VA VA - Claudine Gifford, 43, White Stone, 6 July 2014 *GUILTY*

OkieGranny

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http://wtvr.com/2014/07/09/claudine-jaquier-gifford-missing/

LANCASTER COUNTY, Va. – Claudine Jaquier Gifford, 43, was reported missing in Lancaster County. Gifford was last seen Sunday night leaving the Tiki Bar in White Stone, Virginia, according to Lancaster Sheriff’s Capt. Marty Shirilla.

Gifford is described as a 5’4″ white female who weighs about 112 pounds. She was last seen wearing a multicolored tank top, blue jeans and sandals.

Claudine's FB: https://www.facebook.com/claudine.j.gifford
 
The article says "Ground and air search teams yesterday began working in the area" but this search expansion is "part of what are considered the normal, next steps to take under the circumstances in this case.” Sounds like the circumstances are not good. BTW, White Stone is apparently really tiny: the 2010 census lists the population as 352.
 
Who reported her missing? Have they identified the man she left with? If so, have they questioned him? Is it possible they decided to go away somewhere together?
 
The fact that they are doing these kinds of searches tells me that they have strong suspicions of foul play and a good idea where to look.
 
The fact that they are doing these kinds of searches tells me that they have strong suspicions of foul play and a good idea where to look.

I think they so; otherwise, this would be a pretty odd statement from the Lancaster County SO:

https://www.facebook.com/lancaster....50827.183929898285984/815629468449354/?type=1

Beginning today the operation expanded to include shoreline and shallow water searches, to include the creeks, on both the bay side and the river side from Windmill Point north. The Virginia Marine Police and the Virginia State Police will be assisting in the search efforts. “This is still being worked as a missing person case. The expanded actions are part of what are considered the normal, next steps to take under the circumstances in this case,” said Capt. Martin Shirilla, the sheriff’s public information officer.

“Past cases have proved that tidal flow is not a simple matter of water in and out of the creeks and up and down the river. It is not unusual for a body, if there is one, to wash ashore several miles upriver from the original point of entry into the water. And there are numerous factors to consider before a body, if there is one, to wash ashore or surface” said Lt. E.T. Self, the sheriff’s chief investigator.

Gifford was last seen leaving the Tiki Bar at Windmill Point about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday July 6 in the company of a man.

I wonder if they know who the man is. Sounds like maybe they do, since they haven't offered any description of him.

ETA: Okay, never mind, found it. They do know who he is.
 
BTW, White Stone is apparently really tiny: the 2010 census lists the population as 352.

Oh yes, White Stone is the very definition of tiny. And is in a county that is not densely populated. To say that everyone knows everyone is not a stretch--at all.

If you look at a map of the area, the bar where Claudine was last seen is at the very end of a dead end road.
 
http://www.northernnecknews.com/?p=13543

Rich Gifford describes his wife as a very soft-spoken, stay-at-home mom. “The gentlest person you’d ever want to meet and as far as being a mom, they didn’t come much better,” he said. “I’m praying for the best, I just want to take Claudine back to Florida.”

Claudine went back to Orlando for Father’s Day and stayed for about two weeks. Her husband and friends say she was being haunted by someone she had been seeing. Rich Gifford said she was making plans to return to Orlando permanently.

Meanwhile, her van and belongings remain at Rockson’s house in Burgess. He is still shaken by his friend’s disappearance.
 
https://www.facebook.com/lancaster.sheriffs.office/posts/817692071576427?fref=nf (they finally named her companion publicly)

