GUILTY MT - Sherry Arnold, 43, Sidney, 7 Jan 2012 - #2

[bdawk20]

Sherry has not been confirmed dead by LE to the media or the public. They have apparently told Sherry's family and employer that they do not believe she is alive.

Two as yet unamed men have been charged with aggravated kidnapping and are being held in the Williams County Jail in Williston, ND.

OHHHHH.....Thanks for the update liltexans!

 

[~n/t~]

Well...it is the Daily Mail...JMO

Did you read the article? They quote Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser

How about ABC News?

The mayor of a small Montana town where a teacher vanished and has been declared dead appears to blame an influx of oil workers for the crime.

Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser spoke darkly of oil workers since Arnold was determined to have died.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/montana-mayor-blame-oil-workers-death-missing-teacher/story?id=15361735

 

[CBTampa]

Here's another "clear as mud" article:

DiFonzo told the Herald he did not acknowledge that report but said he only believed there were two men being held and directed the Herald to speak to jail officials.
Officials there are not confirming, nor is the FBI, only saying that "the investigation is ongoing."
For clarification, law enforcement never publicly confirmed Arnold's death; only the school district and family. DiFonzo did not confirm to the Herald Saturday morning reports of Arnold being killed by a vehicle as reported by other media.

http://www.willistonherald.com/news...cle_e87b4418-3f09-11e1-84e4-0019bb2963f4.html

Then this article makes it more confusing. Did they charge two men or did they not? Do they know anything that is concrete. Oh my. IMO

 

[CBTampa]

I've been gone all day, so let me get this straight....Sherry is confirmed dead, but they do NOT have her body? And we still don't know anything about who is responsible other than a rude assumption by the mayor? Do we know what happened to her yet....my guess is no?

My guess is that you know as much as everyone else without reading anything. IMO

 

[~n/t~]

What an ignorant thing for the the mayor to spew. If and when it's proven that an oil worker wasn't involved, he'll apologize, right? Well....if I'm an oil worker, too late. I wouldn't spend another dime in that town! I bet the good mayor doesn't turn down any tax money the oil co. pays! Sorry for the rant, but my husband has been an oil man for almost 40 yrs. I despise ignorant comments by people like this mayor. :furious:

Not only does he blame the oil workers but check this out.

"We own the day," Smelser said. "They own the night. Unfortunately, Sherry was running in the early hours of the morning."

Say whaaaaaat? :furious:

 

[liltexans]

The mayor really needs to stop talking. Seriously.

 

[cluciano63]

Did you read the article? They quote Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser

How about ABC News?





http://abcnews.go.com/US/montana-mayor-blame-oil-workers-death-missing-teacher/story?id=15361735

I was just referring to the sensational headline, that's all...not that he did not say it. JMO
(And for the record ABC tends to be pretty sensational and not always factual in crime cases, JMO)

 

[~n/t~]

Are we to assume the suspect (s) are oil workers?

 

[Darcyline]

I understand the Mayor of a small town reacting against an act of crime like this, but in general I think it is better not to attack a huge group of people most of which are probably decent human beings. The "oil workers" didn't kill Sherry-one or two of them might have.

 

[liltexans]

Are we to assume the suspect (s) are oil workers?

I'm not making that assumption. Based on his ignorant comments, I'm just as inclined to think they're vampires.

I really doubt the mayor has much more information than we do.

 

[SmoothOperator]

Just talking out loud some of my thoughts here.. For me, personally I feel very secure that Sherry is in fact deceased for certain.. Why I believe this so strongly tho, we've yet to have it confirmed to us, the public or media is for the obvious reason.. Of course, that being that the family was contacted Friday before 9am and told their missing loved one was in fact deceased.. That we know for certain, but beyond that we know nothing.. While I feel pretty confident that the family received much more information and pertinent details regarding their loved ones death than what we have or know(which is flat zero, nil, none).. While I'm fairly confident in that What doubt I have I pray I'm wrong about and that for reasons unbeknownst to us at this time we, the public are not privy to neither the info (that I pray to God this family did in fact receive yesterday from LE officials).. Nor even a simple confirmation of the fact that Sherry is deceased.. Yes, frustrating and at this time nonsensical I do have to just truly be patient and trust that officials have EXTREMELY GOOD reason for why they are choosing or having to leave these details unconfirmed to the public or media..

