Anna Christian Waters (Missing 1/16/1973 from Half Moon Bay, CA)

[Dr. Doogie]

Check out this thread here in cold cases. THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE:crazy:

I had seen this case listed in the forums and agree that it demonstrates that there is always hope. Thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention.

 

[HeartofTexas]

One way to narrow the search a little bit would be to concentrate on states that issued license plates that were white with green letters during the late 1960's (see Annasbro's post concerning the vehicle).

I believe it was stated earlier that Washington state had license plates that were white and green... not sure about background and letters, though.

 

[Dr. Doogie]

I believe it was stated earlier that Washington state had license plates that were white and green... not sure about background and letters, though.

Washington had white plates with green letter during this period. A co-worker, when we were discussing this case, did a quick google search of something like "green white license plates" and turned up several websites that listed the history of license plate colors in the various states. I did not save the search since it could be duplicated once I was ready to persue this line of investigation. This may help you narrow the search a bit if started with the closest state with those colors and work your way farther away.

 

[Annasmom]

Anna'smom, this is sort of off topic, but I was just looking at George Water's picture of when he was 25. I have no idea of what kind of husband he was to you when you were married, but he was a handsome dude. I feel sorry for him, being trapped inside his mind like that.

Personal questions you do not have to answer:

1. Was he kind of normal in the beginning and were you two ever happy? I would like to think so.

2. Do you have any other pics of him to share? One holding baby Anna perhaps?<QUOTE>

3. Are Anna's brothers George Water's sons as well with you? How has this whole deal affected their later years? Did you go to his funeral?
I answered Mary's post in a PM, but will note here that (1) Yes (2) Several to come, maybe (3) No; the boys are Anna's half-brothers. As you might expect, this was and is terribly hard on them (3) Yes, I went to the memorial service and later sent his draw-plane to Princeton, where is it displayed with a quotation from the Tao: "One cannot become a master carpenter without cutting one's hands."

 

[Annasmom]

I have recreated the Timeline for the pertinent events at the Ranch on the day that Anna disappeared. I thought it might take up too much space here so have posted it as a blog. I hope that it will be helpful to you all.

http://annawaters.blogspot.com/

I am completely in agreement with Joe's timeline, which I found helpful, except for two minor items: I think Anna took off the red coat before she went outside. I remember being dismayed that she had shucked her coat (she hated coats) because although this is California, it was a cold day. Also there is some disagreement locally about the spelling of Purisima. The canyon road has it spelled with one "s" like the Spanish "immaculate", while the town of Half Moon Bay spells it with two Ss, not that it matters very much.

 

[viking]

Annasmom and Joe;
What were the S.F. friends driving that day? What was their relationship/marriage like? How did they react about Anna in ensuing months?

Carpenter friend: This guy has always bugged me! He is the reason I started the whole thing on visitors. Okay, guilty perps are often found to volunteer info before they are asked. His info is so detailed that he can name what type of vehicle, how many people were in it, their approximate ages, what their demeanor was. He offers an account about stopping to look at horses grazing. That info wouldn't be necessary for him to offer up.
I.E, If I were innocent and shaken by my friends missing child I might have said (if asked by cops) I came to visit. I saw maybe one or two vehicles a truck maybe.( Do you all pay strict attention to the occasional passerby that much?) I remember that Anna was in the house, I think. That is what a normal innocent witness might say.

From the timeline:*** Sometime later Joe’s friend reports that while coming up Purissima Rd,
that he stopped and got out of his truck to admire some horses grazing.
While there he was passed by a westbound van with two people inside
that waved to him. He also said that when he arrived at our house at
2:10 PM he saw Anna at the front of our house, said hi to her and came
in.

No offense, Joe, but this guy bugs me. How well did you know him? How long after were you friends? What did he drive and what was his interest in the case in the ensuing months? Might he have had a girlfriend that was taking Anna while he was there with you all? Did he know the S.F. people?