Special Media Release for July 14, 2014
Despite extensive search efforts, supported by local businesses and volunteers, and state resources, Claudine J. Gifford, 43 of the Burgess area, has yet to be found. She was seen last in the early evening of July 6 in the area of the Windmill Point Marina in the company of Todd Kessler.
On Saturday 53 volunteers plus support staff of Virginia’s state search and rescue groups converged at Windmill Point to conduct a thorough, detailed search for Ms. Gifford or any evidence related to her and her disappearance on July 6. Participating in the scope of the search were members of the Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group (Vienna, VA), Greater Atlantic Rescue Dogs (Virginia Beach), Piedmont Search and Rescue (Richmond), Tidewater Search and Rescue (Virginia Beach), Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association (Northern Virginia), Dogs East (Spotsylvania), and K-9 Alert (Richmond). This combined search group arrived with their own command post and staff complete with radios, maps, and GPS mapping equipment. The search teams covered all land and marsh areas from Oyster House Drive south to end of Windmill Point. A separate search area, between the Corbin Lewis Estate and Close Quarters subdivision, was included because Ms. Gifford’s cellphone was “pinged” off the cell tower in that area. A detailed GPS report will be provided to the sheriff’s office later this week, showing where each search team member went throughout the 12 hours it took to cover both areas. Inv. D.S. Hogge arranged for the state search and rescue units to conduct the extensive search operation.
Supporting these volunteers and other state and local agencies were the White Stone Volunteer Fire Department (ice, tables and chairs for meals); Kilmarnock Volunteer Fire Department (cook staff), Anna’s Pizza (food and drink), Kilmarnock Volunteer Rescue Squad (medical stand-by for search personnel), Lloyd B. Hubbard (food tent), Windmill Point Marina (electrical services, 2 boats slips, golf cart, command post location), Sports Center (commercial grill for meal preparation), Virginia State Police (helicopter unit), Virginia Marine Resources Commission (boat and crew), and the Virginia Department of Emergency Services (coordinated with request for state search and rescue volunteers).
Sheriff Crockett complemented the search and rescue volunteers, saying “It’s amazing to see so many volunteers who spend their time and their money to help someone else. All of these people have my thanks for coming out to help. It was hot, tiring work, and not the first complaint from any one of them.” Anyone wishing to make a donation to the search and rescue teams may do so by contacting the sheriff’s office. “I could not have asked for more help from the local businesses, fire departments, and individuals who have done their best to help my office with this case. We are all truly very grateful to the community that never fails to come forward when help is needed.”
Lt. E.T. Self, chief investigator in charge of the case said “EMS Chief Terry McGregor was awesome. He was on site the entire time doing whatever needed to be done to help the search operation run smoothly. The VMRC boat operator not only helped with the shoreline search on Thursday and again on Saturday, he helped with the ground search on Thursday as well. Doc Lyons, a retired state police investigator and now with the Northumberland Sheriff’s Office, was most helpful with his expertise as a consultant on cases of this nature. Glenn Rowe, who handles the county’s E911 mapping system, provided us with the oversized detailed maps of the search areas that were vital to the coordination of the search teams.”
Although any active search operation has been curtailed, the investigation as to what happened to Ms. Gifford is still active. “This is not the proper time to discuss all aspects of the investigation. We want to find Ms. Gifford and find out what happened to her” said Lt. Self.
Anyone with information about Ms. Gifford’s disappearance, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is asked to contact the Lancaster Sheriff’s Office or call Crime Solvers at 804-46CRIME.
 
https://www.facebook.com/lancaster.sheriffs.office/posts/817692071576427?fref=nf (they finally named her companion publicly)

Special Media Release for July 14, 2014
Despite extensive search efforts, supported by local businesses and volunteers, and state resources, Claudine J. Gifford, 43 of the Burgess area, has yet to be found. She was seen last in the early evening of July 6 in the area of the Windmill Point Marina in the company of Todd Kessler.
On Saturday 53 volunteers plus support staff of Virginia’s state search and rescue groups converged at Windmill Point to conduct a thorough, detailed search for Ms. Gifford or any evidence related to her and her disappearance on July 6. Participating in the scope of the search were members of the Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group (Vienna, VA), Greater Atlantic Rescue Dogs (Virginia Beach), Piedmont Search and Rescue (Richmond), Tidewater Search and Rescue (Virginia Beach), Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association (Northern Virginia), Dogs East (Spotsylvania), and K-9 Alert (Richmond). This combined search group arrived with their own command post and staff complete with radios, maps, and GPS mapping equipment. The search teams covered all land and marsh areas from Oyster House Drive south to end of Windmill Point. A separate search area, between the Corbin Lewis Estate and Close Quarters subdivision, was included because Ms. Gifford’s cellphone was “pinged” off the cell tower in that area. A detailed GPS report will be provided to the sheriff’s office later this week, showing where each search team member went throughout the 12 hours it took to cover both areas. Inv. D.S. Hogge arranged for the state search and rescue units to conduct the extensive search operation.
Supporting these volunteers and other state and local agencies were the White Stone Volunteer Fire Department (ice, tables and chairs for meals); Kilmarnock Volunteer Fire Department (cook staff), Anna’s Pizza (food and drink), Kilmarnock Volunteer Rescue Squad (medical stand-by for search personnel), Lloyd B. Hubbard (food tent), Windmill Point Marina (electrical services, 2 boats slips, golf cart, command post location), Sports Center (commercial grill for meal preparation), Virginia State Police (helicopter unit), Virginia Marine Resources Commission (boat and crew), and the Virginia Department of Emergency Services (coordinated with request for state search and rescue volunteers).
Sheriff Crockett complemented the search and rescue volunteers, saying “It’s amazing to see so many volunteers who spend their time and their money to help someone else. All of these people have my thanks for coming out to help. It was hot, tiring work, and not the first complaint from any one of them.” Anyone wishing to make a donation to the search and rescue teams may do so by contacting the sheriff’s office. “I could not have asked for more help from the local businesses, fire departments, and individuals who have done their best to help my office with this case. We are all truly very grateful to the community that never fails to come forward when help is needed.”
Lt. E.T. Self, chief investigator in charge of the case said “EMS Chief Terry McGregor was awesome. He was on site the entire time doing whatever needed to be done to help the search operation run smoothly. The VMRC boat operator not only helped with the shoreline search on Thursday and again on Saturday, he helped with the ground search on Thursday as well. Doc Lyons, a retired state police investigator and now with the Northumberland Sheriff’s Office, was most helpful with his expertise as a consultant on cases of this nature. Glenn Rowe, who handles the county’s E911 mapping system, provided us with the oversized detailed maps of the search areas that were vital to the coordination of the search teams.”
Although any active search operation has been curtailed, the investigation as to what happened to Ms. Gifford is still active. “This is not the proper time to discuss all aspects of the investigation. We want to find Ms. Gifford and find out what happened to her” said Lt. Self.
Anyone with information about Ms. Gifford’s disappearance, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is asked to contact the Lancaster Sheriff’s Office or call Crime Solvers at 804-46CRIME.

