Words, Words, Words ( #BOTB Results )

Did words evade me when it came to writing this post?  Was I just kind of lazy?  Or were the words too many with every expectation that the words would end up lost in the pages of this blog?   I wonder sometimes, but my wondering doesn't consume me.  The words are everywhere, but nowhere all at once...


Words in the Wind

          A lot of words have gone into the blog posts of Tossing It Out over the past decade plus.  I have played with words and dallied with ideas.  At times I have attempted to inspire, inform, and incite.  Perhaps there have been some successes while at other times I've considered just putting all the words aside and forgetting about this particular writing platform.  And yet I remain.

         In my third post back in September of 2009 ( a post upon which no one commented so I'm not sure it was ever actually read by anyone), I presented this mission statement for Tossing It Out:

The "Tossing It Out" blog is here to entertain, stimulate, and inform whenever possible. The author will make every attempt to be accurate and fair at all times and will be open to the input of any readership the blog may develop. There is no set course, no absolute purpose, and the content, though at times random, will strive for cohesion and clarity.

      While I do believe that I have mostly lived up to this statement in my acts of writing, my goal of  "tossing out" ideas, controversies, and other contemplations has fallen by the wayside to a great extent.  Though I have managed to keep a fairly consistent participatory readership returning to my music posts and my monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group posts, there is rarely the level of engagement in the comment section like I had once envisioned.  Now, to be sure, there are still some wonderful comments that continue to come my way, but something still seems to be lacking.

       What it comes down to is that there is so much more that I'd like to say at times and yet I hesitate to let the words flow.  Maybe it's a concern of losing readers because of controversial ideas that turn some of them off.  It has happened on my blog as well as others I've followed over the years--maybe even some of your blogs.  People get offended--they get mad.  They go away.

         "It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away" says the Bee Gees song.  And when I've tried and failed and instead of taking hearts away, I've sometimes driven them away.  But that's life I guess when you have opinions. 

          So now I perfunctorily write words in regular monthly posts about music and writing.  Just to keep the blog alive in one respect, but also on a precipice of wanting to say something and yet stepping back when I'm too close to the edge of the cliffs of controversy. 

          Does anybody really want my words?  Do they need them?  Do they want or need your words?  We go on writing.  Or posting pictures maybe.  Or perhaps sharing videos.  We write words, speak words, read words, listen to words.  Does it matter? 

         Missing Persons said it pretty well in their song "Words":

Do you hear me
Do you care
My lips are moving and the sound's coming out
The words are audible but i have my doubts
That you realize what has been said
You look at me as if you're in a daze
It's like the feeling at the end of the page
When you realize you don't know what you just read
What are words for when no one listens anymore

     Those are my words on this Labor Day.  What are yours?  Maybe you can leave some thoughts in the comment section.


Battle of the Bands Results

         The Battle at hand was a three-way match between Bee Gees, Neil Young, and Missing Persons all performing different songs with the same title of "Words".   I know all three songs well and I like all three almost equally well.  However, in the interest of the Battle I must choose one as my own favorite.

         I began listening to Bee Gees early on in their career and their song "Words" was a standout favorite for me in their early years.  This is a classic hit that I still enjoy hearing.  I couldn't recall the Missing Persons song by title alone, but when I heard it I realized I'd heard it many many times and always liked it. It was an MTV and radio mainstay in the eighties and hearing their "Words" again reminded me how much fun eighties music was for many of us.  Most of my music buying was in the eighties, though never did I buy an album by Missing Persons.  But I think their song is excellent especially after focusing on the lyrics which have maybe more to say in our time than four decades ago.  "Words" by Missing Persons in my view is a great song and I almost gave my vote to that one.

       Which brings me to the song that really inspired this Battle.  Back when Neil Young's Harvest album came out, the song that most caught my attention was "Words" even though there were other songs that got more critical attention and airplay.  "Words" had that spacey dreamy sound that attracted me to Young's music so much.  At the time I commented to friends on a number of occasions that even though being the longest song on the album clocking in at over six minutes, I wished it were even longer. I wanted it to last the entire album side.  From the comments some readers left on my Battle, their is some disagreement about my thought to the point that some even think it's one of Young's worst songs.  It is one of my favorites. 

        After the Harvest album had been out for a while, my dream of the long version of "Words" came true when Young released the double album Journey Through the Past with a version of the song that lasts sixteen and a half minutes.  A nightmare for some of you I guess, but for me I was in "Words" heaven.

         And of course what this all means now is that my vote goes to Neil Young's "Words" even though I almost equally enjoy hearing any of these three songs.


Final Vote Tally

Bee Gees                  11 votes

Neil Young                 5 votes

Missing Persons         5 votes



      Next Battle of the Bands on Tuesday September 15th

       I've got plenty of words about plenty of subjects, but for now I'll keep them to myself.  When I vent these days it's usually on Facebook or Twitter.  Now those are places where words fly freely and I've only been placed in "Twitter jail" twice so far.  I'm trying to be careful.













