Source: AMW Fugitives Website:
Horrific Crime Shatters Indiana Community
April Marie Tinsley, 8, was abducted by an unknown suspect on April 1, 1988. She was found three days later, raped and murdered, on the side of a rural Indiana road.
Antagonizing. Frightening. Disturbing. All words to describe the sick message left on the front doors of an Indiana barn, more than two years after a young girl was brutally raped and murdered mere miles away.
A teenage boy living nearby first made the twisted discovery, and finally reported it to police after watching it take shape over a period of days. He never saw the mystery writer, but noticed the print got darker and more pronounced with each passing sunrise.
Originally written in pencil, the note's author eventually traced over it with crayons and a black marker. The crayons had been left behind at the scene.
The girl referred to in the note, April Marie Tinsley, was a first grader at Fairfield Elementary School. After an early release for the upcoming Easter weekend, April arrived home at 11:30 a.m. on April 1, 1988.
Like most young children do, April went to go play with her friends, who we'll call Jessica and Nancy. After lunch, Jessica's mom gave the girls each a handful of Easter candy and they left to play at Nancy's.
While on their way to Nancy's house, located just two blocks away, April remembered that she left her umbrella back at Jessica's house. That was at approximately 3:05 p.m. -- the last time Jessica and Nancy ever saw April alive.
Cops tell AMW that April was abducted by an unknown person or persons in the 2300 block of Hoagland Avenue in Fort Wayne.
For the next 72 hours, April's panic-stricken family did everything they could, scouring the neighborhood streets in hopes of finding their beloved April alive and well.
Tragically, her body was found by a jogger on Monday, April 4, 1988. She was clothed and placed next to a barbed-wire fence in a roadside ditch, about 20 miles northeast of her family's home.
"Hi Honey I Been watching you I am the same person that kidnapped an Rape an kill Aproil tinsely here is a present foR yo you are my next vitem..."
Killer's Taunting Message Haunts Indy Cops, Families
A disturbing threat was scrawled across a barn door in Fort Wayne, Indiana, two years after April Tinsley was brutally killed. Cops believe the person responsible for April's murder is the same person who wrote this message.
Immediately, cops and K-9 units blanketed the area searching for clues, but the killer hadn't left them with much. After taking her body to the lab, the coroner was able to determine her cause of death to be suffocation after she'd been brutally raped by her sadistic attacker.
Leads quickly dried up -- until May 21, 1990, when police received a call from the teenage boy, reporting a taunting message scrawled on a barn off of a well traveled country road.
Though they analyzed the crayons left behind, hoping to find fingerprints or other usable forensic evidence, cops emerged empty-handed.
Nearly 14 years would pass until the next big break.
On March 25, 2004, almost 16 years after April's abduction, rape and murder, things heated up when April's killer left yet another creepy, taunting note.
This time, a 5-year-old girl found it, stuffed inside of a clear, resealable plastic bag, placed precariously inside of a bicycle basket her mother used as a flower pot.
The note read: "Hi Honey I Been watching you I am the same person that kidnapped an Rape an kill Aproil tinsely here is a present foR yo you are my next vitem..."
The 'present' the killer referred to? A used condom, stuffed alongside the note in the plastic bag.
The note went on to mention that the killer would blow the girl's house up if the local media wasn't notified.
The girl's mother called the cops, who immediately showed up to investigate. Unfortunately, there was little they could do.
Two days later, a mail carrier on a rural road located yet another note placed in a mailbox situated halfway between the note-tarnished barn and the site of April's recovered body.
This second note was slightly more aggressive in tone, and contained some of the same stylistic features as the barn note and the other note found just days earlier.
In it, the killer begins with "Hi Honey", uses the phrase "ha ha" and again threatens to "blow up you hou[s]e" if the message isn't passed on to the media. A used condom was also included in the bag.
Nearly 10 weeks would pass until a third note, similar in tone and style, arrived in Fort Wayne, placed on a 7-year-old girl's bicycle which had been sitting on her family's front lawn.
Thirteen days later, on June 25, 2004, a fourth and ghastlier note was discovered in Fort Wayne on yet another young girl's bike. This one took a far more vulgar, explicit turn by stating precisely what horrific acts the killer intended to do to the young girl who he claimed to have been watching.
This fourth and final letter also included the phrase "Hi Honey", but instead of including the used condoms inside the plastic bag, the killer left his most disturbing clue yet -- Polaroid photographs of himself naked from the waist down.
Investigators Hunt For Diabolical Killer
Cops say this bedspread may be a key clue in identifying April's killer. Included with the fourth and final note he left specifically for a young Fort Wayne girl to see, were pictures of the suspect himself lying on a blue-green paisley-patterned bedspread.
For years, detectives have been trying to determine the identity and precise location of the man who, through DNA, has been forensically matched to be April Tinsley's killer. Unfortunately, they have yet to unearth any solid suspects.
They have a smorgasbord of clues, yet no one to match them to. After more than two decades, cops hope to find answers to this most puzzling of mysteries so they can bring justice to April and provide her grief-stricken and emotionally distraught family the closure they so desperately need.
Aside from the ungodly crime this person has committed against young April Tinsley, the fact that he's been so brazen as to send taunting messages, along with his DNA and Polaroids of himself, to other children throughout the area has cops throughout northeast Indiana eager to take him down.
In addition to the killer's braggadocio relayed throughout each and every note he's left behind, investigators want to point out a handful of other choice clues they believe might lead to an identification of this most malevolently deranged suspect.
Some of the notes were dated, and instead of using a typical forward-slash ( / ) to separate the month, date and year, the killer used dashes ( - ). On most of the notes, the killer concluded them with two distinctive parallel, horizontal lines, which according to behavioral handwriting analysts, are highly peculiar.
One other major clue investigators would like to know more about is the blue-green, paisley-patterned bedspread found in parts of the Polaroid photographs the killer left behind.
They believe if they find out the location of that bedspread, it may lead them one step closer to April's killer.
If you know anything about the mysterious abduction, rape and murder of young April Tinsley in April 1988, you've got to call our hotline right away at 1-800-CRIME-TV.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Cold Case: WILMA JUNE NISSEN
CRIME SCENE
WILMA NISSEN’S DECOMPOSED BODY WAS FOUND IN A ROADSIDE DITCH 1 MILE SOUTH AND 1 1/2 MILES WEST OF THE WEST LYON SCHOOL. GREEN KHAKI PANTS AND WHITE (GO-GO) STYLE BOOTS WERE FOUND AT THE SCENE AND SHE WAS WEARING A SILVER AND GOLD FRIENDSHIP RING ON HER RIGHT HAND.
· WILMA NISSEN HOMICIDE
· BODY FOUND 10-4-1978
· GREEN KHAKI PANTS
· SILVER & GOLD FRIENDSHIP RING
· WHITE (GO-GO) STYLE BOOTS
RESIDED IN SAN DIEGO, LONG BEACH AREA OF CALIFORNIA AND ATLANTA GEORGIA
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WILMA NISSEN, 1965 - AGE 11
* Brown Hair * White boots
* Blue Eyes *Green Khaki pants
* 23 years old * Silver & Gold ring
* White Female * 110 to 120 pounds
* 5’ 04”
Aliases:
-Wilma Wellington -Amy Belt
-Wilma Irvin -Wilma Belt
-Amy Irvin -Amy Nissen
Wilma June Nissen was born to Charles Clarence Nissen and June Simmons Bradford in San Francisco on 10/18/54. Charles died in 1986 and June married several times and had the last names of Cummings, Anderson, and Long prior to her death in 2003 in Magna, Utah. Wilma lived with Marshall and Maxine Holte in Anaheim California in 1964 until 1966. In 1967 she lived with Vincent and Alice Haas in Seal Beach California. In 1973 she married Donald Eugene Wellington and they lived in the Hollywood area. On 5/10/74 Wilma gave birth to Michael Pizzaro Jr in San Diego. On 12/12/74 Wilma gave birth to Donald Wellington Jr. In October 1975 Wilma was living with Robert Irvin and they lived in Bellflower California. They were married on 6/21/77. They had a child, Crystal Irvin Haas on 8/18/77. Early in 1978 Wilma left San Diego with Charles Inman Belt and they lived in Atlanta Georgia. On 10/4/78 her body was discovered southwest of the West Lyon School in Lyon County
WILMA NISSEN, 1973 - AGE 19
WILMA NISSEN, 1974 - AGE 20
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WILMA NISSEN AND DONALD WELLINGTON - 1973
DONALD WELLINGTON HAS A DATE OF BIRTH OF 5-10-48. INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE THAT HE MAY BE LIVING IN THE PALMDALE CA. AREA. ALTHOUGH HE IS NOT A SUSPECT IN THIS CASE INVESTIGATORS WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK WITH HIM.
MICHAEL PIZZARO SR. DIED IN 1989 IN KEY WEST FLORIDA.
BIOGRAPHY
WILMA JUNE NISSEN WAS BORN TO CHARLES CLARENCE NISSEN AND JUNE SIMMONS BRADFORD IN SAN FRANCISCO ON 10-18-54. WILMA LIVED WITH MARSHALL AND MAXINE HOLTE IN ANAHEIM CA IN 1964 UNTIL 1966. IN 1967 SHE LIVED WITH VINCENT AND ALICE HAAS IN SEAL BEACH CA. ON 8-5-73 WILMA MARRIED DONALD WELLINGTON IN CA. TO THE LEFT ARE PHOTOS OF WILMA AND DONALD ON THEIR WEDDING DAY. BELOW IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF DON TAKEN IN 2000. DON IS BELIEVED TO BE IN THE PALMDALE CA. AREA AND INVESTIGATORS WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO HIM IF LOCATED. ON 5-10-74 WILMA GAVE BIRTH TO MICHAEL PIZZARO JR. IN SAN DIEGO CA. THE PHOTO AT THE BOTTOM LEFT IS OF MICHAEL PIZZARO, WILMA AND THE NEWBORN CHILD. ON 12-12-74 WILMA GAVE BIRTH TO DONALD WELLINGTON JR. IN CALIFORNIA. INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE SHE WAS WITH DON UNTIL OCTOBER OF 1975 AT WHICH TIME SHE WAS LIVING IN LONG BEACH CA. WITH ROBERT IRVIN. ON 5-11-76 WILMA AND ROBERT LIVED AT 4922 PARAMOUNT, LAKEWOOD CA AND ON 1-7-77 THEY LIVED AT 725 EAST 6TH STREET IN LONG BEACH.
Wilma Nissen, Michael Pizzaro,
and Michael Pizzaro, JR. - 1974
Donald Wellington - 2000
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WILMA NISSEN AND ROBERT IRVIN
- WILMA NISSEN
- AMY NISSEN
- WILMA WELLINGTON
- AMY WELLINGTON
- AMY PIZZARO
- WILMA PIZZARO
- WILMA BELT
- AMY BELT
BIOGRAPHY PAGE 2
ON 6-21-77 WILMA MARRIED ROBERT IRVIN. ON 8-18-1977 WILMA GAVE BIRTH TO CRYSTAL (IRVIN) HAAS AT A HOSPITAL IN LONG BEACH. ROBERT AND WILMA WERE LIVING AND WORKING AT A SHOP LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF BELLFLOWER AND ARTESIA IN BELLFLOWER CA. AFTER WILMA GAVE BIRTH TO CRYSTAL INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE SHE WENT TO SAN DIEGO. IN SAN DIEGO WILMA LIVED FOR A SHORT TIME IN A CAMPER PARKED ON THE STREET NEAR 751 5TH AVENUE IN SAN DIEGO WHICH IS WHERE SHE MET CHARLES INMAN BELT. ON 2-17-78 WILMA AND CHARLES WERE LIVING WITH CHARLES'S MOTHER JUANITA BELT AT 582 TECHWOOD DRIVE (ROOSEVELT HOUSE) IN ATLANTA GEORGIA. CHARLES, WHO CURRENTLY RESIDES IN TIJUANA MEXICO, TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT SHE LEFT HIS RESIDENCE AND HE NEVER SAW HER AGAIN. CHARLES STATED THAT HE THOUGHT SHE WENT BACK TO THE SAN DIEGO AREA ALTHOUGH INVESTIGATORS ARE NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT. ALTHOUGH WILMA’S BODY WAS DISCOVERED ON 10-4-78 INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE THAT SHE WAS KILLED AND PLACED AT THE SCENE IN JUNE OR JULY OF 1978. THEREFORE IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT INVESTIGATORS FIND INFORMATION REGARDING WILMA FOR THE MONTHS BETWEEN FEBRUARY AND JULY OF 1978.
WILMA USED SEVERAL NAMES THROUGHOUT HER SHORT LIFE. TO THE LEFT ARE SOME OF THE NAMES WILMA WENT BY.
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- 9-20-73 PROSTITUTION ARREST IN LOS ANGELES
- 10-3-73 PETTY THEFT ARREST IN BEVERLY HILLS
- 10-25-73 PROSTITUTION ARREST IN NORWALK CA
- 10-31-73 PROSTITUTION ARREST IN BEVERLY HILLS
- 8-4-74 PROSTITUTION ARREST IN LONG BEACH
- 9-19-74 PROSTITUTION ARREST IN BAKERSFIELD
- 12-24-74 VEHICLE THEFT & FORGERY IN SAN DIEGO
- 12-24-74 STOLEN CHECKS ARREST IN SAN DIEGO
- 2-5-75 PETTY THEFT & PROSTITUTION ARREST IN LONG BEACH
BIOGRAPHY PAGE 3
WILMA WAS KNOWN AS JANE DOE UNTIL EARLY IN 2006 WHEN SHE WAS POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED AS WILMA NISSEN. THIS IDENTIFICATION CAME FROM A COMPARISON OF JANE DOE’S FINGERPRINTS WITH THOSE ON A FINGERPRINT CARD FROM A PROSTITUTION ARREST IN CALIFORNIA IN THE 1970’S. FOR A BRIEF TWO YEARS OF HER LIFE WILMA HAD BEEN ARRESTED SEVERAL TIMES IN CALIFORNIA. TO THE LEFT IS A LIST OF WILMA’S ARRESTS AND LOCATIONS. BOTTOM LEFT IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF SHERIFF BLOEMENDAAL WORKING ON THIS CASE. WHEN BLOEMENDAAL TOOK OFFICE IN 2001 THIS CASE WAS ONE OF HIS PRIORITIES. On 9-18-07 WILMA’S BODY WAS EXHUMED AND HER REMAINS WERE TAKEN TO THE IOWA MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE WHERE THEY WERE ANALYZED FOR NEW EVIDENCE. TO THE LEFT IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE EXHUMATION. INVESTIGATORS ARE HOPING THAT NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL ASSIST THEM FINDING NEW EVIDENCE SOME OF WHICH IS BEING INSPECTED NOW BY THE FBI IN QUANTICO VIRGINIA. BELOW IS CRYSTAL HAAS AT HER MOTHER’S GRAVESITE. SOME PHOTOS WERE TAKEN FROM THE SIOUX CITY JOURNAL.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Misty Croslin
This is just a collection of a FEW of the articles I've found lately giving us a picture of Misty Croslin.
Judge for yourselves.
October 21
Misty Cummings and two friends were robbed Monday night after allegedly trying to make a drug deal. According to a report by WJXT-TV, one of the young women, 18-year-old Brandy Steedley, said the three women went to Ragsdale Apartment Complex in Palatka, Florida, "so that one of the girls in the car could make contact with a friend."
One of the other women, however, told a different story. Melinda Santmyer, 22, said that the three of them were at the apartment complex "attempting to buy drugs."
