tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53045648942888564452024-03-23T03:14:47.344-07:00Have You Seen Us?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-42353773758828694902023-10-26T10:55:00.001-07:002023-10-26T10:55:37.223-07:00Joshua Guimond: Missing Since November 9th, 2002<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzG4Q2lEGDI8VSqGlgE9iveY2g8pD5Qyd-KeLacScH1u5_JXg3LYRWbJbnuGDjaxnp7_prBjcmeHpwfzRwfauDeMQkfRVekLVchoagw8lzaqQHwd7o4qo9U3MZMdxTiN3n29WIcU3hRIo_PAlf4FfAcwCc5Dr18EDJVtVCyvCfM82QmC0kMAgCFixbzmav/s1421/image_5%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1421" data-original-width="1161" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzG4Q2lEGDI8VSqGlgE9iveY2g8pD5Qyd-KeLacScH1u5_JXg3LYRWbJbnuGDjaxnp7_prBjcmeHpwfzRwfauDeMQkfRVekLVchoagw8lzaqQHwd7o4qo9U3MZMdxTiN3n29WIcU3hRIo_PAlf4FfAcwCc5Dr18EDJVtVCyvCfM82QmC0kMAgCFixbzmav/s320/image_5%20(1).jpg" width="261" /></a></div>20-year-old Joshua Guimond, a promising student at St. John's University in Minnesota, was last seen leaving a party at a friend's apartment on the night of Saturday, November 9, 2002. The walk back to his dorm shouldn't have taken more than three minutes, but Josh never made it home.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Born on June 18, 1982, in Redwood Falls, Joshua Cheney Guimond grew up to be an extremely ambitious young man. The well-spoken, and intelligent class president at Maple Lake High School had big plans for his future. Voted by his fellow students as the most likely to succeed, Josh dreamed of a career in politics and law, with hopes of following the footsteps of his grandmother, who had served two terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Attending St. John’s University in Collegeville, majoring in Political Science, was a natural choice for the young man who already used the title "Senator Joshua" in his email address. It made very little sense to Josh's loved ones that the conscientious and responsible young man would one night walk into the cold Minnesota night without his coat, wallet, glasses, or car keys and disappear without a trace.</div><div><br /></div><div>November 9, 2002, started like any other day on the campus of Saint John's University. Josh woke up that morning, did his homework, used his computer, and visited the library before heading to his friend's poker party at another nearby dormitory called Metten Court. It was a typical Saturday night for the college kids, who liked spending time together listening to music, drinking a bottle or two of beer, and playing Texas Hold'Em. The party wasn't big by any means, and Josh, who arrived around 11:15 pm, knew most, if not all, of the other attendees.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDhJQye15BhUuVFMWClTQeMtRI-4Av-EeQHo_IVGutjiQCqrTwCFjSVBmeufF9Td_lzyJDvrWutkq_TmKEA1Ne6gn9YJWZPf-rCuMtFBFCR1bEG9-hbF-n4kt2rqc_TRD4H00JXiLphOsE9VTjnJFmjq9-MhFsvd4PVqrBwDCDwGRsGOno_LJwandOSTl/s1024/image_1%20(1).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1024" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDhJQye15BhUuVFMWClTQeMtRI-4Av-EeQHo_IVGutjiQCqrTwCFjSVBmeufF9Td_lzyJDvrWutkq_TmKEA1Ne6gn9YJWZPf-rCuMtFBFCR1bEG9-hbF-n4kt2rqc_TRD4H00JXiLphOsE9VTjnJFmjq9-MhFsvd4PVqrBwDCDwGRsGOno_LJwandOSTl/w391-h292/image_1%20(1).jpg" width="391" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Nobody really paid attention when only about 30 minutes later, Josh suddenly got up from his seat and left the apartment without mentioning where he was heading. Perhaps they assumed the 20-year-old was simply going to the bathroom — but Josh didn't return to his friends that night and was never seen again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Josh's roommate and best friend, Nick Hydukovich, got back home at Maur House around 2:45 in the morning, just to find the room empty. While a bit strange, it wasn't until Josh failed to show up the next day for the Pre-Law Society's mock trial practice that his friends began to worry — it was highly unusual for the standout student to miss such an important school function. After realizing nobody had seen Josh since the night before and he wasn’t answering anyone’s messages or calls, his friends reported him missing to SJU Life Safety Officers that afternoon. When the search for Josh Guimond began, it was found out the young man had scanned into his dorm room for the last time at 11:06 pm before leaving for the party, meaning he had not even visited his home later that night. Yet, it didn't seem likely Josh had had plans to go anywhere else: he had left without a jacket, credit card, and the keys to his car. But what could have happened to the young man during the short, 3-minute walk back home? Soon, a young couple came forward telling the authorities they had seen a young man matching Josh's description on the footbridge between 12:15 and 12:30 am on November 10.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyruPJKfFii_J8-yoSV_P3PjnwNjjHotO_3gxgLc4Es-36oGfMCimhVw0UI9KcCI957JhNDMUVSqRJmM9_0o-eHR3yjASwEcftg3vqVQRmZ07bc9Q5c5Z22bmJlshie1o0ZZfGjRL1ilLtmqmC68wO8JrG-7wLwMl-XEpwric4iz2lXH6_M5EUsc4LDSS/s542/image_3%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="248" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyruPJKfFii_J8-yoSV_P3PjnwNjjHotO_3gxgLc4Es-36oGfMCimhVw0UI9KcCI957JhNDMUVSqRJmM9_0o-eHR3yjASwEcftg3vqVQRmZ07bc9Q5c5Z22bmJlshie1o0ZZfGjRL1ilLtmqmC68wO8JrG-7wLwMl-XEpwric4iz2lXH6_M5EUsc4LDSS/w184-h404/image_3%20(1).jpg" width="184" /></a></div>The bridge was located on the route between the two dorms, so it did seem like Josh had indeed been heading home after leaving his friend's party. Over the next few days, the authorities and volunteers searched the 16-square mile area on and around the college campus on foot, horseback, and by helicopter — but there were no signs of Josh. Sniffer dogs, however, traced Josh's scent to the bridge over Stumpf Lake, where the trail went cold. This pointed in two directions: either Josh had got in the car there or went in the water. Josh getting insensibly drunk at the party and accidentally wandering into Stumpf Lake was one of the earliest theories of what may have happened to him. But when multiple drag teams and diver teams searched the lake using sonar technology to scan the waters, no traces of Josh's body or any of his belongings were found. It was anyway unlikely that Josh could have tripped and fallen over the four feet high concrete wall into the lake - no matter how intoxicated he may have been. Of course, there was the possibility that the young man jumped, but knowing how excited Josh was about his future his friends and family were sure that wasn’t the case. And then, while the authorities continued their search for Josh, two other young male students at colleges in the region, also disappeared within an 11-day time frame. While there was no immediate connection to Josh's case, it was highly unusual for several young people to vanish in the same area in such a short period.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of these missing students was 21-year-old Chris Jenkins, whose family brought in a private K-9 unit — the dogs ended up tracing Josh's scent at Saint John’s Abbey, a monastery on campus, opening a new line of investigation. What made the connection to Saint John’s Abbey worrying, was the fact that around the time of Joshua Guimond's disappearance, St. John’s University reached a settlement of "several allegations of abuse against the abbey." As many of 18 of the Catholic monks at the Abbey have been credibly accused of sexual abuse throughout the years — some of which supervised Josh and his friend's dorm. It's known that Josh was aware of the monks' terrible actions - he talked about the subject with his mother and grandparents on multiple occasions. Josh was frustrated that the accused monks were allowed to live on campus and the young man was angry that Abbey would cover up their crimes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Several people told the authorities Josh was writing a paper about the abuse in Saint John’s Abbey, but the authorities were unable to confirm their claims. The fact that the monks initially refused to let the police inside to track Josh's scent further, didn't help to dispel suspicions that the monastery had something to do with the young man's disappearance. However, when the authorities finally conducted a wider search inside the monastery, no evidence was found to prove something had happened to Josh in Saint John’s Abbey. There were also reports of a series of attacks, stalking’s, and attempted abductions of college men in the area. Just a night before Josh disappeared, a man was jumped by random men in St Joseph, and another young man was tricked into a vehicle and driven into the woods where he was sexually assaulted. Could it be Josh ended up as one of the victims of these men preying on college students?</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTvFfL-ckPCIywHn_F4LlLQeqbALzA8HpuG4m0uoC6vdzBEJbQtQWqzhcy-nDpny7D9zRirqt4oNpEQgbNrso1HYw_3o_iP5EccChnilzfAXvVIkgzM3AiH_PkopP1AN_nMhGcPP32pV_XDsJYN6u55sODZDLXlYLfu3JA_p8UhsRYDqrd7cBA8RqKcc3/s1200/image_4%20(1).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTvFfL-ckPCIywHn_F4LlLQeqbALzA8HpuG4m0uoC6vdzBEJbQtQWqzhcy-nDpny7D9zRirqt4oNpEQgbNrso1HYw_3o_iP5EccChnilzfAXvVIkgzM3AiH_PkopP1AN_nMhGcPP32pV_XDsJYN6u55sODZDLXlYLfu3JA_p8UhsRYDqrd7cBA8RqKcc3/w396-h208/image_4%20(1).jpg" width="396" /></a></div></div><div>In the end, the bodies of the other young men, including Chris Jenkins, were found in the bodies of water making authorities believe there was no connection between Josh's case and the other disappearances. Over time, without new leads to follow, the case started to go cold. That was until the development of technology made it possible for the authorities to further analyze Josh's computer's hard drive. In 2008, after six long years without much progress in the investigation, it was revealed someone had used an internet washer program on Josh's computer soon after his disappearance. It took another few years for the police to find out what exactly had been removed: in addition to searches relating to the accusations against the monks, the investigators now recovered several user accounts for Yahoo! personal ads and chat rooms. After taking a closer look, the investigators realized Josh had been using these accounts impersonating a woman while chatting with men.</div><div><br /></div><div>This revelation led to a new theory: perhaps Josh had set up a meeting on the night of November 9, 2002. Based on the material found on Josh's computer, it was possible the young man was exploring his sexuality - which would explain why Josh didn't tell anyone where he was going. Meeting someone and getting in their car would also explain why Josh's scent vanished in the middle of the footbridge. But again, no further evidence was found to confirm the theory and we can only continue to speculate whether someone Josh met on a dating site is responsible for his disappearance. In 2022, the police released a collage of 28 photos - headshots of 28 men - apparently found on Josh's computer asking for the public's help to identify these individuals. Could it be that one of these men holds the answer to the question that has been haunting the young man's loved ones for over two decades: What happened to Joshua Guimond?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOV4HcJ9JiRcriQD52MpQwYEFI4V4Sl_dp4RN5XL9WVieK7dF8cvcNbUXoLEhaVn_ZlEt8b8nNtTy3Jfm1xZkQva_yCMe-4jy03dzXhT4ZiS1breLPq0r1OqTIbE5KFWyPgBCWVjM0jnhk2fPC5T0cwJ6Y01pBCuAVu6UEvJTYzlbnLpRrzbEZebmePi-a/s300/image%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="300" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOV4HcJ9JiRcriQD52MpQwYEFI4V4Sl_dp4RN5XL9WVieK7dF8cvcNbUXoLEhaVn_ZlEt8b8nNtTy3Jfm1xZkQva_yCMe-4jy03dzXhT4ZiS1breLPq0r1OqTIbE5KFWyPgBCWVjM0jnhk2fPC5T0cwJ6Y01pBCuAVu6UEvJTYzlbnLpRrzbEZebmePi-a/w336-h249/image%20(1).jpg" width="336" /></a></div><div>Anyone with information related to Josh's disappearance or the identities of those pictured is asked to contact Investigator Struffert with the Stearns County Sheriff's Office at 320-259-3700 or submit a tip online.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-86213130683596899722023-03-16T22:51:00.001-07:002023-03-16T22:51:45.894-07:00Johnny Gosch: Missing Since September 5th, 1982<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD3dhA5u52bYMGtUo8yXAx3rbXPRz7LT3szDyg5Hiu2DktONkIgkdZaCyjm_s7GEYWBl_Hz94l-q6jawUtjwVKrxrBFYDt0Bz4EisvuzTOXbPgVov6ZmKg4NiRaRDUEd2UQEBWQf8aeRFYA_GkLFbslNFnYr5DWN90KkHDm18vzlIoNYKLM3QgwEGgg/s160/gosch_john.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="136" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD3dhA5u52bYMGtUo8yXAx3rbXPRz7LT3szDyg5Hiu2DktONkIgkdZaCyjm_s7GEYWBl_Hz94l-q6jawUtjwVKrxrBFYDt0Bz4EisvuzTOXbPgVov6ZmKg4NiRaRDUEd2UQEBWQf8aeRFYA_GkLFbslNFnYr5DWN90KkHDm18vzlIoNYKLM3QgwEGgg/w208-h264/gosch_john.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>On the morning of September 5, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosch, a paperboy from West Des Moines, Iowa, disappeared without a trace. To this day, his case remains unsolved, and no clues have been found to indicate what happened to him. Let's take a look at the circumstances surrounding Johnny’s disappearance and explore why it remains one of America’s most mysterious unsolved cases.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>The Events Leading Up To His Disappearance:</u></b></span><br /><br />On that fateful September morning in 1982, Johnny was up early as usual to deliver newspapers for his neighborhood. He usually took the same route each morning but this time something went wrong. At around 7AM, customers began calling asking where their papers were. That's when his parents realized Johnny had never returned home from his paper route and immediately contacted the police. When officers arrived on the scene, they found Johnny's wagon full of undelivered papers at the corner of 42nd Street and Marcourt Lane—roughly 320 meters away from his home. <br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><b><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Investigation:</span></u></b></span><br /><br />Investigators believed foul play was involved due to reports of high crime rates in the area as well as suspicious characters lurking around late at night. However, no evidence linking anyone to Johnny's disappearance has ever been found leading many people to suspect he may have been abducted by human traffickers or another organized criminal group operating in the area at the time. Furthermore, rumors began circulating suggesting that Johnny may have been kidnapped by a ring of pedophiles who were active in Iowa during this period—though these claims remain unsubstantiated, and theories abound concerning what actually happened to him that fateful morning. <br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u>What We Know Now:</u></span></b><br /><br />Over thirty years later and there are still more questions than answers about what happened to young Johnny Gosch on that fateful September morning in 1982. Despite extensive public campaigns from his family and several private investigations into his disappearance, no solid leads or concrete evidence have ever come out of this case leaving it one of America’s most mysterious unsolved mysteries even now in 2023. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTU1CvIiiOzrCt9yhQFhzpRQ8KZ5n-tnXFy-KjV4Ztdmr5XS0qxusz4BNSTXj2htPAP_4p32rntChVAUT_tIpAH6jCo4O1KDO3De8IET3XMhA1Z6MCLmUmWHz8Fmre4XFNTtG1syNdaVKDNYXv5BXhPtufWN17FLP57Kh9eh2o0IUzKoyjF6eA61GlA/s1920/promo328915897.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTU1CvIiiOzrCt9yhQFhzpRQ8KZ5n-tnXFy-KjV4Ztdmr5XS0qxusz4BNSTXj2htPAP_4p32rntChVAUT_tIpAH6jCo4O1KDO3De8IET3XMhA1Z6MCLmUmWHz8Fmre4XFNTtG1syNdaVKDNYXv5BXhPtufWN17FLP57Kh9eh2o0IUzKoyjF6eA61GlA/w395-h243/promo328915897.webp" width="395" /></a></div>The mystery surrounding 12-year-old Johnny Gosch's disappearance is one that continues to haunt Americans even after all these years. Despite extensive public campaigns from his family and private investigators being hired by them with little success, no clues pointing towards what happened on that fateful September morning have surfaced leaving us with more questions than answers over three decades later. For those hoping for closure in this tragic case, only time will tell if we'll ever find out what really happened to young Johnny Gosch on that summer morning so long ago...<div><br /></div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Could Johnny and Eugene's Abductions Be Linked?</u></b></div></span><br />Despite the fact that there are discrepancies in the car and suspect descriptions of both abductions, the circumstances seem to match almost perfectly. In this blog post, we look at a few of the similarities between Johnny and Eugene's cases to explore whether they could have been victims of the same predator.<br /><br />Let’s start with their ages - they were only a year apart in age when they disappeared. Both boys were paperboys for the Des Moines Register who had vanished on an early Sunday morning. What’s more, both boys had gone missing around the same time of year - August/September - with Gene vanishing only three weeks shy of the 2-year anniversary of Johnny’s disappearance. The abductions also took place roughly eight miles apart in quiet suburban neighborhoods with low crime rates. <br /><br />In addition to these similarities, both boys' possessions were found abandoned on street corners near their respective homes – Johnny’s wagon filled with undelivered papers and Gene’s bag containing his route money and deliveries. While it is possible that these instances are merely coincidences, it seems more likely that they were abducted by the same predator given all these circumstantial similarities between their cases.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The suspiciously similar set of circumstances between Johnny and Eugene's abductions leads one to wonder if there was indeed a connection between them or if it was simply a tragic coincidence that two boys went missing so close together in time and space. It is still unknown whether either boy ever made it home safely, but one thing is for certain - justice has yet to be served for these two young victims who still remain missing after all these years.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u> THE ATTACKS</u></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Johnny and Eugene were not the only paperboys who were attacked back then. In fact, there was a string of attempted abductions of newspaper carriers in the Des Moines area in the 1980s, which investigators at the time suspected was connected to Gosch and Martin. I’ve plotted all seven events (the two disappearances & five attempted abductions) on a map. I must stress that none of these were ever officially tied to the two missing boys. It is also not known if the five attempted kidnappings were committed by the same person.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>INCIDENT 1 - July 10, 1986</u></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>15-year-old Jim Pollack, a carrier for the Des Moines Register, was out delivering papers on the morning of July 10, 1986, when he was grabbed by a man in a camouflage poncho. Jim managed to wrestle away from his assailant, then ran home and called the police. This occurred in the 500 block of 45th street, only half a mile from where Johnny’s wagon was found abandoned 3 1/2 years earlier. Jim told police he had been chased six weeks prior in a separate incident, but it is unknown if it was the same man who chased him on July 10th.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>INCIDENT 2 - September 1988</u></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have very limited information about this one. From what I've gathered, a boy between the ages of 10 and 13 was chased by a man while delivering papers in Indianola, less than 20 miles from Des Moines.The perpetrator in this case was driving a white van. This occurred six weeks prior to Incident 3, which would put the date as sometime in mid-to-late September.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>INCIDENT 3 - November 1, 1988</u></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At around 5AM on November 1, 1988, 10-year-old Mike Fackler was delivering newspapers for the Des Moines Register when a heavyset man wearing a white jogging suit jumped out of his car and began to chase him.4 Mike ditched his bag and ran screaming to a neighbor’s home, where the owner pulled Mike inside the house and called the police. Police arrived at the home at 5:15AM.</div><div style="text-align: left;">According to Des Moines Register, the man who tried to kidnap Mike matched the same physical description as the man in Incident 2. In both cases, the abductor drove a white vehicle, although it's called a “car” in Mike's case and a “van” in the Indianola case. Which doesn’t seem like a significant discrepancy, considering this came from a 10-year-old boy who had just had a traumatic experience.Mike lived roughly 2 miles from Johnny's home and less than 8 miles from Gene's. For what it’s worth, Noreen Gosch believed the attempted abduction was connected to her son's disappearance, but Fackler's father doubted it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>INCIDENT 4 - 15/7/89</u></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On 15 July 1989, yet another carrier for the Des Moines Register was almost abducted while delivering the morning paper.6 At 5:15AM, an unnamed 11-year-old noticed a white vehicle following him, going the wrong way on a one-way street. The man got out of the car and began chasing him, screaming profanities and threatening to stab him if he didn't get in the car. He caught up to the boy and grabbed him by his sweatshirt, but the boy managed to wriggle out of the shirt and flee to a neighbor's home.</div><div style="text-align: left;">The carrier told police his would-be kidnapper was in his 40s, about 6'2, and had salt-and-pepper hair. He described the vehicle as a large, white car with a red vinyl top.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>INCIDENT 5 - 14/9/89</u></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">11-year-old Melissa Gale was another carrier for the Des Moines Register. While delivering newspapers at about 6:20AM on September 14, 1989, an unknown man in a blue car pulled up to her and ordered her to get in the car.7 Melissa turned around and ran to her father, who was helping deliver papers only a short distance away. Melissa said the man as a white, late 20s to early 30s, with large eyes and a large nose. He had a mole underneath his right eye. He drove a small, dark blue car (possibly a Chevrolet Chevette) with a beige-colored blanket in the back seat. The site of the attempted abduction (the 3500 block of Fleur Drive) is less than two miles from Gene’s home.</div><div><br /></div></div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>A SERIAL CHILD PREDATOR?</b></u></div></span><br />The possibility of a serial predator targeting children in the Des Moines area is not a new theory. The Des Moines Register reported on July 17, 19898 that the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) suspected a connection between the recent Indianola cases and both Johnny and Eugene’s disappearances. The DCI, which normally wouldn’t get involved in a seemingly routine local crime, was so suspicious of a link that they began investigating the July 15, 1989 attack themselves. Mike Fackler and the two Indianola paperboys’ encounters all took place within a 10-month period (September 1988 and July 1989). In all three, the perpetrator drove a large white vehicle. Mike’s attacker reportedly matched the physical description of the perpetrator in the September 1988 event. And what are the chances that Indianola, a city with less than 11,000 residents in the 1980s, would suddenly have two cases of a man with a white car chasing paperboys within the space of a year? The only difference between Mike’s case and the other two has to do with the date (Mike’s occurred on a weekday in November, as opposed to a weekend in the summer or early fall). Unfortunately, because the physical description isn’t publicly available in those two incidents, I am unable to say if it’s consistent with the description provided in the July 1989 attack (of a ~6’2 man in his 40s with graying hair). But, even if the connection isn’t as clear, it’s not a far reach to suggest that whoever chased the paperboy in Indianola in September 1988 is probably the same one who struck in July 1989. The circumstances, timing, similar car, and the fact that they both occurred in the same small city all point to that.<br /><br />Let’s look at this Indianola predator. How similar are his crimes to the abductions of Johnny and Eugene?<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>All incidents involved boys between the ages of 10 and 13.</li><li>Four delivered papers for the Des Moines Register. It is unclear who the fifth (the boy chased in September 1988) worked for.</li><li>With the exception of Mike Fackler, all were attacked in the summer months.</li><li>With the exception of Mike Fackler, all occurred on weekends.</li><li>All occurred in the early morning hours.</li><li>The suspects in the Gosch and Martin cases were in their mid-30s to early 40s. This would be consistent with the Indianola predator being described as 40 - 45 years old in 1988/1989.</li></ol><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Details of Disappearance</u></b></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0ix7eoDEuFPa_k1e3l2DIp6lruiBfmPobxtKcoYPEzho7HBMwFmNMMIuc-jFRlzxrZsGjRXKxv3yg5bvMd6waSNz27SJxr7r80QQ_Ll14MksUADo1vtxfsK2eWp7c_IQx-KOo9jbokygPuK_h5eFHf-dvslrTG0NP9eH12t5TSlmndn5ww_TmZYdVQ/s616/1538699090092.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="616" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0ix7eoDEuFPa_k1e3l2DIp6lruiBfmPobxtKcoYPEzho7HBMwFmNMMIuc-jFRlzxrZsGjRXKxv3yg5bvMd6waSNz27SJxr7r80QQ_Ll14MksUADo1vtxfsK2eWp7c_IQx-KOo9jbokygPuK_h5eFHf-dvslrTG0NP9eH12t5TSlmndn5ww_TmZYdVQ/w378-h283/1538699090092.png" width="378" /></a></div>John was last seen while conducting his newspaper route in West Des Moines, Iowa on September 5, 1982. He was accompanied by his Dachshund, Gretchen. His father normally accompanied John on his route. The day before his disappearance, John asked to be allowed to do his route alone, but his parents wouldn't allow it. He apparently got up at 5:45 a.m. and left the house without waking his father as he was supposed to do. Witnesses told authorities that John was seen speaking to a male suspect on 42nd Street and Marcourt Lane while delivering his newspapers. The man was driving a blue two-tone Ford Fairmunt, and John was apparently giving him directions. At 7:00 a.m., customers on John's route called his home, saying their newspapers hadn't been delivered. His parents thought John might have overslept, but when they checked his room, they realized he was gone. Gretchen returned to family's residence, but John had vanished. His wagon, with the papers still inside, was found two blocks from his home.<br /><br />John's mother, Noreen Gosch, hired private investigators to look into her son's disappearance. She believes he was kidnapped and sold into a pedophile prostitution ring. She claimed she was visited by her son when she testified during a 1999 pedophile crime organization trial in Nebraska. Noreen said that he had visited her Iowa apartment in the middle of the night in March 1997 with an unidentified male and stayed for over an hour. Noreen went on to say that her son told her he had been abducted by members of a pedophile crime ring. He said he had escaped from the group sometime earlier, was keeping a low profile to avoid repercussions from his former captors and would probably not visit her again. Noreen maintained that she had no further contact with her son since that time, as she feared for his well-being.<br /><br />In 1999, a witness in an embezzlement trial claimed he had participated in John's abduction and that he himself was a victim of the same child sex ring that got John. When police investigated, however, they discovered the witness had been in Omaha, Nebraska on the date John disappeared. In August 2006, Noreen told the press that she had found photographs left by the front door of her home. The images depicted three boys, one of them resembling John, and all of them were bound and gagged. In one of the pictures, the boy resembling John was wearing sweatpants similar to the pair John had worn when he was abducted. Other people connected the case reported receiving copies of the photos, either through the internet or through anonymous deliveries. Noreen stated she believed the photos were of her son and were authentic, but the police think otherwise. A Florida law enforcement officer stated he had investigated the very same photographs in the 1970s, before John disappeared, and had identified all the boys pictured, and they had willingly posed for the photos. Iowa police have yet to confirm the Florida investigator's account, but they stated they thought whoever gave the photographs to Noreen may have been playing a cruel prank. John vanished from the same vicinity that Eugene Martin disappeared from in 1984. Both boys were newspaper carriers in the Des Moines area. It is not known if the two cases are related.<br /><br /><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">The kidnapping of Johnny Gosch in 1982 is one of the most high-profile child abduction cases in the United States. The case remains unsolved, and there are various theories about what happened to Johnny Gosch.</span> </div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some of the most widely discussed theories:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Human trafficking: One of the most common theories is that Johnny was kidnapped by a human trafficking ring. According to this theory, he was taken out of the country and forced into prostitution or some other form of sexual exploitation. There have been several reported sightings of Johnny in the years since his disappearance, but none of them have been confirmed.</li><li>Pedophile ring: Another theory is that Johnny was taken by a pedophile ring that was operating in the area. According to this theory, Johnny was groomed and then taken by the ring, which may have included prominent members of the community. Some people believe that Johnny was killed by the ring when he became too old to be useful to them.</li><li>Parental involvement: Some people believe that Johnny's parents were somehow involved in his disappearance. There are several reasons why people might believe this, including the fact that Johnny's mother claimed to have seen him after he disappeared, but did not report the sighting to the police until several years later.</li><li>CIA involvement: There are also theories that the CIA was involved in Johnny's kidnapping, either as part of a larger conspiracy or as part of an effort to recruit him as a spy. There is little evidence to support this theory, however.</li><li>Satanic cult: Another theory is that Johnny was taken by a satanic cult that was operating in the area. According to this theory, the cult may have been involved in other crimes, including the murder of several other children in the area.</li></ol></div><div><br /></div><div>It's important to note that none of these theories have been proven, and the case remains unsolved.</div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-77040868874622238502022-07-24T01:16:00.010-07:002023-03-16T22:52:37.541-07:00Vicky Sundgaard: Missing Since April 19th, 1987<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 40px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" dir="rtl" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH8zQrQZHG7g6XlbX6eZvRqFWvMShAl3GuY9Z-KDvbbHmeKXSFAbQDcn-U0NzIcrS3HNRM_YyqQntkIVYedhCZuCDmaV_gJoVaOURIjK2I1wIdKVhIfBEj3hGX5qtc4L-N-0SJYNiqTOoTrxeCjkH5czhv2XBnI3Zp2mYWxCKYQtjyEGRcWp86EXK7Q/s150/NAT_12044_4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="122" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH8zQrQZHG7g6XlbX6eZvRqFWvMShAl3GuY9Z-KDvbbHmeKXSFAbQDcn-U0NzIcrS3HNRM_YyqQntkIVYedhCZuCDmaV_gJoVaOURIjK2I1wIdKVhIfBEj3hGX5qtc4L-N-0SJYNiqTOoTrxeCjkH5czhv2XBnI3Zp2mYWxCKYQtjyEGRcWp86EXK7Q/w208-h276/NAT_12044_4.jpg" width="208" /></a></div></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sundgaard was last seen at a party on Cedar Street in Alexandria, Minnesota during the early morning hours of April 19, 1987, Easter Sunday. She has never been heard from again. Her vehicle was found parked a few blocks away the following morning. Sundgaard's purse and asthma inhaler were inside it. Her loved ones stated her asthma had been bothering her in the days leading up to her disappearance and they did not believe she would have left her inhaler behind. She also left behind her two young sons, which is uncharacteristic of her. <span><a name='more'></a></span>A week before her disappearance, Sundgaard told her sister she planned to leave her husband and move out of the area. The couple had two young sons and Sungaard stated he was violent, and she did not trust him around the children. Sundgaard's husband was investigated by police but is not considered a suspect in his wife's disappearance. One of the last people known to have seen her, Michael Dale Benson, was convicted of raping an Alexandria woman in 1989. He was incarcerated, and later civilly committed to a hospital for life. He escaped from the hospital in 2006 but was apprehended several weeks later. While in custody, Benson told authorities he had raped five other women in Colorado and California. He is considered a suspect in Sundgaard's case but maintains his innocence and has not been charged in connection with it. Sundgaard's disappearance remains unsolved. Her family does not believe she would have abandoned her children. </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">Erin Klegstad, </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">EchoPress, </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">http://www.echopress.com/article.cfm?Article_ID=39766</span><p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJHULnwAJTBCotIBw0TB9BMWO9W-mKRFBvS7e1gjSF9ZoFqg8TXx6J4X03vzu-1dGSZenivljlhOja9dwBLI52JMEAim5gDW0MRl-TbdrcVlRaIp61hFmljoA4sUpjvDTGQmN63R8RPn_6KElSVVR5rivrASNlVCjqb4CnQUF4I_0KGvP7wFSdKfxQg/s150/NAT_12044_3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="119" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJHULnwAJTBCotIBw0TB9BMWO9W-mKRFBvS7e1gjSF9ZoFqg8TXx6J4X03vzu-1dGSZenivljlhOja9dwBLI52JMEAim5gDW0MRl-TbdrcVlRaIp61hFmljoA4sUpjvDTGQmN63R8RPn_6KElSVVR5rivrASNlVCjqb4CnQUF4I_0KGvP7wFSdKfxQg/w254-h320/NAT_12044_3.jpg" width="254" /></a></div></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Missing Since:</b></span> 04/19/1987</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Missing From:</span></b> Alexandria, Minnesota</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Classification:</span></b> Endangered Missing</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Date of Birth:</b></span> 05/15/1963 </span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Age:</span></b> 23 years old</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Height and Weight:</span></b> 5'4 - 5'6, 115 - 125 pounds</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Medical Conditions:</span></b> Sundgaard has asthma and uses an inhaler to control her condition. She did not have her inhaler with her when she vanished. In addition, her skin is sensitive to most metals, and she has problems wearing jewelry as a result.</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Distinguishing Characteristics:</span></b> Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Sundgaard had her ears pierced, but the holes may have closed by the time of her disappearance. She has a faint scar on her lip. Sundgaard has had extensive dental work, including a white cap on one of her upper front teeth. Her first name may be spelled "Vicky" by some agencies.</span></div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><u>Escaped
Sex Offender Renews Interest In Missing Woman</u></span></i></h1><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSx2-w2CcK-kZM4zQWW4mK1kNR6zsMu3fTSMTkiWhtZD99h-iIcW3mKmO617ng6oh9PZ8KxUjB63-EusltoQ5VCe20uzfm7hyUXOUYKntkRudERhh18jnEqagqvzeNsN37OvP8PqXMfRJhL_OyG1ZVh3QQmp6AjjSK7XxufbfoA2M1H-7X5ladZGvoGw/s150/NAT_12044_1.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 40px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><blockquote dir="rtl" style="border: none; margin: 0px 40px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSx2-w2CcK-kZM4zQWW4mK1kNR6zsMu3fTSMTkiWhtZD99h-iIcW3mKmO617ng6oh9PZ8KxUjB63-EusltoQ5VCe20uzfm7hyUXOUYKntkRudERhh18jnEqagqvzeNsN37OvP8PqXMfRJhL_OyG1ZVh3QQmp6AjjSK7XxufbfoA2M1H-7X5ladZGvoGw/s150/NAT_12044_1.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="106" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSx2-w2CcK-kZM4zQWW4mK1kNR6zsMu3fTSMTkiWhtZD99h-iIcW3mKmO617ng6oh9PZ8KxUjB63-EusltoQ5VCe20uzfm7hyUXOUYKntkRudERhh18jnEqagqvzeNsN37OvP8PqXMfRJhL_OyG1ZVh3QQmp6AjjSK7XxufbfoA2M1H-7X5ladZGvoGw/w212-h270/NAT_12044_1.jpg" width="212" /></a></blockquote></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The family of Vicki Sundgaard had never heard of Michael Benson until he escaped from the St. Peter Security hospital. As it turns out, the level 3 sex offender may have had a direct impact on their lives. Sundgaard was just 23 years old when she disappeared from a party near Alexandria in the spring of 1987. While some suspected that she ran away from a troubled marriage and two small children, authorities were suspicious. They identified a person of interest who was at the party, a man named Michael Benson, who told several witnesses that he knew Sundgaard. "He was seen at that location the night she went missing," said Douglas County Sheriff Bill Ingebritsen. "Knowing what he had done after that certainly makes us wonder." Ingebritsen is referring to a violent rape that Benson was convicted of in 1989, and his subsequent civil commitment to the St. Peter Security Hospital.</span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></blockquote></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQkRqcK7Tb_uQWMQB-9eAmnu2G-vOVVdXs2cMEqVQUVJE9dGGMDpoLh7FpeWYOuKBxSsJTsqWACXCKpT7r4EQxPCLQ99KdY7kc79fv3lSuPXtAdHC8bg5lLII5w_BMwXux8y1tqyEqyuhTzt6OjEYAOJ250FO-UNRmXc7upZvCMzc0i9bIk-25OX8BA/s150/NAT_12044_6.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQkRqcK7Tb_uQWMQB-9eAmnu2G-vOVVdXs2cMEqVQUVJE9dGGMDpoLh7FpeWYOuKBxSsJTsqWACXCKpT7r4EQxPCLQ99KdY7kc79fv3lSuPXtAdHC8bg5lLII5w_BMwXux8y1tqyEqyuhTzt6OjEYAOJ250FO-UNRmXc7upZvCMzc0i9bIk-25OX8BA/w256-h320/NAT_12044_6.jpg" width="256" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">While authorities also suspected Benson in Sundgaard's disappearance, they never told her family. Her mother-in-law found out only after he escaped from prison. "Nineteen year later this all comes up, there's gotta be a reason for it because things happen for a reason," said Betty Sundgaard of Nelson. "If he is picked up, maybe they'll question him and there will be an answer. Maybe this will be totally settled, and we'll know."</span><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><br /><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article ... yid=123919</span><br /><div><br /></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-6068109788029148832022-07-02T23:29:00.004-07:002023-03-17T02:56:16.884-07:00Sara Bushland: Missing Since April 3rd, 1996<p dir="rtl" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" dir="rtl" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjzEY77oug1VHNp-QIE524gZD3eznJBQBoylT4VakMFJSr7lg-tPN0WPf7TtBk0FFoceMXUBlUjfUm3xusqw9vfZvqHGoWkuhmgGxZb72IrxzOWgNo39SHRPX0NoDmWUprLYkLogvxJCVFYR1u2SgxlzTOvjuZKT4UYw934uWRj5j2KO4o79PRWOJCw/s500/1_Liz8nP5HkiigZpOapfS_6A.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjzEY77oug1VHNp-QIE524gZD3eznJBQBoylT4VakMFJSr7lg-tPN0WPf7TtBk0FFoceMXUBlUjfUm3xusqw9vfZvqHGoWkuhmgGxZb72IrxzOWgNo39SHRPX0NoDmWUprLYkLogvxJCVFYR1u2SgxlzTOvjuZKT4UYw934uWRj5j2KO4o79PRWOJCw/w223-h279/1_Liz8nP5HkiigZpOapfS_6A.jpeg" width="223" /></a></b></span></div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara was last seen after exiting her school bus at the end of the driveway of her family's residence at 4:00 p.m. on April 3, 1996 in rural Spooner, Wisconsin. She was at the foot of her driveway, about 100 yards from her house. One of Sara's stepbrother's was home at the time, but her mother and stepfather were both out. There was a dark-colored pickup truck driving behind the bus, and when she got out it pulled up next to her. Some of the others on the bus thought the vehicle belonged to Sara's 21-year-old boyfriend.<span><a name='more'></a></span> From Sara's body language, the witnesses realized she knew the truck's driver. Some of them saw her speaking to the driver, while others claim she actually got into the truck. The truck backed out of the driveway and started off in the direction of the nearby town of Trego.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At 4:37 p.m., Sara's stepbrother called his father and mentioned Sara wasn't still home yet, but nobody was concerned at the time because they thought she was at a friend's house. She disappeared on the last day of school before spring break, and the first day she was not grounded; she had been grounded for several weeks and hadn't been allowed to leave the house except to go to school and school-related activities. When Sara still wasn't home by 6:20 p.m., her mother went back home and started calling her friends. None of them had seen her since they left school. By 8:00 p.m. her mother was driving around the local area looking for her.</span></div></div></blockquote><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara has never been heard from again. Both authorities and her mother and stepfather initially thought she had run away, but now they are unsure what caused her disappearance. She didn't take any clothing or money with her, and she had no history of running away from home, and her father and older sister never believed she ran away.</span></div></div></blockquote><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara's parents divorced when she was a toddler and her parents had joint custody of her and her older sister during their early childhoods. Both girls went with their father when he moved to Colorado in 1990. In 1994, after Sara was caught shoplifting and her father grounded her, she decided to move back to Wisconsin to live with her mother, stepfather and two older stepbrothers. She became friends with a new group of people older than herself after she moved to Wisconsin, and began dating the 21-year-old man. Her parents were unhappy about this and told her she wasn't allowed to date until she was older, but Sara continued to see the man anyway.</span></div></div></blockquote><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara and her boyfriend did have lunch together on the day of her disappearance and he drove her back to school for her afternoon classes. He said this was the last time he saw her. Sara's family believes she was harmed by someone she knew, as they don't think she would have gotten into a stranger's vehicle. It's worth noting that there was some tension and allegations of sexual abuse between Sara and her stepbrothers around the time of her disappearance, and Sara was thinking of moving back in with her father and sister.</span></div></div></blockquote><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There's speculation that Crystal Soulier's death may be connected to Sara's disappearance. Soulier, who was eighteen years old, disappeared from Cable, Wisconsin in October 1996. Five months later her body was found in Rock County, Wisconsin, but it wasn't identified until 2002. Her murder remains unsolved. Soulier and Sara were both blonde young women in the same age group. They knew each other and they also had at least 19 mutual friends, all of them young men in their twenties. Both Soulier and Sara attended parties held by these men, and Sara's school friends were unaware of this. None of the men have been named as suspects in Sara's disappearance or Soulier's murder, which is also unsolved.</span></div></div></blockquote><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara was a sophomore at Spooner High School in 1996. Investigators believe she's probably no longer alive, but haven't named any suspects in her case. Both her mother and her stepfather died in 2017.</span></div></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>Wisconsin Cold Case: Where Is Sara Bushland?</i></b></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara Bushland had been in a good mood when she left her Spring Lake, Wisconsin home on the morning of Wednesday, April 3, 1996. It was the last day of classes before spring break; it was also the 15-year-old’s first day of freedom after being grounded for several weeks. One of her stepbrothers dropped her off at a friend’s house in Spooner, Wisconsin that morning, and the two of them walked to Spooner High School together.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_UYe0SQFIf4CIDm--_PnzVVng7fVB4X6OxeVLqCK-YrSU-jr05hFC841SFx3m0cE1J0cubQHXhor0Amy8s6xAHMjIslYEY0ygRZ6d2xVHD0p-6xdCQXcYCdprthMUDd7vRF7Z139zxk0q55rQFF1xNVk8fOv-7zspoLlLCcdXPV6CaXPZblWAy6WZlg/s700/1_An8dmo6onIgQ2iIbsuUhCg.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_UYe0SQFIf4CIDm--_PnzVVng7fVB4X6OxeVLqCK-YrSU-jr05hFC841SFx3m0cE1J0cubQHXhor0Amy8s6xAHMjIslYEY0ygRZ6d2xVHD0p-6xdCQXcYCdprthMUDd7vRF7Z139zxk0q55rQFF1xNVk8fOv-7zspoLlLCcdXPV6CaXPZblWAy6WZlg/w485-h205/1_An8dmo6onIgQ2iIbsuUhCg.jpeg" width="485" /></a></div></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first half of the school day passed by quickly for Sara. Her boyfriend, Travis Lane, picked her up at lunchtime and the two of them went out to eat. After lunch, Travis dropped her back off at the school and she attended her afternoon classes. Sara had intended to walk back to her friend’s house with her once the school day ended, as the two of them planned on returning to the school together later that evening for an event being held there. By the end of the day, however, Sara had changed her mind. She told her friend that she needed to return to her own house first, and asked several people if they could give her a ride. Sara’s home was located on the outskirts of the rural community of Spooner; when she was unable to find anyone willing to drive her there, she decided to take the school bus. Sara’s bus ride home usually took around 40 minutes, and she spent the time chatting with several other students on the bus. One of them noticed that there was a dark pickup truck that appeared to be following the bus; she recognized it as belonging to a man that Sara used to date.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara got off at her usual bus stop, located near the bottom of the gravel driveway that led to her home. Several witnesses saw the dark-colored pickup truck pull into Sara’s driveway; from Sara’s body language it was clear that she knew the driver. Although all of the witnesses saw Sara approach the driver and start to talking to him, it’s unclear if she actually got into the truck with him or not. A couple of the witnesses thought Sara did climb into the truck, while another recalled seeing Sara speak with the driver but nothing else. The only thing known for certain is that Sara was never seen again. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The truck was seen backing out of Sara’s driveway as the bus pulled away; one witness said the truck then headed north in the direction of Trego, while another claimed it went south. Neither witness could tell if Sara was in the truck or not; she may have started the 100-yard walk up the driveway to her house. Sara had gotten off the bus at 4:00 pm; the only person who would have been home at that time was her 20-year-old stepbrother, David. Her mother, Marie, had to go out of town for a funeral and planned on spending the night in Chippewa Falls, while her stepfather, Jim Lambert, was visiting a friend in Minnesota. Sara’s stepbrother noticed that Sara didn’t arrive home from school and called his father in Minnesota at 4:37 pm to report that Sara wasn’t home. It’s unclear if he thought she was still grounded or not; since Sara had initially planned on going to a friend’s house after school, there was no reason for anyone to expect her to be home.<br /></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPz3VEaVKkVnN0ettM1228yOrgi_BMnMsBDFJs4SWg9bdW261WCphEeuVsJoZfmERFTTYjH1uHZ92P73f29lBshPZu-XTRjDnwsyK9hKup_4ZJWqzq6RyhyF27LpkvQD96rnrB41WGX0Ay0aYuZKwn0lELxHaAV0iBhWf46FiM4tk0z61CVEOaw97YQ/s700/1_tKRfCLxm7BOiZenv47Z5OA.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="700" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPz3VEaVKkVnN0ettM1228yOrgi_BMnMsBDFJs4SWg9bdW261WCphEeuVsJoZfmERFTTYjH1uHZ92P73f29lBshPZu-XTRjDnwsyK9hKup_4ZJWqzq6RyhyF27LpkvQD96rnrB41WGX0Ay0aYuZKwn0lELxHaAV0iBhWf46FiM4tk0z61CVEOaw97YQ/w364-h321/1_tKRfCLxm7BOiZenv47Z5OA.jpeg" width="364" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jim called his wife in Chippewa Falls and told her that Sara apparently hadn’t returned home from school. Unsure what was going on, Marie immediately made the drive back to Spooner, arriving around 6:20 pm. She began calling around to some of Sara’s friends, but none of them had seen her since they left school. At 8:00 pm, Marie started driving around to various places where she thought Sara might be; she went to the home where Sara had been dropped off that morning as well as Travis’s apartment, but Sara wasn’t at either location. Travis told Marie that he had eaten lunch with Sara but hadn’t seen her since he dropped her back off at school. Several of Sara’s classmates confirmed that Sara had returned to school after lunch and had then taken the bus home. Marie finally went home and spent a sleepless night wondering where her daughter might be.</span><p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to Jim, he returned from Minnesota early the following afternoon; he and Marie then drove to the Spooner police station and reported Sara missing. From the initial report, it appears that the couple believed that Sara had simply run away; since they didn’t seem particularly concerned, the police did little to look for Sara. Her disappearance got no publicity at all; many of her classmates weren’t even aware of the fact that she was missing until two weeks after she was last seen. Curiously, Marie didn’t bother to call Sara’s father to tell him that his daughter was missing. Mike Bushland learned of her disappearance a few days later when his former mother-in-law called him. From the start, he was convinced that Sara wasn’t a runaway. She hadn’t taken any of her belongings; all her clothing, makeup, and hair products were left behind.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara had only been living in Spooner since December 1994; prior to this she had been living in Colorado with her father and older sister, Lesley. The sisters were only 18 months apart in age, and had always been close. Their parents, who divorced in 1984, shared joint custody of the girls for much of their childhood. When Mike relocated to Colorado in 1990, both girls had opted to move with him. Mike did everything he could to give his daughters a stable homelife, and things seemed to be going well. As the sisters entered their teenage years, they started to act out a little. Lesley got a thrill out of shoplifting, though she never really took anything of value. Soon Sara decided to try her hand at it, but she wasn’t as discreet about it. In November 1994, she was arrested after being caught shoplifting at a local mall. Mike was understandably upset when he learned of his daughters’ new hobby, and he grounded both of them. Sara, in typical teenage fashion, reacted with anger and decided that she no longer wanted to live with her father. She wanted to go live with her mother and stepfather in Wisconsin. Mike agreed, and Sara left Colorado the following month.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jim and Marie Lambert lived on a 65-acre property along Spring Lake in Spooner, Wisconsin. Their home had burned down in 1990, and rather than rebuild it they had converted their two-story garage into a home. At the time Sara moved in with them, two of Jim’s sons were also living there. Jim and Marie were seldom home; this created the kind of unstructured environment Sara had been craving when she left her father’s house. It came at a price. There were allegations of sexual abuse and tension between Sara and her stepbrothers; no charges were ever filed and it’s unclear exactly what went on inside the Spooner home. Although Sara was rarely supervised, she had very little privacy as her bedroom lacked a door and doubled as Jim’s office. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara was known for her happy and outgoing personality, and she never had a problem making friends. When she moved to Spooner, however, she started hanging out with a group of friends who were much older than her. She was only 15 years old when she started dating Travis; he was 21 years old at the time. Jim and Marie weren’t happy about this; they tried to tell Sara she wasn’t allowed to date until she turned 16, but Sara continued to see Travis.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8JU4WSR_F0XW8RW8MGFxOqMAkTfhyKLB1-hZ9QAwwjB-Po4oCiqNzW_fZQDWAlIXYQShqRqZarWLXVx5g7ceBCgaeFnqbX7cq6gqwwkUd6BANgmC9QRbUde35k3L-SdR0sGXzBg5phnmpc0TNRXlPfng7bO67LP5la58X9JsHfCp2szpgaSjjpiPzWQ/s695/1_lDVv6Mu2mvLGlRpGJU3t8A.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="695" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8JU4WSR_F0XW8RW8MGFxOqMAkTfhyKLB1-hZ9QAwwjB-Po4oCiqNzW_fZQDWAlIXYQShqRqZarWLXVx5g7ceBCgaeFnqbX7cq6gqwwkUd6BANgmC9QRbUde35k3L-SdR0sGXzBg5phnmpc0TNRXlPfng7bO67LP5la58X9JsHfCp2szpgaSjjpiPzWQ/w358-h326/1_lDVv6Mu2mvLGlRpGJU3t8A.png" width="358" /></a></div></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like most teenage girls, Sara kept a diary. Although she only wrote in it sporadically, she did go into detail about some of the tension she felt with her stepfather and stepbrothers, as well as about general relationship problems. In March 1996, Jim found and read her diary; he was angry about some of the things she had written and grounded her as a result. It’s unclear exactly what angered him, though the fact that Sara was apparently still dating Travis was likely a factor. Sara was only allowed to leave the house to go to school or school-related activities; her punishment was due to end the day she went missing. Sara had moved to Spooner because she had been angry when her father grounded her; once her stepfather grounded her, she seemed to realize that life with her father had been pretty good. Shortly before she went missing, she told her grandmother that she was thinking about moving back in with her father and sister. The exact circumstances surrounding Sara’s disappearance have never been fully established. As she was trying to find a ride home from school that day, she told one of her friends that she was afraid her stepfather would read her diary again; she noted that if he read her most recent entries, he would likely ground her again. She mentioned that she wanted to get home before this could happen. Yet Jim was supposed to be out of town on a planned overnight trip that day, meaning there was no risk of him finding and reading her diary. It’s possible she was worried that one of her stepbrothers might find it and reveal its contents to her stepfather, but her exact thoughts are unknown.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although Sara’s father and older sister were convinced that she hadn’t run away from home, police latched on to the runaway theory. As a result, there was no real investigation conducted. Mike was upset with the way the case was handled, noting that no one from the sheriff’s office had bothered to contact him until Sara had been missing for more than a year. It was clear to him that they had never bothered to take a cursory look at her disappearance, let alone conduct an actual investigation. In July 1999, the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office arrived at Jim and Marie’s home in Spooner and conducted their first physical search for Sara. Although they declined to name anyone in the family as a suspect or person of interest, they combed through a trash dump that was located on the property. They found nothing related to Sara’s disappearance. In August 2000, law enforcement conducted a second search on the Lambert property. This time, armed with a search warrant, they dragged Spring Lake and searched through several other areas on the property, but once again left without finding anything.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The fact that the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office seemed to be concentrating their search efforts around Sara’s home was the subject of much speculation, but officials refused to comment about the case. The fact that they didn’t seem too worried about finding the dark-colored pickup truck seen on the day Sara disappeared seemed to indicate that they had discarded it as a lead. They appeared to believe Sara had arrived that day and met her fate at her own house. After the second search of the Lambert property, the investigation into Sara’s disappearance seemed to stall; it would be more than a decade before another physical search would take place.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marie held on to the hope that her daughter had decided to voluntarily disappear and believed that she might return after her 18th birthday. The day came and went without any word from Sara, and her family admitted that it was getting harder to stay positive. By the time Sara had been missing for five years, law enforcement admitted that it appeared her disappearance had not been voluntary. Although they had no proof that foul play had taken place, they noted that they had no reason to believe Sara was still alive. They had received few leads about the case — likely since there was no publicity and few people seemed to know Sara was missing — but they believed that there were people living in the Spooner area who knew exactly what had happened to the teenager. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although Sara’s case was always considered to be an active investigation, no progress was made on it for years. In 2013, police renewed their efforts at finding Sara; they started off with yet another search of the Lambert’s property in May 2013. More than 70 investigators spent two days scouring the entire property, including the home and all outbuildings. Cadaver dogs were brought in to assist, and they reacted to the smell of decomposition in several different areas. Despite the extensive search, officials once again left without any clues about what might have happened to Sara.<br /></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Both Jim and Marie died in 2017; the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office conducted a fourth search of their property just a week after Jim died. Once again, searchers failed to find any evidence related to Sara’s disappearance. The truck that was seen in Sara’s driveway on the day she went missing has never been identified. One witness thought it looked like a truck belonging to the father of Sara’s boyfriend, another recognized it as belonging to a man Sara had referred to as Steve. There was no one named Steve known to be associated with Sara; it’s possible that both witnesses were referring to Travis. Either way, there is still no evidence that Sara got into the truck that day; it may not be involved in her disappearance at all.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The fact that detectives seemed to fixate on the Lambert property suggests that they had evidence indicating that something happened to Sara there, but they have never spoken publicly about this. Although they do not believe that Sara is still alive, she is still considered a missing person at this time. Sara’s father and sister have come to terms with the fact that she was almost certainly the victim of foul play, but they have never given up their search for her. Lesley has been extremely active in keeping Sara’s case alive and still hopes that they will one day learn what happened to her little sister.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sara Bushland was 15 years old when she went missing in 1996. She has blue eyes and blond hair, and at the time of her disappearance she was 5 feet tall and weighed 104 pounds. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a T-shirt with a picture of Tweety Bird on the front, a blue jacket, and black sneakers. She was also wearing four silver rings, including a Spooner High School class ring with a black stone and wire-rimmed eyeglasses. She has moles on the right side of her upper lip and on the left side of her neck. If you have any information about Sara, please contact the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office at 715–468–4700.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"> <a href="https://medium.com/@jennbaxter_69070/wisconsin-cold-case-where-is-sara-bushland-80a53005b72d">Wisconsin Cold Case: Where Is Sara Bushland? | by Jenn Baxter | Medium</a></span></p><div class="separator" dir="rtl" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIHWR4tvJHZAXjaTXkdVT4TEribpAMtalyAQA9kIYdNpguRq-NSrQqh8HxJ0m-lUZXk6Cdw4ZN5eXUaIbdJ8k3-SO5cl3Eq6_6WGWGGnLF8ZwxQCMb0TPK5svuRq4Mu_eGjglyFXbseRPVKzgzj1rMAwYWGLG4UBwDiJ7U6njl3YduxUIbom2wBAZxg/s700/1_LdIxgo-NchpCi2x-olT0FA.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIHWR4tvJHZAXjaTXkdVT4TEribpAMtalyAQA9kIYdNpguRq-NSrQqh8HxJ0m-lUZXk6Cdw4ZN5eXUaIbdJ8k3-SO5cl3Eq6_6WGWGGnLF8ZwxQCMb0TPK5svuRq4Mu_eGjglyFXbseRPVKzgzj1rMAwYWGLG4UBwDiJ7U6njl3YduxUIbom2wBAZxg/w273-h253/1_LdIxgo-NchpCi2x-olT0FA.jpeg" width="273" /></a></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>Timeline of Sara Bushland's disappearance</b></span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In December 1994, Sara Bushland moved to the Spooner area from Colorado to live with her mother and stepfather, Marie and Jim Lambert. Two of Sara’s stepbrothers also lived in the Lambert home.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Note: All times are approximate</span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>April 3, 1996</b></span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Early morning – One of Sara’s stepbrothers gave her a ride to her friend’s house in Spooner. Sara and her friend walked to school from there.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mid-morning – Jim and a friend from Canada left for an overnight visit at a mutual friend’s house in Stillwater, Minnesota. Marie attended a funeral in Chippewa Falls and planned to stay there overnight at her mother’s house. Sara and the two stepbrothers were at home.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lunch – Sara and her boyfriend went to his friend’s house in Spooner.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Afternoon – Unable to find another ride home after school, Sara rode the school bus.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">4 p.m. – Sara got off the school bus at home. At least three children on the bus saw Sara approach a truck that pulled into the Lambert driveway after the school bus left the stop. One witness said they saw Sara get into the truck.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">4:37 p.m. – One of Sara’s stepbrothers called Jim in Stillwater to report that Sara did not come home from school.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">6:20 p.m. – Marie arrived at home and made several phone calls looking for Sara.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">8 p.m. – Marie drove to the home of Sara’s friend in Spooner. Not finding Sara there, Marie and Sara’s friend drove to Sara’s boyfriend’s apartment in Spooner, and then to Trego to look for her.</span></li></ul><p></p></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Thursday April 4, 1996</b></span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Noon – Jim and his friend returned to the Lambert home from Stillwater.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Afternoon – Jim and Marie reported Sara Bushland missing.</span></li></ul></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">February 1998</span></b> – Jim requested that the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) assist in the search for Sara Bushland.</span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">July 1999</span></b> – Law enforcement conducted the first of several searches at the Lambert property. A trash dump on the property was the focus of this search.</span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">August 2000</span></b> – Authorities executed a search warrant at the Lambert property. Spring Lake was dragged, and other areas of the property were searched.</span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">May 2013</span></b> – Investigators conducted the most intensive search of the Lambert property to date. More than 70 officials participated over two days. Cadaver dogs reacted at several locations around buildings.</span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">June 19, 2017</span></b> – Investigators executed a warrant and search the Lambert property for the fourth time.</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Sara Bushland, 15, got off of the school bus on the afternoon of April 3, 1996.</span></b> </span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">A dark-colored pickup truck that had been following the bus pulled into her family’s driveway, and, according to other students on the bus, Bushland briefly talked with the person inside, whom she seemed to know. One witness said Bushland got into the truck. As the bus pulled away, the truck backed out of the driveway and headed north toward the town of Trego.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That was the last confirmed sighting of Sara Bushland.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bushland’s mother had gone to Chippewa Falls for a funeral that morning. She also worked in Chippewa Falls, and she planned to stay overnight with Bushland’s grandmother, who lived there. Her stepfather also left home that day. He and a friend had planned to visit friends in Stillwater, Minnesota and spend the night there. That meant Bushland and her stepbrothers would be home alone until the following day.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bushland’s stepbrother called her stepfather to let him know that she hadn’t come home after school about 40 minutes after the bus dropped her off. Her mother came home early to find her, calling and visiting Bushland’s friends and her boyfriend’s apartment. The next day, Bushland’s mother and stepfather reported her missing.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bushland had been dating a 21 year old, but her parents disapproved and told her she wasn’t allowed to see him until she turned 16 in August. Some reports say that the couple had broken up. However, on the day she disappeared, Bushland and her boyfriend had lunch together at his friend’s house, and then he’d driven her back to school.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bushland’s parents were divorced and both had remarried. She had recently moved from Colorado to live with her mother, stepfather and two stepbrothers in Spooner. Her father, sister, and stepmother lived an hour away in Chippewa Falls, and Bushland had apparently considered moving in with them, as she was having trouble at home. She was struggling to find her place, hanging out with a group of older friends, and getting in trouble with her mother and stepfather because of recent choices she’d made and things they’d read in her journal. In fact, Bushland had been grounded for the weeks leading up to her disappearance.</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">The Investigation</span></b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The initial police response wasn’t much. They were sure that Bushland had run away. But she hadn’t taken any belongings, and friends say she wasn’t acting out of character that day. She also had plans for that evening and the upcoming spring break with a friend. There was little press coverage and little organized effort to find her. In fact, most of Bushland’s classmates didn’t realize she had gone missing until posters of Bushland were put up at her school about two weeks after she was last seen.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That morning, one of Bushland’s stepbrothers had driven her to a friend’s house, and Bushland and her friend walked to school together. They’d planned to return to the friend’s house after school, but her friend said Bushland was worried her stepfather would find and read her journal, so she wanted to get home. She tried to find a ride to the family’s rural property but ended up taking the bus.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In February 1998, nearly two years after Bushland’s disappearance, her stepfather requested that the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation help with the search.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was 1999, almost three years later, when investigators seemed to change their mind about the reason for her disappearance and a more active investigation began. Once it started, it appeared as if investigators believed someone in the family was responsible for Bushland’s disappearance.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The family’s rural property was searched July 1999; a trash dump on the property was the focus of the investigation. In August 2000, a search warrant was executed on the property. Investigators dredged a lake and looked at other areas of the family’s land. In May 2013, another search of the same locations included cadaver dogs, which reacted in several areas. Both Bushland’s mother and stepfather died in 2017, and investigators executed another warrant in June, searching the property for a fourth time just a week after her stepfather’s death.</span> <span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <b style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-large; text-align: center;">Questions and Inconsistencies</b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While several witnesses spoke of seeing the truck that pulled into the driveway after Bushland had gotten off of the bus and all agreed that she spoke with and seemed to know the driver, only one person said they saw her get into the truck. So investigators aren’t sure she left the premises.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At 4 p.m., the time Bushland got off of the bus, it is believed one of her stepbrothers was the only other person at home. A call made by a stepbrother is shown in phone records to have reached her stepfather at 4:37. Her stepfather then called her mother, who drove home and arrived at about 6:20 p.m. Her mother called several of Bushland’s friends in an attempt to find her and then drove to her friend’s house at about 8 p.m. Then her mother and the friend drove to Bushland’s boyfriend’s house in Spooner and to her boyfriend’s father’s house in Trego before she returned home. Investigators say that the 4 p.m. to 6:20 p.m. timeline is critical, but they don’t have any answers.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The whereabouts of Bushland’s other stepbrother and the time he arrived home are unclear. Her stepfather claims to have stayed with friends in Stillwater, MN that night, as he’d originally planned, and returned home by noon the following day. But recently the friend he claims to have stayed with denied he was there overnight. The family didn’t report Bushland missing until the afternoon her stepfather arrived home.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Questions remain as to whether Bushland got into the truck and left the property or whether she went into the house. It’s also unclear if the timeline and whereabouts of her family members is accurate.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Connections to Another Disappearance?</span></b></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another local young woman, Crystal Soulier, 18, disappeared six months after Bushland. She lived about an hour from Spooner in Cable, WI. Soulier was considered missing for about three years before investigators identified her as the Jane Doe whose remains had been found in March 1997 behind an adult store in Beloit, WI. Strangely, another body was found in that same location three years before Soulier’s. Terryl Stanford, a woman from Chicago who was a sex worker, had been murdered and dumped there, too. Investigators could find no links between the two women except for the location of their remains.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the other hand, Bushland and Soulier knew each other and had several mutual friends—all of whom were men in their 20s. It’s also been reported that Bushland was good friends with Soulier’s sister. Both Bushland and Soulier attended parties with the men; Bushland’s friends in Spooner reportedly didn’t know about her set of older male friends. Her association with these friends and other things she’d written about in her journal were causing disagreements at home and resulted in her being grounded and other restrictions.</span></div></div></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-40258771090104274242022-02-04T23:37:00.001-08:002022-07-24T23:45:34.893-07:00Morgan Chauntel Nick: Missing Since June 9, 1995<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibSRZrjLkqa7_Hbss5-8w56XQThPGOUp5akaxvWncHzmJXeIY_ayMFmaoRq9n9L_0UaBN0nnljT-vyyAsGdYNwY2TzSCpb1vzR-JSOSbUmn9hBcap2sO8-1QT4nlk3REJRK68XDGgYvLiirIdJIJyMCK5XnOxJeTWHLVSbPuX0AhEZ8FN5wbhKEOOCfg=s718" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="574" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibSRZrjLkqa7_Hbss5-8w56XQThPGOUp5akaxvWncHzmJXeIY_ayMFmaoRq9n9L_0UaBN0nnljT-vyyAsGdYNwY2TzSCpb1vzR-JSOSbUmn9hBcap2sO8-1QT4nlk3REJRK68XDGgYvLiirIdJIJyMCK5XnOxJeTWHLVSbPuX0AhEZ8FN5wbhKEOOCfg=w204-h264" width="204" /></a></div><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nick attended a Little League Baseball game
with her mother in Alma, Arkansas on June 9, 1995. She joined her friends to
catch lightning bugs near the baseball field later in the evening. Nick was
last seen at approximately 10:45 p.m. as she stood near her mother's Nissan
Stanza in the parking lot. She was emptying sand from her shoes at the
time. Nick has never been heard from again.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Witnesses told authorities that they observed an unidentified Caucasian male
watching Nick play on the field earlier in the night. The man apparently
approached a group of children playing with Nick and asked them a question;
investigators have not publicly released any additional details about the
conversation. <span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The suspect is described as approximately 23 to 38 years old in
1995, 6'0 and 180 pounds. Two sketches of Nick's alleged abductor are posted
below this case summary. The unidentified man may have been driving a red Ford pickup
truck with a white camper, which had windows covered with curtains. The vehicle
left the field's parking lot at approximately the same time Nick disappeared.</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Two attempted abductions occurred area on June 9 and 10. In Alma, a suspect
resembling Nick's abductor enticed a four-year-old girl into his red truck. The
abduction was interrupted, and the girl saved when her mother saw them and
screamed. In Fort Smith, fifteen miles from Alma, a suspect tried to entice a
nine-year-old girl into the men's restroom at a convenience store. He stopped
when the girl resisted. Authorities announced that the incidents involved the
same man. While the individual involved in these incidents has not been
confirmed to be the same man sought in Nick's case, he resembled the Nick
suspect and so did his truck, and authorities believe the events are linked.</span></span><p></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><i>Missing Since</i></u></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><i>:</i></u></span> June 9, 1995 from Alma, Arkansas</span></p><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><i>Classification</i></u></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>:</i></span> </u></b>Non-Family Abduction</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><i><b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Date of Birth</u></b><u style="font-family: inherit;">:</u></i></span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> September 12, 1988</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><i><b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Age</u></b><u style="font-family: inherit;">:</u></i></span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> 6 years old</span></p><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Height and Weight</u></b><u style="font-family: inherit;">:</u></i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 4'0, 55 pounds</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><b style="font-family: inherit;"><u><br /></u></b></i></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Distinguishing Characteristics</u></b><u style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">:</u></i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i> </i>Blonde hair, blue eyes.
