TN - Gail Nowacki Palmgren, 44, Signal Mountain, 30 April 2011 - #3

Oriah said:

Thank you for that info. Regarding the cell service...this is traveling up or down the mountain- not at the top or bottom, where cell service is good. Is that correct?

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There are drop spots all over the mountain, weak service in and out, up and down the mountain, top and bottom, respectively. This is from personal experience with Sprint and Verizon.

Janeumayer said:

“Headed down...call say little.”

Another interpretation of this could be: Say little cause my cell phone is tapped?

Which gives me hope because she could have ditched the phone.

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Since she felt she was being followed, I have some hope that she did indeed toss the phone. The phone did not leave the mountain area and I have an image in my mind of Gail tossing it out the window as she left the area. She is smart lady and I would assume she is tech savvy at least to the point that she would know that a cell phone could be used to trace her whereabouts by whomever was following her. So thinking she tossed it is one of a couple reasonable conclusions.
If Gail was truly in fear for her life, perhaps threatened in one way or another,perhaps disappearing was her only option for now.

Another thought I had was if she were threatened by Matt and they made arrangements to meet at the house to exchange the kids, then dropping them off and not sticking around to be confronted by Matt is reasonable.
IOW, if she knew he was going to be there, which according to Matt she did, and if she felt threatened by him, which according to friends she was, then of course she would take off becauase she knew he would be there any minute.

Since she has not been contacting friends, perhaps she does not want to put them in the position of keeping her secret. PLus a single phone call to anyone would reveal at least one location she has been to.

of course all this is based on the assumption that gail is gone intentionally. I am not saying gone of her own free will, but gone because she was compelled to do so. Her friends say she would not leave her kids and I believe that. So, if she did leave her kids and leave town, she had to.

Again, the preceding is based on the assumption she is in hiding and I know there are plenty of counters to everything i posted that support that she has been harmed and worse.

Columbo said:

VERY interesting, thanks TheDoormouse!

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Sleuthy1 said:

Thought you might like to read the interesting comment placed at the bottom of the article. I also, wasn't sure if this article had been posted on WS yet. So I thought I would share.

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Yes very interesting and potentially accurate.
but as always please do not post anything specific to the gf here as she has not been named publicly and we have no idea if this information is true or not. Even if true,there is nothing to link her specifically to the disappearance of Gail so we should proceed with caution.
Thanks all.

fireflylink said:

Also, here on the mountain most of these could be easily walked/searched. If the locals here could take a little time and visually check their property these areas could be expediantly cleared.

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This statement is important and very true.

Also, getting guidance from Walden's Ridge Fire Department and Rescue would give insight on these areas, since they are familiar with the area with rescues and training off the bluffs, etc.

happy409 said:

There are drop spots all over the mountain, weak service in and out, up and down the mountain, top and bottom, respectively. This is from personal experience with Sprint and Verizon.

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Okay- just want to clarify- so the service at the top (where Gail's residence was, for example) and at the bottom (where the shopping center is) are also spotty with both Verizon and Sprint?

Oriah said:

Okay- just want to clarify- so the service at the top (where Gail's residence was, for example) and at the bottom (where the shopping center is) are also spotty with both Verizon and Sprint?

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Yes, I can say that for those two carriers, for the bottom and top of the mountain (and the ride in between). But, once you get to the Wal-Mart you do get steady service on both.

JBean said:

Since she felt she was being followed, I have some hope that she did indeed toss the phone. The phone did not leave the mountain area and I have an image in my mind of Gail tossing it out the window as she left the area. She is smart lady and I would assume she is tech savvy at least to the point that she would know that a cell phone could be used to trace her whereabouts by whomever was following her.

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Great thoughts and I believe you are right.
There is basically one way out of her development and the W road would be the fastest route off the mountain. In and out cell phone service in between. Once at the bottom you would pass by the Walmart to get to the highway (27) headed toward Chattanooga to go North or South (I-75) or (I-24). The "ping" at Walmart two days later made me think it was thrown out there after (if she were to make a call with service heading to safety) before it ran out of battery possibly around the 2nd if fully charged, or someone finding it on the side of the road at Walmart on the 2nd, turned it back on.

All newer phones have GPS or Sprint has Locator, but I understand the phone does have to be on, so I would assume they have exhausted those resources, or by the time they began to use them, the phone's battery had died.

Just a thought!

I don't think she would have tossed her phone, just taken the battery & card out.
Did she give the license numbers she was writing down to anyone?
She wasn't shy about calling LE before, why then, when she left the house?
I'm thinking she was not alone when she left the house on Sat.

IMO

Janeumayer said:

“Headed down...call say little.”

