TX TX - Julie Moseley, 9, Mary Trlica, 17, Lisa Wilson, 14, Fort Worth, 23 Dec 1974 - #1

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Princess Rose,
Thank you so much for your support, it is wonderful to know there are people who can feel empathy and not believe everthing someone writes about some one. You say you come from a family of authors, that is awesome. I would like someone to write my story and it started early in our childhood. One tradgedy after another. Im not in it for the money, I just want my story told. I also want alll the profits to go to The Center for Missing and Exploited Children. If You can find someone that is truely wants to take the time and visit with us I think you could be on your way to a best seller. Here is a link to my email address only serious writers contact me
Thanks you from the bottom of my heart.

[COLOR="Red"]deige@sbcglobal.net[/COLOR]
 
Deige, I sent you an email on May 30 with my contact information.
 
I came across some info pertaining to this case...

As reported in the Galveston Daily News, March 28 1981, Brazoria County sheriff's dep't investigators, along with Ft. Worth police, were searching a swamp near the town of Alvin for human remains. In 1976, an oil rig worker discovered two skulls and a jaw in the area. But, due to what was termed a "bad search", nothing else was recovered at the time. Due to the election of a new sheriff, several cases were being given a second look. LE believed that the skulls may have had something to do with the disappearance of Trlica, Wilson, and Mosely.

During the search on the 28th, human teeth, vertebrae, two pair of girls' pants and a high school drama book were recovered. The remains were sent to the coroner for dental comparison.

On April 5th, 1981, it was reported that the remains belonged to two girls who had disappeared in 1974 from nearby Dickinson, Texas. Georgia Geer, 14, and Brooks Bracewell, 12, had disappeared without a trace in September while on their way to their school bus stop.

The articles then went on to discuss the possibility that 40 other girls had gone missing and been murdered in the area of Brazoria County and the surrounding counties. By the mid-70's, the bodies of 21 girls who had been reported missing in 1971 and 1972 had been found. In 1974 and 1975, an additional 17 were reported missing. Police had developed a (unnamed) suspect in 1971, who was subsequently killed by police in 1972.

The "official" LE story was that there was nothing substantial to link the cases. Unofficially, detectives were reported to say that there had to be something to it...The girls ranged in age from 12 to 21, most being 14 or 15. Almost all shared the same general physical features; thin builds, long, straight light to medium brown hair parted in the middle.
Almost all were found in or very close to water.

Other articles, dated as late as 2002, compiled missing/recovered/unidentifed victim reports from the area. One report stated that since 1971, 21 girls and women had gone missing along the I-45 corridor through the area, and the LE had recovered the remains of 14. This number includes those found in the Calder Rd "killing field", as discussed in another thread here.

I wanted to bring this post forward. This shows that there was likely a serial killer in the area at the time of the Trio's disappearance. I45 runs from south of Dallas, south to Waco, Austin, San Antonio. The I45 killer could have come up I45 and then Mansfield Hwy. Mansfield Hwy intersects E. Seminary Dr. which is where Seminary South was.

It occurred to me that the reason that the letter was sent to Rachel's house is because, of the 3 girls, only Rachel would have a driver's license at the time. She was probably the ONLY one who had any ID on her at all that day. I think that the killer must have used her driver's license to look up her address in the phone book - everyone was listed in the phone book back then. With an unusual last name like Trlica, the list of names could not be that long so it would be easy to match up the address on the driver's license to the phone book. Phone books were readily available everywhere in those days. You could find one at most any payphone. The listing would have been under her husband's name. Perhaps the killer saw her husband listed as Thomas instead of Tommy. Texas Sandman, can you ask Rusty if this is correct - that this is how he was listed in the phone book? The fact that the car was parked on the UPPER deck of the Sears parking lot is also important. Of all the places to park at a mall, the upper decks are usually the least busy. This would be, IMO, the most private place for someone to attempt a kidnapping of 3 girls. Of course, it could be that the mall was just packed that day and this was the only place the girls could find to park. I also looked at a map regarding the PO cancellation on the note. Throckmorton is West of Ft. Worth and Weatherford is West, almost SouthWest of Ft. Worth and much closer to where Seminary South Mall was. It would be almost a straight shot from the Mall to Weatherford with many uninhabited areas and lakes in between. Throckmorton is not that far out of the way either.
 
Oh my goodness Princess Rose you are absolutely right about the phone book and the fact that Rachel would probably be the one to have ID info. That is the first time I ever thought about that. Thank you for your insight. It helps to maybe make some sense of an otherwise senseless action.
 
Hello, I am new here, but very familar with this case. I grew up in Fort Worth in the same neighborhood as Tommy Trlica. Seminary South was our hangout for Saturday afternoons in the 60's.

I was doing a search on a Texas Divorce and Marriage record site a year or so ago. I knew one of Tommy's Wives during the early 70's, I was looking to see how long that marriage lasted when I noticed that the divorce or marriage with his wife after Rachel was in Throckmorton or she showed her residence as being in Throckmorton. If the postage stamp was done in Throckmorton thats weird cause you could live in Texas for 5o years like me and not hear the town of Throckmorton mentioned twice in the same decade, very small town in the middlle of no where. I cant find that site anymore to go back and look again.

Did someone ever come up with what day the letter showed up?
 
Does anyone know the answers to these question?

What time did the girls leave to go shopping that day? What was the address of the last house they left from?

