Eyewitness Sightings of Missing Persons....

[Thiussat]

The Daniel Wilson case is a prime example of why sightings of missing persons based on fliers etc., are notoriously unreliable.

For those of you who may not know the case by the name... Daniel Wilson aprubtly left his home in Washington state after being given a few days off from work for fighting with co-workers. It is believed now that he may have been suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, which made him act so belligerent towards the co-workers. This conclusion was drawn after his car was examined and found to have had leaky pipes. At any rate, he left his home to go to Colorado to visit family (or it is assumed.) He never showed up.

His car was found on the side of the road in rural Montana and there was no sign of him, no sign of a struggle, nothing. He had just vanished. His mother began a search, of course, and several people came forward claiming he had been staying at a homeless shelter. The mother even looked at the shelter's log book, where the "tenats" sign in, and she saw the name "Daniel Wilson." She even compared it to her son's own handwriting signature samples. It was a match, or so she thought. The homeless shelter workers were "positive" they had seen him there.

Anyway, the update on the segment says that his body was eventually found five miles from his car. He had likely died of exposure to the elements after leaving his car. Obviously, since his body was found relatively close to his car, this means that the homless shelter people (and others who claimed to have seen him) were simply wrong.

This case reminds me of another case where a young woman had vanished, and a bartender claims she spoke with the girl several times at the bar. The girl seemed depressed and gave an alias. The real missing girl was later found to have been murdered shortly after she dissapeared, which means the bartender was simply wrong, even though she was "positive" about her sighting and even appeard on UM to discuss it. Does anyone have a name I can put to this case?

[mozartpc27]

Originally Posted by Thiussat

The Daniel Wilson case is a prime example of why sightings of missing persons based on fliers etc., are notoriously unreliable.

For those of you who may not know the case by the name... Daniel Wilson aprubtly left his home in Washington state after being given a few days off from work for fighting with co-workers. It is believed now that he may have been suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, which made him act so belligerent towards the co-workers. This conclusion was drawn after his car was examined and found to have had leaky pipes. At any rate, he left his home to go to Colorado to visit family (or it is assumed.) He never showed up.

His car was found on the side of the road in rural Montana and there was no sign of him, no sign of a struggle, nothing. He had just vanished. His mother began a search, of course, and several people came forward claiming he had been staying at a homeless shelter. The mother even looked at the shelter's log book, where the "tenats" sign in, and she saw the name "Daniel Wilson." She even compared it to her son's own handwriting signature samples. It was a match, or so she thought. The homeless shelter workers were "positive" they had seen him there.

Anyway, the update on the segment says that his body was eventually found five miles from his car. He had likely died of exposure to the elements after leaving his car. Obviously, since his body was found relatively close to his car, this means that the homless shelter people (and others who claimed to have seen him) were simply wrong.

This case reminds me of another case where a young woman had vanished, and a bartender claims she spoke with the girl several times at the bar. The girl seemed depressed and gave an alias. The real missing girl was later found to have been murdered shortly after she dissapeared, which means the bartender was simply wrong, even though she was "positive" about her sighting and even appeard on UM to discuss it. Does anyone have a name I can put to this case?

I agree with this post in principle Thiussat. How about the case of Cary Lynn Nixon, when a girl who disappeared was said, by an anonymous, mail-in tipster from Michigan, to be down in South Carolina. The family put up posters and... voila!...an older woman talked to a girl fitting that description, who gave her name as Cary Lynn Nixon. Then it turns out Nixon was buried in a shallow grave not far from her home the night she died.

There are plenty more examples just like this; that woman who ended up killing herself in a hotel room after disappearing from a restaurant parking lot was spotted by a truck driver who swore he gave her a ride, but he was clearly wrong, as she had been dead several months before he gave the mystery woman a ride.

In most missing person's cases, I dismiss the testimony of witnesses who say they saw somebody they really didn't know at all almost out of hand.

Strange, however, that I'm not so sure about Dan Wilson. If I recall correctly, the homeless shelter where he was spotted was in the town closest to where his car was eventually discovered. While I understand that "the closest town" in Montana can be a long way away, I can imagine a situation where Wilson's car perhaps stalled, or perhaps he pulled over feeling ill, and headed back to the last town he saw, and ended up seeking help at a homeless shelter for awhile, only to return to his car later, find that he could no longer start it, and instead wander off into the desert, where he ultimately died.

I'm not saying that's definitely what happened, but there sightings, even after his body was found, seem plausible to me.

[Thiussat]

Thanks, Mozart. Carry Lynn Nixon is the other case I mentioned that I couldn't put a name to. That case is also a good example of this phenomenon of people seeing missing persons whom they had never met prior to seeing a flier.

Your theory is plausible pertaining to Wilson. I find it unlikely, but a possibility nonetheless. In the Nixon case, there is no doubt that the bartender witness was simply wrong.

[SiberianKiss]

did anybody watch Dateline this past Sunday? They had a segment on Brianna Maitland, a young woman from Vermont who went missing. There is lots of information if you look it up. She drove off from the bed and breakfast she worked at, that was the last time anybody saw her. Her car was found about a mile away backed into an old abandoned barn. This was in 2004, then in 2006 a man who lived near Brianna's family was in Atlantic City gambling and when he got home he reported seeing a girl who he believed to be Brianna Maitland, playing blackjack at a busy table with two men. Anyways, it being a casino there was surveillance tape. The cops went to Atlantic City to investigate. They showed the tape on Dateline and you can see it in many places online or the still photos as well. It does look like her but it's not clear. Her friends think it's her, her parents do see a strong resemblance. They think her hand movements and her mannerisms are identical. There has been no other sightings and nobody has come forward claiming to be that girl. I wonder if it was her or not.

