TN TN - Karen Swift, 44, Dyersburg, 30 Oct 2011 - #2

[cluciano63]

I am open to this being a stranger or a slight acquaintance, if there is any reason Karen would have gone back out after 1:30AM willingly, which just seems hard to fathom, with a child in distress, etc...

 

[Nana46]

R.I.P. Karen Swift....I did not know you but I feel like I did. May God watch over and bless this precious family. Our community is so saddened by this.

 

[Nana46]

I watched the first few minutes of Nancy Grace tonight, and the intro about Karen was riddled with inaccuracy.

Dyersburg is not exactly a "suburb of the Memphis area." It is 77 miles north-northeast of Memphis.

And the body wasn't "covered with ice and snow that just melted."

The Sheriff said the vegetation hiding the body had died from frost and low temperatures. Think about what happens in gardens and roadsides everywhere after a frost - the summer plants die, the deciduous leaves fall, the grass turns brown, and some plants that seem really big in summer like goldenrod and other weeds collapse when frozen. That's what happened. Whoever put her body there didn't count on that fact.

Thanks for this...I missed NG tonight and I guess now I am glad I did. I now realize how inaccurate lots of her information has to have been on other cases that I sat glued to the tv watching time and time again. After having this happen literally in my community, I know now full well that media sure does screw it up. Media cannot even agree now on tire, tires, slashed, not slashed, flat, not flat,etc. Our LE has kept everything under wraps and are not letting any information out. I really fear what will happen if and when the COD is announced. This is so heartbreaking and when there is no information given out it does tend to cause people to speculate and guess,etc.
I pray if and when they have a suspect that they have all their evidence intact. I would hate to see someone innocent charged for something they did not do. I also would hate to see a guilty person go free.
I really have not heard a lot of gossip about this case.........only on topix and I guess I read there hoping to hear something. That is one place I would never ever post....it is all I can do to read it without losing my cool.
Sad the things that are written that no one can possibly know.
My heart just feels so heavy tonight for this poor family.


ETA: Kudzu is a powerful growing plant....once it gets hold it takes everything with it. As you pointed out before, there could have been a chance she would never have been found if it went much longer.IMO.

 

[otto]

The only reason I'm not inclined to think a good samaritian turned bad did this is because of the jeans and hoodie found. Why would they take those if they abducted her? Also, LE stated the car had made a U turn to park the car heading for home. Will admit...for some reason if it was Mr Hogshooter, I'm feeling he would have taken them. Personal vindictiveness...and more attention to details.

Just for clarification, could someone inform me whether she had her keys with her or were they found in the car...since it was apparently unlocked. TIA Strange to me that someone would leave their car along a hwy unlocked these days.

The hoodie and jeans may or may not belong to Karen. A friend was quoted as saying the clothes belonged to Karen, but police have not said that they were Karen's clothes. Police have only said that they sent the clothes for testing.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

Here, we can see how close she was to the river

Could the river have been used to transport the body? Did the family own boats, have river access via their property, or own additional property on the river? Perhaps friends or family with access to the river?

I apologize, I'm struggling with the maps and can't tell how far the Swift house is from the river.

 

[Nana46]

The only reason I'm not inclined to think a good samaritian turned bad did this is because of the jeans and hoodie found. Why would they take those if they abducted her? Also, LE stated the car had made a U turn to park the car heading for home. Will admit...for some reason if it was Mr Hogshooter, I'm feeling he would have taken them. Personal vindictiveness...and more attention to details.

Just for clarification, could someone inform me whether she had her keys with her or were they found in the car...since it was apparently unlocked. TIA Strange to me that someone would leave their car along a hwy unlocked these days.

To my knowledge Hollyblue, no information has been given out regarding purse, clothes or keys. LE did acknowledge her Halloween costume was in her car. Some folks have stated "her" clothes were found but I really don't believe LE has confirmed that officially.IMO. No information has been given out as to what she was last seen wearing to my knowledge either....that always made me wonder about that.

 

[LindaG]

BBM

I said "likely" eliminates him, I know it doesn't exclude him 100%...

If he did raped her that evening before killing her (this is assuming he killed her) than his DNA will likely be found. I don't imagine he would have used a condom being it was his wife. I think he is going to have a lot of explaining to do if his DNA is found vaginally during her autopsy. The likelihood that Karen and David were still having a sexual relationship after the filing of divorce papers is highly unlikely. I think her friends could corroborate if she was or was not.

