Jasmine Moody, 22, vanished on December 4, 2014, during a visit to Detroit, Michigan
In late November 2014, Jasmine Moody, a Texas Woman’s University honor roll student, went to visit a friend in Detroit, Michigan. She disappeared, December 4, 2014, at approximately 7:30 p.m. leaving her friend’s home, around the 3700 block of Baldwin. This location is situated in the Van Dyke and Mack area of Detroit. Her disappearance has baffled police and her family is convinced foul play is involved.
Moody was scheduled to return home to Texas on December 5, 2014
According to a Detroit Fox 2 report, “Mystery of what happened to Jasmine Moody continues 1 year later,” private investigator Scott Lewis said, “It was a December night, it was cold outside, 7:30 at night.” Lewis was hired by Moody’s family in a desperate search to find her. “Jasmine left the home with no tablet, no telephone, no money, no credit card, dressed in a sweatshirt. And she’s never been seen again,” Lewis added.
Moody was wearing a white hoodie with a burgundy “University of Texas” logo on the front and blue jeans.
“I thought she went for a walk. I went for a walk to grab a cigarette and came back, but Jasmine didn’t,” her friend Brittany Gurley told Detroit News. “I don’t know anything. I went searching myself and came up with literally nothing,” she said.
Internet Relationship
During mid-2014, while living in Texas, Jasmine had pursued an Internet relationship with Brittany Gurley who lived in Detroit. She decided to travel to Gurley to spend the Thanksgiving holiday, arriving on November 25th. She had visited Gurley at her east side residence in Detroit several times before.
The girls had met on Twitter and had a romantic relationship for approximately two years.
Moody was scheduled to return to Texas December 5th. Gurley stated, “She and Moody got into a fight over a Facebook post.” She continues on claiming Moody “stormed” out of the house. Gurley went out for a cigarette and when she returned several minutes later, Moody was gone. The following day, Moody’s mother Fa’Lisa Nichols desperately tried calling Moody but there was no answer. The calls became more frantic as Nichols talked to her daughter every day on the phone.
Moody’s mother did not know her daughter was missing until a week later because Gurley and her family never called her to inform her of the incident. Nichols believes Gurley knows more than she has told police.
In November 2015, Moody’s mother along with Moody’s stepfather Patrick Kidd went to Detroit and joined volunteers who searched a mile radius around the location where Moody was last seen, hoping someone would come forward with information.
“It’s been a year,” said Kidd, Jasmine’s stepfather, “I haven’t heard her voice. I don’t know if she is alive or if she is dead.”
Moody’s parents have gone to Detroit several times to search for their daughter. Photo courtesy of Detroit News 7.
Morton is not alone in her assumption Gurley is hiding information about Moody’s disappearance.When Fox 2 Detroit News asked a volunteer, Chelsea Morton, if they felt Gurley had something do to with Moody’s disappearance she responded, “Of course. How could she just walk out in the cold? No shoes, no phone, no nothing.”
“Someone knows,” said Malik Shabazz, a community activist. “I believe the people in that house right there,” as he pointed to Britney Gurley’s family’s home.
Moody is described as a stable young lady by her parents. During an interview with Tamara Thompson of “Real Talk with Tamara,” Nichol’s was asked if she felt her daughter’s disappearance is suspicious. “I do, I do. I do feel it was suspicious. If she was the type who ran away or disappeared from time to time, I might not be as worried as I am right now. But that doesn’t describe her at all . . . so, with that being said, it is suspicious,” said Nichols.
Nichol’s and her daughter spoke every day on the phone. “This is just not right. I know something is just not right,” Nichol’s said.
Days pass, months, now years – for a mother desperate to know what happened to her daughter.
Moody’s phone, laptop and everything she had with her was found at the home of Gurley. “Jasmine would go nowhere without her phone,” said Nichols.
Her mother had discouraged her from traveling to Detroit telling her daughter she had a bad feeling. Moody responded, “Mom, you are so dramatic!”According to family, Moody knew no one else in Detroit and would have felt uncomfortable alone; therefore, she would not have left on foot.
It has now been three years without hearing her daughter’s voice. “It just hurts me to know somewhere out there knows something and people can be so cruel and sleep at night and know someone is hurting over their loved one,” said Nichols, “I know something has happened to her.”
Gurley’s friends and her family have not cooperated with police according to Nichols. In fact, when Nichols called and spoke to Gurley’s mother to ask what happened with her daughter the night Moody disappeared, Nichols believes their stories sounded rehearsed.
“Somebody did something. Her mother knows something,” said Nichols. “This has gone on way too long.”
Nichols describes a very close relationship with her daughter and having a very disturbing experience the night Moody vanished. While sleeping, the night of December 4th, Nichols suddenly awoke and heard her daughter’s voice say, “Help me, Momma.” The following day she couldn’t dismiss the feeling and arrived at work with tears in her eyes. She called her daughter’s phone. No answer.
