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Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 Prolonged silence has lowered hopes of finding Cindy Song alive By Mike Walbert Collegian Staff Writer The vast field behind State College Park apartments is sprawling with bright green rolling hills. Sprouts of wild grass shoot up in sporadic clumps throughout the field in between the bare trees that have changed with the season. It's quiet here. The silence is deafening. Police once searched this area behind where she used to live, hoping to find a solid clue as to her whereabouts. A psychic brought in by lead investigators relayed vivid images of the field and provided some tips with the intent of sparking a new lead. They all led to the same place, though -- a puzzling dead end. Saturday marks the two-year anniversary of Hyunjung "Cindy" Song's disappearance. The friendly, outgoing 23-year-old integrative arts major -- who kept creative scrapbooks packed full of past concert tickets and family photos, whom some describe as a survivor and an optimist -- simply vanished that fateful early morning on Nov. 1, 2001. Today, a team of investigators from the Ferguson Township Police Department -- headed by the case's lead investigator Det. Brian Sprinkle -- will travel to Wilkes-Barre, in Luzerne County, in an attempt to crack any new leads in the case. They will look at evidence at suspected killer Hugo Selenski's property, where the bodies of five victims have been found, and where Paul Weakley, an alleged accomplice-turned-informant says Song is buried. "[The Wilkes-Barre investigation] is switching gears from a homicide investigation to a missing person investigation," Sprinkle says. Meanwhile, for nearly two years, a closely-knit college community has sat by idly, anxiously waiting to hear something -- anything -- of Song's whereabouts. How could an attractive, smart Penn State student just up and disappear in this area? She couldn't have been kidnapped or murdered. No one wanted to think about that being a possibility because it just never happens here -- ever. The hope and optimism that was so incredibly strong in the months following Song's reported disappearance has slowly begun to dwindle. Some still hold faith that she's alive and that she will be found someday, safe and sound. Others have slowly, over the years, prepared themselves for the worst. Others yet have come to a much grimmer conclusion. "Cindy's dead," Sprinkle says. "I don't have any belief that Cindy is alive." Oct. 31, 2001 It started off as any other Halloween night for college students usually does. Too old to trick-or-treat and too young to stay in, there was excitement to dress up and go out on the town with friends. A week of classes and stress needed an intervention of relaxation, and this Wednesday night would be just that for Song and the rest of Penn State. Her costume was all in place. She'd be a Playboy bunny -- with a little bit of flair. She wore a white skirt that had a cotton bunny tail attached to the buttocks. Her pink sleeveless shirt had an embroidered image of a bunny on it, matching nicely with her red knee-length hooded coat and brown suede knee-high boots. A pair of bunny ears delicately sitting on her head and black false eyelashes topped her ensemble off. The costume was complete. It was the last thing Song would be seen wearing. The night began at Players Nite Club, 112 W. College Ave., where the popular downtown dance club was holding a big Halloween party. She and her friends danced and partied late into the night, staying until about 2 a.m. The group then left Players, moving throughout downtown. They made stops at The Americana, 119 Locust Lane, and then to Park Hill, 478 E. Beaver Ave., for some post-Players fun. A trip to the South Garner Street Uni-Mart between 3 and 4 a.m. was the last activity of the night. Song's friend, Stacey Paik, gave her a ride home to her State College Park apartment around 4 a.m. on Nov. 1. Then, she was gone. "I tried to call her all day, and her phone was off," Paik said a week after the disappearance. "It's just kind of strange -- she usually calls me." Youngjoo "Catherine" Kim roomed with Song that fall. The two had been acquaintances for a little while, but were never close friends. Then in the summer of 2001, Song and Kim began to spend more time together and bonded. They decided they would become roommates and move into State College Park apartments together for the fall 2001 semester. That fall, Kim, now 23, experienced some family problems back home in Philadelphia and had to leave for an extended period. But she kept in touch with Song and, two days before she vanished, Kim spoke with Song on the phone. Song wanted her to come for Halloween to participate in the festivities, but Kim said she'd wait until the next day -- Nov. 1. That day, Kim arrived as planned. Her roommate, however, was unusually absent. "I was expecting her to be there," Kim said. "But she wasn't." Finally, the news filtered its way to Kim, who found herself in disbelief. Cindy was nowhere to be found. "I was actually not thinking anything happened to her," she said. "I just didn't want to think that anyone kidnapped her or anything." On Nov. 3, Song was reported missing to the Ferguson Township police. Investigators searched her apartment Nov. 6. There was no sign of forced entry or a struggle. Everything seemed to be in place, nice and neat. Her wallet, purse and keys were missing. But those were items Song would've taken with her. Things didn't add up. Where could Cindy have gone? "She just literally vanished. That's just what I'm thinking," Kim said. "Can people just evaporate into thin air? It makes me think like that." Frustration builds Following news of Song's disappearance, police hotlines rang off the hook. Tips from all corners of the state began to flood in. Investigators, enthused and optimistic that they could find the missing integrative arts major, sifted through the mounds of information, looking for that small key to unlock the mystery. The feeling that Song had just left town for a few days, that she would jingle the keys to her apartment and step back into everyone's lives again, was compelling. Her picture was plastered everywhere. Posters, Web sites, newspapers and television broadcasts. The HUB-Robeson Center, Willard Building, telephone poles downtown. They all showed Song's cherubic face -- with her rosy red cheeks and glimmering smile -- in the hope that the image would spark someone's memory. Perhaps they had seen her coming out of Players. Maybe they had caught the briefest of glimpses of her in the Uni-Mart. Or maybe they had seen her after 4 a.m., when Song's trail went absolutely cold. Bansoon Song, Cindy's mother, traveled from Seoul, South Korea and set up home in State College, hoping, waiting all the while. She wanted to be a part of the investigation and wanted to be here when her daughter was eventually returned safely. Bansoon attended vigils for her missing daughter, usually with her head down and shoulders slumped. "My life is my family and to not know what happened to my only daughter is devastating," she said at the time. It was very tough for Bansoon, coming to a foreign land and not having a strong grasp of English or knowledge of the American judicial system. She couldn't understand -- why couldn't Cindy's phone records be accessed immediately by police? What were police doing? The months passed. Gradually, they turned to years. Tips began to dry up quickly after the initial downpour. Her face and physical features -- 5'1" tall, 115 lbs., brown eyes, jet-black hair -- were again publicized on national television to get any minute detail that could solve the case. Unsolved Mysteries, Court TV's Psychic Detectives and CBS' Without A Trace all came calling, offering to lend a hand and bring the case to an American audience. All led to not much more than a handful of calls and even fewer substantial leads. There was the false tip where a female caller identified herself as "Cindy." Then there was the possible connection to four college-age adult disappearances scattered throughout the Midwest. And then there was the witness who was possibly seen with Song in Philadelphia shortly after her disappearance. Again, nothing. All the while, frustration mounted. Sprinkle, the lead investigator, had been under an immense pressure to find Song, all while having to address the widespread media coverage and the constant questioning of the police's procedures. "This is the first case of this magnitude that I've handled," he said. "We get missing Penn State students all the time. But come Sunday night, they come back for a class on a Monday morning." In his office sits a waist-high black metal bookcase jammed with more than 30 oversized three-ring binders, all containing the words "Cindy Song" and "missing person" on their bindings. The frustration reached him, to a degree. "It bothers me, but it bothers me more on the professional level ... As a person, I do feel for the family, for Cindy, for whatever pain she went through," Sprinkle said. "But this is a case, this is my job. I'm upset on the merits of the case." Which makes what happened in January 2002 that much tougher for him to swallow and where a deep communication rift developed between the two parties. After four months of no real hard information surfacing, the Song family unleashed a scathing criticism of the investigation -- in particular the Ferguson Township police and the Pennsylvania State Police -- at a Jan. 31 press conference. "Words cannot begin to express the agony the Song family has felt since the disappearance of their daughter," Jin Han, a New York-based