MO MO - Betty Alexander, 69, Sullivan, 11 April 2019

[Betty P]

Not if she didn't want her children to know she purposely harmed herself.

Because of her limited mobility, she would have been found by now. They did a thorough search of the city, nearby railroad tracks, etc.

 

[Betty P]

Has it been confirmed Betty only had one pair of glasses?

Good question, will have to check their FB page. The eyeglasses she usually wore were found right next to her recliner armchair, where she often slept at night (assume due to back problems).

 

[Bit of hope]

I can’t see this being possible due to her poor vision. The daughter has been quite vocal that her mom must wear glasses. A big clue is the fact that they were left behind. Whoever took Betty or led her away, either knew about her poor vision and used that to their advantage, or they didn’t know/realize Betty even wore glasses. I think it was someone Betty knew well enough to open the door, be led away but that person intentionally refused to take her glasses.

I think it depends on the prescription. Was she blind without her glasses or did she "just" have a blurry view without them? I need glasses too and my view without them is blurry and distorted, but I can distinguish things and people. Can't see faces sharp and can't read small letters, but bigger city signs? Also when your vision is (partly) gone you often compensate that with other senses.

ATA Seeing height and seeing depth could be a problem too. FI estimating how far a car is away from you.

 

[Bit of hope]

Because of her limited mobility, she would have been found by now. They did a thorough search of the city, nearby railroad tracks, etc.

I agree, mostly people are found, but there are cases they didn't find a body or years later even thought they searched until the moon and back.

 

[Cubby]

Did police check her phone records for the days leading to her disappearance?

 

[Bit of hope]

Betty's shoes were left at home. I don't know any woman with one pair of shoes. You would think she had at least winter and summer shoes. Didn't she had slippers, bathing slippers, garden/working shoes or the like? Or did she have special shoes, custom made shoes, because of her back problems?

 

[Betty P]

I agree, mostly people are found, but there are cases they didn't find a body or years later even thought they searched until the moon and back.

Where would she be? She had no car, didn't drive. She had limited mobility from serious spinal damage from an accident, had back surgery, so she was unable to walk very far. She lived in a small 1 bedroom apartment, no basement or attic. She was in a downtown area, near the fire station, city hall, police station, post office and small business district. All were thoroughly searched. No abandoned buildings nearby.

JMO, the odds are against it.

 

[Cubby]

Thinking out loud here..... I had forgotten she had bipolar.

I feel very sad for Betty. Trying to imagine how her life looked like, before she went missing. For clearance I ignore the details for now.

- She was bi-polar, I suppose she should have taken medicine to keep it under control. IIRR she didn't took her medicines for a couple of days. Things could have gone from bad to worse.
- Her spouse died, one of the most stressful events in a human life, sometimes causing memory loss, concentration problems, mental pain and what not. This on top of struggling with mental health problems.
- She had terrible back pain, must have been bad, taken fentanyl for it.
- She was totally dependent (or made dependent?), not "ready" for a world full of electronics, apps, having to arrange everything digital on the internet, etc. Her husband took care of everything. Also this would cause a lot of stress, not knowing how to handle things (I remember a lady who's husband had died and she panicked totally when the electricity went down, because a fuse had blown and she didn't even know where the fuse box was.) She couldn't even handle a mobile phone, let alone other (mobile) devices, she had no transportation, her daughter took care of her finances. In other words she was or would have been totally lost in the modern world.
- She had dementia in the early? stages. That would mean she had clear moments where she would realize that she was "loosing" it. On top of mental health problems, physical pain and mourning.
- The "highs" in her life were the visits of her children, the church and the weekend visits at her daughter's. All arranged, nothing spontaneous.
- The family arranged for her that she wouldn't go living on her own anymore, taking away the little independence she still had.
- She was poor

Someone told me "God wants us to live a livable life". For me personally this would be hell on earth.

All the family interventions around her sound very altruistic and is surely full of good intentions, but taking all the above things into consideration I think we should't close our eyes for the possibility she somehow took her own life or she called someone to help her with it. I'm leaning to wondered off, accident, suicide, not foul play. IMO

You make some good points. Manic episodes with bipolar can be quite extreme. Now I'm wondering again about the timeline. If she was having a manic episode she could have been home and simply ignored the door knocks and phone calls from the home therapist. She could have gone out later and left the door open.

Who knows, if the door knob can be manually locked or unlocked from the inside she could have unlocked and left it open. Wind could have blown it open if the lock hadn't clicked to lock in place.

She could have been selling one of the boxes of fentynal and using the other herself. That could account for the 200 dollars and be unrelated to her disappearance.

So many changes in and few short months. How did she feel about the changes and decisions being made by others on her behalf? The visit to get the name changed on the utility bill could have been enough to trigger a manic episode.

