although it's not clear whether it was employees of Denny's or a group of Coeur d'Alene young adults who first spotted Shasta, both groups give similar accounts of how she was identified and rescued at the all-night restaurant just north of Interstate 90. Two calls were made to the emergency police line; they came within a four-minute time span. First was the call from the manager at Denny's at 1:51 a.m. Then came the call from Nick Chapman, a 21-year-old Coeur d'Alene resident. The messages were the same: There's a little girl here who looks exactly like Shasta.

Shasta Groene, missing for more than six weeks from a grisly murder scene near Wolf Lodge Bay, was found alive and safe Saturday, but her brother, Dylan, was still missing and feared dead. Shasta was recognized by customers and employees at the Coeur d'Alene Denny's restaurant shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday after she arrived there with Joseph Edward Duncan, III, a 42-year-old sex offender from Fargo, N.D.

Joseph E. Duncan III, the man found Saturday with 8-year-old Shasta Groene, was a promising computer science student with a dark secret: He was on the run from sex crimes in the Midwest. Duncan hoped to graduate from North Dakota State University this spring and land a job, according to his online resume.