  

Words ( #BOTB & #IWSG )

         Words are the reason I write.  They also provide an effective way of communicating verbally.  Life is pretty well encompassed by words.  And then there is The Word...


The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 


The co-hosts for the September 2 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Louise - Fundy Blue!

September 2 question - If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

        This year with all that has been going on I've been thinking a lot about George Orwell. I've only read a couple of his books--Animal Farm and 1984.  There might have been another book that was not fiction, but now I can't recall what is was.

          In a sort of fixation to find pandemic related movies, I tracked down a passable copy of 1984 on YouTube for my wife and I to watch.  Orwell's thinking was rather prescient of our times though he had to have been influenced by the wave of fascism that swept Europe in mid-twentieth century. The guy had not only a good grasp on the English language and a clever approach to words, but he was a literary critic as well.  Seems like someone who could be helpful getting my writing in shape.

          Wikipedia says the following:

In his essay "Politics and the English Language" (1946), Orwell wrote about the importance of precise and clear language, arguing that vague writing can be used as a powerful tool of political manipulation because it shapes the way we think. In that essay, Orwell provides six rules for writers:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

        If nothing else, this set of guidelines might be nice to print out to have posted in ones writing space. 

         And while I'm on the subject of words, how about three very different songs that were big releases from three different decades by three different artists competing in another...


Battle of the Bands

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.



Bee Gees  "Words" (1968)






Neil Young    "Words"  (1972)




Missing Persons  "Words"   (1982)






Time to Vote!
        
           Put your preference into words.  Which song do you prefer?   Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘Storms and Stardust’ 

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

The Doglady's Den 

Angel's Bark  

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Cherdo on the Flipside 

A I Love Music


Winner of this Battle Announced on Monday      September 7
       
        Lately I don't get many comments on my results posts, but I see the page hits showing up in my analytics so I guess people come back to at least check.  I will post my results, but likely have an economy with words.  Well, that is, unless I really have something that I want to say.


          Would you want a literary critic as a beta partner?  During the pandemic have you been drawn to more dystopian type films and books?   What is your favorite resource for finding interesting words?  

People You Don't Really Know

       In July of 1991 I moved my family to Downey, California in order to take a management job at the West Coast office of a large wholesale costume company.  The manager who I replaced was retiring due to issues with failing health.  Our warehouse was relatively small in size requiring only a permanent staff of a lady who did the office work and a husband and wife duo who ran the warehouse itself.  The business was primarily seasonal--a few months leading up to Halloween--so we would hire extra help for those couple of months, but most of the year it was me, Eva, and Tani and Luci.

      Estanislao Prado Gonzalez was a few years younger than I. He was a studious contemplative guy from Mexico.  I related well to him--or at least his interests--as he enjoyed listening to a wide range of music and reading a variety of books in English.  Though he spoke with a distinct accent, his English was excellent.  I relied on him to help me communicate with our Spanish speaking customers.  Since he seemed to be a passive quiet guy, Tani (as we called him) was easy to get along with.  The only times I ever saw him speaking in an aggressive angry tone was with his wife, Luz.

     Unlike her husband, Luz was a very hard worker.   Also from Mexico, Luz spoke no English, but that did not prevent her from doing her work without ever being told what to do.  And she was always doing something while much of the time Tani would sit at his shipping desk reading, listening to the radio or cassettes, or just idly daydreaming.  However they were an efficient team and together they got each day's chores done as they needed to be done.  

       The outgoing manager, a sickly heavy-set woman of about sixty, had told me that she suspected that sometimes Tani abused his spouse; that Luz would sometimes come to work with eyes blackened and looking roughed up.  I never saw any evidence that would have suggested any physical violence, but Tani did seem to exert a sort of control over her even though Luz came across as a pretty tough lady.

       Luz was an attractive woman who looked toughened by whatever her past had given her.  Probably about the same age as Tani, she had living with them two teenage daughters from a previous relationship.  Tani and Luz had a set of twins that had been born shortly before I arrived to my new job managing the costume company.

       The couple was a tremendous asset to me as I started a job that was quite different than the touring theater job I had previously held with the same company as I was now still working for.  Still, the pressure of learning a new job was soon complicated by my wife leaving me to raise our three young girls ages ranging from ten to three.  I lived very close to work and as manager I had a great deal of freedom to address the needs of my children and deal with a bad marital situation that was obviously headed toward divorce.  These were very stressful years for me.

      As the first few years passed I became comfortable with the new job while facing the personal challenges that had been thrown my way.  Fortunately people came into my life that helped things to flow more smoothly.   Soon after becoming the primary parent in charge I began having Luz's daughters babysit for me on occasions when I needed to be out.  The young girls were both teenagers and accustomed to childcare since they usually babysat the twins while Luz worked.  Both girls were competent and trustworthy.  