Nichols describes that day beginning a 3 year nightmare and turning her entire life upside down.
Nichols claims, “In the beginning, the detectives from the Detroit Police Department did not stay in touch regarding the case. No updates, no return calls and they had not even entered Moody’s information into the FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC) correctly. Since then, a new detective was assigned who calls to check in and has been very responsive making each passing day “not knowing” a little easier.
Where is the attention?
A young black woman goes missing. Where is the national media attention? Moody’s disappearance generated some local media attention initially; however, no mention on national news.
Families of African American Missing feel the disparity and claims it is nothing new. With the help of Black and Missing, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, Moody was profiled in the November 2015 issue of Essence Magazine, “Bring Her Home for the Holidays: Jasmine Moody.”
In comparison to other missing person cases such as Natalie Holloway, Chandra Levy, and Laci Peterson, the news media coverage has been minimal.
Black and Missing Foundation works with the families of the missing, media and law enforcement nationwide to ensure equal attention and resources are available to every black missing adult and child. The nonprofit has become well-known for addressing the disproportionate amount of media attention and cited in hundreds of articles throughout the United States.
According to statistics on the Black and Missing website, as of 2011, there were 692,944 entries of missing persons in the FBI’s NCIC system, of that 33% were black missing persons totaling 229,736.
There is a $2,500 reward offered for information leading to the whereabouts of Jasmine Moody and the prosecution of anyone involved in her disappearance. If anyone has information about the whereabouts of Jasmine Moody, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
Corinna Slusser, 19, was last seen at the Haven Motel in Queens, New York the morning of September 20, 2017. New York Police Department (NYPD) fears she was kidnapped by a sex trafficking ring and friends and family fear the worst.
According to relatives, in early 2017, Slusser had dropped out of her Bloomberg, Pennsylvania high school and moved to New York City with a 32-year old man she had hoped was giving her a “fresh start.”
Police instead suspect the man, turned “pimp”, lured her into prostitution.
Police fear Corinna Slusser has been kidnapped into a sex trafficking ring
The pimp, whose name has been withheld by police, was arrested and held on a $1000 bond.
Court documents revealed on August 25, 2017, police had responded to a 911 call at 1:15 am from the Harlem Vista Hotel and found Slusser “crying and shaking”. She told officers her pimp had stolen $300 from her while she was in the shower. He began strangling her when she confronted him, slamming her against the wall, making it hard for her to breathe.
The court issued a temporary “Order of Protection” to Slusser and a copy was mailed to the address she listed on file at her mother’s home back in Pennsylvania.
Slusser’s mother, Sabina Tuorto, opened the mail to find a copy of the order several days later. Fearfully, she called her daughter to ask what was going on; however, Slusser told her mother not to worry.
When Slusser did not show up at her grandfather’s funeral in Florida, her family reported her missing on September 12th.
On September 20th, an anonymous individual called the NYPD and told them Slusser had been seen leaving a hotel in Queens. Police have confirmed; however, she has not been seen since, elevating concerns of family and police.
Mysterious Instagram Post
On September 10th, Slusser posted a puzzling message and mysterious photograph on Instagram featuring a young woman wearing a black baseball cap and smoking a joint in the middle of heavy traffic on a city street. It was her last post since she was reported missing.
An avid social media user, Corinna Slusser’s last Instagram post on September 10, 2017
NYPD’s Vice Human Trafficking Team fear Slusser has been kidnapped by a sex-trafficking ring and passed to different pimps since her disappearance. Investigators suspect sex-traffickers kidnapped Slusser after she reported her pimp to police, a rule not to be broken in the underground world of sex-trafficking.She tagged the picture, “The Bronx”, but friends and family both have said the picture looks like it was taken somewhere in South America rather than New York.
Prior to her disappearance, a cheerleader and popular student in high school with future dreams of becoming a makeup artist, Slusser suddenly moved out of her mother’s home at age 17 and dropped out of school. While staying at a friend’s home near her mother, Slosser began suffering from depression and attempted suicide. While recovering in the hospital, she met the man who lured her to New York in March.
While in New York, Slusser sent home photographs of her new apartment in the Bronx telling family she was working “customer service” on weekends.
According to Slusser’s aunt Becker-Calfa, Slusser’s social media posts were becoming more provocative and inappropriate.
She told Oxygen, “People have come forward saying she was boasting that she was making a lot of money doing things called dinner dates but saying there was no sex involved – that was when she first moved out there – and that meant they were just paying to take her to dinner. [Police] believe that escalated into actually being a call girl. She was still being treated well and apparently was able to get her own apartment. When she wanted to go home the next day, that was when they believe she was abducted.”
On October 10th, Slusser’s mother posted a plea on Facebook, “My daughter was a great student, a cheerleader. She had many friends and lived her life as a normal teenager. I need her home and I can’t bear any more days like this, I fear the worst, but I pray for the best and her return home.”
