MO MO - Jo Ellen Weigel, 18, pregnant, Lee’s Summit, 2 July 1970

[CrimeSolver]

^Is U.M. even still running on Spike, that horrid joke of a channel? I was watching it in the beginning, but the Spike version was such a disgraceful bastardization of a great show that I simply lost interest.

 

[jasper]

I watch it occasionally.
Just got a reply from AMW. They want any request in writing and may take 16 weeks to process request.

 

[CrimeSolver]

I take it that they mean snail mail. I suppose that's fair enough, but which one of us casual observers here is committed enough to do it?

 

[Hurricane]

I just read Crimesolver's post and see that the items found have been disclosed so not proprietary information.

Yes there were an overnight bag and other items found,

but if I remember right they were not near the dock area.
A funny note, when we were watching the house with binoculars from the command post, at one time we saw Mike watching us from a window (kitchen?) with binoculars.
If I remember the time frame right, Mike had just returned from a trip to Israel and when the endightment was issued on monday morning he was on a plane back to Israel from which point he went to another country which has no extradition to the US.
I have been told that on occasion, Mike has come back to the lake to visit friends, ski, sail, and has told friends that he finished college, was married and living and working in the US.
Again, the mutual friend that I got my information from was killed a few years ago (traffic accident during a felony police chase) so the story is strictly heresay but I consider the source very plausible.
I did contact AMW so let's hope.

Jasper, do you know what was found inside the overnight bag? The contents could indicate what Weigel thought they were going to be doing that night and the rest of the weekend. What were the other items found? And do you know anything about the bits of torn paper?

 

[jasper]

I did not see any of the items found and would not comment if I had without approval of Sherriff's Dept. It could be evidence that they wish to use.
I was searching around the dock and belive the other items were found in an area some distance away by other divers. I just heard them discussing that they had found additional items.

 

[Hurricane]

I did not see any of the items found and would not comment if I had without approval of Sherriff's Dept. It could be evidence that they wish to use.
I was searching around the dock and belive the other items were found in an area some distance away by other divers. I just heard them discussing that they had found additional items.

Thanks Jasper, but for the evidence to ever be used in a court of law someone is first going to have to find Michael Cline. I think that there is possibly one or two people (nonfamily members) who have information that they have never told from the 1970 – 1972 time period that could have helped capture him before the trail turned cold. If he is in South America he will likely never be caught. Writing to Unsolved Mysteries, America’s Most Wanted, or Nancy Grace is a waste of time. There are hundreds of threads of cases just here on Websleuths and every one of them has just such a post.

 

[CrimeSolver]

Writing to Unsolved Mysteries, America’s Most Wanted, or Nancy Grace is a waste of time. There are hundreds of threads of cases just here on Websleuths and every one of them has just such a post.

I disagree. Not all of them are as interesting, have a known perpetrator who is extremely arrogant and has eluded capture since day one, and are as old as this one. I think it's a perfect challenge for AMW, like List, Bishop, "Boy in the Box", etc. Too bad Frank Bender isn't doing busts anymore.

 

[Hurricane]

I disagree. Not all of them are as interesting, have a known perpetrator who is extremely arrogant and has eluded capture since day one, and are as old as this one. I think it's a perfect challenge for AMW, like List, Bishop, "Boy in the Box", etc. Too bad Frank Bender isn't doing busts anymore.

Well, I guess it won't hurt to wait and see how much good it does when 10 - 15 people write in to these programs.

 

[jasper]

The happenings in Egypt today just reminded me of something else.
From what I heard from mutual acquaintenances, the Clines are Jewish, Jo Ellen was goyim (non Jew), and this was the main reason his father opposed the marriage.
Not the first time idiots have used religion as an excuse for stupid actions.
Just look at the Catholic Church. 90,000 people executed as heretics because 3 succesive Popes couldn't agree over whether you used two fingers or three to make the sign of the cross.

