The Springfield Three--missing since June 1992 - #6

[CanManEh]

That's my point...all the more reason to bring in CADAVER dogs to see if they react on the spot in question.. You would have to admit that if you work the dogs around the whole parking lot and they pick the exact spot that people believe is the spot where they are buried if the dogs sit on that piece of the parking lot that's solid reason to dig..

 

[HauntsForHope]

I just watched this story on Netflix, the ID Disappeared series. My gut reaction is that the mother was the intended target early that morning. The girls weren't supposed to be there. Everyone was in bed. The porch light broken and the bulb loosened to darken the porch in the pre-dawn hours. Mother answers a knock at the door and is pushed in and taken by surprise. The girls are woken by a gunman and all three lead out of the house at gunpoint in the clothes they were sleeping in. Raped, murdered and disposed of. The parking garage may be a red herring. LE likely ruled it out based on knowledge being withheld. Otherwise it would have been no big deal to dig it up. I believe LE has a strong POI but no evidence to connect him. Without a solid tip or confession, it will likely never be charged.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Excellent synopsis except I would tend to believe the globe surrounding the bulb was knocked off at the time the victims were taken from the house. I certainly agree that the police have a strong POI and there is more likely than not at least one other individual involved. Not sure about Sherrill answering the door without knowing who it was. My personal belief is that the perp was known to her.

What do you think the motive was? Why her? Why this house?

 

[monkeymann]

Excellent synopsis except I would tend to believe the globe surrounding the bulb was knocked off at the time the victims were taken from the house. I certainly agree that the police have a strong POI and there is more likely than not at least one other individual involved. Not sure about Sherrill answering the door without knowing who it was. My personal belief is that the perp was known to her.

What do you think the motive was? Why her? Why this house?

Ok, Lets run with that one. There could have only been a "Limited Number" of people who have been known to Sherrill.

If that were true, I think Steve Garrison couldn't have been the one she knew. But it may have been an acquaintance of Steve Garrison's though. Someone who was hanging out with Garrison around that time. Someone who knew Suzie. Which might fit the FBI profilers theory that one of the people involved didn't know what was going to happen, was scared of another person in the group.

Just an idea.

Other than that......there is a very limited number of people, at least as it pertains to the "Usual Suspects in the 3MW case", who would have fit the category of, "Someone who was known to Sherrill".

Any ideas?

 

[former central time]

I just watched this story on Netflix, the ID Disappeared series. My gut reaction is that the mother was the intended target early that morning. The girls weren't supposed to be there. Everyone was in bed. The porch light broken and the bulb loosened to darken the porch in the pre-dawn hours. Mother answers a knock at the door and is pushed in and taken by surprise. The girls are woken by a gunman and all three lead out of the house at gunpoint in the clothes they were sleeping in. Raped, murdered and disposed of. The parking garage may be a red herring. LE likely ruled it out based on knowledge being withheld. Otherwise it would have been no big deal to dig it up. I believe LE has a strong POI but no evidence to connect him. Without a solid tip or confession, it will likely never be charged.

Good summation, Haunts...

That’s pretty much where the consensus is, but two points.

1. The ‘dig issue’ is really a lose/lose for LE. While they may have harder information to make a pass on this, I wouldn’t be too warm and fuzzy over the method it was explored (psychics). Further, digging would be opening up a whole new can of worms. If it’s a dry hole, then every crackpot/foilfolk will be jumping on LE with their theories to 'look into.’ If it does turn out to be related to this case *gasp* or some ‘unidentified other(s)’ now there’s some ‘splaining to do,’ and a PR nightmare. As I understand, the ground scan merely indicates there’s something biological buried underneath. Could be a wild animal that was buried there ten years before the parking lot was constructed, for all we know.

2. In this consensus of attack, there are two subcamps. One believe it was stranger/opportunity, the other, acquaintance driven. I’m not throughly convinced either way, both make strong cases. The ‘stranger attack,’ generally sounds as it occurred earlier at night, as a simple opportunity. I don’t know if the attacker(s) were interrupted by the girls arriving home later. Or, if the girls arrived to a completely empty house, and were then ‘picked up’ by the returning perps. Without question, it could have all happened at once, but would perps pick out of random a house with three cars sitting outside ? The acquaintance side, in theory, should leave footprints, known associations/circle or friends and so on. Given the time which has passed, any, however loosely, associates have been able to cover their tracks pretty well. While possible, the appeal of ‘acquaintance attack’ just makes a better story.

