Jamison Family -- Disappeared

[Thiussat]

Have any of you seen this case on "Disappeared?" It's one of the more bizarre cases I have seen in a while. I think it's even more bizarre than the McStay family disappearance. You can view it on that video website I can't name. (Search for "Disappeared - 2x10 - Paradise Lost."). If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it before reading further because I post "spoilers" below. This would have been an awesome case to have had Robert Stack narrate.

Here's the facts of the case:

A man, his wife, and young daughter go hunting for some remote land in SE Oklahoma in which they hoped to build a house on at a later date. According to friends and family, they were people that liked their privacy, thus the remote location was ideal. Several days later police discover their locked truck with the family dog inside (which was barely alive), but there was no sign of the family. Police eventually bust the window out, rescue the dog and search the truck. They find no sign of a struggle inside. The interesting items they did find were $30,000 in cash, a hateful letter written by the wife to her husband, and both cell phones.

They later search the perimeter and find footprints, one set of which definitely belonged to the child. They also check the cell phones themselves and find that someone snapped a cell phone photo of the little girl just a few yards up a hill from where the truck was parked. Later they bring in tons of people to do a coordinated search and they find absolutely nothing. They brought in bloodhounds which led them to a water tank, which they drained, but they found no bodies inside. There's a lot more info in the segment but this is the main gist of it.

Now my thoughts:

The photo: The family said they think a stranger snapped the photo of the girl. It's true that the girl does not look happy in the photo, but she is a small child, so I don't think much can be made of that. I don't look too happy in my childhood photos either. And if a stranger did snap the photo, why put the cell phone back in the truck? I think this "lead" is a dead end and nothing can be made of the photo one way or the other.

The cash: It's anyone's guess why they brought $30k with them. People have suggested they were drug users -- the Sheriff said meth is a big problem in the area (as it is in a lot of rural areas) -- but family and friends said they are not aware of any drug usage. And even if they were involved in drugs, there's three things that don't make sense about the "drug deal gone bad" theory:

1) Who needs $30k to buy meth? Way overkill. Hell, that's overkill even for cocaine.

2) Why go to such a remote location to make a deal? There are many places much closer to home where they could have discreetly made a buy.

3) Most importantly, if it was a drug deal gone bad, why did the dealers not take their $30k? You going to tell me that drug dealers would go through all this trouble of killing and hiding the bodies of three people and not take their $30k? Drug dealers aren't about taking chances without a big pay-off. Therefore, I think the drug deal theory can be put to rest.

However, it still begs the question of why the cash was there in the first place. It's doubtful they planned on buying land on the spot with cash money; it isn't that easy, you have to go to the court house and get the whole deed thing settled first. That can take a while. So, I think that can be ruled out as well.

The only other possibility I can think of is that they planned on "running away" from their lives and brought their savings with them. Family members said they had a habit of disappearing for long periods of time in the past. I find this the most plausible scenario and will come back to this later.

The hate letter: The police found an 11 page long diatribe written by the wife to her husband. They didn't reveal what was in the letter, but only said it was "hate filled." Family members said the couple had their issues, but nothing that serious (i.e. there was never any violence that they were aware of). The family and friends seemed to have chalked up the letter to the wife's manic-depression and a result of her stress about the husband not being able to work, etc. Without seeing the letter, it's hard to comment on it. It's difficult to say one way or the other if it had anything to do with this whole thing.

The missing gun: The wife always carried the .22 on her person when she traveled. The gun was not found in the truck or the house, after extensive searching, which could perhaps point at the wife being somehow involved. Perhaps she killed the husband with the gun and took off. But if that's true, where's the kid, where's the husband's body and how did she leave the area? An accomplice? And if she did do all of this, why leave the money behind? Again, we are back at the money.

The home security camera: The security camera footage was odd, I admit, but it doesn't prove any foul play. The Sheriff says it appears the couple were high on some sort of drug because of the way they never interacted (or even looked at each other) despite making 20 trips to and from the house at the same time. He showed the footage to a shrink who also agreed they appeared inebriated. No one else was spotted on the camera which makes me doubt there was a stranger somehow holding them hostage. If anything the camera proves the couple was in the middle of a fight and decided to "take off" in order to sort it out.

