I recently met someone who is related to a MISSING PERSON. The missing person went on a vacation to see relatives and rented a car, deciding to go to another city that is a tourist trap before returning home. Who hasn't used an extra day or so when near some attractions to go see them, a once in a lifetime opportunity, when far from home? Months ago he was last heard from by cell phone. All seemed to be well. He was a loving father and family man. They didn't actually think of him as missing until about a week later when he didn't use his return ticket. Until then a lot of rationalizing was going on. The cell phone was never found but went dead. Later the rental car was found with no evidence of him in it. The family feels they did all they could do including making appeals for information on television, posting on Facebook, and so on. Now they have faith in God and see him in their dreams.
MISSING PERSONS! The mystery of what happened to them and when, not knowing if and when they were a victim of criminals or an accident, or if they went missing deliberately for some unknown reason, challenge loving family in every way possible. I personally feel this person is not on this earth, but it is too soon too soon to give up hope.
I find that the work of David Paulides
CANADIAN AMERICAN MISSING - DAVID PAULIDES is quite fascinating.
Paulides is broadcasting via interviews and YouTube almost weekly, focusing on some of the most mysterious disappearances in National Parks, in a very open minded way that might include BigFoot or UFO's, which I realize turns some people off. Yet, he remains on the side of true detective work and skepticism and is probably the person most responsible in North American for working on the problem of ineptitude in investigations, unaccountably of and bureaucratic messes in governmental agencies when it comes to missing persons.
Listen to him and you'll begin to wonder how so very many people could be simply gone.
He says that one should never go hiking without a partner, am electronic device that would help locate you (not just a cell phone), and a weapon.
So, is there a way to use genealogy instead of a detective to work on this missing person case?
The answer is NO. The situation is too new. Possibly if the situation is old enough, there might be some evidence that the person just went away and settled somewhere else.
I consider birth parents gone missing to be traceable using some genealogy methods. I was able to locate one father within hours of being asked to. He had not changed his name.
A person may not actually be "missing" if they did not go out of their way to change their identity, such as changing their name. Because of electronic databases and informational services, to go missing on purpose is more difficult by the minute. But once in a while you hear of someone who just went away, found employment, someone who never divorced but remarried. Their neighbors are astounded to find out that they were actually a WANTED PERSON all those years when they'd been considered to be pillars of their community.
Police detectives have access to databases that may help track a person's movements and expenditures. Making missing persons reports with police is a first step. It's often not enough. A person who wants to disappear is probably not going to use their credit cards or the same phone. They are probably going to leave with a lot of cash on hand and have made plans to go from here to there - such as another country - in advance. It's not impossible but generally difficult to have that much cash in hand if you're an ordinary individual. Off to another country we might consider how well did they speak Spanish or Polish when they left? Yet, I reason, everyone has a secret life, a self they keep private. It's possible that the missing person had some associations his wife and children knew nothing about.
Sometimes it's just that an agency budgets only so much time and money to a case. Then it goes COLD.
If there is a person who is missing that you want to find, try to avoid certain assumptions such as that they are missing because their Facebook page is static or taken down. Maybe they're just taking a time out from social networking. Additionally, maybe they are taking a break from YOU. Maybe the relationship was not as good as you imagined it. (Are you a stalker with an imaginary romance?)
One person asked me, "What if they went into a Witness Protection Program?" Well, I don't know exactly how that works. From reading around it, the person being protected has to check in frequently with law enforcement. To start a new life elsewhere the FBI may have helped with name changes and ID's and so on. And the person or family has to be ready to be moved again - and again. I doubt that an individual with a loving family would go and leave them behind without telling them but in the Witness Protection Program, it can be no-contact. Usually people in this program are in it because they are considered to be on hit lists or in deep trouble because of their testimonies against criminals. Witness Protection Program people live very controlled lives.
So, Blessings to those who are missing someone they love, as they cope with the changes in their lives because of the mystery of what happened.
C 2018 Ancestry Worship Genealogy BlogSpot
Update July 2019.
