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

[SeriouslySearching]

To answer some of the questions... just let me say that Eric got in touch with JC because he knew he was the one who had come and got KF from Tennessee many years ago...and knew JC was a family friend....... KF had used fake names on all of her facebook pages and he had not been able to pull her up.... Like all of us, Eric had looked up many old friends on facebook and was keeping in touch with a few....He had no idea at the time that JC and KF had married..he did not know if she in fact was married at all......let alone to JC.......after send a message to JC... it was then up to JC as to weather or not he put Eric in touch with his wife or even responded at all....as to why he did??? You will need to ask JC!!!!........ As for the place he was staying...he was first staying in a nicer hotel and knew he would run out of money fast.....from KF's on mouth to my ears....( when I called her early on in search of Eric). KF suggested Miller's to Eric as a place to stay that would be cheaper as Eric did not know the area well........Eric did tell his mother he did not feel comfortable staying there but hoped it would not be for long as KF was saying she could get him on at one of her businesses......

Thanks. It does explain why he contacted JC. I just knew it would not be an normal thing to do knowing he was married to her.

If KF was offering to employ him at one of her businesses...doesn't that indicate he was desperate for a job and money? Did anyone mention which business Eric could have been offered a job? Adult Day Care or Video? I don't recall the other businesses they had, but it also indicates KF and JC had joint money as Sgt. Klecker stated (assuming all the businesses were not failing miserably.) Why wasn't Eric already employed with her instead of moving to a flea bite motel? Working for the motel doing odd jobs doesn't pay the bills and if he was planning on a life with not only her, but her children...that certainly was not going to cut it. There was a disconnect on what was going on there and his actions. And this seems to be a pattern with Eric, imo.

 

[Eric's mom]

Don't most people feel desperate to get a job if they are out of work? Eric told me she was going to get him a job at the ACF, but JC didn't want him to work there. Sgt Klecker never said they had joint money. Eric moved into the motel shortly after going up there. He never intended to stay there. Talk about 'flea bitten" places, JC and KF literally lived in a flea infested house according to the owner of the property. Working there and moving furniture for another motel was paying his bills. He was planning to get another job. He could have called me for money and I would have sent it, but he never once asked me for a penny while he was there. I'm not sure where you have found a pattern for Eric. Don't judge everyone's criteria for happiness by your standard. Eric was adopted and to find out he had a biological child was so overwhelming to him that he wanted to meet her and be a part of her life. You could criticize him if he DIDN'T want to meet her or be active in her life. He did the manly thing and took responsibility for his daughter. Remember, he was only in Saginaw about 5 mos and he was working at least 3 jobs. This forum is to try to find my son, not to make him look like a loser. The woman who lured him to MI has not only not cooperated with the family or the police in trying to find out what happened to him, she has hindered the case.

 

[WithEyesWideOpen]

Thanks. It does explain why he contacted JC. I just knew it would not be an normal thing to do knowing he was married to her.

If KF was offering to employ him at one of her businesses...doesn't that indicate he was desperate for a job and money? Did anyone mention which business Eric could have been offered a job? Adult Day Care or Video? I don't recall the other businesses they had, but it also indicates KF and JC had joint money as Sgt. Klecker stated (assuming all the businesses were not failing miserably.) Why wasn't Eric already employed with her instead of moving to a flea bite motel? Working for the motel doing odd jobs doesn't pay the bills and if he was planning on a life with not only her, but her children...that certainly was not going to cut it. There was a disconnect on what was going on there and his actions. And this seems to be a pattern with Eric, imo.

Well, he would have to have a job..moving to a new town it would help to have a job to go to....KF told me she offered him a job but when Eric arrived JC would not allow it...I believe it was the adult care place......He went on to look in other places... It was my understanding that JC was in the middle of selling one business to a family member.... KF gave the impression she and JC were splitting up ..even to me JC when I talked to him said the same...JC told me KF and he were going to split but had worked things out...he also said KF had a drinking problem and had been to drunk to give meds to their patient....My sisters and I visited the building where the Adult Care place is and it is run down with only one person there...the place has had violations for how nasty it was ......... Some officers said they had money and others said they didn't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of... they had all the businesses we talk of and some in Florida and a plane to fly back and forth and YET....they are on the net asking for money at this point saying (one of them) I work 2 jobs and just go medicaid....and (another of them) saying I could not afford insurance cause we were to POOR .......I believe KF and Eric told each other things to build themselves up ....KF was VERY upset when she was talking to me about Eric....saying she thought he had got more money than he did when his dad died......this goes along with JC telling me "NOTHING IS EVER ENOUGH FOR HER"

