VT VT - Roberta Martin, 82, neigh went to check on her and didn't find her at home, suspicious, Enosburgh, Franklin County, 16 Jul 2024

[katydid23]

What if the neighbour that lived 75 feet away, was a 'friend' of hers that was actually taking advantage of her, like stealing from her, pretending to be neighbourly.

Lots of elderly people living alone are scammed by 'nice' friends or neighbours, who steal checks, or medications or jewellery, etc.

What if she confronted someone and so they felt the need to get rid of her?

 

[Inthedetails]

Did something prompt the neighbor to check on her? Call from a relative, signs of distress? Did the neighbor have a regular check-in or morning routine with her?

Very nervous to know the other neighbor wouldn't let LE on the property without a warrant. I understand that is a right, but sure doesn't sit well.

jmo

 

[Gobstopper]

Who was she talking to at 11:30 PM on Tuesday? I wonder if she was fearful prompting family to contact neighbor the next morning to check on her.

 

[Inthedetails]

Who was she talking to at 11:30 PM on Tuesday? I wonder if she was fearful prompting family to contact neighbor the next morning to check on her.

LE seems tightlipped, which makes me think they know what likely happened and are gathering evidence to prove it. Sounds like they don't need public input.

jmo

 

[OldCop]

Who was she talking to at 11:30 PM on Tuesday? I wonder if she was fearful prompting family to contact neighbor the next morning to check on her.

I agree. 11:30 at night seems late for a senior to be chatting on the phone unless it is a regular thing. Did she tell the family member she heard noises outside or was having trouble with a neighbor? Did the relative try to reassure her and told her they would call to check on her the next morning; perhaps not wanting to wake a neighbor that late?
If she did call her relative to report something/someone suspicious perhaps, initially, it did not sound like something that would put her in imminent danger.
Did the relative try to call her the next morning and when they couldn’t reach her, did they ask the neighbor go to check on her?
It seems that whatever might have been said in the late night phone call coupled with whatever was found at RM’s home prompted law enforcement to zero in on a particular neighbor.
When a consent to search request was denied, LE said they would obtain a search warrant. They indicated they had enough probable cause to search. That is telling in itself.
This gives me vibes of the ID series, Fear Thy Neighbor. I hope RM is located alive, but I am very fearful for her.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

What are the chances of her being alive since Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. and Thursday at midnight?

Who would take an 82 year old woman out of her house in the middle of the night? A neighbour, a stranger, a family member? How much land is attached the house? Was there a land dispute or neighbour disagreement?

All good questions
..

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Everyone of us is so full of questions??
This is real rural Vermont. So all these neighbors MUST know each other.
But are they also connected family members?

 

[NervousNellie]

Vermont State Police term disappearance of 82-year-old Enosburgh woman ‘suspicious’ - VTDigger

Roberta Martin last had phone contact with her family late Tuesday night and hasn’t been seen or heard from since, according to police.

vtdigger.org

Concerning her neighbor’s house:

Detectives as well as uniformed troopers could also be seen Thursday morning into the afternoon at a neighboring property about 75 yards from Martin’s residence.

“They’re kicking us all out and getting a search warrant,” he said.

Trudeau, speaking later Thursday afternoon at the press briefing, said that there was little he could say publicly about the house next door to Martin’s and investigators’ interest in it.

“I can comment that we’ve seized the house next door, we will be applying for a search warrant,” he said, adding, “We’re applying for a search warrant because we believe we have probable cause to search it. I can’t go beyond that, sorry.”

From the same article (more about the neighbor's house/comments):

[NC], a resident of that home, said that state police were interested in the property after finding duct tape in the backyard.

“It’s like two years old buried in the dirt,” he said of the duct tape found on his property. He said that duct tape came from when he had taped some wires together.

“They found duct tape in her house and on her back lawn so when they saw the duct tape in my backyard, it didn’t matter it’s two years old and buried in the dirt,” [NC] said.

In researching owners of nearby properties, I don't see any that share the missing woman's name (Roberta Martin).

 

[Eli9]

From the same article (more about the neighbor's house/comments):

[NC], a resident of that home, said that state police were interested in the property after finding duct tape in the backyard.

