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| Carl Travis |
Two months later, the sailor's body was found in the Ohio River without an explanation as to how he ended up there.
Showing posts with label military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label military. Show all posts
June 15, 2013
02/13/13 Carl Travis, 22, Marietta, OH
Two months later, the sailor's body was found in the Ohio River without an explanation as to how he ended up there.
September 23, 2012
02/27/12: Mathieu LeClair, 20, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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| Mathieu LeClair |
Two days later, on Wednesday, February 29, 2012, LeClair's body was recovered from the waters of Lake Ontario near the expansive campus.
The National Investigation Service, which has jurisdiction over military personnel on Canadian Forces' properties, is investigating the death. Capt. Karina Holder, spokeswoman for the National Investigation Service, told the Journal, "foul play is not suspected, the investigation remains ongoing, and no details as to the cause of death may be released at this time."
CBS News reported, "The military says it may never confirm what happened at the request of LeClair's family."
New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal stated, "LeClair's death is an eerie reminder of the 2003 disappearance of RMC cadet Joe Grozelle. The 21-year-old's body was found on the shore of the Cataraqui River not far from the college three weeks after he went missing. The investigation of his death went on for years and resulted in a 2008 coroner's inquest, which failed to determined how and when he died."
February 1, 2012
01/18/10: Lachlan Cranswick, 41, Deep River, ON, Canada
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| Lachlan Cranwick (April 2002 photo) |
The Search for Lachlan Cranswick
He was reported missing Jan. 23 after he didn't show up to a scheduled curling tournament and had missed several days of work. Lachlan's friends checked his house and found the door unlocked. His wallet, keys, laptop, and passport were all left inside. His car was parked in the garage. But Lachlan Cranswick was nowhere to be found.
Cranswick’s older brother, Rupert, came to Canada from Australia shortly after his brother's disappearance and saw the state his house was left in.
"His house was spooky, it was like he had just left two minutes ago. Everything was set up for his week.… Being a single bloke, he had all of his food frozen for the week, some frozen chicken and Chinese soup to take to work." Rupert said. "The heater was still on, the lights were on, his bins were out. It was just like, it was as normal."
Searches of his workplace and area hospitals yielded no clues to his disappearance. Extensive ground searches using dogs and helicopters also turned up nothing. After a month of investigating, police announced they had investigated all possible leads and had no idea where Cranwick could be.
Early theories
Police originally believed Cranswick had gone for a walk on one of the many trails near his house and got lost. However, all the items he usually took with him when going for nature walks – a fanny pack, flashlight, whistle to ward off wildlife and a GPS system – were found in his house.
While Cranswick was an avid outdoorsman, who often hiked trails around Deep River, his colleague Daniel Banks described him as extremely safety conscious. "He was known not to go anywhere without his cellphone and wallet and he even had a GPS which he would carry with him if he was walking in the woods," said Banks (CBS News.com).
His brother, Rupert, also said, "I find it unbelievable that Lach would go walking on the river or do anything silly like that — no way," said Rupert. "And I found it silly that on the Monday night, we found evidence that he was using his computer until about 11:30 at night, so I find it unbelievable that my brother, who had to start work early in the morning would suddenly go out walking the ski trails." (CBS News.com)
A search of the area with tracking dogs and a helicopter ultimately could find no trace of Cranswick. Police checked across the Ottawa River and also searched nearby hospitals. They had no luck.
The lack of clues in the case has fueled speculation and conspiracy theories about the scientist's disappearance. A native of Australia, Cranswick moved to Canada in 2003 to run tests and experiments at the Chalk River facility. He is an expert in earth sciences, working with neutron beams and using the reactor to test the properties of materials such as minerals.
Cranswick’s professional background has led to international interest in his disappearance, with the New York Post and Fox News both running the headline "Canadian Nuclear Scientist Vanishes Without a Trace" on their websites in February.
Deep River police have tried to dampen such speculation, telling news agencies they have no reason to believe Cranswick was targeted because of his job. His colleagues at the nuclear reactor are doing the same.
"I would want people to know that all of his research was in the public domain," colleague Daniel Banks said. "It was his role to facilitate research being done by people in universities all across Canada, and all of that research is published or publishable in the public domain. There is nothing secret about it."
While Cranswick’s family didn't believe his disappearance was work-related, they were not quite ready to rule out foul play.
Yet, Const. Darin Faris, the Deep River police officer leading the investigation, said that if Cranswick had been murdered or accidentally killed, there would be some physical evidence left behind. Police have found none.
Police, along with the scientist's colleagues at the National Research Council, have contacted his acquaintances to see if he had been planning to travel.
However, Cranswick was known as a well-organized, regimented man who would be unlikely to take a spontaneous trip without telling anyone. Const. Faris cited the work left unmailed on the scientist's desk as evidence he wasn't planning to leave.
"If he was going to go away for any length of time, or if he was ending his life, he would have finished it up," said Faris.
Members of Cranswick’s curling team also have difficulty reconciling Cranswick’s character with his disappearance. He was a key member of the local curling club, serving as vice-president and taking responsibility for the club’s bar and membership.
"It was just his dedication to everything he did around the club," said Cranswick’s friend and curling partner Evans Harrison. "He was always reliable. If you made arrangements to do something with him, he always turned up to do it. He was just Mr. Reliability."
Harrison told CBS News in March that he didn't expect to see his friend alive. "It's almost certain that he may have met with some kind of accident," he said. "We don't know what." He explained that if Lachlan was still alive, he wouldn't have just disappeared.
Harrison added, "If he's in the river, it will be May or June before he's found, but he will be found, because there's heavy boating use in the Ottawa River around here," said Harrison. "The river is a mile wide here, and there isn't much current, so I don't think he will go too far."
Lachlan Cranwick found
On June 11, 2010, two canoeists found the body of Lachlan Cranswick floating in shallow water near Welsh Bay in the Ottawa River. The area is downriver from the city of Deep River where Lachlan had been living since 2003.
Lachlan's jacket and identification, including his Atomic Energy of Canada Limited photo ID badge, were discovered with the body. Rupert Cranswick told the Ottawa Citizen that police were still planning to do a DNA analysis to confirm the identification.
There was no indication of either foul play or suicide.
Lachlan Cranswick's body was cremated in Canada and the ashes were sent to Australia, where he was originally from, for burial near his parents. He is survived by two older brothers — Rupert and Noel.
"At least we know where he is and we can bring him back to rest," said Rupert.
About Lachlan Cranswick
Rupert told the Ottawa Citizen that his brother was a kind, shy and generous man. According to the paper, Rupert went through his brother’s personal records and discovered that Lachlan had been donating a lot of money to charities each month. In the past, Lachlan had also sent large sums to his brothers to help them support their families. "It was just unbelievable," Rupert said. "He was that sort of brother.”
“It has hit the family very hard,” Rupert said. “I suppose you always live in hope, but now it’s a certainty that something happened.
“He didn’t deserve it. He was a very loving sort of brother.”
Rupert said Deep River police and the OPP put a lot of resources into the investigation, stayed in regular contact with him and Noel and were helpful when each of them travelled to Deep River earlier this year.
“I can’t praise them enough, I think they’ve done a wonderful job,” he said.
Rupert said his brother loved living in Deep River, where he moved in 2003. He also loved his work and his involvement in a curling club in the area.