They're naming who she was with but has he said anything like where he saw her last? Did he drop her off at her place? Did they leave in separate vehicles? I want to know more about this man!
 
What on earth does it mean, she was being "haunted" by someone she was seeing? Like a stalker? Or a ghost?

That whole article is...bizarre.

Basically nothing about the circumstances/details of her disappearance.

An oddly lengthy description of the friend's accent (how is that relevant, let alone to such detail?)
“She’s just a sweetheart, she never wants help, she wants to do everything by herself,” he said, his native New York accent still strong after some 20 years in the Northern Neck

Then a mention of her husband's accent

Like Rockson, Rich Gifford has a thick New York accent.

Yet NO mention of her accent...which, if anyone's was relevant, that'd be it.

Starts out talking about how there are a bunch of reasons she left Florida and her marriage. Yet her husband says

Gifford says his wife never told him why she came to the Northern Neck.

Rich Gifford describes his wife as a very soft-spoken, stay-at-home mom.

There are so many reasons she needed to "escape" her marriage (which, even "escape" seems a more odd choice of phrasing - and certainly more 'pressing' to me).

And he waxes eloquent about her, to the extent of her being so great he wants to take her back to Florida (though if she had a host of reasons to "escape" seems odd she'd go along with that...?)
“The gentlest person you’d ever want to meet and as far as being a mom, they didn’t come much better,” he said. “I’m praying for the best, I just want to take Claudine back to Florida.”

Of course then that bizarre haunted comment...

And since he said it was about someone she was seeing, that would seem to explain some of the marital stuff (yet then why does her husband want or think she'd come back) and probably also one of her reasons to "escape" yet...what the heck does it mean? (Like you said)

Very, very odd all around. But the article equally so!
 
http://www.northernnecknews.com/?p=13548

Gifford was last seen at Pelican’s at the Point beachfront tiki bar at Windmill Point in the early evening on Sunday, July 6. The bar manager said Gifford had a “couple of drinks,” and sat on a railing to watch the band that was playing that afternoon. Witnesses told police Gifford had to be carried out by her male companion, Todd Kessler, that evening. Kessler was the last to see her on the road at the entrance to Windmill Point, police said.

So she's SO intoxicated that she has to be carried out, yet he leaves her at the end of the road of the very place they were?

I mean, looking at a map, he hardly took her anywhere...it's not some great length between the entrance at the road and the bar part.

What on earth was she going to do from there?

She clearly hadn't driven herself since the van is at the house, and you'd hope he wouldn't have let her drive even if it was there. He apparently didn't take her (according to his account). Was she going to walk? That's out if she couldn't even leave the bar under her own power.

Based on that (and looking at the map) I'd be concerned she drown (assuming the guy wasn't involved)

But then there's this:
Gifford’s cell phone transmitted activity, also called a “ping,” from the cell tower on Black Stump Road on Monday afternoon, the day after she was last seen.

So she clearly didn't go in the water b/c the phone pinged the next afternoon at a place 13 miles away. The only way she went in that first day would be if someone else then had her phone b/c the location and the time don't fit for it being early on.

Lt. Tim Self of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation. He said the last time the county had a missing person was Aug. 22, 1985 when Mary Keyser Harding was abducted from her home in Ottoman.
Man, talk about an agency with essentially NO experience in handling something along these lines! NO missing person in 30 years?

That's...amazing! But almost certainly means not only have they had minimal experience w/ a missing persons case, but it's so far back you have to think nearly all of those there for the last time are no longer still in LE.

Though at least some w/ experience ARE coming in, but...still.

Search and rescue teams were organized by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. They came from all around the state including Northern Virginia, Tidewater and as far away as Wintergreen.

