Disappeared

[phantom]

It's weird or morbid to say, but I am glad this show is back.

Ashley Summers: I wept for her.  If she was still alive somewhere watching the coverage how would she feel that it took her family TWO DAYS to notice a 14 year old was missing? I generally pooh-pooh the idea of every missing white girl being sold into sex slavery (see Amy Bradley below) but unfortunately could see her being lured away pretty easily by someone pretending to give a crap about her.

Logan: another messed up family dynamic. The tension between the two sides of his family was baffling. He was confused and upset, and I wouldn't rule out a suicide. Did he and his father ever make actual contact? I wasn't sure. The white childhood friend was such a freaking goober with his "Logan was the only black/mixed race kid in town but there was NO racism, nope, none at all because I didn't see it." Ugh.

Amy Bradley: I was yelling at the TV the whole episode and am embarrassed because her family still desperately misses her and that POS "special forces" guy deserves a hot room in h-e-l-l. But she must have fallen off that boat or jumped. I've been on a number of cruises and none of the alternative scenarios make any sense. How could three people in that room not hear her open the balcony door (which would make a huge woosh and rush of air and possibly even slam behind her) walk through the room and out the cabin door? I'm afraid that her dad doesn't actually know what time he saw her on the balcony - it would make more sense that he woke when her brother came in off the balcony, and not later. And there was no mention of whether or not she and the brother had been drinking, which honestly tells me they probably had been.

And zooming in and naming the black musician she had been dancing with? Come on! When you work on a cruise ship many of the roles are expected to interact with the passengers and help them have a good time. To imply with no evidence that this guy had something to do with her disappearance? And why would he do that anyway? He would only have met her 48 hours before at most and would have to develop a foolproof plan and get accomplices in that amount of time? I was once invited to the crew area on a cruise ship of a similar size by a waiter (I was young and dumb to follow him but I was fine and left pretty quickly). There were crew members everywhere and a few gave the waiter huge side eye and told him they were all going to be in trouble for me being down there. The idea that the musician could sneak an unconscious passenger down to the crew area and get her off the boat unnoticed is not super plausible without a giant conspiracy.

Amy was a white girl on vacation with a well-off family. All the stops were pulled out to search for her when she went missing. Rewards were offered, the FBI was called in and the local police did a helicopter and boat search. Women like that are NOT targets of sex traffickers precisely because of the attention they create when they go missing. I hope her family can find some peace someday.

[mamadrama]

On 4/18/2018 at 10:30 AM, phantom said:

 

And zooming in and naming the black musician she had been dancing with? Come on! When you work on a cruise ship many of the roles are expected to interact with the passengers and help them have a good time. To imply with no evidence that this guy had something to do with her disappearance? And why would he do that anyway? He would only have met her 48 hours before at most and would have to develop a foolproof plan and get accomplices in that amount of time? I was once invited to the crew area on a cruise ship of a similar size by a waiter (I was young and dumb to follow him but I was fine and left pretty quickly). There were crew members everywhere and a few gave the waiter huge side eye and told him they were all going to be in trouble for me being down there. The idea that the musician could sneak an unconscious passenger down to the crew area and get her off the boat unnoticed is not super plausible without a giant conspiracy.

Amy was a white girl on vacation with a well-off family. All the stops were pulled out to search for her when she went missing. Rewards were offered, the FBI was called in and the local police did a helicopter and boat search. Women like that are NOT targets of sex traffickers precisely because of the attention they create when they go missing. I hope her family can find some peace someday.

While I agree with your overall sentiment, this is one episode of DISAPPEARED that left out a LOT of information. I've done quite a bit of research about this case and belong to a true crime community where we discuss it. The musician that she was dancing with played into the story a lot more than the episode made it look. Some of the evidence that he was involved is fairly compelling, or at least more plausible than this episode made it look. 

After going through all the information and even talking to the family in a podcast I was on, I can definitely see how people believe he was involved. Now, do I believe he did anything? No. I think she most likely fell overboard and died. 

[mamadrama]

On 4/5/2018 at 3:30 AM, azshadowwalker said:

I am sorry to hear about your loss, @mamadrama. 

Thank you. :-) I am pretty sensitive to SIDS/infant death things. I consumed myself in infant death research in that first year. Some of us wind up doing that; others don't want to know anything at all.

[phantom]

7 hours ago, mamadrama said:

While I agree with your overall sentiment, this is one episode of DISAPPEARED that left out a LOT of information. I've done quite a bit of research about this case and belong to a true crime community where we discuss it. The musician that she was dancing with played into the story a lot more than the episode made it look. Some of the evidence that he was involved is fairly compelling, or at least more plausible than this episode made it look. 

After going through all the information and even talking to the family in a podcast I was on, I can definitely see how people believe he was involved. Now, do I believe he did anything? No. I think she most likely fell overboard and died. 

