Lost In Lima Ohio - A true crime blog

Short on funds? Need cash now? You might be in luck, as the bounty for Brian Laundrie has now reached $30,000.  Sadly, there are few clues to where Laundrie is, so you may have to do a little work to earn that reward.  Where would you start? In a swampy Florida preserve? "Laundrie, who his parents say departed their home with his backpack on September 14 and told them he was headed to reserve, left his cell phone and wallet behind, a source close to the family told CNN on Thursday. The police were told of Laundrie's departure by his parents on September 17, officials said ." This is all theory, based on nothing more than than the shitty cards that are on the table- Brian returned home, sans Gabby Sept 1st. How many times did his parents ask him where the woman that would be their future daughter in law was, where the girl that had lived with them was... why wasnt she calling, why wasnt she texting? How many days would it take to become worried enough to call her family a...

It has been 11 years... dare I say hello to old friends?   There's a new crime, a new missing person, a new murdered woman, a new victim. Nothing has changed. All these years and still - its all the same.   Gabby Petito   She's just one of countless pretty white blonde girls that the main stream media has paraded in front of us, capturing our attention as they lay out the plot that will play across our TVs and phone screens as we wait... first for clues as to where she could be, then for the news she was found, we wait for the reports that it was a homicide, detais on her last encounters... we want to know the cause of death. More than that we want to know where her #vanlife sharing and who most of the world believes was her killer, boyfriend Brian Christopher Laundrie is.   How do they pick which missing person will make the best headlines? How do they determine that Gabby will bring more views than Mary Johnson ? or Dulce Maria Alavez ? Why not ...

Press Release: British groups challenge Oprah Winfrey’s decision to interview parents of missing Madeleine McCann A media release, 20 April 2009, to the U.S. media from The Madeleine Foundation - an organisation founded to campaign for truth and justice for missing Madeleine McCann British groups and individuals concerned about what really happened to missing Madeleine McCann have been challenging Oprah Winfrey to ask tough questions to Madeleine’s parents when they appear on her show on 4th May - two years after their daughter Madeleine was reported missing. Their concern is based on the belief that Madeleine McCann died in the McCanns’ holiday apartment in Portugal. That view was reinforced when the original senior detective in the case, Goncalo Amaral, published a book on the case last year, titled: ‘The Truth About A Lie’, in which he explained how the evidence pointed to Madeleine having died as a result of an accident in her parents’ apartment. He was removed from the investigati...

According to his tattoo, Fred Dilts was "Born to Win", but according to the Indiana Sex Offenders list, so far his biggest raise to fame has been a 1987 conviction for rape and evidently he's now adding a notch to his belt after disappearing with a 16 year old Amish girl. Investigators said Sara D. Troyer, 16, of Warsaw Township's Reynoldsville neighborhood, was last seen last Monday leaving Fred Dilts' house in the Aultman area of Center Township with her 18-year-old brother and another man in a car driven by Dilts, a convicted sex offender. The man returned to the house on Tuesday but Troyer remained with Dilts. On Thursday, Troyer was reported as a run away. SOURCE

By now, most people know about the missing 6 year old boy Cole Puffinburger who was kidnapped from his home in Nevada, and some of the details behind the kidnapping. For those interested in getting more information- I'm personally hooked on Steve Huff's continuing coverage of the case. Steve's has been on to stay a little ahead of the MSN on certain cases and it seems that this time is no exception.

Brooke Bennett had told her uncle that she was suppose to meet a friend to go visit someone sick in the hospital. But, after Brooke failed to return home, her family's questions about the meeting seemed to lead them no where. Now, it is believed that the 12 year old made the story up in order to meet up with a man she meet on the internet and police are searching for any information that may lead to finding her. Surveillance camera footage from the Cumberland Farms store showed Brooke being dropped off by her uncle and cousin, who drove off, according to Covell. The footage showed Brooke walking away from the store by herself, he said. That was the last time she was seen. A family member searching for her Thursday in Brookfield — near her uncle's home, where she spent the night — found items belonging to her near Route 65 that were similar to what she had been wearing, prompting an intensive search by police and dogs in the area of the Floating Bridge. An Amber Alert ha...

