CA CA - Rose Cole, 16, Oakland, 1972 - #1

[IsabelaPR]

Dear *advertiser censored* and XXXXX..."I TOO remember Rose Cole...but NOT in the way that *advertiser censored* does...I do not believe that Rose was a boot camp member.. .and there was a heading in large block letters that said..NEW TO SYNANON FOOD SERVICE> and Rose Coles picture was posted on this site with the heading...new to Oakland kitchens..."

She is right, based on Rose's letter she went to Tamales Bay for a visit only with Ruth. She said to be interviewed to go there permanenlty but she declined the offer. This person's memories match the letters, I always assumed she was in the Oakland kitchen.

 

[IsabelaPR]

I think there is a misconception that Rose was only in Synanon for a few months, but there is somewhere in one of her letters that she says, "it's been almost a year".

Correct I don't have a specific date that info will be in the juvenile record. But the first letter I have was dated Oct 15, 1972. Which places at Syn. She was sent there sometime between 04-29-1972 and Oct 15, 1972.

Opal told me the other day that they were late for Billy's wedding because they have to pick up Rose at Jackson Juvenile facility in MI. She said this was in May but she didn't seem certain of the date.

I found Billy in the Genesse County records, he married his first wife 4-29-1972. This places Rose in Michigan.

Maybe she was sent there in MAY after the semester ended in Emerson.

Based on what we have learned, Rose would not have been allowed to write home for weeks once at Syn.

The letter you are referencing was dated Dec 23, 1972 in red ink pen. With a note in black pen "it's been almost a whole stinking, lousy year. . .Sorry but I just got a stamp! Feb 3, 1973".

Dec 15, 1972 is her Syn split letter. Based on all of this, and the assumption that she was sent there in May, her stay would have been 8 months.

 

[HeartofTexas]

If we assume that Rose went to Synanon June 1, 1972, then five months of introduction to Synanon would put the date at November 1. Six months would be December 1. Somewhere in that time frame is when the first letters were written, so I think the end of May or beginning of June of 1972 is a good bet when Rose went into Synanon.

Christine, is it possible you could email your source with that information and also tell them that she didn't start writing letters home until many months after she arrived?

 

[gardenmom]

What are the "games" they refer to at Syanon? Was this like therapy, or something more sinister?

 

[HeartofTexas]

Both... it was a very, very sinister game where everyone ganged up verbally on one person and cut them to shreds with their words. It was a group, and everyone sat in a circle and chose one person to attack. It went on for hours.

 

[IsabelaPR]

What are the "games" they refer to at Syanon? Was this like therapy, or something more sinister?

From the Synanon Museum Page:

The Synanon Game began with an idea I had of getting people together in a room to pursue a conversation with a "line of no line." I began to yell and curse and accuse and ridicule: I talked to everyone in the room as if he had a tail. Boy I felt great, and everyone else loved it too. The next week they all came back. That was the birth of the Synanon Game, which basically hasn't changed at all since 1958.

http://www.synanon.org/Synanon/Museum/Museum.cfm

 

[christine2448]

Another email this evening:

I READ your posts about Rose Cole and I also remember her working in the
Dining Room in Oakland. She seemed a bit waifish even though she was tall.
She had beautiful translucent white skin and beautiful long dark, wavy hair.
I remember the way she walked through the tables in the Oakland Dining Room;
she almost floated.

 

[christine2448]

This was in my email this morning:


Trying to find out who maintains the pop sheet would show definitively her departure “split” date from Synanon. We’ll see if we get a response but said:
So who has the POP sheet and we’d know definitely when she left. Was she in
fact there for a year or for two months. The letters imply she was there
longer and was initially in Oakland and later made it to TB but later in the
letter I looked at she describes transporting to the clumps. I assume she
meant Oakland and not Santa Monica so not sure what to think. I suspect she
stopped in Syn briefly, ran away and hid thinking the courts were after her,
maybe even used a fictitious name for awhile and then who knows. Died, drug
OD, who knows…..but why can’t we validate her dates of arrival and departure
on the pop sheet?

