CA CA - Frances Blanche Groves, 42, Palm Springs, 1 January 1955

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ATheLibrarian

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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3668dfca.html

Frances was last known to be working with her boyfriend. He took her out for a picnic, and he returned alone.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17377/0/


 
MelmothTheLost said:
There is a potted biography of Frances here:

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=100528172

The man she was involved with at the time of her disappearance (and her presumed killer) is named there as Jim Phye.

The "Auntie Pam" who put the biography online is Frances' granddaughter.
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According to this, she was married to Alva Groves when she was only 14, then had 7 children. She left her husband (and presumably her children) when Alva accidentally shot and killed one of them, Donald Dee, in 1950.

She left Colorado in the company of Jim Phye, who she met while working at Pueblo Ordinance Depot; and after several residencies with him, including Missouri, and California, she was last seen in his company in 1954/55 going on a picnic in Palm Springs, California. Frances and Jim were working for a wealthy family in Palm Springs at the time of her disappearance. She is presumed murdered..
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Does anyone have the wherewithall to look into Jim Phye in any detail - particularly whether he has any prior or subsequent criminal record?

I wonder also whether it's possible to find out more about the domestic employment they had with the wealthy couple in Palm Springs. I would guess that the town was much smaller then and a more concentrated community. Who employed them? Was there anything about this family that raises questions before or after Frances and Jim worked for them. What was their role - I'm guessing housekeeper/cook and gardener/chauffeur/handyman but it could have been something else.

Is there anything to suggest what Jim's motive would be for killing Frances, if indeed he did?
 
Jim Phye committed suicide in Las Vegas in 1996. A biography can be found at https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=121038288. It includes the information that "Frances disappeared in the company of James Franklin Phye sometime between 1954 and 1955, never to be heard from again. Phye started using an alias, and re-appeared in Las Vegas, Nv." There is a bit more information at http://www.defrostingcoldcases.com/frances-blanche-hayes-groves/ including the name Brooks for the family that employed the couple.
 
I live in Palm Springs and never heard of her or this case- definitely need to find more info on this! Thanks for posting!
 
Sometime in 1955, Phye and Groves went out for a picnic and he returned without her. She has never been heard from again. She left a six-figure sum in cash behind in a safe deposit box.
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http://charleyproject.org/case/frances-blanche-groves

From her case file at Charley Project, She left a six-figure sum in cash behind in a safe deposit box, that would be a 7 figure today's dollars, where did she got this kind of money? There was no way she could have this kind of amount of money from her or James Franklin Fye's job, was her ex husband very rich and this was her divorce settlement? if it was, then why not deposit them in a bank account. If not then these money must come from some kind of illegal activities either James or herself involved, and may be this was the motive for her death?
 
A bit more information.

James Franklin Phye married Edith Irene Galusha in 1937 in Colorado. His wife seems to have moved on after he left and died in 1983. This comes from Ancestry and, although I cannot find a divorce record (or new marriage), Edith clearly found a new partner as her obituary lists her as Edith Irene Galusha Phye Kinnamon. So, whatever James did to Frances, there is no indication that he harmed his first wife. From his 1937 marriage record it seems that he was known as Frank (or Frankie) at that time.

According to a family tree on Ancestry James remarried in 1960 to Marie Jean Pyle in Nevada, suggesting he reemerged in Las Vegas within 6 years of Frances disappearing. This marriage does have a marriage certificate attached so either he divorced Edith or married bigamously.
 
alb1on said:
Jim Phye committed suicide in Las Vegas in 1996. A biography can be found at https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=121038288. It includes the information that "Frances disappeared in the company of James Franklin Phye sometime between 1954 and 1955, never to be heard from again. Phye started using an alias, and re-appeared in Las Vegas, Nv." There is a bit more information at Frances Blanche Hayes Groves - Defrosting Cold Cases including the name Brooks for the family that employed the couple.
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Is it just me, or does that defrostingcoldcases article imply that two of her daughters are also missing?
 
Odyssey said:
Is it just me, or does that defrostingcoldcases article imply that two of her daughters are also missing?
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Apologies, I have only just refound this thread.
I guess the two daughters you are referring to are Audrey and Ilene. Audrey died in Colorado in 1995 as Audrey Karlene Anderson, having maried and had several children. This comes from several family trees on Ancestry. I suspect Ilene may still be alive as one tree lists seven children of Frances, naming them all but one who is listed as 'private', which usually means still living. The other 6 are dead.
So the conclusion is that her daughters are not missing. Audrey was born 1938 so they may well have been 14 or 15 when 'abandoned'.
 
MelmothTheLost said:
That's rather creepy, actually. A man of 34+ marrying a girl of 14 is seriously into paedophile territory. Certainly by today's standards, and it wasn't that long ago.
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Not only that... Frances wasn't the first one; and the story is more than creepy: "After his second wife died in 1929, he met and married a 14 year old child, Frances Blanche Hayes, and they moved to Colorado where all of their 7 children were born. His two sons by his first marriage were 22 and 18 by this time. His oldest son, Olen was approached by Frances first, and he told her that at 22 he was too old to be dating a 14 year old. But that didn't stop his father who was 50. Alva was obviously attracted to much younger females his entire life": Alva Louis Groves (1879-1966) - Find A Grave...

His first wife, Ella May, was ten years younger than him; in my humble opinion, her death is suspicious (she was just 26): "She had been in poor health for about three years and physicians advised an operation, to which she would not consent until a short time before she died. She was then taken to the hospital but it was found that her heart action was not strong enough to permit the operation. She was resting and waiting to gain strength and ate a rather hearty meal Saturday evening but took suddenly worse near midnight and lived only a few hours". Ella May Hunt Groves (1889-1915) - Find A Grave...

His second wife, Polly, was fourteen or twenty years younger (it depends on the source); she died at 36, I don't know the cause. Polly Anne Maxine “Anna” Stafford Groves...

I think James Phye may be considered a suspect... but not the only suspect.
 
Since they left to go for a picnic and only he returned to Palm Springs I would say her remains lay somewhere within 50 miles of Palm Springs. I had a quick look on NamUs but I couldn't see any matches for her.
I can't help wonder what story he gave as to where she went?
 
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