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

[MissieMt]

Should we contact Skipper? I think that we should compile the list of people who were her friends, and send emails inquiring of their last contact with her just to get some base info.

That is a great idea. I've tried looking him up online. I'm not very good at finding people online but I did a Zabasearch on Skipper White and couldn't find anything. So I did a search for Skip White and was able to find two that seemed likely to be him (one in Killeen, one in Harker Heights, which is a sister-city of Killeen). Here's the link:
http://www.zabasearch.com/query1_za...e=TX&ref=$ref&se=$se&doby=&city=&name_style=1

Missie, do you know what your sister meant by this? Who's friends were in the brown car? Were they Deanna's friends, or your sister's friends, or who's? I am confused. Thanks in advance


Do you or your sister who may be joining us feel any bond or have you ever been close with your stepfather? If so, I will be more careful of words I choose when speaking about him. If not, I will just speak my mind.

Can you tell me the exact area from which Deanna disappeared form, for example the street name from where she disappeared?

Jaded, the Texas Sex Offender Site is down for its typical maintenance. Can you tell me the stepfather's full name?

My gut feeling so far is that something went wrong in young Deanna's emotional and psychological development as a result of extreme family dysfunction and possibly sexual abuse. It appears she became, "tough" and began associating with less than desirable people because that was who she could best relate to.

At that point in her life I doubt she would have continued with school if she ran away, although ITA that every school should be checked in case she continued with school. If she ran away it is possible she continued on a downhill spiral into a drug filled life. But, she also could have changed her life for the better. The problem I have with that is that I would think she would have contacted someone in her family like a sister whom she would have had no problem with in the past. If your grandmother still lives in the same place I would think she knows where to find family. She could still be alive, but be homeless and troubled. And, unfortunately, she may not be with us anymore.

The two in the brown car she was reportedly last seen with--I would like to know a lot more about them. I would also love to confirm that story in a cement like manner. Is it possible she actually went back home that night and a a run in with the stepfather? What if your grandmother never knew? I would also like to know a lot more about the step father.

I have a feeling that either Deanna's case slipped through the cracks in LE or for reasons we can only speculate at this point, one or more of the adult family members at that time did not put forth the effort to find Deanna that we would expect. It may have been a combination of both.

However, we have at this time a surprising amount of seemingly good information and at least 3 people willing to trace back in their minds to that time period and Deanna's disappearance. That is more than we get in many cases.

What I say here is my own speculations for the most part, and I hope that I have not been insensitive. I believe that the only way to find the truth is to face the truth and the facts of what may have lead up to Deanna's disappearance. Some of this can be dang hard to take, and I can see that. You seem to be an outstanding person, Missie, and I admire your courage, your strength, and your motivation to do the next right thing.

Lion

There is some question as to who was in that car and who saw them. Our Grandma said they were friends of our oldest sister. But Grandma said she got that info from Deanna's twin the day Deanna went missing. Now Deanna's twin doesn't remember saying that. Our oldest sister tried calling all of her friends when she came back from Virginia (she was spending the summer with an aunt) but couldn't figure out who it could have been.
My older sister (the one who may join us) and I no longer have an emotional connection to our Stepfather. I was close to him, but events last year ended that. His full name is Roy Lapua Kaopuiki. Trust me, I share the same opinion as most people when it comes to him.
I agree Deanna was definately "toughing" up. I too think she would have contacted us by now if she were still alive. And that leaves the theories of her meeting with foul play either from our stepdad. I started all of this because I want her in the missing person databases so that people like us here on Websleuths can consider her too when looking at UID's.

 

[LionRun]

Good Morning Missie. I recall that you said that Skipper was his actual name. Is this because that is all he ever went by? Or do you have reason to believe that is true? I know you were just 11 at the time, and I want to do all we can to track him down. He has a very common last name, White. It would indeed make things easier if his his legal birth name is in fact, Skipper--not so common.

