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Newbie here from NH! I have always wondered if she may have been sold? Curious if Victor Wonyetye had ties to child *advertiser censored* or trafficking? Florida has a huge presence of trafficking.
Wow. What a shame that he never offered the truth before his death. You are right though; maybe his friend will come forward now. Hopefully the fear of being prosecuted for not coming forward all these years won't stop him. How amazing would it be to finally know the truth?
Scratch that I found an article stating that the photo looked like Tammy but was not her. I don't see that the girl in the photo was identified, could it be Shirley? I have not seen anything linking the 2 cases but will look into it. I am going to try and find out exactly Victor arrived in New Hampshire if I can, I am not really good at this but I will do my best! The photo that he had was a published photo from when she went missing. hummm, what need would he have for that?
A photograph found in the room of a man questioned in the 1984 disappearance of a New Hampshire girl was of a different girl, police say.
Police had said they found a picture of 8-year-old Tammy Belanger of Exeter, N.H., in Victor Wonyetye 's room June 4, when they searched the home he shared with his mother in Lake Worth.
Palm Beach County sheriff's Lt. Steve Newell said Tuesday that the picture was of "someone who looks similar to, but is not, Tammy." He did not know who the girl in the photo is.
Wonyetye also has been questioned in the disappearance of another 8-year- old, Christy Luna of Greenacres, police saidWonyetye has denied any knowledge of either disappearance.
Police have videotaped him as he allegedly looked into bedroom windows and masturbated while watching young girls sleep.
He was charged in June with eight counts of burglary, 10 trespassing charges and seven counts of exposure of a sexual organ. He pleaded innocent to the charges last month.
Edited to Add, I have discovered that Victor was not in NH at the time of Shirley's dissappearance. He returned to NH on Nov. 2nd after doing time for a burglary charge in Florida. There is a time line in one of the articles posted here:
http://p076.ezboard.com/fmissing87975frm87.showMessage?topicID=2.topic
I know this probably will be met with opposition, but I never felt he was involved in this. I truly feel the newbies were so damn desperate to solve her case quickly to make a good impression, that they only looked at him as a POI because he fit neatly into their investigation.
I fear that they focused so much on this man that they didn't look at other possibilities. This was "the one" and they were determined to get this one to confess. Meanwhile, years later, not one lead has panned out. Also, I think that friend is full of BS- he's had plenty of time to come forward since Wonyetye's death and hasn't. If he was telling the truth, they'd have arrested by now.
Just my haunting thoughts and opinions on Tammy's disappearance.
I have to disagree with you on this, on the grounds that an article in the Palm Beach Post dated Jan. 14, 1992, says that Wonyetye confessed to inmates that he had raped and killed two girls, and this article in particular names Christy Luna from Greenacres, FL, who Wonyetye is also accused of abducting. The article further mentions that Wonyetye says the girls he did this two were 8 years old, which is the age that both Christy and Tammy were when they were abducted, and we already know that he lived in Florida when Christy went missing, and in New Hampshire when Tammy disappeared. According to the article, and at least one other by, I believe, another newspaper in Florida, eight to twelve inmates in New Hampshire testified that Wonyetye had told them this, and three or four inmates' accounts were consistent with one another. If those inmates are still alive, I think LE should contact them and find out if they remember what Wonyetye told them, since it is probably the only closure Tammy's and Christy's families will ever get. Here is a link to the newspaper article I mentioned above. Sorry, this was the only link I could find to it at the moment.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missing87975/unsolved-child-abduction-tammy-lyn-belanger-t2572.html
Thank you for replying. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I am aware of all those articles and believe me, I have scoured them up and down, inside and out. The only thing besides a picture similar looking to Tammy that was in his home as some kind of evidence was cat fur all over his clothing - he did not own a cat, but allegedly, one of his alleged victims had cats and supposedly, LE was checking it out to see if the fur matched one of the other victim's cats. Tammy didn't have a cat.
I don't recall the name, but there was another young girl also missing that they had suspected him of murdering, and she was eight years old.
Unfortunately, they never found any evidence of Tammy being in his car or in his home. At this point, I wish that they did, at least we would know for a fact that he did something to her and that they had the right one. Not a piece of hair, her hair ribbon, clothing, backpack- not a blessed thing has been found of hers anywhere- not just his car or home, but anywhere, which is just frustrating.
