Santa Clara girl abducted & similiar abductions time/area to Anna's disappearance.

Here is the new information:

The last name of our tipster who who said that she met Anna three years after her abduction with a man named Bill is...Sharp. She did not indicate that this Bill was a relative - she indicated that she thought that he was a construction worker employed by her father. But both I and SherlockJr independently came to the same opinion at the time when we were in contact with her: that there was something that she was not telling us that she really wanted to say but could not bring herself to. I even asked her at the end of my first conversation with her, "Are you Anna?" She said no and I believe that further evidence showed that she was too old to be Anna, but that is how strong this feeling was that she was holding back some important bit of info.

So, our tipster and Jack Sharp suddenly move to the front of the line in our investigation. I do not want to post any more information about the tipster publicly - this is all based on a hunch and she deserves her privacy if and until it proves neccessary to post her full name. But I think SherlockJr and I need to examine any possible links between our tipster's family and Jack Sharp. An uncle, perhaps?
 
Here is the new information:

The last name of our tipster who who said that she met Anna three years after her abduction with a man named Bill is...Sharp. She did not indicate that this Bill was a relative - she indicated that she thought that he was a construction worker employed by her father. But both I and SherlockJr independently came to the same opinion at the time when we were in contact with her: that there was something that she was not telling us that she really wanted to say but could not bring herself to. I even asked her at the end of my first conversation with her, "Are you Anna?" She said no and I believe that further evidence showed that she was too old to be Anna, but that is how strong this feeling was that she was holding back some important bit of info.

So, our tipster and Jack Sharp suddenly move to the front of the line in our investigation. I do not want to post any more information about the tipster publicly - this is all based on a hunch and she deserves her privacy if and until it proves neccessary to post her full name. But I think SherlockJr and I need to examine any possible links between our tipster's family and Jack Sharp. An uncle, perhaps?

Very wise conclusion Doogie. Is there anything I can do to help? If so please post or pm. The last name Sharp, is really intriguing.
 
Sharp was convicted on November 13th, 1974, on two counts of auto theft and two counts of child abduction (the jury couldn't reach a verdict at that time on an addtional count of child molestation). He faced up to 60 years in prison.
I'm still looking for info on the sentencing.

The car he had stolen and was using during the time of the Huber abduction reportedly contained several items of kids' clothing, dolls, and toys...Along with Polaroids with the name Karen Knapp scribbled on the back, as though written by a child. I wonder if little five year-old Karen was capable of that.
 
Sharp was convicted on November 13th, 1974, on two counts of auto theft and two counts of child abduction (the jury couldn't reach a verdict at that time on an addtional count of child molestation). He faced up to 60 years in prison.
I'm still looking for info on the sentencing.

The car he had stolen and was using during the time of the Huber abduction reportedly contained several items of kids' clothing, dolls, and toys...Along with Polaroids with the name Karen Knapp scribbled on the back, as though written by a child. I wonder if little five year-old Karen was capable of that.


Does anyone have access to the LA Times?
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes...r+of+2+Girls+Sentenced+to+Prison&pqatl=google
 
Sharp was convicted on November 13th, 1974, on two counts of auto theft and two counts of child abduction (the jury couldn't reach a verdict at that time on an addtional count of child molestation). He faced up to 60 years in prison.
I'm still looking for info on the sentencing.

The car he had stolen and was using during the time of the Huber abduction reportedly contained several items of kids' clothing, dolls, and toys...Along with Polaroids with the name Karen Knapp scribbled on the back, as though written by a child. I wonder if little five year-old Karen was capable of that.

There was a doll of Anna's that I could never find after she went missing. I had made the doll, so I don't think it got discarded.
 
Annasmom, it would be unlikely that the doll was thrown out considering the items that you did keep.
 
