32 replies to this topic

[Kelly]

http://www.madisonco...ArticleID=39871

11/8/2007 3:00:00 PM 

Tour calls attention to missing persons

Laura Halleman
Courier Staff Writer

On Oct. 17, 2000, 40-year-old singer-songwriter Gina Bos disappeared after playing at a local pub in Lincoln, Neb. A mother of three, Gina's car was found across the street from the pub with her guitar in the trunk. She has not been seen or heard from since.

On Aug. 26, 1995, 23-year-old Heather Teague was lying in the sun on a beach in Spottsville, Ky. When a witness says a man appeared from behind her, jerked her up by her hair and drug her into the woods. She has not been seen or heard from since.

On Sept. 3, 2006, 44-year-old Walter Smith, Jr. was last seen at his home in Edinburgh. His black, 2000 Daewoo Laganza was located abandoned two months later on the north side of Franklin. He has not been seen or heard from since.

And the list goes on and on. According to the FBI, tens of thousands of people vanish under suspicious circumstances each year, and there are as many as 100,000 active missing-persons cases daily.

As time goes by and the leads on a missing person fade, law enforcement officials eventually deem them cold cases. But for the families and friends, the unknown of what has happened to their loved one is a constant ache, and their strength and resilience spur them to continue their quest for answers by banding together with other families to find the missing and find creative outlets in doing so.

One such nonprofit organization is www.411Gina.org. Founded in 2001 by Gina Bos' sister, Jannel Rap, the mission of the organization is to bring together musicians and media through what has become known as The Squeaky Wheel Tour.

"After my sister disappeared, I got very depressed for some time. One night I went to bed and sat up in the morning and thought, 'We need to get news attention about this. We need to make some noise,'" Rap said. "I knew Gina was pushing me to do this, and I couldn't look at her kids and not do something about it. It was as if God told me what to do, too. I never knew what faith was until she disappeared."

So that's what Rap did. She made some noise. Continually calling the detectives working on Gina's case, Rap made her voice heard because Gina's could not be, she said.

With the inception of the Squeaky Wheel Tour, Rap, who is a member of the tour's headliner band Clementine, said her hope is to bring media attention to missing people whose circumstances surrounding their disappearance are not deemed "lurid" or "dramatic" enough to receive national attention.

The concert tour is held annually, and this year it played 19 shows across the country, including one that generated a packed house at the Electric Lady in Madison. As with each show, fliers with the faces and details of local missing persons are laid out on tables and displayed on posters for those in attendance to see.

Molly Dattilo, who grew up in Madison and who disappeared in Indianapolis on July 6, 2004, was one of several missing persons from the surrounding area whose disappearance was highlighted.

Last year, the tour brought home 10 people, including a boy who had run away from his home in Indiana and was living in New York City.

The missing boy attended the concert in New York and saw his face on the CD cover as one that was missing. He realized his parents did care and were looking for him, so he contacted his parents after the show.

The show in Madison brought out many relatives from Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky whose loved ones are missing.

Two women in attendance, whose daughters disappeared in separate states, share a heartbreaking similarity. Although the two men responsible for their daughters' deaths were convicted and given lengthy prison sentences based on circumstantial evidence, they refuse to tell these mothers where their daughters remains are, leaving them without closure.

Patti Bishop's stepdaughter Karen Jo Smith, 35, disappeared from Indianapolis on Dec. 27, 2000. Smith divorced Steven D. Halcomb after a volatile, abusive relationship. Halcomb was convicted and sentenced to 95 years in prison for the murder of Smith, but her remains have not been found and Halcomb isn't talking.

"He has a narcissistic personality, and I don't know if he'll ever tell us where she is, but we will never stop searching for her," Bishop said.

Bishop is now heavily involved in domestic violence awareness and is a volunteer for TeamHOPE, a support network for families of missing children and adults. In 2001, after contacting Rap, she helped organize the first Squeaky Wheel Tour to be held in Indiana.

"It's a passion of mine now. You never realize that in a split second someone you love and cherish will disappear from your life. We will never let other families give up hope," Bishop said.

