Found Deceased TX - Michael Chambers, 70, Hunt County, 10 March 2017 *found deceased 2023* #8

[nannymo]

Yes @Soccerfan I realize and I may not live to see the day. I bet there is a particular someone out there that doesn't sleep very good at night. Whoever that person/persons may be, I hope they get a conscious and give it up. Even if it is anonymously they could at least give LE something to run with......

 

[Soccerfan]

As we are coming up on the 7th anniversary of Mike Chambers's death, I was thinking of the top unanswered questions in this case. I thought I'd take a stab at answering them or at least providing a theory.

1. Why was Mike Chambers on the other side of Lake Tawakoni (Rains County) after the Wal-Mart for a brief period of time? This has always bothered me. Sheriff Meeks mentioned in the Disappeared episode that the cell phone data showed that MC sat on the other side of the bridge for 10-20 minutes (something like that) after the Wal-Mart trip. Why? This seems to lend support for the suicide theory because it makes people wonder whether he was contemplating suicide earlier in the day. Fair enough. However, if you think that MC was the victim of a well-planned plot to make a homicide look like suicide, the trip to the other side of the lake makes sense too. It's possible that someone asked him to go there to do something (wait for someone to bring clothes or an item that was left behind somewhere, etc.). That person never shows because it was a set-up and MC goes home to finish his trip. The problem is that his phone now shows him close to the location where his body will end up (which, of course, MC has no idea).

2. How did his body get to the location where it was found? I have no idea but I suspect this was very complicated. It's complicated because the cell phone data shows the phone (!) traveling at 4.2 mph, roughly from his house to the center of the 2-mile bridge. Some people have mentioned a boat traveling at slower speeds so as not to attract attention (maybe close to the shoreline) but I really have no idea about this. It's the biggest question in the case.

3. What do we make of the cell phone data? I'm not sure what to make of this either. The "Disappeared" episode talked about a cell phone expert (one person) analyzing this. I'd feel better if more than one person analyzed the data and came to the same conclusion. I'm pretty sure that cell phone data science has improved significantly in the last 7 years so I'd be curious what a fresh set of eyes on this would say. 4.2mph just seems to be so sketchy. I've always wondered whether 4.2 is an AVERAGE, not the continual rate of speed the phone traveled but I'm not sure I've ever heard an answer to that question.

4. What's with the blood and bloody dowel in the garage? That's simple, in my opinion. Even well-planned ideas can go crazy. It looks like there's a pool of blood but then drops moving away from that pool (toward the door). If MC was bleeding out the ear, then two people moved him toward the door, and that seems to fit the evidence. The bloody dowel was simply forgotten! If the garage was the crime scene (which I think it was), I'm sure it was chaotic and you don't want to get caught and so you want to finish things up in there ASAP! Things could be forgotten and I think that's what the bloody dowel was . . .simply forgotten, left behind. I've always believed that the people responsible for this never in their wildest dreams thought that LE would think that the garage was not the crime scene. I think they were extremely nervous on March 10, 2017, and got lucky when LE started floating theories that the garage scene was staged. The "staged" theory is preposterous for many reasons but the main reason being the bloody dowel. If you want to throw off investigators and have them think that you're injured and wandered off for a 3-hour bike ride, why plant the bloody dowel? It makes zero sense.

5. How many people were involved? Minimum of 2, I think. I'd say there is a 0% chance that it is only one person. What I am perplexed about is how the individuals have kept this completely private. Maybe they have talked to others out of a guilty conscience and maybe LE is aware of those conversations. It just seems very unlikely that the perpetrators have been able to sleep well at night and have not said a peep to others. That's just not how human nature works.

