TN TN - Tabitha Tuders, 13, Nashville, 29 Apr 2003

Lead in Tabitha Tudors Case Goes Nowhere
Posted: 02/12/2004 6:15:08 PM

They thought it might be a new lead in the disappearance of Tabitha Tuders, but detectives now say it didn't pan out.

Investigators had removed a window from a cell in the Davidson County jail. Deputies there had noticed some writing left by an inmate that may have related to the Tuders case.

But, after analysis investigators say there's no connection, and they're moving on to other leads.

newschannel5.com

I had heard on larry brinton segment " word on the street" that the pane of glass was broken while in police hands. if that is true I guess that would be why the lead went nowhere.

I believe he was speaking to the glass as being shattered to mean that they (being the police) have shattered (as being eliminated) the possibilty of this lead having any credibilty.

Tabitha's family marks birthday with party, cake


http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/02/47020187.shtml?Element_ID=47020187

Tabitha Tuders usually celebrated her birthday with a party either at Hendersonville Skating Rink in Hendersonville or at her Lillian Street home in east Nashville.

The tradition hasn't changed since her disappearance last April. Family and friends celebrated her 14th birthday yesterday with a party at her home, with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and a white and pink cake adorned with three pink roses.

''We're having one just like she's here 'cause as far as I'm concerned, she's just missing. She's not gone yet,'' said Irvin ''Bo'' Tuders, Tabitha's father. ''We're fixing to cut the cake. She's somewhere; we just don't know where she's at.''

They also planted a flowering cherry tree in the front yard of Bailey Middle School, Tabitha's school. The tree's flowers are purple, Tabitha's favorite color.

Tabitha disappeared about 7 a.m. April 30 as she headed to her school bus stop. Her parents reported her missing shortly after 6 p.m. that day after learning she didn't get on the bus or attend classes. There have been reportings of possible sightings in places as far away as Indiana.

''It's been the same ol' stuff being reported,'' Irvin Tuders said. ''But she's not where she's supposed to be, and that's with her family.''

At Bailey, several family members and friends helped plant the tree, each dropping a shovel full of dirt onto the tiny mound. Shivering in the brisk cold air, people held balloons with pictures of Tabitha and personal notes as they softly sang Happy Birthday.

They released balloons and stood quietly as they floated into the gray skies. Tabitha's brother, Kevin Tuders, cried. Family and friends comforted him.

''It's hard and heartbreaking,'' he said. ''I can't describe it.''

Family members asked Bailey Middle Principal Ruth Murray about planting a tree last week as a reminder to her classmates, Murray said.

''It's important that children remember their friends,'' Murray said. ''This is a huge concern for the community because most of our students walk. We have eight buses, and that's all. Many of them drop their little brothers and sisters off at the (Cora Howe) elementary school'' located across the street from Bailey Middle School

Federal grand jury indicts 13 on child *advertiser censored* charges



_____Today's Top Stories_____

• Almost 60 state schools appeal 'failure' label
• TennCare plan stirs drug lobby
• Police, Hispanic groups to attack language barrier
• Ex-chairwoman helps panel's search
• Woman with 19 cats pleads guilty to animal cruelty
• House OKs letting agency set fishing fees





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Associated Press


MEMPHIS — A federal grand jury indicted 13 people on child *advertiser censored* charges yesterday, with four accused of enticing minors to take part in sex acts.

The charges allege that children between 3 and 13 years old were abused.

The accused range in age from 19 to 68, with the charges against them in multicount indictments each carrying penalties of five years to 30 years in prison.

Though the indictments were released at the same time, the accused aren't charged with being part of a *advertiser censored* ring. Many of the charges are unrelated.

Authorities refused to discuss the investigation or describe the allegations.

The indictments charge Thomas Nelson Seaton, 59, of Memphis with enticing a girl younger than 7 to engage in ''sexually explicit conduct'' for the production of *advertiser censored*.

