TX TX - Deanna Merryfield, 13, Killeen, 22 July 1990 - #1

[elepher50]

JulesSleuther did we ever make any further progress on the last lead that we had - see post 576 above which was a take off from your original post about a possible lead?

 

[Julessleuther]

Oh-don't feel bad, you did nothing wrong, you did not know! :blowkiss: You are in KY? Wahoo, we might just take you up on it. Are you in the Horse Caves area?

I feel horrible putting it here -- I saw it and was hoping the members who do this type thing might look at it. Then I read it and saw the comments and felt the family had seen this and it was not reputable.
I am still reading back - you guys have done so much but as I get ideas I google to see if I get anything and I was actually googling "I ran away" + "Deanna" or some such combo when this popped up. My thought was to google what Deanna might write if she was trying to find her sisters. Anyway, I will keep reading back as I have time.
BTW - I am in KY and I have noticed she might have been up here at one time. If there is anything on the ground in KY that needs to be done, let me know and I will help if I can.

 

[Julessleuther]

I do not know for certain if that Deanna's birthdate is exactly the same. Later tonight I will put aside some much needed time on Deanna's case and see what else I can find. I really think we need to go back to that night and before. We need to see if we can find some friends of Deanna's and see if they had "heard" anything over the years about where she is.

JulesSleuther did we ever make any further progress on the last lead that we had - see post 576 above which was a take off from your original post about a possible lead?

 

[A_News_Junkie]

I am going to finish reading all that you guys have done - but the idea to search for a "Deanna Maryfield" or Deanna Mary Field just came to me and look what came up: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-49022.html

Looks like I am not the only one to think to spell it that way - that must have been a fellow schoolmate whom one of you found.

Again, I will do all the reading - but purging my un-tainted thoughts first is good too.

 

[MissieMt]

Hi Everyone! No word on Skipper. I don't think Sgt.D really has an urge to pursue him. He has never said that, but Skipper is very easily located-has been this whole time, and Sgt.D has not pursued questioning him.
As far as her not being on the cold case page, I vaguely remember Sgt.D saying he would have to contact the person who runs the site...

 

[MissieMt]

Good Morning everyone!! Bekki has been working with a volunteer at the NCMEC. The volunteer has distributed the new(YAY!) flyer to all of Deanna's old schools and the church we went to when we were really young. Bekki has pretty much taken over the reigns for now, which is good because I've been having some health issues and have not had the energy to do much of anything. Hopefully they can be treated soon and I can get back on the ball.

 

[Julessleuther]

Bumping for Deanna, Missie, and Bekki. Hoping Missie is feeling better very soon! Bekki, have you heard anything after distributing the flyers?

 

[MissieMt]

Good morning guys! PLEASE, if you have a social networking page (myspace,facebook, twitter-ANY!!) please post Deanna's poster with the new progression. You can find the link in my signature. We need to get word out about this progression. I feel pretty confident that it is a very good progression and that if she is still alive it may spark curiosity in someone who knows her! Thank You all for your help!

 

[MissieMt]

Also, Deanna has been entered into Namus.
Here is a link to that:
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/show/5170

 

[Julessleuther]

Thanks Missie. I thought of something this morning. You posted an article on your myspace page that was written about missing girls from Killeen. The article was written by a Victor O'Brien. When was this article written? Victor's email is posted here: http://www.kdhnews.com/docs/contact.aspx With your or Bekki's permission maybe some of us could email Victor and ask him to do an article on Deanna? If we could get some media coverage on her, maybe one of her friends, teachers, etc might remember something.

Also, on your myspace you list a high school, Killeen Alter Ctr High in Nolanville. I had not noticed this before. Is this a new possible high school she could have attended? Also, someone posted on myspace on Mar 16, 2009 stating that Deanna was still their best friend--her name is Shannon. Do you know her? Was she a good friend of Deanna's and have you made contact with her to see if she knows anything?

 

[MissieMt]

Thanks for the questions Jules!
Please, ANYONE feel free to contact media. I have tried in the past to no avail. If you get a response and they want to do an article-send me a pm or whatever and we can figure out if they need to talk to me or anything else.
The alternative school was where problem students went. I just added that to her myspace hoping maybe someone who had listed that as their school may recognize her. She did not go to that school.
Shannon was a friend of Bekki and Deannas. She doesn't know anything to help the case-they weren't hanging out as much in the time before Deanna went missing.

 

[TxBecca]

Thanks Missie. I thought of something this morning. You posted an article on your myspace page that was written about missing girls from Killeen. The article was written by a Victor O'Brien. When was this article written? Victor's email is posted here: http://www.kdhnews.com/docs/contact.aspx With your or Bekki's permission maybe some of us could email Victor and ask him to do an article on Deanna? If we could get some media coverage on her, maybe one of her friends, teachers, etc might remember something.

Also, on your myspace you list a high school, Killeen Alter Ctr High in Nolanville. I had not noticed this before. Is this a new possible high school she could have attended? Also, someone posted on myspace on Mar 16, 2009 stating that Deanna was still their best friend--her name is Shannon. Do you know her? Was she a good friend of Deanna's and have you made contact with her to see if she knows anything?

Killeen Alter Ctr is an alternative high school for students that have been removed from the general high schools in the area due to behavior.

There is/was another alternative school in the area that was for pregnant teens or for students that dropped out and want to return. It's called Pathways Learning Center.