Is it a fact tha there first stop was the Army-Navy store on the corner of Berry and Hemphill?

Did they leave Seminary South and return home for some reason and then return to Seminary South?

Were there reciepts with the purchases they made that day? was the time of purchase on the reciepts back then?
 
Hi Kaiser and welcome to the community.
I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.
Rachel left from her house around 10 am. She invited me to join her but I couldn't get my lazy teenage *advertiser censored* out of bed. She did tell me you was going to the Army Navy Store to get some jeans out of layaway. Yes indeed there was and Army Navy store on the corner of Hemphill and Berry. This store was a popular place for young girls including myself to purchase low cut hiphugger jeans in a wide variety of bright colors. After leaving home she went to our mothers and ask her to go but she couldn't. Our father was struggling with malignant meloma and was have black outs and she had to be with him at all times. From there she went to the 3500 block of Gordon Ave. to pick up Renee. Julie lived across the street and was over there when Rachel arrived. Julie begged to go with them so she could buy a christmas present for her mother. I'm no sure of when they left Renees grandmothers but we do know they did indeed stop and get Rachels jeans out of layaway. I feel certain she carried them in to the mall to match tops to them. She did not have her stepson shawn. They were suppose to have him for Christmas Eve. Logic tells me they were kidnapped for human trafficking but heart doesnt want to hear it! My bond with my sister was strong. We used to sit crossed legged in her living room floor and talk and play canasta to the wee hours of the morning. In answer to your last question. NO there was no receipts in the car only a small gift wrapped for little shawn from Renee. I Hope this answers your questions.
God Bless
Deige
 
Why won't you reveal your self to me. I can only think of a few people you could be, Darin or Gary Cordell After I found this web site you dropped off the map. please don't do that it isn't fair. Please talk to me.
Thanks Deige
 
let the record show that the letter stated the car is parked in Sears Upper LOt not Deck. By parking there you coulc go in through the lawn and garden dept. Have a blessed day
Deige
 
Princess Rose, as Debra said that was great thinking on the phone book. I would imagine it is the same for all area directories, but I've only seen full first names such as Thomas used in phone books, never nicknames like Tommy. Can anyone verify this was the case in 1974?

The question remains why someone felt the need to write the letter in the first place. To me it sounds like it was meant to give the abductor more time to leave the area, by assuring the families the girls had gone to Houston voluntarily and would return in a week so maybe they wouldn't be in a complete panic and search as hard as if the three had vanished without leaving a letter behind. But though the families searched hard anyway, the girls still remain missing so it doesn't sound like the letter really served any purpose.

I don't see the abductor writing this as he was still holding the girls, because it only mentions Rachel's name and as you pointed out that could have been found on her license. I think that if the abductor had the girls with him at the time the letter was written, he would have demanded their names and included those on the letter. It might have been written after he harmed them or sent them away with someone else.

The fact that the letter says "we had to get away" vs. "I had to get away" also suggests at least two of the girls, one of whom had to be Rachel, were still together at the time and the abductor knew that.

Debra, I assume none of the families saw the letter and recognized it as being written on stationery that their daughter kept in her desk at home?
 
Tatortot,
All the families saw the letter. No one recognized the paper it was written on. Also of interest if memory serves me the letter was addressed in pen and it appeared the pen was running out of ink and was completed in pencil as was the letter.
 
I always thought it was the lot that set up high close to Seminary Street, It was really only used by employees and when the Mall was packed. If you parked there you would either enter Sears in the Men's clothes store or walk on down to enter the center by the shoe store. The lot you would park in where you would use the Sears Home and Garden dept set lower than the seminary street lot and was shielded from view by a wall on the South end, an incline on the east and the freeway was on the east too. This was a good parking place if you were in a hurry to get inside a store , lik if it was cold or raining. Is this the lot where they were on the east side of Sears?
 
So the little gift for shawn was the only present in the car? was shawn's Mother Shana or Shawna?
 
Diege, do you know where the gift for shawn was purchased , if it was already wrapped it had o come from the mall, which meant they returned to the car which is strange if the gift was small.

How about the chance they left the center and went to someones house and returned to SS (shopping center) I saw that somewhere and the only way that could be known is if someone saw them or they left some sign they were home.
 
If I remember right the gift was from Renee to Shawn and she had when Rachel picked her up from her grandmothers. Thats how it was left in the car. I think someone said it was a plastic car or something. I'm not sure.
 
Also now that I think about it you are right about the parking lot. Its been so many years and I try to avoid that area because its painful. I think Shawns mothers name was Shawna.
 
I guess if someone wanted to they could probably go to the downtown library. They may have a copy of the phone books from back then. I knew they use to have them from all over the US because I used them for research. But that was 20 years ago
 
So by what I have read there is really no proof the girls returned to the car once they arrived at SS. If they were abducted by force, the parking lot on the east would be the most likely one where something like that could go undetected. What time was it when the families became alarmed?
 
somewhere between 2-4 pm. Renees mother kept calling to see if they where home yet. Renee had a party she was going to. She started calling all the stores in the mall she could and having them paged. The FWPD would not come until the mall was closed. The mall was open until 11pm. Those were the Christmas Shopping hours. I'm fixing to take my Mom to dinner. I will ask her. I hate asking her because it causes so much hurt. We talk about her a lot but all we can do is speculate.
 
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