MI MI - Eric Franks, 40, Buena Vista Twp, 21 March 2011 - #1

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  • #1,001
All this just seems so outrageous. And from everything I have been seeing here it looks like FG & Husband know more than they say. They either did it or had it done or something. They know. Pretty obvious because they are being questioned left and right and then all of a sudden move to Florida.
Almost reminds me of the Casey Anthony thing. Where she led everyone on a wild goose chase before the child's body was found and didn't she get away with it. And remember they found the body right by the house. Like within a mile was it? So maybe these people in Michigan should search and research every single inch even if that means digging in the dirt with their bare hands. Because something just ain't right about all this
 
  • #1,002
Also the statement about police would talk to 3rd wife whatever state she was in. 3rd wife was in Ohio until 2 years ago when she went back to her home state because Ohio just wasn't for her. So they could have found her if they had actually tried. So even after that info was supposedly added to the file it is failure on their part. Not that 3rd wife knows anything about what happened because again no contact at all with the missing person since Sept. 2010. The day she left him so he could go be with this FG he claimed was his soul mate. The only one who had ever made him happy. So wife #3 has had to find out everything about all of this either here or thru another source. Eric's family has a better idea of what happened than even the police at this point because the family says to check this or that and then they get no results or are told it was done but have no proof of any action. And from what I am seeing here looks like Eric's mom may actually have this one almost figured out. She may not know how but she has a very good clue about who did it but the authorities aren't backing her up on it any at all. So Eric's mom you just keep after them day after day until they decide to actually do some real work up there
 
  • #1,003
Excellent posts, Vee! Your objective insight has really given me a lot to ponder. Thank you. I have several thoughts I'd like to share, if I may.
In reality, isn't it possible that the prior LE (Bridgeport & BV) were not as forthcoming as everyone was expecting because initially they weren't told the truth by FG and they couldn't even be sure WHERE Eric was actually last seen, WHO really last saw him, and WHEN he was last seen- it's easy to lie and say Eric just drove on down the road off into the sunset- but why haven't we EVER heard his clothing description if FG watched him drive away? Oh, come on, FG. Eric is missing, his car is missing, his belongings are missing, and she cleaned out his room without him, as well as his security deposit.
All that, then compounded by the fact that Bridgeport got the missing persons report from Archbold, OH PD and were talking with immediate family from Ohio, but not the official legal next of kin for Eric? With Eric being married, his wife would be the legal NOK, technically.
It's not uncommon for missing persons cases to get jazzed up, unintentionally, in the process of FG's stories as well as transferring investigative agencies so many times. It's unfortunate, but inter jurisdictional linkage blindness issues are inevitable. Just like playing post office, in a sense, except with a huge ring binder of notes and papers, interviews and searches and dozens of people involved. It has been said that 5 agencies have worked on this "case"; are they Archbold, Bridgeport, Buena Vista, Saginaw, & MSP?
Now that the MSP has been & will be handling the "case", if they haven't contacted Eric's wife, could she step up to the plate and initiate the call to Detective Gary Thomas- to open the lines of communication, get the ball rolling, and help move this investigation forward? It just seems to me that more information would possibly be shared and verified with the next of kin. Maybe Eric's SS number could be checked now, and the past requests for FB, email, phone records, and whatever might be helpful or has been requested could be addressed again somehow? Now that 3+ years have passed, it might be best to quit looking in the rear view mirror analyzing how the case was handled years ago and focus more on what can be done here and now to help the investigator move it forward, while spreading the word that ERIC IS STILL MISSING to encourage tips!! Someone knows....
From watching the interview video with Det Thomas on the most recent news article (link following), I respectfully beg to differ with generalizations that the MSP aren't doing anything or don't know what they're doing. Just by calling to get the correct anonymous tip line, as a complete stranger, I found the MSP to be very concerned, highly professional, and extremely dedicated to solve this mystery; So much more than they're getting credit for:
http://www.abc12.com/story/25081701/no-sign-of-eric-franks-missing-for-more-than-3-years
In my past experience, the State of Michigan takes their missing person cases quite seriously, and as a result, Michigan has a lot less missing people than most states of their size and population. And considering how hard they have been hit the last decade with the economy and their resources, the MSP are still open 24/7 and are ready to serve. This is what they do for a living. Eric is out there somewhere, just waiting to be found. :twocents:

Det/Sgt Gary Thomas,
(989) 495-5560 Office
Case 31-495-13
Michigan State Police
Tri-City Post
2402 Salzburg Road
Freeland, MI 48623

Anonymous Tip Line (989) 495-5557

IMO, MOO, and all that...
 
