IN IN - Diamond Bynum, 21, & King Walker, 2, Gary, 25 July 2015

[TxJan1971]

Last week, Gary police named TDW, 34, of Gary, as a person of interest in the case. On Thursday, Gary police Lt. Dawn Westerfield said detectives still want to speak to TDW, who goes by "$."
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_8a703ad2-5b72-5641-8802-32c1fe5626b6.html

 

[TxJan1971]

I seem to remember (still trying to locate the link) that they are no longer looking for him.
Let me try to find that.

 

[Eileen730]

I wonder if they asked anyone to take Polygraphs?

 

[Eileen730]

I seem to remember (still trying to locate the link) that they are no longer looking for him.
Let me try to find that.

I think if he was of any concern we would KNOW.
Seems maybe they spoke to him.

 

[TxJan1971]

MOTHER (biological) of Diamond:

8-14-15

LW, mother of Diamond Bynum and grandmother to King Walker, was at the command center for the searches at 300 21st Ave. Friday when she learned police were seeking a suspect in her family members' disappearance.

LW said she does not know Williams and had not been notified by police of their interest in speaking with him.

LW said she's been out searching abandoned buildings day and night hoping to find the missing pair.

She said her daughter is one of seven and loves children.

"She loves being able to be responsible for somebody else," she said.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_d3e12e72-8138-540b-8749-2a709e18138a.html

 

[TxJan1971]

8-20-15
Last week, Gary police named TDW, 34, of Gary, as a person of interest in the case. On Thursday, Gary police Lt. Dawn Westerfield said detectives still want to speak to TDW, who goes by "$."

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_8a703ad2-5b72-5641-8802-32c1fe5626b6.html

 

[TxJan1971]

I wonder if they asked anyone to take Polygraphs?

Haven't read that anywhere in any of the articles or SM or videos that I have viewed. That doesn't mean it hasn't been done.

 

[TxJan1971]

NO LONGER BEING SOUGHT

8-28-15
Earlier this month, Gary police were looking to talk with a 34-year-old Gary man about the disappearance, but Westerfield said he is no longer being sought.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...um-search-goes-on-st-0829-20150828-story.html

 

[TxJan1971]

Does anyone know if the family or spokesperson(s) read here?

 

[pittie_mcclure]

NO LONGER BEING SOUGHT


8-28-15
Earlier this month, Gary police were looking to talk with a 34-year-old Gary man about the disappearance, but Westerfield said he is no longer being sought.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...um-search-goes-on-st-0829-20150828-story.html

Thanks for finding this. Will save me some time lol

Not sure about the family. I would think they have come across it.

 

[perfectingpink]

I came across this quote from Diamond's father. With all of these things, I cannot imagine Diamond would not stick out, particularly the screaming. Also, I wonder how she is dangerous to herself.

"When she's off (medication) she doesn't behave normal," Eugene Bynum said earlier. "She stares off into space, might start screaming, might become dangerous to herself. It's critical to locate them."

Police have said Diamond Bynum "has a disability in which she feels the need to constantly consume food" and has a noticeable limp

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_d3e12e72-8138-540b-8749-2a709e18138a.html

 

[pepelepolecat]

Its very confusing!
Her FB says she graduated High School! How could someone with the mentality of a 7 yr old finish HS?

I think she watches this Little one And left with him.
I think some things are going unsaid here.

Developmental disabilities aren't always cut-and-dried. She might seem childlike at times, but she's also an adult still. So in some ways, she may be quite like a 7 yo, but in others, she may be closer to her biological age. I've also known people with Down's syndrome and other significant issues graduating from high school. I'm not sure that it's the college prep diploma or another type of diploma, but it absolutely can be done.

 

[mom2four717]

My heart breaks for Diamond and King. Two very vulnerable people.
I will be holding them in the light.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

EXCELLENT POST, TxJan...and a great refresher for those of us following the case from beginning as well as "Cliffs Notes" for anyone coming in late to this!

Thanks to Cagney for putting fire in this thread!

You're welcome. I am not in the US and so have no clue about the equivalent "sleuthing systems" that I use for UK cases - things like birth / marriage / death records, 192.com (online directory), obituaries and various other go-to search options. Even Facebook sleuthing is harder because there's so damn many of you and your records are often ordered by state whereas ours are more centralised since we're smaller than Texas... Looks like you guys have already found some of that info, I am very grateful and hoping to watch it unfold, this case has been driving me nuts!