Conclusion:

Follow the money. Based on everything I said above, we can rule out a drug deal (or robbery) gone bad. We can rule out a land purchase. What else is there to buy with $30k in cash? A car? Extremely doubtful that would happen in the middle of nowhere. A house? Nah, not enough money.

As Sherlock Holmes said: once you rule out the impossible, anything that is left, no matter how improbable, is the truth. And, the way I see it, the only thing left is a voluntary disappearance. "But the money was left behind", you say? Yes, it was left behind as a decoy -- an expensive decoy, but a decoy nonetheless. All the plausible scenarios involving foul play just make no sense precisely because the money was left behind. It is too blatant, too obvious, just as the cell phone picture and the locked truck are. What villain will lock a vehicle when he's done? What child predator will kidnap the entire family? What thrill killer will move and hide the bodies? Nothing adds up except a voluntary disappearance. It could be the wife is the only one who left voluntarily (with an accomplice), but at least one of them did leave voluntarily. Whether that means they are soaking up the sun in Cancun somewhere right now or if they simply walked away, got lost, and died from exposure I can't be sure.

[nohwheregirl]

I agree, this case is truly baffling.

I don't buy that the $30K was some kind of decoy. I mean, if you want to throw someone off your scent, you could leave $3K behind and that would still be enough for LE to say, "no way did they voluntarily leave this money behind." Plus, that much money only invites more suspicion as to why ANYONE would have the much cash on them.

Also, they could have just left NO cash behind, made it look like there was a struggle, and thrown LE off the voluntary disappearance trail completely. If you ask me, this is the shorter distance to travel from point A to point B.

I did find the child's photo a little odd. I mean, usually if you have a phone or digital camera, and the child is frowning in the picture, you can just take another picture. I don't know if the photo MEANS anything, and it's not exactly where I would focus the investigation if I were in charge.

Also, i think the analysis of the security camera footage was kind of bogus. I think they're reading way too much into it.

The whole thing about the wife pretending she was a witch to scare off people in the neighborhood was seriously weird. It makes me think that maybe they were capable of doing something like voluntarily disappearing. If that was the case, maybe they left the $30K behind on purpose because they wanted a "simpler" life or something. Maybe they wanted to really live off the land. But you'd think if they did that they would have been found by now.

I don't have the answers, but I think it makes for great discussion!

[cmyweb]

Originally Posted by Thiussat

Have any of you seen this case on "Disappeared?" It's one of the more bizarre cases I have seen in a while. I think it's even more bizarre than the McStay family disappearance. You can view it on that video website I can't name. (Search for "Disappeared - 2x10 - Paradise Lost."). If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it before reading further because I post "spoilers" below. This would have been an awesome case to have had Robert Stack narrate.

Here's the facts of the case:

A man, his wife, and young daughter go hunting for some remote land in SE Oklahoma in which they hoped to build a house on at a later date. According to friends and family, they were people that liked their privacy, thus the remote location was ideal. Several days later police discover their locked truck with the family dog inside (which was barely alive), but there was no sign of the family. Police eventually bust the window out, rescue the dog and search the truck. They find no sign of a struggle inside. The interesting items they did find were $30,000 in cash, a hateful letter written by the wife to her husband, and both cell phones.

They later search the perimeter and find footprints, one set of which definitely belonged to the child. They also check the cell phones themselves and find that someone snapped a cell phone photo of the little girl just a few yards up a hill from where the truck was parked. Later they bring in tons of people to do a coordinated search and they find absolutely nothing. They brought in bloodhounds which led them to a water tank, which they drained, but they found no bodies inside. There's a lot more info in the segment but this is the main gist of it.

Now my thoughts:

The photo: The family said they think a stranger snapped the photo of the girl. It's true that the girl does not look happy in the photo, but she is a small child, so I don't think much can be made of that. I don't look too happy in my childhood photos either. And if a stranger did snap the photo, why put the cell phone back in the truck? I think this "lead" is a dead end and nothing can be made of the photo one way or the other.

