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| 1997 Bova,Lori C. 6-7-1997; Lakewood | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 13 2007, 12:49 AM (1,082 Views) | |
| oldies4mari2004 | Feb 13 2007, 12:49 AM Post #1 |
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Lori Ceci Bova Above Images: Bova, circa 1997 Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance Missing Since: June 7, 1997 from Lakewood, New York Classification: Endangered Missing Date Of Birth: November 26, 1970 Age: 26 years old Height and Weight: 5'4, 110 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Bova's ears are pierced. Some agencies give her last name as "Ceci-Bova." Clothing/Jewelry Description: A gray sweatshirt with "Freeport, Bahamas" imprinted on the front, gray sweatpants and white sneakers. Details of Disappearance Bova, her husband and her sister went to dinner at the Red Lobster restaurant on east Fairmont Avenue in Lakewood, New York during the evening hours of June 7, 1997. She and her husband departed the eatery at approximately 10:30 p.m. Her husband told authorities that he and Bova had an argument after they returned to their apartment on New York Avenue and, at 2:00 a.m. on June 8, Bova went outside to smoke a cigarette and take a walk. She never returned and has never been seen again. Several months after Bova's disappearance, a clump of long human hair was found in Chautauqua Lake and authorities searched the water for her remains. No evidence was found and the hair turned out not to be Bova's. Her case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Lakewood-Busti Police Department 716-763-9563 Source Information Child Protection Education Of America Missing Person Hope Of Prayer The Village Law Review The Buffalo News The National Center for Missing Adults Updated 2 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated October 13, 2006; distinguishing characteristics, clothing description and details of disappearance updated. Charley Project Home Attached Image IP: ---------- oldies4mari2004 Posted: Jan 16, 2007 - 01:52 AM |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Feb 13 2007, 12:50 AM Post #2 |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Feb 13 2007, 12:51 AM Post #3 |
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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...showtopic=10561 |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:01 AM Post #4 |
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http://www.wgrz.com/news/columnist/blogs/2...x?storyid=38655 Three Moms, One Pain Updated: 6/8/2006 Posted by: Robyn Young, Reporter Susan Ceci, Patricia Bindics, and Janeane Shanahan share a remarkable bond, and a remarkable pain. Each is the mother of a missing child. All thought their cases would be solved within days, but are still waiting, years after their loss. Twenty-six-year-old Lori Ceci Bova disappeared in June 1997, after having dinner in a Lakewood restaurant with her husband, sister, and brother-in-law. Her husband said they had an argument and that Lori went for a walk early the next morning. Twenty-two-year-old Damien Sharp disappeared in May 2002, after reportedly being dropped off at a Memorial Day weekend party in Warren, Pennsylvania. Twenty-five-year-old Yolanda Bindics, a mother of four, was last seen in August 2004 at the Family Dollar store where she worked in Jamestown. "It seems like an eternity," said Janeane, Damien's mother. "It's just dragging. It's horrible, and it's the worst thing that a mother could ever, ever go through." Janeane and Susan knew each other before Damien disappeared, but have grown closer ever since. They describe the burden of not knowing exactly what happened to their child as being like a weight on their chest. Janeane said she rushes out of bed every day, hoping this will be the day police in Warren call her with news. She said she stays mad, because she is afraid where her grief would take her. When asked how she copes, Susan said, "Stay busy and be with your family." She said her family holds private prayer services on the anniversary of Lori's disappearance. They used to include others, such as volunteers who aided in her search, but found it was just too painful. Susan said while scrubbing the windows of her home, she often finds herself waiting for Lori to walk down the sidewalk. "My cell phone, I never turn it off," Janeane said. The Bindics have held fund raisers and other events in honor of Yolanda, and are planning a rally June 12 at the Family Dollar where she was last seen. Patricia said Susan attended one Bindics family event. "She was just there like an angel extending herself for me, and I was in such a terrible state in shock and grief that naturally I respected that and I appreciate that," she said. All three women met Tuesday at Susan's Lakewood home to talk with 2-On-Your-Side about their unique bond, and how they continue to cope with their loss. "We support each other and we give calls to each other and just say, I'm thinking of you," Susan said. Janeane has been waiting for four years with no break in the disappearance of her son. Susan has been waiting for nine years. The Bindics have been waiting since 2004, but this week, 2-On-Your-Side reported that Jamestown Police claim they may soon solve the case, based on results from evidence they sent to the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia. In September 2004, Yolanda's purse, car keys, and other personal items washed up from a storm drain in Jamestown. Police say they have sent additional evidence to the FBI, without specifying exactly what it is, and are waiting for results. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:02 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.sheriff.us/criminal/unsolved.htm Lori Ceci Bova Date of Birth - 11/26/70 Date Missing - 6/7/97 Missing from - Lakewood, New York Law Enforcement Agency - Lakewood-Busti Police Dept. Contact - Chief John Bentley Telephone Number - (716) 763-9563 Lori is a white female, 5'4" tall, weighs 110 pounds, has curly brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing gray sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt with "Freeport Bahamas" on it. Lori was last seen leaving a restaurant in Lakewood, NY on 6/7/97. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Lori Ceci Bova please contact the Lakewood-Busti Police Department at the above phone number or the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office at 716-753-4231 ======================== http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm16331.html Looking for - LORI CECI BOVA Author: 8633 Category:(Missing) Created:(5/10/2000 10:44:00 AM) Viewed (1093 times) Lori is a brown hair woman,in her late 20's,last seen leaving the red lobster restr,in lakewood,new york, with her hushand tyrome bova, tyrome stated that he and lori went straight home after having dinner with her sister and her hubby,tyrome stated that lori went outside of the apartment to have a cig.smoke and never came back into the home, and she has never been seen again.she worked at a jewelry store at chautauqua mall, lakewood ny,there is a $50,000 reward for any news leading to finding her,her family went to the montel show to see sylvia browne, but nothing never came of that, lori is still missing and we were wondering if you could air her picture so maybe she could be found and there could be peace for her family and friends. to contact a family member please call the busti police department. or just return my email address and i would be happy to give you more information. thank you for your time,, madame stump TODAY IS DEC.8,2OOO,,LORI CECI BOVA STILL IS MISSING,WE HAVE NOT GIVEN UP THE SEARCH FOR HER.PLEASE ANYONE WITH ANY INFORMATION PLEASE COME FORWARD. Why we are looking for them: lori ceci bova has been missing since june 8 1997.the family is tornen apart from this, please help us find her.. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:03 AM Post #6 |
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http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=5406559 Police Discover Decomposed Body in Southern Tier Sep 14, 2006 07:02 AM CDT (September 14, 2006) - - A shocking discovery in the Southern Tier could solve one of several missing persons cases. Human remains may bring closure for one of two families who have been holding out hope. News 4's Melissa Holmes reports from the campus of Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo. Medical examiners here at ECMC will be hard at work Thursday morning trying to identify the badly decayed body. News 4 has confirmed that authorities recovered skeletal remains, most likely those of a woman, in a wooded area of Chautauqua County. Police aren't saying much about their investigation thus far, or if it could be connected either of two unsolved missing persons cases. Lori Ceci Bova has been missing from Chautauqua County since 1997. And in 2004, Yolanda Bindics disappeared after leaving her job in Jamestown. Police found Bindics' car, keys and purse, but no trace of the young mother of four. Family members of Yolanda Bindics say they can't help but have mixed feelings about the new discovery. Yolanda Bindics' sister Anne Chmielewski said, "With any family who's missing a loved one, naturally, your emotions rise tremendously when you hear something like that." "If anybody knows anything, just please help us. We need answers. We need this nightmare to go away." The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department is holding a press conference later Thursday morning. We'll bring you the very latest on this developing story throughout the day here on News 4. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:03 AM Post #7 |