6. How do you explain LE's actions in this case? I'm going to let those from Hunt County and/or Texas offer opinions on this one but I guess there is a chance that someone from LE or someone close to someone in LE came up in the investigation. Setting that issue aside, I think the more likely scenario is simply that this was a sloppy investigation. It doesn't seem like they treated the garage like a crime scene and by the time they could, it was too late. With a national TV show coming to town, I think the sheriff had to come up with a theory for the case (looooong, lonely bike ride then suicide!). That theory might make sense to those not from Hunt County who don't know the distance and type of roads that MC would have had to ride his bike, but I suspect that most people from Hunt County knew that this was a crazy theory. The suicide theory makes zero sense to me for about a 1,000 different reasons.

 

[Hazelnutty]

I was thinking about Papaw Michael Chambers & his family today. I've been hoping more info would come to light by now.

 

[Soccerfan]

Yes @Soccerfan I realize and I may not live to see the day. I bet there is a particular someone out there that doesn't sleep very good at night. Whoever that person/persons may be, I hope they get a conscious and give it up. Even if it is anonymously they could at least give LE something to run with......

I'd bet that there are at least two people who don't that sleep well at night but are at least happy that they committed their crime in Hunt County, which allows them to sleep a little better knowing that the chances they will be brought to justice are lower than had they committed this crime somewhere else. Sorry for the sarcasm but it's probably a defense mechanism to prepare myself for reading the likely statement from LE on March 10, 2024 saying that "it remains an open investigation, blah, blah, blah."

 

[Soccerfan]

Some other questions (I hope some people from Texas can respond):
1. Is this an open investigation or a cold case? I think it's still an open investigation.
2. Can Hunt County ask another LE agency to assist in the investigation or take over? The Texas Rangers, perhaps? Why don't they?
3. Since it's election season and the primary is probably the only real election in that part of Texas, is the sheriff at events with the public and does anyone ever ask him about this case? I know he can't give specifics but it sure would be nice if people pressed him on the matter.
4. Can a special task force be created for this case?
5. This is a comment and not a question but when PI Klein was on the case, I felt good because there was at least one other set of eyes on the case. It makes me nervous when it's just the Hunt County Sheriff's Office. I am not saying they aren't doing their jobs but when people start saying that the particulars of this case might embarrass the county, I get nervous.
6. I saw online somewhere that the spouse of Matthew Hallman, who disappeared in Hunt County in 2011, sued to get the proceeds from the Accidental Death insurance but the insurance company denied her claim because she didn't have proof that he died by an accident. To help her case, she sought to gain access to the FBI's file on her husband's case. Do we know whether the FBI is or was involved in this case?

 

[Razz]

I'd bet that there are at least two people who don't that sleep well at night but are at least happy that they committed their crime in Hunt County, which allows them to sleep a little better knowing that the chances they will be brought to justice are lower than had they committed this crime somewhere else. Sorry for the sarcasm but it's probably a defense mechanism to prepare myself for reading the likely statement from LE on March 10, 2024 saying that "it remains an open investigation, blah, blah, blah."

Hi Soccerfan, I didn't see anywhere where LE will have a statement on March 24, 2024?!! re the Chambers case. I must have missed something. TIA

 

[Soccerfan]

Hi Soccerfan, I didn't see anywhere where LE will have a statement on March 24, 2024?!! re the Chambers case. I must have missed something. TIA

Hi Razz. No, I don't know anything; I just meant that every year on or around March 10, the Sheriff's Department issues a statement that they are continuing to investigate. It's just boilerplate language that LE is supposed to say. It's frustrating since we want something to happen. That's all I meant.

 

[Az2012]

As we are coming up on the 7th anniversary of Mike Chambers's death, I was thinking of the top unanswered questions in this case. I thought I'd take a stab at answering them or at least providing a theory.

