Sharon Marshall - #1

annemc2 · #1 07-31-2005, 04:24 PM

Did anyone catch AMW last night? They have a new "Cold Case" segment (maybe they've had it on earlier, but I've missed a few episodes due to vacation, etc.). I just KNOW that they've checked out all the emails and info that WSers have sent in re. Sharon Marshall. I can only hope and pray that they pick up on this incredible story and put it on. In fact, you would think that Sharon's story could take up an entire episode - they've done that before with far less interesting cases. Keep your fingers crossed that *someone* picks up Sharon's story - maybe this is where it will happen!

ragland · #2 08-03-2006, 03:20 PM

Well guys, this is where we are I know it will be harder for new members to find us but we can tough it out. I really think we need to carry on our search for Sharons identity. I just got out of surgery this morning so im still loopy and cant really think straight but it will wear off soon enough. I am having a hard time finding the archives so we can continue our discussions, if anyone can find it and link it here it might be easier for us to pick up where we left off.

I am wanting to know something in particular right now. the childrens home that floyd and RB were at, is there any hope of gaining any list of names of others that were there at the time? i think it would be interesting to talk to others that were in the home back then but im certain that the records are confidential. unless they want to be found some how. does anyone know if we are out of luck in that area or not?

sorry yall if i dont make much sense, im still coming off the sedation.

anthrobones · #3 08-03-2006, 03:42 PM

What happened to the board?

annemc2 · #4 08-03-2006, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthrobones

What happened to the board?

check the jury room - all info is there...

Thanks, Ragland, for setting up a thread for Sharon in the Cold Case fourm - Hope you're feeling better! Let's all play nice, now!

ragland · #5 08-03-2006, 04:03 PM

ill be back on my toes tommorrow.....out of respect for the mods and also the fact that im not certain if id be breaking any rules i think its best if we just let the whole thing die down. suffice it to say some people werent acting right in the sharon marshall threads, and the mods felt neccassary to take them to archives. now, my suggestion would be to show them that the rest of us are here for a cause and show them that we can act right and maybe, just maybe, it will show them that its ok to open it back up for our sake and mostly for sharons!

Jeana (DP) · #6 08-03-2006, 04:19 PM

Welcome to the Cold Case Forum. If any of you have any problems with one another, I suggest you send me a PM. My emails don't get checked everyday. Any of the b.s. from the old forum though and I'm not going to be a happy girl, so please be nice to me.

SpongeBathHotPants · #7 08-03-2006, 07:19 PM

Hi all, I have a silly question. I have tried to fully understand this case and just can't get a handle on it. Is there a summary somewhere that a 5 year old could understand LOL. I guess I just never understood who all the people are/were. help?

HeartofTexas · #8 08-03-2006, 08:36 PM

SpongeBath, this is it in a nutshell.

A little girl was kidnapped/abducted at age 4-6. Nobody to this day knows where she was abducted from or who her family was.

She was abducted by a known criminal who had already served time in prison by that point. He started her in school in Oklahoma at age 6, according to the records he presented. They moved around a lot over the years, from one city to another, and from one state to another. With each new city came a new set of names for both of them.

From what we know, she was molested by this man the entire time she lived with him.

In high school (in Georgia), she became a standout. She was not only beautiful but she was exceptionally bright. Nobody knew she was living with an ex-con who was molesting her. She received a full scholarship to college but was unable to use it. She instead went into stripping to support her "father".

She became pregnant 3 times... two were put up for adoption, and she kept the third child... a little boy named Michael. To our knowledge, none of the children were by her "father".

At some point, her "father" forced her to marry him.

Later, she was run over and almost killed while walking down the street. Most people suspect her "father/husband" is the one who ran over her. She later died. Some people suspect he expedited her death by doing something to her while she was in the hospital recovering from the hit-and-run.

After she died, Sharon's "father" decided her little boy, Michael (who was by then in foster homes) belonged to him. So he kidnapped him, along with the principal of the school that Michael attended. The principal was later allowed to go free, but the little boy has never been seen again.

Along the way, the "father" killed another woman named Cheryl Commesso (spelling!!). He was tried on this case, found guilty, and is sitting on death row in Florida for her murder.

Michael's body has never been located, and Sharon's identity has never been discovered.

I've left out lots of details, tons of names, etc. trying to give you the "cleanest" version of this sad, sad story. I hope this gives you a small idea of the magnitude of this girl's life and of her suffering. We have tried for over a year to find out her identity or her family of origin.

There is a book out by Matt Birkbeck on Sharon's life called "A Beautiful Child". If you're interested in more details, the book will tell you a lot more.

itsreenw · #9 08-03-2006, 08:48 PM

Spongebath,

The man's real name is Franklin Delano Floyd. If you Google his name you may find a few articles on him and his trail of crime.