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Sheriff to discuss discovery of human remains found in woods MAYVILLE, N.Y. Authorities are holding a news conference later this morning to release details on the discovery of human remains discovered in a shallow grave in southwestern New York. Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace (gher-AH'-see) will meet with the media at ten o'clock in Mayville. Authorities aren't saying much about their investigation or whether it could be connected with the unsolved disappearances of two women dating back to 1997. In the most recent case, Yolanda Bindics hasn't been seen since she left her job at a store in Jamestown in 2004. Police found her car, keys and purse, but no trace of the young mother of four. The skeletal remains were found in a wooded area in the county south of Buffalo. They have been taken to a hospital in Buffalo where medical examiners are trying to identify the badly decomposed body. http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5406822&nav=4QcS |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:04 AM Post #8 |
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http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=05796 Bones Found In Chautauqua County Wednesday, September 13, 2006 10:16 PM - WBEN Newsroom Mayville, NY (WBEN) - Sources tell NewsRadio 930 WBEN female human bones have been found in a shallow grave somewhere in Chautauqua County. We expect to hear more in a news conference Thursday morning by the sheriff's department. One family waiting for that news is the family of Yolanda Bindics, missing for two years. Bindics' sister, Anne Chimelewski tells WBEN's Tom Puckett she could not get answers from the sheriff's department when she learned of the press conference. "It's my understanding human remains were found," says Chimelewski, but believes it's too early to tell if they're in fact Bindics' remains. If it turns out those are Bindics' remains, it won't be closure for her. While her mother can give a proper burial, Chimelewski says the ultimate answer will come when the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:04 AM Post #9 |
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http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx...56&provider=top Human Remains Found in Chautauqua County WGRZ Posted by: Lynne Dixon, Reporter Posted by: Robyn Young, Reporter Created: 9/14/2006 10:18:16 AM Updated: 9/15/2006 6:52:22 PM The woods in the Town of Charlotte, Chautauqua County, are rural and dense. This is the same area where suspected trooper killer Ralph "Bucky" Phillips hid from police before being caught in Pennsylvania. In an unrelated event Sunday, hunters found human bones on state land in the deep woods. "We do know from examination in the crime scene there is evidence of foul play in this case," said Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace. He declined to specify what kind of trauma was discovered on the remains. Investigators said they found more evidence in addition to the bones, but would not specify what was found. They will say the bones appear to be those of a white female in her 20's, between five foot two and five foot seven inches tall. The bones were there for at least one year, and possibly for as long as 15 years, and it appears they were not buried. The description revealed by the bones matches two women missing in Chautaqua County- Lori Bova, missing since 1997, and Yolanda Bindics, missing since August, 2004. Authorities contacted the families of both missing women, alerting them to the discovery of the remains. Patricia Bindics, mother of Yolanda, was visited Monday by Jamestown Police and the FBI. She hopes the discovery, which she calls a miracle, will bring her closure, and lead to an arrest in her daughter's case. "I don't know what I'd do without the hope that we're going to get that person found," she said. Investigators make it clear the remains might not be those of either Bova or Bindics, but those are the first two cases they are considering. DNA tests on the remains are expected to be returned within one week. THE SEARCH Mercyhurst forensic anthropologist Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat spent two days assisting in the site investigation. "That involved cleaning the vegetation, so that we could see the surface, so that we could see all of the bone elements, and it required us to do a detailed map of where the bones were located," Dr. Dirkmaat said. He said they searched an area approximately 500 yards around the remains. He said there are indications of trauma, but would not reveal further details. THE BINDICS CASE The disappearance of Yolanda Bindics, a 26-year-old mother of four, remains under investigation by the Jamestown Police and the FBI. Bindics was last seen leaving her workplace, the Family Dollar store in Jamestown, August 10, 2004. Her car was found at the Arby's down the street. Authorities discovered her purse and keys in a storm drain months after her disppearance. In July, investigators told Channel Two News that they had received results from DNA testing on some of Bindics' personal items. They said that lead them to focus their attention on Clarence Carl Carte, and Darien Thomas. Yolanda had a child with each of those men, called persons of interest in the case. Investigators have also been looking into former Jamestown police officer Michael Watson. Police said he had a relationship with Bindics. Watson resigned from the force several months ago, according to police. On Thursday, the FBI and Jamestown investigators said they had no additional information on the Bindics investigation. There have been no arrests in the case. Asked if any of the persons of interest in the Bindics case have any connection with the Town of Charlotte, where the bones were found, Sheriff Gerace said, "I can't tell you that." |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:05 AM Post #10 |
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http://post-journal.com/articles.asp?articleID=6872 Dental Records Don’t Match Bova - DNA Still Being Examined On Skeletal Remains Found In Charlotte. By DENNIS PHILLIPS 9/16/2006 - LAKEWOOD — With the remains of a human body found in the woods in the town of Charlotte on Sunday, two families might finally have an answer to explain the disappearance of their respective loved one. The families of Yolanda Bindics and Lori Ceci-Bova might have an explanation. However, Chris Ceci, Mrs. Bova’s brother, said dental records from Mrs. Bova and the skeletal remains have been examined by Erie County Medical Center and are not a match. ‘‘They confirmed already it’s not Lori’s, but that doesn’t prove a definite. You can’t prove anything until the DNA comes back,’’ he said. For now, he just wishes his family would have been told by law enforcement about the discovery of the skeletal remains. ‘‘I feel bad for both sides, for Yolanda’s and my family. I’m upset, though, that the Lakewood Police Department didn’t notify my family,’’ Ceci said. Ceci said, it’s his understanding, the Jamestown police went to the Bindics’ house, but the Lakewood-Busti Police Department didn’t respond to his family. ‘‘If something comes up the proper thing to do is go to the family, not to hold back information. The whole thing stinks,’’ he said. John Bentley, Lakewood-Busti Police Department chief, said his department was asked not to divulge information until more had developed from the found remains. See REMAINS on Page A-3 From Page A-1 ‘‘It was a surprise to us, as them (family), that the press conference was held. If we had known ahead of time, we would have notified the family ahead of time,’’ Bentley said. ‘‘I feel bad for the family. They did deserve to know. We as a group are sorry it happened this way.’’ Ceci said his guess, why his family wasn’t told, was that ‘‘everyone assumes it’s Yolanda, but no one knows for sure.’’ However, he said dental records from Mrs. Bova and the skeletal remains have been examined by Erie County Medical Center. ‘‘They confirmed already it’s not Lori’s, but that doesn’t prove a definite. You can’t prove anything until the DNA comes back,’’ he said. During the news conference, held in Mayville on Thursday, about the found human remains, Joseph Gerace, Chautauqua County sheriff, said he hopes to have DNA results back within a week. Ceci said, though, how his family found out about the body, through media reports, was very nerve-wracking. ‘‘We’re the last to know. We’ve never had a problem before, (Lakewood-Busti Police Department) had always come to us,’’ he said. When asked what scenario he would rather see — the answer to what happen to his sister or the hope she is still alive somewhere — Ceci said he believes in a more positive outcome. ‘‘I never give up hope, but I know she is on the otherside,’’ he said. ‘‘However, I always have hope.’’ |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:05 AM Post #11 |
