Dr. Doogie said:
Shortly after Annas disappearance, Joe Ford and Annasbro visited every house on Purissima Creek Road to see if anyone had seen anything that may be of help in the search. Everyone was as helpful as they could be, until the visited a ramshackle residence at the corner of PC Road and Verde Road. There, they were met by a man wielding a hatchet and was told to leave the property immediately. Evidently, the man moved out shortly afterwards.
Prior to Annas disappearance, if something bizarre had happened on the road, most people would have at first suspected this man. This overall suspicion, coupled with the violent reaction to visitors, has bothered Joe all of these years and leads him to wonder if this Wild Man may have had some involvement in Annas case. As far as we know, he was never questioned by authorities.
The following is a bit confusing (and hopefully Joe and Annasbro can clarify the timeline): Joe and Annasbro returned to the shack after the man moved and gathered some items that had been left behind. There was roll of film negatives (nothing suspicious on them) and some mail and paycheck stubs for a Richard Speder. What is confusing are these items were all dated in January and February of 1980, but Joe had indicated that he gathered them shortly after the man vacated the shack. The timeframe does not match up if the man moved out within weeks of the disappearance and these items were collected shortly after that, they should be dated 1973. Another couple of possibilities are that the man stayed there until 1980, then moved out, or that he left in 1973, then someone else resided there until 1980 when the materials were discovered.
As a result of the time frame confusion, we do not know if the Wild Man and Richard Speder are one in the same. One of the pictures on the roll of negatives shows a young man with long hair and a beard, but Joe Ford does not believe that he is the Wild Man. The picture may be of Richard Speder (if Speder is not the Wild Man) or it may be of an acquaintance of Speder. One way to nail this question down is to find someone who knew Speder and see if the man in the picture is him I am working on that angle now.
I have googled and zabaed the name Richard Speder and found some hits, but nothing that immediately jumps out as suspicious (not an RSO, etc.) If anyone wants to take a shot at researching him, be my guest. If you do find anything, please email me first before posting.
