WA WA - Misty Copsey, 14, Tacoma, 17 Sept 1992

[gaia227]

Someone emailed this to me today regarding Misty Copsey disappearence.

The local paper just published a 5 part indepth investigation of her disappearence, the way it was handled by LE and Cory Bober a man obsessed with Misty's case as well as several other missing/murdered girls cases. He claims he predicted Misty's abduction by looking at two other girls who had been murdered exactly two yrs and one month apart so based on that he wrote in his notes that another girl was going to be murdered in September - that's when Misty never came back from the county fair.

It is a really interesting story. It is long so I would suggest getting comfy with a cup of tea or glass of wine or the like.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/misty/

 

[KaylynnCouture]

I just clicked on the link, and it looks like The News Tribune did a great job putting together this site for Misty, and the story.

As soon as I put my son down for a nap, I look forward to reading it!

 

[Julessleuther]

Ok--I have not finished reading this all, but Bobers cellmate in jail was Joseph Duncan!!!???

 

[gaia227]

Okay, wow. That was incredibly frustrating to read. Even once LE started to entertain the idea Misty was not a runaway they didn't follow up on the most obvious leads. One suspect claims they blacked out and ended up at their grandmother's farm the night Misty disappeared which is only 8 miles from where her clothes were found and no one goes to search the property???

I feel like Rheuban and his uncle are the best suspects. From the interviews with Trina it almost sounded like Misty had already worked it out that Rheuban was going to come pick her up but lied to her mother about taking the bus. But surely if she did that then Trina would have eventually told LE (once they finally interviewed her) that she didn't give bus fare to Misty and that Mike Rhyner picked her up and Rheuban picked up Misty.
There are too many inconsistencies in his story, Rheuban's attitude and avoidance of the issue, statements he made to his boss about killing Misty, etc. His stupid story about blacking out and finding himself at his g-ma's. What cop listens to that and believes it? That right there would send up a huge red flag - you blacked out conveniently during the time Misty vanished. His story consistently changed and his roommate's story didn't jive with his. But no, LE just let him go, didn't follow and most of all they never searched his car which sat in a junkyard for months and months and then when someone finally got the bright idea to actually look at it oops, too late, it had been crushed.

There were unidentified hairs found on Misty's pants that STILL have not been tested because no one has submitted them.

Then the oh-so-valuable paint chips found of Misty's jeans go missing? Those chips are what could break this case if they developed the right suspect. SO frustrating.

I still don't know what I think of Cory Bober. He is an interesting fellow - obviously has a touch of mania, delusions and obsessive compulsive disorder. My gut tells me he is not involved.

Those are just some intial ramblings after finishing the article. Mostly just frustration. I can't imagine how Diana feels.

 

[gaia227]

the discussion board attached to the article is pretty interesting. The reporter who wrote the story is the moderator. A lot people who knew Misty and/or her mother are posting.

I keep waiting for Cory Bober to pop up on there - I would think he would be pretty excited about the whole thing.

 

[gaia227]

Here are some comments I found made by Cory on the internet over the yrs.

http://www.ghost-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=779

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/lynnwood-wa/T4VKTBLNLJ22L6J68


If you scroll into the comments there is a LONG message from Cory.
http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/little-girls-as-prey-and-the-murder-of-zina-linnik/

 

[gaia227]

I originally posted this in the Missing/Found Persons and immediately regretted it as I think it is much better suited for the Cold Case section. If I have ever seen a cold case, this is it. So, I am posting it here too - I don't know if that is okay or not....... I would prefer the other thread to be merged or deleted and just have this one.

Misty disappeared from the Puyallup County Fair after missing the bus back home. LE immediately classified her as a run away and it was months before anyone actually investigated her disappearence. The New Tribune out of Tacoma just published an indepth investigation of what happened - a lot of focus is put on the police and their initial lack of interest and then their ridiculous, shoddy investigation skills. There is a man who named Cory Bober who is a huge part of the story as he is obsessed with solving Misty's case, obsessed with the GRK and obsessed with the fact that he believes a childhood friend is the GRK and not Gary Ridgeway. For all of Cory's eccentricities he is part of the reason any progress was made in this case because of his incessant badgering of the police. There is also suspicion on Cory because he predicted Misty's disappearence before it happened and Cory was the one who lead a search team that found Misty's clothing in the woods.....
Any good suspects LE had were cleared before any real investigation had been done. LE didn't even interview the last two people who saw or talked to Misty until months and months after she vanished. They never seized the car of the boy who might have given her a ride that night and instead let it be crushed in a junk yard - any evidence there long gone.

It is interesting to note that there had been two other girls from Puyallup who had been found murdered within the past 5 yrs before Misty's disappearence and both bodies found in the same area. DNA testing ruled out the Green River Killer and it is thought now that Misty might have fallen prey to the same person who murdered the other two teens.

