Dale Kerstetter

[StarshineRose]

I've been thinking about this case a lot lately. I don't believe Dale was involved in the theft. He wouldn't have abandoned his family, and considering the kind of person he seemed to be (as well as being so close to retirement anyway) it doesn't seem plausible that he'd involve himself in a heist like this. It is possible, I guess, but not likely in my opinion.

I find it very ominous that after his initial appearance on the security camera he never appeared again over the span of the entire two hours that the intruder was there. If looking right into the camera was to flaunt his involvement (as the guy from Corning believed), then presumably it wouldn't have mattered to him if he was recorded elsewhere... and yet he is nowhere to be seen from that point on. That suggests to me that he was either already killed or incapacitated somehow. What's more, it's strange that Dale is never seen leaving the building, even though the intruder is. To me that, along with the amount of platinum taken being easy to carry, points to Dale (alive or dead) being in the bag that was wheeled out.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by StarshineRose

I've been thinking about this case a lot lately. I don't believe Dale was involved in the theft. He wouldn't have abandoned his family, and considering the kind of person he seemed to be (as well as being so close to retirement anyway) it doesn't seem plausible that he'd involve himself in a heist like this. It is possible, I guess, but not likely in my opinion.

I find it very ominous that after his initial appearance on the security camera he never appeared again over the span of the entire two hours that the intruder was there. If looking right into the camera was to flaunt his involvement (as the guy from Corning believed), then presumably it wouldn't have mattered to him if he was recorded elsewhere... and yet he is nowhere to be seen from that point on. That suggests to me that he was either already killed or incapacitated somehow. What's more, it's strange that Dale is never seen leaving the building, even though the intruder is. To me that, along with the amount of platinum taken being easy to carry, points to Dale (alive or dead) being in the bag that was wheeled out.

excellent points. I've always leaned in on the company's personal attacks on Dale being CYA. But in my opinion there is very little doubt that Dale was a victim and the alternative theories were spiced up and perhaps if I was a family member I would want to use every resource to try to find my loved one and get to the bottom of what happened.

[bigted12]

Originally Posted by StarshineRose

I've been thinking about this case a lot lately. I don't believe Dale was involved in the theft. He wouldn't have abandoned his family, and considering the kind of person he seemed to be (as well as being so close to retirement anyway) it doesn't seem plausible that he'd involve himself in a heist like this. It is possible, I guess, but not likely in my opinion.

I find it very ominous that after his initial appearance on the security camera he never appeared again over the span of the entire two hours that the intruder was there. If looking right into the camera was to flaunt his involvement (as the guy from Corning believed), then presumably it wouldn't have mattered to him if he was recorded elsewhere... and yet he is nowhere to be seen from that point on. That suggests to me that he was either already killed or incapacitated somehow. What's more, it's strange that Dale is never seen leaving the building, even though the intruder is. To me that, along with the amount of platinum taken being easy to carry, points to Dale (alive or dead) being in the bag that was wheeled out.

Yeah, Dale would have had to be insane to be involved, they told us that the platinum was worth 250K, but what you can get on the black market for something which would have been so "hot" and then you'd have to split it between at least one, maybe two, or more people. Dale would have maybe walked away with less than 50K.

He would have walked away from his home, his new truck, his family that clearly loved him... the reward would have been less than what he had left. it's illogical.

The fact that the plant was in serious financial problems before this, is key. they had let a lot of people go and even dale himself was only kept on, if he accepted the job as security.

I think the higher ups at the plant knew it was a question of time before the plant closed or was bought out and planned the straged robbery for the insurance money and then sold the platinum later.

The way they spoke about dale was really strange, in one part they told the story about how he saved people, saved money in one incident, they even kept him on in some capacity when they could have let him go, yet then called him "a marginal employee"

Dale was a patsy, set up....the only question is, what did they do with his body?

[TheCars1986]

You never see Dale on the tapes taking the platinum out of the plant or assisting the masked man (who was in there for hours). He was likely either killed or knocked unconscious and was taken out on the pallet jack.

[Allierain]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

You never see Dale on the tapes taking the platinum out of the plant or assisting the masked man (who was in there for hours). He was likely either killed or knocked unconscious and was taken out on the pallet jack.

