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

[PonderingThings]

HeartofTexas I'm with Dr. Doogie, I REALLY appreciate the input. I don't believe that Anna was taken by any of these people, but I'm beginning to suspect that what was happening in the area could have been used as misdirection.... have no proof, but am developing scenerios (and search strategies) as a result. THANKS FOR THE INFO.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Dr. Doogie (and PonderingThings), I never felt you were dismissing my research. My own scenario involves Anna being kidnapped by a couple who wanted to raise her as their own and probably taking her to some place like Canada to raise her. But I did a lot of research involving all of the various info Annasmom gave me that Anna might remember and came up with absolutely zip. I was so disappointed that I just started following any old lead I could come up with, even though in my heart I didn't feel they were the direction I needed or wanted to go in. My gut tells me Anna is still alive but my brain can't seem to get me to any info that supports that premise. Much like the Sharon Marshall case, it's very frustrating at times.

 

[mjak]

Bindner: One creepy dude, but not necessarily a child predator. I know that several of the families of Bay Area missing children think that he was involved in their loved ones disappearances, but he has not been charged with anything. I am surprised by his age - i had thought that he was older than 40 years old in 2002..

I read "Stalemate" by John Philip which is a book about Binder and the allegations about him
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/printed-books/stalemate-john-philpin/
I do believe he would have been too young to have been involved with Anna's disapearance. One of the things about Anna's disapearance that makes me think a stranger abduction is less likley is the very remote location of her home.
As I think it unlikly that a stranger looking to abduct a child would choose to go to such a remote area to do this

mjak

 

[PonderingThings]

Mjak Anna went to school. She took a bus (I believe), therefore it is possible a stranger saw her there and followed the bus. The remoteness would work in his/her/their favor.

 

[mjak]

Mjak Anna went to school. She took a bus (I believe), therefore it is possible a stranger saw her there and followed the bus. The remoteness would work in his/her/their favor.

This is the only scenerio which I thought of where a stranger abduction might fit. However, why take the risk of trying to abduct a child in an area where you are gong to stick out like a sore thumb?

mjak

 

[Joe Ford]

My comments regards my knowledge of Brody and Waters are now complete. They would be too cumbersome to post here and would take up more valuable space so I've posted them as a blog. If you have difficulty finding the blog please let me know and I will attempt to correct. If you have any questions as regards the content please feel free to ask whatever is on your mind.
http://annaseek.blogspot.com/
"Searching for Anna" Your comments are also welcome. Maybe someone could let me know if the site was navigated without problem as I am just fumbling along with this.

 

[spikydragon]

The direct link to the blog is: http://annaseek.blogspot.com/

Just trying to help out, because it took me a short while to find it from Blogger's homepage

 

[Joe Ford]

The direct link to the blog is: http://annaseek.blogspot.com/

Just trying to help out, because it took me a short while to find it from Blogger's homepage

Thank you for lighting the way.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Mr. Ford, that is a beautifully written and touching account of your efforts to track GW and GB. I'm just so disappointed that your efforts didn't produce a single spec of useable information re Anna's whereabouts. I admire you for putting yourself in the belly of San Francisco's low-life Tenderloin District in order to find your step-daughter.

I worked with schizophrenics on a peripheral basis for 3 years in the 90's, and I've never encountered a sadder group of people in my life. The voices in their heads droll on and on, day-in and day-out. GW was apparently a high-functioning schizophrenic in that he was able to hold 3 jobs, but his paranoia was rampant nonetheless. After reading your accounting, I also feel that GB was also paranoid, if not also schizophrenic. From my own observations, it would be more than difficult for anyone to live with an active schizophrenic unless (1) it was their own flesh and blood, (2) they were being paid to take care of them, or (3) they suffered from the same mental illness. I think GB was benefitting from (2) and probably suffered from (3).

What a horribly sad tale.

 

[HeartofTexas]

I see we have a new member at WS... Annasbro, who I assume is Anna's brother. Between DrDoogie, Annasmom, JoeFord and you, it sounds like all of us will have access to a great amount of information and detail surrounding Anna's disappearance. Again, welcome to Websleuths!

 

[Annasbro]

Hello all. I am Anna's older brother. Thank you all for your interest and input.

