TN - Gail Nowacki Palmgren, 44, Signal Mountain, 30 April 2011 - #9

[McSpy]

I have not followed this case at all, but the title containing the words "Signal Mountain" caught my attention. I recently drove up Signal Mountain to visit a relative, and I was struck by its curvy roads with lots of sheer dropoffs. We were extra cautious driving up the mountain because we did not anticipate that type of steep, winding terrain. I'm sure this aspect has been addressed, but has anyone thought that maybe she drove off into an area not visible from the road? I'm sure there are questions about people in her life, etc., but this was my first thought.

I'm not familiar with the case as most people on this board. Does anyone know if the police searched below these cliffs along the roadways of Signal Mt.?

 

[Emeralgem]

I'm not familiar with the case as most people on this board. Does anyone know if the police searched below these cliffs along the roadways of Signal Mt.?

In reference to myself, I feel almost certain whatever happened to Gail did not occur on one of the major roads usually traveled to go up or down the mtn...Not saying she and her jeep aren't over a cliif somewhere on one of the back roads though..JMHO

 

[McSpy]

After reading many of the posts, in my opinion, there seems to be only 2 possibilities for what may have happened to Gail. Her husband took her life or she had a terrible accident, because of her emotional state. Correct me if I'm wrong, but both of them were unemployed, so there was a big possibility of a change in social status. Their lifestyle was at risk. Obviously, their marriage was in trouble and I can't help speculating that he may have wanted her gone, so he could keep her bank and investment accounts for himself. Perhaps, he caused her to have an accident, but LE hasn't found her yet. Since this couple seemed well off enough to have decent life insurance policies, that may come into play too. She seems too conveniently missing.

 

[Emeralgem]

After reading many of the posts, in my opinion, there seems to be only 2 possibilities for what may have happened to Gail. Her husband took her life or she had a terrible accident, because of her emotional state. Correct me if I'm wrong, but both of them were unemployed, so there was a big possibility of a change in social status. Their lifestyle was at risk. Obviously, their marriage was in trouble and I can't help speculating that he may have wanted her gone, so he could keep her bank and investment accounts for himself. Perhaps, he caused her to have an accident, but LE hasn't found her yet. Since this couple seemed well off enough to have decent life insurance policies, that may come into play too. She seems too conveniently missing.

Matt P did not become unemployed until after his wife's disappearance. He and a fellow co-worker were both terminated from BCBS. He was having an affair with this woman.

 

[McSpy]

This may not be PC or even nice, but here's my :twocents:

People can't help it if they don't admire MP or cast his role in positive terms. He lied and cheated on his wife. He lost his job due to an affair with a co-worker, who was also lying to her husband about why she wanted a divorce.

He waited crucial hours before he reported his wife missing.

And since she has been gone, he hasn't said a single positive thing about her. Nothing.

All of that and more has been reported in the MSM too, so it isn't rumor or speculation or merely bad-mouthing.

Therefore, that is why some of us don't feel guilty about our opinions of him, and why some of us will continue to discuss his role in his wife's disappearance.

He hasn't been an honorable man, so I feel sorry for his children, not because of anything we post or even anything on FB, but because they live with a man like that.

I personally don't like him. I don't see anything to like. And I think his
attorneys are doing enough damage control without any help from us.

:cow: :cow: :cow:

The fact he hasn't said anything "positive" about her bothers me. Even saying the kids need their mother would be enough.

 

[McSpy]

Matt P did not become unemployed until after his wife's disappearance. He and a fellow co-worker were both terminated from BCBS. He was having an affair with this woman.

The plot sickens! Thanks for clarifying . . To me, it makes him look worse, if he was cheating after her disappearance. It makes one wonder how long this affair was going on. It's hard to not look at him as responsible for her disappearance with this info. He hardly looks like a grieving husband. JMO

 

[glorias]

IIRC, the only thing he said that could be construed as positive was saying the kids love her. Here's what he said at the May press conference, with the correction of replacing the word "yell" with "Gail":

MATT PALMGREN: Thank you. As you can tell, it’s been a rough 2 weeks for the entire family. I'd like to start off by saying thank you to Chief Veal, Detective Tizzio, all my neighbors that have been out, Diane for coming down, all the family that's helped us look, uh, for Gail. As you can see, the Jeep has been spotted, we’ve been told, on a few occasions out there, so we’re asking for anybody who’s seen that to immediately call their local police and let us know and get more clues to where Gail could be. So, for myself, we've done everything in our power to finding Gail. We've hired a private investigator, we’ve continued to look, we're turning over everything we can. So, as Diane says, it’s like, Gail if you hear us, please come forward, [redacted] and [redacted] love you, and please, please show yourself soon. I hope everyone keeps us in their thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

The other stuff he said in the phone interview early on in the case (reported in the very first news articles) was about the same but more negative IMVHO, in that he was claiming Gail ran off before and had paranoia/mental issues.