attorney and the family's spokesman, said at the time. "This has been compounded by the poor investigation." "It is time a true investigation be commenced," he added. However, the Song family failed to mention a large mistake that occurred during the crucial early days of the investigation. Just days following investigators' first search of the apartment, the Songs entered Cindy's apartment and cleaned it, possibly wiping away crucial evidence -- a fact that was never publicly revealed by investigators until now. "They entered the apartment and cleaned the apartment," Sprinkle said. "We extended a courtesy and we found out very quickly that it backfired." Add to that the large cultural gap between investigators and the Song family, most of whom were based in South Korea and just weren't used to the American way of things. The public lashing by the Song family was too much for investigators. All direct communication between Ferguson Township authorities and the Songs was terminated in February 2002. "We did it for Cindy's sake in the case and not the family," Sprinkle said. "We pretty much cut them off." A clearer picture? There was a long lull in any activity following the breakdown between investigators and the Song family. Then, in early August 2002, investigators, who were struggling to crack any new leads, turned to nationally known psychic Carla Baron for help. The well-known clairvoyant, utilized by law enforcement across the country, came to State College to "fill in the blanks." Recently, investigators seeking psychic expertise have become more common in solving a case similar to this. "There's been departments working with psychics going many years back, but they just won't admit it," Sprinkle said. The danger in using a psychic, though, is that the information provided is greatly untested within the judicial system. "I don't think you'd ever be able to base a case or search warrant on a psychic," Sprinkle said. "Nobody knows how a jury's going to react." Regardless, the high-profile nature of the Song case was nothing new to Baron. The Los Angeles-based psychic had provided some helpful information in the Elizabeth Smart abduction -- correctly "reading" that the 13-year-old was still alive -- and had been involved in numerous other missing person cases. The only difference, in this case, was the time period. Baron generally gets called into action days or weeks after missing person reports are filed. In the instance of Song, Baron came into the fray nearly 10 months after the Penn State student's disappearance. The time lapse makes it more difficult for Baron to get a strong read, especially when the details or evidence of a case are fresh. "We (psychics) should be brought in earlier," she said. Baron's visions come to her like dreams. At times they're disjointed, jumbled and "weird." But she never discards them, never brushes them off as some fanciful imagery -- for in her mind, any small flash of pictures can be a key component to finding a missing person. "You don't know what it means," she said. "You're sitting there scratching your head, going, 'What the hell does that mean?' But you log it like any psychic does." Baron began to see visions relating to the case. The number 15 was very prominent, as was the field behind Song's apartment. Very few leads came from those. And then came the carving. One day, Baron glimpsed an image of a carving in a tree. She thought it could've been on a tree in the field behind the apartment, so she asked Kim to search for it. Kim found it in less than 45 minutes of searching the large field. The symbol spelled out some Japanese slang. The words read "song bird," a nickname Baron had given to Song early in her involvement with the case. The tree, with the eerie carving, was located near some deep brush. Maybe Song was hidden there, or her possible kidnapper had slipped in there to make him or herself unseen. "It's an indicator, a bread crumb," Baron said. "[That area] is a great place to hide." The carving, however startling, led to yet another dead end. "It was strange ... ," Kim said. "She just had this vision of [Song] being there." The Song case has stuck in Baron's mind, like a nagging, sharp pain that won't go away. "I look at it quite often," she said. "I don't often get emotionally involved with cases, but this one I am ... and I don't know why." For her, Song's puzzling disappearance has evolved into much more than a case -- it's morphed into a personal quest. She's cried for several hours just thinking about it. Finding Song has become the ultimate mystery, one that Baron will travel the globe to solve. "I'm not going to stop working on this until we're done -- until we find her," she said. A need for closure Who is to say if investigators' trip to Wilkes Barre will reveal any news of Song's whereabouts? Weakley, the informant, has had his credibility questioned following a number of tips he provided that led nowhere. Police also found information regarding Song's disappearance downloaded on his computer. "He's not batting 1.000," Baron said of Weakley. Discrepancies and skeptics aside, Sprinkle is still in pursuit of the answers to Penn State's deepest puzzle. "I'm not completely sold on [Weakley's] story," Sprinkle said. "But if he's going to give up five bodies, why would he lie about a sixth?" The ambitious Song has left her mark on this tiny college town -- that much is certain. "I felt she was very together, she had dreams. She wanted to make it big," Kim said. "She inspired me in a lot of ways to look at life more brightly." Bansoon Song has since returned home to South Korea, where she continues the long, hard wait to hear about her missing daughter. The university has stood by as one of its students has become a poster child for being careful in what is regarded by the majority as one of the safest places around. Its support, however, has been unwavering. "It's certainly frustrating ... to think that family and friends have had to sit with this emptiness," Bill Mahon, Penn State spokesman, said. "It's been very frustrating and heartbreaking." For Sprinkle, the young detective in the hot spotlight, there is a growing desire to put a stamp on this case, to unravel the mystery of Cindy Song. "I hope there is light at the end of the tunnel in terms of solving this," he said. Kim, who now lives in San Francisco, about as far away from the case as you can get, has watched as her hopes of seeing Song alive begin to slowly fall. Hearing any information of what happened would be slightly comforting -- even if it's the worst. "Now, I'm kind of more gearing toward bad news," Kim said. "There's always still hope. But it's just not a lot." And then came the words that seem to always come up whenever Cindy Song is mentioned. "It's just been a long time." |
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By TAJUANA CHESHIER tcheshier@jacksonsun.com Sep 15 2003 Immediately following the disappearance her daughter, Jonnie Carter wasn't ready to hear what a psychic could reveal on the whereabouts of Bethany Markowski who disappeared from Old Hickory Mall in Jackson more than two years ago. But now Carter said she's heard what nationally known psychic Carla Baron had to say and although the news included gruesome details of Bethany's abduction in March 2001, she hasn't given up hopes of finding her daughter alive. "During a psychic reading she told me that Bethany's spirit is no longer with us," Carter said. "She told me things about her personality and wit that she couldn't have known." Baron said that her psychic readings have led investigators to the resolution of more than 50 cases involving homicides, arsons and missing persons. "I speak to the essence of a person. This is how I decide whether I'm supposed to be involved in a case or not," said Baron, who uses a psychic technique called "remote viewing" to help envision the victim and crime scene. "I'm only allowed to see as much as would not disturb the discovery process and I have no qualms about revealing what I'm shown," Baron said during a phone interview from her Los Angeles home. In a psychic reading, Baron is careful in revealing some of the gruesome details related to a victim's death. "Unfortunately, Jonnie was taken through Bethany's abduction in the initial read but I don't have to take her through the nightmare everytime I talk to her," Baron said. "Jonnie needs to carry on Bethany's spirit, no matter what, and stay within the positive realm." During Baron's recent psychic reading via the telephone with Carter, she revealed to her what she believes happened to Bethany on March 4, 2001. "It was a situation that escalated among the people involved," Baron said. "She was being hidden in the hills in Tennessee in a forestry area for a short amount of time. In my vision it all ends on a country road off a main highway and Bethany's body was placed at the bottom of an embankment in some sort of ravine." Baron has worked with various law enforcement agencies across the country on many cases. She currently is working nine cases, all free of charge, including Bethany's. The girl was 11 years old when she disappeared. "I don't receive any money when working in an official capacity," said Baron, who has a nationally syndicated radio show and has been featured on Court TV's "Psychic Detectives" series. "I don't force departments to work with me - thank God we're getting to a point where departments are coming to psychics when the case initially occurs," Baron said. "It's not about taking anything away from the investigators; it's about all of us working together toward one common goal." Baron believes that psychics are not meant to solve cases. They're meant