The Springfield Three--missing since June 1992 - #1

[Hurricane]

[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]SPRINGFIELD - An FBI violent crime specialist theorizes that three missing women were abducted by someone at least one of them trusted, and the abductor probably had help from one or more others.[/FONT]

I subscribe to the theory that both Sherrill Levitt and her daughter were targets and that they obviously had to be taken at the same time. Graduation night might have been selected because they thought Suzie would be returning home late, tired, and possibly “over-served”. As has been pointed out, if Sherrill Levitt was the only target the kidnapping could have been carried out much earlier in the night. If the girls had spent the night in Branson which was their original plan then I believe this crime would have been called off when Suzie did not return home.

If you subscribe to the theory that one of the abductors was someone they knew and trusted then you can obviously eliminate ex-boyfriend Dustin Shay Recla as being that person. Suzie had already given her statement in the institutional vandalism case and was due to testify at the upcoming trial.

It’s certainly possible that one or two participants in the kidnapping did not know what was going to happen until it was time, but not the primary person. He was the leader of this operation and got his orders from someone else earlier in the month.

“There are people that have knowledge who don’t feel good about the knowledge they have. They may not be the primary person.” said Wright. It seems to me that this is just the FBI speaking to those involved, trying to get someone who may have a guilty conscience to come forward.

Liz325, good find on this article!

 

[Missouri Mule]

Here's a rather interesting article from the Kansas City Star from July 21, 1992, in which an FBI Violent Crime Specialist presents a profile of the perps. Interesting that he theorizes the people with the primary abductor unwillingly became involved in a perhaps unplanned abduction. He even goes so far as to state the primary person didn't know what was going to happen, as if it all happened quite by accident! I don't think I agree with that but it's intriguing to read nonetheless.


The Kansas City Star
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]July 21, 1992[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Section: MID-AMERICA[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Edition: MID-AMERICA[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Page: B6[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica][SIZE=+1]Acquaintance abducted 3, FBI theorizes Person was trusted by at least one of missing women, expert believes.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]The Associated Press[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]SPRINGFIELD - An FBI violent crime specialist theorizes that three missing women were abducted by someone at least one of them trusted, and the abductor probably had help from one or more others.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Authorities want to talk with people who may unwillingly have become involved in a possibly unplanned abduction, said James Wright of the bureau's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]"I think they (other people) were brought into this not knowing what was going to happen. It's quite possible that the primary person did not know what was going to happen," Wright said. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]"There are people that have knowledge who don't feel good about the knowledge they have. They may not be the primary person. " Wright spoke after a call-in television show about the case that aired Sunday night on KOZK-Ozarks Public Television. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Wright has been following the case since Sherrill Levitt, 47; her daughter, Suzie Streeter, 19, and Streeter's friend, Stacy McCall, 18, disappeared June 7. Authorities think the women were abducted because many things they would have taken out of town were left at Levitt's home in Springfield. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Wright said his theory came from "the totality of information," but he avoided specifics about the number or type of people he suspects are involved. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]The abduction leader probably was an acquaintance "who may have known their comings and goings," he said. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Secondary players may fear going to police because they think the primary culprit would retaliate, he said. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]But anyone withholding information probably is feeling strong anxiety, he added. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]"If you think you don't feel good about it now, don't think it's going to get any better. Don't think it's going to go away," Wright said. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Springfield Police Chief Terry Knowles said the department could protect those who provide information. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Police Capt. Tony Glenn said the program received 118 calls, all but four of which were handled off the air. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]"Those people who have contacted us anonymously, we'd like to hear from them again and develop some type of dialogue with them," Glenn said. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]Wright, whose unit handles 1,000 cases a year, said the disappearance was an unusual, puzzling case. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,geneva,helvetica]"If you look into the records of missing persons every year, you would not come across many cases like this," he said.[/FONT]

I have good reason to believe the FBI profiler was quite close to the mark. If you will PM me I will refer you to a site where you can read one possible scenario. This goes to my belief that people higher up the food chain ordered this contract because of their vested interest in preventing information from coming out at or prior to the grave robbing trial.

I do remember reading about this at the time. And I used to have most of those newspaper articles. Unfortunately I passed them along several years ago but this posting sparks remembrances of what I read at the time.

 

[Missouri Mule]

I subscribe to the theory that both Sherrill Levitt and her daughter were targets and that they obviously had to be taken at the same time. Graduation night might have been selected because they thought Suzie would be returning home late, tired, and possibly “over-served”. As has been pointed out, if Sherrill Levitt was the only target the kidnapping could have been carried out much earlier in the night. If the girls had spent the night in Branson which was their original plan then I believe this crime would have been called off when Suzie did not return home.

