CA CA - Karen Tompkins, 11, Torrance, 18 Aug 1961

itsreenw

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Karen Lynn Tompkins, 11, went missing on August 18, 1961 while walking home from summer school at Halldale Elementary School in the Harbor Gateway area of Torrance, CA. at approximately 5:30pm. She stayed late to help a teacher clean the classroom.

Karen should have walked home with her brother but their dog followed them to school so her brother was told to take the dog home early, leaving Karen to walk alone.

According to reports, there was a massive search for her. Firefighters on boats, the Boy Scouts, men on horseback and helicopters. People had her photo displayed on their vehicles. Karen was never found.

It has been suggested that police theorize that Karen is a victim of the same person that abducted little Dorothy Gale Brown on July 3, 1962. Because of the similarities, LE focused mainly on a connection between the two and didn't seem to consider that the two abductions were not related.

The girls were from the same area, were the same age and both had blonde hair and blue eyes, however Dorothy's body was found, the following day. She had been, sexually assaulted, drowned and her dress was stuffed in a beer can.

Some WS posters speculate that Karen Lynn Tompkins was possibly abducted and held captive for several years by Franklin Delano Floyd. Floyd is a convicted murderer, a pedophile and kidnapper. He allegedly kidnapped a girl, 4 or 5 yrs old in 1974 and raised her as his daughter, later married her and finally killed her. Pics of her (and other females) were found, showing he molested her from childhood until her death.

It is unknown how he got possession of her. Her real identity is unknown. Floyd used aliases for her throughout her life. She is known as Sharon Marshall, Suzanne Davis and Tonya Tadlock. See the Sharon Marshall thread for all the details-the case is mind-boggling.

An article in the Daily Breeze archives stated LAPD has reopened the case at the insistance of Karen's sister, Lori Buck. Some of the evidence, including the reports were not in the evidence boxes, however there were flash cards I tried to contact someone in LAPD Cold Case Unit to no avail, however I was able to speak to a wonderful detective at the Torrance PD.

The detective is reviewing the case to find if Karen Tompkins is possibly Sharon Marshall's mother. She would have been in her late teens when "Sharon" was born. With Floyd's history of sexual abuse, and possible ties to a group of ex-cons accused of abducting another family, killing the mother and selling the kids, it is possible that Karen may have been dealt the same fate.

Ironically, Chloe Gilmore, one of the 1st lady detectives on LAPD was assigned to Karen's case in 1961. She has a daughter named Sharon Marshall.

I have some articles that will be posted here in the next day or so.
 
kayceebee said:
Interesting.....I live in the local area, any info I can help out with just let me know!
Kayceebee, thanx for posting. Can you see what articles you can find from the local newspapers? I found a few online but they all seem to have the same info.
 
I've found a couple things to look into but can't do it now...off to pick up my kids! I'll post anything I can find!
 
kayceebee said:
I've found a couple things to look into but can't do it now...off to pick up my kids! I'll post anything I can find!
Kayceebee, what'd ya find? I am still waiting for someone to respond to me on the Forum Finesse thread with posting instructions, so I can post all the articles and pics Hollow found and was kind enough to email to me.
 
Hi! There are some articles in Daily Breeze archieve that I paid to look out...but when I downloaded them my machine froze. I am working with Customer Service to get the articles without having to pay for them again. I am planning to write to Larry Altman at the Daily Breeze as he seems to have been the author of all the articles. I'm interested to see the photos and articles you have.....hopefully someone will respond soon. I am trying to get to the library to see what they may have in the city's historical records. I wish my friend was still on the torrance PD, maybe he could have helped me!
 
photo at link http://www.unsolved-crimes.com/tompkins.html

Age Progressed Photo
52 years of age
Courtesy National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Name: Karen Lynn Tompkins
Place: Torrance, California
Date of Birth: July 25, 1950
Age at Disappearance: Eleven Years
Description: White Female,
4' 7" tall, at time of disappearance
57 lbs, at time of disappearance
Hair was close cropped, ash blond to light brown with bangs
Has freckles across bridge of nose and brown birthmark 1/2 inch below hairline on mid forhead
Right eye tooth protrudes, the others are even.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karen and her brother were enrolled in a summer arts class at Halldale Ave. Elementary School within four blocks from their home. That day the family dog had followed them to school so, her brother {who was 8 yrs old} took the dog home before class was out. Karen stayed after class to help the teacher. The teacher and other students saw her leave the school at approx. 5:00 pm. She was carrying 2 conastoga wagons that she and her brother had made in art class. At 6:00 pm the police were called when Karen did not arrive home.

The school is located at 215th Street and Halldale Ave. 4 blocks from Karen's house in Torrance, California.

Karen was wearing royal blue shorts with white printed band on bottom, white sleeveless blouse, rubber sandalls {they were called zories}, also a white cardigan sweater.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Los Angeles Police Department (213) 485-5381 Case Number: 0305-04054.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Related Web Pages:

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
 
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/tompkins_karen.html

The teacher and other students saw Tompkins leave the class when it ended at 5:00 p.m. that day. She was carrying two toy covered wagons, the crafts she and her brother had made in the class. It is a four-block walk between the school and Tompkins's home. The police were called when she did not arrive home by 6:00 p.m.

