Anna Christian Waters (Missing 1/16/1973 from Half Moon Bay, CA)

[mysteriew]

Something clicked when reviewing the posts about George Brody - a birth year of 1923 would have made him only 58 years old when he died. If you have not seen his picture, click this link: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/drdoogief/detail?.dir=aac9&.dnm=b94f.jpg

This picture was taken in 1974, when he would have been 51 years old. This is not the picture of a man in his early fifties. So the birthdate of 1923 is surely false. I would say he was born somewhere in the range of 1895 through 1910 (my speculation).

Here is where things get very dark and wierd (if they weren't already): Why give this date on a death certificate? Why would the public officals who investigated this death sign off on a date that was clearly false...unless the age given matched the body that they received.

George was the physician of record for Brody and was a practicing physician at the time. There was no signs that Brody died of anything other than natural causes. There was no public controversy over the death. George himself probably signed the death certificate.
It is likely that whatever George told them, would have been taken at face value. With no known relatives to object or provide info to the contrary, then they would have considered themselves lucky to have a physician able to provide the info about him, and would not have questioned any he said about Brody's background.
If there had been relatives to object, or if Brody had been murdered- they might have questioned it. But since it was natural causes, they just needed someone to fill out the paperwork.

 

[Richard]

I wonder if the death of this little boy is in any way related to the disappearance of Anna. Marin County is on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and would be very close to Half Moon Bay. The estimated date of death is January 1973, the same month and year that Anna went missing. I would think that LE compared the DNA of both, but could there have been a link? Age pretty close, too.
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Unidentified White Male Child
The victim was discovered on September 26, 1974 in Mill Valley, Marin County, California.
Estimated date of death is January 1973
Vital Statistics

Estimated age: 4 - 6 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: Undetermined.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair. Small stature for age.
Dentals: No restorations present
Clothing: Clothing found closeby: Green nylon or dacron windbreaker, green and white stripped knit type shirt, blue t-shirt, Red Lady Bug 1/2" stick pin.
DNA: Available

Case History
The victim's skull ribs and vertebrae was found in Mill Valley, California in 1974. His skeletal remains were found near the Mill Valley Golf Course.
There were no signs of burial, no signs of abuse or malnutrition, no obvious clues about how he died.
The remains were originally thought to be female, but DNA shows that the victim was a male.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact: Marin County Coroner's Office, Coroner Gary Tindel 415-499-6043

Agency Case Number: 74-215
NCIC Number: N/A
The Doe Network: Case File 626UMCA

Link:
http://doenetwork.us/cases/626umca.html

 

[laini]

Very interesting, Richard. I just read about that little boy recently; the ladybug pin stuck in my mind. I didn't realize the location and time of where he was found, being so similar to Anna's disappearnce. If it was somebody else who kidnapped Anna (other than Brody and George), maybe they were also connected to this little boy's murder. Maybe a local pedophile or somebody in the area for awhile.

 

[Dr. Doogie]

After a couple of long discussions yesterday with Anna's step-father, we discovered another possible lead on George Brody. It will probably take a least a couple of days before we know anything, but I will post what we find here as soon as possible.

 

[Dr. Doogie]

We have discovered a safe deposit box in the name of George Brody that was was "abandoned" and turned over to the State Controller's Office as unclaimed property. Unfortunately, any personel papers inside would have been destroyed in 1991 when the state recieved them.

The bank does not have the application for the box on file at the local branch. I am researching to see where the bank archives its old financial material. I am hoping that it will tell us more about the mysterious Mr. Brody, such as social security number, next of kin, etc.

I have not confirmed that this belonged to the same George Brody, but several things fit: it had a large amount of cash in it and Anna's step-father confirmed that Brody did some banking in the city where it was found (easy access by mass transit). The step-father and Annasmom were in possesion of two safe deposit keys from Brody shortly after his death but were never ale to find out which banks they were from. All that they can find now (25 years later) are photos of the keys that were used to try and identify the banks - the keys themselves has disappeared.

 

[Marilynilpa]

We have discovered a safe deposit box in the name of George Brody that was was "abandoned" and turned over to the State Controller's Office as unclaimed property. Unfortunately, any personel papers inside would have been destroyed in 1991 when the state recieved them.

The bank does not have the application for the box on file at the local branch. I am researching to see where the bank archives its old financial material. I am hoping that it will tell us more about the mysterious Mr. Brody, such as social security number, next of kin, etc.

I have not confirmed that this belonged to the same George Brody, but several things fit: it had a large amount of cash in it and Anna's step-father confirmed that Brody did some banking in the city where it was found (easy access by mass transit). The step-father and Annasmom were in possesion of two safe deposit keys from Brody shortly after his death but were never ale to find out which banks they were from. All that they can find now (25 years later) are photos of the keys that were used to try and identify the banks - the keys themselves has disappeared.

