Happy Hello All - I apologize but I have not read all of the posts.
After the Press Conference yesterday about the reward I wanted to believe the addition sum would help LE get the tip(s) they need to actually locate Mollie. That is the single focus of her family. The police have a broader focus
so at their first PC Director Winker narrowly asked for particular people to contact LE -
IF YOU KNOW THE WHEREABOUTS of MOLLIE
IF YOU KNOW THE REASON SHE IS MISSING
That second one is not a simple one .
I rarely rarely talk about my personal history - some of the first posters to this site (and before it morphed into this site) may recall some of my history. I am wondering if one aspect might help here -
I was the victim of stalking and I almost died over 40 years ago. I was the very same age as Mollie, also a college student. One of my first posts here during this case was my questioning whether a stalker might be involved. The initial replies made me question if I was transferring some of my own history/life experiences and was not able to be objective. I have found it interesting the media has reported two different men both with stalking in their past have been the focus of LE in Mollie's case. So maybe I have more of a hypersensitivity than a lack of objectivity.
At the time I lived this sad and challenging chapter the term stalking was not common. I want to share a bit how my stalker operated. Because I think it may help someone understand why their TIP is important when they may either not realize it at all right now or may have convinced themselves that someone closer to Mollie surely has let LE know or ...
I had a tiny circle of close friends. Went to a HS with the largest graduating class, 1486 people - very close to the population of Brooklyn IA. However, I was a class officer and worked on and attended all of our school events. I served on various citywide boards with folks from other schools and I worked after school (had since I was 14). My stalker used others to learn about me.
For me it started with getting flowers delivered repeatedly. Then came phone calls - back when there were lines attached to phones and pay phones were the phones of choice for folks who wanted to try and hide their movements. Today we have burner or throw away cells. And criminals are more and more routinely borrowing a stranger's cell phone.
For me the phone calls came to my home and work - even after I changed jobs the calls continued. HOW? I hadn't told him! And the new job was two cities away! And he would show up at the movies when I was there. Or at a concert. Or an ice cream shop just as I was leaving he would come through the door. Or he would show up riding a bike on the boardwalk at the same time I was there. Or ride by the spot where I (and a group had since junior high) used to lay out at the beach. I honestly at the time thought it was just because we were growing up in the same town! And our town was much much larger than Brooklyn IA.
It was only after all the dust settled I and my family and friends understood how the stalker had created his own circle of contacts - siblings of friends of mine, friends of friends of mine, co-workers from my old job, and long time owners of businesses around town who would have known me. It was through them he was able to learn about me.
For me and my family- the phone calls morphed from pleas to harrassing hangups which might go on for an hour, any time day or night. My dad refused to changed my phone number and in hindsight it most likely would not have stopped him. He was very cunning. But back then the telephone companies could trap a line and trace where incoming calls originated. I honestly wonder if that has become harder now for LE.
Here's the thing - the folks whom he was asking had no reason to suspect there was anything wrong with his questions. The questions were asked in a way to seem normal.
PLUS and this is huge - I had never shared things about this young man with anyone. Even when things got really bad no one would have known to be guarded. And honestly none of us saw what happened coming.
I didn't share stuff with family and most friends because it was embarrassing. And I didn't understand what was actually happening. I trusted folks and I thought at that time all people were basically good people. I may not have wanted to date this young man but I considered him a friend. I just was so naive.
When bad things began to happen I kept them to myself too - because back then girls could wind up in court being blamed for their own rape because of what they wore. And I had never heard of a boyfriend being charged with hurting his girlfriend. And when the boy comes from a wealthy family in town! I just wanted to get to college and start my new life.
*** Keep in mind what I lived may have involved a boyfriend but for MOLLIE - she had a HS sweetheart and DALTON is NOT in anyway to be confused as involved.
For me, I recall how folks who have since learned what happened have thought back and approached me and said "If I had only known".
Well- when it comes to Mollie - this is a town the size of my HS graduating class. And many of these folks may not share the community but may in fact be related to one another. That is so common in small towns everywhere.
Can you see how someone asking a question or just being nearby when you learned Dalton was going to a construction job out of town may be important to LE?
During the first Press Conference Director Winker said specifically "folks who were in Brooklyn on the 18th"
Well if you know of someone who went to Brooklyn that day
or
Someone who COULD HAVE gone to BROOKLYN -
For me my stalker told his parents he was in a different city much of the time he was where I was - be it at my University or in our home town. His parents were clueless what he was up to or they just turned a blind eye. To this day I am not sure. He supposedly used credit cards supplied by his parents so I have wondered how they didn't know some. But in the end it wasn't their fault. And I don't believe they could have stopped what happened.
When someone is fixated on a person it is very dangerous. And the victim is totally helpless and at times cluess as to what is happening. The reason he snapped and tried to kill me, according to the Commonwealth Attorneys who prosecuted the case, was I was becoming more independent. I had moved on. But honestly that was what they told me. I have never learned what precisely was in his head.
Who said what when which may have set him off or brought him to that point.
When I think of Mollie -she was running along the streets of Brooklyn daily - according to at least one newscast. And she was involved in various things around town - may have appeared in the paper?
If Mollie was being stalked it could be difficult for folks who don't understand how stalkers behave to understand it. Some of the responses initially here were about where the windows were in the house. Stalkers don't work like many TV or Movie shows. I know how at least one stalker worked. And I have followed missing person cases ever since because it could have been me and there was a young woman who vanished from my home town in the 1970s and she is still missing.
Today's PC we learned there are at least two folks who work for the County Sheriff's office who live in Brooklyn.
I am mulling over and over - is that a plus? Or could that be a minus? Not because of who they are or their abilities but because someone(s) may just have assumed "Well, so and so's brother in law is a Deputy so I am sure that information is already known.
Missing person cases are like big zigzaw puzzles. Different folks have different pieces. Until enough pieces are known and put together - LE can't find the missing person.
I hope the good folks of this County and neighboring counties because let's face it, families don't all stay put.
Folks leave small town to take jobs, go to school. They may stay in touch or they may venture home from time to time for a funeral, a birthday or a holiday - Mollie disappeared not that long after the 4th of July- I wonder if someone might have been visiting that area around that time and may just have seen or heard something.
The really irritating thing for me is the way the LE are handling this case. I truly believe the best cases are the ones where LE act like fishermen and just toss out enough bait (information like her jogging routes, if she ran during a particular time of day) to hook that lead they need. I could be absolutely wrong here and the way they are working the case is the only way it could be worked
But from my chair the family have suffered enough.