A few days after Tompkins disappeared, a forty-year-old man was arrested for kidnapping her when the police found bloodstains on his underclothes. He denied having anything to do with her disappearance and was eventually released for lack of evidence connecting him to Tompkins's presumed abduction.

Wonder who this man was? Wonder if the shirt/blood was collected?
 
kayceebee said:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/tompkins_karen.html

The teacher and other students saw Tompkins leave the class when it ended at 5:00 p.m. that day. She was carrying two toy covered wagons, the crafts she and her brother had made in the class. It is a four-block walk between the school and Tompkins's home. The police were called when she did not arrive home by 6:00 p.m.

A few days after Tompkins disappeared, a forty-year-old man was arrested for kidnapping her when the police found bloodstains on his underclothes. He denied having anything to do with her disappearance and was eventually released for lack of evidence connecting him to Tompkins's presumed abduction.

Wonder who this man was? Wonder if the shirt/blood was collected?
Hollow sent me an article about this (and a few others!!). I am trying to enlarge the articles so they are legible when I post 'em here.
 
I found some 23 news paper with accounts of the disapperance of Karen, as much as I can gather there were several different ways she could have walked a little less then four blk.the most interesting is the school yard photo in the paper shows an area just back of the school that was under constrution....shown by photos as they tried walking her dog to see if he could pick up a scent.....
I will put these on as soon as I can get them off my clip board......
 
tuffy said:
I found some 23 news paper with accounts of the disapperance of Karen, as much as I can gather there were several different ways she could have walked a little less then four blk.the most interesting is the school yard photo in the paper shows an area just back of the school that was under constrution....shown by photos as they tried walking her dog to see if he could pick up a scent.....
I will put these on as soon as I can get them off my clip board......
Tuffy, it's great to see a new post here!! I have never seen any pics of the area. Can you email me the pics? If you are having trouble posting the pics I can do it through Photobucket. Let me know and I will PM you with my primary email address.

I will email the detective tomorrow and see if there have been any updates. I am trying to draw some attention from the Sharon Marshall thread to Karen's thread. I really believe Karen may have been Sharon's mom.

Karen was abducted the same month as Franklin Floyd was released from a youth correctional facility in CA. That coincidence and the resemblance bettween Karen and Sharon is uncanny.

The fact that the lead investigator in Karen's case had a daughter named Sharon Marshall was kinda weird too.

Can't wait to see the pics of the school/neighborhood.
 
Honestly if she were abducted at 11, I don't think she would be Marshall's mother...or Marshall because she was old enough to remember her original home and contact home...................most likely the guy with the bloodstains wast their best bet but they let him slip away or it was connected to the later abduction mentioned.
 
I'm not sure about Karen being the mother of Sharon Marshall, but I'm guessing what Itsreenw is thinking is that Karen went missing in 1961 at age 11, so by 1967 or 1968 (when it is thought Sharon was born) she would have been 17 or 18....
 
kylie said:
Honestly if she were abducted at 11, I don't think she would be Marshall's mother...or Marshall because she was old enough to remember her original home and contact home...................most likely the guy with the bloodstains wast their best bet but they let him slip away or it was connected to the later abduction mentioned.
It is unlikely but not impossible that Karen was Sharon's mom. And at 11, she would know her phone # but consider Carol Smith (alias) aka "The Girl in the Box". The 20 yr old was kidnapped by Cameron Hooker and kept as a sex slave for 7 yrs. Hooker tortured her until he broke her down mentally. She was eventually allowed to work outside the home but never tried to escape. The captor even took her home and she didn't alert her family in any way that she was being held against her will. If a 20 yr old can be scared into submission, an 11 yr old certainly can.

Link to "Girl in the box" story:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/sex_slave/index.html


IMO, there isn't enough evidence to say it is most likely the guy with the bloody underclothes. We don't know enough. Although I think I will see what I can find out about him to see if he was arrested for any similar crimes.

And Joellegirl, you are right. I am thinking that FDF could have kept Karen alive through her teen years with the assistance of others. Floyd was in a prison based religious group called Church Of a New Song (CONS). The group was said to have "flop houses" around the country for ex-prisoners. At least one other member, Henry Harbison, is suspected of killing his wife and selling their 2 young children. See link for more info:

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1023dfmo.html

I will email Lori, Karen's sis to see if LE has contacted her lately with info and invite her to join us here.
 
Karen Lynn Tompkins
tompkins_karen.jpg
tompkins_karen2.jpg

tompkins_karen3.jpg
tompkins_karen_ap.jpg

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX age progression XX

This is a link to the letter Karen's sister wrote. It's posted on the website outpostforhope.org http://www.outpostforhope.org/lettersoutloud/lettersoutloud_thereason.htm
 
She does look like Sharon as a child. Or did they rule her out with DNA testing?
 
anthrobones said:
She does look like Sharon as a child. Or did they rule her out with DNA testing?
.......Iam looking in my book now for it But I can't put no time on when I find it Few Min's, Few Day's, Few Year's, I wonder if I can sell a Index to this book it will keep you jumping around..
 

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