Found Deceased TX - Michael Chambers, 70, Hunt County, 10 March 2017 #1

[Pmerle00]

Here are a couple of more sections of our "case file":

Environment/Locale

 The house is on a rural road – FM2101 outside of Quinlan TX. While rural, the road has a reasonable amount of traffic as L3 Communications has a large facility approximately 5 miles up the road.

 While the area surrounding the house is treed, the house can be viewed from the road and can be seen by the neighbors. Nearest neighbor is [how far]? Can the door to the shed be seen from the road? Would another vehicle be seen from the road? From the neighbor’s house?

 There are a number of houses in the immediate area. Believe some neigbbors were home and outside all day, but not immediate neighbor. There were people fishing (to the south?).

 The sun set at 6:32pm on March 10.

 Weather was relatively warm (mid-high 70’s) on days up to and including March 10 (day MC went missing). No rain in days leading up to March 10.

Victim: Michael Chambers ("PaPaw" to his family)

 70yo. 6’3. 225 lbs. No known medical or mental conditions. Bad knees. High blood pressure. Strong and active. Mentally sharp.

 Close to family. Well-liked and respected. Retired firefighter (Dallas Fire Rescue - 2008). Classic car hobbyist.

 Married. Lives alone with his wife. (Second wife. Married since 1980. Gets along with ex-wife. Works at hospital.) Any pets?

 Known (just to his family?) to carry cash.

 Didn’t talk/text with wife regularly when she was at work. If he did text it was very short.

 Organized in his own way. Creature of habit.

 Friend of Sheriff Weeks.

--
(Again, please feel free to suggest corrections/additions.)

Nearest neighbors: 223 ft to the north or .2 miles to the south or 183 ft to the east (driveway to driveway).

The man-door cannot be seen from the road, the garage doors can.

An extra vehicle would be able to be seen from the road, unless they drove behind the house, which would have left tire tracks, I think.

People were fishing to the south at a pooling area of Little Creek (bridge over 2101, good visibility).

 

[SavetheQueen]

Does Google Maps have a fairly recent photo of the property? Is there someone here who can take a shot, and label it? That way we can have an idea of the layouts of everything?


*All statements are that of my own opinion unless otherwise specified.*

 

[Pmerle00]

I was reading this and it made me think: would he have used the dowel to prop open a car hood?

And maybe somehow it came loose he got his head banged by the hood.

1). Have the hoods of cars been checked for blood? Head wounds can bleed pretty good. Could be he became disoriented and walked away.

2). What did you mean that by keeping his wallet and keys in the same place, it protects his wife? Not sure I understand that one.

3). Did the crime scene techs dust the shed, door handles, light fixtures, billfold? If so were they able to lift any prints?

4.) What did you mean about having to go through a gate to get to the road.

5). Anyplace in the nearby area where he could have gone and not been found and maybe he succumbed to his injury?

6). Someone here asked about your Papaw's hat. Was it hanging somewhere in the shed or does it appear he may have been wearing it. Does he usually hang it up?

7). The deadbolt: did that require another key to lock or unlock? And was it locked when Becca went to the shed.

8). Is he good about keeping his phone charged? Does he frequently run out of juice.

9). Was anyone able to get a ringtone when dialing his #?
When did the phone go dark?

10). Does he have WiFi in the shed?

11). Does he normally listen to the radio or play music while out in the shed?

That's enough for today on my end.


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All vehicles and equipment have been checked for blood - no dice.

I meant that he would have done anything to get out of there quickly with any assailant or perpetrator so they would not be there when his wife returned home.

They dusted the shop, door handles, vehicles, etc. No prints other than Papaw's.

The area that is within walking distance has been thoroughly searched multiple times. If he had wandered off after an injury, he would have been found by now.

Papaw wears a DFD hat - he has probably 20 of them. When he works in the shop, it goes in a particular place, and it was not in that place when he was found to be missing.

I am asking about the deadbolt - I will follow up with that information when I know.

He typically keeps his phone charged, doesn't run out of battery often.

Not sure on the phone questions, I will ask and get back to you with an answer.

There is WiFi in the house, I'm not sure if it reaches the shop, I will ask about that and whether he listens to music while working.

 

[Pmerle00]

Does Google Maps have a fairly recent photo of the property? Is there someone here who can take a shot, and label it? That way we can have an idea of the layouts of everything?


*All statements are that of my own opinion unless otherwise specified.*

Yes - but let me make sure the family, especially Becca, is OK with me posting that online... If someone ELSE can determine which house it is from info that's already public, I don't mind, but I feel obligated to get permission if I'm the one doing it.

 

[SavetheQueen]

Yes - but let me make sure the family, especially Becca, is OK with me posting that online... If someone ELSE can determine which house it is from info that's already public, I don't mind, but I feel obligated to get permission if I'm the one doing it.

Didn't think about that. Probably not a good idea. We definitely want to protect her privacy and safety.


*All statements are that of my own opinion unless otherwise specified.*

 

[Razz]

About the hat. I'm guessing it was missing, no where to be found which suggests he had it when he left. If he had a head wound, would he have put the hat on?

Also, maybe he spent all his cash at Wal-Mart. And therefore none was in the wallet. Again, is there anywhere he may have misplaced his d.l.? Or left it somewhere?

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[samsmom]

I'm going back through some of this today - I have about half an hour right now. I will try to get back on tonight as well. I want to say FIRST - THANK YOU to those contributing to the timeline. That's really helpful, even for ME, to understand the day Papaw went missing.

Hi and thanks for stopping by with more answers. I've read through the thread but can't remember if anyone has asked about the bodies of water close to your Papaw's house. Was he a fisherman? Any fishing gear unaccounted for? What's that huge lake that's pretty close? Was he known to frequent that?

Continuing to hope for the best for you and your loved ones.

 

[ocgrad]

Didn't think about that. Probably not a good idea. We definitely want to protect her privacy and safety.


*All statements are that of my own opinion unless otherwise specified.*

Google seems recent.

 

[Razz]

Does he suffer from nose bleeds?

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[ocgrad]

Google seems recent.

Sorry to reply to my own post. Google maps and street view show the house and shop well.

 

[SavetheQueen]

About the hat. I'm guessing it was missing, no where to be found which suggests he had it when he left. If he had a head wound, would he have put the hat on?

Also, maybe he spent all his cash at Wal-Mart. And therefore none was in the wallet. Again, is there anywhere he may have misplaced his d.l.? Or left it somewhere?

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Good point about the cash. She said that he usually only kept enough for that day in his wallet. Makeup isn't cheap, so him spending it all (or the paper currency) is good thinking.


*All statements are that of my own opinion unless otherwise specified.*

 

[Snoopster]

Thank you again pmerle for all of your comments and answers.

I'm glad to hear that we didn't scare you away!

I've updated the "case file" with the latest information you provided. (Purple comments in the document are the latest updates. Red comments represent points still outstanding.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zmm3bl8q7y6qnha/Michael%20Chambers%20%20timeline%20and%20evidence.docx?dl=0

As always, please feel free to suggest edits/corrections/additions everyone.

 

[LaneGirl]

Does he know the neighbors?
Was he in the habit of walking in the neighborhood?
Did the dogs alert at anything on the property other than the shop?

 

[TSA2016]

Did he take medication daily? If so, you might count the pills and see if he accidentally took more then he was supposed too.

 

[Pmerle00]

Thank you for answering all of our questions, Pmerle00. I know this must be hard for you and your family, but you are doing great!

A few questions:

1) Re: blood. You said the blood was in a trail to the door....Was it more like blood droplets from a bloody nose type thing (straight line) or more scattered in a larger area (spatter)? Sorry

2) You say your PaPaw likes to work on vintage cars...Do you know if he needed parts/sold parts did he use Craigslist or any other online site such as that? Does he have any other side hobbies that he may have sold online to make extra cash?

3) Do they have a computer? If so, did LE check all activities on it?

4) Looking at the maps (although we don't know the exact house) it seems neighbors are few and far between...However, has he had any problems with any neighbors recently? Are they all retired folks in that area? Younger people?

I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks so much for being here. You are very brave. :hug:

I've invited LE to join this forum and answer specific questions. I don't know how much they want us to share about the blood, especially, so I'll omit the answer to that one for now. I'm sure there will come a time where I just say EFF IT and lay it ALL out there for everyone, but right now while LE agencies are active, I want to give them space to do their thing.

Papaw doesn't use the computer for much of anything... He doesn't have an email address, even. As far as I know, he's never used Craigslist at all, but I wonder if there is a way to search archives... Another thing to look into for me.

They have a computer - Becca uses it mostly. LE has taken it, along with their laptop, and returned it already. They haven't shared any of their findings with the family yet.

No problems with the neighbors - all are friendly, and tend to keep to themselves. Since he went missing, they all have really been very supportive - offering to help with searches, food, camera footage (nothing there), etc. I would think if one of them had a problem with Papaw, one of the other neighbors would have said something already. It's a good mix of people - retired, still working, kids...

 

[Pmerle00]

Sorry, but how was he using an iPhone without having an Apple ID? AFAIK you need an Apple ID to operate the phone, even if you don't set up the cloud or billing info you still need an Apple ID.

He didn't install any apps. All of the billing was under Becca's Apple ID. He really just needed it for talking and occasionally texting things like "ok" in response to other people... I am guessing the phone came free with their plan and that's the only reason he had anything so fancy.

 

[Pmerle00]

With my Android, everything goes to Google. Before I could even use the phone I needed an account.

This is a serious long shot but when you download apps, they ask if such and such can see your contacts etc.

Is there a way to get through the back door that way?

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I have an android also, and have a gmail to go with it... Unfortunately, Apple isn't the same. :-(

 

[Pmerle00]

I wonder if we haven't bombarded her with too many questions. I tend to rapid fire them, think about it and then rapid fire again. Probably not a good thing when she doesn't have 1st hand knowledge.

But I think your question is a good one. I'd include what you described
to me in your question to her.



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Not at all! Questions are great. I get online when I can... part of that is that I have a highly deadline driven job and by the time I get home and get dinner made and the kids in bed, all I want to do is read a book or just do something quiet to wind down. The other part, and more of the driving factor right now, is that I go in waves with all of this. Some days it's fine and I pour my mind into thinking about what could have happened. Some days it's ok and I get on here or on FB and answer questions where I can - pushing people to keep thinking and considering and remembering and posting... But I have a lot of days where I can't bring myself to even open FB or twitter or anything like that because it hurts my heart too much - even messages of "hope you're ok" fall into a pit in my stomach and the grief and difficulty of this whole damn situation overwhelms me.

So if I'm not on here, don't worry - I will be back, just gimme a little while. I'm trying to get my dad or LE on here also so they can fill in and answer when I just can't.

I tell you what - I do NOT envy LE folks their jobs. I know it's different because it's my grandfather, but geez - I do NOT know how they push and push and push on things that are so heartbreaking without breaking their own selves in the process. <3

 

[Pmerle00]

Ok. He has wireless. So does that mean he can only use it at home?

If he's out and about, would he be able to contact anyone out of his wireless range?

I have Spectrum (wireless) and TMobile for my cell phone. It switches to wireless at home but when out and about it switches to T-Mobile. When anyone tries to call my landline, I don't answer it but the caller's name shows up on the screen. There is also a caller log on the tv so I guess I could check that to see who has tried to call me via my landline. Is this something that could be checked. Does anyone know?

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I hadn't thought to try to get phone logs for their landline. Let me find out if LE requested that and if we've given it to them.

 

[Pmerle00]

One more thing, and it has to do with PaPaw's missing driver's license.

I live in Michigan, where whenever you renew your license, you are required to provide your signature -I cannot remember if you sign on a piece of paper, or on a tablet screen or something-, which in turn is shown on your license.

I'm not sure if that's the case in Texas, but if so, is it possible someone was trying to forge PaPaw's signature?

A rogue life insurance agent, making him/herself the beneficiary?

Someone trying to take out a loan in his name?

A fraudulent tax return in PaPaw's name only, having a refund check mailed to a P.O. Box using fictitious information? I haven't filed a paper tax return in about fifteen years, but I would think you still have to sign your return unless filed electronically ...?

I am so sorry for even suggesting these scenarios ... and I do think all of the above are extremely unlikely in that any of them would raise an immediate red flag. I just wanted to make sure the investigators are looking at any and all possibilities ....

Our DLs DO have signatures on them. I know they had filed taxes, but I'm checking to see if it was accepted by the IRS and whether they were due a refund. Do you know if there's a way to see if anyone else attempted to file a return under his name/social?

No worries - these are all good things that we can look into.