Obviously I wouldn't know if it was her, the girl in the grainy security camera does resemble Brianna from what I've seen in pictures on the website her family made. But only the ones who know her best would be able to tell. I do know this though, if my brother was sitting where that young woman was and the camera was focused on him exactly that way, it would be enough for me to tell if it were him or not. I know his face and him better than anybody and despite the poor, grainy image, without a doubt, I'd be able to say if it were him. You'd think the family would be able to with their own daughter.

If UM came back, Brianna Maitland is one missing persons case I'd like to see a segment on.

[mozartpc27]

Originally Posted by Thiussat

Thanks, Mozart. Carry Lynn Nixon is the other case I mentioned that I couldn't put a name to.

I don't think so... Cary Lynn Nixon was 16! I think I vaguely remember the bar tender one, but I can't put a name to it either.

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by Thiussat

This case reminds me of another case where a young woman had vanished, and a bartender claims she spoke with the girl several times at the bar. The girl seemed depressed and gave an alias. The real missing girl was later found to have been murdered shortly after she dissapeared, which means the bartender was simply wrong, even though she was "positive" about her sighting and even appeard on UM to discuss it. Does anyone have a name I can put to this case?

Dede Rosenthal

[Thiussat]

Thanks Crystal. Your acumen for knowing the names of these cases never ceases to amaze me.

As for what Siberian was saying -- it makes me mad that Dateline, and shows like it, are the ones that get to cover these interesting stories. I would rather UM be doing it, which is why I hope it is one day brought back to the air.

[ddelta]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

Dede Rosenthal

That was the case where the maintenance man killed her the day she went missing and got rid of her body but this woman bartender claimed she came into her joint numerous times acting weird. So sad, it gives the family so much hope.

Another one that comes to mind that might still be true since the guy was never found is the businessman who was very stressed at work and disappeared. A truck driver claims he saw the guy at a truck stop and brought him a meal. I just find this to be weird because it was the only sighting of the guy. Plus after I read up more on the case I have a very strong suspicion that the guy committed suicide.

[Bazorro]

the reason why these sightings are so "credible" is because the family members want to believe so badly that their loved one are alive that they see stuff that isnt there.

They would rather say that she was in Atlantic City gambling just to keep their spirits up than to admit that she might be dead.

[kamy]

What about Holly? People claimed to see her, her mother even got phone calls, and two psychics (one very famous!) said she was still alive and A) working at a strip club in S. Cali and B)in South Carolina or something like that. Ten years later they identified a body as hers and it turns out she was likely killed right after disappearing. Hmmm....
Her case always got me, and then her mom died before knowing what happened. It's comforting to know that her mom crossed over and finally found out what happened and met back up with Holly

[LooksLikeCRicci]

John Cheek, I believe, was the name of the businessman in Memphis who disappeared. His disappearance is baffling to me, too. I understand being stressed at work, but from my understanding he was doing well at work-- he just had a large volume of it.

I thought the eyewitness sighting was pretty credible. I don't see any reason for the guy to make any of his information up. However, I do also believe that John committed suicide as well.

[ddelta]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

John Cheek, I believe, was the name of the businessman in Memphis who disappeared. His disappearance is baffling to me, too. I understand being stressed at work, but from my understanding he was doing well at work-- he just had a large volume of it.

I thought the eyewitness sighting was pretty credible. I don't see any reason for the guy to make any of his information up. However, I do also believe that John committed suicide as well.

Oh I don't mean to say that these eyewitnesses are not credible, I really do believe they think they see these people. However, like i said it's just weird he was the only sighting of the guy. John Cheek was his name.

And you would be amazed what stress can do to you...mental brakes, depression.

[Kane]

From all this talk about how witnesses are sometimes mistaken about having seen a missing person (or even a wanted fugitive), it's natural to want to believe that the reported sighting of a missing person is accurate. So it is very depressing when the eyewitness turns out to be wrong.

For this reason, it is understandable that there are cases where even some of the most crucial pieces of information about a missing person are kept from the public. That way, it becomes easier to sort out the numerous tips that are inevitably received. When someone reports a sighting of a missing person and mentions descriptive details that are not publicly known, it adds to the hope that the eyewitness account is correct. Otherwise, if everything about the missing person (or fugitive) is public knowledge, it would be tougher, not easier, to tell which tips are reliable and which ones are not.

[DearBunny]

I know that this thread is more about missing persons, but when I was in high school one of my friends swore up and down that she had seen Eric Rudolph (the Olympic Park Bomber). It was actually kind of funny, yet incredibly unbelievable. She said that she had seen him at our high school (in central North Carolina) - he was a delivery guy for the Lance cracker company and had come to our school to fill the vending machine. This was obviously during his time on the run, and she claimed that the incident took place a year or two before my family moved to the area from Maryland (we moved to NC in 1999). I never believed my friend, but she was not the type of person who told lies, so I'm sure that she really did think it was him ... but I really doubt that it was.

Sorry if that was off-topic, but reading this thread reminded me of that story.

[CanadianUMFan]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

There are plenty more examples just like this; that woman who ended up killing herself in a hotel room after disappearing from a restaurant parking lot was spotted by a truck driver who swore he gave her a ride, but he was clearly wrong, as she had been dead several months before he gave the mystery woman a ride.

Maybe it was the woman's ghost that he gave the ride to. There is an old urban legend about that kind of thing happening.