Found Deceased VA - Nicole Clardy Mittendorff, 31, Woodbridge, 13 April 2016 - #2

[Belle123]

They still had to find her, even if they knew it was very likely that she committed suicide.

They find her car and find the note 4 days after she's last been heard from.

I guess I'm missing why there was a cry for public assistance + press conference on day 5, asking for help finding her yet closing off the trails and refusing volunteer help.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm confused.

 

[RPsleuth]

I moved from Woodbridge VA for 2 reasons: Awful traffic and what I call, the disconnect. People is disconnected. If you are an outsider (which I am) is hard to make friends. It is not only the HealthCare field; DC attracts people that live for work, are materialistic, shallow and disconnected.

Then I went to work (still in DC) meet my fiancé and we have been together for 2 years. We feel the same way about the whole DC area but in my opinion PWC is the worst, also because a lot of people is very racist, sexist etc.

Now we live in MD; I like it better. It is more diverse and where I live people is not as materialistic as NOVA.

JMO based on 2 years in Woodbridge, VA and 13 in NOVA all together.

Where do you live in MD?

 

[RPsleuth]

I'm still very sad about Nicole passing away. I'm sure she was an amazing woman. I am still not 100% she killed herself. It's just hard to believe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Belle123]

They still had to find her, even if they knew it was very likely that she committed suicide.

And they very explicitly did NOT make an appeal to the public. They very clearly said don't come help.

I read "this is our 911" from LE in the press conference as an appeal to the public for help.

Not trying to downplay the tragedy that has occurred, just trying to understand the events of the last week.

 

[Elle*Bee]

IMHO, the call for help was more of a 'keep an eye out' in case she hadn't acted yet. It's also possible that when she initially went missing they were not sure of her location/intent. They may have suspected she was suicidal, but hoped that once she was on the trails and cleared her mind, maybe she'd reconsider.

I personally don't equate be on the lookout (bolo) with come help us search. Also I'm betting there were congruent investigations: one into her disappearance and others looking into her background as well as that of those close to her. We may not be privy to all the facts and we may never know. If her family has answers and no one else was culpable, then that may be all we ever learn.

 

[cluciano63]

I am guessing that while LE had to alert the public that she was missing, they did not want a volunteer searcher to find her body during a search. They knew she was probably deceased but did not say so, in the event she wasn't. They would have been derelict of duty, Imo, if they had not announced her as a missing person, just in case. Assuming this is what happened...from what I gathered. Jmo

 

[Belle123]

I am guessing that while LE had to alert the public that she was missing, they did not want a volunteer searcher to find her body during a search. They knew she was probably deceased but did not say so, in the event she wasn't. They would have been derelict of duty, Imo, if they had not announced her as a missing person, just in case. Assuming this is what happened...from what I gathered. Jmo

Thanks for walking me through the thought process on this...I've realized something about all of this doesn't add up for me.

I won't post any more since this is not a a fact-based claim.

 

[Rixey]

I am guessing that while LE had to alert the public that she was missing, they did not want a volunteer searcher to find her body during a search. They knew she was probably deceased but did not say so, in the event she wasn't. They would have been derelict of duty, Imo, if they had not announced her as a missing person, just in case. Assuming this is what happened...from what I gathered. Jmo

Also, you must remember that the terrain in that area of SNP is very rugged and steep. It is not an area that the average person would be capable of effectively searching without putting themselves at risk. The last thing the SAR folks need is to take time away from their intended mission having to rescue well-meaning but unprepared volunteers.

I believe the requests for the public to call if they had seen NM or had info was in the hopes that perhaps she hadn't gone through with her plans as well as to determine her actions between her final text to her dad and her arrival at the parking lot.

 

[MIKAYOYO]

So incredibly sad. <modsnip> There's no excuse. RIP Nicole. May you rest in peace now. I can only hope others see how harmful words can be even on an anonymous board.

