Since the news has been slow an trickling, I put together a detailed and cited timeline which (for an enhanced perspective) includes statements as well as established facts. Apologies in advance for any details left out - feel free to add. I read through most of the postings from the 4 threads to piece this together, so thanks to all of you who contributed to that.
Nov 17, 2010: Signal Mountain Police are called to the Palmgren's home in response to a verbal disorder. Police records show Matthew and Gail Palmgren had an argument over their missing dog. Gail went to spend the night with Matthew's mother at her Mountain Creek apartment. [
WS TL LINK]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apr 10-11: Durham, who spoke to GP almost daily, said Matthew Palmgren emotionally abused his wife. She suspected physical abuse also took place. On the weekend of April 10, her friend had a black eye. She said, Oh, I ran into something, Durham remembers.[
LINK]
Apr 22 (FRI): Police were called again to the home to settle another dispute. Dispute regarding travel in vehicles to lake house - claimed that MP wanted to drive himself to pick up the boat.[
LINK]
The dispute between Mrs. Palmgren and her husband which prompted that call was eventually resolved after both parties cooled down, according to a police report filed at the time. [
LINK] Mr. Palmgren and his wife were in their car fighting over his refusal to ride with her and their two children as a family to their lake house in Alabama. MP stated that she got mad because he wanted to take the boat down with them and he would have to take the jeep to haul it down there, according to the incident report. He stated that she took his jeep key and hid it from him. He got mad and got out of the vehicle and started to walk home, he told officers. Investigators said GP told them she called 911 because he wouldnt get back into the car and started walking home. [
LINK] MP told police he needed the Jeep to haul the boat and his wife got mad and decided to hide the key. So he got out and began walking home, according to the report. Asked about the boat, Durham replied, Thats full of ####. That boats already down here. That boat hasnt left the lake in three years that I know of, she said. [
LINK]
Apr 23 (SAT): MP claims that GP removed over $30,000 in items from the residence, including her jewelry, his jewelry and jewelry belonging to his family. [
LINK]
Apr 24-28 (dates?): Susie Button described Gail Palmgren as being upset in days leading up to 4/30. She also says Gail asked her to hold her passport and cash in her home. Other neighbors describe being asked to hold onto other personal belongings. [
LINK]
Apr 29 (FRI): Police were dispatched to SMPS amidst GP and MP being in an argument at the Signal Mountain Police station. GP and her children left to go to the family's lake house in Alabama. GP was also given phone numbers of a safe place to stay. [
LINK] That dispute was resolved when Matthew Palmgren agreed to stay at 40 Ridge Rock Drive and let Gail Palmgren take their two children . . . to their lake house in Alabama for the night, police said in their incident report. [
LINK] Durham said Gail Palmgren made an unexpected trip to Alabama on April 29 [
LINK]
Apr 29: (FRI) 1:49 PM Text (2:49 EST?) from Gail to Arlene Dunham, Headed down...call say little. ... Durham said she called Palmgren and Palmgren asked if Durham could meet in Wetumpka. She asked me if we could go some place happy, Durham said. I could tell something was bothering her. [
LINK] The Palmgrens have a home on Lake Jordan, as well as a rental home in Titus, according to Nichols. The lake home is where Gail would go to relax, said her sister. [
LINK]
Apr 29: (FRI evening) GP stopped at Arlene Durham's home in Titus, AL (Lake Jordan) just north of Wetumpka. Arlene Durham, said she saw Gail Palmgren and the children the night of April 29. She was very upset and very worried. You could tell something was the matter, she said. She wouldnt talk because the kids were here. [
LINK]
Apr 30: (SAT 6:30 AM) GP last(?) spoke to her sister Diane Nichols around 6:30 a.m. telling her sister that she was leaving her Lake Jordan home heading to her home in Signal Mountain [
LINK]
Apr 30: (SAT 12:15 PM) Gail brought children & familys dogs home to Signal Mountain, TN, then left without driver's license or credit cards - but presumably with her phone. "I saw her leaving around 12:15 that afternoon and I ran up the hill to say hi, because I knew she'd been upset for quite a while. Things have been going on at the house," said neighbor Susie Button. "She just drove away, she never even acknowledged me." [
LINK] Did GP also speak with her sister again at 12:15? [LINK]
Apr 30: (SAT) MP says he proposed to meet Mrs. Palmgren at the residence on April 30, but when he arrived she was gone, having left the two children "by themselves without any supervision." [
LINK] Matt P. said he was at his mothers (25 minutes away) prior to returning to the home.