“It’s like two years old buried in the dirt,” he said of the duct tape found on his property. He said that duct tape came from when he had taped some wires together.

“They found duct tape in her house and on her back lawn so when they saw the duct tape in my backyard, it didn’t matter it’s two years old and buried in the dirt,” [NC] said.

In researching owners of nearby properties, I don't see any that share the missing woman's name (Roberta Martin).

A neighbor has commented to reporters and this article might help in your searches.

Franklin County woman's disappearance considered suspicious, police say

On Wednesday, investigators said they obtained information that indicates that Martin's disappearance is suspicious but would not comment further on the evidence that led them to this conclusion.

www.mynbc5.com

For Martin's next-door neighbor NC, the news of her disappearance was shocking to hear.

"For her to wander off like this is very strange," said NC. "She would never go further than the corner down there or the corner here."

Investigators said Martin is 5 feet, in inch tall and weighs 115 pounds with white hair and brown eyes.

 

[Eli9]

Police now calling disappearance of Enosburgh woman suspicious

Police are now calling the disappearance of an Enosburgh woman suspicious, but they aren't yet saying why. Our Cam Smith talked to police and neighbors of Roberta Martin and has the latest.

www.wcax.com

Residents and neighbors we spoke with who know Martin said they’re heartbroken by the news of her disappearance.

“I didn’t sleep a whole lot last night. Worried about her. Yeah, it’s hard,” said JL of Enosburgh. “She’s just a lovely lady. We walk with the dogs, always stop and talk with her on the porch. She’s a great lady.”
..
“This is unlike her normal life patterns, where she is generally in touch with her family often on where she’ll be or what she’s doing throughout the day. We have collected some items of potential evidentiary value, but I again, I can’t speak to those,” Vt. State Police Maj. Dan Trudeau said.

 

[NervousNellie]

Yikes, I searched her name on FB and found more information from family that doesn't sound good. I hope this turns out better than it sounds.

 

[Tealgrove]

From the same article (more about the neighbor's house/comments):

[NC], a resident of that home, said that state police were interested in the property after finding duct tape in the backyard.

“It’s like two years old buried in the dirt,” he said of the duct tape found on his property. He said that duct tape came from when he had taped some wires together.

“They found duct tape in her house and on her back lawn so when they saw the duct tape in my backyard, it didn’t matter it’s two years old and buried in the dirt,” [NC] said.

In researching owners of nearby properties, I don't see any that share the missing woman's name (Roberta Martin).

Ummmm…I don’t think so.

LE knows way more than any of us and there’s more than a piece of duct tape that led them to the neighbour.

MOO

 

[Tintenbar]

This is Roberta's house:

 

[Tintenbar]

Thursday afternoon, Martin’s neighbors were told to leave their home while crime scene technicians and uniformed troopers searched inside and in the backyard.

One man who lives in the neighboring home, Nathan Clifford, told me police were applying for a search warrant.

“I taped some wires together. They found duct tape in her house and her backyard, so when they saw the duct tape in my backyard, it didn’t matter it’s two years old and buried in the dirt. But they’ve got to do what they’ve got to do, it is what it is,” Clifford said.

in Police now calling disappearance of Enosburgh woman suspicious

This neighbor's house is located here:

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Yikes, I searched her name on FB and found more information from family that doesn't sound good. I hope this turns out better than it sounds.

???

 

[duckcat]

in Police now calling disappearance of Enosburgh woman suspicious

This neighbor's house is located here:

This is pure speculation on my part but my guess is that this was a random or unknown criminal and not the neighbor. Seems they’ve both lived next door to each other for many years, even if there’s any reason to find the individuals who live there unsavory (haven’t found anything in my searches), it just doesn’t make sense to me for a property owner to break into the next door neighbors home in areas like these, especially as it doesn’t seem to have been a burglary. Motive doesn’t make sense to me. These are very small, rural communities in the NEK where everyone in town is pretty much familiar with each other and most grew up together. They’re high trust communities for the most part.

