Found Safe TN - Katharine & Robert Baskin, Murfreesboro, 1 March 1989

Gina_M

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Katharine Christine Baskin

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: March 1, 1989 from Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Classification: Family Abduction
Date of Birth: August 11, 1980
Age: 8 years old
Height and Weight: 4'5, 70 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Sandy blonde hair, blue eyes. Katharine's nickname is Christi. She may use the alias name Robyn. She has a birthmark on her neck underneath her hair and a space between her top front teeth.

Details of Disappearance

Katharine her brother Robert were both abducted by their non-custodial maternal grandparents, Marvin Leroy Maple and Sandra Kuykendal Maple. Photographs and vital statistics of the grandparents are posted below this case summary. The children had been in the Maples's custody temporarily after the Maples alleged that Robert and Katharine's parents were sexually abusing them. Police have found no evidence to substantiate these accusations. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warrants for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution were issued for Marvin and Sandra on April 6, 1989.

It has been established that Robert, Katharine, and their abductors were living in Santa Clara, California after their disappearances. This was between March 10, 1989 and August 1989. The children used the aliases Robyn and Robbie, and the Maples called themselves Ray and Sandra Farmer and Harvey and Joan Wilson. There has been no evidence of their whereabouts after August 1989, however. They may be driving a tan customized van with license plates from an unspecified southern state.

Police are concerned for Robert and Katharine's welfare. The Maples have allegedly threatened to kill the children rather than see them returned to their parents. They remain missing and their cases are unsolved.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baskin_katharine.html


Robert Maple Baskin

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: March 1, 1989 from Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Classification: Family Abduction
Date of Birth: November 16, 1981
Age: 6 years old
Height and Weight: 4'3, 80 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Robert's nickname is Robbie.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baskin_robert.html
 
http://www.myspace.com/findthebaskins

Interesting article (from 1998) in the MySpace blog:

The agonizing wait continues for Mark and Debbie Baskin, whose two oldest children were kidnapped by her parents nine years ago.

There have been few solid leads since Christi Baskin, now 17, and Bobby Baskin, now 16, were taken by Marvin and Sandra Maple of Murfreesboro.

Their disappearance came near the end of a nasty custody battle. The Maples claimed their daughter and son-in-law were members of a satanic cult that practiced animal sacrifices and bizarre sexual rituals.

Investigators found no evidence the children were abused.

The grandparents, who had been awarded temporary custody of the youngsters, fled about a week before the Baskins were to have regained custody.

(more at link...)

 
I am sure the grandparents probably told the children that their parents were dead so they have never bothered to look for them. They may have also moved to another country. I wonder if they ever tried searching through social security records to see if either ever applied for a card or if the grandparents ever drew their retirement benefits. These children were old know to remember things so they would have to know the grandparents are not their parents. Of course these are just thoughts. :)
 
Gina M tried to send you a PM but your message box is full.
 
This case is so sad b/c of the obvious fact of the kids being missing. i cannot imagine how it feels to not know where you child is and I hope I never know that pain.Secondly the mother was horrible betrayed by her own parents and that must be incredibly painful as well. I remember seeing this on unsolved mysteries years ago.
 
I wonder why they would do this. Do you think they may have possibly had good reason?? I dont really know Im just throwing up ideas.
 
This case really confuses me. It's like it's the word of the grandparents against the word of the parents. I don't know whom to believe. I can see three possible scenarios:

1. The grandparents were correct in their claims about the parents, and the grandparents are merely protecting their grandchildren.
2. The grandparents are incorrect in their claims about the parents, but truly believe they are correct - either there was a misunderstanding or some confusion on the grandparents' part. They truly believe they're protecting their grandchildren.
3. The grandparents knowingly made up false information about their own daughter and son-in-law, as an excuse to take the children - this would suggest some sort of mental illness or emotional problem on the part of the grandparents.

I honestly don't know what to believe.
Either way...the children would be adults now. I wonder where they are.
 
One other thing...the Baskins have another son, Michael, who is a year younger than Robert. I wonder why he was not taken.
 
Of course I have no firsthand knowledge of this case, but in my experience, non-custodial relatives who abduct children frequently make accusations of abuse. And about 95% of the time these accusations turn out to be untrue. The vast majority of the time, the non-custodial relative isn't taking the child to give the child a better life, but to get revenge on the child's rightful caregiver.

I also find it very difficult to believe that the Baskin children's parents were involved in a satanic cult involving ritual animal sacrifice and sexual abuse of children. Rumors and legends about the existence of groups like that have been floating around for decades but I don't think satanic ritual abuse has ever been proven anywhere in the United States.
 
Of course I have no firsthand knowledge of this case, but in my experience, non-custodial relatives who abduct children frequently make accusations of abuse. And about 95% of the time these accusations turn out to be untrue. The vast majority of the time, the non-custodial relative isn't taking the child to give the child a better life, but to get revenge on the child's rightful caregiver.

