CA CA - Jennifer Wilmer, 21, Willow Creek, 13 Sept 1993

[Lilibet]

Everytime I see Jennifer's face, I recognise it with a start, but the why and how floats just out of reach. It's haunting me. I can't ever have seen her in life - I'm a continent away.

That was my first reaction also. She looks so familiar. Perhaps she looks like someone famous?

I thought she looked familiar too - but I think it's because (to me) she resembles Karen Carpenter... So for those of us in an older age range :-0, maybe that is what we are seeing...

I had exactly the same recognition as all of you. I decided it's because she looks like Anne Frank IMO.

 

[MysticJynx]

Found Article in Times-Standard Eureka Ca. Friday April 1 1977.
Search for missing woman is suspended.

The search for a woman missing since Wednesday, after the fishing boat she was on capsized and sank was suspended at 1:15 pm Thursday, The Coast Guard reported today.

"She is missing and presumed drowned," a Coast Guard spokesman said. The woman was identified as Claire Christie 25, the wife of Ernest Samuel Christie, Jr was was rescued at the scene.

Humboldt County Sheriff's Marine Posse divers failed Thursday to find the wreckage of the sunken boat, the *Fame L, which capsized after coliding with another Eureka crabber, the Eldorado near the Humboldt Bay Opening.

A spokesman for the Coast Guard Captain of the port, the unit investigating the accident, stated that it has been determined that the Eldorado "touched" the Fame L. He added, however that it is not definitely known if the contact between the two boats caused the Fame L to capsize. The seas were reported to be very rough at the time of the accident.

The case remains under Investigation, the spokesman said.

*Fame L I may be reading the bad print wrong with this name listed 3 times this is what I ended up with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was not another article about Claire uhat year until November.
Times-Standard Eureka Ca. Sat Nov 7
LIBRARY DEDICATION
The newly completed library of the First Baptist Church, 1025 E St., will be dedicated to the late Claire Christie.

Christie was the wife of Ernest Christie Jr. She died on March 29 1977.

Finished in walnut paneling with matching shelves, the library adjoins the church fellowship hall. Its folding doors open onto the hall, creating a "browsing nook," which has a table that be used by children when the larger hall is used for special occasions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guess that's it she was presumed dead. Not sign of even the capsized boat and a whole 2 day investigation of the case. Family Church dedicates a library and all wash their hands of ever finding out what really happened to Claire Christie.

While I look up more into some other newspaper articles I currently have access to, can some explain to me what exactly JENNIFER'S LAW is... I know a little bit, But would someone whose body has never been found, presumed dead be included in this law?

__________________

Looking into Mr. Ernest Samuel Christie Jr. of Eureka California in the
newspaper archives until 1977 is all I am finding, But I am finding. Some of
it I find to be interesting.

I found his first entry as an Adult.

Articles below from Humboldt Standard and Times Standard Eureka between 1962

and 1977 the mysterious drowning and sinking of his boat.

1962

June 7th page 19.
454 Will Graduate from the Eureka High School. Listed is Ernest Samuel
Christie Jr. Picture was taken of class no idea which is him if he was pictured.

1963

Jan 8, page 3 Humboldt Standard
Four drunk driving cases started activies yesterday in Eureka Municipal
Court.......And Ernest C. Christie Recieved 30 days in the county jail, for
having an open container of wine in his vehicle,........

Jan 9, page 3 Humboldt Standard
Calendar Error; Youth Not Jailed
Inadvertent omission by clerks of the word "suspended" in the sentence of
18-year-old Ernest S. Christie of Eureka on Monday traffic calendar of Eureka
Municipal Court led to the errounous report that the youth is serving 30 days
in the Humboldt County Jail.
Christie was arrested by city police and charged with having an open
container of wine in his vehicle, pleaded guilty, and was given the suspended
30-day jail term without a fine or probation period.
A student at Shasta Junior College, he is continuing his studies there.
Christie's Mother said today the wine in question belonged to a pair of
hitch-hikers he had picked up.



1964
May 5 Tuesday Page 15 Humboldt Standard paper

Other Cases
In other court proceedings yesterday, four young Eureka men arrested Friday by police on a charge of grand auto theft were arraigned by Judge Conners, with a preliminary hearing set for May 18.
The Men were Ernest Samuel Christie, Jr., 21, Gary Eugene Cook, 20, John

Gilbert McCuleheon, 20, and George McMurrick, Jr., 21
Christie and McCuleheon were additionally arrained on charges of grand
theft.


May 19 1964 Humboldt Standard paper

A preliminary hearing for accused car thieves Ernest S. Christie, Jr., and
Gary E. Cook, John G. McCuleheon and George McMurrick, Jr., was reset for
June 1.
At that time Christie and McCuleheon will also face grand theft Charges.