We always suggest that you read the book HeartoffTexas mentioned though. It is the most thorough and comprehensible way of understanding the story.

mooner123 · #10 08-03-2006, 09:00 PM

Something that a five-year-old can understand? I can do that!

Franklin Floyd grew up in an orphanage (from the age of two), where he was abused and mistreated, etc. He grew up very troubled as a result. His mom didn't want to put him and his 4 other siblings there, but she had no choice because their father died and she couldn't support them. She later became an alcoholic prostitute.

Floyd was in and out of trouble for awhile and spent time in youth facilities for petty crimes (at least petty compared to what he would later do). He later abducted a 4-year old girl from a bowling alley and molested/abused? her. He was convicted and spent time in prison. During his time in prison (which he was abused there too because he was smaller/easy target???) he befriended a big guy (6'4) named David Dial. Floyd grew up around Atlanta, GA and Dial was from the area too. I don't think they knew eachother before prison. For whatever reason, Dial and Floyd were very close and Dial bailed him out of prison before....Dial claims they were like brothers.

After his prison sentence (I can't remember exactly if he escaped or skipped bail) I think he was headed back to prison and skipped bail????.

Next thing you know, he has a "daughter", blonde, blue-eyed, smart approximately 4-7 years old. They took a "family" picture together but she is not his and no one knows where she came from. No one can find that she was reported missing anywhere. Floyd claims he got her from a druggie prostitute named "Linda Williams" near Chicago. Franklin Floyd raised this girl called "Suzanne" at first, moving from state to state and changing their names often. All the while she kept excellent grades and was well-dressed, etc. He was molesting her and abusing her the whole time. During her later school years, she went by the name "Sharon". When Sharon was in highschool, she got a scholarship to Georgia Tech, which was her dream, but Floyd interfered and she became pregnant and did not go to college. She also had two more children later. The first two were given up for adoption (Illegal, i think). She was allowed to keep her third, "Michael". Floyd was not Michael's father. Anyway, Floyd believed that even though he was not Michael's biological father, he was his "father". (It later turned into a big court battle).

So, instead of being at Georgia Tech, Floyd made Sharon a nude dancer/prostitute in Florida. She befriended a girl named Cheryl Commesso. Then, Floyd found out that Cheryl turned Floyd in for medical insurance fraud?? and Floyd took revenge and raped, tortured and killed Cheryl. He took pictures of it too.

Later, Floyd, Sharon and Michael moved to Oklahoma, where Sharon was forced again to work as a dancer in a club. Floyd had recently married his "daughter" and she went by the name "Tonya Dawn Tadlock" (which was a name stolen off of a tombstone in Alabama, from an 18-month-old). Tonya wanted to leave Floyd and he may have found out because she was walking down a highway and was struck and killed late at night in a "hit and run" accident. She actually died a few days after she was hit. It is likely that Floyd killed her.

After Sharon's death, he lost custody of Michael. Michael was a troubled child. He had new foster parents who worked well with him and he was doing much better. One day at school, Floyd went there and kidnapped Michael and his principal. THe principal was tied to a tree for a few hours until someone found him. Michael hasn't been seen since.

Floyd was later convicted for Cheryl's murder and kidnapping MIchael and the principal, but never murdering them. He confessed to his sister that he killed Michael in a hotel bathtub, but his body was never found. When Floyd was arrested, he had a book with two numbers in it. One for David Dial and the other for Rebecca Barr. No one knows how much they were involved, although Rebecca Barr planned at one point to marry Floyd, even though he's on death row.

The end.

Okay, I'm sure I missed a lot here. Whoever wants to add or correct anything --please do!

mooner123 · #11 08-03-2006, 09:01 PM

i guess I was too slow!!!LOL

daga · #12 08-03-2006, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ragland

Well guys, this is where we are I know it will be harder for new members to find us but we can tough it out. I really think we need to carry on our search for Sharons identity. I just got out of surgery this morning so im still loopy and cant really think straight but it will wear off soon enough. I am having a hard time finding the archives so we can continue our discussions, if anyone can find it and link it here it might be easier for us to pick up where we left off.

I am wanting to know something in particular right now. the childrens home that floyd and RB were at, is there any hope of gaining any list of names of others that were there at the time? i think it would be interesting to talk to others that were in the home back then but im certain that the records are confidential. unless they want to be found some how. does anyone know if we are out of luck in that area or not?

sorry yall if i dont make much sense, im still coming off the sedation.