Thanks for adding this. I've done extra research on other episodes before and also discovered lots of potentially pertinent information left out. Can you elaborate on what you have heard or direct me where I could read about it? I read in some articles that the family thought the cruise line and FBI weren't being totally forthcoming and cooperative but didn't see any detail.

But I maintain that it was unethical to name the musician 20 YEARS after she disappeared when he has never been implicated criminally or civilly in her case and no evidence (in the context of the show) was provided to show he was most likely involved or knew more. Plenty of other episodes have mentioned a person of interest and described the circumstances but not given a name.

Edited April 20, 2018 by phantom

[bubbls]

I think the Logan Schiendelman disappearance was a mental break. He was the right age, and his grandma said he’d been paranoid people were watching him. I think the witnesses who saw a guy running into the woods probably saw Logan. He was fairly light-skinned, and IMO could easily be mistaken for a white guy if you’re zooming by in a car. I feel so bad for his loved ones and hope they get some answers. 

[Jordan61]

Stephanie Crane: there haven't been many episodes with children. I can't believe the state files didn't have her disappearance listed as a crime! I'm guessing she met a bad end with either that drifter they won't name or that other guy that shot at the cops and then killed himself.

[Jordan61]

Bryce Laspisa is the one that sticks with me. I hate to be judgey but I just couldn't believe his parents didn't hop in the car and go get him when it turned out he had been sitting in the same spot for hours. My son is just about that age and I would have been scared to death to hear he had been behaving so strangely. I would have asked that roadside assistance guy to please stay with him till I got there.

[Annber03]

The story about Stephanie was haunting. I'm the same age as her-I would've turned 9 just a mere few days prior to when she disappeared in '93. And I too remember walking around my neighborhood and whatnot like it was nothing when I was that age-and I lived in a town with a bigger population than hers. 

My heart went out to Hazel. Her thing of flowers with everyone's pictures on them got to me. All the tragedy that family's suffered over the years-how eerie Stephanie's dad dies on the very date of his daughter's disappearance 19 years later. Just so sad. I really hope she and the remaining family members can finally get some answers at some point. 

That drifter sounded creepy as hell and I can't believe he got the sentence he did for his earlier crime of sexual abuse. Ugh. I would not be at all surprised to find out he was involved somehow. 

[Yokosmom]

No bodies yet, but they have discovered what happened to Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible, and it ain't pretty.  They were the two girls who disappeared after the parents of one were murdered and had their house burned down.  Turns out that the parents were buying/dealing drugs and were killed by drug contacts, who then proceeded to kidnap, drug and rape the girls.  For days on end.  Apparently, a lot of people knew this, but were too terrified of the dealers to talk.  Here's a link.

I assumed that they were dead, but the poor girls didn't even have the small mercy of being killed the same night that they were taken.  Major kudos to the cold case detective who followed up on a random piece of evidence found in the case files.

ETA: "Allegedly", as the case hasn't been tried yet.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Yokosmom

[Surrealist]

7 hours ago, Yokosmom said:

Turns out that the parents were buying/dealing drugs and were killed by drug contacts, who then proceeded to kidnap, drug and rape the girls.  For days on end.  Apparently, a lot of people knew this, but were too terrified of the dealers to talk. 

 

Nevermind.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Surrealist
I'm trying to avoid saying mean shit about Ashley's idiot parents.

[ElleBee]

On 4/22/2018 at 10:06 PM, Annber03 said:

That drifter sounded creepy as hell and I can't believe he got the sentence he did for his earlier crime of sexual abuse. Ugh. I would not be at all surprised to find out he was involved somehow. 

I was also horrified that not only the drifter's girlfriend but "several neighbors" heard a young girl crying from the basement and apparently just shrugged it off. I know he was using the explanation that it was his daughter and he was punishing her but how does that make it okay? And who hears crying from a basement and figures "eh, whatever" and just  moves on with their day? These types of shows really showcase the best and the worst of humanity.

[mamadrama]

Man, I think Lauria's family has a lawsuit. Not only did LE literally miss a dead body, but apparently a private detective turned up these guys names years and years ago (he found an insurance verification card at the scene and it belonged to one of the killers' girlfriends). When the detective took the information to LE, they told him they didn't want it. Still, someone took it and that, along with multiple interviews with people who'd supposedly seen the pictures, was put in a file box and stuck in the closet of the sheriff's department. When the OSFBI took over, that box got overlooked. Oops. 

 

More than 12 people kept their mouths shut in case of Oklahoma girls missing since 1999

http://kfor.com/2018/04/24/more-than-12-people-kept-their-mouths-shut-in-case-of-oklahoma-girls-missing-since-1999/

[Yokosmom]

What those poor girls went through is just horrific.

