PA PA - Lauren Pico Jackson, 5, Spring City, 4 Oct 1988

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wdmcmahan said:
Do you mean you think she's alive?
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I don't know really.. I might be reading into it too much..This is the link to the Hydrocephalus survivor website.. I know this is a super long shot but a few things strike me. 1. She looks SO similar to the young picture of Lauren. 2. They would be similar ages, Lauren would be about 35 now, this was posted several years ago. 3. And this one is big to me: this woman states that she was only 18 when she discovered that she had congenital hydrocephalus, meaning it was something present from birth, but only discovered later in life..... someone tell me if I'm being crazy here. I don't mean to start any controversy or upset anyone. Like I said, long shot, but I guess at the end of the day, that's what us web sleuths are here to do.....

https://www.hydroassoc.org/staff-view/melinda/
 
b_det said:
I don't know really.. I might be reading into it too much..This is the link to the Hydrocephalus survivor website.. I know this is a super long shot but a few things strike me. 1. She looks SO similar to the young picture of Lauren. 2. They would be similar ages, Lauren would be about 35 now, this was posted several years ago. 3. And this one is big to me: this woman states that she was only 18 when she discovered that she had congenital hydrocephalus, meaning it was something present from birth, but only discovered later in life..... someone tell me if I'm being crazy here. I don't mean to start any controversy or upset anyone. Like I said, long shot, but I guess at the end of the day, that's what us web sleuths are here to do.....

https://www.hydroassoc.org/staff-view/melinda/
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The facial resemblance between this lady and the age progression picture on Lauren Maria Pico Jackson – The Charley Project is certainly very striking...
 
Idk, I don't think this is her. I could be wrong. BUT... this lady and I have something in common. I also have Chiari Malformation, which is congenital, and a plethora of comorbidities including Intracranial Hypertension/hydrocephalus. I was not diagnosed until I was 29 and it was an incidental finding on an MRI for my shoulder that just happened to catch my spinal cordc which led to brain surgery 2 weeks later.

Anyway, i only mention this because it's not that unusual to go for years and years knowing that something is wrong before finding out. It's usually when the progression is so bad that seizures or paralysis begin.

I do think that we should make sure this isn't her, just to know 100% for sure. I've definitely been wrong before!

Has anyone tried to findfand contact this person?
 
Trackergd said:
Anyone feel like chasing this down?
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I wish I knew how to start.. there are essentially 2 options. Contact this place with full disclosure and details and see if they are willing to give info on this actual person in the post. OR make up some elaborate story/ pretend to be someone of authority who "requires" info of this group, or even, pretend she's a long lost friend and see if they'll cave that way... they are physically located not too far from my current location in the DMV area but again, how to go about saying hey, give me all the information on this person, despite your privacy rules...
 
Trackergd said:
Anyone feel like chasing this down?
Click to expand...
I wish I knew how to start.. there are essentially 2 options. Contact this place with full disclosure and details and see if they are willing to give info on this actual person in the post. OR make up some elaborate story/ pretend to be someone of authority who "requires" info of this group, or even, pretend she's a long lost friend and see if they'll cave that way... they are physically located not too far from my current location in the DMV area but again, how to go about saying hey, give me all the information on this person, despite your privacy rules...
 
I just did a Google reverse image search on her picture but only that hydro site came up. I'll keep looking. I'm in a hydrocephalus fb group, maybe I can find her through that...
 
b_det said:
Hello all, I am from the Spring City/Pottstown/Phoenixville area, I have been aware of this case for a long time. I was not born yet when it happened but I remember my mom talking about this of course years later saying, they never found that poor girl Lauren Jackson who disappeared from Park Springs. It was very close to home for my mom because my sister was about the exact same age as Lauren when this occurred. I have read thru this entire thread and first of all I must say, wow. Kudos to all of you who continue to think of Lauren to this day and especially Trackergd who has not stopped his efforts to discuss and look into this case from the ground up. Just so amazing.

I appreciate all of your theories. I on the other hand am a bit more of an optimist. I like to think that Lauren was taken by someone, maybe perhaps relatives, or friends of relatives, and was raised in a happy home. I don't know what makes me think this but my theory was somewhat solidified by Tracker's comment about the "grandparents" that were part of the search party who kept smiling. I do not think that her mother had this arranged by any means, but that these people knowing her condition and history with drug use, knew that it wouldn't be to hard to accomplish given either her carelessness or just pure naivety (the idea that Lauren would be safe and ok just outside the home, playing in the complex playground.) I couldn't quite say if the motive was to get Lauren out of a bad situation, or just selfishly motivated to have a child of their own, etc.

As much as Lauren's sister Diana wanted to insist that Lauren would never wander off with a someone, this just isn't true because as we also know, she wandered off a few weeks earlier with a group of the neighborhood girls. Perhaps whoever took her was just familiar enough to Lauren that she had no hesitation to go with them.

I believe these people were maybe staying at the Vincent motel in the days leading up, or maybe that's just where they had been parked. Maybe it just looks way less suspicious to walk her there to the car, that way no one in the neighborhood actually saw the car lingering and could identify them... Also, for people who are saying that size 7/8 is small for a male, that isn't true, that size is pretty common/average among men, especially if you imagine that these folks might be elderly.

Given the fact that Lauren did suffer from a host of medical conditions, it would remain true that she would still suffer from them, the most notable being the Hydrocephalus. I did some digging into this condition and (don't want to jump any gun) but may have found someone of interest on one of these survivor websites.. Anyway, it does not give much information about the woman where she lives now, but she looks so similar to Lauren, and has a very similar age... Someone let me know if you are interested in following up on this with me, or if I am just completely nuts.