 

[WithEyesWideOpen]

Hello everyone. My absence has been due to a heavy work load these past weeks. Seriouslysearching, I like your input on this, and I'm right along with you. I can't begin to understand what Erics family is going thru, it's so easy to point and blame someone. Things I've read don't make sense to me at all. How can the fg be needing money but yet be accused of being a drug dealer etc. It is known the fg and husband moved and it has been implied this happened shortly after. Researching various databases it shows she moved to Florida roughly 18 months after and not right away. I see no motive for fg nor husband. I checked out millers motel, some very unsavory characters reside there, prostitution, drugs, etc. Why would a person such as Eric stay there? Why would a man his age not have a job, have things in his name? Was He Hiding From Something? Let's dive into his marriage a little bit? Why did his wife leave? What kind of relationship did they have? Erics mom stated Eric had a temper, was he violent? I see in one post on the elite he talks about being drunk, did he have an alcohol problem? Any drug use? If fidelity was a big thing for him, why would he leave his wife, and not only visit but move to Michigan? As far as the theft of his property prior to him disappearing, what all was taken? Was anything taken, or was it a story he came up with to explain why he had nothing? Is it possible he sold the stuff to get money? If not, why would you stay in a place after you have been robbed? I'm not taking sides, this is just an odd case in my eyes. I wish we could see his actually Facebook posts. What did he post about? I assume he had many friends, why haven't they stepped up and showed what his posts were. Was he having a mental breakdown? Like I said I'm not a wolf nor a sheep I am just me. I would like to have the answers for his family.

A couple of questions for you skiptracker...... what data base did you check that told you 18 months???? In checking out Millers motel... did you go by there to know the type of people that stay there??? As for Eric posting about being drunk on The Elite, I only see where he talks about it being a shame that KF was drunk at 6:30 in the morning.....as for the pictures .. that shows nothing as far as HIM being drunk...

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I just sent this comment to Eric's mom via pm, but I think it is important with new people coming into this thread that I repeat it:

The whole point of a think tank is to toss around theories. In order to do this, one has to be objective. When dealing with family, it is often difficult because they understandably cannot remain objective when it comes to their loved ones. It it extremely emotional. Most of the time we don't work with families on here as we do have a friendlier forum set up which doesn't involve the investigative part. I respect you and your family plus his close friends being here in spite of the heartache it presents. However, please try to not take offense if we are asking the hard questions and maybe seem brash in doing it. We are used to being matter of fact and getting to the crux of things.

Adults have secrets and don't share everything with their families. If so, it is very rare. We aren't trying to tear Eric down, but we want to understand the real Eric under the exterior of what he shows to the world. It means exploring areas that are often uncomfortable. (end comment)

We are not trying to disrespect anyone here. We are trying to solve a missing person case and possibly a homicide. It is a very ugly business.

We have to ask, "What is the truth?".

The truth is somewhere in the depth of the situation. And this situation is quite unusual on many levels. It is hard to decipher.

There are more POIs than the 2 being investigated with motives, means, and opportunities to harm Eric. They have not yet been ruled out, imo. To figure out who they are...we have to know more about Eric and what happened in his life before he went missing. Every person who had a grudge against him or that he took a political pot shot at would be among the POIs if he/she was in a position to be in the area at the time. The person who burglarized his room is another in the large POI pool.