A source told Daily News, “There is no indication she is subject to foul play,” but added nothing is certain. Slusser’s name has come up in several vice investigations giving some hope she is still out there.
As an avid social media user, there have been no posts from Slusser since September 2017.
The Toll of Human and Sex Trafficking
Human trafficking is defined as the exchange of money for services that have been obtained by force, fraud or coercion. There is little to no difference in the definition of sex trafficking.
Thomas Lauth, CEO of Lauth Investigations International, has worked missing persons, human and sex-trafficking cases for over twenty years. “Human trafficking is a hidden crime because victims are often afraid to come forward,” said Lauth. “They fear the wrath of the traffickers and may also fear law enforcement.”
A sex-trafficking victim profiled in a BBC report, “Shandra Woworuntu: My life as a sex trafficking victim,” had arrived in the U.S. hoping to start a new career in the hotel industry. Instead, she was trafficked into prostitution, sexual slavery, forced drug-ingestion and extreme violence.
Shandra Woworuntu, a human sex trafficking survivor now runs Mentari, helping other survivors.
“Customer service is the key to this job, I was told,” said Woworuntu. A graduate of finance, she passed the tests for employment and accepted the job working in the U.S. for $5,000 per month.
“I arrived at JFK airport with four other women and a man and we were divided into two groups. Johnny took all my documents, including my passport, and led me to his car with two other women,” said Woworuntu.
The driver proceeded to take her to another driver, they exchanged money and demanded they switch cars. This happened three more times. They were taken to a house where they were exchanged, yet again, to a driver with a gun.
“After just a few hours in the U.S. I was forced to have sex,” Woworuntu said. “I did what I was told.”
The traffickers who participated in Woworuntu’s kidnapping were American, Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Malaysian Chinese. One man even had a police badge though she does not know to this day if he was really an official.
She was then taken up and down I-95, to various brothels, apartment buildings, hotels and casinos on the East coast. Woworuntu said, “I was rarely in the same place, and I never knew where I was going.”
The traffickers made her take drugs like meth, cocaine and weed at gunpoint, along with alcohol. Some customers were violent, white guys, black guys, Hispanics guys, old men and even university students.
The traffickers had told Woworuntu she had to pay back $30,000 before freedom would be granted. She would have to service, at least, 300 men to afford this amount. She felt hopeless.
With all the strength she could muster, Woworuntu found an opportunity to escape. She went to police as well as the Indonesian consulate but received no help. She found herself sleeping on the Staten Island Ferry, the NYC Subway and Times Square when a man listened to her story and called the FBI.
Eventually, “Johnny” and others were arrested due to Woworuntu’s testimony. Several other women were freed because of Woworuntu’s courage.
The rest of the story is now history and Woworuntu is a success story. “The FBI connected me with Safe Horizon, an organization in New York that helps victims of crime and abuse, including survivors of human trafficking,” said Woworuntu.
The group helped her get housing and secure a job. For her cooperation with the FBI, she was granted permanent residency.
Now, 17 years later, Woworuntu runs Mentari, a Human Trafficking Survivor and Empowerment program.
The organization offers:
Art Projects
Career Coaching
Children’s Educational Books
Culinary Art Training
Mentorship
Survivor Leadership
Peer to Peer Support
Policy Advocacy
Support Groups
Training and Lectures
Job Assistance
Transitional Housing (planning)
“When we find victims of sex-trafficking, ensuring they have the proper resources gives them a better chance at overcoming the trauma of being a victim,” says Lauth. “Programs like Mentari are giving victims a fighting chance.”
Elaine Park vanished into thin air on Jan. 28, 2017, from Calabasas, the gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains located in Los Angeles County, Calif.
Elaine is a beautiful 21-year-old Korean-American young woman who is described as spunky, outgoing by those who know her. Before her disappearance, she had been looking forward to attending Pierce College. A young lady who loves performing in musical theater and dance companies. She has also worked hard to pursue her dreams as an actress.
Elaine has appeared in several roles in TV shows and some movies including Crazy Stupid Love, Role Models, E.R. Mad TV, and Desperate Housewives. Not yet a household name, she was certainly headed in that direction.
In a Hollywood Reporter article “Search for Missing Actress Intensifies as $250,000 Cash Reward Offered”, according to the family’s private investigator Jayden Brant located in Beverly Hills, Elaine’s case is classified as an “unwilling missing person” by authorities and foul play is suspected.
According to the FBI National Crime Information Center, as of Oct. 31, 2017, there were 87,643 active missing person cases in the United States. In Calif., there are 19,431 active missing person cases, with 1,829 classified as “Involuntary” and another 4,234 classified as “Endangered” within six categories of entry in the national database.
Elaine had stayed the night with her boyfriend Divine “Div” Compere. Compere is the son of Hollywood businessman Shakim Compere, who co-owns Flavor Unit Entertainment with Queen Latifa.