June 2nd, Tuesday page 2 Humboldt Standard paper

Ernest S. Christie was held to answer in superior court on a charge of car
theft after a preliminary hearing,
A grand theft case against Christie and John Gilbert McCutcheon was
dismissed.

June 22nd Monday page 2 humboldt standard paper

August 10 @ 9:30 a.m. was set as the trial date for Ernest Christie, John
McCuleheon and George McMurrick on charges of car theft. Grand theft charges were dismissed against the three and the case of a companion, Gary Cook, who had been charged with grand theft, was dismissed.


(Nothing else can I find mentioned this case.)

Dec 21 1964... With a picture of vehicle on its side crunched hood and man
leaning in the windshield.

A California Highway patrol officer leans through the shattered windoshield
of this car on walnut Drive Sunday to check vehicle registration. The driver,
Ernest Christie, 20, of Eureka and Passenger escaped injury when the
northbound car overturned on a curve while "traveling at an unsafe speed",
according to CHP reports.



1965...... ?
1966...... ?
1967...... ?


1968

Jan 22 Monday, page 1 Humboldt Standard
Booked by police after Judge Robert N. Conners of Eureka Municipal Court
issued search warrants were David Ralph Green, 24 of 1405 Seventh St. and
Ernest S. Christie, Jr., 23, of 1525 Third St. Police officers Arnie Millsap
and Jon Lawrence spent 33 consecutive hours on the latter case.
Both Men were booked on suspicion of of possession of marijuana.


Jan 25 Thursday Page 1 humboldt standard
17 Students in Area Arrested
Nineteen persons, including 17 juveniles who are students at both Eureka
High and the College of the redwoods junior college, have been rounded up
during the past five days by the city police as part of a dope ring discovery
stemming from what initially appeared to be routine arrests made at a
"psychedelic dance" held at the Municipal Auditorium here last weekend.
Investigating officers took time out this morning from their around - the -
clock probe launched last Saturday night, to report to Cheif C. E. Emahiser
that their work has taken them into virtually all walks of the city's society
and has left scores of of parents as well as school officials in a shocked
and puzzled state of mind.
Two of the suspects, David Ralph Green 24 of 1405 7th st. and Ernest S.
Christie jr. 23 of 1525 3rd st. were arraigned in Municipal Court Monday and
released on bail. Preliminary hearings have been set for feb. 5. Christie
pleaded not guilty to an LSD charge and a jury trial is set for June 20.
Officers also disclosed they have confiscated some 10 lids of the narcotic
in bulk form which they say would make enough rolled cigarettes to bring
about $400 on the retail dope market.
One of the pathetic ironies is that the teenagers who have ben purchasing
the dope have been duped out of their money by their pushers since the police report the dope had been gradually "watered down" with a material known as Astinmadore, a medicinal tobacco for asthmatics.
However, a more tragic note is the continuing investigation is a report
that one of the teenagers was sold a "bad batch" of LSD, causing him to go
on a "bad trip" and resulting in a "freak out".
Possible Blindness
Officers are attempting to confirm the report that the youth has had to be
transferred to a Washington hospital where he's undergoing special care as he faces possible blindness.
Officers said that while the $400 estimate may not seem high as a dope
market values go, they feel hundreds of dollars have changed hands since the traffic got under way sometime during the 1967 summer vacation.
Police stakeouts over the past six weeks culminated in the first arrest at
the auditorim last Saturday night during the performance of "THE GRATEFUL
DEAD" and the Quicksilver Messinger Service, Two of Several- cont. page 2

Jan 25 Thurs pg 2 humboldt standard. continue from page 1 DOPE

rock and roll bands performing there.
More than 3.500 young people from all corners of the county attended the
"psychedelic dance", where three of the youngersters were among the first
arrested. Two were in the process of rolling a marijuana cigarette when
apprehended, officers said.
Law enforcement agents, directed by Lt. Robert Ludtke of department's
Narcotics Division, began uncovering an avalanche of leads which led ot the
arrests of Green and Christie and the 17 teenagers one of them a girl.
Officers said the 16-year-old female has no connection with the ring,
having arrived here little more than a week before from Long Beach area. When arrested, police reported finding several "roaches", the but ends of a
marijuana cigarettes in her purse that she had apparently brought with her.
Sixteen of the youths, ranging in ages from 16-18 are reported to be high
school students while the 17th attends the junior college at Beatrice.
All the juveniles have been cited into juvenile Hall on charges of danger
of leading a lewd indigen or destitute life and of breaking a law.
Sgt. Gordon Busey, officers Jon Lawrence and Arnold Millsap, assistant
district attorney John Minoletti and D.A. special investigator Robert Hickok
also played a major roles in the lengthly investigation.
Officers reported the confiscated material contained traces of some other
white substances in addiction to the medicinal tobacco and the marijuana.
They are awaiting a full report from the Bureau of Narcotics.
Interrogations with the young suspects, police said, point to the fact that
the majority of the youngsters became involved only during the past three
months.
Earliest reports of involvement point to last summer and while the several
questioned admitted taking LSD, officers feel this began only in recent
weeks.
Officers credited the families of the youths with 100 percent co-operation
despite being both highly shocked and puzzled when apprised of their
offsprings' involvement.
Veteran officers also expressed surprise over the finding that many of the
youths come from no worse then average income families and several are from prominent families.
Chief Emahiser closed out the interview with the declaration that his men
will continue their investigations.