Nick had five visible silver caps on her molars at the time of her 1995
disappearance; the caps were scheduled to be removed in 2000. Her teeth were
crowded at the time of her 1995 disappearance, and she will need orthodontic
braces in adolescence. Nick has a protruding purple vein on the lower left side
of her rib cage.</span></div></span><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><i><br /></i></u></span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><i>Clothing Description</i></u></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><i>:</i> </u></span>A green </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Girl Scouts</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> t-shirt, blue
denim shorts and white leather tennis shoes.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>⏩ At 10:45 p.m. on June 9, 1995
in Alma, Arkansas, 6-year-old Morgan Nick</b></span> was abducted from a little league
ball game by an unidentified man. She was attending the game with her mother
and had joined some friends to catch lightning bugs. Morgan was last seen
standing near her mother's car where she had stopped to empty sand from her
shoes. Witnesses observed a man watching the youngster as she was playing with
other children at the park. The witness also saw a red Ford pickup with a white
camper parked nearby that disappeared at about the same time as Morgan. The
camper is possibly damaged at the right rear and was described as four or five
inches too short for the truck, which has a short wheelbase and paint dulled by
age. The truck is believed to have Arkansas license plates. The man was
described as white, 6 feet tall, with a medium to solid build, a mustache and a
1-inch beard. At the time, he was believed to be 23-38 years old. Click here to
see a composite sketch. At the time of her disappearance, Morgan was
approximately 4 feet tall, about 55 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Morgan had 5 visible silver caps on her molars. She was last seen wearing a
green Girl Scout t-shirt, blue denim shorts and white tennis shoes. A massive
investigation has turned up thousands of leads, but still no solid clues to the
whereabouts of Morgan Nick or her abductor. The FBI and local communities have
offered a $60,000 reward for the recovery of Morgan Chauntel Nick and the
identification, arrest and conviction of subject or subjects responsible for
her abduction. The search continues to move forward. There have been numerous
possible sightings of Morgan across the United States. Morgan's parents believe
that Morgan is still alive and hope that with continued media coverage, someone
will be able to provide them with information that could bring their daughter
home.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">⏩</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b> You hear it all the time;
"Back then, people didn't lock their doors at night." </b></span>That phrase often
gets mentioned when devastating crimes occur in unexpected places that are
deemed safe by the community. When those tragedies happen everything changes,
but sometimes positives can blossom through the aftermath of the rubble. In the
unsolved disappearance of Morgan Nick, her story has remained a beacon of hope
that transcended across the nation. This is her story. On September 12, 1988,
John and Colleen Nick gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby daughter they
named Morgan Chauntel Nick. She was raised in the small, populated town of
Ozark, Arkansas, a community of fewer than 4,000 residents. By 1994, Morgan
became the oldest of two other siblings, Logan Nick, who was almost four years
old, and a younger sister, Taryn Nick, who was a vibrant 22-month-old baby.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>As a young kid with a wild
imagination, Morgan's aspirations ranged from being a medical doctor to a
circus performer. In school, she had signed up for the track team but quickly
regretted that decision because she didn't enjoy sweating. In turn, she decided
to start participating in Girls Scouts where they often did indoor activities. Even
at such a young age, Morgan possessed character traits that would undoubtedly
lead to a successful future, no matter which avenue she pursued. Not only did
she have the uncanny ability to make others laugh, she also never limited
herself to experiencing new things. When she was five years old, she adopted a
kitten she named Emily, and a motherly bond was immediately formed. From then
on, the two were thick as thieves and Emily would always be found sleeping
next to her at night. The potential Morgan had was very bright. She enjoyed
being around others and people loved being around her, but on a summer day in
1995, everything that should have been for Morgan's future was snuffed out, and
the young girl with a heartwarming smile that could make anyone laugh suddenly
had an entire community in shambles.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>On the warm summer day of
Friday, June 9, 1995, Colleen Nick wanted to share an afternoon with her oldest
daughter, Morgan, because they hadn't had a day for themselves in a long while.
They planned to visit Alma, Arkansas -- a quaint town thirty minutes west where
everyone knew each other -- to attend a Little League Baseball game with some
friends living in the area while Morgan's grandmother happily babysits her
grandchildren. Later that afternoon, Colleen and Morgan dined on grilled cheese
sandwiches they made together before leaving town in their Nissan Stanza a
little early, as this was their first-time visiting Alma. They arrived at the
local park where the baseball game was being held without a hitch and met up
with their friends. By the time the game had started, there was a total of 300
people in attendance.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>Throughout the entire evening,
everyone was having a wonderful time -- people could be heard roaring with
cheers and laughter on the bleachers, and Morgan would sneakily untie her
mother's tennis shoes when she wasn't looking for a funny joke. As time carried
on, Morgan became restless. At 10:30 p.m. two of Morgan's friends, 8-year-old
Jessica and 10-year-old Tye [last names are omitted] invited her to play in the
nearby field 75-yards away to catch lightning bugs. Morgan asked her mother for
permission, but Colleen was hesitant due to the late hour and being unfamiliar
with the area, but her friends assured her everything would be okay because
kids often played in the field next to the parking lot without any hiccups. Colleen
ultimately gave her consent but told her to stay in view. Morgan was hard to
miss, as her green Girl Scouts t-shirt and white tennis shoes could easily be
seen from a distance. Colleen would periodically glance over to check on Morgan
and nothing seemed amiss as she and her two friends pranced across the field,
where the parking lot light poles loomed over illuminating the area. Fifteen
minutes had quickly passed by and at 10:45 p.m. the baseball game concluded,
and people were beginning to gather their belongings and walk to their
vehicles. Morgan's two friends, Jessica and Tye, ran back to the bleachers to
meet up with their families but Morgan wasn't present. Colleen, confused by the
situation, asked where Morgan was, but they said she was in the parking lot
near her car emptying out sand that filled her shoes from running amok in the
field. She frantically ran to her car expecting her daughter to be there, but
she wasn't in sight. Growing more concerned by the second, she alerted one of
the baseball coaches and they began asking Jessica and Tye more questions, and
alarming new information came to light.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrD2iFqQgskFCu4rvBBJIedvfxNxfTLGvBlvDkfsHdZH59guY9Bsm1vlsVFt9_7aXjb5_ABcR0_L_miFcKSJtH6xQLOm6iaHev4U9Gtae7zda3bQTimQ1Wnv85owl1WdEfM0uGlwvuAgNNGirOZ5kVrK1_HxS_faboyo09BTGTi72w1w-Y3fe9MYWj9g=s230" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="157" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrD2iFqQgskFCu4rvBBJIedvfxNxfTLGvBlvDkfsHdZH59guY9Bsm1vlsVFt9_7aXjb5_ABcR0_L_miFcKSJtH6xQLOm6iaHev4U9Gtae7zda3bQTimQ1Wnv85owl1WdEfM0uGlwvuAgNNGirOZ5kVrK1_HxS_faboyo09BTGTi72w1w-Y3fe9MYWj9g=w254-h372" width="254" /></a></div>The two said that while they
had been playing, a man they characterized as "creepy" approached and
spoke to them as they were dumping sand from their shoes. He had been standing
beside a faded red colored Ford pickup truck that had a white camper shell. Not
too long after, the baseball game had ended and that's when they ran back to
their parents. An immediate search began but Morgan and the eerie man next to
the red truck was gone. The police were called to the scene and they arrived
within six minutes. They performed an additional search thoroughly of the
parking lot and fields, but the 4-foot-tall, 55-pound girl with blonde hair and
blue eyes was nowhere to be found. Interviews were soon conducted with those
still at the park. Several eyewitnesses corroborated the children's testimony
and provided additional details on the suspicious male. He was described as a
Caucasian male between the ages of 23-38-years-old and spoke with a
"hillbilly" accent. He had a medium build at approximately 180 pounds
and was estimated to be 6'0 tall, and he had salt and pepper colored hair that
was slicked back, with a mustache and a one-inch-thick beard. The truck he was
driving was a low wheelbase, red Ford pickup with dulled paint and a white
camper shell that had curtains on the inside covering the windows. Witnesses
noted the camper shell was too short for the bed and there was rear damage on
the passenger side. The unidentified male was the prime suspect in Morgan's
disappearance and was immediately classified as an abduction. It was soon
discovered that her vanishing wasn't the only terrifying event that transpired
that day. Earlier that evening in the same town, an unknown male driving a
red truck attempted to lure a 4-year-old girl to his vehicle. The abduction was
thwarted when the child's mother intervened and alerted those around her. It's
unclear whether the same man presumably responsible for Morgan's disappearance
was behind this attempted abduction, but the coincidences were notable. Interestingly,
the following day after Morgan vanished, another report came through to the
police when an unnamed man matching Morgan's alleged abductor's description
unsuccessfully tried enticing a 9-year-old girl into a men's restroom inside of
a convenience store fifteen miles away from Alma in Fort Smith, Arkansas.<p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEht2pCwQAbgFcHpbFgPBunXSjl-KFlP0PvDDUDUZuaUNafm5gFhM-R24OfTGs47p0-ijPf2D650dIXYVxBR8T5QEt-T92M_43feRwGnYVoVs6Y_wkHcVwtUPgmJnzBNfFkaTpD8dUyqwyrubgK_8cnJHX0sae7Ejprqupwa6FUJGYlACNvTvUUVvrv2pQ=s1140" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="1140" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEht2pCwQAbgFcHpbFgPBunXSjl-KFlP0PvDDUDUZuaUNafm5gFhM-R24OfTGs47p0-ijPf2D650dIXYVxBR8T5QEt-T92M_43feRwGnYVoVs6Y_wkHcVwtUPgmJnzBNfFkaTpD8dUyqwyrubgK_8cnJHX0sae7Ejprqupwa6FUJGYlACNvTvUUVvrv2pQ=w444-h250" width="444" /></a></div>As for Colleen, she refused to
return home to Ozark, Arkansas without her daughter in hand. For the next six
weeks, she remained steadfast and took up residence at a volunteer fire station
located next door to the police building -- doing anything she could fathom to
help spread awareness to bring Morgan home. Flyers were made and distributed to
locals, placed on the windows of stationary vehicles, and stapled across light
poles all throughout the town. Colleen even faxed over urgent letters to
President Clinton hoping to get the federal government to react quicker with
nationwide bulletins when children go missing. During this interval of time,
a composite sketch was created of Morgan's possible kidnapper and
media coverage quickly swept the state. This resulted in over 4,000 tips and
leads, and the police had to purchase a storage shed to file the uncanny amount
of information in extra filing cabinets, but none of the leads panned out.<p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>When Colleen returned home,
she had to break the devastating news to her children. None of them couldn't
fully comprehend the extent of the situation. Logan, the oldest sibling, only
knew that Morgan wasn't home and would frequently ask, "Why did you lose my
sister?" as he broke down into tears repeatedly telling his mother to
"Go get her," because he missed playing with her around the house.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">One year later in 1996,
Colleen commenced the Morgan Nick Foundation in Alma, Arkansas; a non-profit
organization that tries to help prevent children from going missing and offers
a support system to families who are facing the hardships of a child
disappearing. Likewise, the state of Arkansas honored Morgan by renaming their
Amber Alert system after her -- The Morgan Nick Amber Alert -- that connected
the police and over 250 radio stations in a statewide emergency broadcast. In
the subsequent years, Colleen relocated to Alma to make things easier for
handling the Morgan Nick Foundation. Meanwhile, the police were still acquiring
innumerable tips stemming from reported sightings and false confessions to the
abduction, but all of them were ruled out or considered unreliable. In 2001,
Morgan's case garnished a lot of traction. </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>A new composite sketch was
unveiled of her believed kidnapper, as well as an age-progression sketch
showing what Morgan may look like at her current age of twelve-years-old. On
August 28, 2001, the television program Unsolved Mysteries broadcasted her case
which created a massive resurgence that resulted in an ample number of new
tips. One tip suggested that Morgan's body could be located on a private
property in Booneville, Arkansas. The information was deemed so specific and
credible that the police initiated an immediate examination on January 15,
2002. After a full day of digging with a backhoe, nothing was unearthed, and
the investigation was concluded at 9:30 p.m. In the following years, the police
were still receiving regular tips, but they were either dead ends or exhausted
to their fullest without any positive results, but on the bitterly cold morning
of November 16, 2010, a narcotics officer thirty-five miles away in Spiro,
Oklahoma, alerted investigators in Crawford County to an abandoned trailer home
belonging to a convicted child molester who was serving time in prison. The
information supplied wasn't directly focused on Morgan's case specifically, but
the individual had been considered a viable person of interest since the very
beginning of Morgan's case and hadn't been ruled out. Detectives in Crawford
County assisted with the investigation at the property hoping to locate any DNA
evidence pertaining to Morgan, but none was uncovered. Two years later on June
23, 2012 -- a little more than 17-years after Morgan disappeared -- a brief
glimmer of hope emerged and then diminished just as quickly in a despicable
turn of events. </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>Tonya Renee Smith, a
24-year-old Hollister, Missouri native who had served time in Louisiana State
Prison, tried assuming Morgan Nick's identity by purchasing vital documents and
a birth certificate via the website VitalCheck. Due to the extreme nature of Morgan's
case the police were alerted and on August 2, 2012, Tonya was apprehended in
Branson, Missouri. She was soon extradited to Arkansas and spent 120 days in
Pulaski County Jail. On February 28, 2013, she was charged with computer fraud
and sentenced to six years of probation and ordered to pay a $2,500.00 fine. Once
again, Morgan's case turned into a standstill, but five years later December
18, 2017, another seemingly crucial tip regarding a water-well led
investigators back to the abandoned trailer home in Spiro, Oklahoma they had
searched seven years prior. The LeFlore County Sheriff, Rob Seale, along with
the FBI and numerous Cadaver dogs, spent the entire afternoon combing for
evidence, but regrettably, their efforts proved fruitless. It's now 2018 and
Morgan Nick has been missing for nearly 22-years. For the town of Alma,
Arkansas, many things have changed since the unforgettable day of Morgan's
disappearance, including the baseball field she vanished from, which has since
been remodeled into a parking lot, but her spirit still lives on in the
community. At the public library, a bulletin board can be found that features
flyers for missing children. There's also a 5K/1 Mile Walk fundraiser hosted
annually that helps provide extra resources for The Morgan Nick Foundation to
further help prevent children going missing -- an organization that has
successfully solved over 40 missing person's cases --many of whom had gone
missing for over twenty years -- and returned home safely. As for Colleen
Nick, she remains undaunted that her daughter will be found alive, saying
"No one else has to believe it because I believe it enough for everyone. I
think there will be people who will be amazed when Morgan comes home."
Though a considerable amount of time has gone by, she continues to fight and
pursue closure. While others may not share the same sentiment, Colleen does,
and her relentless faith is a testament for anyone struggling with something in
their life. Never give up hope.</p></blockquote>
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/8arv4c/the_unsolved_disappearance_of_6yearold_morgan_nick/"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">The
Unsolved Disappearance of 6-year-old Morgan Nick : UnresolvedMysteries
(reddit.com)</span></a></p><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: center;"><h1 class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span><u><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2_k3xeI8Juk2GuQWPR4Ntk4WpdrG6raoLYYDuSWopLAGPFj2vaFl5E1RKNSeCJLRZgWKbVxJ9ZbX-XZTCPGdPZbg-_3XLXzK5FJeZig0dTeKDrVQAtp_bxJGTmh4RacLHMElPzbLC-pnH0j9PnO7uayIn0SspnX1_kJtdUgjcfYz2axnye5z2g0PYlw=s800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2_k3xeI8Juk2GuQWPR4Ntk4WpdrG6raoLYYDuSWopLAGPFj2vaFl5E1RKNSeCJLRZgWKbVxJ9ZbX-XZTCPGdPZbg-_3XLXzK5FJeZig0dTeKDrVQAtp_bxJGTmh4RacLHMElPzbLC-pnH0j9PnO7uayIn0SspnX1_kJtdUgjcfYz2axnye5z2g0PYlw=w413-h288" width="413" /></a><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span><u><i> The Morgan Nick Story </i></u></span></b></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #cc0000;"></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><i>by Janie Jones</i></u></span></b></span></div></i></u></span></b></span></span></span></h1></div>
<blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">An old superstition says if
you make a wish when you see the first lightning bug of the year, the wish will
come true. But for Colleen Nick, lightning bugs remind her of the night her
six-year-old daughter, Morgan, went missing.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>On June 9, 1995, Colleen and
Morgan traveled roughly 30 minutes from their home in Ozark to Alma, because
they knew a family who had children playing in a Little League game at Alma’s
ballpark. It sounded like a nice outing for mother and daughter, but after a
while, watching baseball games can get boring for an active little girl. Morgan
asked her mom for permission to catch fireflies with two of her friends, and
Colleen consented after a slight hesitation. From where she sat in the
bleachers, she could see the three kids in a well-lighted area no more than 75
yards away. It was a sandpile atop a small hill where it looked as if
preparations had been made for some sort of construction. The children noticed
a man leaning against a red truck that had a white camper shell on it, but he
was outside Colleen’s line of vision.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>As the ball game ended around
10:45 p.m., Colleen was momentarily distracted by the cheers from players and
spectators. She then turned her attention back to Morgan but saw only the other
two children, and the first wave of panic washed over her. She asked them where
her daughter was, and they said the last time they saw her, she was pouring
sand out of her shoes by Colleen’s car. Not finding her there, they went back
up the sandy knoll, but Morgan was gone, and so was the man with the truck. After
searching in vain, someone called the Alma Police Department, and officers
arrived within a few minutes. In a matter of hours, the FBI, Arkansas State
Police and United States Marshals joined the search. Morgan’s playmates told
investigators about the man with the red truck and described him as being
white, approximately six feet tall and 180 pounds. He had black or
salt-and-pepper hair, facial stubble, and a mustache. Guesses about his age
ranged from 23 to 38 years old. A police artist drew a sketch of the man that
was sent to news outlets and law enforcement officials. In the days, weeks and
months after the abduction, authorities held press conferences with updates on
the case, and they set up a tip line for people to call, day or night. Morgan’s
picture was everywhere, on fliers, billboards, newspapers and TV. But where was
she?</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>It has now been over two
decades since Colleen Nick saw her precious blonde, blue-eyed daughter, but
with a mother’s devotion and resolve, she has kept Morgan’s case in the public
eye. At least 80 internet websites tell Morgan’s story, and many of them
feature her likeness, both in photos of her as she looked in 1995 and age-progressed
drawings of her as she would look now. APD Lieutenant Brett Hartley says, “The
case is still a very active case. We have followed leads all over the country
numerous times through the years.” Because the investigation is
still ongoing, Hartley couldn’t discuss anything of an evidentiary nature.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">Faulkner County Sheriff’s
investigator Kent Hill, however, did confirm a name which has come up recently
regarding Morgan’s abduction – Edward Keith Renegar. As reported in the March
issue of <i>AY</i>, Faulkner County Sheriff Tim Ryals announced in October
2018 that Renegar is the primary suspect in the 1990 murder of Pamela Felkins.
Hill declined to comment further, other than to say Renegar had no record of
child molestation. Renegar, who died in 2002, might be considered in the Nick
case for three reasons. 1.) During Sheriff Ryals’s press conference, he said
among the vehicles Renegar had owned was a 1984 red Mazda truck with a white
camper shell. 2.) After serving a 10-month sentence for kidnapping, Renegar was
released from prison in May 1995, the month before Morgan disappeared. 3.) He
went to the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Tulsa, Okla., so
he could have been in the vicinity of Alma when the abduction took place. But
Hartley said, “One thing we run into is a lot of misinformation, and that makes
it tough.” He used the truck as an example. Though they received information it
was a red pickup with a white camper shell, Hartley said he wasn’t “tied to”
that witness report.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p>“You could go out and take 20
people,” he said, “and let them see the same thing, and you’re going to get 20
different descriptions of what they just saw.” Colleen Nick, who still has
trouble sleeping, is also the mother of a son and another daughter. “I’m not
sure there are words for how devastating it has been for our family,” she says.
“Everybody has worked really hard to find the good in the world, and if we
don’t fight back, and we don’t survive, then the person who took Morgan wins,
and we’re absolutely determined not to let that happen.” In the early stages of her
greatest grief, Colleen could never have imagined the impact her daughter’s
kidnapping would have on her own life trajectory. The National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) asked her to speak to other families who
had missing children and were going through the same trauma Colleen endured. The
NCMEC helped digitize the many files of data about the case and put them in the
national system so that other law enforcement agencies could access the information.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">“We just got this massive
education about what the problem of missing children was like,” Colleen says,
and over time, she became an advocate for them and their loved ones. After
receiving more and more invitations to speak at schools and churches about the
issue, she formed the Morgan Nick Foundation, which is headquartered in Alma. “It
just evolved,” she says. “I never wanted to run a nonprofit or take up the
fight. I just wanted to find Morgan. Our choice is to do everything we can to
bring good out of this tragedy.” The hope that they will find Morgan ultimately
is a big part of how Colleen has kept going. “We still don’t know where she
is or what happened to her, and we absolutely intend to know that. Our message
to Morgan if she ever hears or sees or reads anything [about her own case] is
that we are coming for you, and we are coming with an army of people who have
been fighting for you.” The Morgan Nick Foundation offers support to families
of the missing and acts as a liaison with police and the media. Members strive
to educate teachers, students, and communities about safety skills and
preventive measures they can take to ward-off possible kidnappers. The
Foundation encourages legislation that protects the rights of children and
enhances law enforcement’s ability to find the missing and bring them home.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><div><h1 class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: white;"><span><b><i> The Unsolved Disappearance of Morgan Nick </i></b></span></span></span></span></span></h1></div><h1 class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: white;"><span><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaxfAK2ullI7aQ8ZYB-qnrZJrNX8EoN6yAn0v-OJO-4KBv6TuktDEocyyRJup1RvwmhEcTSQ4onZWhDxwANZmgV3gpMq48I8AVpfW96RwPryjvLi5DaHYjoe_xYjLsqUdnqZKtOaTb0ELGPEyxSm8INlwGC2O-IccAMjmAEfFsEtqcVlqOixgOGDMw1w=s344" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="344" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaxfAK2ullI7aQ8ZYB-qnrZJrNX8EoN6yAn0v-OJO-4KBv6TuktDEocyyRJup1RvwmhEcTSQ4onZWhDxwANZmgV3gpMq48I8AVpfW96RwPryjvLi5DaHYjoe_xYjLsqUdnqZKtOaTb0ELGPEyxSm8INlwGC2O-IccAMjmAEfFsEtqcVlqOixgOGDMw1w=w368-h314" width="368" /></a></div></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></h1></div></div>You hear it all the time; “Back then, people didn’t lock their doors at night.” That phrase often gets mentioned when devastating crimes occur in unexpected places that are deemed safe by the community. When those tragedies happen everything changes, but sometimes positives can blossom through the aftermath of the rubble. In the unsolved disappearance of Morgan Nick, her story has remained a beacon of hope that transcended across the nation. This is her story.<div><div><h1 class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"></h1></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">On September 12, 1988, John and Colleen Nick gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby daughter they named Morgan Chauntel Nick. She was raised in the small populated town of Ozark, Arkansas, a community of fewer than 4,000 residents. By 1994, Morgan became the oldest of two other siblings, Logan Nick, who was almost four-years-old, and a younger sister, Taryn Nick, who was a vibrant 22-month-old baby. As a young kid with a wild imagination, Morgan’s aspirations ranged from being a medical doctor to a circus performer. In school, she had signed up for the track team but quickly regretted that decision because she didn’t enjoy sweating. In turn, she decided to start participating in Girls Scouts where they often did indoor activities. Even at such a young age, Morgan possessed character traits that would undoubtedly lead to a successful future, no matter which avenue she pursued. Not only did she have the uncanny ability to make others laugh, she also never limited herself to experiencing new things. When she was five-years-old, she adopted a kitten she named Emily, and a motherly bond was immediately formed. From then on, the two were thick as thieves and Emily would always be found sleeping next to her at night. </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">The potential Morgan had was very bright. She enjoyed being around others and people loved being around her, but on a summer day in 1995, everything that should have been for Morgan’s future was snuffed out, and the young girl with a heartwarming smile that could make anyone laugh suddenly had an entire community in shambles. On the warm summer day of Friday, June 9, 1995, Colleen Nick wanted to share an afternoon with her oldest daughter, Morgan, because they hadn’t had a day for themselves in a long while. They planned to visit Alma, Arkansas — a quaint town thirty minutes west where everyone knew each other — to attend a Little League Baseball game with some friends living in the area while Morgan’s grandmother happily babysits her grandchildren.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">Later that afternoon, Colleen and Morgan dined on grilled cheese sandwiches they made together before leaving town in their Nissan Stanza a little early, as this was their first time visiting Alma. They arrived at the local park where the baseball game was being held without a hitch and met up with their friends. By the time the game had started, there was a total of 300 people in attendance.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">Throughout the entire evening, everyone was having a wonderful time — people could be heard roaring with cheers and laughter on the bleachers, and Morgan would sneakily untie her mother’s tennis shoes when she wasn’t looking for a funny joke. As time carried on, Morgan became restless. At 10:30 p.m. two of Morgan’s friends, 8-year-old Jessica and 10-year-old Tye [last names are omitted] invited her to play in the nearby field 75-yards away to catch lightning bugs. Morgan asked her mother for permission but Colleen was hesitant due to the late hour and being unfamiliar with the area, but her friends assured her everything would be okay because kids often played in the field next to the parking lot without any hiccups. Colleen ultimately gave her consent but told her to stay in view. Morgan was hard to miss, as her green Girl Scouts t-shirt and white tennis shoes could easily be seen from a distance. Colleen would periodically glance over to check on Morgan and nothing seemed amiss as she and her two friends pranced across the field, where the parking lot light poles loomed over illuminating the area.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">Fifteen minutes had quickly passed by and at 10:45 p.m. the baseball game concluded and people were beginning to gather their belongings and walk to their vehicles. Morgan’s two friends, Jessica and Tye, ran back to the bleachers to meet up with their families but Morgan wasn’t present.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">Colleen, confused by the situation, asked where Morgan was, but they said she was in the parking lot near her car emptying out sand that filled her shoes from running amok in the field. She frantically ran to her car expecting her daughter to be there, but she wasn’t in sight. Growing more concerned by the second, she alerted one of the baseball coaches and they began asking Jessica and Tye more questions, and alarming new information came to light. The two said that while they had been playing, a man they characterized as “creepy” approached and spoke to them as they were dumping sand from their shoes. He had been standing beside a faded red colored Ford pickup truck that had a white camper shell. Not too long after, the baseball game had ended and that’s when they ran back to their parents. An immediate search began but Morgan and the eerie man next to the red truck was gone.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">The police were called to the scene and they arrived within six minutes. They performed an additional search thoroughly of the parking lot and fields, but the 4-foot-tall, 55-pound girl with blonde hair and blue eyes was nowhere to be found. Interviews were soon conducted with those still at the park. Several eyewitnesses corroborated the children’s testimony and provided additional details on the suspicious male. He was described as a Caucasian male between the ages of 23-38-years-old and spoke with a “hillbilly” accent. He had a medium build at approximately 180 pounds and was estimated to be 6’0 tall, and he had salt and pepper colored hair that was slicked back, with a mustache and a one-inch thick beard. The truck he was driving was a low wheelbase, red Ford pickup with dulled paint and a white camper shell that had curtains on the inside covering the windows. Witnesses noted the camper shell was too short for the bed and there was rear damage on the passenger side.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">The unidentified male was the prime suspect in Morgan’s disappearance and was immediately classified as an abduction. It was soon discovered that her vanishing wasn’t the only terrifying event that transpired that day. Earlier that evening in the same town, an unknown male driving a red truck attempted to lure a 4-year-old girl to his vehicle. The abduction was thwarted when the child’s mother intervened and alerted those around her. It’s unclear whether or not the same man </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEaME1IZffCyLDZGJEOQmuenjPl7lzfqhr89hGi-7gUY4xE3MSLvyDc51HtRJNnYSsExhzfZ3mqrzOKhPX0F3ZTQz1VjhZpazFqjBEIne6qd3E9l81joPtf33L0kT_mtEdTa7ZV7_7QCc3Nd3BlJLdVgsGlKShbD_9Ynms498eBTkQxselQ5bx1rXjdw=s469" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="302" height="431" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEaME1IZffCyLDZGJEOQmuenjPl7lzfqhr89hGi-7gUY4xE3MSLvyDc51HtRJNnYSsExhzfZ3mqrzOKhPX0F3ZTQz1VjhZpazFqjBEIne6qd3E9l81joPtf33L0kT_mtEdTa7ZV7_7QCc3Nd3BlJLdVgsGlKShbD_9Ynms498eBTkQxselQ5bx1rXjdw=w278-h431" width="278" /></a></div>presumably responsible for Morgan’s disappearance was behind this attempted abduction, but the coincidences were notable. Interestingly, the following day after Morgan vanished, another report came through to the police when an unnamed man matching Morgan’s alleged abductor’s description unsuccessfully tried enticing a 9-year-old girl into a men’s restroom inside of a convenience store fifteen miles away from Alma in Fort Smith, Arkansas.<p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">As for Colleen, she refused to return back home to Ozark, Arkansas without her daughter in hand. For the next six weeks, she remained steadfast and took up residence at a volunteer fire station located next door to the police building — doing anything she could fathom to help spread awareness to bring Morgan home. Flyers were made and distributed to locals, placed on the windows of stationary vehicles, and stapled across light poles all throughout the town. Colleen even faxed over urgent letters to President Clinton hoping to get the federal government to react quicker with nationwide bulletins when children go missing.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">During this interval of time, a composite sketch was created of Morgan’s possible kidnapper and media coverage quickly swept the state. This resulted in over 4,000 tips and leads, and the police had to purchase a storage shed to file the uncanny amount of information in extra filing cabinets, but none of the leads panned out. When Colleen returned home she had to break the devastating news to her children. None of them couldn’t fully comprehend the extent of the situation. Logan, the oldest sibling, only knew that Morgan wasn’t home and would frequently ask, “Why did you lose my sister?” as he broke down into tears repeatedly telling his mother to “Go get her,” because he missed playing with her around the house. One year later in 1996, Colleen commenced the Morgan Nick Foundation in Alma, Arkansas; a non-profit organization that tries to help prevent children from going missing and offers a support system to families who are facing the hardships of a child disappearing. Likewise, the state of Arkansas honored Morgan by renaming their Amber Alert system after her — The Morgan Nick Amber Alert — that connected the police and over 250 radio stations in a statewide emergency broadcast. In the subsequent years, Colleen relocated to Alma to make things easier for handling the Morgan Nick Foundation. Meanwhile, the police were still acquiring innumerable tips stemming from reported sightings and false confessions to the abduction, but all of them were ruled out or considered unreliable. </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"> In 2001, Morgan’s case garnished a lot of traction. A new composite sketch was unveiled of her believed kidnapper, as well as an age-progression sketch showing what Morgan may look like at her current age of twelve-years-old. On August 28, 2001, the television program Unsolved Mysteries broadcasted her case which created a massive resurgence that resulted in an ample amount of new tips. One particular tip suggested that Morgan’s body could be located on a private property in Booneville, Arkansas. The information was deemed so specific and credible that the police initiated an immediate examination on January 15, 2002. After a full day of digging with a backhoe, nothing was unearthed and the investigation was concluded at 9:30 p.m.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">In the following years, the police were still receiving regular tips but they were either dead ends or exhausted to their fullest without any positive results, but on the bitterly cold morning of November 16, 2010, a narcotics officer thirty-five miles away in Spiro, Oklahoma, alerted investigators in Crawford County to an abandoned trailer home belonging to a convicted child molester who was serving time in prison. The information supplied wasn’t directly focused on Morgan’s case specifically, but the individual had been considered a viable person of interest since the very beginning of Morgan’s case and hadn’t been ruled out. Detectives in Crawford County assisted with the investigation at the property hoping to locate any DNA evidence pertaining to Morgan but none was uncovered.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">Two years later on June 23, 2012 — a little more than 17-years after Morgan disappeared — a brief glimmer of hope emerged and then diminished just as quickly in a despicable turn of events. Tonya Renee Smith, a 24-year-old Hollister, Missouri native who had served time in Louisiana State Prison, tried assuming Morgan Nick’s identity by purchasing vital documents and a birth certificate via the website VitalCheck. Due to the extreme nature of Morgan’s case the police were alerted and on August 2, 2012, Tonya was apprehended in Branson, Missouri. She was soon extradited to Arkansas and spent 120 days in Pulaski County Jail. On February 28, 2013, she was charged with computer fraud and sentenced to six years of probation and ordered to pay a $2,500.00 fine. Once again, Morgan’s case turned into a standstill, but five years later on December 18, 2017, another seemingly crucial tip regarding a water-well led investigators back to the abandoned trailer home in Spiro, Oklahoma they had searched seven years prior. The LeFlore County Sheriff, Rob Seale, along with the FBI and numerous Cadaver dogs, spent the entire afternoon combing for evidence, but regrettably, their efforts proved fruitless.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8l8unBS-hKjCojxP_wAERoTAXn1ceG9-8QaGdbA5IYCIJxPzZZNVUWKlvon3cd1cpYfYC5wxBcK2i-L5KDeaGjTXhtHCffld_0CpDsLHd2Sg0wI_Fd9Gt_Zfb3Db_DaKhqLr_lfaEaQhXh82QK1tMvJmv23LX4qb0EhmcQ5RnB6nJWN0vkFPeKN89hg=s1163" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1163" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8l8unBS-hKjCojxP_wAERoTAXn1ceG9-8QaGdbA5IYCIJxPzZZNVUWKlvon3cd1cpYfYC5wxBcK2i-L5KDeaGjTXhtHCffld_0CpDsLHd2Sg0wI_Fd9Gt_Zfb3Db_DaKhqLr_lfaEaQhXh82QK1tMvJmv23LX4qb0EhmcQ5RnB6nJWN0vkFPeKN89hg=w399-h277" width="399" /></a></div>It’s now 2018 and Morgan Nick has been missing for nearly 22-years. For the town of Alma, Arkansas, many things have changed since the unfateful day of Morgan’s disappearance, including the baseball field she vanished from, which has since been remodeled into a parking lot, but her spirit still lives on in the community.<p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">At the public library, a bulletin board can be found that features flyers for missing children. There’s also a 5K/1 Mile Walk fundraiser hosted annually that helps provide extra resources for The Morgan Nick Foundation to further help prevent children going missing — an organization that has successfully solved over 40 missing person’s cases –many of whom had gone missing for over twenty years — and returned home safely. As for Colleen Nick, she remains undaunted that her daughter will be found alive, saying “No one else has to believe it because I believe it enough for everyone. I think there will be people who will be amazed when Morgan comes home.” Though a considerable amount of time has gone by, she continues to fight and pursue closure. While others may not share the same sentiment, Colleen does, and her relentless faith is a testament for anyone struggling with something in their life. Never give up hope.</p></div></div></blockquote><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-2917718267954537832022-01-24T15:09:00.002-08:002022-07-24T01:18:44.059-07:00Anthony G. Urciuoli Jr: Missing Since January 24, 2001<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjaPtAlVFlRB9gVI2m1_FRPN3I5tDZLx3TOEVLia3dkxPhgEeEdz6IPr7SfFCu3rAv4FA4vBbs1xf05ztqDgiv6rGnCfVKOy_UUZxjqBfknyD1kEJW7Wzi-WpBuHNDHcrkR4W_TE7Mlt_/s1600/6.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjaPtAlVFlRB9gVI2m1_FRPN3I5tDZLx3TOEVLia3dkxPhgEeEdz6IPr7SfFCu3rAv4FA4vBbs1xf05ztqDgiv6rGnCfVKOy_UUZxjqBfknyD1kEJW7Wzi-WpBuHNDHcrkR4W_TE7Mlt_/w230-h297/6.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
Urciuoli was employed as a server at the Dutchess Diner in Poughkeepsie, New York in 2001. He was last seen by his parents at his family's residence near the Galleria Mall on January 24, 2001. Urciuoli received a page from an unknown person and told his parents he was going to play pool with a friend at approximately 11:30 p.m. He has never been heard from again. Authorities were unable to trace the page Urciuoli received the night he vanished.</blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><a name='more'></a></blockquote></blockquote>He occasionally played pool at Shark's in Fishkill, New York, but no one recalled seeing him at the establishment that night. Urciuoli's vehicle was discovered abandoned on January 26 at approximately 12:45 a.m. His uncle located the car at Spratt Park on Wilbur Boulevard. Urciuoli's wallet was inside the vehicle, which was locked. There was no sign of a struggle at the scene. Investigators stated that it appeared as if Urciuoli parked his car and departed with someone, but there is no evidence to suggest the theory is correct. Urciuoli often worked additional shifts at the restaurant and is regarded as an outstanding employee. His family members said that it is very uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning. Authorities are not certain if Urciuoli left of his own accord or if other factors were involved in his disappearance.<br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance:<br /><span>Missing Since:</span> January 24, 2001 from Poughkeepsie, New York<br /><span><span>Classification:</span></span> Endangered Missing<br /><span>Date Of Birth:</span> October 7, 1969<br /><span><span>Age:</span></span> 31 years old<br /><span>Height and Weight:</span> 5'10, 130 - 140 pounds<br /><span><span>Distinguishing Characteristics:</span></span><span> </span>Caucasian male. Dark brown to black hair, hazel eyes. Urciuoli's nickname is Tony. </span></b><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span> </b><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><i><u>Missing man's case a puzzle since '01 </u></i></span></b></div></b></div><div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><i><u>Family keeps hope despite few clues </u></i></span></b></div></b></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">By Larry Fisher-Hertz</span></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_lROvqhXn05Ppm6O_EsedUr6TEBfiePat1X6kyMNoR-brL3IMc2-jei6CecVpXytzAgiVGDMk2OvwVNcuLLdQAyzrmDN-NWPrdfyfvwUhusmkxqPnobPSxUxxZzjpmLIUj_ibUsMhpaC/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_lROvqhXn05Ppm6O_EsedUr6TEBfiePat1X6kyMNoR-brL3IMc2-jei6CecVpXytzAgiVGDMk2OvwVNcuLLdQAyzrmDN-NWPrdfyfvwUhusmkxqPnobPSxUxxZzjpmLIUj_ibUsMhpaC/w257-h363/1.jpg" width="257" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: left;">On a cold January night nearly three years ago, Anthony Urciuoli Jr. told his parents he was going out to shoot pool with friends and would be back in an hour or two.</div></span></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
No one in the family has seen him since, and police say they haven't been able to determine whether the 31-year-old Town of Poughkeepsie man is dead or just decided to leave town. ''I sympathize with the family -- it would tear me up if it were my son,'' town Detective Michael O'Dell said.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''There's no concrete evidence either way,'' O'Dell said. ''You can make a case that he's dead, and you can also make a case that he decided to run from something.''</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
Urciuoli's parents, Sandra and Anthony Urciuoli Sr., have tried everything they can think of to find out what happened to their son. They've offered reward money. They've hired private detectives. They've appeared on the John Walsh and Montel Williams talk shows, and they've consulted with psychics.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''We've learned nothing,'' Sandra Urciuoli said last week.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><b>Parents determined</b></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
The Urciuolis say they won't give up until they find their son, dead or alive. They have increased the reward money from $50,000 to $100,000, and they are planning a candlelight vigil Sunday evening at Spratt Park in the City of Poughkeepsie, where their son's car was found two days after he disappeared.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''We're hoping the reward money and the publicity will convince someone to come forward,'' Anthony Urciuoli said. ''Someone knows what happened to Tony. This wasn't an alien abduction.''</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
O'Dell said he and other town detectives have run down more than 225 leads in the case and have kept all the information they gathered in thick police files.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
He said police had placed dental records and other information about Urciuoli in a national database maintained by the FBI. Every time an unidentified body turns up anywhere in the country, they look for evidence it might be Urciuoli's.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''It's a mystery,'' O'Dell said, ''but somebody can unravel it. If he's dead, somebody killed him. If he ran, somebody helped him.''</div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
Urciuoli's father said last week he had gone over the events leading up to his son's disappearance ''thousands of times.'' He said Tony told him at about 11:30 on the night of Jan. 24 a friend had paged him and asked him to go play pool.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
He said he and Sandra went to bed shortly afterward. When Sandra got up the next morning and looked into her son's room, she discovered he wasn't there.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''Sandy woke me up and said, 'Tony never came home,' '' Anthony said. ''We still don't know why.''</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
A family member found Tony's 2000 Nissan Maxima in a parking lot at Spratt Park the next day, and police found the man's wallet in a console inside.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
O'Dell said police searched the car the day it was found and checked for fingerprints and other forensic evidence a few days later. They failed to turn up any evidence to help them in their search.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
O'Dell said police questioned employees and managers at the Dutchess Diner on Route 9, where Tony worked as a waiter for several years.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''Everyone there said he never gave anyone problems,'' he said. ''By all accounts, he was a hard worker, a responsible worker.''</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
Experts in missing persons cases involving adults say most remain mysteries for a long time, in part because police often do not begin looking for them for a few days, when the trail of clues is already cooling off.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
Kym Pasqualini, president of the Nation's Missing Children Organization and Center for Missing Adults, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said initial searches for missing adults often are postponed -- or police are not immediately notified -- because possible explanations are more plausible than in the case of children.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><b>Family's efforts praised</b></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
Pasqualini praised the Urciuolis for their efforts to find their son.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''Many families can't muster the strength, but they have gone to every source you can think of to try to find some answers,'' she said.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
O'Dell said while it is true the longer Urciuoli is missing the less likely it is he is still alive, there are cases of missing adults turning up long after friends and relatives could find any trace of them -- including a recent case in the Town of Poughkeepsie.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
He said town resident Katerina Richter left the area in July 1999, and police were not able to find any clues about her disappearance after her car was found in Manhattan a few days later. She turned up in Pennsylvania 22 months later.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''That case proves such things do happen,'' O'Dell said.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
The Urciuolis continue to search -- and to hope.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
They have preserved Tony's room in their home in the condition it was the day he disappeared. His clothes hang in the closet, his shoes and boots remain paired neatly on the floor.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
A boom box he got for Christmas a month before he disappeared sits in its original box at the foot of his bed.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
And the family waits.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
''You have to keep strong,'' Sandra said. ''You look out the window and pray you'll see him walking up the driveway."</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><b>How to help:</b> Anyone with information about the disappearance of Anthony Urciuoli Jan. 24, 2001, is asked to contact the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department at 845-485-3666. Information will remain confidential.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><b>On the Web:</b> For information about missing persons gathered by the Center for Missing Adults, a division of the National Missing Children's Organization, go to the group's Web site at <a href="http://www.nmco.org/">www.nmco.org.</a></div></div><div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span id="text"><i>Crime Beat, which explores law enforcement issues and cases worked by police in the mid-Hudson Valley, appears each Monday. To suggest a topic, call 845-437-4834. More Crime Beat stories are available at <a href="http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/projects/crimebeat">www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/projects/crimebeat.</a></i></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><i><u>Missing Women Grab Headlines, but What About the Men?</u></i></span></b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Catherine Donaldson-Evans</b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Published June 10, 2004</b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, Dru Sjodin and Audrey Seiler: All young women whose cases have gripped the nation, starting with their mysterious disappearances and — except for Seiler — continuing with the discovery that they’d been murdered.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Their faces and those of other women who vanished — more recently, Juilliard (search) student Sarah Fox, who was found murdered in New York City, and Brigham Young University (search) student Brooke Wilberger, who is still missing after disappearing in Oregon — have been splashed across front pages, flashed repeatedly on TV screens and posted over and over again on news Web sites.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">But where are all the missing young men?</div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">Though statistics from the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) show there are currently over 3,000 more reported cases of missing women in the 18 to 39 age bracket than males the same age, they still don't explain why the public rarely hears about men who vanish.</div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“Males that are missing don’t get that coverage,” said Erin Bruno, case manager for the National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA). “The dynamics of their case might not be enough for the media to grab it.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">As of May 2, the most recent date for which statistics were available, there were 15,182 active cases of missing females 18 to 39 years old versus 11,819 active missing male cases in that age bracket, according to the NCIC.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“Traditionally men are seen as the stronger ones, the ones who … can walk away,” Bruno said. “There’s that stigma placed on men. So they may be lacking in the coverage they’re needing.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Anthony Guy Urciuoli Sr. of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has experienced and been upset by that kind of scanty attention on his son, Anthony Jr., who disappeared more than three years ago.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEKlMwKchl5lfwYlhE-zXNUnU8NWcYbE-9efZ6R2kmuXG_tRbphh9kqkbJ7qcD8DTKi18LtmMmU9drJ98GV-nXSvJ8i89AyhJ3HSNATmt72LjX3EXCXhAgZ6sIKmmZTgJsCr81yPxCBNf/s160/anthony_guy_urciuoli_jr._2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="98" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEKlMwKchl5lfwYlhE-zXNUnU8NWcYbE-9efZ6R2kmuXG_tRbphh9kqkbJ7qcD8DTKi18LtmMmU9drJ98GV-nXSvJ8i89AyhJ3HSNATmt72LjX3EXCXhAgZ6sIKmmZTgJsCr81yPxCBNf/w237-h387/anthony_guy_urciuoli_jr._2.jpg" width="237" /></a></div></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Though there has been spotty local and national coverage of Anthony Jr.’s disappearance, the media attention has been minimal — and authorities haven’t seemed to be giving the case much priority either, according to Urciuoli.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“I have called the stations — nobody bothers,” said the 61-year-old loan officer. “I’ve written e-mails to everybody and they don’t even get back to me. Has it been frustrating? Without a doubt. It’s an understatement.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Anthony Jr. was 31 years old when he came home unusually early from his diner job Jan. 24, 2001, at 11 p.m., his father said. Half an hour later, he got a call from someone he told his parents was a friend asking him to shoot pool at a nearby hall.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">But no one ever saw him at or near the pool hall that night, according to Urciuoli. Instead, Anthony Jr.’s abandoned car was found the next day, his wallet still in it, in a baseball field parking lot. No one has offered any clues or insight, and his body has never been found. The family has set up a Web site with information about Anthony Jr. and the case.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“It’s inconceivable that he would up and leave," Urciuoli said. "We haven’t gotten one nibble. Nobody, nobody, nobody will come forward.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">But in this age, media coverage is crucial to bringing in tips from the public. And those tips are often the keys to solving cases.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Urciuoli believes that if Anthony Jr. were a woman, the case would have gotten a lot more publicity and focus.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“If it was a gal, believe me, they would have covered it a lot quicker and a lot sooner,” he said. “They bring in the heavy hitters and then they have an investigation.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">He speculated the imbalance stems from the two-fold perception that men are stronger than women and women are more vulnerable and more likely to be crime victims than men.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“Most guys are thought to be macho. With gals, there’s the impression that they’re disadvantaged, that they can be preyed upon,” Urciuoli said.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Case workers say the male-female discrepancy isn’t for a lack of trying on the part of advocacy groups like the NCMA and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which now handles cases of people up to 21 years old.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“I faxed out a press release 10 times about missing adult males, but the media for whatever reason didn’t pick up on it,” said Bruno. “Often what the media looks for is that twist or turn. Sometimes, there’s just not that (element) and so the media doesn’t run it.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Meanwhile, family members of men who have vanished but whose cases remain unsolved are upset, frustrated and yearning for answers and closure.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">“It’s been more than three years and three months,” Urciuoli said. “Ever since he disappeared, I wake up every night at 3 o’clock. I’m on medication. I still go through nightmares. It’s very, very hard.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Missing man remembered </u></i></b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Vigil held on site of Jan. 24, 2001, disappearance</u></i></b></span></div></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><b><u>Monday, January 28, 2008 </u></b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><b><u>By Christine Pizzuti</u></b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><b><u>Poughkeepsie Journal</u></b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">The reward for information on Anthony Urciuoli Jr.'s disappearance has been increased to $100,000 - a small price to pay for a brother, nephew and son.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Urciuoli told his family he was going to meet some friends for pool the night of Jan. 24, 2001. That was the last time he spoke to his family before his gray 2000 Nissan Maxima was discovered the next day on Wilbur Boulevard, in the parking lot of Spratt Park, in the City of Poughkeepsie.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">About 40 people attended Sunday's vigil in the same parking lot, which is where family members, who still long for closure, suspect Urciuoli spent his last living moments. "There's no closure. It's the same," Lisa Urciuoli, the missing man's sister, said. "Every year we relive that day."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Jerry Gretzinger, an uncle, said it's unlikely Urciuoli left town on his own accord since it was only days before his mother's birthday. "He and his mother were very close," Gretzinger said. "He wouldn't have missed his mom's birthday." He said it's been a difficult seven years, and the man's parents continue to suffer, especially through the holidays, which he said are empty without their son.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Anthony and Sandy Urciuoli, his parents, parked in the same spot where Anthony Jr.'s car was found, and distributed candles in the cold to the large circle of people who bowed their heads in prayer. Monsignor James Sullivan of Saint Martin de Porres Church, who led the vigil prayer, asked God to help family and friends and to be with them in this "storm of their lives."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Urciuoli's father said the turnout was encouraging.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"You can see that seven years later we still have support," he said. "But we still don't know anything."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Parents keep seeking clues to find son missing 8 years</u></i></b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">By Emily Stewart </span></b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Poughkeepsie Journal January 12, 2009</span></b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Their son disappeared eight years ago, but Anthony and Sandra Urciuoli still pray one day he'll walk through their front door.The disappearance of Anthony "Tony" Urciuoli Jr. remains a mystery. Urciuoli Jr., a lifelong Poughkeepsie resident, was last seen Jan. 24, 2001. He was 31.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">That night Urciuoli Jr. came home from his job at the Dutchess Diner on Route 9. Around 11:30 p.m., he said he was going out to play pool with a friend, said his father, Anthony Urciuoli. The next day, police found his gray Nissan Maxima near Spratt Park, in the City of Poughkeepsie. Since then, the Urciuolis have done just about everything to find their missing son. They hired private detectives, at $1,500 a week, for six months.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"All they said was that he was a good kid, and that there were no drugs involved," Sandra Urciuoli said. In 2002, the Urciuolis and their daughter, Lisa, appeared on an episode of "The Montel Williams Show" to speak with TV psychic Sylvia Brown. They are offering a reward of $100,000 for any information on the case. But local police say the one tip they received this year was not fruitful.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"The case is still open," Detective Capt. Paul Lecomte of the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department said. "We're also checking databases constantly for any missing persons." Lecomte said the Urciuolis have done a good job bringing attention to the case. "It can't hurt, the more publicity that's out there," he said. "You never know when someone's going to read something or hear something." But Anthony Urciuoli is not happy with how the media has handled the case.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"If it's a girl, you get national coverage. If it's a guy, they don't pay any mind to it," he said. Each year, on the anniversary of their son's disappearance, the family holds a vigil in Spratt Park, near where his car was last seen. This year, the ceremony will be at 3 p.m. Jan. 25. Monsignor James Sullivan of St. Martin de Porres in Poughkeepsie will lead a prayer service. All are welcome to attend.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Last year, the vigil was held in the evening, but "everyone was freezing," Sandra Urciuoli said. She said around 80 people came, but she's not not sure how many will show up this time.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Vigil marks 10th anniversary of missing man's disappearance</u></i></b></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Shantal Parris Riley • January 30, 2011</span></b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">On the night of Jan. 24, 2001, after coming home from work, 31-year-old Anthony Urciuoli Jr. told his father he was going out to play pool with a friend. He was never seen again.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">The next day, his gray Nissan Maxima was located on Wilbur Boulevard in the parking lot of Spratt Park, in the City of Poughkeepsie. It was where about 50 friends and family members met on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of his disappearance.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCg38SQ4BV_9fJtHRx-Jlgj1we79ltxSyGI8s9qvoCrEgNV9P3kXWgEk3TvhqKudsjetlDMoOzK_lLONZ2G-mEJRtUBmaqm3WkSPzWu45HQGNhqVlhqCGBF5Ym6gWz18tUgDTR3yDxf8i/s160/anthony_guy_urciuoli_jr._3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="118" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCg38SQ4BV_9fJtHRx-Jlgj1we79ltxSyGI8s9qvoCrEgNV9P3kXWgEk3TvhqKudsjetlDMoOzK_lLONZ2G-mEJRtUBmaqm3WkSPzWu45HQGNhqVlhqCGBF5Ym6gWz18tUgDTR3yDxf8i/w266-h361/anthony_guy_urciuoli_jr._3.jpg" width="266" /></a></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">As they held hands in a circle next to the spot where Anthony’s car was found, Monsignor James Sullivan of St. Martin de Porres Church appealed to St. Anthony, patron saint of the lost, for aid in the search. “Oh gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, intercede for us and for Tony’s family, and bring our petitions to the throne of God,” he said. “Help those who are searching to find the answer to their search.” The search, now in its 10th year, has yielded little relief for the Urciuoli family. “It’s been 10 years,” Anthony Urciuoli Sr. said. “Not 10 days, not 10 weeks, 10 months. Time does not erase the pain.”</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Not a hint of what had happened to his son has cropped up in all of this time, Urciuoli said. He urged those in attendance to keep talking to their families and friends about the case. “Someone knows something out there,” he said. Sister Lisa Wilms said she knew that it was “foul play” that led to her brother’s disappearance. “I just know it in my heart,” she said.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyone with information about the disappearance of Anthony Urciuoli Jr. is asked to contact the Town of Poughkeepsie police at 845-485-3666.</div></div></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-73952236886355778222022-01-15T15:09:00.001-08:002022-07-24T01:20:55.412-07:00Hang Lee: Missing Since January 15, 1993<div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator" dir="rtl" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpZ4SdaRqcbwzq9t5IA4BahTN85hNUyBLjcWLRIxn4V65ZmPO_gpfM_zrhysEhlCxrxZs8LrwPTtKyF6ofc3vVRPvmjLkWJ_wT6Z2T-p-lSlnLyXFOqjHxkHzF5jfWPslevdK3VxE6nZX/s1600/55.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpZ4SdaRqcbwzq9t5IA4BahTN85hNUyBLjcWLRIxn4V65ZmPO_gpfM_zrhysEhlCxrxZs8LrwPTtKyF6ofc3vVRPvmjLkWJ_wT6Z2T-p-lSlnLyXFOqjHxkHzF5jfWPslevdK3VxE6nZX/w211-h265/55.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hang was last seen leaving her family's residence in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 12, 1993. She left home with a female friend, Kia "Nikki" Lee, who is not related to Hang. Kia returned home shortly alone afterwards. Hang's parents, who are refugees from Laos and did not speak English at the time, reported her as a missing person to authorities. She left behind all her clothing, her college savings, a $100 paycheck and her purse, which contained a knife and a lead ball for personal protection. Just prior to leaving her home, she told her brother that if she did come back, he should search for her because she did not trust Kia.</span></blockquote></blockquote><span><a name='more'></a></span>Kia initially told authorities Hang had left with some unidentified young men. She later changed her story and said Hang had gone to a job interview with Kia's own employer, a 30-year-old local businessman. She said she had lied earlier because she believe Hang had run away and wanted to protect her, and also because her boss had told her not to tell anyone about her business. <br /> <br /> The man owned a painting and decorating business and Hang hoped to get a better-paying job than the one she had. Kia said she and Hang had gone to meet him together and he dropped Kia off at a gas station on the east side of St. Paul and drove away with Hang. This man is the prime suspect in Hang's disappearance; he has been convicted of two particularly violent rapes and was a suspect in other sex crimes. He has been uncooperative with the investigation and has hired a lawyer. The suspect has never been charged in connection with Lee's disappearance and he has since moved away from St. Paul. <br /> <br /> Hang is described as a sweet, naive teenager. She wanted to become a writer and enjoyed reading at the time of her disappearance, and had a part-time job as a server in a local restaurant. She was a senior at Highland Park High School and planned to attend the University of Minnesota after graduating. Hang's case remains unsolved. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance.<br /> <br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><u>Vital Statistics: </u></b></span><br /> <br /> Date of Birth: October 9, 1975<br /> Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old<br /> Estimated Height and Weight: 5'0" and 90 lbs.<br /> Distinguishing Characteristics: Asian female. Black hair with bangs dyed red and brown eyes.<br /> Dentals: Not available. She had no fillings or restorations.<br /> DNA: Samples submitted - Tests not complete <br /> Fingerprints: Not available <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-large;"><u><b>A mystery that tortures her family, a photo that haunts St. Paul police</b></u></i></div> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By Mara H. Gottfried<br />mgottfried@pioneerpress.com</span></a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Koua Lee was 15 when he last saw his sister and she said the words he's never forgotten. As Hang Lee walked out the door of their St. Paul home, Koua went to lock it behind her. His sister, then 17, turned back to her brother and said with a concerned face: "Koua, if I don't come back, come and look for me." Hang Lee didn't come back. Her family has spent 21 years yearning to know what happened to her. The police investigation has focused on a convicted sex offender who was the last person seen with Hang Lee, but he's never been arrested in the case. Police said they are always looking for tips. "We think about her every day," said Koua Lee, now 36. His father died last year, going to his grave without answers about his daughter's disappearance.His mother still seeks some kind of closure, Koua Lee said. Hang Lee's is one of St. Paul's oldest missing-person cases. The vast majority of people reported missing -- there were 1,700 reports in St. Paul last year -- end up returning home. The fact that Hang has not has stuck with investigators. </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> <br />In the missing-persons unit at the St. Paul Police Department, investigators have a daily reminder of Hang -- her photo is taped on the wall. "We look at it, and it's like an incentive for us to figure this out," said officer Benny Williams. "We look at it every day." Police have revisited the case at various times and a trio of St. Paul police missing-persons investigators, including Williams, have been spending time on it in more recent years between their daily cases and other older cases. Twenty-one years ago today, Mark Steven Wallace allegedly met with Hang Lee about hiring her to work for him. Wallace, then 30, was supposed to take Hang Lee home, police say. She never arrived. Wallace, now 51, could not be reached for comment for this story. Hang Lee remains classified as a missing person because there's no proof of what happened to her, said Sgt. Paul Paulos, a police spokesman. Police always hope that media attention on the case might bring forth information. "After this amount of time, we hope that people might feel compassion to come forward and tell what happened," Paulos said. "Any little tidbit of information could help." When Hang Lee disappeared, Wallace had been out of prison for about a year and a half after being convicted in two criminal sexual conduct cases. In one, Wallace was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl in Cottage Grove who'd gone with him on the promise of a job interview. He held a knife to her, tied her up and put duct tape over her eyes and mouth, according to the criminal complaint. Wallace told the teen he would kill her and her family if she said anything about what happened, the complaint said. </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOJb0BTPqshcxlql9J6RS3LNxA-Bi1xeZYPgUOadp0aOMkIJBb7ufcWWsX_Km8OSHYoGnAuYwWWExf2-qX_Q-WbQq1SmV9H5CLFsKEPKcJUzB3jA5bUs0yHK4G9r8Gs_MG6RDdkfRkBBz/s1600/555.jpg" width="298" /></a><br /> 'BAD FEELING THAT ... CRAWLED UP MY NECK' In 1993, Hang Lee was a senior at Highland Park High School. She wanted to go to the University of Minnesota, her brother said. Hang had started working as a cashier at Wong Cafe on Rice Street when she was 13, Koua Lee said. Hang had helped him get a dishwashing job at the restaurant. On Jan. 12, 1993, a Tuesday, the phone rang at the Lee home and Koua answered it. It was Kia "Nikki" Lee, an 18-year-old friend of Hang's, Koua said. She and Hang talked, and Hang told her brother she was going out with Nikki and was going to have a job interview with Nikki's boss, Koua said. Hang was looking for an additional job because she wasn't making much money, Koua said. She left home at 6 or 7 p.m., he said. Koua went to sleep about 10 p.m. and woke at about 1 a.m. Hang usually knocked on the front door when she got home and her brother would let her in, he said. That night, Koua Lee hadn't heard a knock, and he looked out the window of the apartment they lived in then at McDonough Homes, public housing in St. Paul. "The snow was coming down pretty hard, and I didn't see footprints from the parking lot," Koua said. "I got up just to see if I missed her or if she was going to be on her way. I did have a bad feeling that kind of crawled up my neck, but of course I was still a kid and I didn't know what to do. </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </blockquote> <blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"> Hang put her friends and family before herself, Koua said. "She's very loyal," he said. "She doesn't betray her friends. She trusted people very fast," which also may have put her at risk, her brother said. The next day at Como High School, which Koua Lee and Nikki Lee attended, Koua said he asked Nikki, "Do you know where my sister is?" She said she didn't, according to Koua. Hang Lee's mother reported her daughter missing to police a few days later. Koua doesn't think police initially took the case as seriously as they do now, probably suspecting the teen had run away. And because his mother and father didn't speak English (they spoke Hmong), Koua said, they didn't know the proper channels to push for Hang's case to get attention. Williams, the investigator, said he believes officers back then "did everything they were supposed to do and then some, but I think they may have been under the impression that she was a runaway and she was going to come back." <br /> SNOWFALL, SWITCHED CARS Police soon were looking into Wallace. A news article published in 1994, after Hang had been missing for a year, said that police had questioned Wallace but found him uncooperative and that he'd retained a lawyer who advised him to say nothing further. The St. Paul police investigators now working on the case have not talked to Wallace, but they have talked to Nikki Lee. </blockquote> <br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Nikki Lee worked for Wallace, who had a small painting company, according to Williams. Wallace asked Nikki if she had friends who might be interested in working for him and the first person who came to mind for her was Hang Lee, Nikki Lee reported, according to Williams. "She said the funny thing about it was he didn't have enough work for her to do, so why would he be asking her to find someone else?" Williams said of what Nikki Lee recounted. The Pioneer Press could not reach Nikki Lee for this story. </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /> Wallace picked the girls up in a white pickup truck, possibly a four-wheel drive. "He had mentioned taking them to the casino," Williams said. "It was really snowing and Nikki said, 'Well, we have school tomorrow.' Jan. 12, 1993, saw the first significant snowfall of that season, according to news reports from the time. Six inches of snow fell, Minnesota Climatology Working Group records show. On the way back, while Wallace was still with Nikki Lee and Hang Lee, he switched cars for reasons police don't know. It was a 1988 tan or silver Chevrolet Cavalier, said officer Mong Lee, another investigator on the case. </blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> Nikki Lee told police that Wallace said he'd drop her off at her home in Frogtown first and then Hang Lee because she lived closer to him (Wallace lived in Maplewood then), Williams said. Nikki Lee reported that she got out of Wallace's car and looked back. She saw Hang, who'd been sitting in the back, getting into the front passenger seat, Williams said. That was the last time she saw her friend and she had no idea what happened to her, she told police. </blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> Sgt. Kevin Navara, who has spent years at the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office investigating Hang Lee's disappearance, was also there for the conversation with Nikki Lee; he said he believes her. Wallace previously told police he dropped Hang off at Rice Street and Wheelock Parkway, near the restaurant where she worked, Williams said.</blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> WALLACE'S CRIMINAL RECORD The two rapes that Wallace was convicted of occurred March 31, 1987, in Cottage Grove and April 9, 1987, in St. Paul. In the second case, a 23-year-old woman said she was waiting for a bus when a man at the bus stop told her he could get them a ride, according to a police report. </blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> They walked away and, she told police, the man threw her to the ground, put her sock into her mouth, and taped her mouth and eyes shut, the report said. The man tied her up and raped her, the woman told police. He used a knife to "jab" her in the back, the report also said. </blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> Then, on May 19, 1987, a 22-year-old woman told police that an unknown man had called her and offered her a job in the radio industry, a police report said. She'd set up a meeting with him but was suspicious because she knew personal records of hers had been taken in a theft from a teacher's vehicle. An undercover female officer went to the meeting in the woman's place. The man who met her, later identified as Wallace, got into her car and had her drive around, supposedly to an office, the report said. Police arrested Wallace. He was carrying a bag that contained a knife and a roll of black tape, the report said.</blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"> Wallace told police that he had broken into a car, taken records and made phone calls to a woman whose information he found in the records, a police report said. His intention was to rape her, the report also said. Convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the St. Paul and Cottage Grove cases, Wallace was sent to prison in August 1988 and got out on supervised release in June 1991. His sentence expired Jan. 10, 1993, according to state records. Wallace was sent back to prison in 2010 after being convicted of theft by swindle and identity theft. He is on supervised probation for convictions in October for gross-misdemeanor theft and felony drug possession in Wright County. <br /> WHERE IS HANG? Police occasionally check Hang Lee's Social Security number to see if she's working or getting benefits, but there has been no activity. Koua Lee said he hopes his sister is alive, but he thinks the chance is slim because she would have contacted him if she could. In 2009, a promising lead in the case fizzled out. The Maplewood home where Wallace grew up and where he'd continued to live on and off was in foreclosure and Wallace had to move out, according to a search warrant affidavit. Navara, the sergeant for the sheriff's office, got permission to conduct a cadaver-dog search of the property. Three dogs showed interest in an area on the back wall of the garage. </blockquote> <br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> After a ground probe was used to allow any odors to rise up through the ground, each dog -- one at a time -- gave alerts that indicate "a presence of either human bone, human blood, or human flesh in the area," Navara wrote in the affidavit. The garage had been completed in 2004, about 10 years after Hang Lee disappeared, the affidavit said. The warrant, which was granted, was to drill holes in the garage's concrete floor to probe the soil underneath for the cadaver dogs to pinpoint the exact location of the evidence, the affidavit said. When the dogs came back for a second search, most failed to indicate an alert for human remains, Navara has said. </blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> In 2011, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-progressed photo of Hang Lee, something the organization does every two years until a missing child turns 21 and every five years after that, until he or she is found, said Bob Lowery, senior executive director of the missing children division. "They're good for public dissemination in case someone sees a person who looks like the child," he said. "It also serves to remind the public that we don't forget about cases like Hang's just because she's been gone since 1993. We still remember, we're still actively searching for her."</blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> 'SOMEONE KNOWS SOMETHING' St. Paul police don't close any missing-person case unless it's been solved. Police ask anyone with information about Hang Lee to come forward, officer Mong Lee said. Police said they'll take any piece of information people have, including anyone who remembers seeing anything suspicious on Jan. 12, 1993, or in the days after. People can make their tips anonymously, Mong Lee said. "Anytime there's a disappearance or a crime, usually someone knows something," officer Williams said. "They may be a little hesitant to come forward or they may say, 'I don't want to get involved,' but someone knows something." Hang Lee's family also wishes for help to solve her disappearance. "I just hope people find it in their heart to call the St. Paul Police Department if they know anything to help find her," Koua Lee said. "More than anything, I want to find closure for my mom." </blockquote><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at 651-228-5262. Follow her at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">twitter.com/MaraGottfried</a>.</span><br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Lead fizzles in Hang Lee's 1993 disappearance. No remains found at suspect's home.</u></b></span></i></div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u>By Emily Gurnon</u></i></b></div></span><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">A promising lead in the case of a missing St. Paul teenager fizzled when cadaver-sniffing dogs failed to find human remains in the former Maplewood home of the lead suspect, according to a sheriff's investigator. Hang Lee was 17 when she disappeared in 1993. On that day, the Highland Park Senior High School senior and another woman allegedly met with Mark Steven Wallace, then 30, about a job. After the interview, Wallace dropped the other woman off first, then was supposed to take Lee home. But she never arrived, according to the affidavit for a search warrant filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.</blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Wallace, 46, grew up in the home at 1736 Furness St. and continued to live there on and off "his entire life," according to the affidavit. His mother willed the home to him and his stepbrother. Wallace was forced to move out when the property went into foreclosure in February. At that point, Sgt. Kevin Navara of the Ramsey County sheriff's special investigations cold case unit got permission from the real estate agent and mortgage company to search it. Navara said in an interview that the dogs, from the Minnesota Search and Rescue Dog Association, scoured the property on two occasions. The first time, three separate groups of dogs honed in — one group at a time — on an area on the back northeast wall of the garage, Navara said. "All three did very well, one after the other, boom boom boom," he said. </div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"> </div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">On that basis, he got the warrant to drill holes in the concrete floor of the garage, which was built in 2004. When the dogs came back for a second search, most failed to indicate an alert for human remains, Navara said. Investigators took nothing from the scene. Wallace has refused to cooperate. In addition, investigators have tried to talk to the other woman they believe was at the job interview, but she asked for an attorney and has refused to cooperate, Navara said. "So we're kind of back to square one again with this case," he said. Wallace began getting in trouble with the law when he was a child, Navara said. His criminal history includes "multiple rapes, narcotics, theft and robbery," according to the affidavit. Navara said Wallace is in custody in Wisconsin on property crimes charges.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Anyone with information about Lee's disappearance is urged to call the sheriff's special investigations unit at 651-266-9560.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqacu78j7DR38V6VbXPd8eTjD0778qaJlDjRusjgveVht4fPU3VsfpWQGyuDtjYzWiF3fCgrq64sOW8dsF1pt0paQfuq84wSUJk5RhCuUdzGIitwQBK3XApyvHcN1K1zqOdcDEzqsceVaW/s1600/44.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqacu78j7DR38V6VbXPd8eTjD0778qaJlDjRusjgveVht4fPU3VsfpWQGyuDtjYzWiF3fCgrq64sOW8dsF1pt0paQfuq84wSUJk5RhCuUdzGIitwQBK3XApyvHcN1K1zqOdcDEzqsceVaW/s1600/44.jpg" width="173" /></a></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andersen
was last seen in St. Louis Park, Minnesota on November 15, 1981. An unknown individual
picked her up at her parents' residence at 6:15 p.m. She has never been heard
from again. Andersen was a regular patron of the Cardinal Bar in Minneapolis,
Minnesota at the time of her disappearance. She left behind personal belongings
including her medication, vehicle, clothing and toothbrush, and she has not used
her checking account since her disappearance.</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
2002, police searched the vacant home of one of Andersen's former boyfriends, looking
for evidence in connection with her disappearance. It is unknown what, if anything,
was recovered. Andersen maintained a vegetarian diet in 1981. Her interests include
motorcycles, yoga, pool and rock music. Her disappearance remains unsolved and
is being investigated as a possible homicide.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><u><b>Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance:</b></u></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Missing Since:</span></b> November 15, 1981 from St. Louis Park, Minnesota</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Classification:</span></b> Endangered Missing</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Date of Birth:</span></b> August 13, 1961</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Age:</b></span> 20 years old</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Height and Weight:</span></b> 5'4, 115 pounds</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Distinguishing Characteristics:</span></b> Caucasian female. Blonde hair, brown eyes. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andersen wears eyeglasses.</span></li><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Clothing/Jewelry Description:</span></b> A white t-shirt, blue jeans and a short blue silk </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">jacket with blue and white </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">trim on the collar and cuffs.</span></li><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Medical Conditions:</span></b> Andersen was suffering from tonsillitis at the time of her </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">disappearance was taking </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">medication to treat the illness. She left her medicine behind.</span></li></ul>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Investigating
Agency <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">If
you have any information concerning this case, please contact: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">St.