Concerning the possible night of Deanna's disappearance, I understand the confusion. Is it possible, I wonder, that Deanna's twin assumed the 2 men were your older sister's friends? I imagine it is still possible that they were. But, at this point they could have been anyone. Hopefully, once your other sister comes on we can get a hint about that. It could be important. If anyone can remember anything about the car, the men--anything--it could help. I fully understand that it has been many years, though.

Thank you for your step father's name. I am very sorry for anything any of you, including dear Deanna has ever had to go through as a result of that man. There is no love lost on my part concerning convicted sex offenders. I get the feeling that you have not only survived your past, but have thrived and have broken the chain of dysfunction--kudos, to you.

I see several possibilities that could have resulted in Deanna's disappearance so far. I think like it seems others do, that we need to check out the 2 men in the brown car, Roy K., and Skipper or another bf. Do you agree? Or do you have different gut feelings and/or anything to add about this?

Lion

 

[MissieMt]

I recieved another email from my oldest sister last night. She's been trying to post on here, but for some reason it is not letting her. Any ideas why? Here are parts of the email that may be important I will post my explaination to certain things said in Blue

hey, i still can't post to websleuths for some reason...something Grandma told me was that sometime when all this attention started with 'Roy', mom called Grandma and told her that Deanna was missing. ( this was in the summer/fall of 1989) Grandma told mom she'd go look for her, but only as long as Roy did NOT follow her. She got in her car and went to Skipper's house to look for Deanna. She pulled up, then so did Roy and Skipper started cussing him out..she had gone to Skipper's house;she confided in Skipper. I think Skipper came around a few yrs after she went missing, but didn't have any info. I saw a post on websleuths saying maybe they were close. I think they must have been. just wanted to let you in on that little bit of info.

also:

there's no way she was in trouble or pregnant...like i told you, Grandma would never do that. ( when she says "do that" she means our Grandma would not send her to live with family)
Grandma was from Ohio..she had sisters in KY and IL, but we never knew them enough for her to go there.
Grandma has all of the stuff she left behind. it didn't look like she was planning on leaving for more than the night. she left everything-even her makeup. Grandma has a blanket (maybe 2), clothes, a teddy bear-everything of hers. i don't know if dna can still be gotten from any of her stuff, but just fyi-we have all of her stuff. Grandma said it isn't much bc she didn't have much.

Grandma said she called to KPD and they had taken her off of the missing list bc she turned 18. Grandma had to tell them that no-Becky came back that Deanna was still missing ( if I remember correctly, the night before the allegations against our stepfather were made both Deanna and her twin "ranaway" to family members in another part of town) and to put her back on as missing. I don't know, maybe that first day when they exposed everything (the twins), mom reported both of them missing and didn't follow up? i'm not really clear on that.

so there's some more info, since i can't seem to post.

 

[christine2448]

Just popped in to see what everyone was 'sleuthin' about

Was thinking about Deanna and Missie...

Missie, you need to start a notebook. Start writing everything down you are learning. Right now there is so much coming at you, you can start to organize it. You will get phone #'s, agency names, peoples names, etc. and if you keep everything together in one spot it will be easier. Everytime you talk to LE or CPS or anyone, write down the date/time/and who you spoke with, what they will/will not help you with, and what the results of contact is.
You may want to do like a 5 subject w/sections examples:

Deanna-put in here everything you learn about Deanna, start a timeline.

Family-list family in here and everything you know about them, names, relationships,birthdates, last known whereabouts, etc.

Contacts-write all your phone #'s, agencies, etc.

Just thoughts, this can get overwhelming.

Busy weekend, off to pick up my 1 yr old from NaNa's

 

[MissieMt]

That is a great suggestion Christine. I will get one today and go through all the posts and scrap paper :angel: I've been writing info down on. Thank You!

 

[LionRun]

Just popped in to see what everyone was 'sleuthin' about

Was thinking about Deanna and Missie...