According to the report, two or three men approached Misty and Melinda when they were headed back to the car after they "got out of the car to look for an unidentified man the women gave money to for drugs." It was reported that the men grabbed Misty and took her purse and grabbed Melinda's purse as well.
Misty was able to break free and get back to the vehicle. Once back in the car, Misty, along with Brandy drove off while Melinda ran away on foot. Misty suffered minor injuries.
Misty and Haleigh's dad, Ronald, were divorced just days ago.
October 8
Misty Cummings, the stepmother of missing Satsuma, Fla. girl, HaLeigh Cummings, no longer has legal representation. Shortly after he appearance on CBS’ ‘Early Show’ on Friday, her attorney said he will no longer represent her.
Putnam County lawyer, Robert Fields said he “wishes her well” and feels he has “navigated her through the most difficult parts of this matter,” according to First Coast News.
First Coast reports that Fields advised Misty to decline the national interview on Friday. During the show, Misty hinted that her husband’s family may be involved in HaLeigh’s disappearance. Shortly after the show, Fields made the announcement he would no longer represent Misty.
When HaLeigh went missing in February, her father, Ronald Cummings was at work, while Misty was at home with the girl and her younger brother. Misty claims she awoke in the middle of the night and HaLeigh was gone.
On Tuesday, Ronald appeared on HLN’s Nancy Grace show and announced he was divorcing Misty.
Also on October 8:
Misty Cummings, the stepmother of missing girl, HaLeigh Cummings, was stopped on Interstate 4 on Wednesday after a motorist complained the women threatened her with a weapon.
A Massachusetts woman, Courtney Ballinger, 25, called 911 saying she was being threatened by two women in a blue Dodge Caliber. The incident occurred in Seminole County at the end of Lake Mary Boulevard.
Ballinger said she thought the driver had waved a gun at her and that both women were making obscene gestures. She also told the 911 dispatcher that the women threatened to beat her up.
"They’re waving something around and I don’t know what it is, but I don’t want to find out,” Ballinger said.
The Orlando Sentinel reports the incident began at Maitland Blvd. when the women pulled up next to Ballinger and began yelling and making hand gestures.
According to authorities, Ballinger was shaken and extremely scared. “These people are like seriously scaring me big time, and I don’t get scared easily,” she said.
According to the Sentinel, a deputy arrived on the scene and handcuffed the driver of the vehicle, Donna Brock, 43, of Georgia. Misty, 17, was a passenger in the Dodge and was also handcuffed. The car was searched, but no gun was found and the two women were subsequently released.
Tuesday night, HaLeigh’s father and Misty’s husband, Ronald Cummings, appeared on HLN’s Nancy Grace and said he was divorcing his wife. To see video of his interview with Grace, click here.
Misty claims to have been the last person to see HaLeigh, however, authorities have publicly stated there are holes in her story about the night the little girl disappeared.
August 26
From the beginning, there have been rumors and speculation surrounding Misty [Croslin] Cummings’ account of the night little HaLeigh Cummings disappeared over six months ago. On Wednesday, reports indicate that Misty failed three recent tests related to the search for the missing six-year-old girl.According to Misty, the night HaLeigh disappeared, she was at home with the girl and her younger brother while their father, Ronald Cummings was at work. At the time, Misty was Cummings’ girlfriend, but the two wed in March.Misty claims she went to sleep and later got up to use the bathroom. She then noticed the kitchen light was on, the back door propped open by a brick, and discovered HaLeigh was gone.Some speculate that Misty left the children alone the night HaLeigh went missing, although Misty disputes that allegation and has publicly stated “I was there the whole night.”Only two weeks ago, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office stated that Misty’s account of the night HaLeigh went missing is “sketchy” and that she “continues to hold important answers.”
Tim Miller said the family contacted him for help in the case, and Misty told him she wanted to clear her name. She asked about hypnosis, voice analysis, and another polygraph test.Although Miller said Misty’s attorney advised her not to take the tests, Misty agreed to undergo each of the examinations, and according to Miller, “failed miserably” when it came to the polygraph test and “did not cooperate” with the hypnosis.Tim Fields, Misty’s attorney, told First Coast that he believes Misty was pressured into taking the tests.First Coast attempted to speak with HaLeigh’s father and Misty’s husband, Ronald, but he told the them he had nothing to say.Misty had undergone a polygraph test at the beginning of the investigation, and officials were surprised to learn she put herself through another round of questioning voluntarily. Investigators have interviewed Misty a number of times and continue to say her story is inconsistent.
Polygraph of August 19:
Misty Cummings, the stepmother of missing Fla. girl HaLeigh Cummings was given a polygraph test on Aug. 19 regarding the little girl’s disappearance.Tim Miller of Equusearch arranged a polygraph test, a voice analysis examination, and a hypnosis session at Misty’s insistence because she claimed she wanted to clear her name. Miller said on Wednesday that Misty failed all three tests.
Miller said Misty was asked four questions. The questions, Misty’s answers, and the amount of deception noted are below:
Question: Did you intentionally withhold any information regarding Haleigh's disappearance?
Answer: No
Result: 99% deception
Question: Do you know what happened to Haleigh?
Answer: No
Result: 99% deception
Question: Do you know where Haleigh is now?
Answer: No
Result: 95% Deception
Question: Do you know who took Haleigh?
Answer: No
Result: 42% deception
According to Miller, who was confused by the last question and the amount of deception of 42%, a polygraph expert explained that result could mean there were multiple people involved, and that something may have happened inside the house preventing Misty from knowing who actually abducted HaLeigh.
Miller also said that Misty cried after obtaining the results of the test, and then stormed out of the room. After speaking to her, she then requested hypnosis and voice analysis examinations.
October 12
Stepmother Claims Innocence, Says Divorce with Ronald Cummings Because of Pressure, and "Other Side of the Family" Has Missing Haleigh Cummings
Misty Croslin-Cummings, stepmother of missing Haleigh Cummings, appeared on CBS "The Early Show" and announced that she was divorcing Ronald Cummings after only seven months of marriage. But Misty Croslin-Cummings did not stop with a few answers
on the missing person investigation into the Haleigh Cummings' disappearance and her impending divorce.
Speaking with "The Early Show's" Maggie Rodriguez, the 17-year-old also pointed a finger of accusation at her soon-to-be ex-husband's family. Misty Croslin-Cummings told "The Early Show" that: "Someone came in and got her, obviously. I feel like it's on the other side of the family that has her." When Maggie Rodriguez brought up the divorce, news of which had come via Ronald Cummings' announcement on HLN's "Nancy Grace" earlier in the week, Misty Croslin-Cummings said that the break-up was due to all the pressure the couple has been under since Haleigh Cummings went missing. She added that it had nothing to do with her story of the disappearance.
And it is that story -- or, rather, stories -- that puts Misty Croslin-Cummings at the center of the Haleigh Cummings drama. That, and the fact that she was the last person known to have seen Haleigh Cummings before she went missing.
The search for 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings began in the early morning hours of February 10, after Ronald Cummings returned home from work and called 911. Misty Croslin, his then live-in babysitter, told Ronald Cummings and the authorities that she had awakened at around 3 a.m. and noticed that the back door, which was always kept locked, had been propped open. She subsequently discovered that little Haleigh was missing. Misty Croslin said that the last time she had seen Haleigh was when she herself had went to bed in the same room at 10 p.m. the previous night.
September 24
Kristina Prevatt, an inmate who has been associated with Haleigh Cummings’ stepmother, Misty Cummings, wrote a letter to her boyfriend claiming a man told authorities that the missing girl died of a drug overdose.
Florida Today News reports the letter alleges a man named Joe told law enforcement that Misty, Prevatt, and a man named Greg were out partying when Haleigh got into some drugs, ingested them, and died. According to the letter, Joe told authorities Haleigh's body was placed in a bag, which was put in Prevatt’s car and driven to a pond.
Last week, Putnam County authorities drained a pond south of Palatka, Fla., but reportedly found no evidence related to Haleigh's disappearance.
Judge for yourselves.
October 21
Misty Cummings and two friends were robbed Monday night after allegedly trying to make a drug deal. According to a report by WJXT-TV, one of the young women, 18-year-old Brandy Steedley, said the three women went to Ragsdale Apartment Complex in Palatka, Florida, "so that one of the girls in the car could make contact with a friend."
One of the other women, however, told a different story. Melinda Santmyer, 22, said that the three of them were at the apartment complex "attempting to buy drugs."
According to the report, two or three men approached Misty and Melinda when they were headed back to the car after they "got out of the car to look for an unidentified man the women gave money to for drugs." It was reported that the men grabbed Misty and took her purse and grabbed Melinda's purse as well.
Misty was able to break free and get back to the vehicle. Once back in the car, Misty, along with Brandy drove off while Melinda ran away on foot. Misty suffered minor injuries.
Misty and Haleigh's dad, Ronald, were divorced just days ago.
October 8
Misty Cummings, the stepmother of missing Satsuma, Fla. girl, HaLeigh Cummings, no longer has legal representation. Shortly after he appearance on CBS’ ‘Early Show’ on Friday, her attorney said he will no longer represent her.
Putnam County lawyer, Robert Fields said he “wishes her well” and feels he has “navigated her through the most difficult parts of this matter,” according to First Coast News.
First Coast reports that Fields advised Misty to decline the national interview on Friday. During the show, Misty hinted that her husband’s family may be involved in HaLeigh’s disappearance. Shortly after the show, Fields made the announcement he would no longer represent Misty.
When HaLeigh went missing in February, her father, Ronald Cummings was at work, while Misty was at home with the girl and her younger brother. Misty claims she awoke in the middle of the night and HaLeigh was gone.
On Tuesday, Ronald appeared on HLN’s Nancy Grace show and announced he was divorcing Misty.
Also on October 8:
Misty Cummings, the stepmother of missing girl, HaLeigh Cummings, was stopped on Interstate 4 on Wednesday after a motorist complained the women threatened her with a weapon.
A Massachusetts woman, Courtney Ballinger, 25, called 911 saying she was being threatened by two women in a blue Dodge Caliber. The incident occurred in Seminole County at the end of Lake Mary Boulevard.
Ballinger said she thought the driver had waved a gun at her and that both women were making obscene gestures. She also told the 911 dispatcher that the women threatened to beat her up.
"They’re waving something around and I don’t know what it is, but I don’t want to find out,” Ballinger said.
The Orlando Sentinel reports the incident began at Maitland Blvd. when the women pulled up next to Ballinger and began yelling and making hand gestures.
According to authorities, Ballinger was shaken and extremely scared. “These people are like seriously scaring me big time, and I don’t get scared easily,” she said.
According to the Sentinel, a deputy arrived on the scene and handcuffed the driver of the vehicle, Donna Brock, 43, of Georgia. Misty, 17, was a passenger in the Dodge and was also handcuffed. The car was searched, but no gun was found and the two women were subsequently released.
Tuesday night, HaLeigh’s father and Misty’s husband, Ronald Cummings, appeared on HLN’s Nancy Grace and said he was divorcing his wife. To see video of his interview with Grace, click here.
Misty claims to have been the last person to see HaLeigh, however, authorities have publicly stated there are holes in her story about the night the little girl disappeared.
August 26
From the beginning, there have been rumors and speculation surrounding Misty [Croslin] Cummings’ account of the night little HaLeigh Cummings disappeared over six months ago. On Wednesday, reports indicate that Misty failed three recent tests related to the search for the missing six-year-old girl.According to Misty, the night HaLeigh disappeared, she was at home with the girl and her younger brother while their father, Ronald Cummings was at work. At the time, Misty was Cummings’ girlfriend, but the two wed in March.Misty claims she went to sleep and later got up to use the bathroom. She then noticed the kitchen light was on, the back door propped open by a brick, and discovered HaLeigh was gone.Some speculate that Misty left the children alone the night HaLeigh went missing, although Misty disputes that allegation and has publicly stated “I was there the whole night.”Only two weeks ago, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office stated that Misty’s account of the night HaLeigh went missing is “sketchy” and that she “continues to hold important answers.”
Tim Miller said the family contacted him for help in the case, and Misty told him she wanted to clear her name. She asked about hypnosis, voice analysis, and another polygraph test.Although Miller said Misty’s attorney advised her not to take the tests, Misty agreed to undergo each of the examinations, and according to Miller, “failed miserably” when it came to the polygraph test and “did not cooperate” with the hypnosis.Tim Fields, Misty’s attorney, told First Coast that he believes Misty was pressured into taking the tests.First Coast attempted to speak with HaLeigh’s father and Misty’s husband, Ronald, but he told the them he had nothing to say.Misty had undergone a polygraph test at the beginning of the investigation, and officials were surprised to learn she put herself through another round of questioning voluntarily. Investigators have interviewed Misty a number of times and continue to say her story is inconsistent.
Polygraph of August 19:
Misty Cummings, the stepmother of missing Fla. girl HaLeigh Cummings was given a polygraph test on Aug. 19 regarding the little girl’s disappearance.Tim Miller of Equusearch arranged a polygraph test, a voice analysis examination, and a hypnosis session at Misty’s insistence because she claimed she wanted to clear her name. Miller said on Wednesday that Misty failed all three tests.
Miller said Misty was asked four questions. The questions, Misty’s answers, and the amount of deception noted are below:
Question: Did you intentionally withhold any information regarding Haleigh's disappearance?
Answer: No
Result: 99% deception
Question: Do you know what happened to Haleigh?
Answer: No
Result: 99% deception
Question: Do you know where Haleigh is now?
Answer: No
Result: 95% Deception
Question: Do you know who took Haleigh?
Answer: No
Result: 42% deception
According to Miller, who was confused by the last question and the amount of deception of 42%, a polygraph expert explained that result could mean there were multiple people involved, and that something may have happened inside the house preventing Misty from knowing who actually abducted HaLeigh.
Miller also said that Misty cried after obtaining the results of the test, and then stormed out of the room. After speaking to her, she then requested hypnosis and voice analysis examinations.
October 12
Stepmother Claims Innocence, Says Divorce with Ronald Cummings Because of Pressure, and "Other Side of the Family" Has Missing Haleigh Cummings
Misty Croslin-Cummings, stepmother of missing Haleigh Cummings, appeared on CBS "The Early Show" and announced that she was divorcing Ronald Cummings after only seven months of marriage. But Misty Croslin-Cummings did not stop with a few answers
on the missing person investigation into the Haleigh Cummings' disappearance and her impending divorce.
Speaking with "The Early Show's" Maggie Rodriguez, the 17-year-old also pointed a finger of accusation at her soon-to-be ex-husband's family. Misty Croslin-Cummings told "The Early Show" that: "Someone came in and got her, obviously. I feel like it's on the other side of the family that has her." When Maggie Rodriguez brought up the divorce, news of which had come via Ronald Cummings' announcement on HLN's "Nancy Grace" earlier in the week, Misty Croslin-Cummings said that the break-up was due to all the pressure the couple has been under since Haleigh Cummings went missing. She added that it had nothing to do with her story of the disappearance.
And it is that story -- or, rather, stories -- that puts Misty Croslin-Cummings at the center of the Haleigh Cummings drama. That, and the fact that she was the last person known to have seen Haleigh Cummings before she went missing.
The search for 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings began in the early morning hours of February 10, after Ronald Cummings returned home from work and called 911. Misty Croslin, his then live-in babysitter, told Ronald Cummings and the authorities that she had awakened at around 3 a.m. and noticed that the back door, which was always kept locked, had been propped open. She subsequently discovered that little Haleigh was missing. Misty Croslin said that the last time she had seen Haleigh was when she herself had went to bed in the same room at 10 p.m. the previous night.