to "help connect the dots." Other families with missing persons are singing Baron's praises for the work that she's done. "Carla is very descriptive and accurate about the details," said Sharon Garry of Connecticut. Garry's sister Tina, 34, and 15-year-old niece Bethany Sinclair have been missing for more than two years from their West Chesterfield, N.H., home. "Before Carla, I've talked to three other psychics before and one of the most aggravating things about them was their lack of detail," said Garry, who talks with Baron at least once a week. "I would have to come up with my own interpretation." Garry's search for her sister and niece continues. Volunteers were out last Saturday afternoon searching, and Garry feels they are close to locating them. "Carla led us to the area where she said we would find a container that was used by the man involved in their disappearance," Garry said. But finding law enforcement officers willing to listen to the advice of a psychic is still a challenge for families. "We've gotten a mixed reaction from officers," Garry said. "I think some of them feel like their egos are on the line." Jackson Police Department Violent Crimes Investigator Lt. Mike Holt has been working the Markowski case since the beginning. "The Jackson Police Department welcomes the assistance of anyone who contacts us with information regarding the disappearance of Bethany Markowski," Holt said in a written statement. "All information about Bethany's disappearance that the department has received has been followed up on, and any and all information we receive in the future will be pursued until Bethany is found." Carter hopes local agencies will enlist Baron's help. "I want everybody to remember that there are missing children out there and it shouldn't matter how we get them home," Carter said. "If it takes a psychic or police dogs, whatever it takes, it needs to be done." - Tajuana Cheshier, (731) 425-9758 Bethany's Timeline March 4, 2001 - Bethany is reported missing by her father, Larry Markowski, who says she disappeared outside of the Old Hickory Mall in Jackson. April 2001 - Numerous donations pour in to aid in the effort to locate Bethany. July 2001 - Bethany's picture appears on 'America's Most Wanted.' September 2001 - Bethany's picture appears on numerous missing children's Web sites. November 2001 - 84 million ADVO cards are circulated in the West Tennessee area with Bethany's picture. June 2002 - Jonnie Carter appears on 'Montell Williams' to talk about Bethany's disappearance. June 2003 - Bethany's picture appears on Briney Baird's golf bag during the St. Jude's PGA golf tournament. What to know Details of Bethany's disappearance at www.fbi.gov or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, www.ncmec.org. To leave a tip, call: FBI, 668-9578; Crime Stoppers, 424-8477; Jackson Police Department, 425-8400; TBI, 423-5790. A reward is being offered in the amount of $18,500 for information leading the discovery of Bethany and the arrests of the person or persons involved in her disappearance. |
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After disappearance, Louks' mother turned to psychic investigator By John Tuohy and Cathy Kightlinger john.tuohy@indystar.com August 31, 2003 A day after the death of the only suspect in her daughter's disappearance, a Greenwood mother said she thinks the man had accomplices. "I definitely don't think he was the only one involved," Kim Louks said of Joseph Nowicki, who died of cancer Friday afternoon in Indianapolis. "I thought that from the beginning." Her daughter, Brookley Louks, has been missing since June 24, 2002, and is presumed dead. Investigators think Nowicki acted alone. Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner, however, said he would not rule out the possibility that someone else was involved. "All the evidence we have, though, has pointed to one person," he said. Kim Louks told The Indianapolis Star on Saturday that her initial instinct about her daughter's disappearance was reinforced after she consulted a psychic. Since mid-June, Louks has been corresponding with Los Angeles psychic Carla Baron, who describes herself as a psychic investigator on her Internet site. "She just right off the bat said there are two young males involved," said Louks. Baron reportedly assists law enforcement frequently, has appeared on Court TV and hosts a nationally syndicated radio program. Contacted at her California home Saturday night, Baron confirmed that she has spoken with Louks. She said she does not charge any fees when helping families of missing children. Nowicki, 54, was to have been the subject of a grand jury murder investigation into the disappearance of Brookley Louks. But the suspect died of complications from cancer in Methodist Hospital. And Brookley Louks remains missing. Also Saturday, the owner of an Indianapolis gun shop said he would extend a $10,000 reward to anyone who leads authorities to the body, despite Nowicki's death. Donald Davis, owner of Don's Guns, offered this month to give Nowicki's wife the money if he revealed where the body was. Davis figured if Nowicki had committed the slaying, he could help his wife financially by confessing to it before he died. "She probably doesn't have 20 cents to her name," Davis said. "It's not every day that $10,000 comes along." Nowicki didn't take Davis up on the offer, the gun shop owner said, which shows Nowicki was either a jerk or "he didn't do it." The last person known to have spoken with Brookley Louks was a Greenwood police sergeant to whom she reported a burglary. Later that day, her car was spotted in Nowicki's driveway. Nowicki was a friend of the family who visited often. That night, her car was found at Ind. 144 and Ind. 37 in Waverly. Police said phone records show that Nowicki made calls asking for a ride from that general area at about the same time. Divers searched White River near Waverly and lakes and creeks in Johnson and Morgan counties. Nowicki became the main suspect when drops of the woman's blood were found in his home. Hamner had planned to send the case to a grand jury in July after he failed to gain enough evidence to charge Nowicki. Because no body has been recovered, the prosecution could not prove Louks is actually dead or that the death was caused by a criminal act, he said then. But the grand jury session was postponed while police continued their probe. In addition, the belief that Nowicki kidnapped and killed Louks was based on inadmissible evidence, such as his violent tendencies, and hearsay. Hamner said some witnesses had made weak or unreliable statements. After being held without bond on an unrelated firearms charge, Nowicki was released last month when a federal judge determined that Nowicki was dying and did not pose a risk to society. Although Louks continues to hold out hope that her daughter will return home alive, she said she thinks she may have been killed at Nowicki's home. Now that he is dead, Louks said she is hoping others will give police more information. "Joe is gone. He can't hurt anybody anymore," the 45-year-old mother said. Call Star reporter John Tuohy at 1-317-444-6418. |
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Article Published: Friday, August 29, 2003 - 2:34:45 AM EST By DANIEL BARLOW Reformer Staff www.reformer.com/ CHESTERFIELD, N.H. -- A team of cadaver-sniffing dogs is expected to assist in the family-led search for a missing New Hampshire mother and daughter this weekend, although searchers are hoping that locally trained dogs and their owners will also turn out. This will be the fourth search for Tina and Bethany Sinclair in the area around Wantastiquet Mountain and the Connecticut River by members of their family in recent weeks. "We've narrowed down the areas that we are searching in," said Sharon Garry, the sister of Tina Sinclair. "We're hoping that with the help of the dogs we will find something." The dog team, along with the dogs' trainer, will fly into New Hampshire today. The search is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at the base of Mountain Road. Garry is hoping that area dog trainers will turn out on Saturday to assist. Although volunteers have turned out for prior searches, she said she wants to keep this search small to allow the animals proper concentration. The family-led searches were brought on by information supplied to Garry by Carla Baron, a Los Angeles-based psychic investigator. Garry said searchers have located a handful of items in the woods that the psychic told them to look for. The Carol Sund Foundation recently announced that it is offering a $5,000 reward for the safe return of Tina and Bethany Sinclair or evidence resulting in the prosecution of a responsible party. |