How unfortunate that the personal papers have been destroyed. They may have gone a long way to explain just who Mr. Brody really was.

 

[mysteriew]

He had requested joint custody when we were divorced, but he never attempted to visit Anna. I am convinced he was "following orders" most of the time, so it is difficult to say whether decisions were his or those of his mentor. He attempted to get his parents to pay Anna's support, but they refused; he paid regularly and his question to the lawyer about the support check referred to the February check (after Anna disappeared in January.)

It does sound as though the issue of child support was a source of contention for him. In many family murders, they often begin over issues like child support or custody. There doesn't seem to be any interest from him in maintaining contact with Anna. But the fact that he initially asked for custody, wanted parents to pay the support, and the immediate request to stop child support would suggest motive. Whether it was a motive for George, or Brody doesn't seem to be a question as even if it was Brody's motive, George would have most likely gone along with it. George paying the support would liimit Brody's access to that money.
Anna's mom did you ever meet Brody? If so could you give us your impression of him as a person, and anything you may observed personally as far as the interactions between Brody and George?
Also do you know of any financial transactions that George or Brody may have undertaken after Anna's disappearance? Investments, property purchases etc.
Also, did anyone ever check to see if George had ever taken out a life insurance policy on Anna?

 

[Dr. Doogie]

It does sound as though the issue of child support was a source of contention for him. In many family murders, they often begin over issues like child support or custody. There doesn't seem to be any interest from him in maintaining contact with Anna. But the fact that he initially asked for custody, wanted parents to pay the support, and the immediate request to stop child support would suggest motive. Whether it was a motive for George, or Brody doesn't seem to be a question as even if it was Brody's motive, George would have most likely gone along with it. George paying the support would liimit Brody's access to that money.

I agree - this could simply have been motivated by not wanting to pay child support. The safe deposit box that I found for Brody contained approximately $17,000 in cash - all in the name of a man who never worked a day in his life. It obviously was money that he had scammed from George Waters.

Also do you know of any financial transactions that George or Brody may have undertaken after Anna's disappearance? Investments, property purchases etc.
Also, did anyone ever check to see if George had ever taken out a life insurance policy on Anna?

I do not know of any policies on Anna. If this were their motivation, then having Anna disappear would not have been to their advantage. It would have made more sense to have her body found so they could collect. Waters did take out several policies on himself, payable to Brody. I plan on following up on these to see if any payouts were made and to whom.

 

[Marilynilpa]

That is a lot of money! If George Waters had that much money for Brody to scam off of him, that makes it even more despicable that Waters wanted to stop may child support payments so soon after Anna disappeared!

 

[shadowangel]

Doc-Has the safe deposit box been unused all this time?

 

[mysteriew]

I agree - this could simply have been motivated by not wanting to pay child support. The safe deposit box that I found for Brody contained approximately $17,000 in cash - all in the name of a man who never worked a day in his life. It obviously was money that he had scammed from George Waters.

If Brody was scamming George, he was likely also scamming others. Most likely women.

I do not know of any policies on Anna. If this were their motivation, then having Anna disappear would not have been to their advantage. It would have made more sense to have her body found so they could collect. Waters did take out several policies on himself, payable to Brody. I plan on following up on these to see if any payouts were made and to whom.

Who is to say they didn't collect. Or at least try. Perhaps it was just that they didn't think it through, thinking that after she disappeared it would be as easy to collect, as it was to get the child support stopped. Or maybe they planned on collecting, but then lost their nerve when they realized they were suspects. Since George had never made contact with Anna, they might have thought that LE would dismiss them as suspects, and they could later quietly arrange for her body to be found, and quietly collect. But when LE paid too much attention to them, that might have scared them off.

Brody had a way to meet his expenses through George. But he was saving money. I am thinking he was possibly saving for a purpose. Something that was going to require a large amount of money. It may have been something as simple as independence from George (esp. since he had George take out life insurance on himself and name Brody as beneficiary). But Brody was saving for something in particular.

 

[Marilynilpa]

If Brody was scamming George, he was likely also scamming others. Most likely women.



Who is to say they didn't collect. Or at least try. Perhaps it was just that they didn't think it through, thinking that after she disappeared it would be as easy to collect, as it was to get the child support stopped. Or maybe they planned on collecting, but then lost their nerve when they realized they were suspects. Since George had never made contact with Anna, they might have thought that LE would dismiss them as suspects, and they could later quietly arrange for her body to be found, and quietly collect. But when LE paid too much attention to them, that might have scared them off.