Jan 27 Saturday, Humboldt Standard page 1

FOUR MORE ARRESTS BY EUREKA POLICE IN PROBE OF NARCOTICS
The number of arrests in the newly uncovered dope ring involving Eureka
High students climbed to 23 yesterday when 4 more youths were cited into
Juvenile Hall here.
However, investigating officers were quick to point out that the noteworthy
aspect of this latest development was that the youths and their parents
contacted headquarters to reveal their involvement.
This is a reversal of Monday's full scale round up which had netted 11
teenage youths at the school and eventually the total of 19 persons,
including two adults, who had been arrested and booked by Thursday morning.
These latest four youths, ranging in ages from 16-17 years, have been cited into Juvenile Hall on charges of being in danger of leading and idle, lewd, dissolute and immoral life.
And like all of the other juveniles apprehended, they have been released to
the custody of their parents.
Thus, the total now includes 20 high school students, including a lone 16
year-old girl who is not believed to be connected with the ring: one junior
college student and the two adult suspects, David Ralph Green and Ernest S.
Christie Jr.
Green, 24 of 1405 7th st. and Christie, 23 of 1525 3rd st. are scheduled to
appear for their Municipal Court preliminary hearings on feb 5. They were
arraigned last monday on charges of possession of marijuana and released on
bail. Christie pleaded not guilty to addition LSD charge and a jury trial is
set for june 20.
Youths, Parents Call
investigators said the apprehensions of yesterday resulted in telephone
calls from youths and-or their parents to report they were "mixed up in this
ring and wanted to know what they should do about it?"
"We are taking this as a definite 'Call for help' on the parents and their
youngsters" police said. "and at this point we can only urge that more of
them do the same thing."
Police stakeouts and surveillance initiated at least as much as six weeks
ago led to the arrests of three youths at the municipal auditorium here last
Saturday night which brought the entire investigation into public focus for
the first time.
Two of the youths were apprehended in the process of rolling marijuana
cigarettes from "a buy" of materials they completed while a massive
"psychedelic dance" was in progress at the auditorium.
Official estimates placed the dance crowd at between 1,600 and 2,000
teenagers from all parts of the county, attracted to hear and see the
performances of at least three widely known rock and roll bands --"THE
GRATEFUL DEAD" "THE QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE," and "THE HEADLIGHTS"--on tour from the San Francisco bay area.
Many of the youths caught up in the police web told of attending the dance and described it as "psychedelic".
Officers assigned to patrol the auditorium during the five hour affair
reported viewing highly sophisticated lighting and equipment valued in the
thousands of dollars that "really had the building wired for sights and
sounds."
They told of three large screens upon which were flashed hundreds of slides and uncounted footage of motion picture film that produced kaleidoscopic colors -- Dripping, Oozing, Melding, Merging, waving, piercing -- for the predominantly youthful audience.
Officers also reported some film and slides flashed shots of nude female
form on the screens.
"Wild" was the way one officer described the entire performance and "a la
discotheque" was the way another put it.
In addition, after the dance officers also reported finding narcotics
paraphernalia on the premises during the clean-up operations.
Meanwhile, the investigators which embrace the city's entire police
department and narcotics officers of humboldt county sheriffs office, re-
emphasized that the probe is continuing and that both parents and school
officials are co-operating "100 percent"


Feb 6 1968 humboldt standard

A continuance also was granted Ernest S. Christie Jr. to Feb. 26 on charge
of possessing marijuana.

feb 15 1968

Marijuana Hearing In Court Here.

The five youths arrested by Eureka police tuesday at an alleged "Pot Party"
in sequola park were arraigned in Eureka Municipal Court Wednesday on charges of marijuana possession and of being unlawfully in a place where marijuana is being used. Judge Robert N. Conners set preliminary hearings in all five cases for March 4 and the defendants all were returned to jail in lieu of furnishing cash bail each.
The youths are Ernest S. Christie Jr. 23,Terry A hartman, 18, Robin P
Imperiale. 18, David J. Livingston, 21 and Daniel h. Monaghan. 22 all gave
adresses in Eureka except Monaghan, whose home was given as lakewood Ohio.
Police reported Tuesday evening that they had found the five in the area
of three automobiles parked closed together near the park duck pond. All five
were sitting in one of the cars, with the windows rolled up, according to the
officers. The interior of the vehicle was filled with smoke, the police said.


