GA GA - Robert Ashworth, 24, Cartersville, 9 March 2005

[SewingDeb]

I think that's about it.

 

[georgiagirl]

He wouldn't be using his name if he was in a protection program for starters.

The officer would have been able to see for himself it was him according to what pulled up on his system and would know. I would say he simply wanted out of paying all that support for his children. Men walk away for much less and I know many that walk away from child support. Sorry, but it is where I see this case, IMO.

If just running away to another state were a way to get outta paying child support then alot more men would be getting away with it. But the truth is that CS enforcement will track them down and the state of GA does not tolerate dead beat dads. The night Robert disappeared he wired money to his soon to be ex wife for something for his kids that was above and beyond his CS obiligation. He adopted his stepdaughter. Why would he do that if he wanted out of his current responsibility? Unfortunately, these mothers have not filed a case with CS enforcement yet. I am going to be contacting one of the mothers to see if I can get her to do that so we can "smoke him outta hiding" IF he is alive somewhere. His sister Tonya has run his credit and there has been NO activity since his disappearance.

 

[georgiagirl]

I think that's about it.

Actually, that is NOT about it.....this case is not that cut and dry.

 

[BethInAK]

If just running away to another state were a way to get outta paying child support then alot more men would be getting away with it. But the truth is that CS enforcement will track them down and the state of GA does not tolerate dead beat dads. The night Robert disappeared he wired money to his soon to be ex wife for something for his kids that was above and beyond his CS obiligation. He adopted his stepdaughter. Why would he do that if he wanted out of his current responsibility? Unfortunately, these mothers have not filed a case with CS enforcement yet. I am going to be contacting one of the mothers to see if I can get her to do that so we can "smoke him outta hiding" IF he is alive somewhere. His sister Tonya has run his credit and there has been NO activity since his disappearance.

This IS an interesting case.
I think the mothers of his children should use every means possible to get their CS, there are agencies that will take a portion of the settlement and use all sorts of means to track people down. Do you think they'd be willing to file some claims against Robert in order to try and find him?

 

[georgiagirl]

This IS an interesting case.
I think the mothers of his children should use every means possible to get their CS, there are agencies that will take a portion of the settlement and use all sorts of means to track people down. Do you think they'd be willing to file some claims against Robert in order to try and find him?

Actually, that is what we are trying to do right now. According to his sister Tonya, his two ex-wives did not really pressure him about the CS at all. None of the three moms have bothered to file a case against him. So, my point is, why would he run from it when they were not even coming after him?? BUT, CS enforcement is key to getting this case re-opened cause they WILL contact BCSO and ask them where he is living and they will HAVE to tell.

The biggest thing with this case is the name Garmon has come up in this case as well as that of Steve Lankester Cox and Clyde Daniel Stewart. Brent Garmon (a dirty cop from Bartow Co. who is now in jail) was bugging Robert to be a drug informant. Supposedly, he declined, but then after he went missing, Garmon told Robert's mother he did not know Robert.

 

[georgiagirl]

Not sure how to make this bigger!! help!

 

[christine2448]

Not sure how to make this bigger!! help!

Try saving it on a photo site then putting the link so others can view it and enlarge?? Just an idear, not sure that would help. I am going to save it and see if I can then read it. If that works, anyone wanting to read it can just right click, save to their computer, open, enlarge, view Let me go try.

ETA...nope, too blurry.

 

[georgiagirl]

Try saving it on a photo site then putting the link so others can view it and enlarge?? Just an idear, not sure that would help. I am going to save it and see if I can then read it. If that works, anyone wanting to read it can just right click, save to their computer, open, enlarge, view Let me go try.

ETA...nope, too blurry.

Yeah, that is basically what I did but when I saved it to Photobucket it made it smaller. I guess I can email it to anyone who wants it!

 

[HokeyPokey143]

O.k. - O.k. Hello again everyone! I have been reading some post, and would like to thank those who are taking the time to read about my brother.
There does seem to be some confusion, so maybe I can help clarify.
Robert is not the type of person to run from paying his child support. Robert is not the type of person, who would go without seeing his children. I DO understand how 'dead beat' dad's think and act, being that I have children from just those types of people.

