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

[Jersey*Girl]

Where were his last cell pings? Have le tried to map his last ping triangulation?

 

[searchingfamily]

like i said above.....try to contact motel. They cleaned his room every day

Yes, we've spoken to motel owner many times, as have police. Police have also spoken to cleaning person several times.

 

[searchingfamily]

Where were his last cell pings? Have le tried to map his last ping triangulation?

They just told us phone never left Saginaw Co.

Eric has a strong online presence. Have le subpoenaed his online accounts to gather his ips linked with those accounts and therefore be able to backtrace his locale? Some sites do have tracking that could show his near gps coordinates...

Got some records from phone. Not aware if they tried from Twitter or FB - will ask.

This is kind of a long shot, and I'm not even sure it is do-able, but

Can you get a copy of the child's birth certificate or at least see a copy of it to see if he was named as the father at any time (at birth or sometime thereafter).

And, did he take out a life insurance policy while he was there naming said child as the sole beneficiary?

No idea about any insurance. Re: birth certificate - why would that be of interest?

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Re:

Originally Posted by Jersey*Girl
Ok, so he lived in a motel. Before his sporadic move to Michigan, did he live in a house or apartment?

Before he moved, did he live with family or by himself?

Apartment in Archbold, OH with wife.

Ok, so he lived in an apartment with his wife in Archbold, OH before he moved to be closer to the child he just found out about. Did he & his wife at the time have an amicable breakup? I thought it was said he was going to get a place with this child's mother, so that's kind of fast considering there's barely a lapse in time from leaving his assumed 3rd wife. Did his wife know about this child? Was she upset about it?

They had an apartment. Was his name on the lease? If it was, then it should show up on his credit as an address. Having a lease that you pay on time can generate good credit, conversely it could be bad credit if you pay late or default. So, even though he didn't have credit cards, he could still have been earning credit. Has a credit report been pulled yet from the top 3 reporting agencies yet?

 

[SurfieTX]

No idea about any insurance. Re: birth certificate - why would that be of interest?

I'm just trying to ferret out a motive (if there is one). The common denominator is the child. I'm assuming other than the child and the mother, he didn't really know anyone in Michigan.

The only way an insurance policy would pay out is if he was named the father on the birth certificate.

 

[nursebeeme]

all detroit media notified.. (except for cbs... they did not have a good address I could find)

I sent them link to the only story published and asked them to please report on the story.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

At various times, Eric resided in Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan. Did he live anywhere else for any length of time?

Besides the child that Eric has with his exGF, does he have other offspring?

 

[~n/t~]

Michigan has so much water it's overwhelming to think about, but it's certainly crossed our minds that is where the car and Eric may be. So far there's been no interest from police in searching - and I'm not sure we really can blame them. Where would they start? Based on what?

Unfortunately one of the things making this harder is that Eric never did much with banking and never had a credit card as far as we know. He did have a cell phone, and while I won't share everything they found from the calls once they finally pulled the data last June, police did determine the phone never left Saginaw Co.

How did he pay for the motel room for 5 months? Did he use cash for all his expenses?

 

[nursebeeme]

Entered on Saturday per your suggestion. Got a message Sunday saying the case was deleted. Emailed asking why - no answer yet.

can you request that LE enter him into namUS? (or rather *demand*) <---

 

[searchingfamily]

At various times, Eric resided in Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan. Did he live anywhere else for any length of time?

California - early 90's only for a year or so.

 

[searchingfamily]

can you request that LE enter him into namUS? (or rather *demand*) <---

Emailed right after you said they could help!

 

[laniefi]

all detroit media notified.. (except for cbs... they did not have a good address I could find)

I sent them link to the only story published and asked them to please report on the story.

I couldn't find a good one for CBS either, but I did find this:

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/08/wwj-launches-missing-in-the-metro-series/

Looks like local radio stations are working with police on "long" missing people in the metro area.

May be worth a try to check into to get Eric some further awareness...

 

[searchingfamily]

How did he pay for the motel room for 5 months? Did he use cash for all his expenses?

Cash, yes. Also, eGf told police she helped him financially from time to time. Also, the motel owner says Eric did odd jobs for him, so it might have been in trade.

BTW - someone mentioned Occupy earlier. That would have matched his politics, sure. BUT - no one has seen Eric since March 21, 2011 (according to the eGF) or a few days earlier (according to the motel owner). The Occupy movement didn't have it's first event until Sept. 17 in NYC.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

How did he pay for the motel room for 5 months? Did he use cash for all his expenses?

& how could he rent a hotel room without a cc or bank card? I'm not understanding this bc I've had a bank card since like forever. Plus I can't imagine not having a major cc & a major gas cc... So, I guess it's possible to get a room without a cc? Does a person just have to put down extra money for a deposit?

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Cash, yes. Also, eGf told police she helped him financially from time to time. Also, the motel owner says Eric did odd jobs for him, so it might have been in trade.

BTW - someone mentioned Occupy earlier. That would have matched his politics, sure. BUT - no one has seen Eric since March 21, 2011 (according to the eGF) or a few days earlier (according to the motel owner). The Occupy movement didn't have it's first event until Sept. 17 in NYC.

Thank you so much searchingfamily! You show a lot of patience answering all of our questions. We'll try our hardest, that's a fact!

His ex gf help him with $$ sometimes? Plus he did odd jobs around the motel for the owner? I have to ask - does Eric have a history with any form of narcotics or alcohol?

 

[nursebeeme]

did he have any other friends or contacts in the area other than his ex gf or friends that he regularly kept in contact with via phone, email, etc?

 

[laniefi]

searchingfamily - what type of work did Eric do? Odd jobs at the motel before he disappeared, but what before that?

He made some pretty long moves in his history. Did he move for work?

 

[Jersey*Girl]

I couldn't find a good one for CBS either, but I did find this:

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/08/wwj-launches-missing-in-the-metro-series/

Looks like local radio stations are working with police on "long" missing people in the metro area.

May be worth a try to check into to get Eric some further awareness...

Laniefi, this is excellent! Thank you!

 

[Jersey*Girl]

searchingfamily - what type of work did Eric do? Odd jobs at the motel before he disappeared, but what before that?

He made some pretty long moves in his history. Did he move for work?

I thought maintenance? Or maybe I misunderstood.

 

[Coldpizza]

I don't know if this has been posted, article ran last Friday. Just to keep an eye out for any significant comments. There are some all ready.

http://www.facebook.com/WNEMTV5