April 4 1968

'Pot' Charge Dismissed by Muni Judge
a charge of possession of marijuana against Ernest S. Christie was
dismissed when he appeared for preliminary hearing in Municipal Court here
this morning.
Judge Robert N. Conners handed down the ruling after a High School Student, called by the prosecution, testified his statement given to the police at the time of the arrest naming the defendant was not correct.
From the stand and under questioning by the Assistant District Attorney
Walton Gill, the youth said he had purchased the quanity of suspected
narcotics from another person and not Christie.
Gill read from a transcripition of the original police interrogation report
as be sought to impeach the witness and the magistrate followed with his
ruling.
The case stemmed from the arrest of the defendant and several other High
school age students in a dope raid at the municipal Auditorium here last
January.



June 6 1968

Ernest Samuel Christie Jr. appeared on a charge of possessing LSD. A motion
to Quash the search warrent was denied


Sept. 24 1968

Ernest S. Christie, JR. Richard A. Dunn and Ira Merrill Jr. all pleaded not
guilty of possession of a hypodermic needle and syringe. they will be given a
jury trial on Oct. 11 Their bail was continued.



Oct 12 1968 Saturday.

A Jury trial was canceled in the case of Ernest S. Christie Jr. Richard A
Dunn and Ira Merrill charged with illegal possession of a hypodermic need and
syringe. It was called off by stipulation of counsel.



1969 9 october page 9


Reuion for Christies at BLUE LAKE... lots attended.


Jul 23 1970

Marriage license to Ernest Samuel Christie Jr. 25 and Claire Louisa Williams
18




1976 May 7 1976


-Arrest of Ernest Samuel Christie Jr. 32 Fieldbrook and Charles Patrick
Mahony, Jr. 26 3240 K. St on charges of Assult and Battery. Malicious michief
and disturbing the peace. The two are alledged to have kicked out a stained
glass window at the Old Town Bar and Grill and to have assaulted Martin
Sherin and employee of the restaurant.

Other reportings that day He is most likely responsible for.... Malicious mischief rock thrown dented a truck door. and Malicious Michief Rock thrown threw the Windshield of another vehicle.


1976 Sept 25th

A REAL SEA GOING SWINGER
FIVE-YEAR-OLD sammy Christie of Fieldbrook uses a makeshift swing on the back of his father's boat this week at the Eureka boat Harbor. Sammy enjoys
fishing with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Christie, on the boat "Fame-L"
picture of him on the swing in paper. quote is the pictures caption.


October 3 1976

Violations Net GUILTY VERDICT
A Eureka man was found guilty this week of violations of the California
Forest Practice Act and the California Fish and Game Code involving a logging
operation near Fieldbrook.
Ernest Christie, 2424 17th st. was convicted of conducting a timber
operation without submitting a timber harvesting plan and without filing a
fire protection plan.
Arcata Judge Ron Rowland fined $500 , suspendeing one half the time placing him on two years probation.



March 29th supposed capsizing of missing boat Fame-L and wife of the ship owner Mrs. Claire Louise Christie.

April 1st 1977

search ends for wife as quotes above.

may 23 1977

Special notice

Notice is hereby given that an order dated 16 may 1977 has been issued by the

undersigned authorizing the name of the oil screw Ben-Ray, Official number

250 604? owned by Ernest Christie, sale Owner, of which Eureka is the home

port, be changed to CLAIRELOUISE

??? mendes
Marine Documentaion Asst
Documents Branch
12th Coast Guard District
By direction.



Nov 12 1977

Library Dedication article. as in quoted above

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It ends there. What it says Well I don't really know yet. So much is missing
from the time the Wife disappeared to the time the son witnessed the torture
and murder of Lysandra Turpin between april and june of 1988. And From then until the man died in 2006.


Basics. He was first arrested drinking and driving. Mother blamed it on some
HITCH-HIKERS Ernie picked up. That was in January 63. Picking up Hitch
hikers as early as 19 years old. 2nd 1964 arrested on grand theft auto
charges with buddies of his. one accomplice potentionally a cousin McCuleheon or something to that name. Grand theft charge was dropped trial date was august 10th 1964 nothing seen in papers until December that year when he flipped his car, he and a friend escaped uninjured.

Family is of the pioneers of the area. So he was a local new the area well
probably a lot of the surrounding towns too. Uncles were Fire commissioner in
Blue Lake, ca and another a Game Warden in Eureka.

