CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - #13

[zwiebel]

Isn't it fantastic? I wish the family of every missing person could be given a copy of that article. Mr Van Norman not only tells how things should work, but tells families to be prepared to ruffle a few feathers when they don't.

He also advises families of the missing most definitely not to sit back on a couch, waiting for the authorities to do their job. As he is an undoubted authority, I think it is well worth the loved ones of any missing person - Bob included - to take that point to heart and be very pro-active in any search activities.

 

[believe09]

Isn't it fantastic? I wish the family of every missing person could be given a copy of that article. Mr Van Norman not only tells how things should work, but tells families to be prepared to ruffle a few feathers when they don't.

He also advises families of the missing most definitely not to sit back on a couch, waiting for the authorities to do their job. As he is an undoubted authority, I think it is well worth the loved ones of any missing person - Bob included - to take that point to heart and be very pro-active in any search activities.

I often think how closely San Bernadino County is associated with this case and how internet savvy the players are. I wonder that they didnt stumble across a lot of this information when they were undoubtedly scouring the internet looking for tips on how to find their father/grandfather.

 

[zwiebel]

The help is out there, for certain. I'm not suggesting it is easy or anything, because we have threads here where families are really struggling and the most help they seem to be getting is from WSers.

In Bob's case though, it seems authorities have taken his case seriously from at least the time the circumstances and details around his disappearance became clear. It's the notable silence and inactivity from certain members of his family (not all) that is noticeable here, imo.

 

[Roselvr]

What's interesting is that Zwiebel & I are posting on another CA case. 2 quotes taken from that post-

How does someone find where they list their unidentified cases? I'm sure its staring me in the face

California Missing & Unidentified persons

Orange County Sheriff's department

I don't know what's going on there, Roselvr. I couldn't find Bob Harrod listed under Placentia missing people on that site.

It's been bothering me; so I put missing in the search box Missing Persons - no Bob
He's not listed at any of the other links

I do not see missing persons on the California highway patrol site

Placentia it should be featured but is buried - You are here: Home > Departments > Police > Services > Missing Persons

 

[zwiebel]

I have been wondering that Bob is the only missing person on the Placentia site. I thought it was a city of about 50,000 people or something. It seems surprising that he is the only missing person there.

I also wish there was a links button going straight to the missing persons page. But I suppose the web designers have to be paid for any changes and that costs money. Maybe the money isn't there.

 

[zwiebel]

On the OC Sherrif's Dept site, I easily found how to file a lost property report, but I can't see anything about how to ask them to list a missing person's details. Perhaps they just list recent missing persons in the county there?

 

[Cubby]

I'm pretty sure missing persons are listed under whichever law enforcement agency has jurisdiction over the case. Placentia has jurisdiction over Bob's case, so his MP info is listed with PPD. Orange County would list MP's where they have jurisdiction over a MP. Same with the state.

Orange County and the state of CA do not have jurisdiction over Bob's case. PPD can ask them for assistance, but since the state and county don't have jurisdiction, it makes sense Bob is not listed at either of their sites.

 

[zwiebel]

I am familiar with counties, towns and cities, but I just can't work out the state bit. How does California, the state that encompasses all those cities and counties with all those millions of people, choose which missing persons are under its jurisdiction?

I am not criticizing here. I just googled the English town where my aunt went missing for so many years, so long ago. Police and other authorities there still do not carry details of a single missing person there. Not one. Unbelievable.

 

[mikkismom]

I am familiar with counties, towns and cities, but I just can't work out the state bit. How does California, the state that encompasses all those cities and counties with all those millions of people, choose which missing persons are under its jurisdiction?

I am not criticizing here. I just googled the English town where my aunt went missing for so many years, so long ago. Police and other authorities there still do not carry details of a single missing person there. Not one. Unbelievable.

FWIW - here in Ohio, the Attorney General's office keeps a list of MP in Ohio.

 

[chris24]

I only know some bare bones information about the case, so forgive me for saying this if it's entirely out of line/impossible.

I work in health care and many, many families are in denial about their loved one's health. They find explanations for things, make excuses, etc. And dementia issues can come on quick, and he could have some increased forgetfulness behaviors if he had some kind of new infection prior to his disappearance. Many people act "off" and they're found to have an infection of some time. If Bob was in decent health before he left and hadn't seen a physician in some time, it is very well valid.

Could he have set off on a walk and forgotten where he is and succumbed to the elements?