Compere told police that he and Elaine had gone to a movie the night before she mysteriously vanished and returned to his home at 1:00am that evening, taking Uber and later confirmed on surveillance. Compere also claims at approximately 4:00 am, Elaine suddenly woke up shaking and singing which he attributed to a panic attack. Surveillance captures Elaine walking to her car two hours later, not appearing distressed. Video also shows Elaine’s vehicle leaving Divine’s compound, near the 2600 block of Delphine Lane in the rugged Coldwater Canyon of Calabasas.
A resident of La Cresenta, Calif., Elaine was reported missing two days later when family became concerned she had not returned home, calls or responded to texts.
As reported in an NBC Dateline interview, “Mother Appeals for Continued Help in Search for Missing California Daughter,” Elaine’s mother Susan Parks said, “I called (police) and, because of her age, the police thought she had just not contacted me. So, I thought, OK, just wait one more day. But my fear kept growing. The official report was made Monday.”
Police had initially considered Elaine to be voluntarily missing until Feb 2, when Elaine’s charcoal gray 2015 Honda Civic, was found abandoned in a desolate area, approximately 20 miles away, along Hwy 1-Pacific Coast Highway just south of Corral Canyon Rd., in Malibu.
The vehicle’s doors were unlocked with keys still in the ignition. Personal belongings were found inside, including her keys, backpack, cell phone, purse, makeup, cash and laptop.
Police conducted a ground search with bloodhounds along the cliffs and shore but there was no sign of Elaine in the area
Elaine’s car was found along Pacific Coast Highway, near Corral Canyon.
“It’s suspicious in the way that we found her car, her cell phone and things, in the manner we did,” Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William told Dateline. “We can’t rule foul play in or out because plain and simple, we don’t have any evidence to do so.”
Authorities have said the boyfriend has been cooperative and not considered a suspect, but theories and suspicion abound on Internet sleuth sites.
At a news conference, Elaine’s mother Susan Park said, “It’s completely a mystery, unimaginable. How can someone just disappear without a trace?” Park has made numerous public pleas for help to find her missing daughter including an emotional plea and “time-limited” $500,000 reward offered for information.
Rolling Stone writer Neil Strauss, partnered with Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger to raise awareness wearing T-shirts with “Find Elaine Park.” Einziger, along with his wife Marie who live in the area where Elaine went missing. Appearing on KROQ, they asked the public for help to keep the search for Elaine going.
Marie Einziger, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger, and Rolling Stone writer Neil Strauss – Courtesy KROQ
Now, with the $500,000 reward expired, along with lack of leads, Elaine’s family and friends are even more desperate to find her. The family has created a presence on social media with a Facebook page “Help Find Elaine Park” dedicated to the continued search for information that may help find her. Her mother has posted fliers and searched places Elaine loved to go, including the boardwalks. The family is doing what they can, but they need additional help.
“Missing person investigations can be quite complex, and one must always think outside the box during an investigation,” says private investigator and MissingLeads.com contributor Thomas Lauth. Lauth has over two decades private investigation experience on missing person cases and headquartered in Ind. “As important as it is to pound the pavement to obtain information, I can’t stress enough, the importance of engaging the public in the search for a missing person. Many crimes are solved by raising awareness, generating that one lead, and social media is a vital tool.”
In Andy Nguyen’s report in the L.A. Times, “$250K reward offered in missing LaCresenta missing woman’s disappearance,” family private investigator Jayden Brant says, “It’s our strong contention that Elaine Park is an involuntary missing person and that foul play is involved in her disappearance.”
The passing months torturous for Elaine’s mother Susan, enduring having her child missing, one of the most traumatic of human experiences. With only the strength a mother could muster, Susan Park remains focused on finding answers, most importantly and no matter the outcome focused on bringing her daughter home.
Humboldt County, in picturesque northern California, is the home of the majestic Coastal Redwood forests with about 110 miles of breathtaking coastline along Pacific Coast Highway 101. Approximately 250 miles north of San Francisco, Humboldt is approximately 2.3 million acres of combined dense forests and public land with a population of only 134,623 people according to the 2010 census.
Formed in 1853, rural Humboldt County has a rich pioneer history and once solely inhabited by the Wiyot Indian tribe dating back to around 900 BCE. It borders the scarcely populated and heavily forested Trinity County with the rugged Klamath Mountains running north into Oregon.
Traveling through, one can quickly be taken back in time to a life of living off the land and part of the allure for many seeking a simpler way of life.
Dotted with hundreds of beautifully ornate historic Victorian homes, Eureka is Humboldt’s largest town. Also known as “Best Small Art Town in America”, an estimated 8,000 artists call it home along with students attending College of the Redwoods main campus. The well-known smaller college town of Arcata is about a 7.5-mile drive north past the magnificent Arcata Bay.