Another interpretation of this could be: Say little cause my cell phone is tapped?

Which gives me hope because she could have ditched the phone.

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In my opinion, this is the most logical of all possibilities I've read on the forum. I know the technology has been available for at least 10 years for even the lay person with no technical aptitude whatsoever, to tap landline calls. Even then the technology was also available to tap cell phone calls, although it was explained to me as somewhat complicated and maybe requiring some technical abilities.

I feel sure that with the technical advances that have happened in the last 10 years, the cell phone tapping capability is likely within reach of anybody interested enough to do it. I've never checked into it however.

I believe that anybody monitoring a person's whereabouts to the extent of having them followed, and with the funds to easily hire a PI for this purpose, would surely have tapped the phone. I think it should be assumed that no landline calls have been private for some time, and depending on available technology, neither would cell calls have been private.

As has been stated repeatedly, Gail is a smart enough woman to have eventually figured this out if it was happening.

Something else that has been on my mind since this case began is the remarkable similarities of this case to the Sam/Theresa Parker case, at least in terms of circumstances that led to it, the theories presented to explain it as the case progressed, and even the little details in the immediate timeline, such as the phone call to the sister being the last contact. Eerie. Non-locals may not realize how local this case was, since it was a Georgia case. It was right over the state line and received extensive local media coverage throughout. I've read some threads on this forum related to that case, which point to many of those similarities.

Even though that case began in 2007, it was back in local headlines this past September, 7 months before Gail's disappearance. My point is the question of whether recent coverage could have prompted any sinister thinking leading to a sort of copycat scenario, though hopefully with a better ending if it can be figured out more quickly.

Would details of that case give any clues that should be checked out in this case? Anything investigators could have learned from Sam's actions that could give a possible direction to search in this case? I don't know. If so, it would point more to woods than water, if I understand correctly.

This is an upsetting scenario that I've not been sure I should bring up, but we're so many days down the pike now, I thought I should say it. If mods think best deleted, I understand. Tough judgment call for me, anyway.

Carrington said:

I don't think she would have tossed her phone, just taken the battery & card out.
Did she give the license numbers she was writing down to anyone?
She wasn't shy about calling LE before, why then, when she left the house?
I'm thinking she was not alone when she left the house on Sat.

IMO

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My cells phones don't have cards, except for storage of music/pictures, and I have to think the 'ping' at Walmart means something.

I would hope those having information on the license numbers would have given that to LE.

As to not calling LE. Maybe she thought LE was on Matt's side, believing him saying she was paranoid, just giving her safe numbers, thinking nothing would come of it. It happens too much.

fireflylink said:

Okay folks, here is trip UP Roberts Mill Rd in the daylight. Please note that this was shot in the winter, right now everything is covered and lush green so visibility is a lot lower now. I am posting both link and embedded.

http://youtu.be/KrmYnwDogE0

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KrmYnwDogE0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Thanks for this link! I rented a Jeep about 10 years ago and I remember it had such a high center of gravity, it felt like it could tip over very easily. I wonder if Jeep has changed their cars in the years since then--maybe the Rubicon is more stable. But if not, I could see how someone very upset, in a "tippy" car, could go over the edge on one of these roads so easily.
Or maybe tipping over wouldn't even necessarily involve going over the edge of an embankment...I'm just thinking of possibilities.

It seems as if they would have found evidence of this by now, if that was what happened. Although, out here in CA, there have been cases where a person drove off a road and there was no sign of their veering off the edge. The cases I'm thinking of, the persons were discovered by accident, alive.

believe09 said:

I missed the post referencing that someone had placed a tracker on a vehicle, presumably MP's? Anyone have a link to the post? TIA

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believe, I was just jumping off of Janeumeyer's thought of the phone being tapped...with speculation. Her phone being tapped, or someone with access to her phone activity.... along with a tracker on her jeep for her whereabouts could be the reason she was "paranoid".. "Someone" with that knowledge could have been "letting her know" and definitely make a person feel they were being followed, imo. ?

hollyblue said:

believe, I was just jumping off of Janeumeyer's thought of the phone being tapped...with speculation. Her phone being tapped, or someone with access to her phone activity.... along with a tracker on her jeep for her whereabouts could be the reason she was "paranoid".. "Someone" with that knowledge could have been "letting her know" and definitely make a person feel they were being followed, imo. ?

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I find myself thinking about Gail all of the time, and I hate to admit that my imagination starts to get the best of me sometimes. I see so many different scenerios in my mind, all possible but..... I need more facts. I am here off and on all day and all hours of the night waiting for some new crumbs.

Gail where are you? Your family and total strangers to you are worrying so. We know you are in need of a friend right now, no matter the true circumstance. PLEASE let someone know if you are out there, in trouble or not.

