Found Deceased TX - Michael Chambers, 70, Hunt County, 10 March 2017 #7

[steverogers]

I have been reading on this thread since day one. I rarely post. The only comment I have regarding the suicide theory (which I do NOT believe), is that in my opinion, if Mr Chambers had committed suicide he would have been neat, had his affairs in order & wouldn't have vanished. It has been said from all corners how he adored his wife, and his entire family for that matter. I honestly don't think, even in a time of despair that he would cause so much additional anguish for his family by making them continuously greive and search. Not an important or revealing thought, just my impressions of this man. I wish and pray for an end to his families horrific, continous suffering.

Suicide is not high on my reasons for his disappearance because of the reasons you mentioned I don't think he would put his family through all of this.

 

[ocgrad]

In thinking about the box of cash in the shop, it sure would be helpful to know if an amount was taken from it before it was found. There are things about that cash no one has been willing to answer publicly, even the amount that was found. Not sure why Mr. Klein was somewhat indirect re: the amount, but both he and HCSO are keeping particulars mum.

Of course, if BC knew about the money, she could have said it was MC's car hobby money and she had no idea exactly how much was there. I just don't know if there was any other single soul who knew. I still think no one knew but MC.

Here's a link to what I thought was an interesting overview on how police deal with missing person's cases. It's from 2001, but gave me a couple of things to ponder:Missing-Person Cases: A Balancing Act for Police

Like who found it? What did they do with it? Is it held by HCSO? Why wasn't it listed in his assets? Was it found after that inventory was made? How did Klein know about it?
I have thought that his kids didn't know about it or they wouldn't have thought BC had money problems. I think I agree that BC did not know or else she would have taken it and no one would have known about it including PK. SM said also he believed she had money problems so either he didn't know of it at the time he signed off on the death certificate or he is crooked but wouldn't he have known that it would come out so I would go with he didn't know at that time.
If MC alone knew it makes me think the marriage and her access to money was coming undone. That he would hide a large amount of money from his wife, either something was going on in their marriage, like he was ending it but trying to protect some assets from community property as he was able. Or something husbands do when their wife has a gambling or other addiction. But how long had it been there?
Maybe cashed out a life insurance policy, after all he was on DFD over 30 years, and had life insurance all that time. Maybe they saw it after they reviewed his bank records and that is when they searched the shop. But that would mean when SM signed off on the DC they still had not looked at his financial records? That doesn't seem right. I wonder if he had consulted a lawyer in those weeks prior who spoke to HCSO? I don't believe he never spent the money he made with his son-in-law because those cars are an expensive hobby. Maybe it isn't his and he was keeping it for someone hiding their income from the IRS. Is the money legal? For that reason I would have expected HCSO to hold it pending investigation.

 

[ocgrad]

I have been reading on this thread since day one. I rarely post. The only comment I have regarding the suicide theory (which I do NOT believe), is that in my opinion, if Mr Chambers had committed suicide he would have been neat, had his affairs in order & wouldn't have vanished. It has been said from all corners how he adored his wife, and his entire family for that matter. I honestly don't think, even in a time of despair that he would cause so much additional anguish for his family by making them continuously greive and search. Not an important or revealing thought, just my impressions of this man. I wish and pray for an end to his families horrific, continous suffering.

Well said! I agree!

 

[cooksheila]

I have been reading on this thread since day one. I rarely post. The only comment I have regarding the suicide theory (which I do NOT believe), is that in my opinion, if Mr Chambers had committed suicide he would have been neat, had his affairs in order & wouldn't have vanished. It has been said from all corners how he adored his wife, and his entire family for that matter. I honestly don't think, even in a time of despair that he would cause so much additional anguish for his family by making them continuously greive and search. Not an important or revealing thought, just my impressions of this man. I wish and pray for an end to his families horrific, continous suffering.

I have always felt this way too but with all my logical thinking I drift off sometimes on other theories or possibilities. Then I post them so they can be questioned, torn apart, what have you. Its like a war between my brain and heart

 

[Spartygirl]

Wow u guys....great work!

