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

[Angelo]

The police have gone on nationwide TV and said THE FAMILY IS NOT INVOLVED!! Why is that so hard to understand. Two people have been arrested pending further investigation. They just need to tie up some loose ends and you can be sure they will be re-arrested!
Here is the best newscast, so far, given on the story!
$50K Reward Offered in 2009 Killing of Placentia Man Who Vanished After Marrying High School Sweetheart

~BBM~

The police didn't say the family was not involved. What they said is the two "associates" who were arrested and released were not family members.

 

[Angelo]

"Harrod's daughter, Roberta, said he had been at home working on repairs with his son the day he disappeared. The son went to a hardware store to get some pricing, and when he returned Harrod was nowhere to be found — though his car remained in the driveway."

It has always been said that the SIL went to the store to buy supplies when Mr. Harrod disappeared. He produced a receipt which showed he bought supplies at 3:04pm.

In the Disappeared episode, the housekeeper said she arrived around noon and Mr. Harrod was already missing. The housekeeper said that SIL arrived at the house after about fifteen minutes and kept asking her if she was supposed to be there.

From the above article excerpt it looks like he made a different trip to the hardware store "to get some pricing".

I note that, in the first video of the article, Roberta also says the SIL asked the housekeeper if she was supposed to be there that day.

Firming up the timeline.


$50K Reward Offered in 2009 Killing of Placentia Man Who Vanished After Marrying High School Sweetheart

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00AA7O8DS/ref=atv_yvl_list_pr_39 (Disappeared Episode)

 

[Angelo]

Pricing again.........1:45 in video and in article:

"He did a run to Home Depot, I think, to price things for my dad and then when he came back, dad wasn't there. But the housekeeper was sitting on the front porch waiting," Roberta said.



Family continues to search for answers decade after Placentia millionaire vanishes

 

[deugirtni]

I am kinda surprised that the sisters are not battling amongst themselves, because of the grandchild racking up a hefty debt with BH, and how that would have been handled as far as equalization of the estate.

 

[deugirtni]

I would like to know from the SIL, why exactly BH was wearing a hat when SIL last saw him.

The two were reportedly working on the interior of the house, presumably talking about solutions/available options perhaps (what to get pricing on at Home Depot, for instance), and just generally INside the house, where Bob was said to have been on the phone a few times.

But yet it seems that his new love of his life missed her morning phonecall with him that day, even *prior* to his said disappearance?

And not sure if anyone *outside of the family members* was actually on the other end of any of those phonecalls he had. The only one that I am aware of, is the cleaning lady, but I'm not convinced that she received that call from him on the Monday, as opposed to say perhaps, on the Sunday.

I'd like to also know what time the cleaning lady would generally arrive over the past year since Georgia died, to find Bob's bed already made by him.

One of the articles I read this morning also said that Bob's 'cane' was left inside the home... I wonder how many canes he had?

"His cane leans against the door frame."

The same article has a photo of Bob and Fontelle from 1949:



A love story turned mystery

 

[Snoop Sister]

The police have gone on nationwide TV and said THE FAMILY IS NOT INVOLVED!! Why is that so hard to understand. Two people have been arrested pending further investigation. They just need to tie up some loose ends and you can be sure they will be re-arrested!
Here is the best newscast, so far, given on the story!
$50K Reward Offered in 2009 Killing of Placentia Man Who Vanished After Marrying High School Sweetheart

No where in this article does LE say the family is not involved. Also, the two people they interviewed are “persons of interest” only. Additionally, the articles said Bob’s son was there doing maintenance work, when in reality it was his son-in-law. How credible is this journalist?

Moreover, perhaps you need to re-read the article.

 

[DollyPardonMe]

They hadn't been accused of anything by anyone. They came to that platform asking us for advice on what to do, and how to fine him, then proceeded to trash him. They were advised to speak to a lawyer.