I don’t see how one can see anything going on in the tape, it’s so terrible. Even for the time it’s awful. I never could spot the “glance” the company claimed Dale made, probably because it never happened. I will probably always lean to this being an inside job that went wrong.

What do you do with hundreds of lbs of platinum, do you just melt it down? How would Dale resell it? I don’t recall that question being discussed.

[bigted12]

Originally Posted by Allierain

I don’t see how one can see anything going on in the tape, it’s so terrible. Even for the time it’s awful. I never could spot the “glance” the company claimed Dale made, probably because it never happened. I will probably always lean to this being an inside job that went wrong.

What do you do with hundreds of lbs of platinum, do you just melt it down? How would Dale resell it? I don’t recall that question being discussed.

I don't think it was an inside job gone wrong, rather it went RIGHT.

Corning glass plant was having major financial problems and to quote a local paper "did serious downsizing widespread job losses, many employees even lost their pensions"

Those who were kept on, had to accept significant paycuts..... dale himself was earning 7K, which went down to 5K when he became a security guard...

based on everything i've ever read, this downsizing was essentially trying to shut the barn door after the horse had gone and the efforts to downsize and cut costs were useless, the plant had it's days numbers, it was a losing battle. i think a deal to sell was already in place.

I think certain higher ups at the plant planned an insurance job, setting up dale as the patsy. they staged a break-in, had the platinum "stolen" and made it look like dale did it...they did away with him and his body was more than likely ditched somewhere and just hasn't been found..

the plant then files an insurance claim for the platinum under the narrative that it was stolen "definitely maybe" by dale...they claim the money and then later because they would have had contacts and friends in the industry, waited a while and sold the platinum.

the plant gets sold just MONTHS!!! after the "robbery" to a company called vishay...

it wasn't an inside job gone wrong, it went very right for those who planned it.

[Street Novelist]

Originally Posted by bigted12

I don't think it was an inside job gone wrong, rather it went RIGHT.

Corning glass plant was having major financial problems and to quote a local paper "did serious downsizing widespread job losses, many employees even lost their pensions"

Those who were kept on, had to accept significant paycuts..... dale himself was earning 7K, which went down to 5K when he became a security guard...

based on everything i've ever read, this downsizing was essentially trying to shut the barn door after the horse had gone and the efforts to downsize and cut costs were useless, the plant had it's days numbers, it was a losing battle. i think a deal to sell was already in place.

I think certain higher ups at the plant planned an insurance job, setting up dale as the patsy. they staged a break-in, had the platinum "stolen" and made it look like dale did it...they did away with him and his body was more than likely ditched somewhere and just hasn't been found..

the plant then files an insurance claim for the platinum under the narrative that it was stolen "definitely maybe" by dale...they claim the money and then later because they would have had contacts and friends in the industry, waited a while and sold the platinum.

the plant gets sold just MONTHS!!! after the "robbery" to a company called vishay...

it wasn't an inside job gone wrong, it went very right for those who planned it.

Sounds about right...except for the insurance company buying that story. I would have been highly suspicious.

[bigted12]

Originally Posted by Street Novelist

Sounds about right...except for the insurance company buying that story. I would have been highly suspicious.

I decided to look this up, corning did make a claim and was successful, they recieved "a fee close to 700,000 dollars" after 8 months of investigations.

sometimes all you have to do is the paperwork, file police reports and the insurance company has to pay out.

[Street Novelist]

Originally Posted by bigted12

I decided to look this up, corning did make a claim and was successful, they recieved "a fee close to 700,000 dollars" after 8 months of investigations.

sometimes all you have to do is the paperwork, file police reports and the insurance company has to pay out.

Man, that is crazy they believed their story!

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

that money should have gone to Dale's family for their negligence (at a minimum). if they engaged in murder and fraud, then they should be forced to pay a lot more than that.

[James T]

Originally Posted by bigted12

Yeah, Dale would have had to be insane to be involved, they told us that the platinum was worth 250K, but what you can get on the black market for something which would have been so "hot" and then you'd have to split it between at least one, maybe two, or more people. Dale would have maybe walked away with less than 50K.

