CA CA - Bob Harrod, 81, Orange County, 27 July 2009 - # 9

Cubby said:

Yes, Happy Memorial Day everyone. Thank you, Mr. Harrod, and all who have served and are currently serving and protecting our country.

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Here, here. I have heard that the USMC never leaves a man behind....I wonder if the thought of Mr Harrod being somewhere without recognition gives some of his fellow Marines pause.

Take it or leave it-someone reached out to me who was close to Bob....someone who is not related to a new member of the Harrod family fwiw, and someone who no longer posts here.

This person indicates that the house had to be locked with a key. Could only be locked with a key in order to prevent an accidental lock out.

Like I said, take it or leave it. If we accept the possibility that this is true, JeM had a set of keys.

So why didnt he, his wife or his son check on Bob themselves during the day? And how did they let LE into the house if the door was locked? We know AH greeted LE at the house. Either the house was unlocked, or it had been locked with a set of keys.

We know from her own words that JuM says she recommended FH change the locks to the house. So I assume if she had that set of keys, she returned them??

hmmm.

Additionally, we know daughter JuM was at Bob's home the day following his disappearance, both from her message posted at her community forum about changing the linens and the KTLV video was recorded the day following Bob's disappearance.

Clearly the home had to be locked upon JeM's departure as well as unlocked the following day for JuM to enter the home.

Someone either had a spare set of keys or left with Mr. Harrod's key the day he went missing.

Is it possible that a trusted neighbor had a key?

So you're thinking the sil went to the neighbors and asked for a key to lock up before heading back to Running Springs?

How would he have explained to the neighbor Bob had been missing for hours so he now needed a key to lock up before heading home?

Personally, I can't see the SIL going to a neighbor to borrow a key to lock the home up the afternoon of Bob's disappearance. I think Bob would have been reported missing much earlier and Mrs. Harrod would have known Bob was missing much earlier than she did. IIRC Mrs. Harrod called in the MP report about 2:20 am CST and 12:20 am PT.

If SIL had gone to a neighbor for a key that afternoon, Bob's neighbors and grandson would have been aware he was missing much much earlier.

In fact, there would have never been a reason for the SIL to leave Placentia prior to filing a missing persons report himself. Why didn't he report it himself or notify his family prior to leaving? Why was it about 12 hours later if we are to take the 12:15 or so time the cleaning lady said she arrived and found no one answering the door? 9-12 hours is a really long time to first start looking for an eldery man 81 years of age. Especially one known not to walk further than his own neighborhood.

No, I really can't see going to a neighbor. The neighbor would have likely had a great deal of questions for the SIL.

I don't know...I was just asking and wasn't really thinking/theorizing beyond my question. Sorry!

So you are assuming he had a key to let-in the housekeeper?

~jmo~

Michaels told police he thought Bob Harrod may have retired for a nap, and said he let himself and the maid in the back door.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-214111--.html

Sounds to me like the sil locked the front door from the interior before leaving and exited the back door. Then upon his return entered again through the back door.

If both the front and rear doors could only be locked with keys, he had to have obtained a key prior to locking up and heading home to RS, leaving me to believe he had a spare Mr. Harrod was unaware of and/or walked off with Mr. Harrod's set of keys. I really can't imagine any other way it was possible for him to lock the home prior to heading back to RS.

Let's suppose the SIL had a key Mr. Harrod was unaware of. If that were the case, he could have let himself in that morning taking Mr. Harrod by surprise. It could explain why the bed was unmade and how he locked up prior to heading home to RS.

Remember JuM and JeM previously owned the home directly next door to Bob and Georgia's home until a few years prior to Mr. Harrod's disappearance.

It's possible at some point Mr. Harrod was aware his daughter and sil had a spare key but later asked it be returned (or perhaps Georgia asked it be returned). Even if they returned the spare given to them, it doesn't mean they hadn't had another spare made prior to returning any, if they had any, if asked to return them.

shana said:

Is it possible that a trusted neighbor had a key?

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Thank you shana! I like that idea. Then we need to consider the availability of that key to Bob's children and grandson....for example, did Bob (who customarily left a spare key in the mailbox for Agnes, but who did not on that day) have a specific group of people he allowed the neighbor to give the key to.

But, let's say he locked up and headed out to Running Springs-how did the police get in for the welfare check? We know AH greeted them because we have the incident report and the MP report.

1.) Did AH have a key?

2.) Did a trusted neighbor give AH a key?

Each of those possibilities raises another question, I think. KWIM?

Cubby said:

Additionally, we know daughter JuM was at Bob's home the day following his disappearance, both from her message posted at her community forum about changing the linens and the KTLV video was recorded the day following Bob's disappearance.

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I know that I'm not the first person to comment on this but her Dad is missing and she's worried about changing the linens? I know that I've read about them *wanting what was their's* but I have a hard time believing that their dad's bed sheets belong to them.

And maybe its just me but I would have expected the housekeeper to have changed the sheets the day before. Makes me wonder what could have been on those sheets.

Mel

Mels3kidz said:

I know that I'm not the first person to comment on this but her Dad is missing and she's worried about changing the linens? I know that I've read about them *wanting what was their's* but I have a hard time believing that their dad's bed sheets belong to them.