 

[Night Shift]

HI All. I went out to the park yesterday and here's what I can tell you. Nicole's vehicle was found in the upper parking lot of the Cedar Run/Whiteoak Canyon. This parking lot is now closed with Park Police and other personnel to ensure you don't. Only the lower parking lot here and the Weakley Hollow parking lot a little further north are open for those wanting to hike Old Rag. Even though the park posted several trail closures in this immediate are were closed as the search expanded, I found there were others included yesterday. Old Rag Trail is still open as well as the Weakley Hollow Fire Rd, however, they've included Corbin Hollow, Robertson Mountain and the Old Rag Fire Road coming down from the Skyline Drive. Even though the park noted Hawksbill Peak would be closed for planned maintenance starting on 4/20, they have also closed Hawksbill Peak and all parking areas in this are for the search. Skyland Resort is the only thing still open in this area and suspect it's only open for those who have reservations or wanting to eat at the restaurant. The Rose River Trail and Dark Hollow Falls Trail (further south) are still open, but the only parking in the immediate area is the Dark Hollow Falls parking lot. Furthermore, the Big Meadows Field across from the Big Meadows Wayside appears to be closed as they are using it as a staging area for the helicopters being used in the search. I also found a State Police staging area at the lower Hawksbill Peak lower parking lot.

I've tried to read through the whole thread frfom the start but i have dyslexia so please forgive me if my point has already been raised.

PFloydNVa68 states that Nicole's car was found in the UPPER parking lot of the White Oak Canyon Trail I.E. the parking lot adjacent to Skyline Drive . This is the complete opposite to the loaction that was widely reported in the media, the lower parking lot. I.E the parking lot off of Weakley Hollow Road.

This possible error had / has massive implications for the investigation. For a start, the upper parking lot can only be accessed via Skyline Drive and that would have meant Nicole's car must gone through a NPS entrance station. This would offer a whole new dimension to evidence gathering - CCTV, evidence from the entrance station staff, etc etc Plus, Nicole would have been driving Skyline Drive and not Weakley Hollow Road,. which completely shifts the potential pool of people that may have seen the car arrive.

With 100% respect. I am actually hoping PFloydNVa68 has made an error and the car was in fact in the lower parking lot (there are only 2 for the White Oak Canyon Trail) . Because if the car was in the upper lot then a lot of potential witnesses may have been missed and, it is to say the least, an incredibly big blunder by those releasing (wrong) information..

 

[Westcoast88]

IMHO, the call for help was more of a 'keep an eye out' in case she hadn't acted yet. It's also possible that when she initially went missing they were not sure of her location/intent. They may have suspected she was suicidal, but hoped that once she was on the trails and cleared her mind, maybe she'd reconsider.

I personally don't equate be on the lookout (bolo) with come help us search. Also I'm betting there were congruent investigations: one into her disappearance and others looking into her background as well as that of those close to her. We may not be privy to all the facts and we may never know. If her family has answers and no one else was culpable, then that may be all we ever learn.

Completely agree.

IMO the call for help was also had anyone seen her on those trails, that day etc.

I had an old friend who's brother was very deeply depressed. He talked often and openly about his suicidal thoughts but unfortunately just couldn't get the help needed. When he acted upon this, it wasn't a complete shock to the family, it was more of a "when" than "if" situation. Still, when he was found they fingerprinted the car, etc. Even though no foul play was expected.

So in this case, finding just a letter in her car even though it lead them to suicide, I'm sure LE still didn't want to pass over any pertinent information anyone may have had, therefore calling for help.

IMO

 

[otto]

This is horrible. Why in the world would anyone bully her? I suppose only jealous people. This is upsetting. I didn't know this.

This is what we have suspected for days and the bold sentence below is not the right thing to say under the circumstances: to focus on "coping with tragedy" rather than reflecting on the role of the employer and getting tot he bottom of it?

"Concern that Fairfax County firefighter found dead was a victim of bullying

...
In the past several hours however, we have become aware of online message boards in which Mittendorff's name has been used in an extremely negative manner.

Some of the posts purported to have been written by members of the Fairfax County Fire Department, where she worked for three years.

We have been told the department is aware of this online activity, but today they focused solely on coping with this very recent tragedy."

http://wjla.com/news/local/concern-...refighter-found-dead-was-a-victim-of-bullying

Who first became aware of the online bullying and harassment in the Fairfax County Fire Department mere hours before this statement was released?

 

[Night Shift]

I contacted the VA State Police 3 days ago with direct links to the instances of bullying / online harassment of Nicole that I had found during research of this case. I also placed links directly to VA State Police website. People have been sharing from there.