The cash: It's anyone's guess why they brought $30k with them. People have suggested they were drug users -- the Sheriff said meth is a big problem in the area (as it is in a lot of rural areas) -- but family and friends said they are not aware of any drug usage. And even if they were involved in drugs, there's three things that don't make sense about the "drug deal gone bad" theory:

1) Who needs $30k to buy meth? Way overkill. Hell, that's overkill even for cocaine.

2) Why go to such a remote location to make a deal? There are many places much closer to home where they could have discreetly made a buy.

3) Most importantly, if it was a drug deal gone bad, why did the dealers not take their $30k? You going to tell me that drug dealers would go through all this trouble of killing and hiding the bodies of three people and not take their $30k? Drug dealers aren't about taking chances without a big pay-off. Therefore, I think the drug deal theory can be put to rest.

However, it still begs the question of why the cash was there in the first place. It's doubtful they planned on buying land on the spot with cash money; it isn't that easy, you have to go to the court house and get the whole deed thing settled first. That can take a while. So, I think that can be ruled out as well.

The only other possibility I can think of is that they planned on "running away" from their lives and brought their savings with them. Family members said they had a habit of disappearing for long periods of time in the past. I find this the most plausible scenario and will come back to this later.

The hate letter: The police found an 11 page long diatribe written by the wife to her husband. They didn't reveal what was in the letter, but only said it was "hate filled." Family members said the couple had their issues, but nothing that serious (i.e. there was never any violence that they were aware of). The family and friends seemed to have chalked up the letter to the wife's manic-depression and a result of her stress about the husband not being able to work, etc. Without seeing the letter, it's hard to comment on it. It's difficult to say one way or the other if it had anything to do with this whole thing.

The missing gun: The wife always carried the .22 on her person when she traveled. The gun was not found in the truck or the house, after extensive searching, which could perhaps point at the wife being somehow involved. Perhaps she killed the husband with the gun and took off. But if that's true, where's the kid, where's the husband's body and how did she leave the area? An accomplice? And if she did do all of this, why leave the money behind? Again, we are back at the money.

The home security camera: The security camera footage was odd, I admit, but it doesn't prove any foul play. The Sheriff says it appears the couple were high on some sort of drug because of the way they never interacted (or even looked at each other) despite making 20 trips to and from the house at the same time. He showed the footage to a shrink who also agreed they appeared inebriated. No one else was spotted on the camera which makes me doubt there was a stranger somehow holding them hostage. If anything the camera proves the couple was in the middle of a fight and decided to "take off" in order to sort it out.

Conclusion:

Follow the money. Based on everything I said above, we can rule out a drug deal (or robbery) gone bad. We can rule out a land purchase. What else is there to buy with $30k in cash? A car? Extremely doubtful that would happen in the middle of nowhere. A house? Nah, not enough money.

As Sherlock Holmes said: once you rule out the impossible, anything that is left, no matter how improbable, is the truth. And, the way I see it, the only thing left is a voluntary disappearance. "But the money was left behind", you say? Yes, it was left behind as a decoy -- an expensive decoy, but a decoy nonetheless. All the plausible scenarios involving foul play just make no sense precisely because the money was left behind. It is too blatant, too obvious, just as the cell phone picture and the locked truck are. What villain will lock a vehicle when he's done? What child predator will kidnap the entire family? What thrill killer will move and hide the bodies? Nothing adds up except a voluntary disappearance. It could be the wife is the only one who left voluntarily (with an accomplice), but at least one of them did leave voluntarily. Whether that means they are soaking up the sun in Cancun somewhere right now or if they simply walked away, got lost, and died from exposure I can't be sure.

If I recall (forgive me if I have my cases mixed up) there were some claims by the husband of demon possession. Video showed them packing up their home and looking zombiesh? (i.e. just passing one another without acknowledgement as they packed up the home). Very odd case indeed.

[Thiussat]

After I posted, I went and searched the web for more info. There are a bunch of posts on a local forum in the SE Oklahoma area. Some of the posters that live in the area claim that not far from where the Jamisons disappeared there are some very odd characters around. They said that there is a whole community of drug users and vagrants that live off the land and that the police refuse to go onto the "commune." They also said there have been several unsolved murders in the general area in recent years.