I received an answer from Unsolved Mysteries, they are not producing any new shows. Maybe later.

 

[Hurricane]

I believe that leading up to the holiday weekend Michael was under some pressure and had led Jo Ellen to believe that they were going to elope and be married; that Jo Ellen telling her parents that she was spending the night with her friend after her date with Michael was a cover story; and that the argument they had in front of the house before leaving was because Jo Ellen learned that the marriage was not going to happen that weekend. Michael wanted to attend college; he didn’t want to get married. Even though Jo Ellen had shown a ring and told a friend or two that they would be married soon, I don’t believe that anyone knew that she was pregnant except her and Michael. And I believe that Donald Cline was totally in the dark until he made the connection to his ski rope when he drove the Weigel family to the funeral home. And that’s when he made the phone call and hired Alex Peebles to represent his son.

 

[Hurricane]

The happenings in Egypt today just reminded me of something else.

From what I heard from mutual acquaintenances, the Clines are Jewish, Jo Ellen was goyim (non Jew), and this was the main reason his father opposed the marriage.

Not the first time idiots have used religion as an excuse for stupid actions.
Just look at the Catholic Church. 90,000 people executed as heretics because 3 succesive Popes couldn't agree over whether you used two fingers or three to make the sign of the cross.

I received an answer from Unsolved Mysteries, they are not producing any new shows. Maybe later.

The Cline family were members of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Lee’s Summit where in 1988 memorial services for Donald were held after cremation. The Weigel family were members of the Lee’s Summit United Methodist Church.

 

[jasper]

Thanks for the update, it was a long time ago and I had heard there was a difference of religion but I was not sure which.

 

[Hurricane]

Jasper, did you ever hear any comments or rumors around whether Jo Ellen might have been in the habit of keeping a diary or not? It has always seemed to me that her mother would most likely have known if her daughter did or not, and if so was it missing? If she did keep one could it have been in the overnight bag? Could the hundreds of torn shreds of paper seen being inspected by the Metro Squad at the marina been torn from a diary or perhaps from many letters?

 

[jasper]

No idea. I was limited in what I saw to the area around the dock and didn't know about any paper. I heard another diver say they found an overnight bag and other items but I never saw them. I believe they mentioned jewelry, but that was a long time ago.

 

[bilyeutj]

I knew both Mike and Jo Ellen
The police have it wrong. The Kansas City Star started it. Mike was not really a spoiled rich kid. His father was pretty rough on him. Mike was pretty innocent and simple. He was smart but not sneaky. I have little doubt that he was involved in Jo Ellen's death but I always felt that a older member of his family may have helped. Oh, and Mike wasn't very athletic either.

 

[Hurricane]

I knew both Mike and Jo Ellen
The police have it wrong. The Kansas City Star started it. Mike was not really a spoiled rich kid. His father was pretty rough on him. Mike was pretty innocent and simple. He was smart but not sneaky. I have little doubt that he was involved in Jo Ellen's death but I always felt that a older member of his family may have helped. Oh, and Mike wasn't very athletic either.

If you knew them both then you must have been a classmate of theirs? Is it the spoiled rich kid image portrayed that the Star and LE have wrong about Mike?

We know that living on the lake he liked to water ski a lot. Was it the tennis team or the golf team that Mike was on while in school?

 

[Hurricane]

Sunday will mark 41 years. Are we to just give up?

 

[JeannieC]

I know this has been a long time but don't give up. You never know what can occur to bring Mike to justice. Let's pray that it does.

Thanks for holding on for the truth!

 

[JeannieC]

Which countries won't extradite to the US. I think that is where he would be. I know Portugal, Switzerland, and France have an extradition treaty with the US but seldom honor it.

 

[JeannieC]

He might have joined the military. In 1970 we were still in the middle of Vietnam and they took people pretty fast. A lot of guys got away from the law by joining the military. That's not as easy today since we have computers to check everything. They didn't have them then. Just a thought.