In a perfect world DNA would be found, a match would be made and a suspect would be arrested. Whether it is the husband or someone else.

Hopefully we are living in a perfect world for Karen's sake, DNA is found and that person's DNA is on record.

If DNA is found but a match is not I would be subpoenaing DNA evidence from both the neighbors. Mr. Hogshooter and the neighbor that said he pulled up behind Karen's car that early morning but she was not inside. Who's to say she didn't take a ride from him but instead of dropping her off at her house he kept on going to the spot where her body was found?

It is quiet possible someone picked her up from her car and offered her a ride home. There could have even been more than one person, possibly it was a hunter out in the early morning hours. Since her house was on the way to the cemetery where her body was found she could have been offered a ride, abducted, possibly raped, killed and dropped at the cemetery location by a seemingly good Samaritan. The motive for someone to do this would have likely been sexual and I think there would be a good chance DNA would be found than as well.

JMO

ETA: I know it doesn't explain the cloths in the bush. I will have to think about that for a while.

There is a lot of supposition here. Obviously you have put a lot of thought into this. I think if Karen was sexually assaulted, chances are 50/50 it being her husband. Higher, if she never left the house that night. There is also the possibility that Karen was not sexually assaulted, before she was killed.

The neighbor who pulled up behind her on the side of the road was a good friend and was on his way to work. He talked to LE, I am sure if he was late for work by more than a minute or two, that they checked it out.

Karen always had a cell phone with her and could have called for help. Her friends say she would never go with a stranger, and as an avid runner, she would have run the short distance home.

There is no evidence to say that Mr. Hogshooter was involved in any way. He agreed to take a lie detector test, while the husband refused - I'm not sure if the husband ever did take one. Because the couple still lived together, their DNA could still be on each others property, clothing, etc.

Karen's car with tires flat appears to have been staged (moo). Two of the tires had been split and she could probably not have driven them, as such. Tracking dogs did not pick up her scent around, or leaving, the car. Possibly she was killed in the home and the car moved and staged later.

In a perfect world there will be definitive DNA. Many crimes are solved without DNA evidence. in an imperfect world we must rely on other evidence.
moo

 

[otto]

I am suspicious of his story, and of his involvement in her death. It is possible she did leave to get away from him. He admitted seeing her in the early morning hours, so he might have been harassing her and she left and a stranger might have murdered her.

What bad luck that would be! ... she flees from the man she's divorcing and abandons a sick child in the middle of the night only to cross paths with an evil murderer! I don't think that happened, but that does seem to be the scenario the husband would like us to believe.

 

[CathyinTexas]

What bad luck that would be! ... she flees from the man she's divorcing and abandons a sick child in the middle of the night only to cross paths with an evil murderer! I don't think that happened, but that does seem to be the scenario the husband would like us to believe.

No, I don't really think that happened. I do agree with another poster, given the comment about her injuries, it is doubtful he killed her in the home with the children sleeping. There would be evidence if that occurred.

 

[otto]

Could the river have been used to transport the body? Did the family own boats, have river access via their property, or own additional property on the river? Perhaps friends or family with access to the river?

I apologize, I'm struggling with the maps and can't tell how far the Swift house is from the river.

The house is not near the river.

 

[SNOWINMEMPHIS]

I live right outside of Memphis and was born in Dyersburg Tennessee.
Nana46 is so right.
Dyersburg is quite a drive from here. Depending on the route it would take about an hour and a half.
It certainly isn't any "upscale suburb" of Memphis, as the NG shows have said.
Dyersburg is a nice growing town. The Obion River is not really a very large body of water, though I am sure it is navigatable by smaller flat bottom boats and canoes.
I know that logic would be that the soon to be ex did this, but not necessarily.
In a divorce where two people can manage, even under stress, to continue to live in the same house, it doesn't really seem, IMO, that one would kill the other.
I've been thru divorce and when it was filed, the other spouse had to go. That's the usual course of action, even when finances are tight.
I have to give both Karen and her husband credit for trying to keep their family together while going thru a terrible time.
In all fairness not every divorce is a "war of roses".
People change and it's possible that what was ok when you got married doesn't suit you anymore.
Maybe what seemed like love and protection begins to feel like controlling and snooping.
Just saying that for the kids' sakes, I hope the STBex isn't guilty of this.
And may Karen rest in peace.
All jmo

 

[LindaG]

I had hopes that there would be an arrest made today! I had high hopes that local LE had more information and knowledge that we the public did not know about. I really hoped that finding her body would be the final key to making the arrest. I know that was an unlikely scenario, but one can always hope.