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http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=5422650 Human Remains Mystery Closer to Being Solved Sep 18, 2006 11:36 AM CDT (September 18, 2006) - - A mystery involving human remains is one step closer to being solved. One week ago, hunters found the skeletal remains of a woman in her 20s in the woods in the Chautauqua County town of Charlotte. Less than an hour ago, police confirmed the remains do not belong to Lori Ceci Bova, who's been missing since 1997. Now, the attention turns to Yolanda Bindics, who's been missing for two years. Medical examiners are continuing to test DNA samples in hopes of positively identifying the remains. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:07 AM Post #12 |
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10 Years Without Lori Ceci Bova 6/3/2007 - 10 years — that’s how long it has been since Renee Shutters has seen her sister, Lori Ceci Bova. ‘‘She was my best friend and if only I could go back in time, maybe I could have changed the way things worked out,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘I didn’t realize that dinner at the Red Lobster on June 7, 1997, with my husband along with Lori and her husband Tyrone, would be the last time I would be able to talk and laugh with her.’’ Lori was last seen June 8, 1997, leaving her home at about 2 a.m. after a family dispute. At that time she was 26-years-old, was 5-foot-4 and weighed about 106 pounds, with green eyes and long brown hair. It was June 8 when Lori’s sister received a phone call that instantly made her sick. ‘‘It was 5 a.m. and the phone rang. It was my younger sister, Jeni, calling and asking if Lori was there.’’ Mrs. Shutters recalled. ‘‘When I told her no, she said that Tyrone had called her and said that Lori was missing. That was when my family’s world went into a tail spin and nothing has been the same since.’’ Mrs. Shutters said she can still remember Lori’s husband, Tyrone, driving her throughout Lakewood and Ashville looking for Lori. ‘‘I remember him taking me on Waltonian Road, and then stopping at Ashville BOCES in front of a garbage dumpster,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘He asked me to look in the dumpster, because when we find her, it may not be good. I remember the sick feeling I had in my stomach and how scared I was to be in the car alone with him after he said that. I hadn’t yet come to accept that Lori could have gotten in harms way. Although if I had allowed myself to listen to my intuition and the sick feelings I experienced when I first received the phone call, I should have known.’’ Co-Worker and Friend Laments Loss Not one day has gone by during the last 10 years without a thought and prayer offered to Lori Bova by her friend and co-worker Amy Cleveland, who has also become spokeswoman for Lori’s family. ‘‘I can’t believe it has been 10 years since my wonderful friend has been gone,’’ Mrs. Cleveland said. ‘‘I sit and think of all the years that have gone by, never to imagine that we would still be searching for answers. Jim and Sue Ceci, Lori’s parents agree with Mrs. Cleveland. ‘‘It all seems surreal that it has been 10 years. When I think about being apart, I couldn’t stand 10 minutes, let alone 10 years,’’ Mrs. Ceci said. ‘‘We still have hope and faith, until we find out something different — we are trying to remain positive.’’ Admittedly, Mrs. Cleveland still keeps a poster of Lori in her car, so everyone can still see her. ‘‘I think about all the years that have passed, and everything Lori has missed, and what we have missed with her,’’ Mrs. Cleveland said. ‘‘I feel so blessed for the years Lori was in my life — Lori will be in my heart forever.’’ A Community’s Support Since that first terrible day, the local community has held prayer services, established a trust fund to aid in the search and combed the area hunting for any evidence of Lori’s whereabouts. June 7, 1997, is a dated etched into the community’s collective memory. ‘‘I think of all the events that have taken place in an effort to find Lori. All the leads that we followed, all the ups and downs we experienced as a result of our searching for answers to our many questions.’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘Even with all of those events, the most prominent memory I have is, the outpouring of love we felt from the community, co-workers and strangers.’’ Mrs. Shutters remembers the search that was coordinated at the Chautauqua Mall where more than 100 people showed up to volunteer to search. ‘‘There were people we knew and many others we did not know that were willing to give up a sunny afternoon in an effort to find Lori. As the oldest child, I remember being in charge of something I had no idea about. Thank God, my uncles and our family friend Sunny came to my rescue,’’ She said. ‘‘We searched around the mall where Lori worked at Kay Jewelers, and we had a bigger group dispatched to a wooded area on Waltonian Road. The volunteers that showed up that day, and many other days, do not know the impact they had on our lives. By showing up to search, our family did not feel so alone. We had hope that we might find clues to lead to Lori and that hope kept us going.’’ When the family, community supporters and local police ran out of places to search, Mrs. Shutters and her husband hired Carol Pate a world renowned psychic from Arkansas. Mrs. Pate has been working with police since she was 12 years old and has worked on over 200 murders and missing person cases. ‘‘I found her by contacting ‘‘Unsolved Mysteries.’’ She has appeared on shows such as ‘‘Unsolved Mysteries,’’ ‘‘The Other Side,’’ ‘‘The Leeza Show’’ and many others. Also she has filmed two International documentaries in Japan,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘She spent the weekend getting familiarized with the area and working with friends and family in gathering pictures and articles of clothing and jewelry for her to work with. She worked with a sketch artist to put together a picture of the place she believes Lori to be.’’ After an exhausting weekend, the family had spent a considerable amount of money. In the end, Mrs. Pate provided a local sketch artist with a description of a park-like area with mountains in the background. The family spent months pursuing different areas that matched the area described by the psychic — with no results. ‘‘Extra,’’ a television program, came to Jamestown to do a missing persons story. No solid leads resulted from it. ‘‘Then there was the hair found in Chautauqua Lake. I must admit, I thought that was it,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘The hair matched in color and in length. After many long days of the volunteers diving and then waiting for the DNA results, our family was exhausted. There were many other false alarms that were responded to and each time you went on an emotional roller coaster of thinking this could really be it.’’ In January 2000, family members were invited to appear on the ‘‘Montel Williams Show’’ with special guest Sylvia Brown, an opportunity that excited the family. ‘‘You can’t get a personal reading with Sylvia without being on a year-long waiting list, not to mention the cost,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘Sylvia told us that we have to go back to the husband, he was definitely involved but he was not alone.’’ The interview with Sylvia sent the family to Hartford, Conn., on an extensive search, and told them to find someone named Glenn. Nothing was found, and the family still wonders about the connection to Glenn. Later, family friends coordinated a 5K walk to raise money to help with finding Lori. ‘‘The 5K turned out really good. It was nice to see all the people out there that cared enough to participate. With the proceeds, we hired a private investigator,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘Unfortunately, a private investigator is very expensive and it did not take long to use all the 5K proceeds and much more. When we ran out of money, the private investigator agreed to keep all the records that he put together and we could hire him at a later date if we wanted.’’ Last June 7, Mrs. Shutters received a surprise visit from a woman who was originally from the Ashville area. ‘‘She provided Paul Gustafson and me with a lead. Paul investigated the lead and was not able to find any links to Lori,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘I was overwhelmed with the kindness she had shown me by taking the time to find me and provide me with this information. She was a prime example of the kindness our family has been shown.’’ Discovery of Yolanda Bindics Recently, things have been quiet for the family and loved ones of Lori Bova. After appearing on a local radio show, to discuss all the local missing person cases, something amazing happened. A lifeless body was found in Cassadaga. ‘‘We all know now it was Yolanda Bindics. That is the first time in a long time that I had to experience the hope that Lori could have truly been found. There was about 20 minutes between the time I learned that the body had been found and the time it was confirmed by our investigator Paul Gustafson that it was not likely Lori,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘I must say that I thanked God that the body found was Yolanda and not some other poor unknown person that may never get matched up with a name. If it was not Lori, it was certainly the next best thing to see Yolanda’s family get closure.’’ Renee Shutters can’t say whether or not her family will ever get answers to their questions, but she continues to prey for the best possible outcome. ‘‘I must say that this case has all the makings of a Hollywood movie, but unfortunately it is real,’’ Mrs. Shutters said. ‘‘I have come to peace with the situation by finally realizing that this burden is too large for me to carry. I have put it on God’s shoulders.’’ By doing this, she said she has been able to cope with the loss of her sister and focus on the blessing she was given by simply having her in her life to begin with. ‘‘I was given 26 years with the best sister I could ask for,’’ she said. ‘‘I now have two little ones of my own, Trenton, who is 3, and Brooke, who is 1. They have provided a new source of joy for our family along with my sister Jeni’s daughter, Amber and my brother Chris’s daughter, Katelyn.’’ Remembrance Prayer Service Slated For Thursday The family of Lori Ceci Bova wishes to thank everybody that has included Lori in their prayers. ‘‘All the businesses and all the employers of our family members who have provided support in many ways throughout the years. The friends, family and coworkers that have been there for us — we thank everyone,’’ Renee Shutters said. ‘‘As a way to honor Lori, and to keep her in everyone’s prayers, we would like to ask the community to join us at Bethel Lutheran Church on Thursday at 7 p.m. for a Remembrance Prayer service. All faiths are welcome. God willing, we will get closure!’’ |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:07 AM Post #13 |
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http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buff...tory/94922.html Investigation continues into ’97 disappearance Updated: 06/09/07 7:16 AM LAKEWOOD — More than 10 years after the disappearance of Lori Ceci Bova, Lakewood-Busti police haven’t closed their investigation. The Lakewood woman’s husband, Tyrone, told police his wife, 26, never returned after leaving their New York Avenue apartment early June 8, 1997, to smoke a cigarette following a dispute. Family and friends reported last seeing her the previous day in the Red Lobster restaurant on Fairmount Avenue. Lakewood-Busti Police Investigator Paul Gustafson said the department is doing all it can to solve the case. “We actively have worked on the case for 10 years, and recently we have initiated some reinterviews and proactively interviewed individuals of interest,” he said. Gustafson said Tyrone Bova has been uncooperative since he was last interviewed in late June 1997; nevertheless, he predicted a break in the case. Anyone with information should call Lakewood-Busti Police at 763-9563. “I feel confident that at some point there will be someone with information that will lead us to the whereabouts of Lori Bova,” he said. Family and friends, meanwhile, honored her Thursday night with a rememberance prayer service in Bethel Lutheran Church. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:11 AM Post #14 |
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Young mother, lover still missing after 40 years Forty years ago, Jackie Rains-Kracman and Melvin Uphoff vanished. The two families met for the first time recently in Columbus seeking to ease the lingering pain and, perhaps, find a clue that had been overlooked in the case. What follows is the story of the disappearances and the families' gathering. By MEGAN STROMBERG, Special to the Telegram COLUMBUS - Even though she was 9-years-old the last time she saw her sister, Becky Leslie was so certain the woman she locked eyes with at Wal-Mart in 1999 was her sister that it sent her into a panic attack. When Leslie, a Wal-Mart employee, returned from helping another checker, the woman in jean capris and a pink blouse was gone. Her co-workers said she probably just saw an angel. Leslie disagrees. She is adamant the woman was her older sister, Jacquelyn Ann "Jackie" Rains-Kracman, who never returned after telling her family she was leaving with a girlfriend for a wedding in Glenwood, Iowa, on Sept. 24, 1965. Everything was the same, the part in her hair, the mole above the right side of her lip, her deep brown eyes. "I kick myself for not talking to her right away," Leslie said. The only woman to marry in Glenwood that day has said she doesn't know anyone by that name. Nor does she recognize the name of Jackie's friend, Sally, who was supposed to take her to the wedding. Sally returned home. Nineteen-year-old Jackie never has. She disappeared without a trace. Law enforcement officials - from the Butler County Sheriff's Office to the FBI and CIA - have told her they never found any sign of foul play. The Rains family thinks Sally may know why Jackie was leaving, or where she was truly planning to go. They do not think she was involved in her disappearance. They have asked her for help, but they still don't have answers. One of Jackie's younger sisters still can't forget how her sister was packing two very large suitcases for the trip. Something didn't seem right. "She was packing everything. I asked her 'Why?' She said she needed to put these clothes somewhere," Sharon Henggeler recalled during a recent family interview. Henggeler, now of Omaha, was just a year younger than Jackie. She remembers the day clearly. The Rains' children were still helping their parents unpack things in their Columbus home. The family had just moved across town. Jackie, meanwhile, had already been married and given birth to a boy and a girl. A few weeks earlier, her husband had filed for divorce on Sept. 11. She was now living with Sally. Henggeler remembers helping her father move the washing machine when a friend stopped by, asking her to go riding around. She agreed, asking if they could stop by and visit her sister, Jackie, before she left for the wedding in Iowa. The family agrees the "wedding trip" was just a story. That's when Jackie was still packing her suitcases. "It made me feel uneasy. Months before she said when her ship came in, she would be leaving," Henggeler recalled. When she asked Jackie what she meant by that, Henggeler was told "she would be leaving" and would go where it was sunny and warm. Henggeler asked her sister who would care for her children, then 2 and 6 months old. Jackie said she was not going to take them cross country. After saying goodbye to Jackie, Henggeler and her friend drove around Columbus. She remembers seeing her sister and three of her friends drive by, headed south over the viaduct. Her sister, she said, was crouched down in the backseat, as if to hide she was in the vehicle. Still, Henggeler said the three friends Jackie was with refuse to say where they took her. The family does not suspect them. "I've never understood. If the three people who saw her last, if they did nothing criminal, why won't they say where they took her?" Henggeler wondered recently during a gathering with her siblings, Jackie's son and grandsons and another family. But they do want some answers. So does Melvin Uphoff's family. Even though their dad went missing 40 years ago, at a time when two of the kids barely knew them, his children want answers. They wonder, is he dead? Did he leave with Jackie? Did the couple start a new life together? Has someone in the area kept them abreast of their family's lives? Rumors were rampant around the tiny community of Rising City when the couple disappeared. The Rains's say they had heard their sister was having an affair with 30-year-old Uphoff, who managed the co-op where Jackie's husband worked. His wife at the time, Myrna, confirms there were rumors. She and Melvin had been married for nearly a decade and had already welcomed four children to their home when Jackie's husband came to the door with the news. "Her husband came to the door and said they were having an affair," the quiet woman remembered. That was three months before the couple disappeared. When confronted with the news by Myrna and his mother, Melvin denied the allegations. Myrna said he was "OK" for about a month, but then began acting differently. On Oct. 24, 1965, Myrna, Melvin and their four children, ages 10, 8, 2 and 6 months, spent the day together in Shelby. They went roller-skating and had stayed at a hotel before returning home to Rising City. Myrna remembers it clearly. She was getting baby Marché ready for bed when Melvin came in the room and said he was going back to Shelby for a beer. He asked if Myrna wanted to go with him. She asked why he was returning there, when the family had just left the town. Myrna declined his offer. That was 11:30 p.m. Melvin left in a 1954 blue and white Oldsmobile. That was the last time she saw her first husband. He didn't give any indication of never returning. He didn't take any clothes. The only thing