TX-Property Owner Offers Tip In Missing Woman's Case

[aussiegran]

PLEASANTON, Texas -- Law enforcement authorities and cadaver dogs searched a piece of property Wednesday in Pleasanton in connection with the disappearance of Patty Vaughan, a Wilson County woman who has been missing since December 1996.



The owner of the land told authorities that J.R. Vaughan, the husband of the missing woman, dug a pit on the property in December 1996, the same month that Patty Vaughn disappeared.



J.R. Vaughan, who has never been charged in connection with his wife's disappearnce, worked for a construction company at the time.



"He had access to the pit," said Patsy Wallace, the missing woman's mother. "He worked here every day."



"There was a very limited time frame that someone would have had, possibly to dispose of the body," said Mark Dubose, an attorney representing the Wallace family.



Cadaver dogs failed to detect a scent since the property sits adjacent to a cemetery.



Texas Rangers told Wallace that they don't have enough leads to dig up the site, but Wallace said she plans on asking a missing persons organization from Houston if it will conduct a dig.
http://www.ksat.com/news/7346273/detail.html
....................................
:furious: why didnt the property owner tell LE about this when she went missing.
I hope someone helps dig the pit out.

[bykerladi]

Why isn't the OWNER digging the site now? If I thought someone buried their dead wife in my backyard, I'd be out there in a minute with a shovel!!!

[TB-Calgary]

Me too!!!!

[babydust2004]

I would probably dig too,but I might possibly be afraid of messing up any evidence that could convict the person responsible.Some people may just not be sure what to do.Dig and possibly find the body but possibly mess up evidence or don't dig and never get answers for this family.Hard decision I would think.

[CrimeHater]

Thats what I was thinking too babydust. I would totally want to know! BUT again, I wouldn't want to tamper wit evidence.
My question is why now, after so long break silence?? This was back in 1996 for crying out loud. :waitasec:

[Gmommy]

Could have been fear keeping them from reporting or maybe they just didn't make the connection about their tennant digging and were reading a story about the missing woman and were suddenly remembering that the guy had been digging right around that time.

Maybe they didn't dig for the reasons others suggested-fear of tampering with evidence. Or it is possible they were just elderly and not physically ablel to dig.

[wondering22]

This is really eerie... Patty Vaughan disappeared the same day that Jon Benet disappeared. Patty has been searched for extensively and many times, and her mother even got into trouble for assaulting the husband, who is the prime suspect as Patty's blood was found in many places.

It's not like her story hasn't been in the local Texas news.

It strikes me as very peculiar that this individual is suddenly remembering JR's pit of almost a decade ago.

Here's the URL to a website about Patty Vaughan made by a close friend. Very informative and filled with links.

[MagicRose99]

PSST! What URL? :confused:



This is really eerie... Patty Vaughan disappeared the same day that Jon Benet disappeared. Patty has been searched for extensively and many times, and her mother even got into trouble for assaulting the husband, who is the prime suspect as Patty's blood was found in many places.

It's not like her story hasn't been in the local Texas news.

It strikes me as very peculiar that this individual is suddenly remembering JR's pit of almost a decade ago.

Here's the URL to a website about Patty Vaughan made by a close friend. Very informative and filled with links.

[wondering22]

Patty Brightwell Vaughan at analyticalQ
Facts on Patty Brightwell Vaughan. ... 26 Dec 1996: Patty's cousin filed missing person report with Bexar County Sheriff's Office ...

http://www.analyticalq.com/patty/default.htm

In the news on Patty Brightwell Vaughan at analyticalQ

DNA evidence confirmed Monday that blood found in Patty Vaughan's abandoned van and home belonged to the Wilson County mother missing since Christmas. ...

http://www.analyticalq.com/patty/news.htm

[jodierenee]

Sounds like she was killed while taking a bath or shower...then the body was brought into the van...the van was abandoned on the side of the road and most likely her killer (obviously the husband) caught a ride with a friend and buried the body

hope they get this scumbag behind bars. I hope he dosen't have custody of the children! And to murder his wife on Christmas Day....:behindbar

[jodierenee]

http://www.unsolvedcrimes.com/patty.html



Her husband claims she left the house alone after the argument and simply never returned. The following day, December 26, 1996, her van was found abandoned and with a flat tire. Later tests revealed that the tire had been intentionally deflated. On this same day, her husband filed for divorce; other family members reported her missing to the police.

Luminol tests revealed that blood had been cleaned from Patty's van, from the walls and floor of her bedroom, and from a mop found in her house. DNA testing has determined that the blood in all locations was Patty's.


Hope LE fingerprinted the mop......

[wondering22]

While I was a doing a search for something else, one of the results was a super long, very long thread in another forum entitled something like, "List of Husbands Who Have Murdered Their Wives."

