CA CA - Rose Cole, 16, Oakland, 1972 - #1

[cbcrime]

All of you have worked so hard on this case and found so much information. In California - despite jursidiction if a person is reporting a missing person - the agency must take the report. I don't believe that it states anything about a cold/old missing person case not qualifying. Since Rose was last seen in Oakland CA - has Isabela tried getting them to establish a MP case? Sorry I don't remember if she talked to anyone in CA.

 

[Shadow205]

All of you have worked so hard on this case and found so much information. In California - despite jursidiction if a person is reporting a missing person - the agency must take the report. I don't believe that it states anything about a cold/old missing person case not qualifying. Since Rose was last seen in Oakland CA - has Isabela tried getting them to establish a MP case? Sorry I don't remember if she talked to anyone in CA.

The problem is, Isabela is in WI. Not many agencies will take a report over the telephone. I don't understand why WI LE won't just do the report and forward it to CA. The dept. that I worked for used to do it all of the time. It was called "Assist Other Agency".

 

[cbcrime]

Heck - we take'm over the phone. Doesn't matter where they are calling from. But larger agencies can be more difficult.

 

[wondering22]

smile22,

By this point I'm sure that George(I think that's the guys name that runs the site) is on to something going on. There have been several people attempt to gain access to the site. If he bothered to google Synanon, he has found his way here and has read everything that has been said about the attempts. IMO, the only hope of getting into the site is to find a former member who is willing to work with us. Christine has been working on finding former members. I have joined a cult education forum and posted 3 threads there in hopes of finding former members. So far, there have been lots of views on the threads but not even 1 reply. I sent an email this morning to a mod there asking for any suggestions.

Have you tried Rick Ross's website?

He has a primo compilation of cults, and he also has forums.
AND... maybe he would have some suggestions, I understand his reputation in the field is very good.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Wondering, Shadow205's post #719 above is a response from a question she asked on Rik Ross' forum re Rose. And I've emailed Rik Ross with questions re Synanon and he referred me to the info on his site... so our success with Ross' site thus far is pretty slim. I've read all of the info on his site re Synanon but couldn't find anything that would get us any further than we are right now.

 

[H0NEYWEST]

Do you have any URLs? It sounds fascinating. I had NO idea how many secretive cults are around and were so active during the 60s/70s, until I started out to do a bit of research on Rainbow Family Gatherings but then got side-tracked into learning about the Brethren.

The rainbow people are NOT part of a cult, but seem to be very underground, not really tracable or identifiable. Very interesting, but I've not read much at all, yet - keep getting side-tracked.

Here is an index page: http://www.exfamily.org/art/

The one I really found fascinating was: http://www.exfamily.org/cgi-bin/gf.pl?fmt=dyn&t=articles&m=1&s=&r=art/exmem/my_experience_with_cog.shtml

I wish the writer had finished her story.

 

[wondering22]

Here is an index page: http://www.exfamily.org/art/

The one I really found fascinating was: http://www.exfamily.org/cgi-bin/gf.pl?fmt=dyn&t=articles&m=1&s=&r=art/exmem/my_experience_with_cog.shtml

I wish the writer had finished her story.

Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. It occurs to me that maybe there really should be a permanent thread devoted simply to cults which have a known track record of being home to MISSING PERSONS.

I'll check out these links tomorrow

 

[itsreenw]

Christine, where is Mr. Van Norman the Supervising Deputy Coroner? I hope he's not with SF... if I had known, I wouldn't have also sent a letter to them. Thanks for the great work. It sure does seem rather dazzling what we will need to produce. Right now there even seems to be confusion on Rose's dental records (in that the ones produced might actually belong to her adopted/stepsister). I feel certain there are no fingerprints. If we can't eventually determine whose dental records are whose, we might only have DNA to rely on.

I wonder if her fimgerprints might be on her letters and the envelope should have DNA on the stamp.

 

[itsreenw]

All of you have worked so hard on this case and found so much information. In California - despite jursidiction if a person is reporting a missing person - the agency must take the report. I don't believe that it states anything about a cold/old missing person case not qualifying. Since Rose was last seen in Oakland CA - has Isabela tried getting them to establish a MP case? Sorry I don't remember if she talked to anyone in CA.

I emailed Oakland PD and the SF Medical Examiner (and a few more places including media resources) last week explaining that the family was out of state and gave all the details in Rose's case. I included the link to the Yahoo 360* blog w/the letters and pics. I also included the 2 most recent pics in the email. I asked that they contact the family at the #s/email I provided or simply reply to my email and advise us how we would file a MP report. I also added that the Marin County Coroner had the dental records, hoping that would encourage them to at least call Marin.

I added that Rose can't be placed on the NCMEC site without a report.

I haven't received a reply.

 

[HeartofTexas]

I wonder if her fimgerprints might be on her letters and the envelope should have DNA on the stamp.

Hopefully the DNA can just as easily be obtained by getting it from Rose's brother... but I imagine the envelope has been handled so much over the last 33 years that it would be all but impossible to isolate which fingerprints are Rose's. If my understanding is correct, there is only one envelope left from all of the letters. The others were lost over the years.