This is not about accusing people, but about looking at all the possibilities and narrowing it down by way of deduction. The police seemingly have put on blinders and ignored all others. They are also at a standstill...which could mean they put all their eggs in one basket and it was the wrong call. What did they miss?!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Don't most people feel desperate to get a job if they are out of work? Eric told me she was going to get him a job at the ACF, but JC didn't want him to work there. Sgt Klecker never said they had joint money. Eric moved into the motel shortly after going up there. He never intended to stay there. (Comment deleted by SS) Working there and moving furniture for another motel was paying his bills. He was planning to get another job. He could have called me for money and I would have sent it, but he never once asked me for a penny while he was there. I'm not sure where you have found a pattern for Eric. Don't judge everyone's criteria for happiness by your standard. Eric was adopted and to find out he had a biological child was so overwhelming to him that he wanted to meet her and be a part of her life. You could criticize him if he DIDN'T want to meet her or be active in her life. He did the manly thing and took responsibility for his daughter. Remember, he was only in Saginaw about 5 mos and he was working at least 3 jobs. This forum is to try to find my son, not to make him look like a loser. The woman who lured him to MI has not only not cooperated with the family or the police in trying to find out what happened to him, she has hindered the case.

Desperate that he would go to work with her as his boss is what I was getting at, but I see what you mean. However, Eric wasn't paying all of his own bills as his friend said she paid for his cell phone while he was there. He wasn't paying for his motel room as he was doing odd jobs for the Miller Motel, if my memory serves me (which it may not). This tells me he did not make enough to support KF and her children on top of other bills if she was cut off from her own money in some way. He may have been working 3 jobs, but the pay wasn't enough to support what was going on in his life at the time. I believe it has been said that KF commented about financial reasons as to why she was moving out. Not contacting you to help him out seems odd since this was his "dream life". This isn't to make Eric seem like a "loser" because he isn't, but it is the truth.

This is what I mean by pattern with Eric: He said it was his "dream life" and yet he didn't pull out all the stops to insure it continued. Eric was against people cheating, but lived with a woman while they were both married. Things of that nature that seem to oppose one another. I could list more, but what I take from this is his actions speak louder than his words. He talks a good game. Now could that same attitude have gotten him into trouble with the wrong people? I think it could. Did he have a reason to make some fast cash at the time? I certainly think he did.

Since JC and KF were married 16 years, I would think they would have joint accounts concerning the businesses and their personal finances. Sgt. Klecker said they had money and I agree. A person cannot own and operate a small airplane without substantial funds to do so. I know a few pilots and it is not cheap for the upkeep or to fly them. (This alone indicates at least JC had money.) He would have been selling that plane with no means or no pot to pee in or window to toss it. So the theory they were broke simply does not fly with me (no pun intended). Now JC may have found a way to cut his wife off as she roamed around with men in order to keep her from supporting them with his money. Still...not broke.

The reason I called it a flea bite motel is because from all I have seen/heard...it is pretty run down and cheap plus security sucks. Even Eric thought it was uncomfortable.

I applaud Eric for rushing to meet his possible daughter. He was willing to accept his responsibility as a father and do the right thing by her. This says so much about Eric. His heart was in the right place. Eric has many good qualities and you should be very proud of him. He just got himself into a bad situation and I am trying to figure out what he was doing to bail himself out of it.

 

[skiptracker]

We use several systems to find people. Our best asset is the postal service and utility companies. As far as the motel, I have not stayed there myself, but I have been there on business. The elite post may have been misread, it does not say fg was drunk, nor does it say he was directly itjust states it's bad to be drunk at 630 in the morning. I'm not trying to cause confrontation here, I'm looking at angles as an outsider. I have no emotional connection to anyone, i am just trying to help find answers for Erics mom. I'm not trying to disrespect Eric nor his family. I'm trying to create a profile of who he is. A pattern of his activities. Everyone has a profile, a pattern. This is all I was trying to do. 1

 

[SeriouslySearching]

As for Eric's fb posts...I have read most of it and the police have most of it....A lot of the posts are friends talking to friends....until the police decide they need to be released , we need to remember the other people who posted on there have rights......there are things we have brought to the attention of the police in hopes they are looking into it....meanwhile.... in asking all of the hard questions..which we welcome.... remember ...this is a MISSING MAN !!!!! Please be respectful of the family...... we all have faults.....Eric was no different than a lot of us.....