On Aug. 28, 1996, 22-year-old Carrie Culberson disappeared from Wilmington, Ohio. Culberson's abusive ex-boyfriend, Vincent Doan, was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for her murder. Her remains have not been found. At Doan's sentencing, Carrie's mother, Debbie Culberson, urged Doan to tell her where her daughter's body could be found, but her pleas were met with silence.

"We have told him that if he would tell us where Carrie is, we would agree to a sentence reduction, but he has so far refused," Culberson said. "I and my daughter have been robbed of the natural grieving process that comes with losing a loved one because of this. Some people say our bodies are just a vessel, but it's that physical bond that we need to have closure."

She has since channeled her grief and frustration by working with Congressman Steve Chabot to get legislation passed that would require mandated testing of any unidentified dead and a national repository for these test results for all states to be able to access.

This week the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs demonstrated the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUS, that the department had announced it was setting up in July. NamUs is a national database for matching unidentified human remains with records of missing persons. Ultimately, medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement officials, forensic professionals and the public will be able to use the database to search and match missing persons records and information about unidentified human remains.

The Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Statistics found that on average, 4,400 unidentified human bodies are received in medical examiners' and coroners' offices each year, and about 1,000 remain unidentified after a year.

The database is at www.namus.gov.

Culberson said she feels guilt for her other daughter for what she said is the "Left Behind Children" syndrome.

"I was there for her physical needs when she was growing up, but I was so absorbed in the trial and finding Carrie that she not only lost her sister, she lost me, and sadly, that has put a strain on our relationship," Culberson said.

The grassroots organizations are a monumental aid to those who want to spread the word of a missing loved one or to console those who have or are experiencing the agony of the unknown that some say is indescribable unless someone has gone through it.

But they know their work is not done. With each passing day, another flier with the photo of a missing son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father or other relative is posted in a neighborhood.

"Some people say to me, 'It's been years since your daughter disappeared. Maybe it's time you let it go and moved on with your life,'" Sarah Teague, the mother of Heather Teague, said. "I tell them I will not rest until I have justice, but more importantly I will not stop searching, waiting, hoping and praying for a miracle. How can I? I am her mother."

For more on missing persons or to post information on a missing person, visit www.411Gina.org or www.teamhope.org.

[Denise]

http://www.wthr.com/...9&nav=menu188_2

Investigators search for Karen Jo Smith's remains

Posted: Nov 8, 2007 05:08 PM CST

Indianapolis - A possible break in the case of an Indianapolis woman missing for seven years yielded nothing, police said Thursday.

Investigators acting on a tip from the missing persons unit searched a wooded area near the White River near Mozel Sanders Park, west of downtown across the river from old Bush Stadium.

They were looking for the remains of Karen Jo Smith, who disappeared December 27, 2000. A jury convicted her husband for murder in 2004 and he was sentenced to 95 years in prison.

A family member says a search dog spotted something in a wooded area - a pair of jeans the same size that Karen Jo Smith would have worn. Investigators searched a 200-square-foot area with cadaver dogs but in the end did not find anything.

Patti Bishop, Smith's mother, said her daughter "never met a stranger" and would go out of her way to help people.

Investigators searched the area for several hours but did not find any remains.

[Kelly]

http://www.theindych...080/detail.html

Police: No Evidence Of Woman's Remains Near River
Site Searched After Family Receives Tip

POSTED: 4:55 pm EST November 8, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -- Police on Thursday said they found no evidence that remains of a long-missing Indianapolis woman were near the White River as suggested by a tip that her family received.

Police went to the site near the river and West 10th Street after Karen Jo Smith's family said they received an e-mailed tip that her remains were there. The family also had told police that a missing-persons group sent two cadaver dogs to the site, and that the dogs had indicated something was there.

But an investigator from the county coroner's office on Thursday found nothing indicating that any remains were there, police told 6News' Cheryl Jackson.

"A representative from the coroner's office -- a physician who is trained in this sort of thing -- has come out here and checked the scene and cannot find any indication that there is or has been a body at that location," Indianapolis police Sgt. Paul Thompson said.

Police said they had no plans to search the site again.