Case Details
Name/age: Lachlan Cranswick, 41
Workplace: Chalk River Laboratories, ON, Canada
Residence: Deep River, ON, Canada
Last seen: 1/28/10, Deep River, ON, Canada
Recovered: 6/11/10, Ottawa River near Welsh Bay
September 13, 2011
06/03/11: Ryan Finchum, 25, Medford, OR
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| Ryan Finchum |
Car Found
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| Photo Credit: News Watch 12 |
On June 7, 2010, Finchum's car, a purple 2002 Dodge Intrepid, was found abandoned and stuck in the mud in the mountains near the Klamath River Canyon on June 7. The desolate, rugged area where the car ws found is south of Klamath Falls near the California border. Klamath County Sheriff said he left behind his Blackberry cell phone, groceries, and items for his eight-month old daughter.
Ryan's family is disturbed by the cell phone being left behind. "He would never, never leave that cell phone," his mother, Leigh, told the Mail Tribune. And, she added, "From what we understand that is a place where criminals dump stolen cars."
The family has told Footprints that the car was not removed from the mountains until the end of July. It then sat in the police parking lot until mid-September when it was finally processed. Ryan Finchum remained missing during this time.
Recovery
On August 7, 2010, an ATV rider spotted the remains of Ryan Finchum floating in the Klamath River just a short distance downstream from where Finchum's car had been found the previous month. Due to water conditions, recovery efforts could not begin until the following day. On August 8, the Klamath County swift-water rescue team recovered the body from from a rapid where it had become lodged in the rocks.
Sheriff Tim Evinger told the media that the level of decomposition was too advanced for the Klamath County medical examiner to be able to determine a cause of death. However, the body bore no obvious signs of trauma, so it is suspected the Finchum might have drowned. Klamath County Sheriff's Office has officially suspended the case, but Leigh Finchum, Ryan Finchum's mother, says she will continue to stay in touch with investigators.
Leigh Finchum, lives in Texas where Finchum's father and younger sister reside. His eight-month-old daughter and her mother, live in Medford.
"You know that this is hard," Leigh Finchum told NewsWatch 12. "But the years to come is what will be harder, trying to explain to his daughter, our granddaughter, where her daddy is and why he's not here," Finchum said.
About Ryan Finchum
Ryan Finchum grew up in a military family and lived in several spots across the country, including Norman, Okla., where he still has friends. He served a brief stint in the Army before he was discharged with a medical issue. In the days before he went missing, he was looking for a job.
Ryan Finchum had faced some adversity in his life in recent years, his mother told the Mail Tribune, but was proud of his daughter and would often take her on walks to the Rogue Valley Mall.
Facts of Interest
Name/age: Ryan Finchum, 25
Last seen: 6/3/10, Medford, Oregon
Recovered: 6/8/10 (found 6/7), Klamath River
Physical Description: 6'4", 250 pounds, red hair, several tattoos, including "FINCHUM" splayed across his should blades, a large Celtic cross with praying hands clutching dog tags across his back, two M-16 rifles on his left bicep and a skull with a rattlesnake on his right bicep.
Investigating Agency: Klamath County Sheriff's Department, 541-883-5130.
March 15, 2011
02/21/11: Barrett Snyder, 24, Biloxi, MS
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| Barrett Snyder |
Snyder’s fully-clothed body was found floating face-down at the edge of a sand bar in Mississippi Sound at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, February 27, 2011. The location was about 30 yards from the shore of Miramar Park. People walking on the beach at first thought they were seeing a dolphin; and it wasn’t until they got closer that they saw shoes and realized it was a person.
Biloxi police said there were no obvious signs of foul play.
An autopsy, performed by Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove, showed that Snyder had drowned and had likely been dead for about six days.
Donald Snyder said, "The coroner told me today that they don't believe there was any foul play and that it was probably an accidental drowning," Snyder's father said Monday night. "The police are asking some of the businesses in the area if they have cameras that might have recorded what happened ... because they don't know what happened."
Hargrove said Barrett Andrew Snyder last spoke with a friend in the early morning hours of Feb. 21 and forensic tests indicate Snyder died soon after that.
Police found Snyder’s black 2009 Subaru Legacy about 2-1/2 miles away. The car was parked in the parking lot of Venues, a nightclub on Caillavet Street, in an area where there are piers.
How Snyder reached the area where he was later found remains unclear.
"I know I'm sounding like a grandmother, but Barry, he was a very caring kind of person, and a super guy," grandmother Janet Snyder of Hollidaysburg said. "We are just all in shock, and I can't imagine what happened to him."
Police say the investigation is ongoing.
About Barrett Snyder
Barrett Snyder, a native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, is the son of Altoona optometrist Donald G. and Sandy Snyder and a 2004 graduate of Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School. Snyder played soccer in high school and later went on to play for Grove City College and then became a girls' soccer coach for Mount Aloysius College.
Snyder was living in Altoona until October when he moved to Montgomery, Alabama, and enrolled in U.S. Air Force Officer Training School.
"He delayed going to the training in Alabama so he could finish the soccer season at Mount Aloysius," Donald Snyder said. "He just loved coaching that team."
He graduated from U.S. Air Force Officer Training School on Feb. 18 during a ceremony his parents attended at the Maxwell Air Force Base.
Snyder said the Air Force is assisting with funeral arrangements, which are pending.
"This has been quite a shock for the whole family," Snyder said. "We've just been trying to make sense of it all."
If you have any information about Barrett Snyder, call the Biloxi Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division at (228) 435-6112 or Police Dispatch at (228) 392-0641.
February 21, 2011
11/01/09: Russell Plummer, 20, Bloomer, WI
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| Russell Plummer |
His mother, Penny Hetke, said her son said hello to a friend, took $20 out of the ATM, bought either a beer or a soda, and left the bar. It was the last time he was seen.
His family reported him missing on November 8 after he did not report for weekend training with the Guard.
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| Plummer's Honda Civic Photo credit: WQOW.com |
Plummer's body was found by Chippewa County Sheriff's deputies near a pile of brush, 30-40 yards down the hill from his car in the Hay Meadow Flowage area of the forest. He had on a coat, but his pants were unzipped and around his thighs. There were no outward signs of traumatic injury or a struggle.
The body was taken to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office where it was autopsied by Dr. Michael McGee. McGee noted that Plummer had non-life threatening contusions and abrasions to the face, arms, legs and back, but no traumatic injuries. He ruled that Plummer's death was caused by hypothermia due to exposure--his death was an accident.
Jay North, Russell's father, said that the Sheriff's Department told him that his son's injuries were consistent with having fallen down the hill.
But for Plummer's family and friends, the investigation and subsequent ruling left them with more questions than answers.
Plummer was a tough outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish and who knew those woods "like the back of his hand." He had also been through training with the National Guard and was scheduled to go to Afghanistan.
They questioned how Plummer could have died from exposure, just feet from the car containing his cell phone and a bag full of warm clothes.
Plummer's toxicology results had been negative for drugs and alcohol.
The family also received some conflicting information.
Since Russell was in the National Guard, the U.S. Army does a companion investigation. The Chippewa County Sheriff's department provides the Criminal Investigation Command at Ft. McCoy with information, and asks questions surrounding the case.
In one set of documents it was reported that, "the location and position of the body were inconsistent with a fall down the hill." In other reports, it shows Russell's injuries were "consistent with a tumbling fall or slide."
North says, "(The Chippewa County Sheriff's Department) told us all the injuries were consistent with him taking a tumble down that hill."
