TN - Gail Nowacki Palmgren, 44, Signal Mountain, 30 April 2011 - #4

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ThoughtFox said:
It may sound like a lame excuse, but perhaps the weather has something to do with low volunteer turnout. It's been 97 degrees every day for a week now. Searching in the woods full of snakes and insects when it's near 100 degrees isn't everyone's cup of tea, I'm afraid. Holly Bobo disappeared in the spring when it was much cooler and the woods hadn't filled up with brush and weeds. Also that was way out in the country and lots of hunters and farmers were involved, rather than the Signal Mt. crowd.

And I think people realize that there have been searches for the car that turned up nothing on the roads. And while it may seem likely that Gail never left the mountain, her bright red jeep probably did or someone would have seen it by now. That leaves a body to search for, and looking for a dead body in the woods when it is 100 degrees - not something people often want to do.

Sorry if this sounds blunt. :twocents: People always ask why more don't come out and search, but as I've said before, you have to know what you're doing up on the mountain or someone is going to get hurt.

Just yesterday a boy was up at the Blue Hole on the mountain, swinging into the water on a rope, which broke and he fell 20 feet. When you read how much time and man-power it took to rescue him, it becomes a little clearer how dangerous it might be for people to be climbing around if they don't know what they're doing.

Rescue personnel had to carry him 75 yards to level terrain and place him on a 6x6 wheeler. He was then transported two miles out of the woods to the landing area for LifeForce (helicopter) to transport to Erlanger.

Chattanoogan Story
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Have to agree with this....most of the people that personally knew Gail turned up for the car search....but ATV and Trails are not in the comfort zone of most of the Town of Signal Mountain residents...and those who do ride the trails are constantly on the look-out and have been since the start and so have felt for some time that the car's not here. The ATV's this Sunday though were awesome because fresh eyes are always a good thing and they were very methodical and are coming back to finish up.
The lack of an outpouring of community support may be somewhat due to the lack of overt official support of the search activities. That's not to say there's no official support though. There's also a lack of family focus here since it is not a close relative being vocal and trying to organise things, people wonder why and so hesitate to interfere..?
It is mystifying, and could well tie back to a lack of church affilliation....but not to a lack of the children's participation in things locally.
 
hollyblue said:
Agree....I don't think and HOPE anyone without outdoor experience would participate. They are looking for a big red jeep, not necessarity GP herself. Trails are not off the beaten path. I would hope that females would double up with a buddy and everyone would have their cell phones with them. I'd be more afraid of getting lost, wildlife and weirdos than the terrain.
Common sense should prevail ...with safety being in the forefront. JMO

ETA: The kid who had to be rescued from a fall was the consequence of prolly using a rotten or not heavy enough rope, not the terrain.
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Cell phone service on the trails is very unreliable. Trails are often single file with bluffs on one side. Walking in the woods envolves nasty wildlife and steep drops. Copperheads sleeping in the trail itself are common. Terrain is DEFFINATELY a factor. Most if not all trails HAVE been hiked and/or ATV'd. some further out in Sequatchie County are being ATV'd by competent riders. LE is supportive these efforts. We should have been doing this 3 weeks ago, but it is being done now.
There is talk here that Gail's friends are not envolved.
There were many friends, classmates of the children and their parents involved in the car search and they are making phonecalls, making fliers, giving out fliers, making meals....just most of these people are not wanting to be in the public eye.
following is JMHO:
The community at large is what's not actively involved....But it's not as if they are walking around blinkered...all are on alert and keeping an eye out...even in so far as reporting smells of decay along the roadsides. Why they don't turn out in droves is likely due to the lack of obvious official or family organised activities, and church driven support.
 
glorias said:
One last thing on the official searches for Gail. Over Memorial Day weekend, this was on Facebook and mentioned here:



I assumed this was an official search, too. Was it? Was there ever anything in the media about it?
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This person commenting was from California...local LE has not ever said not to search...."search all you want, just don't interfere with the investigation" Since we don't know what they are investigating, then it is neccessary to assume they will make it plain if a search is not appropriate. There was no memorial day search, since over the holiday there were not enough resources. That planned ATV search was conducted this past Sunday, organized by Clive Bonnick, and local LE were aware of it and ok with it.
 
glorias said:
Interesting situation, thanks again for posting.