Missie, you need to start a notebook. Start writing everything down you are learning. Right now there is so much coming at you, you can start to organize it. You will get phone #'s, agency names, peoples names, etc. and if you keep everything together in one spot it will be easier. Everytime you talk to LE or CPS or anyone, write down the date/time/and who you spoke with, what they will/will not help you with, and what the results of contact is.
You may want to do like a 5 subject w/sections examples:

Deanna-put in here everything you learn about Deanna, start a timeline.

Family-list family in here and everything you know about them, names, relationships,birthdates, last known whereabouts, etc.

Contacts-write all your phone #'s, agencies, etc.

Just thoughts, this can get overwhelming.

Busy weekend, off to pick up my 1 yr old from NaNa's

Great idea! Hi christine.

Missie, as you make a journal you may want a section to include all contact info for anyone's name who comes up and to leave a place to fill it in for those we don't initially have. Please be sure to write in such a way as to separate facts known from speculations, beliefs, and ideas. You can always flip a theory into the fact section if it turns out it is fact.

Even if Skipper didn't seem to know much, I'm betting also that he knew about Deanna's trauma, needs, and wants at that time. If we can discern what Deanna's state of mind was at the time, and what her plans and thoughts possibly were concerning what may have happened to her, we may have an idea of what she may have tried to do the night she disappeared.

Am I to understand that it is possible, based on your sister's new email that Roy K. may have been a little closer to the situation than we originally thought? I am confused.

I know little about the internet. But, it took a couple of days for me to be able to post for the first time after joining. Please give us her, "hat" that she chose, and perhaps we can PM a mod for some help to get her on to post. I don't know if that will help; but, we can try.

Please tell us, if you haven't previously, what is the age difference to the best of you recollection between Skipper and Deanna?

Lion

 

[AMYTX]

Hi, I'm Missie's oldest sister, Amy. She told me the people here are really great and very helpful-and she was definitely right! Thank you all for your input and suggestions/ideas so far. I'll try to answer any other questions ya'll have that Missie might not know about.

Here's some background on my situation at the time:
I was 16 when Deanna came up missing. I had gone to visit my Aunt for the summer in VA. I lived with my Grandma; Deanna and her twin lived with our Uncle. While I was gone, Deanna moved in with my Grandma. I'm not sure why, though. Our Uncle is a good person and wouldn't have done anything bad to make her want to leave-perhaps it was bc he didn't have the money to support his family and 2 other kids. I spoke with Deanna on the phone a few times while I was in VA and everything seemed great. She was a very likable person-although you wouldn't want to be on her bad side (she was very tough). She never hinted that she wanted to leave-we talked about doing things together when I returned. Plus the fact that she left everything behind to me says that she did not have any plans to leave. Regarding the car and the 2 guys with her: I don't know who it could have been-I called everyone I knew. So it is possible that it was just speculation that they were my friends.

Deanna was very close to her twin...I think she would've tried to contact her by now. Also, my Grandma has lived in the same house with the same phone number since before I was even born, so Deanna would have been able to contact her very easily...sometimes I wonder if that's the real reason she won't move from that increasingly bad neighborhood.

I was old enough to remember quite a bit, but my memory does fail me about specific events throughout those years...I will try to ask as many questions as I can. Don't worry about being sensitive-it's better to ask a question that might offend, than to not ask -and the answer could've been that one piece we need to find out what happened. But I don't offend easily anyways ;0)

The notebook is a great idea Christine, thank you!

 

[JDB]

AMytX Let me be the first to welcome you heere. Yes this is a great place.I will be honest when I saw the Pic of your sister yesterday it hit me with a ton of bricks. I have told a few in PM that this is one case I want to help solve.I might not be any good at it. But WE will find out what happened.

 

[Shadow205]

"On July 22nd 1990 Deanna visited her twin at about 1 a.m at our uncle's home ( where her twin was living). As far as I know, there wasn't an arguement and I don't see what they could have argued about. Her twin said "she left with some boys"Later that day our Grandma called my Mom at our house and said Deanna was missing. She came over and got a picture of Deanna to file a missing persons report."