<snip>

Mark Eggeman, a search and rescue operations officer for the state, said the Virginia Emergency Operations Center responds about 70-80 times a year to local sheriff&#8217;s departments asking for help in locating missing people.


Although it's a shame according to this that they've curtailed the searches for her.

Although any active search operation has been curtailed, the investigation as to what happened to Ms. Gifford is still active. &#8220;This is not the proper time to discuss all aspects of the investigation. We want to find Ms. Gifford and find out what happened to her,&#8221; said Lt. Self.

Seems pretty apparent they either don't think there's a chance at all that she's alive, or they are fully convinced she's left on her own and they'll still try to locate and confirm she's ok. Unfortunately, I'd say there's little doubt the former is how they're leaning.
 
I don't think Claudine's alive, nor do I think TK is telling the truth about the last time he saw her. JMO and all that.
 
Oh, and my points are in a wrong order, but here's the locations that seem significant:

C - where her van is and where her long-time friend she stayed with is
A - the bar/tiki thing where she was drinking and had to be carried out and also where she was last seen
B - where her phone was found
D - where she worked

And then there are the individuals she's associated with (guessing I could really name them given they're all mentioned and/or quoted in articles, but just to be safe...):

1) CR - the long-time friend in Burgess that that earlier article is largely about (it's where her van is and she stayed and where he'd help try to get her back on track every couple of months)
2) TK - the one she was last with
3) RG - her husband from Florida
4) the "haunter" (who could obviously be either of the two above...or an unknown person)
 
Claudine went back to Orlando for Father&#8217;s Day and stayed for about two weeks. Her husband and friends say she was being haunted by someone she had been seeing. Rich Gifford said she was making plans to return to Orlando permanently.

Rereading that, I get the feeling her husband is inferring (or trying to) that the person she was seeing (TK?) is in VA and not Florida. And he also seems to be trying to infer that it was either over or in the process of being so and thus her planning to go to Florida permanently soon.

Would love to know what her friends think/know about that - if it's his assessment or what she'd really been planning. And obviously also if they knew she was being "haunted" by someone or if that's a whole cover story.

I also wonder why she went to Florida for Father's Day? Going for Mother's Day would seem far more understandable...as in getting to be with her daughter. Why would she go specifically for Father's Day (esp. since she had all these reasons she needed to "escape" from FL?)

Admittedly I'm also puzzled by the Burgess aspect:

But then she found a job and began to make friends. After that she only visited on occasion or texted, Rockson said
.

Her vehicle and all her belongings are at that residence. How does she only go there on occasion? And how does she get anywhere normally if she doesn't have her car?

Plus this:
&#8220;We all tried to get her to go down to Florida and work something out. &#8216;Just get back to your daughter because she needs you,&#8217;&#8221; Rockson said. &#8220;Get some money saved up and go to Florida and get an apartment. She was working on it, but it just didn&#8217;t happen.&#8221;

He's the one who said she had a bunch of reasons to "escape" her marriage.

Is there a reason he - and apparently a bunch of others - were so strongly encouraging her to return to Florida? I get that her daughter is there, but if there was so much to "escape" it seems like you'd encourage her finding a way to visit her regularly or something and not put herself back in what (in her mind) seems to have been a less than ideal situation.

Did THEY all think someone was "haunting" her and so were trying to get her away from that person?

And the very final sentence struck me odd on every reading and more so as I've been thinking about it since. He's very definitive that that didn't happen and it's very past tense.

Yet supposedly she WAS very close to returning, according to the husband's statements. She DID go visit for 2 weeks recently, so she may well have been trying to work things out to return. And going for two weeks at Father's Day means she really hadn't been back in VA that long before this all happened - maybe it was she just didn't get down there b/c a few pieces had to come together still or something.

I'm curious when HE (CR) last saw her or spoke to her.

This:

But then she found a job and began to make friends. After that she only visited on occasion or texted, Rockson said.

Obviously seems to indicate it wasn't frequent contact at all at this point. So is he REALLY that up on how things were/weren't going?

The whole thing is just very bizarre.
 
From Lancaster County Sheriff's Office:

There is a correction to the media release of July 15 regarding the disappearance of Claudine J. Gifford on July 6, 2014. Yesterday&#8217;s media release should have read:

The Lancaster County Sheriff&#8217;s Office is interested in speaking with four white males reported to have assisted Claudine J. Gifford from the Tiki Bar at Windmill Point into a silver Nissan SUV on July 6. These 4 males are asked to contact Lt. E.T. Self or Inv. D.S. Hogge at the sheriff&#8217;s office, 804-462-5111.

The public information officer apologizes for the error.

https://www.facebook.com/lancaster.sheriffs.office

(poster's note: the previous release which they are correcting stated July 7 as the date of assisting. Obviously this would raise some eyebrows, hence the correction. But the four white males are still interesting. I wonder where that info came from.)
 

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