 

[itsreenw]

Christine, check your PM

 

[HeartofTexas]

POP sheet

What is a POP sheet? And when they talk about who controls the POP sheet, what do they mean? Do some of the former Synanon members have the POP sheets in their possession?

 

[HeartofTexas]

I did a little research and found that a POP sheet refers to the Population Sheet... I guess it means who is there, and who isn't.

 

[christine2448]

Someone looked into the POP sheets for us, here is their response:


I have two popsheets, one from April 1977 and another from November 1985,
> but they only list people who were there at the time, not those who had
> already split, so unless someone has one from 1972, Rose Cole would not be
> on it.

 

[christine2448]

Thought long and hard about all of this yesterday, after reading through the entire thread......I think we need to concentrate on where she went when she left synanon....IMO...until we get any yes or no on the Jane Does, IMO, we should start with her running away from Synanon......maybe if we could go from there, send the story to newsstations locally to where she ran from...she if they will run a story..maybe someone will remember her walking, or someone that gave her a ride, or something. What do ya'll think?

 

[christine2448]

Rec'd this via IM.....(haven't got the emails yet, will post as I rec.)

ah...okay well forwarded you a few emails with responses re boot cmap rules and such appparently they don't think she ever made it to bootcamp and she may have been offered to go but ran before being offered. they say she wouldn't have acess to synanon letter head to write it but not sure that that is true cause the kids would get reward in form of letterhead to write letters

 

[christine2448]

I hope I'm not repeating ya'll, I have just gotten a few emails and can't keep them straight!

Was she in Oakland or in tomales when she split. That would help but in most cases, people ran with someone else and then split up from there esp someone of her age group. Go back and read my story and my description of my run away attempt toward the end and see how I linked up with 2 other girls in same age group etc.

No one would stay in contact with others at Synanon. That was totally taboo. She would have been a splittee. There are people who still won't talk to me because I published my story and went live with news through my atty (bitten by rattlesnake later ) etc....

Was she in Oakland or in tomales when she split. That would help but in most cases, people ran with someone else and then split up from there esp someone of her age group. Go back and read my story and my descrip


Trying to find out who maintains the pop sheet would show definitively her departure “split” date from Synanon. We’ll see if we get a response but said:

So who has the POP sheet and we’d know definitely when she left. Was she in
fact there for a year or for two months. The letters imply she was there
longer and was initially in Oakland and later made it to TB but later in the
letter I looked at she describes transporting to the clumps. I assume she
meant Oakland and not Santa Monica so not sure what to think. I suspect she
stopped in Syn briefly, ran away and hid thinking the courts were after her,
maybe even used a fictitious name for awhile and then who knows. Died, drug
OD, who knows…..but why can’t we validate her dates of arrival and departure
on the pop sheet?

 

[mysteriew]

I don't know if this will help, but I think this could be a valuable resource for the family. Certainly they might be able to advise how to get billboards and other resources if they are needed.
http://www.unresolvedhomicides.org/about.html

This says unresolved homicides, but the site says missing persons also.

 

[christine2448]

I am getting more emails.....do you all want me to keep posting all of this stuff, or make a mail list of everyone 'working this case' and do a mass email(s)? Then we can pick through and post the important stuff?

Let me know everyone

 

[IsabelaPR]

I am getting more emails.....do you all want me to keep posting all of this stuff, or make a mail list of everyone 'working this case' and do a mass email(s)? Then we can pick through and post the important stuff?

Hi C-2448,

I am anxious to see more. . .by the way, did you check your PM?
thanks, yc

 

[IsabelaPR]

http://www.unresolvedhomicides.org/about.html

This says unresolved homicides, but the site says missing persons also.[/QUOTE]

. . .I sent them an e-mail with Rose's information.

By the way, also submitted registration form to Wisc Missing Persons organization ~

 

[HeartofTexas]

Christine, you can email them to whoever is on your current email list for this case and then, like you said, we can post the parts that we feel are pertinent. Again, Christine, thanks so much for your efforts on these emails from former Synanon members. They offer a wealth of information.