Louis Park Police Department </span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">952-924-2618</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-33195686308623709702021-10-27T02:06:00.001-07:002023-03-17T03:03:49.230-07:00Veronica Safranski: Missing Since October 27, 1996<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLT6Hy40YRPSkBT1Bl1XxqR1WZApWghswDGOqykrYe44E2J9bHbJCX2gO_7goinZOxUci0kr8q4k67AKOACu0dxROz9HxguR2d_v3reBL90KxeLoTApJEwbfOp7C8tGO9W5Uq0TdQKMuPj/s561/2-safranskivoni.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="398" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLT6Hy40YRPSkBT1Bl1XxqR1WZApWghswDGOqykrYe44E2J9bHbJCX2gO_7goinZOxUci0kr8q4k67AKOACu0dxROz9HxguR2d_v3reBL90KxeLoTApJEwbfOp7C8tGO9W5Uq0TdQKMuPj/w141-h200/2-safranskivoni.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>Veronica Safranski was last seen leaving a Halloween party in Warren, Marshall County, MN on October 26th, 1996. The victim was wearing an American Indian costume at the time of her disappearance. She has not been seen or heard from since.</div>
<a name='more'></a><div><u><b><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></b></u></div><div><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>Details of Disappearance:</u></span></b></div><div><div><div>
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Safranski attended a Halloween costume party with a friend at Mick's Bar and Grill in Warren, Minnesota on October 26, 1996. A photo of the restaurant is posted below this case summary. Safranski's friend was unable to locate her inside the establishment at approximately 12:30 a.m. Witnesses told authorities that Safranski and Kevin Skjerven were seen together around the same time. They departed from the restaurant in his black 1997 Dodge Power Wagon pickup truck with Oregon license plates. Safranski has never been heard from again.<br />
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Safranski was reported as a missing person later during the day. In late 1996, a belt believed to be part of her costume was found along a country road half a mile south of the crossing of Marshall County roads 8 and 6. An extensive search of the area failed to produce additional evidence as to her whereabouts. <br />
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Investigators said that Skjerven has a history of sexual assault convictions. He admitted that he departed from Mick's Bar and Grill with Safranski, but claimed that he did not know what happened to her afterwards. Skjerven has never been charged in connection with her disappearance. He was released from prison on unrelated charges in 2002. <br />
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Authorities said that there are many wooded areas in Marshall County where Safranski's remains could be easily concealed. Her body has never been located. Safranski resided in Argyle, Minnesota at the time of her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Name:</span> Veronica Lynn Safranski </b><br /><div><b><span style="color: red;">Date of Birth:</span> 03/13/1956 </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Sex: </span>Female </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Race:</span> White </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Height: </span>5’3” </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Weight:</span> 105 </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Hair Color:</span> Blonde </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Eye Color: </span>Blue </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Date Missing:</span> 10/27/1996 </b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Missing From:</span> Warren, MN</b></div></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Hunters asked to watch for missing woman</u></i></b></span>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by <a href="http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/tools/search/author/author_collection.php?id=25">Dan Gunderson</a>, Minnesota Public Radio<br />November 7, 2002 </span><br /></i></span>
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Hundreds of deer hunters will walk the woods and fields of northern Minnesota in the next two weeks. The Marshall County sheriff is asking hunters to help search for a woman who's been missing for six years. At a time when some missing people make instant news, the sheriff is trying to rekindle interest in this cold case. It's a challenging case for local investigators. They have a suspect, but no evidence of a crime. <br />
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Moorhead, Minn. — It was a few days before Halloween in 1996. Veronica Safranski, 41, was with friends at a Warren, Minnesota bar. She walked out with a man, leaving her coat and purse behind. She never returned.<br />
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A month later, investigators found a piece of her Halloween costume along a county road. Ground and air searches came up empty.<br />
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Don and Bernice Lenhart still search remote areas of Marshall County, hoping to find their daughter's body.<br />
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"We have no idea what happened," says Bernice. "We don't know anything. All we know is she's missing."<br />
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"We're still praying and hoping," says Don. "That's all we can do now."<br />
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"Maybe by accident somebody will run across her. Something could happen," says Bernice.<br />
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The Lenharts say they need to know what happened to their daughter.<br />
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Marshall County Deputy Mike Johnson is lead investigator on the case. He has a theory, but little else.<br />
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Veronica Safranski was last seen leaving the bar with a man -- a man with a history of convictions for sexual assault. The man told investigators he left the bar with Safranski, but doesn't know what happened to her.<br />
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About 12 hours passed before Veronica was reported missing, according to Johnson.<br />
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"Marshall County is a rural county, lots of farming, lots of abandoned farmsteads. There's just a variety of places that -- if someone needed to hide someone -- they could," says Johnson. "It's just a very big area to cover."<br />
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Without a body, Johnson says there's little hope of prosecuting a suspect.<br />
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The sheriff's department has organized several searches in hopes of finding a body. Psychics have offered help. But all that's been found is a belt from Safranski's Pocahontas Halloween costume.<br />
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There's a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. The investigation has followed thousands of leads, according to Sheriff Herb Maurstad. The conclusion is always the same.<br />
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"We go right back to the last person that was with Voni. And that's the person we need to focus on," says Maurstad. "We can't make people talk to us. We can ask them to do that, but we can't make them talk to us."<br />
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The suspect was recently released from prison. He was serving time for being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.<br />
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Sheriff Maurstad wants to solve the case to bring justice to the family of Veronica Safranski. He also fears it's only a matter of time before the suspect assaults another woman.<br />
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"Somebody's missing here. Somebody may have lost their life. In fact, we're quite sure somebody did lose their life," says Maurstad. "And that's what we're here for -- to bring those people to justice, and hopefully prevent other people from losing their lives. So it is frustrating. You think about it all the time."<br />
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The sheriff believes the six-year-old case can be solved. Investigators need a lucky break, he says. Like a hunter stumbling across some sign of the missing woman.<div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span><u><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">VERONICA SAFRANSKI CASE: A decade later . . .</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><u><div style="text-align: center;">By Ryan Bakken, Herald Staff Writer</div><div style="text-align: center;">Published Wednesday, October 25, 2006</div></u></span></span></i></b><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
When Veronica Safranski disappeared 10 years ago, her four children were never identified by name in news accounts. In an effort to protect them, they were simply identified by their ages - 11, 13, 16 and 21. <br />
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Now, as adults and with the 10th anniversary of her disappearance looming Friday, they are eager to be recognized - and heard. Rather than observe the remembrance privately, they want to tell their story. <br />
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Angie, Melanie, Lisa and Dustin want to be heard for several reasons, the main one being the chance that the attention will lead to solving the mystery. They hope someone will come forward with new information. <br />
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Retiring sheriff says failure to solve case is greatest regret “Maybe someone will see that these children are still hurting because of a decision they made not to speak up about something they knew,” said Angie Pence, the oldest sibling. “Like the saying goes, it takes just one pebble to move a mountain. <br />
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“There is no way a woman falls off the face of the earth, and no one knows anything.” <br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span><u>Disappeared into the night... </u></span></b><br /></span>
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The 40-year-old Argyle, Minn., woman known as “Voni” did fall off the face of the earth in the early hours of Oct. 27, 1996. Dressed in a Pocahontas costume from a Halloween party she attended earlier, she was last seen at Mick's Bar in neighboring Warren. <br />
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Leaving her coat and purse behind, she departed the bar shortly after midnight with Kevin Skjerven. Safranski was separated from her husband at the time. <br />
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Skjerven, who had two prior convictions for sex crimes and had served time in prison, was identified by the Marshall County Sheriff's Department as the prime suspect. The belt from the Pocahontas costume was found three miles from Skjerven's home in rural Newfolden.</div><div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWlL1KNie5U60T2IR63GgSYBuE3r0lWUa3LSil8gLXXikqtoSZ-GpWEieEHyBmDfmxuny0XBp6RFc_3WPrUFnDd4ZfmUzvIAKXrWqc_SMb74m_xD0kNG-ja89tjonuLfOnz2mMQY6Yd9w/s862/1-103016-n-gfh_-safranski002.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="862" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWlL1KNie5U60T2IR63GgSYBuE3r0lWUa3LSil8gLXXikqtoSZ-GpWEieEHyBmDfmxuny0XBp6RFc_3WPrUFnDd4ZfmUzvIAKXrWqc_SMb74m_xD0kNG-ja89tjonuLfOnz2mMQY6Yd9w/w400-h266/1-103016-n-gfh_-safranski002.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Skjerven served more prison time after Safranski's disappearance. The ensuing investigation discovered that he had purchased a firearm, which was forbidden because he was a convicted felon. But he was never charged in her disappearance. <br />
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The children believe Skjerven is to blame. “We know, with his criminal history, that he is a bad guy,” Angie said. </div><div><br />
Several searches were conducted, including one five years after the disappearance. A psychic, who had helped Kansas law enforcement officials find several bodies, said Voni's body was buried somewhere in Old Mill State Park, located between Warren and Newfolden. But the costume's belt was the only trace. <br />
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Ten years ago was a more innocent time, before searches for Dru Sjodin, Grand Forks, and Julie Holmquist, of Hallock, Minn., turned up corpses. When she was about 8 years old, Angie remembers a conversation with her mother that became “the irony of my life.” <br />
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Angie was frightened while watching a television show about a search for a missing girl, prompting her mother to comfort her. “She said that I would never, ever have to worry about something like that happening around here,” Angie said. “Things like that didn't happen in small, warm towns.” <br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>Searching for truth... </u></span></b><br />
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The siblings still feel pain from not knowing their mother's fate. <br />
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“We have no closure,” Lisa said. “It's different when you see someone in a coffin and can put them to rest. At least you have a place to go visit her.” <br />
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In addition to the unanswered questions, Melanie said there's another difficulty. “You can't put your anger to rest.” <br />
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Angie also craves the truth, but sees it as a double-edged sword. She cites the example of the Sjodin family. <br />
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“The Sjodins got closure, but they have to live with the details of the brutality,” Angie said. “I have always wondered if my mom died at the hands of brutality. What price would you pay to know?” <br />
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Angie has formed her own mental scenario about what happened to her mother “so I'm able to rest at night.” Her theory remains private because she doesn't want others to judge her reasoning. <br />
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“It makes me comfortable and satisfied, which is what is important,” she said. <br />
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Do they still harbor hopes that she's alive? “Every single day,” Melanie said. <br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>More than a victim... </u></span></b><br />
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They also want people to know their mother as more than a victim. <br />
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Voni was tiny at 5-foot-3, 110 pounds, but she had big blond hair and a big smile. She was an award-winning Mary Kay salesperson, but “what she wanted to be known most as was a stay-at-home mom,” Lisa said. <br />
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They remember how she cooked and cleaned every day. They remember coming home from school to find her at the telephone, making her Mary Kay calls. They remember her warmth and protective instincts. And they remember her robust laugh during carefree times. <br />
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They grieve that she wasn't able to experience milestones such as their graduations and weddings. They grieve that she wasn't able to hold their babies and offer comfort when Melanie's daughter died shortly after birth, just as Voni had lost a young son from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. They regret that she wasn't there to celebrate Dustin's state high school football championship and all-state selection as a senior. <br />
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“The bottom line is that everyone loved her,” Angie said. <br />
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Angie, 31, lives in East Grand Forks with her husband and two children. Melanie Kalt, 26, also lives in East Grand Forks with her husband and is six months pregnant with their third child. Lisa Rodriguez, 23, lives in Devils Lake with her husband and two children. <br />
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Dustin, 21 and single, is attending firefighter school in Fargo. <br />
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They say the credit for getting through the tough times goes to their father, Ed Donarski, who remains a farmer in the Argyle area. He shielded them from the public eye while providing help and comfort in an unimaginable situation. <br />
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Lisa remembers the trauma of losing most of her friends soon after her mother's disappearance. At age 13, few things are as important as having friends. <br />
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“My friends didn't know what to say or what to do, so they mostly went away,” she said. “They either didn't want to deal with my pain or didn't know how.” <br />
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For dealing with such issues and providing stability, they nicknamed their father “The Rock.” <br />
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“We never saw him cry,” Lisa said. “He always said he had to be strong for the rest of us.” <br />
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The Safranski children want others to understand that their emotional pain is ongoing. But they also want people to know that they're coping and living fruitful lives. <br />
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“We've grown up to be good people and have kept on living,” Angie said. “And now is the time to say our piece.” <br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Bakken reports on local news and writes a column. Reach him at 780-1125, (800) 477-6572, ext. 125; or</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"> <a href="http://"><span style="color: #cc0000;">rbakken@gfherald.com.</span></a></span></div>
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It was a Halloween night like any other when 40-year old Argyle, Minnesota resident Veronica Safranski attended a costume party at Mick’s Bar in the nearby town of Warren. The year was 1996 and Safranski separated from her husband at the time was decked out in a Pocahontas costume. <br />
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Shortly after midnight her friend at the party was unable to locate her inside the establishment, and witnesses later reported that she was seen leaving with a man named Kevin Skjerven, a sex offender with multiple charges. The couple reportedly left together in a new model Dodge Power Wagon truck with Oregon plates. Safranski was never seen or heard from again. <br />
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She was reported missing later that day, and weeks later a belt believed to be part of her costume was found alongside a country road in the area, but an extensive search yielded no further clues of any kind. Skjerven admits to leaving the party with Veronica but claims to have no knowledge of what happened to her afterwards. No charges have ever been filed against him, and her case remains unsolved. <br />
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Even as the months turned into years, Safranski's parents continued to search the remote areas or Marshal County hoping to find some answers as to what happened to their daughter, and at the start of each hunting season the sheriff asks local hunters to be on the lookout when traversing the rural lands. In regards to finding closure for her family, Sheriff Herb Maurstad said, "You look into (Safranski's parents') eyes, and you see the agony. You don't know how they feel. There's always that glimmer of hope, that we'll find her".</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Brad Hamilton for WhatCulture.com</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><u><i>Halloween Tragedy Revisited In Warren, MN</i></u></b></span><br />
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WARREN, Minn. (Valley News Live) - Our Halloween weekend marked the 19th anniversary of the disappearance of Veronica Safranski, from a Warren, Minnesota bar.<br />
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Safranski’s body has never been found and no one has ever been charged in the case. This upcoming weekend may bring an opportunity for you, to reveal a break in this tragic case.<br />
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It was October 26, 1996 when Veronica Safranski of Argyle, went to a Halloween party at Mick’s Bar in Warren with a friend, dressed as Pocahontas. It’s believed the mother of four left with a man and was never seen again.<br />
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Donald & Bernice Lenhart, Safranski’s Parents, November 1996:<br />
Bernice: “Please call us. We love you. We will help you in anyway we can. Just call us or come back to us.”</div><div><br />
Don: “Give us a call, please. We love you.”<br />
Bernice: “We need you.”<br />
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Safranski’s parents still live with the terrible memory of all this in Thief River Falls. And despite numerous searches over the years, Safranski’s body has never been found.<br />
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It’s a case that also still bothers those who tried to solve it.<br />
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Herb Maurstad, Retired Marshall County Sheriff: “One of the things in law enforcement that I left behind was the Vonnie Safranski case that was unsolved. I think about it pretty regular. I can about imagine what the family is still going through. So yeah, it’s one of those cases that will haunt you.”<br />
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Kevin Skjerven was questioned as a person of interest in the disappearance of Safranski, but never charged. Nine years earlier, he was convicted of criminal sexual assault in Anoka County and sentenced to 3 years in prison.<br />
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And with deer hunting season just around the corner, law enforcement officials are once again asking hunters to keep an eye out for possible remains or other clues in this case. Today’s DNA technology can quickly be a game changer in this 19-year old case.<br />
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Sheriff Jason Boman, Marshall County: “Yes, if she was found somewhere there’s always something you can test. There are all kinds of new technology out there to do this.”<br />
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It’s something for hunters to keep in mind, as they tromp through the woods of northwestern Minnesota this weekend.<br />
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The smallest piece of evidence, along with technology today, could finally lead to closure and justice for the family of Veronica Safranski. If you have any information in this case, you’re asked to call the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department at: 218-745-5411.<br />
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Sheriff Boman says they still receive new leads every once in awhile and they make sure to track down any new information they receive.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">By Neil Carlson | Posted: Tue 2:45 PM, Nov 03, 2015 | Updated: Tue 5:37 PM, Nov 03, 2015</span><br />
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-large;"><u><i>WARREN, Minn.—On Oct. 26, 1996, Veronica "Voni" Safranski left Mick's Bar in Warren.</i></u></b></div>
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She never came home.<br />
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Twenty years later, culverts have been searched, hundreds of acres of forests walked by law enforcement and volunteers, and psychics debunked, but no one is any closer to knowing what happened that night.<br />
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Safranksi's oldest daughter, now Angie Pence, was 20 years old that night. She turned 21 two days later, while enrolled at UND.<br />
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"I felt like I was on autopilot," she said of the months after the disappearance.<br />
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At the time, she said she and her siblings, Melanie, Lisa and Dustin, lost many friends who didn't know what to say to them, and they battled to remain resilient and maintain hope.<br />
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"We've been such a strong family unit through it all," she said.<br />
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Pence said her father, Edmund Safranski, held the kids together in the aftermath of her mother's disappearance.<br />
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Today, Pence said she and her siblings are leading good lives. All the siblings are married. They all have three children. She moved to Billings, Mont., with her husband about a year and a half ago. They like it there. Through hard times, she said the family thinks of the white rose, a traditional symbol of reverence, love and strength that became a favorite of Safranski when her son, Bradley, died.<br />
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But her mind still wanders back to 1996, especially this week.<br />
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Over the years, she said a list of about 20 scenarios still goes through her head, each with a different explanation of what transpired that night two decades ago.<br />
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"We never got closure," Pence said.<br />
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She said the recent breakthrough in the Jacob Wetterling case picked on the scab for her sisters. After Wetterling was discovered, she said one of her sisters put up her mother's case on Facebook, imploring friends and neighbors to keep it on their mind. She said the Wetterling case scared her and brought up the conflict of wanting closure but knowing that closure likely would be sad.<br />
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"They worried and they fought and they never gave up, and now they're crushed," Pence said of the Wetterling family, saying they were mourning for the first time after discovering their son was murdered this year.<br />
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"It's a cold case, but it can still stay warm in our community," Pence said.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>Still looking</u></span></b><br />
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At the Marshall County Sheriff's Office in Warren the case is very much alive. A poster of Safranski is on a glass window in the foyer — it's been there since 1996. Another poster offers a $15,000 reward for information leading to her location.<br />
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Through the lobby and into an old office space for deputies lie more reminders. Next to the desk of Chief Deputy John Tinnes, three large boxes are stacked, each labeled "Safranski" and full of notes and tips collected over the years. Next to the boxes, three large binders are stuffed to the brim with more of the same.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1NWmZhtTFmuWJ6FmZ_-JSJd6RDQ3gKt5NqMtHZH5XgQZs8_M6xjX_Oi89fML1zAiW-33USS24h8W-yWaw9d4aY0HHa12kPZGYEyiIZ-WqstuInsInAnynRoh1dFeMZ0dehyLG2ACmx6f/s780/3-103016-n-gfh_-safranski001-1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="780" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1NWmZhtTFmuWJ6FmZ_-JSJd6RDQ3gKt5NqMtHZH5XgQZs8_M6xjX_Oi89fML1zAiW-33USS24h8W-yWaw9d4aY0HHa12kPZGYEyiIZ-WqstuInsInAnynRoh1dFeMZ0dehyLG2ACmx6f/s320/3-103016-n-gfh_-safranski001-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Tinnes and Sheriff Jason Boman said there are at least five more boxes in storage.<br />
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"We get tips every now and then," said Boman, who was a young deputy in 1996.<br />
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Just last week, Boman said, he got a tip that sounded promising. A man tilling a field near Argyle, where Safranski lived, called. He'd found what he thought was a moccasin in the field. Boman got excited, he said, thinking it might be something. He drove out to the farm and checked out the find, which he said turned out to be a man's shoe.<br />
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"The guy told me 'I feel dumb,'" Boman said. "But I told him not to feel dumb. If you don't call us, we won't know."<br />
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Tinnes joined the Marshall County Sheriff's Office in 1996, just a month before the disappearance. Boman had joined the office a year before. They helped search the area when the case broke out. Twenty years later, Tinnes keeps the files on the case close to his desk.<br />
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"I don't want to have it be forgotten," he said.<br />
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He said they get about one to three tips a year, and that they always look into them, but "nothing new comes of it."<br />
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"We want it solved more than anybody but the family," Tinnes said. "I can't imagine what they're going through."<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>One day</u></span></b><br />
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Pence said the worst part is feeling that somebody knows something about the case and won't come forward.<br />
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Pence feels the man who left Mick's Bar with Safranski 20 years ago is that person. There was a Halloween party at Mick's Bar that night. Safranski was dressed in a Native American costume. She left with a man in his 1977 black Dodge Power Wagon, according to authorities. That man was not charged in her disappearance. No one ever has been.<br />
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"We know he was a bad man," Pence said. "We know he was involved in her life before that."<br />
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That man is Kevin Scott Skjerven, and he was investigated and cleared by law enforcement.<br />
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He was convicted of fourth-degree sexual conduct in Minnesota in 1988 and served 22 months in prison, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.<br />
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When reached by the Herald, Skjerven said the media tried to portray him as guilty, but he said he'd cooperated with law enforcement and did nothing wrong.<br />
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"She like followed me out the door," Skjerven said of Oct. 26, 1996.<br />
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He said she told him her friends had left her there.<br />
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"I just tried to help someone out," Skjerven said. "I've been doing that my whole life."<br />
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Skjerven said he didn't remember much about what happened that night when asked where the two went afterward.<br />
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Mick's Bar hasn't changed much in the 20 years since Safranski was last there. On a crisp afternoon in October, Charles Mock sits at the bar. He was at Mick's the night Safranski disappeared, too. He said the bar back then was in a horseshoe, and the pool room in the back used to be a dining room. Other than that, the place is the same.<br />
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The case remains the same, too. But that could change at any time, authorities say. One of these days that shoe in the field might lead to something, and a family's questions may be answered.<br />
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"We get all these tips, and they never seem to pan out," Tinnes said. "But one day it will."<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">By <a href="http://www.grandforksherald.com/users/andrew-hazzard">Andrew Hazzard</a> on Oct 29, 2016 at 12:26 p.m.</span></div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-12193671924116127522021-09-30T14:33:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:53:54.412-08:00Kevin Jay Ayotte: Missing Since September 30th, 1982<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pe3bOax2vSoBbNjerlcenc-CMZFVQ12AhpHmUheqIOonYZKJ04k8pGRYNY2iZHULq5OWajvDf01rMzd5oJJSyopPccbGFgcSRRciaSBS36UCJ3q2RygwugzVuOBRXJIf32YPZ2c2h6wO/s300/kevin-ayotte.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pe3bOax2vSoBbNjerlcenc-CMZFVQ12AhpHmUheqIOonYZKJ04k8pGRYNY2iZHULq5OWajvDf01rMzd5oJJSyopPccbGFgcSRRciaSBS36UCJ3q2RygwugzVuOBRXJIf32YPZ2c2h6wO/w160-h200/kevin-ayotte.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>Kevin Ayotte was last seen as he played in his family’s summer home on September 30th 1982. He was last known to be upstairs at approximately 4:45 pm. His mother went outside briefly and when she returned, Kevin and his 6-month old Springer Spaniel puppy named Flash were gone. His older brother was still in the home.</span><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: outside none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font face="inherit"><span style="line-height: 1;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-right: 5px;"><a name='more'></a></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-right: 5px;">Extensive searches took place immediately preceding the boys disappearance. He had wandered away from home before but always returned within a short period of time. Kevin was known to take off his shoes and diaper but those were not found in the search for him.</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-right: 5px;">On October 5th, Flash reappeared and authorities hoped to gain some clues from him. His coat was combed and his stomach was pumped. The only thing he had eaten for days was swamp grass. Authorities put a tracker on the dog and let it out again, hoping that he would lead them to Kevin. It did not and would always return home.</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-right: 5px;">Due to the woodsy and boggy environment that surrounds Kevin’s home, some people have theorized that Kevin may have become lost and subsequently died of exposure.</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-right: 5px;">Others have suggested that Kevin might have been abducted by a non family member while his mother was outside of the house but no evidence has been found to point towards this theory. Kevin’s case remains unsolved.</span></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin-right: 5px;"><span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: black; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin-right: 5px; width: auto;"><b></b></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><b> </b></span></span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-size: x-small; font-weight: 700; margin-right: 5px;"><br /></span></span></span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Missing Since:</b></span> 09/30/1982 </span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Missing From:</b></span> Sugarbush, Minnesota </span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Classification:</b></span> Non-Family Abduction </span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Date of Birth:</b></span> 05/12/1979 (40) </span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Age:</b></span> 3 years old </span></font><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Height and Weight: </b></span>4'0, 50 pounds </span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><b><span style="color: red;">Clothing/Jewelry Description:</span></b> A checkered shirt, blue jeans, lace-up sneakers and a disposable diaper. </span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><b><span style="color: red;">Medical Conditions:</span></b> Kevin is developmentally disabled and has a hearing impairment; as a result, he had limited speech skills at the time of his disappearance. </span><br /><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><b><span style="color: red;">Distinguishing Characteristics:</span></b> Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. Kevin has a scar on the right side of his chin. He also has a cleft chin.</span></li>
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<i><b><span><u><font color="#cc0000" size="5">Cold Kidnapping Case Gets Second Look After Beltrami County Child’s Identity Stolen by Michigan Man</font></u></span></b></i></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><b>The Bemidji Pioneer<br />June 22, 2011</b></span><br /><div><br /></div>On September 30, 1982, a 3-year-old child, Kevin Jay Ayotte, went missing from his family’s residence in Sugar Bush Township, located in eastern Beltrami County. <br /> <br />At that time, 29 years ago, an exhaustive search and investigation was undertaken by then Sheriff Tom Tolman and members of the Sheriff’s Office with assistance from other state and federal agencies. That investigation did not succeed in finding Kevin or even determining the exact nature of his disappearance. This case has continued to haunt the Ayotte family, retired law enforcement officials involved in the investigation and active members who have come on the Sheriff’s Office since. <br /> <br />A few weeks ago, Beltrami County Sheriff’s Investigator Scott Hinners reexamined the Kevin Jay Ayotte Missing Person case from 1982 and began running names from the case file through investigative databases. During this search, the investigator located an individual in Michigan using the same name, date of birth and Social Security number assigned to the missing Kevin Jay Ayotte from Beltrami County. Additional assistance was sought by Hinners from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va. As Hinners continued his investigation he learned that Kevin’s mother and father also were living in Michigan in a town in the same region as the person using Kevin Jay Ayotte’s name. Last week, Hinners, accompanied by a special agent from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, travelled to Michigan and began searching for the subject. With the help of local Michigan authorities, Beltrami County investigators located an individual who had stolen and assumed the identity of Kevin Jay Ayotte and used this new identity for financial purposes. <br /> <br />As it turned out, this suspect was known to local authorities in Michigan. The suspect was interviewed by law enforcement authorities and admitted to the identity theft. The identity theft investigation was left in the hands of Michigan authorities and remains under investigation. Beltrami investigators returned to Bemidji after they made contact with Kevin Ayotte’s parents in Michigan to discuss these developments in the case. Investigators determined it was a coincidence that Kevin’s parents were living in such close proximity to the suspect in the case. This Missing Person Case remains open and under investigation with ongoing assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-large;"><b><i>2 Other Children Still Missing</i></b></u></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Written By: postbulletin Administrator | Nov 4th 1989 - 7am. </span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div>As awful as the wait has been for the family of Jacob Wetterling, two other Minnesota families, including one from Rochester, have been waiting for years for the return of missing children. More than five years have passed since 15-year-old Cheryl Ann Peters of Rochester was spotted at a truck stop in Albert Lea, while seven years have passed since 3-year-old Kevin Ayotte disappeared from the log house where he lived in Beltrami County. Cheryl Ann, a small, nearsighted girl, left her home in Rochester with a bag of clothes and a little bit of cash on May 21, 1984. She hitched a ride to the East Side Truck Stop in Albert Lea, 60 miles away, where she was seen for the last time. It was thought that she might be in the Windom area, where her family had previously lived, but she was never located there. ``Nothing since,'' said Dave Sackett, a Rochester police detective who has been assigned to the case for five years. ``Like any of these cases, the more time that goes by, the more you have to wonder if she's alive. She definitely could have been abducted, but we're not even sure of that.'' Cheryl was among the missing children whose photos were shown following a 1985 television rebroadcast of ``Adam,'' the movie about a 6-year-old boy who disappeared in 1981 and was later found murdered. Cheryl Ann's family no longer discuss her case publicly. ``We haven't heard a thing after all these years,'' said her stepfather, Tom Day. ``You never just forget, though.'' Kevin's mother could not be reached by telephone.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhohC2MUuVPNIqEneHD2X1hapbaZqaSiuSIHZCdkC3GiF_zxGz8Kj0-hsiiFwLR4NMZ6UcboeQWkiZHaxvlld3Hp0TV-FWcht_Sm_X3LU-ZauU5CI8aBnTVArtd5beQl32DuVOmnoKdnfG/s320/tumblr_liktcsOU5L1qgxzu1o1_500.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="320" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhohC2MUuVPNIqEneHD2X1hapbaZqaSiuSIHZCdkC3GiF_zxGz8Kj0-hsiiFwLR4NMZ6UcboeQWkiZHaxvlld3Hp0TV-FWcht_Sm_X3LU-ZauU5CI8aBnTVArtd5beQl32DuVOmnoKdnfG/w400-h271/tumblr_liktcsOU5L1qgxzu1o1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br />Authorities say that while dozens of Minnesota children are listed by police as runaways or victims of a parental kidnapping, the cases of Jacob, Kevin and Cheryl Ann appear to be the only ones in which investigators believe a stranger could have been the abductor. However, authorities are not even certain that either Kevin or Cheryl Ann was abducted. But in each case, a child is gone, and parents do not know whether that child is alive or dead. ``In a case like this, there's a kind of haunting emptiness for a parent,'' said Bill Cross, a sergeant in the Beltrami County Sheriff's Department, who has been assigned to Kevin Ayotte's disappearance from the start. ``You just don't know. You're looking at a 50 percent chance he's dead, a 50 percent chance he's alive. Most parents would like to know at least that.'' Kevin, a round-faced, sandy-haired little boy, had been known to wander away from home, often with his spaniel puppy, Flash. But he always wandered back, until the afternoon of Sept. 30, 1982. His mother had been away, and when she returned home that day, he was gone from the bedroom where he had been playing. The countryside near the home was wooded and boggy, winter was coming on and fears for the boy's safety were compounded by the fact that he had speech and hearing defects. Hundreds of volunteers and local law enforcement officers combed the wood lots and swamps northeast of Bemidji, but the search was called off after nine days.<br /><br />Meanwhile, investigators continue whittling a long list of suspects in the Oct. 22 Wetterling abduction as deer hunters were asked to remain alert for any sign of the missing boy during the weekend opening for the firearms deer season. The 33 members of the Richmond Lions Club near St. Cloud said they were offering a $100,000 reward for Jacob's safe return before Nov. 15, the close of the firearms deer season. A $25,000 reward posted in St. Joseph also remains in effect. ``Instead of just looking for deer, look for Jacob,'' Ken Spohn, a member of the Lions Club, urged hunters. The boy was kidnapped by a masked, armed man on a rural road near St. Joseph as he returned home from a nearby convenience store with his brother and a friend. Investigators said Friday they have compiled 3,490 leads about suspicious people or vehicles and have eliminated at least 150 potential suspects. There are differences between the earlier cases and Jacob's: Jacob was grabbed by a man in plain sight of his brother and a friend; publicity surrounding Jacob's case has been more intense and widespread than it ever was in the earlier cases, and authorities still express hope that they have leads to investigate and suspects to question in Jacob's case, something the authorities never had in the earlier cases. Nationwide, only 2 percent of the 23,899 children recorded as missing during the past five years were believed to have been taken by a stranger, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #cc0000;"><u><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Missing Minnesotans: Kevin Ayotte</i></span></u></b></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">February 20, 2018 02:26 PM</span></div></span><br />What happened to Kevin Ayotte? It's a question that has haunted his family and law enforcement in northern Minnesota for almost 35 years. Kevin was only 3 years old when he and the family dog disappeared from their home outside Bemidji. The dog came back, but the little boy was never found. You need to visit the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office and talk to Investigator Joe Kleszyk to find out what happened to 3 –year-old Kevin Ayotte. "On September 30, 1982, Kevin disappeared,” said Kleszyk. The sheriff's office has a case file on Kevin that contains thousands of items that go back almost 35 years. "I think about Kevin a lot,” says Kleszyk. “I wonder where he's at. I wonder what's happened to him because it's a mystery. It's truly unexplainable to law enforcement what happened to him. “To learn more about Kevin's Ayotte's disappearance we stopped by the A.C. Clark Library at Bemidji State. There are old editions of the Bemidji Pioneer newspaper on microfilm.<br /><br />The search was big news in Bemidji, and it would make headlines for more than a week. Kevin was a non-verbal little boy. He lived with his mom and two older brothers about 18 miles east of Bemidji. Kevin Ayotte was 3 and a half years old. He was a little boy from the East side of Sugarbush Township,” said Kleszyk. It's a rural area, a safe place with lots of woods. But there are bogs, a river and a lake nearby. Nobody noticed Kevin leave the house. “It wasn't out of the norm,” said Kleszyk. “Kevin had walked away several times, wondered around the property and he usually was found pretty quickly. The dog was gone as well. “Newspaper reports show the search expanded quickly. “The next morning there was a massive ground search done for Kevin," said Kleszyk. The community came together. Five hundred people showed up to help. “The sheriff's office had help from the Minnesota State Patrol,” said Kleszyk. “They had a helicopter and fixed wing airplane in the air. Deputies were in canoes in the rivers nearby. “The FBI and BCA were involved. They interviewed neighbors and talked to known sex offenders. But nothing. Then Kleszyk says there was a ray of hope. “On Oct. 5, the dog showed back up,” said Kleszyk. “But no Kevin, just the dog. “The Ayotte family's Springer Spaniel puppy named Flash came home. The dog's coat was carefully combed looking for clues about where it had been. Kleszyk says veterinarians also pumped its stomach. “They were able to determine that the only thing it had eaten in the last few days was swamp grass," said Kleszyk. Articles in the Pioneer show that police then put a tracking collar on the dog. They took it to different places and released it hoping it would go to Kevin, but it ran home every time. The family, police and searchers grew frustrated. After nine days, there was no sign of him. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJbGxRntr1NU7FH5yceYnSzPIuEGjCMciXfQ8IL7q9pSzubuRfsTXC2_bbhOq-mH8j0Z51WBncSq9KUPqgTz7OS3yLT_7vRIfBGxxSCK0nUPgYAeUCY6fPtA_7SORuJOpwVj0tv8qpfDT8/s250/unnamed.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="200" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJbGxRntr1NU7FH5yceYnSzPIuEGjCMciXfQ8IL7q9pSzubuRfsTXC2_bbhOq-mH8j0Z51WBncSq9KUPqgTz7OS3yLT_7vRIfBGxxSCK0nUPgYAeUCY6fPtA_7SORuJOpwVj0tv8qpfDT8/w314-h392/unnamed.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>Years passed. Tips came in that took investigators from the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office from coast to coast. Kevin's picture was seen on milk cartons. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created several age progression pictures showing what he might look like as an older boy, a teen, a young man and now as an adult.5 Eyewitness News talked with Kevin’s mom JoAnne on the phone. She now lives in Michigan. “I walk by his picture on the wall every day and I wonder what happened to him?,” said Joanne. She believes her son was abducted. We offered to visit her but she politely declined an interview. She says it's still too painful to talk about. “It’s been 35 years since Kevin disappeared,” said Kleszyk. “And that's 35 years where that family doesn't know where their boy is.</div><div><br /> There's no clear answer what happened to Kevin Ayotte. "As Kleszyk scrolls through Kevin’s case file on the computer screen in his office he asks that we make one thing very clear. "We want people to know these cases are never forgotten,” said Kleszyk. “They're never cold, they're never closed. We've always had an investigator assigned to them. We always will until we find Kevin. "If you have any information on what happened to Kevin Ayotte, please call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.You find more information on the organization’s website. You can reach Investigator Joe Kleszyk with the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office by calling 218-333-9111.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>Theories</u></i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u><br /></u></i></b></span></div><div>While the nature of Kevin’s disappearance is mystifying, there are several potential theories surrounding the case. The first theory is that Kevin wandered into the woods and swamps surrounding his cabin, and fell victim to the elements. This theory is mainly supported by the notion that Kevin and Flash wandered off together, and Flash’s stomach was full of swamp grass (The Charley Project). While this is a plausible theory, many wonder why police were unable to find any sign of Kevin in the surrounding area. After all, they had undergone an extensive search of the area. The search took nine days to complete, and over five hundred people showed up (Kevin Doran with KSTP, 2018), surely they would have found any sign of the child?</div><div><br /></div><div>The other theory is that Kevin was abducted. Kevin’s actual casefile is classified as a non-family abduction (Resource Center For Cold Case), which not only supports this theory but suggests that this is what the police primarily believe happened to Kevin.</div><div><br /></div><div>The idea that Kevin wandered off with Flash could still be what happened. However, a wandering child provides a perfect opportunity for someone to abduct them. The problem with this theory, however, is that Sugar Bush Township was an extremely small town in Minnesota. While it is located less than thirty minutes away from Bemidji (a hub in the area), the population of Sugar Bush Township was only 193 as of the 2000 census (Wikipedia). So, either one of the small-town residents had been plotting this abduction for some time, or a stranger stumbled upon the perfect opportunity and took it. It’s natural to assume that there would be more leads to go off of if either was the case… A rumor, a never-before-seen vehicle, a stranger in town, etc. Then again, it was the 80s. Nowadays we have social media that often hold us accountable, and creates an image of who we are as a person. We also have cell phones that police can track. There are so many new avenues that police can utilize to find suspects and collect evidence. That didn’t exist in the 1980s. A small-town resident very well could have plotted, and executed, a plan to abduct Kevin, and it would be very difficult to find them.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>Stolen Identity: Suspect, Or Coincidence?</u></i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u><br /></u></i></b></span></div><div>One of the newer developments in the case occurred in 2011. An investigator working for the Beltrami County Sheriff’s department began reviewing Kevin Ayotte’s case, and he found a very shocking development in the case (Associated Press, 2011).</div><div><br /></div><div>As Investigator Scott Hinners ran names through their database, looking for new leads to investigate in the 29-year-old case, he found the identity of Kevin Ayotte popping up… As an adult man in Michigan (The Bemidji Pioneer, 2011).</div><div><br /></div><div>Hinners requested assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. As he continued to investigate, he discovered that Kevin Ayotte’s parents had also lived in the same region as the mysterious person who was living under Kevin Ayotte’s identity (The Bemidji Pioneer, 2011).</div><div><br /></div><div>Accompanied by a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension special agent, Hinners ventured to Michigan and began an investigation into tracking down the man using Kevin’s identity. They accepted assistance from Michigan authorities, and together they were able to locate the person who had taken Kevin’s identity and utilized it for financial reasons (The Bemidji Pioneer, 2011). This man was no stranger to the local authorities in Michigan. Upon being interrogated, the man admitted to stealing the identity of Kevin Ayotte. Hinners left the fate of the man in the hands of the Michigan police, and I was unable to locate any information on the outcome or real identity of this man (The Bemidji Pioneer, 2011).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBS5UANgBRU0Mhxd2O3zjB-ScvSHNmDqN6zjMn98HZS3NlvJVYKxTYgPXredE2FGbdhdiRmA75V4jVA0DLhInoWnZoGgOu3TsaViW_eWPeU2v7HYqylyust64EUMFVHNhobMjuRopxfH_l/s500/kevin-ayotte-age-progressed.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBS5UANgBRU0Mhxd2O3zjB-ScvSHNmDqN6zjMn98HZS3NlvJVYKxTYgPXredE2FGbdhdiRmA75V4jVA0DLhInoWnZoGgOu3TsaViW_eWPeU2v7HYqylyust64EUMFVHNhobMjuRopxfH_l/w326-h407/kevin-ayotte-age-progressed.jpg" width="326" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>While the authorities do not believe that this man has any ties to the case of Kevin Ayotte, it does bring up many questions. How could something so unfathomably specific merely be a coincidence? It could be argued that Kevin’s face was plastered all over milk cartons throughout the nation, and it appeared as if Kevin’s case gained a lot of attention nationwide. Therefore, it is not completely unreasonable to assume that the man remembered Kevin’s case and decided to take advantage of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>That being said, it would be nice to know why Hinners believes it was coincidental. Did this man have an alibi for Kevin’s disappearance? Did Hinners look into the possibility that the man was located in the area of Sugar Bush Township in the 1980s? After all, Michigan is quite the drive away from Minnesota but it’s not unreasonably far.</div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-87072797189937640042021-08-26T00:45:00.001-07:002023-03-17T03:15:00.430-07:00 Victoria Jane Owczynsky: Missing Since August 26, 1990<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbJzoegfwxioV5jcRmVDrrMN0HidhsfdcVU1dowx_QwhKAbMr8zDM1KmLni28TEkUcqEJO2THJ75L83Pck6BWjDjbZ48zEwmKC5LijFlMgvkdBtExHI4A_KxITE9ARrGn8WVZEIgoNh2e/s1024/MLi0EE8mikfJ0XXcIyDXoXJlTRVzkelDB5rM8VnuBj8.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="745" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbJzoegfwxioV5jcRmVDrrMN0HidhsfdcVU1dowx_QwhKAbMr8zDM1KmLni28TEkUcqEJO2THJ75L83Pck6BWjDjbZ48zEwmKC5LijFlMgvkdBtExHI4A_KxITE9ARrGn8WVZEIgoNh2e/w186-h256/MLi0EE8mikfJ0XXcIyDXoXJlTRVzkelDB5rM8VnuBj8.jpg" width="186" /></a></div><div><font face="inherit">Owczynsky was last seen at approximately 13:00 at her residence in the vicinity of the 1800 block of University Avenue NE in Minneapolis, MN. Vicky had been living with a girlfriend in northeast Minneapolis when she disappeared. She had moved to the house, four blocks from her mother's, about a month earlier. When she woke up on August 26, other members of the bustling household were filing out to church. At 09:45, Vicky called her mother and said she'd stop by about noon.<span><a name='more'></a></span></font></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">About 15 minutes later, she had a three-way phone conversation with her boyfriend, who was in the Ramsey County jail, and a girlfriend, who she agreed to meet at the park at noon. She said she had just stepped out of the bath and needed to dress and fix her hair. While she was still talking to her girlfriend, Vicky abruptly began laughing. She explained that a man had just walked in with two black eyes and he looked funny. It was the father of the family she was living with, who had been ordered out of the house by Hennepin County two years earlier after being accused of sexually assaulting his daughters. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vicky then called her stepfather and asked for a ride to the park, but he said he was busy painting a neighbor's house. He heard her ask someone in the house for a ride. About 10:30, two neighbors saw Vicky leave in a pickup truck with the man who had appeared at the house during the phone conversation. About 20 minutes later, the man returned to the house, and began unloading scrap metal from the truck. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vicky never arrived at the park or her mother's house. Police spoke with the man who neighbors say Vicky left with and ordered a search of his truck and apartment in a building he manages. The man acknowledged that he had seen Vicky and that they had talked outside, but says she never was in his pickup.</span></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">Foul play is suspected.</font></div></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><div><font color="#d52c1f"><b><u>Physical Description</u></b></font></div><div><font color="#d52c1f"><b><u><br /></u></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Date of Birth: </font>April 23, 1973</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Age: </font>17 yrs old</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Race: </font>White</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Gender:</font> Female</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Height: </font>5'0"</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Weight: </font>110 lbs</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Hair Color: </font>Brown</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Eye Color: </font>Brown</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Nickname/Alias: </font>None</b></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Distinguishing Marks/Features: </font>A birthmark under her left eye and when she was last seen, her hair was highlighted.</b></div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><font color="#cc0000" size="6"><i><u>The Case</u></i></font></b></div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>Victoria Jane (Vicky) Owczynsky was 17 years old when she disappeared without a trace. Vicky lived in Minneapolis, MN, where she was a student at Edison High School. Her parents, Eugene Owczynsky and Larene Larson, were divorced, and her mother had since remarried.</div><div><br /></div><div>In July 1990, Vicky moved out of her mother’s house to live with a girlfriend, Naomie Rondo. Naomie’s house was only four blocks away from Vicky’s mother’s house. On Sunday, 26 August 1990, Vicky woke up while everyone else in the house was leaving for church. At 09:45, she called her mother and promised to stop by around noon. About 15 minutes later (10:00), Vicky had a three-way telephone conversation with her boyfriend (who was in jail) and a girlfriend. She agreed to meet her girlfriend at noon, at a park about 2.5 miles away (Garfield Street and 18th Avenue NE).</div><div><br /></div><div>Vicky said that she had just stepped out of the bath and needed to get ready. Then she abruptly began laughing. She explained to her friend that a man had just walked into the house. The man had two black eyes, and Vicky said he looked funny. That man was Darrell Rea, Naomie’s stepfather. Rea had been ordered out of the house by Hennepin County, MN, authorities in 1988 for sexually assaulting Naomie and her sister, Monique Stevens. He now lived in an apartment complex at 1911 Central Avenue NE, approximately 0.80 mile from Naomie's house and 1.5 miles from the park where Vicky was going to meet her friend. After hanging up with her friend, Vicky called her stepfather and asked for a ride to the park. Her stepfather said he couldn’t give her a ride since he was busy painting a neighbor’s house. He then heard Vicky ask someone for a ride. At about 10:30, two neighbors saw Vicky leave in a pickup truck with Rea. About 20 minutes later, Rea returned to the house and began unloading scrap metal from the truck. Vicky never arrived at the park or at her mother's house.</div><div><br /></div><div>She had left her purse, money, jewelry, and cigarettes in Naomie’s house, indicating that she hadn’t run away. Furthermore, family members and friends said that Vicky seemed happy and hadn’t mentioned going anywhere. The case was referred to Sgt. Dayton Dunn of the Minneapolis Police Department’s juvenile division, where it remained open as an unsolved missing-person report. Police did search Rea’s truck and apartment, but they found no substantial evidence. When Vicky's 18th birthday passed in April 1991, her case was turned over to Sgt. John Baade and Sgt. Ron Ottoson in the Second Precinct's property crimes unit.</div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6B4E702x3qsHQh_K10Dg-WBeQ-mP8yEp6iTh1Axf08SYNu7UAU-Q0w3KprtQI2ZckrDi8jP34ptcaVAD09U3cvWQUIFDv8Bq4jQgt2VpHF6oQXMD42UVIKAfIHMGWbzgXJjOHGhhPy8hf/s2852/5missing122112.jfif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1816" data-original-width="2852" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6B4E702x3qsHQh_K10Dg-WBeQ-mP8yEp6iTh1Axf08SYNu7UAU-Q0w3KprtQI2ZckrDi8jP34ptcaVAD09U3cvWQUIFDv8Bq4jQgt2VpHF6oQXMD42UVIKAfIHMGWbzgXJjOHGhhPy8hf/w448-h324/5missing122112.jfif" width="448" /></a></div><div>The sergeants strongly suspected Rea was responsible for Vicky’s disappearance. After all, Rea had a history of sexual violence. In 1977, he’d been convicted of assaulting a 27-year-old woman. Police had found the woman covered in blood, crawling toward the road. She told them that she had been picked up and then attacked by a man wielding a large knife and a glass Coke bottle. Rea was identified as the perpetrator and was tried for first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He argued that the sex was consensual, and the jury acquitted him of criminal sexual conduct. They convicted him of simple assault, for which served a short jail sentence.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eleven years later, in 1988, police learned that Rea was sexually abusing his stepdaughters. Monique, the older sister, used to babysit Vicky, who often stayed at their house. At some point, Vicky directly witnessed Rea raping Monique. While police were convinced that Rea had murdered Vicky, prosecutors weren’t. They told the investigators that they couldn’t press charges without a body or more concrete evidence. The case stagnated for years. In late 2007, Sgt. Gerry Wehr came across Vicky’s missing person file. Given Rea’s criminal history, Wehr believed that he was a repeat offender. With the help of the FBI, Wehr developed a criminal profile and researched cold cases until he uncovered one that could possibly be linked to Rea. In 1988, a 23-year-old homeless prostitute named Barbara had been sexually assaulted and attacked at the same location as the 1977 attack. And Barbara’s case had DNA evidence.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rea’s and Barbara’s DNA samples were both still in storage. In 2013, the Minnesota crime lab reanalyzed the samples, confirming that Rea’s DNA matched the sample from Barbara’s case. The lab then uploaded Rea’s DNA profile into a database. The system hit on an unexpected match — semen from the autopsy of Lorri Mesedahl, a 17-year-old girl who was murdered in Hennepin County, MN, in spring 1983.</div><div><br /></div><div>On a Friday night, Lorri had returned home from a party but then snuck out to visit her boyfriend, who lived with his grandparents. She arrived at approximately 03:00, but the grandmother wouldn’t let Lorri into the house. The next morning, Lorri’s bloody corpse was found by some railroad tracks. After finding the match to Lorri, investigators increased their testing of old rape kits. In 2014, the system hit on another match to Rea’s DNA — the 1987 rape of Mary-Scott Hunter. Still, it took an additional 2 1/2 years before Hennepin County prosecutors felt confident enough to charge Rea for the murder of Lorri Mesedahl.</div><div><br /></div><div>In September 2017, Rea was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder. He waived his right to a jury trial. Hennepin County Judge Tamara Garcia presided over his case. Barbara and Mary-Scott were not allowed to give testimony against him. Rea was convicted of second-degree murder with intent, and Judge Garcia gave him the maximum sentence of 10 years and one month. Rea could be released from jail as early as 2022.</div><div><br /></div><div>Vicky’s body has never been found, and Rea has never been charged with her murder. It’s possible, even likely, that Rea raped and killed even more women than the seven known victims (Vicky, Mary-Scott, Barbara, Lorri, Monique, Naomie, and the unnamed woman from 1977).</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><font color="#cc0000" size="6"><i><u>Mpls. police renew search for dying woman's daughter last seen in '90</u></i></font></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="2"><b>Minneapolis police hope to satisfy a dying woman's wish to</b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="2"><b> know the truth about her daughter's disappearance in 1990.</b></font></div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>At age 59 and dying of lung disease, all Larene Johnson wants is to have a proper burial for her daughter Vicky, who disappeared from northeast Minneapolis one summer Sunday morning in 1990 and has never been heard from since. Victoria Jane Owczynsky, a soon-to-be high school senior at Minneapolis Edison, was living with a girlfriend's family when the missing person report was filed. "Results have been minimal" from the pursuit of various leads, police said in a statement Friday.</div><div><br /></div><div>Police Sgt. Stephen McCarty said that some of the impetus for reviving publicity about Owczynsky's disappearance is that her mother is gravely ill. "Wouldn't you like to know if you were in that woman's shoes?" McCarty said. Moreover, advances in DNA technology give investigators hope in locating Owczynsky, the sergeant said, adding that samples have been taken from both of her parents. While police even now publicize Owczynsky's case in terms of her being alive -- going so far as distributing a composite sketch of what she might look like as a 39-year-old -- Johnson said she knows better. "I know if she were alive, she would try to contact one of us in her family," said Johnson, speaking barely above a whisper because of what her illness has done to her vocal cords. "I've got the feeling that she's gone because it's been more than 20 years."</div><div><br /></div><div>Johnson, who lives about 30 miles north of Brainerd, said what motivates her now is "closure. I want to find her body, bring her home and give her a decent funeral." About 14 months after Owczynsky was last seen, police suspected the father of the family she was living with, given that he saw her in the home that morning of Aug. 26, 1990. Two years earlier, he had been ordered out of the house by authorities on accusations that he sexually assaulted his daughters. The man has never been charged, but Johnson said, "I know in my heart it was him."</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL8XOaRPXbMUPOV91KG_C3ad2bd0XN96GEMXKHfPkQ6-F5Je15FmRhw18Ro4dUkvVL08WoiD3e-7N3fPmI0Jv5AY3Klr5g1G5iRWLhpO7JaSxdWlOHXfWz9ZV9-SIhh16pOkqhyphenhyphenwcNgT0/s275/download.jfif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL8XOaRPXbMUPOV91KG_C3ad2bd0XN96GEMXKHfPkQ6-F5Je15FmRhw18Ro4dUkvVL08WoiD3e-7N3fPmI0Jv5AY3Klr5g1G5iRWLhpO7JaSxdWlOHXfWz9ZV9-SIhh16pOkqhyphenhyphenwcNgT0/w456-h316/download.jfif" width="456" /></a></div><div>Police on the case back then said Owczynsky left behind items people normally take along when intending to leave for any length of time: clothing, what little money she had and cigarettes. She agreed that day to meet a friend at a nearby park. But she never showed up. John Baade, a police sergeant on the case early on, said, "That's not somebody who elected to be gone. ... Basically, what we're talking about is a potential homicide." A homicide unit sergeant is leading the renewed investigation, which McCarty said is standard in missing-person cold cases. He declined to talk about any potential suspects. Anyone with information is being urged to call police at 612-673-3406 or CrimeStoppers (1-800-222-8477), which is offering a reward of up $1,000 for help in solving the case. Along with the composite image, police Friday also released to news media a photo of Owczynsky from 1990, the same one authorities distributed upon her disappearance. Owczynsky is described as white. At the time, she was 5 feet tall, 110 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and a birthmark under her left eye.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Vicky was always smiling, happy and adventurous," Johnson said. "She liked to play football with the guys. She'd arm-wrestle her brother." Long resigned to believing her daughter met a violent end, she said, "I'm still doing the crying. Very hard."</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="2">Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482</font></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><font color="#cc0000" size="6"><u><i>A Minnesota Killer and Serial Rapist Will Serve Less Than Six Years for the Murder of Lorri Mesedahl</i></u></font></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="2"><b>Mother Jones’ recent investigation revealed the details of the multiple </b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="2"><b>other attacks for which Darrell Rea will never serve time.</b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="2">Madison Pauley</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1a0kb9bV0gSQ8M0rq-bPdPCIFqQOvpF_j4G8pygr8YafU7f5i_aKJ9sJu_0ZlRP67Jjxtsog_x68SmWofmyyTJBaTQykJ_IFNRT8t6evL-7XA4__omeXE9z3EVm9hoLBl7Hmi8LAQ3rnF/s300/download+%25281%2529.jfif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1a0kb9bV0gSQ8M0rq-bPdPCIFqQOvpF_j4G8pygr8YafU7f5i_aKJ9sJu_0ZlRP67Jjxtsog_x68SmWofmyyTJBaTQykJ_IFNRT8t6evL-7XA4__omeXE9z3EVm9hoLBl7Hmi8LAQ3rnF/w585-h325/download+%25281%2529.jfif" width="585" /></a></div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>A Minneapolis murderer and serial rapist, Darrell Rea, slipped through the fingers of local law enforcement for decades after killing 17-year-old Lorri Mesedahl in 1983—sexually abusing his stepdaughters and raping two more women in the years that followed. On Tuesday, in Hennepin County District Court, Rea was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for the second-degree murder of Mesedahl with intent, under Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines from the early 1980s. He will likely serve just over five years before being released under supervision. He is 64 years old. Rea denied involvement in Mesedahl’s death and did not express remorse in the courtroom. (Through his lawyer before the sentencing, Rea broadly denied the criminal accusations against him and declined to answer specific questions or comment further on allegations.) </div><div><br /></div><div>As detailed in my investigation published this week, Rea could be not be charged for either the rape of Mary-Scott Hunter or that of another woman, Barbara, even though there is DNA evidence linking him to the assaults, because of the three-year statute of limitations in effect when the attacks took place. (A similar situation is facing magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, who last week accused President Donald Trump of raping her in a New York department store in the mid 1990s, according to former Bronx sex crimes prosecutor Roger Canaff.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Hennepin County prosecutors also declined to charge the sexual abuse of Rea’s stepdaughters, Monique Stevens and Naomie Rondo, which started in the late 1970s. “Darrell won the game,” said Del Young, Mesedahl’s half brother, through tears in his victim impact statement to Judge Tamara Garcia on Tuesday morning. “No matter what happens in this court here today.”</div><div><br /></div><div>In coming to Rea’s guilty verdict last month, Judge Garcia considered evidence from the 1988 attack on Barbara, whom Rea raped and stabbed in the neck. Still, Barbara was not permitted to read her victim impact statement aloud in the courtroom this week, but she shared it in writing with the judge. “I have come to the conclusion I will never see justice,” she wrote. “This 10 year sentence is just enough to get him madder. A slap on the wrist.” She signed it: “scarred, sad, and feeling hopeless at times.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Stevens and Rondo, Rea’s stepdaughters, gripped each other’s hands tightly in the courtroom. They too submitted victim impact statements to the judge, but were not permitted to read the statements aloud. “I get out of bed every morning and tell myself I am going to face the day,” Stevens wrote. “I am not going to let this man define me. I am not going to let what happened to me, define who I am.” </div><div><br /></div><div>“The abuse I suffered changed who I became and shaped my personality,” wrote Rondo. She added, “I am a fighter and refuse to let the abuse control me.” Just before she read Rea’s sentence, Judge Garcia acknowledged their statements, telling the courtroom, “I would like all of you who wrote to me to know that I have heard each and every one of you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Hunter, who was raped by Rea in 1987, told me she is glad she did not have to deliver a victim impact statement in court. “I am not afraid to be vulnerable with people, but I consider it a sign of trust (or a leap of humanistic faith) when I am,” she wrote to me recently. “I believe that when folks are willingly and honestly vulnerable with each other, it’s a real gift. And, for obvious reasons, he doesn’t deserve that from me.” Though Rea’s sentencing concludes the Mesedahl murder case, the law enforcement team that investigated the crime—and other crimes by Rea—isn’t done. “I think any investigator who worked, even touched this case, or knows anything about it, would agree that the probability that there are other victims out there, either living or dead, is probably pretty good,” Minneapolis Police Sergeant Chris Karakostas told me. As I detail in the investigation:</div><div><br /></div><div>Now that Rea has been convicted of murder, he will be legally obligated to hand over a new DNA sample. And unlike the bloodstain from Barbara’s shirt, this one will be uploaded to the FBI’s national database. From now on, it will be automatically compared to unknown DNA from crime scenes across the country. When Rea’s DNA enters the system, Karakostas will be waiting to see if more hits come back from cases outside Minnesota. One day, he speculates, there could be another prosecution. In that future case, a judge could rule that the experiences of Hunter and Stevens count as corroborating evidence. Maybe they could still get some kind of day in court. “There’s a lot of women out there that really don’t have some justice for what happened to them,” Karakostas says.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just before Rea entered the courtroom Tuesday, Karie Gibson, a member of the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit and part of the law enforcement team that worked on the Mesedahl case, leaned over to speak to me. “I don’t think today’s the last day we’ll be hearing about him,” she said.</div></blockquote><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-11380074485034071362021-08-17T15:10:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:31:16.188-08:00April Nicole Geyer & Roseanna Marie Forcum: Missing Since August 17, 1998<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6C2H_yP-vcFrTo-z5t5dIqd65fFaFgzwNDPrsmajVRxFnRb8VWQKG4Iu2ARntXGe4NqnNq0C1ukDAIXJ_ADnaEKvd-mD6Eg1YfiK3zeFPf_IQ9rJnj4Binu7_sAoypJ5UtPGysJNFKv1/s1140/2740443%252Bmissing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6C2H_yP-vcFrTo-z5t5dIqd65fFaFgzwNDPrsmajVRxFnRb8VWQKG4Iu2ARntXGe4NqnNq0C1ukDAIXJ_ADnaEKvd-mD6Eg1YfiK3zeFPf_IQ9rJnj4Binu7_sAoypJ5UtPGysJNFKv1/s320/2740443%252Bmissing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>On August 12 of 1998, 15 year-old Roseanna "Rosie" Marie Forcum was at home in her father's apartment in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Her mother had moved away to Texas in 1997, and her father was a single parent trying to raise her and her younger sister. Rosie's father had asked her to do the dishes, and she refused. She left her family's apartment with her close friend, 21 year-old April Nicole Geyer. From there, April and Rosie were last known to be leaving April's residence in Milaca, Minnesota on August 14, 1998. Both the girls had a history of disappearing together, sometimes for days, without giving a warning. Both girls would always call their families to let them know they were safe every time, but in August of 1998; both girls were never heard from or seen again. <span><a name='more'></a></span><div>April was 5'2" tall and weighed 140 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She has a peace symbol tattooed on her left middle finger and a tattoo of a winged heart on her left shoulder. April usually wears her hair tied at the nape of her neck or pinned back. She was possibly last wearing a black over-sized T-shirt with biker or denim shorts. At the time of her disappearance, April also had a history of abusing alcohol and methamphetamine. Her birthday is on July 9, 1977.
