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

[zwiebel]

I must learn to swim. I really, really must learn to swim if I'm going to keep on living by water.

 

[zwiebel]

I didn't manage to get any pics of the chess 'game' either. It was over too soon.

I guess when you think about Bob's case, some of the actions and events are simply ridiculous. Unbelievable.

And that's probably why so many things have been left unspoken, or there are ridiculous gaps. For example, are we really expected to believe that not one of Bob's daughters has ever asked son in law, straight out, what time he last saw Bob (including his wife)?

And why did someone claiming to be a daughter post hugely detailed info about the family, somewhere, for the run-up to Disappeared, but stop dead long before the date of Bob's disappearance? How was that supposed to help?

Why did son in law's wife ask people to 'embrace this' then bite their heads off when they did?

Why did son in law run away from the scene of the crime that police believe happened, and never come back or say a word to the public?

What was grandson so scared of that he needed police to accompany him into the house his dad had left hours earlier, and his Mom would enter, alone, hours later?

 

[Grainne Dhu]

What was grandson so scared of that he needed police to accompany him into the house his dad had left hours earlier, and his Mom would enter, alone, hours later?

SBM

Of all your questions, that seems to me to have the most obvious answer. His motivation was the same as the CL when she asked JeM to check the upstairs. He didn't want to be the one to discover anything.

In a homicide investigation, they start by investigating the inner ring first. That inner ring comprises the family, the last known person to see the victim alive and the person who discovers the victim's body.

Much, much better to let the police discover whatever there is to discover. Or not to discover.

Also, when trying to ad lib one's way through a novel situation, there are bound to be mistakes. Lines that fall with a clunk and draw the attention of the audience because they don't quite fit in properly.

 

[sreshowtime]

Zwie, edit the above to include.... 'Why aren't they looking for/asking about/ pleading on behalf of/writing letters or emails/ hanging flyers/having a vigil or awareness event/pestering the stew out of media, etc/sharing anything that might give a clue to where Mr. H is, in some publicly visible form?'
I.Do.Not.Get.It.
well. maybe I do

there I said it, been holding that in a while now
it is rather rhetorical and doesn't really have to be answered

 

[sreshowtime]

sure do have a lot of guests! Hiya! hope you are sharing about Mr. H so people can be on the lookout for him! He really needs found, don't you think?

 

[zwiebel]

Zwie, edit the above to include.... 'Why aren't they looking for/asking about/ pleading on behalf of/writing letters or emails/ hanging flyers/having a vigil or awareness event/pestering the stew out of media, etc/sharing anything that might give a clue to where Mr. H is, in some publicly visible form?'
I.Do.Not.Get.It.
well. maybe I do

there I said it, been holding that in a while now
it is rather rhetorical and doesn't really have to be answered

Too busy talking to the media about urgent issues like 'not in my backyard'?

Underneath the article headed 'Caltrans gambles on 330' from 2007, you can find a Julie Michaels of Running Springs, who moved to the area a year before, complaining about construction work. She goes on to say how 'they overbuilt in Orange County'.

Unfortunately, this is the only no-pay link I could find, so only part of the interview is visible.

http://lang.sbsun.com/a1/101106.pdf

 

[sreshowtime]

oh that pesky 330

 

[zwiebel]

Let's hope if they did start constructing houses there, they managed to finish them. There's nothing worse than leaving something half done.

 

[zwiebel]

I don't know why that pdf was left up there. I've a feeling it will disappear soon.

 

[zwiebel]

This is new, isn't it? A blog with Bob's latest news story. Do I have to be signed in to see the comment, or is it my ipad not letting me?

I think I may have seen the comment anyway, via google. Something about the cat's pyjamas?
http://discover.wordpress.com/tag/fontelle-harrod/

 

[Opie]

z,
I have read this before - somewhere else than that blog. The basic article has been linked here at some point recently. Also, I was able to read the comments. ??? Will try to find the line where I read this before.

 

[Opie]

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/...cts-foul-play/

Try that one, z, and see if you can read the comments there.

 

[zwiebel]

Thanks Opie!

You won't believe it, but I discovered why my ipad was playing up. It's magnetic and when I fell in the river I tipped all my change from my wet wallet on the table. Then put my computer on top, where all the little cents had stuck to the back and were making it shut down, and do weird things. I'm a computer genius, and didn't even know it.

 

[zwiebel]

Looking at the reactions surrounding Bob's disappearance, I've noticed this;

Mrs Harrod didn't change much. Obviously, there was the shock and grief, but she was an approachable lady before Bob's disappearance, happy to have her wedding in the news, and she has remained media-friendly to this day.

Eldest daughter PB seemed to use the internet a bit, but otherwise kept quite a low profile. She seems to be doing about the same today. Not much change.

Middle daughter RB seemed to use the internet a quite a bit, and have a strong interest in history and heritage, and a willingness to be actively involved in those things. She hasn't changed much either, I think. She kept a kind of middle profile?

Grandson seemed to have a somewhat obscure life, built around finances and achievements and businesses and houses that seemed somehow elusive, fading away when focused upon. He didn't appear to change much either.

The housekeeper seemed to work hard, in a responsible way, and speak out when she thought she needed to - that still fits now, I'd say.

The hairdresser seemed very sociable, and happy to accept gifts. I don't think that's changed.

Son in law seems to have had a very low public profile, and it's even lower now. So he's changed a bit.

