CA Ca - Karen Marie Mitchell, 16, Eureka, 25 Nov 1997

[Kat]

http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_22109689/holding-out-hope-lead-investigators-remember-karen-mitchell

Kaci Poor/The Times-Standardwillitsnews.com
Posted: 12/02/2012 02:38:37 AM PST

Humboldt cold case: Investigators remember Karen Mitchell 15 years after she disappeared

Dave Parris never met Karen Mitchell, but her face is as familiar to him as that of his own children. Parris was working as a detective with the Eureka Police Department when the teenager disappeared 15 years ago.

Article of good length at link above.

 

[neverletgo]

http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_22109689/holding-out-hope-lead-investigators-remember-karen-mitchell

RSBM

Also from your link:

The day Mitchell disappeared she had been filling out college applications, Parris said. She was planning to go to Humboldt State University and was interested in politics, especially involving the environment, and in children.

”She was 16, very liberal and opinionated,” said Parris, adding that he found recovered video of Mitchell attending a “Save the Redwoods” rally at the Humboldt County Courthouse. “She was there, standing against the wall, quiet and content. I spoke with her teachers; I read her applications. You could tell she was going to be successful. She was going to be a person who would make a real difference.”

So sad.

 

[los2188]

Police investigating Robert Durst’s connection to missing California teens

18-year-old Kristen Modafferi disappeared after leaving work in San Francisco on June 23, 1997. Robert Durst was said to be living in the area at the time.

Karen Mitchell of Eureka, Calif., was last seen Nov. 25, 1997. Robert Durst may be connected to her disappearance, police said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...st-connection-missing-teens-article-1.2152427

 

[Penelope]

Did Robert Durst murder california teenager?
- There were credit card records showing Durst was in the town on the day she disappeared.
- He looks very similar to a drawing of the suspect.
- He knew her - she volunteered at a homeless shelter.
This CNN video news story is pretty alarming.

 

[Soulmagent]

Did Robert Durst murder california teenager?
- There were credit card records showing Durst was in the town on the day she disappeared.
- He looks very similar to a drawing of the suspect.
- He knew her - she volunteered at a homeless shelter.
This CNN video news story is pretty alarming.

I am surprised to here this. I Think about Karen often. Did you here what kind of car he had I believe police were looking for a Monarch in Karen case.

 

[Penelope]

One of the links in this chain says a woman had seem Durst driving around in a blue-colored car. It will sure be interesting to see what this latest investigation will reveal.

 

[RSC]

This is minor and nitpicky, I know, but it really bothers me that this video keeps referring to Karen Mitchell as a woman, even a young woman. She was a child.

I hope they finds answers.

Did Robert Durst murder california teenager?
- There were credit card records showing Durst was in the town on the day she disappeared.
- He looks very similar to a drawing of the suspect.
- He knew her - she volunteered at a homeless shelter.
This CNN video news story is pretty alarming.

 

[kemo]

Back in 2004 Durst's name came up in the Mitchell investigation because he was residing in Trinidad, a small town near Eureka at the time. The links that have been disclosed are hardly earth shattering but they are interesting.

It has been reported that Karen volunteered at a homeless shelter. A woman named Bradley hwho either was a resident or worked at a Eureka homeless shelter has given evidence that Durst "frequented" the shelter and approached her for sex. She claims he offered her money, but not very much, and she turned him down. She said that she believed he had an apartment near the shelter (which would be different than the house he owned in Trinidad) and she remembers him driving a blue sedan (which would be different from the SUV that was the only vehicle registered to him in 1997).

Karen was seen getting into a blue 1970s era large sedan with an older male driver. The composite is similar to photos of Durst except that they are suggestive of a heavier man. Since the driver was sitting in the car, there was no indication or height or build; just a face.

Apparently Durst went into the Woman's Shoe store that Karen's Aunt owned (and the store Karen was walking from) several times in the months following her disappearance.

From what I can tell, Karen was smart, confident and idealistic. It is unlikely she would have accepted a ride from a stranger. (No witness has reported that she was hitch hiking nor was there a any indication that she ever hitched but I can't see where that was ruled out). It is not that unlikely that she would befriend a non-threatening older guy who helped the homeless.

The he most significant fact working against Durst is that he has never, to my knowledge, been implicated in any sexual crime. He killed because he was being blackmailed or otherwise being pushed for money under threat of exposure.

 

[los2188]

THE HUMBOLDT FIVE: “SO MANY MISSING FROM SUCH A SMALL AREA”

To raise awareness of local women who’ve disappeared under suspicious circumstances, a new graphic was recently released.