 

[Jennibee]

It's good to see this thread being posted to again.

I continue to, like all of you, be extremely frustrated and baffled by this case. Everytime I think of a 'probable' scenario I think of some other details which blow it out of the water.

Having read extensively on the forums related to this topic, JMO, I believe the perp(s) were known to the women. The poster before me (apologies, didn't note the name), made a good point regarding a random perp approaching a house with 3 cars parked outside. To me that does not sound like something a random attacker would do. For all they knew there could have been 3 burly guys inside.

All JMO.

 

[Vinny]

This case is chilling. I shudder at the thought of what happened to those poor girls.

Unless someone comes forward with information this case is unsolvable imo.

 

[Jennibee]

I really hope not, Vinny Although so much time has passed. I don't see how it could be solved unless we get a confession from someone.

 

[fullmoon]

Having read extensively on the forums related to this topic, JMO, I believe the perp(s) were known to the women. The poster before me (apologies, didn't note the name), made a good point regarding a random perp approaching a house with 3 cars parked outside. To me that does not sound like something a random attacker would do. For all they knew there could have been 3 burly guys inside.

And don't forget there was a dog inside the house, a Yorkie that yaps at the slightest noise or approach from a stranger. No way would a stranger approach a house with a dog barking away. Yes, I agree that the perp(s) probably knew at least one of the ladies, and was at least somewhat familiar to the dog.

 

[ablewasiereisawelba]

I see no possibility that they will ever dig in that spot. Unless one believes in a police department conspiracy they have ruled it out although I personally would have cored it to put it to rest once and for all.

I think they already did a search when the hospital was doing construction a while back. They just didn't tell anyone.

I still suspect the brother, who was arrested for attempted kidnapping in Clark County, NV sometime after the kidnappings.

(formerly Tangledweb...)

 

[former central time]

Found a very odd story, reading another missing person’s case, which folks here might enjoy.

Lady in a small town in Washington State was to pick up her children at day care one day in 1993, never shows up. Missing...feared dead. Boom, suddenly reappears in Southern California in 2011 when she sees her picture in ‘missing persons cards.’ Spooky.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011...-years-ago-in-northwest-found-alive-in-socal/

The story here is a bit sketchy to me. I don’t know if they checked DNA to be certain of this match (only presuming), don’t know how thorough the initial search was in 1993. Very odd for a woman to abandon two children, but many of us heard the stories of women putting their babies in dumpsters for years, so it does happen.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Hi, new to this subforum and thread, and have a quick question; where is thread #3 in the series The Springfield Three?

Also, am wondering if LE are considering Craig Wood's whereabouts at the time of the disappearance of the Springfield Three? (The suspect in this week's slaying of little Hailey Owens, Springfield, MO.)

Craig Wood had recently returned to Missouri State University in 1992 after a stint at a substance abuse program. He was an excessive partier by his own admission, and had to drop out due to that and alcoholism. He returned to MSU in 1992; MSU's Hammons Student Center was the site of the Kickapoo High School graduation that June 6. The girls attended two parties after that, then disappeared after returning to Suzie's mom's home at 1717 Delmar (several blocks due east of MSU).

1. It's not inconceivable that Craig Wood returned to his partying ways upon returning to MSU.

2. Graduation parties in that town would have included older (likely college) kids as they all grew up together, knew siblings of friends, and the older kids were their ticket to the alcohol at those parties. Alcohol was consumed at those parties; in fact, we're told LE were called and broke up the second party they attended, due south of MSU in the 1500 block of East Hanover Street in Springfield. The girls arrived at that location around 1:30 and left around 2 PM. Sometime after arriving back at the Delmar house, they were abducted. Not at all inconceivable that older MSU guys might have attended that party as well.

3. Suzie's mom (Sherrill Levitt) had received a phone call (11:15 PM) after the girls told her they were going to spend the night at a friend's house. Did that person who called Sherrill come over to the house, possibly--for legitimate business (or not)? Sherrill would not have known the girls were also coming to her Delmar house at that point, as they'd already called her and said they were spending the night at a friend's house. So it stands to reason, if Sherrill had a visitor that she let in that night, that visitor was as surprised as Sherrill was by the girls' arrival. (Why was $800 cash in Sherrill's purse?)

