GUILTY PA - Sherry Leighty, 21, Altoona, 1 October 1999

[shellbellz216]

Shellbellz, You mentioned that the ex husband drove a truck at one point. Was that long distance or local ? Do you know if he drove a specific route i.e. Altoona to NYC or made random runs. Also what business was his father/family in?

Rob, I know he drove out of town but I'm not sure if it was the same route. And I don't remember where his family worked at.

 

[Odyssey]

Hi,

I've been reading this thread daily and trying to think what I could do to help.

I do have a couple questions. I saw it stated that her ex's parents dropped her off... was it actually claimed that both parents dropped her off?? Of course I don't know any of the people involved, but I find it strange that a father and mother of a young man would both conspire to harm her.

Does AL have any siblings? If so, do you know if they have a good relationship with their parents, did they seem like "normal" parents?

 

[sreshowtime]

I was curious , does he still associate with the same friends as he did back then? DO you all have any in common? That might be willing to talk to you about the time back then- shed a little light on what may have been going on in the days prior to Sherry missing?
Have you spoken with the detective any more?

 

[shellbellz216]

Hi,

I've been reading this thread daily and trying to think what I could do to help.

I do have a couple questions. I saw it stated that her ex's parents dropped her off... was it actually claimed that both parents dropped her off?? Of course I don't know any of the people involved, but I find it strange that a father and mother of a young man would both conspire to harm her.

Does AL have any siblings? If so, do you know if they have a good relationship with their parents, did they seem like "normal" parents?

That's what was told to the paper that it was his parents who dropped her off...He does have a sibling but I don't know what their relationship with their parents is like....And I don't want to give my opinion of how I feel about his parents.

 

[shellbellz216]

I was curious , does he still associate with the same friends as he did back then? DO you all have any in common? That might be willing to talk to you about the time back then- shed a little light on what may have been going on in the days prior to Sherry missing?
Have you spoken with the detective any more?

I don't think we associate with the same friends. People who we know in common have their own thoughts on my sister's disappearance...and my brother or I try to speak to the detective at least once a week.

 

[Odyssey]

That's what was told to the paper that it was his parents who dropped her off...He does have a sibling but I don't know what their relationship with their parents is like....And I don't want to give my opinion of how I feel about his parents.

I completely understand.


The reason I asked about his parents was that I had thought of a scenario where it could be possible that they were telling the truth:

I used to work for a contractor that sometimes used Labor Ready for day labor. The field supervisors got paid a certain amount for completing a job, and if they wanted day labor beyond what was allocated for the crew, it came out of their own pockets. They would use Labor Ready and if they got someone they really liked, they would sometimes arrange to pay them cash directly for the remainder of the job (ie not go through Labor Ready). It is less expensive for the contractor and better pay for the worker. Labor Ready obviously frowned on this, so it would make sense that they would meet their worker a block away from Labor Ready. Also, if it was a Sunday and Labor Ready was closed, someone she had worked for could have made a private arrangement with her.

Do you have any information on when she last worked for Labor Ready? I know your family hadn't heard from or seen her in several days, it might help to know when she was last seen by Labor Ready and who she worked with on that day.

Since the only people who claim to have seen her on that Sunday were his parents, I think it's also possible that she could have gone missing anytime between when your brother last saw her and her birthday?

 

[shellbellz216]

I completely understand.


The reason I asked about his parents was that I had thought of a scenario where it could be possible that they were telling the truth:

I used to work for a contractor that sometimes used Labor Ready for day labor. The field supervisors got paid a certain amount for completing a job, and if they wanted day labor beyond what was allocated for the crew, it came out of their own pockets. They would use Labor Ready and if they got someone they really liked, they would sometimes arrange to pay them cash directly for the remainder of the job (ie not go through Labor Ready). It is less expensive for the contractor and better pay for the worker. Labor Ready obviously frowned on this, so it would make sense that they would meet their worker a block away from Labor Ready. Also, if it was a Sunday and Labor Ready was closed, someone she had worked for could have made a private arrangement with her.

Do you have any information on when she last worked for Labor Ready? I know your family hadn't heard from or seen her in several days, it might help to know when she was last seen by Labor Ready and who she worked with on that day.

Since the only people who claim to have seen her on that Sunday were his parents, I think it's also possible that she could have gone missing anytime between when your brother last saw her and her birthday?

I understand where you are coming from but I don't feel like this was the case. She never returned to work after she went missing. None of her friends or family seen her after the 26th either.

 

[Odyssey]

I understand where you are coming from but I don't feel like this was the case. She never returned to work after she went missing. None of her friends or family seen her after the 26th either.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I thought she might have left on her own. I just meant that I thought whoever she last worked with should be interviewed to confirm exactly when she was last seen (by someone other than ex's family) and if he/she might have any involvement in her disappearance or knowledge of what was going on with her in the days leading up to it.

 

[Odyssey]

I have to say that looking at her pictures hurts my heart... I can see such a sweet innocence in her eyes.... I really hope she is found.