Smith, of Indianapolis, was last seen Dec. 27, 2000, when she was 35. Her ex-husband, Steven Halcomb, was convicted in late 2004 of murdering her even though her body hadn't been found.

Halcomb was sentenced in January 2005 to 95 years in prison for Smith's murder. Court records said Halcomb told cellmates he strangled Smith.

When Smith disappeared, she left behind her car, her valuables and her two children, who were then 12 and 8 years old.

"Her two children have missed her hugs, her love, her Christmases," said Patti Bishop, Smith's stepmother. "We are hoping to finally bring home Karen and giver her the proper burial she deserves."


Our thoughts and prayers are with Patti, Ed, and the family.
Kelly

[Kelly]

http://www.wthr.com/...y.asp?s=7333309

Investigators search for Karen Jo Smith's remains

Posted: Nov 8, 2007 05:08 PM CST

Indianapolis - A possible break in the case of an Indianapolis woman missing for seven years yielded nothing, police said Thursday.

Investigators acting on a tip from the missing persons unit searched a wooded area near the White River near Mozel Sanders Park, west of downtown across the river from old Bush Stadium.

They were looking for the remains of Karen Jo Smith, who disappeared December 27, 2000. A jury convicted her husband for murder in 2004 and he was sentenced to 95 years in prison.

A family member says a search dog spotted something in a wooded area - a pair of jeans the same size that Karen Jo Smith would have worn. Investigators searched a 200-square-foot area with cadaver dogs but in the end did not find anything.

Patti Bishop, Smith's mother, said her daughter "never met a stranger" and would go out of her way to help people.

Investigators searched the area for several hours but did not find any remains.

[Kelly]

Karen has been missing for 7 years today. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.

[Kelly]

http://www.wthr.com/...y.asp?s=8237127

Human remains found in Johnson Co.


Updated: April 29, 2008 04:47 AM CDT
Richard Essex/Eyewitness News

Johnson County - A mushroom hunter made a shocking find in Johnson County. He unearthed a shallow grave with human remains Sunday at the Camp Atterbury hunting grounds.

Dan Harris was hunting for mushrooms around 1 p.m. Sunday in Area 14 of what's considered the "civilian" side of Camp Atterbury, property owned by the DNR and a popular site for hunters.

"I Looked and saw human remains and called 911," Harris said by phone Monday.

Since that time, investigators have painstakingly combed through the area collecting evidence as they hope to identify the remains.

"The pathologist is on site," said Johnson County Sheriff Terry McLaughlin. "The only thing we are able to determine is that there only appears to be one body - or one remains - in the gravesite."

The remains are now at a lab at the University of Indianapolis, as investigators work to determine who was buried in the grave.

According to police, the gravesite had been particularly dug up by animals, exposing part of the jawbone and spine. Shredded cloth was scattered around the site in every direction.

"We can't say clothing for sure," Sheriff McLaughlin said. "We found little shreds. There was nothing at the site - about the site - there [is] some shredded clothing - I take it to be clothing - it's just some shreds."

While forensic investigators sifted through evidence, Alice McGinnis waited.

"Somebody's nightmare is going to be over because going through this is an absolute nightmare," said McGinnis.

Nearly two years ago, McGinnis' brother, Walter Smith Jr, disappeared from Edinburgh. She's held out hope of finding him ever since. That's what brought her to the remote hunting ground at Johnson County's Camp Atterbury Monday.

"My heart is fluttering. You want it to be him and you don't," she said.

The area where the remains were found is not far from the last place her stepmother says Karen Jo Smith was last seen.

"It never gets easier," said Patti Bishop, Smith's stepmother.

Smith disappeared more than seven years ago. Her estranged husband was convicted in her death, but her body was never found. Terri Bishop founded a support group for the families of other missing people in Indiana.

"There is no closure until we close a casket," said Bishop.

Closure in this case will have to wait a little longer. Investigators will take evidence they gathered here to a lab in Indianapolis before they can determine who, how, and why.