An aside: The rooster story struck my funnybone so hard. It just did. Were the horse people annoying? Were they local? Did the woman try to sue? Maybe the rooster had an intuition about mean people.
I know you guys don't think these people were bad, but I have to ask. Did you two ever check on all these folks backgrounds from a law enforcement source? Seriously, I would like to know their criminal backgrounds if any. No matter how good a friends they were before and after.

Thanks,
Mary

 

[Joe Ford]

Annasmom and Joe;
What were the S.F. friends driving that day? What was their relationship/marriage like? How did they react about Anna in ensuing months?

Carpenter friend: This guy has always bugged me! He is the reason I started the whole thing on visitors. Okay, guilty perps are often found to volunteer info before they are asked. His info is so detailed that he can name what type of vehicle, how many people were in it, their approximate ages, what their demeanor was. He offers an account about stopping to look at horses grazing. That info wouldn't be necessary for him to offer up.
I.E, If I were innocent and shaken by my friends missing child I might have said (if asked by cops) I came to visit. I saw maybe one or two vehicles a truck maybe.( Do you all pay strict attention to the occasional passerby that much?) I remember that Anna was in the house, I think. That is what a normal innocent witness might say.

From the timeline:*** Sometime later Joe’s friend reports that while coming up Purissima Rd,
that he stopped and got out of his truck to admire some horses grazing.
While there he was passed by a westbound van with two people inside
that waved to him. He also said that when he arrived at our house at
2:10 PM he saw Anna at the front of our house, said hi to her and came
in.

No offense, Joe, but this guy bugs me. How well did you know him? How long after were you friends? What did he drive and what was his interest in the case in the ensuing months? Might he have had a girlfriend that was taking Anna while he was there with you all? Did he know the S.F. people?

An aside: The rooster story struck my funnybone so hard. It just did. Were the horse people annoying? Were they local? Did the woman try to sue? Maybe the rooster had an intuition about mean people.
I know you guys don't think these people were bad, but I have to ask. Did you two ever check on all these folks backgrounds from a law enforcement source? Seriously, I would like to know their criminal backgrounds if any. No matter how good a friends they were before and after.

Thanks,
Mary

Mary...Regards your questions about the SF friends- you may note from the time line that Anna was seen after their departure and on that point alone would exclude them from suspicion. The rooster story only takes on importance because Anna was aware of it and it was initially considered that, with her normal childlike curiosity, she may have gone to the creek to investigate.

I am unaware of any formal or professional questioning regards others present at the Ranch that day or, for that matter, any neighbors or others with business in the area.
Annasmom and investigator might have that information.

I must confess, Mary, that while your " no turn unstoned" approach may be a bit bruising, your questions bear merit. Thank you.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Mary...Regards your questions about the SF friends- you may note from the time line that Anna was seen after their departure and on that point alone would exclude them from suspicion. The rooster story only takes on importance because Anna was aware of it and it was initially considered that, with her normal childlike curiosity, she may have gone to the creek to investigate.

Joe, I don't think Mary was asking about the SF friends... I think she was asking about the carpenter who, according to your timeline, arrived at 2:10 p.m., within minutes of Anna's disappearance.

Had you worked with, or known, the carpenter for a long time? Did he often come to the house to visit? Was his visit that day somewhat unexpected or was it planned?

 

[mjak]

annasmom, I continue to think about the comment made by the mailwomens daughter.
The comment that she head noises that sounded to her like somthing was being stolen.
Has this person ever calrifed why she thought thas what she heard? Its possible she was just fitting the noise into the situation of Anna being missing; however, if thats not the case then I would really like to know more about what she thought she heard. Its possible I am just fixating on an irrelevent point. Yet, I keep comming back to it.

mjak

 

[rideforfun]

