NJ NJ - Melissa McGuinn, 7 mos, Trenton, 6 March 1988

[WillenFan21]

I just noticed that the mothers version of this story that she gave on WS radio is completely different than what is on this blog:

http://melissamcguinn.blogspot.com/2013/01/first-post.html

Just pointing this out because I had went to the blog after I heard about it on the show and was checking out the posts. I assume that the blogger had it wrong?

 

[Grainne Dhu]

I'm scratching my head here over Wanda's release. What happened to holding someone until they are competent (in this case forever), instead they release her and off she goes to do who knows what?

SBM

That would be tricky on constitutional grounds. One of the foundation precepts of the legal system in this country is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Holding someone in jail for the rest of their life without giving them their day in court would definitely violate the constitution. Trying someone who is not competent to assist in their own defence is also unconstitutional. It is a difficult bar to meet people with IQs in the 50s have been found competent to stand trial. A person has to be really, really mentally impaired to be found incompetent to stand trial.

Involuntarily committing someone for treatment of mental illness is illegal if there is no known treatment for the mental illness. There has to be a legitimate therapeutic basis to confine someone involuntarily.

So what could they do with her?

I'm not even convinced she deliberately committed a crime. It sounds like she was very easily influenced; what if someone got her trust and then talked her into bringing the baby out for a visit at a certain time? She was only gone for about 8 minutes, so she didn't have much time to do whatever it was that was done. I think she almost had to have had a co-conspirator or, considering her apparent lack of cognitive functioning, someone who instructed her in some way.

Considering how young little Melissa was when she disappeared, I wonder if there was anyone in the neighbourhood or in the McGuinn's social circle who moved away shortly after Melissa disappeared. Probably not anyone they knew well but someone who had seen Melissa and could find out who her parents were without raising suspicion.

 

[Tricia]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for taking the time out to post on Melissa's thread. All of our ideas are welcomed. Please feel free to continue.

I'll be speaking with Sheryl McCollum and Anna in a few minutes.

Later I will put up a press release that you can all use to send to your media.

I have a feeling with Sheryl McCollum's help the national media will pick up on this pretty quickly.

If you have any questions or ideas and you don't want to post feel free to email me at tgrif@xmission.com

Thanks again,
Tricia

 

[txsvicki]

I was going to listen to the show but forgot, so will need to do that later. One thing that kind of jumps out is W having the mind of a four year old. Is there any way the testers could have been wrong about that? Maybe if she were found she could recall something now or has talked to someone over the years. I can only imagine how hard this has been on the family all these years.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

I was going to listen to the show but forgot, so will need to do that later. One thing that kind of jumps out is W having the mind of a four year old. Is there any way the testers could have been wrong about that? Maybe if she were found she could recall something now or has talked to someone over the years. I can only imagine how hard this has been on the family all these years.

In my experience, in my largely rural not at all urbanised state, it is very, very difficult for defendants to be declared incompetent for trial. In some states, defendants with IQs in the 50s have been declared competent to stand trial.

I have a friend who teaches special education high school students. Last year, the highest IQ student in her class had an IQ of less than 40. Her opinion is that it is really difficult to convincingly fake having an extremely low IQ over a continuous length of time because having such a low IQ affects every area of behaviour in ways that people of normal IQs just don't even think about.

For instance, about half her students each year are not yet reliably toilet trained. That just would not occur to most people who were trying to fake low IQ.

So while it is possible that W may have faked out investigators, it seems to me to be unlikely. If there was any vestige of possibility, I think the issue would be being argued through the court system rather than just letting her go.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

There is a discrepancy between what the blog says and what the mother says about a "note" being found in possession of the mentally challenged Wanda. Blogsite says a note was found in her possession, mother says a note was not found. Other articles talk about a letter from Wanda's ex-husband mentioning selling a baby.

Questions:

1.) If Wanda had a mental age of 5-7, was she able to read any kind of letter or note?

2.) Has neighbor Linda ever yet been polygraphed? If not, why not?

3.) Has Wanda's ex-husband ever been contacted and questioned?

4.) Where is Wanda nowadays?

 

[Grainne Dhu]

There is a discrepancy between what the blog says and what the mother says about a "note" being found in possession of the mentally challenged Wanda. Blogsite says a note was found in her possession, mother says a note was not found. Other articles talk about a letter from Wanda's ex-husband mentioning selling a baby.

Questions:

1.) If Wanda had a mental age of 5-7, was she able to read any kind of letter or note?

2.) Has neighbor Linda ever yet been polygraphed? If not, why not?

3.) Has Wanda's ex-husband ever been contacted and questioned?

4.) Where is Wanda nowadays?

I don't know the answers to those questions.

I do know that reading is within the capabilities of 5-7 year olds. So if someone has the mental age of a 5-7 year old, I think it's reasonable to infer that they are probably able to read simple sentences with limited vocabulary. Definitely not War and Peace or even a newspaper but something fairly simple such as "I love you. Buy milk and bread at the store" would be possible.