Tangential note: I just can't get over him saying "The Jeep has been spotted... call local police and let us know and get more clues to where Gail could be." Dang.

 

[McSpy]

IIRC, the only thing he said that could be construed as positive was saying the kids love her. Here's what he said at the May press conference, with the correction of replacing the word "yell" with "Gail":



The other stuff he said in the phone interview early on in the case (reported in the very first news articles) was about the same but more negative IMVHO, in that he was claiming Gail ran off before and had paranoia/mental issues.

Tangential note: I just can't get over him saying "The Jeep has been spotted... call local police and let us know and get more clues to where Gail could be." Dang.

It is a little revealing that he had said the Jeep was spotted, because it could indicate that he wants people to think she left voluntarily. I may be wrong, but I can't help but think that because of his behavior. JMO

 

[Emeralgem]

The plot sickens! Thanks for clarifying . . To me, it makes him look worse, if he was cheating after her disappearance. It makes one wonder how long this affair was going on. It's hard to not look at him as responsible for her disappearance with this info. He hardly looks like a grieving husband. JMO

BBM. The affair was going on before Gail disappeared..

 

[Sleuthy1]

Matt P did not become unemployed until after his wife's disappearance. He and a fellow co-worker were both terminated from BCBS. He was having an affair with this woman.

:twocents:Emeralgem...just using your post to bounce off of...Hope you don't mind...Is mainly for McSpy's information. FYI---->Gail was offered a very good high paying position after she was laid off at Novartis in June 2010 but, MP told her not to take it. She was okay with that and did not accept the offer. She chose to be a stay at home Mom and loved staying at home with the children. Her job at Novartis required a great deal of travel, many times she took the children with her, along with her mother in law and sometimes her sister DNN (Mother in law and/or Aunt would be sitters during work hours and off time was spent with the kids as if it was vacation time). The travel, during those times was viewed as a "fun time for all", like a vacation of sorts. Finances were good until MP hit GP up for TWO large loans (from Gail's personal account) of $20,000.00 each in a short period of time before she went missing...not to mention the almost every other day $$$ ATM withdraws:waitasec:. GP knew nothing about those frequent withdraws (every other day) until her own PI shared ALL THE INFORMATION and pix that he had accumulated while looking into MP's affairs per GP's request. This was done to ready herself and the children for the divorce she was planning on filing very soon.

Also,
Less than 4 days after being reported missing by MP, after constant urging (insistence) of Gail's sister DNN and her friend AD on Monday May 2, 2011...Upon seeing AD's car in the driveway of a neighbor across the street form Gail's home (SB)...MP called SB's home phone and asked to speak with AD. You see, MP told the children that their Mom was down at the lake with Miss A ....and now Ms. A's vehicle (which the kids know) is parked directly across the street from their home on Signal Mountain. This concerned Matt enough to call SB home and ask to speak to AD. When SB gave AD the phone Matt asked "what are you doing here?" AD said she was here to look for Gail. She told him..."the more people looking the better chance they have of finding Gail". He disagreed and said "A she ran away, she is not kidnapped". AD said "Matt we need to find Gail for the kids". He replied "there is nothing you can do". AD said "I am going place to place to try to find her". Matt said "we are looking for her and I am doing everything I am told to do". Matt then continued by saying the following to AD..."You are making things worse by being here":waitasec: and then he abruptly hung up the phone on AD unexpectedly:banghead:. AD wanted to scream at him,:maddening: but she kept calm until he hung up on her.

IMHO ----> What a "piece of work huh?"

 

[BeanE]

The fact he hasn't said anything "positive" about her bothers me. Even saying the kids need their mother would be enough.

Well, he did say the children love her.

“Gail, if you hear us, please come forward. J and L love you,” he said, his voice cracking as he said the children’s

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/may/18/sightings-missing-signal-mountain-woman-uncomfirme

 

[BeanE]

The plot sickens! Thanks for clarifying . . To me, it makes him look worse, if he was cheating after her disappearance. It makes one wonder how long this affair was going on. It's hard to not look at him as responsible for her disappearance with this info. He hardly looks like a grieving husband. JMO

I'm not sure why he would look like a grieving husband. They despised each other, were fighting like cats and dogs. Matt had been having an affair for months. Gail had been actively planning and readying for a divorce for months. They had agreed to separate.