1968 comes around and he and a friend the only two adults arrested in a drug ring involving Pot and LSD, in the beginning of the year. After what you know a DEAD CONCERT! Still unsure what this says about the man and if any charges stuck.
Plays it safe for a few years or at least not in this vicinty have I found
anything incriminating.

Marries Claire Louise Williams In July of 1970.

Ernest Samuel Christie III is born in Apr of 1971.

five years straight till he and someone else is arrested for Assault and
Battery dont know what happens to this case. By September hes back on his
fishing boat with his son aboard. Swing away on the back of it at the age of
5. Seeming Happy. Gets arrested for a timber co operating in forest with out
proper permits. convicted given fine and probation for two years. 6 months
later His wife and the boat son was pictured on Fame-L was capsized and woman was lost at sea, persumed dead.
All in all not off to a good sounding start this man. By 1988 he was
abducting, or maybe seducing women and maybe even young men. With drugs to his place holding them captive till he killed them or escaped. Only one was given a name Lysandra Turpin when the son of said man seen pictured as a 5yr old on a boat comes forward 4 years after his beloved father died peacefully at home.


My gut instincts tell me there are more. many more. Maybe not all from the
area of which he lived. but maybe up and down the coast line and highways as he was in the commercial fishing business, and families owned business and lived all over the northern counties since at least the early 1900's. They
had to have or do have some pull in those counties in those departments or
something. So suspcious this guy is starting to sound. And lack of anything
done even when police suspected him in drug related abductions women refused to press charges on. Jennifer Wilmer, Penelope Milbourn, Hannah Rowell. and that's just three I can think of off the top of my head. Ernest S. Christie Jr. what did god allow you to take with you to the grave?

And shame on the people who were initially involved in any investigations done on him, and the missing/unidentified in the area, From the day he was first arrested until present day. For something still may turn up. Find out Claire was murdered on land and not drown like he said would help. Put her in the missing databases and please if one of her family is out there some DNA. See what if anything can be identified as her from what remains are still wanting to find their homes.

 

[MysteryMaven]

This Christie guy is definitely suspect no. 1 for me.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Below I've linked a post I wrote for the Danielle Nicole Brooks (Bertolini) thread. She is a young woman currently missing from Fortuna, south of Arcata and Eureka. She was involved with growing. I used to live in Southern Humboldt County (SoHum) and my post gives some information about missing persons and marijuana in Humboldt. People were being murdered before we left in 1984.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - CA CA - Danielle Nicole Brooks, 23, Fortuna, 29 Jan 2014


If Jennifer left in September and was planning to be gone for an extended period (assuming the note is hers), I'm quite sure she was going to a pot farm to help with the harvest and processing. It would have been somewhere outside of Willow Creek, not in town. Even though the farmers said she never arrived, they may not have told the truth.

Sad to say, people sometimes do not come back from these farms. In January 2013, a young man from southern CA disappeared in SoHum after coming to work on a farm. His body was found in December because of an anonymous tip.

Also see Christine Lindsey Walters thread. She vanished from Arcata in 2008 in broad daylight after a traumatizing experience during a tea ceremony. Her parents were in the process of helping her return home to Wisconsin.

CA CA - Christine Lindsey Walters, 23, Arcata, 14 Nov 2008 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[FigTree]

Respectfully snipped by me...

Found Article in Times-Standard Eureka Ca. Friday April 1 1977.
Search for missing woman is suspended.

The search for a woman missing since Wednesday, after the fishing boat she was on capsized and sank was suspended at 1:15 pm Thursday, The Coast Guard reported today.

"She is missing and presumed drowned," a Coast Guard spokesman said. The woman was identified as Claire Christie 25, the wife of Ernest Samuel Christie, Jr was was rescued at the scene.

Humboldt County Sheriff's Marine Posse divers failed Thursday to find the wreckage of the sunken boat, the *Fame L, which capsized after coliding with another Eureka crabber, the Eldorado near the Humboldt Bay Opening.

-----
Guess that's it she was presumed dead. Not sign of even the capsized boat and a whole 2 day investigation of the case. Family Church dedicates a library and all wash their hands of ever finding out what really happened to Claire Christie.

That is a very strange story.
Firstly, why was Claire Christie (wife) on the boat at all?
Was she alive when she presumably went down with the ship, or overboard?

And no trace of the boat?
They can very cheaply now sonar the ocean floor - it would be interesting to know if it is there, and if anything else is there which might lead a trace her to being on the boat when it went to the bottom.

Thanks for the info - very interesting!

.