4. If Springfield was Robert Cox's hometown, and he returned there immediately after being paroled from FL when his conviction for rape/strangulation of a 19 yr old girl was overturned, he'd have been a resident at a parolee halfway house in Springfield. Would he have had cause to meet Craig Wood, a recent graduate of a substance abuse program?

Source re Wood's MSU college/partying history: http://www.news-leader.com/comments...S01/302190101/Craig-Michael-Wood-HAILEY-OWENS

 

[jggordo]

Is it possible that CMW (with parents) lived at 2283 Mirabeau in 1992? And where does that fir into the map of things if so? There are court records of a will filed in 1992 with Jim M Wood as filing the will in Springfield. According to casenetmo

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Is it possible that CMW (with parents) lived at 2283 Mirabeau in 1992? And where does that fir into the map of things if so? There are court records of a will filed in 1992 with Jim M Wood as filing the will in Springfield. According to casenetmo

We did our will last week which included a family trust, so it's likely that all happened at the same time.

I'll check out Mirabeau on the map. Where did that address come from--the court records?

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

One intriguing thing is that Cox claims to have knowledge of their deaths and that they're buried just outside of Springfield. I can't get the family ranch (just northwest of Springfield) out of my mind. I'm wondering over the years if Wood has had experience burying dead cattle on the family ranch...

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Is it possible that CMW (with parents) lived at 2283 Mirabeau in 1992? And where does that fir into the map of things if so? There are court records of a will filed in 1992 with Jim M Wood as filing the will in Springfield. According to casenetmo

Craig Wood did live at that address in 1992, and so he was within a 20 minute drive of several key addresses:



•1717 E Delmar St, Springfield, MO 65804 = where the 2 girls returned about 2:30 PM and were abducted from, along with Suzie's mom

• Missouri State University (Sammons Student Center) = where the girls' graduation was held that evening (left there around 6 PM)

• 1583 E Stanford St, Springfield, MO 65804 = Wood's current address (and where Hailey's body was found)

• 2283 E Mirabeau St, Springfield, MO 65804 = (Craig Wood's address in 1992, confirmed)

• 1500 block E Hanover St, Springfield, MO 65804 = location of party girls last attended 1:30 -2:00; LE broke it up (drunken, loud); girls then returned to Suzie's mom's home (unannounced) at Delmar address after a quick stop at friend Janelle's enroute

 

[jggordo]

The concerning thing about this perp is that he had all the things to conceal the crime. Almost as if he has done this before. The tote. The duct tape. The several bottles of bleach. No track record but maybe just not caught before.

One of my questions is did this perp have access to large acreage for possible burial? At that particular time frame? JMO

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

The concerning thing about this perp is that he had all the things to conceal the crime. Almost as if he has done this before. The tote. The duct tape. The several bottles of bleach. No track record but maybe just not caught before.

One of my questions is did this perp have access to large acreage for possible burial? At that particular time frame? JMO

Yes, he did have access to acreage most if not all of his life. Of course, that doesn't make a person a serial murderer, but in CMW's case, it should be just one more thing to make investigators look more closely into his past and the possibility of his having more victims (which I'm sure they're doing).

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Hello, MissouriMule. You've done plenty of work, yourself, concerning the Missing Springfield Three. I've been reading your posts with interest. Thanks for coming back in.

I hope the mods can enlighten us as to the missing thread(s). I only noticed a thread #3 missing. But being as how that's in the middle of the bunch, I was hoping to find out why. What is the other thread you noticed missing? (I wasn't here earlier to read or miss it.)

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Bringing this post over from what I posted on the the Hailey Owens thread:

To avoid confusion re his Springfield and Marshfield history, it should probably be mentioned that CMW grew up with 2 area addresses - the one in Springfield on Mirabeau St., and also a larger, rural property in Marshfield on Elm St (which is why he was eligible to attend and graduate from Marshfield High School). The church where he was altar boy (Holy Trinity Catholic Church) was also in Marshfield. I'm guessing the Marshfield address was where the family trotter horse business began (prior to the Ash Grove location).



Between this property in Webster County and the current rural property in Greene County (Ash Grove), there was family acreage (to answer jggordo's question).