 

[BeanE]

It is a little revealing that he had said the Jeep was spotted, because it could indicate that he wants people to think she left voluntarily. I may be wrong, but I can't help but think that because of his behavior. JMO

He said the Jeep had been spotted because LE had just announced they'd received reports of sightings of the Jeep.

Possible sightings of missing Signal Mountain mother reported, authorities say
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/may/17/possible-sightings-missing-signal-mountain-mother-
Times Free Press – published Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Investigators into the disappearance of Signal Mountain mother Gail Palmgren said they have had reports of possible sightings of her in the tri-state area.


UPDATE: Police in Alabama look for missing Signal Mtn. mother
http://www.wrcbtv.com/global/story.asp?s=14661367
WRCB – Updated: May 18, 2011 4:42 PM EDT

The Sheriff’s Office says there have been reports of possible sightings of Palmgren’s Jeep Rubicon in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, but none of the sightings have been substantiated or confirmed.


Sightings of missing woman uncomfirmed
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publishe...&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1419627259&start=7
LexisNexis - Chattanooga Times Free Press - May 18, 2011 Wednesday

there have been possible sightings reported to law enforcement, authorities said


Sightings of missing Signal Mountain woman unconfirmed
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/may/18/sightings-missing-signal-mountain-woman-uncomfirme
Times Free Press – Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

there have been possible sightings reported to law enforcement, authorities said.

 

[BeanE]

Finances were good until MP hit GP up for TWO large loans (from Gail's personal account) of $20,000.00

Another change to a story of Arlene's.

Arlene told Susan Murphy Milano in their interview that their financial problems started in 2010, and she also said the same thing in this article - financial problems prior to November 2010:

However, she said the sudden drop in the family's income to one paycheck escalated the problems. She said in November when Gail got her last paycheck

http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_203035.asp

That $20k + $20k wasn't until March of 2011.

 

[BeanE]

GP knew nothing about those frequent withdraws (every other day) until her own PI shared ALL THE INFORMATION and pix that he had accumulated while looking into MP's affairs per GP's request.

Another change to a story of Arlene's.

In this article, Arlene said Gail went to the bank and reviewed the bank records and found the $400 withdrawals.

She said Gail told her she went to their bank to review the records and was startled to find "that Matt was getting $400 every couple of days from an ATM."

http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_203035.asp

The PI giving Gail all the info wasn't until April 28.

 

[Blue Moc]

just using your post to bounce off of...Hope you don't mind...Is mainly for McSpy's information. FYI---->Gail was offered a very good high paying position after she was laid off at Novartis in June 2010 but, MP told her not to take it. She was okay with that and did not accept the offer. She chose to be a stay at home Mom and loved staying at home with the children....Finances were good until MP hit GP up for TWO large loans (from Gail's personal account) of $20,000.00 each in a short period of time before she went missing...not to mention the almost every other day $$$ ATM withdraws:

-------------------

Sleuthy, I've been silently following this for a while now and some of this information, particularly about Gail's other job offer, is new to me (Though I did miss much of the early threads). I'm wondering what the source for the information is, both this and MP's conversations with AD? I'm assuming it's directly from AD herself, since I know she's had a lot to say, but is there other corroborating reports as well?

Again, sorry if I missed this in the early part of these discussions....just trying to keep my facts straight.

 

[glorias]

He said the Jeep had been spotted because LE had just announced they'd received reports of sightings of the Jeep.

I am almost 100% positive MP did not get that information about sightings from news articles. Obviously, the press conference was on May 17, so he didn't get the info from those articles published on May 18. As for the news articles published on May 17, they came out in the evening news cycle after MP brought up the sightings at that press conference.

You can see discussion about it here on WS as the press conference was happening and immediately after. The first person who noticed what MP said ([ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6502806&postcount=211"]link here[/ame]) noted we hadn't seen this mentioned in the news before. MacGyver confirmed that Det. Tizzio had mentioned these Jeep sightings to them a few days prior but none of them were confirmed ([ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6505162&postcount=261"]link here[/ame]). Later, fran also said that the news of Jeep sightings came from MP, not LE. ([ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6507116&postcount=337"]Link here.[/ame])

At the press conference, DN starts out saying the Jeep has not been seen:

I am Gail Palmgren's sister, and she's been missing since April 30th, and we have not heard from her or seen her vehicle since.

Further, you can tell by the questions asked at the end of the press conference that the reporters didn't know about these possible sightings:

REPORTER #3: Is there anything you can say about the sighting? It was mentioned that her Jeep had possibly been spotted. Can you elaborate on any of that?

JA: The only thing I can say is that every, every lead that has been passed back to law enforcement has been investigated or is in the process of being investigated.