An investigator with Chippewa County reported to the Ft. McCoy office that there were too many trees on the hill that would've stopped Russell's body from reaching the bottom of the hill.
- WQOW.com, 11/16/10.
In late November 2010, a two-part investigation by Fox 9 News Twin Cities aired, questioning the way some death investigations had been handled by the Ramsey County Medical Examiners Office. After seeing that report, the Plummer family contacted Fox 9 investigators. They wondered whether Russell's death had been reviewed as carefully as it could have been.
The family also hired Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, a hypothermia expert from Canada. Giesbrecht told Fox 9 that, "something killed him immediately and he cooled thereafter, or something inhibited him and he cooled until he died."
The Fox 9 investigation noted that tissue samples of Plummer's heart and brain were never tested to look for medical conditions that might have caused him to die suddenly.
And tests for "date rape" drugs like chloroform, GHB, and Rohypnol--which might knock a person out--were never done, even though Plummer had last been seen at a bar and his pants were partially down. Routine specimens were collected as part of a sexual assault examination, but those tests were not tested to determine if another person's DNA was present.
Fox 9 asked two other forensic pathologists to review the records from Plummer's autopsy--both said they would not have come to the conclusion that Plummer's death was hypothermia until all other facts had been ruled out.
You can watch the Fox 9 video here.
About Russell Plummer
BLOOMER - Russell J. Plummer, age 20, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, in the Chippewa County Forest in Wisconsin.
He was born March 24, 1989, in Rice Lake to Penny Plummer and Jay North. He attended St. Paul Lutheran School and Bloomer High School. He was a member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, and a recent graduate of Army Specialty Training in artillery weapons repair. He was also the honor graduate for his class at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. He enjoyed being in the Army, hunting, fishing, being outdoors, working on and riding motorcycles, cars and snowmobiles, spending time with his family and friends.
He is survived by mother, Penny (Vinnie) Hetke, of Cornell; father, Jay (Rochelle) North, of New Auburn; maternal grandparents, Russell (Clancy) Plummer of Weyerhaeuser and Ruth Hetke of Bloomer; paternal grandparents, Jeanette (Kenneth) Bell of Cameron and Elmer (Eileen) Dahlberg of Barron; brothers, Vinny Hetke III of Cornell, Chad (Katie) Manor of Monroe, Casey Manor of New Auburn and Nathan Peterson of New Auburn; sisters, Dustine (Eric) Gass of New Auburn, Sachel Hetke of Cornell and Kaysa North of New Auburn; numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins; and friends.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfathers, Vinton Hetke Sr. and Allen "Whiskers" North; and best friend, Chip Rands.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, at Seventh Day Baptist Church in New Auburn, with the Rev. Wayne North officiating. Interment will be in the New Auburn Cemetery with full military rites.
Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Olson Funeral Home in Bloomer, and one hour prior to services on Monday at the church.
Online condolences may be expressed at olsonfuneralhomebloomer.com.
- Eau Claire Leader-Telegram obituary, 11/13/09.
Facts of Interest
Last Seen: 11/1/09, Mornings Corner Tavern, 18982 State Highway 124 # 64, Bloomer, WI
Recovered: 11/10/09, Chippewa County Forest, Chippewa County, WI
Physical Description: 5'5", 145 pounds, slim build, brown eyes and brown hair in a crew cut
Investigating Agency: Chippewa County sheriff's office, (715) 726-7701.
December 14, 2010
01/31/10: Bryce Tarter, 19, Savannah, GA
Update (12/14/10): The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has released its investigative findings into the death of Bryce Tarter. Investigators say the missing student drowned in his submerged pickup truck, possibly after running off the road. According to WTOC.com, "The Georgia State Patrol accident reconstruction team estimates Bryce's truck was traveling between 25 and 45 miles per hour down the road leading to Bell's Landing. The report speculates Bryce may not have noticed that the road ended, and plunged right into the water....A toxicology report was inconclusive, saying the body was too badly decomposed to test for drugs or alcohol."The GBI is currently working with the family to return any of Tarter's belongings, after which, they say, the case will be closed. According to GBI's Micah Ward, the case file is complete.
Sources:
October 31, 2010
11/01/96: Pierre Mercon, 21, Richmond Hall, ON, Canada
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| Missing - Pierre Mercon |
According to the Toronto Sun, there were upward of 200 patrons at the now-defunct bar celebrating that night. The bar rested on an open patch of land "that was almost a pasture back then." It is now filled with residential housing.
Mercon phoned his mother from the pay phone outside the bar and asked her to pick him up at a nearby corner. She had driven him there earlier in the evening so he could celebrate with colleagues who had just finished a federal job training program. He and his mother were close and she didn't mind his calling for a lift.
Mercon's mother drove to the prearranged street corner to pick up her son. She found it empty. In fact, no one was in sight.
The Search for Pierre Mercon
When Norma Mercon last saw her son, he was wearing a costume consisting of Army fatigues, brown work boots, a camouflage Army-style rain poncho that his brother, Alexander, had loaned him, a green wool hat, and a long black hippie-style wig. Only his poncho has ever turned up. It was found under the table where Mercon had been sitting.
"He was still a boy," Alexander, told the Toronto Sun. "He was a house boy, not a street boy. Our family was close. The police response? He's over 18. He's a grown man. Wait it out. And, as a result, it was three days before a detective knocked at our door."
According to the Sun:
"When Mercon went missing, it wasn't the best time for the York regional police. The OPP was probing the comings and goings of York Chief Bryan Cousineau, who would be bounced a year later for a breach of trust conviction and replaced by future Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino."
'It wasn't until Fantino arrived that anyone really cared about what happened to my son," said Norma Mercon, indicating that a York detective named Richard McVeity was the one who finally put his soul into it.'
'I put a ton of time into it,' says McVeity.
'When a man calls his mother to pick him up and then is not there, then something is amiss. Besides, I didn't take Pierre as the type of person who would put his mother through all that.'
'But so much time had passed by then.'"
Investigators did determine that Mercon had no enemies, no heavy drug-use background, no debts and no reported threats against him. His bank account, from which he used to withdraw $20 nearly every day, remained opened, but untouched. Mercon wasn't one to hang with the wrong crowd, and he had no reason to disappear on his own.
Foul play is strongly suspected in the case.
But, according to the Tandem News, "without a smoking gun, without a body, without witnesses or any material evidence, the trail for Mercon soon grew cold."
The case ended up on the desk of York Regional police Detective Tim Gore, the region's lone cold case investigator since March 2002. Gore has been a police officer for 26 years.
"It seems like he just fell off the face of the Earth," Det. Gore told the paper. "Because he doesn't have a history of running away, because his bank accounts haven't been touched, we began investigating the missing persons report right away."
He added, "There are cases when the victim is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes there just isn't a motive to be found," says Det. Gore. "In this case when he calls his mom and asks her to pick him up and he's not at the intersection where he's supposed to be, it leads us to believe that there is probably foul play involved."
As of July 2005, Gore had 38 cold homicides and disappearances to investigate; and he was hoping to crack his first case. "I'd like to be able to phone the victims family and tell them I have good news, that justice will be served," he told the paper. "Closure is important, even if it simply means finding a body that the family can bury," he said.
If you have any information, please contact: York Regional Police Homicide & Missing Persons at (905) 830-0303.
