CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - #12

[GrainneDhu]

Yes, I am a big Agatha Christie fan, Hercule Poirot fan, as well as love David Suchet. lol

It's sad about Mr. Harrod though. His neighbor seemed to be really helpful with the situation. I just wondered how close the bones were in proximity to where he lived in the case that maybe he decided to take one of his walks on the day he went missing and fell and hit his head or fainted or something such as that? But, if they are an hour away..that seems improbable but not entirely impossible I suppose. Was there ever ground searches done around the area he liked to walk? Does anyone know? I would assume so, but I haven't had time to search through all of the posts here. It's really a sad story. Looking forward to the Disappeared episode. :twocents:

Ordinarily I would agree with you.

However, Bob had bad knees. He walked a total of 2 blocks twice a day for exercise and was never out of sight of his own home. According to CA Exile, he would walk up to the corner, cross the street, walk down the side of the street opposite to his house to the corner, then cross the street and end up at his own house.

There was a news clip with video of Bob from before he disappeared that focused on his reunion with Fontelle. In that news clip, it showed him moving around in his own back yard. His movements were slow and tentative and looked to my eye very much the same way friends of mine who have bad knees walked.

I consider it highly unlikely that Bob was even capable of walking a distance that would take an hour by car.

Unfortunately, searching for Bob was delayed by the statements made by his family. They started out saying that Bob was showing signs of dementia and then rapidly switched the tale to Bob getting cold feet due to his recent marriage.

Oriah, a poster here who is a verified SAR expert, says that these two statements are highly suspicious because of their timing. She pointed out that anyone who is showing signs of dementia is an automatic emergency if they disappear. His daughter's rapid switch to "he got cold feet due to his hasty marriage" makes Bob's disappearance not an emergency in nature.

My own father is within a week of Bob's age. I know that if he disappeared, I would do or say anything to LE to get them out en masse to find him. The very last thing I would do is say anything that suggests he may have disappeared voluntarily.

But that's just me. Other people's mileage apparently differed significantly.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I guess my biggest question with someone killing him is what would they get from it? The hairdresser...his wife...neither of them would gain anything from a dead Mr. Harrod. It would seem that it would be more of a heat of the moment type thing possibly with a family member or someone closely connected if it wasn't a matter of him walking off and getting hurt or lost, etc. Perhaps he got pushed or shoved during the heated discussion and got hurt or killed accidentally and then it got covered up? There seem to be a lot of "issues" between him and the kids. Just my rambling thoughts of course. :moo:

Yep.

If you look at the timeline, it's clear that there was escalating pressure on Bob for financial reasons, culminating in a family meeting the day before he disappeared that was apparently heated. The salient point seems to have been that Bob informed his descendants of his intention to add his bride to his accounts.

Bob was a millionaire when he disappeared. As you say, the BL and his new wife had nothing to gain by Bob's disappearance and probable death.

Looking at it from the other direction, the people who had the most to lose by Bob's continuing life were his daughters and grandson. Instead of having one single person who lived frugally being supported by the estate, there would have been two people (Bob and Fontelle) and who knows? Maybe Fontelle wasn't a frugal sort or maybe Bob would want to shower Fontelle with expensive gifts.

 

[zwiebel]

respectfully snipped

Oriah, a poster here who is a verified SAR expert, says that these two statements are highly suspicious because of their timing. She pointed out that anyone who is showing signs of dementia is an automatic emergency if they disappear. His daughter's rapid switch to "he got cold feet due to his hasty marriage" makes Bob's disappearance not an emergency in nature.

My own father is within a week of Bob's age. I know that if he disappeared, I would do or say anything to LE to get them out en masse to find him. The very last thing I would do is say anything that suggests he may have disappeared voluntarily.

But that's just me. Other people's mileage apparently differed significantly.

It's not just the strange behaviour immediately following Bob's disappearance either, imo. It's the almost total silence that has followed too, especially from JeM (in Bob's house the day Bob disappeared) and his wife, Bob's daughter, JuM.