Hi. I've been a lurker but I wanted to jump in with a couple thoughts. First I'm wondering if it is worth using the name Brandi in any of the name searches. Annasmom mentioned that Anna had an idea about wanting to have that be her name. If someone was grooming her to snatch her they might have had a game around what she would want her name to be. It seems that if someone took her in such a short amount of time with people at the house that Anna must have had some sort of grooming in advance so the person would be confident that she could be taken quickly and without resistence. I'm also wanting to learn more about the carpender guy. I am a horse person and I've never seen a non horse person get out of a car to go look at horses. The road wasn't busy so why not just stop and look. It seems to me like the guy wanted to have been seen outside his car around that time and have the reason already established. Tradespeople would have all sorts of stuff that could subdue a child. Duck tape, rope, bags -- these things would not necessarily look out of place for a handyman type to have. In my mind, we have to consider that he might have taken Anna, restrained her and put her in the trunk or something knowing the focus would first go to the creek. I'm also curious about Anna being heard talking to the cats. Is it possible that if someone came with this guy she could have been talking to that person? Far fetched I'm sure but please tell us about the layout of the house to rule that out. The guy would have been keeping the adults occupied while a buddy (woman???) was getting Anna. I agree that asking more questions of her school mates would be worthwhile. If someone tried to take her a month earlier and was not successful it seems they would have had to groom her before the second time to make sure they could get her. I also think we have to get to the sect in Canada and ask about the names and numbers and also the date and numbers. Surely, if we contacted someone from that headquarters they could direct us to someone that could advise us on these beliefs. I would think they would want to be seen as being helpful. Lastly, I'm wondering if anyone is knowledgable about Remote Viewing and if it could be used for this case. It is in the Psychic field but much more rigor than psychics generally follow. It seems like since we have such a short window of opportunity for this event that RV could really be used. I've been inspired by all the great work! You guys are amazing. Back to lurking now.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Welcome to WS, Ride... and that was a great first post!

Please don't go back to lurking. We need all of the thoughts, ideas and viewpoints we can get in order to do justice to this case. Your input will be very much appreciated.

 

[gardenmom]

Hi Ride, welcome! I have many of the same questions about carpenter friend that you do. I also thought the story of him pulling over was too much info to vounteer. Often guilty people give more info than is needed. Joe, as painful as it may be, can you give this some thought and get back to us? Specifically as regards to Ride's scenerio, and what happened to this carpenter friend after Anna's kidnapping? Have you kept in contact with him? How long did he stay that day? Was his car checked at that time? Where is it now (yes I know how long it's been, but you never know)? Was he married? How long did you know him? What was his reason for coming over that day? Did he know you were to be home? If not, why was he there? Anna's mom, did this guy ever give you the creeps, either before or after that day?

Another curious thing that has always bothered me was the mail carriers daughter saying it sounded like somebody stealing something. What a curious thing to say when you hear something in the woods. How old was this girl again? I forget, was she a neighbor, or just happened to be there with her mom delivering mail?

 

[Annasmom]

Hi Ride, welcome! I have many of the same questions about carpenter friend that you do. I also thought the story of him pulling over was too much info to vounteer. Often guilty people give more info than is needed. Joe, as painful as it may be, can you give this some thought and get back to us? Specifically as regards to Ride's scenerio, and what happened to this carpenter friend after Anna's kidnapping? Have you kept in contact with him? How long did he stay that day? Was his car checked at that time? Where is it now (yes I know how long it's been, but you never know)? Was he married? How long did you know him? What was his reason for coming over that day? Did he know you were to be home? If not, why was he there? Anna's mom, did this guy ever give you the creeps, either before or after that day?

Another curious thing that has always bothered me was the mail carriers daughter saying it sounded like somebody stealing something. What a curious thing to say when you hear something in the woods. How old was this girl again? I forget, was she a neighbor, or just happened to be there with her mom delivering mail?