May 2: (MON) GP's sister, Diane Nichols, calls Signal Mountain Police from her home in New York. Nichols reports not hearing from Gail, and requests a welfare check and files a missing persons report. An officer drove to the Palmgren's home. No one was home and there were no signs of foul play.
May 2: (MON) MP reports GP missing. MP reports she was last seen on April 30, when she dropped off their two children at the family home on Ridgerock Drive after spending a night with them 4/29 at the family's lake house in Alabama. [
LINK]
May 2: (MON) appx 5:00 PM this day [F4J timeline], in an area near the north base of Signal Mountain is last time there was activity on the cellphone.
May 4: (WED) MP claims he received a notice from the Post Office indicating GP had entered a change of address form dated April 30. [
LINK]
May 2-5 (date?) Palmgren presumably hires Davis & Hoss (Criminal Defense attorneys) at some point prior to filing on 5/6. He hires a PI on the same day.
Palmgren said he has hired private investigator Matthew Mathis, who formerly worked as the head of major crimes and in internal affairs at the Chattanooga Police Department, to help locate his estranged wife. [
LINK] Former officer, now private investigator Mike Mathis working w/ Matthew Palmgren & attorneys. Says he was hired same day as Davis & Hoss.[
LINK]
May 6: (FRI 9:19 AM) via attorney Hoss, [[ame="http://websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6505484&postcount=300"]LINK[/ame]] MP filed in Hamilton County Chancery Court for legal separation and temporary custody of the children: MP claimed his wife had been under care for depression and had become more paranoid recently. MP claims his wife had removed passports from the home and he fears his wife could remove the children from the country. [
LINK] ...filed a restraining order, a request for custody of the couple's children, and possession of their home [
LINK] he said his wife suffered from depression and was prescribed several medications [
LINK] He said he was notified that she had changed her pin number to three bank accounts in her name. He said the accounts contain approximately $420,000. He said at least two of the accounts totaling over $320,000 "are marital property." Mr. Palmgren said his wife had removed passports from the home and he feared his wife could remove the children from the country.
May 6: (FRI) MP states in a telephone interview: Were very upset. Shes had psychiatric issues in the past. ... Usually she just goes somewhere and decompresses but stays in contact with the kids. [
LINK]
May 6/7: (FRI-SAT) If she has psychiatric issues, then Im the queen of England, (friend) Arlene Durham said. Ask anyone: Gail is smart and has a good head on her shoulders. Signal Mountain police Detective James Tizzio said his investigation had uncovered no psychiatric issues with the missing woman. [
LINK]
May 11: (WED) "Absolutely not," said Diane Nichols (GP sister), when asked if her sister has a history of mental illness, "she is a very intelligent person, healthy, has two kids at home, she loves those kids, this is unusual." [
LINK]
May 16: (MON) MP's attorney confirms he has been placed on administrative leave from his job at Blue Cross, Blue Shield in connection to his wife's disappearance. Matthew Palmgren has not been charged with a crime, or named as a suspect. [
LINK]
May 16: (MON) Days before she went missing, GP confided in her friend SB that she felt someone was following her. "I would keep seeing the same car coming in and just turning around and stopping at one of the houses. So that was strange in itself. So after she would say that, I I started thinking and I could believe that could be true," said Button. Palmgren also told Button about problems she was having with her husband. "He was having an affair with a co-worker at Blue Cross Blue Shield," Button said. [
LINK]
