VT VT - Roberta Martin, 82, neigh went to check on her and didn't find her at home, suspicious, Enosburgh, Franklin County, 16 Jul 2024

[duckcat]

Local here. That location is not "fairly public" -- I'd be surprised if the roads were paved. It's very rural, and AFAIK there's no campground nearby.

This is the campground: Brookside Family Campground,LLC and this particular location is directly on the Northwest Vermont Wheelers trail network: https://vtvasa.org/client_media/files/pdfs/VASA-Map-Final.pdf

Furthermore, you only need to look at google maps to see that that there are multiple ATV tracks leading into the woods all over this area where people are recreating. Perhaps they’re even unofficial, but I can see clearly where people are marking trails. I do a ton of mountain and gravel biking and frequently share ATV/class 4 type roads to link routes together. It is fairly public in that her body seems to have been located directly around a recreation area—trail network and a campground. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was someone riding an atv who eventually came across her. It seems by design, opens up the possibilities to many different, random people.

 

[Inthedetails]

I live 40minutes away from here. This is the campground: Brookside Family Campground,LLC and this particular location is directly on the Northwest Vermont Wheelers trail network: https://vtvasa.org/client_media/files/pdfs/VASA-Map-Final.pdf

Furthermore, you only need to look at google maps to see that that there are multiple ATV tracks leading into the woods all over this area where people are recreating. Perhaps they’re even unofficial, but I can see clearly where people are marking trails. I do a ton of mountain and gravel biking around the state and frequently share ATV/class 4 type roads to link routes together. It is fairly public in that her body seems to have been located directly around a recreation area—trail network and a campground. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was someone riding an atv who eventually came across her. It seems by design, opens up the possibilities to many different, random people.

Are ATVs equipped with lights for night-time riding or would lights be something that need to be added?

I'm also thinking that an ATV on a trail late at night might be heard? I'm curious if anyone saw or heard any ATV late that night?

jmo

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I clicked on some of the pins randomly and they are very old cases, some going back decades. I didn't click every pin, but I'm thinking Roberta's murder isn't part of a large pattern of murders. Am I missing something?

jmo

There is no large pattern in VT.
And I just think the very rural state just not have the resources to follow up on these old ones.

 

[vls12345]

Using a news report & google maps street view, here's what I've found. (Imo.)

First, a screen capture from Police find human remains believed to be that of missing Franklin County, VT woman


I looked on Google maps street view to see where this is & found it (approximately 1320 Sand Hill Road); I used the "driveway"/pull off area beside the gnarled tree to match them:


From Roberta's house on Butternut Hollow Road to the location of the police truck is approximately .8 mile.

11 Butternut Hollow Rd to 1320 Sand Hill Rd

maps.app.goo.gl

I found Roberta's house (which is now blurred out on Google maps) using the aerial photo in the news report below, which shows it at the corner/beside an intersection. (The first article I linked in this post mentions that Roberta's house is on Butternut Hollow Road.)

Police say probable remains of missing Enosburgh woman found

Police say they found the probable human remains of 82-year-old Roberta Martin, in a wooded area off Sand Hill Road.

www.wcax.com

 

[nhmemorymaker]

RM seemed fine during her 11:30 pm phone call. She was not answering her phone by the next morning. So, presuming the incident occurred sometime in the middle of the night, RM may have been awakened by the perpetrator(s).
I have not seen it confirmed that anything was taken from the home. Was this some sick sexual pervert? (Although there are some sexual predators who prey on the elderly, it would be very unusual for them to take the victim from the home.) Or, there was never any intention to injure or take RM from her home, but she confronted the person breaking in and ran from the house or she recognized the individual so she was taken from the house and killed.

You know .... it still feels like an itchy thing to me. WHY such a late call with a daughter in Florida???
I know people say that "maybe she is a nightowl"..
I just wish the daughter would explain better.

I also really would like to get a better handle on her other kids and grandkids who live in the same area.
It is our habit here on WS to always wonder about the extended family.... it is WHAT WE DO.....

Lets just hope LE does know more than they are letting on right now.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I only clicked on a few too. Perhaps there is a connection to another case, but perhaps not. The unsolved cases are fairly well distributed throughout the state. Of course criminals do not always confine their activities within one state, and NH is right next door.

And so is NY and Canada.... It is really in the tip of the state that is so very close to those other states and Canada....

