CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - #17

[zwiebel]

Help refresh my memory, Zweibel. What is it we were told about how Bob paid for things? No debit card? Wrote checks? Used cash? I'm wondering how JeM paid for the items he bought, and if Bob would've been asked to ride along to write a check for something expensive.

That's a point. We know Bob did use checks, but someone will have to tell me if Home Depot accepts them. Over here virtually no stores accept them.

I believe son-in-law had lost his job, and that a bill for the work he carried out went into Bob's estate after the disappearance, so it does seem likely expensive items might have needed Bob to pay upfront.

Given that Bob had around three safes in his house (I think) though, I can't help thinking he would have kept some significant sums of cash around.

Or would he? Cash in a safe doesn't earn interest and isn't a sensible option for a good financial planner - and that's one thing we know Bob was.

 

[SuziQ]

That's a point. We know Bob did use checks, but someone will have to tell me if Home Depot accepts them. Over here virtually no stores accept them.

I believe son-in-law had lost his job, and that a bill for the work he carried out went into Bob's estate after the disappearance, so it does seem likely expensive items might have needed Bob to pay upfront.

Given that Bob had around three safes in his house (I think) though, I can't help thinking he would have kept some significant sums of cash around.

Or would he? Cash in a safe doesn't earn interest and isn't a sensible option for a good financial planner - and that's one thing we know Bob was.

It wouldn't matter if HD takes checks because, IMO, that would have been merely an excuse to get Bob out of the house. I'm afraid that HD was not the true destination for Bob.

 

[SuziQ]

Which reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask for awhile now. Exactly how far away was Bob's grandson's house and did LE ever check that house out?

 

[zwiebel]

Grandson's house was about one mile away. Too far for Bob to walk, I think, but under a five minute drive.

I'd like to know whose houses were searched too - usually, you'd expect family members of a missing person to throw open their doors to LE, but I've no idea if permission was asked for or granted in Bob's case.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

what if Mr H was under the assumption he was going on a 'quick' trip with someone, so left no key? and something uhh unusual transpired?
Maybe there are 2 different/persons, time frames involving Mr. H and whom he was with.
If the CL hadn't of showed up, surprise! Then no one would have really been any the wiser? Almost seems like her showing up kind of put a new spin on it.
If she hadn't of showed up, there is no telling 'when ' he would/could have been said he disappeared.

( is there really an 'official' time for the CL getting there? I am sorry I am mixed up.. I have seen 1:30 and then 3 something around the HD receipt time)

It really does seem to me that events were running smoothly for the perp until the CL showed up. And then everything went off-script. Since then, people have had to ad lib lines and some of those ad libs incriminate others. What the military calls a clusterf---.

Long Lost Love was run by the Placentia Police Department for accuracy. In that show, the CL arrived at noon and waited until about 12:15 pm, when JeM showed up.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

My thoughts on the keys-for 10 years there was a routine. Either Bob/Georgia were at the house or there was a key left in the mailbox.

Seriously, what are the odds that there was no key left in the mailbox on that specific day. I mean, another epic coincidence, right?

My vote is that Bob hadnt gone out and didnt expect to leave the house that morning. Depending on the real time of the around 10AM phone call, it may have been too early to transact business anyway.

I am so completely unfamiliar with traffic patterns in that part of the world, it's almost like it is a different country for me.

I did have a student who was a former police officer in one of the counties of the LA area tell me that at certain hours of the day, it's better to just stay home and wait for the rush hours to abate in order to get to an appointment at certain times. For instance, if you had an appointment somewhere at 8 pm, you could leave at 5 pm and fight traffic the whole way or you could leave at 7 pm and get there at 8 pm. As a detective, she had learned all the quickest ways to get from one place to another in the county and what times certain thoroughfares were just no good at all.

When she would chauffeur me around LA, she'd take all these zig-zaggy routes and arrive in what seemed like a reasonable amount of time but other participants would have been driving much longer to arrive at the same time.

So, would that have applied to Bob? If he had made an appointment to see someone, such as his banker or financial planner, would traffic have been a factor in when he would choose to leave?

 

[Grainne Dhu]

That's a point. We know Bob did use checks, but someone will have to tell me if Home Depot accepts them. Over here virtually no stores accept them.

I believe son-in-law had lost his job, and that a bill for the work he carried out went into Bob's estate after the disappearance, so it does seem likely expensive items might have needed Bob to pay upfront.

Given that Bob had around three safes in his house (I think) though, I can't help thinking he would have kept some significant sums of cash around.

Or would he? Cash in a safe doesn't earn interest and isn't a sensible option for a good financial planner - and that's one thing we know Bob was.

Wow, here in Iowa almost every store accepts checks. Slightly more stores than accept credit cards because the banks skim off a percentage of credit card transactions. Big chains have a little printer that they run the check through to print their name and the amount due on the check so that all a customer has to do is sign it.

Did Georgia have any nice jewellery? If so, that might explain one or more safes. Even if it was distributed to her daughters at her death, there would be no reason to give away the safes.

Many safes are also fire-resistant, so that you can keep important papers in them and they will survive a house fire. You can also keep a video of your home contents, which makes dealing with the insurance company after a fire much easier.

 

[zwiebel]

Two of the safes appeared on the memorabilia list, as belonging to JuM and JeM. With an addendum that 'Julie knows where the keys are'.

Gosh knows why their safes ended up in Bob's house - perhaps they were those really heavy ones, and they could only shift them as far as Bob's house, when they moved Up the hill from Carnation Drive.