Missie, I think that the first thing that you should do is contact the police department and see if the report mentioned above was filed. If so get a copy of the orginal report and all supplement reports. Be sure that you get supplement reports too.
You mentioned that Deanna was removed from the missing list because she turned 18. That could be that police departments policy but it is not the norm. I can speak for more than one department in saying that in order to remove someone they have to be recovered. That means a police officer has to actually see the missing person and document it before the person is removed from NCIC(National Crime Information Center).

 

[LionRun]

Missie and Missie's sister, I re-read this in a post I wrote.

I have a feeling that either Deanna's case slipped through the cracks in LE or for reasons we can only speculate at this point, one or more of the adult family members at that time did not put forth the effort to find Deanna that we would expect. It may have been a combination of both.

I was not referring to your grandmother when I wrote this. I was thinking of your step father and possibly your mother. I mean no disrespect towards your mother in any way. When a person is in a state of full blown alcoholism it can be nearly impossible to think clearly, take action in an emergency, or exercise good judgement.

I consider alcoholism to be a disease, not a reflection of character. If someone were extremely ill from chemo along with cancer to the point of needing hospitalization, I would expect that the same thing could happen. Yes, it is up to a person with alcoholism to face their illness and get help; but, if for what ever reason they don't or they cannot quite reach that point it doesn't mean, at least to me, that that person is a bad person. The person could be a good person, with a bad problem.

Roy K. is another story though, to me. I think of him more as a criminal with a criminal mind. He was convicted of a sexual offense in 1989, so I believe he is guilty, and chances are that was not the first and only time he abused someone, according to statistics.

Lion

 

[LionRun]

AMytX Let me be the first to welcome you heere. Yes this is a great place.I will be honest when I saw the Pic of your sister yesterday it hit me with a ton of bricks. I have told a few in PM that this is one case I want to help solve.I might not be any good at it. But WE will find out what happened.

Hi JDB. I think you are very good with these cases.

Lion

 

[Jaded]

On July 22nd 1990 Deanna visited her twin at about 1 a.m at our uncle's home ( where her twin was living). As far as I know, there wasn't an arguement and I don't see what they could have argued about.

This info has me thinking. Was Deanna known to be out that late at night for being 14 years old? I ask this because if she wasn't known to be out that late without supervision, then maybe she went to visit her twin because something was troubling her.

 

[LionRun]

Welcome Amy. I am glad you are now able to post. Can either you or Misty tell us what Deanna's twin, your sister is doing these days? Can she help us? She may know more than anyone what may have happened, even if she doesn't know it, yet.

Lion

 

[AMYTX]

Jaded-yes, it was normal for her to be out late. That doesn't mean it was ok with Grandma (it wasn't), but I remember her sneaking out even before we all had to leave our mom's house.

 

[LionRun]

Grandma told me was that sometime when all this attention started with 'Roy', mom called Grandma and told her that Deanna was missing.

( this was in the summer/fall of 1989) Grandma told mom she'd go look for her, but only as long as Roy did NOT follow her.

Missie and Amy, I am trying to clarify the date that Deanna disappeared. Was it 7/22/90? Or, was it in the summer or fall of 1989? Or, did something else happen in the summer or fall of 1989, the year before Deanna disappeared again on 7/22/90?

I totally agree with Shadow that as soon as possible you need to get everything you can involving the original report and any supplemental reports. Perhaps you can even track down and contact the original investigating officer. Although it has been 17 years it may be worth a try. I am thinking that there may not have been too many cases like Deanna's back then in Killeen, he may remember additional details not necessarily in the reports.

Lion

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[Julessleuther]

Missie and Missie's sister, I re-read this in a post I wrote.

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I was not referring to your grandmother when I wrote this. I was thinking of your step father and possibly your mother. I mean no disrespect towards your mother in any way. When a person is in a state of full blown alcoholism it can be nearly impossible to think clearly, take action in an emergency, or exercise good judgement.