1. Why was Mike Chambers on the other side of Lake Tawakoni (Rains County) after the Wal-Mart for a brief period of time? This has always bothered me. Sheriff Meeks mentioned in the Disappeared episode that the cell phone data showed that MC sat on the other side of the bridge for 10-20 minutes (something like that) after the Wal-Mart trip. Why? This seems to lend support for the suicide theory because it makes people wonder whether he was contemplating suicide earlier in the day. Fair enough. However, if you think that MC was the victim of a well-planned plot to make a homicide look like suicide, the trip to the other side of the lake makes sense too. It's possible that someone asked him to go there to do something (wait for someone to bring clothes or an item that was left behind somewhere, etc.). That person never shows because it was a set-up and MC goes home to finish his trip. The problem is that his phone now shows him close to the location where his body will end up (which, of course, MC has no idea).

2. How did his body get to the location where it was found? I have no idea but I suspect this was very complicated. It's complicated because the cell phone data shows the phone (!) traveling at 4.2 mph, roughly from his house to the center of the 2-mile bridge. Some people have mentioned a boat traveling at slower speeds so as not to attract attention (maybe close to the shoreline) but I really have no idea about this. It's the biggest question in the case.

3. What do we make of the cell phone data? I'm not sure what to make of this either. The "Disappeared" episode talked about a cell phone expert (one person) analyzing this. I'd feel better if more than one person analyzed the data and came to the same conclusion. I'm pretty sure that cell phone data science has improved significantly in the last 7 years so I'd be curious what a fresh set of eyes on this would say. 4.2mph just seems to be so sketchy. I've always wondered whether 4.2 is an AVERAGE, not the continual rate of speed the phone traveled but I'm not sure I've ever heard an answer to that question.

4. What's with the blood and bloody dowel in the garage? That's simple, in my opinion. Even well-planned ideas can go crazy. It looks like there's a pool of blood but then drops moving away from that pool (toward the door). If MC was bleeding out the ear, then two people moved him toward the door, and that seems to fit the evidence. The bloody dowel was simply forgotten! If the garage was the crime scene (which I think it was), I'm sure it was chaotic and you don't want to get caught and so you want to finish things up in there ASAP! Things could be forgotten and I think that's what the bloody dowel was . . .simply forgotten, left behind. I've always believed that the people responsible for this never in their wildest dreams thought that LE would think that the garage was not the crime scene. I think they were extremely nervous on March 10, 2017, and got lucky when LE started floating theories that the garage scene was staged. The "staged" theory is preposterous for many reasons but the main reason being the bloody dowel. If you want to throw off investigators and have them think that you're injured and wandered off for a 3-hour bike ride, why plant the bloody dowel? It makes zero sense.

5. How many people were involved? Minimum of 2, I think. I'd say there is a 0% chance that it is only one person. What I am perplexed about is how the individuals have kept this completely private. Maybe they have talked to others out of a guilty conscience and maybe LE is aware of those conversations. It just seems very unlikely that the perpetrators have been able to sleep well at night and have not said a peep to others. That's just not how human nature works.

6. How do you explain LE's actions in this case? I'm going to let those from Hunt County and/or Texas offer opinions on this. one but I guess there is a chance that someone from LE or someone close to someone in LE came up in the investigation. Setting that issue aside, I think the more likely scenario is simply that this was a sloppy investigation. It doesn't seem like they treated the garage like a crime scene and by the time they could, it was too late. With a national TV show coming to town, I think the sheriff had to come up with a theory for the case (looooong, lonely bike ride then suicide!). That theory might make sense to those not from Hunt County who don't know the distance and type of roads that MC would have had to ride his bike, but I suspect that most people from Hunt County knew that this was a crazy theory. The suicide theory makes zero sense to me for about a 1,000 different reasons.

1. As someone who used to live in Rains County and traveled several times a week on 276 to Hunt County, this baffles me. The only reason I can think of is it might be close to the property he owned in the past? But I've never seen confirmation of the exact location of that property, so not sure how far away it is from where his remains were located.

2. I'm amazed his remains were found at all. It seems like the guy who found them randomly stumbled upon them. I saw the pics he posted on FB before they were taken down, too. Very strange how they got to that part of the lake. But Lake Tawakoni is just strange lol. Not the best lake in Texas, and that's an understatement.