 

[sweetsavi]

The blog does have some incorrect stuff in it. I was the one who wrote them.
No one in Melissa's life are good with computers, so I made the blog trying to share what I could gather about the case.
I took information from her mom, and Larry, and news articles to write the posts. Coming in as an uninvolved party 25 years after the event, I got some stuff wrong.
I will be working over the weekend with Becky and Larry again to correct it.

 

[girlinblue]

I just don't understand how it isn't on paper somewhere what exactly happened and between Linda and Wanda that day. How does no one know what Wanda said to Linda that made her react so strongly? Did the police not take a statement from her? How can 26 years go by and not even a summary of the conversation come out? It's frustrating. I found myself listening to the show and getting agitated. Seems like something is right there just beneath the surface.

And what happened to Linda after that day? After that part of the story was told there was no mention of her. Did she fall off the earth?

I really hope Becky gets closure someday. How terrible.

 

[Tricia]

I just noticed that the mothers version of this story that she gave on WS radio is completely different than what is on this blog:

http://melissamcguinn.blogspot.com/2013/01/first-post.html

Just pointing this out because I had went to the blog after I heard about it on the show and was checking out the posts. I assume that the blogger had it wrong?

The blog will be corrected soon if it hasn't already. Thank you for pointing this out.

 

[Tricia]

Ok here is the press release. In the release I am sending to the national media I have an age progression picture of Melissa. However in this format on Websleuths I can't put the picture where it needs to go in the press release.

Please feel free to copy this press release and send it out to your local media or to anyone you think might be able to help.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 17, 2013
CONTACT: TRICIA GRIFFITH
tgrif@xmission.com
CONTACT: ANNA CANNARD
savcannard@gmail.com

A MOTHER’S NIGHTMARE CONTINUES ON FOR 26 YEARS
Will Strangers on the Internet Help End her Torment?​

Imagine your friend taking your 7-month old daughter, walking out the door with her, only to return minutes later without your child. This is a real life nightmare for the Becky McGuinn household - a nightmare Becky has been living for 26 years.

In March 1988 Becky McGuinn’s friend and housemate Wanda Reed took Becky’s 7-month old daughter Melissa out of the house and returned a few minutes later without the baby, claiming that Melissa is “just gone.” Divers searched in the Delaware River, and searchers combed of all of the surrounding areas, but could not find Melissa.

But recently new information has been found that points to the very real possibility that baby Melissa is out there, now 26 years old and with no knowledge of her past. The evidence is in letters from Wanda Reed that have surfaced, written to her husband, in which she talks about stealing a baby and selling it for money.

So we need your help. We need to get these age progression pictures of Melissa McGuinn out to the public in the hope that someone will recognize Melissa. Maybe even Melissa herself will come forward.

Please go to one of the following websites for more information:
https://www.facebook.com/findbabymelissa
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mcguinn_melissa.html
http://melissamcguinn.blogspot.com/

Help us find Melissa McGuinn. Twenty-six years is too long for a mother to wait to find out what happened to her child.

Contact: Tricia Griffith
tgrif@xmission.com
Or
Anna Cannard
savcannard@gmail.com

 

[modesty blaise]

are the letters available for the public to read???

would this woman have been capable of penning a legible letter.
I feel like this case is so solvable but everything assumed from the beginning has to be disregarded and start building from scratch.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

are the letters available for the public to read???

would this woman have been capable of penning a legible letter.
I feel like this case is so solvable but everything assumed from the beginning has to be disregarded and start building from scratch.

Wanda has been described as having the mental abilities of a 5-7 year old. At that age, children are capable of writing crude but legible sentences. So I think she probably could write letters but that they were most likely in very simple language with limited vocabulary.

 

[sweetsavi]

I feel this case is so solvable. We just need someone who is allowed access to all the info, and has the time to investigate.

Does anyone know any PI's in the area that might be able to help? I've contacted 2 in the past that never got a response.

 

[concernedmother]

Has anyone tried talking to this woman recently?

 

[NSS]

Having read most of the blog a couple of things stood out.

With the mental capacity of a child, my guess is that Wandas story changed with the questioning officers 'theory' or line of questioning.

Children will try to please adults by telling them what they want to hear. Using any of her responses will have us following Police theories not actual events (though their theories may be evidence based).

Larry talks of a letter from Wandas ex husband which has him requesting that she sell him her son for sale on the Black Market (This is possibly just a ploy to have her relinquish the child given her history, but surely a call to DCF would have been more apt).

Wanda would be incapable of the racial bias that has many of her stories blaming a 'black man' so the 'black market' comment in the letter seems to have created a link in her limited capacity thinking.