 

[lesleyNOPE]

You know .... it still feels like an itchy thing to me. WHY such a late call with a daughter in Florida???
I know people say that "maybe she is a nightowl"... but it is a strange time for ANY OF US, to just have a normal-fine phone call.
I just wish the daughter would explain better.

<modsnip> Maybe the daughter works an overnight job and speaks to her mom on her drive in to work, or she works an evening shift and talks to her on the way home? Maybe they are just night owls. An 11pm phone call doesn’t strike me as odd until I’m specifically told otherwise.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Police locate human remains near missing 82-year-old Vermont woman's home

Police say they recovered human remains Sunday near the home of an 82-year-old Vermont woman who went missing last week. Roberta Martin, of Enosburgh, last had contact with her family by phone on Tuesday night, and had not been heard from since. Neighbors reported her missing to state police on...

www.necn.com

They are still suggesting community caution/awareness...
"Although there is no evidence at the present time to suggest the community is at risk, people still should take reasonable precautions, such as locking the doors to their homes and vehicles and remaining aware of their surroundings," they said in a release.

 

[Toodles5000]

<modsnip> Maybe the daughter works an overnight job and speaks to her mom on her drive in to work, or she works an evening shift and talks to her on the way home? Maybe they are just night owls. An 11pm phone call doesn’t strike me as odd until I’m specifically told otherwise.

Exactly! My mother in law used to stay awake until all hours because one of her granddaughters was a bartender. My MIL would keep her company on the phone while she was sweeping up, locking up, and driving home.

 

[OldCop]

Using a news report & google maps street view, here's what I've found. (Imo.)

First, a screen capture from Police find human remains believed to be that of missing Franklin County, VT woman
View attachment 519755

I looked on Google maps street view to see where this is & found it (approximately 1320 Sand Hill Road); I used the "driveway"/pull off area beside the gnarled tree to match them:
View attachment 519757

From Roberta's house on Butternut Hollow Road to the location of the police truck is approximately .8 mile.
View attachment 519764

11 Butternut Hollow Rd to 1320 Sand Hill Rd

maps.app.goo.gl

I found Roberta's house (which is now blurred out on Google maps) using the aerial photo in the news report below, which shows it at the corner/beside an intersection. (The first article I linked in this post mentions that Roberta's house is on Butternut Hollow Road.)

Police say probable remains of missing Enosburgh woman found

Police say they found the probable human remains of 82-year-old Roberta Martin, in a wooded area off Sand Hill Road.

www.wcax.com

According to property records, RMs house was actually #61, the second house in from Sand Hill. I believe #11 was the home searched by LE.
There is actually a dirt trail that runs off Sand Hill and parallel to Butternut Hollow that goes right behind RM’s home. If I recall correctly, this would lead directly to the open rear slider and where the AC unit was being removed.
I’ve attached a couple of screenshots, one of a closeup of the area in close proximity to the house, and the second, a pull away showing the campground area near where the body was found. Thanks @duckcat and @vls12345 for area info.

 

[OldCop]

You know .... it still feels like an itchy thing to me. WHY such a late call with a daughter in Florida???
I know people say that "maybe she is a nightowl"..
I just wish the daughter would explain better.

I also really would like to get a better handle on her other kids and grandkids who live in the same area.
It is our habit here on WS to always wonder about the extended family.... it is WHAT WE DO.....

Lets just hope LE does know more than they are letting on right now.

I think the daughter was emphasizing that she always talked to her mother in the morning and why she became concerned right away when she couldn’t reach her, (not that she didn’t speak to her in the evenings.) I think she would have said if there was something unusual about the late night call.
LE was trying to figure out the last time someone spoke to or saw RM. The daughter said she sounded fine at 11:30 pm. This gave LE a window of time when she disappeared.

 

[vls12345]

According to property records, RMs house was actually #61, the second house in from Sand Hill. I believe #11 was the home searched by LE.
There is actually a dirt trail that runs off Sand Hill and parallel to Butternut Hollow that goes right behind RM’s home. If I recall correctly, this would lead directly to the open rear slider and where the AC unit was being removed.
I’ve attached a couple of screenshots, one of a closeup of the area in close proximity to the house, and the second, a pull away showing the campground area near where the body was found. Thanks @duckcat and @vls12345 for area info.

Thanks for clarifying that. I remembered seeing mention of the second house so I should have searched property records.