There is also a very interesting story by one guy who claims that only a few days before this couple went missing he had setup a meeting to look at land very near where the truck was found. He said that the people (whom he assumed were realtors) were very suspicious. He said the land they told him about wasn't even the right piece of land and they had falsely advertised it as being for sale. He assumes they had him setup in some kind of scam and he went on to say that he could have ended up like the Jamisons if he had ended up taking the trip up there. He claimed that he was planning on contacting the FBI about it in hopes it might help give a new lead in the Jamison case. If you go to Websleuths, they have a link to the forum where this guy posted. He made a bunch of posts and it's hard to really explain what he's talking about unless you read it for yourself.

And then there's a story about a "crazy woman" that lives in that area who doesn't take to kindly to having her privacy invaded. She once made a comment about a neighbor stealing her pond water and said if the court wouldn't settle it she might settle it on her own. Apparently the area has a lot of homesteaders -- there's no electricity and running water in many parts of the area. This woman was a homesteader.

And another thing I find weird is that the segment said the husband had been in a car accident. The mother said he had been hit by one car and then got pushed into another (she said it was two different women driving both cars). Well, according to a poster on that forum (who claims to be friends with the husband) that is not what happened. He claims that the husband's own father ran him over on purpose. And, if you will recall, the segment did say that the surveillance cameras were put on the house to look out for the father (who is now dead). I wonder why the mother made this story up? Of course, it could be that this guy on the forums is full of BS, but I think his story is real because he goes into some detail about the Jamisons.

But even if any of these scenarios are true, it still begs the question of why the truck was locked (with no keys inside) and why everything, including $30k, was left behind. I am still thinking that it was either a voluntary disappearance or the Jamison's left their truck, locked it (because money was inside) and walked off with every intention of coming back. If a stranger did them in, then I don't think the stranger knew where they were parked or else they would have taken the money or at least tried to dispose of the truck itself. Besides a voluntary disappearance, the only scenario that makes sense is that they walked upon something they weren't supposed to see and were killed in haste. Actually, this could be a case like the Knoxville 4-wheeler murders: perhaps they walked on the wrong person's property.

[wiseguy182]

Contrary to what the OP says, the authorities said that nothing can be ruled out in this case, and I agree that nothing can be ruled out. I really liked Latimer Co, OK Sheriff Israel Beauchamp, who was interviewed extensively for the episode. And to get technical, it was $32,000.

I believe that the photo and the security camera footage was being over-analyzed in the episode. Regarding the photo, a lot of people just aren't very photogenic. Some people take good pictures, others don't. As far as the security camera goes, I don't think much useful information can be gleaned from that. It was another one of those low quality cameras that produce grainy results. It doesn't produce a "real-time" film, but rather a collection of pictures. Although I do agree it's odd they made so many trips to and from. I don't think it amounts to anything, but it's odd nonetheless.

The most perplexing thing, to me, was the cash. The episode did mention it was hidden, I think under one of the seats, or something. I have to wonder how well it was hidden. Perhaps if foul play was involved, the perp or perps just simply couldn't find the money a la Stringbean Akeman. Since the Jamison's, well at least Bobby anyway, liked their privacy, it can't be ruled out that they left the money behind to lead a simple existence, but I'm still baffled why they would not take the $. What if one of them got very sick and required a long hospital stay?

There are numerous theories as what may have happened to them, and any of them are possible. The episode did touch upon the ruggedness of the area they disappeared in. Someone, I think it was Sherilynn's mother, said a person could get very easily lost in there, and there was even some concern for the rescue workers because of it. I have to wonder if they died of exposure or the elements. Though I must confess, if one of them got injured or whatever, why didn't they split up and try to go for help? It seems like SOMEBODY could have made it to the car if all 3 were unable.

I wonder how if, and how extensively, the people living in the area were questioned. They are natural suspects. The fact that Bobby and Sherilynn brought their child does seem to discount the theory that they were planning on engaging in illegal activity (who brings a kid to a crime?), but it has happened. Gary Ridgway, for example, brought his child to some of his crimes.