        They girls were beautiful, well-mannered, and seemed to be pretty intelligent.  I preferred the oldest, Edith, to babysit because she would always do some housecleaning while I was out without me ever asking her to do so.  Her sister, Gabriela, did her babysitting job with no cleaning.  Either way I was more than happy to have two babysitters I could rely on. 

         In 1994 things began to change at work.  Early in the year Eva died.  Eva was overweight, sickly, and she smoked to an excess which gave her a persistent cough.  Though it put a lot more responsibility on my shoulders, I was able to take over Eva's work even during the busy Halloween season since I could rely on Tani and Luz to manage what needed to be done in the warehouse and a couple months of temporary helpers made their work load bearable.  We got through that season with a lot of weekends and late hours, but we succeeded nevertheless.

       After Halloween the temp workers were let off and the quiet season of getting the warehouse back into order began so we could prepare for the end of the year inventory.   There was an election that I didn't pay much attention to other than noting the controversy surrounding Proposition 187 which was a law regarding illegal immigrants.  I didn't consider this to be of any great concern to me.   My interests at the time were more directed at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

        I don't remember that particular Thanksgiving, but I do remember coming back to work on that next Monday to find myself the only one there--no Tani or Luci.   Surprised that they had not let me know anything beforehand, I went about my usual duties and waited to hear from them.  Finally a call came and Tani was on the line.

        Tani told me that they were afraid about the passing of Proposition 187 and had decided to move back to Mexico.  I was shocked since I had no idea they were working illegally.  I had figured everything had been taken care of by the lady who had hired them and I saw no problems with them being there.  Not wanting to lose such excellent employees I assured Tani that if they would come back to work, the company would get them an immigration attorney to iron things out.  He told me it was too late as Luz and the girls were already in Mexico.   Tani said he was in San Diego and wanted to come back to pick up their last paychecks which would be arriving in the office that coming Friday.  I told him that I would have to find out and that he should call me back.

        Later, the mother of Edith's boyfriend called me with great concern about the family's whereabouts.  I told her what Tani had told me, but she wasn't buying that story. She expressed a fear that something was not right and she was going to call the police.  Some time later a detective from the Downey police department contacted me.  He explained there was no absolute proof that they found, but there was enough to suspect that something dreadful might have happened.   There was what appeared to be blood on the carpets even though someone had very efficiently cleaned the now empty apartment with bleach and other strong cleaning fluids.   The other odd point was that the family had moved into the apartment just a few days prior to their leaving.  Tani had told someone at the apartments that they were going back to Mexico and that his wife and kids were already gone.

     The police had instructed me to make arrangements for Tani to pick up the checks and they would be waiting for him.  Sad and a bit nervous about Tani coming back, I waited at the center of a police stake-out.  I wasn't sure what would happen--if there would be some kind of violence or I would see Tani being hauled off glaring at me with a hurt sense of betrayal.  

       But Tani never showed up and nothing happened.  The police told me what I should do if I happened to hear from him again.   I never heard from him or saw him again.  Eventually the police tucked the issue away in the cold case file.  They didn't have the technology yet to help them tell the complete story behind the evidence the police had taken from the apartment.  Later, in 1996, some kids in Las Vegas found the remains of a body beside a street outside of town.  Upon further investigation the police found two more bodies nearby.   Police presumed the remains were prostitutes, but they could not identify those remains. 

      Finally in 1999 a Downey detective became curious about the case and started doing some investigation.   He tracked Tani to Las Vegas where he was working and living in squalid conditions with the twins.  Still it took a while to build a case without any convicting evidence.  Diligent detective work brought results and with the help of the Las Vegas police they were able to bring Tani in for questioning.   Tani eventually confessed to brutally murdering Luz Mucino and her daughters Edith, age 18, and Gabriela, age 17, and dumping their bodies.  It's likely that he had help, but though there is at least one suspect, no one else was charged with the crime.  Estanislao Gonzalez was sentenced to three life terms in 2004.

        Some readers might be thinking that this would be a good story for the television show Cold Case Files and it was--you can watch the episode here or on YouTube.   They actually brought a film crew to the warehouse I managed and followed me around that spooky place as they interviewed me.  They also filmed some of the scary props we had on display.   None of this made it into the episode.  Though no mention was made to me from the upper echelon of the company, I suspect that they too were contacted by the film company about the episode and it was all nixed for legalities and protection of our company image.  But I never asked and no one ever told me anything.  I didn't even get a DVD copy of the show like the producer had promised me.  That's show biz I guess.

       There are several  news accounts of this story if you search it out, but if you want to read a couple that appeared in papers in my area you can read the articles in the Los Angeles Times or the Long Beach Press Telegram. 

        What incidents in your life give you the creeps when you think about them?    Why do you think Tani would have murdered his wife and step-daughters so brutally?    Have you ever been interviewed for a television segment that was never aired?        

         

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.