 

[sreshowtime]

I agree with Odyssey- might be good to see if someone can figure out who/where she was working prior to supposed last seen by ex's parents...her last job(s) for labor ready, in case she was working off the books.
What if they DID did her off, to work off the books and someone came and picked her up? labor ready wouldn't know if that was the case. No one would really know except Sherry & the person she may have agreed to work for...
does make me wonder...good thinking Odyssey, it reminded me of my ex working on the side/off the books, as a VW mechanic

 

[Odyssey]

Shelly,
The statement was copied and pasted from this article:

http://www.examiner.com/article/she...ported-missing-after-13-years?cid=db_articles

Sheldon Dumm, Sherry's father, who passed away in 2005, last saw his daughter on Sept. 26 when her ex-husband's parent's dropped her off at work a block a way. Dumm found out later from her employer, Labor Ready, that Sherry never showed up for work that day.

So we now know that it is INACCURATE.

A couple things I noticed:

I think possibly we misread the "block away" part - now that I'm rereading it, it appears that they dropped her off at work, a block away (from their home?) and not a block away from work. Shellz, was labor ready a block from their home? Would that make sense?

Also, I read that she was dropped off at 10am - that seems a little odd as well, unless she knew where she was going that day and with who. Things may have changed since I was working for a firm that used Labor Ready, but from what I remember, Labor Ready worked very similar to the day labor found outside Home Depot, but legally. It was pretty much first come first serve if you didn't already have an assignment lined up. Most people would arrive around 6am or even earlier to get a better chance of getting an assignment. This was the early to mid 90's, pre-internet, so the process may have changed by the time she went missing, but just something I thought worth mentioning.

If she was dropped off at 10am, she more than likely had been scheduled at that time for a specific assignment that she knew about.

 

[MissSunshine]

Just checking to see if there has been any progress with Sherry's case and if LE was actively working her case.

 

[shellbellz216]

A couple things I noticed:

I think possibly we misread the "block away" part - now that I'm rereading it, it appears that they dropped her off at work, a block away (from their home?) and not a block away from work. Shellz, was labor ready a block from their home? Would that make sense?

Also, I read that she was dropped off at 10am - that seems a little odd as well, unless she knew where she was going that day and with who. Things may have changed since I was working for a firm that used Labor Ready, but from what I remember, Labor Ready worked very similar to the day labor found outside Home Depot, but legally. It was pretty much first come first serve if you didn't already have an assignment lined up. Most people would arrive around 6am or even earlier to get a better chance of getting an assignment. This was the early to mid 90's, pre-internet, so the process may have changed by the time she went missing, but just something I thought worth mentioning.

If she was dropped off at 10am, she more than likely had been scheduled at that time for a specific assignment that she knew about.

The examiner has several inaccuracies that I notified them about the ones I caught; they just posted Sherry's story on their website on Jan 31, 2013,,,they asked me some questions & they also went by the original article in our local paper. I don't see where anything says about 10:00 am but all I can say is they claim to have dropped her off at Labor Ready, not at another site. Labor Ready is not a block from their home. I know you have to show up early in the morning to get a job for the day.

She went missing in 1999, we had internet back then.

 

[shellbellz216]

Just checking to see if there has been any progress with Sherry's case and if LE was actively working her case.

Don't know if there is any progress or not because they don't really tell us anything. I feel like I'm doing more then what they are doing; I give them as much information as possible & they act like it's not really nothing; so needless to say I'm frustrated & tired with everything.

 

[Odyssey]

The examiner has several inaccuracies that I notified them about the ones I caught; they just posted Sherry's story on their website on Jan 31, 2013,,,they asked me some questions & they also went by the original article in our local paper. I don't see where anything says about 10:00 am but all I can say is they claim to have dropped her off at Labor Ready, not at another site. Labor Ready is not a block from their home. I know you have to show up early in the morning to get a job for the day.

She went missing in 1999, we had internet back then.

10am (actually 10:01am) came from the time last seen as per Namus - I forgot that they had wrong info on there too - I was taking that as the time she was supposedly dropped off...

 

[shellbellz216]

10am (actually 10:01am) came from the time last seen as per Namus - I forgot that they had wrong info on there too - I was taking that as the time she was supposedly dropped off...

I've never heard of a time that she was dropped off. Namus also states Oct 1 as date last seen, which isn't correct either. So whomever gave that information, which I believe was one of the detectives, apparently gave incorrect info.

 

[WesternMD]

Warm hugs to Sherry's kids.

 

[SCHMAE]

Did anyone get to that courthouse where the lady on the phone IMPLIED that a visit and picking up the divorce file would be worth it ?
Shellz, how you doing ?
Has it ever crossed your mind to just go to the x and say tell me what you remember about that last few weeks when my sister was here and the day she left and see if he's got anything interesting or otherwise to say ?

 

[shellbellz216]

Did anyone get to that courthouse where the lady on the phone IMPLIED that a visit and picking up the divorce file would be worth it ?
Shellz, how you doing ?
Has it ever crossed your mind to just go to the x and say tell me what you remember about that last few weeks when my sister was here and the day she left and see if he's got anything interesting or otherwise to say ?

I did go an get the divorce & custody papers. He did file for divorce in March 1999 & she had physical custody of the kids. Some of the dates in the papers don't make sense and I pointed them out to the detectives but they don't seem very interested in the documents seeing my brother had to mention it to them several times until they said for me just to drop them off but instead I just emailed them.

I'm not doing well, this all is taking a toll on me but thanks for asking.

 

[jn0920]

Hang in there! We're all here for you "hugs"

Did he file for a divorce before or after she went missing?

If after how long?



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