FL FL - Theresa Hartley, 66, lost in Ocala National Forest, vehicle got stuck w/friend, friend went for help, Theresa gone when returned, 10 March 2023

[c@tw0man]

I wonder if he was also just dumping the truck out there also. Did it still have its license plate?

Soulmagent, I agree. I also have been wondering how the trailer did not appear in any of the photos. If he walked out of there, surely he did not drag that trailer behind him through the sand. The facts don't add up.

 

[windrower]

I also wonder if an accountant has looked at Theresa's finances, the three dear friends of hers may have reasons for not wanting her around to spill the beans.

Yes to this. Someone needs to be looking into her accounts.

All right, what's in the back of the pickup?

• gas can
• (2) 5-gallon buckets
• black pot, can't tell what it's made of
• milk crate
• aquatic rake
• small fishing net
• large fishing net
• chainsaw
• red storage tote
• blue & white storage tote?
• portable black storage tote?
• rolled-up mat
• laundry drying rack? (blue)
• long black pole thing next to the chainsaw

ITA, those branches lying down like that makes no sense.

Those branches lying down look like a cross has been made? Or am I seeing things?

 

[Howl]

Those branches lying down look like a cross has been made? Or am I seeing things?

I'd assumed they had tried to put them under the rear tires for traction to get out of the sand.

 

[Stunned]

I'd assumed they had tried to put them under the rear tires for traction to get out of the sand.

Oh, good plan! Not, had they never been in the woods before?

 

[megs1477]

Wait, they had a chainsaw in the truck to cut an adequate piece of wood to get them unstuck and they were trying with those little branches? Something smells fishy. Every central FL redneck who takes their truck off road knows how to get it unstuck. I think they teach it in elementary school or something.

 

[Stunned]

Wait, they had a chainsaw in the truck to cut an adequate piece of wood to get them unstuck and they were trying with those little branches? Something smells fishy. Every central FL redneck who takes their truck off road knows how to get it unstuck. I think they teach it in elementary school or something.

Yup, that would have been the best plan! You cut down a tree in the National Forest, the Park Rangers come arrest at least you and escort Theresa out. Would have saved a lot of trouble and speculation.
I am just not getting this whole scenario!

 

[megs1477]

Yup, that would have been the best plan! You cut down a tree in the National Forest, the Park Rangers come arrest at least you and escort Theresa out. Would have saved a lot of trouble and speculation.
I am just not getting this whole scenario!

In my mind I was thinking a tree that had already fallen. Lol

 

[Stunned]

In my mind I was thinking a tree that had already fallen. Lol

Never mind!
But that was a good story!

 

[windrower]

I'd assumed they had tried to put them under the rear tires for traction to get out of the sand.

Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant the branches in the bed of the pickup. Looked to me like a crosspiece had been attached to a branch, making a cross.

 

[Stunned]

Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant the branches in the bed of the pickup. Looked to me like a crosspiece had been attached to a branch, making a cross.

Oh, see it now! Yeah, it does look like it was made into a cross. Also looking at the truck, how did it even get that far in that sand?

 

[c@tw0man]

I've seen trucks get stuck like this on the beach where I work. This appears to look like one I recently saw with a trailer attached. The rear digs itself in just like these photos. I wonder where the trailer went if this was the same vehicle that picked her up with the trailer.

Exactly! The trailer. I have been puzzled over the missing trailer, too. I wonder if the truck owner did something to Theresa, then left with the trailer and truck. He came back later with only the truck, and that's when he got stuck. This sweet, trusting,elderly woman, attempting to survive alone in a bug infested forested wetland, is such a horrifying thought. No food, no clean water, animal noises at night, tripping over roots and falling in the dark...By the second day, she must have been getting desperate for her 'friend' to come back. Little did she know, he had only just that day thought to mention to someone that he had left her out there. And 'Robert', who knew all of her business, vouches for this cold-blooded good friend. This story just smells.
I wonder if these two guys had a plan, and thought this was a great place to get rid of a body. Hungry gators. I'll bet this fisherman who owns the truck knows all the good gator holes. Maybe he waited 2 days so he could check the gator hole to make sure that there was nothing left of Theresa before he raised the alarm. Maybe he was actually stuck in the sand the second day, when he went back to check. Theresa's family needs to make sure to get control over her property ASAP, and hire a good forensic accountant.

 

[NeverPersonal]

I am in the process of trying to get The Vanished, Sarah Turney, and LordanArts to cover this.

 

[Stunned]

I am in the process of trying to get The Vanished, Sarah Turney, and LordanArts to cover this.

Thanks! It definitely needs more attention!

 

[c@tw0man]

Thanks! It definitely needs more attention!

There are too many unanswered questions.
A 66 year old lady has been left alone in the deep woods by her mystery friend, and has been missing since March 10, total 95 days, with apparently no sign of her.
What is happening with this case?
Has anyone found anything belonging to Theresa while hiking, or in the trash?
Any reports of birds circling, or decomp in the area?
Is LE certain she was ever there, are there footprints or other evidence to support the friend's story? Have search dogs been dispatched to the area?
The lack of news makes me wonder if her remains were dumped somewhere else, and the forest was used as a red herring?
Why isn't there Gabby Petito-type noise out there? No disrespect, of course, to Gabbys loved ones. Theresa's life was important, and she deserves better from her community. MOO.

 

[charminglane]

There are too many unanswered questions.
A 66 year old lady has been left alone in the deep woods by her mystery friend, and has been missing since March 10, total 95 days, with apparently no sign of her.
What is happening with this case?
Has anyone found anything belonging to Theresa while hiking, or in the trash?
Any reports of birds circling, or decomp in the area?
Is LE certain she was ever there, are there footprints or other evidence to support the friend's story? Have search dogs been dispatched to the area?
The lack of news makes me wonder if her remains were dumped somewhere else, and the forest was used as a red herring?
Why isn't there Gabby Petito-type noise out there? No disrespect, of course, to Gabbys loved ones. Theresa's life was important, and she deserves better from her community. MOO.

Maybe because the media refers to Theresa as "elderly" at 66 as you did.

 

[Soulmagent]

Wait, they had a chainsaw in the truck to cut an adequate piece of wood to get them unstuck and they were trying with those little branches? Something smells fishy. Every central FL redneck who takes their truck off road knows how to get it unstuck. I think they teach it in elementary school or something.

Chainsaw probably didnt work into the whole story .

Mr. Policeman can you come back ? Thesea didnt outwalk a search at 66 in the forest , she was a smoker.

 

[c@tw0man]

Maybe because the media refers to Theresa as "elderly" at 66 as you did.

I'm 69, and I am an elderly female, also. Who are you to call me out? <modsnip>

 

[Stunned]

I’m going to be 66 next month. I don’t consider myself elderly. <modsnip - reference removed> So where is Theresa?

 

[Soulmagent]

I'm 69, and I am an elderly female, also. Who are you to call me out? <modsnip>

I work with 3 women in their 60's and they bust their butts harder than the younggirls I work with so your not fooling me ,but none of us are going to out hike search and resue kwim? They are all on blood presure meds,though.
That stuck truck shows it was not an easy travel path. Walking would have been hard in that meduim I think.

 

[NeverPersonal]

This case is such a mess. The second she went missing, so many different people came forward and tried to claim this, that, or the other thing. Thankfully, Theresa also has some truly amazing and loving people in her life trying to get this sorted out. There's some court stuff coming up regarding Theresa's assets.