The transcript is here:

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6505842&postcount=318"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - TN TN - Gail Nowacki Palmgren, 44, Signal Mountain, 30 April 2011 - #2[/ame]


On the video of the press conference, you can tell reporters were very curious about MP's claim there were sightings. Apparently after Callie Starnes turned off the video, Atkinson or someone else told them that there had been sightings of Jeeps which were not confirmed to be Gail's. I distinctly remember no news articles about this showed up until the evening news cycle of the 17th, after the press conference.

So no, personally, I do not believe he said the Jeep had been spotted because LE had announced it prior to the press conference. They announced it after the conference after MP brought it up.

Now, as to my personal opinion on the words he chose: From the very first moment I heard MP use those specific words regarding the sightings it sounded like he, for some reason, made it sound like Gail's Jeep had been found. Not A Jeep but THE Jeep. His specific wording is that "the Jeep has been spotted" so please call LE if you see it so they can have "more clues to where Gail could be" -- bolding by me.

I'm pretty het up about this particular issue because MP saying the Jeep had been spotted at that press conference has always been a huge issue with me. I am not trying to be a jerk or be argumentative, but I really feel it's important to clear this particular issue up.

 

[Oriah]

I don't really understand what you mean.

Even if SB didn't see Gail (although she thought she did), the kids were the last ones to see Gail, in my opinion.

Are you saying you doubt that Gail dropped off the kids there? We know they were in Alabama the night before and somehow got home to Signal Mountain.

I think I have my facts straight, according to what has been reported from that day and also about the termination from BC/BS.

I'm sorry, but I'm exhausted by this discussion and going around the mulberry bush, so I'm taking a break. I'll be back if there is breaking news.

Sorry, ThoughtFox- it seems I'm being very confusing. I'm not doubting your timeline at all, actually.

I just can't make full sense of SB's report (and this is not necessarily doubting SB. Just trying to see how this would all work route-wise) She was heading back to her residence. If Gail dropped the children off and left @ 12:15pm- and the children were home alone for 10 mins before Matt returned- I would think she was traveling the same route as Matt was. And that Matt would have passed Gail. Does that make sense?

 

[BeanE]

I am almost 100% positive MP did not get that information about sightings from news articles. Obviously, the press conference was on May 17, so he didn't get the info from those articles published on May 18. As for the news articles published on May 17, they came out in the evening news cycle after MP brought up the sightings at that press conference.

You can see discussion about it here on WS as the press conference was happening and immediately after. The first person who noticed what MP said (link here) noted we hadn't seen this mentioned in the news before. MacGyver confirmed that Det. Tizzio had mentioned these Jeep sightings to them a few days prior but none of them were confirmed (link here). Later, fran also said that the news of Jeep sightings came from MP, not LE. (Link here.)

At the press conference, DN starts out saying the Jeep has not been seen:



Further, you can tell by the questions asked at the end of the press conference that the reporters didn't know about these possible sightings:



The transcript is here:

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - TN TN - Gail Nowacki Palmgren, 44, Signal Mountain, 30 April 2011 - #2


On the video of the press conference, you can tell reporters were very curious about MP's claim there were sightings. Apparently after Callie Starnes turned off the video, Atkinson or someone else told them that there had been sightings of Jeeps which were not confirmed to be Gail's. I distinctly remember no news articles about this showed up until the evening news cycle of the 17th, after the press conference.

So no, personally, I do not believe he said the Jeep had been spotted because LE had announced it prior to the press conference. They announced it after the conference after MP brought it up.

Now, as to my personal opinion on the words he chose: From the very first moment I heard MP use those specific words regarding the sightings it sounded like he, for some reason, made it sound like Gail's Jeep had been found. Not A Jeep but THE Jeep. His specific wording is that "the Jeep has been spotted" so please call LE if you see it so they can have "more clues to where Gail could be" -- bolding by me.

I'm pretty het up about this particular issue because MP saying the Jeep had been spotted at that press conference has always been a huge issue with me. I am not trying to be a jerk or be argumentative, but I really feel it's important to clear this particular issue up.

Okay. shrug. Obviously, LE told him before the conference. Makes sense. He's Gail's next of kin. I doubt he's psychic. I doubt LE announced the sightings because Matt said that.

Common sense tells me that if he said that one day, and a spate of news articles come out the next day, then logically, and very simply, LE told him before the conference.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion though, glorias. We each get to have our own opinion of what we think the facts are, our own opinion of what we think "we know", and our own opinion of what makes the most sense to us.

 

[glorias]

Yes, absolutely, I agree LE told MP about the sightings before the conference. Just like they told MacGyver in that post I linked to. LE didn't tell the media before the press conference, though.