After a year of searching for answers, Donna Jou's family is no closer to solving the question of her whereabouts than they were when the 19 year old disappeared with a man she met on the internet , John Steven Burgess. Burdess is a convicted sex offender currently doing time in a California prison on unrelated charges stemming from his failure to register as a sex offender. He'll be spending the next three years behind bars, while Jou's family continues to hope for information on what happened to her. Investigators say Jou met Burgess through Craigslist. Jou offered her services on the Web site as a math tutor, and Burgess advertised rooms for rent at his Los Angeles home. Authorities say Jou received phone calls from Burgess on June 23, 2007. He picked her up near her mother's home on his motorcycle that evening. From there, the two went to Burgess' home for a party, police said. Jou has not been seen since. There has been no activity on her bank account or her c...

Let's say you're walking into a mall, and there's a poster right there by the entrance. Even at a glance you can see it contains a photo of a child. How many of you will take a moment away from your every important and busy lives to actually stop and LOOK at the poster? Remember- most posters with children on them are 'missing persons' fliers- which are posted in order to help solicit YOUR assistance in locating a missing child. I know... you're swearing that you'd look at the poster, memorize every detail of the child's appearance and any information listed. So, let's pretend you really do all that. And then you go off into the mall to do a little shopping. And, out of the corner of your eye you notice a young child- about 8- sitting alone on a bench. Do you take a closer look at the child? Not because of the poster you just saw, but because in this day and age, a child sitting completely alone in a mall might be in need of help. Her mother could ha...

I have a series of posts dedicated to solving the disappearance of Ashley Howley - who vanished from Columbus Ohio in 2004. She was bright and beautiful- and had a life ahead of her filled with endless possibilities- until she disappeared that day four years ago. Today, it turns out that police have been searching the property near that of her former boyfriend's father's home, and although no positive ID has been made, it appears that a body has been found . Neighbors said authorities have been searching at a home near the Olentangy River for the past three days, NBC 4's Tacoma Newsome reported. Police confirmed before 10 a.m. Friday that a body was found but will not say whether it's Howley's remains. Howley vanished in June 2004, and Robert MacMichael Jr. is a suspect in Howley's disappearance. From another news source : In a wooded area of Mount Air off Olentangy River Road, Columbus homicide detectives have been poring over the marshy ground just west of the...

The following is from another crime blogger, (link at bottom) and is being posted here, because I believe that it's important to get this case out as much as possible. Please consider forwarding it on to those you think might be interested- the more people aware and looking out, the better our chances of bringing these kids home: http://blackandmissing. blogspot. com It is critical that we get this story out quickly as possible. These children may be in EXTREME DANGER. The story is as followed: On March 5 th 2008, three children from Columbus, Georgia were abducted from their home. Their father, Eddie Harrington, 28 took them in the middle of the night about 1:30 am while their mother Agena Battle was out the house. When she got back, she found that Eddie took her twin one year old daughters, Agena and Aliyah Battle and her three year old son, Sedrick Harrington. Authorities issued an AMBER Alert for the kids and they believed that Eddie can be heading for his hometown...

Usually you get all the headlines for America's Most Wanted's upcoming episodes in one single post, but one of the cases didn't make it to my first post, and after hearing a little about it- I wanted to make sure that I gave it some attention. It's an all to common story of a broken marriage with less than amicable relationships- that turned into a mystery when three members of the family disappeared. Ruby Santiago was happily married until she joined the military and her husband Victorio became upset with the lack of time she spent with the family- which included her two sons: Noel and Daniel. As the marriage began to deteriorate, domestic violence began increasing and Ruby ultimately filed for a temporary restraining order against Victorio. That's when things got worse: Cops say that Victorio went to talk to his wife about the restraining order and ask for forgiveness. Cops say he scattered rose petals all over the ground inside the house in an attempt to charm hi...

Ashley Howley's mother passed away in February, but her death didn't end the search for answers in Ashley's case. Ashley Howley originally from Michigan, moved to Columbus Ohio and had started a new life for herself when she disappeared. Her family long suspected that her ex boyfriend played a role in her disappearance, and openly discussed their saddened belief that Ashley had been a victim of abuse that resulted in her death at his hands. Police never arrested the ex boyfriend, Ashley's body was never found, and after years of unanswered questions- her case slipped into the ever dreaded 'cold case' status. I've covered Ashley's case extensively, and have long hoped that despite the status of the case, one day information would lead to enough answers to solve the case- and bring Ashley home. But we all know the odds of a cold case being solved, especially a case in which there was very little evidence and few tips to go on. The truth is, no matter how ...

*update below* I have some family members who were at one point stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C, although despite the best intentions I never made it there to visit during my many trips to NC over the years. Of course, their ongoing connections to the base, and the fact that it's the last station they called 'home', triggered their interest in an current case going on there, which then lead to mine. Sadly, I have to admit that it was one I'd missed over the last few days while catching up on other things and avoiding the news networks like the plague. But, I'm glad they mentioned it, as it's turned out to be something I felt was worth writing about. Maria Frances Lauterbach, a personnel clerk assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was reported missing by her mother in late December, after she failed to have contact. The last time her mother had spoken to her was on December 13. Maria is pregnant and ...

