Missing Person Mystery Solved

         The skeletal remains of Mitrice Richardson were found this past week in a rugged remote part of the Malibu area here in Southern California.  I first started posting about the disappearance of Mitrice last October 2 and followed the story for a few weeks after that. 

         To briefly recap the story, on the evening of last September 16th, Mitrice Richardson, a 24 year old clinical pschology student, had been at a restaurant in Malibu when police were called.  She did not have money to pay her bill, but to greater concern of the restaurant mangagement she was behaving bizarrely and bothering other customers.  Mitrice was arrested after marijuana was found in her car.  She was taken to a Malibu sheriff substation and held for a few hours.  When police came to the conclusion that she was sober and able to leave on her own they released her.  Since her car had been impounded, she left on foot even though she was quite far from home or anyone she knew.  There were some sightings of her in the area the following day, but no one ever heard from her from the time she had left the sheriff station.

        A skull and some bones were discovered by park rangers who had been searching the area for marijuana plants.  Examination revealed they were the bones of the missing woman.   Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said there was no indication of any foul play and determination of cause of death could prove difficult.  An investigation of probable cause of death is underway.  Also, there will undoubtedly be inquiries into the circumstances of Ms. Richardson's arrest and subsequent release.

        Mitrice Richardson had resurfaced in the news recently as a number of possible spottings in Las Vegas had been reported.  There had been speculation that she might be working in Las Vegas as a prostitute.   An ex-friend and even Mitrice's father thought they had seen her, but her mother did not believe it.   In fact, numerous sightings had been reported over the past year.

          I think that sometimes when someone is on our mind or we really want to see somebody who is gone, we are apt to mistake others for that person that we miss.   The desire to see a person that we miss can become so strong that we may quickly associate other people with similar attributes with the person we want to see.   

          Have you ever mistaken a person for someone else?  Have you ever been convinced that you have seen a particular person in a place only to discover they had been at a totally different place at the time you had thought you had seen them?   Had you heard the story about Mitrice Richardson?

           Oh, and happy Friday the 13th.

        

        

Nameless Prune Boy Found in Key West

         There are countless stories of people who have gone missing never to be found and those who have disappeared and later reappeared often under strange circumstances. I, like many writers probably do,  keep a file of strange and interesting newspaper stories that I have clipped over the years. Today I ran across this  mysterious story in my newsclipping file.  This story dates from the summer of 1972.

           It was June 4 in Key West, FL.  As evening approached on this typically Floridan warm day, a young man swam toward shore and walked onto the beach. This would not have been particularly unusual except for the fact that he look confused and his skin was so wrinkled that he looked like a prune.  He had apparently been in the water for a very long time.

          The young man began walking toward the roadway that flanked the beach, following the road until he came to a highway patrol station. When he entered the station the officers on duty were shocked by his shriveled appearance.  The distraught youth broke down and told the officers that he did not know who he was.  Having frequent encounters with drug addled youths reveling on vacation they at first thougth he might be under the influence of an intoxicant.  However, on further interrogation, the young man seemed essentially coherent other than not knowing his name, where he was  from, or even how old he was.

         He was a good looking kid who had a lean healthy build, a sandy mop of hair, and blue eyes.  The officers guessed that he was probably about nineteen years old and his accent sounded like he was from up north, probably in the midwest. The young man was wearing only cut-off jeans. He carried no identification and in his pockets he carried a compass, a pocketknife, and a can opener. He apparently hadn't done anything wrong and he seemed to be in good shape.

         Trying to get some more clues that might help them solve the mystery at hand, the officers questioned the young man further. He recalled only that he had been drifting out in the ocean for several hours.  Unsure of how he had gotten there, the only clear memory that he could recollect was clinging to some buoys.  Based on that  information the police surmised that these buoys were about four miles from shore.  The young man said after a while when it seemed that no one was going to come for him,  he began swimming toward the shore until he arrived at the beach.  That was all he could remember about his entire life.

           The officers took the young man to the Salvation Army where he could be fed and have a place to stay.  The Salvation Army staff found some clothes for him and a doctor checked him to make sure that he had not suffered any adverse effects from his ordeal.  He was given the name "John Doe", and after eating a meal, was given a bed where he quickly fell asleep.