Robert LOVES children, and if you care to take a look at his MySpace page, and click on his pics, you will see, that just about EVERY photo of my brother, had if not his child, then one of mine in the photo with him.
His first ex wife, never pushed the whole CS thing. One reason why, is because, if she needed anything she just asked. ALSO, she got real sick, and therefore gave Robert custody of thier two children, so she could heal and recover. Being no CS was being paid, this actually helped both parties. A kinda you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours thing.

Ok,.....Now to what is the second ex wife. Robert had just signed the divorce papers. His divorce had not even been finalized yet, when he dissappeared. So, Robert was not behind on that child support, because it had not even started yet.

Another thing............the second ex-wife, has stated, (I'm not sure if it's true), that the divorce never went through due to him being reported missing. But then, there are other times she states that it did go through. Anyway,....that ex-wife does NOT have custody of ANY of her children now, due to HEAVY drug use. So, now Robert's two daughter's with ex #2 are living with thier grandmother in MO.

I really can't express enough how much Robert loved his children, and his family. LaChlynd was his little princess, and Cali was his baby girl. His boys, were his boys; he wrestled with them, and rode the go-cart around with them, flew kites, and played football with them. The last night that ANY of us saw Robert, he had just wired LaChlynd $70.00 for some tights she needed for dance class, and for her tee-ball uniform. This was not a man trying to get out of his 'obligations'. Robert IS NOT your dead'beat Dad. Oh my god, I just wish you could have seen him with all of those babies! There are pictures of him on his MySpace, with ALL of his children (including his adopted daughter, AND his two step-son's), playing on the beach, and building sand castles at Tybee Island.

Now, he wasn't perfect, he made mistakes, I believe we all do. But it's not a cut and dry case here. That "is not about it", and it wasn't about "'much less" or "CS". You are all entitled to your thoughts, and I am appreciative of your imput, thank you so much. BUT, there is a MUCH LARGER, BIGGER picture than what we can see.

BTW - - I feel like I need to let the people on here know something else that did happen a mere 6 days before he left. While he was outside playing football with my boys, I got a phone call, from the soon to be 2nd ex-wife. She told me that there was a 'hit' out on Robert, and these people would take out anyone in their way, including my children. She said, so, you might want to call the boys inside the house to keep them safe. She was MO at that time, and I had not told her Robert and them was outside, but everytime she did call me, she knew what we were doing, or if we had company. Anyway, I called Robert inside, to ask him about what she had said. Robert told me "naw, she's just trying to start , she wants our attention on her. Please sis, you know better, don't listen to that". With that, he went back out, and continued to play football. That happened on Sunday, March 6th, 2005. Sometime during that week, Robert got a phone call, of a job offering, in TN. They told him he would be paid $1800 for just four days of work. He was excited, but we told him something didn't sound right. That was alot of money to make in only four days of landscaping work. He just said, now it was cool, these guys said they would even pick him up, and take him there, and he would be back in 4 days. That Saturday night, (March 12, 2005), when he met with them, that was the last time ANYONE saw him, or heard from him. So, now, we continue our search for him, and are asking for everyones help, and opinion/thoughts/ideals/tips/leads.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

You know him better than we do, so I will have to take your word for it. As soon as I read about the 2nd wife and the divorce, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Then, I read the later part which made me cringe even more! It does sound very suspicious.

Good question...how COULD she know they were outside? What does LE say about her and her "associates"? About the phone call? Her drug use? Did she pass a Lie detector test or even take one? Was she excluded as a poi?

About the guys that are missing, too. Somewhere I read their families believed they might have been on a "burglary" mission that night. Could he have been into something like that? Why would they suspect his disappearance had anything to do with their boys?

 

[BethInAK]

Hokey, I wanted you to know that I didn't mean that robert had run off to escape child support, just that perhaps child support investigators might track him down if he is still alive. I very much got the impression that he is a man who wouldn't leave his children from what I've read.

I'll assume that the second wife has been interrogated by family about the supposed hit. What is her explanation?

A though - if the hit story is true and Robert became afraid for the lives of his family - could you see him leaving to protect all of you?