Well, I don't even know what happened, so I guess I'll just answer your question. As far as the children's home that FDF went to, could there be something on classmates.com? I'd look for it myself, but I forgot what the name of the children's home is/was.
I would think that because there were children living there over a period of several years, there'd have to be some sort of reunion thing set up online somewhere.
Hope you're feeling better soon.

mjak · #13 08-04-2006, 08:52 AM

thanks Ragland for starting this thread!! I think it might be intresting to talk with people who were in the children's home with Floyd and Rebecca. I am not entirely sure what it is I think we can learn from them , but I do think its a good idea. I have one more week of work then am on vacation for a whole week. I plan on spending some of that week going thru old microfilm to look for potential matches for Sharon. I wonder if Hollow has any updates regarding Lori?

mjak

christine2448 · #14 08-04-2006, 09:00 AM

Help me out gang....I already gave my book to another, to share Sharon's story, so I can't look back...

Towards the end of the book, Matt talks about Fitzpatrick having a possible match to Sharon....I don't think names were even said about this one....it was said the brother and father were SURE that the pics of Sharon were not their missing daughter/sister. I believe that was all that was mentioned about this girl that could be a match...am I right? Maybe this one should have been ruled out, maybe dad and son had a hand in disappearance, didn't the wife/daughter disappear?

kwatson696 · #15 08-04-2006, 09:07 AM

I think her name was Sherri Lynn Johnson.....

This is from Matts book....

In May 2004, the samples were shipped to Bodetech for analysis and DNA testing confirmed that Sharon Marshall was not Sherri Lynn Johnson.

Nance firmly believes someone searching for a long-lost little girl will come foward...their DNA compared, and the mystery o0f Sharon Marshall's identity will finally be revealed..

christine2448 · #16 08-04-2006, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwatson696

I think her name was Sherri Lynn Johnson.....

This is from Matts book....

In May 2004, the samples were shipped to Bodetech for analysis and DNA testing confirmed that Sharon Marshall was not Sherri Lynn Johnson.

Nance firmly believes someone searching for a long-lost little girl will come foward...their DNA compared, and the mystery o0f Sharon Marshall's identity will finally be revealed..

Hiya Kwatson! I remember that name, and there were a few other names also, but I don't think so, I think no name was mentioned, just talked about dad and brother saying the picture was not her.......or did they follow up on it later and it was her, that's what I am unsure, I shoulda kept my book! I may be wrong.

kwatson696 · #17 08-04-2006, 09:13 AM

I'm reading the last chapter right now LOL, I will see if I see anything...OK?

christine2448 · #18 08-04-2006, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwatson696

I'm reading the last chapter right now LOL, I will see if I see anything...OK?

Thanks, let me know

Boyz_Mum · #19 08-04-2006, 09:41 AM

Thanks for opening a new thread AND thanks to webslueths for allowing it. Have been reading now for a very long time about this case and would hate to see all the "sleuthing" just go away! You all are very smart here and it is awesome to see people trying to give Sharon back her "proper identity".

ragland · #20 08-04-2006, 11:53 AM

im so telling my dad you just called me smart! lmao

he wont believe you but im still telling him!

Auggie21 · #21 08-04-2006, 12:35 PM

A lot of information on this case has already been lost. Matt's web site, which had its own thread was hacked and the whole year's work lost. As far as I know, every little girl who could have possibly been Sharon has been rulled out, including the match I was sure would be positive, Jenny Klein of Utah.

ragland · #22 08-04-2006, 03:07 PM

well dont let it discourage you, we will somehow plow through. it is a shame though to loose such a great amount of info.

Jeana (DP) · #23 08-04-2006, 03:15 PM

For anyone who doesn't know, you can access our archives here:

http://websleuths.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=93

hoping4truth · #24 08-04-2006, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christine2448

Help me out gang....I already gave my book to another, to share Sharon's story, so I can't look back...

Towards the end of the book, Matt talks about Fitzpatrick having a possible match to Sharon....I don't think names were even said about this one....it was said the brother and father were SURE that the pics of Sharon were not their missing daughter/sister. I believe that was all that was mentioned about this girl that could be a match...am I right? Maybe this one should have been ruled out, maybe dad and son had a hand in disappearance, didn't the wife/daughter disappear?

I am hoping this link will help you:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sho...26&postcount=1

hotmomma35 · #25 08-04-2006, 04:26 PM

well, the most important info. has been established and all regular members of her forum knows the deal, so its just up to everyone here to help out newbies. I wouldn't let this discourage any of you. I read up on whats on here everyday, I see that there are a select few that really work on this case constantly and I really commend these people. I wish , I could do that , but time doesn't allow me to. I would imagine you people may have saved alot of your research , so dont worry its all appreciated!