Thanks for sharing the story Joe. It was good for me to read it even though I had heard it from you before. You wrote it very eloquently.

I am still trying to process all of these postings to see if there are any events I somehow forgot or missed.

I will post some pictures as requested by Dr Doogie so some of you can get an idea about the terrain. As some of you may now the whole property - 640 acres is now owned by a very secretive and inaccessible celebrity. Getting on the farm now is very difficult but I don't know that it would provide any particular insight. I do have quite a few pictures that were taken within a year of the disappearance and will scan those this weekend. I would be happy to answer any questions anyone has. It seems like most of the information has been conveyed.

The event when the woman tryed to seduce my sister into her car sticks with me. I will communicate any revelations I have about that as they come

 

[itsreenw]

My comments regards my knowledge of Brody and Waters are now complete. They would be too cumbersome to post here and would take up more valuable space so I've posted them as a blog. If you have difficulty finding the blog please let me know and I will attempt to correct. If you have any questions as regards the content please feel free to ask whatever is on your mind.
www.blogger.com "Searching for Anna" Your comments are also welcome. Maybe someone could let me know if the site was navigated without problem as I am just fumbling along with this.

Joe, very informative blog. How odd that they never even opened your letter. I'm guessing GB ripped the letter in two and the comment from GW was made to appease GB. How strange of GW to speak of 'the tot' being dead. Why assume that simply because they received a letter from you that Anna was dead? They never bothered to read it-it could've said Anna had been found. I feel they were somehow involved. It is doubtful they were referring to another child, but it is possible.

Re the blog: May I suggest that you include her full name in it somewhere so if anyone is Googling her name, your blog might be in the results.

 

[PonderingThings]

Welcome Annasbro!

Mr. Ford I read your blog with interest. Thank you for sharing all of that information with us. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

About the letter: Since it was found unopened, and torn in two, amongst Waters papers, did he then received it, go to hotel and talk to Brody, and say "I'm glad the tot is dead" without reading the contents? Just knowing it came from you was enough to elicit that comment?

Or do you think it was torn in two, the two parts extracted and read, then returned to their envelope portions?

It seems odd to me that he kept something he had torn in half... was there other papers, that were in the same condition?

The money in the safety deposit box: Do you think it was money siphoned from Waters? You don't appear to believe that it was any kind of payment for selling Anna - is this correct? Do you believe the money was from another source - any speculations?

Weird people do weird things.... I still think its odd that they lived in such a seedy hotel. If Brody was siphoning the money he could have easily got Waters to buy him a home in a nice area. The money would be invested under his name.

Also, to a paranoid, to live in a place where anyone could monitor them would be a constant source of agitation. Why would they choose such a place over a more secluded venue? I realise that Waters had to be close to work, but that still would have been possible in a little more upscale area, where the phone calls, for example, didn't have to go through the front desk.

Any speculation as to what kept them in those conditions?

The weary waitresses Did any come on to Waters? Could any of them have been a "trying to have a child" woman. Was it simply flirting (or imagined flirting

) or were any "more in depth" friendly?

Any hint of a change?
Was there any large increase/decrease in any bank account around the time of Anna's disappearance? Since Waters no longer had to pay support where was that money funnelled? Did you see any trail?

Were they working on any big project/plan?

I'll stop there with my questions... thank you for sharing your work!

 

[mysteriew]

The safety deposit box- do you know when they signed up for the box, or how many times they accessed it? I don't know anything about the boxes, lol but wondered if that had been checked into?

 

[itsreenw]

Mr. Ford, I know you are being bombarded with questions, but I have one more:

In regards to the trash bags with all the papers...what did you find??

were they keeping their trash in the room? Annasmom said GW got rid of a lot of papers before his death, so I am curious as to what he left. They truly were an odd pair. It seems he would've discarded EVERYTHING, especially the letter from you. I wonder if he intentionally left it so Annasmom would know GB didn't allow him to read it.

 

[Annasbro]

The "I am glad the tot is dead" comment although it gave me a chill when I read it is interesting. I remember at least one news paper article at the time that assumed Anna was drowned in the creek as well as the news story on TV. He might have gotten his info from that. Having personally travelled the entire lenght of the creek searching every inch at least 10 - 15 times. I am confident that she was not there.