           The next morning brought no new awareness to John Doe.  He still knew nothing, but was adapting well to his surroundings.  He was polite and intelligent and seemed to have good breeding.  Staff members at the Salvation Army took an immediate liking to John Doe and gave him odd jobs to do to keep him busy.  When he saw the old upright piano in the meeting hall he asked if he would be allowed to play and surprised the staff by playing in a reasonably good honky-tonk style.

         Hoping to unravel the mystery of John Doe's identity, a picture was taken and put in newspapers throughout the country with the story. The tactic paid off.  Richard Hazer of Dubuque, IA and Lisas Thomas of Hammond, IN both recognized the boy as the sixteen year old son of Mr. and Mrs. William Kadas of East Chicago, IN. The young man, now identified as Kim Kadas, had been in his amnesic state for ten days.

         Mr. and Mrs. Kadas immediately got the first flight they could and went to retrieve their son.  Upon seeing his parents he did not recognize them. But after looking through some family photos and talking to them his memory began flooding back. He still said he did not know what had happened to him. Later investigation found that he had actually left home April 11, but there was no indication from either him or his parents why he had left or where he had been.

           Time magazine reported that after the picture and story appeared in newspapers across the country that hundreds of harried mothers began calling to Key West hoping it was their runaway son who had been found.  Just think--if there were that many parents looking for runaways that match the description of Kim Kadas, how many other parents were looking for their kids of all descriptions?  Unfortunately, many of the tens of thousands of  persons who go missing each year are people who have run away. It's sad when we really start to notice and care and worry about loved ones when they've disappeared and it's too late.

           In ongoing update about the missing Mitrice Richardson , the young woman has still not been found after being gone for nearly two months.  A reward for solving the mystery has been upped to $15,000.  Activist groups, along with Mitrice's family and friends, are pushing for a federal investigation.

          Hope you have a great weekend.  Please come back to this blog often and sign up as a follower.

Disappearance on the Beach

     Halloween is a time of mystery, but it is also a time of family. The event day celebrates some elements of the realms of the mysterious and unknown. Typically though, we picture parents taking their children trick-or-treating through the neighborhood, families attending seasonal carnivals and festivals, and families throwing parties in the home. Today I’m going to look at a missing person mystery the hits closer to home for me.

      First I will update on the story I have been following for the past two Fridays. Mitrice Richardson remains missing. I find little about the story that is updated except for the Malibu Surfside News . According to the most recent article her father is becoming increasingly visible in the public eye to tell his daughter’s story and express his concern that the case is being mishandled by police and the media. I will continue to follow this story until it fades away.

      This is usually what happens with many of these stories. They gradually fade away. The missing persons end up as a part of databases and police files. Their stories may be resurrected on the anniversaries of the disappearances, but they are then again forgotten by most, but not the families. The missing might be someone’s child, spouse, or other family member. One of my cousins is among the missing.

     I really didn’t know Kathy Sue Haskell. I had met her a few times, but we lived too far apart to really get to know one another. However, I often heard about her and what she was up to. My mother and her mother (my father’s sister) were very close and would often spend time together or speak on the phone. Kathy eventually married and had a son. She lived with her family in Corpus Christi, Texas.

     According to the story recounted by her husband, at about 10 PM on the night of October 16, 2003 Kathy said she was going to go out to “unwind”. He said that she had been stressed of late. Also there had been some marital and financial problems which probably contributed a great deal to her stress. After Kathy did not return, her husband went out the following morning and found her van parked by the beach not far from their home. The van was locked and there was no sign of Kathy.

     The police were called in to investigate. Kathy’s vehicle keys, purse, and medications were located inside the van. The beach area was searched for several days, and police checked nearby hotels and any other leads they were given. Out-of-state relatives were contacted to see if she had contacted any of them. Kathy’s father put up a reward for anyone who offered information that led to locating her and he attempted to get the story more national attention. However no sign of Kathy was ever found and the case remains open.

       As with any story of this nature there is plenty of speculation as to what might have happened to Kathy, but no proof has been found to substantiate any of these theories. It is quite possible due to the proximity of where the van was found that she could have gone into the water and drowned, but there was never a body to be found. Many people have disappeared near the ocean or other bodies of water. Since Kathy was geographically so far away from any of her family and to a great extent out of touch with most of them, and since the main information comes from her husband with whom she was not getting along very well, it is difficult to really know exactly what her state of mind was. Two weeks after Kathy’s disappearance, her husband filed for divorce and requested a restraining order to keep her from taking their son. No one has heard from her since that night she drove her van to the beach. She was only 41 when she vanished.

