mysteriew said:
Annasmom, thank you for coming here and posting. I know that has to be extremely difficult for you, and I am so sorry that you have so many questions about your little girl.
I admire your ability to go on, let alone to try to come here and answer questions. Yet I also think it would be questions that you live with every day. I have children, and I don't know what I would do if something like this happened to one of mine.
I mainly wanted to let you know I admire your strength, and patience with us.
I hesitate in asking this because I know you have had to do it many, many times over the years. But I was wondering if you could tell us the story of Anna's disappearance based on what you remember. I understand that there will be details that you may not remember, or may not be comfortable giving out. You mentioned that some people have jumped to conclusions, without knowing the whole story and I don't want that to happen here. One of the ways to prevent that from happening, is to learn the story as it unfolded.
If this would be too difficult for you, then I understand. Only give us as much info as you are comfortable with.
And thank you for coming.
Thank you for such a sweet letter. It is difficult to summarize the case briefly, since so much has been investigated in so many different areas over so many years. I wrote a lengthy manuscript containing everything I know about it and gave it to Dr. Doogie, who has referred to it several times and has posted photographs and maps on this forum. The most significant thing I can tell you is that not a shred of evidence, physical or otherwise, has EVER been found to explain Annas disappearance. Everything possible has been done except using the resources of the Internet, and this is what Doogie and I are hoping will shed some new light on the matter.
Very briefly: My daughter disappeared from our rural home in January, 1973. She had just returned from kindergarten on the school bus and was playing in the back yard. I became aware of a great silence after about ten minutes and went out to check on her. When she could not be found, I panicked and called the Sheriffs department, who responded in less than a half-hour and sounded a siren, hoping to get her attention. The grounds and surroundings were searched with helicopters, divers, and riders on horseback. A neighbor said she heard rustling in the bushes near the creek right before she heard the siren. A friend coming to visit said (after several days) that he had passed a white van on the road with a young man and an old man who waved and acted suspiciously friendly. He said that he had greeted Anna at the front door as he came in, which made us think she had walked up to get the mail from the mailbox. This was the last anyone saw of her.
We later walked along the schoolbus route and found that there were several places where our house could be watched by someone without their being seen. Someone could well have followed the schoolbus that day.
Despite searches over a years time of the creek, there was not a single indication that she had gone there. Divers picked out the many log jams, one by one, over a two-mile stretch, and a geologist later said it was impossible, considering tides, currents, and silting patterns, that we should not have recovered evidence if Anna had gone into the water.
Remember that this all happened before there was a protocol for searching for missing children. There were no groups such as the National Association for Missing and Exploited Children, which has carried her case as probable non-family abduction, along with age-progressed pictures, since they were established.
Annas father and his elderly mentor were followed and investigated several times. They were very secretive, whether because they were involved or because in this, as in all else, they were just paranoid, we do not know. No evidence was found connecting them to Annas disappearance..
If you have questions, dont hesitate to ask. I do so appreciate your concern and help. Even if we never find Anna, it is a consolation to me that we have tried every way possible to find her.