CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - #16

[zwiebel]

If trusted neighbour didn't have keys any longer, that would suggest AH never returned them on the first night of Bob going missing. That would be surprising, if AH had decided to make changes to Bob's longstanding arrangements before Bob had been missing even 24 hours.

Not that keeping track of keys/changing locks etc made any difference to the security of Bob's home and things. In the end, it was stripped as effectively as any burglar could have done anyway.

 

[zwiebel]

I have been on this thread for much less time than other posters. I've still come to a conclusion though.

There is something very, very suspicious about Bob's disappearance. His case needs to be solved and needs to remain in the spotlight if there is to be any hope of resolving it and bringing him home. PPD worked very hard on his case, but we have no idea what they are doing now - even if the investigation is still active at all.

Just a single line press release on Bob's missing anniversary, reminding the world his case is still active, would be very helpful at this stage. I have never had the pleasure of linking a new article or press release for Bob - all that work was done by other posters, long before I joined. If PPD were to say anything about Bob's case this July, I'm sure that could inspire me for a year (unless they were to say his case is cold; I'd pretend I hadn't seen that).

Does anyone think there's any chance PPD will break their long silence by July 27th?

 

[zwiebel]

I suppose the silence on the part of PPD is very worrying for whoever did this to Bob too, so that's one consolation. Worried people make mistakes.

 

[zwiebel]

I have only just realised it is a holiday for most of you. I hope everyone is having a happy 4th of July, even if some of you can't have fireworks today, because of the dry weather.

 

[zwiebel]

Good morning Mr Harrod. One day longer that you have been missing, but that's one day closer to finding you and bringing you home.

Time is a very strange concept - it can be fluid, if you're not talking about people with synchronized watches.

I don't think your housekeeper and your son-in-law were 'together', timewise, the day you disappeared. It may only have been five minutes, but what took place in that short time, when your housekeeper waited anxiously to hear if you were upstairs?

Five minutes can mean the difference between life and death. Was the clock ticking painfully slowly for both your son-in-law and your housekeeper that day? Is the sound of that ticking clock still echoing in someone's head today, never allowing the silence around your disappearance to settle?

I wonder if there is some hour already marked in the future when Bob will be found, and we are all just rolling along implacably towards it, with time passing slowly for some, and much, much too fast for others. I wonder if there is someone out there wishing with all their heart that your time will never come, Mr Harrod, and thinking that they would turn back the clock, if only they could?

 

[believe09]

Good morning z-I think PPD silence speaks volumes. As early as August 2009, it is clear that the complete shut out of Bob's bio family caused them some concern. As we have seen with the Disappeared episode, their belief in a walkaway was limited to a short time frame. They rapidly debunked statements made by family, such as Bob not driving on the freeway. They interviewed JeM more than once and then he lawyered up. We know this because of the public post made on JuM's community forum within 2 weeks of Bob's disappearance...a poster offered the name of an atty and referenced the fact that JeM was the focus of the investigation.

It is a solvable case for sure, but Bob does not have to surface in order for criminal proceedings to start-we have discussed several times the high conviction rate for OC DA with no body cases.

All I want, personally, is Bob to be brought home to Fontelle. The rest will take care of itself. Peace to everyone who continues to hope, pray, and work so hard to bring notice to Bob's case. Thank you to those who continue to be interested across the www.

 

[zwiebel]

For me, the problem with a 'no-body' conviction is that it could be a disincentive for the person who did this to Bob to ever reveal his location.

But then, I don't know how usual it is for someone to confess to 'disappearing' someone, whether a body is found or not. I know Lynsie Eckelund's killer (she also lived in Placentia) confessed and revealed her location before she was discovered, but I think there was some unusually gifted detective work done there.

 

[Seajay]

Hope everyone had a happy 4th. I was out at a family function in Chino yesterday and found out that several of my family members will be taking a hike through Chino Park. So I gave them all the low down on Bob and told them while they were on that hike to keep their eyes peeled. I told them they were looking for glasses, rings and a watch and white clothing.

I told them find Bob for us, he needs to come home.

I know the odds are miniscule, but I just thought I'd let you know that I never forget Bob and any chance I have, someone is gonna know about him out here.

 

[Cubby]

For me, the problem with a 'no-body' conviction is that it could be a disincentive for the person who did this to Bob to ever reveal his location.

But then, I don't know how usual it is for someone to confess to 'disappearing' someone, whether a body is found or not. I know Lynsie Eckelund's killer (she also lived in Placentia) confessed and revealed her location before she was discovered, but I think there was some unusually gifted detective work done there.

It might mean incentive if revealing the location takes the death penalty off the table. All avenues point to money being the motive in this case, and in California murder for profit is a capital crime with a possible death sentence. That could be JeM, AH, JuM or any combo of the three.

 

[zwiebel]

Do you know, it had completely slipped my mind about the death penalty in California? I know that seems strange, but it's so long since we had it in Europe I don't think of it much.

That's a terrible fate - not even so much the death penalty itself, but all those years spent on death row, just waiting. I can imagine someone would help LE if it meant avoiding that. Is there a higher burden of proof involved if a DA seeks the death penalty, or is it the same in all cases?

 

[Grainne Dhu]

For me, the problem with a 'no-body' conviction is that it could be a disincentive for the person who did this to Bob to ever reveal his location.

But then, I don't know how usual it is for someone to confess to 'disappearing' someone, whether a body is found or not. I know Lynsie Eckelund's killer (she also lived in Placentia) confessed and revealed her location before she was discovered, but I think there was some unusually gifted detective work done there.

If convicted of a no-body charge that carried less than life without parole, the next incentive for the perpetrator would be the chance to get parole. Parole boards usually demand admitting wrongdoing and proof of remorse.