              

Kathy Sue Parucha
Haskell
Missing since 10/16/03
from Corpus Christi, TX

Lost in the Great Smoky Mountains

          Halloween often conjures images of ghosts and other mysterious beings lost and wandering in the night.  Unsettled souls who have not found rest in the afterlife haunt the living as seen or unseen supernatural forces that chill and terrify. I personally don't have any proof that ghosts exist, but some of the most frightening and mysterious stories are the true tales of people who disappear without a trace. Today, in what has become a Friday tradition on this blog, we will look back on some unsolved missing persons reports that have come out of the Great Smoky Mountains.

             My interest in missing persons has recently been sparked by the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson , who still has not been found. I have not seen a great deal of coverage in the local news media and a check on Google mostly brings up stories that are over a week old. Apparently there is not much in the way of new information and there is not enough sensationalism factor to the story to warrant more coverage than the story has received.  However, I did come across some information that I had not previously heard in the MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS in a story by Anne Soble which was dated October 14.  The Los Angeles Police Department continues to work on the case and has followed up on reported sightings from Northern California to New Mexico-- the LAPD is convinced that she is still alive somewhere. Some of Mitrice's family members, including her father, have complained that police were slow to act on the case and that not enough has been done so far.  According to this article there are feelings among some that some of the problems of the case may stem not only from race, but also from gender, and from the fact that Mitrice was gay.  An insinuation was made by an undisclosed source that perhaps Mitrice did not want to stay overnight in the jail and was anxious to leave because of the attentions of the jailer, "a black woman" -- at least this is what I derive from what the article says. Mitrice was released in the dark early morning hours in an area that is relatively remote and with rugged canyons. Was she lost in that canyonland, was she a victim of foul play, or did she just take off for her own reasons and is still out there somewhere? 

 What happened to Mitrice Richardson?

            According to Tru TV , 2300 hundred people a day are reported as missing in the United States  The National Institute of Justice makes the following statement:

"The facts are sobering. On any given day, there are as many as 100,000 active missing persons cases in the United States. Every year, tens of thousands of people vanish under suspicious circumstances. Viewed over a 20-year period, the number of missing persons can be estimated in the hundreds of thousands"

Dennis Martin

        In the summer of 1969 I had recently graduated from high school and had just begun working a summer job in construction to raise funds for my upcoming first year at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  Neil Armstrong had not yet become the first man to set foot on the moon and Woodstock was still two months away.  It was June 14, Father's Day, when something would occur that captured headlines in the Tennessee papers and tug at the hearts of millions throughout the nation.  Dennis Martin, who was about to turn seven years old, had been camping with his family in the Great Smoky Mountains. Their campsite was in Spence Field, a highland meadow near the Appalachian Trail. The area was somewhat remote requiring campers to backpack to the site. At about 4 PM on that Sunday, Dennis was playing with his older brother and two other boys when they decided to hide and scare their parents.  Dennis was instructed to come from one direction because he was wearing a bright red shirt that made him easily visible while the other boys waited in hiding to scare the parents. When the parents arrived the three boys jumped out from their hiding place but Dennis was nowhere to be found.  The father began calling for Dennis and then, according to the reports,  when there was no answer they began searching for him not more than 3 to 5 minutes after he had disappeared.  The boy's grandfather hiked down the mountain to alert park rangers who joined the family in the search throughout the night and with pouring thunderstorms.
             As the week progressed, hundreds of trained personnel and volunteers scoured the area in search of "little Dennis Martin" as the media referred to him. The FBI was called in to investigate on the possibility that Dennis had been kidnapped.  After two weeks the intensive campaign was called off, althougth the search continued for the next two and a half months by a team of experienced park rangers.No trace was ever found of the boy and after 40 years  the case remains open until this day.

Trenny Lynn Gibson

           Little Dennis Martin is but one of many who have disappeared without a trace in the Smoky Mountains. On October 8, 1976 a group of 40 Knoxville high school students were hiking to Andrews Bald.  They had eventually broken down into smaller groups according to pace.  Sixteen year old  Trenny Lynn Gibson had joined various groups throughout the afternoon.  Then sometime around 3 PM she disappeared.  She was last seen near Clingman's Dome, an area highly popular with tourists. The search for Trenny continued until the end of October but not a clue was found.  Until this day no one has reported ever hearing from her.  There is plenty of rumor and speculation after over 30 years but perhaps no one will ever really know what happed to Trenny Lynn Gibson. 