 

[Bit of hope]

Where would she be? She had no car, didn't drive. She had limited mobility from serious spinal damage from an accident, had back surgery, so she was unable to walk very far. She lived in a small 1 bedroom apartment, no basement or attic. She was in a downtown area, near the fire station, city hall, police station, post office and small business district. All were thoroughly searched. No abandoned buildings nearby.

JMO, the odds are against it.

Could she have taken public transport? I don't know how severe her back problems were, I'm not a medical specialist. Did she use a walker? Could she be so determent she "went through the pain"? Some people can produce a enormous psychological strength when things are not going the way they want. Or the pain was softened by the use of fentanyl. Just exploring some options.

I also wondered about this: Betty had a history of back pain and wasn’t comfortable sitting for long periods. Tonya and her Mother decided they would see each other that Sunday, after church, for an afternoon of shopping.

Betty Alexander – Missing from Sullivan MO – 4/10/2019. Who Abducted Betty? Why Isn’t Her Abduction Receiving Attention? This Grandmother Deserves to Come Home.

Shopping seems to me very exhausting if you have problems with mobility. Could it be her walking wasn't that bad. Or did she use a wheelchair?

 

[Seajay]

A few things. That $200, was it in 20s, 50s, or $100 bill? Because if it was in 20s she could’ve been saving it a little bit at a time.

Tonya the daughter, seemed to feel something wasn’t kosher about the brother and his wife breaking into the apartment and moving everything out before all investigations were completed.

This church she went to you and Sunday, was it within walking distance?

I don’t believe for one minute that it was a suicide, the body would’ve been found because she wouldn’t of been too far from home as to her inability to walk far.

That’s all I’ve got right now. All this is IMO, JMO

 

[Bit of hope]

Betty’s purse was in the closet where she always kept it when in the home. It contained her apartment key, an ATM card, around $40 in cash tucked into her wallet, her typical spending money. But the wallet also contained an additional and mysterious $200. There were two envelopes in Betty’s wallet. Each envelope contained $100 in cash.

How did Betty obtain the two envelopes containing the $200? Betty did not withdraw the cash. In fact, Tonya managed her Mother’s bank account after her Step-Father passed away. She held the checkbook and paid Betty’s bills. Betty had her debit card for purchases and the $40 cash if needed. Her bank account has not been accessed.

Could she have had another account, not known to her daughter? Could she have lend the money from someone for future plans or maybe someone give it to her, feeling sorry for her she didn't had access to her own account for cash and only the 40 dollar pocket money. Or maybe she had it all along and hid it from her daughter.

On the other hand why would she have left it at home if she went away willingly (and clear enough) and what about the missing Fentanyl patches. Somehow something is odd about this all. Or in other words I don't have a logical explanation for it yet.

 

[Bit of hope]

A few things. That $200, was it in 20s, 50s, or $100 bill? Because if it was in 20s she could’ve been saving it a little bit at a time.

Tonya the daughter, seemed to feel something wasn’t kosher about the brother and his wife breaking into the apartment and moving everything out before all investigations were completed.

This church she went to you and Sunday, was it within walking distance?

I don’t believe for one minute that it was a suicide, the body would’ve been found because she wouldn’t of been too far from home as to her inability to walk far.

That’s all I’ve got right now. All this is IMO, JMO

Good point, her saving up the money.
The brother(s) and his wife claim something else/telling a different story. Betty Alexander- Missing Person Info Page
Among other statements this is said by the Schoonveld families.
For clarity, we did remove her possessions from her apartment, after the rent became overdue by two weeks and Betty still missing for nearly 6 weeks. It was our RIGHT to make this decision especially after attempts to meet on this matter were ignored. She is our mother too. The apartment could not be left because it was subsidized for low income people, with a waiting list to move in. The police informed us, they were finished with their investigation in the apartment, and in the initial meeting between the siblings, we had all agreed that Betty wouldn’t be living on her own again. We did NOT clear it in the middle of the night, but all evening and into the night, because that is when we had time to do it.

If she had an inability to walk how would/could she make shopping plans with her daughter. The use of a wheelchair?

 

[Betty P]

I feel very sad for Betty. Trying to imagine how her life looked like, before she went missing. For clearance I ignore the details for now.