If you subscribe to the theory that one of the abductors was someone they knew and trusted then you can obviously eliminate ex-boyfriend Dustin Shay Recla as being that person. Suzie had already given her statement in the institutional vandalism case and was due to testify at the upcoming trial.

It’s certainly possible that one or two participants in the kidnapping did not know what was going to happen until it was time, but not the primary person. He was the leader of this operation and got his orders from someone else earlier in the month.

“There are people that have knowledge who don’t feel good about the knowledge they have. They may not be the primary person.” said Wright. It seems to me that this is just the FBI speaking to those involved, trying to get someone who may have a guilty conscience to come forward.

Liz325, good find on this article!

I think you laid it out rather clearly, except for one thing. While Suzie was on record with her statement about the felony vandalism, she was not present to verify in court that was her statement. In another case a previously convicted murderer in the area walked off of death row in his retrial because his dead wife could not verify in court that she feared for her life in a written statement. This statement was found in her safe deposit box. It was ruled as heresay evidence and disallowed. He is today walking free as a bird, no doubt out there looking for the "real killer." That particular case was profiled on national TV and none of the jurors in the second trial believed him to be innocent but "not guilty" because not all doubt could be removed.

Getting back to this case, what I believe and have believed for some time is that there was great fear by "bigger fish" that at least one of the grave robbers was about to bust open like a ripe watermelon if pushed for information to keep from being shipped off to state prison. By removing Suzie and Sherrill, that took the primary leverage off of him and the trial on the grave robbing charges dragged on with only an ultimate slap on the wrist imposed. A high powered criminal attorney was brought in, far more competent than the mediocre prosecuting attorney. It would be interesting to know who picked up the tab for this attorney's services. This case is only tangentially related to the grave robbing case. But the genesis is to be found there.

 

[miles_draken]

Any more visions Ken? We are all over the worn-out conspiracy theories involving this case. Perhaps we could come up with something new, maybe alien abduction deserves a spin.

 

[Hurricane]

This statement was found in her safe deposit box. It was ruled as heresay evidence and disallowed.

All because it was not dated, as I recall.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Any more visions Ken? We are all over the worn-out conspiracy theories involving this case. Perhaps we could come up with something new, maybe alien abduction deserves a spin.

It was reported that the former Assistant Police Chief floated that idea. That, presumably, has already been ruled out. Which shows how incompetently this case has been handled.

I haven't spoken to this subject before, but I know how it would actually have been possible to have buried those women (or other bodies) at any of the rumored sites. This has never, to my knowledge, been publically discussed before, but it would explain the time discrepancy. The SPD already have this information and the name of the individual(s) who could have accomplished this seemingly unlikely task. It was possible.

Personally, I have never been a big fan of the parking garage hypothesis myself, but theoretically it was possible. The means to do so were readily available along with the individuals who could see that it would be accomplished.

 

[Missouri Mule]

All because it was not dated, as I recall.

I believe you are right, come to think of it. The great irony is that the other unassailable evidence was sufficient itself. (The alarm system data.)

The letter written by the murdered woman was effectively a free "get out of jail" card. He was easily convicted during the first trial and this one technicality brought a second trial in which he had a very good attorney who argued his case better than the opposing counsel, the prosecuting attorney, many of whom are grossly incompetent. They are elected to these posts and often have no opposing candidates and get the jobs by default. It's a sorry system but works great for the crooks.

There was another famous murder case in Springfield where the investigation was bungled leading to the accused killer walking free. A mother and the two children were brutally murdered "Charley Manson" style. The investigator failed to verify that the star witness was on duty the night he claimed to have seen the accused. Again, another free "get out of jail card" was issued needlessly. And of course in that case the accused is probably looking for the "real killer" somewhere.

 

[MaryLiz]

I subscribe to the theory that both Sherrill Levitt and her daughter were targets and that they obviously had to be taken at the same time. Graduation night might have been selected because they thought Suzie would be returning home late, tired, and possibly “over-served”. As has been pointed out, if Sherrill Levitt was the only target the kidnapping could have been carried out much earlier in the night. If the girls had spent the night in Branson which was their original plan then I believe this crime would have been called off when Suzie did not return home.

If you subscribe to the theory that one of the abductors was someone they knew and trusted then you can obviously eliminate ex-boyfriend Dustin Shay Recla as being that person. Suzie had already given her statement in the institutional vandalism case and was due to testify at the upcoming trial.

It’s certainly possible that one or two participants in the kidnapping did not know what was going to happen until it was time, but not the primary person. He was the leader of this operation and got his orders from someone else earlier in the month.

