CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange Co, 27 Jul 2009 - #19

[zwiebel]

I remember reading that Bob Harrod used to like going to Vegas. It may have been a relief to some when he was widowed and there was no longer the risk of him losing his fortune there. When he married Fontelle and started traveling around again, I guess it may have worried some that Vegas would once again be on Bob's bucket list...

 

[zwiebel]

Season's greetings to everyone hoping Bob Harrod will one day be found. It is just Christmas day where I am and I'm feeling quite at peace with the world.

That's because my travel plans went awry and I finished up without a bed Christmas Eve, not having eaten for 24 hours, and with all the shops and restaurants just closed! I almost passed out on the street from hunger. Just when it couldn't get any worse, a spotted a little light from an Indian restaurant that was still open. I swear it was the best meal I ever tasted. Then to cap it all, there was a lovely old gent with an even lovelier dog passing by when I came out, and me and the dog had a great game of throw the stick.

I'm still in the wrong country, and sleeping on a sofa, but oddly, it's made me appreciate Christmas more. I'll probably be a grump again later, if I can't find anywhere open to get Christmas -or even any - dinner though....

 

[Tuba]

Season's greetings to you, zwiebel! I hope you are exactly where you're comfortable soon.

 

[Opie]

zwiebel, I really hope things get better for you very quickly. So nice to hear about you and the dog.

Today Mr Opie and I were just leaving his physical therapy/exercise place when a car pulled in next to us. It was our former neighbor and her DOG (Golden Retriever). She had spotted our car and stopped to visit with us. She went around our car and talked to my husband while I went to her car and loved on the dog. He is a real sweetheart.

 

[zwiebel]

Found a place in a forgotten backstreet to eat, where nobody spoke a word of English - and thinking of Bob Harrod....then realize the couple sitting behind me are from LA! And the husband's a veteran marine trained at Camp Pendleton, just like Bob. Such a small world...

Absolutely convinced it's small enough to find Bob now, somehow, someway.

 

[Roselvr]

What happened with your plans? Were you flying with your flight canceled? Hugs

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I was searching for a feelgood story for Bob's thread for Christmas, and it turned up in such an unlikely place.

80-something couple Mr and Mrs Tarantino of Laguna Woods, Orange County, just vanished in their car. Family said both had cognitive issues, and to be honest, their case sounded so ominous, I couldn't really cope with following it. I helped share their missing status, but that was all. I was sure there was going to be a report of a vehicle found in a ditch off the highway, in a few weeks' time.....

They turned up 'slightly confused' in Vegas. Exactly where they'd planned to go, but didn't get around to telling the kids. I think they'd maybe decided to go a little wild at Christmas, instead of sitting peacefully around the family dinner table! Anyway, family have zipped down to Vegas to bring them safely home, and hopefully they'll keep the kids in the loop and let them lend a hand with their next adventure - it'll save an awful lot of worry!

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/couple-645968-woods-safe.html

This reminds me of my granddads sister and her husband, both with dementia and living on the other side of the world. They moved house (rented, managed to get everything in the car) and eventually their old neighbours managed to contact family. When we finally tracked them down after about a week they thought it hilarious that they had just forgotten to mention it to anyone!

 

[zwiebel]

What happened with your plans? Were you flying with your flight canceled? Hugs

No, my travel to Spain was booked before my dog got ill. I canceled it when I knew he was dying, then tried to escape at the last minute after he died, without preparation or thinking, because I was so upset. At Christmas. Ended up in the coldest part of Germany instead, with light clothes and no way to get out until after the holiday. It was my own fault, and I should have known it would not work.

I'm now in Spain with blue skies and the prettiest, flower-covered houses around me, and every square filled with trees full of oranges, which reminds me Bob Harrod is still missing from Orange County, and needs to be found. It's nearly 2015 now. It's just too long.

 

[zwiebel]

This reminds me of my granddads sister and her husband, both with dementia and living on the other side of the world. They moved house (rented, managed to get everything in the car) and eventually their old neighbours managed to contact family. When we finally tracked them down after about a week they thought it hilarious that they had just forgotten to mention it to anyone!

You've highlighted one of the strangest aspects of Bob's case, to me. I know seniors can sometimes die or go missing, unnoticed, because they've lost touch with family - but Bob's close family all lived within easy traveling distance. All his children had a meeting with him that they say was happy, just the day before he vanished. His daughter's husband was actually working in Bob's house, the day he disappeared.

As parents age, many children seem to adopt the role of anxious parents with their own parents, and need to know where they are. But there wasn't a sign of that with Bob. Although family said they loved him, they didn't report him missing and seemed to accept he might have run away, though he never had before. It's such an unusual attitude, and very hard to understand why there wasn't more immediate concern; from LE as well as relatives.

 

[zwiebel]

It is 2015. I'm not in Orange County, but I'm in a place full of orange trees; just like the ones that used to cover Bob Harrod's chosen home, long before he arrived in CA, and long, long before he disappeared.

All that shows in the photo is leaves and fruit, but I can tell you there were a multitude of little birds in there on New Year's day, singing their hearts out. You'd never guess unless you could hear them though. A person can't always see the wood for the trees, but maybe we can hear it, or find other ways to see the obvious, if we look hard enough?

Onwards and upwards, Mr Harrod. It is 2015 and you're not found yet. That's not a cause for dejection. It's a reason for hope. That one day you will be brought home, so when your loved ones face future new years, they can do it knowing exactly where you are. I hope this year can be the year Bob Harrod is found, and hope many more people will support the search for him in 2015.