Ditto !! You all ROCK!!! I know in one of the last threads, a boat was thrown out there and I agreed and hadn't thought of that prior, but with all the new info...I can visualize this is what happened. Carry on sleuthers !!!

 

[GDUD]

I noticed that everything they or MC built she got rid of it as soon as possible. I wonder if they argued about that, about selling the house and moving to the golf course in Greenville or maybe even to OK. If they argued about how to spend their retirement. She seemed to want to party, spend time at the country club, resorts and cruises, while he was into his car shows and family.

Thank you for doing that! Good number to know. Do you think you could keep it up for 4 hours?

He'll to the NO!!!!! Maybe 40 minutes at Best!!!!

 

[cooksheila]

This theory could also work for the perpetrator, if MC never made it back home from Wal-Mart and something happened at a second location, then everything at house staged, maybe he the perp kayaked out and back. I did look at up kayak paddleing speeds which on average 3-5mph

 

[steverogers]

This theory could also work for the perpetrator, if MC never made it back home from Wal-Mart and something happened at a second location, then everything at house staged, maybe he the perp kayaked out and back. I did look at up kayak paddleing speeds which on average 3-5mph

Absolutely I've never felt he was the one with the phone.It could be a much younger and expeirenced kayaker.

 

[Tripod]

I have always been against the suicide theory. Always used my logical thinking and boxed myself in only on foul play or where he could be. Last night before I fell asleep, trying to say my prayers, but my mind goes off track , I’m thinking: If MC did leave on his own accord, why walk or bike 17 miles to the bridge area or further, why not drive your truck to Kenny’s Landing or some location closer to where your going. Even 2 miles from the location your heading if you don’t want to be discovered is better than 17 plus. Why not 2 plus or 5 plus. I think SM knows exactly where that phone was twice that day. That area is the key. Maybe that morning he stopped and got a kayiak or some small boat, put in the back of his truck. Drove home, staged or did not stage and left in the kayiak. Paddles back and left that location. No one the wiser on the boat. Maybe at 5:50 when his phone went off he realized he had it and tossed it in water. Then just walked off from his life. I don’t know but that second location is key. That area and a five mile radius should have been searched. It’s crazy that it’s come to this but I realize everything has to be considered out of time and desperation for answers. I can’t imagine what his family is going through. Again these are all just theories and my opinions. Maybe MC left on his own accord.

Sounds like you do the same thing I do, before bed I agree that I think the area he stopped, twice that day, is key. The darn phone travel is key, too. That area was searched and supposedly searched quite well, but we all know things are missed sometimes.

I had a pet theory where MC left on his own, had possibly paid cash for an old clunker of a car from a shady used car dealer, and didn't bother to register or insure the vehicle. He just used it to get to wherever he decided to go, or drove it to a bus or train station, whatever. He easily could have taken a large sum of the cash he'd had in his shop to live on. And he took his driver's license. I developed my little theory as well as I could, but always ran into big problems with it.

The biggest problem showed up in the form of the slow movement of his phone. I always assumed he'd kept his phone in his pocket. The other big problem was MC not contacting any of his children for so long. The problem I did have re: how MC would have paid for any lodging, food, etc. was handily solved when the existence of the cash in the shop was revealed. Stuff a bunch in a backpack, and off you go.

Papaw does NOT seem to be someone who would do that to his family. BUT, look at how other things and people in his immediate life were not what some of us thought initially, either.

 

[Tripod]

This theory could also work for the perpetrator, if MC never made it back home from Wal-Mart and something happened at a second location, then everything at house staged, maybe he the perp kayaked out and back. I did look at up kayak paddleing speeds which on average 3-5mph

All we have to go on re: the movement of the phone is what HCSO has told us. Klein says he has that same info, but never revealed any more than that, or what he thought.

I've always thought MC had possession of his phone- at least up until the time it went dead. Some folks have speculated that he never made it home from Walmart, but I believe all evidence points to him getting home. As I recall, his phone was tracked leaving Walmart and going back to his residence, without a stop, so it had to have been on him. There was no stop on the way back home from the store. If I'm mistaken about that, please correct me.