I think that all communication between Wanda and her first husband should be carefully investigated. This was the pre cell phone era, so how did she know to leave at that exact moment, she wouldn't have known that Melissa would be right there, right then.

It appears a crime of opportunity not planning. Where was Wandas son at the time of her leaving with Melissa?

What did Wanda say to the neighbor who returned her that caused alarm? Where did the neighbor encounter Wanda? Is the eight minute timeframe allowing for this meeting or is it 8 minutes from leaving the house till return?

(4 minutes with a small child won't get you too far before returning)

 

[modesty blaise]

Wanda has been described as having the mental abilities of a 5-7 year old. At that age, children are capable of writing crude but legible sentences. So I think she probably could write letters but that they were most likely in very simple language with limited vocabulary.

it is possible I suppose...
I would really like to get a gander at that letter tho.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Having read most of the blog a couple of things stood out.

With the mental capacity of a child, my guess is that Wandas story changed with the questioning officers 'theory' or line of questioning.

Children will try to please adults by telling them what they want to hear. Using any of her responses will have us following Police theories not actual events (though their theories may be evidence based).

Larry talks of a letter from Wandas ex husband which has him requesting that she sell him her son for sale on the Black Market (This is possibly just a ploy to have her relinquish the child given her history, but surely a call to DCF would have been more apt).

Wanda would be incapable of the racial bias that has many of her stories blaming a 'black man' so the 'black market' comment in the letter seems to have created a link in her limited capacity thinking.

I think that all communication between Wanda and her first husband should be carefully investigated. This was the pre cell phone era, so how did she know to leave at that exact moment, she wouldn't have known that Melissa would be right there, right then.

It appears a crime of opportunity not planning. Where was Wandas son at the time of her leaving with Melissa?

What did Wanda say to the neighbor who returned her that caused alarm? Where did the neighbor encounter Wanda? Is the eight minute timeframe allowing for this meeting or is it 8 minutes from leaving the house till return?

(4 minutes with a small child won't get you too far before returning)

Children as young as 3 years old are certainly capable of reflecting the biases of their parents against people of colour, people of size etc.

My impression was that it was an 8 minute absence total but I may well be mistaken.

I agree with you that a carefully premeditated plan was probably beyond Wanda's capabilities but if the co-conspirator had some patience, it would not have been impossible. Just tell Wanda to bring the baby outside sometime during the afternoon, then be waiting in a parked vehicle for her.

I like your theory about the whole plan being a way to get her son away from Wanda. Yes, a call to DCF would have been more appropriate but it's possible that the ex had good reason to believe DCF would not cooperate as desired. For instance, if the ex had any prior convictions for domestic violence, child abuse or child neglect, there's no way DCF would give him custody of the child without requiring a lot of conditions be met.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

it is possible I suppose...
I would really like to get a gander at that letter tho.

Oh, I agree. If those letters are in existence still, a look at them would be very revealing. I went for a little walk down memory lane by getting out the letters my nephews sent me when they were around that age and I was struck by their ability to convey some fairly complicated ideas. I did have the context to help me in deciphering what they meant but it was clear that they were thinking on a level somewhat above their ability to communicate at that age.

 

[LCoastMom]

SBM

That would be tricky on constitutional grounds. One of the foundation precepts of the legal system in this country is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Holding someone in jail for the rest of their life without giving them their day in court would definitely violate the constitution. Trying someone who is not competent to assist in their own defence is also unconstitutional. It is a difficult bar to meet people with IQs in the 50s have been found competent to stand trial. A person has to be really, really mentally impaired to be found incompetent to stand trial.

Involuntarily committing someone for treatment of mental illness is illegal if there is no known treatment for the mental illness. There has to be a legitimate therapeutic basis to confine someone involuntarily.

So what could they do with her?

I'm not even convinced she deliberately committed a crime. It sounds like she was very easily influenced; what if someone got her trust and then talked her into bringing the baby out for a visit at a certain time? She was only gone for about 8 minutes, so she didn't have much time to do whatever it was that was done. I think she almost had to have had a co-conspirator or, considering her apparent lack of cognitive functioning, someone who instructed her in some way.

Considering how young little Melissa was when she disappeared, I wonder if there was anyone in the neighbourhood or in the McGuinn's social circle who moved away shortly after Melissa disappeared. Probably not anyone they knew well but someone who had seen Melissa and could find out who her parents were without raising suspicion.

Thank you, I should have known this, probably did on some level but some of these cases effect me so emotionally that I throw all common sense out the window. :blushing:

I think the chance of Wanda's ex doing something altruistic is pretty slim, remember this is a man who married a severely disabled woman and had two children with her who were removed from their care. If he said he wanted to trade her baby for drugs, I suspect that's exactly what he wanted to do. I do wonder if Wanda agreed to this and then handed over Melissa instead, but I find it odd that with all her changing stories Wanda never gave this version of the event to LE.