Of course they have been accused! In here they were tried and convicted by Just about everyone on this thread!! They were stalked to the point of having to move from their home!! I still see that some posters are looking up the home where Julie lives!! If they trashed him is because he wasn’t a nice man. My mother was an evil woman and I’m glad she died but that doesn’t mean I killed her. He was generous with his children but they were expected to pay him back which they did. The ones that did not pay him back Were the ones that are questionable!! God, looky loo’s, the accident is over! Drive along and leave the family alone!!

 

[DollyPardonMe]

Of course they have been accused! In here they were tried and convicted by Just about everyone on this thread!! They were stalked to the point of having to move from their home!! I still see that some posters are looking up the home where Julie lives!! If they trashed him is because he wasn’t a nice man. My mother was an evil woman and I’m glad she died but that doesn’t mean I killed her. He was generous with his children but they were expected to pay him back which they did. The ones that did not pay him back Were the ones that are questionable!! God, looky loo’s, the accident is over! Drive along and leave the family alone!!

PS. ALSO, Daughter Roberts has been banned from Websleuths so she can’t come in here and tell her story nor defend herself!

"There are none so blind as those who won't (or refuse to) see.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

Police in Placentia revealed late last month they’d recently identified and arrested two residents in connection with the 2009 crime, but later released those people — who they’d dubbed “persons of interest” — pending further investigation.
The two people have not been named and police have withheld information surrounding the circumstances of their arrests.
Man, 81, Married High School Sweetheart After Reconnecting with Her — and Went Missing Weeks Later

Imo, sounds like the police brought two people to the police station to be questioned, interrogated and frightened them, but the perps wouldn't snitch on each other. I can't find any article that states the two people were not Bob's relatives.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

Bob's son-in-law went to Home Depot for 30 minutes. During that time Bob mysteriously vanished WITHOUT his glasses. The housekeeper also arrived within that 30 minutes, so there is even a small window for Bob to have mysteriously vanished WITHOUT his glasses.

If LE hadn't been fed lies about Bob being senile and wandering off , this homicide would have been easily solved 10 years ago, imo.

 

[Angelo]

"Authorities maintain he met foul play, perhaps by someone he knew.

His wife, who was out of the state when he vanished, said his children were not happy she was going to be included in his will.

“Truthfully, I think he was murdered in that bathroom upstairs. Maybe intentionally…maybe accidentally,” said Harrod.

The wife said the bathroom was damaged and repaired. Before that, Bob confided that he had a heated discussion with his family who wanted the marriage annulled."

~BBM~

I hope the police asked the housekeeper and Fontelle about the condition of the repaired bathroom the last time they were in the home prior to July 27th. (Fontelle left for Missouri on July 7th) (IIRC, the housekeeper cleaned every two weeks)

The Disappeared episode shows the SIL doing repairs on a toilet in the bathroom at Mr. Harrod's home on the day of Mr. Harrod's disappearance.

After 4-Year Search, Missing Placentia Man’s Wife Suspects Foul Play
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00AA7O8DS/ref=atv_yvl_list_pr_39

 

[deugirtni]

"Authorities maintain he met foul play, perhaps by someone he knew.

His wife, who was out of the state when he vanished, said his children were not happy she was going to be included in his will.

“Truthfully, I think he was murdered in that bathroom upstairs. Maybe intentionally…maybe accidentally,” said Harrod.

The wife said the bathroom was damaged and repaired. Before that, Bob confided that he had a heated discussion with his family who wanted the marriage annulled."

~BBM~

I hope the police asked the housekeeper and Fontelle about the condition of the repaired bathroom the last time they were in the home prior to July 27th. (Fontelle left for Missouri on July 7th) (IIRC, the housekeeper cleaned every two weeks)

The Disappeared episode shows the SIL doing repairs on a toilet in the bathroom at Mr. Harrod's home on the day of Mr. Harrod's disappearance.

After 4-Year Search, Missing Placentia Man’s Wife Suspects Foul Play
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00AA7O8DS/ref=atv_yvl_list_pr_39

There must be a reason for Fontelle to say she thinks something happened in the bathroom - and especially considering she *had* seen it only 3 weeks prior. She said it had been damaged and repaired - but when did it become damaged? Before or after she left for MO?