 

[FigTree]

1993 - Humboldt and surrounding county's MP


June 11 - Beth Ellen Rogers
- 22 year old white female
Trinity County
Rogers was last seen in the area of the Trinity River and Klamath River in northern California on June 11, 1993. She jumped into a river to save her dog and was swept away by the current and never seen again.
NamUs MP # 17318 https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17318/2?current_page=case_information
-----
Aug 1 - Rosemma Mendenhall
- 47 year old white female
Eureka
Mendenhall was last seen in Eureka, CA in 1993. She leads a transient lifestyle.
NamUs MP # 8381 https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/8381/8?current_page=case_information
-----
Aug 9 - Kristi Krebbs
- 22 year old white female
Mendocino County - Fort Bragg
Kristi was last seen leaving her job in the vicinity of the 740 block of S. Main St. Her vehicle was later located abandoned in the Jackson State Forest. Kristi's bra, panties, wallet, and driver's license were found inside the vehicle. She has a medical condition.
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/1268/9?current_page=case_information

-----
Sept 1 - Hannah Rowell
- 28 year old white female
Eureka
Rowell was last seen or heard from on September 1, 1993. Circumstances in her disappearance are suspicious.
NamUs MP # 8370 https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/8370/13?current_page=case_information
-----
Sept 13 - Jennifer Wilmer
- 22 year old white female
Trinity County - Hawkins Bar
Jennifer was last seen on September 13, 1993 in the Hawkins Bar area of Trinity County.
NamUs MP # 12190 https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/12190/0/
-----

.

 

[Alyssa2013]

It's unfortunate that we don't have any real forensic evidence proving her death or the manner in which she died- that evidence would be invaluable to the investigation into her disappearance, especially when implicating if a serial killer(s) could have been involved as well. The only three serial killers that could *possibly* be involved are Wayne Ford, Keith Hunter Jesperson or Robert Browne. There are a few reasons why I think this. The first is that they all operated in California and both targeted transients or drifters, with Ford more specifically targeting hitch-hikers and Browne targeting women in bars or convenience stores. I'm not saying they had anything to do with Jennifer's disappearance, but I think it's worth trying to rule out. Also, we could be working with an unknown serial killer, which I think is another good possibility here.

 

[MysticJynx]

This Christie guy is definitely suspect no. 1 for me.

He is mine too. To many unanswered questions lie with him and his death. He could very well be an unlabelled serial killer of the area. Don't most serial killers start by killing someone they know and getting away with it. Claire his wife seemed to have gone missing in 1977. California and US don't recognize her death but the families do? Why is that? What do they know that we don't? His family lived there ALL THEIR LIVES. and more often than not the people who went missing were people known to have come from somewhere else and into drugs.

Jennifer was a known Hippie or as they called them there transient, that liked the Grateful Dead. Hey something Ernie had in common with her. He did after all get caught up in his first DRUG RING shortly after a show in 1968.

It is known in the area that the Hippies and Drug users/dealers use nicknames. Jennifer's was Jade. The roomates Opie and Mingo both had nicknames. And I must be wondering what was Mr. Ernie JR's drug name. Article sited that mom Susan had been in near by area of California trying to find a man known as Happiness. Who was an older man and made her somewhat uncomfy. Who is this man? Could this be a local dealer? [modsnip]. A man a possible dealer who makes him. Maybe he is Happiness. Or Happinest. As in erNEST?

[modsnip]



In my opinion for all the women and children that have gone missing in the area, They need to open some of those cases and look at them with fresh eyes. knowing what they do now about a 30 year old case coming to light after death of her killer. HOW MANY MORE is he responsible for?

[modsnip]


[modsnip]

 

[Penelope]

THANK YOU, MysticJynx, for all the research you have done regarding Jennifer's disappearance.

Having read many of the links posted, including the article by Bill Jensen - Long Island's Lost Girls, part 2 -- I now realize why Jennifer is so familiar to me. I grew up in Valley Stream, Long Island, NY, just a few "towns" and miles away from where Jennifer grew up in Baldwin. At the time of her disappearance in California, I was living in Knoxville, TN. But, I believe I have heard about this case before.

Thanks to everyone's research and links, I am amazed at how the area where she disappeared in has such an interesting and nefarious past. Here are my observations and contributions to what has already been posted, including comments about several "coincidences" related to this case.

1. First, since childhood I have always been fascinated by the Bigfoot phenomena and this interest has continued until this day. Willow Creek is near where the infamous Patterson-Gimlin footage was shot - arguably the most famous Bigfoot footage ever photographed. Willow Creek is considered the Bigfoot capital of the U.S.

2. The Patterson-Gimlin film was shot by James Patterson and his friend Bob Gimlin in an area very close to Willow Creek in the Buff Creek region near some logging roads. Patterson is from the area - his wife had received a phone call from friends alerting him to oversized footprints found near Buff Creek. Jennifer's boyfriend at the the of her disappearance was a local guy names Tro (Taylor) Patterson. I suspect he and James Patterson were somehow related.