That poor carpenter! He was just a young guy who was hoping to date our pretty neighbor, who was visiting in the house at the time Anna disappeared, who loved Anna and was like a big sister to her. The fellow helped search for Anna all that day, was questioned by police, had an interview tape-recorded (by Joe?), didn't volunteer all that information at first, but offered it in response to various questions...remember he was probably the last person to see Anna. No, he didn't give me the creeps, and I never for a moment suspected him of having anything to do with Anna's disappearance. Maybe you had to be there. You know, he was kind of in love, on his day off, etc., etc. He hadn't come to see us, but rather the pretty neighbor, and our house was closest to the road. We were in contact with him for some time, and I believe he still lives nearby. With regard to the mail carrier's daughter (who still lives here, too), she was a high school girl and her remark was just an initial reaction to (a) the siren, which she heard going off when the sheriff's deputies arrived and (b) a rustling sound she heard in the bushes. I don't know which came first, the siren or the rustling, and I doubt she would remember. Yes, she was a neighbor and she rode her horse on the road almost every day.

 

[gardenmom]

Thanks, Annasmom. It sures seems like all our questions were well taken care of. I get the feeling the police did a really thorough job of investigating. Do you feel that they did?

 

[HeartofTexas]

I found the following Justice Department statement interesting, considering that Anna's brother said they were about 1/4 mile down the road when the lady in the car tried to get Anna into her car:

• In 80% of abductions by strangers, the first contact occurs within a quarter mile of the child's home. In many cases, the abduction does, too.
- 1990 U.S. Justice Dept.
​

 

[HeartofTexas]

I found another case that bears a striking similarity to Anna's case as far as the logistics of the kidnapping/abduction. I've highlighted some of the similarities. Here's the description of the abduction:

Details of Disappearance
Ginevicz was last seen in St. Ignatius, Montana in the early afternoon hours of April 30, 1980. She was playing in the unfenced yard of her home, which was located in a remote wooded area of the region. She disappeared from the yard while her mother was inside doing chores, and has never been seen again.
Investigators do not believe Ginevicz was abducted. There was only one road leading up to her house, and neighbors did not see any strangers or suspicious vehicles. Police believed she had probably wandered off, drowned in a nearby stream, or been attacked by a wild animal such as a grizzly bear. It rained and snowed for ten days after Ginevicz's disappearance, and if she was exposed to the elements, she could not have survived. An extensive search of the St. Ignatius area turned up no sign of her.
Ginevicz's parents were divorced when she disappeared; she lived with her mother and brother, and her father lived in Colorado. He came to Montana to assist in the search for her. Authorities do not believe Ginevicz was harmed by either of her parents. Her father thinks she was kidnapped by a family who wanted to raise a child, and that she may not know she is missing. Due to the lack of evidence in Ginevicz's case, it is classified as a non-family abduction.

The little girl's name is Megan Ginevicz. The full story is at this url:

http://charleyproject.org/cases/g/ginevicz_megan.html

 

[viking]

Now remember, Annasmom and Joe, you two were very close to the investigation and promised you wouldn't get mad at me if I offered a new insight now and again.:innocent: Since I posted about the carpenter dude twice now look at posts by others who had the same thoughts. He may have been young and kind and helped but still...The BTK strangler never left his killing zone, was active in church, married, etc. Scott Peterson is another example of "There's NO WAY he did this". That's what Laci's family said for a long time in the beginning before evidence was directed at him. That is why I kindly and gently am pointing out that carpenter dude may be nice, still live there, sympathetic, etc, but gosh it is often someone CLOSE by even if they STILL live there! I don't care if he didn't offer up the answers till questioned, he STILL offered WAY to much info at the time. What better place to hide than the scene of the crime? How many others still live there? If I were guilty I would immediately be sympathetic, offer to search, and definitely not leave the area to throw suspicion off me. Yes my friends, I may seem harsh, but if none of these people no matter how close to you, how dear, how "normal" WERE NOT interviewed by Law Enforcement and had ALL of their backgrounds looked into by a professional, then hey, do it now. Anything to find our precious Anna! The reason I asked about SF. couple is: I know they left before Anna left, but it doesn't mean they didn't stop (By the horses grazing perhaps to meet carpenter dude and confer) and alert others to a plan. My brother-in-law is S.F. Police and sorry, but he says you cannot rule out ANYONE no matter if they were the last person you would ever suspect.
Annasmom, Joe, please know that I love you guys and don't be mad at me for playing devils advocate for Anna. If you have a private detective helping, have him run a background check on the people there that day. If anything to ease your mind and rule them out.
Peace and WE WILL FIND ANNA.
Mary