- She was bi-polar, I suppose she should have taken medicine to keep it under control. IIRR she didn't took her medicines for a couple of days. Things could have gone from bad to worse.
- Her spouse died, one of the most stressful events in a human life, sometimes causing memory loss, concentration problems, mental pain and what not. This on top of struggling with mental health problems.
- She had terrible back pain, must have been bad, taken fentanyl for it.
- She was totally dependent (or made dependent?), not "ready" for a world full of electronics, apps, having to arrange everything digital on the internet, etc. Her husband took care of everything. Also this would cause a lot of stress, not knowing how to handle things (I remember a lady who's husband had died and she panicked totally when the electricity went down, because a fuse had blown and she didn't even know where the fuse box was.) She couldn't even handle a mobile phone, let alone other (mobile) devices, she had no transportation, her daughter took care of her finances. In other words she was or would have been totally lost in the modern world.
- She had dementia in the early? stages. That would mean she had clear moments where she would realize that she was "loosing" it. On top of mental health problems, physical pain and mourning.
- The "highs" in her life were the visits of her children, the church and the weekend visits at her daughter's. All arranged, nothing spontaneous.
- The family arranged for her that she wouldn't go living on her own anymore, taking away the little independence she still had.
- She was poor

Someone told me "God wants us to live a livable life". For me personally this would be hell on earth.

All the family interventions around her sound very altruistic and is surely full of good intentions, but taking all the above things into consideration I think we should't close our eyes for the possibility she somehow took her own life or she called someone to help her with it. I'm leaning to wondered off, accident, suicide, not foul play. IMO

I wasn't aware she was bi-polar. Does anyone have a link for that information? I've never seen it on the missing flyers or in news articles. TIA

 

[Bit of hope]

I wasn't aware she was bi-polar. Does anyone have a link for that information? I've never seen it on the missing flyers or in news articles. TIA

Betty Alexander- Missing Person Info Page

 

[Betty P]

Good point, her saving up the money.
The brother(s) and his wife claim something else/telling a different story. Betty Alexander- Missing Person Info Page
Among other statements this is said by the Schoonveld families.
For clarity, we did remove her possessions from her apartment, after the rent became overdue by two weeks and Betty still missing for nearly 6 weeks. It was our RIGHT to make this decision especially after attempts to meet on this matter were ignored. She is our mother too. The apartment could not be left because it was subsidized for low income people, with a waiting list to move in. The police informed us, they were finished with their investigation in the apartment, and in the initial meeting between the siblings, we had all agreed that Betty wouldn’t be living on her own again. We did NOT clear it in the middle of the night, but all evening and into the night, because that is when we had time to do it.

If she had an inability to walk how would/could she make shopping plans with her daughter. The use of a wheelchair?

Betty's daughter said the rent was not overdue. It was paid up. Her daughter was trying to coordinate with Betty's son to go over and take care of the apartment when the time was right, but they were having trouble setting a date. Then the brother suddenly let himself in, cleaned it out and changed the lock, all without telling anyone else in the family.

 

[Bit of hope]

Betty's daughter said the rent was not overdue. It was paid up. Her daughter was trying to coordinate with Betty's son to go over and take care of the apartment when the time was right, but they were having trouble setting a date. Then the brother suddenly let himself in, cleaned it out and changed the lock, all without telling anyone else in the family.

I'm not taking sides on this. I don't want to be in the middle of a family fight and end up in a discussion with you about who is right or wrong or telling the truth or isn't. I just think we should take everything in consideration.

 

[Betty P]

Betty Alexander- Missing Person Info Page

Thanks!

I read through all of that and still didn't see a mention of her having bi-polar disorder, only that she was in the early stages of dementia. For now I'm going to assume that information is inaccurate as I've never seen it anywhere else. No offense.

 

[Bit of hope]

Thanks!

I read through all of that and still didn't see a mention of her having bi-polar disorder, only that she was in the early stages of dementia. For now I'm going to assume that information is inaccurate as I've never seen it anywhere else. No offense.

It's there:
We as family know Betty. She did have dementia, and her diagnosis, we don’t fully know how severe because once a patient loses their spouse, they are known to decline rapidly. At the initial search on Monday, April 15th, the police said that Betty had an episode at the hospital banging on the window because she couldn’t find her way out after a doctor visit. Betty had a history of bi-polar disorder. She had a history of visits to New Hope, and other psych wards, to level her out.

 

[Betty P]

I'm not taking sides on this. I don't want to be in the middle of a family fight and end up in a discussion with you about who is right or wrong or telling the truth or isn't.

No problem, that's understandable. Nothing personal intended. I'm going by LE reports and what's been reported in the news media. It's a mystery and I hope they find her and I hope she's ok.

 

[Betty P]

It's there:
We as family know Betty. She did have dementia, and her diagnosis, we don’t fully know how severe because once a patient loses their spouse, they are known to decline rapidly. At the initial search on Monday, April 15th, the police said that Betty had an episode at the hospital banging on the window because she couldn’t find her way out after a doctor visit. Betty had a history of bi-polar disorder. She had a history of visits to New Hope, and other psych wards, to level her out.

Is that in a post or a comment at that link? Sorry, I'm still not seeing it. Oh well.

Perhaps if her other family thinks she wandered off and got lost, they should launch a search to find her? They could get together a group of volunteers and, with the help of local police, scouts, etc. go searching for her again.