And, another Sat. is passing. Tick Tock

IMO

Ugh! So many rumors out there that we are reading between a girlfriend and Gail possibly feeling she was being followed and it's so frustrating that we can't get one confirmation on anything.

A lot of information could point to Gail just taking off. I can even see her not being in her right mind for one day and doing it. We all have been there, stressed, upset or needing a change and possibly anyone of us could just take off as our minds are so full of anxiety that perhaps we are not thinking clearly. To be gone THIS long without one word to anyone that she is safe does not sit right with me. A few days perhaps without word but not this long.

Gail was careful enough to think some things through by giving some personal belongings to some friends. So to just take off and not get in contact with anyone? I really want to think that this is the case and she is safe, but my gut says no. She would have reached out by now. Too much time has passed.

IMO, I believe she was setting things up to possibly leave MP, I just don't think she got the chance to carry that plan through. Something went very wrong.

IMO, the fact that we are not hearing of any new information from LE, leads me to believe that they know something and cannot divulge that to the public in fear of hampering their on going investigation. Not saying they have some big lead or anything like that, but when LE is quiet on something like this, there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.

I've posted an update to the Alert Detail on DailyFugitive.com about the upcoming vigil today and the search tomorrow. If anyone has any additional detail relating to locating Gail and/or her vehicle please post it to me privately and I will see that our Alert is updated accordingly.

KathyJ said:

Ugh! So many rumors out there that we are reading between a girlfriend and Gail possibly feeling she was being followed and it's so frustrating that we can't get one confirmation on anything.

A lot of information could point to Gail just taking off. I can even see her not being in her right mind for one day and doing it. We all have been there, stressed, upset or needing a change and possibly anyone of us could just take off as our minds are so full of anxiety that perhaps we are not thinking clearly. To be gone THIS long without one word to anyone that she is safe does not sit right with me. A few days perhaps without word but not this long.

Gail was careful enough to think some things through by giving some personal belongings to some friends. So to just take off and not get in contact with anyone? I really want to think that this is the case and she is safe, but my gut says no. She would have reached out by now. Too much time has passed.

IMO, I believe she was setting things up to possibly leave MP, I just don't think she got the chance to carry that plan through. Something went very wrong.

IMO, the fact that we are not hearing of any new information from LE, leads me to believe that they know something and cannot divulge that to the public in fear of hampering their on going investigation. Not saying they have some big lead or anything like that, but when LE is quiet on something like this, there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.

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bolded by me.

KathyJ, this has to be the case. I even wondered if perhaps Gail is in a safe house and the police do know about it but can't divulge her whereabouts for her own safety. If that's what is going on, MP must have made some really frightening threats toward her, because I can't imagine her leaving her kids in the lurch otherwise.

Even in saying that, though, I'm thinking of how people in Signal Mtn don't seem to have much confidence in their police force, so are they ( LE), really doing a lot behind the scenes as we'd like to think?

Here are excerpts of what I found on WS thread #1 from the Sam/Theresa Parker case. No wonder the de ja vu feeling....

March 28, 2007:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_104261.asp?imgID=18263
Sheriff Wilson, at a press conference on Monday afternoon, said Ms. Parker had four days off work and took a day of leave. He said she was due back at work at 7 p.m. Monday. But he said no one has heard from her since Wednesday night.
...
GBI Agent James Harris said the agency could not discuss some aspects of the case, including the location where Ms. Parker made her last call on her cell phone. He said the phone is now off.
...
He [GBI Agent James Harris ] said Ms. Parker had discussed with her family the marital problems she was having.
He said she had gone on trips by herself before, but had always stayed in contact with her family.
Relatives of Theresa Parker contacted the Walker County sheriff's office on Saturday after growing concerned because they hadn't heard from Parker in several days.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,261660,00.html
Parker, 41, was last heard from about 10 p.m. Wednesday when she talked on the phone with her sister, said Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson. It was Parker's habit to talk to her mother or other relatives at least once a day.
"Obviously this is totally uncharacteristic for her. ... She's always been a very punctual type person who is very dedicated to her job, her family," Wilson told FOXNews.com on Tuesday.

chicoliving post 3-27-2007; media link no longer working:
Newschannel 9 has learned the is a history of domestic violence. Police were called to the couple's home in 2002 and again in 2004. Neighbors say they didn't know of any problems. And while investigators are hoping for the best, Virginia Cordell is afraid her neighbor will never make it home. Teresa was in the process of moving some personal items into her new apartment in an adjacent or neighboring town. They had been separated about 10 days. LE did confirm the complaints in 2002 but wanted to be careful on how that would be perceived by the media.