Neighboring Trinity County is 3,179 square miles of rugged terrain and the Klamath Mountains occupying most of the county and a popular area for backpacking, camping, and fishing.
Trinity is a place of splendid and inspiring scenery where there are no traffic lights, parking meters and local drugstore in the historic California Gold Rush town of Weaverville has been filling prescriptions since 1852.
Humboldt’s dark past
Known as “Bigfoot Country” where hundreds of sightings have occurred and people from around the world tell stories of the large, hairy, human-like creature lurking in remote regions of the northern California forests, stories of murder and missing persons have also been told for decades.
Long gone are the days’ hippies hitchhiked from across the country promoting love and peace in Humboldt County. Urban refugees and long-time residents can tell you the innocence of Humboldt is now gone, replaced by increasing violence, unexplained disappearances, and missing person fliers.
Emerald Triangle and Murder Mountain
Known as a Stoner’s paradise since the 1960’s, small business owners, students, artists, people seeking inner peace and those wanting to live off the grid, have been drawn to the beauty of Humboldt County.
Emerald Triangle, consisting of the Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties, is a mountainous and heavily forested area where marijuana growers cultivate California’s number one cash crop. In fact, much of the estimated 104 billion nationwide sales of marijuana is grown there.
This is where Humboldt County and the surrounding area become downright dangerous, even deadly. Old timers say Humboldt is no longer the home of the peaceful hippies and quiet homestead marijuana growers. Instead, Humboldt has become home for those wanting to make a fast buck trimming pot plants, bringing drifters and even the Bulgarian cartel to town. “It is a modern day green rush,” says Detective Chandler Baird the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
While many are moving in, others are moving out. A once colorful mural on the side of the Co-op building located on E Street in Eureka is now fading along with the feeling of safety within the community. Known for strange disappearances, northern California has even been identified as the trolling ground of serial killers dating back decades, tourists are often warned not to venture too far out on their own. The beautiful, yet ominous fog covered forest has kept many secrets over the years.
Murder Mountain is one of those not so secret . . . secrets, approximately 84 miles south of Eureka, in southern Humboldt County. During the early 1980’s, the area got its name, in part, after serial killer couple James and Suzan Carson confessed to killing and dismembering a co-worker on a marijuana farm. The couple was charged with three homicides but remain suspects in as many as 10 more. Numerous disappearances and unsolved homicides have haunted the area.
Murder Mountain in Alderpoint, has a population of 186 residents but concern grows throughout Humboldt as homicides and disappearances appear to be expanding throughout the county.
In fact, a self-proclaimed vigilante group known as the “Alderpoint 8” have become community heroes after reportedly obtaining a confession from a person of interest and leading authorities to a gravesite of Garrett Rodriquez who had vanished in late December 2012 and creating a presence of order though some citizens feel the local group of men are using intimidation and committing crimes too.
Whether the threat is external or community members “on the inside” the threat to resident’s and visitor’s safety appears real. Either way, for every missing person and unsolved homicide, there is a family holding on to hope and waiting.
Numbers don’t lie
According to the FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC), there were 87,180 active missing person cases in the U.S. as of September 30, 2017. In addition, there were 8,589 active Unidentified persons entered into the national database, most deceased.
California leads the country in the number of missing person reports with 19,316 missing persons, compared to Texas that numbers 5,988, and Arizona with 2,281 active missing person reports.
Though California has captured national attention for the depravity of several serial killers throughout the decades, experts attribute the higher number of missing person reports is due, in part, to mandatory reporting requirements. California Penal Code 14205 states in part, all local police and sheriff’s departments shall accept any report, including telephonic reports of missing persons, including runaways, without delay and shall give priority to the handling of these reports over the handling of reports relating to crimes involving property.”
1993 Disappearance of Jennifer Wilmer
Many have gravitated to Northern California in pursuit of a new lifestyle in a climate where they can be the free spirits they are. Jennifer Wilmer, who went by the nickname Jade, was one of those bright free spirits who went searching for more in the redwoods of northern California, where she was last seen in 1993.
Jennifer Wilmer
Born April 13, 1972, Jennifer grew up on the bustling east coast in Long Island, NY, and attended the privileged St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset. A hard-working student, Jennifer had earned a full scholarship to St. John’s University in N.Y.C. a private, Roman Catholic, research university located on Utopia Parkway in Queens. Dropping out after only one semester, Jennifer expressed to family and friends she wanted to pursue her own “utopia” and enroll for classes at the College of the Redwoods, in Eureka, California. In 1992, a bright and beautiful 20-year old arrived in the seaside community of Arcata on a journey into the hippie counterculture.
Arcata is a town where the vibrant old souls of Haight Ashbury seemed to preserve the 60’s. The intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets is located in San Francisco about 200 miles south of the seaside town of Arcata. A place where the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Mamas & the Papas and the Fuggs help create a psychedelic subculture where youth and young adults throughout the country flocked. Following the likes of LSD guru Timothy Leary who coined the term, “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out”, that is exactly what some did, even decades later.