 

[Shadow205]

I received this from Brenda this morning:

brendaholt211955 (6/1/2006 9:20:25 PM): about the short summerie about Rose being on drugs yes rose was doing drugs i remember at least 3 times she was missed up and i know of one time i had to sleep with her all night because she was triping out norma said there was a lot of times she would leave rose some where because she was drinking and wouldnt come home so yes rose had a problem

brendaholt211955 (6/1/2006 9:21:49 PM): oh and norma said claire knew this

 

[christine2448]

I received this from Brenda this morning:

brendaholt211955 (6/1/2006 9:20:25 PM): about the short summerie about Rose being on drugs yes rose was doing drugs i remember at least 3 times she was missed up and i know of one time i had to sleep with her all night because she was triping out norma said there was a lot of times she would leave rose some where because she was drinking and wouldnt come home so yes rose had a problem

brendaholt211955 (6/1/2006 9:21:49 PM): oh and norma said claire knew this

I don't know why, I was under the impression Rose was a typical teen who just smoked a joint or somethin, and got busted then it was blown out of porportion.....why did I think that?

Well, this makes me a bit worried, if this is fact, then the chances of her surviving out there, having a habit and in that type of environment people that have drug/drinking problems have, is slimmer....right?

Shadow, how did I miss Brenda, can you remind me who this is and how you are able to get this info? (I vaguely remember the name, but help me out, LOL, I SWORE I wouldn't come to WS today, I am so far behind at work....I really don't have time to go back and figure out for myself.....I swear I'm not being lazy...just sooooooooo behind!) Thanx!

 

[Shadow205]

Christine2448,

Brenda is Rose's sister (by adoption). Jesse Ray(Rose's Dad) adopted her. Her Mother is Opal. I communicate with her via instant messenger. She reads here but is not registered to post.

When contact was made with Claire, she is the one who told us that Rose did not really have a "drug problem". I am like you, I felt like it was more a teenager messing around with drugs but not with a real addiction. I still think that could be the case. I know of many people who experimented with drugs during that era who "grew up" to have successful drug free lifes.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Sorry if my information re Rose's drug use was misleading. My summary pretty much was a compromise between what the Judge accused Rose of and what her friend Claire said. However, if Brenda actually witnessed times that Rose was "high", then I would assume Brenda would be the most knowledgeable. I'll try to edit my summary.

 

[LButler]

in this thread. Rose's story is tragic, yet fascinating. I read thru all the posts last night and thought about things for a while.

Just a random thought I had this morning, what about putting some ads in the classifieds of the newspapers in San Francisco, Oakland....wherever she was known to be 33 years ago. Mention the people who meant the most to her - Opal, Billie..... Synanon, Flint, MI....anything that would zero in on her..... without putting in personal info, of course. A "desparately seeking Rose" thing.

I think it's possible that Rose may have eventually met someone, moved on with a normal life and either left her old life behind, was embarrassed by it....

It's amazing that Rose felt so unloved and ugly, but the people who remember her saw her completely different - porcelain skin, dark wavy hair, floating thru the dining area at Synanon.

 

[Shadow205]

OK, I found something in the book that I ordered on Synanon! "The Light On Synanon" written by Dave Mitchell, Cathy Mitchell and Richard Ofshe. Attempts on making contacts with Dave Mitchell have not gone well so maybe contact with Richard Ofshe might work. He is still around and I think is a professor at Berkley. I did a google on him the over night and found quite a night of info. I am in a hurry to leave right now and won't have time to make any contacts until Monday. If someone else wants to try, go ahead.

The comment in the book that really caught my attention is this:

"Rather than enjoy the camaraderie and courtship of Synanon management, Richard tried to keep a very low profile. He would wander onto the Synanon facility and usually hang out in the dining room, where there was always someone to talk to."

It's a long shot but we know that Rose worked in the dining room.

From Google :

Richard Ofshe
Professor Emeritus



Department of Sociology
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720


The phone number is at this link: http://sociology.berkeley.edu/faculty/ofshe/

I don't have time to search for an email address for Ofshe but I'm sure that there is one at the Berkley website.

 

[wondering22]

..... LOL, I SWORE I wouldn't come to WS today, I am so far behind at work....I really don't have time to go back and figure out for myself.....I swear I'm not being lazy...just sooooooooo behind!) Thanx!

I don't have time to be here, either, and swore I wouldn't go near a puter until after dinner, LOL - but this case simply has magnetized my attention... and I'll bet there are thousands and thousands of other young adults in the 60/70s who left their families and never re-established any contact and who are out there living in communities across America today, with college aged children and grandchildren....

Rose strikes me as so desperate for LOVE, and she was such a sweet and attractive young woman, it wouldn't surprise me at all that once she found a loving relationship, that she simply wanted to start OVER, with a complete break to her entire past....

 

[HeartofTexas]

Rose strikes me as so desperate for LOVE, and she was such a sweet and attractive young woman, it wouldn't surprise me at all that once she found a loving relationship, that she simply wanted to start OVER, with a complete break to her entire past....

I so hope you're right, Wondering. It makes me so much happier thinking about Rose being married and raising a family that loves her than to think of the alternative. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you're right!

 

[christine2448]

Christine2448,

Brenda is Rose's sister (by adoption). Jesse Ray(Rose's Dad) adopted her. Her Mother is Opal. I communicate with her via instant messenger. She reads here but is not registered to post.

When contact was made with Claire, she is the one who told us that Rose did not really have a "drug problem". I am like you, I felt like it was more a teenager messing around with drugs but not with a real addiction. I still think that could be the case. I know of many people who experimented with drugs during that era who "grew up" to have successful drug free lifes.

Response to your last sentence:
LOL, yeah like me! (well, not in that era, I was born in 70, but, we all tried stuff, and had fun trying LOL)


Response to the beginning:
Thanks for explaining, I appreciate it, I prolly just forgot bout this.

 

[christine2448]

I so hope you're right, Wondering. It makes me so much happier thinking about Rose being married and raising a family that loves her than to think of the alternative. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you're right!

Ditto, that is my deepest desire, that she found love.