Not so unusual, maybe, for people who are very private and totally unaccustomed to press attention. But just look at the time and devotion JuM - and even JeM, he's there during at least one interview - devoted to publicizing one of her favourite causes, kidney donation. Pics and all. She went so far as to donate a kidney, and JeM offered too. But that was for a stranger, not a family member, if that makes any sense.

Page 10 on this link;
http://www.onelegacy.org/site/docs/B2003C_TheBridge_Summer03.pdf

http://www.nancola.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/kidney.pdf

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/aug/28/news/lv-kidney28

http://tinyurl.com/c6pmmcq

 

[zwiebel]

Yep.

If you look at the timeline, it's clear that there was escalating pressure on Bob for financial reasons, culminating in a family meeting the day before he disappeared that was apparently heated. The salient point seems to have been that Bob informed his descendants of his intention to add his bride to his accounts.

Bob was a millionaire when he disappeared. As you say, the BL and his new wife had nothing to gain by Bob's disappearance and probable death.

Looking at it from the other direction, the people who had the most to lose by Bob's continuing life were his daughters and grandson. Instead of having one single person who lived frugally being supported by the estate, there would have been two people (Bob and Fontelle) and who knows? Maybe Fontelle wasn't a frugal sort or maybe Bob would want to shower Fontelle with expensive gifts.

And FH has children too, doesn't she? Even worse than the thought of Bob sharing his fortune with his wife, his own children may have dreaded the thought of Bob finding his new stepchildren just as amenable as themselves ( unlikely, I know. Who could be nicer than one's own kids?) and wanting to share the inheritance with them too.

 

[Angelo]

I don't remember the exact details. Can someone chime in with links or back up? IIRC, CAexile also went publicly silent because of specific threats from Bob's daughters.

Yes. Daughter PB sent CAexile a PM that some might interpret as a bit threatening/hostile.

 

[Angelo]

It's not just the strange behaviour immediately following Bob's disappearance either, imo. It's the almost total silence that has followed too, especially from JeM (in Bob's house the day Bob disappeared) and his wife, Bob's daughter, JuM.

Not so unusual, maybe, for people who are very private and totally unaccustomed to press attention. But just look at the time and devotion JuM - and even JeM, he's there during at least one interview - devoted to publicizing one of her favourite causes, kidney donation. Pics and all. She went so far as to donate a kidney, and JeM offered too. But that was for a stranger, not a family member, if that makes any sense.

Page 10 on this link;
http://www.onelegacy.org/site/docs/B2003C_TheBridge_Summer03.pdf

http://www.nancola.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/kidney.pdf

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/aug/28/news/lv-kidney28

http://tinyurl.com/c6pmmcq

Agree. Though I want to point out that daughter JuM spends much of her time posting on her local forum. Thousands of posts but very few have ever mentioned her missing father.

Oh yes, when friends on JuM's local forum offered to help after Mr. Harrod disappeared JuM turned down the offers and stated that hubby JeM was canvasing OC and posting fliers.

 

[zwiebel]

Agree. Though I want to point out that daughter JuM spends much of her time posting on her local forum. Thousands of posts but very few have ever mentioned her missing father.

Oh yes, when friends on JuM's local forum offered to help after Mr. Harrod disappeared JuM turned down the offers and stated that hubby JeM was canvasing OC and posting fliers.

Wonder if he was asking all those denizens of OC if they knew what time Bob had disappeared?

 

[Angelo]

Ordinarily I would agree with you.

However, Bob had bad knees. He walked a total of 2 blocks twice a day for exercise and was never out of sight of his own home. According to CA Exile, he would walk up to the corner, cross the street, walk down the side of the street opposite to his house to the corner, then cross the street and end up at his own house.

There was a news clip with video of Bob from before he disappeared that focused on his reunion with Fontelle. In that news clip, it showed him moving around in his own back yard. His movements were slow and tentative and looked to my eye very much the same way friends of mine who have bad knees walked.

