TN - Gail Nowacki Palmgren, 44, Signal Mountain, 30 April 2011 - #1

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Believe, IIRC, they both have a Doctorate of Pharmacology degree. That always makes my hinky meter rise (Wazineh, for example) because of the knowledge and access to deadly drugs.
 
Hmmm...again I am sure Mr P is doing everything in his power to remove himself from any focus regarding this disappearance of his dear wife. Not that I know whether or not there is any focus, I hasten to add. It is investigation 101 to make sure anyone close to the MP is cleared.

These poor children-they must be so confused!!!
 
jd3223 said:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_201004.asp

A new article citing numerous police visits leading up to her disappearance.
Click to expand...

OK. That is concerning. I would love to see the incident reports for the visits, fwiw.

As noted in the article, for the 8 days preceding her disappearance, these people were in an uproar. So I have to wonder why the sensitivity to Mr P taking a separate vehicle? Was she afraid he would not actually go to the lake house? :waitasec:. Maybe there was an issue with his driving style that was not spelled out in the article. If he didnt take her keys, and she had the children, it seems fair to note that there was no issue with hers.
 
Another thing I was pondering-as an adult, she can choose to leave. She could also contact Signal Mountain either through an intermediary or herself and let them know she is OK. They would keep the information confidential, especially if she is in fear for some reason.

This would give her a chance to make some choices knowing that her loved ones knew she was OK.
 
I have to say that if you have never dealt with someone who is suffering from an emerging mental illness, you have no idea how difficult it can be. Mental illness is just like any other illness and removing the stigma from it is a big challenge. My son suffers from schizophrenic disorder and it is often frustrating when trying to reason with him. There are plenty of times I have to walk away so that I won't scream or come undone myself. He has good days and bad ones, like the rest of us...and sometimes the bad days come one after the other and its overwhelming.

The fact that the husband in this case was apparently urged to stay at home after the recent incident (he "agreed" to remain at the home) while the wife was encouraged to go elsewhere says alot. Of course, she was given some numbers to "safe houses" so perhaps she exhibited some paranoia about going to the lake house and was given other options. The husband could indeed have been abusive to her....however, no laws were broken and he was not arrested, which shows that no violent tendencies were carried out.

It sounds as if the marriage has been breaking down for some time...perhaps because of the depression and paranoia developing in the wife...or perhaps for some other reason. The argument about taking the boat to the lake and the fight over who rides in what car sounds very petty for two professional adults, so something was going on there.

I think its too early to judge the husband in this matter....there is no telling what he has been going through. I feel for the wife also....whether she was being abused in some way...or whether she is suffering from some mental illness issues. They are very real and painful...and every socio-economic class suffers the same. If she is sick, she needs assistance and I hope she is found safe and soon.

Since the neighbor saw her driving away alone, under duress, it would seem unlikely that the husband had anything to do with her immediate disappearance. I am sure the children have been interviewed and perhaps they have been able to shed some light on the family dynamic.
 
The issue for me about the purported mental illness is - why did the kids go with her to the lake house? Why didn't they stay with dad? I can't imagine thinking that my spouse was "paranoid" and then saying, "Sure honey! Take the kids with you." AND during stormy weather?
 
I think that is a fair assessment Shefner, and I agree with you. There is not enough information anywhere, and we dont know what took place inside of those walls. However, some of the msm is giving me food for thought.
 
jd3223 said:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_201004.asp

A new article citing numerous police visits leading up to her disappearance.
Click to expand...

You know, after reading that article, I don't think this is a mental health case. This just sounds like a marriage gone bad. Really bad.

He wanted to take his boat and drive four hours to the lake house alone, leaving his wife to drive the kids. Maybe she didn't want to drive? Maybe she thought he was being selfish?

Or maybe she just didn't like it because once they got there, he could go out in the boat and avoid the family even more!

ETA: Of course that is probably the point of having a "lake" house - so you can take a boat out on it. But anyway . . .

I've had family members who despised the time their husbands spent fishing on a boat. It's not about mental illness, it's about control.

I'm not sure who is trying to control whom in this case. Possibly both. Just my own ignorant opinion based on human nature. :)

Probably everyone who has ever been married has had a moment when one or both of them has gotten out of the car during an argument. That's not mental illness, except most people wouldn't call 911 and expect the police to mediate their family argument. JMOO :cow:
 
Agreed Thought-this is why I think there was something more to the 911 call. Not something sinister, just something more. What was the disposition of everyone? Were there threats made or was anyone impaired?

Just some questions. The answer could be no to all of the above.
 
What is bothering me the most is that he waited two days to report her missing, after all these problems.

That's setting off my hinky meter.
 
Yeah-it is hard to get a warm fuzzy feeling about waiting 48 hours. What did he tell the kids?
 
My hinky meter goes off when it's a marriage gone bad and alot of money and assets involved.

My brother tried to say his ex-wife was mentally ill, paranoid, and everything was her fault. When their marriage finally ended he had been cheating on her, with multiple women for twenty years. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his ex except she stayed too long.

This sounds like (I hope.) the wife finally had enough and took off. The only other choice is he killed her.

He sounds like a control freak and a mental abuser as opposed to physical. Mental abuse is far worse, in my opinion. Those are the wounds that never heal.
 