I consider alcoholism to be a disease, not a reflection of character. If someone were extremely ill from chemo along with cancer to the point of needing hospitalization, I would expect that the same thing could happen. Yes, it is up to a person with alcoholism to face their illness and get help; but, if for what ever reason they don't or they cannot quite reach that point it doesn't mean, at least to me, that that person is a bad person. The person could be a good person, with a bad problem.

Roy K. is another story though, to me. I think of him more as a criminal with a criminal mind. He was convicted of a sexual offense in 1989, so I believe he is guilty, and chances are that was not the first and only time he abused someone, according to statistics.

Lion

I agree Lion, that was my thinking as well. Welcome Amy and thank you for being here!

 

[MissieMt]

Thank you SO much Amy for being here. Already you have given info I didn't have.
I am still encouraging Deanna's twin to get involved here. Deanna and our Stepfather can be extremely sensitive subjects for her. She has been through a lot and if she were to join I will have to ask everyone to keep that in mind. I'm not sure she will join, but hopefully.
I am going to begin contacting the media in that area Monday if I can't get answers from LE. Hopefully that will help.

 

[Julessleuther]

Missie--I have a question for you...you said that Deanna was hanging with a tough crowd. What do you mean by a tough crowd? Were they into drugs? Did they break laws, o r were they general teenage troublemakers who broke curfew and snuck cigarettes. Is there any chance Deanna was using drugs? Also, Amy mentioned that your grandmother had family in KY. Were they near Cave City? I still think Cave City is a huge clue for us--she may be alive and living there today! Amy--did Deanna talk to you about wanting to come to VA? Maybe she ran away to go see you and ran out of money by KY?

 

[MissieMt]

Missie--I have a question for you...you said that Deanna was hanging with a tough crowd. What do you mean by a tough crowd? Were they into drugs? Did they break laws, o r were they general teenage troublemakers who broke curfew and snuck cigarettes. Is there any chance Deanna was using drugs? Also, Amy mentioned that your grandmother had family in KY. Were they near Cave City? I still think Cave City is a huge clue for us--she may be alive and living there today! Amy--did Deanna talk to you about wanting to come to VA? Maybe she ran away to go see you and ran out of money by KY?

Amy- do you know anything about posible drug use? I don't think thats something people would have told me about at that age. As far as running out of money before VA, I'm not sure she would have had access to any money at all. But that phone call is definately throwing me off too.

 

[LionRun]

Missie, I think that the first thing that you should do is contact the police department and see if the report mentioned above was filed. If so get a copy of the orginal report and all supplement reports. Be sure that you get supplement reports too.
You mentioned that Deanna was removed from the missing list because she turned 18. That could be that police departments policy but it is not the norm. I can speak for more than one department in saying that in order to remove someone they have to be recovered. That means a police officer has to actually see the missing person and document it before the person is removed from NCIC(National Crime Information Center).

I am not in LE; but, when I first read that it was reported that Deanna's name was taken off the missing persons list because she turned 18, I exclaimed, "What?!" in a loud voice to myself. It just didn't sound right to me. I want to keep this in the forefront because what you learn from LE regarding this could tell us which way to go. However, I think it is also possible that somehow young Deanna slipped through the cracks. You may need to be proactive and follow up with LE if you don't hear from them within a couple of days after contacting them on Monday.

While Deanna's twin and my oldest sister were sharing an apartment they received a collect call from someone claiming to be Deanna. When they accepted the call the person hung up. When Deanna's twin received the phone bill the collect call was placed in Cave City, Kentucky. I think this call was placed in 1992.

ITA that this could be very important. All kinds of scenarios could apply to this. It could even be a dead end--it is possible that an unrelated Deanna called the wrong number collect. But, I am more inclined to think that it is possible that it was Deanna. Is there a way to find out where the relatives in KY lived at that time? Though, there appeared to be little or no contact between that part of the family and all of you perhaps it cannot yet be ruled out that Deanna didn't track them down and ask them for help. Or, she could have been in Cave City, KY and never have had any contact with the family in KY. But, if possible we may want to research this further. What are your thoughts on this?

Amy or Missie, was Skipper about the same age as Deanna?