[Surrealist]

13 hours ago, ElleBee said:

I was also horrified that not only the drifter's girlfriend but "several neighbors" heard a young girl crying from the basement and apparently just shrugged it off. I know he was using the explanation that it was his daughter and he was punishing her but how does that make it okay? And who hears crying from a basement and figures "eh, whatever" and just  moves on with their day? These types of shows really showcase the best and the worst of humanity.

That part horrified me too. I would have been on that phone with police immediately if I heard a girl crying/waiting/whatever in the basement. At the very least, I would assume that the adult in that household might be abusing his (or her) child. I don't understand how people can ignore a child in peril.

[Annber03]

13 hours ago, ElleBee said:

I was also horrified that not only the drifter's girlfriend but "several neighbors" heard a young girl crying from the basement and apparently just shrugged it off. I know he was using the explanation that it was his daughter and he was punishing her but how does that make it okay? And who hears crying from a basement and figures "eh, whatever" and just  moves on with their day? These types of shows really showcase the best and the worst of humanity.

Yes! People were clearly weirded out by the guy, so it's strange they didn't try and do more back then. 

[spankydoll]

6 hours ago, Yokosmom said:

What those poor girls went through is just horrific.

And those 12 people are disgusting. Those poor girls. 

[califred]

I’d have been on the phone calling too if I heard a child in distress all the time even without the creepy guy. 

[roamyn]

What a sloppy job all around by law enforcement.  Some part of me prayed that Ashley & Lauria would still be alive and okay.  Unrealistic, I know.

[Annber03]

On 4/26/2018 at 6:14 AM, roamyn said:

Some part of me prayed that Ashley & Lauria would still be alive and okay.  Unrealistic, I know.

Hey, we've all felt that way at some point and time with these kinds of stories. Miracles can and do happen, after all, and it's always good to try and keep hope alive where possible, right :)? 

Such a shame this story ended as tragically as it did. Those poor girls. 

[Jordan61]

Sage Smith: I was only half paying attention to this one, my husband kept talking to me. A couple of things I was curious if they mentioned, was Sage dressed as a female or male when he disappeared? And did he have a cell phone with him? When they said the roommate used Sage's credit card and then that roommate's excuse was that the roommates all shared the card to pay for expenses, I wondered why they didn't show the third roommate (Shakira?) saying if that was true or not.

[Wierzbowski]

8 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

Sage Smith: I was only half paying attention to this one, my husband kept talking to me. A couple of things I was curious if they mentioned, was Sage dressed as a female or male when he disappeared? And did he have a cell phone with him? When they said the roommate used Sage's credit card and then that roommate's excuse was that the roommates all shared the card to pay for expenses, I wondered why they didn't show the third roommate (Shakira?) saying if that was true or not.

I was wondering that too. But at the end, they brought it up again and Shakira said at first she thought it was weird but later she talked to Aubrey and Shakira now thinks Aubrey had nothing to do with the disappearance. This episode with Sage, almost anything could have happened to him, including him been confronted by a stranger. Nobody pinged for me. The McFadden guy was fishy, especially since he left town never to be seen again (did the police never interview him in person?), but I guess he was ruled out. Ish. 

[Surrealist]

6 hours ago, Wierzbowski said:

I was wondering that too. But at the end, they brought it up again and Shakira said at first she thought it was weird but later she talked to Aubrey and Shakira now thinks Aubrey had nothing to do with the disappearance. This episode with Sage, almost anything could have happened to him, including him been confronted by a stranger. Nobody pinged for me. The McFadden guy was fishy, especially since he left town never to be seen again (did the police never interview him in person?), but I guess he was ruled out. Ish. 

For most of the episode I felt the same way. But then I realized that the reason Eric (most likely) left is because he was having an affair with a trans woman. Once Sage's father outed him, he left, never to be see again. I think he was humiliated enough to stay away. Unfortunately, this also made him look really guilty. I believe the police with regard to that there wasn't any evidence, in the end, that pointed to him being the abductor (and possible murderer).

I remain suspicious of Aubrey. If she didn't do it, then she probably knows who did and isn't talking. I find it curious that Sage goes missing, and then she's going through Sage's room and using her property. I get that they were roommates, but still. 

Edited April 30, 2018 by Surrealist

[theajw]

And the roommate's use of the credit card a couple weeks after Sage went missing?  That was weird on so many levels.  

[Surrealist]

1 hour ago, theajw said:

And the roommate's use of the credit card a couple weeks after Sage went missing?  That was weird on so many levels.  

It was. I understood Eric's leaving made him appear guilty of something, but I think it's more likely he left because he had been outed. I believe Aubrey's guilty of something. I don't know that I think she murdered Sage, but she either knows who did, or was there when it happened. There's no way Sage is still alive. She was probably killed the night she went missing.

[stephinmn]

I think Bryce was on drugs and didn't want to go home. But yeah...I would have gone to get him.

The one that haunts me is the other child from St. George, Masin. I am guessing he committed suicide, but I would also think they would have found a body by now.