I have read several cases where LE has blood evidence or other compelling evidence that they hold on to until the body is found. Little Keisha was one that completely surprised me. The mountain of evidence that they had, and yet, they waited until they were led to her little body.

Please bring an arrest tomorrow. Justice for Karen! Justice for Karen's children and family!

They may have taken DNA or other evidence (hair, skin from under her nails, soil from another location, carpet fibers from another vehicle) that evidence will have to be analyzed and matched, as well. I thought we would have more information today with regard to COD, an possibly and arrest or naming of a POI.

 

[LindaG]

I think that's part of it and then there is the "if I can't have her nobody else will".

I'm just surprised they haven't arrested him yet.

Karens' friends said that she had to live at the house until she could afford for her and the girls to move out. Text messages on her phone told how she was doing landscaping jobs and cleaning houses to earn money. I don't believe the divorce was final or that she had received any money from her husband. moo

He seemed to have money for a nice house with a pool, all-terrain vehicles, trucks, he appears to have been a deer hunter and maybe he was into other sports and activities. He had four kids and it was reported that he did not want the divorce. I think that when some men (talking about divorce/murders) realize that they will have to sell all of their stuff, including the house and give half of it to the ex, plus pay monthly child support and possibly spousal support, they become angry enough to do harm. moo

I think some men may even see this as fighting for what is rightfully theirs. This is jmoo.

 

[LindaG]

If there is DNA under her fingernails from scratching her assailant, he should have had marks on him immediately after her disappearance. Question: was the husband ever examined?

:waitasec:

MOO

It was reported that he was on crutches because he had reinjured a leg which he had had surgery on previously, and I do believe there was something with a facial injury. I'll see if I can re-locate it.

 

[otto]

When I first heard about this case, and learned that Karen had filed for divorce but that she was still living in the home because she couldn't afford to live separately, I was shocked. There should have been an application for interim spousal and child support and she should not have been living in the house. Everyone that knows about divorce knows that if there is a time when violence will occur, even if it has never happened before, it is most likely to occur at the time when one person is trying to leave the marriage. Maybe she didn't have a lawyer and was doing this on her own - hoping that all would be well - but someone should have advised her on the facts and ensured that she had enough money to move out - especially after 20 years as a wife and mother. She would have been entitled to half the value of the house, which would most likely have meant selling the property. Her husband wouldn't have liked that, as he may have viewed everything as his.

LindaG, I've been thinking along the same lines. It looks like lots of money was spent on toys and lifestyle for the family and children and it's quite likely that divorce meant a serious change in lifestyle for the entire family.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

On NG it was stated that her husband had recently got a bonus from work and didn't share with her, thats why she was cleaning houses and doing odd jobs

Thanks for this info, it says a lot.

Did they state when he received the bonus? Once she filed for divorce I believe he would not have been obligated to share his wages with her until the court determined support and divided assets.

Abuse can be financial and used to control someone. Perhaps he wanted to keep her in that house so he could make her disappear. They had divorced before, I read that friends had already helped her financially so she could file for divorce. Perhaps she didn't have any other options or was too embarrassed to ask for help.

This makes me so sick.

 

[dovebar]

Considering that happily married couples most often fight about money and the kids, we can imagine that money and the children's custody were an issue here.

 

[Dewey2Me1MoThyme]

I'd be curious to see phone records of the past few days before and up til the time she left the house. She either had plans to be somewhere early that morning, or she was lured out of the home. If we could answer which of those made her leave, we'd know the perp. MOO

 

[otto]

I'd be curious to see phone records of the past few days before and up til the time she left the house. She either had plans to be somewhere early that morning, or she was lured out of the home. If we could answer which of those made her leave, we'd know the perp. MOO

There is another possibility ... which is that she didn't leave the house, but was taken from the house and left on the side of a road 3 miles from home.

 

[tarabull]

What bad luck that would be! ... she flees from the man she's divorcing and abandons a sick child in the middle of the night only to cross paths with an evil murderer! I don't think that happened, but that does seem to be the scenario the husband would like us to believe.

I have not forgotten the RSO's house is as close to where Karen's car was found as her own house is....therefore, the RSO's house is almost as close to where her body was found.

PLEASE hold the (one tonne) tomatoes.