Michael Ray Cline, 54, of Millington, Tenn., was charged with enticing a 3-year-old girl to have sexual intercourse and with producing child *advertiser censored*.

Billy Thomas Phillips, 37, and Jamie Dawn Forrester, 34, both of Martin, Tenn., were accused of producing child *advertiser censored*.

Their indictment accuses Forrester of engaging in ''sexually explicit conduct'' with a girl from the time the child was 11 years old until she was 13.

Also charged were Steven F. Baker, 51, of Cordova, Tenn.; Jerry Hazlerig Blair, 54, of Millington; Jimmie Kessner, 56, of Germantown, Tenn.; Jerra Lykins, 32, of West Liberty, Ky.;

Harold Mapstone, 68, of Bartlett, Tenn.; Wayne E. Ridenhour Jr., 37, of Memphis; Mark Frederick Straight, 41, of Chicago; Donald Ray Williams, 58, of Memphis; and Ryan Foster Woodruff, 19, of Germantown.

Spring Hill teen fends off would-be abductor



_____Today's Top Stories_____

• Almost 60 state schools appeal 'failure' label
• TennCare plan stirs drug lobby
• Police, Hispanic groups to attack language barrier
• Ex-chairwoman helps panel's search
• Woman with 19 cats pleads guilty to animal cruelty
• House OKs letting agency set fishing fees




_____Today in Williamson A.M._____

• Cost cools interest in fire department
• Roll back tradition with a Wal-Mart wedding
• Spring Hill teen fends off would-be abductor





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By BONNIE BURCH
Staff Writer


SPRING HILL — A local girl and her dog foiled their attempted abduction while the two were walking on Buckner Road Monday afternoon.

The Spring Hill teen was taking her Pitbull Terrier mix for a walk on a leash around 1 p.m. between Buckner Place subdivision and Crowne Pointe when a white van pulled alongside her and a man tried to yank her inside the van's open door.

''She said she was punching, jerking and trying to get away from the man. When she was doing this, he kind of partially fell out of the van. He was able to reach over and grab her ankle,'' said Katie Felton, a detective with the Spring Hill Police Department.

At that point, the normally docile canine leapt into action by biting the man. The girl and her dog were then able to wiggle free and the man sped off in the van.

''I was playing with her dog later and he seemed very friendly. But with this breed — if he feels his owner is in danger, he'll attack. He certainly did his job,'' Felton said.

The victim said she had previously noticed the man in Crowne Pointe subdivision about a year earlier. On that occasion, she had been walking and the man's eyes had followed her so intensely that she had remembered his face. At that time, his head was shaved. The man who tried to abduct her on Monday had black bushy hair. But the attempted kidnap victim was sure this was the same man, the Spring Hill detective said.

The suspect is described as a while male between the ages of 20 and 25, with a slender build, wearing blue jeans, denim jacket and work boots.

''She wasn't sure how tall he was, but from what she was able to describe, we'd say around 5-foot, 8-inches. And he had a five o'clock shadow,'' Felton said.

The older-model white van had tinted windows on the driver's, passenger and rear doors. The vehicle also had a lot of rust, a black rear bumper and may have had an out-of-state license plate. The girl could not discern any signage, writing or stickers on the van.

A white van was also involved in two similar abduction attempts last August in Franklin. Felton said a connection between the Spring Hill and Franklin incidents has been mentioned as a possibility ''just because the description of the van is similar in the attacks last year.''

Last summer, a Franklin woman said a man tried to abduct her in broad daylight from the Mapco Express gas station on Hillsboro Road near Mack Hatcher Parkway. The two men involved in that incident are described as a heavyset Hispanic man and a slender white man, both in their 50s, who left in a white commercial van.

A few days later, a Hispanic man of the same description also tried to abduct a teen-age girl as she was walking on Concord Pass. The vehicle he was driving was a mid-1980s hatchback car in need of a paint job.

Spring Hill police are on the lookout for the man involved in Monday's kidnapping. Residents are advised to do the same.