Quick Facts:
Name/age: Pierre Mercon, 21
Last Seen: 11/1/96, 2 a.m., Original Six Sports Bar at 14 Oxford Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Physical Description: Caucasian, 6'1," 220 pounds, stocky build, short brown hair, hazel eyes. Prominent tattoo of Uruguay on shoulder of right arm.
Last wearing: Army fatigues, green wool hat, long black wig (Halloween costume), work boots.
Investigating Agency: York Regional Police Homicide & Missing Persons at (905) 830-0303.
October 24, 2010
10/17/10: Nathan Dickey, 21, Huron, OH
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| Nathan Dickey |
Dickey is a native of Columbus, Ohio who returned from Iraq in May after a 10-month deployment with the Army National Guard. He had been staying at a Canton Avenue home with Meredith Gallegos, an employee in the Erie County prosecutor’s victim assistance unit. He was with Gallegos and some friends from late Saturday until the early morning on Sunday when he disappeared.
"Mr. Dickey became angry with the group and advised he would be walking home,” the report said. “He left prior to the rest of the group after yelling at others leaving the bar area.”
Friends tried calling his cell phone, but it was turned off. They also checked with the county jail, hospital, and others who know Dickey. No one had seen him. Friends reported him missing at 6:45 p.m. on Sunday 10/17.
Huron, Ohio, is a small town of just over 7,300 residents. It is located about 20 minutes east of Sandusky and about an hour west of Cleveland.
The Search for Nathan Dickey
Police investigating the case checked with employees at i5’s, taxi drivers, and even other police officers who were patrolling the city on Sunday morning. No one recalled seeing Dickey in the area.
“We are confident this is a missing persons case,” Huron police Chief John Majoy said. “This is not someone who just took off.”
Dickey's truck was left behind at his residence. His cell phone was shut off and there had been no activity on his bank account or credit cards since early Sunday. He posted no messages on Facebook or contacted anyone.
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| Photo credit: Sandusky Register/Jason Werling |
“We are worried sick,” Kaley Dickey, his estranged wife, wrote on a Facebook page. “Things just aren’t looking good at all.” She added: “Please keep Nathan in your prayers and that they find him and everything is okay.”
Kaley and Nathan Dickey have an 11-month-old daughter together.
On Tuesday, an unidentified woman told police that a man had been seen lying on a front lawn, possibly passed out drunk, in the 300 block of Williams Street (near Cleveland Road West) early Sunday morning. The area was about 1,000 feet from the bar where Dickey was last seen. Police searched the area and located a puddle that appeared to be vomit. A sample was collected and it is being analyzed to ascertain whether it was left there by Dickey, according to police. A bloodhound was then brought in to search Williams Street. According to Fox Toledo, a sheriff's dog acquired Dickey's scent and tracked a trail toward the Huron River. Nothing else was found.
"We don't know for certain that it was his vomit," Chief Majoy said. "But they they did find a possible track, but that is where it ended."
Majoy said there are no signs of foul play, but police have ruled nothing out.
“We are looking at every possible avenue,” Majoy said.
On Oct. 20, dive teams spent several hours searching the bottom of the Huron River. Watercraft from the Sandusky and Huron Fire Departments also canvassed the area on each side of the dive effort. Police have previously said that dragging the river with equipment would be futile because the river bottom is littered with logs and other debris.
Recovery
On Monday, October 25, 2010, the mud-covered body of Nathan Dickey was pulled from the Huron River by Huron firefighters at 4:43 pm. The fire department was called to the scene after a person at the Huron Boat Basin reported seeing a body floating about 100 yards offshore, Huron police Chief John Majoy told the Sandusky Register. In all likelihood, the body had just surfaced, he said.
“It’s a really sad ending,” Majoy said. “A very, very sad ending.”
Dickey's body was found wearing one shoe, indicating that the one found in the water last week was his. According to the Register, the body "was fully clothed when pulled from the water, and there were no immediate signs of trauma indicating foul play, Majoy said. In Dickey’s pockets police found his wallet, driver’s license and cell phone."
An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday with the Lucas County coroner’s office. According to Majoy, they will first look for a cause of death. The toxicology report will take another week or two.
A preliminary autopsy report completed Friday, October 29 by the Lucas County coroner’s office indicated there were no signs of trauma to Dickey's body. Dickey is believed to have accidentally drowned.
About Nathan Dickey
Nathan Dickey is described by friends as "good guy" and "a wonderful person...loved by so many."
“We all love him and we all miss him,” his friend Casey Gonzalez told the Register. “And, we wish he could have returned home in a different way: safe.”
Nathan's obituary read:
Nathan R. Dickey, age 21, of Canal Winchester, Ohio, died Sunday, October 17, 2010. Nathan was born on March 2, 1989 and was a 2008 graduate of Pickerington High School Central and Eastland Career Center. Nathan is a member of the Ohio Army National Guard and just returned from Iraq on May 31, 2010. Nathan is survived by his wife, Kaley Dickey, and his daughter, Ava Valerie Dickey. He is also survived by his father and step-mother, Mark Edward Dickey and Frances J. Dickey; mother, Jennifer Moore; sisters, Rabecca Dickey, Abigail Kotula, and Theresa Williams; brothers, David Williams and Antonio Foster; grandparents, George and Darlene Bell, Dennis and Bonnie Dickey, Kenneth Kotula; great-grandmother, Betty Kotula; aunts, uncles, cousins, many good friends. Nathan is also survived by his battle buddies and fellow soldiers from Ohio Army National Guard, 1192nd Engineer Company who had his back in Iraq and formed a bond with Nathan that made them his family.Dickey was a member of the Ohio National Guard for about five years. He had served 10 months in Iraq in the 1192nd Engineer Company before returning to Ohio in May 2010.
Friend and fellow guardsman, Will Grosswiler, wrote on Dickey's Facebook page:
"I wanted a different ending. Although we can't always get what we want. I have now learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, or end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, and making the best of every moment, without knowing what's going to happen next."A memorial service was held for Dickey's family and friends on Friday, October 29, 2010 at the Cotner Funeral Home in Reynoldsburg, followed by a funeral service with an Army National Guard honor guard. Interment is at Violet Cemetery in Pickerington, Ohio.
The Dickey Memorial Fund has also been established through Chase Bank to assist Nathan’s wife and daughter. A check payable to Dickey Memorial Fund can be dropped off at any Chase branch or the Cotner Funeral Home, 7369 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, OH
Facts:
Name/age: Nathan R. Dickey, 21
Last seen: 10/17/10, i5's Bar and Grill on Main Street in downtown Huron.
Recovered: 10/25/10, Huron River
Hometown: Canal Winchester, Ohio
Physical Description: white male with short brown hair, 5-feet-8-inches, 180 pounds and green eyes. He was last wearing a black T-shirt with a gray skull on it, blue jeans and black-and-white Nike shoes.
Originally published: 10/24/10. Updated 12/16/10.
September 27, 2010
01/10/10: Paul Foster, 28, Hamilton, ON, CAN
Foster's family became concerned about his well-being after learning that his faithful dog had been barking and howling for 3 days. It was out of character for him to leave his dog unattended. He had also not accessed his bank accounts or made contact with his friends, which was out of the ordinary for him.