I also find it very difficult to believe that the Baskin children's parents were involved in a satanic cult involving ritual animal sacrifice and sexual abuse of children. Rumors and legends about the existence of groups like that have been floating around for decades but I don't think satanic ritual abuse has ever been proven anywhere in the United States.
things like this and Lindsey and Samuel Porter really make you wonder why family abduction is not taken more seriously. it seems like a good bit of your site is family abductions. i am glad you take the time to highlight the cases, these kids are in danger and we ofter think since they are with family they are safe.
 
I firmly believe that family abductions are one of the most unrecognized forms of child abuse existing in the United States today -- probably other countries too, though I don't know. I'm a writer and working on a book right now, a murder mystery. After it's done I'd like to try my hand on writing a novel about family abductions. I want people to realize how they destroy children and families. There have only been a few novels on the subject, mostly from a positive viewpoint -- i.e. abducting parent "rescuing" the kid from the "bad" custodial parent. It's garbage. I want to write a book that tells the truth.

Of all the hundreds of family abduction cases listed on my site, I can think of only TWO that may have been justified. In one of them, a grandmother kidnapped the child -- the child's custodial father is the prime suspect in the disappearance and presumed murder of the child's mother, who is also listed as missing on my site. The other case is also a grandmother: the mother is dead, and the father of the child is a bit marginal -- I think her concern for her grandson's safety was genuine, anyway, though I'm not convinced that the father would be an unfit parent. In any case, he's never had a chance to prove himself, since Grandma made off with the kid right after custody was awarded to the father.

Two cases. Out of all those hundreds I've written about.
 
there is another case the Yates children from ri who were taken by the non custodial mother two sisters one is in her 20s now and the other one i believe would have started college the father has been searching for years for his children and i think even put up a website on them
 
"Police say the couple may be driving a tan, customized van with license plates from a southern state."

So, I wonder if the van was ever traced. Was it ever found abandoned anywhere, sold to anyone?

Oh, and I'm new here. Nice to meet you all!
 
I have to agree that the above statement about grandparents making up false accusations is true many times. I have seen in custody battles that all too often that grandparents simply intervene and take sides without listening to any facts.

Also the kids are old enough to honestly answer if they were being abused. I am thinking the grandparents got custody due to lies and when it was time to turn the kids back over, the parents probably planned to stop all contact with them so they g-parents took off. Nobody sane or credible would make a threat against the grandkids.
 
i wonder if we could contact the le involved in the case maybe they could shed some light on some of our questions maybe we could like make a list of questions we would like to ask them if they would be willing to. does anyone know if they were ever spotted were they part of the underground?
 
"Police say the couple may be driving a tan, customized van with license plates from a southern state."

So, I wonder if the van was ever traced. Was it ever found abandoned anywhere, sold to anyone?

Oh, and I'm new here. Nice to meet you all!
Hi! Welcome aboard!
 
i wonder if we could contact the le involved in the case maybe they could shed some light on some of our questions maybe we could like make a list of questions we would like to ask them if they would be willing to. does anyone know if they were ever spotted were they part of the underground?

They were found to be in Santa Clara, CA from March of 1989 to August of 1989. The kids were even videotaped at a swim party or some such. Then they either got nervous or found out someone had called authorities and were gone before authorities got there.

Then there was a sighting that was confirmed by the FBI (whatever that means) in 1993 in Peabody, Massachusetts (Near Salem).

Updates were made to the show "Unsolved Mysteries" about these two sightings. The show is no longer being aired in the U.S.

There are suspicions that they may have been helped by the underground people, but no proof.

http://www.myspace.com/findthebaskins
 
Ever since this was first posted I've been looking for info on this case, but all that there is out there is what little has been posted. I remember first hearing about this on Unsolved Mysteries. On one of those updates I had thought it was mentioned that they were found and the grandfather had passed away. I don't know if I'm mistaken a case or what, like I said, I can't find anything online. I live near where they disappeared from I've thought of called LE but not sure what info they'd share.

If this is an unsolved case would LE even be looking into it since the kids are now grown? I also question why if the grandparents who were so concerned about their welfare they would leave a third child behind.

(I don't remember details of the case when it originally aired on that show, but now I'm thinking that maybe the older two weren't the biological children of the dad and the third one was. They do have his last name but could have been adopted after marrying the mother.)
 
Ever since this was first posted I've been looking for info on this case, but all that there is out there is what little has been posted. I remember first hearing about this on Unsolved Mysteries. On one of those updates I had thought it was mentioned that they were found and the grandfather had passed away. I don't know if I'm mistaken a case or what, like I said, I can't find anything online. I live near where they disappeared from I've thought of called LE but not sure what info they'd share.

If this is an unsolved case would LE even be looking into it since the kids are now grown? I also question why if the grandparents who were so concerned about their welfare they would leave a third child behind.

(I don't remember details of the case when it originally aired on that show, but now I'm thinking that maybe the older two weren't the biological children of the dad and the third one was. They do have his last name but could have been adopted after marrying the mother.)


Yes, this case was on unsolved Mysteries.

Unfortunately, it has not been solved. This "kids" are still missing, although they are now 27 and 25 years old.

They are both the biological children of Mark & Debbie Baskin.

Apparently, the youngest child was with his parents in another state at the time of the abduction and, thankfully, wasn't taken.

No, there isn't much online besides missing "posters" on missing children sites.
 

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