And youngest daughter JuM. She had the biggest public profile of all. From publicity about kidney donations, to dogs and arts and crafts and complaints about overbuilding. I bet there is more too. Maybe amateur theatre stuff? For the first three days after Bob's disappearance she was out there doing what she had always done - stepping into the spotlight; talking fluently and freely to media. Never lost for words except for those few seconds before the 'maybe one, noon' answer.
After that, she shut down. Shunned the media, and still does, to this day. Totally out of character, and far too early for it to be blamed on cyber-stalking, etc.

JuM stands above all others close to this case to me, in her obvious, drastic change of behaviour after Bob disappeared. There has to be a reason for that, and I think everything else sort of fades into background noise for me. I keep trying to work out what it could be that made her reaction so different from her sisters', and the only reason I keep coming up with, is that she is married to the last known person to have seen Bob.

 

[zwiebel]

However, I am always open to correction. The Oktoberfest at Big Bear runs every weekend I think, until near the end of October. If it is anything like the Munich one, people will travel from far and wide and be happy and easy to talk to. Perhaps JuM will attend with some flyers, and revive her old magic in attracting supporters to a cause - her dad being missing and needing to be found, this time.

 

[zwiebel]

Munich during the Oktoberfest is amazing. It's the only place where you can find a Scotsman in a kilt, with his bagpipes, accompanied by a Texan in a cowboy hat and a Russian in a fur one, along with a German woman in a very tight dirndle and a man in leather shorts, all trying to advise a visitor from Japan on the best way to take a photo of them. Really civilized dogs too, off the leash.

 

[Opie]

Looking at the reactions surrounding Bob's disappearance, I've noticed this;

Mrs Harrod didn't change much. Obviously, there was the shock and grief, but she was an approachable lady before Bob's disappearance, happy to have her wedding in the news, and she has remained media-friendly to this day.

Eldest daughter PB seemed to use the internet a bit, but otherwise kept quite a low profile. She seems to be doing about the same today. Not much change.

Middle daughter RB seemed to use the internet a quite a bit, and have a strong interest in history and heritage, and a willingness to be actively involved in those things. She hasn't changed much either, I think. She kept a kind of middle profile?

Grandson seemed to have a somewhat obscure life, built around finances and achievements and businesses and houses that seemed somehow elusive, fading away when focused upon. He didn't appear to change much either.

The housekeeper seemed to work hard, in a responsible way, and speak out when she thought she needed to - that still fits now, I'd say.

The hairdresser seemed very sociable, and happy to accept gifts. I don't think that's changed.

Son in law seems to have had a very low public profile, and it's even lower now. So he's changed a bit.

And youngest daughter JuM. She had the biggest public profile of all. From publicity about kidney donations, to dogs and arts and crafts and complaints about overbuilding. I bet there is more too. Maybe amateur theatre stuff? For the first three days after Bob's disappearance she was out there doing what she had always done - stepping into the spotlight; talking fluently and freely to media. Never lost for words except for those few seconds before the 'maybe one, noon' answer.
After that, she shut down. Shunned the media, and still does, to this day. Totally out of character, and far too early for it to be blamed on cyber-stalking, etc.

JuM stands above all others close to this case to me, in her obvious, drastic change of behaviour after Bob disappeared. There has to be a reason for that, and I think everything else sort of fades into background noise for me. I keep trying to work out what it could be that made her reaction so different from her sisters', and the only reason I keep coming up with, is that she is married to the last known person to have seen Bob.

Excellent analysis, IMO. I recall reading about how sometimes people change either their appearance, behavior, etc. after a crime has been committed that hits close to home. Makes one say "hmmmm."

 

[zwiebel]

Well, it does. Because it is yet another big coincidence in this case, that the three people to have completely shut themselves down are the last known person to see Bob, his wife, and their son.

I suppose there is eldest daughter PB's view though, that coincidence was exactly what all the events around Bob's disappearance were.

 

[Opie]

Well, it does. Because it is yet another big coincidence in this case, that the three people to have completely shut themselves down are the last known person to see Bob, his wife, and their son.

I suppose there is eldest daughter PB's view though, that coincidence was exactly what all the events around Bob's disappearance were.

Uh-huh. Sure. Just coincidence, right. (insert sarcasm icon here)

 

[zwiebel]

It does make a person think.

I've read of families of missing people going over tiny, tiny details with a fine toothcomb, again and again; what their loved one did or said, what others did or said, what they took with them or, tellingly, left behind. Sometimes, heartbreakingly, I've seen them mention a small detail that seems to give a firm pointer to what has happened, and yet they seem to be unaware. Probably, it's just they cannot bring themselves to consider a bad outcome.

Sometimes, they home in on a detail or a suspicion, and won't let it go. I find it most noticeable with children who have gone missing in the middle of a divorce/custody battle, while in the care of one parent. Often the other parent will go to the media, and say outright they don't believe what their spouse is saying, and point out details that don't seem right, or make no sense, that the media haven't noticed.

There are quite a few here on WS where details remembered have been astounding - the exact time a toddler was handed a cup of milk in the morning, and the exact words spoken, or a word for word recounting of a conversation about dinner, before the missing person 'walked' out of the home, seemingly forever. I have noticed they often seem to be coupled with a strange lack of urgency or sense of enquiry, when it becomes obvious the person has gone missing. Police are not informed immediately, or it is presumed the person's gone to the laundromat, for example, when all the laundry is still in the home and only the basket and quilt are missing. Those kind of cases often seem to result in murder charges.

I haven't come across another case where anyone has dismissed something as just coincidence though, and left it at that. I can't recollect one instance. I haven't been here long though, so maybe some of our other posters could point me to a case where the coincidence word has been used?