[Jordan61]

Tyarra Williams: this one was interesting. From the demeanor of the family I thought for sure they had found her body, they were all so solemn and somber. I guess I am just so used to seeing tears and anguish, and her family are holding themselves together really well. Plus like her mom said at the end, at this point she's just numb.

This is the second show I watched this week that had a girl with a mom who seemed to be a really responsible parent and it didn't do a damn bit of good. The other one was Shania Gray but I'm not sure what show it was.

[Annber03]

12 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

Tyarra Williams: this one was interesting. From the demeanor of the family I thought for sure they had found her body, they were all so solemn and somber. I guess I am just so used to seeing tears and anguish, and her family are holding themselves together really well. Plus like her mom said at the end, at this point she's just numb.

Yeah, at some point you gotta find your own coping mechanism with something like this. I felt for them with the few false hopes they'd had-you don't want to risk getting your hopes TOO high, but at the same time, I totally don't blame them for wanting to jump on any possible positive news they can find, too. It's especially tough in the episodes with family members talking about somebody who's been missing for decades, because it's so clear in the interviews with them that they know that all this time later, the chances of good news are about as close to nil as it gets. I just can't imagine going that long without any answers, good OR bad. If people can manage to find a way to keep their composure after all that time, God bless 'em, 'cause I don't think I could. 

I admire Tyarra's grandfather going out and doing his own search. And her boyfriend talking about how he wished he could turn back the clock to that night and ask her who this guy was she said she was meeting got to me a bit. 

[kelekins]

On 4/30/2018 at 6:32 PM, Surrealist said:

It was. I understood Eric's leaving made him appear guilty of something, but I think it's more likely he left because he had been outed. I believe Aubrey's guilty of something. I don't know that I think she murdered Sage, but she either knows who did, or was there when it happened. There's no way Sage is still alive. She was probably killed the night she went missing.

I was thinking that perhaps Aubrey was one of the individuals that approached Sage when she was out with Eric. He mentioned that a couple of females stopped them and that he ended going his separate way. 

[Wierzbowski]

All of these are devastating and perplexing to me, especially as a parent. I can't imagine my child just disappearing off the face of the earth, with no trace, and there being so little I could do about it. So often, there's a clue or strong feelings about a suspect in the show's cases. But I have no idea what happened to Tyarra. It seems like the ex-boyfriend is the most likely suspect, since he lied about having met with Tyarra and was the last to see her alive. So either he did something to her (why?) or someone snatched her between the short distance between his car and the apartment. Does that mean someone was watching her and waiting for his/opportunity?  

I felt so terribly for her boyfriend. He'll live in regret for the rest of his life about a few things that he could have done differently that might have changed everything. It was strange to me that he didn't even ask who this "Travis" guy was and what she was going to do with him. My husband would have been like "uh, what?" and needed a lot more information.  

Trafficking has seemed to become a more real possibility in some of these more recent episodes. I'm naive about trafficking. Does this really happen so frequently to young folks? Another utterly terrifying threat my kids face.

[Josette]

They arrested Mike Williams' widow for his murder.  No surprise there.

story link

[badhaggis]

2 hours ago, Josette said:

They arrested Mike Williams' widow for his murder.  No surprise there.

story link

Amazing news! 

[tobeannounced]

14 hours ago, Wierzbowski said:

All of these are devastating and perplexing to me, especially as a parent. I can't imagine my child just disappearing off the face of the earth, with no trace, and there being so little I could do about it. So often, there's a clue or strong feelings about a suspect in the show's cases. But I have no idea what happened to Tyarra. It seems like the ex-boyfriend is the most likely suspect, since he lied about having met with Tyarra and was the last to see her alive. So either he did something to her (why?) or someone snatched her between the short distance between his car and the apartment. Does that mean someone was watching her and waiting for his/opportunity?  

I felt so terribly for her boyfriend. He'll live in regret for the rest of his life about a few things that he could have done differently that might have changed everything. It was strange to me that he didn't even ask who this "Travis" guy was and what she was going to do with him. My husband would have been like "uh, what?" and needed a lot more information.  

Trafficking has seemed to become a more real possibility in some of these more recent episodes. I'm naive about trafficking. Does this really happen so frequently to young folks? Another utterly terrifying threat my kids face.

My feeling is human trafficking is the new "satanic cult" theory for the 21st century.

[funky-rat]

1 hour ago, tobeannounced said:

My feeling is human trafficking is the new "satanic cult" theory for the 21st century.

My mom went to a lecture at the local university about it, and it does happen, but I think it's now the go-to to everyone who wants to still believe their loved one is alive.

[tobeannounced]

Totally agree it happens, but as someone on these boards pointed out, they don't go after people like Tiara (sp?) because it brings too much attention. Plus I imagine it's much harder to break down someone who's doing okay in life and has a family that loves them and get them to submit to that way of life. The simplest answer is probably closer to the truth - the ex did it. Too bad there wan't any CCTV.