Paul Foster recovered
On September 3, 2010, Foster's eroded truck was found in Hamilton Harbour with the license plate still intact. Fosters body was still inside. Police told the Hamilton Spectator that they believe the truck went through or over the guard rail, which is about 7.8 inches (20 centimeters) in height. They said they "have no reason" to believe it hadn't been there since Foster disappeared in January.
According to the Spectator, a crew of divers from the Department of National Defence Dive Team had been preparing the docking site for the arrival of HMCS Fredericton, a 4,750-ton ship due to arrive at the Catharine Street North pier on September 7. The crew was searching for scrap metal in the area when they discovered the fully submerged pickup truck. The vehicle was pulled up around 7:30pm at Pier 9 of Catharine Street North.
The autopsy results show no signs of foul play.
September 16, 2010
08/22/05: Mark Kraynak, 23, and Steve Wright, 20, Montreal, QC, Canada
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| Steve Wright (left) and Mark Kraynak (right) |
The two had traveled from Toronto with a friend and their employer for a weekend in Montreal.
After spending some time at Vatican, they called their employer around 3 a.m. to say they were in a cab heading to the Red Lite, an after-hours rave club, in the city of Laval, 30 minutes away. They had been in the club earlier with him before getting separated.
They arrived at the Red Lite at 3:32 a.m., but never made it inside.
Ten days later, their fractured and severely decomposed bodies were found in the Demix rock quarry more than 300 feet from the Red Lite. Canadian authorities initially described the deaths as "suspicious" because despite the injuries, autopsies did not show any traces of violence. Neither man seemed to be missing clothing, jewelry or money, which might suggest a robbery. And toxicology tests were inconclusive as to whether they might have ingested anything that might have led to their deaths. It was determined that the men had suffered a 50-foot fall into the quarry below.
Surveillance video outside the Red Lite shows Kraynak and Wright dashing into an alley as the taxi chased the men. The cabbie then backed up and left a few minutes later. Police in Laval said they are considering the possibility that Kraynak and Wright might have been looking for a place to hide after they had stiffed the cab driver out of the fare for the trip from Montreal to Laval, which would have been about $40.
Laval police spokesman, Guy Lajeunesse, declined to discuss with the media whether the video showed the men exiting the taxi, as police were hoping the driver would call with details. The surveillance photos show a vehicle with no identifying words or symbols. Authorities don't know the race or gender of the driver, let alone any distinguishing characteristics, but they think he might be hiding because he has a criminal record or is an immigrant.
Janice Kraynak doubts that such a person would draw attention to himself by chasing the men down the alley near the quarry.
The police theory is that Kraynak and Wright refused to pay the driver, so they ran and got through a
5-foot-high barbed-wire fence to enter the dark quarry and ran another 20 feet in the darkness and accidentally fell into the quarry. According to The Montreal Gazette, the quarry had warning signs, but they were written in French only.
"It looks like they died for $40," Lajeunesse told the Tribune-Review. "It's unpleasant, but sometimes you do crazy things."
Mark Kraynak's mother, Janice, struggles to understand how the police could assume Kraynak and Wright had stiffed the cab driver before even interviewing him. She told the media that her son had paid his own way for much of his life, including earning money as a newspaper carrier to cover his expenses at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus where he attended school. She said the men were also carrying enough cash and credit cards to be able to pay the fare. That night Kraynak, Wright, and a third man had even left a $200 tip for a waitress at Vatican; this is evidence, she says, that her son would not stiff a cab driver for $40.
"They can theorize all they want," Janice Kraynak told the Tribune-Review. "All they're doing is defaming my son after his death."
Kraynak also says she has seen the surveillance tape, causing her to further dispute the police theory that the men were running to avoid paying a fare. The video, she says, shows Kraynak running from an intersection outside the club toward an industrial park of office condominiums. Wright is about two car-lengths behind her son, while the cab is moving behind both. "He was on the track team and I know the way he was running, he was running for his life," Janice Kraynak said. "I just have reason to believe my son knew he was in danger and that's why he was running the way that he ran."
Janice Kraynak said she believes another person was in the taxi, and that might have been the reason the two men were fleeing.
Wright's mother, Cheryl Crockett, also reviewed the surveillance tapes three weeks after Kraynak.
Both Kraynak and Wright were models for the California-based French Connection Française (FCF) agency which provides modeling for adult entertainment. The agency has offices in Toronto, Atlanta and Santa Rosa, California. Kraynak and Wright were supposed to return to the United States that day, via Toronto, after spending the summer working for FCF.
When the two men did not return from their Montreal night out, their boss--owner and CEO of FCF--who was with them that night, called police. He said the young men were always prompt and it was unusual for them not to contact him.
Wright, described as a "party boy," Kraynak, and four other Americans had been hired the previous summer to work as dancers at Remington's, a strip club for gay men in Toronto, although neither Kraynak nor Wright were gay.
Kraynak's family said he was planning to return to Fayette County to begin his sophomore year at the local Penn State campus, where he was studying business management. He had served in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. He received a Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds he received when an improvised explosive device went off while he was under a bridge with a group of children. He became involved with the FCF Agency through an Atlanta office while he was serving with the 82nd at Fort Bragg, N.C. Janice Kraynak said her son's dream was to be a model in fitness magazines.
Kraynak had reportedly told his mother that he was in Canada to do construction work, hoping to hide his occupation from her. His boss told the media that that model had appeared in fitness magazines and in pornographic films with female partners. He had also auditioned for an independent horror film because was interested in acting. Janice Kraynak fears her son was forced or coerced into "something much more sinister," and believes she saw a contract with FCF that bound him to the agency through August 2006.
Kraynak's credentials were passed along by FCF to the producer of "Dead Boyz Don't Scream," and he was invited to audition for the role of a model who is murdered. Janice Kraynak told the Tribune-Review that the script apparently was a horror movie about male models who disappear during a photo shoot, and she says, contains "sexual type of abuse," murders, and a cover-up by a modeling agent. She said her son's receipt of the script in his Yahoo! e-mail account on Aug. 5 is "so bizarre that I have to believe it's tied" to his death.
"It describes how Todd, which is the role my son was asked to look at, was axed to death," Janice Kraynak said. "And it says, 'Todd is history.'"
She recalled that the police asked her to keep the script quiet, which she has done up until now, but she now feels that it is time for this possible connection to be made public.
"We sympathize with Mrs. Kraynak's loss and understand her grief," said Jerry Goldberg, the film's producer in a statement. "Her son was one of dozens of actors briefly considered for a role in a film we have been developing for five years. He was proposed to us by his theatrical agent, and our entire communication with him consisted of one e-mail and one phone conversation. We ultimately chose another actor for the role."
He also stated that Kraynak had a day-to-day contract, though there was a written agreement through next August that required the model to notify the agency if he received work with another group. Otherwise, if Kraynak got a job, he received 80 percent of the payment and the agency got 20 percent.
But Janice Kraynak believes the people who were with Kraynak and Wright that weekend in Montreal know more than they've told police.
"I have my opinion that the (adult entertainment) industry is behind this in some way," she said. "That is my opinion, and I will do everything I can to prove that."
In 2005, Janice Kraynak said she had placed a call to Congressman John Murtha, D-Johnstown for help.
FCF Agency has faced scrutiny before. In March 2004, 23-year-old Toronto woman, Natel King, who had been represented by FCF was found dead in Montgomery County. Her photographer Anthony J. Frederick, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in 2005, saying he killed the woman after a dispute about money.