Until and unless we're told more specifics about that darn phone, I have to go by what we know, and that's never enough

 

[ocgrad]

All we have to go on re: the movement of the phone is what HCSO has told us. Klein says he has that same info, but never revealed any more than that, or what he thought.

I've always thought MC had possession of his phone- at least up until the time it went dead. Some folks have speculated that he never made it home from Walmart, but I believe all evidence points to him getting home. As I recall, his phone was tracked leaving Walmart and going back to his residence, without a stop, so it had to have been on him. There was no stop on the way back home from the store. If I'm mistaken about that, please correct me.

Until and unless we're told more specifics about that darn phone, I have to go by what we know, and that's never enough

I believe he made the stop across the bridge after he went to Wal-Mart. The phone expert said he went through Quinlan and across the bridge and stopped for 10-15 minutes. The phone analyst would not be able to state that he went to Wal-Mart, only that he went through Quinlan. But the security video proves he went there. It is possible he came back and went to Wal-Mart after he stopped in East Tawakoni but they didn't say that, and it seems like as he was detailing his route that day he might have stated it differently if he went through Quinlan to a location in E Tawakoni then left there and came back to Quinlan. SM also said they checked video from businesses and did not see a thing. That could mean they didn't see anyone following him but it could also mean they didn't see MC return at all. The route back to his home was not discussed. I think the trip to Wal-Mart was a ruse leading to an ambush.
Klein did confirm the speed was correct, but no bike.

 

[ocgrad]

Sounds like you do the same thing I do, before bed I agree that I think the area he stopped, twice that day, is key. The darn phone travel is key, too. That area was searched and supposedly searched quite well, but we all know things are missed sometimes.
<RSBM>

That search confuses me in that he had no evidence that he went there. He did have evidence he went to East Tawakoni which he stated the day after his KRLD interview when he retracted his suicide on the bridge theory. http://ketr.org/post/sheriff-missing-firefighter-vanished-east-tawakoni
Yet as far as we know, East Tawakoni, the actual location he seemed to have disappeared from, has not been thoroughly searched. It makes me think the search conducted on or near his former property was done just for the show to hold on to his suicide theory. I try to believe SM has just led a poor investigation due to believing BC for too long as well as small budget and small town methods but some things he has done like this make me question.

I think I am more cynical than you guys are in that it never occurred to me this could be anything other than his wife getting rid of him over greed. I think of a lot of different scenarios for how and who she got to do it and where they took his body and sleuth the heck out of that though. And I also think about those scenarios and people at night before I go to sleep and pray for justice soon.

 

[ocgrad]

https://crimeola.com/michael-chambers-wiki-disappearance-retired-dallas-firefighter/
I don't think this has been posted here yet.
Nothing new. Just a different writer.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

https://crimeola.com/michael-chambers-wiki-disappearance-retired-dallas-firefighter/
I don't think this has been posted here yet.
Nothing new. Just a different writer.

Thank you for sharing, @ocgrad. It is a well written article with lots of good information, IMO.

From the article:

“That said, Haines admitted that suicide was not the only angle that investigators were looking at. For the integrity of the investigation, however, police have not divulged what else they were considering. They have been treating the case as a homicide though, and Haines was hopeful that someone would eventually come forward.

‘One thing about a case is, as it goes on, loyalties between people kind of diminish and you hope that when those loyalties diminish, whatever they may be, that they’ll contact law enforcement. And give us some information,’ said Haines.” (BBM)

Is this new, or did I miss something? Or is the author of the article surmising that HCSO has been investigating the homicide angle because of what Haines is quoted as saying? Either way, I do not believe HCSO has ever treated the case as a homicide exclusively unless something changed very recently.

 

[Razz]

Thank you for sharing, @ocgrad. It is a well written article with lots of good information, IMO.

From the article:

“That said, Haines admitted that suicide was not the only angle that investigators were looking at. For the integrity of the investigation, however, police have not divulged what else they were considering. They have been treating the case as a homicide though, and Haines was hopeful that someone would eventually come forward.

‘One thing about a case is, as it goes on, loyalties between people kind of diminish and you hope that when those loyalties diminish, whatever they may be, that they’ll contact law enforcement. And give us some information,’ said Haines.” (BBM)

Is this new, or did I miss something? Or is the author of the article surmising that HCSO has been investigating the homicide angle because of what Haines is quoted as saying? Either way, I do not believe HCSO has ever treated the case as a homicide exclusively unless something changed very recently.

This is just my opinion, but I don't believe Haines and Meeks have ever been on the same page. One is woefully out of what is/was/ will going on and the other is. But that's jmo.

 

[RuthSleuth]

Bumping for Mr Chambers!! Where are you? May those involved be sick, sleepless, have never-ending migraines and no peace until they come forward and give your family peace.. Can you tell I’m angry? Suzy, Cheri, Michelle, Tiffany and Marsha deserve better than this and so does Michael.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

This is just my opinion, but I don't believe Haines and Meeks have ever been on the same page. One is woefully out of what is/was/ will going on and the other is. But that's jmo.

I hope that is the case, and if so, I pray Haines goes rogue and defies Meeks in the very near future.

 

[Razz]

I hope that is the case, and if so, I pray Haines goes rogue and defies Meeks in the very near future.

I remember when Meeks made the startlingly revelation that MC had committed suicide during the press conference and when one of the reporters asked Haines about it, Haines appeared stunned.

That and the way he spoke on one of the programs about the investigation (that you referenced above) convinced me that they may not be of 2 minds. I could be wrong, though, but I liked the way he answered questions during that interview.

 

[Tripod]

I believe he made the stop across the bridge after he went to Wal-Mart. The phone expert said he went through Quinlan and across the bridge and stopped for 10-15 minutes. The phone analyst would not be able to state that he went to Wal-Mart, only that he went through Quinlan. But the security video proves he went there. It is possible he came back and went to Wal-Mart after he stopped in East Tawakoni but they didn't say that, and it seems like as he was detailing his route that day he might have stated it differently if he went through Quinlan to a location in E Tawakoni then left there and came back to Quinlan. SM also said they checked video from businesses and did not see a thing. That could mean they didn't see anyone following him but it could also mean they didn't see MC return at all. The route back to his home was not discussed. I think the trip to Wal-Mart was a ruse leading to an ambush.
Klein did confirm the speed was correct, but no bike.

Thanks, ocgrad. I'll have to find the time ( also depending on my data plan..) to go back and rewatch a couple of things. I may have understood wrong and got that part backwards.

 

[Tripod]

That search confuses me in that he had no evidence that he went there. He did have evidence he went to East Tawakoni which he stated the day after his KRLD interview when he retracted his suicide on the bridge theory. http://ketr.org/post/sheriff-missing-firefighter-vanished-east-tawakoni
Yet as far as we know, East Tawakoni, the actual location he seemed to have disappeared from, has not been thoroughly searched. It makes me think the search conducted on or near his former property was done just for the show to hold on to his suicide theory. I try to believe SM has just led a poor investigation due to believing BC for too long as well as small budget and small town methods but some things he has done like this make me question.

I think I am more cynical than you guys are in that it never occurred to me this could be anything other than his wife getting rid of him over greed. I think of a lot of different scenarios for how and who she got to do it and where they took his body and sleuth the heck out of that though. And I also think about those scenarios and people at night before I go to sleep and pray for justice soon.

In the above article, it says that Meeks said MC's phone crossed the bridge going about 2-2. whatever mph. We know the speed was corrected to something like 4.2-4.5 mph, but was Meeks saying the speed of the phone was that slow just over the bridge, or the entire route? I'm just referring to the article above, which seems to infer just the speed on the bridge. Could be inexact writing.

I think HCSO searching that particular property closer to the bridge was a very logical thing to do, as they had nothing else more defined to go on.