[Christina]

NOTE:  I'm completely unable to edit this post. I can type just fine, but when I tried to delete a bunch because I didn't realize how long it was until it posted, it deleted the entire thing and I had to undo it. I tried twice to no avail so here is a small book of random ramblings:

It's apparently been a few months since I've been to this forum, since there are almost two pages of new posts, so a few comments on old posts follow. Also, this forum has taken a page from the Teen Mom forums and decided I can't like any posts, or everyone has me blocked, so Like for You, Like for You, Likes for Everyone!! (No cars though, I'm not Oprah.)

On  Logan Schiendelman:

On 4/11/2018 at 6:20 PM, Surrealist said:

I, too, didn't understand why the mother didn't bother to regain custody of Logan after finishing art school. I would imagine that art school would only take 2-3 years to finish. Well, it must be nice to have kids, yet be able to unload them other relatives while you go out to "find yourself." That, in itself, feels sketchy to me.

 

On 4/13/2018 at 4:43 AM, azshadowwalker said:

Maybe his mom left him with his grandmother because it was a more stable situation. In some cases, that's the best thing a parent can do. I don't judge anyone who realizes that they are not equipped to raise a child, and allows people who are better equipped to do it. Is it more important to care about appearances or to see your child grow up in a loving, stable environment? And maybe she didn't take part because she's lived her entire life with this kind of judgment, and felt it would be a distraction. 

 

That was my thought, too. There have been many times when a parent takes a child out of a stable home because they think not doing so makes them look poorly, and I'm not just talking about Jenelle EvansPsycho (whatever her new last name is) from Teen Mom 2. I have a cousin who had her kids taken from her care because of her drug use, her ex-boyfriend and father of kid number two, who had custody of her, stepped up and took the other three kids. She was clean for two years and her kids had been in his care for about five when she realized they were in a much better situation. Before that it was a bunch of bull about him wanting the money and benefits from the State (just like Jenelle EvansPsycho). He originally thought having her kids taken away would be her rock bottom and didn't expect a long-term situation, but it would probably really hurt him if she took them away and limited his contact. It took quite awhile for her to believe that she wasn't trash for not forcing a change because she was the biological parent, and she is largely involved in their lives currently. (Father number one died in a car accident when son was about a year old; father of child two has all the kids' and fathers of the last two are unknown to anyone but maybe cousin.) 

I think it would be horrible to realize you are not the best parent for your kids, yet stepping back and allowing them to have a better life is being a good parent. If you abandon your kids because they cut into you partying lifestyle, you are trash like many of my other relatives, and shall be judged as such by me. Hopefully, Logan's mother falls into the former not the latter because feeling abandoned by both parents is an enormous weight to carry and a pretty easy path to drug use and suicide to forget.

Right after the episode aired, I did a google search on his case, like I almost always do, and saw that in March(?) of this year part of a skull was found by an ATV rider near where his car was found. I'll be damned if I can find it now. At the time, they were going out to do a more in-depth search with cadaver dogs and trained searchers, and I once again pledge to buy search dogs for all police and/or fire departments who need them, as soon as I win the lottery. (Note to self: buy lotto tickets.) It wasn't the entire skull but they thought they could get something from it that would allow them to tell sex and race. 

 

On 4/15/2018 at 10:09 PM, Annber03 said:

I was also struck by the police setup and such in that town. Going out there to report your grandson missing, only for it to not be staffed? That's odd. I know this seems to be a small town, but still... And I find it odd they didn't do a fingerprint test, either. I get they didn't consider this a foul play situation initially, but given all his stuff was left in the car when it was found abandoned, I would've thought that alone would have been enough for them to do a test and collect any possible evidence they could find just in case, regardless of what route the case took. Especially considering the strange stuff later on about somebody being in his car and running out of it or whatever. Having some evidence right from the get-go could've perhaps helped rule out or confirm those later tips to some degree.

Before just giving up on the show, I was constantly arguing with Judge Judy about her insistence that there would be police reports or police stations don't close so trade offs should happen there. My county in Ohio has one Sheriff and four Deputy Sheriffs and the actual Sheriff has received waivers and extensions for completing his recertifications since requiring him to travel to wherever he could do it would leave no one at all available for emergency calls. The only time police respond to break-ins are if guns are stolen. If you need something from the Sheriff's Office be it assistance or a copy of a report, you call ahead to see if it's open. The dispatch is handled by another county and if it is an emergency situation, whoever is closest responds. One Deputy worked 20 hours one day during a non-natural disaster situation just because he was the only one available to cover the emergencies, and he got in trouble for it. He was cleared but the County still has no funding.