Thelma Pauline Melton

            Twenty-eight years ago Thelma Pauline Melton disappeared while hiking with two friends on the  popular Deep Creek Trail in the National Park.  The 58 year old woman, who was overweight and had some health problems, is said to have walked this trail for 20 years. At around 4 PM, as the three friends were returning to the campground where they were staying, Thelma began walking ahead of the others. They saw her disappear over a hill and that is the last they ever saw of her. There are various theories ranging from becoming disoriented and becoming lost, to suicide, to running away because she was having an affair. We may never know and the case remains unresolved.

            Stories of people vanishing into thin air are intriguing, tragic, and sometimes even romantic. Can you imagine the terror of being lost in the woods or kidnapped?  The recent stories about Jaycee Dugard remind us that missing people can be found after many years.  What you do if you became lost in the mountains or taken captive by someone you didn't know?  Have you ever imagined just taking off on your own without telling anyone?  In any of these cases, who would miss you and who would be hurt?  Ghosts don't have to be supernatural.  Sometimes our memories are like ghosts.

Mysteries in the Night

           Halloween will continue to be a primary topic on this blog until the end of October--that is unless an onslaught of disgruntled comments ask me to stop.  I do have more to say on the subject of Halloween and the economy which I will continue. In future blogs, I intend to address issues such as Halloween as Tradition, ways that Halloween is celebrated, the whys of Halloween,  costume ideas, Halloween from the religious viewpoint, Halloween entertainment, Halloween stories, and other Halloween related topics.  If any readers have anything special about Halloween to bring up I'd like to talk about that as well. 
          
           In a comment to one of my earlier blogs, Jennifer Hudson Taylor suggested that a "regular blog schedule" might be a helpful approach to giving a sense of continuity to one's efforts.  She suggests that readers like to know what to expect and may come back if they are routinely looking for something that interests them.  I guess this might be similar to watching a favorite TV show on a regular basis.  Many of us are creatures of habit.  I may try to develop my entries somewhat along these lines. Maybe I won't go so far as WACKY WEDNESDAYS  or SOMBER SUNDAYS, but the idea has merit and I may be playing with this.  So in that spirit I offer you the following:

          In my post of a week ago, I talked about some DARK MYSTERIES that I had read about recently. Yesterday's Los Angeles Times offered an update on the story of Mitrice Richardson, a 24-year-old woman    who had just outright seemed to have disappeared after she was released  from police custody at 1:25 AM on September 17.  She had been arrested after she had refused to pay a bill at a Malibu restaurant and then police discovered marijuana in her car.  Witnesses reported that she had been acting "odd, but entertaining".  Later police decided it was okay to let her go and sent her on her way with no purse, cell phone, or car.  That was the last confirmed sighting of Mitrice.  Since then there have been several reports of possible sightings but nothing confirmed.  Earlier this week a body was found in a burning dumpster in Santa Fe Springs, CA but police determined that the body was not Mitrice.  However police and relatives of the young woman are convinced that she is still alive somewhere. Where is Mitrice?  Let's pray that this young woman will be found unharmed and can continue on with her promising life.

             In the same posting I also mentioned the death of Amy Farris, a talented violin player who had been  in the group DAVE ALVIN AND THE GUILTY WOMEN.  Suicide is the suspected cause for death but so far I have not seen any other confirmation about this.  I have seen nothing but praises and accolades for her talents and for her as a person.  The loss of someone like this is so tragic.  And there have been so many.
The story made me think of another musical artist who departed having left a huge impact, but with so much more that could have been accomplished. 

            Gene Eugene was a musical genius the way I look at it.  I had been a fan and follower of Gene's for many years when I heard that he had died.  He was the primary creative force behind the highly innovative Christian rock/funk band ADAM AGAIN.  Gene produced, engineered, sang, played, and wrote most of the songs on the group's albums.  If they had not been hindered by the label of being identified as a "Christian" band they might have been much bigger than they were.  Let's face it-- to be indentified as a "Christian" band tends to turn off a lot of the pop music audience. Nevertheless, Gene was highly regarded in his music circles.  He also lent his immense talents in contributions to other groups' recording efforts and produced the albums of many more in his Green Room recording studio in Huntington Beach, CA. On March 20, 2000 Gene Andrusco (his real name) died in his sleep.  His friends said he had not been feeling well prior to his death and had said he had a headache before he had gone to bed.  He had also been in a car accident prior to his death and had been complaining about headaches. I never saw any absolute confirmation of what the cause of death was but at the age of 38 it was far too soon.  I met Gene at a party once, but didn't talk to him as much as I wished later on-- I think I was so surprised to find him at this particular party, a Halloween related party strangely enough, that I was just taken by surprise that he would have been there.  In any case, any rock music fans who are not familiar with Gene Eugene and the music with which he is associated you should check him out.  Some of the bands that he was connected with besides ADAM AGAIN are the LOST DOGS and THE SWIRLING EDDIES, not to mention the numerous bands for which he produced albums.  Click on this link to read more about Gene Eugene .