  • #1,004
And again they are going to label the ones who filed him missing as NOK because 3rd wife was what they would called estranged because she was gone. And she didn't know he was missing until months after the fact. So maybe that is part of the reason for that much. Yes she would be technically NOK but she isn't there, doesn't know he missing so isn't the one reporting it. That leaves family reporting it as NOK
 
  • #1,005
FBEye said:
Excellent posts, Vee! Your objective insight has really given me a lot to ponder. Thank you. I have several thoughts I'd like to share, if I may.
In reality, isn't it possible that the prior LE (Bridgeport & BV) were not as forthcoming as everyone was expecting because initially they weren't told the truth by FG and they couldn't even be sure WHERE Eric was actually last seen, WHO really last saw him, and WHEN he was last seen- it's easy to lie and say Eric just drove on down the road off into the sunset- but why haven't we EVER heard his clothing description if FG watched him drive away? Oh, come on, FG. Eric is missing, his car is missing, his belongings are missing, and she cleaned out his room without him, as well as his security deposit.
All that, then compounded by the fact that Bridgeport got the missing persons report from Archbold, OH PD and were talking with immediate family from Ohio, but not the official legal next of kin for Eric? With Eric being married, his wife would be the legal NOK, technically.
It's not uncommon for missing persons cases to get jazzed up, unintentionally, in the process of FG's stories as well as transferring investigative agencies so many times. It's unfortunate, but inter jurisdictional linkage blindness issues are inevitable. Just like playing post office, in a sense, except with a huge ring binder of notes and papers, interviews and searches and dozens of people involved. It has been said that 5 agencies have worked on this "case"; are they Archbold, Bridgeport, Buena Vista, Saginaw, & MSP?
Now that the MSP has been & will be handling the "case", if they haven't contacted Eric's wife, could she step up to the plate and initiate the call to Detective Gary Thomas- to open the lines of communication, get the ball rolling, and help move this investigation forward? It just seems to me that more information would possibly be shared and verified with the next of kin. Maybe Eric's SS number could be checked now, and the past requests for FB, email, phone records, and whatever might be helpful or has been requested could be addressed again somehow? Now that 3+ years have passed, it might be best to quit looking in the rear view mirror analyzing how the case was handled years ago and focus more on what can be done here and now to help the investigator move it forward, while spreading the word that ERIC IS STILL MISSING to encourage tips!! Someone knows....
From watching the interview video with Det Thomas on the most recent news article (link following), I respectfully beg to differ with generalizations that the MSP aren't doing anything or don't know what they're doing. Just by calling to get the correct anonymous tip line, as a complete stranger, I found the MSP to be very concerned, highly professional, and extremely dedicated to solve this mystery; So much more than they're getting credit for:
http://www.abc12.com/story/25081701/no-sign-of-eric-franks-missing-for-more-than-3-years
In my past experience, the State of Michigan takes their missing person cases quite seriously, and as a result, Michigan has a lot less missing people than most states of their size and population. And considering how hard they have been hit the last decade with the economy and their resources, the MSP are still open 24/7 and are ready to serve. This is what they do for a living. Eric is out there somewhere, just waiting to be found. :twocents:

Det/Sgt Gary Thomas,
(989) 495-5560 Office
Case 31-495-13
Michigan State Police
Tri-City Post
2402 Salzburg Road
Freeland, MI 48623