Our entire County is covered by volunteer fire departments, too. It's completely underfunded, our insurance rates are ridiculous, but we have more livestock than people and being considered a disadvantaged community gets our schools extra funding, so it's a trade-off. Also, my house is paid off and the neighboring county with full-time police and fire departments have incredibly ridiculous corruption problems. Our corruption problems are quite simple and two judges and three prosecutors have been imprisoned for them in the last decade. Ahhhh, rural life...

On 4/30/2018 at 6:01 PM, theajw said:

And the roommate's use of the credit card a couple weeks after Sage went missing?  That was weird on so many levels.  

The entire time I was watching Sage's episode, I was thinking I had seen it before. I remembered the date taking off after her father outed him, I remembered the Sheriff pointing out the response pretty young white girls received and how Sage's case and others like her barely got any at all, Sage's family and friends doing their own investigation and keeping law enforcement at bay, and the only things I remember that were not shown on the episode involved construction in the area where she was to meet her date and that she received some money routinely which was what her roommate was spending. It was like ID just repackaged an episode of another show, as they so often do.

There was a question of if she had fallen into the construction area or was assaulted and killed by a construction worker, but I believe that was totally ruled out as a possibility. Reaching way back into the crevices of my brain (never a smart idea), I think the construction area had cameras and she was never seen the area. 

The reason Sage received the money wasn't disclosed. One of the roomates received money monthly from a family trust or something, and covered a bill that came at that time, all three had some funding for being in school that came every few months, and they often used each others debit cards depending on who had money when. 

If it wasn't this episode of this show I have no idea what I was watching, but the entire time it was on, I was saying, "This isn't new. I've seen this already. Why does it say it's new?" Then, they cut out a large portion of the family and law enforcement discord. Whether the family's belief that the cops weren't taking it seriously because Sage was transgendered was legitimate or if they were just in the same position as other families of missing children and the LEOs were trying to keep them at arms length because their personal investigation was causing things like the date to run away, was also mentioned a bit more in depth. 

Both are probably true and I have no idea what happened to Sage. Her being transgendered doesn't seem like a red herring, but I suppose it could be. It's like she stepped out of a door and disappeared into thin air with no witnesses. I wondered about the girlfriend or her family or the family of the date who ran off. If someone found out he was going to meet Sage and had a huge problem with it, they could have ran interference. This is one of those cases where someone is going to have to say something before any process is made.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Christina

[Christina]

11 hours ago, Josette said:

They arrested Mike Williams' widow for his murder.  No surprise there.

story link

From that article referring to her arrest, "It was the biggest bombshell yet in the disappearance of Williams, the affable 31-year-old real estate appraiser who never returned after supposedly going duck hunting alone the morning of Dec. 16, 2000."

"Bombshell" doesn't seem to mean what I thought it meant. Her ex-husband giving up the information on Mike's death in exchange for a lighter sentence during his case for kidnapping her at gunpoint was a bigger bombshell to me, because I thought he was probably the one who actually caused Mike's death. But, according to the article, he was dropping the news first so that she couldn't finger him first so who knows who actually killed him. They were both involved though.

The daughter finding out on or near her nineteenth birthday is just more heartbreak for her. I hope she has people in her life to lean on through this time. She was too young to remember her dad, wasn't allowed to see her paternal family, and her stepdad kidnapping her mom at gunpoint makes it sound like he wasn't a great person to live with either. 

 

Regarding Ashley and Lauria:

On 4/25/2018 at 7:09 PM, spankydoll said:

And those 12 people are disgusting. Those poor girls. 

That was my first thought and remains my thought but as I read on through and learned that most, if not all, knew because they saw the photos after the girls were killed and that the police turned away evidence at the very beginning, I can see why some may have been too afraid to say anything. I can't see keeping my mouth shut on something like that but hope to never be in that position. The police had the information all this time and only recently a LEO decided to look into that insurance card. It certainly wouldn't be an office that invoked security for the person disclosing the information. 

You always hear people say they wouldn't wish cancer on anyone and this case is a perfect example of why I call bullshit on that saying. I hope the two who already passed away suffered greatly and the one who is still alive lives for many more years in misery. I'll withhold judgment on the people who knew because of my previous paragraph. 

Still, fuck cancer and fuck these scumbags. 

[roamyn]

13 hours ago, Josette said:

They arrested Mike Williams' widow for his murder.  No surprise there.

story link

Yeah, the most “uh, duh!” Resolution of all these.

[Christina]

On 4/4/2018 at 6:37 PM, mamadrama said:

SIDS is just a cause of death by exclusion. Once everything else has been ruled out then the death is labeled either SIDS or SUDC. (Sudden Unexplained Death of a Child.) If a COD is listed as "undetermined" rather than SIDS then it's because not everything COULD be ruled out. In an "undetermined" death, it could still be accidental (or intentional) suffocation but, for whatever reason, that can't be determined. (In this case, I'd say it was due to the fire/smoke causing or masking discoloration which warped the lividity marks.) In a SIDS death, every possible scenario has been ruled out and they just don't know what caused the death. In an "undetermined" death of an infant, it means that there are still some possible causes of death but that further tests and conclusions can't be undergone.  