 

[Cubby]

I so hope answers are just around the corner in this case. I want Bob found and properly laid to rest, so those who truly loved Bob can say proper goodbyes. I have no doubt justice will come for Bob. If not in this life, in the next and what those responsible will face in the next life is far more than their worst nightmares about being caught in this life.

Let 2015 be the year we bring Bob home. raying:

 

[Opie]

I so hope answers are just around the corner in this case. I want Bob found and properly laid to rest, so those who truly loved Bob can say proper goodbyes. I have no doubt justice will come for Bob. If not in this life, in the next and what those responsible will face in the next life is far more than their worst nightmares about being caught in this life.

Let 2015 be the year we bring Bob home. raying:

Amen! It's been entirely too long and someone(s) know what happened.

 

[Cherry]

Love the oranges and bird of paradise Z! Stay warm, happy holiday to you and enjoy the sun and warmth of Spain!! Hope BH is found soon. He must be found.

 

[Roselvr]

No, my travel to Spain was booked before my dog got ill. I canceled it when I knew he was dying, then tried to escape at the last minute after he died, without preparation or thinking, because I was so upset. At Christmas. Ended up in the coldest part of Germany instead, with light clothes and no way to get out until after the holiday. It was my own fault, and I should have known it would not work.

I'm now in Spain with blue skies and the prettiest, flower-covered houses around me, and every square filled with trees full of oranges, which reminds me Bob Harrod is still missing from Orange County, and needs to be found. It's nearly 2015 now. It's just too long.

Glad you finally got to where you needed to be. Looks like a great place to relax <3

 

[zwiebel]

I wonder if this could be the year it's finally confirmed exactly what rings Bob Harrod was wearing? I can't really see a reason for any uncertainty any longer, since his possessions were claimed by his children long ago, and the safes in his house were accessed. Surely they must know for certain if his rings were left in the home or not? Especially the Masonic one, which is quite distinctive.

 

[zwiebel]

I noticed Orange County LE made a public statement regarding the still -missing victims of suspected serial killers Cano and Gordon, saying there would be no further searches as investigators don't believe the women's remains are findable.

I'm taking hope from the fact that investigators haven't said anything like that about Bob, even though they believe he's also a victim of homicide, and has been missing much longer than those poor women. It may be that LE just has no idea where Bob might be I suppose, but it could also mean they do not think Bob has been put somewhere where he'll never be recovered.

Fingers crossed the latter's the case.

 

[zwiebel]

All attempts to relax have failed. I left my lovely little Spanish town because I didn't know what to do with myself, and now in a big city, news of a horrible terrorist attack in Paris has broken and Europe's in uproar. I've just been glued to the TV, heartbroken.

I heard some good news though, that the ICMP (International Commission on Missing Persons, set up by Bill Clinton originally, to help id bodies from the former Yugoslavian conflict) is to move. From Sarajevo to the Hague in the Netherlands (Holland), and its experts will soon be working with Mexico to help identify the many missing and deceased people there.

The organization has an excellent track record, from the Asian tsunami to hurricane Katrina, so it's very good news for Mexico. I know it won't help find Bob of course, but I've been following the catastrophic number of people going missing in Mexico and am so glad something is being done, at last.

Website of the ICMP. http://www.ic-mp.org/

 

[travelbug]

It is 2015. I'm not in Orange County, but I'm in a place full of orange trees; just like the ones that used to cover Bob Harrod's chosen home, long before he arrived in CA, and long, long before he disappeared.

All that shows in the photo is leaves and fruit, but I can tell you there were a multitude of little birds in there on New Year's day, singing their hearts out. You'd never guess unless you could hear them though. A person can't always see the wood for the trees, but maybe we can hear it, or find other ways to see the obvious, if we look hard enough?

Onwards and upwards, Mr Harrod. It is 2015 and you're not found yet. That's not a cause for dejection. It's a reason for hope. That one day you will be brought home, so when your loved ones face future new years, they can do it knowing exactly where you are. I hope this year can be the year Bob Harrod is found, and hope many more people will support the search for him in 2015.

Happy New Year Zwei, and all of my fellow sleuthers ! I have been visiting family for the holidays, but am back in Orange County now and looking out the front window at an identical scene to your picture. The orange tree and the 2 Bird of Paradise plants are shorter than yours, but just as vibrant! Perhaps the bright colors and birds are a sign that 2015 will bring peace for all of us who care about Bob.

 

[zwiebel]

I just got home. I fell asleep on my flight back, and woke after we landed, to all the passengers applauding the pilot. Apparently, things were very rough. I was oblivious to it all. I was, seriously, dreaming about searching for Bob in an orange grove with a lovely K9, with so many oranges falling off the trees the ground was shaking.

Just to tempt fate a bit more, I'm flying to Paris soon to pay tribute and show my support for the horror they have suffered there. They're going to wonder what the heck the Bob Harrod missing posters are too, just like people did in Spain. But I'm not discouraged. If it takes worldwide support to bring Bob home, then that's what it takes.

 

[zwiebel]

Happy New Year Zwei, and all of my fellow sleuthers ! I have been visiting family for the holidays, but am back in Orange County now and looking out the front window at an identical scene to your picture. The orange tree and the 2 Bird of Paradise plants are shorter than yours, but just as vibrant! Perhaps the bright colors and birds are a sign that 2015 will bring peace for all of us who care about Bob.

Happy New Year to you too, travelbug! I'm trying to find out what the birds were, living in the orange trees in Spain. They were really exotic (to me), brightly colored and with a very distinctive, loud song. About half the size of a parrot but kinda similar. Do you have them in OC too?