 

[deugirtni]

Bob's son-in-law went to Home Depot for 30 minutes. During that time Bob mysteriously vanished WITHOUT his glasses. The housekeeper also arrived within that 30 minutes, so there is even a small window for Bob to have mysteriously vanished WITHOUT his glasses.

If LE hadn't been fed lies about Bob being senile and wandering off , this homicide would have been easily solved 10 years ago, imo.

Yes, who knows how long the housekeeper had been waiting there prior to JM's return from Home Depot, so that narrows that very small window even further. And yet housekeeper saw nothing.

I wonder if you could put this scenario through some kind of processor, similar to how they do the odds of DNA testing.. what the odds would be, of someone arriving to the home, taking the man and getting him into a vehicle, and driving off, all within that tiny window?

 

[Angelo]

There must be a reason for Fontelle to say she thinks something happened in the bathroom - and especially considering she *had* seen it only 3 weeks prior. She said it had been damaged and repaired - but when did it become damaged? Before or after she left for MO?

Since Fontelle suspects Mr. Harrod was murdered in the bathroom due to the damage/repairs, I believe there was no damage before she left for Missouri.

Hopefully the housekeeper was also asked about the need for repairs in the bathroom. She would be in a good position to know since she most likely cleaned the bathroom on her prior visit.

The exact damage/repairs are unknown to us, but they may be clues for the police looking into Mr. Harrod's disappearance.

 

[Laughing]

For everyone who 'leaves the light on' for Mr. & Mrs. Harrod:

 

[MaryNo]

Maybe it would be easier to understand if you had ever been accused of something you didn't do (nothing so horrendous as any kind of crime) and just because you KNEW better felt you had the right to tell the truth about someone even though everyone else believed otherwise.

I wasn't able to edit my first reply.
Their main concern was that they wanted estate advice, because Bob and Fontelle had just gotten married, and they wanted to protect the estate from Fontelle. Post after post about the estate, and the trashing of course, really stuck in people's minds. But no one accused them of doing anything, until after a bunch of us were banned from the second platform lol Once we started talking through email, and private messages, THAT's when the narrative shifted.

Of course they have been accused! In here they were tried and convicted by Just about everyone on this thread!! They were stalked to the point of having to move from their home!! I still see that some posters are looking up the home where Julie lives!! If they trashed him is because he wasn’t a nice man. My mother was an evil woman and I’m glad she died but that doesn’t mean I killed her. He was generous with his children but they were expected to pay him back which they did. The ones that did not pay him back Were the ones that are questionable!! God, looky loo’s, the accident is over! Drive along and leave the family alone!!

As I stated above, and I know you read it, because you quoted it - narrative shift occurred AFTER the bannings on the other platforms.

When people trash a victim with one hand on the victim's wallet, they need to be scrutinized closely, and that's what happens here at Websleuths.

 

[Angelo]

Pricing instead of purchasing.

Articles printed shortly after Mr. Harrod's disappearance gave the time of 1:30pm as his "last being seen". Other articles stated times of 2:30 and 2:40 as well. It seems they were basing these times off of JeM's Home Depot receipt for purchases bought at 3:04pm on July 27th.

Placentia Police gave a detailed timeline on July 30, 2009 which was three days after Mr. Harrod's disappearance. Was this before the housekeeper was interviewed and gave her time of arrival at the house as around noon and SIL about fifteen minutes later? Mr. Harrod was missing by then.

Where did the police get the timeline they gave on July 30th? Did it come from SIL? Did the housekeeper's information, once she was interviewed on her time of arrival, cause the change from purchasing to pricing?


Placentia Police PIO Corinne Loomis: "Harrod was last seen by his son-in-law, Jeff Michaels, around 1:30 p.m. on Monday. Harrod, a former contract manager, sent Michaels to Home Depot, but when Michaels returned, Harrod was no longer in the house, said Loomis.

“His receipt showed that he paid for his items after 3 p.m.,” Loomis said. “He thinks he was at Home Depot for 45 minutes to an hour, so given 15 minutes or so of driving time, you’re looking at 1:30.”