Anonymous Tip Line (989) 495-5557

IMO, MOO, and all that...
Click to expand...
Eric was initially reported missing in OH. Not sure why they didn't try to talk to his wife even tho they weren't together and he was staying with me, they should have talked to her. They called FG and she told them that she had spoken to Eric's mom and that she told me the last time she saw Eric was in APRIL. She didn't change her story until the motel owner told me that FG was the one who took Eric's things out of his room and Eric wasn't with her. Then she came up with a different story saying the motel owner wasn't being truthful. The OH police notified Bridgeport police because that's where the motel was and FG had changed her initial story to Eric's family.They handed the case over to the BV police who stopped doing anything at the end of the first year. They handed over to the Sheriff's office, but as stated earlier, they never really had the case. They said they were too busy. Then Eric's family requested that the state police take the case. The state police said they would not go back and investigate . We were told that their job was to see if things were done right. Det. Gary Thomas did see that a search was done and has helped with the contacts with dental records. Even if Eric's wife was helping with some of that, without power of attorney, even a spouse can not access private records. Everyone should have someone they love and trust to have power of attorney over them. The state police say they have tried and could not find Eric's wife, even with lots of information given to them. We have asked her to call Det. Thomas. It could be an important step and we appreciate her doing that. The police have been supposedly keeping an eye out for use of his SS# since the beginning. I had kept his draft registration and papers from years ago and gave them his SS#. Family never said that state police haven't done anything. We were told several months ago that they need new info, so we hope they get some. We have always stated that we appreciate what was done, but of course Eric's family is privy to some information we do not feel should be stated in a public forum. We are in private comunication with Eric's wife.
 
  • #1,006
FBEye said:
Excellent posts, Vee! Your objective insight has really given me a lot to ponder. Thank you. I have several thoughts I'd like to share, if I may.
In reality, isn't it possible that the prior LE (Bridgeport & BV) were not as forthcoming as everyone was expecting because initially they weren't told the truth by FG and they couldn't even be sure WHERE Eric was actually last seen, WHO really last saw him, and WHEN he was last seen- it's easy to lie and say Eric just drove on down the road off into the sunset- but why haven't we EVER heard his clothing description if FG watched him drive away? Oh, come on, FG. Eric is missing, his car is missing, his belongings are missing, and she cleaned out his room without him, as well as his security deposit.
All that, then compounded by the fact that Bridgeport got the missing persons report from Archbold, OH PD and were talking with immediate family from Ohio, but not the official legal next of kin for Eric? With Eric being married, his wife would be the legal NOK, technically.
It's not uncommon for missing persons cases to get jazzed up, unintentionally, in the process of FG's stories as well as transferring investigative agencies so many times. It's unfortunate, but inter jurisdictional linkage blindness issues are inevitable. Just like playing post office, in a sense, except with a huge ring binder of notes and papers, interviews and searches and dozens of people involved. It has been said that 5 agencies have worked on this "case"; are they Archbold, Bridgeport, Buena Vista, Saginaw, & MSP?
Now that the MSP has been & will be handling the "case", if they haven't contacted Eric's wife, could she step up to the plate and initiate the call to Detective Gary Thomas- to open the lines of communication, get the ball rolling, and help move this investigation forward? It just seems to me that more information would possibly be shared and verified with the next of kin. Maybe Eric's SS number could be checked now, and the past requests for FB, email, phone records, and whatever might be helpful or has been requested could be addressed again somehow? Now that 3+ years have passed, it might be best to quit looking in the rear view mirror analyzing how the case was handled years ago and focus more on what can be done here and now to help the investigator move it forward, while spreading the word that ERIC IS STILL MISSING to encourage tips!! Someone knows....
From watching the interview video with Det Thomas on the most recent news article (link following), I respectfully beg to differ with generalizations that the MSP aren't doing anything or don't know what they're doing. Just by calling to get the correct anonymous tip line, as a complete stranger, I found the MSP to be very concerned, highly professional, and extremely dedicated to solve this mystery; So much more than they're getting credit for:
http://www.abc12.com/story/25081701/no-sign-of-eric-franks-missing-for-more-than-3-years
In my past experience, the State of Michigan takes their missing person cases quite seriously, and as a result, Michigan has a lot less missing people than most states of their size and population. And considering how hard they have been hit the last decade with the economy and their resources, the MSP are still open 24/7 and are ready to serve. This is what they do for a living. Eric is out there somewhere, just waiting to be found. :twocents:

Det/Sgt Gary Thomas,
(989) 495-5560 Office
Case 31-495-13
Michigan State Police
Tri-City Post
2402 Salzburg Road
Freeland, MI 48623

Anonymous Tip Line (989) 495-5557

IMO, MOO, and all that...
Click to expand...
According to what some of the various law agencies told family, they meet together every Thursday and discuss cases. I was told Eric's case comes up. It isn't that no one has expressed concern in finding Eric, but as stated before, Eric's family has 3 years of knowledge about his case and do not feel some info should be shared publicly because this is an open case. If you had the whole picture, you would better understand our point of view. We hopefully have shared enough to cause someone to find a missing link and we will continue to share as we feel is ok without hurting Eric's case. We deeply appreciate any help anyone can give.
 
  • #1,007
Eric's mom said:
According to what some of the various law agencies told family, they meet together every Thursday and discuss cases. I was told Eric's case comes up. It isn't that no one has expressed concern in finding Eric, but as stated before, Eric's family has 3 years of knowledge about his case and do not feel some info should be shared publicly because this is an open case. If you had the whole picture, you would better understand our point of view. We hopefully have shared enough to cause someone to find a missing link and we will continue to share as we feel is ok without hurting Eric's case. We deeply appreciate any help anyone can give.
Click to expand...
Eric's family didn't know who was officially in charge after BV police just stopped communicating with family after they interviewed FG and husband. When the case was turned over to the state police, we were told BV police are officially in charge, but state police are assisting and are responsible for what they do. BV police said they were no longer in charge because state police had the case. We recently had a family friend who owns his own PI firm, to look into some things for us. One thing was to find out who is officially in charge. He spoke with state police and other officers and told us that technically the BV police are in charge because they are the initial investigative agency. However, we haven't heard from them since since 2012 when we met with the prosecutor. So, no matter who is in charge technically, all correspondence with family is through Det. Gary Thomas with the state police. Any tips should be given to him. Thanks. Some of you sleuths have eagle eyes !
 
  • #1,008
veestevens said:
So basically there is really nothing in the file that seems like it would have been some of the first things done?
Click to expand...
We don't know what is in the file. We just know as we discussed those two things mentioned, we were told by state police they were not aware of those two things because they weren't in Eric's file. Det. Thomas made sure they were added to the file. We were told we could not see the file until the case was closed and of course we do not want it closed. We want it to stay active until Eric is found We understand some of the reasoning on that. I saw a missing special on tv where a father was searching for his missing daughter and knew of some helpful info, but wasn't sure if it was ever looked into and put in his daughter's case file. He was not allowed to see the file. He appealed to the governor but still couldn't see her file. I can see where those so close to missing loved ones should not see some things the police are working on. They don't know what the loved ones might do with some information. We have always cooperated with authorities. It has been disappointing sometimes to go for long periods of time thinking certain things were being done, to find out nothing had been done about it. Maybe with more help and some new people calling to ask police to keep investigating, the case won't go cold.
 
  • #1,009
So it pretty much is all a mess because of all the stories FG is telling. Would the police/authorities not be more suspicious because of the changing of the story several times over
 
  • #1,010
Does anyone have any info on Potato Mtn? I did a lot of calling to try to find out what and where it is. I found it's a hiking trail and Eric had posted that he was suppose to go there with someone. That trip didn't apparently happen according to what he wrote, but I don't know if another such trip took place. If you look on the internet, you find they are located in various states. I called the closest one to Saginaw and it's in Indiana. There were several calls back and forth with the people in the office there. I was told the trails could easily hide a body. Eric did not really like the outdoors much, at least not if it involved bugs!
 