Myrna discovered missing was Melvin's coin collection. The car, his coin collection, Melvin. None of the three has been found. When Melvin didn't show up for work, Myrna went to his parents and said he didn't come home the night before. They told her to "go back into town and be quiet." That was Monday. When Myrna asked the next day if they should report him missing, his dad and uncle finally filed a report Tuesday evening. The family suspects the delay was because the elder family members were trying to protect Myrna and her children. Meanwhile, Jackie was not reported missing until 1994. Her parents told her eight siblings not to mention anything to anyone. Four of the children recall never mentioning Jackie's absence, not even to their aunts, uncles or cousins. If anyone asked, they were told to say she had moved. But Leslie recalls what one aunt said. "She said she saw a woman at a rest stop. She said she sounded like Jackie." They're tired of being quiet. They feel they have a right to have answers. So do Jackie's children. Her daughter, Denise, contacted the Rains family when she was 18. They had a picnic with Denise and her brother, Todd. The relationships have continued to grow since the reunion. "How do you start a process like that with people you've never known," Todd said, adding that he could have met some of them on the street over the years. When asked what he thinks happened, Todd hesitated before answering. "It's more of a Š in the heart, I wish I knew, but Š " he trailed off. "I guess I have been moving along with my life and hoping after 40 years somebody would come and approach me and say, 'Hey, I'm your mom.'" He admits that he hoped for that news before Jackie's parents died. "You don't know. You don't know if they've come in touch with you," Todd said in a firm voice that commanded attention from his aunts and uncles gathered in the room. Maybe it's a coincidence, but Leslie says she saw a white car at her mother's funeral. A man and a woman sat inside, watching from a distance. That same car appeared at her father's funeral. She admits it could be a coincidence, but she wants to believe more. Melvin's family, meanwhile has seen some oddities as well. Former Butler County Sheriff Leo Meister attended a family funeral, looking for Melvin to show up in 1973. He didn't. The family still has questions. Why did Melvin's missing person's file contain only about 50 copies of a "Wanted" poster distributed in 1967 for non-payment of child support. Why haven't family members been asked about the days prior to his disappearance. His family is so desperate for answers that his oldest son, Michele Sells of Bellwood, has placed ads in The Banner-Press newspaper. The latest 4x3 inch ad appeared Sept. 1 along with a picture of Melvin and read: "We are still looking for any information on the disappearance of this man. Age 30. Now 70. Disappeared Oct. 24, 1965, from Rising City, Nebraska. Left in a blue and white 1954 Oldsmobile. Please send information to Michele Sells." Sells came to the interview with a black Rubbermaid tote full of a 4-inch white binder, a 2-inch black binder and several spiral notebooks. Court records, hand-written notes, letters from law enforcement, news clippings and other things appeared as Sells searched through the file. Along with the paper files, Sells also arrived with a videotape of her father made from an old 8 mm film. On the tape, Jackie and her family appeared. They had stopped by the Uphoff house. Myrna doesn't remember why. When asked, she said she was not friends with Jackie. The room fell silent as the two families watched a few minutes of the tape, in which Jackie sat in a white blouse. Her husband sat nearby, holding baby Denise. "We want an answer," Melvin's youngest, Marché said. "Even if they don't want to be found, it would be nice to know if they're alive," Todd said. Rising City residents have told Melvin's family they think he tried to contact them two years after disappearing. Sells said a man phoned the family's old phone number, asking for Myrna. When told she didn't live there, the man hung up. Just seconds later, the phone rang at a family member's home. "They said it sounded like they were calling from a pay phone," Sells said. Eventually, the operator interrupted and told the caller to insert more coins for the call. Sells has also been in contact with law enforcement officers locally and nationally. She continues to ask Meister for answers and has also contacted FBI and CIA agents. However, both families say they are told no crime was committed. Sells has even contacted professional locators, with no luck. Myrna even spent a number of years searching for answers. For a number of years, she traveled to David City to ask Meister for answers. "I was in a state of shock," she said about her husband's disappearance. Six months later, Myrna moved to Shelby with her children so they could be closer to her extended family. "I knew I had to be mother, I knew I had to be a dad, knew I had to clothe and feed them." Forty years later, she admits she has moved on and is comfortable with the search Sells has waged. "I don't want him back," Myrna said. Melvin's children say they aren't searching for a relationship with their father. They just want answers. Both families are certain that if the couple disappeared today, whether willingly or otherwise, technology would facilitate a more comprehensive search. Media coverage, alone, would shine light on the cases. "It would have been reported right away," Henggeler said. Over the years, Todd has maintained a relationship with his father, Dennis. Todd recalls a conversation Dennis had with a state trooper in March of this year. "I saw his eyes. He misses her, but he doesn't know where she's at," Todd said. "His eyes were like he was telling me, I wish I could tell you where she was at." Both families see news reports of missing couples and young adults and their pain is revisited all over, they said. "My heart goes to them and I pray they find them," Marché Augustine said, adding that it hurts, even though she wouldn't know the sound of her father's voice if she heard it. Throughout the interview, she switched between calling him by his first name and referring to him as her father. She recalls that while eating in a cafe with her mother a few years ago, she saw a man that caught her attention. "I asked mom, 'Isn't that Melvin over there?'" Henggeler admits she can't watch news reports about missing people who are found. "I just cry," she said amidst tears. Several times throughout the families' meeting, she cried. "You hang on to hope. You think maybe someday you'll get a knock on the door, and it will be her or a brother or sister who have come to say 'We found her,'" Henggeler said. "You have to have faith in God to have the strength to get through it." Still, Henggeler asked how long questions can go unanswered. "How long can a soul survive not knowing?" The Rains's parents died not knowing the truth about their daughter. John Rains of Columbus said if he could ask his late wife the answer, he would. "They know now," he said about his parents. Henggeler said if Jackie had returned home 15 or 20 years after disappearing, she would have "read her the riot act." Now, though, she just wants to hug her. "Every Mother's Day, mom thought she would come back," Leslie said about her oldest sister. Leslie said she believes her sister is still alive and she wants her to know she still loves and cares for her. She says the truth will happen eventually. "God only knows when that will be," she said. Nebraska State Patrol Sgt. Robert Frank, director of the state's Cold Case Division, confirmed his office is again looking into Jackie and Melvin's cases. He said he is working in conjunction with the Butler County Sheriff's Department. "We're still investigating it and running down new leads," Frank said. Butler County Sheriff Mark Hecker said he originally directed both families to Frank because of the resources at the department's disposal. He will be meeting with Frank at the end of the month to discuss the case. Former Butler County Sheriff Leo Meister, who was in office at the time of the disappearances, could not be reached for comment. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:11 AM Post #15 |
