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

[Opie]

Zwiebel,
Thank you for your concern for so many folks. My late cousin was in several nursing homes. Even though all clothing is marked with the resident's name, strange clothing showed up in her returned laundry and some of hers went missing. One strategy I've learned about included purchasing clothing at thrift stores, since so many things disappear. Another includes a family member/friend taking the clothing home to launder, though things can still disappear.

It is definitely not wise to bring anything precious or irreplaceable into a nursing home, though I'm not sure that applies to every such home or assisted living facility, but it does apply to too many I've seen/heard about. So sad.

 

[Opie]

Another sad thing is that so many - even some of the so-called "best in the area" nursing homes - are terribly understaffed. Since the staff are too often poorly paid...you know the old expression about you get what you pay for.

On the actual topic of this thread again, thank you for your dedication to finding Bob Harrod. You have done so much to keep this thread going. I read daily (and often forget to thank you for the posts), but do not possess your sleuthing skills. My contribution is to pray for M/M Harrod and so many others on WS.

 

[zwiebel]

The irony and great tragedy of Bob's case is all tied up with these issues, I think. In some ways he was so lucky, not to have any major health issues at his age, or any worries about paying his bills or having a nice, permanent home.

In other ways, he was very unlucky indeed, of course. I actually found that story about the 'care' home through following up another; a hiker, yet again, has just stumbled upon the remains of a young woman in a park. It had been searched extensively, several times. Thank heavens for those hikers who keep finding our missing, and call in.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

The irony and great tragedy of Bob's case is all tied up with these issues, I think. In some ways he was so lucky, not to have any major health issues at his age, or any worries about paying his bills or having a nice, permanent home.

In other ways, he was very unlucky indeed, of course. I actually found that story about the 'care' home through following up another; a hiker, yet again, has just stumbled upon the remains of a young woman in a park. It had been searched extensively, several times. Thank heavens for those hikers who keep finding our missing, and call in.

It strikes me that the co-conservators could have printed out tens or hundreds of thousands of fliers and purchased various targeted mailing lists to alert people with various interests of the problem of missing people in general and Bob in particular for what they wasted on that stupid lawsuit. Maybe put Bob's flyer on one side of the page and put a list of tips to be alert to when in open areas on the other side.

Two more groups of people to target that I've thought of would be geologists and rock hounds. Those are groups of people who go out to places that are often quite wild and their eyes are glued to the ground. The geologists that I knew when I lived in a university town were pretty good naturalists as well because what type of vegetation grows in an area can give a geologist hints about what is under the ground.

 

[zwiebel]

It seems there would be quite a gathering of useful people here at the Brea Tar Pits too.

http://www.latimes.com/science/scie...-years-20131028,0,7385828.story#axzz2j89QpDnE

It's a little hard to reach these experts though, unless you're in their circle or find something interesting. Those tar pits are like Irish bogs, only stickier. Talking of which, we've had some storms here in Europe. England and Ireland were hit worst. Some of us decided it was best to stay home and batten down the hatches. Others ( one in particular) decided it was a good time to catch a plane, a boat and go stay in a forest, in a residence not firmly anchored to the ground.

That person was not me. I think my household is still intact though, just about.

 

[sreshowtime]

yes those storms in Europe packed a wallop- saw video of Dover , boy it was getting slammed. Ouch. Yes batten down your hatch , zwie, as best you can


I find myself wondering what the daily lives of people are like, that have a missing family member. One that has been missing years, not just days. Does life just go back to a normal? Do they just set the fact aside or what? Especially in Mr. H's case, with the unknown factor at play...and the possible ulterior motive(s)? In certain missing cases, is there always at least one person still looking over their shoulder, so to speak, even with the passage of time?

I don't even HAVE a missing family member and yet I find my days (and nights) revolve around particular persons who are still missing. It is like they have become a family member to me....and I don't want to forget them.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

yes those storms in Europe packed a wallop- saw video of Dover , boy it was getting slammed. Ouch. Yes batten down your hatch , zwie, as best you can

I find myself wondering what the daily lives of people are like, that have a missing family member. One that has been missing years, not just days. Does life just go back to a normal? Do they just set the fact aside or what? Especially in Mr. H's case, with the unknown factor at play...and the possible ulterior motive(s)? In certain missing cases, is there always at least one person still looking over their shoulder, so to speak, even with the passage of time?

I don't even HAVE a missing family member and yet I find my days (and nights) revolve around particular persons who are still missing. It is like they have become a family member to me....and I don't want to forget them.

I can't speak for anyone else but I have seen how it played out in my (extended) family. My maternal grandfather was a posthumous baby; his father went missing in action somewhere in France during WWI. I'm removed enough from it that I believe he among the tens of thousands of unidentified soldiers who died in that conflict.

His widow, though, could never quite believe that. They only had a few months together as a married couple before he left for the war. She never re-married and she made sure to arrange for mail to be forwarded. My grandfather did the same thing, right up until his death when he was in his 70s. Some part of them could never let go of that last flicker of hope that maybe he had somehow survived and might someday get into contact with them again. There were two photographs of him and both of them were family treasures.