TaylorJ4 post 3/28/2007
Local news tonight reported they were supposed to go to the bank together to split their assets but they never showed up. They are searching the woods around their house-husband is there but very little is being said about him. Her sisters were interviewed and are adamant that she would not just disappear; something bad has happened to her. Co-workers say the same thing-no way she would not show up for work the past 2 nights without calling.

angelmom post 3/28/2007
And there is this little tiny part of me, hoping against hope, that thinks the perfect way to get away from a man like this would be to wait until he was going fishing and then to totally disappear. If there has been a problem since at least 2002, she could have been hiding money, gotten a new cell phone, snuck clothing out of the house, etc. From what I understand there are no kids to leave behind, so maybe she thought letting her family worry a little bit was the price she had to pay to be safe.

Chicoliving post 3/30/2007
Caruthers said she asked Sam why he hadn&#8217;t reported Theresa missing after 24 hours, to which he responded that he didn&#8217;t think much of it because Theresa often liked to take off on little trips every once in a while.

Perhaps post 3/30/2007
According to this article, Theresa's husband was fishing with a friend, a local attorney, on Thursday. This friend says he would be "shocked" if Sam Parker were involved with Theresa's disappearance.

concernedperson post 3/30/2007
I would suggest that anyone who has reason to doubt a small town investigation in Georgia and think it is not moving along to contact Gov. Sonny Perdue.

chicoliving post 3/31/2007
The sheriff said that law enforcement officials are now trying to locate Ms. Parker&#8217;s missing cell phone by honing in on the area where it was last used. Although in some cases cell phones can be pinpointed to within a couple of blocks of their location, this cell phone provider can only narrow it down to about a 40-square-mile area, he told Ms. Grace. He said volunteers will conduct a massive search covering at least a 40-mile area on Saturday morning.

chicoliving post 3-31-2007
Hilda Wilson, Theresa's sister on site at search. She'd rather not speak about the family's feelings about the husband. Asked if she's noticed that he's been helpful with the search and if he seems distraught. She replies that she's had no contact with him and agrees that is odd that he hasn't been to any of these searches. He wasn't at the vigil and she is concerned.

TGIRecovered post 4-1-2007
I still believe that the cheif is minimizing the incidents which happened in his own jurisdiction. I just don't believe those calls were made just because of a verbal arguement, in part due to the behavior Sam apparently displayed toward Theresa in the past. What do you think?

wicket post 4/2/2007
I'll bet he was a tad surprised to find this case on Nancy Grace and on the Fox News over and over again - small towns tend to sweep dv and other crimes under the rocks - he probably felt this would run its course and then be quietly forgotten.

Utopia 4/2/2007
Sam had recently moved into his father's home as his father passed away recently. He was apparently going back and forth between the two homes. This would be why LE was interested in searching both residences.

[Sigh...]

Columbo said:

bolded by me.

KathyJ, this has to be the case. I even wondered if perhaps Gail is in a safe house and the police do know about it but can't divulge her whereabouts for her own safety. If that's what is going on, MP must have made some really frightening threats toward her, because I can't imagine her leaving her kids in the lurch otherwise.

Even in saying that, though, I'm thinking of how people in Signal Mtn don't seem to have much confidence in their police force, so are they ( LE), really doing a lot behind the scenes as we'd like to think?

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Columbo,
I hear what your saying on the fact that she could be in a safe house and it's not to be divulged for her safety. I truly don't know how all of that works.
Is it worse to have the family wondering every moment of every day where she is and for the police not to inform them they found her in a safe house? If that is the case, IMO she would have to be in a tremendous amount of danger which is very scary to think.

IMO LE is way too quiet and as I said before when they are this quiet they are up to something, knowing that any word of what they are up to could hamper the investigation.

How many times have you seen LE out there on TV on other cases pleading for the public's help because they don't have anything to go on, nothing at all...that is not happening here.

KathyJ said:

Columbo,
I hear what your saying on the fact that she could be in a safe house and it's not to be divulged for her safety. I truly don't know how all of that works.
Is it worse to have the family wondering every moment of every day where she is and for the police not to inform them they found her in a safe house? If that is the case, IMO she would have to be in a tremendous amount of danger which is very scary to think.

IMO LE is way too quiet and as I said before when they are this quiet they are up to something, knowing that any word of what they are up to could hamper the investigation.

How many times have you seen LE out there on TV on other cases pleading for the public's help because they don't have anything to go on, nothing at all...that is not happening here.

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bolded by me.

Hi KathyJ: re the bolded part, this is SO true.
I don't know how the safe house stuff works, either...I think you are right about the police at least informing her family if she were in a safe house somewhere.