Are there any more facts available?
These two tales draw parallels... I penned these. I introduce only to remind us how far our commitment to LE should go.
The Marcia Trimble Case - 1975
Human error lives, exists and impacts every feature of our service –based economy. When the clerk at the cash register returns extra change, when the trader at the stock exchange buys stock when he was supposed to sell it, and even when the cook at the deli forgets to put cheese on a sandwich, errors happen.
Unfortunately, errors will take place at moments of critical importance. There have been numerous police investigations over the course of history that have become so popular as a result of police, or more appropriately defined, human error. In fact, cases that center on human error actually become more well known than cases where the bad guy is apprehended. I would like to share with you one event, relevant to Sylvia’s case, that involves one of the biggest cases of human error, and it involves an innocent, nine year old girl.
It was 1975 in suburban Nashville. Children played outside -roaming neighborhoods together without worry of restrictive curfews instituted by distressed parents. Dogs ran free in a leash-free land. It was a place where unconditional freedom flourished with safety as its driving force. Boys played basketball while girls jumped rope and sold Girl Scout cookies. One early evening in February, everything changed.
Nine year old Marcia Trimble sat on her front porch counting the coins within her money purse when Mrs. Henry drove by in her station wagon and pulled into the Henry driveway across the street-one house over. Mrs. Trimble was in the kitchen, busy fixing dinner, while Mr. Trimble relaxed with a scotch while reading the newspaper in the living room. He, like Mrs. Henry, had just returned home. It was 6:00 p.m. in America, and this setting played out in all American neighborhoods suburban.
Marcia came inside and let her mom know of Mrs. Henry’s return, and she ran off to execute the trade of coin for cookie.
She never returned. Within hours, the quiet, safe neighborhood of Green Hills transformed into a stretch of land scoured with searching police officers. Law enforcement from all over were welcomed to join the search and trample the crime scene. Even the rookies from the academy hopped on a bus to help out. As the days turned to weeks, state police and even the FBI arrived. The media became enthralled by a case carrying much mystery. Where did this little girl go? One evening, an ambitious, young reporter knocked on the Trimble’s door after they stated they would not give any interviews. She begged for some time.
“My name is Oprah Winfrey,” she said with courage and after a brief exchange, she got the interview.
The woods next to and behind all of the neighboring houses were searched over and over again, still, no clues emerged. Lead investigators assumed that the little girl must have been abducted by car, and they expanded the search, running the costs to even greater levels.
Finally, months later, Easter Sunday arrived. A neighbor went out to his back shed, one without any closure or door. He was grabbing chairs for the guests who were set to arrive. Under a tarp, in the back corner of a structure searched 12 times by police lay the body of Marcia Trimble. The garage was 200 yards from the Trimble’s front door.
There is a bond between Marcia’s case and Sylvia’s case: law enforcement made critical mistakes in the decision-making process. By inviting additional police to invade a crime scene, the lead investigators in Marcia’s case authorized a concentrated contamination which permitted all that time to pass. In Sylvia’s case, we’re still not sure about the decision-making process –was there one? How can the individual who last saw her not be considered a viable suspect?
The Case of Robert Durst and Kathleen McCormack (1982)
Now, this is a carbon copy of the Sylvia A. Lwowski case. In the 2010 film “All Good Things,” there’s a scene where Kathleen McCormack’s brother is driving around the neighborhood distributing posters with a picture of his missing sister. He stops, and presses his head against the wheel and begins to weep. Can you blame him? At that moment, his mind must have triggered the thought of how can this be going on? Why isn’t something being done? How can there be no investigation? Today, both cases remain open and foul play has to be suspected.
Robert Durst was the son of Seymour Durst, a real estate mogul in Manhattan with a high profile network of contacts, including senators and elected officials who made decisions at his disposal in order to save his son.
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The similarities are endless. The only difference between these two cases is that the Durst Case was investigated thoroughly, while Sylvia Lwowski’s case has never been investigated.
Thankfully, it doesn’t require a passing grade on a test, a diploma from an academy, and a few years experience in the field to gain the benefit of common sense. Historically, one must look at similar cases, and if we apply common sense there is clear indication that the only thing “missing” in this case is the application of common sense. Remember the old excuse people used to give when a person went missing? It had been the “runaway” excuse. Well, as history as shown, whenever this excuse is used, it always turns out that lies are involved. Now, the Missing Person excuse has assumed the position as the top excuse used by deceptive individuals who lie. The following statement has to be studied by law enforcement detective across this country: Foul Play’s greatest ally is the “missing person” excuse. Common sense tells us to analyze historical cases, and when we do, we see that all signs, especially, most certainly, with respect to Kathleen McCormack’s and Sylvia Lwowski’s cases, point to them having been murdered.
I have a hard time reading it also.