Sources
Foreman, Chris. (2005, October 14). Mom: Porn Industry Behind Son's Death. TribLive.com. Accessed 09/16/10 from: http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/fayette/s_384093.html#axzz372XzfU8e
Published: 09/16/10. Updated: 07/10/14.
March 17, 2010
03/13/10: Greg Hart, 23, Providence, RI
At 1:21 a.m., Hart spoke on the phone with Will, who was at the bar that night. The two spoke for 8 minutes, but it has not been reported what was said. It was the last time Hart's phone was used.
Friends say that around 1:40 p.m., Greg just got up and left the tavern without saying a word. Nothing unusual appeared to be going on, but Hart left the bar (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com, March 15, 2010).
Friends initially speculated that while they returned to their apartment, Hart may have gone to an International House of Pancakes (IHOP) on Promenade Street. But Hart's brother, JP, later told the Providence Journal that this wasn't likely. While he and his brother had indeed sometimes walked from the Red Room to the IHOP, it had been in the summer. Family members did not believe Greg would have walked to the pancake house in the rain, and there appears to be no indication that he did so. (Providence Journal).
Cell phone records indicate that, at some point, Hart's friend, Zach, tried calling Greg's phone (along with the police and local hospitals) to find out what happened to his friend.
Hart's family remained uneasy; Greg Hart's car was still parked outside the apartment building where he had left it, and his cell phone had not been answered.
By Sunday when he still hadn't returned for the St. Patrick's Day parade, they became "seriously worried" and they filed a missing person's report. (Boston.com.)
The Search for Greg Hart
Initially, police did not look for the missing University of Massachusetts-Amherst student.
When the police failed to search, family and friends of Greg Hart launched their own search effort. More than 50 people came to the aid of the Hart family, helping to look for Hart and/or post fliers around the area.
On Tuesday, March 16 at around 2:45 p.m., a family friend made a grim discovery just three-quarters of a mile from where Hart had last been seen. Hart's body was found washed up against a tree limb in the rain-swollen Woonasqatucket River in Providence, “half in and half out” of the water (ABC6.com). It was recovered by rescue crews from the Providence Fire Department.
Investigation
From the beginning, the Hart family expressed fears that foul play might be involved with Hart's death. Hart was a licensed and experienced scuba diver and very familiar with the water. There had also been reports that some type of disturbance or altercation had occurred at the bar on the night that Greg Hart disappeared.
"When a sudden death happens in an unusual place under unusual circumstances, it’s suspicious."But an autopsy conducted by the Rhode Island Medical Examiner's office on March 17, indicated that Hart's death was a drowning and did not appear suspicious.
- Maj. Thomas F. Oates III, Providence Police Department
Yet, police said they would continue to investigate and treat the death as suspicious. "When a sudden death happens in an unusual place under unusual circumstances," said "Maj. Thomas F. Oates III, commander of the department’s investigative division, "it’s suspicious." (The Providence Journal, March 20, 2010).
On March 23, the medical examiner announced that Hart had been "highly intoxicated." The blood alcohol level was not released, but John Hart told the Providence Journal that investigators told him that his son's blood-alcohol level was more than .25. This is more than three times the legal limit of .08 for driving in Rhode Island. According to research by the paper, "most with levels between .21 and .29 would be subject to memory blackouts, staggering, double vision, loss of understanding of surroundings, poor judgment, impaired reactions and loss of balance."
Also at that time, police announced that they had found no evidence to suggest Hart had been involved in a fight. However, Hart's family said Hart's body had numerous injuries that suggested he had been in a fight, including: a broken cheekbone, jaw, eye socket, chipped tooth, cuts on his lips and knuckles, injuries to his palm and bruises on both legs in the same location. The family believes he was beaten up, possibly murdered.
Hart's father also said he believes a search should have been launched by the police after they heard about the possible disturbance at the bar.
The medical examiner addressed the family's concerns two days later, stating that any injuries found on Gregory Hart's body were caused after he drowned. His body had been in the fast- flowing Woonasquatucket River for an estimated 2-3 days. The Providence Police Department and the medical examiner maintained that there were no signs of foul play.
Private investigation by Hart family
The Hart family has hired an attorney to investigate the handling of the investigation. Police stand behind their investigation and say it was thorough, but the family has reported that the following areas are of particular concern:
Potential Conflict of Interest
Providence detective, Mark Sacco, who began investigating the case one day before Hart was found owns the property that the Red Room bar sits on. The bar itself is owned by Rebecca Caroll, the wife of Providence police detective, Shawn Carroll. The family of Greg Hart feels that this is a conflict of interest. In addition, there are no records of potential witnesses at the bar (e.g., bouncers, bartenders) ever having been interviewed by the police (ABC6.com).
Possible altercation at the bar
A police report, according to ABC6, says a disturbance of some kind (it is not known when or what type), occurred shortly before Greg disappeared. Hart's body had also suffered the type of injuries that may be indicative of a fight (broken facial bones, chipped tooth, cuts on lips and knuckles, bruising on palm and legs.) There were also two bruises in the same place on each leg, possibly caused by restraining Greg Hart.
Inconsistencies with police reports
The initial police incident report from March 14, states that police found Hart's cell phone and a house key in the bar’s parking lot. The report also states that police called his cellphone at that time and that it rang several times before going to voicemail. A police report two days later said that Hart's phone was found in the water along with Hart's partially submerged body and his driver's license.
Hart's Shattered iPhone
The police returned Hart's iPhone to the family in approximately 5 pieces. Officers told the family that even State Police experts were unable to retrieve any information from it because it had been in the water. However, technicians at AT&T told the Hart family that it had been taken apart in such a way that no information could be retrieved (ABC6.com).
Damaged indicator on iPhone
"This [phone] definitely wasn't in the water, definitely, 100 percent, this was not in the water."The Hart family was able to take the phone to data recovery experts at TechFusion. The company found that the phone could not possibly have been in contact with water, as stated in the police report. The style of the Apple iPhone that Hart had is equipped with tiny indicators deep in the phone that signal whether the phone had been submerged in water or a liquid. According to Alexander Gessen, a data recovery expert at the company, Apple has installed these indicators in order to help determine whether the phone has been submerged or come into contact with a liquid that might void the warranty. Evidence indicates that the indicator on Hart's phone, something very difficult to remove, had been intentionally scratched off.
- Alfred Demirjian, data recovery expert
Alfred Demirjian, a data recovery expert at the company said, "This definitely wasn't in the water, definitely, 100 percent, this was not in the water." (Boston.com, 11/1/10).
Data Recovery from Cell Phone
TechFusion was also able to rebuild Hart's phone and compare the text messages and phone logs to AT&T's cell phone logs to authenticate them. The data included a log of the last 100 calls and the contents of the final 599 text messages, which indicate that the iPhone was not in the water. The family has declined to release the contents of the recovered data for fear of compromising any criminal case that may come from it.
Length of Time in Water
A white shirt returned to the family seems to be more river-stained than the shirt that Hart was wearing over it. The family has also said that the body itself was not as waterlogged as it should have been after 48 hours in the water.
About Greg Hart
Providence Police Lt. George Stamatakos described Hart as “a nice kid with a great family." Gregory Hart had just moved to Dedham, Massachusetts. He was a cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where he had studied economics and tutored students, and had been accepted into an officer's program to be a Navy fighter pilot. Relatives attributed his success to his hard work in school after receiving below-average grades his freshman year in college. He had just landed a new job at Meditech in Westwood, MA--a job that would give him some real money for the first time, according to ABC6.com--and he was scheduled to begin work on Monday, March 15. He was not typically a late-night partier.