The missing man's remains were found, in a field not far from where the rental car had been found. Foul play is suspected.
Showing posts with label Detective Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detective Work. Show all posts
23 September 2018
10 October 2016
GENEALOGY DETECTIVES ! HELP ME FIND THE RIGHTFUL OWNER - MAUREEN O'TOOLE ? - SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO CHURCH
Part of being a genealogist is having respect for other people's family' stuff. Although I will be contacting the church directly, I need some help to find Maureen O'Toole, whose parents were Ollie and Millie O' Toole, and who lived in North Hollywood/ Valley Village and may have been members of the parish. If these people are familiar to you, please leave me a COMMENT, along with your e-mail address (preferred) or phone number, which I will not publish on the Internet but use to contact you.
I was walking my dog early Saturday morning when I saw a spill of cards under a tree. There was also a slippery plastic laundry type bag nearby, as if maybe someone didn't know they had lost the cards they were carrying in the bag. This was not near a garbage bin. I got closer and noticed that the cards and letters were not wet from the sprinklers, nor dirty or smelly, though clearly near a well used path. "It must have been recently that they were lost," I thought! No one was around, so I decided that before they could get wet, dirty, or smelly, to take this all home, look at it, and see if I could determine the rightful owner!
The genealogy detective in me was enthralled as I saw that most of the stack were MOTHERS DAY CARDS, with Maureen's profuse love for her mom expressed in so very many handwritten notes inside. There were envelopes without corresponding cards in them, from Rossmore, California, Sparta, New Jersey, La Crescenta, California (the Flynns) and Hopewell, Virginia, as well as older yellowed correspondence from a male writer based in Saint Louis, which were all about theatrical events, as well as a large envelope that had once contained a will. I noticed an envelope from Saint Charles Church and an address in No Ho, but I suspect that the O'Toole family has not lived at the address since 2005, the last postmark in the collection.
THERE IS A 25th Anniversary card from Ollie to Millie. From this, I know that they married on June 23, 1937 and the card is from 1962. At the time, either Ollie or Millie's own mother was still alive as she sent a card. Thus I believe that Ollie and Millie, who were probably born 1917 or before, have likely passed away and that the person I'm looking for is their loving daughter Maureen or a close relative, such as a grandchild, niece, or nephew.
Another clue is a Christmas card to "Aunt Millie" from Jerry, Randy, Jeffery, and Julia Rose. Either Millie or Maureen were sometimes called "Mo."
There are some cards handmade by Maureen in the pile, an old photo of a young man. That white card below is Ollie's Silver Wedding Anniversary card to Millie and the card with the orange stone on it is a handmade Silver Wedding card from Maureen to her parents.
UPDATE OCTOBER 13th. Progress. A short letter has been delivered to the church.
But more amazing than that is that when I went to drop off the letter, I picked up a bulletin, and flipping through it, saw that there was a Mass being said for a Maureen O'Toole, on October 9th! So I asked the desk clerk and confirmed she had died. So on the Internet I found an OBIT with a picture of Maureen, and some other information. Ollie was a character actor who had worked in cowboy films. Maureen had an acting credit too. And there was a funeral Mass for her on August 31st, 2016, plus mortuary information. She had died at 73! I called the mortuary and will be sending a letter they may pass on. Between the church and the mortuary, I feel certain that we will locate SOMEONE who may be a close family member, eventually, if they are responsive. Besides a feeling of synchronicity that in dropping off the letter I thought to pickup and read the bulletin, this morning yet another synchronicity occurred. I waited outside a library for it to open, and got into a conversation with a man sitting on the bench next to me. So though this library is miles from the other locations, when I told him about being out with my dog so early that it wasn't quite light out yet, and being attracted by the envelopes, he said, "I was riding my bike and saw those a few days ago, wondered what they were, but didn't stop!"
ACTOR OLLIE O'TOOLE on IMDB (the movie database) HER DAD WAS BORN IN PITTSBURGH and he actually worked as a character actor in more films than on this list.