That was the point I was ineloquently trying to make and I apologize (to everyone) if my post came across as simplifying the matter. The medical exam wasn't able to determine a reason for his death and with Joey Lynn missing they could not speak to the last person to see him alive and find out any additional information. The old article with the medical examiner discussed how he (I think it was a he) ruled out drowning, smoke inhalation and suffocation, which were the questions originally posed by the journalist, and said that there was no sign of injury and no obvious deformities (not the right word I don't think) and he was still waiting on some blood work but wasn't expecting anything additional based on the results obtained in house. He was clear that there was no explanation for the baby's death. 

It's apparently just too old to be found by a search because I just tried again. Websleuths used to be excellent at keeping the old links listed and you could run them through the wayback machine and find most of them to read, but that site has gone to hell and I can't find anything any longer. I thought that the article was posted as screenshots, though, but can't remember if it was that site.

 

On 4/22/2018 at 11:11 PM, Jordan61 said:

Bryce Laspisa is the one that sticks with me. I hate to be judgey but I just couldn't believe his parents didn't hop in the car and go get him when it turned out he had been sitting in the same spot for hours. My son is just about that age and I would have been scared to death to hear he had been behaving so strangely. I would have asked that roadside assistance guy to please stay with him till I got there.

After that episode aired, someone posted an article with more information than the episode aired. Bryce had a long history of drug use and abuse and where the show mentioned marijuana, he had recently began to abuse an ADHD medicine (Vyvanse may be the name), causing his girlfriend at the time to contact his parents. They were taking a tough love approached learned through his prior rehab stays, and after asking the police and tow truck driver to check on him and being told he seemed fine, they decided to wait for him to own up to his need to return home of his own volition. 

Disappeared didn't discuss his drug use history and made it sound like the parents were just sitting around waiting for him to show up, and I guess that's true, but it was based on making him act responsible for himself in accordance with what they learned as a result of his past rehabs.

I just searched to try and find that article and had completely forgotten that his case got wrapped up in the McStay Family Disappearance with a conman writing stories about the McStays and Bryce. I fell into that black hole for a moment or several (like 90), full of rumors of his sexuality, him becoming a confidential informant for campus police, along with the regular theories of suicide, amnesia and running away to start a new life. When typing in a few of those options together, they all land on this Reddit page, which is probably the source of many of them, along with what appeared to be comments posted on Websleuths. It wasn't the article that was originally posted, though, that was from a real newspaper. Many Redditors and WSers do very thorough jobs and all, but there are a ton of articles from what are not mainstream media that seem to be sourcing them for their sites, so if it's bad information it just keeps getting reposted as a fact instead of an opinion when it is only a theory.

In any event, his disappearance remains baffling but I no longer wonder what in the hell his parents were doing just sitting at home. Making him step up and drive home without them escorting him was apparently done for what they thought was a good reason. Hopefully, they don't continue to beat themselves up about it, but it would be hard not to since he hasn't been found.

[GoldenGirl90]

On 4/18/2018 at 10:30 AM, phantom said:

Logan: another messed up family dynamic. The tension between the two sides of his family was baffling. He was confused and upset, and I wouldn't rule out a suicide. Did he and his father ever make actual contact? I wasn't sure. The white childhood friend was such a freaking goober with his "Logan was the only black/mixed race kid in town but there was NO racism, nope, none at all because I didn't see it." Ugh.

That kid came off as a bit of a douchebag. Perhaps he was just nervous. The comments not only from him but from the white family members about race (“of course Logan didn’t mind being the only black kid in town! It never bothered him!”??‍♀️?) were annoying. This was one of the most bizarre episodes I can recall in recent history. I applaud Disappeared for featuring multiple disappearances of POC this season. Hopefully they keep it up but this one really struck a chord with me because I’m also mixed and went to high school in a predominantly white area. Oh, and the sketch towards the end is what nightmares are made of. Horrifying.

Anyway, I’m still getting caught up on the rest of the season but I’m so happy they brought back the old narrator. His voice adds another layer of creepy to each case. 

Edited May 10, 2018 by Alexis2291

[Jordan61]

Thanks for that Christina!

[spankydoll]

On 5/9/2018 at 7:56 PM, roamyn said:

Yeah, the most “uh, duh!” Resolution of all these.

That's Tallahassee for you. Not  shock at all that it took so long. That place is a backwards, racist, homophobic football addicted swamp. 

[Wierzbowski]

Holly Cantrell-- THIS is the kind of case I'm talking about, the kind where there are clear suspects + motives. Do we all agree either Tommy the husband or Cody the lover did it? I'm personally going with Cody. Why did the police give up on him so easily? He had a motive-- a mistress whose possible pregnancy could destroy his family, friendships, etc. AND he had the time to do it. 