  • #1,011
Eric's mom said:
Does anyone have any info on Potato Mtn? I did a lot of calling to try to find out what and where it is. I found it's a hiking trail and Eric had posted that he was suppose to go there with someone. That trip didn't apparently happen according to what he wrote, but I don't know if another such trip took place. If you look on the internet, you find they are located in various states. I called the closest one to Saginaw and it's in Indiana. There were several calls back and forth with the people in the office there. I was told the trails could easily hide a body. Eric did not really like the outdoors much, at least not if it involved bugs!
Click to expand...

As far as I know, there is no Potato Mountain in Michigan (I am in MI).
Is it possible he was going to take a trip back to Cali to hike?
The Potato Mt. there is in Claremont, is that an area Eric would be familiar with?

The only real "mountains" in MI are ski resorts, more or less.

ETA- Or do you think he meant Potato Creek State Park in South Bend, IN?
That would be a 2 day trip from Saginaw. Or a day trip if you are willing to drive about 4 hours each way in a day.
 
  • #1,012
  • #1,013
Eric's mom said:
According to what some of the various law agencies told family, they meet together every Thursday and discuss cases. I was told Eric's case comes up. It isn't that no one has expressed concern in finding Eric, but as stated before, Eric's family has 3 years of knowledge about his case and do not feel some info should be shared publicly because this is an open case. If you had the whole picture, you would better understand our point of view. We hopefully have shared enough to cause someone to find a missing link and we will continue to share as we feel is ok without hurting Eric's case. We deeply appreciate any help anyone can give.
Click to expand...

All very understanding and true. Because the guilty party/parties may be here anon reading/posting as well. Who knows?
And for the post of some mountain. I never heard of that one so can't help with that. Also the post about Eric not being the outdoor type. No he was not. Especially hiking because like that post said if there were bugs etc he was going on his own free will
 
  • #1,014
Nymeria said:
Or could Eric have said Petosky and you misheard?
Petosky in is northern MI on Grand Traverse Bay, about 2 and half hour drive from Saginaw.

Here is a link to their state park (with hiking trails)-
http://www.michigantrailmaps.com/member-profile/3/173/
Click to expand...

No, I did not misunderstand. It was something he posted on the Elite page and a close friend sent police and family copies of statements he posted. It's Potato Mtn. He explained what was wrong that caused the trip not to take place that day.
 
  • #1,015
I see it has been on the news there in Michigan. One of the local stations but has it ever been on one of the national networks? Cnn NBC any of those national news programs? Just wonder if it hasn't if it might help to try to push for that. Even Dateline if it is still on air. They do things like missing persons cases etc...
 
  • #1,016
I am here, and I have been trying to get that pdf up. Just had an unexpected delay where Mr Z set fire to his pants and stood there like an idiot, watching them burn. WTH??? I put him out with a cup of tea.
 
  • #1,017
  • #1,018
Nymeria said:
As far as I know, there is no Potato Mountain in Michigan (I am in MI).
Is it possible he was going to take a trip back to Cali to hike?
The Potato Mt. there is in Claremont, is that an area Eric would be familiar with?

The only real "mountains" in MI are ski resorts, more or less.

ETA- Or do you think he meant Potato Creek State Park in South Bend, IN?
That would be a 2 day trip from Saginaw. Or a day trip if you are willing to drive about 4 hours each way in a day.
Click to expand...
I didn't find one listed in MI. There is one in Stanley, Idaho and Claremont,CA and a Potato Creek State Park mtn bike trail in Indiana. I believe the women I talked to there said it is sometimes called Potato Mtn. The ladies were very kind and looked through records for names for me and we talked a few times. They wanted to help. A close friend of ours originally put Eric in touch with dear college friends of hers in Burbank, CA and that's where Eric and his first wife were married...in the church building where those friends worshiped. I got in touch with the minister there when Eric first went missing and altho the friends had moved and no longer worship there, he contacted them and they had not heard from Eric.
 
  • #1,019
  • #1,020
Now we have to hope LE have resources to follow up any tips that do come in.
 
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