Most of the residents tend to be older (lack of job opportunities and socialization for younger people) and more vulnerable, very isolated even by Vermont standards— many areas don’t have reliable cell coverage or even high speed internet, and theres much slower access to emergency services. Things like traffic cameras and security cameras are not common like other parts of the country, so it’s very easy to get around unsighted.

Given some of the details about the ac unit removed from the window and duct tape found in the bedroom, it seems like a planned crime of opportunity. Why a modest older woman would be targeted is beyond me, but criminals have very different thinking patterns. I’ve seen other articles about home invasions in the area by random criminals in just the past few years unfortunately. There’s lots of poverty, drug use, and isolation in this whole stretch of the east coast, all the way from the Canadian border down to upstate New York.

I could of course be wrong but my guess is that the police are doing their diligence with the neighbor, or releasing that information to throw off someone they might be circling in on. I’m not really surprised he may have declined a search without a warrant, most people would these days given the increasing polarization and lack of trust in LE, etc. Residents in these areas also tend to be very private and independent. I’ve seen much of the US, but the culture in the NEK is very unlike any other parts of the country.

Hopefully something like cell phone geolocation data is able to be accessed to identify any other individuals in the area.

 

[Inthedetails]

This is pure speculation on my part but my guess is that this was a random or unknown criminal and not the neighbor. Seems they’ve both lived next door to each other for many years, even if there’s any reason to find the individuals who live there unsavory (haven’t found anything in my searches), it just doesn’t make sense to me for a property owner to break into the next door neighbors home in areas like these, especially as it doesn’t seem to have been a burglary. Motive doesn’t make sense to me. These are very small, rural communities in the NEK where everyone in town is pretty much familiar with each other and most grew up together. They’re high trust communities for the most part.

Most of the residents tend to be older (lack of job opportunities and socialization for younger people) and more vulnerable, very isolated even by Vermont standards— many areas don’t have reliable cell coverage or even high speed internet, and theres much slower access to emergency services. Things like traffic cameras and security cameras are not common like other parts of the country, so it’s very easy to get around unsighted.

Given some of the details about the ac unit removed from the window and duct tape found in the bedroom, it seems like a planned crime of opportunity. Why a modest older woman would be targeted is beyond me, but criminals have very different thinking patterns. I’ve seen other articles about home invasions in the area by random criminals in just the past few years unfortunately. There’s lots of poverty, drug use, and isolation in this whole stretch of the east coast, all the way from the Canadian border down to upstate New York.

I could of course be wrong but my guess is that the police are doing tdheir diligence with the neighbor, or releasing that information to throw off someone they might be circling in on. I’m not really surprised he may have declined a search without a warrant, most people would these days given the increasing polarization and lack of trust in LE, etc. Residents in these areas also tend to be very private and independent. I’ve seen much of the US, but the culture in the NEK is very unlike any other parts of the country.

Hopefully something like cell phone geolocation data is able to be accessed to identify any other individuals in the area.

LE can't get a warrant just to throw someone else off the trail. There is something at the neighbor's property that interests LE and the owner isn't letting them search.

I understand that is the owner's right to insist on a warrant, but we don't know what it is that LE wants to look for - it might be something a perp left on the neighbor's property and has nothing to do with the neighbor. But, if it's a reasonable lead, the judge will sign the warrant.

jmo

 

[duckcat]

LE can't get a warrant just to throw someone else off the trail. There is something at the neighbor's property that interests LE and the owner isn't letting them search.

I understand that is the owner's right to insist on a warrant, but we don't know what it is that LE wants to look for - it might be something a perp left on the neighbor's property and has nothing to do with the neighbor. But, if it's a reasonable lead, the judge will sign the warrant.

jmo

I’m not suggested they got a warrant to throw off a trail, I’m m suggesting the fact that this information was even released to the public to begin with is curious given that they VSP has not released any other info. The details about the ac and duct tape came from the family.

Many search warrants are issued at the start of criminal investigations and end up having no connection. Finding duct tape in the yard of the next door neighbor sounds like enough probable cause to issue a search warrant. It seems like an obvious place to start the investigation. Given the pattern of other crimes in this area it’s much more likely that it was a person, or a group, with no connection to this area and probably left in a car. Just my two cents.