TN TN - Karen Swift, 44, Dyersburg, 30 Oct 2011 - #3

[ThoughtFox]

What does "David Swift of the home" mean?

RIP Karen :rose:

I think it's just a local way of phrasing an obituary. Sometimes the funeral home will help to compose it, so it's a little old-fashioned, as you might expect in rural Arkansas. It's pretty plain, actually, since he was living in the home, as were the children, while other family members lived elsewhere.

It's almost an old-English way of phrasing, which you often see in the Southeast.

 

[OldSteve]

In reading the Sheriff's statements in news articles posted above, it's got me scratching my head as to what's going on!

 

[officer'swife 2010]

In reading the Sheriff's statements in news articles posted above, it's got me scratching my head as to what's going on!

I think all of us are scratching our heads and have been from day 1!

Justice for Karen Swift!

 

[TxLady2]

Oh I agree that a case will be made, But if they had "enough", we would not be waiting now. LE doesn't wait once they have enough, IMO.

But it's really not up to LE, that decision to charge someone has to come from the prosecutors, and they may feel like there is not enough definitive evidence to prove a case. Not sure if they have a grand jury there, or they could have a prelim, and let a judge decide based on the evidence.

 

[TxLady2]

I think it's just a local way of phrasing an obituary. Sometimes the funeral home will help to compose it, so it's a little old-fashioned, as you might expect in rural Arkansas. It's pretty plain, actually, since he was living in the home, as were the children, while other family members lived elsewhere.

It's almost an old-English way of phrasing, which you often see in the Southeast.

I've never seen an obit around here worded like that. They usually say the deceased is survived by the spouse, and children if they are still at home. Other relatives or grown children, they name the city/state they live in.
One of my dear friends passed away a few years ago, and she and her husband had been divorced for several years. He was remarried but she wasn't. In the "survived by..." paragraph, they said she was survived by her 4 grown children, and the childrens' father and listed his name. I thought that was very respectful to the kids and to him as well. I had just never seen an ex-spouse even mentioned in an obituary.
I don't think the funeral home employees write up the obits for the newspaper, that's usually handled by a rookie reporter, just to get their feet wet before they're given a real news story.

 

[TxLady2]

oh ok thanks. Never read an obit with a spouse being mentioned and then adding "at the home". If they were married where else would he be, kwim? It sounds weird.

Well..... he could be living somewhere else. I have seen people separate and live in different homes, even with another partner... while they're still legally married to each other.
Then I've seen couples get a divorce and remain in the same house, for the children's sake, and to save money.
You just never know.

 

[TxLady2]

Her daughter was sick before she was picked up. If Karen needed to pick up medicine, she would have done it on the way home. After Karen got home with her daughter, she fell asleep right away, so she didn't need to be woken up and given medicine. If they needed medicine in the morning, she or her husband could pick it up then.

Karen may never have left of her own free will that night. Her body, car, clothes (most likely her clothes) and cell phone were left in distinctly different places. The car had a flat tire, conveniently parked a short distance from home. Who wouldn't drive home from that location on the highway with a flat ... it couldn't get that much worse in that short 1/4 mile drive. Her body was left in a place where it would never have been discovered except for the weather that week. Clothes like the ones she was wearing were found neatly folded and tucked undr a bush. The cell phone led in the direction of the river.

It sounds like the husband did it.

Well, of course it does. People are always going to think the husband did it, because it's so much less complicated that way.

I would respectfully ask you, though, how do you know what she would or would not have done? People do strange things all the time without it making much sense to the rest of us. Unless you knew her personally, of course, and even then, people can be unpredictable. I don't believe it's ever been confirmed that she went to get medicine, it was only discussed as a possibility. Maybe she went to meet someone she knew, or was headed back to the party. Could have been a guy she had barely met, and things went horribly wrong and he killed her and then set the rest of it up. The point is, there can be just as many arguments against the hubby as there are for him being the one. We just don't know.

For her childrens' sakes, I hope to God it wasn't their daddy, they have all had enough to deal with without that added on. My heart goes out to them.