Upon arriving in Arcata, Jennifer told her family classes at College of the Redwoods were full for the semester, so she opted to find work as a local waitress and rented space in a house with several roommates located in Hawkins Bar in scenic Trinity County, approximately 50 miles east of Arcata on California State Route 299.
There are two opposing reports for the day Jennifer vanished on September 13, 1993. One person reported Jennifer was last seen leaving her Willow Creek residence to go to a travel agency to pick up a one-way return airline ticket to New York her mother Susan Wilmer had purchased for her. Her family was desperate for her return, but she never arrived at the travel agency to retrieve her ticket.
Another report indicates Jennifer had been seen hitchhiking in the vicinity of Hawkins Bar toward Willow Creek to inquire about a job opportunity at a local farm. The distance is approximately 9.5 miles northwest of her residence.
According to High Times journalist Elise McDonogh’s article, “Humboldt County: Murder Mayhem and Marijuana”, even as far back as the late 1970’s people looking for work as farm hands and marijuana trimmers were warned of the dangers of accepting rides from strangers and the strange disappearances around Murder Mountain. Of course, few could imagine such dark evil lurking in such picturesque surroundings.
The Vanishing of Karen Mitchell
Twenty years ago, sixteen-year-old Karen Mitchell vanished on Nov. 25, 1997. Known as one of Eureka’s long-lasting unsolved mysteries, Karen was only five days away from her seventieth birthday, a high school junior who vanished in broad daylight.
Karen moved from Southern California to live with her aunt and uncle, Bill and Annie Casper who were well-known in the community. Annie still owns “Annie’s Shoe Store” where Karen had visited her aunt before disappearing on Broadway, in downtown Eureka, on her way to the Coastal Family Development Center where she helped care for children.
When it was discovered Karen was missing, law enforcement and volunteers from the community conducted ground searches and went door to door. Police followed-up on thousands of leads but no information has ever lead to her whereabouts. Karen’s disappearance impacted the entire community and her family has never given up hope they will find out what happened to her that fateful day.
Karen Mitchell
In a Eureka Times-Standard article in Dec. 2012, reporter Kaci Poor interviewed Dave Parris, then lead investigator of Karen’s case at Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. “I will never forget her short hair, her beautiful eyes, and cheeks,” Parris said. “I remember5 the jewelry that she wore and the clothes she had on. I have never met Karen Mitchell – to this day, I have never met her—but when you go into her bedroom, read her college applications, talk to her family . . . you begin to know her.”
The day Karen vanished she had been filling out college applications and had planned to attend Humboldt State University. Described as a liberal and opinionated young lady, she loved politics, the environment, and children. Parris said, “You could tell she was going to be successful. She was going to be a person who would make a real difference.”
Parris, who is now retired, says he still thinks about Karen’s case. Over the years, Karen’s disappearance has spurred many theories but the detectives now on the case have not received any new leads that have helped any progress on the case.
Initially, thousands of tips poured in that now take up over 30 volumes, that stand over six-feet high.
Parris recalls a tip he received from a former police officer. The officer had told detectives he had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting a light blue 1977 Ford Granada that had slowed down to talk to a young girl who closely resembled Karen the day of her disappearance.
Despite tracking down 1,200 vehicles scattered across the West Coast that matched the vehicle description, no solid leads were ever found.
In 1999, Wayne Allen Ford, a resident of a nearby trailer park, walked into the Eureka County Sheriff’s Office with a severed female breast in his pocket and proceeded to confess to authorities that he had murdered four women during 1997 and 1998. Detectives interviewed the 36-year old truck driver, but he could not be tied to Karen’s disappearance. Ford was eventually charged with four counts of first-degree murder unrelated to Karen’s case, sentenced to the death penalty and currently serving time in San Quentin prison.
Another suspected serial killer and millionaire Robert Durst became the focus of authorities. A very private man, Durst is described as an enigma. Durst was known to love marijuana and his privacy, two things Trinidad and Eureka offer. Also known as the “Lost Coast”, a ghost-like Durst could live undetected. Though Durst had no financial worries of his own, he was known to hang out with transients, the down and out.
Reported in The Guardian, author of “A Deadly Secret” Matt Birkbeck writes in his book, that credit card receipts place Durst in Eureka the day Karen went missing and that Durst also resembles a police composite of a man who a witness claimed was seen trying to force a girl matching the description of Karen into a car. In addition, Durst was thought to frequent a homeless shelter where Karen may have volunteered and confirmed he was a customer at Annie Shoe Store.
Accused of killing his wife Kathie Durst in 1982 he was never charged. He was then suspected in the murder of friend Susan Berman in 2000 in Los Angeles, then later acquitted of the dismemberment murder of drifter Morris Black in 2001.