<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Roseanna
was 5'5"-5'6" tall when she vanished, and she weighed 110 pounds. She
has brown hair and brown eyes, and both of her ears are pierced. It is unknown
what she was wearing when she vanished, but she goes by the nicknames
"Rosie" and "Rose". Her birthday is December 3, 1982. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For
weeks, no one knew what happened to either of the girls. Authorities initially
believed the two had runaway, given their history of leaving together without
warning. Roseanna's friends also claimed that she had spoken about running away
to California. However, this does not fit both girls' pattern of always calling
their parents to at least let them know they were okay.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHH1Oy6I1giSFtmCgVN3tttrvpj3RndRwtUKN9nTsaA1i-Ro5FtbDBrN0g9hYbkBdim-Ikp9gWWPjWnKXXqp5wW6XpeewuEac0pbRvuE5uv8Hq4pi8d9p97tyB6BXozQF1ngz4AxHtCPBu/s160/forcum_roseanna6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="137" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHH1Oy6I1giSFtmCgVN3tttrvpj3RndRwtUKN9nTsaA1i-Ro5FtbDBrN0g9hYbkBdim-Ikp9gWWPjWnKXXqp5wW6XpeewuEac0pbRvuE5uv8Hq4pi8d9p97tyB6BXozQF1ngz4AxHtCPBu/w170-h200/forcum_roseanna6.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>The
theory that the girls left of their own accord got discarded when an informant
came forward in late January of 2000, who claimed he was involved in both the
girls' disappearance. He claimed the girls went to a party during the evening
of August 14, 1998 in St. Cloud. It is possible April and Rosie was attempting
to hitch hike home after the party when they met up with two men, one being the
informant. He claimed his friend had strangled both the girls shortly in his
apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota after they picked them up. The informant
claimed he had helped his friend bury the two girls near farmland in Wadena
County, Minnesota near Leaf River.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">An
informant claims Roseanna and April attended a party in St. Cloud on August 14,
1998. It's unknown if this is true. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shortly
after, with the guidance of the informant, police tried to search the area he
claimed the girls were buried at in Wadena, 150 miles northwest of the Twin
Cities. There were three or four searches conducted in the area, with cadaver
dogs. According to CityPages.com, spokesperson for the St. Paul Police
Department Michael Jordan claims the Department of Natural Resources were upset
because the search had dug up so much ground, that a stream was diverted in the
search area. The search came to a stop because of snow and ice. It was rumored
that the search uncovered something Roseanna Forcum owned, but authorities are
holding close what information they have since it is an ongoing investigation.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><br />
<h2 class="headline" style="border: currentcolor; font-size: 32px; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><u>The Longest Wait</u></i></span></h2>
<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Two missing daughters. Two years. One lead. No answers.</u></i></span></h2>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Paul Demko</u></i></span></h3>
<h4 style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><u>published: September 20, </u></i></span></h4><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">John Daniel believes he heard his daughter's last words. In late August of 1998, Daniel awoke in the middle of the night in his St. Cloud apartment to the sound of his oldest daughter, 15-year-old Roseanna, calling out his name. He had not seen Roseanna for about two weeks and went downstairs to let her in. But she was nowhere to be found. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">More than two years later, seated at a wobbly table in his Spartan St. Cloud apartment, the 51-year-old janitor and single father says he believes that the voice he heard that night was his daughter screaming for help--from more than 60 miles away in St. Paul. "I believe that when she hollered my name that was her last words as the guy tightened the telephone cord around her neck," Daniel says.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite Daniel's certainty in relating the circumstances surrounding his daughter's death, the fate of Roseanna Forcum and her then-21-year-old friend April Geyer is officially unknown. In August of 1998, the girls disappeared from their homes in the St. Cloud area. For a year and a half, nothing was known of their fate. Daniel clung to a hope that Roseanna had run away to California, as some of her friends said she'd talked about doing. "I just kind of accepted the fact that when Rosie could get free, or she got tired of being there, she would call me, and then I could make arrangements to send her money and have her flown home," says Daniel, his younger daughter Jamie, age 14, seated next to him. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdyBxo60xXy1OhQYXUcUqn8KlT5qPkWDVTUFUh7nn3ra1rMfDxzfhyphenhyphenwMRBPZcpMQkBnI2hLmj-cl8mrr4jUVA5kF1a1_8ShtvumSRzuoBwSDtzfpbNbwdAipLr7Ob2sXeIEDWCIqBT5Wz/s1600/250px-Wing_River.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdyBxo60xXy1OhQYXUcUqn8KlT5qPkWDVTUFUh7nn3ra1rMfDxzfhyphenhyphenwMRBPZcpMQkBnI2hLmj-cl8mrr4jUVA5kF1a1_8ShtvumSRzuoBwSDtzfpbNbwdAipLr7Ob2sXeIEDWCIqBT5Wz/w400-h283/250px-Wing_River.jpg" width="400" /></a>Then in late January of this year, Daniel got a call from Detective Mark Kempe of the St. Paul Police Department, who said he had information about the missing girls. Shortly thereafter Daniel, along with April Geyer's mother, Gloria Homstad, went to the St. Cloud police headquarters to meet with Kempe. The detective said an informant had come forward and told police that a friend of his had strangled the girls to death (hence Daniel's mental image of the phone cord around Roseanna's neck) and that he'd helped to bury them in Wadena County, near the Leaf River. Kempe told Daniel and Homstad that the police, with the guidance of the informant, had made an initial, unsuccessful attempt to recover the bodies two weeks earlier. The search was called off because of snow and ice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nine months later Roseanna Forcum and April Geyer have yet to be found--alive or dead. Unlike high-profile cases such as last year's murder of Katie Poirier, or the 1989 abduction of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling, the disappearance of Geyer and Forcum has slipped beneath the media radar screen. Nothing has been written about the case in local newspapers or broadcast on television.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Part of the reason for the dearth of attention could be that the apparent victims in this case don't fit the description for angelic martyrs. Homstad says that before disappearing her daughter had been reeling from her boyfriend's drowning a year earlier. "She was angry," Homstad says. "She couldn't hold down a job. She was depressed. She sought her comfort through alcohol and crank [methamphetamine]." Geyer left behind a now-eight-year-old son, whom Homstad is raising. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Roseanna Forcum, meanwhile, had recently completed a summer program for juvenile offenders because she was repeatedly delinquent from school. "She more or less comes from a single-parent family, because the mother didn't really want anything to do with her," says Daniel. "I had to fill in for mom also. That's kinda hard to do."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane Kirtley, the Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, says that more than the class or virtue of the victims, the likely reason for the lack of media attention is simply that the cops haven't sought any. "To a great extent media coverage of crimes, solved and unsolved, is driven by law enforcement's public-relations spin on it," Kirtley says. "If they publicize a case, then the media is more likely to follow it and bird-dog it."</span><br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNr-l1JP8wa2PaUPCIweTycCswGJMdL6TNsbSrfU46QS7ac_Asd511UPuIBNGl5G57W77IUN1jLDt2upp7A8p6xXnF95F8NsX-dOO_ukMckpyB9A3XNJvQ8yx7U2cVuUVDRdtPff-HX7D/s1600/p9416619.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNr-l1JP8wa2PaUPCIweTycCswGJMdL6TNsbSrfU46QS7ac_Asd511UPuIBNGl5G57W77IUN1jLDt2upp7A8p6xXnF95F8NsX-dOO_ukMckpyB9A3XNJvQ8yx7U2cVuUVDRdtPff-HX7D/s1600/p9416619.jpg" width="228" /></i></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cops are not anxious to discuss the disappearance of Geyer and Forcum. Detective Kempe was on vacation last week and unavailable for comment. According to Michael Jordan, a spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department, law enforcement has done everything possible to recover the bodies. "Between ourselves, the [state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension], and the sheriff in [Wadena] County, we have had cadaver dogs there, there's been three or four searches, we dug up so much ground that the [Department of Natural Resources] is angry with us because we diverted a stream there, and we're getting ready to go back in a week or so for another search," says Jordan. "It may be that there's no one there, that the informant is not telling us the truth."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because the investigation is ongoing, the St. Paul Police Department will not give out any additional information about the case. Other law enforcement officers are equally tight-lipped about the investigation. Don Enger, a special agent with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension who has worked on the case, says, "There's nothing I can comment on." Wadena County Sheriff Mike Carr confirms that the police have made several attempts to recover the bodies, but refers other questions to the St. Paul PD. "It's not an easy area to excavate by any means," Carr says, noting that the area surrounding the supposed gravesite is frequently flooded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Forensics experts say that it is not unusual for attempts to recover bodies to be unsuccessful--especially when the searches are prompted by informants. Michael Finnegan, a forensic anthropologist at Kansas State University, says he has participated in at least ten searches in the last decade, and that each failed to unearth a body. "It's not uncommon at all," Finnegan says. "In fact, it's typically the rule." </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Furthermore, Finnegan notes, informants are often unreliable or have ulterior motives, such as reducing their own jail time. "If the informant is good, and the information is good, then there's not so much difficulty," Finnegan notes. "But if the information is off 40 or 50 meters in heavily wooded terrain, you might as well be looking on Mars."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-cBqrrKusgtgZuDANVdL2pwPuWbNS0AMZ6cQ6FRMZHWNZdDZ_0U0BN_dfrKTph6ZfMgAfxAyRo57UaCrElwuWGPeHYtU1Rm-lZAb2lPkLyrOQFkBlQ0YhzOQQBu4csuB5KTlqXD46Suu/s160/forcum_roseanna3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="107" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-cBqrrKusgtgZuDANVdL2pwPuWbNS0AMZ6cQ6FRMZHWNZdDZ_0U0BN_dfrKTph6ZfMgAfxAyRo57UaCrElwuWGPeHYtU1Rm-lZAb2lPkLyrOQFkBlQ0YhzOQQBu4csuB5KTlqXD46Suu/w133-h200/forcum_roseanna3.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">On July 10, the families of the two girls accompanied police officers to the purported gravesite in Wadena County. Two cadaver dogs were brought in to sniff around the area and to try and pinpoint the exact locations of the bodies. Daniel claims that they were never told what the outcome of the search was, and that there's been no contact with police since then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Michael Jordan, of the St. Paul Police Department, says that the reason for this is simple: There is no new information to tell the families. "We've found nothing," he says. "What more can we tell them?" </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The lack of communication with the cops has left John and Jamie Daniel angry and confused. "If it would have been somebody famous, somebody known, not just two street girls that have been missing, they would have been out of there in January," says Jamie. "This would have all been over with." </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her father concurs. "It's apparent that I'm not rich and famous, and that they will not go back up there because of that."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoLjy9YrGFIqJ9CmTYtT_XSRGEhE7cotG9Qid8eCMbhDRlQxhq-_249JlHBhXHB8W21cIFGx_6s4f_83xYO1L6tjECGibxe9e1Mg_sLCkyVMbZn4aq-cXceuxnYsn1Ptv_k0W1sTed6NB/s1600/geyer_april2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="clear: right; float: right; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoLjy9YrGFIqJ9CmTYtT_XSRGEhE7cotG9Qid8eCMbhDRlQxhq-_249JlHBhXHB8W21cIFGx_6s4f_83xYO1L6tjECGibxe9e1Mg_sLCkyVMbZn4aq-cXceuxnYsn1Ptv_k0W1sTed6NB/w284-h400/geyer_april2.jpg" width="284" /></i>Susan Herman, executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, agrees that the families' background often has an impact on how cases are handled. "As in most parts of our society, the race, the class, and the particular circumstances of the victim and the victim's family often play a role in the kind of treatment that they get," she says. "The criminal justice system is no exception."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the case of Katie Poirier, her kidnapping spurred the use of boats, Cobra helicopters, and members of the National Guard in trying to track her down. Patty Wetterling, Jacob's mother, points out that a key difference in Poirier's case was that there was a videotape of her abduction and that she was still thought to be alive at the time of the search. "In the case of ours and in Katie Poirier's case there were witnesses to tell us that it wasn't a runaway," says Wetterling, who now runs the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, which works to prevent kidnappings. There are thousands of runaways in the state of Minnesota each year, she adds, and police can't investigate each with the same fervor they dedicate to abductions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite the inability of the police to locate his daughter, Daniel remains convinced that she is buried in Wadena County. He says that the ongoing search has prevented him from returning to a normal life. Seven days a week he works part-time at the local VFW hall, cleaning and setting up for events, and then rushes home to try to solve the mystery of his daughter's disappearance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"I come home and sit and try to collect my thoughts about this whole situation that I'm in with my daughter and my deceased daughter, and how the hell we can get her out of the ground and back to St. Cloud where I can bury her properly," Daniel says. "I'm sure once she's brought up and I can put her to rest, my life will turn around and I can start the healing process."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Homstad had to take two months off from her job working the night shift at a plant that manufactures overhead projectors after police told her about her daughter's apparent murder. To cope with the stress, she takes sedatives and antidepressants. Homstad still holds out hope that her daughter may be alive. "As a parent you don't give up hope," Homstad says. "You try to think of all these different scenarios for what could have happened to them. It hurts like hell but you can't give up. There's no body. There's no evidence. Maybe this is just a big nightmare."</span><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-86286318555634993302021-07-11T01:06:00.000-07:002022-01-31T01:51:08.791-08:00JoJo Boswell: Missing Since July 11, 2005<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzshll3SyS1RkGDwOPpCoI9Y66W21UlNJGxjlU5jOAkbjj4n75pdMu9A8AJsZmNGPT501_W2NrI1pe2XjVY8OSZgOfY8Yv3iJYWC7qEzf71SXXhs6LLbvosndg9nJznjMSIcO174rKkP-X/s160/jojo_boswell_1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="112" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzshll3SyS1RkGDwOPpCoI9Y66W21UlNJGxjlU5jOAkbjj4n75pdMu9A8AJsZmNGPT501_W2NrI1pe2XjVY8OSZgOfY8Yv3iJYWC7qEzf71SXXhs6LLbvosndg9nJznjMSIcO174rKkP-X/w140-h200/jojo_boswell_1.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>Boswell was last seen in Owatonna, Minnesota between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. on July 11, 2005, after she was released from the Steele County Jail. She was last seen walking in front of Mills Fleet Farm, off Interstate 35. An unidentified individual walked up to her and they started talking, then they walked away together. She has never been heard from again.<span><a name='more'></a></span><div>Boswell's interests include drawing, dancing and music. Prior to her disappearance, she frequented 31st Avenue and 4th Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Few details are available in her case. Minneapolis police are investigating.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; list-style: outside none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: 700;">Missing Since: </span>07/11/2005</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Missing From: </b>Owatonna, Minnesota</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Classification:</b> Endangered Missing</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Sex:</b> Female</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Race: </b>Native American</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Date of Birth: </b>09/01/1985 </span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Age: </b>19 years old</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Height and Weight: </b>5'5 - 5'10, 130 - 140 pounds</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Clothing/Jewelry Description: </b>A black skirt.</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #cc0000;">Distinguishing Characteristics: </b>Native American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Boswell has a mole on the left side of her face and light freckles on her face. She has a scar on her right cheek and an eight-inch scar, possibly with staple marks, on her right arm.</span></span></li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Family Feels Race is Factor in Lack of Coverage About Missing Minneapolis Woman</u></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u><br /></u></i></b></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">April 02, 2017 11:00 PM</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When young people disappear, their families are left with broken hearts and unanswered questions. It's even more frustrating for families who feel their missing children don't get enough attention. JoJo Boswell is a young Native American woman who vanished in 2005. Boswell's family believes her disappearance failed to make the headlines because of her race. An Internet search for information on Boswell produces her picture on all kinds of missing-person websites. But not a single news story can be found from July 2005 when the 19-year-old from Minneapolis disappeared. After some digging, we found her mother, Geraldine Jackson, and sister, Dolly Boswell. "The last time I talked with my sister was July 3" Dolly Boswell said. "That's the year she was missing." </span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The women were eager to tell us about JoJo Boswell because they feel she's been forgotten. Jackson's fondest memory of her daughter involves eating green beans. "That was the first time she ate, and I ever let her feed herself," Jackson said. "She had green beans all over her highchair, all over her face and on her hair." JoJo Boswell grew up a fairly normal kid. She was the youngest of Jackson's three daughters. She got good grades and also got into trouble with the law now and then. But she loved her family very much. Dolly Boswell says it was unusual for her sister to just disappear and not tell anyone where she was. "She checked in with me daily, like I either see her daily or speak to her on the phone daily," she said. Added Jackson: "I just miss being able to give her a hug and give her a kiss. Every time they go, I always tell my girls goodbye, I love you. And I haven't been able to say that to her for almost 12 years." </span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">JoJo Boswell's story takes a mysterious turn in Owatonna, about an hour south of the Twin Cities. She had been arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in court on a theft charge and spent a few days in the Steele County Detention Center. She was released July 11, 2005 at 2:36 p.m., and she started walking. The last time anyone saw JoJo Boswell she was about a mile from the detention center, in front of the Mills Fleet Farm store off of Interstate 35. "It appeared that someone just kind of walked up and talked to her. And kind of slowly walked away with her," said Minneapolis police Sgt. Joel Sandberg. He said JoJo Boswell was seen with a white male. "Somebody else appeared to have met her. And there was no identification, no nothing on that person either," he said. Nicole Matthews is the executive director of the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition. "And so it's as if she just vanished," Matthews said.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Matthews said young women like JoJo Boswell rarely make the news. "We often times don't hear the stories, we don't see the faces, we don't hear their names when native women go missing," she said. Native families with missing loved ones do what they can to get anyone to listen, Matthews said. That was the case at the Women's Memorial March on Valentine's Day, where JoJo Boswell's family was carrying signs and trying to raise awareness. Matthews said societal values are to blame for why families of missing young Native Americans not believing they have a voice. "I think it's about who has value in our society," she said. "And I think by and large, native women have less value." Said Sandberg, the Minneapolis police sergeant: "I think every person on this earth has value. Regardless of what gender you are, what color you are, every case that comes across my desk is treated equally. And people are people, you must respect people for who they are, for what they are, and give them equal justice to the best of your ability."</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandberg said the fact that JoJo Boswell has not been found is disturbing. "Everybody has questions about her whereabouts," he said. "Obviously after 12 years you probably tend to believe it's not a good outcome. However, there are still questions out there: What happened to JoJo Boswell?" Sandberg hopes to one day have the answers JoJo Boswell's family needs. Jackson hopes her daughter's story isn't over. "She was only 19," Jackson said. "She would just be beginning her life. She was just starting out; she was just a child. She needs to come back so she can live and grow and be with us." JoJo Boswell's family has provided DNA samples, but there has never been a match with unidentified remains. Anyone with information about JoJo Boswell is asked to call Sandberg at the Minneapolis Police Department at 612-673-5373.</span></p></blockquote><div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u>The Disappearance of JoJo Boswell</u></span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidw3nIXDlbEiY3QMO0sEJLV9kDxBCl-vt1xQUxWIQImLFfRUtqzi4nGAri7erG32Crodio9D3A7n8UtjiOD6fiD7mFjjwMgB1tSgq5z7JOiEKbB1R0XTOyTbZIAu_8zk-Tv0xnxh6YRuW5/s160/boswell_jojo3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="119" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidw3nIXDlbEiY3QMO0sEJLV9kDxBCl-vt1xQUxWIQImLFfRUtqzi4nGAri7erG32Crodio9D3A7n8UtjiOD6fiD7mFjjwMgB1tSgq5z7JOiEKbB1R0XTOyTbZIAu_8zk-Tv0xnxh6YRuW5/w280-h380/boswell_jojo3.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>JoJo Boswell vanished at the age of 19 on July 11th, 2005. She was last seen after she was released from Steele County Jail, located in Owatonna, Minnesota. Records state that JoJo was in jail because she had been arrested for theft, however very few details are available surrounding her arrest or any potential charges. The Jacob Wetterling Resource Center stated that on the day JoJo was released, she was driven by a Steele County Deputy to a Kwik Trip convenience store located on West Frontage Road. Other reports state that JoJo was later seen between 2:30 and 3pm walking in front of Mills Fleet Farm, located just a few miles away from the Kwik Trip. An unidentified individual was reportedly seen walking up to JoJo and they began talking. The two walked away together, and JoJo was never been seen or heard from again.<br /><br />Aside from the above details, there are very few details available in JoJo’s case. JoJo’s family believes that race played a role in the lack of media reports about her disappearance. JoJo is from a Native American family, and recent studies have shown that numerous police departments nationwide are not adequately identifying or reporting cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. <br /><br />The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating JoJo’s disappearance. If you have any information that could help the case, please contact them at (612) 673-5373. Additionally, if you’d like to learn more about how you can help raise awareness about the epidemic of violence against against Native American women in the United States, please visit this resource. </span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-74413980458217911902021-07-06T15:10:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:55:25.822-08:00Tammy Lynn Leppert: Missing Since July 6, 1983<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixBN1VpIjHRPWdsFiTdWObvchoPsnE78U0tws4onwLq75tOj_Y5EIi9Edls-kj4qxmizTemIdKW8875n7T-wGIWIX8kV2SP7tgbZwETdK-bFu5fCMZS892lBENteRFBoP5PT6HQx7bd5OO/s1600/4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixBN1VpIjHRPWdsFiTdWObvchoPsnE78U0tws4onwLq75tOj_Y5EIi9Edls-kj4qxmizTemIdKW8875n7T-wGIWIX8kV2SP7tgbZwETdK-bFu5fCMZS892lBENteRFBoP5PT6HQx7bd5OO/s1600/4.jpg" width="162" /></a>Leppert left her family's home in Rockledge, Florida at 11:00 a.m. on July 6, 1983 with a male friend. Her friend later told authorities that he and Leppert had an argument while driving and that he left her standing in a parking lot outside the Glass Bank near an Exxon gasoline station in the vicinity of State Road A1A between 2nd Street North and 3rd Street North in Cocoa Beach, Florida.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Leppert carried a gray purse when she went missing. Many reports erroneously state that she was barefoot at the time of her disappearance. Her mother said she noticed Leppert had not combed her hair before leaving the house that day, which is very uncharacteristic of her; she usually spent considerable time on her appearance before going anywhere. At the time of her disappearance, Leppert was planning to go to California to act in some movies. She apparently never arrived there, however.<br />
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Investigators looked into the possibility that Leppert was attacked by Christopher Wilder, a man linked to at least a dozen disappearances, rapes, murders and/or attacks of women in the early to mid-1980s. Photos of Wilder are posted below this case summary. He frequented the Florida region at the time of Leppert's disappearance. He sometimes attempted to lure young female victims by offering non-existent "modeling sessions" or other tactics, which would have fit well into a scenario involving Leppert. She was a relatively known model who had won several titles and was an occasional actress, landing bit parts in the films Scarface and Spring Break, and she wanted to be an internationally famous star.<br />
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Wilder, whose history of violence towards women went back to his adolescent years, was put on probation in 1980 after pleading guilty to attempted sexual battery towards a teenage girl. While on a visit home to Australia that same year, he was charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting two teenage girls. His parents bailed him out of jail and he flew back to the United States, promising to return for his trial which was set for April 1984.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJwD_P5eV8vCyXCPhNwo521nGMhMt6DbK-AAdUssCwzqsehwWytOXjHJblEzIh3X_bXr4iMJ9HOYPau8OwOnVOa07jYVk7e4Jyi0bC-cHCj_rIBE25m3fhsQOjMEpx6mwAo25MT4xWbWI/s1600/8.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJwD_P5eV8vCyXCPhNwo521nGMhMt6DbK-AAdUssCwzqsehwWytOXjHJblEzIh3X_bXr4iMJ9HOYPau8OwOnVOa07jYVk7e4Jyi0bC-cHCj_rIBE25m3fhsQOjMEpx6mwAo25MT4xWbWI/w302-h413/8.jpg" width="302" /></a>Wilder is a also a suspect in the Florida disappearances of Mary Opitz, Colleen Orsborn, Rosario Gonzales, and Elizabeth Kenyon. He was killed during a shootout with authorities in 1984. Leppert's family filed a one-million-dollar lawsuit against Wilder before his death, but dropped the suit afterwards. Leppert's mother, modeling agent Linda Curtis, later stated that she never believed Wilder was involved in Leppert's disappearance. Police have never been able to link Wilder and Leppert and it may be coincidence that she disappeared at the same time he was targeting area models. He had a long history of sex crimes but did not begin his killing spree until a year after Leppert vanished.<br />
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John Crutchley, the so-called "Vampire Rapist," is also considered a possible suspect in Leppert's case. He received a life sentence in prison after kidnapping and raping a woman in Orlando, Florida and drinking her blood. Crutchley committed suicide in prison in 2002. He has never been linked to Leppert. Curtis criticized the police for allegedly mishandling the investigation into Leppert's disappearance. Police initially believed she ran away, and some continue to think that foul play was not involved in her case. Curtis said her daughter was afraid of the man who last saw her, and that the individual was never properly investigated. Authorities say they did the best they could to find Leppert and the man she was last seen with has been interviewed is not a viable suspect in her case.<br />
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On June 1, a month before Leppert vanished, she began acting erratically at her home. She yelled and screamed and broke a window with a baseball bat. Curtis took Leppert to a mental health center for a 72-hour observation after she calmed down. Psychiatrists there could not find anything wrong with her. Curtis planned to get a therapist for Leppert, but she disappeared before that could be arranged. Curtis believed that Leppert may have been kidnapped and murdered as a result of her knowledge of a large-scale drug and money laundering operation in Brevard, Florida. The operation allegedly involved many prominent local citizens. Leppert was reportedly afraid for her life because of what she knew. She stayed in her bedroom more than usual and refused to drink from open containers or eat from her own plate. Curtis claimed Leppert made a police report about what she knew, but investigators have no record of the report and do not espouse Curtis's theory.<br />
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Leppert's sister is still looking for her and believes her mother's theory about Leppert's disappearance. Curtis, who moved to Orlando, Florida, after her daugther's disappearance, died of a blood infection in 1995. The missing persons organization Child Protection Education of America states that Leppert had no cavities or fillings at the time of her disappearance; however, this is unproven. Her dental records have been lost. Some agencies incorrectly state that Leppert's home is in Cocoa Beach, Florida.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "cuprum"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px;">Source: www.charleyproject.org</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "cuprum"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance:</u></b></i></div></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d5yMlCTrlOSV6dePTxDFqrKgWo5zQ4y8hLBBD4CSk7_AvAd9g23qL6huwcSIfHCBFhfXRcH67r-kCRZunc_tvtSGyfUOJ3_F7KipgxbspGAWMgaRj77-QF9fMtTMEo52VI5qwZYKG9bK/s1600/5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="431" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d5yMlCTrlOSV6dePTxDFqrKgWo5zQ4y8hLBBD4CSk7_AvAd9g23qL6huwcSIfHCBFhfXRcH67r-kCRZunc_tvtSGyfUOJ3_F7KipgxbspGAWMgaRj77-QF9fMtTMEo52VI5qwZYKG9bK/w382-h431/5.jpg" width="382" /></a><span style="color: red;">Missing Since: </span>July 6, 1983 from Rockledge, Florida<br />
<span style="color: red;">Classification:</span> Endangered Missing<br />
<span style="color: red;">Date Of Birth:</span> February 5, 1965<br />
<span style="color: red;">Age:</span> 18 years old<br />
<span style="color: red;">Height and Weight: </span>5'4 - 5'5, 105 - 115 pounds<br />
<span style="color: red;">Distinguishing Characteristics:</span> Caucasian female. Curly blonde hair, hazel eyes. Leppert may spell her first name "Tammi." She occasionally uses Tammi and/or Tami-Lyn as stage names.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Clothing/Jewelry Description:</span> A blue denim skirt, a light blue shirt with flower appliques on the shoulders, and flip-flops.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Medical Conditions:</span> Leppert may have been three months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, but this has not been confirmed. She was apparently suffering from emotional problems at the time of her disappearance.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;"><i><u>Additional Information:</u></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><i>Whatever
Happened to Tami-Lynn Leppert? 7 years ago, model says goodbye, hasn't been
heard from since. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><i>“I
like this place, I've lived here all my life, and I'd like to stay here. Ever
since I was a little girl, I've always dreamed of having a house in cocoa beach
and living happily ever after.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><i> -Tami-Lynn Leppert, March
1983 <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was the last interview she gave before the fairy tale disintegrated, and she was good at it: Poised engaging, an easy smile that could melt glacial skepticism. Naturally she was good. She was a pro. Four hundred-ten talent and beauty contests since age 4. Two hundred-eighty trophies. She just turned 18. And she was at a crossroad. Her latest flirtation with Hollywood-a cinematic turkey called "Spring Break"-had just been released. But she harbored no illusions about it. Her non-speaking role as a bikinied nymphet carried no more weight than her earlier cameos in "Little Darlings" and "Scarface." What "Spring Break" represented was the latest stop in a carefully nurtured ascent to movie stardom. If visibility management meant getting Tami’s curvaceous hips splashed across a movie poster (Four college dudes erecting a "Spring Break" flag atop them, Reminiscent of the allied triumph at Iwo Jima), That was good enough for now. And if Tami-Lynn Leppert felt compelled to feign embarrassment over this no-talent coup by crossing her eyes and making a goofy face, these were times for celebration. Or so it seemed. At least three producers were talking major roles in upcoming projects. One critic, Steve Walz, Was projecting her to be "One of the stars of the 80's" involving her name in the same breath with Brooke Shields and insisting, "She's not just another dumb blonde" <br /><br />Model, Dancer, Beauty Queen, Cover girl at age 13. Five-foot five, Hazel eyes, 105 pounds. A can't miss resume. A magnetic aura that turned the heads of men and boys alike, pulling strangers and their promises into her orbit. But somewhere inside those invisible walls, beyond the curiosity of judges and talent scouts, a bomb was ticking. Those familiar with the sound never understood until it was much too late: The weight of expectations. A web of paranoia. Broken glass. On July 6, 1983, Tami-Lynn Leppert went for a ride and vanished so cleanly it was as if she'd never existed. Nearly seven years later, beneath the cobwebs of distance. There isn't even a shrine to commemorate what was. Only a question: Was Tami the architect and star of the perfect getaway or the victim of a perfect crime? Tami's mother/agent Linda Curtis moved from Brevard County three years ago, primarily to shake the emptiness she felt every time she saw something that reminded her of Tami. This was always. Curtis lives in Orlando, Where she conducts her modeling business from a home she only half-jokingly refers to as "The Cave." An artist with eccentric notions stucco edifice himself-Its few windows are primarily ventilation caliber. Having been spotlighted nationally by life magazine and ABC's "20/20" for her talents as one of America's most successful child modeling agents. Curtis might well be expected to enjoy a lifestyle commensurate with her abilities. But nothing ever comes easy for Linda Curtis. After a series of heart attacks, chronic diabetes and a ruptured tendon in her foot, her mobility is relegated to a walker and a wheelchair. She doesn't want her picture taken. And there is the heavy emotional baggage to contend with, which includes two husbands, five children and rip-offs by business associates <br /><br />By 1983 only daughter Tami remained a part of her household. Today, Even Tami is a memory-which Curtis is still attempting to manage, via book and a screen-play. Predictably, the story will accent all those magic moments only a mother can recite so well: The time her nine-year-old daughter surrendered a beauty pageant to the broken hearted runner-up after an official mistakenly announced the other girl the winner, the time Tami “sold more Girl Scout cookies than anyone else in Brevard County". Tami as a philanthropist who made special visits to Brevard County Detention Center inmates on Christmas Eve: A popular little girl who "Was always sticking up for the underdog." But Curtis plans to unsheathe a more pointed edge in the book. Contrary to what some people think, she insists that her daughter was no runaway. Tami, she charges, was yanked into the shadows by a conspiracy involving prominent Brevardians whose names would make trial lawyers eyes light up with dollar signs. “I want people over there to know I'm writing a book," She says referring to a project (no actual names used) she's been tolling over for months. "I want to shake them up. I want the criminal to know they can't absorb my child-or anyone's child- without ultimately paying the penalty for it." <br /><br />Tami-Lynn Leppert now resides in the computer memory bank of Florida Crime Information center. A community of 5,944, roughly the size of Indian Harbor Beach. She can be found there alongside another cocoa beach entry Keith D. Fleming who vanished in 1977 at age 13. Cocoa Beach Police Capt. Bob Wicker is mildly indignant over Curtis' allegation that his department blew the investigation of Tami's disappearance. He says he couldn’t find a hint of foul play. "I can't say there was anything unusual about the case. Other than some faintly problems I understand she was having at home" Wicker says. "The agent in charge was a real go-getter. He was the type the sees communists behind every tree, if you know what I mean." The case fell into the departments lap when Tami, a Rockledge resident, was last reported seen in Cocoa Beach. Among other things, Curtis says the young man who picked up her daughter up on the morning of July 6, 1983, was never thoroughly interrogated. She says that Tami once told her that she feared the same man-A businessman-wanted to kill her. Wicker dismisses. "Nothing in the report has him down as a suspect" He says. "We have no reason to believe he did anything wrong, at this time." Wicker says he has no current Address on the man Tami was last seen with. Because the case is still pending, he says, records on the investigation remain closed. <br /><br />"Family Problems" Tami-Lynn Leppert lived in fear shortly before she vanished. Strangers prowled around the eyes of those she knew best. She wouldn’t drink from open containers; she only ate food from someone else's plate, not hers; she stayed in her room and refused to answer the door. Linda Curtis concedes these things. She says she got her first glimpse of deterioration the year before; When Tami broke down on the set of Brian DePalma's cocaine-war thriller, "Scarface." A blood-and-guts scene during the filming sent her into hysterics. But Curtis insists that Tami's authentic tears were rooted in a confession that would consume her. Tami told her mother that how in an effort to score points, a friend bragged to her on a large-scale, drug-money laundering operation in Brevard. Cops, Bankers, Leading citizens-the people in on the take were powerful, powerful enough to make Tami fear she knew too much. Curtis says she told Tami to make a report with the Brevard County Sheriff's Department. Officer Mike Wong, now with the department's drug task force, says he vaguely remembers his meeting with Tami. "It was so long ago," Wong says "and the best I can recollect, the conversation didn't have anything to do with anyone trying to kill her. I think she came in to talk about some stolen property she wanted back." Wong expresses bewilderment over the drug scenario. "The last I heard, they thought that race car driver was involved." That reference is to serial killer Christopher Wilder. Before he was shot to death in a tussle with a state trooper on the Canadian border in spring 1984, Wilder's murder spree lanced Brevard. The FBI linked Wilder-A Grand Prix aficionado who posed as a fashion photographer-with the abduction and murder aspiring Satellite Beach model Terry Ferguson, last seen at Merritt square mall. Curtis filled a $1 million wrongful death suit against Wilder's estate that year. She says Wilder met her daughter on the set of "Spring Break" in Fort Lauderdale and traveled to Brevard in a fruitless effort to convince Curtis to let him photograph Tami. Curtis said she never considered Wilder a strong suspect. She says she only sued the Wilder estate luring the manhunt to force him to answer questions about Tami. She dropped the lawsuit after Wilder's death. <br /><br />Rick Adams was one of the few people Tami-Lynn Leppert trusted to the end. "It's hard to say why, really" Adams says. "Maybe it's because I never really wanted anything from her.”Now 27, Adams sifts through his pictures. Pointing out the times he escorted her to both his junior and senior proms at Cocoa High School. It was one of those hard-to-categorize teen-age relationships-not exactly a hot romance, but not exactly little sister/big brother either. He knows only one thing for sure "She could've dated anybody she wanted to.”They drifted apart after he graduated. Perhaps that was inevitable."Tami had a lot of pressure about her appearance in public "Adam recalls.”Because of who she was, she felt like she had this image she had to live up to. Everything she did was, like, fine-tooth combed. Her makeup had to be just right, every hair had to be in place, what she wore had to be perfect. It drove me crazy, to tell the truth. I got burned out on the whole thing, with so many people hanging around, so many people coming up to her. It was almost like having to compete for attention, and I wasn't into that." but shortly before she disappeared, Adams says Tami began confiding in him, telling him that someone was trying to kill her. He says the fear was real. "I knew it wasn't drugs. I can say for sure that Tami wasn't into drugs. She didn't even drink. "Finally, on Tuesday evening July 5, 1983. Tami told Adam she had "seen something she shouldn't have seen" She didn't get specific. They went to pray at Rockville Evangel Temple. "Tami cried as hard as I’ve seen anyone cry before" Adams says. He dropped her off in front of her house around 11 that night. They made plans to go back to church Wednesday afternoon."And then." Adams says "She looked at me and said. I just want you to know that I may have to go away for a while. But I also want you to know that I love you." Then they hugged each other, and held the embrace for as long as it took. Rick Adams never got a chance to ask her what she meant. He called late the next morning to reconfirm their date. She was already gone. <br /><br />Curtis concedes Tami had been restless, that her career hadn't advances as quickly as she wanted. She says Tami was preparing to pursue some acting leads waiting for her in California. But paranoia engulfed her first. It was the last of June, first of July 1983. "Tami went outside for some reason-which seemed strange, considering how she afraid to go outside-when the door slammed and locked behind her. I think a gust of wind caught it." Curtis says. "Anyway, she went berserk. She bashed the window with a baseball bat she picked up in the front yard, and she reached her and inside to unlock the door. "She came running in, Yelling and screaming, but before she could do anything I pinned her against the wall and kept saying.” I love you, Tami I love you Tami, over and over again, and then she went limp." The next day Curtis checked Tami into the Brevard mental health center for 72 hour observation. “Then they released her and said she was normal as far as they could tell." Curtis says. "So we were all set to check her with another psycho therapist. But we were too late." Curtis was sitting in the house that Wednesday morning when she heard a car horn beep out front. Tami peered out the window and went out the door. She was wearing a light blue blouse, a denim shirt and was barefoot. She stuck her head back in and said "bye mommy, I'll see you in a little bit, OK?" "For some reason, I was preoccupied that day and I didn't pay much attention to it, and I'll never forgive myself for that." Curtis says. On the other hand since her daughter did not have her purse? Curtis didn't think she was going far. Ten minutes later, Curtis heard the car engine crank up. She rose to see what was going on. Tami was riding away in the car of the young man she supposedly feared. It was 11 a.m. Linda Curtis never saw her daughter again. The last reported contact Tami attempted came in a flurry of calls she made that Wednesday afternoon. Three times she left urgent messages for her aunt, Ginger Kolsch, at Kolsch's Cocoa Beach costume shop, Balloonatics. Kolsch was out of town; Tami said she was calling from a nearby location. "Tami was definitely afraid of somebody," Kolsch says. "It was real, I'm convinced of that." Kolsch says the runaway scenario doesn't wash. <br /><br />"Did you ever see her play Peter Pan?" asks Rick Adams. "Linda's got it on video." The performance in an enduring image in Adams' memory, a special place for the little girl he thought was destined to be a star. This is the one where Tami-Lynn Leppert, dressed as the famous boy-who-wouldn't-grow-up, is confronted with a dying Tinkerbell poisoned by the notorious Captain Hook. And the only way to save Tinkerbelle’s life is to rally the support of the audience. "Oh, please, please, everyone who believes in fairies, clap your hands!" Tami urges. Grief and fear come trickling down Tami's cheeks so easily it flows like blood from a fresh wound. "Please!"She continues with greater conviction, "Louder! Oh please, louder!" The audience responds with lusty, award-winning applause and Tami's tears of sorrow smear with tears of relief. Tinkerbell lives. "She could make you cry, man," Adams says, "That was Tami at her best. She had the gift." A fountain of sorrow, forever young. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">Florida Today March 18, 1990 <br />By Billy Cox</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-8073199584918343812021-06-27T15:11:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:49:00.212-08:00Jodi Huisentruit: Missing Since June 27, 1995<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSwhCN7R-xxt_Cb7F2XIZLJqMVObZy8nd4mqlopsBcIExaCM4rF7adwEu12kbu7PfG2BlwDQ4CX-_owPTYeOO0JV6eN6Lv99Am9ie_GYzfKWnld9rq5XAZgdccekXfFyctCABB0N8f7xw/s169/5aac31f87549b.image.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="113" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSwhCN7R-xxt_Cb7F2XIZLJqMVObZy8nd4mqlopsBcIExaCM4rF7adwEu12kbu7PfG2BlwDQ4CX-_owPTYeOO0JV6eN6Lv99Am9ie_GYzfKWnld9rq5XAZgdccekXfFyctCABB0N8f7xw/w134-h200/5aac31f87549b.image.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>Jodi Huisentruit, an anchor at KIMT television station in Mason City, Iowa, disappeared from outside her apartment as she left for work at approximately 4:00 on June 27, 1995. Initially a missing person case, Huisentruit's disappearance was soon classified an abduction. When investigators arrived at her apartment complex they found her red Miata convertible in the parking lot. A pair of red women's dress shoes, a blow dryer, bottle of hair spray, car keys and earrings were scattered beside the car.
<a name='more'></a>The key was found bent and out of the door lock. Witnesses indicate that they heard screams at 4 o'clock that morning. Investigators are looking for a white mid 1980s Ford Econoline van. Foul play is suspected.<br /><br />Huisentruit grew up in Long Prairie, Minnesota, where she was active in sports, excelling in golf. She earned her bachelors degree in 1990 from St. Cloud State University with a double major in TV Broadcasting and Speech Communication. Huisentruit worked for Northwest Airlines immediately after graduation, followed by a broadcasting position at KGAN-TV Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She then returned to Minnesota for a position at KSAX-TV in Alexandria, before joining KIMT-TV in Mason City.<br />
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The Jodi's Hope Fund has been established to help youngsters in Long Prairie, Minnesota — where Jodi Huisentruit grew up — develop their writing and speaking skills. To learn more about the fund and how to contribute, go to www.jodishopefund.com.<br /><br />
<b><u><span style="color: red;">Vital Statistics:</span></u></b><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: red;">Date Of Birth:</span></u></b> June 5, 1968<br />
<b><u><span style="color: red;">Age at Time of Disappearance:</span></u></b> 27 years old<br />
<b><u><span style="color: red;">Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: </span></u></b>5'3"-5'4"; 110-120 lbs.<br />
<b><u><span style="color: red;">Distinguishing Characteristics:</span></u></b> White female. Blonde hair; brown eyes.<br />
<b><u><span style="color: red;">Dentals:</span></u></b> Available<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><u>DNA:</u></b> </span>Available<br />
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Veteran Officer Maria Ohl has been terminated for alleged mishandling of information provided to her implicating two Mason City Police Officers, along with a member of the of the (DCI) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, in the 1995 disappearance of news anchor Jodi Huisentruit. She has since been legally declared dead though no remains have ever been found to date. Officer Ohl was terminated from her position on August 4th, after months of assigned desk duty in which she was assigned virtually no work to actually do. Bill Basler has since retired form the DCI, while officers Ron Vande Weerd and Frank Stearns have risen to rank of Lieutenant in the relatively small department. <div><br />
Here is an excerpt from the Wiki entry on the one-time news anchor...<br /><i><span><br /><span>Jodi Sue Huisentruit (born June 5, 1968 – declared legally dead May 2001) was a television news anchor for KIMT, based in Mason City, Iowa in the United States. She disappeared in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995 and is believed to have been abducted. She was 27 years old at the time.</span></span></i><span><br />
<i style="color: #cc0000;"><span><b><br /></b></span></i>
<b style="color: #cc0000;"><u><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Disappearance:</i></span></u></b><br />
<i style="color: #cc0000;"><span><b><br /></b></span></i>
<i><span>On the day before she disappeared, Huisentruit participated in a golf tournament and then visited the home of Mason City resident John Vansice. According to Vansice, she came to his home to view a video tape of the birthday party that he had arranged for her earlier in the month.[1]</span></i><br />
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKovX-Iyl68KhG4a0iOGE8RL5-OI34jJ8I8oCbK6h7sDtqnCUqS3C0Spj244AdyqPJl782Y4DGMqzPx-IMx8JHufr-0sNpHgPE1Pp2JbCjUCP_PgPfNuKDsGCvD2OFr8KGy5FswP87bYpi/s1600/1456002_551480524932716_91127825_n.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKovX-Iyl68KhG4a0iOGE8RL5-OI34jJ8I8oCbK6h7sDtqnCUqS3C0Spj244AdyqPJl782Y4DGMqzPx-IMx8JHufr-0sNpHgPE1Pp2JbCjUCP_PgPfNuKDsGCvD2OFr8KGy5FswP87bYpi/w299-h225/1456002_551480524932716_91127825_n.jpg" width="299" /></span></a><span><i><span><br /></span></i>
<i><span>At about 4:00 AM on June 27, 1995, KIMT producer Amy Kuns noted that Huisentruit had failed to report to work as scheduled, so she called Huisentruit's apartment. Huisentruit answered the telephone, explained that she had overslept, and said she was preparing to leave for the station. By 6:00 AM, however, she had still not arrived, and Kuns filled-in for her on the morning show "Daybreak." At about 7:00 AM, KIMT staff called the Mason City police.</span></i><br /><i><span><br /></span></i>
<i><span>When police arrived at Huisentruit's apartment they found her red Mazda Miata in the parking lot, as well as evidence suggesting there had been a struggle near that car. Among other evidence, Huisentruit's personal items, including her keys, were found strewn about the area and police reported recovering an unidentified palm print from her car.</span></i><br />
<b style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;"><u><span><i><br /></i></span></u></b>
<b style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Investigation:</i></span></u></b></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDtbHWthwVV24BJmUBPFsjmrImpiK6Eg3r6dVFMV4h1KQv4vXtSLliFiBnp0P08fG0D2WQqYV35fn8-OmTvMDvvfzY3bNUtA2tGp5F0Y6vyFw1CQpLblEBI7L0xCexZT_uVZNDlIlP0kj3/s1600/1441506_551480604932708_1656138044_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDtbHWthwVV24BJmUBPFsjmrImpiK6Eg3r6dVFMV4h1KQv4vXtSLliFiBnp0P08fG0D2WQqYV35fn8-OmTvMDvvfzY3bNUtA2tGp5F0Y6vyFw1CQpLblEBI7L0xCexZT_uVZNDlIlP0kj3/w315-h237/1441506_551480604932708_1656138044_n.jpg" width="315" /></span></a></div><b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></u></i></b></div>
<span><i><span>The ensuing investigation revealed at least three neighbors in her apartment complex who said they heard screams at about the time Huisentruit would have likely been leaving for work. In addition, a neighbor who lived nearby reported seeing a white Ford van with its running lights on parked in Huisentruit’s parking lot at about the same time. This van was never positively identified.</span></i><br />
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<i><span>In September 1995, the Huisentruit family hired private investigators from McCarthy & Associates, Investigative Services, Inc. (MAIS) in Minneapolis, MN who in turn enlisted the assistance of Omaha, NE private investigator Doug Jasa. McCarthy and Jasa appeared on several national television shows, including; "America's Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries."[2] In November 1997 they and members of Jodi’s family traveled to Los Angeles to meet with three prominent psychics. This meeting was televised and served as the pilot for the "Psychic Detectives" television show. Although each show generated a large volume of leads, none resulted in concrete evidence or the identification of a suspect.</span></i><br />
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<i><span>In May 1996, about 100 volunteers searched an area of Cerro Gordo County and left flags to mark anything that appeared suspicious. Each of these sites was then re-examined by law enforcement, but no promising evidence was located.</span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTv09yTnMHXXgX881bhGo71vBmdxShahSRcZfIrvfIBhX7VvKdsNtiD3aywn8IEDlDt7FfF4vx22ExaAO89pmm4VwalAuj8I-zByFq7grlmmTAxaoU-zM5Shp8kwwhrL1BQ7mUoNiK5y4Z/s1600/1451600_550530678361034_1008192688_n.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTv09yTnMHXXgX881bhGo71vBmdxShahSRcZfIrvfIBhX7VvKdsNtiD3aywn8IEDlDt7FfF4vx22ExaAO89pmm4VwalAuj8I-zByFq7grlmmTAxaoU-zM5Shp8kwwhrL1BQ7mUoNiK5y4Z/w365-h264/1451600_550530678361034_1008192688_n.jpg" width="365" /></a></div>Since Huisentruit's disappearance in 1995, police and private investigators have conducted more than 1000 interviews relating to her disappearance.[3] None has resulted in conclusive evidence pointing towards a suspect. Huisentruit was declared legally dead in May 2001.[4]</span></i><br />
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<i><span>There have been periodic resurgences in the story. When new cases arise that appear to bear similarities to Huisentruit's or remains are found in the area, speculation quickly leads to a connection with the missing reporter. So far, however, no suspect has been tied to Huisentruit's disappearance and all remains have proven to be from other sources. In 2005, many media outlets, including 20/20,[5] again focused on the story as the 10th anniversary of the disappearance approached.</span></i><br />
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<i><span>In early June 2008, photocopies of the 84 pages of Huisentruit's personal journal were anonymously mailed to a local newspaper.[6] The Mason City Globe Gazette received the material in a large envelope with no return address and a June 4 postmark from Waterloo, IA. The original journal has been in the possession of law enforcement since the investigation of Huisentruit's disappearance began.[7] Within days, Mason City Police reported that the sender had come forward and then identified her as the wife of the former Mason City Police Chief. Although noting that the former chief had inadvertently taken a copy of the journal home when he left office, the police gave no motive for his wife sending the copy to the newspaper.[8]</span></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4T1HdvX4ph7vxAXRyGPzUa3KNStvVSBxLWbQ2gxjYwcqXZ6hJ8l1CNmtruMUTVrMtBA9i8GqO6OyRHNXXhD7apV_-L5asFc0c56yIZI4kKu-cOhKp5XD8w0MfodgMntWgMmdywbz_JkO/s620/4c26de52dd0b3.image.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="620" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4T1HdvX4ph7vxAXRyGPzUa3KNStvVSBxLWbQ2gxjYwcqXZ6hJ8l1CNmtruMUTVrMtBA9i8GqO6OyRHNXXhD7apV_-L5asFc0c56yIZI4kKu-cOhKp5XD8w0MfodgMntWgMmdywbz_JkO/w642-h314/4c26de52dd0b3.image.jpg" width="642" /></a></div><br /></b></span></i></span><br /><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><i><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><i><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><i><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><i><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><i><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><i><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><b><span><br /></span></b></u></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><b><span>Cold Case: Jodi Sue HUISENTRUIT, Mason City, 1995 </span></b></u></i></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><u><span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Posted By: Sharon R Becker </span></b></span></u></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><u><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Date: 10/13/2011 at 14:17:19</b></span></u></i></div></i></span><b><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></b>Jodi Sue HUISENTRUIT was born on June 5, 1968, and grew up in Long Prairie, Minnesota.<br />
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"Jodi's this upbeat, friendly, outgoing, very lovely person," said Ray GOVE, her former band director in Long Prairie, where she twice was a member of the state champion high school golf team. "You always knew when she was in the room." She was a graduate of St. Cloud State University.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSsYQ99WYMTOUiVG2C4gPbpv6eMQyMp1l6-g2bsXquVqBgLM9Jxl6Bt7gtQctogx14_OYv7LAYYnbCVKAOASceqGkTrzmmzoMJGwekUizMtyBcbyMZfjrVGd2l9kZGCNN0WfwAhqTbNTQ/s1600/1453328_550530735027695_93705370_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSsYQ99WYMTOUiVG2C4gPbpv6eMQyMp1l6-g2bsXquVqBgLM9Jxl6Bt7gtQctogx14_OYv7LAYYnbCVKAOASceqGkTrzmmzoMJGwekUizMtyBcbyMZfjrVGd2l9kZGCNN0WfwAhqTbNTQ/w401-h269/1453328_550530735027695_93705370_n.jpg" width="401" /></a>Jodi usually arrived at CBS affliliate KIMT-TV station where she was a morning and noon news anchor and producer between 3 and 4 a.m. On the morning of Tuesday, June 27, 1995, Jodi hadn't arrived at work by 4:00 a.m. Co-producer Amy KUNS called her. HUISENTRUIT answered the phone and said she had overslept. She would be at the station shortly. Nothing in HUISENTRUIT'S tone of voice indicated that she was experiencing any undue stress.<br />
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By 7:00 a.m., HUISENTRUIT still hadn't arrived at the station. Alarmed, her co-anchor called the Mason City Police Department, asking them to check on Jodi's well-being.<br />
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The officers arrived at HUISENTRUIT'S apartment complex [600 North Kentucky Avenue] and discovered a several of her personal items strewn about the parking lot, such as her hair spray, hair dryer, key ring, earrings and a pair of red high-heeled shoes. These were items HUISENTRUIT normally carried in a canvas tote bag to and from work. One of the keys on the key ring had been bent.<br />
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Jodi's canvas tote bag in which she often carried her notebooks and computer diskettes was not found at the scene and has never been located.<br />
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The officers and agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation found the right rear-view mirror on HUISENTRUIT'S 1995 red Mazda Miata sports car had been knocked ajar and there was blood on the mirror. Blood was also found in the parking lot near the passenger door of HUISENTRUIT'S car. DNA testing indicated that the blood was a match to HUISENTRUIT'S blood.<br />
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Scuff marks in the parking lot, believed to have been made by HUISENTRUIT'S shoes, led away from her car. Upon canvassing the neighborhood, several of Jodi's neighbors stated that they had heard screams. A few said they had seen a white van in the parking lot around the time Jodi was believed to have been abducted.<br />
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Authorities believe that HUISENTRUIT was attacked from behind when she was unlocking the passenger-side door of her vehicle. She screamed and was struck in the head with a heavy object, then dragged to her attacker's waiting vehicle. It is believed that Jodi's attacker probably had been watching her and knew her behavior patterns.<br />
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The search for Jodi was one of the largest manhunts in Iowa history.<br />
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Investigators have followed up on thousands of tips, tracked down at least 1,300 leads and interviewed more than 1,000 people. The community of Mason City continues to mark the anniversary of Jodi's disappearance every year while the police await the one solid tip they need to close the city's most infamous cold case.<br />
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Jodi's case had been featured on America's Most Wanted which generated more than 60 tips, Psychic Detectives, Unsolved Mysteries, 20/20, numerous talk shows, and the Nancy Grace program.<br />
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***************************************<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u><b><span>Globe Gazette </span></b></u></i></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><u><b><span>Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa </span></b></u></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><u><b><span>Monday, May 14, 2001 </span></b></u></i></div><u><div style="text-align: center;"><i><u><b><span>by Bob Link</span></b></u></i></div>
</u></i></span>
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Court declares Jodi Huisentruit legally dead<br />
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MASON CITY - Jodi HUISENTRUIT, the KIMT anchorwoman who disappeared during June of 1995, was declared legally dead Monday in Cerro Gordo County District Court.<br />
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Judge Steven P. CARROLL signed the court order, requested by HUISENTRUIT'S family, after Clear Lake attorney Robert SWANSON, appointed by the court to represent HUISENTRUIT'S interests, issued his report.<br />
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SWANSON was appointed to independently investigate the case on behalf of HUISENTRUIT three weeks ago.<br />
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"There just isn't any evidence that Jodi voluntarily left her apartment, or staged the scene of her disappearance," SWANSON said. "There is evidence that she was involuntarily removed from her apartment complex."<br />
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SWANSON reviewed Mason City Police Department records and talked to Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents involved in the case while conducting the independent investigation for the court.<br />
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"There is no evidence that Jodi is currently alive," SWANSON said. "Presumably she met an untimely early and involuntary demise."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnlVI6inYy4VOhGUcvEoylciWBP3tUfie1aSUQ-PvtbaobcH7jPc7JJ_mnyDNlrA22gsQrhUYRN8k6fuwvL81qZ46cFyfKeDSeookFpt_UIKxxnogrDcU-MzpG6-PbovIX6okPuLRuJCP/s620/jodi-bday-1-620x437.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="620" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnlVI6inYy4VOhGUcvEoylciWBP3tUfie1aSUQ-PvtbaobcH7jPc7JJ_mnyDNlrA22gsQrhUYRN8k6fuwvL81qZ46cFyfKeDSeookFpt_UIKxxnogrDcU-MzpG6-PbovIX6okPuLRuJCP/w379-h268/jodi-bday-1-620x437.jpg" width="379" /></a></div>Saying the court order establishing HUISENTRUIT'S death is in her best interest, CARROLL signed the order without reopening the hearing.<br />
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Thaddeus V. JUDE, Maple Lake, Minn., who represents HUISENTRUIT'S family, was not at the hearing.<br />
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HUISENTRUIT'S sister, JoAnn NATHE of Sauk Centre, Minn., said the request was a "very private family matter," which legally had to be done.<br />
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"I'm glad we settled it," she said. "We did what we had to do. Jodi would have wanted us to do this. She was one to take action and do what needed to be done."<br />
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NATHE said the family would continue its search for the truth of what happened in June 1995.<br />
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JUDE said Monday's court action would allow the family to proceed in completing HUISENTRUIT'S estate matters.<br />
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HUISTENTRUIT disappeared early June 27, 1995, and is believed to have been abducted from the parking lot of the Key Apartments, where she lived.<br />
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**********************************************<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u><b><span>Globe Gazette </span></b></u></i></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><u><b><span>Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa </span></b></u></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><u><b><span>June 23, 2008</span></b></u></i></div></i></span>
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Journal of missing television anchor mailed to newspaper<br />
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MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) - The personal journal of a missing television anchorwoman was mailed to the local newspaper from an unknown source and authorities are looking into the incident.<br />
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Jodi HUISENTRUIT, 27, a KIMT-TV morning news anchor, disappeared on her way to work on June 27, 1995. She had talked to a fellow worker early that morning, saying she was on her way to the station. She has not been seen or heard from since.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5Goc0mu4I8v0QxIiWTAbfJkJbkutKfzcT7IORfcWym85weU1nNcql3uV9fDc4JLsYrJULepFNa0BnDr0zLIY0X_BXsK5H2SRgPTDsYwyFk8RKsXAUakLQPk6OTOP_FTlRIesFi-My5Lc/s1600/1460061_550530738361028_1893309391_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5Goc0mu4I8v0QxIiWTAbfJkJbkutKfzcT7IORfcWym85weU1nNcql3uV9fDc4JLsYrJULepFNa0BnDr0zLIY0X_BXsK5H2SRgPTDsYwyFk8RKsXAUakLQPk6OTOP_FTlRIesFi-My5Lc/w400-h281/1460061_550530738361028_1893309391_n.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Law enforcement has followed thousands of leads in a case publicized nationally. Many details of the case including the 84-page journal remain confidential.<br />
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"We like to keep the integrity of the investigation as pristine as possible," said DCI Special Agent In Charge Jeff JACOBSON.<br />
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The Mason City Globe Gazette received the journal in a large envelope with no return address and a June 4 postmark from Waterloo.<br />
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Police and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation officials said they do not believe the document was leaked by their employees, but are conducting an investigation to determine where it came from. Representatives of both agencies confirmed that the copy was a reproduction of a journal they took into evidence after searching HUISENTRUIT'S apartment in the days following her abduction.<br />
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"We're confident that it didn't come from Iowa DCI case files or case files from the Mason City Police Department," said Police Chief Mike LASHBROOK. He said copies in the case files have specific markings not appearing in the copy sent to the newspaper.<br />
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Authorities said several agencies have worked on the case, but only three, the local police department, the DCI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have copies of the journal. "It was unlawfully released," said DCI Agent Chris CALLOWAY. "That in itself is part of the investigation right now."<br />
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Thirteen years after her disappearance, police investigators say they continue to follow leads in the HUISENTRUIT case. Mason City Police Investigator David TYLER and CALLOWAY review information on a regular basis, following leads from across the country. Calloway said they've questioned people as recently as just before the floods. "David and I prioritize the leads as they come in," said CALLOWAY. "On the average we get from three to four leads a month."<br />
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******************************************<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000;"><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">KIMT-TV News 3, June 23, 2008</span></u></b></i></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Huisentruit Journal Sent to Local Newspaper</span></u></b></i></div></span>
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Mason City, IA- It's the latest twist in the unsolved disappearance of KIMT anchorwoman Jodi HUISENTRUIT.<br />
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A copy of her personal journal is anonymously sent to a reporter at a local newspaper. Jodi was on her way to work in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995. Since then, thousands of potential leads have been followed. There are still no answers of where Jodi is nearly 13-years later. The journal contains more than 80 pages. Jodi spells out her personal goals. They include moving to a bigger TV market and trying to drop her Minnesota accent. The entries reveal a young journalist striving to become better person, both in her career, and in life. She was energetic, fun loving, and career oriented, the words from the pages of her journal reveal some of her most intimate thoughts. "Live with passion daily. Be passionate in everyday life. Live the way I want to live-be generous, kind," she wrote in January of 1994.<br />
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Globe Gazette Editor Joe BUTWEILER couldn't believe the documents were in his hands. He says it appears to have been part of a new life improvement program for Jodi. "She would write down on many different days, things that she wanted, she wanted to get to a larger market, she wanted to earn so many thousand dollars a year," he said. He called Iowa's Division of Criminal Investigation and Mason City Police to find out if the journal was genuine. They told him what he has is real. "It's not a separate copy it's the same copy that was made when our copy was made, DCI's copy was made and FBI's, it's the same," said Mason City Police Chief Mike LASHBROOK.<br />
<br />
After learning it was real the second question is where did the journal come from? Chief LASHBROOK says it isn't from his department or any other investigating agency. He says they can tell by the markings. "In preparing it for their files they put markings on them, or just through punch holes or staple marks, or whatever, those things become unique to that document," he explains.<br />
<br />
And why now, after 13 years would someone send the diary anonymously to a newspaper?<br />
<br />
"Sure I've gotten anonymous tips about things, but never the journal of someone who had gone missing like this," BUTWEILER said. Chief LASHBROOK says they are working with DCI to figure out who sent the journal. If it's someone in law enforcement they could be prosecuted. The journal could be very helpful if they do find a suspect in Jodi's case.<br />
<br />
Mason City Police say although Jodi's disappearance is considered a cold case, they still get tips on a regular basis. Last November Cindy SWEENEY was sentenced to jail time for lying to police about the case [stating that she was a 13-year-old runaway who was forced to watch the murder of Jodi HUISENTRUIT. None of SWEENEY's statements were credible and she later admitted that she had lied.]<br />
<br />
NOTE: Futher investigation revealed that the wife of a former police chief had been the person who sent the copies of Jodi's journal pages to The Globe Gazette<br />
<br />
**********************************<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><u>Post-Bulletin </u></i></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;"><i><u><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span>Rochester, Minnesota </span></b></div>
<b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span>January 9, 2009</span></b></div></b></u></i></span>
<br />
Spring Valley couple goes after the missing<br />
<br />
When Gary and Gladys PETERSON meet new people, it's often on the worst day of their lives. It might be the death of a loved one or someone has gone missing when the PETERSONS are called to the scene.<br />
<br />
"Part of this involvement started six years ago when Gladys and I became certified on an international level by the American Board of Medico/Legal Death Investigators," Gary PETERSON said.<br />
<br />
Residents of Spring Valley, the Petersons are one of three investigators in Fillmore County. They are called upon for all deaths outside of nursing homes or hospital. Their job is to collect information and order an autopsy if necessary. "We come upon some difficult and interesting scenarios," Gladys PETERSON said. Usually, the couple works with family members, emergency medical technicians and law enforcement.<br />
<br />
How it all began<br />
<br />
It was the disappearance of Iowa news anchor Jodi HUISENTRUIT that led the PETERSONS to a new vocation, that of volunteer search coordinators for the nonprofit organization Texas Equusearch. When HUISENTRUIT disappeared in 1995 in Mason City, PETERSON was the news director at KAAL television in Austin. He and reporter Josh BENSON went to Mason City to report on the investigation.<br />
<br />
"One thing led to another, and Josh and I have been involved in the HUISENTRUIT case ever since," PETERSON said. After three years of research, PETERSON and BENSON produced a 14-part report, "The HUISENTRUIT Files," which won the Eric SEVAREID Excellence in Journalism Award in 2004 and an Emmy in 2005. They also established and maintain a Web site, FindJodi.com, that receives 50 or 60 hits a day on average.<br />
<br />
The PETERSONS have been called upon for many missing person cases. Some are high-profile cases, such as the Caylee ANTHONY case in Florida, which was recently resolved, and the Stacy PETERSON case in Chicago. The couple is working on open cases in New York, Texas, Vermont, Iowa and Illinois.<br />
<br />
"As search manager, we are a communication liaison between family and law enforcement, help organize a ground search, ride with police, firefighters and search teams," said Gladys PETERSON. "Families are vulnerable in these horrible situations. They feel alone, and our job is to give them a first-hand, honest report. ... It doesn't take much to give them a glimmer of hope, to keep them encouraged."<br />
<br />
Rewarding, yet draining<br />
<br />
Involvement in missing person cases has led to a first-hand investigation for Gary PETERSON. Troubled by the deaths of 140 college students during six years in river cities in the U.S., Gary has put the dates and locations of the incidents on a spread sheet.<br />
<br />
"The results are chilling," he said. There is almost a direct geographical line in the location and sequence of the missing person reports of men who left a bar and were not seen again. He hopes to spur further investigation into these cases by computing similarities.<br />
<br />
The PETERSONS believe their service is worthwhile, though many cases are frustrating They volunteer their time, though they might get help with travel expenses from the non-profit organization or from families or other volunteers. The work can take a toll physically and emotionally.<br />
<br />
"Thank God we are both involved in this," Gladys PETERSON said. "Talking through it helps relieve the burden."<br />
<br />
Their goal is to find the missing person regardless of the outcome.<br />
<br />
"Even when they have solved the case, you have to accept the fact that 'why' may never be answered," Gary PETERSON said.<br />
<br />
*******************************<br />
<br />
The Gerald BEST murder case became intertwined with the Jodi HUISENTRUIT missing persons case in September of 2011 when Mason City police officer Maria OHL was investigated by internal affairs on allegations of misconduct. OHL was fired August 4th, 2011 for allegedly mishandling information she had received involving the 1995 disappearance of KIMT-TV morning anchor HUISENTRUIT.<br />
<br />
OHL reportedly received information from a street informant regarding police misconduct in the HUISENTRUIT case, which she had recorded, and consequently failed to immediately submit the recording in as evidence. OHL had implicted Mason City police officers in the HUSIENTRUIT disappearance and in the 1999 murder of Gerald BEST of Mason City. OHL claimed that Lt. Frank STEARNS, Lt. Ron Vande WEERD and former DCI agent Bill BASLER were involved in HUSIENTRUIT'S disappearance, and that Lt. Logan WERNET was involved in a coverup in connection with the BEST murder.<br />
<br />
Both cases remain unsolved.<br />
<br />
Mason City attorney Susan BERNAU called OHL'S allegations as being "outrageous." OHL was put on paid administrative leave, was examined by a psychologist who determined OHL was unfit or capable of being a police officer.<br />
<br />
OHL's claims were that Rev. Shane PHILPOTT had received a telephone call from Donald MILK, a man from Minnesota, about the police misconduct and coverup, implicating STEARNS, Vande WEERD, BASLER and WERNET. Included in the information was a claim that HUISENTRUIT was buried near a sawmill near Forest City.<br />
<br />
OHLS held onto the information for three years before coming forward. She was terminated for violating several departmental rules which included misuse of evidence, withholding information in a criminal case and insubordination.<br />
<br />
DCI issued a news release stating that there was no credible evidence that linked police officer or DCI agents in the HUISENTRUIT case.<br />
<br />
OHL filed claims of sexual discrimination, religious discrimination and retaliation against the Mason City Police Department with the Mason City Human Rights Commission and filed a subsequent lawsuit in federal district court in 2010. She claimed that she was subjecto to an ongoing harassment and discriminatory treatment because of her gender and had been denied training and promotion opportunities. Additionally, OHL claimed that she had been repeatedly subjected to inappropriate behavior which included a male officer pointing an unloaded gun at her head and pulling the trigger, and several instances of lewd language and gestures.<br />
<br />
OHL is the sister-in-law of Rev. PHILPOTT, pastor of the Christian Fellowship Church. The church was awarded early in 2011 nearly $85,000 in a settlement of a suit against Mason City. The suit claimed that Lt. LASHBROOK and Lt. Logan WERNET had made damaging remarks about the church, leading to an Internal Revenue Service investigation of the church's financial records. PHILPOTT and the church were cleared of any wrongdoing.<br />
<br />
PHILPOTT claimed that he personally called the Mason City Police Department with the information, taling to both STEARNS and Vande WEEDE on July 3rd or 5th in 2007. Investigation revealed that neither officer had been working on either of those dates.<br />
<br />
NOTE: Early breaking news articles about the OHL/PHILPOTT allegations stated that OHL was accusing Mason City police officers as being involved in Jodi HUISENTRUIT'S disappearance. Later articles stated that OHL and PHILPOTT claimed that Mason City police officers were involved in covering up the information they were attempting to provide in the on-going investigation.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">~ Gleaned from Globe Gazette articles, September of 2011</span><br />
<br />
****************************<br />
<br />
A scholarship endowment fund was established at Jodi's alma mater - St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, in Jodi's name.<br />
<br />
Jodi's disappearance was classified as "homicide strongly suspected" and she was legally declared dead in 2001. Her case remains an open investigation and is unsolved to this day. She was 27-years-old at the time of her disappearance.<br />
<br />
A website covering Jodi's case has been established at www.findjodi.com .<br />
<br />
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, October of 2011<br />
<br />
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<span id="goog_189320545"></span><span id="goog_189320546"></span><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-90443976496185378762021-06-15T04:02:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:23:16.792-08:00Belinda VanLith: Missing Since June 15, 1974<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4UTW-njcy4ObdnZj9srNO8fTcfiea7Cae1fPopdwVgPm1GllscrdXTUY93rt1_Pmx8AjECcHKM9e7PiwufUgrgMRfEG0qo-1UtoddKjZvGdQRaLAbp0-QWIv8Z2IW9t5XCvGpal3_w1i/s888/BelindaVanLith.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="652" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4UTW-njcy4ObdnZj9srNO8fTcfiea7Cae1fPopdwVgPm1GllscrdXTUY93rt1_Pmx8AjECcHKM9e7PiwufUgrgMRfEG0qo-1UtoddKjZvGdQRaLAbp0-QWIv8Z2IW9t5XCvGpal3_w1i/w147-h200/BelindaVanLith.jpg" width="147" /></a></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Belinda
was last seen at Little Eagle Lake in Wright County, Minnesota at 8:00 p.m. on
June 15, 1974. She was house-sitting for a neighbor for the weekend and planned
to attend her sister's graduation party. Belinda's family called the house
several times that day, but the lines were always down. The following day, they
reported her missing.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></span><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Timothy
Joseph Crosby is a suspect in Belinda's disappearance and in the murder of
another woman, who disappeared in 1994 and was found strangled some months
later.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crosby,
who was Belinda's age and had started attacking girls and young women by the
early 1970s, lived alone in a cabin just 100 yards from the house Belinda was
staying in when she disappeared. The day before she went missing, Belinda came
to his home looking for his sister, but he told her she wasn't at home.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Late
in 1974, Crosby was arrested for the kidnapping and rape of an eighteen-year-old
woman. He has been arrested other times for sexual offenses since then and is
currently civilly committed as a "violent sexual recidivist." He has
not been charged in Belinda's disappearance, however.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Belinda
is described as a popular, ordinary teenager who enjoyed gardening.