New leads in Tabitha Tuders case

http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=1657081

http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/3930.asp?q=remains

Skull Found On Construction Site
Posted: 2/20/2004 4:34:03 PM
Updated: 2/20/2004 4:34:03 PM

Construction workers discovered a human skull near a new development in Bordeaux Friday.



The skull was located in a wooded area next to land where a developer is building homes.

Metro Police took the remains to the medical examiner's office for further study.

The man who found it says he was just taking a walk when he found it.

“We noticed, I noticed a rock laid wall back there. I went back in there to see what was back in the woods, happened to look down and I noticed a skull laying down there,” said Kevin Gentry, a foreman.

Police have not determined the age of the remains or whether the skull came from a man, woman or child.

Police said it's even possible the skull came from an old grave yard in the area, but it’s too early to tell

Child abduction-murders: Why?
Prime motivation is sexual assault, 44-state study finds

An interesting article found while surfing.


http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20001001killings3.asp

FBI sources say that a child abductor/murderer often develops nervousness, sleeplessness, irritability and an unnatural interest in news reports about the case. About 10 percent volunteer to help police search for the missing child. Police worry that abductors who kidnap children they don't know, such as the still-unknown man who abducted a 10-year-old Somerset County girl last year, become increasingly brazen, motivated to strike again and again until they slay their victims.

The typical abductors were white males, about 27 years old and unmarried. Half of them -- 51 percent -- lived either alone (17 percent) or with their parents (34 percent.) Half of them also were unemployed, and those who were employed worked in unskilled or semiskilled jobs.

"Therefore, the killers can generally be characterized as 'social marginals,' " the study said.

Commonly, the killers had a legitimate reason to be at the site where they first contacted their child victims. Twenty-nine percent lived near the site, 19 percent were there for some normal social activity, and 18 percent either worked in the area or were there for some other business.

Most of the children abducted and murdered by strangers -- 57 percent -- were "victims of opportunity," the study added. In nearly two-thirds of the cases, the abductions were "snatch and grab" confrontations where a killer saw an available victim and quickly assaulted and subdued her.

In only 14 percent of cases did the killer choose his victim because of some physical characteristic.

In the majority of cases -- 53 percent -- the initial contact between the victim and the killer took place within a quarter-mile of the victim's home. And in 33 percent of the cases, the first contact occurred less than 200 feet from the victim's home

hi johnny...i've been meaning to ask...are you in nashville?...west nashville here.......born & raised in nashville....just curious...i read newschannel5 every morning
...just thought i would say hi, from the state of tennessee...

thanks for the articles that you have posted. sure does give a insite of what a lot of these perps are like and there habits and such.. some of this brings a few people to mind that we have discussed in the past. one of which moved to another state 2 weeks after tabitha turned up missing. sure hope the law enforcement can track that fellow down. again thanks for posting the articles you found...

CLOSE ENOUGH: yes I am from Nashville also born and raised. My family is mostly from West Nashville and I'm sure we probably know some of the same people. Also Danny is from Nashville as well.

dannyodie: Thanks for the thanks! Good to hear from you again. I will forward some new information to you.

Grand jury declines to indict teacher on sex charges



SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — A veteran agriculture teacher who had been accused of sexual improprieties by a female student will be able to return to the classroom soon, Bedford County education officials said.

Yesterday, the March session of the county grand jury issued a ''no true bill,'' declining to indict Millard Johnson, a teacher at the county vocational center. He had been charged Jan. 13 with assault, sexual battery by an authority figure and attempted sexual battery by an authority figure.

''Now this is finally behind him and he can reclaim his life,'' said Raymond Fraley, an attorney from Fayetteville who represented Johnson. ''Considering how quiet and being the unassuming man he is, this was rough on him.''

According to county records, Johnson has taught for 33 years, 16 of them in Bedford County schools. He did not have any blemishes on his work record until the 17-year-old student filed charges against him.