Has the family spoken to the policeman that supposedly saw Robert in the traffic stop? Were they able to convince you at all that it WAS robert?

 

[georgiagirl]

You know him better than we do, so I will have to take your word for it. As soon as I read about the 2nd wife and the divorce, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Then, I read the later part which made me cringe even more! It does sound very suspicious.

Good question...how COULD she know they were outside? What does LE say about her and her "associates"? About the phone call? Her drug use? Did she pass a Lie detector test or even take one? Was she excluded as a poi?

About the guys that are missing, too. Somewhere I read their families believed they might have been on a "burglary" mission that night. Could he have been into something like that? Why would they suspect his disappearance had anything to do with their boys?

The main reason is that they all went missing within six months of each other and around the same area AND a particular police officer that is now in prison for being a "dirty cop" was involved with all three men in some way. The connection, we think, is more about police cover-up than anything else.

 

[HokeyPokey143]

You know him better than we do, so I will have to take your word for it. As soon as I read about the 2nd wife and the divorce, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Then, I read the later part which made me cringe even more! It does sound very suspicious.

Good question...how COULD she know they were outside? What does LE say about her and her "associates"? About the phone call? Her drug use? Did she pass a Lie detector test or even take one? Was she excluded as a poi?

About the guys that are missing, too. Somewhere I read their families believed they might have been on a "burglary" mission that night. Could he have been into something like that? Why would they suspect his disappearance had anything to do with their boys?