Brody had a way to meet his expenses through George. But he was saving money. I am thinking he was possibly saving for a purpose. Something that was going to require a large amount of money. It may have been something as simple as independence from George (esp. since he had George take out life insurance on himself and name Brody as beneficiary). But Brody was saving for something in particular.

Perhaps Brody intended (with or without George) to take Anna abroad and start a new life where no one knew who she was. Is there any way to tell when Brody started accumulating the money, or whether he had that much at the time Anna disappeared? I know Dr. Doogie is trying to research financial records, so maybe he can find this out.

 

[Annasmom]

It does sound as though the issue of child support was a source of contention for him. In many family murders, they often begin over issues like child support or custody. There doesn't seem to be any interest from him in maintaining contact with Anna. But the fact that he initially asked for custody, wanted parents to pay the support, and the immediate request to stop child support would suggest motive. Whether it was a motive for George, or Brody doesn't seem to be a question as even if it was Brody's motive, George would have most likely gone along with it. George paying the support would liimit Brody's access to that money.
Anna's mom did you ever meet Brody? If so could you give us your impression of him as a person, and anything you may observed personally as far as the interactions between Brody and George?
Also do you know of any financial transactions that George or Brody may have undertaken after Anna's disappearance? Investments, property purchases etc.
Also, did anyone ever check to see if George had ever taken out a life insurance policy on Anna?

I met Brody a number of times before Anna's father left the family. I was terrified of him and only consented to have him visit the house because he had such power over my poor husband. You have to remember in all this that Anna's father was in all probability schizophrenic (had, in fact, been diagnosed as such and was in treatment, though he was not cooperative) and that Brody himself was probably mentally ill as well. I tried for years to make sense of many of their senseless activities and was convinced finally that one couldn't make sense of nonsense. Because they were so secretive and because many documents and papers were destroyed, it's impossible to know whether he took out a life insurance policy on Anna.

 

[shadowangel]

I met Brody a number of times before Anna's father left the family. I was terrified of him and only consented to have him visit the house because he had such power over my poor husband. You have to remember in all this that Anna's father was in all probability schizophrenic (had, in fact, been diagnosed as such and was in treatment, though he was not cooperative) and that Brody himself was probably mentally ill as well. I tried for years to make sense of many of their senseless activities and was convinced finally that one couldn't make sense of nonsense. Because they were so secretive and because many documents and papers were destroyed, it's impossible to know whether he took out a life insurance policy on Anna.

First I have to say something I've been remiss in up until now...Annasmom, you are an inspiration.
Knowing what you know about their activities, can you speculate on why Brody had such a large amount of cash hidden away?

 

[bugaboo]

I have a feeling this guy was running from the law, and either assumed someone else's identity, or just made up one. It does appear he went to great lengths to make sure no one could track him down.

I find it impossible to believe Brody never held a job. Unless he was independently wealthy, he had to have worked at some point in his life.[/QUOTE]

I would think that during the prime working years of Brody's life, it would have been quite easy to take random jobs here and there, getting paid under the table.

Also, if he had some mental illness as well, maybe he had been in an institution or asylum for most of his youth/young adult life? Upon getting out, maybe he couldn't get a job, given the stigma of mental illness at the time.

Just a thought. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[shadowangel]

Have records ever been checked to see if Brody was receiving some type of aid from the government?

 

[laini]

Does anyone know how and/or where George and Brody first met?laini

 

[Dr. Doogie]

When I say that Brody never held a job, perhaps what I should say is the man known as Brody never seems to have held a job under that name (at least, any job that would have created a paper trail). Because he held no social security number under that name (and one has been required to work since the 1930's), it would make sense that he never worked or recieved any government assistance checks under that name.

I have not been able yet to determine any history behind the safe deposit box and when it was last used. California unclaimed property law says that any box unpaid for after 3 years is considered abandoned and the contents are turned over to the State Controllers Office to be held for the owner or his heirs to claim. Brody's box was turned over to the state ten years after his death, but he may have paid for it years in advance, so until the bank can (or will) provide me with the records concerning the box, it remains a mystery.

 

[Dr. Doogie]

If Brody was scamming George, he was likely also scamming others. Most likely women.

During my most recent conversation with Anna's step-father led to another revelation: By pure coincidence, one of the neighbors of Anna's parents knew of George Brody. Brody was also in the process of bringing a young women that the neighbor knew under his influence. Unfortunately, the neighbor is now deceased and I do not know if enough information still exists to track down the young woman.

(Some of the above info may be incorrect due to sketchy memories - I will confirm any or all of this with Annasmom and post any clarifications.)

 

[Annasmom]

Does anyone know how and/or where George and Brody first met?laini

Waters treated Brody's girl friend, who had an incurable tumor and subsequently died. Brody was in all probability living off this woman, who had a number of small businesses under (no surprise) several different names.