The Charley Project page has a lot of additional info. It says that the Jamison's were known to frequently carry large amounts of cash on them. Perhaps somebody found out about this and acted on it. Strangely, the link also says they were having financial problems at the time of their disappearance. Additionally, it says the Jamison's were involved in a couple of lawsuits at the time of their disappearance, so I wonder if one or more of the people they were feuding with at the time did them in. Also, it says that the Jamison's were "obsessed with death", so that nugget would point more towards voluntarily disappearance.

No idea what to think here. This occurred roughly 10 years after the similarly perplexing Bible/Freeman case in the same state.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/...n_madyson.html

[SheRaaa]

I too saw this case on Disappeared and always thought it was very perplexing. I think this case, possibly like the McStays in CA, was some sort of combination of voluntary disappearance + something going horribly wrong.

To me, the paranoid behavior and desire for privacy hints at wanting to "go off and start a new life somewhere," especially in a very rural, self-sufficient area.

However, the $32K left behind screams something did not go as planned. No one leaves that huge amount of cash behind unless something suddenly came up, as Marcia Brady would say. There are many other, less costly ways to throw off the police, and people wanting to start a new life need money to do it.

My highly amateurish theory is that, in a paranoid haze, the family was like, "screw this, we're gonna drive up to *rural area* and buy some land. We'll just offer them cash on the spot so we can get moved in right away and leave all this b.s. behind," etc. Then, they go up there in a hurry, cash in hand, and take a look around. At this point they stumble into trouble -- maybe they see something they shouldn't have, maybe they pissed-off an angry property owner, or maybe they were just easy prey for random predators passing by. All this happens after they lock the doors of their car, with cash + dog inside, expecting to be back shortly.

[karenjanee]

Originally Posted by SheRaaa

I too saw this case on Disappeared and always thought it was very perplexing. I think this case, possibly like the McStays in CA, was some sort of combination of voluntary disappearance + something going horribly wrong.

To me, the paranoid behavior and desire for privacy hints at wanting to "go off and start a new life somewhere," especially in a very rural, self-sufficient area.

However, the $32K left behind screams something did not go as planned. No one leaves that huge amount of cash behind unless something suddenly came up, as Marcia Brady would say. There are many other, less costly ways to throw off the police, and people wanting to start a new life need money to do it.

My highly amateurish theory is that, in a paranoid haze, the family was like, "screw this, we're gonna drive up to *rural area* and buy some land. We'll just offer them cash on the spot so we can get moved in right away and leave all this b.s. behind," etc. Then, they go up there in a hurry, cash in hand, and take a look around. At this point they stumble into trouble -- maybe they see something they shouldn't have, maybe they pissed-off an angry property owner, or maybe they were just easy prey for random predators passing by. All this happens after they lock the doors of their car, with cash + dog inside, expecting to be back shortly.

I think what you have written is the most logical explanation.

I think somewhere along the line they made an enemy - they had a boarder staying with them who got into a fight with the wife, seemed to be experiencing some financial difficulties, seemed to be desperate to start over.
I just get a feeling that they were in over their heads with something in their lives. The stories about missing families really get to me, something about the children being dragged into something they have no control over spooks me.

[wiseguy182]

The episode said the boarder had been cleared as a suspect. I'm not sure if I totally buy that he is innocent without having any more info, but there it is FWIW. I mentioned above that they were involved in a few lawsuits at the time of their disapperance, so I think there's a possibility that somebody involved in one of those cases may have been responsible.

The huge problem with the volunatary disappearance theory is that they didn't involve themselves with the sale of the house they were living in at the time. I don't know what actually happened to it, but one would think they would have squared that away. Plus the 32k left behind. I'm confused as to how they could have had financial problems when they had that much money floating around in a paper sack.

I don't know what happened. Nothing in this case makes sense.

I tend to lead more toward foul play. I think it was someone in the area who didn't know about the money they had and/or didn't care.

[SheRaaa]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

Plus the 32k left behind. I'm confused as to how they could have had financial problems when they had that much money floating around in a paper sack.

I too found the existence of the 32k in cash to be quite puzzling. Like, wtf? Where did all that money come from? I've been in dire financial straits MANY times (lol) and I clearly have no clue how to come up w/ 32k in cash, period.

Had they been squirreling it away for years?

Were they involved in something illegal?

Did they sell a bunch of stuff? Why?