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August 23, 2003 On Aug. 19, 2003, Katie Kenney, 18, and her four-month-old son Jayden, missing since July 31, 2003, were found safe and sound. Nationally known psychic investigator, Carla Baron, accurately predicted this event days before.... BRATTLEBORO, VT. - On Aug. 19, 2003, Katie Kenney, 18, and her four-month-old son Jayden, missing since July 31, 2003, were found safe and sound. Katie was last seen in her hometown of Brattleboro, Vt., when she asked her mother, Kathy, if she could borrow the family car for a drive to Montpelier, which is about 115 miles or so to the northwest. Kathy advised her daughter not to go, and that was the last heard from her. The family was understandably worried, but became less so after a mutual acquaintance put Kathy in touch with nationally known psychic Carla Baron. Baron assured her that her daughter was "alive and unharmed," but possibly under a "lover’s influence or control." "Psychics aren't always harbingers of doom," Baron said after Katie returned home. "I wasn't trying to please her with the information coming forth through the reading. I just told her what I saw." Baron was put in touch with Kathy by Sharon Garry, who has been working with her to locate Tina and Bethany Sinclair. Tina and Bethany are Garry's sister and niece, respectively, and have been missing for more than two years. They are believed to be murder victims. "I don’t believe this has happened," Baron quoted Garry as saying. "I knew Kathy from school, and had worked with her, ironically, some 15 years ago." At the precise moment Sharon called, Kathy Kenney was reading about the Sinclair case and Baron's involvement in it. Baron said, "I was able to assure her that Katie and Jayden were alive and OK." Baron indicated that she had no knowledge of the events in the past few weeks regarding the disappearance. Brattleboro police said that they took the name of Katie's boyfriend (he is identified only as "Warren") and ran it through several data bases, getting a hit from the Vermont Department of Corrections. From there, state police did a welfare check. They said that no foul play was involved in Katie's case, and that mother and child were fine. Katie called her mother and said, "You knew where I was the entire time." "But I really didn't," Kathy said later. "The ordinary nature of this case is exactly why it's newsworthy," said Baron. "Only one in every hundred or so missing persons is found alive. When I did the reading on Elizabeth Smart, I sensed that she was alive, and kept on the move, but was in no real imminent danger from her captors." The night before Katie Kenney's rescue was announced, Baron told the story to Stephen Seitz, a reporter who had been covering the Sinclair story in New Hampshire. (By Stephen Seitz, New Hampshire news correspondent) |
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Monday, August 04, 2003  CHESTERFIELD, N.H. (AP) - With tips from a psychic and help from volunteers on horseback, relatives and friends of a missing New Hampshire woman and her daughter headed back into woods in Chesterfield this weekend. Tina Sinclair, 34, and her daughter, Bethany, 15, have been missing since February 2001. Saturday, searchers said they hoped to come up with concrete clues to prompt police to conduct another search of their own. Tina Sinclair’s sister, Sharon Garry, said searchers found a five-gallon bucket near where a psychic said it would be. They also found a shovel in the same area, near the end of a hiking trail. Tina Sinclair’s ex-boyfriend, Eugene Van Bowman, has been a focus of the investigation. Police call Bowman a “person of interest” in the disappearance, but have not called him a suspect. The disappearance is classified as a missing-persons case, but state officials say they’re handling it as if it were a homicide. Bowman is in prison on an unrelated charge. This weekend, searchers included members of the Governor’s Horse Guards, a voluntary, ceremonial mounted unit that rides in parades and often escorts the governor at state functions. Richard Lynch, the group’s leader, said some members volunteered to help after reading about the search in the newspaper. He said the riders found a cave and marked it, and recorded some spots on Global Positioning Satellite devices so police will be able to pinpoint them in future searches. Authorities previously searched Bowman’s home, where Sinclair had been living and was last seen. Bowman told police he left the house one night after arguing with Sinclair, and when he returned, mother and daughter were gone. Authorities have searched woods and even put divers in the nearby Connecticut River, to no avail. |
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By Benjamin Yelle Sentinel Staff Sunday, August 3, 2003 WEST CHESTERFIELD - Volunteers believe they may have found clues Saturday in the disappearance of Tina M. and Bethany Sinclair. The volunteers searched the woods on Mount Wantastiquet in West Chesterfield , not far from the house where the women were living. While it’s too soon to tell if the clues are connected to the missing mother and daughter, Capt. Richard Lynch, a member of a ceremonial unit of the N.H. National Guard, said his group found several areas that could use a closer look. Lynch is a member of the governor’s horse guard, which rides with New Hampshire’s governor at parades and other public events. He and three other volunteers from the guard rode their horses up and down the trails. Lynch, who said he’s had military training in search and recovery, found two grave markers from the 1700’s. He said ground near the graves looks as if it was moved recently. “There were a couple of suspicious lumps up there, right there,” at the graves, he said. In February 2001, the Sinclairs were living at 182 Mountain Road in West Chesterfield, just down the road from the search area. On Feb. 3, Tina Sinclair went to pick up her daughter Bethany at the movies. The two haven’t been seen since. The Sinclairs were living with Tina’s boyfriend, Eugene V. Bowman, at the time. Bowman told police he and Tina Sinclair had a fight that night and he left the house. When he came back, the two were gone, he said. Sharon Garry, Tina Sinclair’s sister, doesn’t believe Bowman’s story and thinks he’s responsible for the Sinclairs’ disappearance. N.H. State Police have said they are treating the disappearance as a homicide, but have stopped short of calling Bowman a suspect. Investigators call him a “person of interest” because he was the last person to see them alive. Bowman is now being held in the minimum-security wing of the N.H. State Prison in Concord. He pleaded guilty two years ago to an unrelated sexual-assault charge. He is scheduled to enter a halfway house as soon as space opens up, or can be released from prison if he can find a job that meets the approval of the N.H. Department of Corrections. Two weeks ago, Garry organized a search of the same area after a phone conversation with Carla Baron, a California-based psychic who claimed to have seen the murder of Tina and Bethany. Baron said their bodies were left in a hilly, wooded area, concealed in some type of cave. On Saturday morning, Garry said the first search had given her an idea of areas to focus on. She said much of the information she received from Baron matched the layout of the trails around the mountain. Before the first search, Baron told Garry the bodies were buried near a white bucket half-buried on the side of a cliff. “It’s definitely in a position described by Carla Baron,” Garry said. Searchers also found pieces of cloth, and a jug that appeared to contain a flammable liquid next to a burnt tree and a shovel. The jug was also described by Baron, they said. Garry said the searchers planned to mark all the evidence and ask state police to look at it. At the last search, N.H. State Police Trooper Jayson Almstrom was present in case any evidence was found. State police searched the area extensively in the weeks following the Sinclairs’ disappearance, using dogs, planes, helicopters, and divers in the nearby Connecticut River, Almstrom said. No state police were at the search Saturday. Tina Sinclair’s brother, Wayne Smith of Brattleboro, said he’s been disappointed by an apparent lack of concern by state police. He said he’d like to see the FBI take over the case. “It’s a little frustrating for me. …It’s like (the investigation) is at a standstill right now,” he said. Smith said roughly 20 volunteers searched Saturday, about the same as the previous search, but several people were first-timers. “It’s definitely a good turnout,” he said. “We’re grateful to everyone.” Smith said the family plans to set up another search in a few weeks. He plans to make up fliers and advertise more, hoping for an even bigger turnout. He can be contacted at 802-380-6562. “This is emotionally trying,” he said. |
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By Stephen Seitz Sunday News Correspondent / Union Leader Sunday, August 3, 2003 Chesterfield - Family members of Tina and Bethany Sinclair hope they have found some concrete evidence to spur a second search of Mount Wantastiquet by law enforcement. The woman have been missing since February 2001. Aided by volunteers and tips from a nationally known psychic, the family has been searching the northern side of Mount Wantastiquet for clues; their latest search took place yesterday. “We found a white five-gallon bucket at about the place (psychic Carla Baron) said it would be,” said family spokeswoman Sharon Garry, Tina Sinclair’s sister. Searchers also found a shovel in the vicinity, which is at the end of a hiking trail. Volunteers this time out included members of the Governor’s Horse Guards, the ceremonial unit that occasionally escorts Gov. Craig Benson to state functions. The volunteers and their troop of horses was headed by Capt. Richard Lynch. “I read in the paper last week that the search was being conducted and some of us volunteered,” he said. “I’m a trained Civil Air Patrol pilot, and I’ve conducted searches from the air.” By mid-afternoon, Lynch and his crew had found a likely spot. “There’s a cave near the power lines,” he said. “We’ve tagged the area, and done some GPS readings, but we’ve touched nothing.” Garry said the idea was to find credible evidence to bring to the authorities so that a professional search could be done. “The searchers feel very encouraged,” she said. “The gold detector responded positively. We’re taking photos and doing what we can meticulously. It’s good to have trained professionals looking. There’s no manual for this.” Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact State Police Troop C at 358-3333. |