I also thought Holly's family was far too quick to jump against Tommy. What did they even think about Cody? And wth was this random woman  Luanne who became so invested in the case and recorded an indecipherable conversation about Holly between mysterious men and wouldn't give the police the location of the house where this dubious conversation took place? And Holly's family called Luanne "an angel." Odd. 

[Jordan61]

Definitely think it was Cody. They said they ruled him out based on text messages but I figure there is no reason he couldn't have used her phone to send messages to his phone. It's not like killers haven't done that before.

[Grumpbump]

The update at the end scared me.....a la Unsolved Mysteries.  

I don't understand why the police didn't process her truck  or get purse,  instead releasing both back to the husband.   Also if holly was spending most afternoons with Cody why would he be okay with this lunch thing.   It seemed like that was unusual but we never heard if Cody was alarmed by that.  I definitely lean toward Corfu knowing more than he lets on. 

[Claire85]

My DVR cut off the episode. In February human remains and green clothes were found...where? 

[Surrealist]

10 minutes ago, Claire85 said:

My DVR cut off the episode. In February human remains and green clothes were found...where? 

Two miles from where Holly's purse was found. At Lake Eufaula. 

I'm pretty sure those are her remains. 

18 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

Definitely think it was Cody. They said they ruled him out based on text messages but I figure there is no reason he couldn't have used her phone to send messages to his phone. It's not like killers haven't done that before.

Isn't there some steady statistic about how pregnancy is the number one cause of homicide for women? 

I understand why the husband is always a suspect, but lover Cody was married. He seems to have had more to lose with Holly being pregnant. It was supposedly his baby. 

Edited May 14, 2018 by Surrealist

[Annber03]

12 hours ago, Grumpbump said:

The update at the end scared me.....a la Unsolved Mysteries.  

Same. Between that and all the weird stuff with that Luanne girl I got a real shiver down my spine during those last ten minutes or so. So creepy.

I definitely think there's reason to suspect Cody, yeah. He's the last person she's seen with, and then her purse and belongings happen to show up in a random field some time afterward? Definitely odd. I'd figure if her husband had done something to her he'd have found a different way to dispose of her stuff...unless, of course, he wanted to throw it in a field to throw investigators off, perhaps.

But if any of what Holly's family said about her husband is true, I could see why people would suspect him, too. Sounds like Holly had the misfortune to be involved with two potentially shady men here :(. 

[Hellohappylife]

This was a weird one. Kinda all over the place really. I went from thinking it was her boyfriend that possibly did it to thinking maybe it was her husband & then the Luanne lady. (which now I’m pretty sure she didn’t kill holly)

Kinda odd that Luanne died from suicide shortly after giving police info about people discussing holly's Murder that they later ended up saying it wasn’t helpful.  I know it’s a stretch to wonder if her death was actually a suicide or done by someone else. Wouldn’t be the first time. 

What I found most interesting about this case compared to the others that we see on the show is that the Police seem to have made an effort to look for Holly right away. I see all the time they make some families wait days before they will even take the missing report serious & those people have no clues on the missing persons last wearabouts. But yet they had footage of holly clearly leaving with the boyfriend on her own. Plus they had a lot of Information on holly’s Secret relationship from her co-workers that told police she would take half days off to spend with the boyfriend & then go back home like she was at work all day. Plus she left her last husband the same exact way. 

Its great that they looked for her right away but I’m curious as to why is was treated differently when a lot of the evidence showed she could have just ran off again. 

Yet other families are turned down any help at all for their missing loved one. 

[Surrealist]

For me, the minute they mentioned how Luanne got involved, I thought that seemed off. 

Not because I thought she did it, but I couldn't understand why she got involved in the first place. Like she's a self-styled PI. 

I enjoy watching true crime shows, but that's as far as I go with my interest. Some people get a little too extra by getting involved in some way. 

I don't know whether Luanne committed suicide, or was killed. I didn't really care about her part of the story. I thought it detracted from the two main suspects. 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Surrealist

[GoldenGirl90]

On 5/14/2018 at 12:26 AM, Wierzbowski said:

Holly Cantrell-- THIS is the kind of case I'm talking about, the kind where there are clear suspects + motives. Do we all agree either Tommy the husband or Cody the lover did it? I'm personally going with Cody. Why did the police give up on him so easily? He had a motive-- a mistress whose possible pregnancy could destroy his family, friendships, etc. AND he had the time to do it. 

I'm leaning towards Cody being the one who did it. Why would Holly ask him to drop her off at a restaurant to meet with friends for lunch when she had her own car? Why did not a single one of Holly's friends come forward to say they were the "friend(s)" meeting with Holly for lunch? Cody also dropped Holly off in a place where no surveillance cameras were set up, so all the police have to go with is his word. How convenient, right?