When Michaels arrived back at Harrod’s house, a housekeeper was sitting on the porch, waiting to be let in, Loomis said."


A recent article from May 1, 2019 says the following:

"The Placentia man was with his son-in-law, Jeff Michaels, who left to pick up supplies at about 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. When he returned to the house about 30 minutes later, Michaels found Harrod’s longtime maid locked out of the home. He let her in, and thought Harrod might have left to visit a neighbor or take a walk when he noticed the millionaire’s keys and wallet missing. Michaels then finished his tasks before returning home to Running Springs, just outside of San Bernardino."

Why is this article, almost 10 years after Mr. Harrod's disappearance, using 2:30pm as the time of Mr. Harrod last being seen by SIL when it is known that Mr. Harrod was missing when the housekeeper arrived at noon?

The current timeline for last being seen is at 11am by the SIL when he went to the Home Depot "to price things" for Mr. Harrod. The 11am time is given on the Placentia Police flyer.



81-year-old Placentia newlywed missing – Orange County Register
Two ‘persons of interest’ in 2009 disappearance of Placentia millionaire arrested, later released – Orange County Register
https://www.placentia.org/DocumentCenter/View/102/Robert-Merle-Harrod---Flyer

 

[MaryNo]

I would like to know from the SIL, why exactly BH was wearing a hat when SIL last saw him.

The two were reportedly working on the interior of the house, presumably talking about solutions/available options perhaps (what to get pricing on at Home Depot, for instance), and just generally INside the house, where Bob was said to have been on the phone a few times.

But yet it seems that his new love of his life missed her morning phonecall with him that day, even *prior* to his said disappearance?

And not sure if anyone *outside of the family members* was actually on the other end of any of those phonecalls he had. The only one that I am aware of, is the cleaning lady, but I'm not convinced that she received that call from him on the Monday, as opposed to say perhaps, on the Sunday.

I'd like to also know what time the cleaning lady would generally arrive over the past year since Georgia died, to find Bob's bed already made by him.

One of the articles I read this morning also said that Bob's 'cane' was left inside the home... I wonder how many canes he had?

"His cane leans against the door frame."

The same article has a photo of Bob and Fontelle from 1949:

View attachment 182854

A love story turned mystery

We touched on this very little. I'm probably alone in this, and happy to see you raised this issue too. 1. I've never been convinced that it was Bob that was spoken to on the phone that morning. 2. Fontelle missing that morning phone call raised red flags for me, in that I have the notion that Bob went missing overnight.

The bathroom repairs, and changing of the linens the day after Bob went missing makes me feel the timeline is different than someone wants others to believe. If Bob went missing overnight, then the majority of what happened Mon. is true. All that had to be manipulated was the phone call in the morning. It wouldn't matter what time the cleaning woman came, or what time the son in-law went to the store. Supposedly, he also went for paper plates. If timeline is overnight, everyone could come and go as they wished.

 

[Angelo]

There was a comment posted by a reporter for the OC Register under an article he wrote about Mr. Harrod's disappearance.

He said, per officials, there was a phone call to Bob earlier the morning of his disappearance, which is the last time anyone other than SIL JeM verified he was at the house.

If true, I have always thought it was either the housekeeper or Fontelle.

 

[Angelo]

Bob's son-in-law went to Home Depot for 30 minutes. During that time Bob mysteriously vanished WITHOUT his glasses. The housekeeper also arrived within that 30 minutes, so there is even a small window for Bob to have mysteriously vanished WITHOUT his glasses.

If LE hadn't been fed lies about Bob being senile and wandering off , this homicide would have been easily solved 10 years ago, imo.

Without his glasses

Exactly!

If the someone pulled up to Mr. Harrod's house right after SIL left to do his "pricing" and before the housekeeper arrived, and Mr. Harrod left the house with them, he would have had his glasses on. The glasses would not have been found in the house.

A more likely scenario would be, something happened to Mr. Harrod in his house.

Perhaps in his bathroom. If he was washing up and took off his glasses. He also could have been wearing his glasses and they got knocked off during an altercation.