Just a few lingering questions of mine, primarily for Tracker, who has the most info on this case...
-Tracker, can you elaborate on these search party folks any more?
-Did LE look into people who had been staying at the Vincent motel in the last few days to a week prior to her disappearance?
-Tracker have you been able to get in contact with Mickey yet?
-Not that it really matters, just out of curiosity, were the tracks directly up Park rd. to 724, and then along 724, or did they cut thru any of the yards/field/grass to get to the motel?

... anyways, look forward to hearing from you all and digging back into this case.[/QUOTE
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Because of the Dulce Alavez missing child case in New Jersey, I decided do some new looking and reviewed this article
Without-a-trace mystery from 1988

I found this part interesting:

"Although he originally planned to wait until Lauren was 7 or 8 years old to seek sole custody, Mickey said he decided to move up the plan. Six weeks before she was reported missing, Mickey had gone to the apartment to pick Lauren up for a weekend at the Jersey shore. "Christina was trying to make (Lauren) feel so guilty about going to the shore with me," he said. "She wasn't even 5 years old. I asked if she wanted to come with me or stay home. She said she wanted to come, so we went. I was riding down (Route) 422 and she was all smiles." Following the trip to the shore, Mickey said he discussed the situation with both his mother and his sister-in-law, and together they came up with a plan of how to care for Lauren should he be awarded custody. But, he never got that opportunity. The child went missing before he had a chance.

Now that bugs me... Mickey was going to file for custody, and she goes missing before he had a chance. Now in my opinion Mickey had about a 98% chance of winning custody, so there was no reason on his part to risk an abduction. It's just too neat a package that she goes missing just before Mickey files for custody. The foot prints and scent lead right to the Vincent Motel.

There is a LOT that still stinks about this case. It also bugs me that every time I do some some digging, I find a new article that has information I was not aware of at the time Lauren went missing.
 
There has been a theory for many years that LE knows where Lauren went, but turned a blind eye because she was "in a better place". I have talked on occasion with the FBI agent on the case, but I did not get that impression. He looked at the case as "I really wish I knew what happened to her", or words to that effect. He was a great guy to work with during the case. If LE knew where Lauren went, I sure wish they had told me so I could have spent all the hours over the last 30+ years digging into other cases and not have it continue sit in the back of my mind and blame myself for missing some critical piece of evidence. I have to think I was pretty spot on given that the Bloodhound followed the exact same trail that I tracked. About once a year I find out information that was known at the time she went missing that was not shared. The child molester that later committed suicide, other child predators in the area, the former Pennhurst inmate that tried to lure children with stuffed animals, and the list goes on. For some reason I get the distinct impression that I really hack off LE for continuing to dig at this case. Heck, if they just told me "we know what happened, let it go", I most likely would. I'm just getting too old to do this much longer.
 
b_det said:
I don't know really.. I might be reading into it too much..This is the link to the Hydrocephalus survivor website.. I know this is a super long shot but a few things strike me. 1. She looks SO similar to the young picture of Lauren. 2. They would be similar ages, Lauren would be about 35 now, this was posted several years ago. 3. And this one is big to me: this woman states that she was only 18 when she discovered that she had congenital hydrocephalus, meaning it was something present from birth, but only discovered later in life..... someone tell me if I'm being crazy here. I don't mean to start any controversy or upset anyone. Like I said, long shot, but I guess at the end of the day, that's what us web sleuths are here to do.....

Melinda, 30 | Hydrocephalus Association
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Did u ever investigate if this was lauren
 
Trackergd said:
There has been a theory for many years that LE knows where Lauren went, but turned a blind eye because she was "in a better place". I have talked on occasion with the FBI agent on the case, but I did not get that impression. He looked at the case as "I really wish I knew what happened to her", or words to that effect. He was a great guy to work with during the case. If LE knew where Lauren went, I sure wish they had told me so I could have spent all the hours over the last 30+ years digging into other cases and not have it continue sit in the back of my mind and blame myself for missing some critical piece of evidence. I have to think I was pretty spot on given that the Bloodhound followed the exact same trail that I tracked. About once a year I find out information that was known at the time she went missing that was not shared. The child molester that later committed suicide, other child predators in the area, the former Pennhurst inmate that tried to lure children with stuffed animals, and the list goes on. For some reason I get the distinct impression that I really hack off LE for continuing to dig at this case. Heck, if they just told me "we know what happened, let it go", I most likely would. I'm just getting too old to do this much longer.
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Tracker, you're amazing. You know as well as I do that you will keep sharing the gift God gave you as long as you are able to. So let's get back to Lauren.
I agree. The fact that the bio Mom got ruffled when Dad came to visit with the girl, and then the child disappears just before Dad can pursue custody....well, not insignificant.

If I recall the particulars of this case, there were former asylum residents and assorted drug addicts in close proximity to Lauren's apartment. There certainly seems to be enough elements to suggest one of the above took her, and likely took her in to the motel, or put her in a car.

As you and I have both speculated up thread, I think it's highly likely Lauren was buried somewhere on the Pennhurst property. And likely with many other restless souls whose names have been forgotten.

Technology has advanced in leaps and bounds just over the past couple years. The Governor should get involved, have proper inspections with archeologists and criminologists, and that site should be deemed historical., similar to locations where other atrocities have taken place. It should be converted into a historic memorial park, and all of the remains there properly identified and laid to rest.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
saltysweetheart said:
I know is a long shot but the reconstructive art on this child almost reminded me of this case... She likely isnt her because they presume she had passed weeks prior to her remains being found but there were no reported missing children in that time. She was found when a dog retrieved a bone that was found to be human, leading them to find the remains.

Delaware police release reconstructed images of a young girl's face 2 months after her body was found - CNN
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The unidentified child in Delaware can't be from 1988, though. Plus she wasn't even well hidden. I hope she'll be ID'd and the wheels of justice start turning for her this year.
 
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