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August 1, 2003 Editor of the Brattleboro Reformer: In response to certain public “misinformation” out there, I'm going to take a leap as a "frustrated family member" and attempt to clear up some inaccuracies regarding the investigation for Tina and Bethany Sinclair. Addressing the issue of “unsealing the search warrant and investigation details of this case to the press”, let me make something perfectly clear - You, the general public, or even we, the friends and family of Tina and Bethany, as frustrating as it might be, do not need to be aware of all the details of this investigation to know that this is a very grave situation. “Unsealing the evidence” will not help us know any more than we already do! That is exactly what we DONT want! Why do we want to give the defense in this case all of the information to help them build on so that they have a case that might get this guy off and lose a conviction? Why would you want that information out there jeopardizing the integrity of the case and threatening the only chance we will have to make sure the person responsible might see the light of day again? Unsealing the information can only serve to satisfy your curiosity and damage this case in every possible way! If you are concerned that a mother and her child have been missing for two and a half years, and the person who might be responsible is not only a convicted child molester, but is also walking among you, then you might want to take this situation seriously by writing/calling your elected officials and law enforcement agencies to prompt them to do whatever it takes to solve this case. He could be the guy in line at the grocery store, a service tech that comes to your house to fix something, or the man wandering on your "safe" New England streets. Now let me clear up some seemingly sorted details for those individuals who would like to know what we, the "frustrated family members", know. On Saturday, Feb 4, 2001, Tina Sinclair, 35 at the time, went to pick Bethany, then 15, up at the movies in Keene, NH, where she met Bethany's date, and his mother. Upon returning to the home that they shared with Eugene Van Bowman, on Mountain Road in W. Chesterfield, NH, according to Eugene, he and Tina had an argument and he left. He says that when he returned, Tina and Bethany and some of their belongings (not her 15yr old cat or her car) were gone. They have not been seen since. There has been no activity concerning SS numbers, credit cards, cell phones or substantiated sightings of the two. The police were called during the week because Bethany did not show up for school and her friends who were used to speaking with her daily, hadn't heard from her. The local police got involved on February 10th and began questioning friends and family members. The state police were not involved until April and only at the pleading of family members. The first search warrant was not executed until mid-April, nearly two months after they vanished. The FBI has still had absolutely no input in this case despite the pleadings of family members for them to get involved. But with all due respect to the authorities, how many times do they have to dig up concrete floors, wells and septic systems, river banks and use cadaver dogs before common sense tells you what they are looking for? Friends and family have been silently searching for evidence and leads all along to try to find out what has happened to Tina and Bethany. Despite being quieted by Law Enforcement and threats of legal action for impeding an investigation, along with trespass warnings, we have done all that we could, and will continue until justice is served! People may have opinions about the use of psychics in missing person investigations, but all over the world this is an avenue that has been explored, and is progressively and successfully being used in otherwise unsolved cases. I don’t care what “the dictionary says” … if a loved one of yours was missing I hope one would explore all one could in order to find them! Carla Baron has been phenomenal in her insights and the detailed information she has given us in how to locate Tina and Bethany. Along with validating information we already knew to be true, we have now gone against the wishes of state police investigators and organized our own searches and media events. We are aware that the state police have enlisted the services of “psychics” at least a few times in the last two and a half years. However, we would like for law enforcement to place trust and faith in psychic investigator, Carla Baron, who has proven to us, family and friends of Tina and Bethany, to be the most accurate, professional and promising link in finding them that we have ever found. Community members need to get involved. We need to do whatever we can to keep the avid interest of the general public and media in maintaining support and motivation here. I will not rest until I find my sister and my niece, and the person responsible for taking them from us is justifiably prosecuted. I hope I have your support! Sharon Garry |
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July 23, 2003 Editor of the Brattleboro Reformer: It is with a big loud “finally” that I shout out to the community, family and friends who participated in the search for some closure into the disappearance of Tina and Bethany Sinclair. I am stunned that so much time has gone by and they still have not been found. I am in awe of the efforts put forth by Tina’s sister, Sharon, and feel that we can all benefit from her determination and dedication, and further help her by reaching out to offer our help. If a psychic can lead them towards this resolution, then why not try? If it was your kin, would anything stop you? Would any part of any day go by that you did not wonder and dwell on what happened? Just trying to understand their fear, frustration and heartbreak cannot come close to their actual reality. To everyone who participated in, or who may have wanted to but was unable to, your efforts, understanding and well wishes do not go unnoticed. It is almost impossible to believe that one of our own community members and her young daughter can just vanish. About the only thing that is right, and what I would expect our community to do, is apparently exactly what is happening. May you never stop looking until you find them. Chrys Peck Pennsylvania |
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July 23, 2003 Editor of the Brattleboro Reformer: The family and friends of Tina and Bethany Sinclair would like to extend our appreciation and heartfelt thank you’s to the supportive members of our community, who came out to help us search for evidence in the investigation of the beloved mother and child, missing for two and half years. To the Vernon Fire Department’s men and women, Brattleboro area rescue personnel, and friends and family who came out and offered help. Also to area businesses who donated items and services for this event. We have not and will not give up. Please join us on the next search on Mountain Road in West Chesterfield, N.H., on Saturday, Aug. 2. Mary Lewis Brattleboro |
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Family, volunteers search for Sinclairs By DANIEL BARLOW Reformer Staff July 21, 2003 CHESTERFIELD, N.H. -- Wearing gloves and using a gardening tool, Sharon Garry spent much of Saturday on her knees, digging through dirt, lifting rocks and eyeing places where the bodies of her sister and niece may have been hidden. "Does anyone remember their biology classes?" asked Garry as she lifted up a rock from the side of a cliff along one of the trails on Wantastiquet Mountain. "How long does it take for moss to grow on a rock?" Nearby, longtime friend Rebecca Sorenson ripped up roots, dirt and pebbles with a gardening tool. "I find a place to look that seems ideal ... seems like it could be the place, but then I take two more steps and find an area that looks exactly the same," Sorenson said. Garry, the sister of the missing Tina Sinclair, organized a 20-person search of the area on Saturday, spurred partly by a Los Angeles psychic investigator's claims that the bodies of Sinclair and her daughter, Bethany, may have been disposed of there. It's been nearly two and half years since the Chesterfield mother and daughter went missing. At the time of their disappearance, the two were living with Eugene Van Bowman at his home on Mountain Road. Van Bowman, who is now being held at the New Hampshire State Prison on an unrelated sexual assault charge against a minor, told police that Tina, then 34, and Bethany, then 15, moved out of his house after a fight on Feb. 3, 2001. Although Van Bowman is not considered a suspect in the case, his Mountain Road home has been searched three times by investigators. Evidence has been reportedly seized during one of the searches, although the court-issued search warrants remain sealed to the public. Last week, Garry announced that she had engaged the help of Carla Baron, a psychic investigator who recently was featured on Court TV's "Psychic Detectives" show. During several telephone conversations with the psychic, Garry said, Baron revealed inside information relating to the case, explained how the two women were killed and described the appearance of the place where the bodies were left. On a mountain; hidden beneath a "cave-like" formation; covered with leaves and branches. The supposed burial spot describes much of the scenery around Wantastiquet, but on Saturday Garry was optimistic that evidence, or even the bodies, would be