Extra information about Brenda
Missing mother Brenda Kerber's case tied to car pulled from Muscoot Reservoir
White Plains police reopened a missing person's case first reported in late 1989
due to the vehicle's discovery. However, Police Chief Joseph Castelli told The Journal News on Thursday morning that he could not confirm if Kerber is connected to the White Plains case or the Muscoot vehicle, citing the pending forensic results of the vehicle.
Police have not yet identified the remains that were found in the car.
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Kerber moved to White Plains in the spring of 1989 from Mount Kisco, according to The Journal News archives. She was last seen on Sept. 28, 1989, by a former friend, who told White Plains police he also talked to her three or four days later.
At the time, investigators were puzzled with her disappearance as Kerber's personal identification papers were found inside a pocketbook in her apartment on Alex Drive in the Rosedale section of White Plains. However, her 1982 Ford Granada station wagon was missing.
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Her residence wasn't in disarray but police said they weren't eliminating the possibility of foul play. Two diaries were located and detailed her obsession with Frederick P. Lenz III, who attracted followers to what he called his brand of "American" Buddhism.
"Pathway to Enlightenment" was a guidebook he offered to followers, who were charged at least $1,000 a month to attend his lectures. Lenz promoted enlightenment through computer programming, and he steered his followers to settle in Westchester County because of IBM's headquarters in Armonk. Lenz had no connection to IBM.
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On Sept. 28, 1989, Bedford Police Sgt. Charles Sammann saw Kerber in her vehicle, stopped in the street near Katonah Fire Station near noon. He said she was lost and trying to find Mount Kisco. He gave her directions and she left, headed to the Mount Kisco residence of her friend Tony Chester at 4 p.m.
Chester, who moved with Kerber from California to New York to be closer to Lenz, told The Journal News that Kerber appeared to be under a lot of strain. The two went to a movie. He talked to her again on Oct. 1 or 2, 1989, about mail he had for her, as they shared a post-office box.
"She basically said don't worry about it," he said at the time. "I took that to mean that she would pick it up later. She sounded like she was in a hurry to go someplace. I figured she was on her way to work."
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Kerber's family placed national ads in USA TODAY, offering a $1,000 reward for information. Her parents, Dorotha Barratt-Knecht and James Barratt Jr., have since died. The two were married for more than 50 years, until James's death in 1998, per Dorotha's obituary in 2011.
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Who was Brenda Kerber?
Kerber grew up in Oregon and married her high school sweetheart, with whom she had a daughter named Shannon. She later divorced and married her second husband, Michael Kerber, with whom she had a son named David.
Kerber's father told The Journal News in 1989 that his daughter was depressed after her second marriage ended in divorce three years prior. He said she sought emotional support, found a religious group and moved to the San Francisco Bay area.
There, she met followers of Lenz and eventually moved to New York City to where Lenz was based. Lenz was the leader of a loose-knit group of computer programmers, largely based in Westchester County, who taught Zen Buddhism, meditation and yoga in what he called "American" Buddhism.
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Kerber's parents last saw her in May 1989 when they visited her in New York City following a cruise from Puerto Rico to Portugal.
"She got involved with this religious group, and the first thing that they put across was to separate from their parents or their loved ones," Barratt said at the time.
Kerber's communication with her parents and children became infrequent, Barratt said.
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Police confused by disappearance
The department checked all local hospitals, airport parking lots in New York City and the county for Kerber's station wagon. They also monitored nationwide teletypes to see if other police departments found the vehicle, Harding said.
Two diaries were found by police, detailing Kerber's obsession with Lenz. Police said at the time that they contacted northern Westchester towns to check their side streets for the station wagon as Kerber was known to enjoy jogging around some northern Westchester reservoirs.
Car found in Muscoot Reservoir tied to Brenda Kerber's case