3. The cell phone data.....I'm going to go ahead and say that it probably needs to be looked at by someone or some other agency not affiliated with Hunt County or Rains County, as it seems there was confusion about the results when they were first analyzed. I've said this before, but I've never seen someone riding a bike across the 2-Mile Bridge. I'm sure it can be done, but just not ideal, unless you have a deathwish, which may be a factor here. That being said, I can recall 2 times that people committed suicide by jumping off that bridge in the 90s, so it can be done. But those people drove their vehicles out on the bridge and then jumped. Anyway, I think the 2-Mile Bridge is irrelevant here, as his remains were found 4 miles past the bridge, a short walk from the highway. It is an isolated inlet of the lake that seems to be shallow even when water levels are up.

4. No idea. It seems to me to be staged, and poorly at that. Whether MC staged this and committed suicide or it was product of foul play, I'm not sure.

5. No clue.

6. So I have my opinions about LE in HC and RC. There's a lot of "good ol' boys" who work in LE and the courts system. I've heard the rumors about the wife being involved with either someone in LE or a very close realitve of someone in HC LE, but I'm pretty sure discussion on that isn't allowed here. If any of that were true, do you think it would be an effective and unbiased investigation?

This is totally unrelated, but what I do know about personally is, at least in Rains County, the kangaroo courts. I had a lifelong friend who was falsely accused of a very serious crime there and I attended the last day of his trial. He took his case to jury trial, and what a joke that was. My friend will probably die in prison for something he absolutely did not do!! All because of small town politics, he said/she said, petty revenge, the good ol' boy system, and liars.

 

[Az2012]

I know that we shouldn't assume that silence means that nothing is being done but the silence on this case is depressing. Is there ever going to be an arrest? I'd love to know what's going on in this part of Texas. I want justice in this case. It's unconscionable that no one has ever had to answer for this man's death.

Sorry for replying to an oldish comment, but here are some examples of what happens in this part of Texas.

An unrelated unsolved case in Rains County that just floors me:
Dr. George Chronis
Let's not forget Satanic Panic and this absolute miscarriage of justice: April Tucker
Then there's this infamous mess that LE got right: Erin Caffey

 

[Soccerfan]

7 year anniversary today. Let’s pray that the people responsible feel guilty and horrible and that LE can solve this soon. Enough is enough.

 

[Howl]

I've very late to the Michael Chambers death, but I have some questions!

Were Mr. Chambers' remains and his bicycle found on or near the shoreline of the lake or in a wooded area closer to the highway?

The pool level for Lake Tawakoni is reported daily, but I can't locate historical data for the lake level on the date Mr. Chambers was reported missing. The lake did flood in 2018.

I was also thinking about Two Mile Bridge and the phone travelling at about 4 mph to the mid point of the bridge, but no one saw Mr. Chambers on a bicycle crossing Two Mile Bridge, including a work crew on the bridge.

I checked on Google Maps and noticed that the Two Mile Bridge West Public Boat Ramp is just north of the start of Two Mile Bridge.
Is it a remote possibility that the phone was in a boat going 4 mph adjacent to the bridge? Or that Mr. Chambers' body and bicycle were taken by boat to this inlet of the lake and left near the shore?

 

[Soccerfan]

I've very late to the Michael Chambers death, but I have some questions!

Were Mr. Chambers' remains and his bicycle found on or near the shoreline of the lake or in a wooded area closer to the highway?

The pool level for Lake Tawakoni is reported daily, but I can't locate historical data for the lake level on the date Mr. Chambers was reported missing. The lake did flood in 2018.

I was also thinking about Two Mile Bridge and the phone travelling at about 4 mph to the mid point of the bridge, but no one saw Mr. Chambers on a bicycle crossing Two Mile Bridge, including a work crew on the bridge.

I checked on Google Maps and noticed that the Two Mile Bridge West Public Boat Ramp is just north of the start of Two Mile Bridge.
Is it a remote possibility that the phone was in a boat going 4 mph adjacent to the bridge? Or that Mr. Chambers' body and bicycle were taken by boat to this inlet of the lake and left near the shore?