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Relatives left to wonder why two vanished in '65 Published Monday September 19, 2005 Relatives left to wonder why two vanished in '65 BY ELIZABETH AHLIN WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER The last time Melvin Uphoff's wife saw him, he was leaving their home in Rising City, in Butler County, Neb., to pick up beer in a neighboring town. He was 31 years old, and he never returned. Jacqueline Rains Kracman, 18, who was separated from her husband, Dennis Kracman, left their two young children with her parents in Columbus, Neb., about 15 miles north of Rising City. She said she was heading to a wedding in Glenwood, Iowa. Family members never heard from her again. Uphoff was Dennis Kracman's boss at a service station in Rising City. Family members believe that's how Uphoff and Jackie Kracman knew each other. The two vanished about a month apart in 1965. Forty years later, both families still wonder what happened. "I have been trying since 1989 to locate him. I went down every street, every avenue. There's no paper trail on these two people at all," said Michele Uphoff Sells, who was 2 when her father disappeared. Sells lives near Columbus. Nearly every day she drives some of the same roads her father did in his 1954 blue-and-white Oldsmobile, which was never recovered by authorities. She has hired private investigators. At home, she keeps a plastic box filled with evidence of her search. She has notebooks full of research, photos, home movies, newspaper clippings and depositions from insurance hearings when Melvin Eugene Uphoff was declared legally dead in 1972. She also has the family's stories of the last day she spent with her father, who took Sells and her siblings on a pheasant hunt and then roller skating. But she wants to know more. Jim Rains of Columbus, Kracman's younger brother, was 12 when she disappeared. He remembers his sister as a lively, energetic girl. "She drove a little too fast on the gravel roads," Rains said, laughing. "I just remember a very loving, caring, happy person, which makes it hard for me to really accept the fact that she just up and left and moved away somewhere and started a whole new life." The Nebraska State Patrol says that may be exactly what happened. Sgt. Robert Frank of the State Patrol's cold case division agreed to look into the case this year at the request of Rains. Frank is still investigating, but he hasn't found any evidence that a crime was committed. "Back in the '60s, it was easy to disappear. You could change your name, change your Social Security number," Frank said. Members of both families believe Kracman and Uphoff were seeing each other. Uphoff's family assumed they ran away together. But more than 20 years went by before the families discussed the disappearances with each other. The dates are fuzzy, but Kracman's family believes the young woman they always called Jackie disappeared in late September 1965, about a month before Uphoff vanished. Uphoff's family reported him missing immediately, but Kracman was not officially reported missing until 1992. Frank said records from the initial Butler County Sheriff's Office investigation do not show any signs of a crime, but Sells and Rains aren't convinced that everything was done in those early days to find out what happened. Jackie Rains was 16 when she married Dennis Kracman. By 18, she had two children. At the time of her disappearance, the Kracmans were separated. She was a coil winder at an electronics company in Columbus, where she was renting a house with her two children and a roommate. Sharon Henggeler remembers her sister Jackie as a stubborn girl who liked to get her way, but she was also big on family. Henggeler and Rebecca Leslie, Jackie's youngest sister, both said she was overcome with homesickness during much of her marriage, calling home nearly every day when she lived in Rising City. Henggeler, who was 17 at the time, saw her sister the night she left. Henggeler had stopped by with a friend to visit Jackie as she packed for the trip to Glenwood. "When we stopped by, she wasn't packing for a weekend, she was packing everything," Henggeler said. Jackie Kracman said she was going to attend a wedding, but Henggeler was worried. When she stopped at her sister's house the following Monday to drop off Jackie's children, her suspicions were confirmed. "I knew when I hit that front porch that she wasn't going to be there," Henggeler said. "I knocked and knocked and knocked on the door." Jackie Kracman's roommate told the family she didn't know where Jackie had gone. Henggeler said Jackie must have had help, because she didn't leave with her car. Her parents were left to wonder if their eldest daughter had abandoned her family. After a while, the Rains family suspected foul play, but they didn't have any evidence to support that theory. "That's just a gut feeling," Rains said. Rains and Sells say they don't believe Uphoff and Jackie Kracman could have run away without someone knowing what happened. After so many years, some of the people who knew them, including Jackie's parents, have died, and the memories of those who are still around are fading. Dennis Kracman, who still lives near Columbus, moved on long ago, remarrying when his children were young. But Rains and Sells still want to know what happened. With the 40th anniversary of the disappearances approaching, they're hoping someone will come forward with information. "We just want to know the truth," Sells said. "Somebody out there knows the truth." |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 22 2007, 10:12 AM Post #16 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: For further information contact: Kelly Jolkowski 402-932-0095 kelly.jolkowski@projectjason.org OMAHA MISSING PERSONS' DAY ON THE CUE CENTER NATIONAL TOUR Omaha Area Families of the Missing Gather to Remember Their Loved Ones Omaha, NE, - June 13th, 2007- June 13th, 2007, marks the six year anniversary of the disappearance of then 19 year-old Jason Jolkowski from his home in Omaha, NE. To bring awareness for area missing persons cases and garner community support for the families of the missing, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey is declaring June 13th as Omaha Missing Persons' Day. Project Jason, founded by the family of Jason Jolkowski, is sponsoring an event to commemorate this day. It will be held at Omaha's Memorial Park at 56th and Underwood Ave from 6:30-8:30pm. The public is invited to attend. This event will also serve to honor four other families of missing persons from the area. They, along with the parents of Jason Jolkowski, will share their stories. In addition, the Cue Center, a nonprofit organization from North Carolina led by founder Monica Caison, which provides assistance for families of the missing, has included Omaha and this event as a stop on their national tour to bring awareness for numerous missing person's cases. The 4th annual "On the Road to Remember Tour" begins on June 11th and concludes on June 21st, covering 2,400 miles, 22 stops in 11 states, and 75 missing person cases. This moving ceremony will begin with a march led by the Air Force Color Guard with bagpipe accompaniment. The Mayor's office will then present the Omaha Missing Persons' Day proclamation to Kelly Jolkowski, President and Founder of Project Jason, and to Monica Caison, Founder of the Cue Center. The event will also include music and prayer, and will culminate with a symbolic white dove release by each represented family. Featured Missing Persons' Cases: Jason Jolkowski disappeared from the driveway of his home in Omaha, NE on Wednesday, June 13th, 2001. He was then 19 years of age. He was preparing to go to work at his part-time job, and was last seen doing his weekly chores outside. Erin Pospisil was just 15 years old on June 3rd, 2001, when she left her home in Cedar Rapids, IA to go visit a friend. Her friend was not home, and when a car pulled up, Erin went over and spoke with the occupants. She entered that vehicle and was never seen again. Singer-songwriter Gina Bos disappeared on October 17, 2000 after performing at a pub in Lincoln, NE. The next morning, her vehicle was found across the street from the pub with the trunk ajar and her guitar inside. Nearly 42 years ago, 18 year-old Jackie Rains-Kracman left her home in Columbus, NE, telling her family she was going to a wedding with a friend in Glenwood, IA. The friend returned home, but Jackie didn't. University of Missouri sophomore Jesse Ross vanished on November 21, 2006, after attending a model United Nations conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, IL. After a dance, Jesse was seen heading towards his hotel room, which was a ten minute walk from the Sheraton. Jesse never made it back. About Project Jason: Project Jason, located in Omaha, NE was founded in 2003 by the parents of missing young adult Jason Jolkowski. “Our mission as a non profit organization is to create and increase public awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance to families of the missing by providing resources and support.” Project Jason serves families of the missing nationwide and has been instrumental in the recent passage of missing persons' legislation in several states through their Campaign for the Missing program. To learn more about Project Jason, please see http://www.projectjason.org, or contact Kelly Jolkowski at 402-932-0095 or kelly.jolkowski@projectjason.org About Cue Center: Founded in 1994, the Cue Center, (Community United Effort) based in Wilmington, N.C., provides support, services and search efforts to families of the missing. For full On the Road to Remember tour dates and locations, as well as a complete listing of cases featured on the tour, e-mail cuecenter@aol.com or call Monica Caison at (910) 343-1131 or the 24 Hour Line at (910) 232-1687.For more information, please see http://ncmissingpersons.org/ ### Important Note: If it is raining, or rain is threatening, the event will be held at Holy Name Church at 2901 N Fontenelle Blvd. (As of this writing, the chance of rain is very high, so it is imperative that the rain location be communicated.) If the event takes place at Memorial Park, attendees need to bring their own chairs |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 7 2008, 05:28 PM Post #17 |
