CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - #16

[zwiebel]

That got me all confused for a little while too.

It still puzzles me a bit. Not that one man should change his name, but that his son should too.

Bob's youngest daughter's husband ( son-in-law) disowned his father's name and changed his surname from Finke to Michaels.

Then his son in turn(Bob's grandson), disowned his father's adopted name, and changed from Michaels to Harrod. And adopted the middle name Robert too, I think? So part of his name was Robert Harrod, just like his grandfather, Bob.

It all seems rather complicated, but there's no law against it as long as it's not done for illegal purposes, so I suppose it's just one of life's little mysteries.

 

[zwiebel]

The other name shift seems to be happening with the daughters, who were quoted in a lot of articles just using their married surnames (even though some are divorced) but now seem to be hyphenating them with Harrod.

I'm not questioning that - lots of people do that in England too, because it makes a person sound posh there.

 

[zwiebel]

I think Disappeared,'Long Lost Love' may have been re-airing all week, though I can't find it on any schedule on ID. If anyone who has seen the episode this week drops in, can you let us know which channel you saw it on, or link us to the schedule? Thanks!

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Never having been to Missouri myself, I'm just going by Mrs Harrod and what I see on another thread for a missing Missouri person here, about how Missourians?? are made.

I'd say they are straight talking. I think Bob might well have told his son-in-law on Monday morning exactly what he was going to do with his finances and his life, and what he thought of any attempts to interfere with that. I wonder how easy that would have been to take, if you weren't from Missouri yourself and were more used to smiling to someone's face, and letting loose behind their back?

I'm one state north of Missouri, does that count?

As to the nature of Missourians, they are all individuals, just as the English are all individuals. It is mostly an agricultural state but it has two major metropolitan areas: St Louis and Kansas City.

One thing many Iowans and Missourians seem to have in common is an intense sense of privacy about certain matters. Or perhaps it's more of a sense of where the appropriate boundaries should fall in dealing with certain matters. One such matter is finances. You just don't ask someone how much money they make, what they have in savings, what the value of their property is or how they intend to dispose of their assets.

For example, it would be unthinkably rude to ask a farmer about their income. It's okay to ask what sort of farming they do, how many acres under cultivation they have, how many cattle or hogs they have, etc, all of which can give you a very clear picture of their financial situation but it just is not done to ask for the dollar values.

Again, every individual is different but I could more easily imagine JeM deciding to tackle Bob as to who was going to get how much money in the end and Bob getting really, really angry about the intrusion into his privacy. Particularly if he had a private opinion that one of the reasons JeM had married JuM was in hopes of her eventual inheritance.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

So why doesn't anyone suspect the sons story, all if it, and mainly him? I'm sorry but to me he had the means motive and opt. That's not good. He was the last to see him alive that day.

If there were a poll taken in this thread, I think JeM (the son-in-law) would probably be the leading contender. For me, JeM's son AH is the next contender but other people may vary.

I'm actually suspicious of the whole family. The only three people involved that I am not suspicious of are Fontelle (lack of opportunity), the barber lady (cleared by PPD) and the cleaning lady (lack of opportunity).

I suspect that one or perhaps two people were involved in the actual crime but the rest of the family is complicit, either in having knowledge or in assisting with the coverup.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

That got me all confused for a little while too.

It still puzzles me a bit. Not that one man should change his name, but that his son should too.

Bob's youngest daughter's husband ( son-in-law) disowned his father's name and changed his surname from Finke to Michaels.

Then his son in turn(Bob's grandson), disowned his father's adopted name, and changed from Michaels to Harrod. And adopted the middle name Robert too, I think? So part of his name was Robert Harrod, just like his grandfather, Bob.

It all seems rather complicated, but there's no law against it as long as it's not done for illegal purposes, so I suppose it's just one of life's little mysteries.

Changing from Fink to Michaels isn't that surprising to me. In 20th USAn colloquialism, fink is derogatory, implying a tattletale or (less often) someone who cheats. I actually went to school myself with someone whose last name was Fink and it was not an easy thing for her.

Changing a grandson's name to match a grandfather's name is an old custom in Iowa amongst families who are gunning for Grandpa's estate. Particularly in a situation such as this where there were no natural sons to "carry on the family name." No Iowan would come out and say it but many would think "wow, you're sure trying to butter the old man up, aren't you!"

 

[sreshowtime]

but is it legal name changes, versus just becuz?

 

[Oriah]

Ya know, my personal opinion is just becuz. And that's the thing about changing ones' name legally vs just...starting to use another name? Orgs and businesses and the gov and everything want that stuff on paper. But it's legal to not have it on paper. Which just makes everything even more confusing- and I think the reason why so many people choose that route who want to avoid a paper trail.

 

[sreshowtime]

confusing yeah- O/T I refused to change my name with my SS#, men don't have to jump thru hooops
and it can be a pita s'plaining aka's

 

[believe09]

I dont think any of us found any record of name changes that went through the court in CA.

 

[zwiebel]

I dont think any of us found any record of name changes that went through the court in CA.

Lol, I would love to be a fly on the wall seeing someone over here trying to change their name 'unofficially', without the ten tons of supporting paperwork it would generate. That would be real paper documents of course, not the cyber kind.

 

[zwiebel]

BBM

Changing from Fink to Michaels isn't that surprising to me. In 20th USAn colloquialism, fink is derogatory, implying a tattletale or (less often) someone who cheats. I actually went to school myself with someone whose last name was Fink and it was not an easy thing for her.

Changing a grandson's name to match a grandfather's name is an old custom in Iowa amongst families who are gunning for Grandpa's estate. Particularly in a situation such as this where there were no natural sons to "carry on the family name." No Iowan would come out and say it but many would think "wow, you're sure trying to butter the old man up, aren't you!"

Fink is a telltaletit in the US? I had no idea! You do have some funny expressions over your way, don't you, old chaps?

 

[zwiebel]

There was an awful song kids at school would sing to people that began, 'Telltaletit, your mummy can't knit'

If my name had been telltaletit, I'd definitely have changed it. This really helps explain son-in-law's name change to me.

 

[zwiebel]

Does anyone think OC Cold Case Unit will definitely be trying to track down the family member that all the media reported had said Bob might have Alzheimer's or dementia, when he first disappeared?

I was just thinking that if that same family member had backed up their opinion with reports of elder abuse or something like that, but then completely failed to sound any sort of alarm the day or night Bob disappeared - wouldn't that make a Cold Case team very curious? I know Oriah found that very interesting, so I can't help wondering what an investigator like - oh, Larry Montgomery might make of it?

It's just my opinion, but reading through those media reports, it's pretty easy to work out who said it.

 

[believe09]

I think that the Cold Case Squad is going to be interested in anyone who propelled the investigation forward and anyone who obstructed it.

 

[marlywings]

New thread up now if you'd all like to move to the following link please. I'll close this one shortly.

CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - #17 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community