Hi @Howl.
1. I believe that Chambers' remains were found about a 10-minute walk from the highway. I am not from the area but I think it was closer to the shoreline of the lake. Someone else can correct me if I am wrong. Some other person posted in here a few years ago that at or around March 10, 2017, the lake levels were relatively low, which would have allowed a person or persons to take the body and bike by boat to the location, which would then have been under water at various times since 2017. I've heard people refer to this area as a "swamp."

2. The phone travelling at 4.2 mph is perplexing and no one has a great answer to this. It's the biggest missing piece of the puzzle, in my opinion. If you are young and super energetic, you might walk at that speed but I don't think anyone can bike at that speed. The bike would fall over because you are not going fast enough to keep it upright. The bridge is about 17 miles from his house so if you do the math, 4.2 miles an hour gets the phone to the middle of the bridge in about 4 hours. There are no shoulders on parts of the route too. And there was construction on the 2-mile bridge. And I hear that that bridge has a lot of cars. And no one saw him? If a person riding a bike is traveling in the same direction as traffic (which is what they are supposed to do in my state) and there are no shoulders on the road, cars often need to wait to pass a bike rider. I'm pretty sure people would remember a 70-year-old on a bike that they had to wait to pass. Nothing about the bike ride passes the sniff test, in my opinion. Early on, people on here mentioned that perhaps the phone and/or body/bike traveled by boat (it can be accessed at different areas) and that might explain the 4.2 mph and I guess that's a possibility but the problem with that is that on one of the shows, law enforcement explicitly said that the phone traveled the same route it went earlier in the day (from the house to Lake Tawakoni). I guess it's possible the body and bike traveled by boat and the phone traveled by some other means but it's all a mystery. My guess is that the only people who know the truth about that phone data are the perpetrators. Right now, that phone data is what defense lawyers would call "reasonable doubt." Either the phone data will make sense once we know other pieces to the puzzle or the phone data has been wrongly interpreted in some way.

 

[Howl]

Thank you so much for this info, @Soccerfan! I'm all caught up now, but won't stop thinking about this.

 

[Soccerfan]

Sorry for replying to an oldish comment, but here are some examples of what happens in this part of Texas.

An unrelated unsolved case in Rains County that just floors me:
Dr. George Chronis
Let's not forget Satanic Panic and this absolute miscarriage of justice: April Tucker
Then there's this infamous mess that LE got right: Erin Caffey

I never responded to this but meant to. Thanks for posting. The Dr. George Chronis case is fascinating and bizarre. How can they not solve that? And the April Tucker case is depressing.

Also, you had posted that you were not sure how close his body was to his old house location. I could be wrong about this but I THINK his previous house was on Rt. 1403, which is close to where his body was located.
So many things irk me about this case but one thing, in particular, is the fact that he started his day and went to Wal-Mart with seemingly no idea that there was a MAJOR plan set in motion to end his life that day. It's haunting that there were forces of evil at work that day and he didn't know. I guess, why would he expect that?

 

[Soccerfan]

Ugh, it just feels like there is never going to be an arrest or anything. Is there any news? I truly believe that nothing is going to happen unless outside players, e.g, national media, show up and start asking questions and demand answers. How can law enforcement turn their backs on a retired first responder and spew nonsense about death by suicide, etc. What a travesty.

 

[jellybean96]

Ugh, it just feels like there is never going to be an arrest or anything. Is there any news? I truly believe that nothing is going to happen unless outside players, e.g, national media, show up and start asking questions and demand answers. How can law enforcement turn their backs on a retired first responder and spew nonsense about death by suicide, etc. What a travesty.

Honestly, I don't think any outside players are going to come and help. If they were, they would have already do so. It's frustrating, I know. I only hope that the Chambers family has a little bit of peace as time goes on.