 

[Fishee]

But it's really not up to LE, that decision to charge someone has to come from the prosecutors, and they may feel like there is not enough definitive evidence to prove a case. Not sure if they have a grand jury there, or they could have a prelim, and let a judge decide based on the evidence.

Kinda. The case is still on Box's desk. That's either because the DA told him to keep digging or it's a tactical decision most likely made jointly.

 

[~n/t~]

Family mourns murdered mother of four

Swift's loved ones gathered in Pocahontas, AR, where her visitation took place Friday night.

"Currently, we're not naming any suspects and will not name any until we feel it will benefit this case," said Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box.

Nearly four months after she disappeared and there still aren't charges in the 44-year-old woman's murder.

Swift went missing in late October after a Halloween party and her body was found two months later in a kudzu patch in Dyer County.

Since then, two vigils have been held in honor of Swift's memory and until now, the family has not had closure.

Funeral arrangements were finalized in January.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/16913829/family-mourns-murdered-dyersburg-mother-of-four

 

[ThoughtFox]

I've never seen an obit around here worded like that. They usually say the deceased is survived by the spouse, and children if they are still at home. Other relatives or grown children, they name the city/state they live in.
One of my dear friends passed away a few years ago, and she and her husband had been divorced for several years. He was remarried but she wasn't. In the "survived by..." paragraph, they said she was survived by her 4 grown children, and the childrens' father and listed his name. I thought that was very respectful to the kids and to him as well. I had just never seen an ex-spouse even mentioned in an obituary.
I don't think the funeral home employees write up the obits for the newspaper, that's usually handled by a rookie reporter, just to get their feet wet before they're given a real news story.

The Swifts weren't divorced yet, but they had divorced before and remarried, and were on the verge of a second divorce. Everyone knew it so it's an awkward situation.

Actually, every obit I've known about has been written by a family member, then given to the funeral home who passed it on to the newspaper. What I wrote earlier (or meant to get across) was that perhaps the funeral home might have helped them phrase the obituary.

If you heard Karen's brother on Nancy Grace, he had a rather old-fashioned way of speaking. It's possible her mother/brother/family wrote the obit and didn't know how else to phrase it about the husband. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what happened, given the circumstances of that being Karen's childhood church and hometown funeral home.

I don't think we can divine much from it except that it's a really strange situation.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

I've never seen an obit around here worded like that. They usually say the deceased is survived by the spouse, and children if they are still at home. Other relatives or grown children, they name the city/state they live in.
One of my dear friends passed away a few years ago, and she and her husband had been divorced for several years. He was remarried but she wasn't. In the "survived by..." paragraph, they said she was survived by her 4 grown children, and the childrens' father and listed his name. I thought that was very respectful to the kids and to him as well. I had just never seen an ex-spouse even mentioned in an obituary.
I don't think the funeral home employees write up the obits for the newspaper, that's usually handled by a rookie reporter, just to get their feet wet before they're given a real news story.

In my experience the family and the funeral home work together to write the obit. The newspaper just prints whatever is submitted by the family. Just like they submit whatever an individual chooses to put in the classifieds, etc...

The wording is not unusual for a small town in this region.

Karen had filed 2 weeks prior to her death, legally they were still married. So including his name in the obit makes sense.

IMO

 

[FightTheOstrich]

Well..... he could be living somewhere else. I have seen people separate and live in different homes, even with another partner... while they're still legally married to each other.
Then I've seen couples get a divorce and remain in the same house, for the children's sake, and to save money.
You just never know.

The wording is a regional way of saying this is where said person resides if someone wants to send condolences. It has nothing to do with the status of the Swift marriage.

IMO

 

[cluciano63]

The wording is a regional way of saying this is where said person resides if someone wants to send condolences. It has nothing to do with the status of the Swift marriage.

IMO

It is not even regional really, I saw it all the time in NY.

And anyway we all knew he lived there, so not sure why it is an issue. JMO

 

[FightTheOstrich]

Well, of course it does. People are always going to think the husband did it, because it's so much less complicated that way.

