TX TX - Houston, MixedRaceFem 15-17, UP10722, 'He Smurfs Me' TShirt, Oct'12 #1

[shadowdancer]

The skull base malformation is very interesting to me. I am no medical expert, but these two possibilities have occurred to me.

1) Brain tumour. Could have been the cause of the malformation, especially if she had fluid build-up. Chemotherapy could have caused the bone to be osteopenic.

2) A Chiari Malformation. Would be consistent with the skull malformation and almost all children with type 2 chiari malformation also have spinal bifida. I think this could very well be consistent with what we know about Smurfette.

 

[ladylolly]

The skull base malformation is very interesting to me. I am no medical expert, but these two possibilities have occurred to me.

1) Brain tumour. Could have been the cause of the malformation, especially if she had fluid build-up. Chemotherapy could have caused the bone to be osteopenic.

2) A Chiari Malformation. Would be consistent with the skull malformation and almost all children with type 2 chiari malformation also have spinal bifida. I think this could very well be consistent with what we know about Smurfette.

My son has Chiari I might be able to shed a little light on it. I think that if she had Type 2, Dr. Derrick would probably be able to see that she had spinal bifida. However, Type 1 or so they classify it as, I can confidently say I don't believe it would be visual externally, ( not saying she didn't have it), if it was, it would only be through symptoms while she was alive. If she did have it, it is very possible she may have had symptoms. Alot of people have Chiari, and have absolutely no clue. I think part of me believes that the skull malformation is facial. Maybe Dr. Derrick could explain? I was possibly thinking along the lines of Torticollis.


* If she did have Chairi, it would be evident through findings of a small posterior fossa.

 

[ladylolly]

Also, just wanted to add to the above. Chiari is essentially when the lower part of the brain herniates down into the spinal canal. A small posterior fossa ( base of skull ), is thought to be one of the causes. So basically, even if she did have a small malformation, it wouldn't be considerd Chiari, unless her, in simple terms, bottom part of her brain was herniating downward. I hope i'm understandable lol

 

[carbuff]

My son has Chiari I might be able to shed a little light on it. I think that if she had Type 2, Dr. Derrick would probably be able to see that she had spinal bifida. However, Type 1 or so they classify it as, I can confidently say I don't believe it would be visual externally, ( not saying she didn't have it), if it was, it would only be through symptoms while she was alive. If she did have it, it is very possible she may have had symptoms. Alot of people have Chiari, and have absolutely no clue. I think part of me believes that the skull malformation is facial. Maybe Dr. Derrick could explain? I was possibly thinking along the lines of Torticollis.


* If she did have Chairi, it would be evident through findings of a small posterior fossa.

I think one of the earlier notes said it was a pathological process? Which I don't think is the same part as the fossa.

 

[EmiLove832]

I think you ladies misunderstood my post about the t-shirt. The two of you (sorry I can't see your user names now!) both said you had Cartoon character shirts/sweatshirts but I think we can assume you aren't 15-17 years old?

I'm using my 15 almost 16 year old niece and her friends as a reference, no way they would've worn the Smurf shirt today.

The older we get, the more we aren't so concerned with what other people think and wear what we want to wear. Most teenagers want to dress "cool".

Also, as I said in my original post, the Smurf shirt with some cute jeans and blue Converse to match the shirt could be "cool". My posting was more about the outfit together, the shirt and the pants.

I'm still convinced Smurfette has not been reported missing by whom ever was taking care of her. The condition of her teeth indicate she wasn't being cared for well or she wasn't taught how to care for her teeth.

Lyssav, I'm curious if Dr. Derrick could tell us if Smurfette were alive today, would her skull malformation and ribs/vertebrae be noticeable?

 

[Lyssav]

I think you ladies misunderstood my post about the t-shirt. The two of you (sorry I can't see your user names now!) both said you had Cartoon character shirts/sweatshirts but I think we can assume you aren't 15-17 years old?

I'm using my 15 almost 16 year old niece and her friends as a reference, no way they would've worn the Smurf shirt today.

The older we get, the more we aren't so concerned with what other people think and wear what we want to wear. Most teenagers want to dress "cool".

Also, as I said in my original post, the Smurf shirt with some cute jeans and blue Converse to match the shirt could be "cool". My posting was more about the outfit together, the shirt and the pants.

I'm still convinced Smurfette has not been reported missing by whom ever was taking care of her. The condition of her teeth indicate she wasn't being cared for well or she wasn't taught how to care for her teeth.