[Denise]

http://www.shelbynew...290&TM=52776.95

5/1/2008 2:30:00 PM 

Missing man's family awaits word after body discovered

Bettina Puckett
Staff Writer

A Flat Rock family is on pins and needles, awaiting the results of lab tests that will determine if the human remains found in a shallow grave near Camp Atterbury on Sunday afternoon are those of Walter "Tom" Smith Jr.

Smith has not been seen since Sept. 3, 2006. He was only two days away from opening a new restaurant in Edinburgh called Walter's Family Restaurant. Smith's car, a black 2000 Daewoo Laganza, was discovered in an impound lot in Franklin on Nov. 14, 2006.

The grave, which was about 2 feet deep, was discovered by a mushroom hunter who stumbled across it, Sheriff Terry McLaughlin, of the Johnson County Sheriff's Department, said in a prepared statement.

After finding the shallow grave in Atterbury State Fish and Wildlife Area, the hunter immediately called 911 from his cell phone.

When Smith's sister, Alice McGinnis, heard about the discovery, she raced to the site on Monday morning. She estimated about 10 officials were searching in a taped-off area.

McLaughlin, who is treating the case as a homicide, said that animals had begun to unearth the remains and had already pulled parts of the remains and shreds of clothing from the site. Other media organizations also reported on Wednesday that a shoe had been discovered. A call to the detective in charge of the case was not returned.

McGinnis said that a team led by Dr. Stephen Nawrocki, of the University of Indianapolis Archeology and Forensics Laboratory, scoured the area. "They determined that, yes, they were human bones," McGinnis said. "They searched this whole huge area. They did not leave one speck of that area untouched."

Nawrocki's team took the bones and other evidence back to the lab and will make a determination as to whether the corpse was that of a man or a woman, which will be critical information to Smith's family.

"They should at least know the gender in a few days," McGinnis said. "Even if it's not Tom, somebody's nightmare is going to be over and that in itself is a blessing."

DNA will be analyzed

Smith's family has taken DNA from his toothbrush, razor and hairbrush and entered it into a nationwide DNA data base. "They also have his dental records," McGinnis said.

McGinnis has no idea how long it will take Nawrocki's team to identify the body. "They'll let us know as soon as they know something," she said.

Waiting for answers over the last 20 months has been excruciatingly painful. "This is such a good chance this could be Tom," McGinnis said. "You want it to be and you don't want it to be. Anything is possible. He could be somewhere and not know where he is and who he is."

Having a missing sibling has been horribly sad, but Smith's three sisters and two brothers are a tight-knit bunch and have done their best to keep their hopes up. But as time has passed, some hopes have naturally dimmed.

"But when you hear of remains being found, you absolutely still run," McGinnis said.

McGinnis and her friend Patti Bishop walked the land in southern Johnson County on Tuesday - just in case the investigators had missed something. Bishop is the stepmother of Karen Jo. Smith, a 35-year old Indianapolis woman who disappeared in December 2000. Her ex-husband, Steven Halcomb, was convicted in 2001 of murdering her even though her body has not been found.

After the investigators had removed the remains on Monday, they brought in a load of dirt and filled in the shallow grave. "Just seeing where they filled in the hole made your heart hurt," McGinnis said. "Patti and I stood there and said a prayer because someone had been taken out of there."

Families must wait

Now, there is nothing to do but wait. "When they can give us a gender, that will at least let some people (with missing loved ones) go back to doing what they were doing," McGinnis said. "This is just grief on hold."

McGinnis vowed she would never stop looking for her brother. He had one grandchild when he disappeared, but now has three. "There are a lot of people who have been affected by his disappearance," she said.

His dog, Buddy, a terrier mix, still waits for his master.

"There's no doubt in my mind or my heart that Tom will someday be found," McGinnis said. "I'm a Christian, and I know God doesn't work this way. It will be in God's time, not our time."

Smith will be 44 years old on May 11, which is Mother's Day.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to call Detective Capt. Roger Clark with the Shelby County Sheriff's Department at (317) 392-6408, or information may be given anonymously at Crime Stoppers, (317) 262-TIPS (8477) or (800) 922-5378.

[Kelly]

AAN Annual Notification sent
Code 40

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member
http://www.projectja.../awareness.html