CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - #16

zwiebel said:

O/T A thought for 75-year old James Marr in Vermont, everyone. He's very vulnerable, living alone in a mobile home and took a walk four days ago. He's still not been found. Doesn't look as though there's any family around. All the luck in the world to the K9s searching for him.

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I can't find anything on this. Is there an article somewhere or WS page?

So sorry, it's James Marrs, Spicy.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215726&highlight=james

MidwestMama just posted that he's been found! Welcome home, Mr Marrs!
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - VT VT - James Marrs, dementia, Colchester, 8 Jul 2013

Found less than a mile from his home and 'being treated at the scene'!

Oh, I hope he is okay. He's been lying there for days. I'm so excited I can't imagine where to look for updates - I don't even know where Vermont is. But I know the SAR teams there are GREAT!! Thank you for finding James Marrs, you guys. Thank you.

* What a lovely thing to happen, kind of on Bob's thread, although it was an accident.

Last O/T post - Mr Marrs was found in a ditch behind a florist's store, by two employees. It looks like he will be okay.

It's not just the professionals; it's the public that helps bring people home too.
http://www.wcax.com/story/22828217/missing-colchester-man-found

I can't get over the number of Bob's family members who began declining media contact pretty soon after his disappearance - or never had any at all. It looks very odd. I know one sister complained of being unfairly represented, but what explains son-in-law's silence in the immediate aftermath, when there was just complete bafflement and everyone was desperate for info?

And what happened to grandson, who I'm sure had the means and the knowledge to really raise a social media profile for Bob? It's incomprehensible that it is having to be done by strangers, four years down the line - that Bob's case has been kept alive by strangers and his elderly widow alone for all this time, in fact.

I think RB was the last child to give a media interview (wth the exception of PB and RB appearing in Long Lost Love). Wouldn't it be great if the whole family got together for Bob's missing anniversary and gave an interview - JeM, JuM, AH, all of them? Or a press conference, along with detective Radomski? I'm sure he could make the time, if asked. And the media would be sure to take an interest too, with being able to speak to people they haven't been able to contact before.

I'm not very hopeful it will happen though.

Is there any indication that they proactively did anything to find him? I know that they claimed they generated the call about the well being check, but I am not sure that is entirely true. Arent both the incident report and the MP report attributed to Fontelle's phone call?

I realize that years later they offered the 50K reward. I guess that is something. And I realize that they appeared on the show when given the opportunity. It all kind of pales in comparison to the sheer volume of media that Mrs Harrod has worked to generate, but whatever. After all, she is his wife. She generated the MP report, she drew the media, she generated the presser, she has been steadfast in her pursuit of her husband.

Quoting from believe09's post above:
"It all kind of pales in comparison to the sheer volume of media that Mrs Harrod has worked to generate, but whatever. After all, she is his wife. She generated the MP report, she drew the media, she generated the presser, she has been steadfast in her pursuit of her husband."


And we have been and will continue to be steadfast right along with her.

I've had a bit of a day. The time to discover you don't know what the German for 'leg' is, is NOT when you're on the phone to emergency services because someone's just broken theirs. And it's really unwise to break your leg at all when you're at the bottom of a steep incline by a river. It's pretty unwise to be in the company only of a Mrs Zwiebel who is a good foot shorter than you too.

It's even worse to get home all hunky dory fine and then have a shock reaction that makes Mrs Zwiebel think you're dying. I know how I react in an emergency now. I yell a lot, but I do what needs to be done. And that thing about superhuman strength when a loved one is in an emergency.....it's true.

Anyhow, I was just dropping in to say I may be a little quiet over the coming days, but it's not because I've forgotten Bob. No way, no how. I'm just busy being probably the worst nurse in the world......

zwiebel said:

O/T A thought for 75-year old James Marr in Vermont, everyone. He's very vulnerable, living alone in a mobile home and took a walk four days ago. He's still not been found. Doesn't look as though there's any family around. All the luck in the world to the K9s searching for him.

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BBM

The breeder of my old service dog did SAR in her younger days deep in Louisiana Cajun country. She was training two dogs at the same time, her older ***** and that *****'s son.