September 24
Kristina Prevatt, an inmate who has been associated with Haleigh Cummings’ stepmother, Misty Cummings, wrote a letter to her boyfriend claiming a man told authorities that the missing girl died of a drug overdose.
Florida Today News reports the letter alleges a man named Joe told law enforcement that Misty, Prevatt, and a man named Greg were out partying when Haleigh got into some drugs, ingested them, and died. According to the letter, Joe told authorities Haleigh's body was placed in a bag, which was put in Prevatt’s car and driven to a pond.
Last week, Putnam County authorities drained a pond south of Palatka, Fla., but reportedly found no evidence related to Haleigh's disappearance.
Parents tell reporters that their little girl was almost abducted 2 weeks before Somer was: Why wasn't an alert put out?
Now, I wish that somebody could tell me what is wrong with this picture. There seems to be even MORE of a rash of little children being abducted, going missing, being found murdered in the last 2 years than anytime in recent memory. Of course, it may not be that that is actually the case, it may just be that we are seeing more news coverage of it now. Why I dont understand. But- in this case, it just stands out to me- that obviously people still aren't getting the warning signs- and taking them seriously. This story speaks that louder than words. Read below:
The parents say their child was almost abducted about two weeks before Somer Thompson disappeared. They visited Somer's home to pay their respects and visit Diena, Somer's mom.
The parents told reporters their 5-year-old was approached by three people in a car just a block from the vacant home on Gano Avenue being investigated.
"We were having a yard sale and she was riding her bike and she just took off," said Kaylee's father James Brothroyd.
Police say that's when the girl said three people in a car tried to lure her inside.
James said the people spoke to Kaylee, saying "your mom wants us to take you home, get in the car."
Parents James and April said a passerby scared away the car. They reported it to police, but they say a warning was never put out in the neighborhood.
"It's outrageous to me nothing was done!" added James.
The family is all the more concerned because they live down the block from the vacant house being investigated on Gano Ave.
April, Kaylee's mother, said "My daughter hasn't been outside by herself. My son is 10, we used to let them be outside, we don't do that no more."
The Clay County Sheriff's Department was initially looking for a blue car, but several days ago, they believed it had nothing to do with Somer's Disappearance.
Still, the parents say if an alert had been put out a few weeks ago, maybe parents here would have been more vigilant and Somer would still be safe at home.
Somer disappeared on her walk home from school on a Monday afternoon. Detectives scoured a Georgia landfill and found a child's remains.
At a Thursday morning news conference, authorities confirmed that the remains found were that of the missing 7-year-old.
The parents say their child was almost abducted about two weeks before Somer Thompson disappeared. They visited Somer's home to pay their respects and visit Diena, Somer's mom.
The parents told reporters their 5-year-old was approached by three people in a car just a block from the vacant home on Gano Avenue being investigated.
"We were having a yard sale and she was riding her bike and she just took off," said Kaylee's father James Brothroyd.
Police say that's when the girl said three people in a car tried to lure her inside.
James said the people spoke to Kaylee, saying "your mom wants us to take you home, get in the car."
Parents James and April said a passerby scared away the car. They reported it to police, but they say a warning was never put out in the neighborhood.
"It's outrageous to me nothing was done!" added James.
The family is all the more concerned because they live down the block from the vacant house being investigated on Gano Ave.
April, Kaylee's mother, said "My daughter hasn't been outside by herself. My son is 10, we used to let them be outside, we don't do that no more."
The Clay County Sheriff's Department was initially looking for a blue car, but several days ago, they believed it had nothing to do with Somer's Disappearance.
Still, the parents say if an alert had been put out a few weeks ago, maybe parents here would have been more vigilant and Somer would still be safe at home.
Somer disappeared on her walk home from school on a Monday afternoon. Detectives scoured a Georgia landfill and found a child's remains.
At a Thursday morning news conference, authorities confirmed that the remains found were that of the missing 7-year-old.
Mathias West Virginia Family Believed to have been dead Before Fire Started
MATHIAS, W.Va. (AP) ― Three people have been found dead in a house fire that authorities are calling suspicious.
Hardy County deputies identified the victims as 34-year-old Dennis Taylor, his wife, 38-year-old Alaina Taylor, and her 5-year-old daughter, Kaylee Grace Whetzel.
Dennis Taylor was a firefighter in Rockingham County, Va.
Firefighters from the Mathias-Baker Volunteer Fire Company responded to the blaze at the home about 10:45 p.m. Friday.
After the fire was put out, emergency personnel found the three bodies inside the home. They were sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Charleston for autopsies.
Investigators say three people found dead in a Hardy County fire Friday night were shot to death first.
Police and the state Fire Marshal's Office say the fire was set at the house in the community of Mathias in an attempt to cover-up the murders of Dennis “Chip” Taylor 34, Alaina Taylor, 38 and Alaina’s five year old daughter, Kaylee Grace Whetzel.
"It's a set fire," Assistant State Fire Marshal Patrick Barker told MetroNews. Samples have been sent to a lab for further examination.
Police in Rockingham County, Virginia arrested Nakia Heath Keller, 34 and Lorie Ann Taylor, 34, Tuesday morning and charged them with the crimes.
Investigators say Lorie Ann Taylor is the ex-wife of Chip Taylor and the two had been in a heated custody battle over their three children, who were not present at the fire.
Keller and Taylor are awaiting extradition to West Virginia.
The Hardy County Sheriff's Dept. and West Virginia State Police are leading the investigation.
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Virginia couple arrested in Hardy County homicide case
From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News
MATHIAS, W.Va. — A Virginia couple were arrested Tuesday in connection with the Friday night fire that claimed the lives of three members of a Mathias family.
Autopsies by the West Virginia State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled all three deaths as homicides.
Police said all three victims had been shot at least one time.
The bodies of Dennis “Chip” Taylor, 34; Alaina Taylor, 38, and Taylor’s 5-year-old daughter, Kaylee Grace Whetzel, were recovered from the residence following the 10:45 p.m. fire.
The fire was ruled as arson and was believed to have been used to conceal the bodies, according to the Hardy County Sheriff's Office.
Nakia Heath Keller, 34, and Lorie Ann Taylor, 34, both of Folks Run, were taken into custody based on warrants obtained by the sheriff’s office after search warrants were executed by investigators in Hardy County and Rockingham County, Va.
Police said Lori Taylor is the ex-wife of Chip Taylor and that the two had recently divorced and had been in a heated custody battle over the couple’s three children. Those children were not present at the time of the fire.
Lori Taylor now resides with and is reported to have recently married Nakia Keller, police said.
The investigation is continuing by Hardy, Rockingham and Loudon county sheriff’s offices, West Virginia State Police and West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office.
Police said Keller and Taylor remained in custody Tuesday on fugitive from justice warrants at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail awaiting extradition to West Virginia.
The Hardy County Magistrate’s Office declined to provide information concerning the charges in the warrants since the office had not received official verification that the warrants had been served.
Hardy County deputies identified the victims as 34-year-old Dennis Taylor, his wife, 38-year-old Alaina Taylor, and her 5-year-old daughter, Kaylee Grace Whetzel.
Dennis Taylor was a firefighter in Rockingham County, Va.
Firefighters from the Mathias-Baker Volunteer Fire Company responded to the blaze at the home about 10:45 p.m. Friday.
After the fire was put out, emergency personnel found the three bodies inside the home. They were sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Charleston for autopsies.
Investigators say three people found dead in a Hardy County fire Friday night were shot to death first.
Police and the state Fire Marshal's Office say the fire was set at the house in the community of Mathias in an attempt to cover-up the murders of Dennis “Chip” Taylor 34, Alaina Taylor, 38 and Alaina’s five year old daughter, Kaylee Grace Whetzel.
"It's a set fire," Assistant State Fire Marshal Patrick Barker told MetroNews. Samples have been sent to a lab for further examination.
Police in Rockingham County, Virginia arrested Nakia Heath Keller, 34 and Lorie Ann Taylor, 34, Tuesday morning and charged them with the crimes.
Investigators say Lorie Ann Taylor is the ex-wife of Chip Taylor and the two had been in a heated custody battle over their three children, who were not present at the fire.
Keller and Taylor are awaiting extradition to West Virginia.
The Hardy County Sheriff's Dept. and West Virginia State Police are leading the investigation.
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Virginia couple arrested in Hardy County homicide case
From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News
MATHIAS, W.Va. — A Virginia couple were arrested Tuesday in connection with the Friday night fire that claimed the lives of three members of a Mathias family.
Autopsies by the West Virginia State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled all three deaths as homicides.
Police said all three victims had been shot at least one time.
The bodies of Dennis “Chip” Taylor, 34; Alaina Taylor, 38, and Taylor’s 5-year-old daughter, Kaylee Grace Whetzel, were recovered from the residence following the 10:45 p.m. fire.
The fire was ruled as arson and was believed to have been used to conceal the bodies, according to the Hardy County Sheriff's Office.
Nakia Heath Keller, 34, and Lorie Ann Taylor, 34, both of Folks Run, were taken into custody based on warrants obtained by the sheriff’s office after search warrants were executed by investigators in Hardy County and Rockingham County, Va.
Police said Lori Taylor is the ex-wife of Chip Taylor and that the two had recently divorced and had been in a heated custody battle over the couple’s three children. Those children were not present at the time of the fire.
Lori Taylor now resides with and is reported to have recently married Nakia Keller, police said.
The investigation is continuing by Hardy, Rockingham and Loudon county sheriff’s offices, West Virginia State Police and West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office.
Police said Keller and Taylor remained in custody Tuesday on fugitive from justice warrants at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail awaiting extradition to West Virginia.
The Hardy County Magistrate’s Office declined to provide information concerning the charges in the warrants since the office had not received official verification that the warrants had been served.
Morgan Dana Harrington- Please help police solve her case and bring her murderer to Justice
In memory of Morgan Dana Harrington:
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The search for Morgan Harrington made headlines all over the United States. Even though they hoped for the best, Morgan's friends and family probably knew in their hearts how dire the situation was. On Sunday, October 18, 2009, after police had been provided with a picture, and information that Morgan had been missing for hours, Morgan's parents went into action.
"Morgan's a great kid," said her father. "And this is very atypical behavior and she's a wonderful person"
The reward was up to $150,000.00 with $50,000 of that being put up by the band that Morgan had gone to see, Metallica.
In early November a search was organized, but turned up no new leads.
There were unfounded reports all over the internet about Morgan's activities that night. All the while, her parents stood strongly behind her.
Then less than two weeks later, a report that human remains have been found. Police feel confident they belong to Morgan Harrington.
Dan and Gil Harrington, though saddened, are relieved to finally have found their daughter.
Our prayers go out to them and the rest of Morgan's family and friends.
2-4-1 Morgan.
The case as of 1-29-2010:
Skeletal remains found on a remote farm are those of a Virginia Tech student who disappeared after attending a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, state police said Wednesday.
Virginia's chief medical examiner used Morgan Harrington's dental records to make the confirmation, state police said in a statement. The cause and time of Harrington's death have not been determined, said investigators, who have shifted to a homicide investigation.
Harrington, 20, disappeared Oct. 17 after attending the concert. A farmer inspecting his fields found her remains Tuesday about 10 miles from the auditorium.
Her father, Dan Harrington, said in a statement: "Morgan's mother, Gil, and I are overwhelmingly saddened by yesterday's discovery, but we are also relieved because our questions can now be answered and we can give our daughter a proper burial."
At a brief news conference in Charlottesville, Dan Harrington said the location of the remains convinced him that someone local was linked to his daughter's death. The remains were found on an isolated, 700-acre cattle farm about 10 miles outside of Charlottesville.
The Harringtons met with reporters at the Copley Road Bridge, where investigators have said witnesses last placed Morgan Harrington.
The best way to access the location where missing Virginia Tech student Morgan D. Harrington’s body was found is across a neighboring property, according to the Albemarle County farmer who found her remains.
“A lot of my neighbors who are outdoors people have said to me that they think the most logical entrance is from Blandemar Farm subdivision,” Dave Bass said.
The area, Blandemar Farm Estates, is a collection of large homes on cul-de-sacs, surrounded by vast expanses of clipped grass.
Bass said he saw police drive a car across that grass and through a neighbor’s hayfield to access a fence line near where the body was found on his farm. The farm is west of U.S. 29, near its intersection with Red Hill Road, about 5.5 miles south of Interstate 64.
“The easiest way by public road, even in a car, not an SUV or pickup or tractor, would be what I just described,” he said. “There is a barbed wire fence, but you couldn’t get to that place without crossing creeks or barbed wire fences.”
Harrington, 20, went missing after she left a Metallica concert held at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena on Oct. 17. Bass discovered her remains Tuesday.
Bass, who lives on the farm with his wife and daughter, said they don’t get many trespassers, and it likely would have been difficult to sneak past the two homes — his and his daughter’s — on the road into his farm.
“It would be difficult for someone to pass either home without being noticed, but, you know, I’m not different than you. I don’t sit at the window all day looking for trespassers,” he said.
Anyone who did draw notice would be in a bind because of the long drive back out, he said. He didn’t see anything the night Harrington went missing, he said.
There is some illegal spotlighting of deer near the Hardware River, he said.
Relatively few people come onto the farm, he said.
“I don’t have any employees,” he said. “I do the farm myself, and … you know, we have the normal people that would come on any residential property to fix your air conditioning or your heating or your plumbing,” he said.
He said four hunters have permission to hunt the farm, and their names have been given to police.
He has also spoken at length with investigators, he said.
“I’ve spent a lot of time talking with them,” he said. “I don’t know if it helped them much. I tried.”
The area where the body was discovered was initially reported by police to be a hayfield. It was, in fact, a pasture with particularly tall grass, Bass said.
“It’s a creek bottom, and the grass grows real well, even though I bushhog it,” he said.
He added, “The only reason I think I saw it was the heavy deep snow.”
By the time the more than 20 inches of snow the region received in December melted, it had matted down tall grass all across the region.
In the particular pasture where Harrington was found, the grass had been at least knee-high, Bass said. He saw the remains because he was on a tractor, several feet off the ground, he said.
Bass initially thought the body was a deer, but when he saw what appeared to be a human skull, along with fingers and toes, he knew he had to call police, he said.
Virginia State Police still have no suspects, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.
A rumor that circulated midday Thursday that police had made an arrest was unfounded, she said.
They’re also waiting on the medical examiner’s office for cause and time of death, she said.
Geller confirmed that police had finished examining the area where the remains were found by midday.
“Now that we’ve finished that part of the collection process at the scene, … we move into the analysis stage,” she said.
Bass praised the work he has seen police do.
“They’re very professional in my opinion, and I think they’ve done a fine job out here in terms of finding whatever they could and eliminating other alternatives, so I give them credit,” Bass said. “Now they’ve got to analyze what they’ve come up with from the medical examiner and from the site work, and hopefully for all of our sakes find some answers.”
Geller said police are examining a host of theories about what they presume is a homicide.
“Everything is open to consideration at this point,” she said.
Virginia State Police are still looking for tips at 352-3467.
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The search for Morgan Harrington made headlines all over the United States. Even though they hoped for the best, Morgan's friends and family probably knew in their hearts how dire the situation was. On Sunday, October 18, 2009, after police had been provided with a picture, and information that Morgan had been missing for hours, Morgan's parents went into action.
"Morgan's a great kid," said her father. "And this is very atypical behavior and she's a wonderful person"
The reward was up to $150,000.00 with $50,000 of that being put up by the band that Morgan had gone to see, Metallica.
In early November a search was organized, but turned up no new leads.
There were unfounded reports all over the internet about Morgan's activities that night. All the while, her parents stood strongly behind her.