 

[HeartofTexas]

I would be interested in hearing any theories anyone in the family, or the private investigator they hired, has on what might have happened to Anna.

I'm sure I'm simplifying any possible explanations but here are the few areas I think it boils down to:

(1) Anna drowned in the creek (next to zero chance, IMO, because not a shred of evidence was found indicating this happened).

(2) Anna was kidnapped by a pedophile. IMO, not a high chance of this because the area was pretty remote for a pedo to even discover the existence of Anna, let alone go traipsing after her and allow himself to be cornered on the property, so to speak.

(3) A desperate couple who wanted a child of their own kidnapped Anna. This one makes the most sense to me, whether the couple spotted her themselves or they were "led to her" by GW and GB. The fact that Anna was snatched from her backyard on a wet (and possibly rainy) day indicates to me that whoever came after her had travelled a good distance and didn't realize the area was so wet, but was only going there at that time based on the information that she got home from school around 1:00 p.m. IOW, someone who lived close by would have known the weather was too messy to go out prowling for a little girl and would have assumed she would be indoors on such a messy day. OTOH, someone traveling from a distance wouldn't have known anything about the weather and would have gone there at the time they did based only on the supposition she would be getting home from school at 1:00.

Since Anna was very bright and also 5-1/2 years old at the time she was abducted, it seems like she would have many memories from that time. And yet, with the vast amount of searching I've done on the internet, using so many different variations of key words that I've gone half-blind reading the screen, I've found absolutely nothing to indicate Anna was searching for her birth family under any of the clues I've been given. I assume Anna does not know her real date of birth and instead was given a fake DOB. I also assume that the people that snatched her made up some horrible story to explain to Anna why she was going to live with them. However, this many years later it seems like Anna would remember her two brothers and would be searching for them, no matter what she was told about her parents.

Does anyone have any ideas/thoughts to contribute to my ideas above, whether pro or con? I welcome any input.

 

[Joe Ford]

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments and questions. Welcome Annasbro, I know how difficult it must be for you. The pictures I remember vividly and will be most helpful to the members here to get a feel of "ground zero". Your recollection of the couple in the car trying to get Anna to go with them is the most pivotal piece of information I have heard since her disappearance. I am desperate to hear more. Think you could write a fuller account? What was the mood? Was your brother concerned? What did you think was happening at the time? Was it a school day? A hypnotist might be helpful if you were willing. It is so important to explore because of it's implications. A definite path could be further investigated...a realistic direction as opposed to the fleeting conjectures that a lack of clues or motivation has had us chasing thus far.

 

[Joe Ford]

Joe, very informative blog. How odd that they never even opened your letter. I'm guessing GB ripped the letter in two and the comment from GW was made to appease GB. How strange of GW to speak of 'the tot' being dead. Why assume that simply because they received a letter from you that Anna was dead? They never bothered to read it-it could've said Anna had been found. I feel they were somehow involved. It is doubtful they were referring to another child, but it is possible.

Re the blog: May I suggest that you include her full name in it somewhere so if anyone is Googling her name, your blog might be in the results.

The response to my letter to GW was very telling. The moment was wrought with tension and implication. My impression was that they were unnerved by having been intruded upon- even once removed. (Letter having been sent to his work address) I interpret Water's response as being in line with the published view that Anna had fallen in the creek. I do not think the letter was ever read. I felt that the issue of Anna was too volatile for them to discuss further yet too important to dismiss. Thus the image of the letter, torn in half and secured in a safe deposit box was not that surprising.

 

[Joe Ford]

Very good questions.Why would they live in some seedy room when they had the funds to live somewhere more comfortable? Once again I would suggest that is was for the anonimity that it afforded. The downtown area of any major city is like a magnet to the mentally ill, the hopeless and distraught. I realize it is hard to imagine but their single room was like a womb. Although seemingly part of a normal society they were, in fact, detached and in their minds secure. Hope this isn't just psychobabble on my part but I have given it much thought and believe it to be the case.
There were safe deposit keys found in Water's possession at the time of his death. I had them photographed and sent to all the downtown banks with a cover letter requesting identification. There were no replies. I do not know where the keys are now. I have no knowledge of any money found in any safety deposit box. This may have been discovered at a later time.