I would respectfully ask you, though, how do you know what she would or would not have done? People do strange things all the time without it making much sense to the rest of us. Unless you knew her personally, of course, and even then, people can be unpredictable. I don't believe it's ever been confirmed that she went to get medicine, it was only discussed as a possibility. Maybe she went to meet someone she knew, or was headed back to the party. Could have been a guy she had barely met, and things went horribly wrong and he killed her and then set the rest of it up. The point is, there can be just as many arguments against the hubby as there are for him being the one. We just don't know.

For her childrens' sakes, I hope to God it wasn't their daddy, they have all had
enough to deal with without that added on. My heart goes out to them.

I think the focus here has been on the hubby bc there hasn't been anyone else to sleuth.

The articles I read left me with the impression that the daughter was homesick and would not have required meds.

She had already left the party and was at a friend 's house whe she received the call to pickup her daughter. She had told friends that she was not having fun at the party. IMO she wouldn't have returned.

Most women going thru a divorce (esp. living with husband in a small town) would not leave in the middle of the night to meet up with a man. She appears to have been focused on her children and a great mother. True, everyone has secrets but it doesn't seem like this woman had time for a double- life.

MOO

 

[chiefs_fan_4life]

I have nothing of real value to add, but it is very common to word an obituary that way in this area. I live 30 miles from Pocahontas and although we headed the opposite direction for a ball tournament Saturday, we passed 2 separate areas overtaken by kudzu..places I've driven past hundreds of times without noticing. But the day Karen was laid to rest, it's as if I noticed them right away. Weird..and sad.

 

[officer'swife 2010]

I've seen obit's like that.....maybe it's just a southern thing.

I really hope this case isn't going to go cold a lot of people are posting on other sites that it's already cold, for the sake of her family and Karen I know it takes time....


RIP Karen Swift!

 

[officer'swife 2010]

I think the focus here has been on the hubby bc there hasn't been anyone else to sleuth.

The articles I read left me with the impression that the daughter was homesick and would not have required meds.

She had already left the party and was at a friend 's house whe she received the call to pickup her daughter. She had told friends that she was not having fun at the party. IMO she wouldn't have returned.

Most women going thru a divorce (esp. living with husband in a small town) would not leave in the middle of the night to meet up with a man. She appears to have been focused on her children and a great mother. True, everyone has secrets but it doesn't seem like this woman had time for a double- life.

MOO

I also think the child was homesick, or maybe had too much halloween candy and got a tummy ache nothing that being with mom couldn't fix...I don't believe Karen had any intention of leaving the house that night....just my opinon of course, although the child was moved in her sister's room but maybe she did that to go to sleep herself.....

 

[OldSteve]

I also think the child was homesick, or maybe had too much halloween candy and got a tummy ache nothing that being with mom couldn't fix...I don't believe Karen had any intention of leaving the house that night....just my opinon of course, although the child was moved in her sister's room but maybe she did that to go to sleep herself.....

Wonder if the child can provide any help to LE in figuring out if Karen stayed or left that night...

 

[cocomod]

Wonder if the child can provide any help to LE in figuring out if Karen stayed or left that night...

Karen's older son said that they took the child to a hypnotist that helped her "remember" that her mom carried her into her sisters bed during the night. I wonder if she "remembered" anything else - such as yelling or other noises. I also wonder if she could remember around what time she was carried.

I am still here waiting for justice for Karen. I am surprised that the arrest has not yet taken place. I think that the Sheriff is tiptoing in this case. I think that he must be careful to not make any assumptions; and make certain that he arrests the right person with the right amount of evidence. However, they sure are slow about it!! :innocent:

 

[NC Analyzer]

Karen's older son said that they took the child to a hypnotist that helped her "remember" that her mom carried her into her sisters bed during the night. I wonder if she "remembered" anything else - such as yelling or other noises. I also wonder if she could remember around what time she was carried.

I am still here waiting for justice for Karen. I am surprised that the arrest has not yet taken place. I think that the Sheriff is tiptoing in this case. I think that he must be careful to not make any assumptions; and make certain that he arrests the right person with the right amount of evidence. However, they sure are slow about it!! :innocent:

No disrespect intended, but I'm certain you are incorrect about the child being seen by a hypnotist. The son said they took the child to a specialist, not a hypnotist, to help her cope with the loss of her mother. Actually, I believe both girls are seeing a therapist.