Then less than two weeks later, a report that human remains have been found. Police feel confident they belong to Morgan Harrington.
Dan and Gil Harrington, though saddened, are relieved to finally have found their daughter.
Our prayers go out to them and the rest of Morgan's family and friends.
2-4-1 Morgan.
The case as of 1-29-2010:
Skeletal remains found on a remote farm are those of a Virginia Tech student who disappeared after attending a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, state police said Wednesday.
Virginia's chief medical examiner used Morgan Harrington's dental records to make the confirmation, state police said in a statement. The cause and time of Harrington's death have not been determined, said investigators, who have shifted to a homicide investigation.
Harrington, 20, disappeared Oct. 17 after attending the concert. A farmer inspecting his fields found her remains Tuesday about 10 miles from the auditorium.
Her father, Dan Harrington, said in a statement: "Morgan's mother, Gil, and I are overwhelmingly saddened by yesterday's discovery, but we are also relieved because our questions can now be answered and we can give our daughter a proper burial."
At a brief news conference in Charlottesville, Dan Harrington said the location of the remains convinced him that someone local was linked to his daughter's death. The remains were found on an isolated, 700-acre cattle farm about 10 miles outside of Charlottesville.
The Harringtons met with reporters at the Copley Road Bridge, where investigators have said witnesses last placed Morgan Harrington.
The best way to access the location where missing Virginia Tech student Morgan D. Harrington’s body was found is across a neighboring property, according to the Albemarle County farmer who found her remains.
“A lot of my neighbors who are outdoors people have said to me that they think the most logical entrance is from Blandemar Farm subdivision,” Dave Bass said.
The area, Blandemar Farm Estates, is a collection of large homes on cul-de-sacs, surrounded by vast expanses of clipped grass.
Bass said he saw police drive a car across that grass and through a neighbor’s hayfield to access a fence line near where the body was found on his farm. The farm is west of U.S. 29, near its intersection with Red Hill Road, about 5.5 miles south of Interstate 64.
“The easiest way by public road, even in a car, not an SUV or pickup or tractor, would be what I just described,” he said. “There is a barbed wire fence, but you couldn’t get to that place without crossing creeks or barbed wire fences.”
Harrington, 20, went missing after she left a Metallica concert held at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena on Oct. 17. Bass discovered her remains Tuesday.
Bass, who lives on the farm with his wife and daughter, said they don’t get many trespassers, and it likely would have been difficult to sneak past the two homes — his and his daughter’s — on the road into his farm.
“It would be difficult for someone to pass either home without being noticed, but, you know, I’m not different than you. I don’t sit at the window all day looking for trespassers,” he said.
Anyone who did draw notice would be in a bind because of the long drive back out, he said. He didn’t see anything the night Harrington went missing, he said.
There is some illegal spotlighting of deer near the Hardware River, he said.
Relatively few people come onto the farm, he said.
“I don’t have any employees,” he said. “I do the farm myself, and … you know, we have the normal people that would come on any residential property to fix your air conditioning or your heating or your plumbing,” he said.
He said four hunters have permission to hunt the farm, and their names have been given to police.
He has also spoken at length with investigators, he said.
“I’ve spent a lot of time talking with them,” he said. “I don’t know if it helped them much. I tried.”
The area where the body was discovered was initially reported by police to be a hayfield. It was, in fact, a pasture with particularly tall grass, Bass said.
“It’s a creek bottom, and the grass grows real well, even though I bushhog it,” he said.
He added, “The only reason I think I saw it was the heavy deep snow.”
By the time the more than 20 inches of snow the region received in December melted, it had matted down tall grass all across the region.
In the particular pasture where Harrington was found, the grass had been at least knee-high, Bass said. He saw the remains because he was on a tractor, several feet off the ground, he said.
Bass initially thought the body was a deer, but when he saw what appeared to be a human skull, along with fingers and toes, he knew he had to call police, he said.
Virginia State Police still have no suspects, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.
A rumor that circulated midday Thursday that police had made an arrest was unfounded, she said.
They’re also waiting on the medical examiner’s office for cause and time of death, she said.
Geller confirmed that police had finished examining the area where the remains were found by midday.
“Now that we’ve finished that part of the collection process at the scene, … we move into the analysis stage,” she said.
Bass praised the work he has seen police do.
“They’re very professional in my opinion, and I think they’ve done a fine job out here in terms of finding whatever they could and eliminating other alternatives, so I give them credit,” Bass said. “Now they’ve got to analyze what they’ve come up with from the medical examiner and from the site work, and hopefully for all of our sakes find some answers.”
Geller said police are examining a host of theories about what they presume is a homicide.
“Everything is open to consideration at this point,” she said.
Virginia State Police are still looking for tips at 352-3467.
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Justice for Somer Thompson: Predator May Have Killed Before
She had been walking with her two siblings, including a twin brother, and friend when she got into an argument with another child. Somer walked ahead of the group and was never seen again.
Orange Park is a small suburb of Jacksonville.
The FBI has also assigned a member to assist Clay County, along with staff from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to CBS affiliate News3Jax.
The second-grader is white, 3-foot-5 and 65 pounds. She had brown hair tied in a pony tail with a red bow and was carrying a purple Hannah Montana backpack and lunch box.
Somer was last seen about 2:45 p.m. Monday heading home from Grove Park Elementary School. She was walking with her sister and some friends, but ran ahead of them.
'America's Most Wanted' Host John Walsh Said Florida Community Has Reason to Be Fearful.
The person who killed 7-year-old Somer Thompson may have preyed on children before, making the search for the second-grader's slayer that much more urgent, police said.
Clay County authorities said they are running frustratingly low on credible leads despite receiving more than 1,000 tips about Somer's kidnapping and murder. But "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh said county Sheriff Rick Beseler is "looking very hard at certain people.
"The sheriff and I both feel that it's a predator who has probably done it before," Walsh, who has been following Somer's case since she disappeared last week, told "Good Morning America" today.
He pointed to a string of four child disappearances in the Jacksonville area about 20 years ago that have never been solved.
"I would hate to think this is a serial child killer who has raised it's ugly head," Walsh said, noting that it's not unusual for such a predator to come out of "retirement."
Somer disappeared Oct. 19 while walking home from school with her twin brother and older sister, 10. She ran ahead after a squabble with her siblings and vanished shortly after.
Somer's body was found Wednesday in a Georgia landfill after detectives followed garbage trucks from Somer's Orange Park, Fla., hometown in search of clues.
A public visitation will be held tonight; her funeral is Tuesday.
Police say they've checked out nearly all the more than 90 sex offenders living within a three-mile radius of Somer's home and repeated searches of a vacant house near where the little girl disappeared have not yet yielded any obvious clues.
Police are hoping that samples taken from the house and the landfill where Somer's body was found will give investigators something to go on.
"All I want is to happen is that my baby didn't die in vain and we catch him," Somer's mother, Diena Thompson, said.
Walsh called Somer's killer a "cool, calculating predator" who may strike again.
"People should be on high alert there because there is a child killer at large," he said.
Somer's Mother to Killer: 'We're Coming for You'
Indeed, neighborhood parents, many of who attended fund-raisers over the weekend for the Thompson family, are on edge, keeping a close eye on their children.
"When is this going to stop," area resident Lou Ellen McGill said. "When are they going to leave our kids alone?"
Even at the fund-raiser -- were several children were fingerprinted as a precaution -- parents looked around nervously, wondering if Somer's killer could be among them.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he was here, that's how I really feel about it," Amy Hand said.
Thompson told "Good Morning America" last week that she wanted her daughter's killer to know one thing: "We're coming for you.
"We'll get you," she said. "And, hopefully, justice will be served."
A preliminary autopsy has been completed, but Clay County Sheriff spokeswoman Mary Justino declined to provide details on the cause of death or the condition of the body.
Thompson said last week that she has been wracked by feelings of guilt and responsibility for being at work when her youngest daughter disappeared.
"I feel responsible," she said. " If I could have just, I don't know, left work or something and been able to pick her up, this wouldn't have happened."
And her surviving children are also struggling. Thompson said she's afraid to let them out of her sight, lest it happen again. They will be getting counseling after Somer's funeral, she said.
"They go through spurts, you know, they're kids," she said. "One minute they're happy, and the next minute they're sad."
A group called Justice Coalition has put up a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Somer's killer. Some of that reward money came from Crimestoppers, which urged anyone with information to call 866-845-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
Clay County police asked tipsters to call 877-227-6911.
The disturbing case of Somer Thompson
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The search for a 7-year-old Florida girl appears to have ended in tragedy with the discovery of her body in a Georgia landfill.
Authorities tentatively identified the body Thursday as that of Somer Thompson, based on clothing and a birthmark. Somer had been missing since Monday.
"I'm still holding out hope this is not Somer," Somer's aunt, Laura Holt, told the Associated Press Wednesday night, her voice cracking.
"I don't think they deserve to live," Holt said. "I don't think there's anything worse that a person can do - to kill a child and dump her in the dump like a piece of trash?"
Investigators followed garbage trucks from the neighborhood where Somer disappeared to a landfill in Folkston, Ga.,near the Florida border. They searched through 100 tons of refuse before finding the body, Beseler said.
An FBI forensic unit is helping process evidence from the landfill, about 48 miles from where the girl disappeared.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation planned an autopsy Thursday.
Holt said family members were going through an agonizing wait for autopsy results.
Beseler declined to discuss what evidence police have recovered or whether investigators believe the crime was committed by one or more people.
He said police have questioned more than 70 registered sex offenders in the area. Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show 161 offenders live in a 5-mile radius of Somer's home.
"I fear for our community until we bring this person in," Beseler said of the killer. "This is a heinous crime...and we're going to work as hard as we can to make this community safe."
Somer disappeared on her mile-long walk home from school in Orange Park, Fla.
Angry that her sister told her to stop arguing with a playmate, she ran ahead of the group and was never seen again. Her disappearance triggered a countywide search involving helicopters, dogs and volunteers walking arm-to-arm through wooded areas.
Before the grim discovery, Somer's father, Sam Thompson, of Graham, N.C., pleaded for her safe return.
"Somer, your daddy Sam loves you unconditionally. Stay strong and don't give up the fight or the hope that we're going to be a family again. I love you," he said.
Thompson was staying at an undisclosed family member's home to get avoid the crowd of about 150 people gathered across the street from mother Diena Thompson's home, some crying and others clutching their children tightly.
Mourners placed flowers under a tree in a makeshift memorial to the little girl.
"We are all devastated," said Tonya Jennings, 61, a grandmother who lives three doors away. "I knew her." Jennings was with her two granddaughters, Nina Guitierez, 9, and Aria Michaels, 8, who attend Grove Park Elementary School with Somer.
"We will need to be more vigilant. There are pedophiles everywhere in the area," Jennings said.
John Latavia, 43, said his children attended school with Somer.
"All we can do is pray and come together," he said.
Orange Park is a suburb of Jacksonville just south of Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The area where the girl disappeared is a heavily populated residential area with homes, apartment complexes and condominiums.
The search for a 7-year-old Florida girl appears to have ended in tragedy with the discovery of her body in a Georgia landfill.Authorities tentatively identified the body Thursday as that of Somer Thompson, based on clothing and a birthmark. Somer had been missing since Monday.
"I'm still holding out hope this is not Somer," Somer's aunt, Laura Holt, told the Associated Press Wednesday night, her voice cracking.
"I don't think they deserve to live," Holt said. "I don't think there's anything worse that a person can do - to kill a child and dump her in the dump like a piece of trash?"
Investigators followed garbage trucks from the neighborhood where Somer disappeared to a landfill in Folkston, Ga.,near the Florida border. They searched through 100 tons of refuse before finding the body, Beseler said.
An FBI forensic unit is helping process evidence from the landfill, about 48 miles from where the girl disappeared.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation planned an autopsy Thursday.
Holt said family members were going through an agonizing wait for autopsy results.
Beseler declined to discuss what evidence police have recovered or whether investigators believe the crime was committed by one or more people.
He said police have questioned more than 70 registered sex offenders in the area. Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show 161 offenders live in a 5-mile radius of Somer's home.
"I fear for our community until we bring this person in," Beseler said of the killer. "This is a heinous crime...and we're going to work as hard as we can to make this community safe."
Somer disappeared on her mile-long walk home from school in Orange Park, Fla.
Angry that her sister told her to stop arguing with a playmate, she ran ahead of the group and was never seen again. Her disappearance triggered a countywide search involving helicopters, dogs and volunteers walking arm-to-arm through wooded areas.
Before the grim discovery, Somer's father, Sam Thompson, of Graham, N.C., pleaded for her safe return.
"Somer, your daddy Sam loves you unconditionally. Stay strong and don't give up the fight or the hope that we're going to be a family again. I love you," he said.
Thompson was staying at an undisclosed family member's home to get avoid the crowd of about 150 people gathered across the street from mother Diena Thompson's home, some crying and others clutching their children tightly.
Mourners placed flowers under a tree in a makeshift memorial to the little girl.
"We are all devastated," said Tonya Jennings, 61, a grandmother who lives three doors away. "I knew her." Jennings was with her two granddaughters, Nina Guitierez, 9, and Aria Michaels, 8, who attend Grove Park Elementary School with Somer.
"We will need to be more vigilant. There are pedophiles everywhere in the area," Jennings said.
John Latavia, 43, said his children attended school with Somer.
"All we can do is pray and come together," he said.
Orange Park is a suburb of Jacksonville just south of Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The area where the girl disappeared is a heavily populated residential area with homes, apartment complexes and condominiums.
Somer Thompson's mother making a
desperate appeal for her daughter's
safe return Weds.
Source for the following information was the
'blinkoncrime' blog:
Orange Park, FL– As developments unfold in the investigation of the murder of 7 year old Somer Thompson, a new twist:
4 Men Arrested For Robbery with Firearms
The defendent Montrail Howard, received a “Jaywalking” infraction on October 14. On October 20, that infraction turned into a citation for unknown reasons and the following day all four were arrested for armed robbery at the 1706 Horton Drive address of Somer Thompson and her family.
All 4 inmates remain in custody at the Clay county jail without bond.
It is not known at this time what relation this incident or these individuals have if any, to Somer Thompson’s abduction and murder. All suspects should be presumed innocent while awaiting due process.
Diane Schuler
The following is a quote from mydailynews.com
It's enough to make you sick.
Cops Tuesday painted a mind-boggling picture of death driver Diane Schuler — guzzling vodka and smoking pot with helpless kids in tow before the horrific Taconic State Parkway crash.
The 36-year-old mom drank so much she could barely see. She still had alcohol in her stomach when she crashed, killing herself, her daughter, three nieces and three men in an SUV she hit, police said.
Toxicology tests did not show what she drank, but a jumbo 1.75-liter bottle of Absolut vodka was found in the wreckage of her Ford Windstar minivan.
She consumed at least 10 ounces of liquor during the reckless 90-mile drive from a campground in Sullivan County to Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, police said.
She smoked pot within an hour of driving the wrong way on the Taconic heading home to Long Island, police said.
The revelations brought outrage from the family of the men killed in the SUV — but silence from Schuler’s relatives.
"I’m stunned that anybody would do that with kids in the car," said Robert Guzzo, whose brother-in-law and father-in-law were killed. "I'm very angry. This was not an accident ; it was a murder."
The July26 crash was ruled a homicide and referred to the Westchester County district attorney, but police don't expect charges.
The toxicology tests came as a shock after police initially said it didn't appear Schuler was drunk. Results came in Friday. Cops waited until the burials of the victims to release the results of the tests.