If the first house is the neighbor's whose home was searched, it's interesting that they have decided to blur it on Google maps. Imo.

I wondered about someone using some of the paths behind/along fields.

I am sure the community must be on edge regardless if the perp was known to or a stranger to Roberta. I hope there is an arrest soon.

 

[Inthedetails]

Thanks for clarifying that. I remembered seeing mention of the second house so I should have searched property records.

If the first house is the neighbor's whose home was searched, it's interesting that they have decided to blur it on Google maps. Imo.

I wondered about someone using some of the paths behind/along fields.

I am sure the community must be on edge regardless if the perp was known to or a stranger to Roberta. I hope there is an arrest soon.

I think it's been blurred for awhile, not just since this case. When the thread first started, I looked up the addresses and it was already blurred then. That would seem super fast response to this incident so my guess is it has been blurred since before Roberta's murder. ??

jmopinion

 

[Lusitana]

I think it's been blurred for awhile, not just since this case. When the thread first started, I looked up the addresses and it was already blurred then. That would seem super fast response to this incident so my guess is it has been blurred since before Roberta's murder. ??

jmopinion

You can ask Google to blur your home and I don't think it takes that long either.

 

[vls12345]

Human Remains Found By Police Believed to Be Those of A Missing Vermont Woman

Vemont State Police announced in a press release on Sunday, July 21 that human remains were found while searching for missing 82-year-old Enosburgh resident Roberta Martin. Police suspect the remains belong to Martin.

people.com

 

[mlhenn]

Community left with questions after police find body of Vt. woman

Investigators believe they have found the remains of a missing elderly woman from Enosburgh, but there are still many questions surrounding the still unsolved case. Our Hailey Morgan reports.

www.wcax.com

Investigators believe they have found the remains of a missing elderly woman from Enosburgh, but there are still many questions surrounding her disappearance.

Trying to find a way to help share information about Martin, Tryhorne created a Facebook page to keep the community updated on search efforts and search groups.

“Once the Vermont State Police gave the go-ahead to begin conducting the community searches, it was pretty clear that there needed to be some organization. Sunday morning, my husband and I went to search. While we were out we saw several others who were also searching in the same area,” Tryhorne said.

Tryhorne says the social media group has been a way for locals to heal from the loss of Martin. But with unanswered questions in the case, safety is a concern for many.

 

[vls12345]

Vermont State Police confirm found remains belong to Roberta Martin

Vermont State Police have confirmed that the remains they found on Sunday were the remains of 82-year-old Roberta Martin.

www.wcax.com

"The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington confirmed her identity after an autopsy was performed on her body, but they have not released a cause or manner of death.

In the same press release, state police mention an investigation into 23-year-old Darren Martell of St. Albans, a person of interest in the investigation."

 

[Linear13]

I am thinking that the neighbor that went to check on her found something amiss or suspicious. Reason why…I have an elderly neighbor that we check on. If I went to her home and knocked and she did not answer I wouldn’t immediately jump to the conclusion she was missing. There are other neighbors and relatives that take her places during the day. My neighbor doesn’t drive any longer. I haven’t seen anything mentioned if the missing lady had a vehicle or not and if it was at home. Second I would be more afraid she fell or had a medical event if I knocked and she didn’t answer. But if I were to go to her home and find the door open or any sign of a break-in or god forbid blood I would call LE immediately. This is why I am guessing they believe something nefarious has happened. This is all MOO and my speculation only.

 

[vls12345]

State of Vermont v. Darren Martell | Vermont Judiciary

www.vermontjudiciary.org

[Note: Deleted screen shots because I am not 100% sure this is the correct DM as mentioned in the VSP press release.]


Eta: Based on the VSP press release (link below), this arrest is not in relation to Roberta's case. But they have named him a person of interest in her case, were searching for him in relation to her case, and when they found him, were able to arrest him on a different charge as explained in the press release. I wonder if this will give them additional time to investigate and question him in Roberta's case?

Update No. 5: Police locate human remains during search for missing Enosburgh woman

STATE OF VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY VERMONT STATE POLICE CASE#: 24A2004920 RANK/TROOPER FULL NAME: Detective ...

vtstatepolice.blogspot.com

 

[AmandaSkis]

State of Vermont v. Darren Martell | Vermont Judiciary

www.vermontjudiciary.org

View attachment 519860

View attachment 519862

I wonder why we cannot see what the charges are at the link.