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http://post-journal.com/page/content.detai...1.html?nav=5018 Cases Gone Cold June 1, 2008 Nothing inflames the imagination like a mystery. They thrive on television, in books and on the big screen. And although they come in many types, the murder mystery is king. For police, though, these mysteries are serious business, and the bane of the investigator’s work is the cold case, in which evidence is scarce and leads more often go down blind alleys than toward progress. Sheriff Joe Gerace said cases typically go cold when a longer than usual amount of time passes between the time of the crime and resolution of the investigation. ‘‘If the cases aren’t solved within a reasonable amount of time, and as the leads start to dry up, we start classifying those cases as cold. It’s very, very frustrating,’’ he said. He said cases go cold for a number of reasons, usually because of a lack of witnesses to the crime, uncooperative witnesses or a lack of physical evidence. One of the prime cold case scenarios is the disappearance of a lone victim, when no one witnessed the disappearance and the body is either never found or not found until some time later. This was the case in three of the area’s most well-known cold cases, the disappearances of Kathy Ann Wilson, Lori Ceci Bova and Yolanda Bindics. The bodies of Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Bindics were both found more than a year after their disappearances, and Mrs. Bova has yet to be found. LACK OF EVIDENCE, LACK OF DIRECTION Lori Ceci Bova left her Lakewood home around 2 a.m. on June 8, 1997, and no trace of her has been found since. John Bentley, Lakewood-Busti police chief, said the lack of any definitive evidence of foul play has made the investigation much more difficult. ‘‘The case file is a big as two full-sized bales of hay, but we have no Lori Bova. We have no person to put with our missing person,’’ Bentley said. ‘‘It makes it much more difficult. Of course the hardest thing is on the family of a missing person, but for an investigator it’s much more difficult not knowing status of your victim.’’ Bentley said the ambiguous nature of the Bova disappearance means authorities are unable to put pressure on persons of interest by threatening them with a specific charge. He also said it makes the case difficult for investigators simply because it is more difficult to investigate a nebulous situation than a specific crime. ‘‘I think we’ve interviewed everybody who’s ever known her. We interviewed her dentist. We’ve had a lot of people who were very forthcoming, and probably some who haven’t told us everything,’’ Bentley said. Even when a body is found, the elements often degrade any physical evidence that was once available. ‘‘One of the biggest challenges is the loss of evidence you would gather from the crime scene. Weather, the elements and environmental conditions can destroy a lot of physical evidence,’’ Gerace said. ‘‘Cold cases are always a challenge. In any homicide investigation a majority of information comes from the victim.’’ Without that physical evidence, it can be very difficult for police to identify suspects or even establish the basic facts around a victim’s death. RESOURCES As cases drag on, they can strain police resources. Searches are time, manpower and equipment intensive, and police always have new cases coming in. Sixteen months passed between Mrs. Wilson’s disappearance on May 18, 1988, and the discovery of her remains in a wooded area off Lindell Road in Warren County on the weekend of September 23, 1989. More than two years elapsed between the time Ms. Bindics was last seen leaving work at the Fluvanna Avenue Family Dollar on August 10, 2004, and the discovery of her body near a hiking trail in the woods near Charlotte. In the intervening time, police searched the Fluvanna Avenue corridor, the woods around Jones and Gifford Avenue, the county landfill in Ellery and the Chautauqua Gorge without turning up evidence of what happened to Ms. Bindics. Police say every agency experiences the same problems of lack of manpower and investigative resources. ‘‘It’s always an issue, and every police department would tell you they’re in same boat. We’re always short of manpower, and we have to take hot cases when things are moving forward and attempt to resolve them,’’ Bentley said. Gerace wants to establish a cold case squad to combat some of these time and money shortfalls. It would involve the sheriff’s department rehiring retired cops on a part-time basis to take a fresh look at cold cases. ‘‘The idea is to have fresh sets of eyes and minds go through the case files, re-examine evidence and begin from scratch on some of these cases. There have been significant successes across country with these types of teams, and I will not give up my efforts to establish such a team,’’ Gerace said. So far though, he has been unable to secure funding for the initiative. PUBLIC OPINION In small communities, disappearances are noticed, more people know each other and news media have more time to focus on specific cases. These factors can help law enforcement in some cases, but can also put a great deal of pressure on police. ‘‘It’s the nature of the beast. It’s difficult to control that kind of thing. But it’s easy to be an armchair quarterback,’’ Bentley said. He hopes people at least try to put themselves in the place of police, who struggle when investigating cold cases with a maddening lack of leads. Gerace said pop culture forces can also make life harder for police when certain types of cases come to trial. Not only have forensics shows like CSI taught criminals how to cover their tracks, he said, they have also instilled an unreasonable standard of evidence in the minds of some jurors. ‘‘It raises jurors’ expectations. We may go to a crime scene and recover literally hundreds pieces of evidence, but we don’t have the time or money to test all that for DNA,’’ Gerace said. ‘‘And a juror will say, ’Why didn’t the cops do what I saw on TV?’’’ NO RESOLUTION For families and police alike, there has been no satisfactory resolution to any of the three disappearances. No one has yet been charged in the Bova or Bindics cases, and although two were charged in connection with Wilson’s death, no one was ever convicted of her murder. Investigators continue to work on the cases, but say a successful resolution becomes less likely with each day that passes once a case has gone cold. ‘‘Unfortunately there’s more unsolved cases than people like to think. We’re smaller community, more close-knit, and people pay quite a bit of attention to cases like this,’’ Gerace said. ‘‘We want to solve every case, for one to give closure to the families, but also because there are perpetrators roaming the streets who should and must be apprehended.’’ ‘‘There’s an urgency for us to really get investigating aggressively right away, because time is on the side of the defense,’’ Gerace said. |
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| PorchlightUSA | Sep 24 2008, 06:59 AM Post #18 |
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http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/29367209.html New Information in Woman's Disappearance 11 Years Ago YouNewsTV™Story Published: Sep 22, 2008 at 5:39 PM EDT Story Updated: Sep 22, 2008 at 5:44 PM EDT By Laura Gray 11 years ago, Sargent Investigator Paul Gustafson promised to find Lori Bova. He took the original missing person's complaint in 1997, and has never stopped looking for new information. Over the past 6 months, Sargent Gustafson has re-interviewed more than 30 people. Now that hard work is bringing in new leads. "Some individuals have told us little bits of information that perhaps they didn't 11 years ago. Just a little piece of information that leads to more information." He refuses to disclose what information they may have discovered. The 26 year old woman was last publicly seen at a restaurant June 7th 1997. Her husband claims he was the last person to see her. Tyrone Bova told police that Lori left their home around 2am after an argument. "From the beginning we've had very minimal cooperation from her husband tyrone Bova and efforts to help us locate his wife . Tyrone Bova now lives in North Carolina and is again refusing to help police. Bova and others are considered persons of interest in a case that has turned up little evidence. When remains were discovered in Chautauqua County in 2006, Lori's family was hopeful. DNA instead identified them as belonging to another missing woman, Yolanda Bindics. But many cold cases have recently been solved in Western New York, giving Sargent Gustafson hope. "The technology change in the course of the investigation is something that we're using to our advantage. It's certainly playing a part in this case. And ultimately, that may be just what we need." |
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| PorchlightUSA | Sep 24 2008, 07:00 AM Post #19 |