Killed in the Windstar were Schuler's 2-year-old daughter, Erin, and Schuler's nieces Emma Hance, 9, Alison Hance, 7, and Kate Hance, 5. Five-year-old Brian Schuler was the lone survivor.
Three Yonkers men in the SUV died — Guy Bastardi, 49, his father, Michael Bastardi, 81, and family friend Daniel Longo, 74.
"We got very devastating news today," Michael Bastardi Jr. said .
Schuler's blood-alcohol level was 0.19% — more than twice the legal limit, cops said. She had 6 grams of undigested alcohol in her stomach when she died.
"She would have had difficulty with her perception, with her judgment and her memory," said Betsy Spratt, the Westchester County toxicology examiner.
"Around that level of alcohol you start to get tunnel vision where you can't see peripherally all the time." Marijuana intensifies the effects.
Police could not say if Schuler got wasted while driving or stopped along the way. It was unclear if she was drinking before she got behind the wheel to drive the children home from camping.
Her husband, Daniel Schuler, told cops that his wife was fine when they left about 9:30 a.m. He drove one car straight home to West Babylon, L.I., while she took the kids to McDonald's.
Ann Scott, 77, who owns the campsite the family visited for three years, saw Schuler off.
"I got pretty close to her and waved goodbye,”" she said. "If she had alcohol in her breath, I would have smelled it."
Schuler drove erratically along much of the route. About 1 p.m., she called brother Warren Hance and said she was sick. At 1:30 p.m., Schuler entered the northbound Taconic via an exit ramp. She drove 1.7 miles the wrong way before plowing into the Bastardis.
“I don't even want to think about if the brother knew what she was doing and let those kids get in the car,” Guzzo said.
How much Schuler's loved ones knew is a mystery.
"At this point we're getting limited information from the family," said Maj. William Carey of the state police.
The family was notified of the test results Friday, police said. The day before, Schuler and the four girls were laid to rest.
At the funeral, Hance lovingly remembered his three daughters and paid tribute to Schuler's "miracle" boy, Brian. He didn't say a word about his sister.
The family tried to call back, but by then the girls were "like radio silent on the cell phones," the friend said. Other tapes describe authorities attempting to organize a search for the vehicle, unaware it was already too late. With four children in car, Schuler drove nearly two miles the wrong way down New York's Taconic State Parkway before plowing head-on into another vehicle.
In another 911 call a woman, apparently a witness to the crash's gruesome aftermath, described the horrifying scene.
"Yeah there are [injuries]," the woman said as another screams in the background. "There are like little kids. The kids [are] not moving. There's a whole bunch of kids. Honestly the car's smashed."
Schuler, her two-year-old daughter and three nieces were killed in the crash along with the three men in the other vehicle. Schuler's five-year-old son Bryan was the crash's only survivor and suffered two broken legs and a broken arm among other serious injuries.
Toxicology reports after the crash revealed that Schuler had been drunk and high at the time of the accident and had a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit. Investigators could not determine if Schuler had been drinking while she was driving, but alcohol was in her stomach at the time of the autopsy and a bottle of vodka was found at the crash scene, New York State Police Major William Carey said at a press conference.
Wrongway Driver's Husband Denies Alcohol Use
Schuler's husband, Daniel Schuler, has repeatedly denied that his wife was a drinker and has insisted that the toxicology report was wrong.
"She did not drink. She was not an alcoholic," Schuler said Aug. 6. "Something medically had to have happened."
Schuler was driving home with the children from a campground in upstate New York, where witnesses said she seemed "fine."
Irving Anolik, attorney for the family of Guy and Michael Bastardi, two of the men killed in the other car, told "Good Morning America" in August that he "categorically" rejected the idea that the wreck was caused by any medical emergency, as Daniel Schuler had suggested.
"This is a killing. Don't call it an accident," Anolik, attorney for the Bastardi family who lost a father and son in the wreck, told "Good Morning America." Anolik said that any medical condition theories are "at war with the autopsy report, with the blood analysis, with the whole panorama of things that surround this killing."
Schuler hired private investigator Thomas Ruskin to look into the accident. According to Ruskin, Schuler looked "completely" normal when she stopped at a convenient store to purchase Tylenol or Advil just hours before the crash.
Investigators had hoped that as the crash's sole survivor, Bryan would be able to shed light on the minutes that led up to the crash, but the boy has not said much, Ruskin said.
"He doesn't seem to remember right now," Ruskin told "Good Morning America" Oct. 16. "He is 5 years old and he is recovering from very severe injuries. Fracture plus head trauma he suffered as part of the injuries at the accident."
Ruskin said he is now running his own tests to determine exactly what happened that day in hopes of piecing together the moments that led up to the crash.
It's enough to make you sick.
Cops Tuesday painted a mind-boggling picture of death driver Diane Schuler — guzzling vodka and smoking pot with helpless kids in tow before the horrific Taconic State Parkway crash.
The 36-year-old mom drank so much she could barely see. She still had alcohol in her stomach when she crashed, killing herself, her daughter, three nieces and three men in an SUV she hit, police said.
Toxicology tests did not show what she drank, but a jumbo 1.75-liter bottle of Absolut vodka was found in the wreckage of her Ford Windstar minivan.
She consumed at least 10 ounces of liquor during the reckless 90-mile drive from a campground in Sullivan County to Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, police said.
She smoked pot within an hour of driving the wrong way on the Taconic heading home to Long Island, police said.
The revelations brought outrage from the family of the men killed in the SUV — but silence from Schuler’s relatives.
"I’m stunned that anybody would do that with kids in the car," said Robert Guzzo, whose brother-in-law and father-in-law were killed. "I'm very angry. This was not an accident ; it was a murder."
The July26 crash was ruled a homicide and referred to the Westchester County district attorney, but police don't expect charges.
The toxicology tests came as a shock after police initially said it didn't appear Schuler was drunk. Results came in Friday. Cops waited until the burials of the victims to release the results of the tests.
Killed in the Windstar were Schuler's 2-year-old daughter, Erin, and Schuler's nieces Emma Hance, 9, Alison Hance, 7, and Kate Hance, 5. Five-year-old Brian Schuler was the lone survivor.
Three Yonkers men in the SUV died — Guy Bastardi, 49, his father, Michael Bastardi, 81, and family friend Daniel Longo, 74.
"We got very devastating news today," Michael Bastardi Jr. said .
Schuler's blood-alcohol level was 0.19% — more than twice the legal limit, cops said. She had 6 grams of undigested alcohol in her stomach when she died.
"She would have had difficulty with her perception, with her judgment and her memory," said Betsy Spratt, the Westchester County toxicology examiner.
"Around that level of alcohol you start to get tunnel vision where you can't see peripherally all the time." Marijuana intensifies the effects.
Police could not say if Schuler got wasted while driving or stopped along the way. It was unclear if she was drinking before she got behind the wheel to drive the children home from camping.
Her husband, Daniel Schuler, told cops that his wife was fine when they left about 9:30 a.m. He drove one car straight home to West Babylon, L.I., while she took the kids to McDonald's.
Ann Scott, 77, who owns the campsite the family visited for three years, saw Schuler off.
"I got pretty close to her and waved goodbye,”" she said. "If she had alcohol in her breath, I would have smelled it."
Schuler drove erratically along much of the route. About 1 p.m., she called brother Warren Hance and said she was sick. At 1:30 p.m., Schuler entered the northbound Taconic via an exit ramp. She drove 1.7 miles the wrong way before plowing into the Bastardis.
“I don't even want to think about if the brother knew what she was doing and let those kids get in the car,” Guzzo said.
How much Schuler's loved ones knew is a mystery.
"At this point we're getting limited information from the family," said Maj. William Carey of the state police.
The family was notified of the test results Friday, police said. The day before, Schuler and the four girls were laid to rest.
At the funeral, Hance lovingly remembered his three daughters and paid tribute to Schuler's "miracle" boy, Brian. He didn't say a word about his sister.
In never-before-heard 911 tapes, a family friend tells emergency dispatchers that at least one of the terrified kids in the July Taconic Parkway wrong-way crash managed to call relatives to plead for help just minutes before she died in a head-on collision that killed eight of the nine people involved.
"The girls just called in distress," the friend tells dispatchers, apparently referring to driver Diane Schuler's three nieces who were in the car. "They said the aunt is driving very erratically. They think she's sick."
The family tried to call back, but by then the girls were "like radio silent on the cell phones," the friend said. Other tapes describe authorities attempting to organize a search for the vehicle, unaware it was already too late. With four children in car, Schuler drove nearly two miles the wrong way down New York's Taconic State Parkway before plowing head-on into another vehicle.
In another 911 call a woman, apparently a witness to the crash's gruesome aftermath, described the horrifying scene.
"Yeah there are [injuries]," the woman said as another screams in the background. "There are like little kids. The kids [are] not moving. There's a whole bunch of kids. Honestly the car's smashed."
Schuler, her two-year-old daughter and three nieces were killed in the crash along with the three men in the other vehicle. Schuler's five-year-old son Bryan was the crash's only survivor and suffered two broken legs and a broken arm among other serious injuries.
Toxicology reports after the crash revealed that Schuler had been drunk and high at the time of the accident and had a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit. Investigators could not determine if Schuler had been drinking while she was driving, but alcohol was in her stomach at the time of the autopsy and a bottle of vodka was found at the crash scene, New York State Police Major William Carey said at a press conference.
Wrongway Driver's Husband Denies Alcohol Use
Schuler's husband, Daniel Schuler, has repeatedly denied that his wife was a drinker and has insisted that the toxicology report was wrong.
"She did not drink. She was not an alcoholic," Schuler said Aug. 6. "Something medically had to have happened."
Schuler was driving home with the children from a campground in upstate New York, where witnesses said she seemed "fine."
Irving Anolik, attorney for the family of Guy and Michael Bastardi, two of the men killed in the other car, told "Good Morning America" in August that he "categorically" rejected the idea that the wreck was caused by any medical emergency, as Daniel Schuler had suggested.
"This is a killing. Don't call it an accident," Anolik, attorney for the Bastardi family who lost a father and son in the wreck, told "Good Morning America." Anolik said that any medical condition theories are "at war with the autopsy report, with the blood analysis, with the whole panorama of things that surround this killing."
Schuler hired private investigator Thomas Ruskin to look into the accident. According to Ruskin, Schuler looked "completely" normal when she stopped at a convenient store to purchase Tylenol or Advil just hours before the crash.
Investigators had hoped that as the crash's sole survivor, Bryan would be able to shed light on the minutes that led up to the crash, but the boy has not said much, Ruskin said.
"He doesn't seem to remember right now," Ruskin told "Good Morning America" Oct. 16. "He is 5 years old and he is recovering from very severe injuries. Fracture plus head trauma he suffered as part of the injuries at the accident."
Ruskin said he is now running his own tests to determine exactly what happened that day in hopes of piecing together the moments that led up to the crash.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Mothers Against Predators site
I found a site tonight I didn't know was there. I guess I'm slipping. I just haven't had the time lately to put into my passion about actually being able to help do something about the crimes of today. I suppose they aren't actually just 'crimes of today', but- the difference between today and 50 or 75 years ago is the rapid fire attention so many of them are able to get now, compared to basically nothing more than word of mouth that yesteryear furnished. I am still just as passionate about networking and getting news out there as I ever was, dont get me wrong. I just have too many irons in the fire right now I guess. And there are only 24 hours in a day. It's sad really, because so many of these cases and causes desperately NEED more attention drawn to them.
Anyway, the site I found tonight was 'Mothers against Predators'.
Mothers Against Predators
Here's what's on their homepage:
Every time our children log on to the world wide web, they expose themselves to a world of strangers. Hidden among those strangers are predators who navigate the cyber world with ease. They exploit social networking sites to find our kids. They have even formed their own online networks, trading tips on how to reach our children. We must respond. Together we can reduce the odds that another child is hurt. Please join our fight against those who prey on our children.
This is from their 'tech tips' page:
Don’t Turn Them Off
Turn Them In.
Tell children you know one day a cyber creep will try to connect with them. They must protect others by coming to you, and not alerting the creep. Being a good cyber citizen means keeping predators away from others.
Most Cyber Crime Is Not Reported
We know one in five kids online are approached by a cyber creep. We know the numbers are wrong because most kids turn them off and never tell. This means the creep will move on.
SCREAM
Save Copy Report Every Arrest Matters.
Tell Your Child You Know It’s Not Their Fault, They Will Not Lose Their Computer.
No Matter What Precautions You Take Don’t Own A Computer Without Installing A keystroke Program And Checking It.
We Highly Recommened Spector Soft
Our information updates daily.
The only issue I have with this site, at this point in time, is their 'Spector Soft' link. It's a sales pitch. That's not going to get the information out there about saving our kids quite the way I had envisioned it.
The cause is headed in the right direction, I personally would just pick a different route to get there I guess.
Anyway, the site I found tonight was 'Mothers against Predators'.
Mothers Against Predators
Here's what's on their homepage:
Every time our children log on to the world wide web, they expose themselves to a world of strangers. Hidden among those strangers are predators who navigate the cyber world with ease. They exploit social networking sites to find our kids. They have even formed their own online networks, trading tips on how to reach our children. We must respond. Together we can reduce the odds that another child is hurt. Please join our fight against those who prey on our children.
This is from their 'tech tips' page:
Don’t Turn Them Off
Turn Them In.
Tell children you know one day a cyber creep will try to connect with them. They must protect others by coming to you, and not alerting the creep. Being a good cyber citizen means keeping predators away from others.
Most Cyber Crime Is Not Reported
We know one in five kids online are approached by a cyber creep. We know the numbers are wrong because most kids turn them off and never tell. This means the creep will move on.
SCREAM
Save Copy Report Every Arrest Matters.
Tell Your Child You Know It’s Not Their Fault, They Will Not Lose Their Computer.
No Matter What Precautions You Take Don’t Own A Computer Without Installing A keystroke Program And Checking It.
We Highly Recommened Spector Soft
Our information updates daily.
The only issue I have with this site, at this point in time, is their 'Spector Soft' link. It's a sales pitch. That's not going to get the information out there about saving our kids quite the way I had envisioned it.
The cause is headed in the right direction, I personally would just pick a different route to get there I guess.
52 children recovered, 60 alleged child pimps arrested in crackdown
(CNN) -- Law enforcement authorities have recovered 52 children and arrested 60 pimps allegedly involved in child prostitution, the FBI announced Monday.
More than 690 people in all were arrested on state and local charges, the FBI stated.
The arrests were made over the past three days as part of a nationwide law enforcement initiative conducted on the federal, state and local levels, the bureau said.
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement.
"There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization."
The three-day operation, tagged Operation Cross Country IV, included enforcement actions in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions nationwide. It is part of the FBI's ongoing Innocence Lost National Initiative, which was created in 2003 with the goal of ending sex trafficking of children in the United States.
The initiative, conducted with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has so far resulted in the recovery of almost 900 children, according to the FBI. It has also led to more than 500 convictions.
More than 690 people in all were arrested on state and local charges, the FBI stated.
The arrests were made over the past three days as part of a nationwide law enforcement initiative conducted on the federal, state and local levels, the bureau said.
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement.
"There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization."
The three-day operation, tagged Operation Cross Country IV, included enforcement actions in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions nationwide. It is part of the FBI's ongoing Innocence Lost National Initiative, which was created in 2003 with the goal of ending sex trafficking of children in the United States.