 

[fizzypop]

I think the absolute best we can hope for at this point, is that something was going on that nobody knows about, or at least hasn't been made public... and some kind person(s) are harboring Diamond and King for their safety. Maybe one or both were abused by someone (not saying it was family, just anyone, a neighbor, whatever) and some person stepped in and said, "you guys come stay here where you're safe"... Of course they would be wrong to do so, since King is a minor and possibly someone has custodial care of Diamond, but that's about the best we can hope for. A well-intentioned gesture made by someone who didn't want to involve LE. I would bet the odds on that are pretty astronomical, but it's about the only logistical scenario where they could both be safe.

More than likely though, somehow they left the house and met foul play. I would assume it was soon after they left, by someone who lives very nearby (less than five blocks), and probably knows the family. I would bet Diamond was the target and King was collateral damage, or King was the target and Diamond was killed because she could have identified them. I would doubt they were targeted together.

However, have we heard from LE that they agree with the family's assessment that they probably left the house together?? I'd like to know what LE thinks.

You are thinking very much like I am. I hope your first scenario is correct and they are being harbored by someone they know to protect them from something we don't know about. If not, I also agree with your second assessment, I posted something similar, I think one was targeted and the other was in the way (or a liability as a witness), I mean this would have been a very easy situation for someone to take advantage of. I've known a few people with lowered mental capacity and they can be very trusting of people and would be very easy into manipulate or lure somewhere if they wanted something. I'm curious as well what LE thinks about them having left together. I'm thinking that makes the most sense, especially if she liked to go play with him, maybe they just started out thinking they could sneak out to the park or something. I think the odds of them waking up (or getting up if not actually asleep) separately, but both leaving the house and disappearing is pretty unlikely. I don't think Diamond did anything nefarious at all by leaving with the boy, but I think it ended up getting them both in trouble.

The bolded (bbm) could be a possibility ... but while I could see someone not involving DCFS with Diamond due to her age, it would absolutely blow my mind if someone took King with the idea of protecting him and *didn't* contact DCFS. But at the same time, there are people with genuine distrust of DCFS who might want to avoid them altogether. And they may believe that an informal custody change isn't that big of a deal. Wouldn't King at some point need medical care? Vaccinations or WBVs? Informal custody isn't going to hack it at that point.

It's possible that Diamond and King left together (to go on a walk, ice cream truck, what have you) and had an accident of some kind. I remember driving through Gary as a kid, and it was a tough city even back then. Maybe King darted off or Diamond got lost trying to find him. *Someone should have stumbled across them, though! And even if they weren't aware that these two were missing, the pair themselves would have given off HUGE red flags.

I can see them having an accident of some kind -- being hit by a car (train? light rail? Do they have those in Gary?) without anyone knowing (or, in the car scenario, someone covering it up). Falling into a basement in an abandoned house. Getting stuck somewhere (again, maybe abandoned house). Meeting with foul play after leaving the house. Being lured for nefarious purposes after getting lost. I'm afraid the odds of a happy ending are low, but I keep Shawn Hornbeck in my mind and remember his miracle. Maybe there's another miracle for Diamond and King.

I really hope you are right, and we've seen weirder things I suppose, but I think foul play or them somehow getting stuck in an abandoned building is the most likely, or it makes no sense that no one would have seen this pretty visible pair. Maybe they went into part of a building that had a door that automatically locked them in, or they were otherwise trapped, other than foul play that's all I can imagine. I could see one of them being hurt in an accident but in a city like Gary I can't imagine someone staying hidden from an accident for this long now. Now if someone purposely hid them, that's a different story.

I am hoping against hope but I just can't come up with many scenarios that seem hopeful. I will just keep hoping it's the first thing and somehow someone in the family or a family friend is keeping them and trying to protect them from something we don't know about.

Its very confusing!
Her FB says she graduated High School! How could someone with the mentality of a 7 yr old finish HS?

I think she watches this Little one And left with him.
I think some things are going unsaid here.

I rode the bus to school with a girl who was mentally disabled, and she did have the mentality of a child, but she finished high school. She had a special curriculum. I don't know exactly how it works but it's not like she was really going to be able to go to college with that diploma because she couldn't have passed entrance/competency exams or pre-college level classes. I think it's something they do for a modified workload that is fit to their abilities. This girl ended up working with my grandmother in the kitchen at the technical college and even years later she still acted the same way she did on the bus to school, when she was 19, I was 15, and she acted like she was less than 10.

 

[Eileen730]

Something bothers me about NAP time.