 

[mpnola]

I watch all those dateline that years later, a fresh detective makes it their mission to get justice. That is what we need here. Someone official with some determination to get this done.

 

[cryingontheinside]

Michael Glenn Chambers – The Charley Project

Michael’s case has been added to The Charley Project site.


Details of Disappearance
Chamber was last seen in Quinlan, Texas on March 10, 2017. He went to Walmart at 11:00 a.m., purchased some makeup for his wife and some other items, then returned to his residence in the 7000 block of FM 2101 to work in his home workshop where he restored cars as a hobby. He has never been heard from again and a trail of blood spots, confirmed by DNA to be Chambers's blood, was later found in the workshop.

His wife, who last spoke to him at 8:00 a.m., reported him missing after she arrived home from work that night and the house was empty. There were no indications of a struggle, and it's not clear whether Chambers was forcibly abducted or whether he injured himself in his workshop and left seeking help. Authorities stated that the blood trail in the workshop could have been staged.

All of Chambers's vehicles were left behind at home, as were his keys and wallet, but his cellular phone, driver's license and some cash was missing. Investigators believe he went missing sometime between 12:00 and 3:00 p.m.

Shortly after Chambers's disappearance, his wife removed him from their cellular phone plan, sold his collection of restored classic cars, and and had him declared legally dead. She stated she was struggling financially. Chambers's adoptive son had recently argued with him about money, and he was questioned by police and took a polygraph. He passed the polygraph and had an alibi for the time his father disappeared.

Chambers's wife attempted to take a polygraph in her husband's case in June 2017, but due to prescription medications she was taking, the test could not be completed. Authorities discovered she'd had multiple affairs during her marriage; she said her husband knew about this but never confronted her.

Police traced Chambers's cellular phone signal to a bridge on Lake Tawakoni, seventeen miles from his home. The signal switched off at about 5:53 a.m. the day he disappeared. Investigators speculated he rode a bike out there and jumped off the bridge in a suicide. However, Chambers's only bicycle was in disrepair and was left behind at home, his loved ones don't think he could have ridden a bike that far because he had bad knees, and divers found no sign of his body under the bridge.

His case remains unsolved and the circumstances of his disappearance are unclear.

What else was purchased at Walmart? This can show intent and frame of mind. Someone is preparing to end their life and decide to go shopping for mundane items like women’s makeup. Kind of ridiculous. Further, makeup I purchase for myself and never asked a SO to purchase for me. So that almost seems like a request made on behalf of a SO. Was that typical for him to shop for his SO’s makeup? Then maybe when he arrived back home, people were waiting for him within and/or without his residence.

 

[mpnola]

What else was purchased at Walmart? This can show intent and frame of mind. Someone is preparing to end their life and decide to go shopping for mundane items like women’s makeup. Kind of ridiculous. Further, makeup I purchase for myself and never asked a SO to purchase for me. So that almost seems like a request made on behalf of a SO. Was that typical for him to shop for his SO’s makeup? Then maybe when he arrived back home, people were waiting for him within and/or without his residence.

I think it was mascara for her and coricedan hbp for him.

 

[Soccerfan]

What else was purchased at Walmart? This can show intent and frame of mind. Someone is preparing to end their life and decide to go shopping for mundane items like women’s makeup. Kind of ridiculous. Further, makeup I purchase for myself and never asked a SO to purchase for me. So that almost seems like a request made on behalf of a SO. Was that typical for him to shop for his SO’s makeup? Then maybe when he arrived back home, people were waiting for him within and/or without his residence.

I don't think it was typical for him to go to Wal-Mart and buy mascara her his wife on a regular basis. However, based on what others have said, it was typical for him to bend over backwards to make her happy, which would mean that he would do things that she asked him to do. There are differences of opinion of how things went down but I'm of the opinion that when he came home from Wal-Mart, there was someone waiting for him in the garage. Now we just need to get LE to really care about this case (they don't seem to).