I've read compilations of letters written by soldiers in WWI and found some really eloquent ones, really touching ones. My great-grandfather, however, was apparently not the sort who could set his thoughts out on paper effectively. His letters were stiff and not really of interest to anyone but his wife, who treasured them. I know from my mother that she wondered if her letters to him had been buried with him, since they were not among the personal effects returned to her.

Of course, there were so many families in the same position in that time. They were just one amongst many instead of being the odd family out as is the case today with missing persons.

 

[zwiebel]

The two World Wars are so long ago, and of course all the spouses of those WW1 soldiers, and many of their sons and daughters and grandchildren too, have since died. But that doesn't seem to matter. Family members who never met that missing one always seem so grateful if actual evidence of their death can be found.

The fields of France and Belgium are still littered with the relics of those wars though, and are regularly ploughed up. When something identifiable to a particular soldier is found, it's always returned to the family, if possible. The US seems particularly conscientious about bringing their missing home. To me, there is something very moving about the modern day strangers who care enough to keep on searching.

http://www.spiegel.de/international...-belgium-for-us-soldier-remains-a-846275.html

 

[zwiebel]

yes those storms in Europe packed a wallop- saw video of Dover , boy it was getting slammed. Ouch. Yes batten down your hatch , zwie, as best you can


I find myself wondering what the daily lives of people are like, that have a missing family member. One that has been missing years, not just days. Does life just go back to a normal? Do they just set the fact aside or what? Especially in Mr. H's case, with the unknown factor at play...and the possible ulterior motive(s)? In certain missing cases, is there always at least one person still looking over their shoulder, so to speak, even with the passage of time?

I don't even HAVE a missing family member and yet I find my days (and nights) revolve around particular persons who are still missing. It is like they have become a family member to me....and I don't want to forget them.

What would make a huge, huge difference to me is if I was sure they had been murdered, and the killer was still out there. It is one tragedy to have someone you love killed in the vast, often anonymous carnage of war. It is another thing to think that someone killed your loved one, deliberately, for no other reason than that they could, and they wanted to. And won't even return their remains to you.

That really must be one of the hardest things in the world to live with.

 

[zwiebel]

BBM

There's a chance that the mother of the baby will be identified. They are although it is difficult to estimate the frequency because who knows how many babies disappear without attracting any attention? The reason I know the general outline of the backstory is because the mothers have been identified.

The US has an institutionalised fear of authority without the accountability of elections. That fear so permeates the culture that we're practically unaware of it. I believe that fear is probably a factor at the root of the jurisdictional turf wars. The great strength of the system is that it is highly resistant to widespread corruption and that since each LE agency has its own office culture, it is easy to find a fresh eye outside the LE agency with direct jurisdiction.

Every nation, every culture has such institutionalised fears, by the way, I'm not trying to say that the US is in any way special for having such a fear. Just that we are all blind to certain aspects of the culture each individual lives in.

Your post about mothers trying to conceal babies has just proved predictive, in a shockingly unexpected way. It is being reported that a broken down vehicle in France was taken to a repair shop and mechanics insisted the woman open the boot as they could hear noises. She said it must be an electronic toy. There was a 15 - 23 month old baby inside. Police think babe has been hidden there since birth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24719220

 

[sreshowtime]

omGosh zwie, what the heck is wrong with people, put them in the BOOT

 

[zwiebel]

I meant to say trunk of course, but I guess everyone knew what bit of the vehicle I meant.

I have searched through every photo of the Placentia Heritage festival I could find by the way, but I haven't found any featuring Bob's flyer. I'm still hoping one or two did make it there, and it's just nobody thought to take a pic.

 

[sreshowtime]

i say boot

so many lost opportunities the family has had to get out the word...stuff like that kinda starts at home ya kwim

 

[zwiebel]

Do you really say boot? I thought all Americans said trunks.

There are supposed to be searches underway for overdue/missing hikers on Mnt Baldy. I can't find any msm reports though. Looking at the location on satellite view it doesn't seem as though it would have vehicle access there, so I don't suppose there is any chance Bob will be found.

I hope the hikers are though.

 

[zwiebel]

This is where I saw about the searches

http://www.sbsar.org/

 

[zwiebel]

The thin, wriggly line going right across the mountain in the very center of this picture - that's not a walking trail, is it?

 

[sreshowtime]

Glendora Ridge and Mt Baldy roads go up to Mount Baldy, basically from the foothills along 210, think some stuff downstairs

 

[sreshowtime]

aha I see right where that snip is from trails not cars I think
Bullock Spur & Big tree truck road, but I don't think vehicle access

 

[zwiebel]

They don't seem to be marked though on the maps I was looking at. All the roads look as though they stop dead at the foot of the mountain, to this expert map reader.

 

[paris_paris]

hmmm. I just read the last 2 pages, and I don't see any posts about Bob? Am I on the wrong thread?