I consider it highly unlikely that Bob was even capable of walking a distance that would take an hour by car.

Unfortunately, searching for Bob was delayed by the statements made by his family. They started out saying that Bob was showing signs of dementia and then rapidly switched the tale to Bob getting cold feet due to his recent marriage.

Oriah, a poster here who is a verified SAR expert, says that these two statements are highly suspicious because of their timing. She pointed out that anyone who is showing signs of dementia is an automatic emergency if they disappear. His daughter's rapid switch to "he got cold feet due to his hasty marriage" makes Bob's disappearance not an emergency in nature.

My own father is within a week of Bob's age. I know that if he disappeared, I would do or say anything to LE to get them out en masse to find him. The very last thing I would do is say anything that suggests he may have disappeared voluntarily.

But that's just me. Other people's mileage apparently differed significantly.

BBM~~~~~~

Agree!!!!!! I was just reading some of the daughter's postings written shortly after their father disappeared.

Daughter RB 8/8/2009

It seems the media is trying to draw him out by using the angle of Sympathy for Fontelle and also reminding him of his God, HIS money. Whatever it takes! But he DOES have a family which he brushed aside after Mom's passing in March 2008.


Daughter PB 8/12/2009

Under the circumstances I don't know if he would ever call knowing what is going on. I would think that the one address that he might remember would be mine, because he owns the house.


Daughter RB 8/13/2009:

Good, Bad, or indifferent, we are a family and he is OUR father! He abandoned us too and this is not like him!

Dad may be waiting just to see if his family even cares. PPD suggested that media has had so much saturation of the other story that it may be difficult to get them to show up for his family, unless we had breaking news.

Daughter RB 8/14/2009:

Oh Dad, where are you? What have you done? What danger have you placed yourself in? Who has you? Are you happy? Are you peaceful? Why don't you want to come home? So many tearfilled questions. I've been trying to be strong, but the tears finally came today and I realized that, good, bad, or indifferent, he is OUR father and we would never have wanted him to disappear. Did he need somebody to talk to?

Daughter RB 8/14/2009:

We don't mean to be non supportive but we really do not know why he left the house two days before she returned.

They got married 6/29, she returned to MO 7/7, and came back to CA 7/29. They had only 8 days of marital bliss together.

They spent eight days of "marital bliss" and then poof, he takes off with no explanation.

 

[zwiebel]

Agree. Though I want to point out that daughter JuM spends much of her time posting on her local forum. Thousands of posts but very few have ever mentioned her missing father.

Oh yes, when friends on JuM's local forum offered to help after Mr. Harrod disappeared JuM turned down the offers and stated that hubby JeM was canvasing OC and posting fliers.

Domestic artist, dachshund mom, kidney donor, daughter of missing, possibly murdered man.........a person's posting priorities are what they are, I suppose.

 

[GrainneDhu]

And FH has children too, doesn't she? Even worse than the thought of Bob sharing his fortune with his wife, his own children may have dreaded the thought of Bob finding his new stepchildren just as amenable as themselves ( unlikely, I know. Who could be nicer than one's own kids?) and wanting to share the inheritance with them too.

Good point.

I don't know how nice Bob found his children. There aren't many parents out there that have to pay their children to stay away. That doesn't speak of fond paternal feelings to me, it sounds more like a man whose children are placing intolerable stress on him.

And you notice Bob knew exactly what would work to keep them away. Money.

Given the circumstances, I think it's very possible that Bob may have, given enough time, come to regard Fontelle's children and grandchildren as surrogates for his own less... um... tractable descendants.

 

[zwiebel]

'He abandoned us too.'

I wonder if RB has ever regretted saying that?

Sadly, it looks like her first thoughts after Bob disappeared was how it made her feel, not what might have happened to him. So her thoughts on him came out as an accusation. Not helpful, in the circumstances.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Agree. Though I want to point out that daughter JuM spends much of her time posting on her local forum. Thousands of posts but very few have ever mentioned her missing father.

