Damien Sharp now missing 5 years, Warren, Pennsylvania

I first heard of Damien Mark Sharp through another missing person. There had been an article on Yolanda Bindics of Jamestown, New York (since found deceased, though her murder still seems to be unsolved); Damien; and another missing woman from New York named Lori Bova.

Here is the portion of the article on Damien. The article was originally published June 13, 2006.

But the rally was also meant to remember two others who disappeared without
a trace — Damien Sharp of Warren and Lori Bova of Lakewood.
‘‘We have this club that we don’t want anyone else to join,’’ said Janeane
Shanahan, Damien’s mother, as she stood beside her husband, Paul; Jim and Sue
Ceci, Ms. Bova’s parents; and Ms. Bindics.
Damien Sharp
Damien was last seen in Warren during Memorial Day Weekend in 2002 at the
age of 22. For Mr. and Mrs. Shanahan, May 25 marked the fourth anniversary of
his disappearance. Since he was living on his own, family members didn’t know he
was missing until more than a week had passed, reporting it to police on June 3.
In the wake of his disappearance, police searched areas of the Allegheny
Reservoir, the Allegheney National Forest and Morrison Run in the Warren
vicinity, but no evidence ever turned up.
Mr. and Mrs. Shanahan have in many ways been discouraged with the
investigation. Mr. Shanahan feels other agencies could have been more involved,
and both agree they could have been provided with more information.
‘‘There was a lot of conversation in the first couple months. Then it was
mostly us chasing them,’’ Mr. Shanahan said. ‘‘We have some frustrations with
how things have been handled.’’
‘‘(The case) needs a new perspective,’’ he added.
It wasn’t until March 2003 that the Warren City Police Department
reclassified the case as a criminal investigation rather than a simple missing
persons investigation. Under Pennsylvania law, the change allowed police broader
powers in their search.
‘‘Now we can consider him a victim. He no longer has the right to be
missing. Primarily we are starting from scratch,’’ Warren Police Chief Richard
Poorman told members of the press at the time.
In contrast, Mrs. Shanahan was impressed with the way the Jamestown Police
Department is handling the Bindics case, especially with the support they’ve
given Ms. Bindics’ family.
‘‘I look around here and see officials who came out for this. I think it’s
wonderful,’’ she said, pointing across the parking lot where several ranking
members of the Jamestown Police Department stood conversing with the crowd.

Damien's Charley Project profile (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/sharp_damien.html):

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: May 25, 2002
from Warren, Pennsylvania
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of
Birth: August 6, 1979
Age: 22 years old
Height and Weight: 5'7, 170
pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Blond hair,
blue/hazel eyes. Sharp has an ankh tattooed on his chest.
Clothing/Jewelry
Description: A dark-colored shirt and shorts.
Medical Conditions: Sharp's
ankle was injured at the time of his disappearance and he was on aluminum
crutches as a result.

Details of Disappearance
Sharp was last seen
when he was reportedly dropped off at a Memorial Day weekend party in Warren,
Pennsylvania on May 25, 2002. He was carrying a bookbag at the time of his
disappearance. He has never been heard from again. In March 2003, the
investigation into his disappearance was reclassified as a homicide, but few
details are available in his case and little evidence has been located to
determine his fate.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Warren Police Department
814-723-2700

You can also call Crimestoppers at 1-800-832-7469.

Damien's website: http://www.warrennet.com/amotherasks/

Damien's guestbook: http://htmlgear.tripod.com/guest/control.guest?u=warrennet&i=1002&a=sign

I haven't found an actual poster of Damien, but his Charley Project profile is probably concise enough to use.

Photo of Damien from the Charley Project.

Sandra Baker now missing 7 years, Delaware Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

The good news is that Sandra K. Baker is obviously not forgotten, not even by area media.

Article from http://www.sharon-herald.com/local/local_story_144203548.html:

Published May 24, 2007 08:35 pm - Sandra Kay Baker went missing seven years
ago today, but her best friend Linda Henry hasn’t given up hope that the case of
her disappearance will be solved.
Friend of Baker marks 7th year of disappearance
By Monica Pryts
Herald Staff Writer
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP —
Sandra Kay Baker went missing seven years ago
today, but her best friend Linda Henry hasn’t given up hope that the case of her
disappearance will be solved.
“Every year when it’s unresolved it gets
harder, but I try to do positive things,” said Mrs. Henry of
Greenville.
Today she plans to think of the good times she spent with her
friend and hang new posters in the Greenville area that show Ms. Baker’s smiling
face and list information about her disappearance.
“I’m still trying to keep
it in the public eye,” she said, adding she thinks about Ms. Baker every
day.
Ms. Baker, who was 46 and lived in Delaware Township went she went
missing May 25, 2000, is presumed dead, state police said. Her fiancé, William
T. Crea Jr., whom she used to live with in his parents’ home, has been named a
suspect in her disappearance. Crea, who now lives in Ellwood City, hasn’t been
charged.
In January 2006, Clifford Stephen Aley Jr., 49, a private
investigator from Ambridge who performed a background check on Ms. Baker for
Crea, was found guilty of lying to police about her disappearance.
Aley was
sentenced in March 2006 to 18 to 48 months in prison and is serving in
Frackville. Aley appealed the conviction but it was denied in February in state
Superior Court. He’s also serving a 4-to-12-months sentence for threatening
Mercer County Sheriff’s deputies and Mercer County Jail guards.
While Aley
was on trial, he testified that on May 28, 2000, Crea told him he strangled Ms.
Baker May 25 after accusing her of having an affair. Crea told Aley he buried
her body in a container where no one would trip over it, about five to eight
miles from his parents’ home at 62 Folk Road, Delaware Township. Police have
searched that area but found nothing.
Aley admitted he lied to police about
Ms. Baker’s disappearance because Crea told him he would have Aley’s children
killed if he told police Crea confessed to killing Ms. Baker.
Mrs. Henry said
she believes Ms. Baker is dead and there may be someone out there who knows more
about her disappearance. She urges anyone with information to come
forward.
“Fear keeps them from coming forward. Realize even if you’re afraid,
that to think of the fact if you had a loved one missing, wouldn’t you want
someone to come forward and help you?” Mrs. Henry asked.
Police said Crea
reported Ms. Baker missing May 31, 2000, and that he last saw her May 25 at the
Sheetz in Pymatuning Township.

If you happen to be someone who has any additional information on the disappearance of Sandra Baker, please call the Pennsylvania State Police at (724) 662-4200 or (724) 662-6162.