I didn't open it up, but some day I'll have to check it out - evidentally, it's become quite common.

Just DISGUSTING.

[aussiegran]

:( I am glad for the family that the hole was excavated they would always wonder if it wasnt .


A tip came in through the family attorney that JR Vaughan had dug a large deep hole with a backhoe around the time Patty disappeared on the property connected to and since purchased by the Pleasanton Cemetery. 3 eyewitnesses came forward and confirmed they saw the same thing during the same time.

Patty's family enlisted the help of Monica Caison and the CUE CENTER, a missing persons organization out of North Carolina, to help plan, finanance and conduct a dig.

http://findpatty.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=searches&action=display&num=1178556687

[mysteriew]

While I was a doing a search for something else, one of the results was a super long, very long thread in another forum entitled something like, "List of Husbands Who Have Murdered Their Wives."

I didn't open it up, but some day I'll have to check it out - evidentally, it's become quite common.

Just DISGUSTING.

There are something like an average of three domestic violence murders each day in the US.

[hoppyfrog]

"The Official Website for Finding Patty Vaughan"

http://www.findpattyvaughan.com/

Texas Dept of Public Safety page for Patty

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/MPCH/mpdetails.asp?id='M10/1/200112:27:40PM'

Carole Sund Foundation page for Patty

http://www.carolesundfoundation.com/sections/missing?person=457

[Rle7]

Eleven years ago, on Christmas Day, Patty Vaughan disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a family eager for closure and investigators who are constantly looking for clues.

"She sang like an angel," Patsy Wallace, Patty's mother, said.

Patty's memory is vivid for family and friends who wonder exactly what happened to this young mother of three children. Over time, Vaughan's mother has developed her own theory.

"I know she was, she was murdered," Wallace said.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA122407.KENS.vaughn.473f4910.html?npc

[FLMom]

He had access to a pit next to a cemetery? Was it an active cemetery? Were there any burials there around the time she disappeared? If so, I'd be more inclined to look at the cemetery than the backyard pit.

Thank you for posting an update for us, Rle7.

[Rle7]

Nearly 12 years after her disappearance, investigators may have a possible break in finding out what happened to San Antonio mom Patty Vaughn.

Bexar County investigators now handling the case decided to investigate a pile of clothes found inside the missing woman's van and may have found a new piece of evidence.

Investigators found a red workman's jumpsuit inside a pile of men's clothing where Vaughn's blood was found in 1996.

"What jumped out is that this jumpsuit seemed to be a worker... automotive repair or plumbing," Adrian Ramirez said.

Ramirez, along with Louis Antu, are two of the cold case detectives who have taken over the case.

http://www.ksat.com/news/16282075/detail.html?rss=ant&psp=news

[hoppyfrog]

Nearly 12 years after her disappearance, investigators may have a possible break in finding out what happened to San Antonio mom Patty Vaughn.

Bexar County investigators now handling the case decided to investigate a pile of clothes found inside the missing woman's van and may have found a new piece of evidence.

Investigators found a red workman's jumpsuit inside a pile of men's clothing where Vaughn's blood was found in 1996.

"What jumped out is that this jumpsuit seemed to be a worker... automotive repair or plumbing," Adrian Ramirez said.

Ramirez, along with Louis Antu, are two of the cold case detectives who have taken over the case.

http://www.ksat.com/news/16282075/detail.html?rss=ant&psp=news

They only NOW decided to look at that piece of evidence?????? WTH???

Hoppy

[concernedperson]

I am sorry but with all the blood evidence they should have reopened the case many years ago when DNA sampling was verified as an absolute. This is shoddy police work and then to find out about the workman's clothes in the pile. I guess they wanted the killer to confess and make the job easier.

And, then, the tip after all this time? I think the tipper was afraid of dying with that on his mind and did the right thing before it was too late. But, it is too late for Patty and her family. This is just terrible all the way around.

I had never seen this thread until today. Or I don't remember seeing it.

[barb0301]

This has been a huge mystery around this area for years. Many investigations have been done and many searches conducted. It is amazing to me that this new evidence is JUST NOW coming to light. Absolutely AMAZING !!!!

[Littledeer]

Could it have possibley been "planted"????

It just seems so unbelievable that this jumpsuit now comes to light!!!!! :waitasec::waitasec::waitasec:

Is the tipster the one that brought this to LE's attention or was it only about the pit?

[Bobbisangel]

Her blood was all over the bedroom and in the van!!! Just unbelievable isn't it.
What were LE thinking by not arresting the husband right then and there? Is this some little rinky dink backwoods town that she lived in where LE don't know their rears from a hole in the ground??!! Guess they wanted a video or something solid like that. What lousy police work.

If I were a part of the family I would have been contacting the Attorney General and everyone else who would listen to me all the while screaming my head off...parking my butt at the police station and raising heck.