The initiative, conducted with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has so far resulted in the recovery of almost 900 children, according to the FBI. It has also led to more than 500 convictions.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Carole & Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Ruth Armstrong
Yosemite National Park is a vast area of mountain paths, alpine wilderness and redwood forests, one of the most beautiful scenic attractions in America. Set aside in 1890 to preserve a portion of the natural beauty of the Sierra Nevadas in California, its breathtaking topography rises as high as 13,000 feet above sea level. Two-hundred miles of winding road and 840 miles of foot trail have lured tourists, campers and skiers for decades.
But, recently, under the mosaic of green conifer pines, domes of granite rock, silvery waterfall and misty mountain sky, a killer lurked. His first victims were a 43-year-old woman and two teenagers. They were missing for more than a month, and when the FBI located their bodies a cry of "serial killer!" shook the peaceful tranquility of God's country.
The saga began on Feb 12, 1999, when Carole Sund, daughter Juli 15, and 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso left the Sund home in Eureka, California, and started on a vacation to where the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains melt into Yosemite. After first flying to San Francisco, where Mrs. Sund rented a red 1999 Pontiac Gran Prix, they paused in Stockton, where Juli took part in a cheerleading contest at the University of the Pacific. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. There, a room for three was reserved. They arrived at the inn early on the 14th.
Mrs. Sund and her husband, Jens, 43, both prominent realtors in the Stockton area, had been entertaining the Pelosso girl for several weeks. A foreign exchange student from Argentina and a friend of Juli's, she was spending three months with the family that had already shown her the Bay Area and Disneyland. Jens couldn't accompany them on this trip because he needed to prepare for an upcoming business trip.
On Feb. 15, the ladies hiked and took in the wonders of the park. According to the FBI, witnesses later reported seeing the trio inspecting the giant sequoia trees in nearby Tuolumme Grove. That evening, by reports, the mother and the teens rented a couple of videos from the lodge's service desk to watch in their room.
None of them were seen alive again.
The inn staff claimed that when they cleaned the room the next morning, Feb. 16, they had detected no evidence of foul play. Check-out had been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk, as was customary. Jens Sund had scheduled to meet them at the San Francisco airport that evening on his way to Arizona, to where the others were to accompany him. While he attended his meeting, the females were to tour the Grand Canyon.
"(Jens) did not find his wife at the airport and assumed she had flown ahead," writes columnist Robert F. Howe in Time magazine. "She was not in Phoenix, either, but he played a round of golf there the next day and when she had still not attempted to contact him, he called the police." Evidently, it seemed that the ladies had never returned the rented Pontiac nor notified an anxious rental agency that they were extending their agreement.
Local police and Yosemite security began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. Initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the maze of confusing woodland. But, soon that assumption dwindled.
"For four weeks, police, family and volunteers combed the rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot and skis," reported Patricia King and Nadine Joseph in Newsweek. "They were looking for a missing red 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix — and the women who rented it." But, when days passed and, strangely, Carole's wallet, showed up on a Modesto (Calif.) street — its money and contents intact — the FBI smelled something bigger.
"At this point, we have not yet uncovered evidence to allow us to determine conclusively whether this was a tragic accident or a criminal act," said FBI agent Nick Rossi on Feb. 26. But, two weeks later, FBI predictions darkened. After a massive search-and-rescue team working around the clock in a 30-mile radius failed to find anyone, agent James Maddock, now placed in charge of the investigation, told the press, "We feel almost certain that the women were victims of a violent crime."
Because of the discovery of Sund's wallet in suburban Modesto, police and FBI canvassed (to quote Maddock) "the logical routes in and out of that spot, interviewing homeowners and business owners and others who may have seen them." The Bureau relocated its headquarters from Yosemite to Modesto at this point and, on Feb. 28, twelve days after the women's disappearance, hinted that it was no longer treating the Sund incident as a missing persons case, but as murder. More than a thousand leads, they confessed, produced nothing. Still, the Bureau intensified its search, recruiting the use of more high-tech equipment and air support.
As the last days of February stumbled into March, the public still hoped. In Modesto, a march and vigil were held for the missing persons. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the to the return of the missing women. After a couple of weeks, he upped the sum to $300,000, but to no avail. Mrs. Sund's parents, Francis and Carole Carrington, appeared on television's Good Morning, America, to entreat the prayers of Americans and their help in locating their daughter and the children.
In nowhere else were expectations higher than among the other Sund children who believed their mother and sister Juli would be returned. By the middle of March, however, even their anticipations sagged. "Her mother, sister and family friend had been missing for a month by the time Gina Sund read her poem in front of a thousand or so people who gathered in Modesto," writes Time. "'Deep in my heart I know something my mind does not want to learn,' said Gina,13. 'I try to stay strong because I know that's what you'd want your baby to be, but, Mommy, I don't want you to leave me.'"
Then came hard reality. The Sund family's worst fears were confirmed when a hiker wandered onto the site of a burned-out red 1999 Pontiac hidden off the Highway 108 in the Stanislaus Forest region late in the day on March 18. The California Highway Patrol verified the car's license plate as Mrs. Sund's rented vehicle and immediately notified the FBI. Agents arrived at the scene early the 19th. Opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. The corpses were unrecognizable, but within days, were identified as Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso. Authorities now suspected that young Juli may have met with a similar fate elsewhere.
Canvasing the vicinity, FBI agents spread out along Highway 108, questioning locals and stopping cars for any information that might tell them how and when the car got there, but, more importantly, to find Juli.
But it was near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County, miles away, that the badly decomposed body of Juli Sund was at last found on March 25. The girl's throat had been cut.
Throughout the next several weeks, a task force (comprised of FBI agents and law enforcers from four surrounding counties), dedicated to no other purpose than to round up suspects, arrested several known sex offenders, drug users and ex-convicts with a record of violence from within a 75-square-mile area between Modesto and Sonoma. The police figured that the killer of the three women was someone familiar with the county, for whoever was guilty had successfully maneuvered an otherwise obvious shiny red Pontiac unseen through the natural terrain of ravines, lakes, dense woods and country roads. More so, opined the FBI, only a native would have been aware of the out-of-the-way site where the car, with its grisly contents, was eventually abandoned.
Said the March 29 edition of Newsweek: "The FBI... believes that the killer knows the area of abandoned gold mines well enough to hide the car off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars and washing machines. And well enough to know that the smell of a burning car would likely not attract attention because the air often reeks from people burning their garbage. Unsettled locals are starting to whisper about possible murderers in their midst."
By mid-April, those who had been apprehended-on-suspicion were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. "A few weeks later," says the Fresno Bee, "(James) Maddock (in charge of the FBI manhunt) ...confirmed what The Bee and other news media outlets already were reporting: that the key players in the sightseer slayings had been arrested and were in jail on unrelated charges."
Although not named in print at the time, these names have since been published by the Fresno Bee:
Michael "Mick" Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group of methamphetamine drug users and friends centered in the Modesto area. Larwick, who grew up in Tuolumme County near where the bodies of Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso were found, was jailed March 16 after he allegedly shot a Modesto police officer, an event that was ensued by a 14-hour standoff. He has an long criminal record and has been questioned extensively by the FBI. He denies any role in the Yosemite slayings.
Eugene"Rufus" Dykes, 32, also of Modesto and Larwick's half-brother. Arrested in March, he is now serving a year at Deuel Institute for an unrelated parole violation and has a long criminal record including sex and weapons convictions. In an interview from Deuel in June, he denies any involvement in the murders.
Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. He was arrested March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. The FBI pushed for Strange's arrest, but he denied any part in the triple murders. Reportedly, many friends have rushed forward to his aid, calling the FBI's suspicion a travesty.
Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. Stephens told the Bee that he is innocent.
While the four men listed above were considered the main murder suspects in the initial inquiries, others have since been questioned by the FBI. These people, who were never regarded as the possible killers, were nonetheless dragged into the case as perhaps abettors or witnesses:
Rachel Lou Campbell, 36, of Modesto, who was charged in April with stealing checks and credit cards, and converting them into cash and merchandise worth $365,000. Campbell, who pleaded innocent to that charge, reportedly is a key witness. When first arrested on mail fraud charges, she had in her possession Carole Sund's checking account and automated teller machine numbers.
Larry Duane Utley, 41, an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. He was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge, but was soon released.
Teresa Kay Gray, 36, of Modesto. The FBI task force investigating Yosemite issued a federal warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear in Stanislaus County drug court in June.
Kenneth "Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. He has been questioned about any involvement.
Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. She was subpoenaed because she is a friend of Dykes and Larwick.
Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively.
Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case.
By the end of June, the FBI had reviewed the testimonies of and the evidence linked to the suspects in custody. At that time, the Bureau stated that, while no one had yet been charged, it felt that those responsible for killing the three women at Yosemite were already behind bars.
The nation breathed a sigh of relief.
Others, too, had been questioned in the slayings — more routine than anything —and released. One of these was a man named Cary Stayner, clean cut, no record of violence, and was in the employment of Cedar Lodge as its handyman.
Three weeks after the FBI made its statement above, the case was reopened. And the nation grimaced. A fourth victim was brutally slain just a few miles from Cedar Lodge.
Acting on a tip from a caller who was worried about the whereabouts of his friend Joie Ruth Armstrong, park rangers found her mutilated body on the morning of July 22. It was discovered beyond a campground adjacent to her living quarters in the Foresta community, an enclave of some 30 cabins for use by park workers. Twenty-six-year-old Joie had been employed by the Yosemite Institute.
Station KCRA-TV in Sacramento, citing an unidentified source, was the first to leak the terrible news that the girl was decapitated. She had probably been murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21, investigators determined. In fact, she had been seen that day at the Institute offices near where Carole Sund and the teenagers were found earlier in the year.
Miss Armstrong was probably only hours away from leaving her quarters to visit a friend in Sausalito, California. When she did not appear as planned, her would-be host had phoned the park. Police found her car in front of her cabin, packed for the trip.
In light of its earlier estimation that the case was closed, the FBI remained relatively quiet, but conceded that the case needed to be re-evaluated. Chief James Maddock said he himself questioned whether the Bureau could have done anything to prevent Armstrong's killing. "I've struggled with that issue for the last 24 hours and continue to do so," he confessed. He did feel, however, that the FBI spared nothing to investigate the earlier killings. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done."
The Armstrong tragedy reawakened dark fears and brought back those bad dreams the local residents thought they could put behind them. By Friday, the day after she was found dead, a hush had fallen over Yosemite Park.
"Freckled, red-haired and full of energy and enthusiasm, Armstrong loved children, nature and teaching. Those loves took her to Yosemite, a place known for its peace and beauty," wrote the Modesta Bee, one of a line of community Bee newspapers throughout California. Written the weekend after Armstrong was slain, it went on: "For the past year, she had worked for the Yosemite Institute, a nonprofit group that runs education programs through a partnership with the National Park Service..."
"'Joie was a bright light to all who knew her,' said Mike Lee, the Yosemite Institute's director 'We will remember her as so full of laughter and love, and as a committed and gifted teacher..."
"Authorities went to the meadow Armstrong loved on Thursday, not long after she was reported missing (and) found her body next to a stream she and her friends used for drinking water..."
"'You should come see this place — I wonder if you ever will,' Armstrong had e-mailed her friend, only days earlier. 'I love my garden and living in Yosemite — one of the most beautiful places in the whole wide world.'"
On Saturday, July 24, within 48 hours of the Armstrong killing, FBI agent and in-charge James Maddock announced at a press conference that a man was in custody on strong suspicion of murder and that a "significant announcement" would be made shortly.
The suspect, Cary Stayner, 37, had been one of the people questioned after the triple killings in February, but, at that time no evidence linked itself to Stayner and he had been released. Because he was the handyman at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal where Carole Sund and her two charges had stayed before they were murdered, his questioning at that time seems to have been more routine than anything.
But now, after another ghastly murder, he was again led in for questioning, immediately after the body of Miss Armstrong was found. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. Investigators searched his truck and confiscated his backpack for examination. Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal as they probably were not through with him.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "(A witness claimed that) Stayner was angry about authorities seizing his backpack after he was questioned earlier that day. He was also angry about how his truck had been searched."
Evidently, the agents also searched Stayner's apartment later in the day and discovered evidence that they determined linked him to Armstrong's murder. And they found even more. Special agent Maddock explained, "During the last 24 hours, we have developed specific information linking Stayner (also) to the Sund-Pelosso murders." What this evidence is was not made known, but he did indicate it was discovered in a search of Stayner's apartment over Cedar Lodge.
Stayner, in the meantime, had disappeared from the locale and was gone from the premises by the time agents came to arrest him. This was Friday evening, July 23rd.. They caught up with him, however, at the Laguna Del Sol nudist colony, where he was known to frequent. Its manager had seen a newscast on television, recognized Stayner's photo as one of his guests, and notified the FBI. Agents returned him to El Portal on Saturday where he was put through a lengthy interrogation.
By evening's end, the FBI felt it had gathered enough evidence and damaging testimony to arrest Cary Stayner for murder. Sunday morning, they rushed him to Fresno to officially lodge a complaint, then to Sacramento on Monday where he was arraigned before the courts.
That same day, Stayner allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter from KNTV. During the session, an unexpected event occurred. In a voice that seemed relieved to be unburdening from its depth a long-kept secret, Stayner blurted, "I am guilty. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong ...None of the women were sexually abused in any way."
His confession and the details that followed shocked America.
"In (the) interview, Stayner said he had fantasized about killing women for the last 30 years," reports Yahoo!News, "and described in detail how he murdered Carole Sund, her daughter Juli, and visiting Argentine student Pelosso. He had strangled Pelosso and Carole Sund in their rented cabin in the Cedar Lodge motel, then took Juli Sund to a lake, where he killed her early the next morning..."
"He abandoned the group's rental car with the bodies of Mrs. Sund and Silvina inside, returning two days later to burn evidence and to retrieve Mrs. Sund's wallet, which he dumped in Modesto to confuse authorities," the Yahoo! report continues. "Stayner said he thought he had gotten away with the earlier crimes, but could not resist the urge to kill Armstrong after he struck up a chance conversation with her..."
Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did."
FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. He had given the FBI details "only the killer would know in such specificity that agents were able to recover evidence confirming his confession," Yahoo! asserts. "Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered."
"He would have been the furthest of suspects in the locals' minds."
If that comment made by Cedar Lodge restaurant manager Kathy Hefner sounds unforgivably naïve, read further. Most of Stayner's co-workers would probably say they fully understand why he had fooled the FBI as long as he did. He just wasn't the killer type, not a troublemaker, not a wise guy, never violent. His only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997.
The relatively quiet but friendly motel handyman's only passions seemed to be nude sunbathing and hiking. On days off he would escape to Laguna Del Sol, a nudist colony in Sacramento County. Despite this sensual surrender, he never behaved lewdly nor perversely.
Stayner's father, Delbert, admits that he thinks son Cary may have suffered a trauma at age 11 when younger brother Steven, then seven, was abducted in 1972, disappearing for eight years. In that time, Steven had been forced to endure molestations by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. The real-life drama was later turned into a television movie. But, says Delbert, puberty-aged Cary endured some emotional hardships because of that incident.
After graduation from Merced (California) High School, Stayner worked as a window installer at a glass company. The Cedar Lodge hired him as handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. Management found him a hard-worker and honest. In his capacity, Stayner performed technical and housekeeping duties, everything from fixing electrical and mechanical breakdowns to delivering extra towels and bedding to guests. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant and often after work would relax with one beer and a bowl of soup.
Some who knew Cary have an incredibly difficult time accepting the facts. Sandy Cox, whose husband owned the window company where Stayner worked for in Atwater, says, "We've known Cary since he was a little boy...It just doesn't match up. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore."