 

[TxJan1971]

Something bothers me about NAP time.

Let me see what I have thus far regarding that specific timeframe. It would be helpful to narrow down or clarify the timeline there.

I seem to recall there was a discrepancy in the time reported in different media articles, but I want to go back and check.

Regardless of nap time, keep in mind that it was reported that dogs tracked scent 1 mile from home to the Railroad tracks and lost scent there and then on Wednesday a bloodhound tracked to the gas station and lost scent. I "believe" this was two separate dogs scenting either Diamond (or the two of them).

Could that scent be from a previous walk? I don't know! If it's a current scent, then nap time doesn't matter. If the dog could have been tracking a previous, old scent, then I don't know...!

Just keep it in mind as we discuss further.

JMO, IMOO, etc. etc.

 

[perfectingpink]

Let me see what I have thus far regarding that specific timeframe. It would be helpful to narrow down or clarify the timeline there.

I seem to recall there was a discrepancy in the time reported in different media articles, but I want to go back and check.

Regardless of nap time, keep in mind that it was reported that dogs tracked scent 1 mile from home to the Railroad tracks and lost scent there and then on Wednesday a bloodhound tracked to the gas station and lost scent. I "believe" this was two separate dogs scenting either Diamond (or the two of them).

Could that scent be from a previous walk? I don't know! If it's a current scent, then nap time doesn't matter. If the dog could have been tracking a previous, old scent, then I don't know...!

Just keep it in mind as we discuss further.

JMO, IMOO, etc. etc.

The gas station. eeriemma posted this article on page 3 of this thread. I wonder if this gas station was one of the ones Diamond had taken food from in the past.

August 24, 2015-Lake County Police have recovered a hard drive which Eugene Bynum believes may be crucial in the search for his daughter and grandson. Diamond Bynum and her nephew, 2 year old King Walker, went missing at approximately 11:00 a.m. on July 25. According to Mr. Bynum, dogs were used to track the scent of the duo and they stopped tracking near a GoLo gas station at the corner of 11th and Clark Road in Gary. Mr. Bynum believes that the computer at the gas station may contain footage of his daughter and grandson. Bynum says that police requested the video on several occasions and the gas station owners refused to turn it over. The situation gets dicey after that. The video of July 25, 2015 has been recorded over. The system at the gas station holds video for ten days due to storage limitations.

http://nwigazette.com/2015/08/police-retrieve-hard-drive-in-diamond-bynum-king-walker-case/

 

[perfectingpink]

Also, This second paragraph really concerns me!

The Gazette spoke via telephone with a man claiming to be the owner of the station. He stated that police had viewed the video on three separate occasions. A man named “Mike”, who stated he was the manager of the station, told us that the police never requested the video and never viewed it. Police sources confirmed that the video was requested within the ten day time frame but police were told to come back and only later learned that the video had been deleted. Now it will be up to computer experts to determine if any data can be recovered

http://nwigazette.com/2015/08/police-retrieve-hard-drive-in-diamond-bynum-king-walker-case/

 

[TxJan1971]

As far as time discrepancies out there in either SM or MSM, here's what I have thus far. (I am still looking for a statement from LE or a direct quote from someone about the time they went missing to add).

First, the last time I tried to include a media statement and link to the family's Donation site, WS blocked that link so I won't try to post it again. However, if you go to the family's FB page for Diamond and King, there should a be a link to the $ page. On there it is stated that they went missing at 10:00 a.m. which is one hour earlier than when it was reported in MSM when MB woke up. (However, I can't remember off the top of my head if it is stated who created that page and/or whether or not the time indicated is accurate - keep that in mind).

Here in MSM it says MB woke up at 11:00:

EB said his wife, SB, was at the home in the 500 block of Matthews Street, on July 25 when he went to work. SB said she put Diamond and King down for a nap and fell asleep too. When she woke up at 11 a.m., she noticed the pair were gone, reports the Chicago Tribune.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...ary-missing-bynum-st-0804-20150803-story.html
--
On a separate note, I think it was questioned before about the living arrangements, etc. and I was looking for the link which states AW dropped off King and the reasons, etc. From the same link posted just above, is the info. I wanted to share. It would be helpful to know if AW dropped him off Friday night vs Saturday morning and what time. (They went missing on Saturday.)


Walker, 25, said she dropped King off to see his two favorites — his grandfather, Eugene Bynum, 46, and his aunt Diamond — on July 24, which she said she does almost every weekend so she can attend cosmetology classes Saturdays in Chicago.