Again, I'm not too familiar with the case but is that a possibility.

 

[Roselvr]

I'm pretty sure NJ state police have everything listed

 

[believe09]

Welcome Chris!! Given the state of Bob's knees, I would expect he would have been recovered long ago if he wandered because of dementia. The area he disappeared from is densely populated-I truly believe he would have been found.

I also believe that the timeline is too tight for such a complete disappearance-if we throw our misgivings and skepticism aside, he had about 15 minutes to disappear off of the face of the earth and to have done so in such an effective fashion, there is no trace of him left behind. In spite of his flamboyant all white attire from that day.

I hold tight to grandson's initial statement to sworn officers of the law that his GF likely left due to fighting in the family. Not because of dementia or cold feet. The family member physically closest to Bob in the weeks following his wife's return to MO said that his GF most likely disappeared due to fighting in the family.

I think that this is the closest statement to the truth, frankly. Everything else is so after the fact....even if we throw out the bitterness and insanity after Bob disappeared, we are left with fighting over money plain and simple. A heated family meeting, a poison pen letter to Bob's attorney and repeated calls to APS which Bob firmly refuted until the day he wasnt there to send them away.

 

[believe09]

Maybe we can turn this around for a minute-If Bob was believed to have dementia, why did SIL leave? Why didnt anyone report him missing until JuM called Bob's wife who was more than 1000 miles away and request that she report her husband missing?

Why did no one care that a substantially elderly man was wandering the streets in oppressive heat with bad knees and possible dementia? At least no one on the ground seemed to be moved to report it, and by on the ground I mean Bob's bio family.

When this issue is raised it always makes me very sad to think that this was offered after the fact as a possible, umm, defense/explanation but no one did anything about it until 8 or more hours had passed.

Inexcusable.

 

[believe09]

Does anyone want to put a synopsis in the Timeline Media Links thread that gives perhaps an overview of the case supported by the information sleuthers have collected from various sources?

I liked zwiebel's a few pages back. Shall we build on it?

 

[zwiebel]

What a good idea. I don't know why we didn't think of that before believe09, but thank goodness you have, anyway.

When you say my synopsis, do you mean the list of unanswered questions I posted, that you brought over from the last thread?

I could put together an overview of the case, then maybe post it in the timeline thread when most of our posters are around - and post notification on here when I've done it so everyone can give suggestions and corrections while it can still be edited?

 

[zwiebel]

To add to the above:

Do you think it would be possible to do that, then get a mod to delete our posts so we don't fill up the timeline with 'chat'?

I can't think of any other way that we can produce an overview where everyone has input but we don't fill up half a thread discussing it. If there is another way, someone please pipe up!

 

[zwiebel]

I have been having a go at putting something together. I am thinking now, that in order not to have one long post that is a trial to read, there should be two parts:

Part one: Potted history of events leading up to 26/27th July.

Part two: Detailed events of 26/27th July as well as some statements, actions after.

Opinion, anyone??

 

[believe09]

I think that is a great plan, zwiebel. I wouldnt worry to much about attribution, fwiw. I think pointing to resources will be enough to get people started on a path for this case.

I want to take a moment to restate that much of the opinion here has come after months/years of digging into those resources, reconstructing the internet behavior of Bob's bio family and combing through the court documents. I dont think that many people believed we would end up here when dreamweaver led the charge to help Bob's family shortly after he disappeared. jmvho.

 

[zwiebel]

Okay, thanks.

Your post reminds me of when I first started reading Bob's thread, from the beginning. It struck me then, and I still believe it now, that posters were very open to any ideas about what might have happened - and genuinely mystified too. They just wanted the mystery solved and Bob brought home.

Those ideas concentrated pretty soon and pretty comprehensively in one direction, just because of the facts of the case and what was happening. Also, just as importantly, the lack of certain, vital facts.

Some posters dissented and went in the opposite direction, but there was room for all. Gradually though, it seems to me it has become increasingly difficult to reasonably sustain many of the initial theories about why Bob may have disappeared. That's my opinion, anyway.

 

[Roselvr]

To add to the above:

Do you think it would be possible to do that, then get a mod to delete our posts so we don't fill up the timeline with 'chat'?

I can't think of any other way that we can produce an overview where everyone has input but we don't fill up half a thread discussing it. If there is another way, someone please pipe up!

Easiest way may be facebook or another post