While Durst was thought to be in the area of Eureka at the time of Karen’s disappearance, police were not able to tie him to the disappearance of the young, bright girl who had her entire life in front of her. In fact, only more questions have arisen in recent years and speculation several Humboldt County disappearances and murders may be connected. But to who?
The Disappearance Sheila Franks and the murder of Danielle Bertolini
Danielle Bertolini
In 2013, beautiful 23-year old Danielle Bertollini moved to California from Bangor, Maine after the death of her infant son. She had hoped to start a new life in Fortuna approximately 17 miles south of Eureka.
Danielle talked to her mother Billie Jo Dick almost on a daily basis, so when she didn’t hear from her daughter, she filed a missing person report on Feb. 19, 2014. She immediately flew from Maine to California to search for her daughter, along with Deemi Search and Rescue where she was a volunteer. Danielle’s father Jon Bertollini who lives in Oregon also traveled to Fortuna to help search for his Danielle.
Danielle had last been seen getting into a car on the road leading to her house in the rural area known as Swains Flats, along Highway 36. A local, James Eugene Jones was questioned by police and admitted he had given Danielle a ride and was the last person to see her. Police soon connected Jones to the disappearance of another Fortuna woman Sheila Franks a week prior to Danielle’s disappearance. The connection between the two cases then raised questions as to other missing person investigations into disappearances of many missing women in the area.
Sheila Franks was a divorced mother and had been living with Jones prior to her disappearance. Jones claims on Feb. 2, 2014, he and Sheila were both at his house and Sheila had gone for a walk and didn’t return. Jones, a 43-year old sawmill worker, was now the focus of both investigations.
However, according to a 2016 Crime Watch Daily report, another connection had been discovered. Shelia’s sister Melisa Walstrom indicated Jones also knew Karen Mitchell. Melisa went to school with Jones and has known him all her life.
After Sheila’s disappearance, Melisa went through a storage unit where Jones had placed Sheila’s personal belongings. “In the storage unit I found my sister’s purse that had money, credit cards, it had a birth certificate, everything that my sister had that was important to her, she wouldn’t up and disappear and not take the money at least,” said Walstrom.
Upon making the discovery of her sister’s belongings in storage, it removed all doubt that Jones had to be responsible for Sheila’s mysterious disappearance.
A friend of Sheila’s confirmed there was trouble in her relationship with Jones and there were signs Sheila had been beaten by Jones a week prior to going missing. “She was like, “Well, Jimmy and I got into a fight and he punched me, gave me a black eye,” added Walstrom.
Police were no closer to answers, until Mar. 9, 2015 when a skull was found in a local riverbed along the Eel River. On May 25, 2015, Billie Jo Dick was notified the skull had been identified was that of her daughter Danielle’s.
Jones has had criminal charges for drugs and a conviction for domestic violence but despite compelling connections between the two women’s disappearances, no arrest has been made. While police say Jones is not a suspect, he does remain a person of interest.
We are still left with questions. Are these disappearances connected? And, is there a serial killer still operating in the shadows of Murder Mountain?
One person believes the theory of a serial killer has merit.
Indiana Private Investigator probes the dark side, another disappearance
Christine Walters
Thomas Lauth, an Indiana private investigator who has spent over 20-years investigating missing person cases, has delved into the dark side of Humboldt County on several occasions.
Nov. 14, 2008, another young Wisconsin woman vanished during broad daylight in Eureka. Five months before her disappearance, 23-year old, Christine Walters had been attending college at the University of Wisconsin in Deerfield, and the future seemed bright.
Christine, a vivacious young woman, wanted to explore the world. In July 2008, Christine planned a 3-week summer trip to Portland, Ore. She had intended to continue her college studies upon returning to Wis., but instead, Christine decided to abruptly move to Humboldt County with friends she had met during her trip.
In a 2013, Times Standard article, Christine’s mother Anita Walters said, “I believe she was too trusting of the people she met in California. She didn’t know the people and didn’t understand the culture out there.” She added, “And I know there are a lot of young adults who go there to disappear and don’t want to be found. I honestly believe that is not the case for her. If she said that now, she would be totally brainwashed. Her and I were very close.”
Initially, upon moving to Calif., Christine’s calls were upbeat. She had made many friends and connected with individuals who were part of Green Life Evolutions, a group that has since been described as a potential cult and since disbanded. At the time, Green Life had two locations, one in Eureka, another in Blue Lake, approximately 16 miles northeast of Eureka.
Christine’s phone calls home went from happy and upbeat to concerning. On October 28, 2008, Anita recalled a phone call where she asked her daughter to return home for a while. Christine told her mother she wasn’t ready to return because she was on a “journey” and needed to follow her “path.”
Christine Walters
One-week prior to her daughter’s disappearance, on November 7, 2008, Christine had been part of a Ayahuasca tea ceremony, using a South American hallucinogen. There were approximately 20 individuals who participated in the cleansing ceremony, led by a Shaman named Tito Santana.