If we could garner enough of the conversation without infringing on anyone's privacy rights, it could only help things along. The police are never going to release it. They have no need as they do not seem to be pursuing this case. You seem to have faith they are tracking down leads, but yet they want to put the case on the inactive list.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

We use several systems to find people. Our best asset is the postal service and utility companies. As far as the motel, I have not stayed there myself, but I have been there on business. The elite post may have been misread, it does not say fg was drunk, nor does it say he was directly itjust states it's bad to be drunk at 630 in the morning. I'm not trying to cause confrontation here, I'm looking at angles as an outsider. I have no emotional connection to anyone, i am just trying to help find answers for Erics mom. I'm not trying to disrespect Eric nor his family. I'm trying to create a profile of who he is. A pattern of his activities. Everyone has a profile, a pattern. This is all I was trying to do. 1

Good to know about your systems as I am sure they come in handy. If they waited 18 months to leave for Florida, they didn't bolt soon after the investigation began as the family was told. It is important to note and thanks for bringing it to the table.

I am also glad to hear you have first hand knowledge of the motel. A criminal element living there is relevant to this case. Eric being surrounded by people who are into drugs and other criminal activities add significantly more to the POI pool.

I am beginning to wonder if the motel owner had any reason to point the finger at someone else. Could he be afraid of a tenant or a gang? What if he lied about seeing Eric that day? Does it change things? Did he see Eric with someone else other than KF?

I thought exactly the same thing of the Elite post about being drunk.

Speaking of that post, does anyone get the reference to Potato Mountain? There is a Potato Mountain in California and another in Utah. (The Deja Vu is a gentleman's club in BV.) Was Eric into any of the activities they do on/near Potato Mountain: Biking, running, hiking, or racing competitions?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

As for Eric's marriage ....we need to ask Vee.....but really ...would we want everyone to know EVERYTHING about any of our marriages???? Fact is they had problems and she left him....KF had become a problem that was the icing on the cake so to speak....

Since Eric had been through a number of marriages...I would say it was important as to why none of them seemed to work out. Was there a recurring factor? The reason to ask is because it could have become an issue with KF and possibly led to his disappearance.

 

[Eric's mom]

If we could garner enough of the conversation without infringing on anyone's privacy rights, it could only help things along. The police are never going to release it. They have no need as they do not seem to be pursuing this case. You seem to have faith they are tracking down leads, but yet they want to put the case on the inactive list.

The only reason the MI state police wanted to put the case on the inactive list was so Eric's family could see his file. Because the original investigative officers did not handle things properly, we want to know what is in the file. We know that it was not in Eric's file that he was married even though I personally asked the detective in charge if he spoke with Eric's wife. He told me he thought the OH police should do that, even though they were not investigating. We know it was not in Eric's file that I had submitted his baby tooth to NamUs for DNA even though Lori Bruski with NamUs had emailed Sgt Waterman about it repeatedly. She was frustrated about his lack of attention to the matter. So, we have reason to believe there may be other important things left out, like statements from Eric's friends and family. Eric's family is not just leaving the investigative work to the police, we have been and are doing our own, with the ''blessing '' of the police.

 

[Eric's mom]

As I said before, if you didn't have family and friends on here you would never have any answers because we are the only ones who know Eric. I told you on another thread they were asking for some family to be on there so they could get answers ...otherwise they are spinning their wheels ...just guessing. That happened on this thread about Eric early on....someone was saying wasn't there family on here earlier? They needed to talk to family. What other less investigative thread are you talking about ? What would be the point of that?

 

[Eric's mom]

Since Eric had been through a number of marriages...I would say it was important as to why none of them seemed to work out. Was there a recurring factor? The reason to ask is because it could have become an issue with KF and possibly led to his disappearance.

I know all of his wives. The first two told me they cheated on him, but the second one wanted to stay with him. What do you mean by becoming an issue with KF? Sounds like you agree that KF may have caused his disappearance.

 

[WithEyesWideOpen]

If we could garner enough of the conversation without infringing on anyone's privacy rights, it could only help things along. The police are never going to release it. They have no need as they do not seem to be pursuing this case. You seem to have faith they are tracking down leads, but yet they want to put the case on the inactive list.

Do NOT misunderstand... I have faith in very few when it comes to this case.....The family are following some leads we found as well....

 

[Eric's mom]

We talked about Potato Mtn on here way back and there is one over the state line in Indiana and I talked to them a few times. They checked into some records for me . They said there were lots of places there to hide bodies. JC said his wife took their camper and left it unattended and he was fined for that. The police verified that JC owns a camper. We discussed all of that on here with Vee and me both saying Eric hates bugs and has no interest in outdoor activities. I also said Eric would have gone anywhere with and for Kendra. From the posts it was clear to all of us that Eric was ready to go and Kendra ,who was known to be a drinker by her husband and the police, was drunk and they couldn't go to Potato Mtn.