You can print a poster of Sandra at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200300269W.

Brooke Wilberger now missing 3 years, Corvallis, Oregon

From http://www.koin.com/Global/story.asp?S=6565942:

Third Anniversary Of Wilberger Disappearance
CORVALLIS, Ore. - May 24 marks
the third-year anniversary of the disappearance of 19-year-old Brooke
Wilberger.
The Brigham Young University student disappeared from a Corvallis
apartment complex her sister managed near Oregon State. Her body is yet to be
found.
The man police believe abducted and killed the teenager awaits trial
on other charges in New Mexico. Joel Courtney has been held in New Mexico on
charges of kidnapping and raping a University of New Mexico student in November
2004.
That trial is expected in September after which Courtney will be
extradited to Oregon.
5/24/2007

Another interesting tidbit comes from http://www.katu.com/news/local/7658602.html:

2 Exclusive: Wilberger witness talks to KATU
Story Published:
May 23, 2007 at 7:07 PM PDT
Story Updated: May 24, 2007 at 4:07 PM PDT
By Dan Tilkin and KATU Web Staff
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Although Nate McKelvey did not see Brooke Wilberger the day she disappeared, he heard the scream that investigators believe was the last anyone would hear of her. It would prove to be a key piece of information. Brooke Wilberger disappeared on May 24, 2004 from outside the Oak Park Apartments in Corvallis.All that was left behind was her flip flop shoes, her purse and her cell phone.
Nate McKelvey was there that day. When he woke up the morning of May 24, 2004, his wits were clouded by a night of partying and then the scream came.
"It was somewhat blood curdling," he said. "I would say, like a fan scream like at a
concert (McKelvey makes a scream sound here) and then it just got cut short."
McKelvey said he looked out the window, but in the wrong direction.
"It definitely caused a shiver in my spine and I looked through the parking lot," he
said. "But of the 400 cars in the parking lot, I (only) see two people walking
back and forth. I'm scanning. I'm scanning and eventually nothing, so I walk out
to the front door."
McKelvey did not see the green minivan that police would
spend months searching for. In fact, McKelvey saw nothing and thought nothing of
it until the story of Wilberger's disappearance hit the news and investigators
started talking to him.
Detectives would base the time of Wilberger's
abduction on McKelvey's memory of when he heard that scream - 9 a.m. on May 24,
2004.
It was not until 14 months later that Joel Courtney would be arrested
in New Mexico for attacking a college student. He would also be accused of
kidnapping Brooke Wilberger and killing her, although her body has never been
found.
"It's hard," said McKelvey. "It's tough because you want to be the
guy who did the good thing, did the good deed that day and helped somebody stay
safe. It kind of haunts you a little bit when you know you were there, (when you
know) you could have been that deciding factor."
Joel Courtney is accused of
trying to kidnap, rape and murder two other women the same morning that
Wilberger disappeared. Public records show at least one of those women lived
just blocks from where Wilberger was abducted.

(Obviously, Nate McKelvey is the one on the left and Brooke Wilberger is the one on the right.)

If you know anything about Brooke's whereabouts, please call the Corvallis Police Department at 1-877-367-2270, email tips@findbrooke.com, or go to http://www.findbrooke.com/submittip.html.

Brooke's website: http://www.findbrooke.com

You can print a poster of Brooke at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200401499S.

Jeanne Scrima now missing 27 years, Erie, Pennsylvania

Note: Am currently having problems with blockquote featured, so quoted information appears in purple text between dotted lines.

(Jeanne Marie Scrima was living near Knox, New York, when she disappeared, but she was last confirmed to be in Erie, Pennsylvania.)

Photo and information from the Charley Project:

--------------------------------

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 19, 1980 from Knox, New York
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: October 15, 1935
Age: 44 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 118 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Dark brown hair, hazel eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A gold heart-shaped cocktail ring with diamonds on the outside.

Details of Disappearance
Jeanne resided in a farmhouse near Knox-Gallupville Road in Knox, New York. She met her second husband, John Scrima, while she was employed as a restaurant in the New York City borough of the Bronx. Their marriage was troubled by February 1980 and Jeanne planned to file for divorce. She met John Sidney around the same time and the two began having an affair. Sidney's marriage was ending and Jeanne told him that she was divorced from her husband. Sidney resided in Schoharie County, New York and was employed as a General Electric plant designer in Schenectady, New York.
Jeanne and Sidney drove to Erie, Pennsylvania on March 17, 1980. They stayed at the Hilton hotel while Sidney attended to company business. Jeanne told John that she was visiting loved ones in the area. She learned that her husband realized she was having an affair during a phone conversation with her sister on March 18. Jeanne told Sidney that she was still married and needed to return to Knox the following morning. She promised her four children that she would be home by the time they returned from school in the afternoon.
Jeanne departed from Erie during the morning hours of March 19. She was driving her light blue 1977 Lincoln Continental at the time. The car had New York license plates numbered 458LXS. Authorities believe that she arrived at her family's residence in the early afternoon, but her whereabouts after that time period are unknown. Jeanne has never been heard from again.
John failed to report his wife's disappearance to authorities. Her attorney filed a missing person's report after he was unable to contact her by May 4, 1980. Sidney cooperated with the investigation and was eliminated as a possible suspect after passing a polygraph exam. John refused to speak with authorities and retained a lawyer shortly after Jeanne's disappearance was reported. He sold the family's farmhouse and relocated to Esperance, New York in 1981.
Jeanne's vehicle was spotted in Fultonville, New York several weeks after she was reported missing. Investigators determined that the car passed through several owners in Ohio before it was discovered abandoned in Michigan on October 5, 1980. No evidence related to Jeanne's case was found inside the vehicle.
Authorities said that Jeanne told John about her plans to open a restaurant in Ducenesburg, New York with the money she would receive from the sale of their property after their divorce. Investigators said that they wanted to question John about his wife's case, but all attempts have been unsuccessful. There have not been any arrests in connection with Jeanne's disappearance, which remains unsolved. Foul play is suspected in her case.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

New York State Police

Troop G

New Scotland Station

518-768-8162

OR

518-477-9333

----------------

You can also submit tips online by emailing crimetip@troopers.state.ny.us.