Investigators don't believe she ran away. Foul play is suspected in her case.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://charleyproject.org/case/belinda-kay-vanlith">https://charleyproject.org/case/belinda-kay-vanlith</a></span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Missing Since: </b>06/15/1974 </li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Missing From: </b>Wright County, Minnesota</li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Classification: </b>Endangered Missing</li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Sex: </b>Female</li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Race: </b>White</li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Date of Birth: </b>05/20/1957 (63)</li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Age: </b>17 years old</li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Height and Weight: </b>5'5, 110 pounds</li><li><b style="color: #cc0000;">Distinguishing Characteristics: </b>Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes.</li></ul><p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Belinda
VanLith was house-sitting for a neighbor located on Little Eagle Lake in Wright
County, Minnesota in June 1974. Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000
lakes. Little Eagle Lake is located east
of Eagle Lake in Silver Creek Township, northeast of Maple Lake. The home’s owner, Duane Cornwell, was in
Nashville, Tennessee. A musician, he had a recording job that took him out of
state. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">At 17 years old, Belinda was described as
having a lot of friends, enjoyed gardening and did a lot of babysitting. She had been just completed her junior year
at Monticello High School. She had been hired to housesit from Monday June 10 through
the morning of June 15 and her job was winding down. She had telephone conversations with her
father on Thursday evening as well as her friends on Friday and Saturday.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On
that Saturday morning in ‘74, Belinda’s parents had expected her to be home in
order to attend her sister’s graduation party. The bright teen was last seen
that morning around 8 am. Her family repeatedly called the house that day but
the lines were down according to her mother, Beverly. That evening Cornwell
returned to the residence; Belinda was nowhere to be seen. However, her
clothing and purse remained. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
next morning, she was reported missing by her parents. There was no signs of
foul play and the woods did not contain any clues. A local teen said she had
been seen hitchhiking on Monday the 17th along with another teen near the edge
of Monticello towards Minneapolis. This was unable to be proved and the second
girl was never reported missing. Police
stated there was no proof she would be a runaway.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
case has been reopened and reviewed in the years since she went missing. Police
believe foul play was a factor. The
police do not want to limit their suspicions to just one person. However; one
potential suspect was Timothy Joseph Crosby. At the time of her disappearance,
he was Belinda’s age and lived alone in a cabin just 100 yards from where
Belinda was house-sitting. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
has been reported that Belinda had went to Crosby’s home the day before she
went missing, asking for his sister but she told that she was not there. By the early 70s, it was believed that Crosby
had started attacking young women in order to restrain and physically assault
them. Late in 1974, Crosby was arrested for the kidnapping and rape of an
eighteen-year-old woman. He has been arrested other times for sexual offenses
since then and is currently civilly committed as a "violent sexual
recidivist." He’s now in custody in the state’s sex-offender treatment
program in Moose Lake.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
1991, he was a suspect in the murder of a woman whose body was found months
later strangled. He has not been charged in Belinda's disappearance.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://sipandshinepodcast.com/featured/missing-belinda-vanlith">https://sipandshinepodcast.com/featured//missing-belinda-vanlith</a></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u>Investigator
updates Monticello cold case that's 42 years old</u></span></span></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">By Tim Hennagir
Sep 15, 2016</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Twenty-seven
years after he was reported missing as an abduction victim, Jacob Wetterling’s
whereabouts are no longer unknown. Wright County law enforcement continues to
investigate a cold case that dates to the early 1970s.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Seventeen-year-old
Belinda VanLith was last heard from in the morning hours of June 15, 1974,
while house-sitting at a residence on the northern edge of Eagle Lake in Wright
County, approximately 6 miles west of Monticello.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her
disappearance is believed to be the result of foul play. The Wright County
Sheriff’s Office reassigned deputies to the case in April 2013. According to
Lt. Albert Lutgens, the VanLith case has been reviewed several times throughout
the last 42 years and has remained unsolved. “We consider this one ours,”
Lutgens said. “It remains open. Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of leads.” When
the Wetterling case had a breaking development in the past, Lutgens said he
would get one or two calls. “Opening up a case that’s more than 40 years old,
the first steps are to go read what’s been done by other investigators,” he
said. “Our goal in 2013 was to try and identify anybody who had not been spoken
to already,” he said. “We did identify several people who were mentioned in the
initial reports. Those people had not had a statement taken down. That was our
main goal.” Looking at the physical case file and transferring it from paper to
digital storage was another initial task, Lutgens said. “We had a lot of the
information stored in three-ring binders, and we put it into our digital
system,” he said. There are dental records and family-supplied DNA available to
investigators, Lutgens said. “We don’t have her DNA, but we have material from
family members,” Lutgens said. “It’s only being used for searches for this
case.” Belinda’s dental records and DNA profiles are out nationwide. If any
remains are found, investigators can go by dental records on file, and the DNA.
If there is a close match, the Wright County Sheriff’s Office gets notified.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Over
the years, we’ve had hits from all over the country, but most of them we’ve
been able to </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">weed out fairly quickly when we find out the age,” Lutgens said.
“If we find someone who has only been missing a few years, we know it’s not
Belinda.” A front-page story in the June 27, 1974 edition of the Monticello
Times reported Wright County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Jim Powers had
issued a request for any information which could be helpful in locating
Belinda. In the news story, Powers explained that Belinda had been
house-sitting at the Duane Cornwell residence near Eagle Lake from Monday, June
10, through Saturday, June 15, while Cornwell, a musician, was in Nashville,
Tennessee, doing a recording. According to the news story, telephone
conversations with Belinda’s father Thursday evening and friends Friday evening
and Saturday indicated Belinda, who had just completed her junior year at
Monticello High School, was at the Cornwell residence on those days. On
Saturday when Cornwell returned home at 6 p.m. the girl was missing, the news
report stated, although her clothing and purse were all found in the house. The
following day, the Wright County Sheriff’s Department was called in to
investigate.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvOyz71antouSg7LBHnf5FnT0g1HYvj5Boe65kxGNU055Oijf3VoSCJDicM1wHkCKreFICS1WIOU07jYElcNL5ze5gfT6h3B8ytS9QuuWpLeacG4pqGc0J5QlSESIzDaxYtdPnSxdJavI/s270/download.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="187" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvOyz71antouSg7LBHnf5FnT0g1HYvj5Boe65kxGNU055Oijf3VoSCJDicM1wHkCKreFICS1WIOU07jYElcNL5ze5gfT6h3B8ytS9QuuWpLeacG4pqGc0J5QlSESIzDaxYtdPnSxdJavI/w222-h320/download.jpg" width="222" /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There’s
no sign of a struggle or any foul play,” Powers reported in the news story.
Several searches of nearby woods did not yield any clues. Powers said that a
Becker youth who knew Belinda reported seeing her Monday, June 17, hitchhiking
with another girl toward the Twin Cities, near the edge of Monticello. Powers
could not confirm if that information was valid, and there were no other
reports of a second missing girl to the sheriff’s department. The story ended
with Powers stating law enforcement needed the public’s help.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“If
somebody goes missing now, there’s more out there now than anybody could ever
imagine,” Lutgens said. “Back in the 1970s, someone remained missing for quite
a while. There are a lot of new requirements for missing person cases that
we’ve had to follow. Unfortunately, 40 years ago, they didn’t have the advances
that we do now nor the manpower.” Missing adults and missing children were not
always dealt with the same way years ago as they are dealt with now, Lutgens
explained. “Adults do still go off on their own and don’t call people. With
those cases, about 80 percent of the time we do find them, because there’s a
reason one way or another why they didn’t want to contact someone.” Lutgens
said the first step is dispatching a patrol unit and collecting information.
“Right away, we try to determine if the missing person is endangered, or a
child, is it somebody who didn’t go to work or just simply walked away.” If law
enforcement finds out a person hasn’t shown up for work for two or three days,
the investigative process is stepped up at that point. “One of the first steps
a patrol officer takes is putting out an alert to all law enforcement with as
much information as they can, including a physical description and make of
vehicle if possible,” Lutgens said. Amber Alerts are restrictive because they
involve searches for children who are in danger and working with the Minnesota
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Lutgens said.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We
don’t start those on our own,” he said. “We work through a checklist before
it’s sent out.” There was some FBI involvement with the VanLith case in the
1980s. All law enforcement agencies are kept in the loop, Lutgens said. “I
would like to see something put out regarding this case every year on the
anniversary of her disappearance,” he added. “We try and keep the family in our
thoughts when we reopen a case because it is tough on them,” he said. Lutgens
and other investigators would like former classmates of Belinda’s to come
forward. “I’d be interested in talking to her close friends, those who she went
to high school with and those she hung out with,” he said. “That was one thing
I focused on in 2013, trying to find her old classmates.” Lutgens said the
VanLith case will continue to receive law enforcement attention. “It won’t go
away,” he said. "And as much as you might try, you can get emotionally
involved. It’s tough. On one hand, you really hope you are able to solve it,
but on the other hand, sometimes when you solve it, it brings more hurt. Those
officers and investigators who have worked with Patty Wetterling probably know
her better than anybody, even her own family.” The Wetterling abduction, chosen
the top 1989 story in Minnesota by the Associated Press, had other connections
with Monticello. On Nov. 30, six weeks after Jacob was abducted near his St.
Joseph home, an attempt at a kidnapping of a 15-year-old boy in downtown
Monticello was reported to authorities but no arrest was reported. Nationwide
interest in the plight of the Wetterling family prompted a Monticello couple,
Kenneth and Betty Klein, to run a classified ad in the Minneapolis Star
Tribune; its message to their three sons who disappeared on Nov. 10, 1951 was,
“We are still waiting to hear from you.” A Monticello VFW Club benefit on Dec.
17, 1989, for the Jacob Wetterling Fund raised about $2,300 and was marked by
the appearance of Jacob’s parents.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those
with information, tips or leads in the Belinda VanLith case should call the
Wright County Sheriff’s Office at (763) 682-1161 or (763) 682-7622.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Contact
Tim Hennagir at <a href="mailto:tim.hennagir@ecm-inc.com">tim.hennagir@ecm-inc.com</a></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u>Cold Case Playing
Cards Feature Wright Co. Victim</u></span></span></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">November 10, 2008</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">WRIGHT
COUNTY, MN</span> - A 17-year-old girl named Belinda VanLith from northern Wright
County disappeared in 1974, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
is making a new effort to find information about her case. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
bureau has released cold case playing cards that highlight VanLith’s case and
51 other cold cases. These cases include violent, unsolved homicides, missing
persons and unidentified remains cases that have occurred throughout the state
over the past 50 years. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We’re
trying to breathe some life into these cases,” said Special Agent Jeff Hansen,
who is in charge of homicide cases at the St. Paul office of the Bureau of
Criminal Apprehension. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">VanLith
was a normal teen. She enjoyed gardening, had plenty of friends, and she did a
lot of baby-sitting, according to her mother, Beverly VanLith. Today, Belinda
would be 51 years old.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OUzTdjkBWZPJ_X42su2B4y_D32ZegYiwMP7BrM7PO9J9YzHSX-319kje8ajUWZqD8kIQifFRvgecLButbrkckvcg_K6FgZL-MbhbSs69mxLJdHidXeCiSGezNuKWB3TsKRqQ23HMJ8zN/s125/8739-43c87945a2434f0a0e048aa040a09677.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="90" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OUzTdjkBWZPJ_X42su2B4y_D32ZegYiwMP7BrM7PO9J9YzHSX-319kje8ajUWZqD8kIQifFRvgecLButbrkckvcg_K6FgZL-MbhbSs69mxLJdHidXeCiSGezNuKWB3TsKRqQ23HMJ8zN/w144-h200/8739-43c87945a2434f0a0e048aa040a09677.jpg" width="144" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Belinda’s
family expected her to be home after a weekend of house-sitting for a neighbor
in order to attend her sister’s graduation party. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We
kept calling the house on Saturday, but the phone lines were down,” Beverly
said. On Sunday, Belinda’s family reported her as missing. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like
all the cold case cards, Belinda’s card gives brief insight into her case,
along with a tip line for anyone who has more information: </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Belinda
VanLith: 17-year-old white female-Belinda VanLith was last seen house-sitting
for a neighbor around 8 p.m., June 15th, 1974. She then disappeared from the
property located on Little Eagle Lake in Wright County, MN. Foul play is
suspected in her disappearance; she has not been seen or heard from since.”</span><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Little
Eagle Lake is located east of Eagle Lake in Silver Creek Township, northeast of
Maple Lake. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There
is nothing to make us believe she was a runaway,” Lieutenant Todd Hoffman of
Wright County Sheriff’s Department said, explaining that her behavior the days
before the disappearance didn’t line up with the profile of a runaway. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
cold case cards were only handed out to prison inmates and the families of the
victims. The aim in handing out the cards to prisoners is to locate a criminal
who may have information about the case and is willing to come to the police. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Since
we handed out these cards a week ago, we have already had over 20 leads on
different cases,” Hansen said. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He
said that the leads were coming from prison inmates and the general public who
had viewed the cards online.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Sometimes
you can have a lead and then you don’t hear anything for five years,” Beverly
said, speaking of the pain that a victim’s family goes through when leads don’t
get the police any closer to solving the crime. She thinks that the cold case
cards are a good idea. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
idea for the cards came out of Florida. In handing out Florida cold case cards
to the state’s prison inmates, several cases were solved when various criminals
and the general public volunteered information. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jacob
Wetterling, and the Reker sisters are among some of the faces on the cards.
Wetterling disappeared from St. Joseph, MN in 1989 at age 11, and the Reker
sisters Mary, 15, and Susan, 12, were stabbed to death in St. Cloud in 1974. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
anniversary of Wetterling’s disappearance was Wednesday, Oct. 22, 1989. Today,
Wetterling would be 30 years old. Mary and Susan Reker’s killer was never
found. The girls were last seen alive leaving their residence in St. Cloud, and
their bodies were not found until 26 days later, three miles outside of St.
Cloud in a quarry.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At
present, the card decks have been distributed to all 515 police departments and
sheriff’s offices within Minnesota, as well as 75 countywide jail and annex
facilities. In addition, over 10,000 decks have been supplied to Minnesota
state prison inmates. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
52 cases featured on the cards are only some of the cold cases in Minnesota.
“We picked some of the toughest cases for the cards,” Hoffman said, optimistic
that some of the cases would be solved because of the cards.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension encourages the public to view the cold case
playing cards on its web site:</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">www.bca.state.mn.us/coldcase.coldcase.asp</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
bureau asks that anyone who has information about any of these cases, call the
tip line at 1-877-996-6222.</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><u>Court of Appeals
of Minnesota.</u></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><u>IN RE: the CIVIL
COMMITMENT OF Timothy Joseph CROSBY.</u></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">No. A12–1224.</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Decided: January
07, 2013</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Considered and
decided by ROSS, Presiding Judge; HOOTEN, Judge; and CRIPPEN, Judge.* Brian C.
Southwell, Minneapolis, MN, for appellant. Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St.
Paul, MN; and John Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Beth G. Sullivan, Assistant
County Attorney, St. Paul, MN for respondent.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>OPINION</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Timothy
Crosby's sexual crimes against girls and women include a 1987 rape that
resulted in his pleading guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in
exchange for the state's promise that it “will not file petitions in probate
court” for civil commitment of Crosby as “mentally ill and dangerous” or a
“sexual psychopath.” But in 2009 the district court committed Crosby
indeterminately as a sexually dangerous person and sexual psychopathic
personality predicated on a finding that Crosby reengaged in a cycle of sexual
misconduct. The district court relied on Crosby's 2009 conviction of using a
minor in a sexual performance and on his possession of sexually violent
literature and images depicting behavior consistent with his own prior sexually
violent behavior. Now appealing from the order for civil commitment, Crosby
argues that the district court erred by failing to enforce the state's 1987
promise not to pursue his civil commitment, by misconstruing his 2009 conduct
as “harmful sexual conduct,” and by finding that he cannot control his sexual
impulses and is likely to engage in acts of harmful sexual conduct. Because the
1987 plea agreement prohibited the state from seeking civil commitment solely
for his extant offenses but not for future misconduct, the state's 1987 promise
does not prevent Crosby's current commitment. And because the district court
had a sufficient factual basis to find that Crosby has returned to his violent
offense cycle and clear and convincing evidence supports his civil commitment,
we affirm.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>FACTS</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Timothy
Crosby is a violent sexual recidivist. We recount some of his predatory
behavior to frame the legal issues he raises on appeal.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By
his own account, Crosby began attacking girls and young women in the early
1970s. In about 1972, he picked up a teenage hitchhiker and forced her at
gunpoint into the back seat of his car where he made her disrobe. He fondled
her breasts and vagina. In the months that followed, Crosby masturbated daily
while fantasizing about this assault until his next offense in December 1974.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
December 1974 offense was an escalated version of the 1972 offense. Crosby
kidnapped and raped a 20–year–old hitchhiker. He picked her up in St. Paul,
handcuffed her at gunpoint, cut her bra off with a knife, and taped her eyes
shut. He drove her to his parent's cabin near St. Cloud, and along the way he
threatened to kill her. He tied her wrists and legs to bedposts and photographed
her. After several hours, Crosby removed her from the bed, handcuffed her
again, and drove her to a spot by the Mississippi River in Monticello. There,
he stripped her naked and raped her at knifepoint while she remained
handcuffed. He then slowly drove her back to St. Paul. During the drive he told
the victim about a girl who had recently been raped and murdered and
dismembered, stating, “Why should I start caring now, you're no different.”
Back in St. Paul, Crosby drove in circles. The victim, convinced that Crosby
would kill her, lunged and pressed the gas pedal when she saw an occupied
police car. This caused a crash, leaving Crosby to flee on foot from the
officer and the victim to escape toward the officer.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Criminally
convicted and civilly committed to the Intensive Treatment Program for Sexual
Aggressives for his 1974 sexual assault, Crosby was eventually released to a
halfway house in 1982. He had told his sex-offense treatment providers that he
had his sexually aggressive fantasies under control. A year later he moved into
his parents' St. Paul home and received only monthly outpatient treatment
services. But he had already returned to fantasizing about rape, looking at
photographs and magazines depicting sexual violence, and watching films about
rape and sexual bondage at a pornographic bookstore. He walked at night
carrying a knife, watching women in bars while imagining raping them. He drove
around looking for hitchhikers or prostitutes and masturbated while imagining
raping them.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before
long, in April 1983, Crosby assembled a kit consisting of a gag, a blindfold,
and rope, and then he drove around until he found a girl hitchhiking. He drove
her to her requested destination, but then he put a knife to her ribs. He
planned to blindfold and bind her hands before driving her to a rural area and
raping her. And he imagined hanging her by her hands from the ceiling to
facilitate his planned sexual assault. But she resisted, screaming and fighting
for the knife. She finally wrested the knife from Crosby, cut him on the hand,
and escaped from his car.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crosby
was reported and returned to the Minnesota Security Hospital in 1983 for more
treatment. He continued to fantasize about rape and to constitute an “extremely
high risk” to reoffend, but he was given passes to shop in St. Peter and the
Twin Cities area. In early 1986, he again told treatment providers that he was
no longer engaging in sexually violent fantasies, and he was provisionally
discharged in June 1987.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
month after his June 1987 release, Crosby brought a 21–year–old prostitute to
his apartment. He choked her, tied her to a bed, taped her mouth and eyes shut,
and raped her six or seven times over several hours. The victim eventually
freed herself from the restraints and escaped after Crosby left her momentarily
unattended. She tore through concealing cardboard and then broke through the
window, which Crosby had nailed shut. She crawled outside and was found fleeing
naked, bleeding from her hands and feet from their having been wired behind her
back. Crosby pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct for this.
Crosby's plea agreement in that 1987 case is the focal point of this appeal. In
it, the state dismissed a count of false imprisonment, agreed not to seek an
upward departure at sentencing, and, most important here, agreed not to file a
petition seeking Crosby's commitment as a sexual psychopath or as a
mentally-ill and dangerous person. The district court sentenced him to 41
months in prison. Crosby declined sex-offender treatment.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
state released Crosby from prison at the conclusion of his sentence in October
of 1989 and returned him to the Minnesota Security Hospital where the term of
his prior commitment had been extended another five years. Crosby was
discharged from that commitment on a writ of habeas corpus because the district
court had erred in his original 1975 commitment by basing the commitment on
kidnapping, which was not then one of the enumerated offenses authorizing
commitment.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After
that, Crosby lived free of supervision, and on the surface his life appeared to
have somewhat stabilized. He married in 1996 at age 40; his wife was a
19–year–old whom he had begun dating when she was 17. Crosby and his wife had
three children. He lived without any new reported improper sexual incident
until 2000.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
2000 Crosby was fired from his custodial job at the University of Minnesota
when he printed more than 50 pages of violent pornographic stories about
dominance, torture, rape, incest, and other violent or deviant sex acts.
Although Crosby's workplace misconduct violated his employer's policies and
revealed his renewed interest in the same violent criminal conduct he had
previously engaged in, the misconduct itself was not criminal. Law enforcement
officials remained uninvolved with him until 2009.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
July 2009, police executed search warrants to obtain a sample of Crosby's DNA
as part of a criminal investigation that has no direct connection to this case;
Crosby was excluded as the source of the perpetrator's DNA, but the crime and
Crosby's violent past received media attention that prompted one alarmed reader
to report that her 17–year–old daughter was spending time with Crosby.
Authorities executed a search warrant on Crosby's home to investigate his
involvement with the girl. They found several trunks containing a hacksaw blade
and an array of newspaper articles about violent sexual assaults, including
rapes, kidnappings, murders, and serial killings. They also found hundreds of
pornographic videotapes, magazines, and books depicting circumstances and
conduct resembling Crosby's past violent sex crimes.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
reader's tip also led to a warrant to seize electronic data related to child
pornography. Police recovered a computer hard drive with two password-protected
and encrypted files. These files contained hundreds of images depicting a wide
array of sexually explicit content, including torture, rape, bondage,
abduction, child pornography, bestiality, and death. They also contained
numerous articles about abduction, torture, rape, and murder of women and
girls. And police found a handbook that contained instructions on how to
abduct, torture, and kill a woman for pleasure. Crosby admitted to searching
for rape pornography and that he received sexual pleasure from the material.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
investigation revealed that Crosby had again engaged in criminal sexual
misconduct. Twice in 2009, Crosby hired a 17–year–old girl to engage in sexual
activity with a 24–year–old woman while Crosby watched and masturbated. Crosby
would also drive them around a cemetery where he talked about sex, referred to
his previously being out of control, and mentioned how lucky they were that he
could control himself. For his conduct with the 17–year–old, Crosby pleaded
guilty to the use of a minor in a sexual performance. He received the
presumptive prison sentence of 24 months, the execution of which was stayed on
condition that he obey the sex-offender directives given in his treatment. The
state petitioned for Crosby's civil commitment as a sexually dangerous person
and as a sexual psychopathic personality under Minnesota Statutes section
253B.02, subdivisions 18b and 18c (2010).</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On
the state's motion, the district court revoked Crosby's probation for the lack
of an appropriate out-patient treatment solution. This court reversed the
revocation because neither the probation agent nor the district court had
specifically ordered Crosby into sex-offender treatment, making the revocation
for failure to participate in treatment a violation of Crosby's due process
rights. State v. Crosby, A10–1460, 2011 WL 1545652 (Minn.App. Apr.26, 2011).
Crosby was returned to probation again in May 2011, and the district court
ordered him detained until it decided the petition for his civil commitment.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before
trial on the petition for Crosby's civil commitment, Crosby unsuccessfully
moved the district court to dismiss the petition as prohibited by the 1987 plea
agreement in which the state had agreed not to seek Crosby's indeterminate
civil commitment. At trial Crosby testified about his history of sexual
violence in a manner that led the district court to deem the testimony
incredible, finding that Crosby “made excuse[s] for his behaviors, minimized
his conduct and remembered only things that made him look better.” Three forensic
psychologists testified and provided reports: Dr. Harry Hoberman (retained by
the state); Dr. Peter Meyers (appointed by the court); and Dr. Thomas Alberg
(chosen by Crosby). The district court found most credible the testimony of
Drs. Meyers and Hoberman, both of whom opined that Crosby met the commitment
criteria largely because Crosby's 2009 behavior was part of his offense cycle
in his course of harmful sexual misconduct.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
district court made extensive and thorough findings. It concluded that Crosby
met the standards for indeterminate civil commitment both as a sexual
psychopathic personality and as a sexually dangerous person, and it ordered
Crosby indeterminately committed. This appeal follows.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>ISSUES</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I.
Did the district court err by denying Crosby's motion to dismiss despite the
1987 plea agreement in which the state promised not to seek commitment?</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">II.
Was Crosby's sexual misconduct in 2009, leading to his conviction for use of a
minor in a sexual performance, part of a habitual course of misconduct or
harmful sexual conduct as required for civil commitment?</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">III.
Did the district court err by finding that Crosby “has an utter lack of power
to control his sexual impulses” as required for commitment as a sexually
psychopathic personality and “is likely to engage in acts of harmful sexual
conduct” as required for commitment as a sexually dangerous person?</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>ANALYSIS</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crosby
challenges the district court's decision to civilly commit him as a sexual
psychopathic personality and a sexually dangerous person. The district court
rested its commitment decision on its conclusion that the state has proved
Crosby's need for commitment by clear and convincing evidence. See Minn.Stat. §
253B.18, subd. 1(a) (2010). Some of Crosby's challenges raise factual issues
and others raise legal issues. Regarding the factual issues, we review the
district court's findings of fact for clear error. Minn. R. Civ. P. 52.01; See
also In re Joelson, 385 N.W.2d 810, 811 (Minn.1986). We give due deference to
the district court as the best judge of the credibility of witnesses. In re
Knops, 536 N.W.2d 616, 620 (Minn.1995). And where, as here, the findings of
fact “rest almost entirely on expert testimony, the district court's evaluation
of credibility is particularly significant.” Id. But we review legal issues de
novo, including whether the record contains clear and convincing evidence to
support the district court's conclusion that Crosby meets the standard for
civil commitment. See In re Thulin, 660 N.W.2d 140, 144 (Minn.App.2003).</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>I</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
reject Crosby's first argument that his 1987 plea agreement precluded the
district court from acting on the 2009 petition for commitment. Crosby
acknowledges that the plea agreement does not prohibit all future petitions for
commitment, but he insists that it prohibits any future petition unless it is
predicated on a finding that he engaged in a new act that qualifies as “harmful
sexual conduct” under the sexually dangerous person statute. See Minn.Stat. §
253B.02, subd. 7a (2008) (defining harmful sexual conduct as “sexual conduct
that creates a substantial likelihood of serious physical or emotional harm to
another”). Because he has not engaged in any new act of harmful sexual conduct,
he argues, the district court should have dismissed the commitment petition.
The argument has two problems.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
first problem with Crosby's argument is that we see no weakness in the district
court's conclusion that Crosby's use of a minor in a sexual performance
constituted “harmful sexual conduct,” a conclusion supported factually by two
experts who were found credible by the district court. But it is unnecessary
for us to analyze this mostly factual question in detail because it is clear
that the argument faces a more fundamental second problem.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
second problem with Crosby's argument is that it obviously has no legal merit.
We recognize that if a guilty plea rests “in any significant degree” on a
promise by the state, that promise must be fulfilled (or the defendant has a
right to withdraw the plea). State v. Brown, 606 N.W.2d 670, 674 (Minn.2000).
But nothing in Crosby's plea agreement indicates that a future petition for his
commitment arising from his future conduct must be premised only on his
“harmful sexual conduct.” The agreement says,</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
state and the defense have agreed that the defendant will plead guilty as
charged to criminal sexual conduct in the third degree․ The state will not file
a petition in probate court that the defendant is mentally ill and dangerous or
a sexual psychopath.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With
no express or implied restricting language, the state's 1987 promise did not
prevent the state from seeking civil commitment if Crosby engages later in
conduct that triggers a civil-commitment petition. The statutory criterion for
civil commitment is that the state must have “good cause” before instituting
commitment proceedings. Minn.Stat. § 253B.185, subd. 1(b). We have already held
that the district court can consider conduct that did not result in a criminal
conviction when making commitment determinations. In re Civil Commitment of
Ramey, 648 N.W.2d, 260, 268 (Minn.App.2002), review denied (Minn. Sep. 17,
2002). It follows that evidence of sexually related conduct that indicates that
an allegedly recovered sexual predator has returned to his cycle of predatory
sexual behavior can constitute good cause for a commitment petition under
section 253B.185, subdivision 1(b). We turn to whether Crosby's conduct meets
the statutory “good cause” prerequisite.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
hold that the district court here had good cause to accept the state's
commitment petition. The petition-supporting facts include Crosby's 2009
conduct and conviction for use of a minor in a sexual performance; the 2009
recovery from Crosby's home of the newspaper articles and other written
material depicting sexual violence; the hundreds of sexually-oriented
explicitly violent depictions in the encrypted files found on Crosby's
computer; and Crosby's numerous statements made in treatment after 1987
expressing his continued interest in sexual violence and his difficulty
controlling his sexually violent urges. The district court was not presented
with these facts in a vacuum; it received them in the context of Crosby's
history of already having engaged—repeatedly—in the kind of violent and
criminal sexual conduct depicted in the disturbing material that, apparently,
once again captivated him. The district court was aware that this same
self-tempting, fantasy conduct had accompanied Crosby's previous predatory
sexual behavior. These facts do not necessarily prove, as Crosby maintains,
“that he can be sexual and concurrently control his actions.” At the very least
their description in the commitment petition along with Crosby's past criminal
activity alerts the district court that the question of renewed commitment is
ripe. Crosby insists that this new conduct is not of the commitment-triggering
violent nature of his former conduct because he had not acted on his fantasies.
But having placed himself again on the self-tempting slippery edge, Crosby has
no statutory reason to demand that the district court must wait for another
fall before it entertains the state's civil-commitment petition.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
therefore hold that the district court did not err when it found that the
evidence of Crosby's post–1987 conduct, including his recent conduct,
constitutes good cause for the state's commitment petition. The district court
therefore did not abuse its discretion by refusing to dismiss the petition.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>II</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
also find unconvincing Crosby's argument that the district court erred by
finding his 2009 conduct with a girl and a woman to be “in the course of
harmful sexual conduct” and that it constitutes part of a “habitual course of
sexual misconduct” under the commitment statutes. A sexually dangerous person
is one who has engaged in a course of harmful sexual conduct, has manifested a
sexual personality, or has any other mental disorder or dysfunction, and is
likely to engage in acts of harmful sexual conduct. Minn.Stat. § 253B.02, subd.
18c (2010). “Harmful sexual conduct” is “sexual conduct that creates a
substantial likelihood of serious physical or emotional harm to another.”
Minn.Stat. § 253B.02, subd. 7a. Similarly a person with a sexual psychopathic
personality is one who engages in a habitual course of misconduct in sexual
matters, has an utter lack of power to control sexual impulses, and is
dangerous to others. Minn.Stat. § 253B.02, subd. 18b; In re Linehan (Linehan
I), 518 N.W.2d 609, 613 (Minn.1994).</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again,
we need not consider whether Crosby's 2009 conduct with the two solicited
females by itself constitutes harmful sexual conduct. A sexually oriented civil
commitment proceeding is not an isolated snapshot; the repeated statutory focus
on a course of sexual conduct and the objective in both subdivisions to avoid
danger informs us that the proceeding takes a longer, broader view of the
person; it examines whether the offender's relevant sexual history and recent
sexual conduct exposes a developing story that will, if unaltered, likely
culminate in harmful sexual conduct. Crosby's concentration only on his most
recent sexual crime is the wrong focus.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
finding that Crosby engaged in a course of harmful sexual conduct and a
habitual course of misconduct in sexual matters, the district court found four
events presumptively harmful under Minnesota Statutes section 253B.02,
subdivision 7(a)(b). These were Crosby's 1972 or 1973 uncharged abduction and
sexual assault, his 1974 abduction and sexual assault, his 1983 attempted
abduction and sexual assault, and his 1987 imprisonment, strangulation, and
sexual assault. The district court also considered Crosby's collection of
sexually violent newspaper articles, books, and videos, his accessing of
sexually violent pornography in 2000, and the similar sexually violent material
found on his computer in 2009. And finally, the court considered his 2009
illegal sexually voyeuristic conduct in paying the girl to have sex with the
woman.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
cannot be disputed that, dating back to the 1970s, Crosby “has engaged in a
course of harmful sexual conduct.” That “course,” or pattern, or cycle in
Crosby's case, has intermittently been retriggered by his fantasy of violent
sexual predation and has episodically culminated in his perpetrating
abductions, sexual bondage, and rapes. Crosby's admitted return to his
sexual-assault ideation—as acknowledged in his 2009 statements to investigators
and as proven by his accumulation of graphic, sexually violent literature and
images—is sufficient support for the finding that he has returned to the same
course of harmful sexual conduct that has left multiple sexually assaulted
women fleeing for their lives. The district court found that Crosby's conduct
demonstrated a pattern of escalation that started with his viewing of violent
images and frequenting strip clubs and that moved up to paying a minor and a
young vulnerable woman to perform sexually in a locked motel room while Crosby
masturbated. The logical relationship between Crosby's historic violent sexual
behavior and the recently discovered images and articles depicting torture,
rape, bondage, abduction, child pornography, bestiality, and the murder of
women and girls is so obvious that we have no difficulty affirming the district
court's implicit connection between Crosby's former pattern of misconduct and
his recent pattern of misconduct.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
addition to the conduct evidence, the district court was presented with
consistent professional testimony opining that Crosby “has failed to avoid precursors
that trigger impulsive behaviors” and that he has only a “superficial
representation of being in control” while he maintains an “underlying fantasy
of abduction, torture, bondage, and rape.” Informed by multiple expert
opinions, supported by ample evidence of historic and recent behavior, and
structured in what we hold is the proper legal framework, the district court
recognized that “[t]he danger signs are present and the court is not required
to delay commitment until someone experiences greater harm.” It reasonably
connected past and present patterns of conduct and concluded that Crosby's
recent conduct proves that presently he “is dangerous to other persons” under
subdivision 18b and that in the future he “is likely to engage in acts of
harmful sexual conduct” under subdivision 18c. For these reasons we conclude
that even if Crosby's 2009 conduct with the two females does not by itself
constitute “harmful sexual conduct,” the district court properly relied on it
to support its finding of a course of harmful sexual conduct and a habitual
course of sexual misconduct.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>III</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crosby
finally argues that sufficient evidence does not support the district court's
finding that he meets the other criteria for civil commitment as a sexual
psychopathic personality and sexually dangerous person. A sexual psychopathic
personality is</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">the
existence in any person of such conditions of emotional instability, or
impulsiveness of behavior, or lack of customary standards of good judgment, or
failure to appreciate the consequences of personal acts, or a combination of
any of these conditions, which render the person irresponsible for personal
conduct with respect to sexual matters, if the person has evidenced, by a
habitual course of misconduct in sexual matters, an utter lack of power to
control the person's sexual impulses and, as a result, is dangerous to other
persons.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Minn.Stat.
§ 253B.02, subd. 18b; see also Linehan I, 518 N.W.2d at 613. Crosby contends
that he does not meet the “utter lack of power to control sexual impulses”
element. A sexually dangerous person is a person who has engaged in a course of
harmful sexual conduct, has manifested a sexual, personality, or other mental
disorder or dysfunction, and, as a result, is likely to engage in acts of
harmful sexual conduct. Minn.Stat. § 253B.02, subd. 18c. Crosby disputes only
the district court's finding that he is likely to engage in acts of harmful
sexual conduct. He highlights the two offense-free decades between his 1987 and
his 2009 criminal sexual offenses, his maintaining a family, house, and
employment, and the dissimilarity between his former violent rapes and his
recent sexual conduct with the two young females. He offers that “the best
evidence that he has of his ability to control his sexual urges” is “the lack
of an incident or allegation of wrongdoing” in the interim period between his
abduction rapes and his soliciting the minor to perform sexually.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two
substantial weaknesses defeat Crosby's argument. The first is that although it
may be true that Crosby took years before he reoffended, the fact is, he did
reoffend. Despite the apparently long period without reoffense, that period
ended before the state petitioned for commitment. The question before the
district court was whether Crosby's psychosexual condition and his course of
behavior reveals a current trajectory toward reoffense and renewed danger to
others. The district court answered affirmatively. The only question before us
on appeal is not whether we agree with the district court as a matter of fact;
it is whether the evidence supports the district court's factual findings as a
matter of law. In re Thulin, 660 at 144.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
leads us to the second weakness in Crosby's argument, which is that we are in
an especially poor position to reverse the district court's weighing of
evidence or to question its credibility determinations. Dittrich v. Brown
Cnty., 215 Minn. 234, 237, 9 N.W.2d 510, 512 (1943). The district court made
its findings mindful that it should consider several factors when determining
whether Crosby lacks the power to control his sexual impulses. See In re
Blodgett, 510 N.W.2d 910, 915 (Minn.1994). These include the nature and
frequency of sexual offenses, the degree of violence used, the relationship
between the offender and the victims, the offender's attitude and mood, the
offender's medical and family history, the results of psychological and
psychiatric testing and evaluation, and other factors that bear on the
predatory sex impulse and lack of power to control it. Id. The district court
considered these factors here, and it found that clear and convincing evidence
proved that Crosby could not control his sexual impulses.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While
reasonable minds might come to different findings, it is clear to us that the
district court had abundant evidence supporting its finding that Crosby lacked
control over his sexual impulses. Both Dr. Hoberman and Dr. Meyers opined that
Crosby utterly lacks power to control his sexual impulses. Dr. Hoberman offered
his assessment of Crosby's condition in light of the Blodgett factors. Dr.
Meyers observed that picking up strangers to engage in sex crimes constitutes
impulsive behavior, and he was concerned that Crosby appeared “clearly
undeterred by the potential consequences of his deviant behaviors” and that he
has consistently failed to remove himself from situations providing the
opportunity for similar offenses. Dr. Meyers testified that he was particularly
alarmed by Crosby's belief that he actually was “helping young women as he paid
for them to perform sexual acts in his presence.”</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
district court also considered the requisite factors when it weighed the
likelihood that Crosby would reoffend. See In re Stone, 711 N.W.2d 831, 840
(Minn.App.2006), review denied (Minn. June 20, 2006) (citing Linehan I, 518
N.W.2d at 614). These include the offender's demographic characteristics, the
offender's history of violent behavior, the base-rate statistics for violent
behavior among individuals with similar backgrounds, the sources of stress in
the offender's environment, the similarity between the present context to those
when the offender previously used violence, and the offender's record of
participation in sex-therapy programs. Id.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
is clear to us that the district court had sufficient evidence to find that
Crosby is likely to reoffend. Dr. Meyers and Dr. Hoberman predicted reoffense
and their opinion rested on their own observations. Dr. Meyers testified that
Crosby was in an escalating phase of his offense cycle. He also believed that
Crosby tended to cope with stress by sexually harming others. Dr. Hoberman
testified that Crosby had almost all of the risk factors associated with
recidivism. He explained that although the reoffense risk in some offenders
declines with age, this was not so in Crosby's case. Dr. Hoberman warned that
Crosby's treatment experience taught him merely to “speak the language” of
treatment, raising doubts that prior treatment actually reduced Crosby's risk
to offend. Drs. Hoberman and Meyers relied on an array of psychological tests informing
their opinion that Crosby poses a very high risk to reoffend.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crosby
highlights Dr. Alberg's contrary opinions that the span between offenses shows
that Crosby can control himself and that he showed control even in the 2009 sex
offense because he did not physically injure the girl or the young woman. But
the competing experts cannot all be right here. The district court was more
persuaded by the testimony of Dr. Meyers and Dr. Hoberman than Dr. Alberg, and
we will defer to the district court's resolution of conflicting expert
testimony. See In re Martenies, 350 N.W.2d 470, 472 (Minn.App.1984), review
denied (Minn. Sep. 12, 1984). We add that Crosby's insistence that he could
control his urges is belied by the fact that he continued to fantasize about
violent sexual scenarios even while leading the girl to perform sexually in
front of him. The question is not whether Crosby restrained himself from acting
on his violent impulses at various moments, but whether the evidence supports
the finding that he could not perpetually control them and avoid reoffending.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
hold that clear and convincing evidence supports the district court's finding
that Crosby has “an utter lack of power to control his sexual impulses” and is
“likely to engage in acts of harmful sexual conduct” as required for civil
commitment.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>DECISION</u></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because
the 1987 plea agreement does not prohibit future commitment triggered by new
misconduct, it does not prevent the state's petition or Crosby's current
commitment. And because the district court had a sufficient factual basis to
find that Crosby has returned to his violent offense cycle and clear and
convincing evidence supports his commitment, we affirm.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Affirmed.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ROSS,
Judge.</span></p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><p></p><p>
<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0United States37.09024 -95.7128919.58196451462016 -130.869138317791 64.598515485379835 -60.556643682209014tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-86221146747633293302021-06-01T16:16:00.001-07:002023-03-17T03:05:23.930-07:00Corrine Erstad: Missing Since June 1, 1992<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuBHOyQWkneMyShbid_wylnnE-ry5Ke6zsKYmA62p44DFzJ4j0AcnY0o0wB3iGKTYAFpF6YTYHkBE5kceQPpTQBEgbR3hWM8GZ2oXpnCgzQQ6QE9NCxiC-kVTB3Y4yRQLbeEwGfuPDiXP/s650/20130301__Erstad_Corrine_Leanne.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="521" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuBHOyQWkneMyShbid_wylnnE-ry5Ke6zsKYmA62p44DFzJ4j0AcnY0o0wB3iGKTYAFpF6YTYHkBE5kceQPpTQBEgbR3hWM8GZ2oXpnCgzQQ6QE9NCxiC-kVTB3Y4yRQLbeEwGfuPDiXP/w160-h200/20130301__Erstad_Corrine_Leanne.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>Corrine was last seen at approximately 7:30 p.m. on June 1, 1992 as she went to play in Skyline Park near her family's residence in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Her father told authorities that Corrine's two older brothers walked to the park to bring her back home after she had been gone for approximately five minutes. The child was nowhere to be found and has never been heard from again. Corrine's mother and stepfather reported her as a missing person two hours after she was last seen.