We also had another girl disappear, Sarah Pryor, who went missing in Wayland, Mass, also unsolved, however, there was a bone fragment that was tested from a construction site, and it belonged to Sarah. That's all that they have on her case. Their main suspect is a man who is imprisoned in Texas who committed a similar crime.
I have often wondered if these two cases were related- both happened in countrified towns in NH and Mass, both were walking by themselves, Tammy was eight and Sarah was nine at the time of their disappearances, and both girls went missing 11 months apart. I know from talking to people, from family, friends, and folks online- many have always wondered if these two girls disappearances were done by the same person/people. Also, the person who was a suspect in Sarah's case, was also under suspicion of kidnapping Cathy Malcomson, age 17, August 1985. There were other girls kidnapped/murdered around the New England states as well in that time frame, ages 8-17. Many in countrified areas, towns that were considered "safe".
Wonyetye's other alleged victim was Marjorie Christina Luna, aged 8, of Greenacres, FL. She went missing prior to Tammy's disappearance, and Wonyetye lived there at that time, and was reportedly seen outside the store the day Christy (that is what she went by) disappeared. It has been said that not only did Christy have at least one cat, I believe she had multiple cats, but she was said to always be covered with cat hair. The possibility was looked into whether the cat hair found could have come from one of Christy's cats, not whether it could tie into Tammy. The day Christy disappeared, she had walked to the Greenacres Grocery, as it was known at the time, to buy cat food for her cats. Wonyetye lived in that area, and then moved to the Exeter area later that year, and Tammy disappeared while he was there. Wonyetye reportedly asked the owner of the motor inn where he was staying to cover for him by saying he was there all day, and she responded by saying she couldn't do that, since she remembered him leaving that morning. We know Wonyetye called in sick to work the day Tammy disappeared, and it was the first time he had done that at the job he was working at at the time. While staying at the motor inn, the owner asked Wonyetye casually if he thought Tammy would ever be found, and his reply was very suspicious: "Not now they won't." Why would he say something like that if he had nothing to do with it? One of the other users on wed sleuths brought up the possibility that Tammy's body could have been placed inside a scrap car before it was destroyed, and that if he did that, Tammy's remains would have been destroyed as well, and that is a very distinct possibility in a lot of our minds. Then there was the supposed confession to the New Hampshire inmates that he had raped and then killed two girls. One article says they were both 8 years old, which both Tammy and Christy were at that time, and we know that rape is something Wonyetye was definitely capable of, as he had been arrested prior to these disappearances after he was caught raping his 13-year-old stepdaughter. Then we have the inmates who testified that he told them about the murders. Since Wonyetye was in New Hampshire when he made the confession, this would have been after Tammy's disappearance, which was the second to happen, and both articles that talk about the confession agree on the numbers. Eight to twelve made statements about Wonyetye's alleged confession, and three to four gave consistent statements. Moreover, Wonyetye told these inmates that he killed two girls, and two girls are all he was ever formally suspected of kidnapping. I can't imagine who else it might be. Unfortunately, we do have only circumstantial evidence to go on, but the facts that we do know more than convince me that Wonyetye was guilty. I would still like to see, if it's possible, for law enforcement to contact the inmates who testified about the confession, and who are still living, and see if they remember what Wonyetye told them. Wonyetye kept claiming he never met either girl, telling Christy's mother this to her face, and the bodies may never found, especially if the scrap car theory is true, so that testimony, or any notes that may have taken in regards to it, should they resurface, would give the families closure. If I were related to either girl, I would want any closure I could get, especially with the knowledge that their killer died in prison.
I know, this is so frustrating. The part that keeps me from thinking it was him was the lack of any DNA of Tammy's. Not a blessed thing. He wasn't a very clean man- his car and home were dirty. While cat fur was found in his home, nothing of poor Tammy was ever found, not even a hair.
Believe me, this scum bag, in my opinion, should never have gotten out after raping his poor step daughter, then saying it was all her fault because she wanted it! Unfortunately, from what I gleaned from one article I read, none of the cats fur matched the ones in his home. It is strange he was in both places, and if this ******* did do this to both of these girls, well, there's a special place below reserved just for him.
I know this may sound bizarre, but I have wondered if he got his jolly thrills out of telling people stories just to rile up the masses. He admitted what he did to his step daughter, even though he blamed her. As a matter of fact, the poor girl told her mom this was going on before she even married him, and she didn't believe her own daughter and married the *******! But he owned up to it, didn't deny it, didn't try to kill the mother and daughter- let's face it, he would have had time to do that before going to court, but he didn't.