The very first time they were called out for real was for a man in his 80s whose granddaughter reported him missing. He lived in a tiny little cabin on a bayou without electricity, telephone or indoor plumbing. The granddaughter described his mental condition as senile.

The cabin was perfectly neat and tidy, nothing left out of place, no signs of violence or anything like that. So LE's theory was that he'd wandered away due to mental confusion. My friend was called out and worked her two dogs alteernately because the heat and humidity were so high that they had to take frequent breaks.

My friend started getting suspicious because the track her dogs were showing her was not showing any of the characteristics common to people with Alzheimers. In fact, after wading through way too much swamp, she realised that the track was similar to the sort of track that someone who wanted to evade detection would lay. Whenever there was a choice of paths, the track always took the choice with the most cover, highest difficulty and crossing the most water.

It took her and her two dogs close to 6 hours to work out the track. Towards the end, when her dogs were getting excited and acting like the track was really hot, she kept having the feeling someone was watching her.

Well, her male poked his head into a clump of bushes and all she could see was a wildly wagging tail, so she figured he'd found something he liked. She was just hoping that what he found was still alive.

Well, they'd found the gentleman all right. He was an old Cajun, had never gone more than 30 miles from that little cabin where he was born and he wanted to keep it that way. He was ticked off because his granddaughter wanted to put him into a care facility, so he figured he'd take off on a little fishing trip so he wouldn't be available when the social worker was supposed to come by.

He remembered perfectly well where he'd been and confirmed that the oldest parts of the track were over 90 hours old. He admired my friend's dogs and my friend was so taken with him that she told him she'd testify on his behalf if his granddaughter carried out her threat to have him declared incompetent by a judge.

She said she figured he must be fine because he was in way better condition than she was after 6 hours of slogging through swamp with mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds attacking her. Even worse, when she got home she discovered she had over 50 ticks on her. She said that he looked like he'd gone for a stroll in the park and had been eating fresh fish and all sorts of stuff he found growing.

The two dogs she worked that day were my service dog's great-grandmother and his grandfather. I also owned the littermate sister to the male dog she worked that day.

I'm hoping James Marr's story has such a happy ending.

zwiebel said:

I can't get over the number of Bob's family members who began declining media contact pretty soon after his disappearance - or never had any at all. It looks very odd. I know one sister complained of being unfairly represented, but what explains son-in-law's silence in the immediate aftermath, when there was just complete bafflement and everyone was desperate for info?

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Respectfully snipped. Not only does it look odd, there is absolutely no reason for any of them to stay silent if their theory was accurate. What reason would SIL have to stay quiet if someone other than the 4 who attended the heated family meeting were responsible?

Their silence speaks for itself. JeM, JuM and AH's silence speaks for itself.

zwiebel said:

I've had a bit of a day. The time to discover you don't know what the German for 'leg' is, is NOT when you're on the phone to emergency services because someone's just broken theirs. And it's really unwise to break your leg at all when you're at the bottom of a steep incline by a river. It's pretty unwise to be in the company only of a Mrs Zwiebel who is a good foot shorter than you too.

It's even worse to get home all hunky dory fine and then have a shock reaction that makes Mrs Zwiebel think you're dying. I know how I react in an emergency now. I yell a lot, but I do what needs to be done. And that thing about superhuman strength when a loved one is in an emergency.....it's true.

Anyhow, I was just dropping in to say I may be a little quiet over the coming days, but it's not because I've forgotten Bob. No way, no how. I'm just busy being probably the worst nurse in the world......

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You are in my prayers...maybe I can bake the two of you a cake? What's your favorite pastry??

Lol, Cornish Pasties - as long as I haven't baked them! Oh, and veggie, which leads to rows about authenticity so.....??? I've heard on good authority they have good ones in California - a lot of Cornish miners made their home there, apparently. The good wishes are so much appreciated - and seem to be working!

During the weekend events, which have all become a bit of a blur now, I had to rush into a store. As I rushed out, I saw a box. I think it was glasses, I'm not sure. It was white, and at the top in big letters it said, 'Wo ist Bob?' You'll all probably have no problem working out that's German for 'where is Bob?'