I'm not sure if either were around when Deanna went missing, but they were around when I attended school there. I last attended KHS in 1999.

 

[MissieMt]

pathways was there-sort of. It was called something else back then and was pretty small. I know this because our oldest sister went there

 

[Julessleuther]

Thanks Missie and Bekki! Today I am going to write to Victor O'Brien, and I am also going to post for information on the Craigslist Killeen, the Craigslist Hurst, and the Craigslist Horse Cave. I will post my letter to Victor when I have it finished.

 

[cluciano63]

Can I aske a question? It may have been answered and I admit I have not finished reading the entire case file on WS, but what if anything occurred to believe she is still alive? Anything recently or within past few years? Am only asking as it would be so easy for a person who had gone missing to look themselves on internet these days and instantly see that they were still being searched for...and I would think it would be a natural curiousity to do so; wouldn't she want to let her sister know? Excuse me, please, if this is a dumb question, I will return to reading case, but wondered it something had occurred...thanks

 

[Julessleuther]

There was possible contact by Deanna in 1992 with two of her sisters, and police may also have had some contact with Deanna in 1995 in Hurst, TX. Frankly, there is nothing to suggest or prove that she is no longer with us-her DNA is in a national database and has been compared with existing does on file, so until we hear otherwise, I think we are trying to remain optimistic that she is still alive. Yes, one would think that she would contact her family, but there are many reasons people go missing and lose touch with their family, and she may be afraid or embarassed to come forward, or she may not even know that her family is searching for her. Finish reading the whole thread on Deanna--there is alot of info in here, and we could always use a fresh pair of eyes like yours to offer up new ideas!

 

[cluciano63]

I am still reading away....but 1995 is a long time ago, which makes me wonder, though of course, as you said, there is nothing to show she is not alive. I understand that she may have a brand new life.

I hope if she is alive someplace, that she does see that her sister wants desperately to find her, if only to know she is OK. She could do that without letting on where she is. I was only thinking that it does sound as though she want her sister to suffer this way, if she were able to comfort her with just a word from wherever she is, that she is OK but wants to remain spearate from her remaining family members. My younger sister, who has since died, had a very troubled life, but she always made sure we all knew where she was and was never out of touch, even when she did not want to be with us, which is why I am taking an interest here. I can't imagine not knowing what had become of her. She was home and with my parents when she finally became so ill and passed away, thank God.

 

[Julessleuther]

http://killeen.craigslist.org/com/1650178720.html

Hopefully we will hear something. Craigslist will not let me post anything at Hurst or Horse Cave right now, so I will wait to post those soon.

My letter to Mr. O'Brien:

Dear Mr. O'Brien:

On May 31, 2008 you wrote an article in the Killeen Daily Herald on missing children in the Killeen area. One of those
children, Deanna Merryfield, is still missing. She will be missing for twenty years this July.

Deanna's twin and younger sister are still desperately searching for her; law enforcement have treated this case as a
runaway, and thus in the past, has not expended much energy in finding Deanna. The fact remains that she was a 13 year
old child, and was in the company of two older men the night she went missing, so may have in fact met with foul play, not
been a runaway.

Deanna's case has been featured on a national amateur sleuthing board, websleuths.com. An active group of volunteers keep
the search for Deanna alive. Here is the direct link to Deanna's file at websleuths:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49095
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58438

The circumstances of the Merryfield girls childhood was tragic; they grew up in a disfunctional environment amongst drugs and
alcohol.

From a journalistic point of view, I would think you would find this case fascinating-a group of strangers coming together for the
common goal of finding a missing child from Killeen, and two sisters, who, while searching for Deanna, have managed to escape
their troubled childhood and become beautiful adults.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has released a new age progressed picture of Deanna' s, located
here: http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=763294&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

In addition, there are both Myspace and Facebook pages for Deanna.
http://www.myspace.com/deannamerryfield
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Deanna-Merryfield/281775083342

I implore you to do a featured article on Deanna. Someone out there knows what happened to her, and with your help, we
may be able to find the answers for her sister Missie and Bekki's sake.

If you have any questions, please contact me at the attached email or contact Deanna's sister Missie at the Myspace link.
Thank you!

Please, please everyone here at Websleuths--send Mr. O'Brien a similar letter and perhaps he will do that article!

 

[Julessleuther]

Wow guys--maybe you do not need to email Mr. O'Brien, I just heard back from him (I am impressed, that was quick!)

Julesleuther (I changed the name to protect the innocent, LOL),

I agree wholeheartedly and definitely want to get Deanna's case back
in the news. I'm off over the weekend beginning this afternoon, but I
return Monday afternoon.
Would you please give me a call? I would like to get started on this
soon and get it out there at the latest before the anniversary.
Additionally, if you could put me in contact with her sisters, I'd
appreciate that.
I appreciate you emailing me. Reading your email I was touched
because I can relate to the background Deanna came from. So many
children face the same dangers. So many parents and relatives suffer
in the same way.
Sincerely,
Victor O'Brien
Reporter
Killeen Daily Herald


Thank you Mr. O'Brien!

 

[PhoebeG]

I know I'm a bit slow as it's been here for a while, I've been busy with school, but it's great to see Deanna's age progression photo is finally finished! It would be wonderful if one of the flyer's brought someone forward.

I agree with Jules about Deanna's old friends, talking to any of Deanna's friends from the time might give us insight into whether she ran away or not, and why. It's a shame Skipper has never been questioned.