I want to know about his so called friend that said he was in the car when Tammy was abducted. There's no way LE would let someone like this out of their sight, if this person existed and was telling the truth. Hello, accessory to kidnapping, rape and murder charges? This isn't directed at you, but the fools that keep saying this so called friend exists.
Did you read my articles about the teachers at Phillips Exeter Academy, which was on the way to school? There were rumors back in the 80's going around about one teacher- that's what makes me think that there might have been someone else they didn't look at closely, or maybe they didn't want to look at them, if you know what I mean.
Can you miss a person you've never met?
I was 6-years-old when she disappeared. I still remember that November day when the grown-ups in my life told me about the little girl who was taken—Tammy. I remember seeing that black and white photo emblazoned on posters and in the newspapers. And I remember that not long after my elementary school, in nearby Raymond, implemented lessons on "stranger danger".
And then it seemed like I was introduced into a whole new frightening world of missing kids—Adam Walsh, Johnny Gosh, Etan Patz, and on and on.
I also remember when I learned that the well-meaning adults in my life had lied to me. They hadn't told me the truth when I'd asked them if monsters existed.
They had said, "No, monsters aren't real,"
But they lied.
Maybe they felt guilty. It was people who looked like them, other grownups, who were the monsters after all.
After that "go out and play" took on a sinister connotation. That's when I learned that it wasn't safe. That's when I learned that there was nothing to depend upon.
I just miss her.
And yet, we never met.
I carry her black and white picture with me. I still visit that area around River and Court Street when the days become shorter and the air becomes crisper. I honestly don't know why I go there, something just calls me, like a cenotaph of sad echoes—something deep and unresolved. Maybe it's the same thing that calls to you. The same thing that brings you here.
My ideas of justice and compassion are informed in no small part by the memories of that time Tammy was abducted. I hold the conceit that keeping Tammy in my thoughts might add to the meaning of her life, likely cut short by the selfish and brutish inclinations of a stranger. A stranger who, for the sake of his own desires, held no self higher than his own. A stranger whose name we just might know and who now will not see justice, at least not in this life.
I see now having read all the responses on this forum, that there are many, many others whose lives have been deeply impacted by Tammy. And many people who have insight into her case.
I have often wondered what I could do for Tammy—something more than just keeping her in my thoughts.
There's not much I can do... but I can write.
I've thought about possibly writing an essay on her and her case... maybe even a book. At the very least, I could compile enough information about her and her case to present it to one of the vast multitudes of True Crime podcasts in the hopes that they may cover it. And in covering it maybe, just maybe, something new might come of it. At the very least, it would give her case more exposure.
So, that's precisely what I've started to do.
I feel like her case has received somewhat woeful coverage and the one podcast that did talk about her was, to be frank, underwhelming in tone and quality.
Honestly, I’d just like to properly tell Tammy’s story. And not so much the horrible things that likely happened to her or the man who likely victimized her but... who she was. She lived for 8 whole years, she was only a victim for likely a few hours.
As I do research, I will gladly post any new information I may find here. I have access to public records, newspaper archives, and genealogy resources.
I’m not sure how long this will take.
I still live in Raymond, NH. I have a daughter who will be turning 8 in a few months. When I look at her I can’t help but think of Tammy.
I still miss Tammy. Her 8 years on this Earth were cut short but her life has meaning.
And the very fact that three out of four of Terry Rasmussen’s known NH victims, whose remains were discarded like so much detritus in Bear Brook State Park, have finally been identified—a case that for my entire life seemed basically forgotten and unsolvable—gives me hope that Tammy, too, might finally be brought home.
Peace.
Welcome to Websleuths -Nemo- ! What a compassionate and well written first post here.
You should be a blogger or an investigative journalist who covers cold cases.
Please join us over in the threads on Terry Rasmussen and the Allenstown victim's if you have an interest in that case as well:
NH - NH/CA - Terry Peder Rasmussen, suspected SK, Allenstown, 1981-2000's - #3
NH - NH - Allenstown, Adult Female & 3 Children, found Nov'85 & May'00 #2
I so understand you and your feelings. Tammy's disappearance has haunted me since she went missing. I have tried over the years to bring attention to her. I live in NH myself. I so want Tammy's parents to have answers, some closure as to what happened. Last night, I tried to upload her photo as my avatar- I just feel like she needs to be remembered.Thank you. I will gladly join those threads.