Bedford County School Superintendent Mike Bone placed Johnson on paid leave from teaching until the legal case ran its course. The teacher was temporarily assigned to the county bus garage and was prohibited from having contact with children.

''Now that it appears he has been exonerated, we will get our lawyers involved. We'll get something from the courts that identifies what has been done, and if he's been exonerated, then he'll be placed back into the same position,'' Bone said.

Johnson could not be reached for comment, but his lawyer said Johnson was elated with the news.

''This community has really rallied around him. I've never seen support like that from students, from teachers and others who came to his aid,'' Fraley said.

At the teacher's preliminary hearing, the courtroom was nearly filled with students and former students, many of them wearing their Future Farmers of America jackets. Johnson was the sponsor for the local chapter.

Prosecutors could not be reached for comment on the grand jury's decision.

Fraley said he believed the public ''just didn't buy what they were hearing.''

''I think the people on the grand jury and the people in the community had a feel for it — that something didn't seem right,'' the defense attorney said.

Johnny,

this sounds promising, do you have new info for us?

http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=1657081

""There's been a flurry of activity in the Tabitha Tuders case. Johnny White of the search group "Team Tabitha" tells News 2 that there are new leads in the case, renewing hope they'll find the missing 14-year-old.

Recently a young came forward, claiming she was a friend of Tabitha's. White says he's not sure if she can help, but says it's this kind of information police and the family need. "

Actually we don't have anything solid. Seems like all that we have is theories of what might have happened. At the moment we don't even know which direction to look, so we just try to eliminate areas a little at a time.

Here are some things that bother me that someone may have a better answer for:

1) Tabitha would never use the school bathroom, although she would use the bathroom anywhere else.

2) Tabitha's mother goes to work at 6:00 am and father at 7:00 am she is seen two houses down around 7:45 am and then twice more two blocks away heading towards her bus stop. Her mother is home in the evenings when Tabitha gets off the bus at a stop closer and facing her house. I believe the only time she was vulnerable was in route to her bus stop in the am.

3) She was originally classified a runaway.

4) Not one thing has been found, no clothing, shoes, etc.

5) If she was not taken by force or coercion, etc. What happened?

6) From the outside looking in what does this look like to you folks?


Tell me your opinions of lie detectors. The Green River killer passed, who else passed who turned out to be guilty?

johnny, I think by keeping this thread active is the best thing that we all can do for tabitha. I as you know have always believed that tabitha got in a car with a person she knew or felt safe with, someone who has had some contact with her before. I hate to ask again, but has the boyfriend of her sister ever been talked to by the police and any of his friends that knew tabitha? and the other potential person is the person that moved to new york two weeks after she went missing. I think you know the man I am talking about. I can't help but believe that the person that took her probably had been around tabitha and her home. how about the birthday party she was at days or so before she went missing, were there anybody there that is really questionable.. I think someone around her home knows what happened maybe someone as close as the market just up the street. lets keep this going on websleuths, there is lots of minds out there that can give out some good ideas. too those websleuthers reading we really need all the input you can give...

Her now ex boyfriend has been questioned and passed a lie detecor. The man who moved to New York? I am not aware he has ever been questioned. The birthday party, was a two year olds party and not at Tabitha's home. We have a list of everyone who attended that party.

Somewhere someone knows.

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/03/48864506.shtml?Element_ID=48864506

Middle Tennessee briefs: Scholarship to honor missing Tuders teen


In honor of missing east Nashville teenager Tabitha Tuders' love of reading, a scholarship is being established to the Vanderbilt Kennedy School of Reading clinic.

The clinic provides tutoring for students who have trouble reading.

A kickoff event will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at P.F. Chang's Bistro, 2525 West End Ave.

Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at 329-8901.

Contributions to the scholarship can be sent to: Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Development Office, 2525 West End Ave., Suite 450, Nashville, Tenn., 37203.

Since I'm not blind I'll move this up!