discovered. Armed with cell phones, digging tools, bug spray and bottled water, family members, friends, area residents and several members of the volunteer Vernon Fire Department split up the area's trails. Steve Holton, the fire chief in Vernon, said the department got a call a few days before about the search and was eager to assist. "We've been out all morning looking along the trails," he said. "It's a daunting task but we will keep going. We'll do anything to assist the family in getting some sort of closure." Wayne Smith, Tina Sinclair's brother, was arranging a small crew of volunteers at the trail base at around 10:30 a.m. He said he was a believer in Baron's psychic abilities and hopeful that something could be found. "If anything, it has gotten people interested in this case again," he said. Searchers met at the bottom of the natural area's main trail at 10 a.m., put their names on a list, signed a waiver and were assigned a portion of the trail. Stephanie Bell, Tina's cousin, and Gail Sorenson, a family friend, worked the tables at the trail's entrance. They said a search and rescue team from Illinois had planned to come up with six trained dogs to assist in the search, but canceled at the last minute due to their commander's sudden death. "People are hopeful and optimistic," said Sorenson. "They really want to put an end to all of this ... they want Tina and Bethany to rest in peace." Shortly before 11 a.m., Trooper Jayson Almstrom of New Hampshire State Police Troop C pulled up in an unmarked police car. Almstrom made it clear to the searchers at the site that he was present simply as a contact person if any evidence is found. "The state police are not part of this search," he said.... The mountain and its trails have been searched numerous times, Almstrom said, and those searches have included cadaver-sniffing dogs, helicopters and divers in the nearby Connecticut River. Still, he said, there have been no new developments in the case recently. "We are still actively investigating this case here," he said. Garry, who contends that there are several trails and other spots along the mountain that have not been searched, was appreciative of Almstrom's appearance. "We are thrilled you are here to help protect the integrity of the investigation," she told him. Garry and a handful of dedicated volunteers stayed on the mountain until nearly 7 p.m. Saturday. She said she discovered several items along the mountain that "seemed out of place." Among them was a 2-to-3-foot-long cable and a white plastic oil jug buried in the dirt. Garry said Baron had told her that the killer left behind a white plastic container near where he buried her. Garry left the two items along a trail so she could alert police. When she returned on Sunday the items were gone. "The area around the mountain is just too vast," she said. "There are many areas that we haven't looked at yet." When Garry returned to the trails on Sunday she was surprised to see several familiar faces along the trails, also continuing the search. "Psychic or no psychic, this is very encouraging," she said. "This means that people are hearing our cause and that the community honestly wants to do something about this." Because the mountain and its trails are so extensive and the places bodies could be hidden are so numerous, Garry said she plans another search, tentatively scheduled for Aug. 2 at 9 a.m. The support of her friends and family -- along with the community that came out to help -- has rekindled her hope for closure, Garry said. "I'm enthusiastic because I feel we are on a very good trail," Garry said on Sunday. "The community is in full support of what we are doing and I appreciate their effort and Carla Baron's work. This is not over." |
| Volunteers renew search for mother and daughter Family members say they won't give up looking Monday, July 21, 2003 (Concord Monitor, N.H.) CHESTERFIELD - A renewed search sparked by suggestions from a California psychic failed to find a mother and daughter who have been missing for more than two years, but family members say they will search again. Several dozen family members and friends of Tina Sinclair, 34, and her daughter, Bethany, 15, searched on Mount Wantastiquet on Saturday. They say there are more places to search and they are optimistic the Sinclairs will be found. "I feel like we couldn't possibly have covered the areas we needed to cover," said Sharon Garry, Tina Sinclair's sister. "I think there are some very interesting areas that need to be searched more." Garry said she found a sock and other items in areas where psychic Carla Baron told her to look. Garry asked Baron for help after seeing her on a Court TV program about psychic investigators. Baron told her in a telephone conversation to look for the remains in a natural alcove formed by rock outcroppings, Garry said. "We found areas that were alcoves, areas perhaps someone could have been hidden in," she said. "We found areas that were described by the psychic and found items in them that were unusual to be found in those areas." Garry said she and the other searchers marked places they thought police should investigate further.... The Sinclairs were last seen at the home of Eugene Van Bowman, Tina Sinclair's ex-boyfriend, who lived on the road to Mount Wantastiquet. Bowman is in prison for sexual assault. He has not been charged in the Sinclairs' disappearance. The police call Bowman a "person of interest" in the disappearance, but have not called him a suspect. The disappearance is classified as a missing persons case, but state officials say they're handling it as a homicide. Garry said she plans to organize another search in the area in two weeks. Monday, July 21, 2003 |
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Chesterfield search yields only hope from family members By Stephen Seitz, New Hampshire Sunday News correspondent July 20, 2003 Chesterfield – Though searchers came up empty-handed, family members remain optimistic that they might yet determine the whereabouts of Tina and Bethany Sinclair. “We’re still hopeful,” said Sharon Garry, Tina’s sister and family spokesman. “There are still people coming in late to help out, and we found a couple of things that might mean something. I found a sock, and a piece of metal.” “After two and a half years, you feel you have to take things into your own hands,” said Garry’s friend, Rebecca Sorenson. “Sharon’s worked hard to make sure people don’t forget.” Garry and a party of about 20 searched the public trails of Mount Wantastiquet yesterday with the hope – and the dread – of finding the missing women’s remains. The mother and daughter were last seen at the home of convicted sex offender Eugene Van Bowman, who lived on the road to the mountain in Chesterfield. They were last seen on Feb. 4, 2001. Bowman told police he stormed out of the house after a fight with Tina. When he returned, he told police, Tina and Bethany had taken their clothes and left everything else, including Tina’s car and cat. The next morning an unknown woman called Keene High School to say that Bethany, who was 15 and a freshman at the time, would be out sick. Chesterfield police were called after the women had been missing a week, and state police were brought in after that. Recently, Garry contacted nationally known psychic Carla Baron, who said she has consulted on more than 50 missing persons cases, including that of Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart. Baron said she found Tina’s spirit, and passed along to Garry a description of the area she believes where the remains might be found. Baron – who was not in New Hampshire for the search yesterday – described a natural alcove formed by rock outcroppings deep enough for a large animal to use as a den; Wantastiquet is rich with them. Detective Trooper Jayson Almstrom from State Police Troop C was also on hand to answer questions and provide advice. He said that he had been sent at the request of the state Attorney General’s office. “I’m not going up,” he said. “The State Police are not part of this search….” Almstrom said the area had been searched by police already. “The area was searched with cadaver dogs at the beginning,” he said. “We sent up a helicopter, and a plane’s been over. The area has been extensively searched.” As for the current status of the investigation, Almstrom said, “We’re still actively investigating this case.” The disappearances are being classified as a missing persons case, and no formal suspects have been announced. However, Bowman has been called a “person of interest” by authorities, and his home and its grounds have been searched several times. Bowman is currently in state prison, in the minimum security wing, having served two and a half years on an unrelated sexual assault conviction. While he has been paroled, according to the Department of Corrections, he will remain in prison until he can find employment that will keep him inside the boundaries of Cheshire County. Garry spent close to an hour on the phone with Baron during the search. “Tina continues to maintain hope,” said Garry. “Tina’s aware that everyone’s been here, and she described the person who may find the evidence. There’s nothing definite, but it looks good.” |