I have yet to find an actual poster of Jeanne, but her New York State Police page seems concise enough for that function. You can print it off at http://www.troopers.state.ny.us/Wanted_and_Missing/Missing/view.cfm?ID=227160bb-5ee9-4db2-a5b7-a073a35d5370

Porschette Evans now missing 3 years, Washington, D.C.

Information and photo from http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/e/evans_porschette.html:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: May 10, 2004
from Washington, D. C.
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth:
February 12, 1981
Age: 23 years old
Height and Weight: 5'5, 115 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American female. Brown hair, brown
eyes. Evans has pierced ears and may wear her hair in braids. Her nickname is
Porcia. She may be missing some of her teeth and she wears metal orthodontic
braces. Evans has a dark-colored oval birthmark on her outer right thigh, scars
on her chest from a breathing machine, a three-inch surgical scar on her neck,
and a three-quarter inch surgical scar on her left calf.
Clothing/Jewelry
Description: A gold necklace with a Lady of Guadalupe pendant, a black Timex
watch with a wide band on her left wrist, a gold Lee High School class ring set
with a garnet on her left hand, a heart-shaped ring on left pinky, small gold
hoop earrings, and possibly N.Y. jeans, a t-shirt, and gray Skechers sneakers.
Medical Conditions: Evans has an unspecified medical condition. She is also
deaf and mute.

Details of Disappearance
Evans was last seen at
approximately 4:00 p.m. on May 10, 2004 at Gallaudet University in the vicinity
of the 800 block of Florida Avenue northeast in Washington, D. C. She may have
been carrying a yellow and blue backpack with wheels at the time of her
disappearance. Evans has never been heard from again. Few details are available
in her case. Her family believes she may be homeless.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Metropolitan Police Department
202-727-9099

You can print a poster of Porschette at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200502746S or at www.projectjason.org/downloads/comehome011Porschette_Evans.pdf.

Jan Scharf: Husband/suspected killer dead, probable suicide

This will most likely make it harder for Jan to be found, but it is encouraging to know that authorities aren't giving up.

From http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/174342.html:

Prison suicide deepens mystery
Wife's body still missing after man kills self in cell.
By Christina Jewett - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, May 10, 2007Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1
A man convicted of killing his wife but leaving no trace of the crime has committed suicide in prison, officials said, likely taking a secret with him to the grave: where the body of Jan Scharf is buried.
Glyn Wolfgang Scharf, 54, was discovered unresponsive in his cell at Pleasant Valley State Prison at 6:12 a.m. March 21 during a routine security check, Lt. Cheryl Campoy, a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman, said Wednesday.
He was taken to Coalinga Regional Medical Center, where he died at 4:26 p.m. March 27 from what officials later ruled was an overdose of medicine.
Scharf was a paramedic in Amador County before an El Dorado County jury convicted him in October 2004 of killing his wife, a 45-year-old Cameron Park nurse.
Scharf's disappearance in May 2002 was followed by fervent searches of canyons, riverbeds and fields throughout El Dorado County. Meanwhile, investigators gathered accounts of Glyn Scharf's odd behavior at the time of her disappearance and Jan Scharf's reports of his threatening actions beforehand.
To this day, her body has not been discovered.
"He didn't even have the decency to let us know where he put her," said Marcie Flores, who worked as a nurse alongside Jan Scharf at UC Davis Medical Center. "Now the trail is dry."
El Dorado County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin House, who supervised the murder investigation, said officers at the prison in Fresno County are combing Scharf's magazines and papers for clues about the location of the body.
"We're hoping that somewhere in his belongings we find some kind of document that may assist us in finding the body so we can get closure for Jan's family," House said. "That's the last shred that we have to go on -- for him to finally to tell us where she's at."
House said if prison officers fall short, the detective who worked on the case will sift through the papers.
Doctors initially said the death was a result of natural causes. However, Fresno County Deputy Coroner Joseph Tiger said the death has been ruled a suicide.
He said Scharf overdosed on amitriptyline, which is the generic form of the antidepressant Elavil.
Dr. Peter Yellowlees, a professor of psychiatry at UC Davis Medical Center, said the drug is seldom prescribed because safer drugs like Prozac and Paxil are now available.
"It's well known to be a relatively dangerous drug in overdose because it has cardiac side effects," he said.
Campoy said certain "hot meds" are known to be dangerous, and inmates who take them are monitored by nurses. She did not know if Scharf's pills were on that list.
Campoy said Scharf was not on suicide watch, but he was assigned to a "special-needs" recreational yard for nonviolent inmates who would be targeted for attacks among the general population.
While jailed in El Dorado County, Scharf made two attempts to take his own life after he was convicted and before he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Both times, he sliced himself with a jail-issued razor, once in the arm and again in the neck. After the second attempt, he remained on suicide watch and lost his shaving privileges.
Scharf's daughter, Tegan Sharpe, said she questions whether the death was indeed a suicide.
"They didn't call it a suicide until we decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against them," she said.
Sharpe said the family learned of their father's death only when another inmate sent a condolence more than a week later.
Court records indicate that Scharf's legal journey ended in January of this year, when the California Supreme Court denied a bid to review his case.
The trial -- based fully on circumstantial evidence -- was highly publicized.
Jurors who voted for conviction told The Bee at the time that they were convinced of Scharf's guilt when they heard that Jan Scharf's Celtic cross and a ring were found discarded at the house of Glyn's girlfriend, whom Jan Scharf never met.

I didn't know about the jewelry at the girlfriend's house; that is a bit suspicious.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Jan Scharf, please call the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office at (530) 621-5703.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find a "poster" of Jan. There is a short profile of Jan at the Carole Sund Carrington Foundation's website which might work as a flyer if you change your page setup to landscape. If you know a site that has posters of Jan for printing, please let me know.

Nicole Bryner now missing 25 years, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Since I posted on the 24th anniversary a year ago, there has been a new development in the case of Nicole Lynn Bryner: the arrest of and charges filed against her mother's then boyfriend.