Oddly, this policy has helped to perpetrate some deep injustices in the US. Many of those who have been exonerated by Project Innocence were denied parole, some of them many, many times because they refused to admit to wrongdoing. They served far longer than perps who were actually guilty and admitted it.

Another lever in no-body homicide cases is bargaining in return for being held at a specific prison, usually one close to family members.

In US justice, it ain't over til it's over, to paraphrase the immortal Yogi Berra.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Do you know, it had completely slipped my mind about the death penalty in California? I know that seems strange, but it's so long since we had it in Europe I don't think of it much.

That's a terrible fate - not even so much the death penalty itself, but all those years spent on death row, just waiting. I can imagine someone would help LE if it meant avoiding that. Is there a higher burden of proof involved if a DA seeks the death penalty, or is it the same in all cases?

Not exactly higher, since the standard of proof remains "beyond a reasonable doubt" but the prosecutor usually has to prove any of a variety of factors. Things like unusual depravity, murder for financial profit, murder committed in connection with another crime (such as kidnapping or sexual assault), etc.

I live in a state that revoked the death penalty back in the 1960s and it does not seem to have impaired convictions or plea bargains. In fact, there are perps whose plea bargains include the pledge not to appeal their conviction, so in that sense it frees of the higher court system of the burden of appeals.

 

[zwiebel]

So I would guess a parole board would almost certainly expect a perp to reveal the location of a victim, if they were truly remorseful.

So often, victims seem to be located in 'obvious' places. Maybe that is just because it is easy to do the working out in retrospect, but I still hope all the 'obvious' places have been thoroughly searched in Bob's case.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

So I would guess a parole board would almost certainly expect a perp to reveal the location of a victim, if they were truly remorseful.

So often, victims seem to be located in 'obvious' places. Maybe that is just because it is easy to do the working out in retrospect, but I still hope all the 'obvious' places have been thoroughly searched in Bob's case.

In many states, a victim is allowed to appear to testify at a parole hearing. Particularly if the victim makes the point that their suffering is intensified because they don't know where the body of their loved one is located, yeah, a parole board is just about guaranteed to deny parole unless the perp demonstrates remorse by revealing the location or fate of the remains. Obviously if a body were dumped into a large body of water, there may well be no way to recover the remains.

I think it is difficult sometimes for people to truly grasp how huge and diverse the geography of the US is. There are comparatively few missing people in Iowa and other intensively farmed states because most of the land is covered more than once in each farming season.

Out west, though, there are huge tracts of wilderness and open range that may see a human being maybe once every 50 years, if that. There are vast areas of open land that are just impossible for me to wrap my mind around even when standing in the middle of them.

I was born and raised under a big sky and the emptiness of the land in Nebraska and the Dakotas calls to me like no other place. I listen to the wind blow and imagine the air as it tumbles and pours over those expanses of land. Iowa is pretty and in many places downright beautiful but the empty places call to me.

There are always tradeoffs, though. To live near such a wilderness area is to accept that there are mysteries that humans can never solve.

 

[zwiebel]

O/T. A British person (Scottish) has just won Wimbledon for the first time in 67 years. I have watched this oh-so-British tennis event ever since I was a little girl, knowing our player will always lose.

And now Andy Murray's gone and won the title. Now I know for certain that anything is possible. Now I know for certain that it is possible Bob can be brought home.

This result is especially nice for Andy's home town in Scotland - it is Dunblane, where a horrible man walked into a school in 1996 and killed 16 five and six-year olds, and one teacher in 1996. Andy was a young pupil in the school at the time.

 

[RR0004]

O/T. A British person (Scottish) has just won Wimbledon for the first time in 67 years. I have watched this oh-so-British tennis event ever since I was a little girl, knowing our player will always lose.

And now Andy Murray's gone and won the title. Now I know for certain that anything is possible. Now I know for certain that it is possible Bob can be brought home.

This result is especially nice for Andy's home town in Scotland - it is Dunblane, where a horrible man walked into a school in 1996 and killed 16 five and six-year olds, and one teacher in 1996. Andy was a young pupil in the school at the time.

Think it's been even longer than that. Love your thinking, zwiebel. My prayers go out to Bob and his family.

 

[zwiebel]

Thank you so much RR0004 for your good wishes for Bob and his loved ones.

The shock of the tennis win got me looking at maps without being forced to, for some strange reason, and I found an old map from 1917 of McFall, MO, where Bob was brought up. I'm no good with current maps but I love old ones, and I think this one is particularly nice:
http://digital.library.umsystem.edu...=umcscsanic&quality=2&resnum=1&evl=full-image

The surprising thing to me is that it says in the round logo that the village population in 1917 was 600 - while according to city data, it is ten today!! http://www.city-data.com/city/McFall-Missouri.html

I don't know if that can be right, or if I'm reading it wrong. It just seems so odd that if Bob were able to visit his home town today, he would hardly recognise it, but for opposite reasons than the usual ones of home towns having grown out of all recognition. I wonder what happened to all the residents?

 

[Cubby]

McFall, MO is super tiny. The total land size is only .31 square miles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McFall,_Missouri

 

[zwiebel]

Your link says 93 people live there Cubby, which sounds better than ten - I can't imagine a town or village with only ten people.

 

[Cubby]

Your link says 93 people live there Cubby, which sounds better than ten - I can't imagine a town or village with only ten people.

The size of this town is more like the size of a subdivision in my area.

For an idea, zwie' :
http://www.metric-conversions.org/area/square-miles-to-square-kilometers.htm

0.31mi² = 0.80290km²

McFall, MO