CA CA - Four missing, Los Angeles, 1996/97 (One apparently found)

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mp80

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In 1996 and 1997, the following four people in Los Angeles disappeared: Robert Black, Richard Davison, Patricia Laxer, and Goldie Swanger. At one point, all four were listed on the LAPD missing persons web site, and they can still be found on many other missing persons sites. These four people all went to the same doctor, and disappeared either on their way to an appointment or on their way home from an appointment. The story can be found here: http://www.alamanceind.com/tc/tc_10.html

A few months ago, the picture of Swanger on the LAPD web site was labeled as "located", and then her listing was removed. The Charley Project web site was updated on November 5, 2004 with a statement that Swanger was located, but no details were released.

Has anyone here heard of these cases? I couldn't even find newspaper articles about these people on the LA Times or Los Angeles Daily News web sites, but I would think a story like this one would have gotten press coverage. I also couldn't find a press release on LAPD's site about Swanger being located. What happened?
 
I've never heard of any of the missing people. Did you email the writer of the story...the link in your post? Maybe that writer knows something or has an update. Hopefully he/she has followed the story.
 
I was going through a missing persons site the other day and saw these. I live in So Calif., but I've never heard of these cases. Interesting though, huh? Too bad they never mentioned the doctor's name or clinic or anything.

fran
 
fran said:
I was going through a missing persons site the other day and saw these. I live in So Calif., but I've never heard of these cases. Interesting though, huh? Too bad they never mentioned the doctor's name or clinic or anything.

fran
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's pretty scary that all four of these people went to the same doctor, and disappeared on the way to or from an appointment. I wouldn't want to go to that doctor! The update on The Charley Project didn't even say if Goldie Swanger was found safe, probably because LAPD didn't release any details at all. I hope she was found safe, and could give the police enough good information to crack the other three cases.
 
Bobbisangel said:
I've never heard of any of the missing people. Did you email the writer of the story...the link in your post? Maybe that writer knows something or has an update. Hopefully he/she has followed the story.
Click to expand...
I did e-mail the author of the article, and he said he hasn't followed the story since he wrote the original article. He also is surprised by the lack of press coverage of these four people.

Of the three people that are still missing, Robert Black is listed on the Doe Network, but Richard Davison and Patricia Laxer are not. And I still can't find any details online about Goldie Swanger being located.
 
http://www.alamanceind.com/tc/tc_10.html

WWW.ALAMANCEIND.COM

Matt Maggio, Publisher & Editor Email

World exclusive - must credit Alamance Independent:
In the past four years, four people - three elderly and one
middle-aged - have disappeared in Los Angeles either on their way
to a doctor's appointment or just after getting home from one.
Ages 57-72 at the times they disappeared, all have two things
in common; all are Jewish - and all saw the same doctor. None are
described in police records as having Alzheimer's or other dementia
problems - nor are any of them described as having prior histories
of wandering.
Two of them disappeared in Aug. 1997 alone; a third
disappeared two months later in Oct. 1997. The first to disappear,
then-57 Robert Black, vanished in Mar. 1996.
Two of them were men; two were women (photos below). At 6'1",
170 lbs., the first to disappear on his way to the doctor - Robert
Black - was hardly a felon's first choice of a victim. Richard
Davison - who vanished in Oct. 1997 - was also tall: 5'10" and 145
lbs. - when he disappeared on his way to a doctor's appointment;
both men were last seen leaving home for the doctor.
The two women were last seen arriving home from the doctor,
after which they were never seen again. Patricia Laxer - also tall
(for a woman) at 5'7", 145 lbs. disappeared in Aug. 1997 after
confirmed arriving home from a doctor visit. At 5'5", 155 lbs.,
Goldie Swanger was slightly tall for a woman; she too was confirmed
as having arrived home from the doctor's just before she
disappeared that same month. As with the two men, neither Laxer
nor Swanger is described as having any serious disability.
Is a serial murderer preying on elderly Jews in Los Angeles?
Not exactly what a city wants in a travel guide! If you have any idea what happened to any of these people, the Los Angeles police
missing-persons unit would like to hear from you at
213-485-5381.