          Finally, last week I talked about another stupid gang-related death.  One could probably do an entire blog about nothing but this topic.  I am not going to go into this subject today, but I'm sure that I will sometime in the future.

           Leave a comment if you wish.  I'd love to hear what anyone has to say about any of this.  Anybody familiar with the music of Amy Farris?   Do you have any favorite Christian artists?  What is you opinion of Contemporary Christian Music?  I look forward to hearing from you.

Dark Mysteries

         Halloween conjures images of night and darkness.  Bats and black cats, witches, vampires, zombies, and other creatures of the night are offered up to frighten us during the Halloween season.  But the most frightening  or most puzzling mysteries of the darkness are the ones that we can read about everyday in the newspaper.  Here are three that I read about today:

Mitrice Richardson

      "She's afraid of the dark and always has been," said  Latice Sutton, the mother of Mitrice Richardson.  Mitrice Richardson was arrested on the night of September 16 after she refused to pay a bill at an upscale restaurant in Malibu, California.  Witnesses at the restaurant said the petite 24 year old black woman had begun acting in a rather odd fashion.  Police were called.  They admininstered a sobriety test and determined that she was not drunk.  After finding marijuana in her car they arrested her and took her to a nearby sheriff substation and impounded her car.  Latice was processed at the station and eventually released.  Her mother was going to pick her up later that morning, however for some reason Mitrice decided to leave on her own on foot saying that she was going to meet friends.  She is a doctorate student in Clinical Psychology who had recently graduated with a 4.0 average. She was a past beauty pageant contestant who has a good job and who is active in her community.  Why she was behaving so strangely that evening is indeed a mystery. But what happened after she left the police station at about 1 AM the morning of September 17 is perhaps a bigger mystery.  She disappeared and has yet to be heard from.  There have been a few reported but unconfirmed sightings.  What was going with Mitrice that night?  And why would a young woman who was afraid of the dark take off by herself in the darkness of the early morning in a place far from her home.  Where is Mitrice?

Amy Farris

         A beautiful, talented violin player, Amy Farris was a session musician who had played with many great artists and was highly regarded in the music industry.  She had come to Los Angeles from Austin, Texas to further pursue her music dreams. Amy was part of a new musical group, Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, and the future was looking promising.  Then on Tuesday September 29 she was found dead in her home.  It was most probably suicide, but investigations are underway to confirm this.  I do not know anything about Amy Farris other than what the papers stated, but her story is just another of many other talented people who end their lives.  Year after year we have read of people who seem like they should have everything to live for but end their lives. What darkness overcomes these lives to make them end them?  It is a darkness I do not understand.

Andrew Garcia

        Little Andrew Garcia, 4 months old, was just innocently being fed when he became just another victim of Los Angeles area gang insanity.  It was in the darkness at about 1 AM Sunday morning September 27 in Van Nuys.  He was in the backseat of a car being fed by a woman, not his mother, who was also shot and sent to the hospital.  Andrew however was shot in the head and died.  Another man was also shot but he was apparently not to seriously wounded.  The police did not specifically attribute the incident to "gang violence", but all indications were that everyone involved had gang affiliations.  I personally don't understand this gangster mentality or why there is not more pressure to eliminate gangs.  Of course we have wonderful organizations like the ACLU to protect the rights of gangbangers and many of the gangs have the money for top notch legal defense.  The innocent pay the price for the freedom of gangs to exist.  Gang culture is a darkness that casts on ominously evil shadow over the future of our nation.

            There are many awful things that happen under the cover of night.  And the evil darkside of the human soul can cast its shadow no matter what the time of day.  This is why each of us who despise the evil dark need to shine our lights for good.