Among the strange things that happened this weekend, that was the strangest. If there's someone else working over here, who has managed to get Bob's name out on packages in supermarkets, I'll be overjoyed but really intrigued.

Of course, I'll be back out to that store first thing in the morning, to buy that box and get a pic of it, whatever it is.

*After the nurse zwiebel duties, obviously.

Poor Mrs Harrod; she rushed back from Missouri in an emergency, with that overwheming feeling that there were things she had to do - a loved one needing to be saved and needing all the help they could get.

How long did it take Mrs Harrod to realize some of the support she thought was there, was not? How long did it take for those heartwrenching hours to change into....what? I don't know how it feels to have an emergency without end, that just goes on and on and on without a rescue, or a resolution.

I don't know how she's kept the faith, I really don't. It would probably have broken me.

zwiebel said:

I've had a bit of a day. The time to discover you don't know what the German for 'leg' is, is NOT when you're on the phone to emergency services because someone's just broken theirs. And it's really unwise to break your leg at all when you're at the bottom of a steep incline by a river. It's pretty unwise to be in the company only of a Mrs Zwiebel who is a good foot shorter than you too.

It's even worse to get home all hunky dory fine and then have a shock reaction that makes Mrs Zwiebel think you're dying. I know how I react in an emergency now. I yell a lot, but I do what needs to be done. And that thing about superhuman strength when a loved one is in an emergency.....it's true.

Anyhow, I was just dropping in to say I may be a little quiet over the coming days, but it's not because I've forgotten Bob. No way, no how. I'm just busy being probably the worst nurse in the world......

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Just catching up on Bob news and eek! Hope the break isn't too bad.. if nothing else, world's worst nursing could speed up the recovery

If it's anywhere near as hot with you as it is in the UK, not a good time to be in a cast either

no idea how I managed this...I reckon I got some wild hair to try & put a map on here of around Mr. H's house there on Carnation...since it's been
Almost 4 years!!!...


click on that pic-makes it bigger- take a look around there again

Looking at that map again just makes me think there really were few places where a senior who couldn't walk far might have fallen and laid undiscovered. Goldenrod park? Maybe the golf club?

It makes it even harder to understand why Bob's entire family weren't out searching those areas for him the day he disappeared. JuM said she was really scared, so she at least wasn't certain he had 'gotten cold feet'. I'd have thought they would have checked the few obvious places he might have been, at least.

Can anyone see where that junkyard/fruit stand in Carnation was supposed to be? It was discussed years earlier, but I've never been able to find it.

junkyard/fruit stand at Kraemer and Morse(looked way back and found where some Dolly person posted that location?)

yep I am looking at it...I guess-
33.88501, -117.86193
was even freakier in '09, had more gardening too

I wonder if Mr. Harrod ever went swimming over at his grandson's? Would have been really good gentle exercise for him.

eta- Oh, I wonder if Mr. Harrod's family is planning a candle light vigil for him on the anniversary date of his missing??? They are all there in the general area, correct??
They could have it over there in that Goldenrod Park!! And invite the media, his fellow Masons, and friends, extended family, and neighbors.Everyone! Maybe they could get the Boy Scouts or Marine Color Guard or Veterans group to present the flag or something. Wouldn't that be a great show of solidarity?? TO work together to get his name out there again and a great gesture of care & concern?? After all they want him found don't they?
Wish I wasn't so far, I would surely help.

sreshowtime said:

junkyard/fruit stand at Kraemer and Morse(looked way back and found where some Dolly person posted that location?)

yep I am looking at it...I guess-
33.88501, -117.86193
was even freakier in '09, had more gardening too

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Seen it at last! There and Goldenrod Park would have been among the first places I would have searched if I thought Bob had got confused and wandered off. Even if the junkyard's private property, you'd think a family member would have at least asked the owners if they could look. I don't think they did though. I don't think anyone - police or family - searched anywhere except Bob's house, the night he disappeared.

There just didn't seem to be a sense of urgency, so maybe they did all think Bob had got cold feet. Yet one of them told LE they thought Bob might have had dementia.....none of the actions that night make sense to me. Except Mrs Harrod, reporting Bob missing.