More details and photos come from the Charley Project (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/bryner_nicole.html):

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 11, 1982
from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date
Of Birth: February 20, 1979
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 2'6, 35
pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown
eyes. Some agencies may spell Bryner's middle name "Lynne."
Details of
Disappearance
Bryner's mother, Melody Thomas Childs, told authorities that
her daughter was abducted from a shopping cart on March 9, 1982. Childs claimed
that Bryner was sitting inside the cart at a Giant Eagle supermarket store at
23rd Street and Jane Street on the south side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She
stated that when she turned around for a moment, Bryner disappeared. A
photograph of Childs is posted below this case summary.
Authorities were
skeptical of Childs's account from the beginning; no one else remembered seeing
Bryner in the grocery store at all that day. Several days after Bryner
disappeared, a letter was found in her mother's home which was purportedly from
Bryner's abductor. The letter stated "Nikky" was dead and buried. Handwriting
analysis determined it was probable that Childs herself had written the letter.
An extensive search yielded little evidence at the time and Bryner's case became
cold.
Timothy Wayne Widman, confessed to Bryner's murder four years later in
May 1986. A photograph of Widman is posted below this case summary. He was
imprisoned on burglary charges at the time of his claims. He had been Childs's
boyfriend and lived with her and Bryner in the 2000 block of Sarah Street in
1982, but by the time of his confession he had ended his relationship with
Childs. Widman said that he hit the child after she bit his toe, and she died as
a result of her injuries in March 1982. He claimed that he and Childs buried her
body in a wooded area along Timberland Road in Brookline, Pennsylvania and
reported the abduction to cover up Bryner's death. People who knew the couple
reported that Widman regularly abused both Bryner and her mother, and that
Childs was fearful of him. She was still married to her first husband, Bryner's
father, at the time she was involved with Widman.
A search was conducted in
the region for Bryner's remains, but nothing was located. Widman was
nevertheless charged with involuntary manslaughter in her case shortly after his
confession, but the charges were dropped in 1987. Prosecutors stated that there
was not enough evidence against Widman to support any charges; the law at the
time dictated that a body had to be found to prove homicide. Childs, who moved
to Garland, Texas and married after Bryner's disappearance, was arrested in June
1986 and charged with felony counts of hindering prosecution and providing false
reports to the authorities in connection with her daughter's case. The charges
were dropped after Widman refused to testify against her. Childs died in Texas
in 2001.
In September 2006, Widman was charged again with criminal homicide
in Bryner's presumed death. Investigators apparently do not have any fresh
evidence against him, but it is no longer unheard of for homicides to be
prosecuted without the victims' bodies, so authorities decided to go forward
with the case against Widman. He has reportedly been cooperative in the
investigation. Authorities stated they will search again for Bryner's body if
additional information becomes available.
The missing child's report date is
listed as March 11, 1982, although Childs claimed Bryner was abducted on March
9. Her case remains unsolved and continues to be listed as a Non-Family
Abduction.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Pittsburgh Police Department
412-255-2888

The second row of photos shows how Nicole might look if by some chance she is still alive.

If you would like to print a poster of Nicole, you may do so here. (The poster still lists the supermarket abduction story.)

James McCarthy's body found

Hopefully this was just a horrible accident, and not something worse.
Story from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07100/776608-85.stm:

Missing Avalon man's body found in river near Weirton
Tuesday, April 10,
2007
By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A man from Avalon who
disappeared in February was found dead last month in the Ohio River in West
Virginia and police are investigating the circumstances of how he got there.
James L. McCarthy, 79, was last seen at his Orchard Avenue home on Feb. 12.
His body was discovered March 27 in Weirton, W.Va., near the New Cumberland
Lock and Dam. The cause of death is pending, but the body showed no signs of
trauma. Allegheny County police said they do not suspect foul play, but they're
still investigating, as is the medical examiner's office in Charleston, W.Va.
Officials with that office did not return a call yesterday.
"We haven't
concluded anything yet," said Lt. Christopher Kearns, head of county homicide.
Joyce McCarthy said she last saw her husband lying on the couch when she
went to bed. He was gone the next morning. Search dogs tracked him to the
hillside along the riverbank, but no one knows if he fell into the water or
jumped.
Mr. McCarthy's son, Timothy J. McCarthy, said yesterday that his
father, who was often seen walking in Ben Avon, Bellevue and other nearby towns,
did not seem depressed and was unlikely to have committed suicide.
"If you
knew my father, that's the last thing you'd think," he said. "He was constantly
telling jokes to everyone -- bad jokes."
In addition to his wife and son,
Mr. McCarthy, an Army veteran who served in occupied Japan after World War II
and later in Korea, is survived by a daughter, Carol Miller.
A Mass will be
celebrated at 10 a.m. today at Church of the Assumption, Bellevue. Orion C.
Pinkerton Funeral Home in Avalon has handled funeral arrangements.

Similar stories available at http://www.wtov9.com/news/11591876/detail.html and http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07099/776426-54.stm.

Emily Rimel: Lindsay Bruce found guilty

If I remember correctly--although this article did not mention it--this was a capital case. That is, Lindsay/Lindsey (however it is spelled) Bruce could get the death penalty.
Story from The Columbus Dispatch:

Jury finds Lindsey Bruce guilty in girl's murder
Friday, March
23, 2007 4:39 PM
By Bruce Cadwallader
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Web
extras
Slide
Show: Photos from the Emily Rimel murder case, 2004 to present
Timeline
and archive of previous stories about Emily and the trial of Lindsey Bruce,
accused of killing her
A jury this afternoon found Lindsey Bruce guilty
of killing 5-year-old Emily Rimel.
Emily would have turned 8 on
Saturday.
The Franklin County jury, seven women and five men, announced its
verdict at 4:15 p.m.
Bruce was charged with aggravated murder, murder and
tampering with evidence in the killing of Emily, who disappeared overnight from
her apartment on Reinbeau Drive in Madison Township. Her skull was found 17
months later on a bank of Big Walnut Creek, 8 miles south of her home.
The
jury, which was handed the case on Wednesday, found Bruce guilty of one count of
aggravated murder, one count of murder, and one count of tampering with
evidence. It also found him not guilty of one count of aggravated
murder.
Bruce, 25, is a self-employed mechanic who became friends with Brent
Copley more than 10 years ago. Copley later moved in with Jane Rimel and her
daughter, Emily. The couple had a son together.
Twenty-one witnesses
testified during the death-penalty trial.
According to testimony: On Dec. 7,
2004, Bruce visited the apartment twice late at night. He had been drinking at a
Refugee Road bar and sometimes used the apartment as a place to flop. His former
girlfriend, Lila Wright, lived there for three months that year and he
frequently visited her overnight.
That night, Bruce was the last adult to
leave the apartment, and he apparently left the door unlocked instead of waking
Copley, which prosecutors said was his custom. Emily was nowhere to be found
when Copley woke up at 8 a.m.
Prosecutors said Bruce kidnapped the girl and
killed her to conceal a rape, then discarded her body in nearby Heisel Park.
Emily's DNA was found on his genitals, and his right forearm had three small
scratches. He was arrested 10 days later.
Bruce told police and the FBI he
left the apartment about 3 a.m. and worked on cars. He could not prove where he
was until 9:27 a.m., when he received a store receipt for buying a car
part.
Defense attorneys said the DNA evidence is suspect and no other
evidence proves Bruce did anything to the girl.
Testimony by defense
witnesses indicated that Rimel and Copley were poor guardians of Emily and that
the girl had left the apartment on her own before.
Bruce is serving a 10-year
prison term after having been convicted of kidnapping Emily at a previous trial.
Men incarcerated with him have testified in both trials that Bruce confessed to
the murder.
bcadwallader@dispatch.com