It is a funny thing about the US and cheques. I was always told people don't use cheques in the US, only cards. That only Europe uses cheques (checks). But it actually seems that it is now Europe that doesn't use cheques, or very rarely, and debit or credit cards are the norm.

 

[believe09]

CL stated in the Disappeared video that Bob told her JeM would be there. That was new information to me, so I was glad to receive it. I think that this makes it clearer to me that JeM was expected by Bob. We dont know what time JeM was expected, we dont know what his honey do list was (although it seems that PPD might have it) and it seems clear to me the JeM was unaware that CL was coming Monday rather than Tuesday. We also dont know if anyone else joined JeM at some point in the morning. The more we discuss vehicles and which ones were seen when, the more I ponder that scenario tbh.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Two of the safes appeared on the memorabilia list, as belonging to JuM and JeM. With an addendum that 'Julie knows where the keys are'.

Gosh knows why their safes ended up in Bob's house - perhaps they were those really heavy ones, and they could only shift them as far as Bob's house, when they moved Up the hill from Carnation Drive.

It is a funny thing about the US and cheques. I was always told people don't use cheques in the US, only cards. That only Europe uses cheques (checks). But it actually seems that it is now Europe that doesn't use cheques, or very rarely, and debit or credit cards are the norm.

Keep in mind that what is normal in Iowa may not be usual at all in California.

Fire-resistant safes tend to be heavier and bulkier than other safes because they have to be insulated all around. Seems odd to me that JeM and JuM would have two safes and would leave them at Bob's house. But that would explain why Bob had three safes.

 

[SuziQ]

Grandson's house was about one mile away. Too far for Bob to walk, I think, but under a five minute drive.

I'd like to know whose houses were searched too - usually, you'd expect family members of a missing person to throw open their doors to LE, but I've no idea if permission was asked for or granted in Bob's case.

Thank you. I guess the good news is that LE has gone back decades later to search areas of interest and found evidence. In the Kathleen Savio case, ten-ish years later and new owners, they removed a large Jacuzzi tub.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

This may well have been discussed at some point during my venture away from WS but I just discovered it:

"The Night Lynsie Disappeared" on Dateline ID:

The Night Lynsie Disappeared* - YouTube

It is about Lynsie Eklund, who disappeared from Placentia. After 8 years, PPD turned the case over to the Orange County cold case unit and Larry Montgomery worked the case. And solved it, after poring over everything exhaustively for 2 years.

Detective Montgomery blew the whole case open by noticing one black speck in a surveillance photo. The presence of that little black dot in that one photo destroyed the alibi of one of the main suspects. No one else had noticed it but Detective Montgomery did.

That man is one bulldog of an investigator. Truly amazing.

I feel good that Bob's case is now in his hands.

 

[SuziQ]

Thanks Grainne Dhu! Lynsie's case gives me hope. I've been hit and miss in this thread lately. I've seen the discussion that a Cold case unit has Bob's case now. But I've missed where it was reported. Can you link me up? TIA.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Thanks Grainne Dhu! Lynsie's case gives me hope. I've been hit and miss in this thread lately. I've seen the discussion that a Cold case unit has Bob's case now. But I've missed where it was reported. Can you link me up? TIA.

I'm still looking for it. In the search, though, I found this very interesting item in the Orange County Register:

Police say Bob Harrod's son-in-law Jeff Michaels was doing work at the house July 27 in preparation for Fontelle Harrod's arrival.
Michaels told police he left the house for Home Depot to buy supplies around 2:30 p.m., and time stamped-receipts bear him out, Loomis said.
About 2:30 p.m. was the last time anyone says they saw Bob Harrod.
Michaels said he returned to the house after 3 p.m. to find the Harrods' longtime maid sitting on the front stoop, saying the door was locked. Bob Harrod talked to the housekeeper on the phone earlier that morning and told her to come.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/-214111--.html

An interesting discrepancy, a very interesting discrepancy.

 

[zwiebel]

This is the link to just the video;
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/vide...ssing-placentia-mans-wife-suspects-foul-play/

Give me a sec and I'll find the one with the comments under it too.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Thanks Grainne Dhu! Lynsie's case gives me hope. I've been hit and miss in this thread lately. I've seen the discussion that a Cold case unit has Bob's case now. But I've missed where it was reported. Can you link me up? TIA.

Aha! The local CBS affiliate did the story:

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/vide...ssing-placentia-mans-wife-suspects-foul-play/

 

[zwiebel]

Snap Grainne!

Here is the same one, but with interesting comments;

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013...ssing-placentia-mans-wife-suspects-foul-play/

 

[SuziQ]

Whoa! Very interesting article and comments.

Both of you, thanks for linking me up!

 

[zwiebel]

Thank you. I guess the good news is that LE has gone back decades later to search areas of interest and found evidence. In the Kathleen Savio case, ten-ish years later and new owners, they removed a large Jacuzzi tub.

And didn't that tub turn out to be quite important? I seem to recall the prosecutor pointing out that it simply didn't have any of the sharp edges that could have caused a head wound like Kathleen's - and that it would have been pretty impossible for her to have fallen into the position she was found in, with a tub shaped the way it was.

And didn't he forget a tiny detail too, that a sharp-eyed neighbour noticed? No towel in the bathroom? It's sometimes the small things that accumulate and trip suspects up in the end.

 

[zwiebel]

Whoa! Very interesting article and comments.

Both of you, thanks for linking me up!

No problem. I was overjoyed when believe09 first posted it. I'm very happy to pass it on!