He would have walked away from his home, his new truck, his family that clearly loved him... the reward would have been less than what he had left. it's illogical.

The fact that the plant was in serious financial problems before this, is key. they had let a lot of people go and even dale himself was only kept on, if he accepted the job as security.

I think the higher ups at the plant knew it was a question of time before the plant closed or was bought out and planned the straged robbery for the insurance money and then sold the platinum later.

The way they spoke about dale was really strange, in one part they told the story about how he saved people, saved money in one incident, they even kept him on in some capacity when they could have let him go, yet then called him "a marginal employee"

Dale was a patsy, set up....the only question is, what did they do with his body?

Or just greedy/needing cash-50k is a lot of money, especially back then & people have killed others for a lot less. He had his wages cut-why he was doing the security work to make some of it up & had debts.

Why would he have walked away? He would of just stashed the money somewhere until the heat died down. Again people have walked away with nothing as well, when their life hits rock bottom & they want to start over.

50k is also easy money for just leaving a door unlocked & then pretending to be held hostage/forced to load up the stuff-likely for a disgruntled ex-employee who had been fired. But the person/persons were if it was planned with him greedy & decided to eliminate him for his share/stop him blabbing if the cops discovered he was involved.

[bigted12]

Originally Posted by James T

Or just greedy/needing cash-50k is a lot of money, especially back then & people have killed others for a lot less. He had his wages cut-why he was doing the security work to make some of it up & had debts.

Why would he have walked away? He would of just stashed the money somewhere until the heat died down. Again people have walked away with nothing as well, when their life hits rock bottom & they want to start over.

50k is also easy money for just leaving a door unlocked & then pretending to be held hostage/forced to load up the stuff-likely for a disgruntled ex-employee who had been fired. But the person/persons were if it was planned with him greedy & decided to eliminate him for his share/stop him blabbing if the cops discovered he was involved.

Mmmm, but you're ignoring the reality of the case and of the situation.

50K is a nice piece of money, you're right, but you have to factor in what Dale would have lost in the process. you're taking as if 50K went missing from a safe, people suspect Dale, he denies it but people suspect he did it, then yeah, you'd be correct, but this is a very different situation.

Dale had just bought a new truck, he had a home, he had a family that clearly loved him, he was only 50! he could have lived until his 80s or 90s...so let's think about it seriously, you leave your truck, your home, your family, your life and now you have to navigate the world and your financies for the rest of your life, knowing you're about to become a famous suspect, a criminal, on unsolved mysteries, so much so, we're here 40 years later discussing the case?

50K is a nice piece of change, but Dale with no means of transport, has his face plastered over the news, meaning he can't walk into somewhere the next town over or even the state over and ask for work, because he more than likely would be recognized, what would he do for work? for a passport if the plan was to leave the country?

let's say he was in on it, he left the plant that day or whenever with the clothes on his back and 50k to last him for the rest of him life, leaving behind him much more, right? so would this be smart? no!

now, you could definitely argue the case that dale wasn't smart and took the 50k, leaving behind his family, a home, a truck, a job and was promised a pension. but if he was a dummy, he'd have shown up by now, he'd have been caught. also the way those higher-ups at the plant acted, shows something was off. theres proof that the plant had it's days numbered. maybe the sale was already in place.

someone once posted here, "i'm a smoker, i can believe that dale left his truck, his home, but not his cigarettes"

that might sound like silly, but theres a lot of sense to that, so addicted to nicotine he didn't just take a pack of cigarettes with him, but a whole carton.

he would have lost a lot more than he gained, he could have easily lived into his 80s or 90s, that 50k wouldn't have lasted for 40 years, meaing he would have needed to work, do things, and yet we have no trace of him.

[EighthStreet]

Originally Posted by bigted12

so addicted to nicotine he didn't just take a pack of cigarettes with him, but a whole carton.
...
he could have easily lived into his 80s or 90s

You have to pick a lane and stay in it.

[bigted12]

Originally Posted by EighthStreet

You have to pick a lane and stay in it.

I know various people who have smoked all day since they were in their teens and made it to their 80s beyond.

George burns smoked 15 cigars a day and lived until he was a 100. not everything is black and white, smokers don't drop dead at 35, it's not the 1700s...

try a little nuance.