Stefanie Mills now missing 5 years, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Stefanie C. Mills does not seem to have gotten as much media coverage as some missing people do. Some might say it is because she is African American, but I think it is more likely that it is because she is listed as a "runaway". People tend to not pay as much attention to runaways--they're the largest category of missing children and teens, and people probably figure they're all right because they left home voluntarily. Indeed, most runaways do seem to make it home safe--sometimes within days, other times not for years. It may be important to know why they are running away, but one thing is certain: All runaways have family and/or friends who wonder where they are and what they are doing and when they can ever see them again.

Do you think you can help Stefanie C. Mills' loved ones? Do you recognize her?

From the Charley Project:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 7, 2002
from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Classification: Endangered Runaway
Date Of Birth: February 24, 1986
Age: 16 years old
Height and Weight: 5'6, 110 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American female. Black hair,
brown eyes. Mills has a scar on her right forearm. Her ears pierced. Her
nickname is Stef.

Details of Disappearance
Mills was last seen in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 7, 2002. She has never been heard from again.
She is believed to have left of her own accord. Mills may be in the Colorado
Springs, Colorado area. Few details are available in her case.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Pittsburgh Police Department
412- 255-2927

You can also call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

You can print a poster of Stefanie here.

Sofia Juarez: New age progression

Today when I was looking at the Charley Project, I found an age progression of Sofia that was done this year (shown at right). I think this looks very realistic; it shows the changes made by the passage of time, but there is enough resemblance to believe it could be the same person.

Back in August, a child's body was found in a field in Ritzville, Washington, and it is possible that it could belong to Sofia. However, this has not yet been proven, and until or unless it is, we should continue to keep our eyes open for Sofia in case she is still alive somewhere.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Sofia Lucerno Juarez, please call the Kennewick Police Department at (509) 585-4208 or (509) 628-0333; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678); or your local FBI office.

You can print a poster of Sofia, with the new age progression, here.

Sofia's website: http://www.geocities.com/thekarmaclub/sofia.html

Emily Rimel: Lindsay Bruce murder trial days 1-3

I have found five articles that cover different aspects of the trial's developments so far. If I posted them all in their entirety, that would be one long post! So, instead, I am going to summarize them and provide links to the originals.

Day 1 (March 7): Jury took a bus and visited Helsel Park (where Emily's body was found) and the Rimel family's home. http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-03-07-0010.html Emily's mother, Jane, testified about Emily's life.

Day 2 (March 8): Inmates who supposedly heard Lindsay Bruce confess were scheduled to testify. http://www.10tv.com/?story=sites/10tv/content/pool/200703/1159346793.html The jury is shown a PowerPoint of photos of Emily's skull and teeth. A forensic anthropologist, Dr. Nancy Tatarek of Ohio University, testifies that the skull belonged to a child around six years old, give or take a year. (Emily was five.) She also said that two other bones found at the scene were not human. The defense argued that she was not able to determine the cause or time of death, or whether Emily was alive when she ended up in Big Walnut Creek. Five dentists who had examined Emily's teeth testify. Emily's mother testified again, saying their front door was always locked. The defense says that she had said in a 911 call that sometimes the door was left open. They imply that Emily could have "run away" or been abducted by someone else. http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-03-08-0016.html

Day 3 (March 9): Brent Copley, now Emily's mother's husband (boyfriend at the time of Emily's death), testified. He said that he and Lindsay Bruce had been friends for over ten years, and that he (Lindsay Bruce) often stayed with them. He said the night before Emily vanished he and Lindsay Bruce had been out drinking, and they did not do anything or even talk during the early morning of December 7, 2004. He said Lindsay Bruce arrived at their house about 1 AM, then again about 2 AM. Brent Copley was the one who reported Emily missing. http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-03-09-0013.html

There is another article about Emily's mother testifying, and it is dated March 9, but it does not say if that is when this part of her testimony took place. While she spoke, she cried and held Emily's tennis shoes, which had been found in their apartment. She also looked at photos of Emily's backpack, coat, and sheets. She testified that Emily had complained about a cold the night she disappeared and that she would not have left without her shoes. She also said that Emily had known Lindsay Bruce since she was 2 1/2 years old and had no reason to fear him. The article also said that the defense said that the state has a weak case based on circumstantial evidence. They questioned how reliable the inmates could be. http://www.marionstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070309/NEWS01/703090333

We shall see how this progresses. I still do not think it looks good for Mr. Bruce.

Amy Billig now missing 33 years, Coconut Grove, Florida

I first heard Amy's story on a rerun of Unsolved Mysteries, and I personally think it is one of the most twisted, complicated missing persons cases I have ever heard of. True, there are many different stories and theories about Natalee Holloway's disappearance. But at least there are three major suspects in that case. Almost nothing about what happened to Amy seems certain. I like to try to be an optimist, but of course it gets harder as more time passes. I think that Amy is almost certainly dead, and I wouldn't be surprised if her body has been found but has been lying unidentified in some morgue.
If you have never heard of Amy Billig, please take a moment to read her story. (Photos and information from the Charley Project.)

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 5, 1974
from Coconut Grove, Florida
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: January 9, 1957
Age: 17 years old
Height and Weight: 5'5, 110 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown
eyes. Amy has a two-inch scar on her abdomen from an appendectomy. She may have
a tattoo. She has a high-stepping gait.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A
denim miniskirt and cork platform sandals.