But after the family's early morning confirmation of whats been their very worst fear coming to fruition its really what it seems offocials did next that leaves me scratching my head with the most questions of WTH? And thats with officials following their early morning talk with Sherry's family their next move is really baffling to me in that they proceeded to make a phone call at 9:30am yesterday, Friday the 13th morning to the Sidney Public School District where we know at minimum they were told that Sherry Arnold was in fact deceased.. Obvious too IMO is that upon alerting the Public School Distict that Sherry was deceased they were not told to keep this info to themselves or anything similar of that nature due to the school districts then alerting the school of Mrs. Arnold's death and a decision to end the school day early along with canceling all school related weekend activities and replace them with an immediate memorial service to be held at the school that evening(that from the few accounts that I've read was seemingly open to the public, if not encouraged).. As I understood it to be a very special and appreciated coming together for the school, the community, and many leaders of the community as well..

It is that knowledge of those events that for me solidify not only that Sherry is in fact deceased but that obviously IMO there is knowledge which IMO must in some way confirm this.. So, while I understand and find it "usual" or rather NOT UNusual for officials to have gone to the family, specifically and shared this information that their loved one is deceased.. That IMO is not unusual in the least.. It's that officials then followed up with releasing it certainly appears to be that same important information to the town's PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT and allowed them to then share that info with all administration, staff, faculty, students, and parents as well.. It is that which makes me scratch my head because it certainly seems to me that in doing so the officials have essentially shared this extremely important information regarding Sherry Arnold with a pretty large percentage of the community in their doing so.. And then for reasons unbeknownst to the remainder of citizens of the community they at this time are left unknowing of what has become of Sherry Arnold.. That is very strange to me.. And that's where I'm left head scratching?!? Just can't make any sense of it.. Why would officials go thru the process of announcing Sherry's death to just "some of the community" and not to the rest of the community and public as a whole?? In their choosing to contact the city of Sidney's "PUBLIC" School District and release such vital information regarding even confirmation of death they must realize that it causes much questioning of exactly WTH is going on.. So, it's that choice made by officials that I guess leaves me the most baffled and at this point pretty much nonsensical(tho I fully realize and respect that there is very likely very good reason with which they are having to proceed this way AT THIS TIME).. And as I said I'm truly just typing out some of my thoughts on this matter..

Whatever is the case I do feel certain that she in fact deceased and am fairly certain that they must have definite evidence of her death in order for their to have taken the announcing of such to family and half of the Sidney community.. The schools following thru with the memorial does solidify those as facts for me(as I feel as tho if officials had somewhat questioned the validity of what they shared with family and the school district regarding Sherry's death.. If something had arisen or come to their attention that in any way caused them to doubt what they'd stated and released I feel as tho there would have been no way in hell they'd have allowed for that memorial to take place last night but rather forced a postponement)..

For now I must work on my patience and wait patiently for this to conclude as officials are so desiring for it to(as in IMO finding and recovering Sherry's body).. For whatever reason I do feel as tho that's not gonna be too far off in the future.. Atleast that's what I'm hoping and praying is the case.. Most of all for this family to atleast receive some modicum of closure thus beginning that long hard road to grieving their loved one, Mrs. Sherry Arnold..

 

[GrainneDhu]

I'm thinking that if they found lots of blood in the perps car, and got a confession from one of them, they might have declared it a murder. But perhaps that was the one who was dropped of in ND,while the other one was to dispose of the remains. And maybe he is not talking, yet. >??

Or maybe, as in several cases I can recall, whoever disposed of the remains just isn't able to give a good enough description of where they were placed.

There was a case, several years ago, of a father who parentally abducted his two children, killed them, then hit I-80. He stopped at some point between Indiana and Coralville Iowa and buried their bodies. After he was caught, he gave a description of the burial site... but that description fit literally dozens of exits along his route. The description included stuff like buildings and powerlines and vegetation but he didn't remember the exit number or even which state he was in.

And then he committed suicide in prison.

The children were finally found by a woman who was deliberately checking out places that she knew of that fit the description. She took her Boxer with her and the dog went to a certain spot and started digging.

The high plains area of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakot are vast and, to someone not intimately familiar with the area, difficult to describe any single spot accurately.