And maybe its just me but I would have expected the housekeeper to have changed the sheets the day before. Makes me wonder what could have been on those sheets.

Mel

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Thank you for the observation and what a terrible thought.

Mels3kidz said:

I know that I'm not the first person to comment on this but her Dad is missing and she's worried about changing the linens? I know that I've read about them *wanting what was their's* but I have a hard time believing that their dad's bed sheets belong to them.

And maybe its just me but I would have expected the housekeeper to have changed the sheets the day before. Makes me wonder what could have been on those sheets.

Mel

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I wonder if daughter JuM ever turned those linens over to LE.

I think we have a few more entry ways to Bob's house-I am waiting to hear how those areas are accessed and locked....keep in mind, I am not a verified local so you are all free to take me with a grain of salt, lol.

believe09 said:

I think we have a few more entry ways to Bob's house-I am waiting to hear how those areas are accessed and locked....keep in mind, I am not a verified local so you are all free to take me with a grain of salt, lol.

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Good point, believe. Do we have the schematics on Mr. Harrods residence? Tax info? Building permits? That sort of thing?

All possible entry and exit points including windows, back doors, garage doors, fireplaces etc... I imagine would have been processed by PPD?

Cubby said:

Narrator: Uncertain about what to do next, Agnes began cleaning, while Jeff resumed his repairs. As she worked her way around the house, she noticed something disturbing.

Agnes: When I went upstairs, I saw that in his bedroom, the bed was unmade, and never in the 10 years I worked for them, that happened before. It was just so out of character for him to not to make the bed, I just thought it was very strange.

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SBM

This part made my heart hurt.

My father is within a week of the same age as Bob. I know exactly when my father makes his bed because he's had the same routine my entire life.

With my father, it's get up, go to the bathroom, shave (he showers at night right before bed; it's a Korean thing), go back to his bedroom, make the bed, get dressed and he's ready for breakfast.

I'm sure Bob had some similar sort of routine that he followed every morning. I'm sure Bob always made his bed at the same point in his morning routine.

But that Monday morning, something interrupted Bob and nothing has ever been the same.

It's more than sad.

charminglane said:

Maybe the bed was not made as Bob was receiving too many calls that morning? Arguments with family members over the telephone? Nothing he wanted to talk about with non-family members?

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That's possible, I think.

We'll never know if he didn't want to talk to non-family members about what happened on the telephone that day because Bob disappeared before he ever had a chance to do so.

I wonder, though. I don't think this was the first rodeo for Bob with his daughters. For instance, I can't believe the time period before Bob had to pay them each $15K to stay away from him was filled with familial peace and harmony and yet his housekeeper had never seen his bed not made.

I know that old men differ but it would take some sort of catastrophic event for my father not to make his bed. I'm not even certain he's doing it consciously anymore, I think it's a habit that is so long engrained that he just does it without thought. Research shows that is the entire point of habits: they give the brain a rest from thinking and that rest is such a powerful reward that we build up habits all the time in order to get that reward.

What would be so cataclysmic that it would interrupt Bob's usual morning habits?

cloudajo said:

Let's not forget the SIL JeM was laid off from his job in April 2009, 3 months before Bob went missing. JuM was not working either. I wonder what they were thinking about the Harrod Trust/estate during the heated family meeting the day before Bob went missing?

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I'd lay money it was not "I hope Daddy lives to be 125 years old and dies peacefully in his sleep after he spends his last dime on his favourite dessert."

I wonder what time Bob woke up every morning?

Oriah said:

Good point, believe. Do we have the schematics on Mr. Harrods residence? Tax info? Building permits? That sort of thing?

All possible entry and exit points including windows, back doors, garage doors, fireplaces etc... I imagine would have been processed by PPD?

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I received more information last night about doors into/out of Carnation Drive that are access points. Keep in mind that this is someone's best recollection-

1. The front door has two deadbolt locks both need keys to lock from the outside, no way to lock them and leave without a key.

2. French door in family room, it also has two locks, one is a deadbolt which needs a key to lock from the outside and the other is a turn knob on the door handle which can be locked and the door closed, locking someone out.

3.The door from the backyard to the laundryroom has two locks, same set up as the french doors, deadbolt and turn knob on handle.

4. The laundryroom also has a door to the garage that door has two locks also, the turn knob on the handle and a deadbolt but this deadbolt needs a key to open from the outside AND from the inside.

5. The ONLY other door is the door from the side yard to the garage which just has a turn knob on the handle. (This is the door that I believe is mentioned on the MP report as not being able to be opened by police due to the amount of stuff stacked on the inside.)


Which makes everything clear as mud lol. My oustanding questions are which doors were locked when JeM left, and how did AH/PPD enter Bob's house during the well being check?

The front door had to be locked with keys. No brainer. So if that door was locked, then JeM had a set of keys-this is what I believe. Otherwise, IF Bob let his SIL, in he let him in one of the back doors...mind you if the front door was locked.

The front door must have been locked because CL couldnt get in.

So IF JeM was going in and out of the residence on his various errands via the back door, why was that happening? :waitasec: