Theory #1: Stranger Abduction by the "Couple in the Car"

[Cubby]

Hey....I'm new to the site but a longtime follower of Anna's case. I would love to get some feedback about this idea I've had for a while now. It seems that the online matches have been exhausted, regarding profiles of Jane Does. Anyhow, this is just an idea that is based on loosely connected evidence. I think Annasbro's account of the couple is substantial and think they abducted Anna. Long story short, I think her abduction is connected to Jeffrey Bratcher's abduction from a Washington park. And that based on appearances and locale, Anna and Jeffrey could be the Mendocino County John and Jane Does. I can expand on that but I'm typing on my phone and it is terribly slow. Anyhow, I would love to get some feedback. Good luck on your sleuthing.
T

Carrying forward.

 

[Cubby]

Sorry. My dumb phone changed the name in the previous post. I intended to write that Anna's case could be related to JEFFREY MICHAEL BRATCHER. Anyhow, hope that helped.
T

Carrying forward.

 

[SideKick]

Carrying forward.

DNA should be run through the national system if anyone is be matched and Anna’s DNA is in that system so I’m not understanding the Mendocino County doe’s.

 

[SideKick]

There has been a break considering the identification of the vehicles and my sister’s disappearance. It is concerning someone that says they witnessed the Bratcher abduction. They sent me this picture ( along with the owner of the vehicles which match my memory). The years match, the vehicles match ( the white van was observed directly after my sister’s disappearance) the picture of the woman matches, and this individual said he witnessed two abductions with a similar MO. I have reported this information to Grays harbor( Bratcher investigation) and am in the process of reporting it to an investigator in San Mateo county.

 

[SideKick]

There has been a break considering the identification of the vehicles and my sister’s disappearance. It is concerning someone that says they witnessed the Bratcher abduction. They sent me this picture ( along with the owner of the vehicles which match my memory). The years match, the vehicles match ( the white van was observed directly after my sister’s disappearance) the picture of the woman matches, and this individual said he witnessed two abductions with a similar MO. I have reported this information to Grays harbor( Bratcher investigation) and am in the process of reporting it to an investigator in San Mateo county.

Could that vehicle beside the van be the original one seen with Anna and brothers we researched. A gold/green car, I can’t recall the possible make.

 

[Annasbro]

That is the thought- To me there are a number of startling coincidences with all of this.

 

[Cubby]

DNA should be run through the national system if anyone is be matched and Anna’s DNA is in that system so I’m not understanding the Mendocino County doe’s.

The mendocino jane doe is clearly ruled out. I'm sorry I wasn't clearer. I carried the posts forward because Jeffrey Bratcher was mentioned. My bad, sorry.

Eta, the Mendocino John and jane doe case was solved some time ago.

 

[nannymo]

Oh Annasbro....I am so hoping you get some results from this tip. Keeping my fingers crossed and praying for a miracle!

They do happen you know!

I have read a lot about your sister and poke my face in and lurk occasionally. Hoping for the best and keep us posted!

 

[smile22]

There has been a break considering the identification of the vehicles and my sister’s disappearance. It is concerning someone that says they witnessed the Bratcher abduction. They sent me this picture ( along with the owner of the vehicles which match my memory). The years match, the vehicles match ( the white van was observed directly after my sister’s disappearance) the picture of the woman matches, and this individual said he witnessed two abductions with a similar MO. I have reported this information to Grays harbor( Bratcher investigation) and am in the process of reporting it to an investigator in San Mateo county.

hoping you get some more info out of this break.
praying that this year brings answers to you and your family

 

[SideKick]

@Annasbro
We’re you ever able to identify the area code for the Washington phone number?
As we know each city can have different codes per area.
This may be key in narrowing down suspects.
Thank you

 

[Dcliff]

On 2/04/06, Annasbro posted the following:

"As far as I remember it here is the accounting of the incident with the car luring Anna towards it: It seemed like the middle of the day. Maybe it was a Sat. or Sunday. We used to like to walk towards the end of the canyon down the road heading east. The house where we lived was about 1.5 miles from the end of the canyon. We were approximately 1/4 mile from our house when a car passed us and pulled infront of us about 25 ft. Saturn the dog barked at the car as a woman wearing a loose fitting white shirt with embroidery on it and long dark hair opened up the back door. She spoke to us from within the car, a 4 door american sedan that was a dark green or gold. Somehow I remember it as a chevy impala late 60s - it was not new. I know cars pretty well. I thought it had the old style washington plate - white with green letters - I can't be sure about that.

When we got the dog settled down she made small talk and addressed Anna primarily - I believe . I answered for her but she continued to address Anna with small talk and questions - do you live here?, where do you go to school?, do you walk down the road often? at that point she asked if she wanted her (us - I can't remember) to ride to the end of the road with her. This creeped me out sufficiently to turn our party around and head back home. The woman closed the door and the car scooted off quickly towards the end of the canyon. I don't remember if and how I relayed the story at the time to my parents.