Lyssav, I'm curious if Dr. Derrick could tell us if Smurfette were alive today, would her skull malformation and ribs/vertebrae be noticeable?

I think if the skull malformation was noticeable it would appear in the approximation, ladylolly I believe is on the right track thinking it could be a chiari, the mildest form which most of the time goes unnoticed. As for the ribs and vertebrae she has never said whether or not it would be noticeable to the naked eye. The 11 thoracic vertebrae and 22 rib oddity could also go unnoticed if it wasn't causing any health problems. Which it very well could have caused health problems considering she is missing 2 ribs which are very important when it comes to the organs they house and protect

Just shot her an email though, so we'll see what she has to say

 

[Lyssav]

Asked her about the skull and rib/vertebrae oddity. Also asked if they ever found the remains that were missing to what they believe was animal scavenging

"I think you might be able to see that her head is a bit asymmetrical. Depends on how her hair covered it. The rib and thoracic anomalies would not have been noticeable. We never found the rest of the remains."

 

[Lyssav]

I totally agree that the t-shirt isn't very telling. At age 30, I'm sitting here right now in a mickey mouse t-shirt which I just wear around the house. Also, with her small stature maybe she found it harder to find clothes that fit well and sometimes resorted to less than her ideal choice.

I did some very basic research on the skeletal abnormality and my impression was that it could range from no notable physical effects through to significant disability. But I too was wondering if something happened while she was under care. My hope with that is that if she had a disability that warranted care, social services will eventually notice she is missing. I wonder if they have enquired with local children's hospitals about current or past patients with her condition - 11 thoracic vertebrae and 22 ribs. I'm probably too hopeful because I think they would have followed that up if it were that simple. Iirc her teeth were in poor shape so she most likely hadn't receive a lot of health care in recent years.

I forwarded this post to Dr. Derrick, got this:

"We have not specifically followed up with the individual children's hospitals. We simply do not have enough information for them to search their thousands of database records. However, the "condition" where the number of vertebrae and ribs is reduced by one is only an individual anatomic idiosyncrasy. We see this occasionally. We also see extra vertebrae and ribs"

 

[carbuff]

I need to brainstorm a bit about what to put on a Facebook page.

At first I was going to set it up so the reconstruction is the first thing you see when you get to the page, but then I was thinking, if for some reason her family doesn't know she's even missing, it could be a bad shock to them seeing her like that. Do you think that's worth worrying about?

What do you think should be there besides the reconstruction, the description, and Dr. Derrick's contact information?

 

[Lyssav]

I need to brainstorm a bit about what to put on a Facebook page.

At first I was going to set it up so the reconstruction is the first thing you see when you get to the page, but then I was thinking, if for some reason her family doesn't know she's even missing, it could be a bad shock to them seeing her like that. Do you think that's worth worrying about?

What do you think should be there besides the reconstruction, the description, and Dr. Derrick's contact information?

I think the reconstruction being seen first is MOST important. We want someone to recognize her. A little girl known as "baby grace" was placed into a storage tub an tossed over the galveston causeway into galveston bay and was found by a fisherman. The recon was nothing short of AMaZING, and it went to national news, her grandmother lived in Ohio saw the sketch and immediately thought that's my grand baby, and she was identified as Riley Ann Sawyers. Although, it may be painful, it has to be the route we go.

I would post the namus link, ncmec link, phone number for harris county sheriffs office. Dr. Derricks phone number is located on the namus link but i would add it to the FB info

 

[Houston Mom]

I need to brainstorm a bit about what to put on a Facebook page.

At first I was going to set it up so the reconstruction is the first thing you see when you get to the page, but then I was thinking, if for some reason her family doesn't know she's even missing, it could be a bad shock to them seeing her like that. Do you think that's worth worrying about?

What do you think should be there besides the reconstruction, the description, and Dr. Derrick's contact information?

I think the parents know she is missing. It has been almost a year now.....

 

[Migmuu]

I need to brainstorm a bit about what to put on a Facebook page.

At first I was going to set it up so the reconstruction is the first thing you see when you get to the page, but then I was thinking, if for some reason her family doesn't know she's even missing, it could be a bad shock to them seeing her like that. Do you think that's worth worrying about?

What do you think should be there besides the reconstruction, the description, and Dr. Derrick's contact information?

People are going to remember a picture much more easily than a list of physical characteristics. You only have a few seconds to grab a reader and a picture of someone who really resembles a loved one is the best way to do it.