3. Jennifer's bofriend's father, Jay Patterson, was connected to Polly Klaas's mother (Marc Klass's ex-wife). A quote from the article linked above:

(By eerie coincidence, Tro Patterson's father, Jay Patterson, was the boss of Polly Klaas' mother. Polly would be abducted from her bedroom three hours south of Trinity just 18 days after Jennifer had gone missing.)

4. From reading the other links, including FigTree's list of missing women in the area, I agree with all of you that there must be an unknown or a couple of unknown serial killers in the area, and that "Christie" definitely should be looked into.

I agree with Jennifer's mother that the Sheriff's department did not take Jennifer's disappearance as seriously as they should have. This kind of attitude of considering these missing young women as "runaways" is what makes it so easy for killers to get away with it. Just because these young women were considered "hippies" or "stoners" or whatever doesn't mean that they would just run away like that.

 

[SophieRose]

Below I've linked a post I wrote for the Danielle Nicole Brooks (Bertolini) thread. She is a young woman currently missing from Fortuna, south of Arcata and Eureka. She was involved with growing. I used to live in Southern Humboldt County (SoHum) and my post gives some information about missing persons and marijuana in Humboldt. People were being murdered before we left in 1984.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - CA CA - Danielle Nicole Brooks, 23, Fortuna, 29 Jan 2014


If Jennifer left in September and was planning to be gone for an extended period (assuming the note is hers), I'm quite sure she was going to a pot farm to help with the harvest and processing. It would have been somewhere outside of Willow Creek, not in town. Even though the farmers said she never arrived, they may not have told the truth.

Sad to say, people sometimes do not come back from these farms. In January 2013, a young man from southern CA disappeared in SoHum after coming to work on a farm. His body was found in December because of an anonymous tip.

I first thought the farm might be involved in pot growing, but then I searched for "the farm" and Willow Creek CA and there was a person who posted at Yelp about a farm in Willow Creek known locally as "the farm". It's been around a long time. First operated as a commune and then became a family farm in 1981. It has a produce stand, more than a stand, a building. It also currently does weddings on the grounds. I also found five other farms in Willow Creek, all family-owned, not sure how long they have been operating or that all are still in business. One said it had been certified organic since 1998.

 

[Satch]

I am so glad Jennifer's case is a featured case.
I wish the roommates could be found. They may have some ideas about what happened.
When I first read about this case, I really thought it was a random abduction.
I thought maybe a known perp had something to do with it, especially a serial killer who was living in Arcata-his last name was Ford and he was caught around 1998. I'm not sure if he was completely ruled out.
Now that Jennifer's cousin JessMilone has brought to light Jennifer's boyfriend's suicide, it really takes another direction for me.
I wonder who his new girlfriend was and if she can be found. There are many questions hanging in the air on this one.

Here is the note Jennifer left before leaving for the farm. Apparently she was going to walk from Hawkin's Bar west toward Willow Creek/Arcata. If you google map the main road, you can see it's a logging type road with dense trees on either side.
Clipped from "Long Island's Lost Girls" article.

So at 7:30 in the morning on Monday, Sept. 13, Jennifer set out to hitchhike the nine miles into "town" along Rt. 299. She left a note to her roommates:

Bye everybody,

Went to my 1st day at the farm. Wish me luck! Good luck to you, Mingo and see you in a few months. If someone could give food to the kitten as needed I'd appreciate it. Hopefully I'll see you folks later

YJade

Such a sad case! Closure is needed, badly!

I give Jennifer's Mom so much credit and support for her work in helping with missing kids! It seems that LE did not investigate as well as they should, and just considered Jennifer a runaway. More comments:

1.) It is very strange that if she were going to this farm for a job interview, that she would leave her ID at home. It puts a dent in the hitchhiking theory.

2.) I would like to know as well, were people at the Farm interviewed and ruled out as suspects? What was the name of the property were Jennifer said she was going?

3.) Could Jennifer had gone somewhere else, or with somewhere else, and the farm story was just a cover-up of some kind?

4.) What kind of student was Jennifer? Here is an account of her case at Charley Project, which, a lot of times, has more information than Doe Network. It goes into Jennifer's education past and planned future before she vanished, and talks about two conflicting main theories of her disappearance:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wilmer_jennifer.html

5.) Google Maps might provide some graphic clues as to the location that Jennifer traveled if she went to this farm? If it was a heavily wooded or isolated place, horrifyingly, could she have just been walking along and assaulted, than killed, with her remains in the woods or a lake somewhere? That scenario is so horrific, but tragically, this might have happened. Has the geography of the location changed much in the last twenty-one years?

6.) Was her boyfriend ever considered a suspect in the case? If so, what evidence made him a suspect? Did he assist in helping find Jennifer at the time? If interviewed by LE, what type of information was he able to give? Apply these same questions to the roommates, or anyone who might have more information. What do they know? If anything?