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New Path In Bova Case Investigator Re-Interviews Several People, Learns New Information LAKEWOOD - New developments in the missing person case of Lori Ceci Bova are giving investigators a new path of attack and the family a cautious hope. Sgt. Investigator Paul Gustafson has been in charge of the case since he took the initial complaint from her husband, Tyrone Bova, at 11:14 a.m. on June 8, 1997. Gustafson said that recent developments in the case have led him to re-interview a number of people and take the investigation in new directions. ''In the past several months, I've re-interviewed about 30 to 40 people,'' Gustafson said. ''Through these interviews, I learned some new information and have been digging deeper into the case from a new angle.'' Gustafson said he couldn't elaborate on specifics regarding the investigation, but did take time to dispell ''street theories'' which have circulated since Lori's disappearance. Her husband at the time, Tyrone, was not a police officer as some people have claimed. In fact, he did attend a police academy in North Carolina, where the couple had moved for a short time, but never finished the training, Gustafson said. Tyrone was a contractor at the time of Lori's disappearance, he added. ''There are certain things that were going on at that time in her life that are case-sensitive, but that is certainly not the case,'' he said of the theory. Gustafson said he couldn't say if Tyrone was among the people recently re-interviewed, but did maintain that he has not been helpful with the investigation. ''We've never had any cooperation from Tyrone,'' Gustafson said. ''He has never assisted us in any way, shape or form since the beginning.'' It is reported that Tyrone is currently living in North Carolina and has since remarried and has children. Efforts by The Post-Journal to locate and contact him for comment have not yet been fruitful. Lori was last seen leaving the Red Lobster restaurant in Lakewood with her husband, sister and brother-in-law on June 7, 1997. Tyrone said they went home and had some type of argument, and around 2 a.m. she went for a walk and never returned. Nine hours later, Tyrone contacted the police and Lori's family began searching for her. Since that day, a number of situations have provided false hope for Lori's family, although one of them gave partial closure to another family. When the body of Yolanda Bindics was found in a heavily wooded area in the town of Charlotte, Lori's family was notified. DNA evidence later proved it was indeed Yolanda, but for a few lingering days, the possibility remained. When a clump of hair and a sweatshirt were found at different times in Chautauqua Lake, speculation peaked but only to be debunked shortly after. ''We were actually able to locate the owner of the sweatshirt who said he fell off a boat on the lake and lost it,'' Gustafson said. ''And when we compared the hair with her DNA samples, we were able to rule her out. It seemed like hair from a hairbrush.'' Psychics and mediums including the famous Sylvia Brown have all chimed in on what they think happened to Lori, but to no avail. ''I've had people try to read my palm and swing a pendiulium in front of my face,'' Gustafson said. ''But we never received anything solid from those routes.'' New technology has aided with Lori's still unsolved case, Gustafson said. ''I've been on this job for 18 years, and everything has changed in that time,'' he said. ''New technology and techniques have helped us because some of it wasn't available in 1997.'' Gustafson said that after 11 years of working Lori's case, he feels like he knows her and owes it to her family to deliver them closure. ''My efforts have always been the same; find the person who knows where Lori is and bring closure to her family,'' he said. ''I will not give up until the day I can make that call.'' Amy Cleveland, a close friend of Lori and the Ceci family's spokesperson, said they are thankful for Gustafson's determination and hopeful recent developments will bring an end to the saga which has consumed their lives for the past 11 years. ''We are so grateful to him,'' she said. ''He said he would never give up and he hasn't. We're cautiously optimistic but hope that something will come out of this.'' Ms. Cleveland said that the past 11 years have been unreal for her and the Ceci family and not a day passes without thought of Lori coming into their conscious minds. ''You see things like this happening on TV all the time, but we are living it,'' she said. ''All we can do is not let her be forgotten and pray, everyday.'' Anyone with information about the case, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is asked to call Gustafson at 763-9563. A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to a conviction http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/512109.html |
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| PorchlightUSA | Jun 23 2009, 12:55 PM Post #20 |
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http://post-journal.com/page/content.detai...9.html?nav=5018 Bova’s Disappearance Still Fresh In Minds Of Loved Ones After 12 Years By Robert Rizzuto, rrizzuto@post-journal.com POSTED: June 19, 2009 "Bova’s Disappearance Still Fresh In Minds Of Loved Ones After 12 Years" Lori Ceci Bova If you type her name in a search engine on the Internet, you will get hundreds of hits, but none provide a clue about what happened to Lori Ceci Bova, who disappeared from her Lakewood home 12 years ago. And since that fateful day, her name has joined the other women from Chautauqua County whose whereabouts are unknown or murder is unsolved, and her family was cursed with the nightmares and uncertainty of wondering what happened to a loved one. Sgt. Investigator Paul Gustafson with the Lakewood-Busti Police has been on Ms. Ceci Bova's case since the beginning, and he said that although many of the missing person and female-murder cases have some surface similarities, they all have their own specific circumstances. "It's important that people know that each of these cases has a different set of specific details," Gustafson said. "Some people think it's a serial killer in Chautauqua County, but by being involved in the cases I have been, I can see the coincidences on the surface but there are unique circumstances surrounding each case." Lori was last seen leaving the Red Lobster restaurant in Lakewood with her husband Tyrone, sister and brother-in-law on June 7, 1997. Tyrone said they went home and had some type of argument, and around 2 a.m. she went for a walk and never returned Nine hours later, around 11:14 a.m. on June 8, Tyrone contacted the police and Lori's family began searching for her. She was only 26 at the time of her disappearance. Lakewood-Busti Police were assisted by a number of other agencies in the area and several plots of land were carefully scoured for any clues. Community searches followed and despite some hopeful developments over the years, nothing substantial was discovered. Amy Cleveland, a close friend of Lori's as well as the spokesperson for the Ceci family, said that although more than a decade has passed since they last enjoyed Lori's company, she is in their thoughts daily. "12 years just seems like yesterday and I don't even know what to say that I haven't said a million times," she said. "We are all still in limbo, praying everyday that one day we will find out what happened to her. We love Lori and no amount of time could ever change the way we feel, but we all need closure." Late last year, Gustafson began a significant re-interview process, bringing in people who were interviewed back in 1997 to the present to see if any new information would come from it. "I try to keep the case fresh in my mind and last year, there was a new direction we took based on some new information and that was helpful," Gustafson said. "People still call with information and I review the entire case file from time to time just to see if anything stands out." The case file is massive, Gustafson explained, saying that it nearly takes up one half of the evidence room at the Lakewood-Busti police station. And even though he is called upon to investigate new cases every day, he said he keeps the Bova case on the table. "It's still as fresh in my mind as it was 12 years ago when I took the initial missing person report," he said. "Sometimes I'll be sitting at my desk, and see the missing person poster and it makes me jot down some notes and things to think about. The case is a frustrating one, but I'm dedicated to finding out what happened and hopefully deliver some closure for the family." Ms. Cleveland said that ever since the summer of 1997, the community has been supportive and compassionate to her and the family. "We don't want anyone to forget Lori, no matter how much times passes," she said. "We ask everyone to remember her and keep her in their prayers. We still love her, miss her and are hurting every day." Anyone with information about the case, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is asked to call the Lakewood-Busti Police Department at 763-9563, where all information can be submitted anonymously. A $50,000 reward is still being offered for information leading to a conviction or the whereabouts of Ms. Ceci-Bova. |
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