When questioned further by the press about the FBI's error in not identifying Stayner as a suspect earlier, as well as what finally led them to Stayner, Maddock replied, "I do look forward to the day I can share the details of the investigations from start to finish."
That answer, however, was not good enough for many, including two attorneys representing some of the previously mentioned four men behind bars who are still considered as suspects in the Yosemite killings. Some of these suspects have already passed lie detector tests, say their lawyers, and have even offered to give blood samples to support their innocence. One suspect, it has been recently learned, had conclusive proof he had been working out of state at the time of the killings, but remains under scrutiny just the same. And meanwhile their perturbed lawyers see their clients as patsies forced to wait in the side lines while the FBI struggles to makes up its own mind.
"I don't understand how such a large investigation with such experienced investigators missed the trail completely," says Ramon Magana, representing two of the men. "They put so much time, energy and resources into an investigation of people that appear to be unrelated and unconnected to the case."
A brother—in-cause to Magana is Stanislaus County public defender Tim Bazar who claims, "I have never heard any evidence that ties (anyone) to these slayings. Not only did (the FBI) arrest everybody, over the last several months they attempted to put pressure on one or the other to turn the others in the group in...It actually appears they had nothing against anybody."
None of these voices is more entreating, however, than that of Mrs. Raquel Pelosso whose daughter Silvina perished in Yosemite: " I just cannot understand how so many people...didn't realize that maybe (Stayner) was the man, since I heard that he was interviewed some time ago."
In defense of the FBI's hesitancy to speak and commit, they and many others cannot believe that Stayner acted by himself. Accounts conflict. In the meantime a grand jury continues to look into whether or not others were involved, including the previously listed suspects. "(No one's) off the hook yet," an unidentified source has told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Quoted the Modesto Bee: "In El Portal, a number of residents are convinced that no one person could have created so much horror, especially in the Sund and Pelosso slayings. "'The logistics of it say it had to involve more than one person, said Letty Carolyn Barry, owner of the Yosemite Rosebud Lodge, west of Cedar Lodge. "Privately, some members of the Sund-Pelosso task force are saying the same thing, sources have told the Bee. Those sources say it is difficult for some investigators to believe Stayner could have gotten the jump on all three women without any help, let alone dispose of their bodies."
And on the flip-side, the same paper notes another unconfirmed source that maintains Stayner did act alone, with the help of only a weapon. "Stayner," says the source, "used a gun after gaining entry to the motel room of the Sunds and Pelosso, and tied them up."
The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. In May, 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of three tourists in Yosemite National Park. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings' courtroom with the prosecution team headed by George Williamson and the defense team headed by Marcia Morrissey.
On Monday, July 22, the court heard the former motel handyman's taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents.
According to Fresno Bee reporter Cyndee Fontanta, "In the taped confession, Stayner calmly reviewed how he strangled 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso in a motel bathtub near Yosemite National Park. How he sexually assaulted Juli Sund, 15, for hours before spiriting her away from the motel room she shared with her mother, 42-year-old Carole Sund, and friend Silvina.
"And then, not as calmly, how he carried Juli — "kinda like a groom carrying a bride over the threshold" — to a lonely vista point near Lake Don Pedro, pledged his love and then cut her throat as the sun lightened the sky." Stayner's confession to the strangulation murder of Carole Sund had been played to the court the previous week.
The issue was no longer who committed the murders but whether Stayner was insane at the time and whether the confession to the FBI agents was coerced. Stayner is serving a life sentence for the Yosemite Park murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. The issue of whether Stayner's confession was coerced seemed to be resolved when on July 24, the court heard the recorded demands that Stayner made to the FBI agents that he wanted satisfied before he would give them his confession.
Stayner demanded that his parents be given the reward money, that he be incarcerated at a prison near his parents' home, and, to Stayner's detriment, that he be given a large cache of child pornography. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced Stayner's confession. In the end, Stayner confessed without the promise of child pornography or reward money for his parents.
After days of hearing the prosecution characterize Stayner, 41, as a cunning, cold-blooded killer, Judge Thomas C. Hastings' court was presented with the defense testimony regarding Stayner's state of mind when he committed the murders.
First, the defense called Dr. Jose Arturo Silva, whose testimony the Fresno Bee's Cyndee Fontana described thusly, "In the constellation of mental illness, Cary Stayner alone apparently could fill the sky. His enduring preoccupation with the creature Bigfoot. The prophecies of Nostradamus. The nightmares of disembodied heads, the lack of empathy toward others, the violent fantasies of child rape, the obsessive hair-pulling and more...a stew of disorders such as pedophilia, voyeurism, social dysfunction, violent fantasies, mild autism, and even a family tree laden with sexual abuse and mental illness."
For the next two weeks, the court heard a group of experts testifying to Stayner's lack of criminal culpability due to brain abnormalities and mental illnesses.
In mid-August, two experts debated the photos of Stayner's brain and sharply disagreed. Dr. Joseph Wu, an expert called by the defense, saw abnormalities that could account for Stayner's violent tendencies, whereas Dr. Alan Waxman, called by the prosecution, saw nothing special to explain Stayner's behavior.
Ultimately, the closing arguments would present two very different views of Cary Stayner — a cold-blooded murdering sexual predator and a mentally-ill victim of child abuse who was overcome by his disabilities.
Morrissey, referring to the testimony of the defense medical experts, said on August 21, 2002, claimed that Stayner was a long way from being the organized, sophisticated serial predator that the prosecution suggested.
As reported by Court TV and Associated Press: "In his rebuttal of the defense's closing arguments on Thursday, August 23, 2002, prosecutor George Williamson said there was overwhelming evidence to convict Cary Stayner of first-degree murder and six special circumstances that could trigger the death penalty.
Williamson said defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey had to "blow smoke" because she didn't have facts or the law to support her claims that Stayner was too crazy to have the intent to kill required for first-degree murder.
Monday, August 26, 2002, the jury in the Stayner case took less than five hours to find him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, for which he may face the death penalty. He stood emotionless as he was convicted of the murders of Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso.
While there were weeks of testimony during the first phase of the trial regarding Stayner's sanity, the second phase of the trial requires that the prosecution prove that Stayner was sane and the third phase of the trial will determine his ultimate punishment.
The defense team lost its bid to prevent Dr. Park Dietz from testifying for the prosecution. Dr. Dietz is a well-known forensic psychiatrist who has testified in a number of major cases, including the Andrea Yates case.
Winning a case with an insanity plea is usually quite difficult. The defense called Dr. Allison McInnes, assistant professor of psychiatry and human genetics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NY. Dr. McInnes addressed the issue of Cary Stayner's bad genes, which was described by Fresno Bee reporter Cyndee Fontana:
"The story of Cary Stayner's family tree rose in bursts of bright color from a white horizontal chart.
"Yellow for psychosis. Green for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Red for substance abuse. Purple for pedophilia. Even more colors for more mental diseases ranging through four generations down to Stayner himself — the fruit of a family gene pool marked by psychiatric disorders. "
It is Dr. McInnes' belief that Stayner was legally insane when he committed the murders of the four women in Yosemite. Prosecutor George Williamson lost no time in challenging the credentials of Dr. McInnes in a rigorous cross examination.
Didn't Stayner know that he was killing human beings? Didn't he understand that his crimes were legally wrong? Dr. McInnes answered in the affirmative.
Dr. Park Dietz made a very strong showing. "He knew what he was doing was wrong," Dr. Dietz said emphatically. In his extensive testimony, he pointed out that the murders were planned, carried out with deception, covered up and lied about. Dietz called Stayner "one of the higher-functioning criminals" he had encountered.
On Monday, September 16, 2002, the jury determined that Stayner was sane at the time of the murders. This decision took the jury less than four hours to make.
CNN reported Wednesday, October 9, 2002, the jury recommended that Cary Stayner should die for killing three Yosemite National Park tourists in 1999, rejecting defense pleas to spare a mentally ill man twisted by genetics and a traumatic childhood.
After six hours of deliberation, the jurors rejected the option of recommending life in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 12, and an appeal is automatic.
The courtroom was silent after the decision was read. Stayner showed no visible reaction.
Victims Carole & Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Ruth Armstrong
But, recently, under the mosaic of green conifer pines, domes of granite rock, silvery waterfall and misty mountain sky, a killer lurked. His first victims were a 43-year-old woman and two teenagers. They were missing for more than a month, and when the FBI located their bodies a cry of "serial killer!" shook the peaceful tranquility of God's country.
The saga began on Feb 12, 1999, when Carole Sund, daughter Juli 15, and 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso left the Sund home in Eureka, California, and started on a vacation to where the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains melt into Yosemite. After first flying to San Francisco, where Mrs. Sund rented a red 1999 Pontiac Gran Prix, they paused in Stockton, where Juli took part in a cheerleading contest at the University of the Pacific. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. There, a room for three was reserved. They arrived at the inn early on the 14th.
Mrs. Sund and her husband, Jens, 43, both prominent realtors in the Stockton area, had been entertaining the Pelosso girl for several weeks. A foreign exchange student from Argentina and a friend of Juli's, she was spending three months with the family that had already shown her the Bay Area and Disneyland. Jens couldn't accompany them on this trip because he needed to prepare for an upcoming business trip.
On Feb. 15, the ladies hiked and took in the wonders of the park. According to the FBI, witnesses later reported seeing the trio inspecting the giant sequoia trees in nearby Tuolumme Grove. That evening, by reports, the mother and the teens rented a couple of videos from the lodge's service desk to watch in their room.
None of them were seen alive again.
The inn staff claimed that when they cleaned the room the next morning, Feb. 16, they had detected no evidence of foul play. Check-out had been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk, as was customary. Jens Sund had scheduled to meet them at the San Francisco airport that evening on his way to Arizona, to where the others were to accompany him. While he attended his meeting, the females were to tour the Grand Canyon.
"(Jens) did not find his wife at the airport and assumed she had flown ahead," writes columnist Robert F. Howe in Time magazine. "She was not in Phoenix, either, but he played a round of golf there the next day and when she had still not attempted to contact him, he called the police." Evidently, it seemed that the ladies had never returned the rented Pontiac nor notified an anxious rental agency that they were extending their agreement.
Local police and Yosemite security began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. Initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the maze of confusing woodland. But, soon that assumption dwindled.
"For four weeks, police, family and volunteers combed the rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot and skis," reported Patricia King and Nadine Joseph in Newsweek. "They were looking for a missing red 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix — and the women who rented it." But, when days passed and, strangely, Carole's wallet, showed up on a Modesto (Calif.) street — its money and contents intact — the FBI smelled something bigger.
"At this point, we have not yet uncovered evidence to allow us to determine conclusively whether this was a tragic accident or a criminal act," said FBI agent Nick Rossi on Feb. 26. But, two weeks later, FBI predictions darkened. After a massive search-and-rescue team working around the clock in a 30-mile radius failed to find anyone, agent James Maddock, now placed in charge of the investigation, told the press, "We feel almost certain that the women were victims of a violent crime."
Because of the discovery of Sund's wallet in suburban Modesto, police and FBI canvassed (to quote Maddock) "the logical routes in and out of that spot, interviewing homeowners and business owners and others who may have seen them." The Bureau relocated its headquarters from Yosemite to Modesto at this point and, on Feb. 28, twelve days after the women's disappearance, hinted that it was no longer treating the Sund incident as a missing persons case, but as murder. More than a thousand leads, they confessed, produced nothing. Still, the Bureau intensified its search, recruiting the use of more high-tech equipment and air support.
As the last days of February stumbled into March, the public still hoped. In Modesto, a march and vigil were held for the missing persons. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the to the return of the missing women. After a couple of weeks, he upped the sum to $300,000, but to no avail. Mrs. Sund's parents, Francis and Carole Carrington, appeared on television's Good Morning, America, to entreat the prayers of Americans and their help in locating their daughter and the children.
In nowhere else were expectations higher than among the other Sund children who believed their mother and sister Juli would be returned. By the middle of March, however, even their anticipations sagged. "Her mother, sister and family friend had been missing for a month by the time Gina Sund read her poem in front of a thousand or so people who gathered in Modesto," writes Time. "'Deep in my heart I know something my mind does not want to learn,' said Gina,13. 'I try to stay strong because I know that's what you'd want your baby to be, but, Mommy, I don't want you to leave me.'"
Then came hard reality. The Sund family's worst fears were confirmed when a hiker wandered onto the site of a burned-out red 1999 Pontiac hidden off the Highway 108 in the Stanislaus Forest region late in the day on March 18. The California Highway Patrol verified the car's license plate as Mrs. Sund's rented vehicle and immediately notified the FBI. Agents arrived at the scene early the 19th. Opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. The corpses were unrecognizable, but within days, were identified as Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso. Authorities now suspected that young Juli may have met with a similar fate elsewhere.
Canvasing the vicinity, FBI agents spread out along Highway 108, questioning locals and stopping cars for any information that might tell them how and when the car got there, but, more importantly, to find Juli.
But it was near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County, miles away, that the badly decomposed body of Juli Sund was at last found on March 25. The girl's throat had been cut.
Throughout the next several weeks, a task force (comprised of FBI agents and law enforcers from four surrounding counties), dedicated to no other purpose than to round up suspects, arrested several known sex offenders, drug users and ex-convicts with a record of violence from within a 75-square-mile area between Modesto and Sonoma. The police figured that the killer of the three women was someone familiar with the county, for whoever was guilty had successfully maneuvered an otherwise obvious shiny red Pontiac unseen through the natural terrain of ravines, lakes, dense woods and country roads. More so, opined the FBI, only a native would have been aware of the out-of-the-way site where the car, with its grisly contents, was eventually abandoned.
Said the March 29 edition of Newsweek: "The FBI... believes that the killer knows the area of abandoned gold mines well enough to hide the car off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars and washing machines. And well enough to know that the smell of a burning car would likely not attract attention because the air often reeks from people burning their garbage. Unsettled locals are starting to whisper about possible murderers in their midst."
By mid-April, those who had been apprehended-on-suspicion were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. "A few weeks later," says the Fresno Bee, "(James) Maddock (in charge of the FBI manhunt) ...confirmed what The Bee and other news media outlets already were reporting: that the key players in the sightseer slayings had been arrested and were in jail on unrelated charges."
Although not named in print at the time, these names have since been published by the Fresno Bee:
Michael "Mick" Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group of methamphetamine drug users and friends centered in the Modesto area. Larwick, who grew up in Tuolumme County near where the bodies of Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso were found, was jailed March 16 after he allegedly shot a Modesto police officer, an event that was ensued by a 14-hour standoff. He has an long criminal record and has been questioned extensively by the FBI. He denies any role in the Yosemite slayings.
Eugene"Rufus" Dykes, 32, also of Modesto and Larwick's half-brother. Arrested in March, he is now serving a year at Deuel Institute for an unrelated parole violation and has a long criminal record including sex and weapons convictions. In an interview from Deuel in June, he denies any involvement in the murders.
Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. He was arrested March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. The FBI pushed for Strange's arrest, but he denied any part in the triple murders. Reportedly, many friends have rushed forward to his aid, calling the FBI's suspicion a travesty.
Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. Stephens told the Bee that he is innocent.
While the four men listed above were considered the main murder suspects in the initial inquiries, others have since been questioned by the FBI. These people, who were never regarded as the possible killers, were nonetheless dragged into the case as perhaps abettors or witnesses:
Rachel Lou Campbell, 36, of Modesto, who was charged in April with stealing checks and credit cards, and converting them into cash and merchandise worth $365,000. Campbell, who pleaded innocent to that charge, reportedly is a key witness. When first arrested on mail fraud charges, she had in her possession Carole Sund's checking account and automated teller machine numbers.