Details of Disappearance
Amy was last seen hitchhiking along Main Highway in Coconut
Grove, Florida on March 5, 1974. She was headed to her father's office to borrow
money from him so she could meet friends later in the day. Amy never arrived at
the office and her friends never saw her that evening. She has never been heard
from again. Amy enjoyed playing the flute and guitar, as well as reading and
writing poetry, at the time of her 1974 disappearance, and was considering
becoming an actress. She often hitchhiked through her neighborhood.
Charles
and Larry Glasser, sixteen-year-old twin brothers, called Amy's family a few
days after her disappearance and claimed to have kidnapped her. They said they
were holding her for $30,000 ransom. The Glassers turned out to be lying; they
did not know Amy and had nothing to do with her disappearance. They were
subsequently charged with extortion. A photograph of the Glasser twins at the
time of their arrest is posted below this case summary.
Amy's mother, Susan
Billig, began investigating her daughter's case in addition to law enforcement's
attempts immediately after Amy disappeared. A photograph of Susan at the time of
Amy's disappearance is posted below this case summary. Susan began receiving
tips from numerous individuals who claimed that Amy had been abducted by members
of The Outlaws or The Pagans, both motorcycle gangs that traveled through the
Coconut Grove area of Florida in 1974. Some people claimed that Amy was alive
and others maintained she had been killed; these tips led Susan on a
cross-country chase through the US and even into Great Britain through the
years. Sometimes Susan would come within days of finding her daughter, but Amy
was never located. She may have used the aliases "Mute," "Sunshine," "Little
Bits," and/or "Mellow Cheryl" while with the bikers.
Paul Branch, a member
of The Pagans, initially told Susan in the late 1970's that Amy was alive and
being held by Pagan members in the U. S. Branch's widow claimed he recanted this
statement on his deathbed in the late 1990's; he then said that Amy had attended
a party thrown by The Pagans in Florida on the night of her disappearance and
died of a drug overdose, and that her body had been taken to the Florida
Everglades by gang members and tossed to the alligators. His widow relayed this
information to Susan.
Amy's camera was located at the Wildwood exit on
Florida's Turnpike shortly after Amy's disappearance. It was turned in by a man
who had heard she was missing. Wildwood would have been on the route the biker
gangs took traveling north. Nobody knows if Amy had the camera when she
disappeared, however; it might have disappeared before she did. The film inside,
once developed, revealed no clues as to her whereabouts. The majority of the
photographs were completely overexposed.
Another sidenote to Amy's
disappearance involved harassing phone calls that Susan began receiving shortly
after Amy vanished in 1974. A then-unidentified male caller informed Susan that
Amy was abducted by members of an illicit sex ring organization and being held
captive. The caller tormented Susan for 21 years until 1995, when FBI agents
were able to trace a call the man made using his cellular phone. Until that
time, the caller always used a pay phone to harass Susan, making him difficult
to apprehend. The caller was identified as Henry Johnson Blair, who worked for
the US Customs Department. A photograph of him is posted below this case
summary. Blair claimed that he was an alcoholic and had an obsessive-compulsive
disorder which caused him to harass Susan; he also stated that he never met Amy
and knew nothing about her disappearance. Blair was sentenced to a two-year
prison term for harassing Susan and has since been released. Susan settled a
lawsuit against him for five million dollars.
The addition of Blair into
this case focuses renewed attention on to a man Amy described in her journal.
Amy wrote that she was considering running away to South America with a man she
called "Hank." Blair's nickname is Hank. A photo developed from a roll of film
in Amy's camera showed a white van which was identical in color and model to a
van Blair drove in 1974. Blair's job with the Customs Department required him to
relocate to South America around the time Amy specified in her journal. Blair
has not been positively linked to Amy aside from his incarceration for the
harassment of her mother, however.
The A & E Network aired a program
about Amy's case on its Investigative Reports series in 1998. The documentary
shows elements of Susan's decades-long search for her daughter with law
enforcement and also provides footage of Susan's meeting with Branch's widow.
Susan accepts his widow's statement at the program's end, but authorities
believe that his widow was lying about his confession in an effort to
financially profit from Amy's disappearance. Amy's father died of lung cancer in
the early 1990s.
Susan co-authored a book about Amy's disappearance in 2001
with Greg Aunapu, called Without A Trace: The Disappearance Of Amy Billig -- A
Mother's Search For Justice. She died of a heart attack in 2005, at age 80.
Amy's case remains unsolved.
Left: Henry Johnson Blair, circa 1996; Center:
Susan Billig, circa 1974; Right: Susan Billig, circa 2005
Above: Larry and
Charles Glasser, circa 1974

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Miami Police Department
305-579-6530

You can also call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
You can print a poster of Amy here.

Shelly Misinay: Death ruled suicide

And the decision is causing a bit of online forum controversy. One of the posters on Websleuths actually knows Shelly and her family, and he/she seems to think the whole scenario is suspicious and out of character for Shelly. He/she believes Shelly was murdered and that everything in the press is a bunch of lies.
I personally feel that, while police and coroners do rely on science, friends and family would usually know. They may not be able to say if it was a homicide, but they should at least know whether she would have killed herself.
Anyway, here is the story from http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_062131443.html:

Mar 3, 2007 1:20 pm US/Eastern
Missing Woman's Death Ruled A
Suicide
(KDKA) SHARON The Mercer County Coroner has ruled the death of a
missing woman a suicide.
Officials say 41-year-old Shelly Misinay was reported missing on
Valentine’s Day after she reportedly had an argument with her husband.
It was Misinay’s brother-in-law, Donald Blackshear, who discovered her body
in the Temple Beth Israel Cemetery in Hermitage.
Blackshear says a premonition led him to her body.
He and his wife walked a path near where the body was found.
“There was some footprints, several sets of footprints that had went
through the trees, so I kind of ducked down and went through and just started
walking down the road and saw footprints that went over to the corner of the
property,” he explained. “I walked down there and something just kept me, ‘Keep
coming down this fence row.’”
He says he found her the body around some Cedar trees.
According the Mercer County Coroner’s office, Misinay died from
hypothermia.

Of course, the hypothermia would be pretty certain.
You can read all of the discussion for yourself on Shelly's thread, http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47187.

Andrew Karis now missing 14 years, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

From http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/karis_andrew.html:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 1, 1993
from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of
Birth: October 27, 1973
Age: 19 years old
Height and Weight: 5'8, 130
pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel
eyes. Karis's nicknames are Andy, Drew and/or Sparky.