I'm not saying that I'm the media's source but I have tried to get the word out there.

 

[otto]

I hope that this is a ground breaking case in taking action to prevent online anonymous bullying of strangers and acquaintances.

I hope that women in Virginia push hard against online bullying. Policy and legistlation obviously needs to be set in place to prevent anything like this from happening again. That policy and legislation should be considered in a broader context than Virginia. Free speech is one thing, but free speech to the extent of anonymously causing damage to another person's reputation is taking free speech too far. Without legislation, websites owners and host servers will continue to deny removal of slanderous online comments and statements.

 

[wendybtn]

This is what we have suspected for days and the bold sentence below is not the right thing to say under the circumstances: to focus on "coping with tragedy" rather than reflecting on the role of the employer and getting tot he bottom of it?

"Concern that Fairfax County firefighter found dead was a victim of bullying

...
In the past several hours however, we have become aware of online message boards in which Mittendorff's name has been used in an extremely negative manner.

Some of the posts purported to have been written by members of the Fairfax County Fire Department, where she worked for three years.

We have been told the department is aware of this online activity, but today they focused solely on coping with this very recent tragedy."

http://wjla.com/news/local/concern-...refighter-found-dead-was-a-victim-of-bullying

Who first became aware of the online bullying and harassment in the Fairfax County Fire Department mere hours before this statement was released?

Not all sociopaths are murderers. Some are Presidents, some are what appear to be upstanding citizens in their communities. Manipulating others brings sociopaths great pleasure. JMHO.

 

[LaborDayRN]

They find her car and find the note 4 days after she's last been heard from.

I guess I'm missing why there was a cry for public assistance + press conference on day 5, asking for help finding her yet closing off the trails and refusing volunteer help.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm confused.

My interpretation was that LE still wanted to get the word out, in the event someone saw her. There was always the possibility that she had a change of heart and didn't go through with the suicide.

Trails can dangerous and it's not unusual in rugged terrain for officials to want the general public to stay out of the area of the search. They don't need to be worrying about inured searchers as well as locating Nicole. Just my take on it.

 

[LaborDayRN]

This is what we have suspected for days and the bold sentence below is not the right thing to say under the circumstances: to focus on "coping with tragedy" rather than reflecting on the role of the employer and getting tot he bottom of it?

"Concern that Fairfax County firefighter found dead was a victim of bullying

...
In the past several hours however, we have become aware of online message boards in which Mittendorff's name has been used in an extremely negative manner.

Some of the posts purported to have been written by members of the Fairfax County Fire Department, where she worked for three years.

We have been told the department is aware of this online activity, but today they focused solely on coping with this very recent tragedy."

http://wjla.com/news/local/concern-...refighter-found-dead-was-a-victim-of-bullying

Who first became aware of the online bullying and harassment in the Fairfax County Fire Department mere hours before this statement was released?

I couldn't agree more Otto. The county needs to be clear that this will NOT be tolerated at any level, not brush it aside as if it's not a concern at this time.

 

[kaen]

This is what we have suspected for days and the bold sentence below is not the right thing to say under the circumstances: to focus on "coping with tragedy" rather than reflecting on the role of the employer and getting tot he bottom of it?

Yes. And, there are other people who have been mentioned, photos posted, and invitations to join community breakfasts to make contact with these employees. The leadership must protect those others and check in with them to ensure they are safe. With all of the media attention, many more people are reading the posting site which means all mentioned will have a new round of shame, possibly be more humiliated in their community.

I don't think I would want to be a woman in need in their district.

 

[MiniMoo]

Someone put a "Topo" map up or something like that, so I did look at it although no idea of directions of course.

So, the car park is to the South and trail to the North. Must thank you as it does give an idea of the location better. The topo map shows the "steepness" which was hard to picture not knowing that particular place. Easier to picture the trail and so forth now.

Still a very sad loss though and a waste of a young life. I feel deeply for her family at this time.

We don't know the direction from the trail,but based on the terrain it would likely be somewhere East of the trail, as to the west is flowing water that can't be crossed, the trail continues to the north, and the parking lot is to the South. This is a generalization of the directions but the trail runs "generally" north from the parking lot.

There are no meadows or fields in that area of the park. It's rocky, hilly, and thick forest all the way around.

 

[MiniMoo]

Double post.