The news has devasted his family. "He's my heart. I can't even function. Nothing's important anymore," said his mother, Marianne Hart, told the Providence Journal. Hart’s father said his son was his “best friend.” Relatives say he was also kind and generous, spending much of last year caring for his mother during breast cancer treatment.
Greg Hart will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Facts:
Name/age: Greg Hart, 23
College: University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Last seen: 03/13/10, Red Room Tavern, One Fox Place, Providence, RI
Recovered: 03/16/10, Woonasqatucket River, Providence, RI
Residence: Dedham, MA
Physical Description: 5’8,” brown hair. He was last seen downtown Sunday morning wearing a grey leather biker jacket, a green hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes.
March 14, 2010
03/12/10: Lei Deng, 26, Oswego, NY
Lei Deng, 26, was last seen around 8 a.m. Friday in Hart Hall on the State University of New York (SUNY)-Oswego campus in upstate New York near Lake Ontario. He had planned to go home to Queens for the weekend and had called home to "ensure his parents had his favorite foods," but then never showed up. At the time, police believe he may have taken a bus out of Syracuse to New York City, but no one had heard from him since 10:30 p.m. March 12.
On March 19, SUNY Oswego Police reported that Deng had been found safe and unharmed in New York City.
October 19, 2009
10/8/09: William Hurley, Boston, MA
He called his girlfriend of 2 years, Claire Mahoney, who offered to pick him up as he was unfamiliar with the area. While on the phone with Mahoney, Hurley asked his exact location and a passerby yelled "99 Nashua Street." Hurley's cell phone battery then went dead. Mahoney said, "I got to 99 Nashua Street a minute or two later and he was nowhere in the area." She said, "I beeped, I yelled, I looked around, I walked around. I drove around for an hour. I was right around the corner but when I got there Will was gone."
August 18, 2009
08/02/99: Rashad Burnley, 20, Toronto, ON, Canada
His body was recovered ten days later in the Toronto Harbor.
May 27, 2009
05/26/09: Mason MacPhail, 16, Toronto, ON, Canada
On Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 16-year old Mason MacPhail, a shy teen with Asberger Syndrome, a form of autism, accompanied three friends to an all ages concert for the band Disturbed at the Sound Academy bar on Polson Street in Ontario, Canada.At some point during the night, he got into an altercation at the club with another concert goer during the concert and Mason was escorted out. He became separated from his friends. Video surveillance shows him stepping outside of the club and in, according to The Star, "an isolated stretch of derelict portlands on the waterfront" at 8 p.m. (also reported in the media as 9:30 p.m.). He was supposed to meet up with his friends in the parking lot at 11:30 p.m., but he never showed up. His body was found two days later in the channel of the Toronto Harbor.
May 16, 2009
05/16/09: Shane Fair, 19, Toronto, ON, Canada
Nineteen-year old Shane Fair went missing on May 16, 2009 at a formal dinner and dance party at Atlantis Pavilion at Ontario Place in Toronto, Ontario to celebrate the end of his school year at York University.He never got on the last bus that would have taken him back to campus to his dorm room. Friends have said that the young man had been drinking during the formal.
His body was found in Lake Ontario on May 30, near where he was last seen.
September 30, 2007
09/30/07: Christopher Melancon, 24, La Crosse, WI
Twenty-four year old Christopher B. Melancon, an easy going former Marine and Iraq veteran, died after falling from the Cass Street Bridge and drowning in the Mississippi River. Melancon, a resident of Bloomington, MN, formerly from Milwaukee, WI, was in LaCrosse celebrating Oktoberfest with his friend and roommate, Anthony Triplett, when the pair became separated. La Crosse Police say 24-year-old Christopher B. Melancon fell about 30 feet from the Cass Street Bridge early morning on September 29th. It is still unclear if Melancon fell from the bridge, if he jumped, accidentally fell, or if he was pushed. A witness at a nearby campground who saw Melancon fall into the water jumped a fence to try to get to him, but he disappeared.Timeline
Christopher B. Melancon walked across the hall from the apartment where he was staying, befriended a fellow inactive Marine and got a football party moved into his new friend's place. Melancon, an aspiring filmmaker who served as a Marine for four years, including a stint as a supply clerk in Iraq, had been excited about meeting up with yet another inactive Marine whom he had befriended in Iraq. That was typical of the 24-year-old Iraq veteran and Bloomington resident, said Anthony Triplett, another inactive Marine who was Melancon's best friend and housemate in Bloomington. He, Triplett and their friends watched the Badgers game and at 6 p.m., headed about six blocks toward downtown bars. According to Triplett, he and Melancon split up and regrouped a few times while bar-hopping. At 11 p.m., Melancon left him to rejoin his friend from Iraq. The two had had some beers, but "when Chris left me, he wasn't drunk," Triplett said. "He wasn't drunk at all." Triplett headed to a friend's apartment and at 12:15 a.m. text-messaged Melancon, instructing him to call if he needed to get into the apartment to sleep or to call the next morning if he was staying elsewhere. He never texted back. According to Chief Ed Kondracki, "There is no evidence of any crime having been committed... Christopher clearly went over the railing," Kondracki says. However, police don't know how or why Melancon found himself at the end of the Cass Street bridge.
Witnesses
According to reports, campers at the Pettibone campgrounds heard a splash, saw someone in the water and called 911. Police officers were dispatched to the scene around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday for a report of "a person in the water under the bridge," in the slough immediately to the west of the main channel that connects to Pettibone Lagoon. When they arrived, officers were told by an eye witness that an individual fell into the water from the bridge. The witness was a 21-year old La Crescent woman who was 100 feet away. "She was in La Crosse with friends, and then she decided to go home and call her parents to pick her up," says La Crosse Police Sgt. Cary Joholski. "She walked over the bridge so they wouldn't have to drive into town, that's when she made her observations," he says. She then tried to rush down to the river to help Melancon, but when she got down to the water it was too late. "She entered the water in a futile attempt to save him, and that's when she said it appeared as if he gave up and disappeared," Kondracki says.Additional Details
The woman said she could not tell whether Melancon bumped into the railing and flipped over or jumped off the side. The railing runs the length of the bridge and is forty two inches high (3-1/2 feet). The sidewalk is barely wide enough for two people and the structure vibrates with passing traffic. Investigators do not suspect foul play. The Police Chief says there is no way someone could easily stumble over the side. Melancon was the only person on the bridge when he went over. He had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit, .24.The witness says Melancon did try to swim after he fell into the Mississippi but police say his ability to swim with such a high blood alcohol level would be extremely difficult. The bridge sits just three blocks from La Crosse’s downtown bar district.
Recovery
Melancon's body was found about an hour later at 2:23 a.m. after La Crosse Area Dive and Rescue was called in. The body was found in about 8 feet of water in a slough west of the main channel of the river. Medical personnel attempted to resuscitate Melancon, but were unsuccessful.
Autopsy
Melancon's body was taken to Hastings, MN for an autopsy by the La Crosse County Medical Examiner's office. The autopsy indicated Melancon has a preliminary blood-alcohol level of 0.24 percent and that he drowned. There were no other signs of trauma or injury.