SeriouslySearching: Thank you for time reading what I posted yesterday about Robert, and for being involved enough to have more questions. I, along with many, many others agree with you: this whole case sounds very suspicious.
*You asked: How could she, (the soon-to-be ex-wife), know they were outside? - - I do not know how she knew every time, but I do know that on occasion, she did have a female friend, to drive by my house, to 'check things out'. Sometimes, I would see the girl driving by, and I knew why she was in our area, (she lived on the other side of Cartersville, actually known as Cassville, and we lived in Acworth). For example: I would this female, (we do know who she is, we have known her practicllay her whole life), drive by real slow just lookiing up my drive-way. Then, about 5 minutes later, the s.t.b. ex-wife would call, and say something like....why are ya'll working on the four-wheeler, did it tear down again. That would be EXACTLY what we was doing too! As far as all the other times, I'm not really sure how she knew, she just did. It didn't bother us none, we didn't have anything to hide. If she/they had nothing better to do than that, then so be it.
*What does LE say about her and her "associates"? - - Well, you see, LE never really gave any thought to that. They didn't care to know even the name of the female we saw driving by our house all the time. It was viewed that it's a public road, and she wasn't doing anything unlawful, so (in LE's eye's), there was no need to know anything more about her.
*About the phone call? - - Once again, LE didn't think that to be anything. They were going through a divorce, and he had a girlfriend, the ex-wife was jealous, and people just say things when they are upset, and/or mad. That's pretty much what they said about that. They said that if Robert didn't seem concerned, and went back outside, then he must have knew she was 'blowing smoke', because she was upset, and wanted to get his attention.
*Her Drug use? - - Her habit was not as huge as it is now. Her using, wasn't an issue at all to the police. What was an issue to the police, ....was that my brother, (who did use on occasion too), they, (the LE), called Robert a "dope head", and even made the statement, "this is normal behaviour for people who use drugs, they just leave their famlies behind, because they are strung out. It's one less dope head to deal with".
*Did she pass a lie detector test or even take one? - - She was never asked to take a test. Knowing her they way we do, she would not have been keen on that ideal anyway. She lived in MO, and we were in GA, she wasn't around when he went missing, that's LE's stand on it. From what we were told, they did send Potosi police to her apartment, to ask her a few questions. But when they got there, and asked for her, the person who answered the door, said they had the wrong person. Same name, same color hair, same height, just not the right one. We were told, that they went to the same address we gave them, from the divorce papers, but it wasn't her??? They did no further searches for her. (We do know that her family is very well known through-out the community, they have connections with people high in the courts, DCFS, and police dept. up there.)
*Was she excluded as a poi? - - Heck, she was NEVER even thought of as a poi by our LE!! Our invstigator from the BCSD, (on the RARE occasion when he would talk to us), would tell us he had not even spoken to the ex-wife. That he hadn't had a chance to call her yet, or what we told him didn't pan out. But, I still recieved phone calls from the ex, and during our brief "chats", she would tell me that she had in FACT been talking to our investigator, because he, (even though married), kept calling her and asking her out. I did not believe her, so, she agreed to mail me a copy of her cell phone bill. When I got it, it DID show calls made from his office, to her cell phone, and judging by the minutes of each call, they had some pretty good conversations. When this was brought to his atention.....he became even more rude, and snotty, and he STOPPED returning ANY of our calls after that.
*.....Burglary mission that night. Could he have been into something like that? - - No, not Robert. He may of had knowledge of things of that nature, but that wasn't Robert's 'cup of tea'. Robert REALLY did enjoy working, and got great satisfaction out of the jobs he did. His trade was landscaping. He got to be outdoors, where he loved to be. He knew his jobs extremely well, and he even at one time, had his own little company - "C & L SPECIALTIES ~Aerating,sod, shrubbery, landscaping, lawn maintenance, & design/installation" That is where he was off to, that Saturday night. Four days of landscaping work in Chattanooga, TN, and they was going to pay him $1,800.00. We do not know the name of the company, we just know he got a call at my house asking him to come to wrok with them. *NOTE*--- Chattanooga, TN is ONLY 1 hour from Cartersville, GA. A reasonable drive time, that could be done in the mornings, it did not require overnight travel to get there. But yet, they wanted to pick him up at 10:00 at night to drive there, PLUS, the next day was Sunday. From Robert doing landscaping for several years, Sunday was not usually a day they worked, because they worked LONG, HARD hours Monday -Saturday. Why did it have to be at night? Could these people not have waited to get him the next morning, and still get there in plenty of time, to save the hotel money? I don't know, just thnnking outloud.
*Why would they suspect his disappearance had anything to do with their boys? - -Well, the first man that went missing, was Steve, and that was November 18th, 2004. Robert went missing March 12th, 2005, and then Clyde -'Cowboy', went missing just two weeks after Robert. Steve was from Cherokee County, and Robert, and Clyde, from Bartow County. These two counties are sister counties, and from where we lived at the time, I was within walking distance to the Cherokee line. Although, we do not believe these men knew each other personally, they did hand around the same 'cliques', the same people. In all three cases, the same names, and senerio's keep coming up. Supposedly, Steve was murdered, and from what we hear, Robert saw something he should not have, and Clyde, had someone's cell phone with pictures of Steve being murdered on it. Of course,...NONE of this has been proven,....it is all hearsay still, as of today. These men are all about the same height, and weight, &close proximity in age. Similair hair color, and features, they were all daddies, all of them was Momma's boys, who alway stayed in closed contact with thier Mom. AND Garmon's name, (dirty cop from Bartow), in involved with ALL three men! Plus,..these boys lived probally within 5-10 miles of each other.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

How would these "strangers" known to have called your house to find Robert for this job? Was your number listed in an advertisement for his landscaping business? Did he have business cards? Did he advertise online, newspaper, or other means...signs on the sides of the road, etc?

It does sound like his ex is involved in some way, but LE is correct in saying they don't have anything to go on with her. You can't obtain phone records or other evidence without a search warrant which they cannot obtain without probable cause. Since she was living out of state, it would take a witness naming her as a co-conspirator in this particular case or something for LE to become involved..(At least, to my knowledge which is limited.) If she denied being the person that LE wanted to talk to...isn't much they could do in that respect either. Their hands were rather tied because they can't cross those lines.

However, if you have proof your PI was conversing and hiding evidence perhaps...you might be able to go through other channels to secure his records. Check in your state to see what recourse you have against bad PIs. This might require you filing a civil action against him...if applicable. Talk to an atty on this one. This could be the break you need to involve the ex-wife, too. I don't know if you have any such recourse, but it is worth a shot.

It sounds like that "job" sounds too good to be true. He should have questioned it at the time, but I am sure whomever called knew he would fall for such a ruse. It is too bad he didn't write anything down..or did he? Did you keep a pad by the phone for such? Could he have written down something about it and ripped it off to take with him? (Did he live with you, by the way? If not, where did he live and what was the area like?)