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Sinclair search Friends, family hunt for evidence By Will Coghlan, Sentinel Source July 20, 2003 Acting on a psychic’s tip, friends and relatives of two missing women combed an area of woods by the Connecticut river on Saturday, in an attempt to bring closure to a case that is now more than two-years old. In February 2001, Tina Sinclair left the Chesterfield residence she had been sharing with her boyfriend to pick up her daughter Bethany at the movies. The two women haven’t been seen since. Sharon Garry, sister of Tina Sinclair, organized the search after a phone conversation with Carla Baron, a California-based psychic who claimed to have seen the murder of Tina and Bethany and said their bodies were left in a hilly, wooded area, concealed in some type of cave. “What I am envisioning is something like this,” said Garry, as she dug into a patch of leaves just off a trail in the Wantastiquet Mountain area where the search took place. “It has been a few years, but it’s something that may have been covered in like this.” By 10:45 a.m. Saturday, 17 people had registered with search organizers before heading off into the woods. Stephanie Bell, Sinclair’s cousin, had come from Brattleboro to staff the registration table. “It has been all friends and family,” said Bell. “Everyone just wants closure.” The participants in the search were required to check in at the table to sign a liability waiver and provide a phone number or driver’s license. They were then assigned a section of woods and given specific instructions on what to do if anything out of the ordinary was found. “We want more than anything to protect the integrity of this case,” said Garry. While New Hampshire State Police are conducting an ongoing missing persons investigation, most of those who showed up to search the woods have long since assumed the worst. “After two years, you feel you have to take things into your own hands,” said Rebecca Sorenson, a friend of Garry’s from Brattleboro. Jayson Almstrom, of the New Hampshire State Police, showed up shortly after the search began. Almstrom said he had been asked by the state Attorney General’s office to be there on Saturday as a police contact. “We’re still actively investigating this case,” said Almstrom, “but the state police are not involved with this search and I’ve been advised not to give any advice. I’m simply here as a contact person in case something is found.” According to Almstrom, the area of Saturday’s search was investigated extensively in the weeks following the women’s disappearance, by state police officers using search dogs, planes, helicopters, and divers in the nearby Connecticut River. At the time of Tina and Bethany’s disappearance, they had been living with Tina’s boyfriend, Eugene Van Bowman, in his house on Mountain Road in West Chesterfield. Saturday’s search was based from a parking lot at the end of Mountain Road that provides access to popular hiking trails. Though no arrests have been made in the case, police searched Van Bowman’s house multiple times after the women disappeared. Van Bowman is currently living in a halfway house in Concord after his release from prison, where he had been serving time on a sexual assault charge that is not linked to the Sinclair case. Though Garry acknowledged that the use of a psychic’s advice might draw criticism, she said that her focus was on simply bringing closure to the case. “We do expect to have some negative people, some naysayers. But we’re just trying to stay positive,” said Garry. A number of area businesses donated food and bottled water to the search effort, and volunteers from the fire department in Vernon, Vt., where Sinclair had lived, were among the first to arrive. Mike Lozito, of the Brattleboro ambulance service Rescue, Inc., was on hand during the search as well. “The family asked if we could come over to provide medical coverage,” said Lozito. “It has been an ongoing thing, and everyone wants closure.” That sentiment was echoed by a family friend who took part in the search but asked not to be identified. “We’re here for Mary (Sinclair’s mother), because we know how hard it must be on the family.” By late afternoon, the search hadn’t turned up any clues to the two women’s disappearance. Though the turnout was smaller than she expected, Garry remained hopeful, and planned to speak to the psychic again in hopes of gaining more specific information. |
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Manchester Union Leader, July 16, 2003, page A3, State Edition PSYCHIC ADVISES SINCLAIR FAMILY IN SEARCH FOR MOTHER, DAUGHTER By Stephen Seitz, Union Leader Correspondent CHESTERFIELD, N.H.--- A nationally known psychic has been asked to help in the search for Tina and Bethany Sinclair. Carla Baron, based in Los Angeles, has been asked by the Sinclair family to provide whatever help she can in finding the mother and daughter, who have been missing since February 2001. "We are leaving no stone unturned," said Sharon Garry, family spokeswoman and Tina Sinclair's sister. "This is just another stone." Tina Sinclair, at the time age 34, and her 15-year-old daughter Bethany, were living in the Chesterfield home of Eugene Van Bowman, now 45, when they were last seen on Feb. 4, 2001. According to Bowman, the two had a fight, and Bowman told police he ended it by walking out of the house. By the time he came back, he told police, Tina and Bethany had taken their clothes and left. Left behind were Tina's car and cat, and both women's possessions. The following morning, Feb. 5, an unknown woman called Keene High School to say that Bethany, who was a freshman at the time, would be out sick. Except for that phone call, not a word has been heard from Tina or Bethany since. Chesterfield police were called after the women had been missing a week, and state police were brought in after that. Officially, the disappearances are classified as a missing persons case, and no suspects have been named. However, Bowman has been called a "person of interest" by authorities, and his home has been searched several times. Bowman is currently in a Concord halfway house looking for work, according to authorities. He was recently released from prison after serving two and a half years on an unrelated sexual assault conviction. Garry said she contacted Baron after friends told her about the TV program, "Psychic Detectives." "I was very impressed," Garry said. "At first, she was overwhelmed by the response from the show and turned us down. But we gave her our information later and she did a fabulous reading. She profiled their personalities. She had an idea of what had happened and where they might be. It was a parallel to information I know to be true." Baron said she has consulted on about 50 missing persons cases, including that of Utah kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart. She said she knew nothing about the Sinclair case when she first began investigating it. "All I had were the two names," she said. "But I've never seen such souls. They jumped on me in two seconds, as if they were waiting for someone to pick up the phone." Without naming a suspect, Baron said that Tina Sinclair was likely the victim of an angry, impulsive act, while Bethany had the misfortune to be a witness. "I don't think this was premeditated," Baron said. "She was trying to brush him off. He was pleading with her, and she tried to make him look like a fool. Bethany was not supposed to be a part of it." Baron said the bodies were most likely buried in a cave in the forest. The major crimes unit has been focusing on the Connecticut River and environs. "It's dark," Baron said of her vision. "I can see that he's camouflaging them. I don’t see a river; I see mountain and forest." Garry said she was organizing a search party in the next few days. "Carla's description was of an exact area, very detailed," said Garry. "We're looking for volunteers. We want a complete investigation, we want to use cadaver dogs. It's hard for me to wait. I want to get in my car and start searching right now." Garry said she doesn't care what people might think about calling in a psychic. "It's gotten to the point where I don't care what people think at all," she said. "The only way to understand what this is like is to go through it. When Laci Peterson's sister said, 'I won't rest until I find my sister,' I felt her pain. I am passionate about this. Tina and Bethany were very important people in my life, and I'll never see them again. I want to fill that hole by finding justice for them." Anyone with information on the women’s whereabouts is urged to contact New Hampshire State Police at 603-271-1158, or the Troop C barracks at 603-358-3333. |