Oh yes, when friends on JuM's local forum offered to help after Mr. Harrod disappeared JuM turned down the offers and stated that hubby JeM was canvasing OC and posting fliers.

Having been involved in several efforts to find lost dogs, my personal experience is that one person can only put up so many fliers in a day. Every dog owner who has had a lost dog (including me) was almost pathetically grateful for help in posting fliers.

 

[zwiebel]

I spent two hours in the middle of a field, in feet of snow, during a dangerous electrical storm, looking for my lost, brave hound. I was eventually rescued by a kindly farmer who pointed out he had seen my dog, exactly 1 hr and 55 minutes before, running in my open back door at the first sign of lightning.

I found him by the fire, nice and warm.

 

[believe09]

Thank you Angelo for reminding us of this one:

Daughter RB 8/8/2009

It seems the media is trying to draw him out by using the angle of Sympathy for Fontelle and also reminding him of his God, HIS money. Whatever it takes! But he DOES have a family which he brushed aside after Mom's passing in March 2008.

That should put to rest any questions as to whether or not Bob and his daughters were estranged after Georgia died. RB would be the one who knew.

I find it amazing, still, how the Bob bashing began immediately by his children. Immediately. It is clear they didnt want him found-typically families of the missing keep too much to themselves, especially any perceived issues with the missing loved one. How many times have we seen grieving family's holding close their family secrets in order to ensure the continued interest in their loved one's case???

Head shaking.

 

[Angelo]

We know JeM claimed to have seen a mysterious black Tahoe performing suspicious maneuvers on Mr. Haarod's road shortly before Mr. Harrod disappeared.

We know the hairdresser owned a black Tahoe at the time of Mr. Harrod's disappearance. How convenient.

We know the hairdresser has an airtight alibi and has been cleared by PPD.

So.....if JeM was not being truthful about his black Tahoe sighting what else has JeM not been truthful about?

 

[zwiebel]

We know JeM claimed to have seen a mysterious black Tahoe performing suspicious maneuvers on Mr. Haarod's road shortly before Mr. Harrod disappeared.

We know the hairdresser owned a black Tahoe at the time of Mr. Harrod's disappearance. How convenient.

We know the hairdresser has an airtight alibi and has been cleared by PPD.

So.....if JeM was not being truthful about his black Tahoe sighting what else has JeM not been truthful about?

I've got no idea because I can find virtually nothing JeM has said publicly. His wife has said it all for him. And she'll have to take all the responsibility for that, if it is found to be untrue.

 

[zwiebel]

I just noticed that the cleaner in the Disappeared clip says she was there for three hours, from noon, and that JeM left before her. So JeM left the house around three-ish? Then went to get the 3.04pm receipt from home depot?

So he must have gone to the one that was really close.

Then the question is - was it something for Bob's house, and did he go back there once the CL was gone? Did he have an important reason for returning, that did not matter the next day? This might interest Oriah, maybe...........

 

[mikkismom]

Having been involved in several efforts to find lost dogs, my personal experience is that one person can only put up so many fliers in a day. Every dog owner who has had a lost dog (including me) was almost pathetically grateful for help in posting fliers.

Don't get me started on the lost dog thing :banghead: I really think that the 'furbabies' are going to be the only 'winners' in this saga.

jmo

 

[littlegreycells31]

Is there anyone that can post the Disappeared clip that you guys keep mentioning? I don't know if I am just overlooking it or what, but I can't find it on their website...many thanks!! :great:

 

[zwiebel]

Don't get me started on the lost dog thing :banghead: I really think that the 'furbabies' are going to be the only 'winners' in this saga.

jmo

I have to 'fess up - when I first came on this thread and mentioned my dog, I called him my furry boy because I didn't want to 'sleuth' him. Later on, I saw the furbabies mentioned and just criiiinged when I realized how close I had come to mirroring the words of someone else. I desperately hoped nobody had noticed.

Yeah, that's likely, on a site called websleuths. Nice of you all not to point it out though.