I didn't think much of it. I knew some creepy people would travel down that road every once in a while. A body was dumped closer to the entry of the canyon earlier that year. I just knew there was no way any of us was going to get into a car with people we didn't know and kind of put it behind me. I wish now I had played closer attention to everything."



The significance of this event cannot be overstated. This means that one month before Anna disappeared, a couple attempted to get Anna to get in their car. It would be reasonable to assume that they returned at the later time and successfully abducted Anna. This scenario raises the possibilty that Anna was taken by a family that would raise her as their daughter. And that she could be alive today, looking for her real family...

 

[Dcliff]

Im new here so didn’t know where to post but I told my story on another Anna site on here last night (by replying to someone). The story is is my best recollection of the man and woman, ..and the car. They led me to your description here but I’m not sure. If you need for me to copy/paste the story onto this thread I will.

Basically - a man and woman tried to kidnap me in Felton in late 1972. I was 5.

The car did resemble an old impala - (the very car I identified when looking at random cars), but the trunk would have been about equal length to the front - like a 63-66 dodge dart uniformity. I cant remember the rear end of the car as well but sense it was of equal length to the front. I have 2 old impalas and neither look like whats in my mind from my experience, but the one I saw online when just looking at old cars struck me. The front/side view of a 62 Impala. Memories are coming back as I give the memories my attention, so I’ll see if more details pop in about that car.

A 5 year old’s memories being translated into a 53 year okds reasoning is tricky at moments, but in my story I describe what I see as I go back to that morning. I have no idea if it will help or not but the fact that I’m talking about this in 2020 is surreal. It’s just strange that it popped into my mind, that it was held in consciousness, and that I dug (thus discovering Anna had also disappeared close to my time). Id not heard of Anna until yesterday.

I am going to look for old journals as I wrote this story down when I was about 19. I hope I find them.
I always knew those people were not going to stop with me. I just knew it.

sorry about any typos. Long day and doing it from a phone

 

[Cubby]

Thank you and welcome to WS, Dcliff!

 

[SideKick]

Another find from the Box from Hell: when GW died, he had two phone numbers in his wallet - one of which was a number from Washington State (remember that the couple in car may have had Washington State license plates). I have contacted Joe Ford concerning this because he did a very thorough analysis of Waters' phone records after GW's death and may recall who held this number. Unfortunately, this was twenty-five years ago and whoever holds that number now is very unlikely to be the same person as in 1981.

Who has this number from the box from hell now?
Please, it is very important.

 

[SideKick]

Thanks Shadow, I will see what I can find.

Do you have this number with area code?

 

[Cubby]

With all due respect. How is it that after 33 years, Nonda was able to remember the clothing down to the embroidery on the woman's blouse, but didn't remember to notify anyone of this couple at the time of Anna disappearance?

I'm sorry, but I believe the story about the couple in the car was an attempt to ease the pain of a life shattering event when Dr. Doogie first initiated the search with Annasmom.

I understand why someone might do that, especially when there were no answers at the time. However, today, with new information, we really need to consider the accuracy of a memory 33 years after the event occurred.

 

[jbenson]

With all due respect. How is it that after 33 years, Nonda was able to remember the clothing down to the embroidery on the woman's blouse, but didn't remember to notify anyone of this couple at the time of Anna disappearance?

I'm sorry, but I believe the story about the couple in the car was an attempt to ease the pain of a life shattering event when Dr. Doogie first initiated the search with Annasmom.

I understand why someone might do that, especially when there were no answers at the time. However, today, with new information, we really need to consider the accuracy of a memory 33 years after the event occurred.

You are entitled to your opinion on memories but keep in mind that it is just that - an opinion. Everyone is different when it comes to memory. I can remember things from as far back as 3, things that are confirmed by siblings and friends. I would suggest reading up on the subject of repressed/suppressed memories. There are many things that can cause this and in many cases traumatic memories do return later on in life in adults who experienced severe trauma. If the memories are from childhood or young adulthood, this can happen in middle-age once the person is secure and at lower stress levels. The brain seems to then allow these things to come back for processing. There is also something known as retrograde amnesia. I'm not saying this is true in Nonda’s case IDK, but he has stated that he recalls telling people about the couple in the car. Perhaps it wasn’t seen as significant at the time, or perhaps like myself when I was younger he wasn’t a very good communicator. With all due respect I don’t feel that you are in a position to diagnose or judge someone and their reason for revealing a memory that you have never met. I do respect your opinion but keeping an open mind is far more helpful than a knee-jerk reaction to shut people down right away if you don't believe something.

 

[Cubby]

@jbenson

I've been working this case since 2007. 14 years is a long time. It's been at least 3 years since we received the tip regarding the neighbor boy. I've given these tips a great deal of consideration as well as research to vet the source.

I am certain the chance of Anna being harmed by a boy who lived nearby, knew the family, and molested his sister is far greater than a random stranger - who lived in an entirely different area of the country somehow popping up in a rural area to abduct Anna.