A point that confuses me...According to the articles I've found, Sharp/Knapp was questioned about a stolen car in January of '74. He was arrested but released. It was at this time that Karen was found with him. She was placed into foster care, as LE couldn't find a matching missing persons report for her.
On or around June 20th, Sharp was released after serving a 90-day sentence for child molestation. The next day, he kidnapped Michelle. This means he started serving the sentence on or around March 20th.
For the molestation of whom was he convicted? I had assumed it was for Karen, but that isn't indicated in the articles. The molestation conviction and the kidnapping of Karen seem to be reported as two seperate incidents.
 
A point that confuses me...According to the articles I've found, Sharp/Knapp was questioned about a stolen car in January of '74. He was arrested but released. It was at this time that Karen was found with him. She was placed into foster care, as LE couldn't find a matching missing persons report for her.
On or around June 20th, Sharp was released after serving a 90-day sentence for child molestation. The next day, he kidnapped Michelle. This means he started serving the sentence on or around March 20th.
For the molestation of whom was he convicted? I had assumed it was for Karen, but that isn't indicated in the articles. The molestation conviction and the kidnapping of Karen seem to be reported as two seperate incidents.

My understanding is Karen was abducted in November 1973. When Sharp/Knapp was arrested, he told LE that Karen was his daughter and that her mother had passed away. They never checked missing children, took his word and placed her in foster care. It wasn't till later that a policeman recognized Karen living with a foster family that she was a missing child. The police called Karen's mother, picked her up in LA and took her to San Diego to see if she was her daughter. Dr. Doogie and I spent some time on the phone with Karen's mother. This Sharp/Knapp guy was very bad as Doogie had mentioned in an earlier post.
So your point about being confused is valid! Who did Sharp/Knapp come into contact prior to Karen?
 
My understanding is Karen was abducted in November 1973. When Sharp/Knapp was arrested, he told LE that Karen was his daughter and that her mother had passed away. They never checked missing children, took his word and placed her in foster care. It wasn't till later that a policeman recognized Karen living with a foster family that she was a missing child. The police called Karen's mother, picked her up in LA and took her to San Diego to see if she was her daughter. Dr. Doogie and I spent some time on the phone with Karen's mother. This Sharp/Knapp guy was very bad as Doogie had mentioned in an earlier post.
So your point about being confused is valid! Who did Sharp/Knapp come into contact prior to Karen?

The news articles of the time state that when Sharp/Knapp was arrested for the abduction of Michelle, the San Diego PD backtracked Sharp's whereabouts and came across the Huber incident. It was then that they put all the pieces together. He was arrested for Michelle's abduction on June 21st. So....There appears to be another girl who was molested during that time (as Karen was simply taken from him and placed in foster care, as far as I can determine).
I had it in mind that this unknown girl was molested between January and March, but it's certainly possible the conviction arose from a previous complaint.
 
Annasmom, it would be unlikely that the doll was thrown out considering the items that you did keep.

I believe I have the name of the vehicle's owner (when it was stolen in '73) who reported the children's items...I'll take a look.
 
From the San Mateo Times, June 28, 1974:

Sharp was arrested under the Knapp alias in January for car theft. He told police the little girl with him — who called him "daddy" —was his daughter. The little girl was put in a children's home. She.said she was Karen Knapp. When Sharp was arrested again for child molesting, Karen was made a ward of the court, put up for adoption and placed in a foster home.

I will try and find it, but I believe the molestation charge was an outstanding warrant from prior to the kidnapping of Karen Huber.
 
(from various CA papers of the time) Sharp, identifying himself as Cecil Russell, was arrested on or around Jan 4th on an auto theft warrant by San Diego PD. It was at this time he was found to have Karen. She was then placed into foster care.
Sharp and two other men, Kenneth Wagand and Allen Damrill, were questioned by a detective from the city of Gardena (where the car had been stolen). The other two men were released, but Sharp was held on a warrant from Los Angeles for suspicion of child molestation. He was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in the county jail.

The owners of the vehicle, a Mr and Mrs Perkins (it is mentioned they moved from Gardena to an address on Havenhurst Ave in Van Nuys) contacted the detective who had handled the auto theft and told him the car had "all kinds of childrens clothing" and toys and dolls (also the Polaroids) which did not belong to them.