 

[Eric's mom]

Eric was paying for his motel room. Why would money earned from working for Dan Patel ,and his brother in another motel, and used to pay his motel room not be considered paying for his motel bill?

 

[WithEyesWideOpen]

Good to know about your systems as I am sure they come in handy. If they waited 18 months to leave for Florida, they didn't bolt soon after the investigation began as the family was told. It is important to note and thanks for bringing it to the table.

I am also glad to hear you have first hand knowledge of the motel. A criminal element living there is relevant to this case. Eric being surrounded by people who are into drugs and other criminal activities add significantly more to the POI pool.

I am beginning to wonder if the motel owner had any reason to point the finger at someone else. Could he be afraid of a tenant or a gang? What if he lied about seeing Eric that day? Does it change things? Did he see Eric with someone else other than KF?



Speaking of that post, does anyone get the reference to Potato Mountain? There is a Potato Mountain in California and another in Utah. (The Deja Vu is a gentleman's club in BV.) Was Eric into any of the activities they do on/near Potato Mountain: Biking, running, hiking, or racing competitions?

I am still not sure HOW you know it was 18 mon?????? as for the motel owner...he did not point the finger at anyone...he only said Eric was not with KF...SHE said she was there!!!!! putting HERSELF as the last person to see Eric....

 

[Eric's mom]

Think about what you're saying.......if Mr.Patel wanted to point the finger at someone else instead of saying a gang hurt Eric, why would he not have just said Eric left and he wasn't sure where he went. KF only told her ''Eric was with me story'' AFTER Mr. Patel told his story. She had already told her ''he sat in front of my house for two days'' story earlier. She had to change her story because an eye witness said she lied. Kendra backed Patel's story up that she was there getting Eric's things out of his room, so she was the last one to see him alive......and if she is telling the truth, Mr. Patel and KF are both the last ones to see him alive. She had no reason to tell so many different stories if she is innocent of wrong doing.

 

[Eric's mom]

If we could garner enough of the conversation without infringing on anyone's privacy rights, it could only help things along. The police are never going to release it. They have no need as they do not seem to be pursuing this case. You seem to have faith they are tracking down leads, but yet they want to put the case on the inactive list.

We as a family and the police as the official investigators are not going to print private conversations between friends on their private facebook pages. None of us who talk among "friends" on private sites would want that. The family read his postings and those of others long ago before Eric went missing because some of his family were friends with him also. There is nothing that would help the discussion on here or any other place discussing this case. Eric's friends have been in touch with the police with what they deemed necessary to help find Eric. They have emailed the police the information they wanted to share and what implicated KF. No one else was implicated. If someone else is involved, maybe you can find them through some other means. I hope if someone else is responsible, that you find out who and let the MI State Police know the details.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Think about what you're saying.......if Mr.P wanted to point the finger at someone else instead of saying a gang hurt Eric, why would he not have just said Eric left and he wasn't sure where he went. KF only told her ''Eric was with me story'' AFTER Mr. P told his story. She had already told her ''he sat in front of my house for two days'' story earlier. She had to change her story because an eye witness said she lied. KF backed P's story up that she was there getting Eric's things out of his room, so she was the last one to see him alive......and if she is telling the truth, Mr. P and KF are both the last ones to see him alive. She had no reason to tell so many different stories if she is innocent of wrong doing.

Mr. P may have seen KF without Eric, but he also could have seen someone else with him earlier or later. He could have great incentive to lead police away from his motel.

It appears people will defend anyone not named KF or JC, but frankly...I see it as we need to look at everyone except them because no one has been able to put two and two together to come up with anything. If LE cannot put together a case after 3 years, we should look at other possibilities.

I am not here to continually bash KF and JC. I don't believe it is necessary to do so and it won't change the situation as it stands today. The person of interest pool is much larger than the two of them. Other people could have played a role in Eric going missing...including Eric.

*Edited the full names back to initials as per WS rules for unnamed people in the media or ones not called suspects by LE.