It's about as likely as the case being solved by a psychic and its unfair to the family to deflect from the facts.

 

[nannymo]

This case breaks my heart. I wish Anna could be found.

 

[Angleterre]

You are entitled to your opinion on memories but keep in mind that it is just that - an opinion. Everyone is different when it comes to memory. I can remember things from as far back as 3, things that are confirmed by siblings and friends. I would suggest reading up on the subject of repressed/suppressed memories. There are many things that can cause this and in many cases traumatic memories do return later on in life in adults who experienced severe trauma. If the memories are from childhood or young adulthood, this can happen in middle-age once the person is secure and at lower stress levels. The brain seems to then allow these things to come back for processing. There is also something known as retrograde amnesia. I'm not saying this is true in Nonda’s case IDK, but he has stated that he recalls telling people about the couple in the car. Perhaps it wasn’t seen as significant at the time, or perhaps like myself when I was younger he wasn’t a very good communicator. With all due respect I don’t feel that you are in a position to diagnose or judge someone and their reason for revealing a memory that you have never met. I do respect your opinion but keeping an open mind is far more helpful than a knee-jerk reaction to shut people down right away if you don't believe something.

Just adding to your response which you gave to the comments made by @Cubby and I want to make a point. As difficult as it is to believe, in the early to mid 70’s , even into the 80’s there was very much the adage of
“Children should be seen but not heard”. At that time in point, children were most definitely not listened to or heard in the majority of cases, especially when it came to things that they either witnessed or were a victim of. I have first hand knowledge of this for two reasons:
1. I had loving parents but I distinctly recall on two occasions whereby I needed to tell my parents about something exceptionally important ( now I was always described as mature beyond decades when growing up and I knew at 10 years of age that I wanted to be a police officer and at 14 years of age that I wanted to be one no matter where . At 18, I joined and I did so in 1988 when it was very rare to employ a person so young and it was deemed almost too young taking a 21/22/23 year old on as a Police officer so it was understandable that at Police Training School I was nicknamed the’Baby’ of the class). So when I say that I distinctly recall on two occasions where I had important information to impart to my parents, it wasn’t childhood fantasy or make believe. And I was still not heard yet I was 10 and described as decades older than my years and that I already knew my future occupation such was my insistence that I wanted to help people and make a difference, and this was believed and promoted by my parents to whoever would listen because they were proud but they were still not ‘wanting to hear me’ !
The second is that I investigated two historical child abuse cases at children’s homes and both were very similar . One in particular was offences going back to 1960 all the way up to 1985 when the home shut for good. So many times the 108 children who suffered physical and mental and sexual abuse that I later interviewed in 1995 ( not all children were subjected to this treatment) when one complaint came into my force via a different force area where this child and now a man , lived .
He had tried at the time, aged 11 to report it to his social workers as had, it transpired, others did too throughout the intervening years and none of them were listened to or heard ( and a lot were there because Mum was in hospital then recovering at home and Dad worked away or “was away - inside “, or was in the Forces and on military secondment. Not all were there because the parents didn’t want them or couldn’t look after them and it wasn’t a home for badly behaved children either . They were just not heard and were told to be quiet or they would be punished or god forbid, sent to one of the really bad homes ( the old couple held this fear over their heads constantly causing these kids real fright ) -:because these people running the home were lovely old dears who really cared for children and wouldn’t do these things you are saying - I think your mouth needs washing out with soap, stop it with your fantasist tales etc etc etc said anyone they tried to tell which included the Police . 35 years some of them tried and even the police force that it originated from in 1995 was still trying to talk it away as just overactive minds and the way things were then . Yikes even my bosses were telling me to talk to a couple of them and write it off as going nowhere and this was in 1995. 108 victims said that they knew in their heart that eventually someone would come knocking and believe them. That someone was my colleague and I, we built a case over 2.5 years, just the two of us and put it before the Crown Court knowing that it was a long shot because there was no evidence other than their testimony all these years later plus some were babes 4/5/6 when there so their recollection was majorly tested and undermined by defence barristers. The day came when the 12 good men/women and truth retired to consider the verdict on the two arraigned pensioners, now he was 82 and wife was 79 . Oh it was fabulous to hear each individual verdict for each charge read out - Guilty, Guilty, Guilty on every single charge which was numerous mental cruelty, physical cruelty and sexual abuse . The relief on my victims faces , they lost their haggard looks in 5 minutes as they realised they were finally listened to and heard and what they had been trying to say for in some cases, 35 years, was now believed. And that my friends is how it was generally back then - children were to sit quietly and be polite in company and only speak when spoken to otherwise they were seen and not heard. Apologies for waffling but my point, I hope, is pretty obvious and that is that this witness or indeed others , maybe did try to tell people but were quickly shot down because let’s face it, oftentimes parents or other adults didn’t want to hear such salacious stories because then they would be compelled to act and would be fearful of marking someone out who was a total innocent because their child got it wrong or the authorities would not believe them and they would be made to feel inadequate etc
So please keep this explanation in mind too . Thank you.