I know you won't like me saying this, but I am going to anyway. (You will find I am a bit blunt. Sorry, I don't mean disrespect, but someone has to be objective and ask the hard questions or look at other scenarios.) Sometimes, we don't know our siblings or family members as well as think. It could be Robert was saying this about the "job" in order to explain him coming back in four days with such a "windfall" and he was involved in something sinister. Maybe there was something in the other boys' stories which did connect them. Drugs or robbery would certainly fit into this category to obtain that kind of fast cash. So would "doing a job" for another person...if this person had authority/held threats over them.

 

[christine2448]

I know you won't like me saying this, but I am going to anyway. (You will find I am a bit blunt. Sorry, I don't mean disrespect, but someone has to be objective and ask the hard questions or look at other scenarios.) Sometimes, we don't know our siblings or family members as well as think. It could be Robert was saying this about the "job" in order to explain him coming back in four days with such a "windfall" and he was involved in something sinister. Maybe there was something in the other boys' stories which did connect them. Drugs or robbery would certainly fit into this category to obtain that kind of fast cash. So would "doing a job" for another person...if this person had authority/held threats over them.

This is an excellent theory, IMO, FWIW. Maybe running drugs and something went awry? Wasn't Robert an informant? Or asked to be an informant? I may be mixing this up with one of the other boys. So much to this one!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Or even gun running. There are many ways to obtain that kind of fast cash with the wrong people.

An informant is a possibility, too. It would put him definitely in harm's way and put him in direct contact with all of the above.

 

[HokeyPokey143]

Hokey, I wanted you to know that I didn't mean that robert had run off to escape child support, just that perhaps child support investigators might track him down if he is still alive. I very much got the impression that he is a man who wouldn't leave his children from what I've read.

I'll assume that the second wife has been interrogated by family about the supposed hit. What is her explanation?

A though - if the hit story is true and Robert became afraid for the lives of his family - could you see him leaving to protect all of you?

Has the family spoken to the policeman that supposedly saw Robert in the traffic stop? Were they able to convince you at all that it WAS robert?