Today, hoping to get answers for the families of five Humboldt women that disappeared under suspicious circumstances, missing person activists launched a social media campaign. The campaign includes a Facebook page for the five missing women, share-able graphics (see image above,) a hashtag (#‎HumboldtMissingFive&#8236 and an interactive map (see photo below) of where the women disappeared. So-Cal Advocates For The Missing and their partners urge community members to share these images and this story in hopes that clues to the whereabouts of the women might emerge.

Heather Miller, a family advocate for NorCal Alliance for the Missing, designed the map. She said she was asked by a colleague to create it and was surprised by how much she learned in the process. “I was already familiar with the cases from research I had done on …Humboldt and the surrounding counties….I think [this] gives a new perspective, by combining their information and photos with a map showing you the locations that they are missing from.”

Who Are the Missing Women:

A spokesperson for the Humboldt Missing Five page said she found it curious that “so many were missing from such a small area.” She had recently formed a successful campaign around five men who had vanished in the Bay Area and has hopes that grouping the women together will help the community think about the disappearances in new ways–ways which might lead to uncovering what happened to them.

http://kymkemp.com/2015/04/01/the-humboldt-five-so-many-missing-from-such-a-small-area/

 

[toronto_allie]

It's just over 18 years since Karen went missing.

 

[Lilibet]

Karen was mentioned on Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen. Apparently she also knew the POI in the more recent disappearances of Danielle Bertolini and Sheila Franks...Jim Jones. He grew up in Humboldt and Sheila Franks' sister Melissa said in one of the videos linked below that he knew Karen and hung out at a place where she babysat. There isn't enough evidence yet to call him a suspect in Sheila and Danielle's cases.

Sheila's sister Melissa says Jones also knew Karen Mitchell, the 16-year-old who became the second of the young women to go missing. Karen had last been seen getting into a car in downtown Eureka. But her mother still has no idea if the driver might have been someone she knew.

Two videos at link.
http://crimewatchdaily.com/2016/10/04/humboldt-mysteries-are-the-murders-of-five-women-in-a-california-county-connected/

 

[Mountain Mama]

I am wondering if JK could have been the man in the car that Karen was last seen talking to... Hhttp://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20151230/john-kelley-sentenced-to-life-in-double-murder-cold-case
John Kelley sentenced to life in double murder cold case
John Kelley was sentenced Wednesday afternoon in the Del Norte Superior Court to two consecutive life terms in state prison without the possibility of parole on two counts of first degree murder with special allegations of multiple murder victims and murder involving rape in a cold case dating back to 1988.

The sentence follows another conviction from earlier this year for a 1986 cold case out of San Mateo County and a 1995 conviction for a rape case in Eureka, Del Norte County District Attorney Dale Trigg said.

“The dominoes began to fall from there,” he said.

In May 1995, Kelley was convicted of raping a woman in Eureka. Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Bill Steven said that this was around the time DNA testing was gaining widespread use to tie criminals to crime scenes so Kelley’s DNA was tested and kept in a database.

“It was just sitting there all those years,” he said.

According to a Del Norte District Attorney’s Office press release, three years ago San Mateo County law enforcement officers pulled a 1986 murder-rape case involving a 17-year-old girl. A DNA match linked Kelley to the crime and he pleaded no contest earlier this year but was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole earlier this month in this case.

After being sentenced he expressed an interest in clearing his conscience of similar crimes he committed elsewhere, including the 1988 Del Norte County murders. He agreed to confess if he wouldn’t be sentenced to death even though he was eligible for the death penalty in this case. Trigg agreed.

“Realistically, I did not give up the death penalty in this case. Without agreeing to life without the possibility of parole, Kelley would not have confessed. Without his confession, we would not have had a case against him,” Trigg said in the news release.

On Aug. 22, 1988, 26-year-old- Douglas Neal Anderson and his wife 31-year-old Rozina Anne Anderson of Lake Oswego, Oregon, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in their van off Howland Hill Road near Mill Creek, according to the release.

“Kelley had specific knowledge of several details of the crime scene that had never been released to the public. His answers to our questions made it clear that he had this information first hand,” Trigg said.

He said in the release that the victims’ family members were reached prior to the sentencing deal.

“In the end, it was not a tough decision,” Trigg said. “Giving the Anderson families, still grieving and searching for answers after 27 years, closure and resolution was all that really mattered.