Coincidences
According to one report, Melancon drowned just as the city’s famous Oktoberfest celebration was getting under way. Exactly a year ago, Luke Homan drowned just as Oktoberfest was beginning.
Sources
http://www.johnweeks.com/upper_mississippi/pagesA/umissA05.html
http://www.startribune.com/local/11591096.html
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7160157
http://www.wxow.com/News/index.php?ID=13483
http://www.wxow.com/News/index.php?ID=13510
Facts of Interest in this Case
Name/age: Christopher B. Melancon, 24 (originally from Milwaukee, WI, living in Bloomington, MN)
College: attended college in Atlanta for two years then joined the Marines because he could no longer afford school.
Military: Marine, formerly stationed in Iraq as supply clerk
Physical Description: Athletic, former Marine, swimmer since childhood
Last seen: 09/30/2007, 1:20 a.m., downtown LaCrosse, WI then Cass Street Bridge
Recovered: 09/30/2007, 2:23 a.m., Mississippi River
Cause of death: drowning
Blood alcohol content (preliminary): 0.24
March 16, 2007
03/16/07: Dustin Willis, 26, Boston, MA
Willis was chatting on the phone with his girlfriend, Shawna Watkins, about 11 p.m. and became separated from his friends. According to Boston Police Department Detective Sgt. Kevin Finn, "When his friends came around the corner, they didn't see Mr. Willis. They assumed that he might have gone into one of the nightclubs. They began looking into the nightclubs to see if they could see him. They didn't see him. One of his crewmembers called his cell phone, left a message that they were heading back to the ship and to contact the ship."
The solider's cell phone was found on a sidewalk near the Long Wharf about 1 a.m. According to Finn, "There was no indication of any altercations between him and the individuals he was out with or any individuals he may have encountered on the street."
Watkins told WCBTV it simply didn't make sense, "This is not something he decided to do," she said. "He did not just drop his cell phone and walk off in a blizzard."
Desertion also didn't seem to be a possibility. WCBTV reported that Lieutenant Paul Brawley, a Navy spokesman said Willis had a spotless record and just that last week was honored by the Navy with an achievement medal for superior performance.
Willis served as a 3rd class petty officer aboard the Navy destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, which was docked in South Boston over the St. Patrick's Day weekend. The ship began making final preparations to leave without the solider the Wednesday after he disappeared.
"This ship has a crew of 300 people, and it is really a family. Everyone knows one another. They are upset about this, but they are also remaining focused on their job and making sure that the ship operates and needs to do what it needs to do," Brawley told WCBTV.
December 16, 2006
12/16/06: Nick Rossini, 21, White Bear Lake, MN
Nick Rossini, a 21-year-old stand-out first year cadet at West Point, got into a bit of trouble while home for Christmas break. Late on Friday 12/15, Rossini damaged his mother's car in a drunk driving accident in Crystal, MN after a night of partying with friends. A short time later, he was arrested for drunk driving and called his parents to pick him up. He spent the day with his family, but apparently left again sometime during the night. His body was found in Goose Lake four months later.Nick is the second young man to disappear from White Bear Lake since Nathan Edberg went missing in 1999.
Last Seen
Nick planned to spend the night with one of his friends in Minneapolis, MN near the University of Minnesota campus in an area nicknamed Dinkytown. That night he remembered he was scheduled to referee a basketball game Saturday morning, so he decided to drive home to White Bear Lake. However, he drove in the opposite direction and, sometime after leaving his friends, ran his mother's 1996 Buick Park Avenue into a parked car. About 5:40 a.m., a Crystal police officer spotted a car with a smashed front end drive past the police station. The officer followed the car and pulled over the driver. Rossini, who was alone in the car, was given a breath test, which showed his blood-alcohol level at 0.15 percent. (He was later charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence). His parents drove to the nearby tow yard to pick up their son and the car. After coming home, Rossini slept until midafternoon. He then went to church with his parents, drove to the Minneapolis Police Department headquarters to file a report about his collision with the parked car, and had dinner with his family about 5 pm. According to some reports, Nick and his parents had some tense exchanges over the arrest, but by the time he went to bed the next night, things were okay. Rossini hugged his parents goodnight about 10:30, and his siblings last saw him after midnight before they went to bed. His family believes Rossini left the house sometime between 2:30 and 5 a.m. Sunday. The only clue to his departure was the unlocked deadbolt of the front door. There were no signs of struggle in the Rossini home. He did not take his wallet, a cell phone, backpack, suitcase or clothes when he left, and he did not leave a note.
A Good Kid
According to the Associated Press, his family believes it is unlikely that Rossini would do "anything rash." Rossini, "a former star student and athlete at White Bear Lake High School, Rossini spent a year at St. John's University before deciding to enlist in the Army. He was spotted by West Point recruiters while still in basic training, and so far has maintained a 3.5 grade-point average at the elite academy--putting him in the top 50 of the 1,000-member freshman class." The Rossinis have since talked to West Point officials who have stated that they will not penalize him for the arrest and they would take him back.
The Search
Authorities have walked the shores and flown over three lakes near the Rossini home without finding signs of a fall through the ice. Search teams went door-to-door and yard-to-yard in nearby neighborhoods, and dogs have also been used. Police, sheriff, fire and other public safety personnel from throughout the Twin Cities, along with friends, neighbors and volunteers from area lakes and trails groups have helped with the search. The search resumed again in the spring, with deputies search White Bear Lake, Birch Lake and Bald Eagle Lake in April before beginning a search of Goose Lake.
Recovery
The body of Nicholas Rossini was found in Goose Lake on Monday, April 16 west of Hwy. 61 and Hoffman Road. He was about ten feet from shore. The lake is about three miles from his family's home. The Ramsey County medical examiner's office said it appeared the 21-year-old from White Bear Lake had drowned. Authorities found the body in Goose Lake on Monday, while they were searching for Rossini. His body was identified through dental records. The body was found in sweatpants, a sweatshirt and jogging shoes.
Theories
When Nick vanished, The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension posted Nick's missing poster on its website, including a note about the possibility of a head injury from the car accident. There is no information yet on whether evidence of head injury has been found. From the outset, family members thought Nick must have left to clear his head or go for a jog, because he was embarrassed over the incident and worried about what it might mean for his future. This theory is now gaining ground as Nick's body was found in workout clothes.
Strange Coincidences
Nick Rossini is the second young man to go missing from the small suburb of White Bear Lake, MN since the 1999 disappearance of Nathan Edberg. Edberg was last seen at a bar and his truck was later found empty in a ditch off the highway. Police believe Edberg accidentally drove off the road, but he has never been found. In a strange coincidence, the Rossini home is not too far from Decoy's Bar where Nathan Edberg was last seen. The mothers of both young men also work together at Lincoln Elementary school and live within a few miles of each other. Edberg's mother, Jackie, advised Rossini's mother, Pat, on how to handle the media and was helping the Rossini family cope with the disappearance.
After graduating from White Bear Lake high school in 2004, Nick attended St. John's University, where just two years earlier, student Joshua Guimond disappeared.
Facts of Interest
Name/age: Nicholas Rossini, 20 (from White Bear lake, MN)
College: West Point Academy (West Point, NY), formerly of St. John's University
Physical description: 6'1," 185 with dark blond hair, hazel eyes and an athletic build.
Last seen: 12/16/06, at home in White Bear Lake, MN
Recovered: 04/16/07, Goose Lake, MN
Cause of death: drowning
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