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A child playing in the park told authorities that he believed he saw Corrine speaking with an unidentified man during the evening. The boy said that he saw a girl matching her description petting the man's dog. It has never been verified that the girl was in fact Corrine.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Authorities viewed Corrine's family's friend Robert Guevara as the main suspect in her disappearance from the onset of their investigation. Guevara often stayed overnight at the family's home at their invitation when he was intoxicated. Witnesses told authorities that Guevara often slept in the same bed as Corrine. Corrine's mother, Mona Williams, stated her daughter had accused Guevara of molesting her on the day of her disappearance. Williams did not tell the police about this until several days after the child disappeared; she claimed she had forgotten about the incident until then. Guevara was at Corrine's home the day she was reported as a missing child, and police dogs tracked her scent to his home after her disappearance. He was charged with her kidnapping, rape and murder on June 5, 1992, four days after Corrine disappeared.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Authorities discovered a dress identical to the garment Corrine was last seen wearing and a pair of girl's underpants inside Guevara's locker. The items of clothing had been stained with blood and semen. Bloodstains were also discovered on a shower curtain inside Guevara's trailer. DNA testing showed that the fluids could have come from both Corrine and Guevara. Defense witnesses argued at Guevara's trial that his locker and trailer were not secured and that the evidence could have been planted by unknown person(s) in order to frame Guevara for Corrine's disappearance.<br /><br />Guevara's attorneys theorized that Williams wanted to sell her daughter or arrange for her kidnapping to collect the anticipated ransom. Corrine's home life was troubled. Her family moved frequently, their only income came from welfare payments, and Williams had been treated for cocaine abuse and emotional problems. Minnesota law did not allow full usage of DNA evidence at trials in 1992; the law has since been revised. As a result, Guevara was acquitted of all charges in connection with Corrine's case. He has continued to maintain his innocence throughout the years.<br /><br />Corrine's case remains unsolved, although she was declared legally dead in 1994. She has never been located.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><font color="#cc0000" size="4"><b><i><u>Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance</u></i></b></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><b><br /></b></span><b><span style="color: red;">Missing Since:</span></b> June 1, 1992 from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota <br /><b><span style="color: red;">Classification:</span></b> Non-Family Abduction <br /><b><span style="color: red;">Date Of Birth:</span></b> February 17, 1987 <br /><span style="color: red;"><b>Age:</b></span> 5 years old <br /><b><span style="color: red;">Height and Weight:</span></b> 3'2, 40 pounds <br /><span style="color: red;"><b>Distinguishing Characteristics:</b></span> Brown hair, brown eyes. Erstad has scars on her forehead, lip, left ring finger and near her left eye. <br /><b><span style="color: red;">Clothing Description:</span></b> A white sundress imprinted with watermelon designs.</span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><u>Man arrested in kidnapping of missing 5-year-old girl</u></font></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><font size="2">INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn.</font> </b>-- A 24-year-old friend of the family was arrested Friday in </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the kidnapping of a missing 5-year-old girl. </span><span style="text-align: center;">Robert Guevara of Oakdale was arrested Friday morning as he was driving about 70 miles north </span><span style="text-align: center;">of Minneapolis. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Guevara earlier in the morning when they </span><span style="text-align: center;">found blood- stained clothing belonging to Corrine Erstad in a suburban rental locker registered to </span><span style="text-align: center;">him. The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also found what appeared to be human blood on the </span><span style="text-align: center;">seat of a van belonging to Guevara. Corrine has been missing since Monday when she failed to return from a park a few yards from her home. Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Stanley Troyer refused to speculate on whether the youngster still was alive but said the investigation would continue until the girl is found. Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said Guevara would be charged with kidnapping and depriving another of parental rights. </span><span style="text-align: center;">Authorities said Guevara is a long-time friend of Corrine's mother, Mona Williams. The criminal </span><span style="text-align: center;">complaint said Guevara was at the Williams home on the night the girl disappeared and left shortly after the girl went out to play. The complaint said Guevara was intoxicated and had established a pattern of sleeping in the family's basement on nights when he was too drunk to drive home. The complaint also said that on several of these occasions he got into bed with the 5-year-old girl. </span><span style="text-align: center;">Police had initially ruled out family members and friends as suspects and concentrated instead on </span><span style="text-align: center;">reports from playmates that Corrine was seen talking to a stranger in the park. On Thursday, they began questioning family members and friends. Guevara was interviewed, but he denied any knowledge of the disappearance. Guevara's car was spotted by a Minnesota State Highway Patrol officer northbound on Interstate 35 near Hinckley and the suspect was arrested without incident. A woman traveling with him was also taken in for questioning. Guevara was expected to appear in Dakota County District Court Saturday. </span></div></blockquote><div><p></p>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><u>Dead? Missing? Victims’ families cope in different ways.</u></font></span></b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Corrine Erstad, 5, never had a funeral. The girl was kidnapped from Inver Grove Heights in 1992 </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">and hasn’t been found, but a man was charged with her murder. “There was nobody to put anywhere,” her father, Jim Erstad, said this week. “She was cleverly disposed of where no one could find her.” </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">When a loved one is missing and law enforcement arrests or charges someone in the case, families </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">cope in different ways. For some, without a body discovered, it’s hard to give up hope their </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">relative will be found alive. Others move forward but are missing many answers. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This nightmare has played out in the past week for the family and friends of Kira Trevino, 30, of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">St. Paul. Her husband, Jeffery Trevino, reported her missing Sunday, Feb. 24, but prosecutors </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">charged him Thursday with her murder. Police said Friday, March 1, that they were seeking help </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">to find her body and had established a tip line. </span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">“In general terms, when they talk about the stages of grief, one stage is acceptance, but how can a </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">family accept a loss when there’s still so many unanswered questions?” said Alison Feigh, Jacob </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">Wetterling Resource Center program coordinator. “Some families don’t want to accept the loss </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">because what if this person is recovered or comes back? It’s a very complicated place to be.” </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">There’s no such thing as a “normal” response to trauma, Feigh said. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">In the Trevino case, police concluded Kira was dead because they found so much blood in the </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">couple’s Payne-Phalen home and because it was unlike her to disappear without warning, the </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">criminal complaint said. After Trevino’s arrest, Kira’s sister, Keri Anne Steger, said she and other relatives were still hopeful she would be found alive. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">On Thursday, the day Jeffery Trevino, 39, was charged, Steger, of Wausau, Wis., said her family </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">wants to find her sister’s body. “It’s inconceivable to think me and my family will never see her again,” she told the Wausau Daily Herald. A vigil to pray for Kira Trevino to be found was held near Wausau on Friday. The Rev. Aaron Winowiski, pastor at New Day Christian Church in Weston, Wis., said he has officiated at tragic funerals, but the circumstances of the Kira Trevino case are unique. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">“It’s unnerving to be in a situation where we don’t know exactly what happened and all we know </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">is something is very, very wrong,” Winowiski said.</span></div></span></div></blockquote><div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><font color="#d52c1f"><u>‘TOUGH TO SAY GOODBYE’</u></font></span></b></div></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Katie Poirier, 19, was abducted May 26, 1999, from the Moose Lake, Minn., convenience </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">store where she worked, the search for her lasted more than 100 days, even after Donald Blom </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">had been charged with kidnapping her. “We held out hope; you have to,” Patrick Poirier, Katie’s brother, said Friday. “You’d wake up, search, come home, and hopefully you could get a couple hours of sleep. You got up and searched, and did this over and over. There was no break.” </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blom confessed Sept. 8, 1999, that he had kidnapped and killed Katie Poirier. </span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The only remains </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">found were a tooth and bone fragments in a fire pit on Blom’s rural Carlton County property. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Katie Poirier’s memorial service was Sept. 18, 1999. “We really didn’t have a body to say goodbye to,” her brother said. “People in my situation, Ms. Trevino’s family, they’re going to hate the word ‘closure’ because there never is any when you lose a loved one in a tragedy like this. It’s really tough to say goodbye at first, but you have to bring yourself to accept it.” </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">Still, Poirier said he thinks of his younger sister, his only sibling, every day and sees her in his </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">young daughters. He marked what would have been her 33rd birthday Thursday. Blom, of Richfield, was sentenced to life in prison. Poirier’s remains had been stored in an evidence room and couldn’t be released to her family until Blom had exhausted his appeals in 2004. Katie Poirier’s mother keeps the remains in a wooden box on her dresser, Patrick Poirier said. When Pam Poirier dies, she will be cremated and buried with Katie’s remains, something that’s “extremely important to her,” Patrick Poirier said.</span></div></span></div></blockquote><div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><font color="#cc0000"><i><u>‘SHE’D WANT US TO CARRY ON’</u></i></font></span></b></div></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Corrine Erstad had been missing four days when Robert Guevara, a family friend, was arrested. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He was first charged with kidnapping the girl. The girl hadn’t turned up in searches, and her mother, Mona Williams, wrote a letter to Guevara in jail after she’d been missing for three weeks: “The minutes, hours and days spent waiting and praying seem like an eternity. … Our only hopes are that you know where she is and that she is OK. But if she is dead she deserves a proper funeral and good-bye. Not knowing if she is dead or alive is worse than death.”</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aJgb-eMq5RJL2RNiO1aF05-59WL9RR0i-sJfvbmU3J8rfPVxGnP-B7sjzNncjxdboL-Q5q5ZM_xYBOVQXXwBkrY6EzoaJ9ig1-m93xA-co71NFCIXiE6K4BAL_gZGrHDbGJKnJQUG-_W/s1600/gdf.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aJgb-eMq5RJL2RNiO1aF05-59WL9RR0i-sJfvbmU3J8rfPVxGnP-B7sjzNncjxdboL-Q5q5ZM_xYBOVQXXwBkrY6EzoaJ9ig1-m93xA-co71NFCIXiE6K4BAL_gZGrHDbGJKnJQUG-_W/w403-h227/gdf.jpg" width="403" /></span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guevara was tried on kidnapping, rape and first-degree murder charges; he was acquitted of all</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">counts. Although Corrine wasn’t found, her father came to see “more and more” that she was gone. “I had to just kind of face that’s what happened,” Jim Erstad said. “There was no closure. It helps to me know that she (Corrine) wouldn’t want me to suffer too much. She’d want me to be concerned, but she wouldn’t want me to be lost in grief. Some people would be crippled too much by such a thing, but she wouldn’t want that to happen to us. She’d want us to carry on.” Erstad said that without the body of Corrine, who would be 26 now, he didn’t feel a funeral was needed. “I figured if she was gone, she was gone,” he said. “Whatever happens to a spirit when they leave a body happened to her. We loved her and honored her because she was who she was.”</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at 651-228-5262. Follow her at twitter.com/MaraGottfried or</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">twitter.com/ppUsualSuspects.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><font color="#cc0000" size="5"><u><i>Brother of suspect in Corrine Erstad’s 1992 disappearance arrested in separate case</i></u></font></span></b></div></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.twincities.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/jerry-guevara-jr.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://www.twincities.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/jerry-guevara-jr.jpg" width="188" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><font size="2">Jerry Guevara Jr., 52</font></span></td></tr>
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</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white; line-height: 115%;">The brother of a man formerly accused of kidnapping and murdering a 5-year-old girl from Inver </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Grove Heights more than 25 years ago faces criminal charges for sexually assaulting a minor. </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Jerry Guevara Jr. was charged in Washington County District Court with two counts of third-degree</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">criminal sexual conduct this week for fathering two children with a girl he had authority </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">over.</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white; line-height: 115%;">Jerry Guevara Jr., 52, is the older brother of Robert Joseph Guevara, 49. Robert Guevara was tried and acquitted in the 1992 abduction and murder of Corrine Erstad. The little girl’s body was never found and police are still investigating what happened to her. Despite the acquittal, investigators still believe Robert Guevara was involved in her disappearance, said Lt. Joshua Otis of the Inver Grove Heights police department. They are hopeful that Jerry Guevara’s arrest Thursday on unrelated charges could lead to new insight into the cold case.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">“It allows us the opportunity to talk to Jerry about our investigation into (Corrine),” Otis said. “I </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">wouldn’t call it a crack in the case yet because we don’t know what he’ll say … but we want to </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">see if he can provide any information to us about some of the questions we still have about what happened.” A family member of Jerry Guevara disputed the charges facing him and accusing authorities of trying to “set him up.”</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Corrine Erstad vanished from outside her Inver Grove Heights home on June 1, 1992.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Police found the little girl’s dress inside Robert Guevara’s storage locker in the days after her</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">disappearance. It was stained with blood and semen. Robert Guevara was a longtime family friend</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">of Corrine Erstad’s parents.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Robert Guevara’s defense argued during the trial that the clothing could have been planted to</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">frame him.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">A search warrant, filed in recent months related to the allegations Jerry Guevara now faces, stated</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">that issues over DNA evidence from Corrine Erstad’s case was likely the “main concern” jurors</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">had with delivering a guilty verdict against Robert Guevara, the affidavit said. </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Jerry Guevara also was arrested in the days after Corrine Erstad’s disappearance, on suspicion of </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">aiding and abetting his brother, but was released from custody without charges.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">In the decades since Robert Guevara’s acquittal, tips about the young girl continue to come to the</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Inver Grove Heights police department, Otis said.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">It was investigators’ follow-up on one such tip that led to Jerry Guevara’s recent arrest. </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Police had heard from bondsmen searching for a fugitive at a home in Stearns County that a 31- </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">year-old woman was discovered there who appeared to match an age progression photo of Corrine</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Erstad, according to the criminal complaint recently filed in Washington County. </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">She was living in the home with Jerry Guevara, along with several children found in “various </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">stages of undress,” the complaint said.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">The residence was reportedly in “disarray” and smelled of “feces and urine.” There was little </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">clothing or food for the children, the complaint said.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Police confirmed that the woman was not Corrine Erstad, who investigators still believe is dead,</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Otis said. But a subsequent investigation into findings in the home uncovered additional</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">information that suggested Jerry Guevara’s involvement in other, unrelated criminal activity, the</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">complaint said.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Jerry Guevara is accused of having two of the nine children he has with the woman while she was</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">still underage. The first was allegedly conceived while the woman was 16 and he was 37. She was</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">reportedly 17 when the second was conceived.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">During an interview with police, the woman told investigators she has been in a romantic</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">relationship with Jerry Guevara for more than a decade and that the two are engaged.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">He was arrested Thursday at his father’s Woodbury home. Charges were filed against him in both</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Washington and Olmsted counties, where authorities believe the criminal sexual conduct took</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">place, Otis said.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">He added that investigators are well aware that even if Jerry Guevara does end up offering them </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">information that verifies his brother’s culpability in Erstad’s death, Robert Guevara can’t be</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">charged by Minnesota authorities again with her murder because of double-jeopardy laws. </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">A criminal conviction in the case is not his agency’s ultimate goal, he said.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">“Our primary goal is to find Corrine,” Otis said. “Kind of like the Jacob Wetterling case. They</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">wanted to find Jacob, I think our main goal is to find Corrine and to give the police department and</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">her family some sort of closure.” </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said the allegations facing Jerry Guevara are “egregious”</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">and “beyond immoral” and that it’s too early to see if he was willing to consider lesser charges</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">against him in exchange for information about Corrine.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">“Right now I would have to evaluate the information. I don’t want to make any commitment that </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">if you give me X, I’ll give you Y. It’s way too speculative right now.”</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Jim Erstad, Corrine’s father, said it’s too soon to say whether Jerry Guevara’s arrest could crack</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">back open his daughter’s long-unsolved case.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">“We’re in a situation where it’s possible, but I don’t know what will happen,” Jim Erstad said.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">“I’ve got to wait and see.” </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">An employee at the Washington County public defender’s office said Jerry Guevara had applied </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">for a public defender at his first appearance Friday but that one had yet to be appointed. </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">His father, Jerry Guevara Sr., said the allegations against his son stem from events more than a </span><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">decade ago and referred to the case pending against him as a set-up.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; background: white;">“This is all bulls—. They made the thing up,” Jerry Guevara Sr. said. “What happened is, what, 16</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">years ago? But the thing is it was resolved and there is obviously a statute of limitation and other</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">stuff. … They are just trying to set him up.”</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">No phone number could be found for Robert Guevara.</span> <span style="background-color: white; background: white;">Jerry Guevara’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 2.</span></span></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span><font color="#cc0000" size="5"><i><u>Dakota County beat: Legacy of Guevara trial still resonates</u></i></font></span></b></div></span></b></span>
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</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Twenty years ago next week, Robert Guevara was acquitted in a Dakota County courtroom of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">kidnapping, raping and murdering 5-year-old Corrine Erstad, who disappeared out the front door </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">of her Inver Grove Heights home on June 1, 1992, and was never seen alive again. The case has haunted Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom, who prosecuted it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Corrine’s body has never been found. Her story has been back in the news recently as searchers </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">hunt for the body of Kira Trevino, a missing 30-year-old St. Paul woman whose husband, Jeffery </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trevino, has been charged with her apparent murder. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Guevara trial changed a lot of lives. Neither Mona Williams, Corrine’s mother, nor Guevara </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">responded to recent requests for interviews.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0ApsCTvkrW8QPd71rJZ1ExRY7mNIR_eUjvcJ6KoMG1PLD5xMkeoyc-yzIzehj7Z774wp5KnFSsVFF_pQ-Vb5ZDEtoSSMn2PGsxQGnaM5Se9ekUSGgXchzbWfYXAj738ntj1z8ksdkp_f/s1600/hdfr.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0ApsCTvkrW8QPd71rJZ1ExRY7mNIR_eUjvcJ6KoMG1PLD5xMkeoyc-yzIzehj7Z774wp5KnFSsVFF_pQ-Vb5ZDEtoSSMn2PGsxQGnaM5Se9ekUSGgXchzbWfYXAj738ntj1z8ksdkp_f/w430-h286/hdfr.jpg" width="430" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Backstrom still keeps a framed photo of Corrine next to his desk in his office. “It’s a terrible tragedy that I was not able to obtain justice for the victim’s family,” he said. “That’s something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. There’s not too many days that I don’t think of this case.” But, he said, “It’s made me a better prosecutor. I think it’s helped me seek justice in other cases down the road.” Corrine’s blood-stained sundress, a shower curtain stained with blood and semen, and numerous other pieces of evidence were seized from Guevara’s storage locker and found to be consistent </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">with the DNA of the victim and the defendant.</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">But, at the time, Minnesota didn’t allow prosecutors to argue that statistically it was almost </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">impossible for the DNA to have come from anyone else. Not long after the trial, that was changed. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Defense attorney J. Anthony Torres, who evolved from an unknown lawyer to one of the Twin </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cities’ most notable criminal defense attorneys, called the case “the defining moment” in his </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">career. He believes the verdicts would be the same today.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The case ultimately became about the credibility of the state’s witnesses, Torres said. The </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">scientific evidence, too, “was open to some interpretation and [jurors] followed the law.”</span></div></blockquote><div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Pat Pheifer • 952-746-3284</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-57511038142070417232021-05-14T20:43:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:51:38.349-08:00Brandon Victor Swanson: Missing Since May 14, 2008<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqRkug96TvPWBSAi_5Juopa7WqvDH9esHyUCRZqhicGIZ8BEwvqxhrN6Fv-hhCowXG-TJCQ2q4Ms2xqZBkAQMFItgbeWTrT9w-VDy2cSONJgEhJaadBFxigMXc0Tt6jBLMChCTQhSgZvA/s1600/5185DMMN_LARGE.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqRkug96TvPWBSAi_5Juopa7WqvDH9esHyUCRZqhicGIZ8BEwvqxhrN6Fv-hhCowXG-TJCQ2q4Ms2xqZBkAQMFItgbeWTrT9w-VDy2cSONJgEhJaadBFxigMXc0Tt6jBLMChCTQhSgZvA/s200/5185DMMN_LARGE.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brandon was last seen in Canby, MN visiting friends. He was returning home after a party, on his way home to Marshall his car became stuck in a ditch. Brandon called his parents requesting their assistance to pull his car out of the ditch. Brandon reported that he was between Marshall and Lynd. His parents left home to provide assistance and kept in phone contact with Brandon. His parents were unable to locate him but remained in contact while he attempted to describe his location - continuing to believe he was between Marshall and Lynd.</span><a name='more'></a>Becoming frustrated Brandon stated he would walk to Lynd and remained on the phone with his Dad while he walked. The 47 minute phone conversation ended abruptly with Brandon stating "another damn fence and shortly thereafter "Oh, s--t!". Contact with Brandon could not be reestablished and he has not been seen or heard from since.<div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />In the afternoon of May 14, 2008 Brandon's car was located in the ditch on the Lincoln Lyon Road near Taunton, MN. not anywhere near where he told his parents he thought he was. His parents believe he became confused wandering around in the dark. Authorities originally suspected Brandon Swanson had fallen into the Yellow Medicine River but later concentrated on an area near Mud Creek, a few miles northwest of Porter.<br /><br />Brandon graduated from Marshall High School in 2007 and spent a year studying wind energy at Minnesota West Community College in Canby, about 170 miles west of St. Paul. Officials say there is no evidence of foul play. There also is no indication Brandon staged his own disappearance, and his mother said the family doesn’t believe he would do such a thing. A year after Brandon Swanson disappeared in 2008, the Minnesota Legislature passed Brandon’s Law, requiring authorities to respond more aggressively to cases of missing adults up to age 21 and of older adults who disappear under suspicious circumstances.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><font color="#d52c1f">http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/5185dmmn.html</font></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Missing Minnesotans: Brandon Swanson</span></u></i></b></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span style="font-size: xx-small;">February 20, 2018 02:24 PM</span></u></i></b></div></b></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Jacob Wetterling case came to a sad conclusion this past November with the sentencing of his killer 27 years after Jacob was abducted. Since then, KSTP has been working with families to raise awareness about other young people who are missing. Monday is Brandon Swanson's 28th birthday. He disappeared outside of Marshall when he was 19. It's believed he died of exposure. Brandon's family played a big role in changing state law to make law enforcement more responsive to reports of missing people. The search for Brandon is unprecedented and still active.Annette Swanson smiles when she looks at pictures of her son Brandon. “He loved his car, he loved to drive,” said Annette Swanson. In May of 2008, the night before he was to graduate from technical school, the 19 year old went out celebrating with friends in Canby, Minnesota. Around 1 a.m., he headed home to Marshall, about 30 miles away on Highway 68. “We know that he was on gravel roads,” said Annette Swanson. “Why was he on gravel roads? We don't know." "It's a straight shot down Highway 68,” said Search Manager Jeff Hasse with Midwest Technical Rescue Training. "But he wasn't on it. He took back roads on the way home." Hasse says Brandon hasn't been seen since.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVrm7nief6C-TXrjyioFLBHtRecZMouT-ohcJpM-Xf6p301sBOdFCt-hh3zy8O8EbX84bhKdUQoq2LqEOrjKuuSMqF__I2dkSDUhO2ev3pQpiR_08g_XC9gMu4-gde1H_EdkcLIPd2l_8/s1600/unnamed+%25281%2529.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="171" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVrm7nief6C-TXrjyioFLBHtRecZMouT-ohcJpM-Xf6p301sBOdFCt-hh3zy8O8EbX84bhKdUQoq2LqEOrjKuuSMqF__I2dkSDUhO2ev3pQpiR_08g_XC9gMu4-gde1H_EdkcLIPd2l_8/s320/unnamed+%25281%2529.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"We believe that he got disoriented,” said Hasse. “And at one point, we know for a fact, he ended up traveling on a field road between two fields." He says Brandon got stuck and called his parents. "When he initially called them he said I am between Marshall and Lynd, come get me,” said Hasse. But Annette says her son was actually in a completely different place than he was telling them. "He was relaying to us he was near Lynd, Minnesota," said Annette Swanson. Lynd, where Brandon thought he was, is southwest of Marshall. He was really outside of Porter, which is northwest of Marshall, more than 20 miles away. Brandon started walking. Annette says he was on the phone with his folks the whole time. "It sounded like the phone fell,” said Annette Swanson. “And as it fell, we could hear him say oh! What did that mean? Did he fall into a ditch? Did he fall into the river? We don't know."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At 6 a.m., Annette and her husband Brian called police. "I couldn't breathe, I was nauseous, and I think that was just my motherly instincts telling me he's gone," said Annette Swanson. It was the beginning of what Hasse calls the most well-documented and detailed search ever conducted. Hasse points to a map showing where Brandon’s car was found. “Right on the border between Lincoln, Yellow Medicine and Lyon counties,” said Hasse. “But no phone has ever been located." KSTP was there in May of 2008 as several agencies looked for Brandon. Eventually, Hasse was called to manage the search. He brought in expert handlers with trailing dogs. Days of looking turned into weeks, then months and now years. "The search area is always bigger than you suspect it,” Hasse. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"You know what we're doing with Brandon's situation” says Annette Swanson. “It's all based on science. It's all documented and backed up by science, it's there and it's real." Since 2008, Hasse and other volunteers have spent tens of thousands of hours, walking thousands of miles through farm fields, ditches and rivers, all in a 120 square mile area. They've performed 1,900 K-9 missions, using 45 highly-trained dogs, led by 35 handlers from nine states. They use GPS technology to track the dogs and handlers, which provides great detail of where they’ve searched. They broke down the search area into smaller segments and kept meticulous records. "I believe he fell, got wet, cell phone went dead,” said Hasse. “I think he continued walking. It was cold. It got down to 39 degrees."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Eventually, the dogs pointed them to farm fields north of Porter. "So we've got huge amounts of scent in here,” said Hasse as he points at a map. “More than I've ever seen in any other search. So we are really confident that he's somewhere in this watershed. We just can't get that final point." The farm fields where Hasse believes Brandon is are on Highway 68 between Canby and Porter, six miles from where his car was found. He was cold and wet and actually walking in the opposite direction of his home and where his parents were looking for him. "But I believe all our physical clues are probably located within a 15 foot radius,” said Hasse. “Once we hit one clue we'll have it solved. There are 206 bones in the body. We only need one." Annette describes what it’s like when you have a loved one who is missing. "When you have lost somebody but you have no answers, there's no knowing where they are or even what happened to them,” said Annette Swanson. “Your brain is in a constant state of trying to figure it out, but you don't have anything to go on. It's searching. It's searching for answers, it's searching for where, who, what, </span>where<span style="font-family: inherit;">, when, why? And you can't find it." "Search management is a real soul-sucking job,” said Hasse. "And when one goes as long as this, you know the family has put their hopes on your shoulders. And that gets to be a pretty hard burden. I told the family early on that we will continue searching as long as we have clues to follow up on."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The search for Brandon Swanson will resume this spring if they can get resources together and permission from land owners. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Annette Swanson says the best thing the public can do to help families with missing loved ones is to support volunteer civilian groups that do long term searches. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Search, Rescue and Recovery Resources of Minnesota is a source of information about a wide variety of established organizations that exist to provide search, rescue and recovery services. </span><a href="http://www.srrrmn.org/" style="font-family: inherit;">You can find out more information here</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">One positive thing that came out of Brandon's disappearance is "Brandon's Law." </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Annette and Brian Swanson were there when it was signed by the Governor in 2009. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It requires police to take a report whenever a person, of any age, is reported missing in Minnesota. An investigation must also be done to determine what that person's status is. And the law makes it clear who has jurisdiction. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Annette says that was a problem in Brandon's case because his car was found right where three counties come together. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"When it's not clear as to the last know place where the person was seen, or for any other reason jurisdiction is in question, the county where the person was last known to reside has jurisdiction," said Annette Swanson.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are resources available to provide assistance to families with missing loved ones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><font color="#d52c1f"><font><a href="https://kstp.com/news/kevin-doran/4182254/?cat=13036">Kevin Doran</a> </font>Updated: February 20, 2018 02:24 PM</font></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><i><u><b>The search for Brandon Swanson continues seven years later...</b></u></i></span></div>
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It’s been seven years since Annette Swanson last saw her son. She still doesn’t know why.<br /><br />In the wee hours of May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson was driving home from a friend’s house in Canby, Minnesota. The Marshall teen’s car veered into a ditch and got stuck, so he rang his folks for help and they hopped in their truck to come meet him.<br /><br />Brandon said he was near the town of Lynd, though his car was later found in the opposite direction, near the border of Lincoln and Lyon counties. The 19-year-old stayed on the phone with his parents for 47 minutes as they tried in vain to find him. Growing frustrated, he decided to walk back to his friend’s house, staying on the line. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“His dad was on the phone with him,” Annette recalls, “and [Brandon] said ‘oh shit,’ and that was the end of the conversation.” Years of chased leads, countless man hours, and a wellspring of hope have failed to reveal what became of Brandon after that call ended.<br /><br />“They call it ambiguous loss,” Annette clinically begins. “It’s that state of having a loss in your life — in our case it’s the loss of our son — without knowing what happened. It’s extremely challenging. It’s really hard to grapple with and to come to terms with. I think for Brandon’s father and I, and for his sister, we’ve kind of figured out how to live in that gray area. But it’s really not someplace you want to live.”<br /><br />That’s why the search for Brandon resumes Saturday. Really, it never stopped, Annette says, although they occasionally need to “press the pause button.” Much of the targeted area is farmland and searchers can only access it during certain times of the year, like after the fall harvest. Ken Anderson, founder of Emergency Support Services, has helped lead the search efforts since 2008. His volunteer organization works underneath the county sheriff’s office and the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The windy prairie, coupled with the fact that Brandon could have walked more than six miles from his car in any direction, make this search especially difficult, he says.<br /><br />Year after year, once the snow melts across western Minnesota, canines continue to pick up a scent — possibly Brandon’s — which serves as a beacon. “As long as that scent is still there we have something to work with,” Anderson says. Authorities initially thought Brandon may have fallen into the Yellow Medicine River. However, search efforts later moved toward Mud Creek near Porter, Minnesota. Although occasional tips still trickle in, they reportedly haven't uncovered any new information about Brandon's disappearance. Anderson would not discuss how many people are involved with the search, but Annette says the amount of support the family has received from strangers and volunteers is “overwhelming.” “Honestly, to think that Brandon is still in their minds after all these years — of course he’s in ours — it’s almost hard to fathom,” she says.<br /><br />While Annette remains hopeful her family can one day “bring him home,” the Swansons intentionally aren’t as involved in the search efforts as they once were. Anderson still feeds them updates, though Annette has asked to be kept on more of a need-to-know basis. “Maybe that sounds odd or takes people aback, but there was a time we were really hands on,” she explains. “It really takes a toll on you mentally and emotionally, and we really want to be able to put energy into our family.” This weekend the Swansons are heading to Waseca where their daughter lives with her husband and kids. The trip was already planned, but Annette admits quality grandbaby time is a welcomed distraction as crews traverse the fields looking for a trace of her son. Not a day goes by she doesn’t think about her missing boy, who she remembers fondly as the family’s devil’s advocate, always up for a debate. It was a long journey, learning to exist in that answerless “gray area,” she says. But Annette still wonders what happened the night her son vanished. “There’s something about the not knowing part,” she says. “There’s a part of you where your brain can really come to a place where I think I know that Brandon’s not alive, but you don’t know until you know. The one thing as humans we search for are definitive answers to be able to make sense of things. And that’s something that we don’t have.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.citypages.com/news/the-search-for-brandon-swanson-continues-seven-years-later-7756908</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>The Disappearance of Brandon Swanson.</u></i></b></span></div>
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According to official statistics, in the US alone 2,300 people go missing every day.</div>
<div>Around 91% of all cases are closed within 48 hours, and 99% of cases are solved completely within one year.</div>
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This of course leaves 1% of cases that aren’t solved. The case of Brandon Victor Swanson is one of them.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>The Disappearance</u></i></b></span></div>
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Nineteen year old Brandon Swanson lived in Marshall, Minnesota with his parents. On the night of 14 May 2008, after celebrating the last day of college classes with a friend, he was driving home along a gravel road, and somehow crashed his car into a ditch.</div>
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Unable to move it himself and get back onto the road, he called home at some time after midnight and asked his parents to pick him up near Lynd, a small town Southwest of Marshall. His parents left the house and began driving to pick up Brandon, at the same time speaking with him on his mobile phone to determine exactly where he was.</div>
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After getting to the location which he had described, they started flashing the car’s headlights so that Brandon could start walking towards them. Brandon told them he couldn’t see the lights at all, so he got back into his car and started flashing his own headlights in the hope that maybe they would see him. His parents said that they couldn’t anything either.</div>
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Both sides got increasingly frustrated, and Brandon eventually said that he was going to start walking towards the town of Lynd, to a friend’s house. He said that he knew which direction to head in as he could see what looked like the lights of a town. His father dropped Brandon’s mother back at home, then began driving again to find his son.</div>
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At around 2am Brandon and his father were on the phone to each other, with Brandon desperately trying to direct his father to where he was, and Brandon’s father equally desperately trying to locate his son. Forty-seven minutes into the phone call, Brandon suddenly exclaimed, ‘Oh shit!’ and the line went dead. And that was the last time anybody heard anything from Brandon Swanson. His dad tried calling back a number of times, but Brandon never picked up his phone. His frantic parents continued the search but were unable to find him. A few hours later – at around 6.30am – they notified the police.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><u>The Aftermath</u></b></span></div>
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Since that day more than five hundred volunteers have spent over one hundred and twenty days looking for Brandon – or any evidence pointing to where he could be – covering over one hundred square miles in the process. This has included over thirty dog handlers from nine different states.</div>
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The result? No evidence. No clues. Nothing.</div>
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The only thing that has ever been found is Brandon’s car, which was discovered around twenty miles away from where he told his parents he thought he crashed.</div>
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The authorities say that there is neither any evidence of foul play, nor any evidence that Brandon would have staged his own disappearance. They have also said that they do not believe there was any evidence that he was intoxicated or ‘impaired’ in any way. (And if he was drunk for instance, then it’s likely that his parents would have picked up on this over the phone). The authorities received over seventy-five tips about Brandon, but none have borne any information that has led anywhere near to finding him. The last official search was conducted in October 2011, and age-progressed photos have also been distributed in the hope that somebody may recognize him.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><u>The Theories</u></b></span></div>
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As a crime writer I find this case fascinating and disturbing, and I have looked at countless theories around what happened that night. The most prevalent theory is that Brandon must have fallen into a river or creek – possibly the Yellow Medicine River – which is fifteen feet at its deepest point, and would have been running incredibly fast at the time he disappeared. The problem with this theory however, is that there would be some trace if he had fallen in, and so far nothing has been found at any point of the river.</div>
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A number of other theories have been considered, including the idea that Brandon might have hidden in an abandoned structure to escape the cold and then succumbed to hypothermia, or that he was attacked by an animal and taken away. Yet again, the main problem with these theories is that of evidence – or, more specifically, the big fat lack of it. If for instance he did hide in a structure, then surely it would’ve been found by now? Not to mention the fact that an animal attacking, fatally wounding and then dragging a person away would leave a huge amount of evidence behind.</div>
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Yet more theories are that Brandon was either hit by a car or picked up by an apparently helpful driver who turned out to have a malicious intent. These theories have major flaws, however; if a person has time to register danger, swear down the phone and then end a phone call, surely they would have time to get out of the way of an oncoming vehicle? And if he was picked up by someone, surely he would tell his dad, who he was on the phone with at the time?</div>
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Also, if someone had just offered to give him a lift home, why would he swear at all?</div>
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On the subject of the phone call, a huge question here is why the phone call was ended. If something dangerous was imminent, it seems unlikely that Brandon would actually hang up the phone. He would be more likely to drop the phone, and his parents would then hear anything that was going on (such as a struggle, or the whooshing of the river, or the impact of a car). But instead somebody pushed ‘end’ on the phone. As has been asked so many times in this case- why?</div>
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An answer might be that Brandon dropped the phone, causing the battery to fall out and so ending the call that way. However, Brandon’s dad said that after the call ended, he kept trying to call Brandon but that he wasn’t picking up the call, which means the phone was in working condition but not being answered.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>No Trace</u></span></b></div>
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At time of writing – six years later – there is still no evidence or even a trace indicating what happened. In spite of all the searches using state of the art equipment and techniques, and all of the theories and hours of investigations and searches, we are still no closer to knowing what occurred that night, or where Brandon Swanson is now. Just as with the case of Elisa Lam in Los Angeles, there seem to be more questions than answers. Impossible as it may seem, a nineteen year old man seems to have – literally – disappeared without a trace.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><font color="#d52c1f">https://angelomarcos.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/the-disappearance-of-brandon-swanson/</font></span></div>
<div><br /></div><div><font color="#d52c1f">**************************************************************</font></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit"><b style="line-height: 1.15;"><font color="#d52c1f" style="line-height: 1.15;">Brandon was 19, had just finished a year-long program at a local (Canby, MN)</font></b> technical school for wind energy. Brandon was due to graduate from the program on May 14, the day he vanished. He intended to enroll in a 4 year college for a renewable energy program in the fall of 2008.</font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit">He was not a big kid, 5’ 6” tall and 120 lbs soaking wet, but he was a skilled debater, and avid historian. Friends of his stated that you did not want to get into a debate or argument with Brandon, because “you’d lose”. He had a younger sister (17 months) who was attending Marshall High School at the time. Brandon had worked at the local Hy-Vee for the past 4 years, the last two in the bakery department.</font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit">Brandon was blind from birth in his left eye – Congenital Blindness. Which, even though he wore glasses (for the right eye) his depth perception was very poor (especially in the dark).</font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit">Brandon started his evening at a house in Lynd, MN rented by several friends. He was at a small gathering of five people described as a “get together of a few friends.” He consumed an unknown amount of alcohol. One eyewitness stated that the gathering was “low key” and Brandon was not overly intoxicated.</font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div style="line-height: 1.15;"><font face="inherit">Sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 pm, he left the gathering alone and drove to another friend’s house in Canby to say goodbye to a classmate who was moving away the next day. The exact route Brandon used to get from Lynd to Canby is not known, but on average it would have taken him about 40 minutes to get there and the distance was about 32-35 miles. In Google maps, there several possible roads / routes – and at least 3 of them involve major highways. Although given what happened later it is likely that he took one of the back roads and safely made it to the house.</font></div><div><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><u><b><br /></b></u></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><u><b>A couple of notes:</b></u></font></div><div><br /></div><div><font face="inherit">This was 2008 – and even though he had a cell phone, it was a flip phone (Motorola Slvr) with a keypad, not a touch screen and did not have a gps / map system built in.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">The area around Lynd, Canby, and Marshall is flat farmland. Roads with the exception of State Highways (23, 68, and 75) are built primarily on section or township lines and are gravel. Some of those go for a section or two straight as an arrow and then turn into minimum maintenance roads or field roads – depending on the owner / farmer. The only time the road turns is if there is a lake or pond and even then the road may just stop at the nearest section line.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">At the house party in Canby, it was reported that he had an additional shot of whiskey and left at some point between 12: and 12:30 for his home in Marshall driving his green Chevy Lumina.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">Wednesday, May 14, 2008</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">The two-lane Highway 68 is a direct route southeast from Canby to Marshall. Brandon had driven it many times, as this was a direct (and shortest) route for him to get from home to school. However, he doesn’t appear to have taken Highway 68 to get home. It appears that he was driving on gravels roads northeast of the highway to get home. It is believed he was on the gravel roads to avoid detection by law enforcement and a DUI charge. These gravel roads do not parallel the highway, they are at about a 45 degree angle to the highway (running east-west and north-south), so he would have had to make multiple turns in a stair-step fashion to follow the highway’s relative path.</font></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><u>Notes:</u></font></b></div><div><br /></div><div><font face="inherit">It is possible that he was warned or told at the party that police / state patrol were out on highway 68 or 75 doing DUI check points. This has not been verified or confirmed (either that he was told this or that they actually were doing a crackdown on that night). It is also possible that since he drove that road (highway 68) frequently, he knew were and when police were likely to be out.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">While there is substantial evidence Brandon knew the main roads around the area, there is only circumstantial evidence that he knew the back roads and even less that he knew them well.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">A couple of writeups on the web mention that Brandon had a prior arrest for DUI or a Minor in possession and that he had just completed a year’s probation for that offense and a 2nd offense probably would have resulted in possible jail time and or loss of license. Another reddit user was able to pull up the public record - showing Brandon's conviction for DUI / etc... https://i.imgur.com/ZFfKhTl.png</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">It is a fact that he was under age (21 is legal) and drinking. That alone may have been enough incentive for him to wish to avoid the direct but more traveled / patrolled road.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">It is known that he eventually ended up driving west down a minimum maintenance road for a mile. This was a field road between two large crop fields. In 2020 Google Maps, this “road” is still on the map, as a “continuation”of 110th St. The road that he was on takes a sharp left turn and it is very possible that he was distracted, tired, or simply not knowing, he just went straight ahead to the west. He was attempting to turn south (left) back on to a gravel road when he missed the field approach and went into the ditch at low speeds. The ditch bank was shallow but steep there and the frame of the car became hung up, so he was not able to back out or go forward. This occurred at approximately 1:15 a.m. There was no damage to the car and no evidence of injury inside the vehicle.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">Brandon attempted to contact two or three of his friends by cell phone but was unable to reach them, so he called his parents for assistance at 1:54 a.m. Brandon says he is in a ditch between Marshall and Lynd and directs his parents there. There were several calls placed between Brandon and his parents between 1:54 and 2:17 a.m. During one call, he states he is on the left side of the road just off Highway 23 (suggesting from the position his car was found that he was oriented towards the south and was confusing Highway 68 for Highway 23). During this time, Brandon’s parents searched for him by car but were unable to find him.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">There has been considerable speculation as to why Brandon was so disoriented as to his location. His disorientation was likely due to a combination of five factors: 1) fatigue, 2) at least mild intoxication (Remember, his blood alcohol was still rising after he left Canby from that shot of whiskey.), 3) unfamiliar roads (While he had driven Hwy 68 many times, he probably had little reason to drive the gravel roads.), 4) the fact that all the intersections look relatively alike (mostly tilled fields with very few landmarks), 5) possibly simple distraction. These all could have contributed to him not knowing exactly where he was.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">How he came to the conclusion that he was near Lynd is a little more difficult to explain. While we will never know for sure, it is thought that when he realized he had traveled down a minimum maintenance road, he conducted what is known as a transderivational search. He searched his memory for other minimum maintenance roads that he knew and came up with the gravel road which lies along a golf course between Marshall and Lynd with which he was apparently familiar.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">At 2:17a.m., Brandon’s mother calls him. Brandon is clearly becoming impatient and tells her that he is going to walk to Lynd. He directs his parents to meet him at the Lyndwood Tavern in Lynd. At some point in this conversation span, Brandon’s mother begins to get ill and is taken back to their home in Marshall. Brandon’s father drops her off and begins the trip back to Lynd to the tavern.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">At 2:23 a.m., Brandon and his father begin a 47-minute cell phone call. During this call, Brandon indicates that he was walking along a gravel road away from Marshall towards Lynd. At some point, he leaves the road and travels cross-country, stating that he is going to “cut across because it will be quicker than following the road.” He further stated that he had encountered two fence lines and noted that there was water nearby. Shortly after, Brandon exclaims; “Oh s***.” His father believes he hears Brandon’s foot slipping and the phone goes dead. This was at 3:10 a.m. No further contact was made, even after repeated attempts.</font></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><u>Notes:</u></font></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>People have commented that it is odd that Brandon did not know where he was – if you have ever been in a farm area that extends for miles – All the farms / fields / roads look the same after a while – and keep in mind this was early May – so there was not much scenery to begin with.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also people believe that in order to get to where he thought he was, he would have had to have crossed over highway 68 – and would have noticed that – thus knowing he had NOT in fact crossed a major highway, he would have been able to determine that he was in fact NOT near Lynd, but elsewhere. People who are lost or confused as to their location often do strange things – there have been documented cases of missing people walking across major highways and later not recalling that they did in fact cross them.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have Brandon’s own words – “I see the lights of Marshall to the east and highway 23 to the south. “ This itself implies that he believes the closest town to him is Lynd and that he believes that it is to the west of him and is north of the highway he sees.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are reports that in the last moments of the call Brandon says something to the effect of “Damn it – another fence” and his father hears him climbing the fence and then slipping on rocks and then the “oh-shit” and silence. The consistent part is the slipping and the “Oh-Shit”</div><div><br /></div><div>In True Crime Garage – it was incorrectly (at least according to google maps 2020) reported that south of MN68 avenues and streets swapped (avenues running east / west and streets running north / south) to the opposite of what they are North of MN68. This is verified incorrect at least in 2020. Is it possible that the cities changed the naming / numbering schema in 12 years? Maybe, but unlikely.</div><div><br /></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2">Possibilities:</font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2"><br /></font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2">a. Brandon dropped his phone and it broke</font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2"><br /></font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2">b. Brandon dropped his phone and the battery popped out</font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2"><br /></font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2">c. Dropped phone and could not find it in the dark</font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2"><br /></font></b></div><div style="line-height: 1;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="2">d. Dropped phone and it went into river / water or underneath something where he could not get it.</font></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Weather in the early morning hours of May 14th was mostly clear with a light wind (for the area) of 6-9 mph. The temperature at the time of his disappearance was 46° F and dropped to a low of 39° F. The moon was at its third quarter, due west of Brandon’s position, and setting at the time the phone went dead.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u><font color="#d52c1f" size="5">The Search</font></u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Brandon’s parents continue to look for him throughout the night. At 6:30 a.m., they contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office and report him missing. The sheriff at the time, indicated that since Brandon was 19 there was nothing he could do until he had been missing for much longer. The quote that stuck with Brandon’s mother was “he is 19 – he has a right to disappear for a while” After repeated calls to the sheriff and calls to the Lynd police department, and the neighboring Lincoln County Sheriff – wheels were put in motion to get Brandon’s cell phone records.</div><div><br /></div><div>At around noon that day, records where obtained which indicated his last cell phone ping was on a tower 20 miles north east of where Brandon thought he was – on the border of Lincoln and Lynn county. Based on that information, the Lynn county Sheriff sent vehicles looking for Brandon’s car as did the Lincoln County Sheriff. At 12:30 pm on May 14, Brandon’s Green Chevy Lumina was found on the Lynn / Lincoln County line road, high centered (meaning the car’s center section was in contact with the ground but the drive wheels were not) facing southbound, toward US68 on the west (left) side of the road, just as Brandon had described to his parents.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is not a lot of good / solid information about the initial search – other than at some point in the afternoon a Chippewa County K-9 unit is called in and arrives on scene. The police k-9 is not SAR trained and relies on “fear scent” and actual / vegetation tracks to find it’s target. Unfortunately, by the time the dog arrives, the road had been graded and any physical tracks were gone.</div><div><br /></div><div>The sheriff of Lynn county stated at the time – there was nothing unusual or wrong with the car, it was just high centered and there was nothing a single person could have done to get it unstuck. He also said that there were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity at the car.</div><div><br /></div><div>Note: On the the FBI VICaP Missing Person’s page, this is contradicted by the statement that the car was found with its doors “Open” – There is some debate as to a) why is Brandon on the VICaP page – which primarily deals with people believed to be victims of violent crime? And b) what is exactly meant by open? (Many Minnesotan’s use open to mean unlocked and not physically “open”)</div><div><br /></div><div>It is also (wrongly) believed that on the Nancy Grace show it was stated that a pipe was found in Brandon’s car. This is incorrect. I have looked through both the transcript and the sheriff’s statements and a pipe is NEVER mentioned. I believe this is the result of people confusing the two Brandon’s – Swanson (MN) and Lawson (TX).</div><div><br /></div><div><b><font color="#d52c1f">Thursday, May 15, 2008</font></b></div><div><br /></div><div>By 11:00 a.m., members of the Codington County Search Dive & Rescue team arrived at the request of the Lyon County Sheriff. The dive team conducted an extensive search of the North Branch of the Yellow Medicine River looking for Brandon and was unable to find anything in the river.</div><div><br /></div><div>While initial attempts at obtaining a direction of travel using trailing dogs failed, once they switched to another scent article, one of the dogs was able to pick up a trail. From Brandon’s vehicle, it traveled ½ mile south then turned west onto 390th St. where it continued for a mile. There, the trail turned north onto Co. Rd. 16. The trail continued north for ½ mile then turned west onto the driveway of an abandoned farm. It continued west for approximately ¼ of a mile and then left the driveway and roughly followed the course of the Yellow Medicine River heading northwest. At one point the bloodhound jumped into the Yellow Medicine River and then exited it. The handler interpreted this behavior as possibly indicating that Brandon might have fallen into the river at that point. However, the trail continued past this point to a drainage, where it continued north towards the gravel road forming the boundary between Lincoln and Yellow Medicine Counties. The dog was unable to trail any further.</div><div><br /></div><div>This trail is consistent with Brandon’s 47-minute cell phone conversation with his father. We know he traveled along gravel roads for most of the conversation. He then left the road and traveled cross-country at the driveway. He mentioned two fence lines, which are in the area. The terrain near the river is wooded, uneven, and has many animal dens. And the moon was setting during the conversation, leaving him with only starlight to navigate by. Finally, the average person walks between 1 and 3 miles per hour. That puts Brandon between ¾-mile and 2.5-miles away from his car when the phone went dead. The trail to the point in the river where the dog jumped in is within that range.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is most likely that Brandon tripped, stumbled, or slipped on one of the many hazards in the area. He likely dropped his phone and it was rendered inoperable somehow (shorted out in water, hit something hard and broke, battery popped out, or he simply couldn't find it again).</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition to the bloodhounds, two area search dogs worked the area near the car and around the Yellow Medicine River. There were also an unknown number of emergent volunteers searching the area around the vehicle and a team from the Department of Natural Resources that floated the river in a boat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Based on the bloodhound trail, a presumption was made that Brandon fell into the water and drowned. Much of the search effort from this point on is directed towards this scenario. While this was a reasonable scenario to explore, other scenarios exist, such as Brandon stumbled, lost or broke his phone, and continued walking. In fact, the bloodhound evidence is more suggestive of the second scenario. While the dog did at one point jump into the Yellow Medicine River, it came out again and continued with good purpose of movement, suggesting the trail continued. The dog was able to follow the trail until just shy of another gravel road. When a dog stops trailing, this doesn’t necessarily mean the trail "ends;" it may simply mean that the dog is at the end of its "nose time." This was over a three-mile trail, which is a relatively long trail.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><b><u>Ongoing Searches</u></b></font></div><div><br /></div><div>Searches have been ongoing in this case for 12 years now. Searchers have not found any solid trace of Brandon, nor have they found evidence of foul play. (even though Brandon is listed on the VICADS website (FBI Violent Crimes)</div><div><br /></div><div>In 2015 searchers blocked off part of the Mud Creek (about 3.5 – 4.0 miles as the crow flies from Brandon’s LKP) and ran the HRD dogs through the area. Although the dogs hit on several locations, no human remains were found.</div><div><br /></div><div>HRD dogs also hit on a “Field Cultivator” which was parked on the side of a farm field. It was determined during 2008 searches that many of the fields which searchers suspected he could be in were in fact planted before Brandon vanished – which in most cases means that farmers would not have been in the fields again until the crops were a sufficient height for a post emergent herbicide, if at all until harvest. The speculation is that if Brandon was in the field – it is possible his remains were missed during the harvest and that the cultivator hit and scattered his remains. (at this point likely skeletal)</div><div><br /></div><div>Field cultivators are 30-60 feet wide and have tongs or spears that go down from 4” to 9” into the dirt to till it and break it up and may also have a “Disc” attachment which further chops up any remain crop residue</div><div><br /></div><div>Searches have been limited due to the nature of the land the searchers are covering – as a majority of it is active farmland, Farmers / owners are not keen on having hundreds (or even a few) people tearing through their fields during growing season. Searchers have (out of personal safety) also avoided searches during the post harvest goose and deer hunting seasons.</div><div><br /></div><div>That leaves a very limited window of Late November, December and March / April (before planting) when searchers can actually get on property and check out areas of interest.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the area / fields of interest which have not been searched are also used as cattle grazing land. This even further limits the access / time available to search due to calving season (spring) and cows being protective of their young – especially against perceived predators like dogs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many if not most of the searches have been conducted over very rough terrain – farm fields and dense weed filled ditches and groves of trees that have been untouched for years. If anyone thinks it is easy walking across a plowed / harvested field – I have news for them – it is not easy. The plow (after the harvest) leaves furrows up to 10 – 12 inches deep and spaced just oddly enough that they are not easily stepped across. And just in case you think it is easier on an atv…it is not… if you want to test your dentist’s skill level – I suggest you take an atv across a freshly plowed field.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><font color="#d52c1f" size="5"><u>Rumors and Unfounded allegations</u></font></b></div><div><br /></div><div>There have been several rumors over the years about Brandon and where he is – one of the more persistent ones is that he owed someone in the local drug trade money and was killed and buried in a shallow grave in a field nearby as a warning to others who owed the same person money.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another rumor states that his body was moved to as far away as Canada by the dealer – so he would not never be found. Variations also have him buried in North Dakota or South Dakota…</div><div><br /></div><div>Brandon and Brandon… aka the name game. Brandon Lawson was an oil worker in Texas who disappeared in August of 2013. Lawson was on his way to his parents home, when he apparently ran out of gas on the side of the road was on phone with 911 and vanished. His car was found open and a pipe of some type was found in his car. Brandon L also had an old (8 year) warrant for his arrest outstanding.</div><div><br /></div><div>One interesting note: Brandon Swanson is on the VICaP database of missing persons, but Brandon Lawson is not. Also interesting is that the writeup on the VICaP site is the only location that mentions the doors to Brandon’s car being found “Open”. No other information, article or searcher mentions that the car doors were found open. What makes this even more odd is that Brandon Lawson is NOT on VICaP and he more likely was the victim of a violent crime…Also interesting that the doors on Brandon Lawson’s car were found “open” as if someone had searched his car. So, is this just a case of the FBI confusing the two? Or is there something more at work?</div><div><br /></div><div>It is completely possible that the mention on VICaP of Brandon S is due to political pressure applied by his parents and family during the passage of “Brandon’s Law” – which states that in MN, Law Enforcement has to response immediately to any report of a missing person, no matter what their age. Prior to passage of Brandon’s Law, police were given a 24 hour leeway in cases of missing adults where there is not direct evidence of physical harm or a crime.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-28562354065547456942021-05-03T00:02:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:25:02.708-08:00Alexis Patterson: Missing Since May 3, 2002<p><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); font-size: 18px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9swoOKuTJuDF0lSBI6FGeWwZWTC9tPq7WYgKqB1OAd0o41zreDKmBr2I6zsRvAFO7zIVLyoFa2E6Rj0Gp69SQvLWBB6uWlnVcaVovhe0a_exsvNCUEQXkjM4nY1Ghg4w1e1q4xj2r159Q/s1000/alexis-patterson.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1000" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9swoOKuTJuDF0lSBI6FGeWwZWTC9tPq7WYgKqB1OAd0o41zreDKmBr2I6zsRvAFO7zIVLyoFa2E6Rj0Gp69SQvLWBB6uWlnVcaVovhe0a_exsvNCUEQXkjM4nY1Ghg4w1e1q4xj2r159Q/w200-h146/alexis-patterson.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alexis Patterson was born on April 4, 1995 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The daughter of parents Ayanna Patterson and Kenya Campbell, she was known for being bubbly and having a bossy personality. A lover of roller-skating and the color pink, she was often referred to by her nicknames, “Lexi” and “Pie”.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /><br />In 2002, Alexis was living in Milwaukee with her mother; her then stepfather, LaRon Bourgeois; and her six-month-old sister, Dysoni. The family, which she is said to have been very close to, lived in a house near 49th Street and Garfield Avenue. The residence was located just a half-block from Hi-Mount Boulevard School, where Alexis was in the first grade and said to have a perfect attendance record.<br /><br />In January 2002, Alexis’ father, Kenya, was charged with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor bail jumping, charges that would later be dismissed in May of that year. Just two months later, he was charged with repeatedly driving with a revoked license and was imprisoned. On May 1, 2002, the City of Milwaukee filed a civil suit against him, seeking $7,500 in damages for what they said was negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Judgement on behalf of the city was vacated nearly 10 years later, in August 2011.<br /><br />Some sources say Kenya had posted a $100 bond in relation to the charge just two days before his daughter went missing. However, police have said he wasn’t released until May 6, 2002, three days after her disappearance.</span><p></p><h6 data-reader-unique-id="14" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); margin: 1em 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span data-reader-unique-id="15" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><u>LEAD UP TO DISAPPEARANCE:</u></i></span></span></h6><p data-reader-unique-id="16" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two weeks before Alexis went missing, parents at Hi-Mount Boulevard School had received letters warning them of man who had tried to abduct a little boy near the school. A week later, a teacher spotted Alexis talking to an unknown woman at the back of the school. Despite be lectured by her mother, she was seen speaking to the same woman two days later, which worried Ayanna.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="17" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On May 2, 2002, Alexis and her mother got into an argument because she’d failed to properly complete her homework, which was due the next day. As a result, she was told she wouldn’t be allowed to bring in cupcakes for her classmates, which upset her, as May 3 was her day to bring in a snack for her class.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="18" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At 8:00am the next day, LaRon walked Alexis to school, which was located at 4291 West Garfield Avenue. He watched her walk across the crosswalk, toward the school’s playground, before he returned to the house.</span></p><h6 data-reader-unique-id="19" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); margin: 1em 0px; max-width: 100%;"><strong data-reader-unique-id="20" style="max-width: 100%;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><u>DISAPPEARANCE:</u></span></i></strong></h6><p data-reader-unique-id="21" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That day, Alexis did not attend any of her classes. Many students reported seeing her crying on the playground both before and after the school day had ended, but none recalled seeing her in the school itself. However, despite this, Alexis’ parents were not notified of her absence until after classes had been dismissed for the day.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="22" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As Alexis had no history of running away, Ayanna and LaRon initially believed she had refused to attend her classes because of the argument she and her mother had had the previous night. At 3:00pm, shortly after learning of her daughter’s absence, Ayanna contacted local police. It took them approximately an hour to respond.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="23" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Upon arriving at the Patterson home, police agreed with the potential scenario presented by Alexis’ parents. However, given she hadn’t yet returned home, they felt that something else may have caused her to disappear after she was seen on the playground.</span></p><h6 data-reader-unique-id="24" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); margin: 1em 0px; max-width: 100%;"><strong data-reader-unique-id="25" style="max-width: 100%;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><u>SEARCH:</u></span></i></strong></h6><p data-reader-unique-id="26" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Immediately, the surrounding areas were searched, with the case initially being treated as a potential runaway. The grid-by-grid search centered around the northwest section of Milwaukee, with a specific focus on West Meinecke Avenue, West Vine Street, North 60th Street and North 16th Street. The area around Hi-Mount Boulevard School, as well as vacant residences, were also searched. While investigators canvassed Washington Park and set up a command post in the area, divers searched the depths of a nearby lagoon. This part of the investigation involved the use of boats, motorcycles, helicopters and horse back and saw hundreds of citizen volunteers lending their time to search alleyways and other nearby parks.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="27" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Upon speaking with some of Alexis’ classmates, it was learnt that a red truck had been spotted parked near the school for most of the week. Never appearing to drop off or pick anyone up, it vanished after the young girl went missing and has never been seen again. As a result, it’s never been identified and police have not been able to conclude if it’s connected to the case or not.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="28" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kenya learnt of his daughter’s disappearance via local news coverage. On May 6, 2002, he was released from prison and questioned by police, who say he has been fully cooperative with the investigation. Ayanna and LaRon were also brought in for questioning, with LaRon of specific interest due to his criminal past. In 1994, he had been involved in a bank robbery that resulted in the fatal shooting of a police officer in Glendale, Wisconsin. For his testimony, he had been granted immunity in relation to this.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="29" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Both Ayanna and LaRon maintain their innocence.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="30" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In order to get Alexis’ image out to the public, hundreds of volunteers passed out thousands of flyers with her description. Investigators also went door-to-door in the days after she went missing, asking people if they’d seen her, and billboards were set up across Milwaukee, asking those with information to come forward.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="31" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On May 14, 2002, investigators announced that Alexis’ disappearance was the result of suspicious circumstances and had been reclassified as a criminal investigation. Months later, they would state they believed foul play to have been involved.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="32" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That same year, police subpoenaed four Milwaukee television stations, seeking tapes of past news coverage about the case. They wouldn’t state why these tapes were of interest, citing it was illegal to comment on sealed search warrants.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="33" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Around the time of Alexis’ disappearance, a man by the name of Brian T. Werner wrote and distributed racist flyers related to the case. He had placed them outside America’s Black Holocaust Museum and on shop doors and car windows, and they questioned why any white person should care about the Alexis having gone missing. Werner was arrested for posting the flyers, but was later released after it was determined his comments were protected by the First Amendment free speech clause. A second man, who has not been named, was also involved, but no charges were ever filed against him.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="34" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Along with making local news, Alexis’ disappearance made national headlines.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="35" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In August 2002, an anonymous caller contacted a local television station to say that the missing girl’s remains had been disposed of in the Milwaukee River, near Estabrook Park. Police divers searched the river, but nothing was found.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="36" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hoping to drum up new leads, investigators looked through local sex offender registries, as well as probation and parole files, but were unable to come up with anything. Numerous officers also spent many of their days off searching for Alexis and were given hep by both the FBI and other state law enforcement agencies.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="37" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For months, volunteers would search the city daily for the missing girl. Utilizing K-9 units, they walked down paths and through buildings, searched Miller Park, and looked around local bodies of water.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="38" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In January 2003, sources familiar with the investigation shared that a John Doe investigation had been launched into her disappearance, but this has never been officially confirmed.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="39" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Approximately a year after Alexis vanished, LaRon was subjected to a polygraph, which he reportedly failed. The questions he was asked have never been publicly released. That same year, he was charged with an unrelated crime after he’d had a domestic dispute with Ayanna, who’d been trying to leave him. Described by Ayanna as abusive and threatening, he was ordered to stay away from her before the charges were dropped.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloNzYSAy58jfZsyGpavt4C5LVFO6puPJDOp5ETSQAbppDz8nseR_x6XP9RPKxTAOeyGqYDulCAoUxFI11GOFa7uja35u87yi9QcZgK3ffpycc78AI50I-hWKiFmfSuAPQevtDah1xyv1h/s320/8239544-0619-alexis-patterson-s-family-1521100.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloNzYSAy58jfZsyGpavt4C5LVFO6puPJDOp5ETSQAbppDz8nseR_x6XP9RPKxTAOeyGqYDulCAoUxFI11GOFa7uja35u87yi9QcZgK3ffpycc78AI50I-hWKiFmfSuAPQevtDah1xyv1h/w400-h300/8239544-0619-alexis-patterson-s-family-1521100.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p data-reader-unique-id="40" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2004, Kenya was convicted of drug charges. Four years later, in June 2009, he was also convicted of the manufacture and delivery of cocaine in Portage County, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="41" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2005 (some sources say 2004), a prisoner told investigators that Alexis’ remains had been buried in the southern United States, near a metropolitan area. This tip led to the search of a vacant house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but nothing was found. This was one of many instances of search warrants being executed in the case and investigators travelling across, and out of, Wisconsin.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="42" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-reader-unique-id="43" href="http://www.missingkids.com/" rel="noopener" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children</span></a> released an age-progression photos of Alexis in 2009, which showed what she could have looked like at 14 years old. Another one would be released in 2013, showing what she’d look like at the age of 17.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="44" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2012, police announced that they’d re-interviewed 60 to 65 people connected to the case, as well as scoured more than 10,000 pages of notes and evidence. Some of those who had been re-interviewed shared that they may not have remembered correctly and that they may not have seen her that particular Friday morning.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="45" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Around this time, a relationship was re-established with the Patterson family. It was also announced by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett that May 3 would be known as “Alexis Patterson: Forget Me Not Day”.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="46" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hoping those already incarcerated might know something, Milwaukee police included her image in a pack of cold case playing cards that were then sent to jails and prisons across Wisconsin.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="47" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In December 2013, Kenya was charged with beating his 8-month-old daughter. He was charged with three counts of felony child abuse and one count of child neglect. According to Kenya, he had woken up his mother at around 5:00am on November 22, 2013 and told her that the baby had fallen off the couch. While she had gotten a split lip as a result of the fall, she was otherwise fine. He had then left for work, leaving his mother to care for the infant.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="48" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, she’d had more than a split lip. Seeing how injured she really was, Kenya’s mother brought her to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, where a CT scan and physical examination were conducted. Through these tests, it was determined she had suffered abusive head trauma, a broken jaw, a fractured rib, a lacerated liver and an adrenal hemorrhage, and bruises to her face, abdomen and chest. According to the doctor, the trauma was consistent with severe child abuse and the police were dispatched.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="49" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewGkizKL6LCjqQ0kbBrOyZLupVWucYo8hFR4gYre5XMsGeYGFlelNFTa5wkL0jeROYkRvmfTLKdbdNFIJvRJheUVYWizVXa9oKvliTmUmRen5_XG8fMOOOHm-5RuxZrQUV2wAnsnwKfOc/s320/8236080-ayanna-patterson-alexis-mother-1590266.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewGkizKL6LCjqQ0kbBrOyZLupVWucYo8hFR4gYre5XMsGeYGFlelNFTa5wkL0jeROYkRvmfTLKdbdNFIJvRJheUVYWizVXa9oKvliTmUmRen5_XG8fMOOOHm-5RuxZrQUV2wAnsnwKfOc/s0/8236080-ayanna-patterson-alexis-mother-1590266.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">When questioned, Kenya’s mother initially said that the baby had been sleeping on her back in the living room, before falling off the couch after Kenya had already left for work at 5:00am. She had entered the living room after hearing crying, where she’d found the infant bleeding from her mouth and with her left eye deviated, as if she were having a seizure. This story was eventually changed to say that Kenya had woken her up to report the fall.</span><p></p><p data-reader-unique-id="50" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kenya’s story changed and had several inconsistencies. He also told police he had returned home with his daughter around 3:00pm on November 21, 2013, with no signs of injury, after which he was her sole caretaker until 5:00pm. Upon him leaving for work the next morning, she had been asleep on the couch. His mother had tried to call him at 7:00am, but he didn’t answer. However, this call has never been proven, as Kenya had deleted the call history on his cellphone.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="51" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kenya plead not guilty to all four charges against him.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="52" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In July 2016, investigators received information from a man named Joshua Miller of Bryan, Ohio, who believed his ex-wife to be Alexis. The pair had gotten married in 2009, before divorcing four years later. At the time Joshua’s theory came to light, the pair were in the midst of a custody battle over their son.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="53" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to Joshua, there were aspects of his ex-wife’s past that didn’t add up, as she had no memory of her childhood prior to her being 10 years old. As he began to dig into her past, he came across Alexis’ missing persons flyer, where he discovered she and his ex-wife had a similar birthmark in the same place. Joshua’s suspicions were also shared by his fiancé and the pair were struck by his ex-wife’s resemblance to the age-progressed images of Alexis.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="54" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hoping to confirm his suspicions, Joshua travelled to Milwaukee with his son to meet Ayanna. Whilst there, he gave a sample of his son’s DNA to Ayanna, as the police department in Bryan had already collected a saliva sample from his ex-wife. This sample, along with any files the Bryan Police Department had collected, were then mailed to the Milwaukee police.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="55" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Senator Lena Taylor caught wind of the theory during this time, as she’d been helping the Patterson family in their search for Alexis. She too was certain Joshua’s ex-wife was the missing girl after seeing the pair’s wedding photo. After Ayanna reached out to her, she got in contact with the local sheriff’s office, who sent officers to Ohio.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="56" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Police thoroughly examined this potential lead. When officials in Bryan met with Joshua’s ex-wife, she was able to provide them with numerous documents to prove who she said she was, including a birth certificate that showed she was born in Belize, her green card and her passport. She was also able to provide the pair’s divorce documents. This raised doubts in the theory, which were only further raised upon learning that the ex-wife was seven years older than Alexis would have been at the time and had already had two children. If she were indeed the missing girl, it would have meant she’d have given birth and married Joshua at an unusually young age, as she would have been 14 years old at the time.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="57" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the DNA results came back from the Wisconsin Regional Crime Lab, it was determined the two samples didn’t match, meaning Joshua’s ex-wife was not Alexis. Ayanna questioned the results upon learning about them, saying that the sample they’d used from Alexis could have been corrupted or have come from another source. She demanded investigators perform a new test with her own DNA, but her request was denied. This led her to hire a private investigator.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="58" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite the DNA results, Ayanna is of the believe that this woman is her missing daughter. She says that the two have the same mole above their left eye, toward her nose, which is a common trait amongst those in the immediate family. She also has the same birthmark Joshua noted, as well as a bump on her pinky finger and a scar under her right eye, both of which Alexis had as well.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="59" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joshua spent a total of four years working to expose the case, sharing he too doesn’t trust the DNA results and wishes to get his ex-wife away from an unnamed man. He still feels she is indeed Alexis, but says she won’t admit it because she’s afraid of the people she knows to be her current family. He also claims that the FBI and Interpol are investigating something bigger in relation to Alexis’ case, but this has not been confirmed by either organization.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="60" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joshua’s ex-wife has said she felt agitated and angry over the attention she received as a result of the DNA tests, as some who had read about the case online had gathered outside her home, but also shares that she feels sorry for the family. She has fully cooperated with the investigation. Ayanna has said she feels sadness for the woman over the intense media scrutiny she received.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="61" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In May 2017, a “Hear Their Voice” celebration was held at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society on West Center Street in honor of Alexis and other missing children from around the world. That same year, LaRon was arrested on charges unrelated to the case and was being held at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="62" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office is currently offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Alexis’ return. The reward was funded by drug forfeiture money.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="63" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As of 2009, the case has been assigned to the Milwaukee Police Department’s cold case unit. There are currently no suspects, but it’s said that investigators have not ruled anyone out. Over 5,000 interviews have been conducted and the effort between the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office was one of the largest joint efforts in both organizations’ histories. However, despite the intensive investigation, very little progress has been made in relation to the case and there has been no physical evidence uncovered to contradict what those interviewed have told police.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="64" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ayanna has shared that she feels the local authorities could have done a better job handling her daughter’s disappearance.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="65" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the years, there’s been hope that Alexis will return home alive. Following the May 2013 rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight in Cleveland, Ohio and the January 2019 rescue of <a data-reader-unique-id="66" href="https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2019/01/10/the-disappearance-of-jayme-closs/" rel="noopener" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jayme Closs</a> in Douglas County, Wisconsin, the NCMEC said that the Patterson family shouldn’t give up hope of her being found.</span></p><h6 data-reader-unique-id="67" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); margin: 1em 0px; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><span data-reader-unique-id="68" style="max-width: 100%;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><u>THEORIES:</u></span></i></span></h6><p data-reader-unique-id="69" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong data-reader-unique-id="70" style="max-width: 100%;">1)</strong> The primary theory in the case is that Alexis’ stepfather, LaRon Bourgeois, was somehow involved in her disappearance. Former sheriff of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, David Clarke, believes LaRon was involved, but says the authorities haven’t been able to prove it with the evidence they’ve uncovered. He feels that Alexis was never dropped off at school the morning she disappeared.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="71" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A subsection of this theory is that Alexis’ disappearance may be related to prostitution. There have been claims circulated that LaRon worked as a pimp and managed prostitutes on the north side of Milwaukee. However, nothing related to this has been publicly proven.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="72" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">LaRon has repeatedly denied any involvement in his stepdaughter’s disappearance and says Sheriff Clarke has no proof he was involved.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="73" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong data-reader-unique-id="74" style="max-width: 100%;">2)</strong> There’s a conspiracy theory that states the town of Bryan, Ohio is made up of missing children who don’t know who they really are. It also shares that Ayanna and Joshua know that his ex-wife is really Alexis, but both have been instructed to keep quiet. Those who believe in this theory say that “Big Brother” is behind many of the child disappearances that have occurred in the United States.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="75" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong data-reader-unique-id="76" style="max-width: 100%;">3)</strong> A final proposed theory is that there could possibly be a drug connection to Alexis’ disappearance. However, very little has been elaborated about in regards to this.</span></p><h6 data-reader-unique-id="77" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); margin: 1em 0px; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><strong data-reader-unique-id="78" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><u>AFTERMATH:</u></i></span></strong></h6><p data-reader-unique-id="79" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ayanna believes Alexis is still alive and continues to celebrate her daughter’s birthday each year. Kenya has shared that he mourns the loss of his daughter.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="80" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ayanna and LaRon separated shortly after Alexis went missing, with both having since moved away from the Milwaukee area. The plot of land where the pair lived is now a vacant lot.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="81" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alexis’ younger sister, Eri-Onna, was born after she went missing. Despite having never met her older sister, Ayanna has ensured Eri-Onna and the rest of the family keep Alexis in their thoughts by taking them to places where she used to play. Their home is also filled in reminders of the missing girl, including photos, her homework assignments and a watercolor self-portrait.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="82" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a result of Alexis’ disappearance, Ayanna has been a lot more protective of her children. She rarely lets them out of her sight, choosing to drive them to and from school, instead of having them take the school bus.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="83" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ayanna has shared that the media attention became overwhelming during the early parts of the investigation and that sometimes the public were cruel toward her and her family. Despite this, she kept doing interviews, speaking with politicians and raising awareness about her daughter’s disappearance. She has also went to the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin and to Washington, DC in support of Alexis.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="84" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Each year, a wreath is laid at Hi-Mount Boulevard School in Alexis’ honor. Public officials walk the route she would often take to school before saying a prayer in her remembrance.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="85" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alexis’ case has been featured on <em data-reader-unique-id="86" style="max-width: 100%;">In Pursuit With John Walsh</em>, <em data-reader-unique-id="87" style="max-width: 100%;">The View</em>, <em data-reader-unique-id="88" style="max-width: 100%;">Find Our Missing</em>, <em data-reader-unique-id="89" style="max-width: 100%;">Maury Povich</em>, <em data-reader-unique-id="90" style="max-width: 100%;">Crime Watch Daily</em>, <em data-reader-unique-id="91" style="max-width: 100%;">Ricki Lake </em>and <em data-reader-unique-id="92" style="max-width: 100%;">America’s Most Wanted</em>.</span></p><h6 data-reader-unique-id="93" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); margin: 1em 0px; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><span data-reader-unique-id="94" style="max-width: 100%;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><u>CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:</u></span></i></span></h6><p data-reader-unique-id="95" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alexis Patterson went missing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 3, 2002. She was 7 years old, and was last seen wearing a light purple blouse or a blue shirt with horizontal stripes; a hooded red pullover nylon jacket with a grey stripe that ran down each sleeve; light blue jeans; blue and white high-top <em data-reader-unique-id="96" style="max-width: 100%;">Nike</em> sneakers; and cluster-type diamond sunflower-shaped earrings with yellow gold posts. She was also carrying a pink <em data-reader-unique-id="97" style="max-width: 100%;">Barbie</em> backpack. At the time of her disappearance, she stood at 3’8″ and weighed approximately 42 pounds. She has brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair that was styled in two French braids, which were pulled back into a ponytail. She has a bump on her left pinky finger, a scar under her right eye and a mole above her left eye. Her ears are pierced.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="98" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Currently, her case is classified as endangered missing and police believe she disappeared under suspicious circumstances. If alive, she would be 24 years old.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have any information regarding the case, you can contact the Milwaukee Police Department at either <a data-reader-unique-id="100" href="tel:414-935-7401" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-935-7401</a>, <a data-reader-unique-id="101" href="tel:414-935-7302" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-935-7302</a> or <a data-reader-unique-id="102" href="tel:414-935-7360" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-935-7360</a>. Tips can also be called into the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office at <a data-reader-unique-id="103" href="tel:414-278-4788" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-278-4788</a>, <a data-reader-unique-id="104" href="tel:414-223-5261" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-223-5261</a> or <a data-reader-unique-id="105" href="tel:414-278-4921" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-278-4921</a>, the Milwaukee Field Office of the FBI at <a data-reader-unique-id="106" href="tel:414-276-4684" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-276-4684</a> or the Milwaukee Police Department Cold Case Hotline at <a data-reader-unique-id="107" href="tel:414-935-1212" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none;">414-935-1212</a>.</span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000;">On the morning of the 3rd of May, 2002,</span></i></b> 7-year-old Alexis Patterson from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was upset that she couldn’t take cupcakes to school as a class treat because she hadn’t finished her homework the evening before.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her stepfather, LaRon Bourgeois, said that he and Alexis had walked half a block from their home to Hi-Mount Community School. After that, Alexis crossed the road towards the school. He said he watched a crossing guard take Alexis the rest of the way, and then he himself turned around and walked back home.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was the last time he ever saw Alexis.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Alexis didn’t come home from school, her mother, Ayanna Patterson, called police. While some of Alexis’ classmates said that they had seen her in the school grounds that morning, other classmates and her teacher said that she hadn’t been in attendance, meaning Alexis most likely vanished before entering the school.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Following her disappearance, the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office embarked on one of the largest joint efforts in their history. Searchers trudged through woodland and they searched on boat, motorcycle and horseback. The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department helicopter was also deployed to assist in the search.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Missing person posters with Alexis’ smiling face emblazoned on the front were distributed throughout the city. She was described as being 4 feet tall, 43 pounds and with light brown skin. On the morning she vanished, she was wearing two French braids in the front and a ponytail in the back. She was wearing a red and grey hooded jacket, light jeans, a purple shirt and white tennis shoes. Alexis’ family created laminated badges bearing Alexis’ picture, contact information and the question: “Have you seen my baby?” They canvassed the streets handing out fliers and searching but to no avail.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKhJNKTtARvWogGKBl2cznhPfotFQEIwuwFjL2FqtjDjW-V1fqr_b5d8dUYv-msVRF1k_sdke3piySot5xPYEzdgc0Qt7OgeTZXtzMtudy5acwPGcgPIJQvo6VJMTvq81J8rMwJc654gF/s320/8099928-alexis-patterson-9153868.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKhJNKTtARvWogGKBl2cznhPfotFQEIwuwFjL2FqtjDjW-V1fqr_b5d8dUYv-msVRF1k_sdke3piySot5xPYEzdgc0Qt7OgeTZXtzMtudy5acwPGcgPIJQvo6VJMTvq81J8rMwJc654gF/w400-h300/8099928-alexis-patterson-9153868.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Police Chief Arthur Jones speculated early on in the investigation that Alexis had run away after the argument over cupcakes. Ayanna and LaRon made tearful pleas for her return and held on to the hope that she was “only” missing. “We’re doing terrible. If someone has her, please just return her. Just let her out on the corner. Someone will see her,” pleaded LaRon. Ayanna said that if Alexis did run away, she wouldn’t have gone off with a stranger.</span><p></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); font-family: inherit;">Milwaukee Public School officials came under criticism for not contacting Alexis’ family as soon as it was discovered that Alexis was not in class. “It makes me angry, this being a neighborhood school and all, that they just wouldn’t send somebody a half a block over here to knock on the door and check on Lexi,” said Lena Ramirez, whose daughter was Alexis’ half-sister. According to the school, they followed correct protocol which was to notify a parent or guardian by the end of a second day if a child is missing from school. Their policy was staunchly defended by Superintendent Spence Korte, who said that there are enough absences in Milwaukee schools each day.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As is protocol in missing children cases, both Ayanna and LaRon were brought in for questioning. LaRon was extensively questioned in regards to the disappearance. He had a criminal record which included involvement in a 1994 bank robbery which resulted in Glendale police officer, Ronald Hedbany, being shot dead. LaRon – who was the getaway driver – was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony against Brook Telegaro Ship III, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alexis’ disappearance was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” and it led to a flurry of tips and reported sightings. Sadly, however, none of these leads ever panned out. Meanwhile, police announced that Alexis’ disappearance had entered a “criminal investigation phase” indicating that it was now believed that Alexis had met foul play as opposed to ran off. “It’s not normal for any child to (willingly) be away from her parents this long. We’re going to look at this that someone might have this child and she might not be free to go,” said Police Chief Leslie Barber.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Towards the end of the month, a $10,000 reward was offered for information that could lead to the whereabouts of Alexis but to no avail.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the weeks turned to months, the leads and tips dried up. Then in late August, there was an anonymous tip to a television station from somebody who said that Alexis was in the Milwaukee River. However, despite an extensive and exhaustive search, there was no sign of Alexis.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In early September, Police Chief Arthur Jones announced that it was very unlikely that they would ever find Alexis alive. “It’s frustrating, because at some point in your heart and mind you still hope against hope that she’s still alive, you know, that someone is caring for her, but experience says that’s probably not the case,” he said.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There had been national coverage of the disappearances of several missing white girls in other states. Family and friends said that Alexis received little national coverage because she is African American. This was something that Police Chief Arthur Jones agreed with: “There’s no question in my mind that there’s a media racial bias. It certainly is true here in Milwaukee, at every level from the electronic media to the print media,” he said.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shortly thereafter, a volunteer group formed shortly after Alexis’ disappearance disbanded due to lack of funds. The founder, Keith Martin, said that the community were no longer interested in Alexis’ disappearance. In fact, when he sponsored a rummage sale, only four people showed up. “I guess the attitude out there is, `It didn’t happen to me. So I’m going to leave it alone.’ It’s just sad,” he said.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In April of 2003, LaRon was arrested and charged with beating Ayanna and threatening to kill her. According to Ayanna, LaRon had not been supportive since her daughter’s disappearance and became controlling and abusive. The week before his arrest, Ayanna told him that a detective was coming to their home to talk about Alexis and he reportedly responded: “What the fuck does he want? I don’t give a fuck about him.” The arrest warrant also said that Ayanna accused LaRon of selling drugs and pimping out women.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the forthcoming years, age-progression images showing what Alexis may look like as she grew into a young woman were issued. In 2016, police thought they cracked the case when a man came forward to say the age-progression images looked eerily like his ex-wife who he said had a very murky past. However, DNA testing ruled her out.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Each year, Ayanna holds a birthday party for her absent daughter. She says that until there is evidence to prove that she is dead, she will live under the assumption that her daughter is alive and well.</span></span></p><p data-reader-unique-id="99" style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>https://morbidology.com/where-is-alexis-patterson/</b></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-29945012448120775602021-04-25T15:30:00.003-07:002023-03-17T03:17:19.023-07:00Brittanee Drexel: Missing Since April 25th, 2009 **SOLVED!**<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjbubVJKfdDZbe-RPYkNZ3jQ5JXllzUYj2DuZ0c9UzDBRipKAzCcaCClhCk5fbIITnD-fHGBqjRU_wM3WBBcgJjnTTAiLwl9NLRwrNFt8-4rn1aqX3LMk4t-RW-F9Zm7khWLz0Mq_yu63/s1600/j2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjbubVJKfdDZbe-RPYkNZ3jQ5JXllzUYj2DuZ0c9UzDBRipKAzCcaCClhCk5fbIITnD-fHGBqjRU_wM3WBBcgJjnTTAiLwl9NLRwrNFt8-4rn1aqX3LMk4t-RW-F9Zm7khWLz0Mq_yu63/w274-h224/j2.png" style="cursor: move;" width="274" /></a></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"> Brittanee resided in Rochester, New York in 2009; she was a junior at Gates-Chili High School, where she was a star player on the soccer team. Her parents are legally separated and Brittanee lived with her mother, but saw her father frequently. In April 2009, Brittanee asked for her mother's permission to travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for spring break with her friends and longtime boyfriend.</div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><a name='more'></a></div><div><div class="MsoNormal"> Her mother said no, they argued about it, and Brittanee got permission to go to a friend's home. She went to Myrtle Beach in spite of what
her mother said. Her mother was unaware of this; she thought Brittanee was
staying with a friend locally. They spoke several times on the telephone after
she arrived in South Carolina. Brittanee's mother didn't find out where her
daughter really was until she was notified that Brittanee had disappeared.
Brittanee's friends last saw her Bar Harbor Hotel in Myrtle Beach at 8:00 p.m.
on April 25, 2009. Brittanee walked more than a mile to the Blue Water Resort
on Ocean Boulevard, where other friends were staying. Surveillance cameras
there show her going into the resort, then leaving sometime after 8:30 p.m. At
9:15 p.m., she sent a text message to one of her friends saying she was going
to see a friend who was staying at another hotel. She has never been heard from
again. She left all her clothes behind at her hotel room. Her beige purse and
pink cellular phone disappeared with her. The phone's last signal was near U.S.
17 and the Charleston County line the night Brittanee went missing. Since then
its battery has died.</div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyL4vUphAt_fmp05_PsvRQjPfJLKAiIDbLWtQI2UGEUaPAmA9_It6quPyYlRFzcX5enFH_-YkL5o4CcH-vBE09MZ_YXzKWNT12_UmdplV83JITmMuQ8IPYVaHn5eqqFeOPRizeefkuCeM/s853/34E94730-0063-499E-BFF1-BDB7C5F6F5E9.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="640" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyL4vUphAt_fmp05_PsvRQjPfJLKAiIDbLWtQI2UGEUaPAmA9_It6quPyYlRFzcX5enFH_-YkL5o4CcH-vBE09MZ_YXzKWNT12_UmdplV83JITmMuQ8IPYVaHn5eqqFeOPRizeefkuCeM/w328-h437/34E94730-0063-499E-BFF1-BDB7C5F6F5E9.jpeg" width="328" /></a></div></div></div>Peter Brozowitz (often referred to as "Broswick" in the media) is a person of interest in
Brittanee's disappearance. He is one of her New York friends and is the last person
known to have seen her. He checked out of his hotel at 1:00 a.m., a few hours after he
saw Brittanee, and drove back to New York. He maintains his innocence in her
disappearance. There were sightings of Brittanee in the Myrtle Beach area in the days
after her disappearance, but the reports turned out to be about a young woman who
merely resembled her.<br />
There were rumors of an imminent breakthrough in Brittanee's case in April 2010.
Authorities announced they had three or four persons of interest, all of them from the
Myrtle Beach area, and they had obtained search warrants and given polygraph exams
to these individuals. No arrests were made, however, and none of the persons of interest
were publicly named. Investigators stated foul play was suspected in Brittanee's case
and they believed she may have been a homicide victim.<br />
Brittanee moved frequently during her childhood because her father was in the military.
Her parents describe her as a very resourceful, strong-minded and independent young
woman. She was upset over her parents' pending divorce, but they don't believe she ran
away, as this is uncharacteristic of her and they don't think she would have left her
clothes behind if she had run. Her boyfriend of three years agrees with this assessment.
Brittanee was studying cosmetology in high school and is very interested in fashion and
wearing stylish outfits. Her case remains unsolved.</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="https://31.media.tumblr.com/3ef4649b8427a7b0a02b0952222a54d3/tumblr_inline_nhtlx1zypE1s90qds.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://31.media.tumblr.com/3ef4649b8427a7b0a02b0952222a54d3/tumblr_inline_nhtlx1zypE1s90qds.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><b><img alt="Image result for Brittanee Drexel" border="0" height="324" src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/3ef4649b8427a7b0a02b0952222a54d3/tumblr_inline_nhtlx1zypE1s90qds.jpg" width="255" /></b></a><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Vital Statistics: </span></u></i></b></div></blockquote></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Missing Since:</span></u></i></b> April 25, 2009 from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina<br /> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Classification:</span></u></i></b> Endangered Missing<br /> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Date Of Birth:</span></u></i></b> October 7, 1991<br /> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Age: </span></u></i></b>17 years old<br /> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Height and Weight:</span></u></i></b> 5'0, 103 pounds<br /> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Distinguishing Characteristics: </span></u></i></b>Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue-green eyes. Brittanee has blonde highlights in her hair. Her ears and nose are pierced and she wears blue- tinted contact lenses. She frequently changes her hair's style and color. Brittanee's nickname is Britt. She is of Turkish descent.<br /> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Clothing/Jewelry Description:</span></u></i></b> A white,teal and gray spaghetti-strap top, black shorts and white or silver flip- flops.<br /> <b><i><u><span style="color: #cc0000;">Medical Conditions:</span></u></i></b> Brittanee suffers from depression.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><p> </p></div>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -0.02em; line-height: 1.087; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Brittanee Drexel Thrown into Alligator Pit After Being Gang Raped and Killed: FBI Agent</u></i></b></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">For more than seven years, Drexel’s case has remained a mystery and source of deep grief to her parents. Authorities have only said that they believe she was killed after being held against her will for several days. But earlier this month, FBI agent Gerrick Munoz testified in court to what authorities believe happened, citing a recent “jailhouse confession” from an inmate, according to a court transcript obtained by PEOPLE. Munoz testified on Aug. 15 at a federal detention hearing for Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor, to determine whether Taylor should be free as he awaits trial on unconnected federal robbery charges. Munoz testified that Taylor’s suspected role in Drexel’s disappearance proves he is a danger to the community and should not be released. But Taylor’s attorney, David Aylor, highlighted in court the prosecution’s lack of hard evidence and said that his client has not been arrested for any crimes in Drexel’s disappearance or death. Rather, Aylor said, the government was attempting to “squeeze” Taylor into cooperation. </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0of7jIVv17gQFyq6nFm8TtxT45dmbuAMXFJQWQmA4WQ4X4ROUuSIlSyZ8_rAg4xw6I9FRLTYvZ72I6vFuW7BBAWXBEM3PpTJHspquB-2imxzioriLjfLHh2YEBBebHMctzgRKxeFugtK/s512/14982131-891C-46F1-9B7C-D56960ABF39B.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></a></div></div></span></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <b style="color: red; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>‘A Human Trafficking Situation’</u></span></b></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote style="border: none; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0of7jIVv17gQFyq6nFm8TtxT45dmbuAMXFJQWQmA4WQ4X4ROUuSIlSyZ8_rAg4xw6I9FRLTYvZ72I6vFuW7BBAWXBEM3PpTJHspquB-2imxzioriLjfLHh2YEBBebHMctzgRKxeFugtK/w386-h281/14982131-891C-46F1-9B7C-D56960ABF39B.jpeg" width="386" /></blockquote> Munoz testified that an inmate told authorities he allegedly saw Taylor “sexually abusing” Drexel in 2009, along with other men, according to court documents. The inmate, Taquan Brown of Walterboro, South Carolina, told investigators that in the days after Drexel vanished he went to a “stash house” near McClellanville, South Carolina, where he allegedly saw Taylor with the teen and other men, Munoz testified. (Brown is serving a 25-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter.) During his trip to the stash house, described as a place where Taylor and others hung out, Brown said Drexel ran out of a room but was allegedly “pistol-whipped” by her captors and taken back inside, Munoz testified. At that point Brown said he was allegedly outside with Taylor’s father, Shaun Taylor, and Shaun went inside, Munoz testified. After Shaun allegedly went into the house, Brown said he heard two shots fired and he assumed Shaun shot Drexel, according to Munoz’s testimony. Brown said her body was then wrapped up and taken out to be discarded, according to Munoz’s testimony. Investigators have unsuccessfully searched for Drexel’s remains, Munoz said. “Several witnesses have told us Ms. Drexel’s body was placed in a pit, or gator pit, to have her body disposed of – eaten by the gators,” he said, adding that there are 30 to 40 gator pits in the area, making the search for her body difficult. Authorities also received “secondhand information” from another inmate in the Georgetown Detention Center that corroborated Brown’s jailhouse confession, Munoz said. The second inmate had heard that Timothy allegedly picked Drexel up in Myrtle Beach and drove her to McClellanville, where her last cellphone signal pinged, Munoz said. Timothy allegedly “showed her off, introduced her to some other friends that were there” in McClellanville, Munoz testified. “They ended up tricking her out with some of their friends, offering her to them and getting a human trafficking situation.” When news of the teen’s disappearance became widely publicized, her captors decided to kill her and dispose of her body, Munoz testified. <p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><i> <u> New Charges for Timothy </u></i></span></b></p></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">The August hearing comes after new charges for a previous crime: Timothy earlier received a suspended youth offender sentence and served two years’ probation as the getaway driver in a 2011 robbery of a McDonald’s in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, according to court records. He was at the fast food restaurant with two others, who held up the McDonald’s, according to records. Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Holliday said the government brought new charges against Timothy because he only received probation for the McDonald’s robbery, while the other two men involved got lengthy sentences. One of the other two non-fatally shot the store manager during the robbery, according to the court records. </div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><i>Two Families’ Angst</i></u></span></b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
During the bond hearing, Timothy’s mother, Joan Taylor, testified on his behalf, saying he already served his time for his involvement in the robbery. Calling him “a great kid,” she testified that she is a church pastor and that, as a mother, she was strict and “kept great hold on him.” She denied the accusations against him in Drexel’s case and said he would never have gone to Myrtle Beach at 16. In a later interview with the Post and Courier, Joan denied that her husband was involved as well, calling the government’s case against her family “craziness.” In a Facebook posting on Monday, Drexel’s father, Chad Drexel, said that while he understands Timothy’s mother defended him in court, he believes the now 25-year-old South Carolina man was involved with Brittanee’s disappearance and death.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
“Based on evidence the FBI and the Myrtle Beach Police department has gathered, along with FACTS and SPECIFIC INFORMATION gathered from a team of Private Investigators that I HIRED to work with local law enforcement actively during the case (which will SOON COME TO LIGHT) – we have no doubt Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor played a significant role in the abduction and murder of my daughter,” Chad wrote.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
He said he hopes other witnesses come forward and that the suspect goes to prison for life. “Please keep our family and our Brittanee in your prayers!” he wrote. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the testimony or case and calls to the FBI were not immediately returned. Aylor, Timothy’s attorney, had no comment. In court, Aylor argued that his client should not be punished for something for which he has already served time – just because the government wants “to squeeze him” and pressure him into confessing because “some jailhouse rat has come up with a story,” according to court records. The judge ordered Timothy released on $10,000 bail, which he posted after the hearing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><i><b><br /></b></i></u></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -0.02em; line-height: 1.087; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><u><i><b>What Happened to Brittanee Drexel? Spring Breaker Allegedly Kidnapped, Killed and Thrown in Alligator Pit</b></i></u></span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -0.02em; line-height: 1.087; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">BY </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="font-size: x-small;">CHRIS HARRIS</a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">•</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="font-size: x-small;">@CHRISHARRISMENT</a></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal">
Seven years ago, 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel vanished
without a trace while on spring break in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since
then, her family and friends have longed to learn the truth about what happened
to the New York teen. Earlier this month, at last, an FBI agent told a judge that authorities think Drexel was kidnapped, gang raped and then shot to death. Her remains were disposed of in an unthinkable manner, the agent said. The break in the case was a “jailhouse confession,” he said. Here are five things to know about the investigation into Drexel’s disappearance after the disturbing new allegations. </div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal"> </div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 40px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/2000_1000/57f752491b0000e218ef52e6.jpeg?cache=pbj9ulk7ta" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for Brittanee Drexel" border="0" height="243" src="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/2000_1000/57f752491b0000e218ef52e6.jpeg?cache=pbj9ulk7ta" width="368" /></a></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><u>1. An Inmate Said He Saw Drexel Sexually Abused Soon Before
Her Death</u></i></span></b></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal">On Aug. 15, FBI agent Gerrick Munoz testified in court to
what authorities believe happened to the blonde teenager, citing a recent
“jailhouse confession” from an inmate and other witness statements, according
to a court transcript obtained by PEOPLE. That inmate, Taquan Brown, claims he
was present for the gunshots that may have ended Drexel’s life, according to
Munoz’s testimony – though Brown heard them and did not see them. Investigators
have previously said they believe Drexel was was kidnapped and held against her
will for days after her disappearance. Munoz testified in court that she was
subject to “a human trafficking situation.” Brown told investigators that in
2009, soon after Drexel’s disappearance, he saw Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor with
other men allegedly “sexually abusing” her at a “stash house” in the area of
McClellanville, South Carolina, Munoz testified. Brown alleges that Drexel
tried to flee her captors, but was immediately caught in the house and
pistol-whipped, Munoz testified. Brown told Munoz he heard two shots and
assumed she’d been killed, possibly by Taylor’s father who was also at the
home. “Then the girl’s body was wrapped up and taken away,” Munoz testified. </div></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><u>2. Drexel’s Remains Were Allegedly Thrown to Alligators</u></i></span></b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal">After the teen was shot, her captors allegedly took her body
to one of the many alligator pits in the area, leaving it for the reptiles to
devour, Munoz testified. “Several witnesses have told us Miss Drexel’s body was
placed in a pit, or gator pit, to have her body disposed of. Eaten by the
gators,” Munoz testified. Drexel’s remains have never been recovered, he said.</div></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><u>3. Drexel Didn’t Tell Her Parents She Was in Myrtle Beach</u></i></span></b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal">Drexel was still a high school student when she left her
hometown of Chili, New York, for Myrtle Beach. But her parents had no idea she
was traveling so far. “I didn’t know she was going,” her mother, Dawn,
previously told PEOPLE. “The day she left she was angry with me because she
asked me if she could go and I told her no. I said, ‘There’s no adults going
and I have no idea who these kids are and I don’t feel comfortable with it.’ ” “I
told her I just felt something was going to happen to her,” Dawn said. “I just
felt it.”</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span><i><u></u></i></span></b></span></div></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <b style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;"><span><i><u>4. No Charges for Taylor in Drexel’s Case</u></i></span></b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Munoz’s testimony in August came during a detention hearing
for Timothy Taylor, to determine whether he should be free as he awaits trial
on unconnected federal robbery charges in a 2011 incident. But as Taylor’s defense
attorney, David Aylor, noted in court: There is no hard evidence in the case
and Taylor has not been charged in Drexel’s disappearance or death. Timothy
earlier received a suspended youth offender sentence and served two years’
probation as the getaway driver in the 2011 robbery of a McDonald’s in Mount
Pleasant, South Carolina, according to court records. He was at the fast food
restaurant with two others, who held up the McDonald’s, according to records.
But in June, the federal government brought new charges against Taylor because,
they said, his sentence was relatively light compared to other two robbers. Aylor
has called the prosecution’s argument a way to “squeeze” his client into
cooperating with their case.</blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><u>5. Drexel’s Father Believes Taylor Is Involved</u></i></span></b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal">On Monday, Drexel’s father, Chad Drexel, took to Facebook in
reaction to the FBI testimony: Chad wrote that he believes Taylor, who was 16
in 2009 and is now 25, was involved with Brittanee’s disappearance and death. “Based
on evidence the FBI and the Myrtle Beach Police department has gathered, along
with facts and specific information gathered from a team of private
investigators that I hired to work with local law enforcement actively during
the case (which will soon come to light) – we have no doubt Timothy Da’Shaun
Taylor played a significant role in the abduction and murder of my daughter,”
Chad wrote. Taylor’s mother, Joan, has reportedly called the government’s
accusations against her husband and son “craziness.” She testified in court in
August that her son would never have been in Myrtle Beach at 16. She called him
a “great kid.” Chad said he hopes other witnesses come forward. “Please keep
our family and our Brittanee in your prayers!” he wrote.</div></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><u><i><b>CASE UPDATES!!! </b></i></u></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><u><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM2I9T8iRH3lPzQos3YuI_vo5b9N9V1FeMbv7_czR3V6lKK1sRLDb933ZSyFB7UxenTl_Y-QmCSv8Pr6H7lUBlq5hBFwhZpzD0dlT3qz9KRsn8sz4_sSM2O1uPLFLetdwQun-TpsZOLI3sOi1K8lCkLrWl70IVnsjtu9COMljMY8ER-JxPxJ5zElks_g/s680/FS5hsOHWAAEMaYJ.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="680" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM2I9T8iRH3lPzQos3YuI_vo5b9N9V1FeMbv7_czR3V6lKK1sRLDb933ZSyFB7UxenTl_Y-QmCSv8Pr6H7lUBlq5hBFwhZpzD0dlT3qz9KRsn8sz4_sSM2O1uPLFLetdwQun-TpsZOLI3sOi1K8lCkLrWl70IVnsjtu9COMljMY8ER-JxPxJ5zElks_g/s320/FS5hsOHWAAEMaYJ.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></i></u></span></div><p></p><div>
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</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The body of Brittanee Drexel was recovered on May 11th, 2022 about 33 miles from where she originally went missing.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">She was positively identified by dental records and DNA.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Raymond Moody is in custody with no bond.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brittanee's family is planning celebrations of life in Rochester and Myrtle Beach at a later time.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">"This is truly a mother's worst nightmare. For 13 years, we hoped for a different outcome. I am mourning my beautiful daughter Brittanee as I have been for the last 13 years.. I am slowly processing everything that has been released. The search for Brittanee is now a pursuit of justice."- Dawn Pleckan, Brittanee's mother</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Parents of Brittanee Drexel thanked law enforcement and the media who "never gave up on the search for Brittanee" and "didn't forget about her and our family."</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Investigators say “Justice will never be good enough, but ….a body has been returned to Chad and Dawn to offer closure.”</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">FBI Special Agent Susan Ferensic says Brittanee Drexel lost her life in a “horrible and tragic way at the hands of a terrible criminal.”</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Georgetown county sheriff charged Raymond Moody with murder, kidnapping and other counts in Brittanee Drexel’s disappearance in South Carolina. Her remains were found on his property last week.</span></li></ul></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPM5yfqSHFOY4UmoMIpk-X23U66_Ms46PCJCfreFoEaoKXyPLGXcdaGXX-eZQZHrx7f1w1mEMqwRDugovsTfGkVwam1NnwcOujPpqC9Zn0PkvRymQANsXctNp85sSC7VH7m1i_UGDjv5aNYoH4JWX5tlq62gAJoHNTQGBCuVUAcKG6VTsl0iLtDX64A/s648/8c14475d-332b-4f67-95b3-2cabff394557-medium16x9_MapofBrittaneeDrexeldisappearance.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="648" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPM5yfqSHFOY4UmoMIpk-X23U66_Ms46PCJCfreFoEaoKXyPLGXcdaGXX-eZQZHrx7f1w1mEMqwRDugovsTfGkVwam1NnwcOujPpqC9Zn0PkvRymQANsXctNp85sSC7VH7m1i_UGDjv5aNYoH4JWX5tlq62gAJoHNTQGBCuVUAcKG6VTsl0iLtDX64A/w640-h360/8c14475d-332b-4f67-95b3-2cabff394557-medium16x9_MapofBrittaneeDrexeldisappearance.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><h1><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><u>A teen vanished on a spring break trip in 2009. Her body was just found and a man has been arrested.</u></span></span></i></div></h1><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The body of a 17-year-old girl from New York who disappeared while visiting South Carolina's Myrtle Beach on spring break 13 years ago has been found and a sex offender has been charged with murder, kidnapping and rape, authorities said Monday. Brittanee Drexel was last seen April 2009 when she was walking between hotels in Myrtle Beach. Her boyfriend, who stayed home in Rochester, New York, became concerned when she stopped answering texts. Drexel was kidnapped that night by Raymond Douglas Moody, who raped and killed her before burying her body the next day in the woods, Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said Monday at a news conference. Drexel's body was found last Wednesday in Georgetown County, about 35 miles down the coast from where she disappeared. The discovery came after a flurry of tips and investigation that included Moody's arrest May 4 on an obstruction of justice charge.</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSo0nurY02kXVwzq1p-9yPLeqJUpIACEuuL5lcqls-15r2ssVbJ2lyWGpAhCLDSUuSToRi8yePMNnzW8UO5Ud8rVbOJneBEkwuDS56l19ZysaRVyLPeNTyci_bPR3n7fUvlT6iADR7OSx-NObOBpMndVSqLoju0ACQw1ajmD9SVYOI_g7TWLn2jOqKcA/s960/la-Who-is-Raymond-Moody-comp.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSo0nurY02kXVwzq1p-9yPLeqJUpIACEuuL5lcqls-15r2ssVbJ2lyWGpAhCLDSUuSToRi8yePMNnzW8UO5Ud8rVbOJneBEkwuDS56l19ZysaRVyLPeNTyci_bPR3n7fUvlT6iADR7OSx-NObOBpMndVSqLoju0ACQw1ajmD9SVYOI_g7TWLn2jOqKcA/w336-h266/la-Who-is-Raymond-Moody-comp.webp" width="336" /></a></div>Investigators remained silent about the break in the case until Monday, when Moody, 62, was charged. Jail records did not indicate if he had a lawyer. Sheriff Weaver said Moody has an "extensive sex offender history" but did not provide details. Moody is on South Carolina's sex offender registry for 1983 convictions in California for sodomy by force of someone under 14 and kidnapping, according to State Law Enforcement Division Records. The sheriff, the Myrtle Beach police chief, the FBI agent in charge of South Carolina and solicitor all said little Monday about what helped them crack the case after 13 years of wild rumors that included stash houses for sexual abuse victims' bodies to be fed to alligators and rumored links to other missing women. Arrest warrants said Drexel was strangled the night she disappeared. Police said dental records backed up by DNA testing confirmed Drexel's remains had been found last week. "It's a good day to soberly be reminded of Brittanee and all that she and her family have had to go through," Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said. Drexel's parents made another trip to the Myrtle Beach area this week, but this one was different than the other visits that involved candlelight vigils, media interviews and updates from investigators without answers. "Today marks the beginning of a new chapter. The search for Brittanee is now a pursuit of Brittanee's justice," said Drexel's mother Dawn. She thanked all the investigators who worked to find her daughter. "This is truly a mother's worst nightmare. I am mourning my beautiful daughter Brittanee as I have for the past 13 years," she said. Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock was working for the department when Drexel disappeared and said she never forgot the case as she rose through the ranks. "It's not the final chapter we had been hoping for," Prock said Monday. "Every police officer has that one case that frequents their every waking thought."</div></blockquote><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-77170744715463665522021-04-14T15:11:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:36:20.441-08:00Nathan Edberg: Missing Since April 14, 1999<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTx8vaVBG6QWf-0uJCgD18N8KHCcEIEBGPfcxBSOTTq5g3xovIKXyZ4upGhuiijndZBOyKbnd41ZON-uhfQtAXw8f0u0Zk_7CMVwnJK9FmKePQq8T2YeEKKhjjxCP2I6avqEy55eWkTHz/s1600/BeFunky_edberg.jpg.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTx8vaVBG6QWf-0uJCgD18N8KHCcEIEBGPfcxBSOTTq5g3xovIKXyZ4upGhuiijndZBOyKbnd41ZON-uhfQtAXw8f0u0Zk_7CMVwnJK9FmKePQq8T2YeEKKhjjxCP2I6avqEy55eWkTHz/s1600/BeFunky_edberg.jpg.jpg" width="140" /></a></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
night of his disappearance Nathan went to police reserves at the White Bear
Lake Police Department. He was considering a career in law enforcement. Later
that night, he stopped at the bar Decoy's Bar and Grill for a couple of drinks
with old friends, in St. Paul, MN. No one saw him leave, however, his vehicle
was located in a ditch at Highway 35 East and Highway 694, near the Vadnais
Heights-Little Canada border.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
appeared that Edberg tried to get the car out of the ditch but damaged the
wheels. Authorities aren't sure if he was picked up by someone or if he
wandered away. It is unclear if he was hurt in the accident. The vehicle was
seen, coincidently, hours later by his friends as they were driving by the
area. The State Patrol towed it that night. But no one saw Nathan Edberg.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Edberg
apparently left his wallet at the bar so he probably wasn't carrying any
identification when he vanished. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He
did not show up for a job he was supposed to start nor a medical appointment. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Foul
play isn't suspected, but relatives say it would be unusual for Nathan Edberg
to take off without notifying his family. No one has accessed his credit card
or bank accounts.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nathan
Edberg, who was planning to attend college after taking a year off, was
starting to seek treatment for depression. He was depressed following a breakup
with his girlfriend, and his parents' pending divorce. He had also lost his
job.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Authorities
were not told about the disappearance until almost five days after Edberg's
truck was found. Nathan was living with a cousin in St. Paul. When his mother
didn't hear from him for several days, she and the rest of the family figured
he was sad over the pending divorce and simply wanted to be alone.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span>Vital
Statistics:</span></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span>Date
Of Birth:</span></b> September 17, 1977</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span><b>Age
at Time of Disappearance: </b></span>22 years old</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span><b>Height
and Weight at Time of Disappearance:</b></span> 6'3 - 6'4"; 210-230 lbs.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span>Distinguishing
Characteristics:</span></b> White male. Brown/black hair; dark brown eyes. Glasses with
wire frames (for reading and driving).</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span>Marks,
Scars:</span></b> Pierced ears (left double pierced).</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span><b>Clothing:
</b></span>White shirt, light or charcoal gray corduroy pants. 2 earrings in left ear.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span><b>Dentals:</b></span>
Available.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span>Medical:</span></b>
Suffers from depression</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span><b>AKA:</b></span>
Nate</span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span>DNA:</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Available</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">
"Eleven years ago today, <a href="http://footprintsattheriversedge.blogspot.com/2006/11/041499-nathan-edberg-21-white-bear-lake.html"><span>Nathan Edberg</span></a></span></b> disappeared after leaving Decoy’s bar at 2143 4th Street in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. According to published reports, no one actually saw him leave the bar, but he is thought to have left around 7:30 p.m. Edberg's empty truck was later located in a ditch at the junction of Hwy 694 and Hwy 35E. Authorities believe Edberg probably went off the road after missing his exit, but the trail stops there. Edberg's truck, found just a couple of miles from his mother's home, yielded no clues. There were no signs of a struggle nearby or any trace of Nathan Edberg. His keys were located inside the locked truck. Tom Paget of the Ramsey County sheriff's office who managed the case from 2000 to 2007 said, "There's no indication of foul play, anything. He just disappeared. I talked to everybody I could. Everybody was at a loss as to what happened." There has been some speculation that Edberg either committed suicide or simply walked away from his life. According to published reports, Edberg had experienced some upheavals in his life shortly before he disappeared--a lost job, a break-up with his girlfriend of four years, and the divorce of his parents just 6 months earlier. The bartender at Decoy's noted that he seemed less upbeat than usual on the night he disappeared. However, Edberg's mother, Jackie Edberg, said life had been looking up; and he was working to become a member of the police reserve. And if he had simply walked off, she explained to the Pioneer Press (04/13/10), 11 years is a long time for him to go without contacting anyone.</div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
According to the paper, it has also been conjectured that Nathan "hitched a ride with someone after running his car off the road and was abducted" or "wandered away from the ditch and succumbed to the cold, wet April weather," yet the paper points out that with no clues and no body, it is easy to speculate. Answers are clearly what is needed. It has been difficult for the Jackie Edberg to go so long without knowing what happened to her eldest son. "In the beginning, I thought, a month, two months, we'll learn," Jackie Edberg told the Pioneer Press. "But I just never imagined 11 years...we've never had anything remotely close to closure." Without any answers, Nathan's mother can't help but hold onto hope of seeing her son again. According to the Press, Jackie Edberg, "still lives in her Vadnais Heights home so he'll know where to come home to, and she plans on always having the same home phone number she had when Edberg disappeared. 'When people ask how many children I have, I tell them four, but I don't know where my oldest one is,' Jackie Edberg said.' At this point, I really think I may die without ever knowing what happened to my son," she said. </div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If you have information that could help the Edberg family get some answers, please call the Ramsey <span>County sheriff's office at 651-266-7320."</span><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></i></div></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHrpTgaHDTGvbqGCckO-ZrA8MiijzAyb7r9UUdyhFd0DFbCzKGqYeKzDqagTq0IgRRGILLBqK2vVX3zFCDzjodjryNF7wbxFGJj9svddbx-L50dQiMcT6ihqzyoLtlYxJd0RMTcDujLg5/s278/IMG_4916.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="278" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHrpTgaHDTGvbqGCckO-ZrA8MiijzAyb7r9UUdyhFd0DFbCzKGqYeKzDqagTq0IgRRGILLBqK2vVX3zFCDzjodjryNF7wbxFGJj9svddbx-L50dQiMcT6ihqzyoLtlYxJd0RMTcDujLg5/w547-h359/IMG_4916.JPG" width="547" /></a></div></i></div></div></blockquote>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><br /></i></div></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u>Prayer helps mom cope with son's disappearance</u></span></i></b></div></b><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">By Dave Hrbacek</span></span></div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">Wednesday, 25 March 2009</div></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh30UMBzINVAUnT3dCPQW10MEIhKurPu8mGBiK1ig7sDFUIBfu5CxzNvzUBF8SrYxScvSMNahNsWudSImp_Fpw7ac1g8fNCOsx7aZOsKV_RQld5WDb86l2oLeJRy8W0tP8Xi8kLSph27p/s254/IMG_4915.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="198" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh30UMBzINVAUnT3dCPQW10MEIhKurPu8mGBiK1ig7sDFUIBfu5CxzNvzUBF8SrYxScvSMNahNsWudSImp_Fpw7ac1g8fNCOsx7aZOsKV_RQld5WDb86l2oLeJRy8W0tP8Xi8kLSph27p/w225-h279/IMG_4915.JPG" width="225" /></a></div>Jackie Edberg of St. Odilia in Shoreview will never forget April 14, 1999. That was the day she last saw her son, Nathan, who was 21 at the time. He ate dinner at her house, then left for police reserve training at White Bear Lake City Hall. She never saw him again. His truck was found abandoned on the shoulder of Interstate 694 where it is joined by 35E. There were a few footprints heading east from the scene, but nothing more. Edberg and her three remaining children have spent the last 10 years wondering whether to mourn his death or hold out hope that he is alive somewhere. This year marks the 10th anniversary of his disappearance. A prayer service will be held at 7 p.m. April 14 at St. Odilia. St. Odilia liturgical coordinator Mari Meyer has been working closely with Edberg on the service, and said the event, while focusing on Nathan, is for anyone who has loved ones missing or wants to pray for families dealing with the issue. “We want people, in honor of Nathan, to pray for all missing children,” Meyer said. “The message that Jackie clearly wants to convey is our hope is in Christ.”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #cc0000;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Surrendering to God</span></b></u></i></div><br />For Edberg, the last 10 years have been a journey of deepening her faith as she continues to hope for Nathan’s reappearance, while at the same time, resigning herself to the reality that she may never see him again. “I do think Nathan’s disappearance has given me a stronger relationship with God,” she said. “When I surrendered it to God, it became easier to live with.” Though a cloud of mystery hangs over the whole incident, one thing is clear — Nathan was a troubled young man the night he pulled out of his mother’s driveway in his white Ford Ranger pickup truck. First, there was his father, Bob, who<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip65pfLKSmkbhTeNhJUAyPNv40x7thPz_bHO5mu5Ezc0e_ftTM5eDmOOQZ7fa67ag1pnAouBp38mLC7emYoO-1J8ili9gL7f8rMS_rbUbL93TtE4oPfhewuUf3HnP1tQGa12nCs7MmZqSr/s262/IMG_4914.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="193" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip65pfLKSmkbhTeNhJUAyPNv40x7thPz_bHO5mu5Ezc0e_ftTM5eDmOOQZ7fa67ag1pnAouBp38mLC7emYoO-1J8ili9gL7f8rMS_rbUbL93TtE4oPfhewuUf3HnP1tQGa12nCs7MmZqSr/w256-h349/IMG_4914.JPG" width="256" /></a></div>had let his life spiral downward due to alcoholism. The effects of this led to his separation from Jackie in 1997. They were separated when Nathan disappeared, although Nathan was talking regularly to Bob at the time. The couple divorced in 2000, however, and Bob died in 2001. Then, there were career and employment issues. Nathan tried college for a year after graduating from White Bear Lake High School in 1996, then worked a series of jobs before quitting the last one the month before he disappeared. Finally, there was the breakup with his girlfriend. They had dated for four years before the relationship ended. “Every area of his life was falling apart,” Jackie said. “There was just an awful lot of pain in Nathan’s life in coming to terms with what was happening.” That is why she followed him into the driveway after dinner the night he disappeared. She wanted to leave him with an encouraging word. “I remember saying, ‘Nathan, hang in there. You’re going to feel good again soon,’” she said. “And, he said, ‘I love you, Mom. I want to feel good again.’”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Getting the word out</span></b></i></u></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwyifnaFEszQkVkt7iUMzqunLD7YLcd7WLWs68BXBsZeqzIAMhZEL4Ql6s3KLeMI41PHaUlfEitxW_F5_sTL8pDnB7x7naW6u2DL3QX7AjTnQWBA7KBA9fy6m8-d0ILwzp7mw9F1loBHo/s667/IMG_4910.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="461" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwyifnaFEszQkVkt7iUMzqunLD7YLcd7WLWs68BXBsZeqzIAMhZEL4Ql6s3KLeMI41PHaUlfEitxW_F5_sTL8pDnB7x7naW6u2DL3QX7AjTnQWBA7KBA9fy6m8-d0ILwzp7mw9F1loBHo/w279-h404/IMG_4910.JPG" width="279" /></a></div>It was several days later before Jackie started to worry. Nathan was living with his cousin at the time and Jackie checked in with him a few days later and left a message for her son. The day after that, she filed a missing person report. Then, she was planning to try to get media coverage that would hopefully lead to finding her son. A major news story, however, changed her plans. “Six days after Nathan’s disappearance, the Columbine shootings happened,” she said. “I just wasn’t going to get any local coverage of one missing kid after those shootings.” Still she persisted, contacting local newspapers and TV stations, then moving to national outlets like “Oprah” and “America’s Most Wanted.” But nobody picked up the story, perhaps because there was no evidence of foul play. That fact gives Edberg hope that maybe her son is still alive. Yet, she says it’s not like him to just leave everyone he knows behind without a trace or an explanation. As many challenges as he faced, he still cared deeply about his family, she said. The family has tried hard to move forward without Nathan. In the days and week’s following his disappearance, Edberg realized that how she dealt with it would have a heavy impact on her children — Tony, now 28, Jennaya, 24, and Allison, 18. She did not want them to grow older looking back on April 14, 1999 as the day their mother stopped laughing and enjoying life. “I think you choose to be happy or you choose to be miserable [after a tragedy like this], but you work at both,” she said. “For my life, I’ve chosen to find happiness. We’re closer as a family.” Edberg wants the prayer service to evoke more hope than sorrow. “I would like to see it as a comfort and a support,” she said. “with a message that God’s in charge. That’s where we should all have hope.” And, she hopes the prayer service will deliver a message to family and friends of Nathan that she repeats often: “Everything works for the glory of God for those who believe.”<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-58657621615250808222021-03-18T23:32:00.000-07:002022-01-31T00:27:48.874-08:00Brianna Maitland : Missing Since March 19, 2004<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2-N2_q2ebR7s1cfx_8srlouCCKZW7zQhdm8Sxea03A1bTqIzryXR8u-COqvQu0Xu6ezM2IjorNNHwXN7pw2ospLeIcGKtXsTtBMyH8DtJ6IiiyjH6_kHwxMXw27mYHSTXf53avnRFCFW/s507/bc512b3a14d1bdb5c8f9f766b09f0061.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="350" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2-N2_q2ebR7s1cfx_8srlouCCKZW7zQhdm8Sxea03A1bTqIzryXR8u-COqvQu0Xu6ezM2IjorNNHwXN7pw2ospLeIcGKtXsTtBMyH8DtJ6IiiyjH6_kHwxMXw27mYHSTXf53avnRFCFW/w138-h200/bc512b3a14d1bdb5c8f9f766b09f0061.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>Brianna Alexandra Maitland was seventeen years old when she vanished on March 19th, 2004. She punched out of work at her new job as a dishwasher at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vermont at 11:20 pm. Brianna's coworkers had invited her to join them for dinner after the shift, but she was tired and wanted to get some rest before her first day at her second job at KJ’s Diner, as a waitress. She had a long day. Brianna woke early that Friday morning. Her mother picked her up to go out for breakfast before Brianna took her high school equivalency exam. Earning her GED would be a meaningful accomplishment after withdrawing from high school that previous year. <span><a name='more'></a></span><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Brianna had also been recently hired for two part-time restaurant jobs.</span></b> She planned to go to college. By all accounts, Brianna was making sensible choices for her future. After passing the exam, Brianna’s mother took her clothes shopping. Brianna needed black pants for the dress code at her job at KJ's Diner. While the two waited to check out, Brianna told her mother she would be right back, and left the store out of her mother's sight. Her mother bought the pants, and Brianna met her at her car. Brianna’s mood had changed; she was agitated and guarded toward her mother. The two didn’t acknowledge the change, her mother opting to respect the privacy of her independent daughter. Brianna's mood change has been subject to significant speculation and conjecture- we'll get to that later.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaUWUhceq5a3ec4THXlbRuZzFwRijHjxefwBJqNx2c9iOCu0xx0e6fr-PxH0dKn5HwcX6Ryaq0DFGJbvv8nCXlgL9TqRsIwg5lHNwILjnPHjTBGhU2o0fCMd2M8h2N18-xRAMUJy1vZ4R/s960/11081271_857816794275106_218565587280277177_n%255B1%255D.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaUWUhceq5a3ec4THXlbRuZzFwRijHjxefwBJqNx2c9iOCu0xx0e6fr-PxH0dKn5HwcX6Ryaq0DFGJbvv8nCXlgL9TqRsIwg5lHNwILjnPHjTBGhU2o0fCMd2M8h2N18-xRAMUJy1vZ4R/w225-h400/11081271_857816794275106_218565587280277177_n%255B1%255D.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>Brianna had been making strides for more autonomy throughout her teenage years. On October 8th, 2003, Brianna turned seventeen and moved out of her family’s farmhouse in Franklin, against the wishes of her parents. She moved in with her friend Katie Manning in Enosburg and enrolled in Enosburg Falls High School. The Maitland family's farm was within the district of Missisoqoui Valley Union High School, where Brianna had trouble fitting in. Brianna was pleased to now be going to school in Enosburg with her friends, including Katie, as well as Megan Jefferson, Keallie LaCross, Sydney Coon, and Hillary Robitaille.<br /><br />Shortly after Brianna changed schools, by early December, Brianna’s living arrangements with Katie fell through. She then couch surfed, staying with multiple friends (including boyfriends James Robitaille and Mike Gerrow). By February, Brianna was growing apart from her circle of friends and was increasingly isolated. At times she lived out of her car in freezing Northern Vermont temperatures. In late February of 2004, the instability wore thin on Brianna's academic performance. Although she was highly intelligent and a normally a great student, Brianna was forced to drop out of high school. Hoping for greater stability, Brianna moved ten miles away to Sheldon, moving in with her friend from middle school, Jillian Stout and her family. Brianna also joined a high school equivalency (GED) program at a local community college. <br /><br />After the tense car ride from the clothing store in St. Albans to Jillian’s home in Sheldon, Brianna and her mother hugged and shared I love you’s. Brianna then got ready for work and left a note for Jillian saying she’d be back home later that evening . Brianna planned to return home after her shift. She wasn't sure exactly when that would be, as she didn't have set hours. Brianna was done when the kitchen was clean.<br /><br />Brianna’s shift at the Black Lantern that night was described as “busy, yet uneventful”. Nothing significant was reported to have taken place, and coworkers didn’t notice anything different about Brianna. Not that they should reasonably have, as Brianna had just started that position two weeks prior and was not close with her coworkers. According to the Vermont State Police, Brianna was observed by one of her coworkers leaving work alone, in her light green clunker, a 1985 Oldsmobile Sedan 88 Royale. She had punched out at 11:20 p.m.<br /><br />No one saw Brianna Maitland after that. Her car, however, was spotted soon thereafter, abandoned. Brianna had apparently begun the eighteen mile drive to Jillian’s in Sheldon, but made it only one mile down Vermont Route 118. Approximately ten to seventy minutes after Brianna left work, between 11:30 pm and 12:30 am, a man driving on Route 118 saw her green sedan backed into an abandoned farmhouse, known as the Dutchburn house, at an odd angle. He remembered that the vehicles headlights may have been on. In between 12:00 am and 12:30 am, another man observed the car in the same position, and recalled there may have been a turn signal flashing. Later in the early morning hours of March 20th, Brianna’s ex-boyfriend, James Robitaille, drove by the site and recognized the vehicle to be that of Brianna’s. His stories have been inconsistent regarding the time he was there as well as why he was driving in that area. His current account, which is believed to be the truth, is that he drove past the Dutchburn house at about 2:30 am, and pulled over upon recognizing the car. He said no one was around, however the headlights were on and both the driver and passenger side doors were open. James turned off the lights and closed the doors and moved on. He had been drinking that night and was afraid of getting in trouble. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-C4VRaAY3g7gS4g8FQ6jWS48gvWrQxNV2O9zqA47Hz-n_bPAUh5wmn4mDLdPwj51bcH729z_hvF1L54mPhze8CjQdFlDl7HOmEev-DoxV4hJOezTx-dRZGn5s9o5OdgaoC4lo-ogPXUiK/s394/568695.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="394" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-C4VRaAY3g7gS4g8FQ6jWS48gvWrQxNV2O9zqA47Hz-n_bPAUh5wmn4mDLdPwj51bcH729z_hvF1L54mPhze8CjQdFlDl7HOmEev-DoxV4hJOezTx-dRZGn5s9o5OdgaoC4lo-ogPXUiK/w400-h305/568695.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Later that morning, a group of hikers driving on Route 118 observed the abandoned Oldsmobile and found it odd enough to stop. They pulled over, exited their vehicle, and gawked at the eerie scene before them. They took photographs, which are now the only photographs of the crash site accessible to the public. One of the photographers observed loose change, a water bottle, and a broken necklace (later confirmed to be Brianna's) on the ground next to the vehicle's driver's side. <br /><br />At 1:22 pm on March 20th, a Vermont State Trooper was dispatched to the Dutchburn house. The Trooper observed some personal effects in the Oldsmobile, including two paychecks from the Black Lantern Inn addressed to Brianna Maitland, but the Trooper saw nothing he considered to be suspicious. The officer determined the car was likely abandoned by a drunk driver, a rather common and not necessarily alarming circumstance. He collected the scattered belongings on the ground and threw them into the vehicle. The Trooper then drove up to the Black Lantern, hoping to interview staff regarding the abandoned vehicle, but the restaurant was closed, and the officer proceeded with this day. He took down the tag number of the vehicle. The car was later towed to a local automotive shop. The officer never ran the plates. It's rumored he left for a short vacation the following day. <br /><br />Jillian Stout spent that weekend away at her grandparent's house and was unaware Brianna had not returned until she arrived home that Monday to see Brianna's note left untouched. On Tuesday, March 23rd Jillian called Brianna’s mother Kellie, and after sharing notes the two quickly realized Brianna was unaccounted for. Kellie made calls to everyone she could think of to try to reach Brianna, but no one had seen or heard from her. She called Brianna’s father, Bruce, who was away in New York on business. The two became desperately worried for their daughter's safety, and Bruce drove through the night to return to Vermont. Kellie called the police to report a missing juvenile. <br /><br />Kellie and Bruce drove to the State Police Barracks in St. Albans to discuss their daughter’s disappearance. Upon giving the officers information about Brianna’s vehicle, one of them showed the couple a photograph of the abandoned Oldsmobile. Her parents were alarmed and concerned when they saw the picture. The rear end of Brianna's vehicle was lodged into the farmhouse, with one of the boarded windows resting on the car's trunk. They knew Brianna would not have left her vehicle this way. The discovery of the abandoned car made it obvious to her parents that Brianna did not, and most likely could not, have been a runaway without her means for transportation. <br /><br />The couple was dismayed that they were not notified of the vehicle's discovery. Kellie and Bruce met their son, Waylon, at the auto shop where the Oldsmobile was towed. The Maitland's were informed that the Oldsmobile keys were missing. Bruce learned that the car had not been inspected, so he pried the trunk open with a crowbar. He feared that Brianna may have been inside. She wasn’t. However, in the vehicle he found a number of personal items that they believed Brianna would not have left behind, including her migraine medication, contact lenses, drivers license, ATM card and of course, her paychecks. <br /><br />Her parents jumped into action. Bruce went to the Black Lantern to interview her coworkers, arriving before the police. The police deployed K9 units to search the open field surrounding the accident site, however nothing was found. The vehicle was processed in the State Police Barracks. Early in the investigation, investigators were open in their belief Brianna Maitland was a runaway. However, in 2012, the police announced that Brianna was most likely a victim of foul play and that there was no evidence to indicate that Brianna left voluntarily.<br /><br />If you have any information that may help this investigation, please contact the Vermont State Police.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Chloe Canter - http://chloefromcrawlspace.blogspot.com/</span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><i><b>The Clothes on Her Back</b></i></u></div><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkvWNtNjQVKrrgzf01oRY2-tSpbm1wEy_ZhyphenhyphenMy_QJqaLurVD6yWPYEYIFQpl_SrHEwevizYc1zcpoIrBtBg-sB-xJrCBbRdCtSruNWK0vwgobRx_wmzktgq0QeK9Gjnu2n0XB4Ybaerb0/s200/819aAqK3UGL._UL1500_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="200" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkvWNtNjQVKrrgzf01oRY2-tSpbm1wEy_ZhyphenhyphenMy_QJqaLurVD6yWPYEYIFQpl_SrHEwevizYc1zcpoIrBtBg-sB-xJrCBbRdCtSruNWK0vwgobRx_wmzktgq0QeK9Gjnu2n0XB4Ybaerb0/w200-h182/819aAqK3UGL._UL1500_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div>On a missing persons poster, there is often a description of what the person was last seen wearing. Brandon Lawson was last seen in a yellow shirt, camouflage shorts, and white Nikes. Maura Murray wore a dark coat, blue jeans, running shoes, and carried a black backpack when she stepped out of her crashed car on New Hampshire Route 112. There is no mention of what clothing Brianna was last seen wearing on her missing posters or on her NAMUS profile. Prior to Brianna's evening shift on March 19th, 2004, her mother took her shopping to buy black pants for her waitress job at KJ's Diner. Her first day was to be the following morning. She didn’t show up. Brianna’s brand new black pants were found still in the shopping bag at Jillian's house. Since those were her only pair, Brianna’s mother Kellie and aunt Tammy have speculated that Brianna was wearing blue jeans the night she went missing. On October 25th, 2007 a pair of blue jeans was located in the woods approximately seven miles from the Dutchburn house where Brianna’s vehicle was abandoned. The Vermont State Police collected and <span style="text-align: center;">analyzed the weathered pants for DNA and ultimately determined the jeans did not belong to Brianna Maitland. It has been reported that Brianna wore an apron to work in her position as dishwasher at the Black Lantern Inn. It is unclear if Brianna still wore her apron after she punched out and left work. Some have speculated that the loose coins on the ground by her abandoned car, as well as the lime wedge found on her trunk, could have fallen from her apron pockets during a struggle. Brianna’s aunt Tammy also speculated that Brianna wore hiking sneakers when she disappeared. A pair she was known to wear was missing from her belongings. There is no description of the shirt she was last seen wearing. And I have seen no speculation of anything else she may have been wearing that evening. Brianna's glasses, contact lens case, </span><span style="text-align: center;">migraine medication, ATM card, paychecks, and driver's license were all left behind in her abandoned vehicle. She did not have a cellphone. The only thing missing from the scene, besides Brianna, was her car keys. In the newest episode of Crawlspace, Brianna Maitland- Fact or Speculation, Private Investigator Lou Barry addressed the possibility that Brianna didn't have car keys. Old cars may not need a key. It is possible that the only belongings with Brianna when she disappeared were the clothes on her back.</span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Chloe Canter - http://chloefromcrawlspace.blogspot.com/</span></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; font-size: 24.48px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><u>In Keallie's Words:</u></i></span></h3></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span></div><div><div>If you've looked into the Maitland case, you know Brianna was injured in a fight three weeks before she disappeared. She had a falling out with her friend Keallie LaCross because of a love triangle (or rectangle). Because of the timing of this fight, some have speculated that Keallie may be involved in Brianna's disappearance. Keallie was kind enough to grant me an interview back in March, and we spoke on the phone for nearly two hours. I know people are waiting for a podcast episode with Keallie as a guest. We are working on it! In the meantime, I thought I could shed some light on her side of the story.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPKwxYt8vMR-8WLuoa5KWvvDsONwOG5YFpI6Zu9pazcNIGOJhoFd_6UmrAVYTJKBh1Zsxt8D9MsuP_uAlgfvE_wQACo90ukYYWXgdwre7Vpl2ZQm9c1JYHytRHepkZfYEs2RH5fya1diD/s508/briandkeallie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPKwxYt8vMR-8WLuoa5KWvvDsONwOG5YFpI6Zu9pazcNIGOJhoFd_6UmrAVYTJKBh1Zsxt8D9MsuP_uAlgfvE_wQACo90ukYYWXgdwre7Vpl2ZQm9c1JYHytRHepkZfYEs2RH5fya1diD/s320/briandkeallie.jpg" /></a></div><div>Keallie has been described by the media as a "female acquaintance" of Brianna's, but it was clear from our conversation that the two were actually close friends. Keallie described Brianna as "super friendly, happy, easy to get along with, and wicked nice". They met when Brianna approached Keallie in the Enosburg Falls High School gym and joined her on the bleachers. She introduced herself and the two began chatting. They became very close, and the group of friends (including Katie, Megan, Sydney, and Hillary) would "pile up into her green car and go my boyfriend's house at night. That's where we hung out. Brianna would drive me home every night". </div><div><br /></div><div>Brianna and Keallie were interested in the same men. The two were both on-and-off with the same two guys, one of whom was James Robitaille. Keallie felt betrayed by Brianna when at one point, Brianna had gone behind her back with one of the men, who was officially Keallie's boyfriend of two years. Keallie went to Massachusetts for a week to visit her mother. When Keallie's returned, her friends informed her that Brianna had been staying with Keallie's boyfriend while she was away. When Keallie confronted her boyfriend, he admitted it.</div><div><br /></div><div>By then, Brianna had already been growing apart from her Enosburg friends and was no longer going to school with them. Keallie hadn't seen Brianna in a few weeks. Not long after Keallie returned to Vermont, she spotted Brianna in the passenger's seat of James's car. For Keallie, this added insult to injury.</div><div><br /></div><div>"That really pissed me off," Keallie recalled. She began to shout at Brianna and call her names. Brianna kept her head down and James shouted back at Keallie to stop. They drove off. A couple of days later, James showed up at a party at the Pallet Factory with Brianna. </div><div><br /></div><div>"The Pallet Factory party, everyone was there. James showed up with Bri. I intimidated her all night. I was fucking mad. I was trying to get a reaction out of her, but she wouldn't say anything. At one point I realize she's missing from the party. James said, 'she's out in the truck'. I walked out to the truck by myself, no one was with me. I knocked on the window, and she rolled it down.</div><div><br /></div><div>"'Bri are you gonna come out and fight?' I punched her. 'Come on, let's go, let's fight!' I punched her again. Her head was down, she was crying. I said, 'you're not worth it'. James came out and yelled, 'Keallie, what the fuck did you do? What the fuck did you do?' I said she had it coming.</div><div><br /></div><div>"She wouldn't speak, probably because there was more she knew that I didn't. She was ashamed of herself, she'd fucked up everything. She was living with and relying on friends, and I fucked it all up for her".</div><div><br /></div><div>I could hear in Keallie's voice how angry and hurt she was by the memory of the betrayal, even fourteen years later. However, at one point she tried to see it from Brianna's perspective: "She just wanted someone to love her, and wanted to be in, a part of us".</div><div><br /></div><div>I asked her how she feels about the public reaction toward her.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Have you ever Googled me?", she asked.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Yes," I responded. </div><div><br /></div><div>"My mom told me to, and it's bad. I don't let it bother me, because if I did, it would be too much. That's one of the reasons why I want to be on the podcast, because anyone doing their homework will come by and hear it from me.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I know her family hates me, but I'd love to talk to them, and give them closure from my side. I pray her family finds her and puts her to rest. I can't believe it's drawn out this far. How have they not found her in Vermont? I hope it gets put to rest". </div><div><br /></div><div>I asked her why it was stated on Disappeared that she was cleared by law enforcement. What was her alibi?</div><div><br /></div><div>"I have no idea. There wasn't a formal alibi. But I was always very cooperative, always talked to them (the Vermont State Police), so maybe that was why. When I got hit with Federal charges, they said 'tell us what happened to Bri and we'll clear you, we're giving you 100 years'. But I didn't know".</div><div><br /></div><div>I asked her how she found out Brianna was missing.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I found out in school. The police came to question me, Katie, Syd, the girls. I wasn't devastated, I didn't think it was real. When Shauna told me I was being charged, I said something fucked up like, 'how's she going to do that? Good luck, she's missing'. I was mean. It's not like I didn't care. I didn't think it was real.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I watched the video on the ID Channel. Her mom said, 'why didn't you fight back?' and Bri said, 'I didn't want people to not like me'. Vermont's not like that, everyone loves everyone, we're all on the same team. It wasn't 'Team Bri' and 'Team Keallie'. I didn't hang out with her anymore. I saw her one time after I hit her, her face was fucked up. We didn't talk, no words were exchanged. She might have been with Jillian. That was the last time I saw her".</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9HHwX1zUXIemb3MStMvxSIC2Tvva3JcwpwipyvqvVEBvrqo_TUaXYfmHO6AVYYoL8vbquKVhTmcNuluxp5RjjnuUAW64Jz2pz14CHSZ6JJLVBLtyFSvOmyVtf5ogReams5jPBSnhp0dW/s299/lll.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="299" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9HHwX1zUXIemb3MStMvxSIC2Tvva3JcwpwipyvqvVEBvrqo_TUaXYfmHO6AVYYoL8vbquKVhTmcNuluxp5RjjnuUAW64Jz2pz14CHSZ6JJLVBLtyFSvOmyVtf5ogReams5jPBSnhp0dW/w400-h225/lll.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In addition to sharing her side of the story regarding her fight with Brianna, Keallie shed a lot of light on the aftermath of Brianna's disappearance. If you've been following the Brianna Maitland episodes on Crawlspace Podcast, you may be familiar with a popular theory among locals, in which Brianna died in an accident which was covered up by male acquaintances. This theory, while incredibly widespread, is based entirely on third party accounts, and to this day has not been verified by tangible evidence. The men involved in this theory have not been identified as persons of interest or suspects by the Vermont State Police. So I won't name them. For context, one of those men was Keallie's then-boyfriend. </div><div><br /></div><div>"When she came up missing, I came home from school to my boyfriend's house and he's crying. He knew Bri was missing, he was in tears. I said, 'what are you crying for, you fucking bitch? I'm not even crying'. I don't know how he found out". At that point, Keallie didn't think the disappearance was "real" or cause for immediate concern. His concern for Brianna aggravated Keallie. Just three weeks before, he had confessed to Keallie that he had cheated on her with Brianna. </div><div><br /></div><div>"I can't remember how long after, but sometime after she went missing, a search team came to his house suited up. They asked if they could search the shit pit. I don't know why they asked me, it wasn't my property. I said, 'suit up, motherfuckers!' and slammed the door. They did search it. I wondered, 'why is he a suspect?'" </div><div><br /></div><div>I asked Keallie if they found anything. She told me no, adding that the family owns thousands of acres of land in the area. I asked her if she thought he could be guilty.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I don't think he did it. I don't think he could live with it". </div><div><br /></div><div>Keallie was in the same social circle as Brianna. She was not only close with the men of the "accident theory", but was also acquainted with Nathaniel Jackson (AKA "Low"), whom many believe to be a viable suspect in Brianna's disappearance. Jackson and his cousin Ramon Ryans (AKA "Street") rented a farmhouse on Reservoir Road in Berkshire and lived between Northern Vermont and the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York. The two were known to hang around Enosburg Falls High and supply teenagers with crack cocaine and other drugs. Not long after Brianna's disappearance, her father Bruce received an anonymous tip that Brianna was being held captive at the Reservoir Road house. Bruce quickly relayed the information to the police, but they did not share his sense of urgency on the matter. He told the officers, "if you won't search, I'll round up some friends and we will go and search ourselves". The house was searched by law enforcement, who found no sign of Brianna Maitland. Keallie recalled an experience she had with Low, soon after Brianna went missing.</div><div><br /></div><div>"After school one day, the girls and I went to McDonalds in Hilary's Subaru. Low pulled up on us. We told him he was the number one suspect. He followed us around the drive-through loop. 'I'll have you all fucking missing!' he said". I had heard this story before, from Katie and Megan who were both in the car. </div><div><br /></div><div>Keallie described Low as "pushy", and shared he once tried to convince her to come to Burlington with him, "I'll buy you whatever you want, take you shopping". Several other women have disclosed to me that as teenagers, Low had tried to persuade them to go to Burlington or New York City under similar pretenses. </div><div><br /></div><div>Keallie recalled the local talk at the time, "People say Bri was with him, and that she owed him money". </div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">http://chloefromcrawlspace.blogspot.com/2018/11/missing-in-vermont-12-in-keallies-words.html?m=1</span></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>Background:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />Brianna grew up on a rural farm in Vermont, near the Canadian border. In October 2003, Brianna moved out of her family home on her 17th birthday. Her parents, Kellie and Bruce Maitland, reported that there were no serious issues that led to her moving out, rather Brianna wanted more independence and to live closer to her group of friends, who lived 15 miles away and attended a different high school. Brianna enrolled in the new high school, but dropped out due to unstable living arrangements. By February 2004, Brianna had moved in with her childhood friend Jillian Stout in Sheldon, VT (20 miles west of Montgomery) and enrolled in a GED program.<br /><br /><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>Feb 27, 2004:</u></span></i></b><br /><br />Brianna attends a party with her boyfriend and some high school friends. During the party, she flirts with the boyfriend of another friend, Keallie Lacrosse, who became upset. Brianna left the party to wait for her boyfriend in the passenger seat of his car, and is pursued by Keallie, who knocks on the window of the truck. When Brianna rolls the window down, Keallie punches her in the face, breaking her nose and giving her a concussion. Brianna files a police report upon her mother’s insistence, although charges are later dropped due to Brianna’s disappearance. Police have cleared Keallie of any involvement in Brianna’s disappearance.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>March 19th:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />On the morning of Friday March 19, Brianna had taken and passed her GED exam, and her mother Kellie took her out to lunch to celebrate. Kellie reports that Brianna was happy, and discussed plans of attending college. They spent the afternoon shopping at a local mall, and while waiting in line, Kellie said something outside caught Brianna’s attention, and she told her she would be right back. After checking out, Kellie left the store and met Brianna in the parking lot. Brianna’s demeanor had changed - she appeared “tense, shaken, and agitated,” according to Kellie. Brianna told her she needed to head home to get ready for her shift at the Black Lantern Inn. Kellie didn’t want to pry and did not ask Brianna what was wrong, dropping her off at the home she and Jillian lived at between 3:30-4PM. Brianna left a note for Jillian saying she was at work and would be home right after.<br /><b><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">11:20PM:</span> </b>Brianna has finished her shift at the Black Lantern Inn, and declines an invitation from her co-workers to stay and have dinner, telling them she is tired and has to get home as she is scheduled to work a morning shift at her second job in St. Albans, VT. Her co-workers saw Brianna get into her 1985 Oldsmobile and drive off. She was reportedly alone. This is the last time Brianna was seen.<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>March 20th:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />Afternoon: A Vermont State Police trooper is dispatched to the Dutchburn farmhouse, an abandoned house on Route 118 in Richford, VT, approx a mile from the Black Lantern Inn and on Brianna’s normal route home. Her 1985 Oldsmobile was found with minor damage, backed into the side of the house, with a piece of plywood that had covered a window resting on the trunk of her car. The trooper noticed two of Brianna’s paychecks on the front seat of the car, with loose change, a water bottle, and an unlit cigarette scattered on the ground outside of the car. Initially assuming the car was abandoned by a drunk driver, the trooper had the car towed to a local garage, and went to Brianna’s work to attempt to locate her, but it was closed at the time. They do not report the abandoned vehicle to Kellie Maitland, who is listed as the registered owner.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Witness sightings of Maitland’s car between 3/19-20:</span></b><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">11:30PM-12AM:</span></b> a man driving by the Dutchburn house reports the car’s headlights may have been on, but he does not see anyone in or around the car<br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">12-1230AM:</span></b> a second man driving by says he thinks he sees a turn signal flashing on the car<br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">4AM:</span></b> a former boyfriend of Brianna’s sees her car, which he believes looks familiar, on the way home from a party across the border in Canada. He does not see anyone in or around the car<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>March 23rd:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />Jillian Stout calls Brianna’s parents to find out if they have seen her. Jillian had initially seen Brianna’s note on Friday before leaving to visit her boyfriend out of town for the weekend. When she returned home on Monday March 22nd, she saw the note undisturbed, but assumed Brianna was at her parents. Kellie immediately begins calling Brianna’s friends and checks with her employers, realizing she has not been seen since Friday March 19.<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>March 25th:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />Kellie and Bruce have been unable to locate Brianna, and he returns home from a trip to New York to help locate her. Kellie calls 911 and files a missing persons report, and upon Bruce arriving back in VT, they drive around searching places Brianna frequented. They collect photos of her to hand over to Vermont State Police. When they give the description of Brianna’s car, the connection is finally made between Brianna and the 1985 Oldsmobile towed on 3/20/04. Brianna’s parents are upset that no one contacted Kellie about the car being towed, and by this point it has been nearly a week that Brianna has been missing. Bruce heads over to the garage the car was towed to, realizing Brianna has left behind her ATM card, driver’s license, contact lens case, eyeglasses, makeup, and migraine medication. Authorities had not found Brianna’s keys and had not opened her trunk, so Bruce pried it open with a crowbar. Inside were some more personal items and clothes that she had not unpacked yet from her recent move.</span><div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjdfG6QhZh4gN_qGnMRL7My7ho-oKRfaPjvY3YlG1KZwa1vWF_uFnw2Dyec35KRwn4pS8F51aHAQuX5kbHb63dao12yZmfys_m7VnT9mvi2gJwClwFTi4HVNYocQyU6y7grkuWDdqZB6I/s800/BRICar_Int02.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjdfG6QhZh4gN_qGnMRL7My7ho-oKRfaPjvY3YlG1KZwa1vWF_uFnw2Dyec35KRwn4pS8F51aHAQuX5kbHb63dao12yZmfys_m7VnT9mvi2gJwClwFTi4HVNYocQyU6y7grkuWDdqZB6I/w300-h400/BRICar_Int02.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>March 30th:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />The vehicle is finally processed by the state crime lab for evidence and returned to the Maitland family. The area surrounding the Dutchburn house is searched by police and search dogs, but nothing is found. While authorities state they found no evidence of a struggle or foul play in Brianna’s vehicle, they reportedly did find physical evidence which they will not release due to the ongoing investigation.<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>April 3-5th:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />Extensive searches are done by over 500 volunteers of a five mile radius surrounding the Dutchburn house. Nothing is found, but the increased media attention brings out more eyewitnesses, including two people who drove by the Dutchburn house on the morning of 3/20/04 and took pictures of Brianna’s car backed into the side of the barn. They turn these photos over to police, who had not seen photos of the car as it was found due to it not being investigated as a crime scene. They believe the car was staged, and now suspect foul play in Brianna’s case.<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>April 15th:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />Vermont State Police raid a house in Berkshire, VT (10 miles from Montgomery) based on an anonymous tip that Brianna was being held against her will by two known drug dealers from New York, Ramon Ryans and Nathaniel Charles Jackson. Inside, they find drug paraphernalia and large amounts of cocaine and marijuana, but no sign of Brianna. Brianna was known to hang around Ryans and Jackson, and her close friends told law enforcement that Brianna had begun experimenting with hard drugs recently, including crack cocaine. Jackson admits to knowing Maitland, but says the last time he saw her was over a week prior to disappearing.