 

[GrainneDhu]

If Shirley's family and the school were informed that she was dead, then why hold that information from the public? That leaves the question of HOW do they know she is dead? Even if the perps told them this, it still has to be confirmed by evidence before it will hold up in court. If they can charge them with aggravated kidnapping, what evidence do they have to prove that, but not murder?
This is not making sense to me.

One way LE may believe she is deceased without the body is if one or both men have confessed and there is enough blood or other DNA evidence in their vehicle to substantiate that Sherry Arnold was in the vehicle.

Until they have her remains, I imagine they want to stick to charges that can actually be proven in court. As has often been said, there's no statute of limitations on murder, so they don't need to be in a hurry to charge them with more than can actually be proven right now.

 

[SuziQ]

Not only does he blame the oil workers but check this out.



Say whaaaaaat? :furious:

I think and JMO, and from chatter posted on the internet, that the sudden influx of oil workers to the area has brought problems to the surrounding towns and Police Depts. IMO, there were some serious clashing going on before Sherry disappeared. It will be interesting to see if these two men are oil workers. Heck, I'd be glad to know their names!

 

[KellysGal]

This is all a big mess with all everyone saying something different some people are confirming things and other people will not confirm the same information.... I wish that this was all a made up story because she saw something on her run and went to the police and had to be put into witness protection or something like that... :-( I think the mayor needs to stop talking cause either he will ruin a case if they are oil workers and he lets to much info out.... or he is going to need to issue an appoligy if they are not oil workers... maybe they are some of his law abiding registered sexual predators? seems like that town has a bunch of them.....
JMHO

 

[GrainneDhu]

Yep, that's a regurgitation of the abc.com article I posted in the second post of this thread. My jaw kind of dropped when I read that quote from the Mayor too. Talk about tactless.

It read to me like someone who has been frustrated for a long time.

I live outside a town of 6000 people. If there were a sudden influx of 1000 people, mostly men, without any ties to the community, without permanent housing and possibly without any plans to put down roots in the community... well, that's a classic set up for a rise in crime.

I've read other articles that have said that Sydney is experiencing a rise in crime.

And if the mayor has been trying to call people's attention to a growing problem without success...

Well, he just sounds very frustrated to me.

 

[liltexans]

Yes, the mayor is frustrated, but it's a really bad idea to make blanket accusations against a group of people (unless the group is registered sex offenders, and then by all means, have at it).

So far LE has not stated or implied to the public that oil workers were to blame for Sherry's disappearance. I think the mayor might also do well to remember that the oil industry is revitalizing the economy in his neck of the woods right now.

 

[GrainneDhu]

What an ignorant thing for the the mayor to spew. If and when it's proven that an oil worker wasn't involved, he'll apologize, right? Well....if I'm an oil worker, too late. I wouldn't spend another dime in that town! I bet the good mayor doesn't turn down any tax money the oil co. pays! Sorry for the rant, but my husband has been an oil man for almost 40 yrs. I despise ignorant comments by people like this mayor. :furious:

How do you know the town of Sydney is getting significant amounts of tax revenue?

From what I'd read previous to this case, there's been a massive shortage of housing throughout the Bakken oil basin. Oil workers are snapping up housing as far as 100 miles from where they are working.

And other towns throughout Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota are experiencing huge rises in crimes like drugs, DUI, assault and, yeah, even murder. When crime rates have been stable for decades and then suddenly rise after a big influx of oil workers, well, that's really suggestive. And then if oil workers are actually found to be guilty of many of those crimes...

If the town isn't getting oil revenues, they may not be getting enough in increased taxes to meet an increase in demand for services like law enforcement.

 

[katydid23]

We have had a rash of Hit and Runs, unfortunately. Several of them were found to be done by illegal aliens with no valid driver's licenses. So now, whenever thereis a hit and run, people assume it was done by an illegal alien with no license. It is unfair and rude to make that assumption, but it does have a historical source for reference.

 

[liltexans]

Town grieves over loss of Sherry Arnold

Officials said the investigation is rapidly moving forward. Police said they received information about the two men in connection with Sherry Arnold's disappearance from an anonymous phone call to the Sidney High School at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/Town-Grieves-Over-Loss-of-Sherry-Arnold-137358313.html