7.) Doe Network's account of the case says that Jennifer suffered from bouts of depression:

http://doenetwork.org/cases/807dfca.html

a.) How long had the depression been occurring?
b.) Was she getting counseling or treatment?
c.) What, if any, medication was she taking?
d.) Any changes in sleeping, eating, or behavior patterns leading up to Jennifer's disappearance?

8.) Would Jennifer be described as suicidal? An alcoholic? Any issues with drugs?

9.) Who were "The Deadheads?" I assume they may have been symbolic of a hippie 60's type bohemian care-free life-style.

10.) How was Jennifer's relationship with her family? Her boyfriend at the time she vanished?

11.) I think there is NO WAY that she just ran away! She likely met a fatal fate at the hands of some psycho when going to that interview, or her bohemian and carefree life-style got her in trouble with some terrible people whom she may have initially trusted.

Lots of thoughts! However, there are many unknowns to this case. I hope peace and justice can be found for this poor young girl.

Satch

 

[SophieRose]

Such a sad case! Closure is needed, badly!

snip for focus

9.) Who were "The Deadheads?" I assume they may have been symbolic of a hippie 60's type bohemian care-free life-style.


Satch

The Deadheads are fans that follow the group, the Grateful Dead.

 

[SophieRose]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wilmer_jennifer.html

Wilmer was last seen in northern California on September 13, 1993. There are two conflicting accounts of her whereabouts on the day of her disappearance. One
summary states that Wilmer was last seen leaving her residence in Willow Creek,
California to go to a travel agency to retrieve an airplane ticket for a
scheduled trip back to New York. She never arrived at the agency and has not
been seen again. The second account states that Wilmer was last seen hitchhiking
from the Hawkins Bar area of California to Willow Creek for a possible job
opportunity at a farm on September 13.

If it were the first, it would be in Humboldt County's jurisdiction where Willow Creek is located. Her parents were dealing with Undersheriff Dave Laffrachini (who retired in 2008) of Trinity County, so last place must have been Hawkins Bar. I wonder if Humboldt County's Sheriff's Office ever helped, they may not be large but would be much larger than Trinity County.

 

[SophieRose]

Satch posted: 1.) It is very strange that if she were going to this farm for a job interview, that she would leave her ID at home. It puts a dent in the hitchhiking theory.

I'm thinking two things: 1. Under the table
2. They didn't ask for ID like they do today. Probably a minimum paying job, just fill out the W-4 form.

I would think if she were going to Arcata to pick up the travel ticket, she would need ID to identify herself as Jennifer Wilmer.

 

[kline]

Wonder who gave the info that she was going to the farm?

Just seems odd to me that if that were the case she would leave her ID at home.

Yeah,I know she was counter culture but ID is just about the one thing you wouldnt leave behind going to a Job Interview.
Did she contact this place by phone first?
It seems kind of odd that you would hitchike all the way there just to determine if in fact they were hiring.
Of course if she did hitchike she may just have finally run out of luck and caught a ride with the wrong person.

 

[kline]

The Deadheads are fans that follow the group, the Grateful Dead.

San Francisco is also the Home Base city for the Grateful Dead.

 

[SophieRose]

Yeah,I know she was counter culture but ID is just about the one thing you wouldnt leave behind going to a Job Interview.
Did she contact this place by phone first?
It seems kind of odd that you would hitchike all the way there just to determine if in fact they were hiring.
Of course if she did hitchike she may just have finally run out of luck and caught a ride with the wrong person.

The note didn't make it sound like a job interview, I thought it was her first day on the farm working.

 

[FigTree]

The note didn't make it sound like a job interview, I thought it was her first day on the farm working.

That's also my impression - it wasn't the first time she had been at the farm - the first line of her note says: "went to the farm" - so I assume she had already been there before.
Though, I wish the note could be confirmed that it was written by Jennifer.

.

 

[FigTree]

Quote from Long Islands Lost Girls - by Bill Jensen: https://sites.google.com/site/billjens/longisland%27slostgirls:flowerchildfrombaldwin


'She waitressed and lived on welfare for a spell, mainly hanging out in Arcata Plaza with the thousands of other street people who had made the pilgrimage from all points east.'

I assume this is the location that Jennifer 'Jade' used to hang out - The Plaza in Alcata.

.https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=T...8,-124.084672&sspn=0.007051,0.013937&t=h&z=17

 

[Lilibet]

Quote from Long Islands Lost Girls - by Bill Jensen

'She waitressed and lived on welfare for a spell, mainly hanging out in Arcata Plaza with the thousands of other street people who had made the pilgrimage from all points east.'

I assume this is the location that Jennifer 'Jade' used to hang out - The Plaza in Alcata.
.

Yup, that's the plaza.