“There are people that have knowledge who don’t feel good about the knowledge they have. They may not be the primary person.” said Wright. It seems to me that this is just the FBI speaking to those involved, trying to get someone who may have a guilty conscience to come forward.

Liz325, good find on this article!

I agree that if there were accomplices they could have been in the dark so to speak about what was going to go down that night. But I don't believe the main perp was clueless either.

And I think that both Sherrill and Suzie were targets. I mentioned way back in an earlier post that if Sherrill had been the intended victim they could have done it much earlier while Suzie was out partying. But I believe Suzie would have known right who to point the finger to so that's why I think both were targeted. And vice versa if Suzie was who they were after. And then as we all know, poor Stacy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[Missouri Mule]

I agree that if there were accomplices they could have been in the dark so to speak about what was going to go down that night. But I don't believe the main perp was clueless either.

And I think that both Sherrill and Suzie were targets. I mentioned way back in an earlier post that if Sherrill had been the intended victim they could have done it much earlier while Suzie was out partying. But I believe Suzie would have known right who to point the finger to so that's why I think both were targeted. And vice versa if Suzie was who they were after. And then as we all know, poor Stacy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I agree with everything you say except the last sentence. I would not assume that Stacy could not have been the primary target. It is highly unlikely but it cannot positively be ruled out. There are "issues" that have never been properly vetted. That is another of the very perplexing and difficult aspects of this case. We know too little. This is like a blind man trying to describe an elephant.

 

[Ken]

Any more visions Ken? We are all over the worn-out conspiracy theories involving this case. Perhaps we could come up with something new, maybe alien abduction deserves a spin.

I was watching 48 Hours Investigates and they did a show on the Janet March case from 1996. Her huband murdered her and buried her body in a field. However, when he found out the land was going to be developed, he had to move her body to a separate location.

In regards to the 3MW case, was there any land that was being developed at the same time the parking garage was being built?

Miles, there ya have it...something new to ponder

 

[Ken]

Do u think more than one person could keep their mouth shut about this huge of a case all these years? I seriously doubt there was a lot of planning involved with this.

Yes, if the Mafia were somehow involved. Jimmy Hoffa was not murdered by just one person. That case is much bigger than this one. From what I have read about the Mafia in New York and New Jersey, they do own concrete companies.

 

[Hurricane]

Do we know if investigators or anyone has asked Bartt Streeter about the missing pictures from the broken picture frames? I realize that he didn’t live with his mother any longer but I would think that he would remember what the pictures were. I would assume that the pictures were something Sherrill Levitt had had framed up on display for some time. Has Bartt ever said anything publicly about the pictures on any of the forums?

 

[Missouri Mule]

Do we know if investigators or anyone has asked Bartt Streeter about the missing pictures from the broken picture frames? I realize that he didn’t live with his mother any longer but I would think that he would remember what the pictures were. I would assume that the pictures were something Sherrill Levitt had had framed up on display for some time. Has Bartt ever said anything publicly about the pictures on any of the forums?

The answers to your questions is that I have no idea. However, I do know someone with connections to the police force. Let me bounce these questions off of him. There is not unanimity of opinion on the force about several things in point of fact, in particular the color of the van which I consider the most salient issue to date.

I can never recall that the matter of the pictures was ever spoken about publically. Logically it was highly significant. Alternatively it is possible that Sherrill was at such loggerheads that she, herself, removed them because of some particular reason long before the abductions. Regardless it would suggest some strong reasons for doing so.

 

[Hurricane]

Earlier I wrote “broken picture frames” but is that true? I don’t remember reading that anywhere else. It just sort of popped into my head and I don’t know why.

If these pictures had been displayed in the Levitt residences over a period of time I would think Bartt could recall what they were.

If these things are covered in the CBS tape, I apologize. I’m still waiting on mine to arrive. UPS tracking says it is somewhere in Illinois now, so I should receive it early next week.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Earlier I wrote “broken picture frames” but is that true? I don’t remember reading that anywhere else. It just sort of popped into my head and I don’t know why.

If these pictures had been displayed in the Levitt residences over a period of time I would think Bartt could recall what they were.

If these things are covered in the CBS tape, I apologize. I’m still waiting on mine to arrive. UPS tracking says it is somewhere in Illinois now, so I should receive it early next week.

My copy was late in coming as well. I think it comes via the slowest method of delivery to save shipping costs if I recall correctly. You might send a follow-up inquiry to CBS to be sure. Tha't what I had to do.