Also, you need to mention that CrimeStoppers in the Houston area is willing to pay up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest, or at least filing of felony charges. Money makes people talk. The number is 713-222-8477.

 

[Brightbird]

I think you ladies misunderstood my post about the t-shirt. The two of you (sorry I can't see your user names now!) both said you had Cartoon character shirts/sweatshirts but I think we can assume you aren't 15-17 years old?

I'm using my 15 almost 16 year old niece and her friends as a reference, no way they would've worn the Smurf shirt today.

The older we get, the more we aren't so concerned with what other people think and wear what we want to wear. Most teenagers want to dress "cool".

Also, as I said in my original post, the Smurf shirt with some cute jeans and blue Converse to match the shirt could be "cool". My posting was more about the outfit together, the shirt and the pants.

I'm still convinced Smurfette has not been reported missing by whom ever was taking care of her. The condition of her teeth indicate she wasn't being cared for well or she wasn't taught how to care for her teeth.

Lyssav, I'm curious if Dr. Derrick could tell us if Smurfette were alive today, would her skull malformation and ribs/vertebrae be noticeable?

I'm not disagreeing with you about the clothes. But I can see a girl wearing that outfit for a lot of reasons - chosen by someone else, charity hand out, hanging around the house, personal taste, borrowed etc. It may or may not be typical of what she would usually wear. Even people who want to look cool will make exceptions at times, by choice or necessity. Migmuu said she is 19 too, so not far off Smurfette's age estimate.

I lean towards her not being reported missing as well. But as time goes on the more chance she will be missed by someone I hope. My personal theory is that she left a not very good home a while ago and lived a rough life until she died. Which makes me wonder how accurate the timing will be when/if she is reported.

 

[Brightbird]

I forwarded this post to Dr. Derrick, got this:

"We have not specifically followed up with the individual children's hospitals. We simply do not have enough information for them to search their thousands of database records. However, the "condition" where the number of vertebrae and ribs is reduced by one is only an individual anatomic idiosyncrasy. We see this occasionally. We also see extra vertebrae and ribs"

Thanks! I am so impressed by the communication between this thread's posters and Dr. Derrick.

I guess then they don't have strong reason to believe that the skull and spinal abnormalities point to a specific disease and/or that it would have caused much disability. I think if she were physically disabled enough to require care, then that would have been picked up by the ME. So that leaves me thinking that it may or may not have been observable, but she was probably able to look after herself. That's just my layman's perspective though.

 

[Lyssav]

TGIF. Smurf yourself a grin!! Lol. My kids got a new smurf DVD for their birthdays, they keep watching it over and over, so much that the theme song is stuck in my head, and it makes me want to find smurfette even more.

Who are you Smurfette????

 

[Lyssav]

Wow 17 guests!!

Please call Harris County Sheriffs Office to submit any tips, you may remain anonymous

 

[carbuff]

People are going to remember a picture much more easily than a list of physical characteristics. You only have a few seconds to grab a reader and a picture of someone who really resembles a loved one is the best way to do it.

Also, you need to mention that CrimeStoppers in the Houston area is willing to pay up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest, or at least filing of felony charges. Money makes people talk. The number is 713-222-8477.

Oh, good thought! I didn't even know about that.

Hopefully I'll get this put together over the long weekend.

 

[carbuff]

I noticed the staff at Best Buy here wears those cargo-style khakis. The clerk told me, "We're supposed to look like geeks."

 

[Brightbird]

I've spent quite some time looking and nothing is really jumping out for me. But I'll post the ones I found interesting for your opinions. I don't think these girls have been discussed yet, I searched the thread for their names. I can't really get an idea of their teeth from these pictures. Feel like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit here.

1. RUTH VALADEZ. Listed as White but I'm guessing Hispanic with her name. Missing since 2008 from Arlington Texas.

http://www.nampn.org/cases/valadez_ruth.html

http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...TXCH&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

2. GAVIELLE EVON PARKS. She is African-American. Time is a bit out, last seen 12 Oct 2012. Location is off too - Virginia. And she's a bit too tall at 5'4. Face shape looks ok, was last seen wearing tan cargo pants, and in her picture she has red highlights in her hair.

http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...USVA&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

3. PATRICIA SUJEY NAVAS. Also from Virginia, last seen August 29 2012. Listed as white but looks mixed to me, probably Hispanic? She was last seen with brown hair with red highlights.

http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...USVA&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

 

[LucyOso]

Dominique Jones?

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/mpch/mpch.htm