May 17: (TUE) GP suspected her husband was having an affair, according to friends and family, and had discovered hotel invoices from the DoubleTree hotel and a Hampton Inn in Chattanooga, invoices that showed his name and that he had paid in cash. There was talk about that. She had no proof at that point, Nichols said. She did mention she found some things and she was going to further investigate it. She may have found something. She could have gotten concrete proof. [
LINK]
May 17: (TUE) press conference HCSO; MP and both attorneys, Lee Davis and Bryan Hoss, are present [
LINK] . Diane Nichols and her husband present. MP: "the jeep has been spotted a few times out there so we're asking for anybody who's seen that to immediately contact their local police and let us know to get more clues to where Gail could be. So...for myself, we've done everything in our power to finding Gail. We've hired a private investigator, we continue to look, we're turning over everything we can" [[ame="http://websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6502732&postcount=209"]LINK[/ame]] The Sheriff's Office says there have been reports of possible sightings of Palmgren's Jeep Rubicon in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, but none of the sightings have been substantiated or confirmed. [
LINK]
May 17: (TUE) Palmgrens attorney, Bryan Hoss, filed a motion Tuesday to continue the order because Gail has not been located and is considered a missing person by authorities. A chancellor is scheduled to rule on the order on June 3. [
LINK]
May 17: (TUE) Letter from Matt Palmgren to Arlene Durham:
RE: Return of Property
Via: Hand Delivery
Arlene: It is my understanding that you are in possession of a Security System DVR that you picked up from Best Buy in Pratville, AL, on May 2, 2011. This is my property. Please give this DVR Mike Mathis, who is the private investigator whom I have hired on my behalf. I have asked Mr. Mathis to deliver this letter to you.
Further, if you should have any other property that belongs to me or to Gail, please give the same to Mike Mathis as well.
Sincerely, Matthew Palmgren
[[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6536883&postcount=565"]LINK[/ame]] [[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6544841&postcount=603"]LINK[/ame]]
May 19: (THU) Elmore County (AL) Sheriff Bill Franklin said three investigators from Tennessee were in Elmore County Thursday morning. They were down here to try to find out what they could, and we provided them with any information we could, Franklin said. [
LINK]
May 22: (SUN) about 50 local volunteers crisscrossed Signal Mountain roads and trails Sunday in search of the GP's crimson Jeep Rubicon or any other clue that may lead to her. Volunteers, most in cars, others on ATVs or horses and several on foot, scoured a 30 square-mile region. The search came up empty but fulfilled the goal of crossing Signal Mountain off our list"...Several participants said Palmgrens husband, Matthew Palmgren, did not take part in the search. He could not be reached for comment Sunday but said earlier he has hired a private investigator to look for his wife. [
LINK]
May 23: (MON) Friends of Gail Palmgren organized their first search effort in Wetumpka, AL today, spreading the word about her disappearance...Those closest to Gail Palmgren will not give up, from her hometown of Signal Mountain, Tennessee to her vacation getaway of Wetumpka, Alabama, they are doing what they can. Durham will drive from Elmore County to the Chattanooga area tomorrow where she says she will spend the next three weeks looking for her friend. [
LINK]
May 24: (TUE) River search for missing woman's Jeep turns up nothing. Crews used highly accurate side-scan sonar to navigate the 50 foot waters Tuesday morning. The search lasted two hours and covered a quarter mile stretch of the river. Electronic images returned parts of vehicles, some 30 years old, but not Palmgren's Jeep Rubicon. [
LINK]
Jun 1: (WED) MP drops all his lawsuits against GP: a nonsuit was filed to voluntarily dismiss motions for custody and legal separation. [
LINK] The fear before was she could appear and take the kids out of school, Hoss said. If and when she does reappear, its one of those things we can refile and get in front of the same judge rather quickly. [
LINK]