 

[Joe Ford]

I found another case that bears a striking similarity to Anna's case as far as the logistics of the kidnapping/abduction. I've highlighted some of the similarities. Here's the description of the abduction:


The little girl's name is Megan Ginevicz. The full story is at this url:

http://charleyproject.org/cases/g/ginevicz_megan.html

Yes, the cases are eerily similar. Great research. I had not been able to find a case similar to ours to this point. With all your minds working so diligently it is possible that we may be closer to the truth. Thank you.

 

[Joe Ford]

Now remember, Annasmom and Joe, you two were very close to the investigation and promised you wouldn't get mad at me if I offered a new insight now and again.:innocent: Since I posted about the carpenter dude twice now look at posts by others who had the same thoughts. He may have been young and kind and helped but still...The BTK strangler never left his killing zone, was active in church, married, etc. Scott Peterson is another example of "There's NO WAY he did this". That's what Laci's family said for a long time in the beginning before evidence was directed at him. That is why I kindly and gently am pointing out that carpenter dude may be nice, still live there, sympathetic, etc, but gosh it is often someone CLOSE by even if they STILL live there! I don't care if he didn't offer up the answers till questioned, he STILL offered WAY to much info at the time. What better place to hide than the scene of the crime? How many others still live there? If I were guilty I would immediately be sympathetic, offer to search, and definitely not leave the area to throw suspicion off me. Yes my friends, I may seem harsh, but if none of these people no matter how close to you, how dear, how "normal" WERE NOT interviewed by Law Enforcement and had ALL of their backgrounds looked into by a professional, then hey, do it now. Anything to find our precious Anna! The reason I asked about SF. couple is: I know they left before Anna left, but it doesn't mean they didn't stop (By the horses grazing perhaps to meet carpenter dude and confer) and alert others to a plan. My brother-in-law is S.F. Police and sorry, but he says you cannot rule out ANYONE no matter if they were the last person you would ever suspect.
Annasmom, Joe, please know that I love you guys and don't be mad at me for playing devils advocate for Anna. If you have a private detective helping, have him run a background check on the people there that day. If anything to ease your mind and rule them out.
Peace and WE WILL FIND ANNA.
Mary

Mary, your points are well taken. And while uncomfortabe and unsettling should not be ruled out. The carpenter was a recent friend from work and we had gone fishing once or twice on the coastal streams further down the coast. As Annasmom points out, he was much more interested in our demure ladyfriend and no doubt stopped by hoping to see her.

Your questions do provoke another train of thought, seemingly unlikely but possible. The window of time in which Anna disapeared is so small that intense focus needs be applied to it. Is it possible that a fatal accident occured and in a panic someone put her in a vehicle and left? I am no longer certain that we four were the only one's present on the Ranch immediately preceeding her being missed. While Annasmom and I took painstaking efforts to create a reconstruction of events immediately afterwards it is possible that there is something we missed.

So many years have passed since those events kidnapped our minds and hearts it is often dismaying. And yet, perhaps the time has worked on a disquieted heart. Would it be possible, after so long, to relocate people who were at the Ranch that day, as well as neighbors and those immediately nearby and, perhaps in the form of a questionaire,
review their memories and opinions?

 

[Joe Ford]

Being so intimately familiar with the details of the Ranch and immediate area and events of that day, I felt compelled to write the following:http://annasearch.blogspot.com/2006/02/some-serious-questions.html
Please post your comments or questions here at W/S.