Pics of all four at the link
 
Could be another Harold Shipman! Only this time there are no bodies!
 
monkalup said:
http://www.alamanceind.com/tc/tc_10.html

WWW.ALAMANCEIND.COM

Matt Maggio, Publisher & Editor Email

World exclusive - must credit Alamance Independent:
In the past four years, four people - three elderly and one
middle-aged - have disappeared in Los Angeles either on their way
to a doctor's appointment or just after getting home from one.
Ages 57-72 at the times they disappeared, all have two things
in common; all are Jewish - and all saw the same doctor. None are
described in police records as having Alzheimer's or other dementia
problems - nor are any of them described as having prior histories
of wandering.
Two of them disappeared in Aug. 1997 alone; a third
disappeared two months later in Oct. 1997. The first to disappear,
then-57 Robert Black, vanished in Mar. 1996.
Two of them were men; two were women (photos below). At 6'1",
170 lbs., the first to disappear on his way to the doctor - Robert
Black - was hardly a felon's first choice of a victim. Richard
Davison - who vanished in Oct. 1997 - was also tall: 5'10" and 145
lbs. - when he disappeared on his way to a doctor's appointment;
both men were last seen leaving home for the doctor.
The two women were last seen arriving home from the doctor,
after which they were never seen again. Patricia Laxer - also tall
(for a woman) at 5'7", 145 lbs. disappeared in Aug. 1997 after
confirmed arriving home from a doctor visit. At 5'5", 155 lbs.,
Goldie Swanger was slightly tall for a woman; she too was confirmed
as having arrived home from the doctor's just before she
disappeared that same month. As with the two men, neither Laxer
nor Swanger is described as having any serious disability.
Is a serial murderer preying on elderly Jews in Los Angeles?
Not exactly what a city wants in a travel guide! If you have any idea what happened to any of these people, the Los Angeles police
missing-persons unit would like to hear from you at
213-485-5381.


Pics of all four at the link
Click to expand...

Would your local tv stations be interested in this story? Maybe they would do something on these four people.
 
I am the biological granddaughter of Goldie Swanger, the 75 year old woman who was missing from Los Angeles, CA. I was doing genealogical research for myself and my father (who was looking for Goldie, his biological mother; my father was adopted when he was very young), and finally identified Goldie as his mother. When she was a missing person, I believed that it was possible she may still be alive so I could reunite her and my father if I could find her, and that is what prompted me to investigate. It was my information that allowed the LAPD to close her missing person case in 2004 (found out she was already deceased), but I still think there are many questions yet to be solved regarding her disappearance.

I was able to get a hold of Goldie's medical records when I went to LA for my research and to meet the investigator on the case so it could be closed with the information I provided.

I understand that Goldie was one of at least four persons missing who disappeared around the same time, and that these missing persons all had something in common with a doctor. I am interested in making contact with the other victims' families to share what information I have with them, or with anyone else who has additional information. Perhaps we can compare notes and find something significant; even something that seems insignificant might not be and might not seem as important as when notes are compared.

The person who reported my grandmother missing was very peculiar, and I learned that this person was listed in several reports, apparently as either a reporting person or witness. This person's story changed several times with me, but one thing she mentioned was that she use to work in a convalescent home. My grandmother supposedly was at a convalescent home after her disappearance and was there until she died. (I'm not sure if she was ever even there).

I believe that something sinister occurred, and I have my theories. Anyway, I would be interested in contact with anyone else who directly is involved with the other missing persons (family, etc). Please respond to me if you want to compare notes.
 
Good luck GS73. I hope you get answers soon.
 
I wonder if all four of these individuals lived alone, no known relatives, and had $$?

What happened to their estates? I think I'd begin there.

JMHO
fran
 
This is very interesting....Is it just me or do the men look alike and the women look alike? I almost thought that they were the same person.
 
GS73, can you fill us in on any of the details that you do know? This is fascinating. How does someone get reported as missing, and then possible have been in a convalescent home? Fraud? Could these people have been placed in a home and their source of income taken by an unscrupulous individual? This should be fairly easy to "follow the money trail" and probably very revealing. Welcome to Websleuths, GS73.
 
Here's something I've never understood about the reports of these missing people: The doctor that all four saw isn't mentioned by name. I mean, no one's saying he had anything to do with it, so I don't see any reason why his name isn't mentioned. But maybe someone who is associated with him in some way would know something. It seems to me that in most cases, he would have been identified.
 
I hope that LE are taking a close look at the doctor and his office that these 4 went to. Somebody was aware that they were going those days. Is the media not covering this for fear of bad publicity? You'd think it would look better to cover the story so it looks like they care.
My prayers to the families and for hopes they are found.
 
Bump. It concerns me that there isn't any mention of whether or not they investigated the doctor. Too strange!
 
I remember reading about this almost 10 years ago but I couldn't find any more information. It sounds like a real interesting case but there is just nothing to go on.
 
There are way too many holes in the case. Has the original account actually been verified?
 
This one just screams 'urban legend' to me.
 
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