BethInAK, Goodmorning!
We are in the process of trying to get the two Mother's, and the Grandparent's involved in seeking out C.S., in hopes that either 1.-It will 'smoke' Robert out of where-ever it is they say he is, and of course the children will get what is thiers to get, -or- 2.- Hopefully, it will put an end to the rumor mill that he is living happily in Florida somewhere, after people see that attempts, and efforts made by a C.S. collecting agency has failed, and they can find nothing on him.
I am thankful that you are open enough to look at Robert's 'situation', and have the impression, (from what you read), that he is a man who wouldn't leave his children.
*Interrogation of the second wife about the hit, and her explanation? - - No-one has interrogated her. Not to the means that need to be done. I have ask her though, on occasion, why did she call to tell me that, where did she hear it from. Her responce was that she wanted to make sure my children were safe, and that is why she called. She said that she had recieved that information from this guy, who was the ex-boyfriend, of the girl, my brother was dating. (The girl broke things off with this guy, to date my brother. This guy of course didn't take well to that, and at one time was trying to cause some trouble at my house. The went to jail, for 8 months, upon release, she married this guy, (I mean like days after getting out), she divorces this guy, not even a year later, and had to get a restraining order against him. This guys name has also been brought up in knowing something about what happened to Robert). She HAS made the statement, that - that's what Robert gets for messing around with other guys' girls. That he got what he deserved. She has also made staements about obtaining a life insurance policy AFTER he went missing. At times, she seems very upset, and distraught that he is still missing, and what may of happened to him, and she cries, & says she wish he would come back home. She also gets real nasty, and says things like, he's just laying around shacked up with some **advertiser censored** or **advertiser censored**, (those are the words she uses), and making more babies. When she came back down to GA last year, she showed me a photo, of a baby and her together. She told me, (and tried very hard to convince me), that the baby boy was Robert's last child. I asked her what did she mean, she told me, that when her & Robert seperated, and she went back to MO, she found out she was pregnant, but NEVER told Robert about this. And now, since Robert is gone, she said she just thought that we may want/like to know, about this son of Roberts', after all, we are his family, and he'll never get to know who his father was, except through us. I told her, that was IMPOSSIBLE, and she was CRAZY, and there was NO-WAY that she had that child, because I remember when she had Cali, Robert's youngest daughter, by C-section, I was THERE with them, and out they came with this little vile, they showed her, Robert, and me. You see, she didn't want anymore children, after Cali, and wanted them to remove her tubes, so they did, and they showed us all the little section they had removed from her!!!!!!! She tried to tell me I was wrong, still focusing on this photo of this child. I still have the picture, in the frame she put it in. She only made mention of this kid one other time, and that was to the girlfriend Robert had two years ago. In all of her court papers, talking about the children, and who ws to have custody of them, because she was/is way strung out now, it NEVER mentions this child she told me about! Anyway, didn't mean to rattle on, but maybe that will give you alittle more insight as to who this woman is, and how she operates.
*Robert leaving to protect us? - - He didn't roll like that. First, he would have told us,...we are a very tight knit family, and for whatever reason, Robert, (along with many other people), ALWAYS, always talked to me, he could tell me anything. (My mom & my fiancee' laugh and say I should become a counsler, because everyone talks to me, and comes to me with thier 'prolems'). No, Robert would have told us something was going down, and he had to take care of business. He would have 'put himself out-there', just to ensure that nothing happened to his family by accident. You know, go ahead and get it over with, so people aren't driving by looking for him. The family would be left in peace so to speak. I hope I worded that to where is makes sense. Robert was scared of nothing, and never ran from anyone. Full of pride, guts, honor, he just, no, he wouldn't do it. He told us he would be back in 4 days, I love you, and I'll see you then. If you give in to the ideal that he could have just up and left, even to protect us, if that were the case, we would have heard something by now, a postcard, annonymous phone call, he would have left a note, or letter, something, because he KNEW how Momma is. If a week goes by, and she has not heard from us, and no one else has seen us, or heard from us,.....she is QUICK to file a missing person report, because she KNOWS that is not like us.
*Has the family spoken to the policeman that supposedly saw Robert in the trafic stop? & were they able to convince us at all that it WAS Robert? - - They will not tell us what agency did the traffic stop, just an unidentified law enforcement agency, during a routine traffic stop. So, no, we haven't spoken to the 'policeman' - but we don't believe there ever was a traffic stop. If all that were true, and they told Robert there was a missing person's out on him, Robert - - you know what, I can't even finish that statement, because it makes NO sense, and it goes no-where. I can't even draw a conclusion on that. Robert would not have left us, his family, nephews, and children, without a word. I would so love to be wrong, and him be out there ok, and NOT wanting to ever see us again, because that is SO much better than where the other road leads us. But like I have said before, Robert was very family oriented. All the police said was they confirmed it was him when they 'stopped' him. Nothing else, just yeah, it was him, they confirmed it...wow.

Anyway guys, I know I write alot, but I want you to know the whole story that we know. Maybe someone will put something together that we haven't yet, or can give us ideals, or assistance. We know now, that after 2 1/2 years, the only way this is going to be solved, is with help from people like you.
Once again, Thank you for reading alittle more of Robert's story.

 

[christine2448]

Anyway guys, I know I write alot, but I want you to know the whole story that we know. Maybe someone will put something together that we haven't yet, or can give us ideals, or assistance. We know now, that after 2 1/2 years, the only way this is going to be solved, is with help from people like you.
Once again, Thank you for reading alittle more of Robert's story.

Hokey! Puuuuuuuleeeeeeeeze. Write away honey! I wish we had this on every thread in here, inside info. The information you are providing is FANTASTIC and very helpful to everyone looking into this for you! Write write write!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I totally agree. When you write, we can glean alot from things you say even if you don't realize it. One small sentence could be seemingly unimportant to you at the time, but someone here could pick up something very pertinent in it. You just never know. Write away!

 

[BethInAK]

Dont' apologize for writing alot, we all find this interesting and want to help.

So what I have gleaned from this conversation is that the family is feeling quite certain that Robert is no longer with us, and that there is some sort of police cover up? Or other cover up?