Details of
Disappearance
Karis was a student at Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1993. He was last seen on campus on March 1, 1993.
Authorities tracked Karis's credit card and telephone records after his
disappearance. Investigators determined that he may have purchased a Greyhound
bus ticket to New York City, New York on March 2 and possibly stayed in the city
until March 4. Karis may have been in San Francisco, California on March 15, but
that sighting remains unconfirmed. Karis has never been heard from again.
Authorities believe he disappeared under suspicious circumstances.
Some
agencies may list March 4, 1993 as the date of Karis's disappearance. California
and Texas authorities are handling his investigation.

Investigating
Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
San Francisco Police Department
415-553-0123
OR
Texas Department Of Public Safety
800-346-3243

You can print a poster of Andrew at http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/mpch/mpdetailsPrint.asp?id='M6/4/20022:17:17PM'&Person=Missing%20Person.

Audrey Nerenberg to appear on online radio show "Missing Pieces"

Audrey Lyn Nerenberg's father is going to appear on the Internet radio show Missing Pieces on March 6 at 8:00 PM (EST). A rebroadcast will be available on the show's archives the next day. The show's website is http://www.missingpieces.info.
Also, Audrey's family is lobbying for a law in Congress, the Audrey Nerenberg Act (H.R. 4162), which provides assistance in the search for missing adults who have the mental capacities of children. (More info on the law at http://www.petitiononline.com/cue4162/petition.html.)

For more details on these and other events in Audrey's case, see http://angelsthatcare.blogspot.com/2007/03/audrey-lyn-nerenberg.html. (The message itself could not be posted here due to copyright protections on that blog.)

If you know anything about Audrey's disappearance, please call the New York City Police Department at (646) 610-6914 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Audrey's website: http://www.angelfire.com/ak/403/page10.html

You can print a poster of Audrey here.

Audrey's father also wrote a book about her disappearance, Give Me Back My Daughter Audrey by Milton Nerenberg, that was published in 2003. You can learn about Audrey and the book here.

Photo and age progression of Audrey from the Charley Project.

Tanya Kach: Suspect to undergo mental health evaluation, treatment

From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Thomas Hose committed to Mayview
By The
Tribune-Review
Friday, March 2, 2007
A former school security guard accused of keeping
a girl captive in his McKeesport home for 10 years was committed Thursday to
Mayview State Hospital.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G.
Sasinoski ordered Thomas Hose, 48, to undergo a mental evaluation and treatment
at the hospital in South Fayette. Hose attempted suicide by stabbing himself
hours before he was to go on trial Feb. 13.
Hose was on house arrest while
he awaited trial on charges of statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate
sexual intercourse for the 1996 disappearance of 14-year-old Tanya Kach, who is
now 25. Kach emerged March 21 from what she called a decade in captivity and
told her story to a McKeesport deli owner, who called police.

Shelly Misinay: Body found

From http://www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=6163452&nav=menu491_2:

Missing Farrell Woman's Body Found
A Farrell woman missing more than two
weeks was found dead less than a block from her home. Hermitage police say
Shelly Misinay's brother-in-law found the body at a Farrell cemetery.
Misinay, a mother of two young children, went missing in the early morning
hours of Feb. 14 after having an argument with her husband Frank.
Police said
an autopsy will be done on Friday. They would not describe the condition of the
body or if her death is being treated as suspicious.
21 News will have more
on this developing story on 21 News at Six.

The story takes a strange twist, however.
From http://www.sharonherald.com/local/local_story_060204515.html:

Published March 01, 2007 08:45 pm - Papers filed in Mercer County Common
Pleas Court last week may hold some clues to Shelly Misinay’s disappearance more
than two weeks ago. Mrs. Misinay, 41, of 605 Park Ave., Farrell, was found dead
Thursday morning in a cemetery less than a 10-minute walk from her home.
Mrs. Misinay's husband had filed for custody of children
By Patrick W. Connelly
Herald Staff Writer
FARRELL —
Papers filed in Mercer County Common Pleas Court last week
may hold some clues to Shelly Misinay’s disappearance more than two weeks
ago.
Mrs. Misinay, 41, of 605 Park Ave., Farrell, was found dead Thursday
morning in a cemetery less than a 10-minute walk from her home. She had been
missing since Feb. 14.
Her husband, Frank, last week filed for custody of
their children, citing concerns that his missing wife might return and then
disappear again with the kids.
Misinay filed the paperwork Feb. 22; the next
day, Mercer County Common Pleas Judge John C. Reed granted him temporary custody
of Frankie, 6, and Gillian, 4.
According to Misinay’s request for
custody:
Mrs. Misinay had problems with money and spending, and the couple
had been seeing a Hermitage psychologist from September until December 2005 and had resumed their sessions in January.
On Feb. 12, her husband questioned her
about her money problems and she responded, “When I’m gone, I’ll leave you, my
mother, and your boss a letter explaining what happened.”
Two days later she
vanished.
Misinay told Southwest Mercer County Regional Police that he
believed his wife had walked away between 4:30 and 9:30 a.m. that snowy morning,
while he was asleep.
Mrs. Misinay was wearing her pajamas and a winter coat
when her brother-in-law Don Blackshear found her Thursday, he said.
“It seems
as though she took her own life,” said Becky Swartz, who accompanied Blackshear
to the Southwest police station in Farrell Thursday afternoon. She is a longtime
family friend and co-worker of Mrs. Misinay’s mother, Bernice
Stanton.
“There’s still more to this story that we don’t know,” Blackshear
said.
Herald Staff Writer Patrick Connelly contributed to this story.

So was it indeed a suicide, or just an accident? Hopefully soon we'll know.
From http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_061111742.html:

Mar 2, 2007 3:05 pm US/Eastern
Autopsy Set For Missing Mercer County Woman
Today
(KDKA) HERMITAGE The coroner is set to perform an autopsy on the Mercer
County woman who was found dead in a cemetery on Thursday morning.Officials say Shelly Misinay, 41, was reported missing back on Valentine’s Day after an
argument with her husband.Authorities report that her body was found at the
Temple Beth Israel Cemetery in Hermitage.The investigation into her death
continues.

Rest in peace, Shelly, however your end came about.

Jason Jolkowski: Radio Waves for Jason

Jason's mother is starting a new awareness campaign for him.