Cleansing ceremonies have been used for centuries. It is said William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg called it yage, but it goes by many names including hoasca, natem, shori, Vine of the Dead, Vine of the Soul, and Spirit Vine to name a few.
Participants describe the experience as mystical and a psycho-spiritual psychedelic trip that can bring visions, self-realization and commonly violent purging, or vomiting.
According to those at Green Life, after the ceremony, Christine stayed with other participants and rested but left by herself the evening of Nov. 11, 2008.
The following morning, a couple found Christine on their front porch on Tompkins Hills Rd., approximately 20 miles away from where she had been staying in Arcata/Blue Lakes. She was naked, cold, hungry, thirsty, with extensive briar scratches all over her body.
Christine was taken to St. Joseph Hospital. Humboldt County authorities interviewed her due to her injuries but found her evasive when recounting what had happened to her. Instead, she claimed she had “walked a long way” and claimed there were demons who could hear her and were trying to get her. Upon Christine’s release from the hospital, she went to the Red Lion Inn in Eureka and called her mother several times from the hotel expressing paranoia and fearfully expressing there were people that were going to find her no matter where she went.
On November 14, 2008, Anita Walters agrees to fax Christine a copy of her driver’s license and social security card, so Christine could go to DMV and access her bank account. At approximately 1 pm Christine dropped the hotel keys onto the front desk and walked out wearing her pajamas.
The owner of Copy Co. Printing at I Street in Eureka stated Christine arrived there at approximately 3:30 pm wearing her pajamas and slippers, hair disheveled, claiming she had lost her wallet but acting very paranoid and looking over her shoulder. She asked for directions to DMV located approximately 1 mile from the copy center and departed. She has never been seen again.
Her family has struggled, only wanting answers. “We want Christine to know we love her dearly and miss her very much, and we pray every day for an answer as to what happened to her. Someone must have seen her and certainly, there is one person that has the answer, so please help us,” said Anita Walters.
“This has been one of the most baffling cases I have seen in my twenty-years of investigating missing person cases throughout this country,” says Thomas Lauth of Lauth Investigations International headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. “With the mysterious disappearances of so many women in Humboldt County, we can never rule out there may be a serial killer operating in the Humboldt County area, but we are always hopeful someone who knows something will come forward and provide these families some peace that only answers will bring.”
Kym L. Pasqualini is the founder of Nation’s Missing Children Organization in 1994 and National Center for Missing Adults in 2000, serving as CEO until 2010. Kym has spent 20 years working with government, law enforcement, advocates, private investigators, and national media, to include expert appearances on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, John Walsh, Lifetime, Montel, and Anderson Cooper.
A veteran (or dinosaur) in the field of missing persons, Kym is considered an expert in the field of crime victim advocacy and continues to work with media advocating for crime victims.
Thelma Thomas (second from right) of Merrillville, mother of the missing Rochelle Thomas Stubblefield, listens to investigators Friday (December 12) during a news conference seeking the public’s help in the case. -Damian Rico/Photo (The Times)
Rochelle Thomas Stubblefield of Merrillville, In. was supposed to celebrate her 21st birthday on December 25 with friends and family. She was also supposed deliver her first child on Dec. 15—a boy, who she had already decided to name “Amir”.
However, the 21-year-old went missing on Nov. 10 after attending classes early in the day and going a girls basketball game later on. Her family reported her missing on Nov. 12. Almost three months later, investigators are still unable to locate Stubblefield.
The Calumet College student was attending school on a track scholarship. Calumet College of St. Joseph is a private college that is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Stubblefield was a criminal justice student who had hopes of becoming a police officer upon graduation.
Stubblefield was proud of her school, and she was last seen wearing a maroon Calumet College sweatshirt, black jeans, and glasses.
Stubblefield’s friends and family are still desperate for answers.
“We need to find her. Help us,” Stubblefield’s cousin, Lajuaina Riley, told the Chicago Tribune in late December, “If anyone has any information, don’t be afraid.”
Police Detective George Dickerson from the Gary Police Department told reporters that investigators do have a person of interest in the case, but declined to comment further. Dickerson did say that this person is someone that Rochelle Stubblefield knows, and that the individual is not cooperating with police.
Investigators have also recovered some personal items belonging to Stubblefield, but would not comment on the location that these items were found.
“We don’t want to compromise the integrity of the investigation,” Detective Dickerson told the Chicago Tribune.
Police did say that they suspect foul play, but were unable to comment any further.
Police are asking anyone with information about the case to call (219) 755-3855 or the anonymous tip line at 866-CRIME-GP.
Police were no closer to answers, until Mar. 9, 2015 when a skull was found in a local riverbed along the Eel River. On May 25, 2015, Billie Jo Dick was notified the skull had been identified was that of her daughter Danielle’s.