There were unidentified hairs found on Misty's jeans. Even though there are 2-3 suspects those hairs have still not been tested simply because no one has bothered to submit them.

This is a very long article but it is really good. I am impressed by the journalist who covered this story.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/misty/

 

[gaia227]

Some internet ramblings posted by Cory Bober. These won't mean much until after the article is read. He is absolutely, positively convince that a certain man is responsible for the murder of Misty and he is convinced he knows where she is buried. He also points out more than once that there have been 8 unsolved murders in the Pierce County area in the past 8 yrs since Gary Ridgeway was arrested. I am going to look into that to see if there is anything to it. It has been proven that Ridgeway did not kill Misty or the other two murdered Puyallup teens.

http://www.washingtonvotes.org/forum/forums/t/71386.aspx

http://www.ghost-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=779

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/lynnwood-wa/T4VKTBLNLJ22L6J68

 

[defender123]

I live in this area. I lived in Buckley for 10 years. Have never forgotten this case. The article said they have a few hairs left for testing..Do hope we hurry up and get this done.

 

[reportertype]

DNA tests on those hairs is LONG overdue.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

DNA tests on those hairs is LONG overdue.

nothing more to add......test the hair, perhaps lead you to a POI, whom in turn could lead you to the body.......was an interesting article to read.............Was there something specific, you had in mind when posting this..........
​

 

[reportertype]

Nope. Just that the article said six hairs found on Misty's jeans are suitable for DNA testing. This was discovered in 2006. Three years later, no DNA testing has been done because no police agency has requested it.

The crappy work in the beginning of this case boggles the mind, it truly does.

 

[gaia227]

LE has at least two good suspects and testing the friggin' hair could help eliminate or implicate them.

Robert Leslie drove a red car. There were red paint chips found on Misty's clothes. WHen they paint chips were actually going to be tested the tech opened the baggie and oops, no paint chips. They were never found. Okay - so move onto the hair. The guy is a multiple convicted rapist, he pushed a young girl off a 20 foot cliff so obviously doesn't have much regard for life and he was in the area when Misty disappeared. The answer could be sitting in a storage closet at Puyallup. It is a small town are the police really THAT busy that no one can be bothered to submit a sample?

Second good suspect is Rheuban. They screwed up when they didn't seize his car but they could try to make up for that by testing the hair. Personally, I think Rheuban and his uncle are the most-likely perps. He just fits the bill. He was dating a 13 yr old, he had made advancements towards Misty before, he can't account for his whereabouts, he told more than one person he did something to her. I mean - come on! You give the guy a poly which come back inconclusive and clear him! TEST THE HAIR!!

 

[defender123]

Last updated June 11, 2009 7:22 a.m. PT

Puyallup police hope DNA solves missing girl case
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Puyallup police are hoping DNA testing could help solve the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl.

Misty Copsey failed to return home after visiting the Puyallup Fair in 1992.

The News Tribune of Tacoma reports the jeans she apparently was wearing were found the next year, and now the state crime lab is running a DNA test on hair recovered from the jeans.

---

Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com

 

[gaia227]

Yes! Finally - TEST THE HAIR! I can't believe it took this long for them to submit it.

A BIG thank you to Sean Robinson for writing A Stolen Child and bringing much needed attention to the lack of investigation on the part of LE. If it were not for the article I don't think they would have submitted the hair sample.

I am sure it will be a long wait until we find out the results. I will be very surprised if the hair does not trace back to Robert Leslie or Rheuban.

Thank you for posting the link Defender!

 

[athy]

just read the articles and story about this and all i can say right now is WOW!! the LE really dropped the ball on this case. and that guy cory is just plain weird. you can't help but wonder if he's involved. probably isn't but just strange.

 

[Hope4Lost]

sorry, posted in wrong thread.

 

[Noway]

I first read about this case at www.crimerant.com and then read the multi-part article at http://www.thenewstribune.com/misty/.


It's frustrating when you read about cases like this where they have evidence they could have tested and it seems like nothing is being done. I found this article below a few days ago, but have not seen any further update.


Puyallup Police Hope DNA Solves 1992 Missing Girl Case
Posted: 7:40 am PDT June 11, 2009

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Puyallup police are hoping DNA testing could help solve the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl.

Misty Copsey failed to return home after visiting the Puyallup Fair in 1992.

The News Tribune of Tacoma reported the jeans she apparently was wearing were found the next year, and now the state crime lab is running a DNA test on hair recovered from the jeans.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/19723761/detail.html

ETA: Link no longer works but this was the entire article I believe.

 

[Liz]

I stumbled upon this article, from May 17th, which appears to possibly be a synopsis of the five-part article:

The Stolen Child: What happened to Misty?

http://www.thenewstribune.com/311/story/744700.html

 

[gaia227]

Nice - thank you for posting.