UPDATE! ONE WEEK AFTER THIS POST, though the church, a connection was made. I'll be delivering the collection to a go between any day! So, Maureen RIP!
I was walking my dog early Saturday morning when I saw a spill of cards under a tree. There was also a slippery plastic laundry type bag nearby, as if maybe someone didn't know they had lost the cards they were carrying in the bag. This was not near a garbage bin. I got closer and noticed that the cards and letters were not wet from the sprinklers, nor dirty or smelly, though clearly near a well used path. "It must have been recently that they were lost," I thought! No one was around, so I decided that before they could get wet, dirty, or smelly, to take this all home, look at it, and see if I could determine the rightful owner!
The genealogy detective in me was enthralled as I saw that most of the stack were MOTHERS DAY CARDS, with Maureen's profuse love for her mom expressed in so very many handwritten notes inside. There were envelopes without corresponding cards in them, from Rossmore, California, Sparta, New Jersey, La Crescenta, California (the Flynns) and Hopewell, Virginia, as well as older yellowed correspondence from a male writer based in Saint Louis, which were all about theatrical events, as well as a large envelope that had once contained a will. I noticed an envelope from Saint Charles Church and an address in No Ho, but I suspect that the O'Toole family has not lived at the address since 2005, the last postmark in the collection.
THERE IS A 25th Anniversary card from Ollie to Millie. From this, I know that they married on June 23, 1937 and the card is from 1962. At the time, either Ollie or Millie's own mother was still alive as she sent a card. Thus I believe that Ollie and Millie, who were probably born 1917 or before, have likely passed away and that the person I'm looking for is their loving daughter Maureen or a close relative, such as a grandchild, niece, or nephew.
Another clue is a Christmas card to "Aunt Millie" from Jerry, Randy, Jeffery, and Julia Rose. Either Millie or Maureen were sometimes called "Mo."
There are some cards handmade by Maureen in the pile, an old photo of a young man. That white card below is Ollie's Silver Wedding Anniversary card to Millie and the card with the orange stone on it is a handmade Silver Wedding card from Maureen to her parents.
UPDATE OCTOBER 13th. Progress. A short letter has been delivered to the church.
But more amazing than that is that when I went to drop off the letter, I picked up a bulletin, and flipping through it, saw that there was a Mass being said for a Maureen O'Toole, on October 9th! So I asked the desk clerk and confirmed she had died. So on the Internet I found an OBIT with a picture of Maureen, and some other information. Ollie was a character actor who had worked in cowboy films. Maureen had an acting credit too. And there was a funeral Mass for her on August 31st, 2016, plus mortuary information. She had died at 73! I called the mortuary and will be sending a letter they may pass on. Between the church and the mortuary, I feel certain that we will locate SOMEONE who may be a close family member, eventually, if they are responsive. Besides a feeling of synchronicity that in dropping off the letter I thought to pickup and read the bulletin, this morning yet another synchronicity occurred. I waited outside a library for it to open, and got into a conversation with a man sitting on the bench next to me. So though this library is miles from the other locations, when I told him about being out with my dog so early that it wasn't quite light out yet, and being attracted by the envelopes, he said, "I was riding my bike and saw those a few days ago, wondered what they were, but didn't stop!"
THE COLLECTION HAS MANY CARDS TO MILLIE FROM MAUREEN,
especially Mother's Day cards, with her great love for her mom expressed in handwritten messages on large, beautiful cards.
I can just imagine Maureen shopping for the perfect card to send!
HERE IS A PICTURE OF MAUREEN
THAT IS ON THE INTERNET ASSOCIATED WITH HER OBITS.
1939-2016
ACTOR OLLIE O'TOOLE on IMDB (the movie database) HER DAD WAS BORN IN PITTSBURGH and he actually worked as a character actor in more films than on this list.
UPDATE! ONE WEEK AFTER THIS POST, though the church, a connection was made. I'll be delivering the collection to a go between any day! So, Maureen RIP!
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