She has posted a message about it on several message boards, including Courttv.com (http://boards.courttv.com/showthread.php?s=d4c245cb24f7228c7627a6a39de235de&postid=9205526):

Hello,
As you all know, my son, Jason, has now been missing without a trace for 5
years and 8 months. There are no leads to follow up on, and we, at this time,
depend on the general public to provide new leads to help us find our son. For
those of you who have a missing loved one, you already know the struggle to find
ways to get the word out, especially as time passes. You know that you must be
creative in order to get the media to react and to be able to reach your target
audience.
The purpose of my letter is to inform you of a new campaign which has the
goal of creating awareness for Jason, targeting every radio station in the
country. I am looking to amass a team of volunteers to email each radio station
Jason’s story (already prepared for you) and link to more information, photos,
and a poster. If you are familiar with his story, you know that Jason was once a
D.J. for a local community college. It was something he enjoyed and he became
very popular in the local area. He had some financial setbacks, and had to leave
school and the D.J. internship. We, his immediate family, feel that if he is
still alive, it’s very possible that he is working for a radio station, thus,
our campaign, Radio Waves for Jason. (We will make “waves” in the radio industry
looking for him.)
If you are either a family member with a missing loved one, or one of our
peers in the missing person cause, this email is merely to inform you of our
campaign. You often ask about Jason, so we’re letting you know what we’re doing.
We wouldn’t ask you to become involved as we understand you are very busy with
your work or seeking your own missing loved one. This campaign might even give
you an idea for one of your own, which is another good reason to share it with
you.
If you are a friend, family member, or a friend of Project Jason, and feel
you would have the time and commitment to help, we would be happy to have you
assist. As mentioned earlier, you would be given a prepared statement with links
to email radio stations in a set area. I estimate that it will take 3-5 minutes
to email each radio station. Even if you can only email a few locations, each
effort will help us reach our goal.
If you are interested in volunteering to help, please send an email to us
at radiowavesforjason(at sign)projectjason.org You will then be sent an email
with more details about the campaign and the prepared letter for the radio
stations.
*This campaign is suited for persons who are already comfortable
navigating the internet and using copy and paste functions.
Thank you for all you do for our family, Jason, and Project Jason, whether
it’s a simple prayer or more, all efforts are greatly appreciated.
With hope for all of our missing loved ones,
Kelly Jolkowski,
Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
http://www.projectjason.org/
Read our Voice for the Missing Blog
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/

If you know anything about the disappearance of Jason Anthony Jolkowski, please call the Omaha Police Department at (402) 444-5657.

Jason's website: http://members.cox.net/prayersandposters/

Guestbook for messages to the Jolkowski family: http://pub36.bravenet.com/guestbook/show.php?usernum=3085091876

You can print a poster of Jason at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200301135W.

Jason is also included in Project Jason's Adopt a Missing Person program. To learn more about how you can "adopt" Jason or someone else, visit http://www.projectjason.org/adopt.html.

Photo of Jason from his website.

Ranee Gregor: A suspect at last

There is finally news on Ranee, but it is among the most horrible sorts of news a family could hear. My heart goes out to John's and her loved ones.

Story from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07058/765229-85.stm. Photo and age progression of Ranee from the Charley Project:

Serial killer admits to 2 Findlay deaths in 1977
Tuesday, February 27,
2007
By Chico Harlan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Having just received his first
paycheck from a busboy job at a nearby fast-food restaurant, John Feeny, 17,
decided to take his girlfriend, Ranee Gregor, days shy of 16, on a date. He left
with her in his family's rusted yellow van. They headed to a remote area of
Findlay called lovers' lane. Hours later, on Oct. 22, 1977, the boy was
shotgunned to death. The girl was missing.
They became two victims
connected -- for years, only by widespread suspicion -- to serial killer Edward
Surratt.
Now, almost 30 years later, Mr. Surratt has admitted to six
unsolved murders, including the pair of teenagers, Beaver Township, Ohio, Police
Chief Carl Frost said yesterday.
Mr. Surratt, currently serving multiple
life sentences in Florida, was long suspected by police to have committed at
least 18 murders, most of them in Ohio and Pennsylvania. During the fall and
winter of 1977-78, Mr. Surratt pulled the region into a panic, most often by
entering homes, shooting the male and often raping and killing the female.
Mr. Surratt also admitted, Chief Frost said, to the 1977 murders of David A.
Hamilton and his wife, Linda; and John J. Davis and his wife, Mary. Those were
the four unsolved cases in Mr. Frost's township.
He received a reminder of
that following last year's county fair, when somebody -- he doesn't know who --
wrote the names of the Davis couple atop a photograph, posted at the fair, of
the area police department. After a series of phone calls, Chief Frost arranged
for two investigators in Florida -- one representing the Bal Harbour, Fla.,
police and one representing "America's Most Wanted" -- to question Mr. Surratt.
For his cooperation, Mr. Surratt wanted a transfer to a prison in South
Carolina, where in 1978 he'd been convicted of killing a man with a baseball
bat. He has been told prisons in that state have spring mattresses and air
conditioning. Florida is willing to cooperate with the move, Chief Frost said,
"because they're interested in getting rid of him anyway. He has been a pain."
Mr. Surratt, 65, a Marine Corps veteran and a former Aliquippa truck driver,
agreed to speak only with the "America's Most Wanted" representative, Joe
Matthews, a former homicide detective. He told Mr. Matthews that the bodies of
both Linda Hamilton and Ranee Gregor, never found, were "unrecoverable."
Other details, Chief Frost said, were vague.
"He didn't sit down and
say, 'I went in this door and I shot him when he said this.' He didn't give us
the full admissions," Chief Frost said.
Police now want more details about
the six murders and admissions to other unsolved cases. Chief Frost plans,
perhaps within the next month, to travel to Florida to assist with the process.
After Ranee Gregor's disappearance, her parents kept the girl's room exactly
as she'd left it. On the night of his date, John Feeny had been instructed to
return the van to his parents by 10 p.m., so his mother -- who worked nights --
could drive to work. Rita Feeny, John's mother, says the loss "is still raw."
"I'd like my son back," she said. "That's not going to happen ... and I have
to face that reality. If you have to be blunt, my son bled to death in our car;
the fancy medical term is exsanguinate. But ... it's still there. You think
about that on birthdays. There's a hole in all of your holidays. In everything.
And it comes to the surface every so often, when you think about what would have
happened if he'd had a chance to grow up."

If you have any information about the disappearance of Ranee Ann Gregor, please call the Robinson Township Police Department at (412) 788-7111 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Of course, there is always a chance that this guy could be lying. There is always a tiny little chance that Ranee could somehow alive. If you want, you can still print out and hang up a poster of her, even if only to try to get tips on her murder. You can print a poster of her here.

Websleuths thread on this case: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14937