 

[Mountain Mama]

Here is a side by side photo comparison of the sketch of the man Karen was last seen speaking with and JK, convicted and admitted serial killer operating in Northern CA. JK was convicted of murders on a remote road in Crescent City, CA. He confessed to offering a ride to Annette Thur in Ben Lomond, CA. She was hitch hiking alone at night and he picked her up, . Karen was speaking to a man in a blue car. I see a bit of a resemblance, mouth especially but eyes are similar. A possibility to look into. What do you guys think?


http://www.mercurynews.com/2012/08/...ling-ends-mothers-25-year-wait-for-an-arrest/
Specifics on his motus operandi: Kelley’s 17-year-old conviction for a Eureka rape led to his DNA being in the system, officials said. He pleaded guilty to forcible rape in connection with an attack on an acquaintance in May 1995, according to court records. Authorities said he was giving the woman a ride because she needed to run some errands, but at some point they stopped at his house, where he raped her. A Humboldt County Superior Court judge sentenced him to six years in prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender.

 

[MysticJynx]

Could the man who abducted Karen be Ernest S. Christie Jr.. He was accused after his death by his son of killing Lysandra Turpin from that area. Sandy went missing in 1988 and was not found till 2010. 4 years after Ernie Died. They did a show about him on ID. On the case with Paula Zahn, sins of a father. I pulled a picture of Ernie and compared it to the sketch of Karens Abductor. I will post this picture. Also his wife went missing of a sunken boat of his in 1977. Her missing pages dont exist. here is her thread. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ire-Christie-24-Humboldt-County-30-March-1977 and this is a link to Lysandra's story. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/09/california.body.found/index.html

Also something I found interesting is that Ernie was raised in Trinidad CA which is where Robert Durst spent time

 

[jnblsm]

Could the man who abducted Karen be Ernest S. Christie Jr.. He was accused after his death by his son of killing Lysandra Turpin from that area. Sandy went missing in 1988 and was not found till 2010. 4 years after Ernie Died. They did a show about him on ID. On the case with Paula Zahn, sins of a father. I pulled a picture of Ernie and compared it to the sketch of Karens Abductor. I will post this picture. Also his wife went missing of a sunken boat of his in 1977. Her missing pages dont exist. here is her thread. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ire-Christie-24-Humboldt-County-30-March-1977 and this is a link to Lysandra's story. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/09/california.body.found/index.html

Also something I found interesting is that Ernie was raised in Trinidad CA which is where Robert Durst spent time

I think you've got a great match.


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[Pettibon Junction]

Could the man who abducted Karen be Ernest S. Christie Jr.. He was accused after his death by his son of killing Lysandra Turpin from that area. Sandy went missing in 1988 and was not found till 2010. 4 years after Ernie Died. They did a show about him on ID. On the case with Paula Zahn, sins of a father. I pulled a picture of Ernie and compared it to the sketch of Karens Abductor. I will post this picture. Also his wife went missing of a sunken boat of his in 1977. Her missing pages dont exist. here is her thread. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ire-Christie-24-Humboldt-County-30-March-1977 and this is a link to Lysandra's story. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/09/california.body.found/index.html

Also something I found interesting is that Ernie was raised in Trinidad CA which is where Robert Durst spent time

Christie kept his victim alive, torturing her for several weeks. For Karen's sake, I sure hope this wasn't the guy who took her...

You're probably on to something, though. Great find.

 

[Mountain Mama]

Could the man who abducted Karen be Ernest S. Christie Jr.. He was accused after his death by his son of killing Lysandra Turpin from that area. Sandy went missing in 1988 and was not found till 2010. 4 years after Ernie Died. They did a show about him on ID. On the case with Paula Zahn, sins of a father. I pulled a picture of Ernie and compared it to the sketch of Karens Abductor. I will post this picture. Also his wife went missing of a sunken boat of his in 1977. Her missing pages dont exist. here is her thread. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ire-Christie-24-Humboldt-County-30-March-1977 and this is a link to Lysandra's story. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/09/california.body.found/index.html

Also something I found interesting is that Ernie was raised in Trinidad CA which is where Robert Durst spent time

Thanks for sharing this. It makes sense that EC Jr. could have been the perp, and I never thought the sketch of Karen's abductor resembled Durst. As shown in this side by side comparison - Ernest Christie Jr. and the sketch have similar nose and mouth placement and shape, as well as how the glasses appear. I find it interesting that there are creases in the cheeks drawn into the sketch Similar to the wrinkles EC Jr. has when he smiles as he does in the photo on the left.

 

[jnblsm]

I've been here on WS for a few years.
About a year ago, I was talking to a co-worker about missing persons and she got a little freaked. She told me her cousin had gone missing.
It was Karen.
I really want to help her family find closure.

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[lindamichelle1]

Just read this whole thread on Karen. Thinking of her. Too many coincidences with the blue car and him coming into the show store. and the homeless shelter. She had to have gotten into that car for some reason. Poor girl.

 

[Pettibon Junction]

I think you've got a great match.


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Is there any way we can establish what kind of vehicle Christie was driving in 1996? A FOIA request maybe? The son seems open to talking. One of us ought to establish contact.


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