ThoughtFox said:
Whether affluence has any bearing on this case or not, I have no idea, although if the missing woman was able to remove $30,000 worth of stuff from the house, well . . . they must have owned alot of nice stuff. :cow:

As a native, I'm just saying that Signal Mt. is one of the most affluent areas around Chattanooga, and it always has been. It is considered a very desirable community, let's put it that way.
Click to expand...

Since this appears to be a response to my comment that not everyone on the mountain is affluent, I'm going to respond and then drop the subject. Thoughtfox, in post #38, your statement was "almost everyone is affluent" on this mountain. That is simply not true, and people like me who live in "average" houses and have to work hard to make ends meet don't appreciate that stereotype. This mountain has the shacks, the mansions, and everything in between. Yes, it is a very desireable place to live and is home to more affluent people than most other areas of the county, but why is that relevant?

Yes, apparently these people are on the affluent end of the spectrum, but domestic issues don't discriminate with regard to wealth. To attract the common folk to take interest in this case, the stereotype needs to be minimized. People who are strugging with finances don't want to hear it. Many in our area have lost all their possessions due to tornados in the past couple weeks. Stories about problems of the rich folk aren't going to interest them much. Almost every news article I've read makes some reference to wealth, and I've bristled at that every time. It makes no difference what they own except that wealthy people have more assets to fight over and more money to make the fight last longer. People are going to fight with whatever they have and over whatever they have when they have domestic problems. The workings are the same, except that unfortunately, money is power, and the one with access to more of it will have an advantage usually.

I think the emphasis needs to be on the common ground if the case is to attract sympathetic attention from all kinds of people: Here is a mother who has been missing for 12 days--including Mother's Day--with no word to her young children who are probably upset beyond measure. The husband's role in her disappearance is unknown. We need everyone's help and interest to put the pieces together and find her, for her sake and for the sake of all the people who care about her. Isn't that what it's all about?
 
Unfortunately, wealth does play a part in most missing wife/husband cases. It would be nice if it didn't, but that is not usually the case. Divorce is normally the answer for broken marriages; however, when money is involved it can lead one or the other to make choices they would not make if money were not a factor. I've never seen a case here at WS that the wealth or lack therof made a difference in whether or not folks wanted to search for a possible victim and I could be wrong but I don't believe it should affect LE's actions in Hamilton County either. This woman is missing under mysterious circumstances. If she is missing because she wants to be, then she should contact someone and let them know she is ok. If not, LE should use everything in their power to locate her regardless of their financial situation.
 
shefner said:
I have to say that if you have never dealt with someone who is suffering from an emerging mental illness, you have no idea how difficult it can be.
...

It sounds as if the marriage has been breaking down for some time...perhaps because of the depression and paranoia developing in the wife...or perhaps for some other reason.
Click to expand...

I've gone back through all the articles and can find no claim of mental illness or paranoia except by the husband. In fact, the detective was quoted in one article as saying he can't find any evidence to back up those claims. Is there an article I missed?

shefner said:
The fact that the husband in this case was apparently urged to stay at home after the recent incident (he "agreed" to remain at the home) while the wife was encouraged to go elsewhere says alot. Of course, she was given some numbers to "safe houses" so perhaps she exhibited some paranoia about going to the lake house and was given other options. The husband could indeed have been abusive to her....however, no laws were broken and he was not arrested, which shows that no violent tendencies were carried out.
Click to expand...

I can't find articles that say he was urged to stay at home. He "agreed" to remain at the home while she and the children went to the lake house, but that only indicates to me that the two came to an agreement as to which one of them would go which place. I know that in a domestic violence incident, the parties are required (or at least encouraged) to remain away from each other for at least 24 hours. I can't figure out why the children did not remain at home, however. It seems to me that if the children were to remain with her while things cooled off, they would have stayed at home and he would have gone somewhere else--unless she was trying to appease him.
 
Couple more articles with video included...

Day 12 in search for missing woman
44 year old Gail Nowacki Palmgren was reported missing by her husband and sister on April 30th.
Thousands of flyers are being passed around in her current town of Signal Mountain, Tennessee by friends and family. "I was there for the last 4 days," Kevin Nowacki, Palmgren's brother said. "We've probably handed out close to 5,000 flyers in different towns all around the area. We're just trying to find her, we need to find her."
More... Video inlcuded...

New twist in case of missing woman
It's been 11 days since anyone has seen or heard from Gail Palmgren.
Gail's sister Diane Nichols, and her husband Dan, continue looking for clues.
"She's got two little kids at home that miss her very much," said Diane Nichols, "they are asking for their mommy."
But not everyone believes Gail is missing.
Her husband, Matthew Palmgren, has filed a restraining order, a request for custody of the couple's children, and possession of their home.
More... Video included...
 
Thanks for the links, imamaze!

http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/Day-...essee-Woman-From-Williamsville-121662839.html

"She's the mother of two wonderful kids and...we don't know where she is," Nowacki said. "We got the police involved, they're searching. The FBI has been contacted."

Gail is 5' 8", 135 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes. "We've been searching, I've personally driven almost every street of Chattanooga searching for her," Nowacki said. "I've gone through the mountain range right there, every street."


http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14627648

In a sworn statement he (the husband) claims his wife has suffered "bouts of depression", is on several prescription medications, and is "delusional".

Gail's family denies those claims.

"Absolutely not," said Diane Nichols, when asked if her sister has a history of mental illness, "she is a very intelligent person, healthy, has two kids at home, she loves those kids, this is unusual."
 
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