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Psychic 'sees' Sinclair women's fate By DANIEL BARLOW Reformer Staff July 15, 2003 CHESTERFIELD, N.H. -- Psychic Carla Baron says she witnessed the last few minutes of Tina and Bethany Sinclair's lives, while on the phone last week. Baron, a Los Angeles-based psychic investigator, has taken on the missing persons case of Tina Sinclair and her daughter, Bethany. The two Chesterfield residents have been missing since Feb. 3, 2001. Baron has had several phone sessions with Sharon Garry, Tina's sister, that have lasted two or three hours during which Baron said she contacted the souls of Tina and Bethany. "Bethany and Tina came through on the other end of the phone ... its sort of like tuning into a radio frequency," said Baron, who was recently featured on a Court TV show called "Psychic Detectives." When the sessions began, Baron said she knew nothing of the case -- except for Tina and Bethany's names. When she contacts a spirit she usually receives a series of words or images which detail a sequence of events essential to the case, she said. Some of the things she was shown can't be released, since they could impede the ongoing investigation into the pair's disappearance, Baron said. What she can say is that she believes the two were murdered and their bodies left in a "cave-like" formation in a hilly or mountainous area. The case and Baron's involvement may be featured this fall on television programs on either Court TV or ABC. Baron said a brief argument between Tina and a man escalated and that Tina was choked to death. The man was either intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, said Baron, and the killing was spontaneous and provoked by a humiliating comment Tina made. Bethany likely witnessed her mother's murder, Baron said, and was hit in the head by a heavy object and knocked unconscious. The two women were placed in a truck owned by the man. "The truck must have had a flatbed because I sensed that Bethany was placed in the back and Tina was up front," Baron said. The truck took a right out of the driveway, Baron said, and the bodies of the two women were brought to a mountainous area and placed together in a cave-like opening and covered with tree branches for camouflage. "He posed them together," Baron said, adding that the man then got sentimental and apologized. Garry said she is convinced that Baron can add information to the search for her sister and niece. The insights and knowledge Baron has displayed during the sessions runs parallel with information that Garry has learned, she said. "The information she had was stuff that she couldn't possibly know," Garry said. "She was describing personalities of people and locations here in New England that she couldn't know about." No arrests have been made in the Sinclairs' disappearance, although New Hampshire State Police have searched the home of Eugene Van Bowman at least three times. Van Bowman, who is currently at a halfway house in Concord, N.H., after being released from prison on an unrelated sexual assault charge against a minor, was Tina Sinclair's boyfriend. At the time of their disappearance, Tina, then 34, and Bethany, then 15, lived at Van Bowman's house on Mountain Road. Soon after their disappearance, Van Bowman told a Chesterfield Police lieutenant that that the two women moved out of his house after he and Tina had a fight. Garry contacted Baron soon after the psychic was featured on an episode of Psychic Detectives. At the time Baron said she was swamped with requests and couldn't take on more work. "I liked her work," said Garry. "We've had other psychics contact us or call us before, some good and some bad. But I was impressed by her." The two later began talking when Baron discovered the case through Childseek, a Web site that posts pictures and information on missing persons. How Baron's information will work alongside the police investigation, however, is still a mystery. Calls to New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Simon Brown, who is the lead investigator on the case, were not returned Monday. Allison Vachon, a victim's advocate with the attorney general, said investigators are not currently working with Baron on the case. "It's still considered an unsolved case at this point," she said. Baron, who was worked on more than 50 cases including missing Penn State student Cindy Song and the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart, said her psychic flashbacks don't solve the cases, but they certainly add new layers of insight and information. "Police shouldn't let my information lead them," Baron said. "But they should keep it in the back of their mind." Garry said the reason she turned to the media after enlisting Baron's assistance was to bring added attention to her visions. "My hope was that by contacting the local media it would prompt the investigators to listen to her," Garry said. Some police departments welcome information from psychics -- just as they would accept any credible information, Baron said. Since information from a psychic cannot be used to obtain a search warrant, Baron hopes that the information she has can be used in conjunction with the current information that the police have. She also urges the family of the victims to conduct their own legal searches, she said. Garry acknowledges that some people will see Baron's involvement into the investigation as self-serving. Baron has not asked for money for her services, she pointed out, and the increased media scrutiny on the case could be a double-edge sword. While the case puts Baron's name in newspapers, information that is part of the public record would hurt her if it is proven to be false, Garry said. "It's my impression that this is her professional career and that she can actually lend valuable information to the case," Garry said. |
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Nationally-Known Psychic Takes on Aronov Investigation After Proving She Had the Right
Read for Elizabeth Smart
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 13, 2003 -- It is July 9, 2002 around 11:30 in the morning, one month after Elizabeth Smart’s abduction. The official Elizabeth Smart call center’s phones are ringing off the hook. Tips, leads, sightings, and psychic readings are coming through at a high rate. Carla Baron, a psychic who has worked on over 50 law enforcement cases involving murder and missing persons, makes a call to this official hotline for the Smart case. Carla tells Melinda, the person who runs the call center, that Elizabeth Smart is alive. Melinda stays on the phone with Carla for over one hour. Melinda feels so strongly about Carla’s information that she hand delivers the phone transcription to Ed Smart himself and to the Salt Lake City police department. Kim Amidon, radio talk show host for KOST 103.5 FM located in Los Angeles, called up Carla a few days after Elizabeth’s uncle, Tom Smart, was on her radio show. Kim states that on the afternoon of July 9, 2002, Carla told her about her conversation concerning the Smart investigation. On March 13, 2003, a day after Elizabeth Smart was found alive, Kim interviewed Carla on the “Mark & Kim Show” because she remembered that Carla had said eight months earlier that “Elizabeth is alive and she is in the wilderness somewhere.” The statements Carla made a month after Elizabeth’s disappearance were found to be amazingly correct. Carla insisted that Elizabeth was alive and that she was in the mountains, within 15-20 minutes from her home. She stated the abductor was a ‘service guy’ that had worked for the family, and that he had “chosen” Elizabeth. Melinda had asked her directly if Richard Ricci was the perpetrator. Carla said definitely not. Carla stated that the man responsible for taking her “worshipped” Elizabeth and that he had been “watching her” for a while. Salt Lake City police department has stated all documents concerning this case are temporarily sealed by the court, and that it would be made available once the trial has been completed. Carla was one of the few people that were convinced that Elizabeth was still alive. The substance of Carla’s insights concerning the abduction can be accessed through the radio interview given on March 13, 2003. On July 14, 2002, Carla had also mentioned her contact with the investigation on her weekly radio program, "The Crystal Palace", based in Los Angeles. Carla Baron has been of assistance in many high profile cases such as the disappearance of Penn State student, Cindy Song, who has been missing since November 2001, and the current high-profile case in New York City concerning the death of Dr. Alexander Aronov’s wife, 44 year-old Svetlana. Her body was found on May 6 in the East River. A source working within a firm hired by the Aronov family to investigate the death has stated that the investigators have “…found Carla’s information to be plausible and helpful. There are things we could pursue.” The source has also indicated that Carla disclosed information that was not publicly known. In a statement made by Dr. Aronov, Carla had informed him March 10, one week after his wife’s disappearance, that Svetlana’s body was in water that had some sort of “current”…“moving water”…that she would be found in “a river.” About Carla Baron Carla is well-known in police circles and has been featured on Court TV for her psychic detective work. She employs a technique called “remote viewing” which helps her envision the victim and crime scene. Having been victimized herself by a stalker, Carla’s gifts have curiously lead her to cases where women have been abducted by men who appear to have an “obsession” with them. The cable network is currently creating regular programming featuring Carla, as well as, other notable psychics who work with various law enforcement throughout the United States. The series will be called "Psychic Detectives" and will begin airing in fall 2003. |
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Friday, August 09, 2002 FERGUSON TOWNSHIP -- A two-day visit from a California psychic tracking the Cindy Song case turned up possible landmarks or clues the psychic had predicted earlier, an investigator said Thursday. Months after she began extensive phone conversations with township police Detective Brian Sprinkle, reputed psychic Carla Baron searched several sites in Centre County this week with the investigator. Their destinations involved locations believed to be associated with the disappearance of Song, a Penn State student who's been missing since last Nov. 1, 2001. Song, a South Korean student, was last seen early that morning outside her apartment at 349 W. Clinton Ave. after spending Halloween night at Players Nite Club. Baron said that some discoveries this week line up with images that she has "received psychically before.” State police and the FBI are working with local authorities to investigate Song's disappearance. Baron joined the investigation in May with the help of the Penn State's Paranormal Research Society. Baron claims to have contacted Song's spirit in May. |