I can't recall I ever heard "broken picture frames" but it is something that could be significant. Breaking them would indicate being rushed as opposed to taking one's time to remove them carefully. Should be checked out to be sure. As I recall, the probable van was seen in the vicinity at 4:30 AM so there was not an abundance of time since "civic twilight" began at 5:22 AM; a mere 52 minutes from then and the van and occupants should have been visible to passers-by. At 5:56 AM it was daybreak amd clearly visible.

 

[Missouri Mule]

I'm going to throw some fresh thinking into this discussion because I think one assertion needs to be cleared up right here and now and forever. I have been reviewing a number of posts here and elsewhere. Here it is.

I am stating absolutely, positively, without equivocation, and without possible fear of contradition that it IS possible that the remains of the women could be found in the parking lot garage or any number of other places such as this and were not put there until a considerable period of time after they dissappeared. Anyone who believes that it was impossible simply is without knowledge about the case nor of the available methods how this would take place. And let me be even more blunt and to the point. I know precisely how it was possible and who could have carried it out. And so do the police. And how do I know this? Because I told them. And how would I know this information? Well, let's say that I have looked carefully at the case, and know whereof I speak.

So if the Springfield police (or others) claim it is not possible that the remains could be at the garage or elsewhere, they are speaking without 1) thinking, or 2) they are being disengenuous. It is quite possible. Period.

There is absolutely no reason under the sun why that parking lot coring should not immediately commence. It has been guaranteed by a third party at no cost to the public, the taxpayer, the police department, or the hospital or any member of the family. The money is waiting to be spent to get the job done. Why isn't it being done?

 

[Hurricane]

There is absolutely no reason under the sun why that parking lot coring should not immediately commence.

While I’m not a big believer that the 3MW are buried in the parking garage, I would support the coring to determine exactly what it is that is there. The thought occurred to me that if the Chandler, OK police were made to believe that this coring could solve their case they would fall in line to support the coring. This would bring pressure on the SPD and it seems to me that they would then have to cooperate.

 

[Missouri Mule]

While I’m not a big believer that the 3MW are buried in the parking garage, I would support the coring to determine exactly what it is that is there. The thought occurred to me that if the Chandler, OK police were made to believe that this coring could solve their case they would fall in line to support the coring. This would bring pressure on the SPD and it seems to me that they would then have to cooperate.

I would seriously doubt the SPD would honor the Chandler request. They are seemingly standing in the way of this coring by claiming that which doesn't comport with the facts. Perhaps they have the garage wired with cameras and microphones to see if the guilty
party(s) show up to inspect the premises. That's the only honorable and rational reason I can deduce why they would continue to obfuscate and obstruct. I can remember when I looked at the "moss green" van in 1992 and a patrol car followed me half way home. So this is a distinct possibility. Certainly, if I were running the investigation, and had any inkling the remains were there I would have that place wired to the hilt just in case.

The more likely and logical reason they don't want the dig to commence is because it takes the focus off the investigation where it belongs. As people of differing opinions here and elsewhere continue to form a circular firing squad against one another the SPD can avoid investigating the information that I KNOW they already possess. They have the names, addresses and phone numbers of at least three people (and a fourth that they can find) that I can think of who may be able to provide valuable information. Yet they won't talk to them. Why not? It begs the question of whether there some kind of cover-up going on in the SPD. I don't want to believe that but at the same time it cannot be be ruled out. One would hope that wasn't true but what else is one to believe? As I said, I can't believe there is any reason under the sun why the coring shouldn't immediately begin.

Although I have never personally believed the remains are there I am now agnostic. If the remains are not to be found there then there is another quite specific location where I would like for them to inspect. But they'll never do that if all of this smoke and mirrors continues to be focused on the garage. It is both extremely frustrating and inexplicable.

 

[Hurricane]

According to the CBS tape there were some “somewhat sexy” pictures of Suzie that were not to be found anywhere in the house. It looked like these were part of a photo session that all seniors take now days during the summer prior to their last year of high school. From looking through the proofs of the session at the photography studio these were determined to be missing.

While it is certainly possible that any perp involved in their disappearance could have taken these pictures as a trophy, it seems to me that this would indicate someone who knew Suzie was involved.

Nothing was said about picture frames so this probably clears up that question.

 

[Hurricane]

The CBS tape shows detectives finger printing the interior of the house. Does anyone remember reading anything about the results of this print search? It would be important to know if there were any prints that remain unidentified. And if there were any prints from former friends and family such as old boy friends who should not have been there recently. Any prints would have to be recent to be fresh and not smeared and Sherill Levitt had only purchased the home a couple of months prior to their disappearance. In stands to reason, then, that any former friend or family member would have never been in this residence.