Michaela Joy Garecht was just 9 years old in 1988 when she went missing from Hayward, California. She's never been found. Now, her family is hoping that someone out there might have the answers as to what happened to her, and they are reaching out looking for information that can help bring her home and bring her abductor to justice. From the Charlie Project : Garecht and a friend rode their scooters to the Rainbow Market on Mission Boulevard in Hayward, California on November 19, 1988. The store was two blocks from Garecht's home. Garecht noticed that her friend's scooter had been moved in the parking lot when the girls exited the store; when she went to retrieve it, an unidentified Caucasian male grabbed her and forced her into his vehicle. Garecht's friend went inside the Rainbow Market for assistance, but the abductor was able to escape with Garecht. Neither has been seen again. The abductor is described as between 18 to 24 years old in 1988, with a pockmarked or pi...

Your help is being requesting in a missing persons case. This is the case of a missing child, believed to be in danger. Please see Crime Scene Blog for full details.

Stephen from CrimeSceneBlog had recently highlighted a new blog, and I'd popped over to see it. I've added the link in my recommended blogs, but I thought that a proper introduction was warranted in this case. It should come as no shock to anyone that if you are a blond woman 18-30 years old, and you come up missing... you have a good shot of making it to national news level, and a extremely better shot in making it compared to anyone else who might be missing. The Nancy Grace's of major media news outlets eat up missing white girl stories... which is great. If your missing loved one happens to fit into that category. If your loved one isn't... well don't expect (Insert any major media news program here) to be offering much help. While there is little we can do, other than complain, about the major networks- we can take steps to ensure that we aren't personally as one sided as them. One blogger has decided that for her, the time was right to step forward and st...

New information has been published that the FBI has put out a $10,000 reward for information in the ongoing case of the disappearance of Jesse Davis. CANTON The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone with information that leads investigators to find Jessie Marie Davis, the pregnant mother who hasn’t been heard from in nearly a week. At a press conference that ended minutes ago at the Stark County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Deputy Rick Perez said the department’s Web site has been inundated with approximately 500 tips — and some of those tips report possible sightings of Davis In other news on the case, the FBI has also questioned Jessie Davis' boyfriend , Bobby L. Cutts Jr. searching his home for her cell phone, quilt and other possible evidence. Cutts, who is a Canton Ohio police officer and the father of Jesse's two children (one of which she is pregnant with) has stated to news outlets that while police have told him he is not a suspect, he...

Newer post here. Jesse's body found, Bobby Cutts Jr to be charged with two counts of murder. Around 9 pm Thursday night, Jesse Marie Davis' (also spelled Jessie Davis) mother spoke with her on the phone. At the time, nothing seemed out of ordinary and there was no reason for any concern. But Friday, all of that changed. (Another news source gives the dates differently, Wednesday, June 13 was the last phone conversation, and Thursday she was missing. When I get the correct dates, I'll post it.) Okay, to clarify this, last conversation was the 13th, she was found to be missing on the 15th. Jesse's mother went over to her house but instead of finding her pregnant 27 year old daughter, she discovered Jesse's 2 year old son home alone. Now, police are investigating the disappearance, and searching frantically for the 9 months pregnant woman. Mansfield News- There were no signs of forced entry and authorities say Davis's car and purse were left at the home. However,...

I've noticed a good deal of traffic coming in looking for "Kelsey Smith", although not exactly the one that would be found here, Kelsey Smith Briggs. My Kelsey coverage was on a little girl beaten to death while her father served overseas. Her stepfather and mother both faced charges related to her death, Mike Porter received 30 years and her mother is due for trial soon. If you haven't heard her story, please take a small moment of your time to read it . The Kelsey Smith that they are looking for most likely is a missing 18 year old who police believe was abducted from a Target shopping center. I've not covered that story- but I certainly know someone who has. So- for those of you looking for that Kelsey, please see Mr. Huff at Crimeblog.us . There is also video of the suspect leaving Target, which can be found via Fox- here . You may also be interested in the site, www.findkelsey.com which appears to have been moved to a blog format.

Yesterday I posted on a six year old Georgia boy who has been missing for days. It now seems like police have been in a goose chase leading no where , thanks to the handy work of a registered sex offender, and the offenders mother. Update