It is not stated that the items were collected by LE, though they may have been used as evidence in the abduction/auto theft trial. The raingear that Anna was wearing, if in the vehicle, may stand out in someones' mind.
 
The owners of the vehicle, a Mr and Mrs Perkins (it is mentioned they moved from Gardena to an address on Havenhurt Ave in Van Nuys) contacted the detective who had handled the auto theft and told him the car had "all kinds of childrens clothing" and toys and dolls (also the Polaroids) which did not belong to them.

It is not stated that the items were collected by LE, though they may have been used as evidence in the abduction/auto theft trial. The raingear that Anna was wearing, if in the vehicle, may stand out in someones' mind.

I don't believe Anna was wearing any raingear that day. If I remember reading what Annasmom said that Anna took off her coat when she came inside, and never put it back on when she went back outside. However, a handmade doll might stick out in someone's mind.
 
Anna's Doe Network entry states she was wearing "black oversized rubber boots". I also recall something else being mentioned, something brightly-colored which was not discovered in the creek (this being something else indicating she had not fallen into the stream).
Or maybe my rememberer is broken.
 
Anna's Doe Network entry states she was wearing "black oversized rubber boots". I also recall something else being mentioned, something brightly-colored which was not discovered in the creek (this being something else indicating she had not fallen into the stream).
Or maybe my rememberer is broken.

You're right! She was wearing boots. When I hear the word raingear, I only was thinking of raincoats and umbrellas.
 
Mentioned on the Sharon Marshall thread: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cach...en+Knapp+Foster+home&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=ca

L.B. kidnapper linked to second child victim
Find L.A girl lost 7 months

The second southland child kidnap victim recovered in a week was re-united with her family Thursday as police in three cities tightened the skein of evidence that appears to tie jailed suspect Jack Clifton Sharp to both abductions.

Five year old Karen Joyce Huber of Echo Park, who was kidnapped last November while on her way to school in Los Angeles, was returned to her mother by San Diego police. Officers said the child had been living in a foster home under the name of Karen Knapp placed there by authorities who in January took custody of the child after the man posing as her father was arrested on a car theft warrant.

The man, now identified as Jack Clifton Sharp, is in Los Angeles County jail, held under a 50,000 dollar bond and charged with child stealing and related offenses in the June 17 abduction of 4 year old Michelle Lynn Booher of Long Beach. The Booher child was with Sharp, then known as William Knapp, when he was arrested June 21 in San Diego where he and the girl were discovered living in a hotel for indigents.

San Diego police who returned the Huber girl to her divorced mother Thursday theorized the child had been "brain-washed" to the point where she lost her identity and dociley accepted as her father the man who allegedly kidnapped her from her echo park neiborhood last November 13.

As police in San Diego, Gardenia, and Los Angeles were spurred by Sharp's arrest to revive the Huber case it became apparent that the kidnappings were nearly identical crimes.

In each case, investigators reported, Sharp allegedly stole a car from a bowling alley parking lot and abducted a blue-eyed blonde child who was molested but not harmed. Sharp allegedly took both children to San Diego and told people the girls were his daughters........
 
An observation signifying nothing: The two girls were named Huber and Booher. The names are very similar to each other, just kinda inside-out from each other. Just an odd coincidence... :waitasec:
 
An observation signifying nothing: The two girls were named Huber and Booher. The names are very similar to each other, just kinda inside-out from each other. Just an odd coincidence... :waitasec:

It must have confuzzled the reporters too..I've often seen Karen's name listed as Joyce Lynn Huber (instead of Karen Joyce Huber). Michelle's middle name is Lynn.
 
Another coincidence is that Sharp/Knapp targeted on girls from divorced parents. This way he could tell them that he was their father and something happened to their mother. Both Anna and Cynthia Sumpter lived with a divorced parent.
 

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