Larry Duane Utley, 41, an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. He was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge, but was soon released.
Teresa Kay Gray, 36, of Modesto. The FBI task force investigating Yosemite issued a federal warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear in Stanislaus County drug court in June.
Kenneth "Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. He has been questioned about any involvement.
Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. She was subpoenaed because she is a friend of Dykes and Larwick.
Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively.
Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case.
By the end of June, the FBI had reviewed the testimonies of and the evidence linked to the suspects in custody. At that time, the Bureau stated that, while no one had yet been charged, it felt that those responsible for killing the three women at Yosemite were already behind bars.
The nation breathed a sigh of relief.
Others, too, had been questioned in the slayings — more routine than anything —and released. One of these was a man named Cary Stayner, clean cut, no record of violence, and was in the employment of Cedar Lodge as its handyman.
Three weeks after the FBI made its statement above, the case was reopened. And the nation grimaced. A fourth victim was brutally slain just a few miles from Cedar Lodge.
Acting on a tip from a caller who was worried about the whereabouts of his friend Joie Ruth Armstrong, park rangers found her mutilated body on the morning of July 22. It was discovered beyond a campground adjacent to her living quarters in the Foresta community, an enclave of some 30 cabins for use by park workers. Twenty-six-year-old Joie had been employed by the Yosemite Institute.
Station KCRA-TV in Sacramento, citing an unidentified source, was the first to leak the terrible news that the girl was decapitated. She had probably been murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21, investigators determined. In fact, she had been seen that day at the Institute offices near where Carole Sund and the teenagers were found earlier in the year.
Miss Armstrong was probably only hours away from leaving her quarters to visit a friend in Sausalito, California. When she did not appear as planned, her would-be host had phoned the park. Police found her car in front of her cabin, packed for the trip.
In light of its earlier estimation that the case was closed, the FBI remained relatively quiet, but conceded that the case needed to be re-evaluated. Chief James Maddock said he himself questioned whether the Bureau could have done anything to prevent Armstrong's killing. "I've struggled with that issue for the last 24 hours and continue to do so," he confessed. He did feel, however, that the FBI spared nothing to investigate the earlier killings. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done."
The Armstrong tragedy reawakened dark fears and brought back those bad dreams the local residents thought they could put behind them. By Friday, the day after she was found dead, a hush had fallen over Yosemite Park.
"Freckled, red-haired and full of energy and enthusiasm, Armstrong loved children, nature and teaching. Those loves took her to Yosemite, a place known for its peace and beauty," wrote the Modesta Bee, one of a line of community Bee newspapers throughout California. Written the weekend after Armstrong was slain, it went on: "For the past year, she had worked for the Yosemite Institute, a nonprofit group that runs education programs through a partnership with the National Park Service..."
"'Joie was a bright light to all who knew her,' said Mike Lee, the Yosemite Institute's director 'We will remember her as so full of laughter and love, and as a committed and gifted teacher..."
"Authorities went to the meadow Armstrong loved on Thursday, not long after she was reported missing (and) found her body next to a stream she and her friends used for drinking water..."
"'You should come see this place — I wonder if you ever will,' Armstrong had e-mailed her friend, only days earlier. 'I love my garden and living in Yosemite — one of the most beautiful places in the whole wide world.'"
On Saturday, July 24, within 48 hours of the Armstrong killing, FBI agent and in-charge James Maddock announced at a press conference that a man was in custody on strong suspicion of murder and that a "significant announcement" would be made shortly.
The suspect, Cary Stayner, 37, had been one of the people questioned after the triple killings in February, but, at that time no evidence linked itself to Stayner and he had been released. Because he was the handyman at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal where Carole Sund and her two charges had stayed before they were murdered, his questioning at that time seems to have been more routine than anything.
But now, after another ghastly murder, he was again led in for questioning, immediately after the body of Miss Armstrong was found. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. Investigators searched his truck and confiscated his backpack for examination. Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal as they probably were not through with him.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "(A witness claimed that) Stayner was angry about authorities seizing his backpack after he was questioned earlier that day. He was also angry about how his truck had been searched."
Evidently, the agents also searched Stayner's apartment later in the day and discovered evidence that they determined linked him to Armstrong's murder. And they found even more. Special agent Maddock explained, "During the last 24 hours, we have developed specific information linking Stayner (also) to the Sund-Pelosso murders." What this evidence is was not made known, but he did indicate it was discovered in a search of Stayner's apartment over Cedar Lodge.
Stayner, in the meantime, had disappeared from the locale and was gone from the premises by the time agents came to arrest him. This was Friday evening, July 23rd.. They caught up with him, however, at the Laguna Del Sol nudist colony, where he was known to frequent. Its manager had seen a newscast on television, recognized Stayner's photo as one of his guests, and notified the FBI. Agents returned him to El Portal on Saturday where he was put through a lengthy interrogation.
By evening's end, the FBI felt it had gathered enough evidence and damaging testimony to arrest Cary Stayner for murder. Sunday morning, they rushed him to Fresno to officially lodge a complaint, then to Sacramento on Monday where he was arraigned before the courts.
That same day, Stayner allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter from KNTV. During the session, an unexpected event occurred. In a voice that seemed relieved to be unburdening from its depth a long-kept secret, Stayner blurted, "I am guilty. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong ...None of the women were sexually abused in any way."
His confession and the details that followed shocked America.
"In (the) interview, Stayner said he had fantasized about killing women for the last 30 years," reports Yahoo!News, "and described in detail how he murdered Carole Sund, her daughter Juli, and visiting Argentine student Pelosso. He had strangled Pelosso and Carole Sund in their rented cabin in the Cedar Lodge motel, then took Juli Sund to a lake, where he killed her early the next morning..."
"He abandoned the group's rental car with the bodies of Mrs. Sund and Silvina inside, returning two days later to burn evidence and to retrieve Mrs. Sund's wallet, which he dumped in Modesto to confuse authorities," the Yahoo! report continues. "Stayner said he thought he had gotten away with the earlier crimes, but could not resist the urge to kill Armstrong after he struck up a chance conversation with her..."
Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did."
FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. He had given the FBI details "only the killer would know in such specificity that agents were able to recover evidence confirming his confession," Yahoo! asserts. "Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered."
"He would have been the furthest of suspects in the locals' minds."
If that comment made by Cedar Lodge restaurant manager Kathy Hefner sounds unforgivably naïve, read further. Most of Stayner's co-workers would probably say they fully understand why he had fooled the FBI as long as he did. He just wasn't the killer type, not a troublemaker, not a wise guy, never violent. His only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997.
The relatively quiet but friendly motel handyman's only passions seemed to be nude sunbathing and hiking. On days off he would escape to Laguna Del Sol, a nudist colony in Sacramento County. Despite this sensual surrender, he never behaved lewdly nor perversely.
Stayner's father, Delbert, admits that he thinks son Cary may have suffered a trauma at age 11 when younger brother Steven, then seven, was abducted in 1972, disappearing for eight years. In that time, Steven had been forced to endure molestations by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. The real-life drama was later turned into a television movie. But, says Delbert, puberty-aged Cary endured some emotional hardships because of that incident.
After graduation from Merced (California) High School, Stayner worked as a window installer at a glass company. The Cedar Lodge hired him as handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. Management found him a hard-worker and honest. In his capacity, Stayner performed technical and housekeeping duties, everything from fixing electrical and mechanical breakdowns to delivering extra towels and bedding to guests. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant and often after work would relax with one beer and a bowl of soup.
Some who knew Cary have an incredibly difficult time accepting the facts. Sandy Cox, whose husband owned the window company where Stayner worked for in Atwater, says, "We've known Cary since he was a little boy...It just doesn't match up. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore."
When questioned further by the press about the FBI's error in not identifying Stayner as a suspect earlier, as well as what finally led them to Stayner, Maddock replied, "I do look forward to the day I can share the details of the investigations from start to finish."
That answer, however, was not good enough for many, including two attorneys representing some of the previously mentioned four men behind bars who are still considered as suspects in the Yosemite killings. Some of these suspects have already passed lie detector tests, say their lawyers, and have even offered to give blood samples to support their innocence. One suspect, it has been recently learned, had conclusive proof he had been working out of state at the time of the killings, but remains under scrutiny just the same. And meanwhile their perturbed lawyers see their clients as patsies forced to wait in the side lines while the FBI struggles to makes up its own mind.
"I don't understand how such a large investigation with such experienced investigators missed the trail completely," says Ramon Magana, representing two of the men. "They put so much time, energy and resources into an investigation of people that appear to be unrelated and unconnected to the case."
A brother—in-cause to Magana is Stanislaus County public defender Tim Bazar who claims, "I have never heard any evidence that ties (anyone) to these slayings. Not only did (the FBI) arrest everybody, over the last several months they attempted to put pressure on one or the other to turn the others in the group in...It actually appears they had nothing against anybody."
None of these voices is more entreating, however, than that of Mrs. Raquel Pelosso whose daughter Silvina perished in Yosemite: " I just cannot understand how so many people...didn't realize that maybe (Stayner) was the man, since I heard that he was interviewed some time ago."
In defense of the FBI's hesitancy to speak and commit, they and many others cannot believe that Stayner acted by himself. Accounts conflict. In the meantime a grand jury continues to look into whether or not others were involved, including the previously listed suspects. "(No one's) off the hook yet," an unidentified source has told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Quoted the Modesto Bee: "In El Portal, a number of residents are convinced that no one person could have created so much horror, especially in the Sund and Pelosso slayings. "'The logistics of it say it had to involve more than one person, said Letty Carolyn Barry, owner of the Yosemite Rosebud Lodge, west of Cedar Lodge. "Privately, some members of the Sund-Pelosso task force are saying the same thing, sources have told the Bee. Those sources say it is difficult for some investigators to believe Stayner could have gotten the jump on all three women without any help, let alone dispose of their bodies."
And on the flip-side, the same paper notes another unconfirmed source that maintains Stayner did act alone, with the help of only a weapon. "Stayner," says the source, "used a gun after gaining entry to the motel room of the Sunds and Pelosso, and tied them up."
The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. In May, 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of three tourists in Yosemite National Park. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings' courtroom with the prosecution team headed by George Williamson and the defense team headed by Marcia Morrissey.
On Monday, July 22, the court heard the former motel handyman's taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents.
According to Fresno Bee reporter Cyndee Fontanta, "In the taped confession, Stayner calmly reviewed how he strangled 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso in a motel bathtub near Yosemite National Park. How he sexually assaulted Juli Sund, 15, for hours before spiriting her away from the motel room she shared with her mother, 42-year-old Carole Sund, and friend Silvina.
"And then, not as calmly, how he carried Juli — "kinda like a groom carrying a bride over the threshold" — to a lonely vista point near Lake Don Pedro, pledged his love and then cut her throat as the sun lightened the sky." Stayner's confession to the strangulation murder of Carole Sund had been played to the court the previous week.
The issue was no longer who committed the murders but whether Stayner was insane at the time and whether the confession to the FBI agents was coerced. Stayner is serving a life sentence for the Yosemite Park murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. The issue of whether Stayner's confession was coerced seemed to be resolved when on July 24, the court heard the recorded demands that Stayner made to the FBI agents that he wanted satisfied before he would give them his confession.
Stayner demanded that his parents be given the reward money, that he be incarcerated at a prison near his parents' home, and, to Stayner's detriment, that he be given a large cache of child pornography. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced Stayner's confession. In the end, Stayner confessed without the promise of child pornography or reward money for his parents.
After days of hearing the prosecution characterize Stayner, 41, as a cunning, cold-blooded killer, Judge Thomas C. Hastings' court was presented with the defense testimony regarding Stayner's state of mind when he committed the murders.
First, the defense called Dr. Jose Arturo Silva, whose testimony the Fresno Bee's Cyndee Fontana described thusly, "In the constellation of mental illness, Cary Stayner alone apparently could fill the sky. His enduring preoccupation with the creature Bigfoot. The prophecies of Nostradamus. The nightmares of disembodied heads, the lack of empathy toward others, the violent fantasies of child rape, the obsessive hair-pulling and more...a stew of disorders such as pedophilia, voyeurism, social dysfunction, violent fantasies, mild autism, and even a family tree laden with sexual abuse and mental illness."
For the next two weeks, the court heard a group of experts testifying to Stayner's lack of criminal culpability due to brain abnormalities and mental illnesses.
In mid-August, two experts debated the photos of Stayner's brain and sharply disagreed. Dr. Joseph Wu, an expert called by the defense, saw abnormalities that could account for Stayner's violent tendencies, whereas Dr. Alan Waxman, called by the prosecution, saw nothing special to explain Stayner's behavior.
Ultimately, the closing arguments would present two very different views of Cary Stayner — a cold-blooded murdering sexual predator and a mentally-ill victim of child abuse who was overcome by his disabilities.
Morrissey, referring to the testimony of the defense medical experts, said on August 21, 2002, claimed that Stayner was a long way from being the organized, sophisticated serial predator that the prosecution suggested.
As reported by Court TV and Associated Press: "In his rebuttal of the defense's closing arguments on Thursday, August 23, 2002, prosecutor George Williamson said there was overwhelming evidence to convict Cary Stayner of first-degree murder and six special circumstances that could trigger the death penalty.
Williamson said defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey had to "blow smoke" because she didn't have facts or the law to support her claims that Stayner was too crazy to have the intent to kill required for first-degree murder.
Monday, August 26, 2002, the jury in the Stayner case took less than five hours to find him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, for which he may face the death penalty. He stood emotionless as he was convicted of the murders of Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso.
While there were weeks of testimony during the first phase of the trial regarding Stayner's sanity, the second phase of the trial requires that the prosecution prove that Stayner was sane and the third phase of the trial will determine his ultimate punishment.
The defense team lost its bid to prevent Dr. Park Dietz from testifying for the prosecution. Dr. Dietz is a well-known forensic psychiatrist who has testified in a number of major cases, including the Andrea Yates case.
Winning a case with an insanity plea is usually quite difficult. The defense called Dr. Allison McInnes, assistant professor of psychiatry and human genetics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NY. Dr. McInnes addressed the issue of Cary Stayner's bad genes, which was described by Fresno Bee reporter Cyndee Fontana:
"The story of Cary Stayner's family tree rose in bursts of bright color from a white horizontal chart.
"Yellow for psychosis. Green for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Red for substance abuse. Purple for pedophilia. Even more colors for more mental diseases ranging through four generations down to Stayner himself — the fruit of a family gene pool marked by psychiatric disorders. "
It is Dr. McInnes' belief that Stayner was legally insane when he committed the murders of the four women in Yosemite. Prosecutor George Williamson lost no time in challenging the credentials of Dr. McInnes in a rigorous cross examination.
Didn't Stayner know that he was killing human beings? Didn't he understand that his crimes were legally wrong? Dr. McInnes answered in the affirmative.
Dr. Park Dietz made a very strong showing. "He knew what he was doing was wrong," Dr. Dietz said emphatically. In his extensive testimony, he pointed out that the murders were planned, carried out with deception, covered up and lied about. Dietz called Stayner "one of the higher-functioning criminals" he had encountered.
On Monday, September 16, 2002, the jury determined that Stayner was sane at the time of the murders. This decision took the jury less than four hours to make.
CNN reported Wednesday, October 9, 2002, the jury recommended that Cary Stayner should die for killing three Yosemite National Park tourists in 1999, rejecting defense pleas to spare a mentally ill man twisted by genetics and a traumatic childhood.
After six hours of deliberation, the jurors rejected the option of recommending life in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 12, and an appeal is automatic.
The courtroom was silent after the decision was read. Stayner showed no visible reaction.
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