<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>Late 2004:</u></i></b></span><br /><br />Police receive a statement from an older woman alleging Ryans and Jackson murdered Brianna. A sworn affidavit is leaked to the local press, where the woman claims Ryans murdered Brianna a week after she disappeared, mutilating her body with a table saw and then disposing of her remains on a pig farm. Brianna was reportedly murdered in an argument over several thousand dollars she had fronted him to purchase crack, which he decided to keep and not supply her. Brianna allegedly confronted him over the money, and he abducted and killed her, storing her body in a freezer for over a week before disposing of her remains. Police were never able to find any evidence corroborating these claims.<br /><br />Police initially investigated claims that Brianna’s disappearance was connected to the disappearance of Maura Murray in February 2004. Maura went missing from Haverhill, NH after a crash in a rural area, around 90 miles from Brianna’s crash. Despite the situations appearing to have some similarities, law enforcement ruled out any connection between Brianna and Maura’s disappearances.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibesXwdb5u598LiKRWY2Qo_JxukXOh2EnlXMyh-DA9suLfjtwq5jwl8cOAIxnu0RjnkArQhmu7YQEJ4krjS8xMLq32yThyZfYWLfTpV-qBzFd4WbbE6otiBOSd0KyuqL4ha6SaiLWggOY2/s1080/0_Car_Brianna_Int01-2a.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibesXwdb5u598LiKRWY2Qo_JxukXOh2EnlXMyh-DA9suLfjtwq5jwl8cOAIxnu0RjnkArQhmu7YQEJ4krjS8xMLq32yThyZfYWLfTpV-qBzFd4WbbE6otiBOSd0KyuqL4ha6SaiLWggOY2/w320-h240/0_Car_Brianna_Int01-2a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div></span><div><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-86893872478896547212020-11-11T02:31:00.002-08:002021-02-17T03:06:58.053-08:00LeeAnna "Beaner" Warner: Missing Since June 14, 2003<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPaAHfMRXV6uWXGJ7wuwSMoImZJwcsUZ678QqQG_NuFqN_cP_81nP0UV3YswxlgfKK1KKOJKzdDO1nrgSXXdupunq45K0hdTIgBXMXgoc38-dd8azVImbi6sghBMuyuMeLCZRYWO-SoCr/s160/0876880_1920x1080_b21ebf.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="157" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPaAHfMRXV6uWXGJ7wuwSMoImZJwcsUZ678QqQG_NuFqN_cP_81nP0UV3YswxlgfKK1KKOJKzdDO1nrgSXXdupunq45K0hdTIgBXMXgoc38-dd8azVImbi6sghBMuyuMeLCZRYWO-SoCr/w195-h200/0876880_1920x1080_b21ebf.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>LeeAnna was last seen walking home from a friend's house, which was a block and a half from her own residence. She had gone to play with the friend at 4:30 p.m., but no one was home at her friend's residence. She was last seen walking on southwest Second or Third Street, westbound, between 5:00 and 5:15 p.m.<p></p><p>LeeAnna's mother, Tiffany Kaelin Whittaker, more commonly known as Kaelin Warner, began looking for her at 5:30 p.m., enlisting neighborhood children to help. When the search turned up no sign of LeeAnna's whereabouts, Kaelin called the police between 8:40 and 9:00 p.m.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>An extensive search by authorities, which lasted several days and included helicopters and bloodhounds, failed to locate LeeAnna. While there is no evidence that she was kidnapped, authorities have been leaning towards that view, feeling they would have found her quickly had she merely wandered off. Tracker dogs traced her scent to the roadside edge but lost it after that.</p><p>An unidentified man in his mid-thirties was seen on foot in the neighborhood at about the time of LeeAnna's disappearance. He was approximately 5'10 tall and 155 pounds, with a dark-colored tattoo of a star or sun on his right arm.</p><p>A maroon and blue two-door Cadillac driven by an African-American man in his twenties or thirties with a bald or shaven head, and an older model rusty brown pickup truck driven by a Caucasian man with black curly hair were also seen in the area.</p><p>Neither the vehicles or their drivers have been identified. It is unknown whether any of them had to do with LeeAnna's apparent abduction.</p><p>Matthew James Curtis, 24, was arrested in Chisholm in August 2003 for possession of child pornography charges which were unrelated to LeeAnna's case. He was interrogated several times about a possible connection to LeeAnna, however, due to the nature of his alleged crime.</p><p>Curtis was found dead September 2003, the day before he was supposed to appear in court on the child pornography charge. Police say he suffocated himself with a plastic bag and his body was found in a gravel pit eight or nine miles outside of Chisholm. The investigation into his death has been closed and ruled a suicide.</p><p>There has been speculation that Curtis did not commit suicide and was in fact murdered in a possible revenge or gangland-style killing, and his remains were then staged to make it look like he took his own life. There is no evidence to support this theory, however.</p><p>Authorities initially suspected that Curtis was involved in LeeAnna's disappearance, and they processed his pickup truck for DNA samples. They could not find any evidence that the child had ever been in the vehicle, and it was decided that Curtis was not connected to LeeAnna's apparent abduction.</p><p>Police suspect foul play in LeeAnna's disappearance. LeeAnna's parents were not asked to take lie detector tests and are not suspects in their daughter's apparent abduction.</p><p>They have both been previously divorced and LeeAnna's father, Christopher, had domestic problems with his ex-wife; they both sought mutual restraining orders and he alleged that she had threatened Kaelin and LeeAnna. These difficulties occurred several years before LeeAnna's disappearance, however, and are not thought to be related to it.</p><p>The Warners moved to Chisholm just a few months prior to LeeAnna's disappearance.</p><p>After LeeAnna vanished, a child's footprints were found near Longyear Lake, a shallow lake near where she was last seen. Investigators pumped some of the water out of the lake in late October 2003 to search for evidence relating to her case, but they found nothing important and had to stop pumping because the lake was freezing over.</p><p>They began a new search of Chisholm in the summer of 2004, looking for the child's remains, but to no result. No further searches are scheduled for the foreseeable future. LeeAnna's parents believe she is still alive and was possibly abducted for the purposes of black-market adoption.</p><p>LeeAnna enjoys playing with dolls and riding her bicycle, and is described as an outgoing, precocious, and fearless child. She has been known to wander, and her survival instincts are said to be quite advanced for her age. Her case remains unsolved.</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">http://charleyproject.org/case/leeanna-susan-marie-warner</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><b><i>Missing Leeanna: A Family Endures While Authorities Struggle For Answers</i></b></u></span></p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"> Jill Burcum, Star Tribune </span><br /><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">CHISHOLM, MINN.</span> -- By all accounts, it was just another lazy spring Saturday on the Iron Range when 5-year-old LeeAnna Warner happily skipped off to see two small chums with a mountainous stash of toys in their living room. Late in the afternoon on June 14, the little girl, nicknamed "Beaner," arrived barefoot at her friends' house around the corner only to find that the family had gone to Wal-Mart. Then she headed back the way she came. She never made it home. Authorities pursued theories that the little girl might have wandered into a nearby lake or got lost on the rugged Range. But after nearly two months of dead ends, investigators now believe something sinister and rare happened on the quiet tree-lined street near LeeAnna's home. The family said law enforcement told them for the first time last week, at a meeting in Hibbing, that officials believe Leanna was likely the victim of the rarest and most serious type of kidnapping -- a stranger abduction. "We knew it in our hearts. But it's not an easy word to hear," said LeeAnna's father, Chris Warner, 31. About 115 children out of the approximately 800,000 reported missing each year in the United States are considered to have been kidnapped by a stranger or slight acquaintance who intends to harm them or hold them permanently, according to a landmark study of missing children. LeeAnna's mother, 29-year-old Kaelin Warner, said she struggled to breathe as she listened to investigators Tuesday. Images of her child in fear or pain flashed through her mind. "My first question was, what are the odds of bringing her home alive?" she said. "They said, 'Don't you ever lose hope.' " In a three-hour interview at their home last week, the Warners said hope and faith will have to sustain the family. In the 50 days since LeeAnna disappeared, investigators and family members have sorted through more than 1,300 leads and extensively searched the area. Yet there's precious little information about what happened to the tiny, brown-haired, brown-eyed chatterbox after two neighbors saw her leave her friends' house. 'It's like she disappeared into thin air or someone zapped her somewhere with a laser. Or that she was abducted by aliens," Kaelin Warner said. "Just vanished. Gone."</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u><i>Law Enforcement People Share Her Frustration.</i></u></span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;">"We're really grasping right now," said Dave Bjerga, special agent in charge of northern Minnesota for the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. One agent with 30 years’ experience told Bjerga there's never been a case "where there's so little to go on." Even compared with Jacob Wetterling or Corrine Erstad -- two Minnesota kids whose disappearances garnered headlines and stymied investigators -- authorities in LeeAnna's disappearance say they have less information to work with. With the Wetterling case, at least, two young companions reported seeing someone snatch the boy. With LeeAnna, investigators didn't even have that as a starting point.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>Strategy Of Exclusion</u></span></i></b></p><p>St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman just shook his head last week when asked whether there's any possible link between LeeAnna's disappearance and that of other missing children in Minnesota or nationally. "We don't have enough information to make that determination," he said. "We can't find her. That's the only similarity." At this point, Litman and Bjerga say, investigators are pursuing a strategy of exclusion. Family, people, places and things are checked out and checked off. And that process of elimination has led authorities to the conclusion that LeeAnna was mostly likely kidnapped by someone with little or no connection to the Warners. "What we don't know tells us something," Litman said. From the moment she was last seen by two neighbors leaving her friend's house, ". . . We know nothing, and that's significant." The rarity of stranger abductions is one reason authorities pursued the theory that LeeAnna had wandered off and why they didn't issue a nationwide AMBER Alert to law enforcement agencies and the media of a child abduction. Authorities continue to stand by that decision but say they are confident that they've done the legwork to support the conclusion that LeeAnna was abducted.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAiki4ckUVCAvNWB8u8bEwuoHP-HBWH46YTUBgSMlt3nRCwA38EtJsCL0M8PLRiW8OndUNxdNhJYoZVHdJSdtRt8rrDmZJRw2bdqKaTZNBudcOeDUn_f_ZY9Gjjw0WIrqt5A5KjJd44BQ/s2048/CdKmIAw.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAiki4ckUVCAvNWB8u8bEwuoHP-HBWH46YTUBgSMlt3nRCwA38EtJsCL0M8PLRiW8OndUNxdNhJYoZVHdJSdtRt8rrDmZJRw2bdqKaTZNBudcOeDUn_f_ZY9Gjjw0WIrqt5A5KjJd44BQ/w300-h400/CdKmIAw.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><p>Since LeeAnna disappeared, divers have searched the clear waters of nearby Longyear Lake more than a dozen times. Searchers have trudged multiple times on foot through the countryside in a circle whose outside edge is about 5 1/2 miles from the Warners' gray stucco duplex. Neighbors also were interviewed multiple times, and in some cases, had their houses and vehicles searched. Tips about suspicious cars and people seen in the area have been checked and, for the most part, ruled out. Officers have talked to area sex offenders and heard mostly alibis. Names of those visiting the area for a concert and charity-fundraiser motorcycle rally the weekend LeeAnna disappeared were culled from the records of gas stations, hotels and campgrounds. That work has so far yielded nothing substantial.</p><p>"Not everyone can be eliminated," Bjerga said, noting that people don't go around making sure they have alibis. But of the small group yet to be cleared, there's no information that makes anyone a suspect. Investigators have also apparently completed the sensitive task of checking out LeeAnna's parents and family. "At this point, we're comfortable with what the family is telling us," Bjerga said.</p><p>Litman added, "They're not the focus of our investigation." Goodwill between law enforcement and the Warner family was obvious last week after the meeting at the Hibbing Police Department. LeeAnna's parents and paternal grandparents lingered outside talking with investigators. The handshakes were long and seemed heartfelt.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>Uncomfortable Scrutiny</u></span></i></b></p><p>Chris and Kaelin Warner said they have been interviewed numerous times by law enforcement officers and were told that they are "cleared." They said officers told them that's why the couple has not been asked to undergo lie-detector tests. Authorities said they don't comment on anything involving lie-detector tests. As part of the investigation, officers dug up parts of Chris and Kaelin Warner's pasts that the couple said they'd rather forget. Both have been divorced. According to court records, Chris and his ex-wife came to blows in Hibbing in October 1998 -- the year LeeAnna was born. Chris Warner notified police of the incident. The couple sought mutual restraining orders. In her petition for a restraining order, Chris's ex-wife claimed that he had an "uncontrollable" temper, even around kids. In his petition for a restraining order, Chris Warner claimed that his ex-wife had threatened Kaelin, her two daughters from a previous marriage and LeeAnna. Bjerga and Litman said that authorities are aware of the situation but that many people have domestic problems. The incident, Litman said, "has not raised any red flags." Chris and Kaelin Warner said they understood the need for authorities to go through this incident and look at their pasts. "We'd be angry if they hadn't," said Kaelin Warner, who has managed a Chisholm convenience store but is no longer working. "We're not perfect," said Chris Warner, a heavy-equipment mechanic at the nearby taconite mine. "But we have nothing to hide." Last week, the Warners told the Star Tribune that a county social worker once asked them about a complaint from someone concerned about LeeAnna. According to the couple, someone told social services that the girl had been tied up. But the Warners said they told the social workers that neighborhood kids had been playing with LeeAnna and used her as a Maypole of sorts while they wrapped a jump rope around her. The Warners said the social worker accepted their version of events. Officials for northern St. Louis County's child protection services did not return calls Friday, but they typically do not comment on such matters. Still, the scrutiny from law enforcement, the media and the people of Chisholm has been intense and painful, the couple said. "It's like living your life under a microscope in a pressure cooker," Chris Warner said.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>Holding Out Hope</u></span></i></b></p><p>There's no room in the couple's home in which they aren't reminded of LeeAnna (whose name is often misspelled on posters and in news bulletins). Dozens of studio photos and pictures taken with the family's point-and-shoot camera decorate the walls and shelves. They show a child who loved frilly dresses and family pets. Halloweens when LeeAnna and her half-sisters Karlee and Whitney Chandler happily mugged in costumes. Wintry evenings when LeeAnna snuggled with her mom and dad on the couch. Gleeful family wrestling matches where LeeAnna mixed it up with her dad and her half-brother, Anthony Warner. Chris and Kaelin Warner say they're well aware that many have questioned why they didn't call 911 sooner. The couple realized around 5:15 p.m. that LeeAnna wasn't where she said she'd be. When initial searches turned up nothing, neighbors were mobilized and went house to house. The call to 911 went out shortly before 9 p.m. In a small town like Chisholm, Chris Warner said, you don't believe anything like this can happen. And LeeAnna, a kid who never met anyone she didn't like, had many friends and places to go around the neighborhood, he said. The couple said they did what they thought was best at the time, not wanting to believe the worst or having any reason to. "It's such a different way of life up here," Kaelin Warner said. "Until you live up here . . . you can't understand. And you can't pass judgment." The Warners are keeping LeeAnna's pink bedroom just as it was. The neighborhood kids have converted an old shed into the "Find Beaner Kids Clubhouse" and decorated it with LeeAnna's favorite toys and colors. The Warners, who have set up booths at nearby festivals to publicize their search, say they'll continue to do whatever it takes until LeeAnna comes home.</p><p></p>"As a parent, you'd feel it in your heart if she'd passed on," Chris Warner said. "We haven't felt that yet. We'll continue to hold that hope until they can show us otherwise."<p></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Jill Burcum is at jburcum@startribune.com.</b></span></p><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Third man is interviewed in Leanna Warner case</u></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">By BRIAN K. ANDERSON</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">The Daily Tribune</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Last Updated: Thursday, July 10th, 2003 10:18:29 AM</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CBpqc9d8UUnJacafhLtJm_kEqdsvBd8PID5n3663QwaPYcnDIfB6E_U39lIpOKa0SaU1SMzYxLGSiGFuK6DLRkDlcvmDAhEeBewJ2Dn-w_XS3luX-16tn4vMKY6TWzYTBZruyX3MwiJB/s160/0876882_1920x1080_e36e24.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="155" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CBpqc9d8UUnJacafhLtJm_kEqdsvBd8PID5n3663QwaPYcnDIfB6E_U39lIpOKa0SaU1SMzYxLGSiGFuK6DLRkDlcvmDAhEeBewJ2Dn-w_XS3luX-16tn4vMKY6TWzYTBZruyX3MwiJB/w310-h320/0876882_1920x1080_e36e24.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><span style="color: #cc0000;">CHISHOLM-</span> Investigators working the Leanna Warner case realize they are walking a fine line when releasing names of people they want to talk to about the case and that scenario played out Wednesday when Shawn Raymond Brtek of Hibbing was arrested in the Twin Cities. Just because we want to talk to someone doesnt mean they are a suspect, said Minnesota BCA Special Agent Jerry Koneczny. Some people are having a hard time distinguishing that. And because Brtek had outstanding warrants that resulted in his arrest, Koneczny said people get the false impression that he had something to do with the disappearance of Warner, who was last seen in Chisholm on Saturday, June 14. Adding more fuel to Brteks arrest is the fact that his past includes an offense that classifies him as a sex offender. But Koneczny was quick to point out that investigators interest in Brtek had nothing to do with his past. Our agents questioned him in the Twin Cites and were satisfied with what he told them, said Koneczny Wednesday evening from the command center in Hibbing. Thats not to say we wont reinterview him, but hes being treated more as a witness in this case who may have seen something. Hes no different than any other person weve questioned in this case. Now that the three men wanted for questioning in the case have been interviewed, Koneczny said investigators will continue to look for the publics help in locating three yet to be identified individuals who may know something about Warners disappearance. Those individuals include: A black man, with a shaved or bald head, in his 20s or early 30s who drives a navy blue, two-door Cadillac. A white male with curly black hair, who drives an older, rusty brown pickup with a topper. A white male in his mid-30s, with bleached blonde hair feathered just over his ears. This man who is 59 or 510 was seen walking in the Warner neighborhood on June 14. He was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans when he was last seen. He has a dark tattoo of a star or sun shape on his right arm. Those are still people we need to get in contact with because they may have the information we need, said Koneczny. Koneczny said the game plan for investigators will be to continue following up any new leads that come in, as well as revisiting leads that might still shed some light on the case. We need to find out what happened to Leanna and where she is, said Koneczny.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Many to be questioned in search for Chisholm girl</u></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Allen Powell II, Star Tribune</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Published July 9, 2003 </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Law enforcement officials said Tuesday they expect to question more than 130 convicted sex offenders who live in northeastern Minnesota in the search for Leanna Warner, 5, of Chisholm, who disappeared more than three weeks ago. Those targeted for interviews were not called suspects in the girl's disappearance but "persons of interest" in Hibbing, Virginia, Mountain Iron and Buhl, said St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman. He said he does not know how many have already been questioned.</div><div>Leanna was last seen about 5:15 p.m. June 14 as she knocked on the door of a friend's house a block and a half from her home. She was wearing a sleeveless denim dress and was barefoot. A reward and pleas from her parents have generated hundreds of tips. In another development Tuesday, investigators asked the public for help in finding three men who "may have information that would be helpful in this investigation." It was not immediately clear what information they could provide.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><u>Leanna Warner</u></span></i></b></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVySfogsE0vCkjNRqgQmwj_mja1l17ReOV4kAeE5qo_4J1rZEhrMTbAqX3EwefuU-wYxZP17DFbVkAKSA2x0ZCdITDbq4Hc4LwoNYzblq90Q-_Lilex9h8hnLgqqRjuBO533EGGiHkz0L/s220/220px-LeeAnna_Warner.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="220" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVySfogsE0vCkjNRqgQmwj_mja1l17ReOV4kAeE5qo_4J1rZEhrMTbAqX3EwefuU-wYxZP17DFbVkAKSA2x0ZCdITDbq4Hc4LwoNYzblq90Q-_Lilex9h8hnLgqqRjuBO533EGGiHkz0L/w400-h297/220px-LeeAnna_Warner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Authorities identified the men as Shawn Raymond Brtek and Jason Wayne Smith of Hibbing, Minn., and Justin Michael Jenkins of Chisholm. The Sheriff's Office also asked for the public's help in finding an unidentified white man in his mid-30s, about 5 feet 10 inches and 155 pounds, with a dark tattoo of a star or sun on his right arm. He was seen on foot in the Warners' neighborhood on June 14. Authorities also were looking for a navy blue two-door Cadillac driven by a black man in his 20s or 30s with a bald or shaven head, and an older rusty brown pickup with a topper driven by a white man with curly black hair. Meanwhile, authorities moved to downplay a television report identifying a 23-year-old convicted sex offender as a suspect in the investigation. Litman and Chisholm Police Chief Scott Erickson, the lead official on the case, said no past offender has been identified as a more viable suspect than others. "The individual being discussed in the media is in custody on an unrelated charge," Erickson's office said in a news release. "He is no more a suspect in the Warner case than any of hundreds of other leads." The 23-year-old Meadowlands man was arrested on suspicion of stealing a vehicle and driving with a revoked license. The man came to authorities' attention because he allegedly stole the vehicle on the same day Leanna disappeared and he had been convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2000, said Special Agent Dave Bjerga, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Lois Warner, Leanna's grandmother, said the family had been told that there are several "persons of interest" authorities are questioning. "What we're doing is basically sitting back and letting the investigators do their jobs. Sooner or later someone has to open their mouth." In regard to questioning sex offenders, Litman said investigators will concentrate on offenders who have shown a proclivity for young children based on their previous convictions, and will question Level I, Level II and Level III offenders. Law enforcement officials also are investigating hundreds of other leads. Litman said the large number of events that took place in Chisholm around the time Leanna disappeared have increased the number of possible suspects, but he said the person responsible probably is from the Chisholm area.</div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Allen Powell II is at apowell@startribune.com.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><i><b>Police explore apparent suicide</b></i></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">ST. LOUIS COUNTY: The Sheriff's Department is investigating whether the man's death is related to a Chisholm girl's disappearance.</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">BY MARK STODGHILL</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWQr7ZuHFhTBJmywucHBJKmCmN6X37wq5gUxfas3ljmHxAU5gy3EwBgfFzJqwYTwkXVXtbPnHijQySncYvQnv5EJkwO190Ocheevff6_XQ3tagd8RiAe3w5RXtQn3lS0HzD7J5WLzFrNO/s160/0876881_1920x1080_e36e24.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="115" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWQr7ZuHFhTBJmywucHBJKmCmN6X37wq5gUxfas3ljmHxAU5gy3EwBgfFzJqwYTwkXVXtbPnHijQySncYvQnv5EJkwO190Ocheevff6_XQ3tagd8RiAe3w5RXtQn3lS0HzD7J5WLzFrNO/w288-h400/0876881_1920x1080_e36e24.jpg" width="288" /></a></div>A Chisholm man accused of being in possession of child pornography, and who was questioned in the disappearance of 5-year-old Leanna Warner, was found dead of an apparent suicide in a gravel pit about eight miles north of his home. The body of Matthew James Curtis, 24, was discovered about 2 p.m. Friday by three men who were practicing archery at the pit off State Highway 73 on National Forest Land. An autopsy conducted by St. Louis County Medical Examiner Thomas Uncini on Saturday indicated that Curtis died of asphyxia, according to St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman, who attended the autopsy. Litman said there was no indication of foul play in the death. One of the men who found the body said Saturday that Curtis had a plastic bag over his head. The Sheriff's Department is investigating whether there is any connection between Curtis' death and the Chisholm girl's disappearance. Curtis sometimes stayed at a house about a block from Leanna Warner's home, Litman said. The girl has been missing since June 14. She was last seen knocking on the door of a friend's house a block and a half from her home. Chris Warner, Leanna's father, said Saturday that he knew Curtis lived nearby and that the man was a suspect in his daughter's disappearance, but he also said there were other suspects. Warner said he didn't point out Curtis to authorities as someone who should be investigated. Litman said Curtis was scheduled to appear in St. Louis County District Court in Hibbing Friday on a charge of "pictorial representation of a minor," but didn't appear. He was free on bail. Litman confirmed Saturday that Curtis had been questioned about the girl's disappearance. But he declined to publicly comment on how strong a suspect he believed Curtis was. He said the dead man was never confirmed as a suspect or cleared as one and that many people have been questioned. Soon after Curtis' body was found Friday, the Sheriff's Department set up a command post at the gravel pit and asked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for assistance, both unusual actions for a routine death investigation. Sheriff's deputies, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Rescue Squad and the bureau searched the area surrounding the death scene Friday and Saturday for the possibility that Leanna's body was in the area. No sign of her was found. A search warrant was executed at Curtis' home Friday and nothing was found to link him to Leanna, Litman said. The sheriff said the investigation into Curtis' death and the disappearance of the girl are continuing.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><i><b>Mother Of Missing Chisholm Girl Charged In Hit-And-Run</b></i></u></span></div><div><br /></div><div>The mother of missing Chisholm 5-year-old LeeAnna "Beaner" Warner was arrested and charged after allegedly hitting her husband with a car on Saturday after an argument. He was not seriously hurt.</div><div>On Monday, Kaelin Warner, legally known as Tiffany Kaelin Whittaker, 29, of Chisholm, was released from the St. Louis County jail in Hibbing after posting $5,000 bail. She was charged earlier with one count of criminal vehicular operation causing bodily harm and one count of hit and run, both gross misdemeanors. Tuesday was the four-month anniversary of LeeAnna's disappearance. It was not clear what sparked the argument or if it was in any way related to the disappearance of the girl. The Hibbing Police Department said in a criminal complaint that they received a call about 9:30 p.m. Saturday that a man had been hit by a car. When police arrived, they found Christopher Warner with fresh scrapes on his left calf and knee. Warner refused medical attention. Warner told police that he had been arguing with his wife in a red Cavalier parked near a convenience store when he decided to get out and start walking. He claimed Whittaker drove the car across a sidewalk and yard in an attempt to hit him. Fearing for his life, he told police he jumped out of the way but was hit on the left leg and arm. He said watched Whittaker drive away and called 911. Police caught up with Whittaker in Chisholm. According to the report, she told them during questioning that she had difficulty putting the car into gear, which resulted in her driving the car through the yard. She said she didn't hit Warner. Officers found car tracks running the length of the yard and black tire burn marks on the sidewalk, according to the police report. The Chisholm Police Department also interviewed the couple for a possible domestic dispute earlier that night in their Chisholm home. LeeAnna has been missing since June 14. She was last seen by her parents at 5:30 p.m. when she went to a friend's home roughly one block away from their home.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><u><i><b>Officials Get Heat In Warner Case</b></i></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Brian Anderson</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Mesabi Daily News</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZzjHjkniDDRMdAFnQhVjMra2_aYxbZbJJd8A8Ng0iWYTsXc_3JyYs2J6VyjpvU2yAtfHSz-GR9BwJHR_Fyedg_G5Og_ICUWHaxXbLCVBIcTodyVpRzPyvgyie05SwEJeLtp2PR7J3mgP/s300/LeannaFlyerPic1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZzjHjkniDDRMdAFnQhVjMra2_aYxbZbJJd8A8Ng0iWYTsXc_3JyYs2J6VyjpvU2yAtfHSz-GR9BwJHR_Fyedg_G5Og_ICUWHaxXbLCVBIcTodyVpRzPyvgyie05SwEJeLtp2PR7J3mgP/w277-h320/LeannaFlyerPic1.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>CHISHOLM For the first time since the investigation of Leanna Warner started, law enforcement officials are coming under fire for their handling of the case. The boiling point came Monday when Chisholm Police Department Chief Scott Erickson said the lowering of Longyear Lake was officially called off due to inclimate weather. However, the real damage was done when investigators failed to notify the family that a search was already done last Thursday night. No one even called us to let us know what was going on, said Kaelin Warner, who is the mother of Leanna, during a phone interview Monday night. Were just totally shocked that they did the search without even letting us know about it. Theres a lot of people here in Chisholm that are upset by all of this. Warner said she hadnt heard from investigators until Erickson left a voice mail for her family Monday afternoon. He just left us a message saying he wanted to talk about the case, said Warner. I didnt know they searched the lake until I watched the news tonight. Erickson said members of the St. Louis County Rescue squad, along with some bloodhounds, conducted a search of a portion of the shoreline last Thursday evening. We did a search of the area we needed to look at and were pretty confident that shes not in there, said Erickson of the five-year-old Leanna Warner, who has been missing since June 14. The news that a search was already conducted caught Kaelin Warner by total surprise. Warner said she had actually received calls from several friends last Thursday night letting her know of some activity by the lake, but she didnt really think much of it. They said there were some people were walking around the shoreline, so I went to check it out, said Warner. I saw some people, but I assumed they were just checking out the draining process I never imaged they would be searching for Leanna at night it just doesnt make sense. Why wouldnt you do it during the day? While people may question the ability to do a thorough search at night, Erickson stood behind the operation conducted. The squad wasnt available until then, but with the dogs they were using, it doesnt matter if its day or night they will still find what they are looking for, said Erickson, who added that doing the search at night helped keep curious onlookers away. When the case of Warner first surfaced this past June, bloodhounds had picked up a scent of the girl on the shoreline of Longyear Lake. A subsequent search of the area was conducted, but nothing ever surfaced. Even so, investigators wanted to make sure that they didnt miss anything and thus the reason the project was approved by the Chisholm City Council last month. During the 10-day operation, the lake was taken down over a foot, but it was a far cry from the original intent of dropping the lake level four feet. However, Erickson made it sound as though investigators didnt have any need to resume the project next spring. They checked the area that needed to be checked and they didnt find anything out of the ordinary, said Erickson. Erickson said the decision to call off the project wasnt an easy one, but it was one that needed to be made. He said a Monday morning meeting with Chisholm City Administrator Dave Carlstrom and Benchmark Engineering's Marty Halverson solidified the decision. It just got to be too late in the year to continue, said Erickson. Yes, it would have been nice to start this project sooner, but we had to follow rules and regulations. Those rules and regulations included getting the proper permits to go ahead with the project, as well as coming up with a game plan to pull the project off. There was a lot of planning that went into this and it’s unfortunate that we had to call it off, said Erickson. It would have been nice to see the project through, but obviously that didnt happen. Carlstrom echoed those sentiments. It was a tough decision, said Carlstrom Monday evening. It was disappointing from the standpoint that we didnt get to the level we wanted to, but we did get to the level that satisfied the law enforcement agencies investigating the Warner case. While that may be the case for investigators, it wasnt good enough for Leannas mother. I just can’t believe they called this off, said Warner. We thought this process would tell us one way or the other what happened to Leanna, but we don't think that was accomplished here. Warner added that she found it upsetting that so much money, especially donations and the time people put in, was essentially wasted. To go through all the things weve had to go through and then hear they arent going to continue really hurts, said Warner. Warner said that had the process been allowed to continue, there might have been some type of conclusion to the case. We dont want her gone, period, but if she died, then at least she died by an accident and not by something someone had done to her, said Warner, alluding to the fact that Leanna might have drowned. That would have put us at peace, but now we’re just going to play the waiting game again and were tired of that.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Brian K. Anderson is editor of the Chisholm Tribune Press, a Murphy McGinnis Newspaper.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-69567707928448191132020-10-17T20:55:00.003-07:002023-03-16T23:17:01.345-07:00Susan Anne Swedell: Missing Since January 19, 1988<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Swedell was employed at the K-Mart retail store in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota in 1988. She phoned her family members from work at 4:00 p.m. on January 19, 1988. Swedell said that she planned to go straight home after her shift ended to watch a movie. She changed into a short skirt before she departed from work, which was considered odd due to the snowy conditions at the time.</span><br />
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<span><span style="background-color: white;">Swedell's vehicle overheated during her drive to her residence. She stopped at a gasoline station at the corner of Manning Avenue and Highway 5, approximately one mile from her home in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The attendant allowed Swedell to park her car at the establishment. The employee told authorities that she entered a vehicle driven by an unidentified male shortly afterwards. The man appeared to have been waiting for Swedell near the station. He is described as having shoulder-length curly hair and a well-built physique. The witness said that the man was tall and was unshaven. The individual was wearing a leather jacket at the time Swedell entered his car. She never returned home and has not been heard from again.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">When authorities searched Swedell's car, they found her driver's license inside it. Swedell's mother drove the vehicle to a repair shop. Mechanics discovered the petcock on the radiator had been loosened, and the car had no water in it, which explains why it overheated. Investigator theorized someone loosened the petcock deliberately and followed Swedell's car, waiting for it to malfunction so they could offer her a ride.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Swedell's mother believes her daughter came back to their apartment a few days after her disappearance. She stated there was an odor of cigarette smoke in the residence and dirty dishes in the sink. The red pantsuit Swedell had been wearing on the day of her disappearance, before she changed into her skirt, was found balled up on her bed. There was no sign of Swedell herself at the home, however, and it is unclear whether she was ever actually there.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Swedell attended the University of Wisconsin at River Falls for a semester after she graduated Stillwater High School, but she decided she was not ready to live away from home and returned to live with her mother and younger sister. She worked two jobs at the time of her disappearance, and was active at Christ Lutheran Church. Her loved ones reported that she had been receiving telephone calls at work from a man named Dale in 1989. It is not known if the person is connected to her disappearance.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Authorities detected activity on Swedell's Social Security number in 2006, but it turned out to be a case of identity theft. Foul play is suspected in Swedell's case.</span></span><u><b><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></b></u>
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<span><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>Vital Statistics:</u></span></b></span><br />
<span><br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Missing Since:</span></b> January 19, 1988 from Lake Elmo, Minnesota<br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Classification:</b></span> Endangered Missing<br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span>Date Of Birth:</span></b> </span>February 13, 1968<br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Age:</span></b> 19 years old<br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Height and Weight:</span></b> 5'4, 100 pounds<br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Distinguishing Characteristics:</span></b> Caucasian female. Sandy brown hair, hazel eyes. Swedell's ears are pierced. Her nickname is Sue. She has had extensive dental work.<br /><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Clothing/Jewelry Description:</span></b> A short skirt, a winter jacket and earrings.</span><br />
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>LAKE ELMO </b></span>- Susan Swedell prepared to head home to Lake Elmo after finishing her shift at K-Mart in Oak Park Heights, calling ahead to let her mother know she was coming home to watch a movie, but might be a little late because of poor road conditions.<br /><br />Twenty years later, her mother is still waiting.</span><br />
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<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Coworkers said the 19-year-old changed into a short skirt before she left work, where she frequently received phone calls from a man she referred to as "Dale." Driving in heavy snow, the 19-year-old made it as far as a gas station at the corner of Highway 5 and Manning Avenue, where she asked an attendant if she could leave her car at the station because she was having car trouble. A short while later, the attendant saw her get into another car with an unidentified man described as unshaven, tall with shoulder length curly hair, well built and wearing a leather jacket.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">No one has heard from Swedell since. "We don't know anything more today than we did 20 years ago," her mother, Kathy Swedell, said Thursday. "That whole night - January 19, 1988 - was a terrible, terrible night for us, because we couldn't do anything and we had no idea what had happened to her. And then the night stretched into days, and the days into years, and the years into decades. It's hard to believe it's been that long."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Still, Swedell said she can't let go of the hope that someone will be able to tell her what happened to her daughter. When she speaks with reporters on the anniversary of the disappearance, it is because she knows that every story is another chance someone might see Susan's face and remember the night she herself can never forget. "I have always felt that there has to be somebody out there who knows something," Swedell said. 'We were very close'</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the time of the disappearance, Kathy Swedell and her two teenage daughters were renting a home in downtown Lake Elmo. Susan had graduated from Stillwater High School and was working two jobs while considering her next step in life. Her younger sister Christine was a busy high school student.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"We were very close," Kathy recalled. "Sure, there was a lot of teenage stuff going on in the house - they can test a parent's patience sometimes - but I would've never guessed that anything like this would ever happen. But then people always say that; they never think it's going to happen to them." When it did, the </span>Swedell's<span style="font-family: inherit;"> went on television and gave newspaper interviews, asking anyone with information on the disappearance to step forward. Meanwhile, investigators from the Washington County Sheriff's Office followed every lead but learned no more about the mysterious man or what prompted Susan to get in a car with him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the months wore on, Kathy and Christine found it increasingly difficult to live in their Lake Elmo home. "It seemed like we spent most of the time waiting for the phone to ring," Kathy said. "It just felt really cold in the house - and then you'd go upstairs and Susan's room would be empty. After two years of that, we decided it was time for a change."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">In late 1989, the </span>Swedell's<span style="font-family: inherit;"> moved to Brooklyn Center, where they still live, but they never stopped looking for Susan. With the help of missing persons organizations, posters were placed across the country. In 2002, Minnesota's Spotlight on Crime program began offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to a break in the case. Still, no news came. 'It could be my daughter!' In the fall of 2006, the Swedells got the kind of lead they had been waiting for - a woman in California tried to enlist in the military under Susan's name and social security number.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"An investigator came over to our house, and said, 'Don't get your hopes up, but I've got some news,'" Kathy Swedell recalled. "But you be a mother and try to do that. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I thought, 'It could be my daughter!'" Swedell's hopes were dashed when she learned the woman in question had used information from a missing person poster to trick a government employee into giving her Susan's social security number. "It felt like my daughter was victimized all over again, and we felt victimized, too. It was heart wrenching," she said. "And after all that, we were back to square one."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">That cycle of hope and despair is common for the families of missing persons, according to Carol Watson, executive director of Missing Children Minnesota. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The family has to deal with those question marks. And there is no closure; it just goes on and on and on for ever," she said. "You go through some of the stages of grief, but you just keep repeating them over and over and over again and are never able to get to closure. And that's the hell of it."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Swedell compared the experience to a never-ending emotional roller coaster. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"It's hard to get past it, the not knowing. People ask me if I'm going to have a memorial service for Susan. Well, I could go through a memorial service and still not know and I'm not ready to give up hope until I know one way or the other."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Keeping hope, and memory, alive</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the 20th anniversary of Susan Swedell's disappearance, her mother said she would like people to not only take another look at her daughter's picture, but light a candle as a sign of memory and hope. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"That's really symbolic for us," she said. "It makes us feel good to know that people are doing that, to know that people are thinking about her and keeping the hope alive." </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Watson said even a simple gesture like that can send a powerful message. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"It's important for people to know that a symbolic act - like lighting a candle to remember Susan, and all the other long-term missing, unresolved cases - is an act that acknowledges this particular family's pain and says that we all, as a society, are diminished when these things happen."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Swedell said she's comforted by the fact that friends throughout the country and on several continents will light candles in memory of her daughter tomorrow, even if none of them knows what happened to her. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Having no closure is really, really difficult, because you just can't say- we don't even know if she's dead or alive," she said. "I guess it's just human nature to keep that hope going until you know something for sure." </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But that doesn't make it easy. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The curiosity wears on you. You do find a way of going on, but it's a real challenge. That much I can tell you."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">http://www.stillwatergazette.com/art...ws/news110.txt</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">On January 19, 1988, 19 year old Susan Anne Swedell phoned her family members at 4:00 PM from her place of work, K-Mart, in Oak Park Heights, MN. She had said she planned on going straight home from work and watch movies. Before she had left work, it was noted she had changed into a short skirt, which was odd because it was blizzard-like outside that day.</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />On Susan's way home, her vehicle overheated. She stopped at a gas station along Highway 5 and at the corner of Manning Avenue, which was one mile away from her home in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The gas station attendant let Susan leave her car there, and observed her leaving with an unidentified man shortly afterwards who had been waiting for her near the station. The man she left with was described as having shoulder length curly hair, tall, unshaven and a well built physique. He was wearing a leather jacket at the time Susan entered his car. Susan has never been seen or heard from since, and the man is still unidentified.<br /><br />When Susan vanished, she was 5'4" and 100 pounds. She has sandy brown hair and hazel eyes. She has had extensive dental work and both her ears are pierced. She was last seen wearing a winter jacket with earrings in and a short skirt. She goes by "Sue". At the time she vanished, she was working two jobs, and was active at Christ Lutheran Church. She graduated from Stillwater High school, then attended University of Wisconsin at River Falls for a semester. She returned home because she felt she was not ready to live away from home yet. She moved back in with her mother and younger sister. <br /><br />When Susan's car was found, her driver's license was still inside. Her mother took the vehicle to a repair shop and it was found out the petcock on the radiator was loosened and the car had no water in it, which explains why her car overheated. Law enforcement believes someone deliberately loosened the petcock, and followed Susan in hopes the car would malfunction so they could offer her a ride.<br /><br />At the time she vanished, her loved ones reported she had been receiving phone calls at work from a man named Dale in 1989. It is not known how he knew Susan, why he was calling her or if he is connected to her disappearance. Susan's mother believed she made it home that night because the red pantsuit she had changed out of previously at work that day were found balled up on her bed. There were dirty dishes in the sink, as well as the smell of fresh cigarette smoke. There was no sign of Susan herself, and it was unknown if she was ever in her residence that night. In 2006, there was activity on her social security card, but it turned out to be a case of identity theft.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>I will first note how odd it is for Susan to have changed into a skirt during cold weather. Could she have had plans to go out and about for the night? Did she have plans with "Dale"? I also have many questions as to who Dale is. Was he a friend? Someone Susan had a quiet relationship with? It seems that is most probable because why else would he call her at work instead of at home? I also wonder if "Dale" is who met her at the gas station. Possibly she called him from work to let him know she was headed home. Maybe he knew to meet her there because he knew her route home. Not saying he is responsible for her disappearance, but I do find those phone calls quite odd. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The unknown man Susan was seen leaving with was sporting a leather jacket, <br />
more in the "rocker" Bret Michaels style than biker style.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>I also agree with Law Enforcement that her car was deliberately tampered with to malfunction so her abductor (I do believe she was abducted) could offer her a ride. It makes sense why this person would sit and wait for her as she came out of the gas station. I only wonder if she knew the person she got the ride from. We must remember cell phones were definitely not common back then, so the fact this person was waiting for her at the gas station as her car stalled is a big factor in their intentions. As for whether or not she ever made it back to the residence, could the person who had taken her been responsible for her pants being there? Maybe the person took her back her home to have her make it look like he brought her back there, and then she just left. Or, if this is someone she had a relationship with (Dale), maybe they went back to her place to hang out, and things went sour. I think if we found out who Dale was, if she was seeing someone, if she smoked, and what time her mom came home to find her missing, it would help. I did not see it listed that Susan smoked, so I'm wondering if the anonymous, leather jacket rocker smoked, because that would piece together the cigarette smoke. </span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What should also be noted is that Stillwater Prison is ten minutes away from Lake Elmo. They have a level 4 maximum security, as well as minimum security. It would be interesting to check records to see any Dales who were incarcerated before or after she vanished. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite this being a very baffling case, it is still actively pursued today. If you know absolutely anything about the disappearance of Susan, who "Dale" is or know someone who matches the style and physical description of the unknown person who gave her a ride in 1988, please step forward and give her loved ones some peace. There is a $25,000 reward for anything that leads to Susan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">http://deaniepeters-missingangels.blogspot.com/2012/11/susan-anne-swedell-missing-24-years.html</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>SAINT PAUL, Minn., June 12 /PRNewswire/</b> -</span>- Four years ago Minnesotans were shocked by the murder of 16-year old Julie Ann Holmquist, who had been abducted while rollerblading on a rural Northwestern Minnesota road near her home. Nearly 20 years ago a senior citizen from Kandiyohi County was brutally murdered in his home by unknown assailants. And, the unusual disappearances of Laurie Ann Feiner of Oakdale and Susan Swedell from Lake Elmo remain a mystery. The connection between these four cases? Each remains unsolved. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Minnesota law enforcement officials are hoping that $225,000 in new reward money will prompt someone with information on each of these cases to come forward. "When it comes to getting people to come forward with information, money talks, plain and simple," said Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver. "We hope new rewards or increasing existing ones in each of these cases will be an incentive for someone with information, even the tiniest of clues, to share what they know with investigators." </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The reward is being offered by Spotlight on Crime ( http://www.spotlightoncrime.org ), a fund established by Minnesota businesses in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials. The reward fund is designed to reenergize cases where investigations have grown cold.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">About the Four Cases:</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b> -- Julie Ann Holmquist/Hallock, Minn.</b> </span>(Reward: $100,000) -- Holmquist, 16, was reported missing by her parents on July 29, 1998 when she didn't return from rollerblading on a local rural road near her Kittson County (NW Minn.) home. Her body was discovered three weeks later in a gravel pit north of Lancaster, Minn., about 15 miles from where she is believed to have been abducted. Because the gravel pit was historically a popular local party spot, authorities believe that the perpetrator is a local person or someone with local knowledge. Anyone with information about Julie Holmquist's murder should call the Kittson County Sheriff's office at 218/843-3535.<br /><br />
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-- Joseph "Scriver" Olson/Belgrade, Minn.</span></b> (Reward: $50,000) -- Olson, 75, was found dead in his rural Kandiyohi County home on February 18, 1983. He was beaten and stabbed to death. Burglary has been mentioned as a possible motive. After his death the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Department received an anonymous letter describing a brown pick-up truck with signage on the side parked at Olson's house the week of the murder. Anyone with information about Scriver Olson's murder should call Kandiyohi County Sheriff's office at 320/235-1260.<br />
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-- Laurie Ann Feiner/Oakdale, Minn.</span></b> (Reward: $50,000) -- Feiner, 29 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen around 1 a.m. on May 9, 1992 outside of Chuck's Bar, located on Payne Avenue in St. Paul. Witnessessaw Feiner speaking with a man with whom she had been dancing inside the bar. She has not been heard from or seen since. Anyone with information about Laurie Ann Feiner's disappearance should call the Oakdale Police Department at 651/738-1022.<br />
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-- Susan Swedell/Lake Elmo, Minn.</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (Reward: $25,000) -- Swedell, 19 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen on January 19, 1988 at a gas station about a mile from her home in Lake Elmo. Employed by K-Mart in Oak Park Heights, Swedell had frequently received phone calls at work from a man she referred to as "Dale." On the night of her disappearance, a snowy evening, she called her mom from K-Mart to let her know she planned on coming home to watch a movie. Before she left work Susan changed into a short skirt, which seemed odd because of the blizzard-like conditions. A short time later she asked a gas station attendant if she could leave her car at the station because she was having car trouble. She then got into another car with a man that was waiting for her. Witnesses described him as unshaven, tall </span>with shoulder<span style="font-family: inherit;"> length curly hair, well built and wearing a leather jacket. She has not been heard from or seen since. Anyone with </span>information about<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Susan Swedell's disappearance should call the Washington County Sheriff's office tipline at 651/430-7850.</span><br />
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"Over the past year Minnesota businesses have offered more than half-a million dollars in reward money to help law enforcement close some of our state's most heinous crimes. The goal of this unique partnership is to provide resources for crime fighters to bring criminals to justice and make Minnesota a safer state for all of us to live and work," said Target Corp. vice president of government affairs Nate Garvis. Target Corporation is a lead sponsor of the fund. Spotlight on Crime only focuses on crimes that remain unsolved after investigative efforts have been exhausted. Only violent crimes against innocent victims are considered. This brings the total number of cases offered a reward by the Spotlight on Crime fund in the past year to 10. The other six cases include (information available at http://www.spotlightoncrime.org ):</span><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"> -- Nancy Daugherty, Chisholm<br /> -- Carrie Nelson, Luverne<br /> -- Wesley Morrison, St. Paul<br /> -- Kevin Brewer, Minneapolis<br /> -- Baby Marshall, Marshall<br /> -- Anita Carlson, Bemidji</span></b><br />
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The Spotlight on Crime Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization administered by the Minneapolis Foundation. Donations to the fund, which may come from any individual, corporation, foundation or other source, are tax deductible. Donations to the Spotlight on Crime fund are welcome. To make a donation, contact the Minneapolis Foundation at (612)672-3878.For more information on Spotlight on Crime and how it works, contact the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at (651)642-0600 or visit http://www.spotlightoncrime.org .</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5304564894288856445.post-28517597217064213092020-10-03T15:10:00.001-07:002021-02-17T03:14:38.327-08:00Amy Sue Pagnac: Missing Since August 5, 1989 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Amy's Story: Amy was last seen by her father when they stopped at a Holiday Inn gasoline station in Osseo, MN at 4:30 P.M. They lived in Maple Grove, MN but were visiting a family farm. He father briefly went inside to use the restroom and when he came back, she vanished from the parked vehicle. It was initially thought at first that she was a runaway, but the theory has been dismissed. <br />
<a name='more'></a>Amy's thought to have had a seizure while her father was gone. It is thought that she may have been disoriented and walked away afterwards, but it is not probable. There was a possible sighting of her in July 2002 in Bay City, MI. However, the lead was a dead end. Her family has kept the same number in case she attempts to call them. Her case remains cold and unsolved. To report tips, go to www.missingkids.com. You may also call the <span style="color: #cc0000;">Maple Grove Police Dept. at 612-494-6114.</span><br />
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Notes: Amy suffers from occasional seizures for unknown reasons. She has occasional bouts of anger. It is mandatory that she takes her allergy medication. Amy is a Caucasian female with brown hair and blue eyes. She has scars on her left cheek and also the side of her nose and left eyelid. She has a circular scar on her left knee. He ears are pierced and she has a petite stature. Amy's clothing consisted of sweatpants, a light colored shirt and tennis shoes. <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #999999;">Source: www.charleyproject.org</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: </span><br />
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On August 5, 1989 13 year old Amy Pagnac was last seen by her non-biological father when they stopped at a Holiday gasoline station in Osseo, MN at 4:30 P.M. They lived in Maple Grove, MN but were visiting a family farm up north, and were on their way home. Her stepfather briefly went inside to use the restroom and when he came back, she vanished from the parked vehicle. It was initially thought at first that she was a runaway, but the theory has been dismissed. Amy is thought to have had a seizure while her father was gone. It is also thought that she may have been disoriented and walked away afterwards, but it is not probable. There was a possible sighting of her in July 2002 in Bay City, MI. However, the lead was a dead end. The family of Amy believes that she was abducted. There were multiple sightings of her in Minneapolis, MN following the days after her disappearance in August. The sightings also continue to show up in neighboring states. Her family has kept the same number in case she attempts to call them.<br />
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The good thing is, her case is not closed. The Maple Grove Police have even created a room in their department that is all about her case and are far from giving up. They say they get 6-12 tips concerning Amy's disappearance on the anniversary every year. They are also interested in speaking more to the person(s) who called concerning sightings of Amy is Minneapolis, MN.<br /><div><br /></div>
<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVukRDeoYPpmVFhClzPYCIZWwcf7-2ApN66yuwFMNJD6QiKE3dn1k7FmRoxPPYUKWpFMbFiVG_vnyR56wmqvYVULVRuk1irfIMWlYHoOm1qLZ3d5i17aNRSS1PW-iTRvsV88HO15BB1i6/s279/5b6b33f06c80b.image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVukRDeoYPpmVFhClzPYCIZWwcf7-2ApN66yuwFMNJD6QiKE3dn1k7FmRoxPPYUKWpFMbFiVG_vnyR56wmqvYVULVRuk1irfIMWlYHoOm1qLZ3d5i17aNRSS1PW-iTRvsV88HO15BB1i6/s0/5b6b33f06c80b.image.jpg" /></a></div>
Amy would now be 33 years old. She was last seen as being 5'0" and weighing 100 lbs. She had occasional seizures for reasons unknown and also bouts of anger. She has allergy medication that is mandatory for her to take, making her disappearance more concerning. Amy had long brown hair and blue eyes. She has scars on her left cheek and also the side of her nose and left eyelid. A circular scar is located on her left knee. Amy's ears are pierced and she has a petite stature. The clothing she was last seen in consisted of sweatpants, a light colored shirt and tennis shoes.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">VITAL STATISTICS:</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Date Of Birth:</span> June 15, 1976</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Age at Time of Disappearance: </span>13 years old</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance:</span> 5'0; 100 pounds</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Distinguishing Characteristics: </span>White female. Light brown hair (Shoulder length at the time of disappearance); blue eyes. She has a petite build.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Marks, Scars: </span>Pagnac has pierced ears. She has scars on her left cheek, left eyelid and on the side of her nose. Pagnac also has a circular-shaped scar on her left knee.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Clothing: </span>Amy was last seen wearing tennis shoes, sweat pants, and a light colored shirt.</div>
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Medical Conditions: Pagnac suffers from seizures due to unknown causes. She also takes medication for allergies.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Dentals:</span> Available</div>
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<span style="color: red;">DNA:</span> Available</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;"><b>Someone claiming to be an old neighbor on websleuths:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>"This case has me intrigued as I lived on that street within a dozen houses away when Amy went missing. I vividly recall that house and the general state of disrepair it was in at that time and it appears from photos and video that the situation has not changed.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>I moved out around the end of 1989, I had no knowledge that this girl had gone missing at the time. My daughter who was 9 at the time casually knew the younger girl. I recall telling her strictly that she was forbidden to go into that house after she reported she had been in there.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>At the time Amy went missing, my daughter tells me that the inside of the house had no carpeting. She also states that it appeared to be a hoarder situation or close to becoming one.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1-_2Jag0XQLf9S5zJjBFcuQR01pdM9wZvYCg9765sIZXCMmJrFK_LyndNJ2y1r5C-sWuqltTOF__IDQE8YJmwT54wJ8uZ1oDCz2rW9AFVqXZAgkf0paogcZdPVPRHSAdEl399TgHK06e/s160/amy_sue_pagnac_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="129" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1-_2Jag0XQLf9S5zJjBFcuQR01pdM9wZvYCg9765sIZXCMmJrFK_LyndNJ2y1r5C-sWuqltTOF__IDQE8YJmwT54wJ8uZ1oDCz2rW9AFVqXZAgkf0paogcZdPVPRHSAdEl399TgHK06e/w161-h200/amy_sue_pagnac_4.jpg" width="161" /></a></div>What disturbs me is this: I remember that as we were preparing to move, the appearance of some heavy landscaping equipment, and also the night digging. This was not 1993. This was 1989. I recall thinking "why are they doing landscape when the house clearly needs to be painted, windows repaired, etc?" Then I pondered the urgency of the night digging, the lights being on on the loaders, etc. Around that time the front landscaping project appeared, the stacked wall containing the birch. And I remember thinking "so they spent all that money on renting equipment and the end result looks shoddy at best?" I must apologize for my judgmental thoughts however it just didn't make any sense to me, to lay out that type of money for a landscape project and to have an amateur at best end result.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>My question now is, from the looks of what I can gather, where they dug was behind the garage. Why didn't they dig up that front area with the raised stacked stone work and the birch trees? That and the perimeter landscape was the focus of that landscape project within the next 60 days after her disappearance. The house sat on that lot wide open as you can see from the other homes on that street until Amy disappeared. Then the landscape project ensued. I drove past this house twice a day for at least 4 years, nothing changed until the end.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Also, the brick work on the front of the house. On the far right, next to the lower window, that is the original brick work. The brick on these homes was decorative only. What would necessitate them to tear off 3/4 of the brick, and then replace it with shoddy mismatched brick?</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>One last question and this has been bothering me. It was pointed out to me that on the step dad's facebook page, he posted a link to an article regarding the Jacob Wetterling case on what appears to be the same day police interviewed the Pagnac's in their home. Just days before the search warrant was issued.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Any insight would be welcome. Thank you"</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">Additional comments posted by a user believed to be Amy's mother"</span></b></div></div>
<br /></div><div><div><i>"I am Amy's mother. Many of you have had a lot of good questions. Regarding the statement, that Amy "suffered from fits of anger", I have no idea why that statement is there. I have no idea what they meant. Amy has never been violent, or harmed anyone.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Yes there was a witness that saw Amy and her father leaves the farm. A private investigator is the one that found that witness, and provided the information to the police.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>This same private investigator found somebody that had known Amy prior to her going missing. This person stated that she had talked to Amy. It was sometime within the 1st 2 weeks of her going missing. This information was also provided to the police.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>There was a call to one of missing children organizations, stating they felt that Amy was too young to be with the people she was with. Amy also identified herself as Amy Sue Pagnac. The location of this was at a bus or train station on the West Coast. Amy used almost the exact same statements with both individuals, with regard to why she wasn't at home. This information I was shown to me by the original detective that was on the case.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Amy's case was considered a run-away case for several months. After they decided that it was not a run-away case, the procedures of the investigation were: we invited them into our house to look for anything that they wanted; giving them the keys to the farm for which they searched in 1990; more interrogations of us including the Hennepin County Sheriff department interviewed Amy's father for several hours, they cleared him, the detective showed me their report; verified what we had told them, including the timeline; there are other things, but it is too long and detailed.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>After all that, the original detective on Amy's case made it perfectly clear to us that he was certain that Amy was the victim of a nonfamily abduction.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>February or March of 1990, 2 different undercover private investigators, from a Nonprofit missing child organization, stated that they spotted Amy in a strip club, in the Midwest. Before they could act to rescue her she was moved to elsewhere. I believe these investigators did see Amy.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Maple Grove Police Department moved to a different building unfortunately, many of the records on Amy's case were lost. Timelines, witnesses, gas receipts etc.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Because of lost records, these 2 individuals need to call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and provide them more information about the situation, including the individuals they saw Amy with.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>We have made ourselves available almost anytime the police asked, except for when one was in the hospital, etc. We have called many times asking for updates, or if there's anything else we can do, etc. Usually they never get back to us. We have been interviewed by local law enforcement, several times. They complained we don't tell them anything different or new.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Yes Amy's father is a male. Usually men do use the restrooms a lot faster than women; even men that washed their hands well usually are a little bit faster. But you know sometimes one has to do more than urination.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Both Marshall and I are listed as Amy's parents on her birth certificate."</i></div></div>
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