Someone also made a comment over there that struck me: The Jeep has not been reported as stolen. Surely it should have been by now.
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Man that is really weird? Who would expect that? :waitasec:

I wonder if a BOLO has even been put out along the freeway in Alabama the way the police chief from Wetumpka said it would? I sure hope so!

As far as the reward goes, people are not going to cough up money when MP came out in the beginning talking about these huge bank accounts. That may be the norm on Signal Mt, but many folks in the "community at large" might see it differently. While many Chattanoogans are middle class, there is a recession going on and many people are out of job, low on money, and some of them are even homeless from the tornadoes. At my husband's office, several people are having to come back out of retirement just to make ends meet.

I saw a comment a few days ago about people on Signal raising money for tornado victims instead of a reward for Gail. That's just not helpful in my opinion, and it's comparing apples and oranges. One thing has nothing to do with the other, except that the Palmgren's owned three homes and some of the tornado victims have no homes, no clothes, and no possessions. Look on Youtube at the Cherokee Valley, Apison, and Ringgold, GA, damage. I have driven through those areas recently and it is still a huge disaster area with FEMA tents. :( It's beyond belief.

Logically, one would think that Gail would be just as important since she also disappeared the week of the tornadoes. But psychologically, her husband's circumstances and way of life make a big difference when trying to get people to donate money. :twocents:
 
fbx said:
The community at large is what's not actively involved....But it's not as if they are walking around blinkered...all are on alert and keeping an eye out...even in so far as reporting smells of decay along the roadsides. Why they don't turn out in droves is likely due to the lack of obvious official or family organised activities, and church driven support.
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I think the "community at large" is aware of Gail, just as they were aware of the other woman who was missing from East Ridge and found a week later in Sequatchie County. But the community couldn't really go there and look for her.

That's sort of the problem here. Where to look? I can only imagine if troops of people were driving around on Signal looking down every ravine and going through all these neighborhoods. Every Neighborhood Watch leader would be calling in license plate numbers and God knows what. :twocents: People would be calling police and asking them to round up the searchers, which I think is why LE nixed the idea of the Memorial Day search while people were having backyard barbeques.

(ETA: All of this may once again sound like petty reasons for not searching, but there are certain realities to this situation that make it a little different. And even down in Texas with the Hailey Dunn searchers out on the prairie, people were calling police about trespassers on their big farms, etc. Imagine that compressed to a very small enclosed area and you get the Mountain.)

You almost need a bunch of rock climbers with ropes to look over the cliffs. Maybe they'll get some.
 
Your post brings up a question ThoughtFox. Was there a neighborhood watch on Ridgerock Drive? Did anyone else notice strange cars and write down license plate numbers prior to GP's disappearance?

As far as the jeep not being reported missing, didn't LE or FBI place an APB or something on it? Wouldn't it have the same affect if pulled over or noticed...once they entered the tag number? I'm sure where she has been in the media and around those vicinities LE would be looking at all Rubicons with special interest, but what if it's in Montana, Michigan or Maine?
 
fbx said:
Cell phone service on the trails is very unreliable. Trails are often single file with bluffs on one side. Walking in the woods envolves nasty wildlife and steep drops. Copperheads sleeping in the trail itself are common. Terrain is DEFFINATELY a factor. Most if not all trails HAVE been hiked and/or ATV'd. some further out in Sequatchie County are being ATV'd by competent riders. LE is supportive these efforts. We should have been doing this 3 weeks ago, but it is being done now.
There is talk here that Gail's friends are not envolved.
There were many friends, classmates of the children and their parents involved in the car search and they are making phonecalls, making fliers, giving out fliers, making meals....just most of these people are not wanting to be in the public eye.
following is JMHO:
The community at large is what's not actively involved....But it's not as if they are walking around blinkered...all are on alert and keeping an eye out...even in so far as reporting smells of decay along the roadsides. Why they don't turn out in droves is likely due to the lack of obvious official or family organised activities, and church driven support.[/quote]
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BBM

Good to hear and thank you for letting us know.

I'd feel a little better if we knew LE had talked to the children and has gone over the puters, etc.
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On the FB page:

Jamie Jones, who is with the Michigan based Missing You Foundation has said he personally may have seen the jeep last week. He reported it to the MSP, but said the dilema is that she can be pulled over for a welfare check, but that is it. If she chooses to stay gone as adult and has commiitted no crimes.....then she can stay away. Hopefully, LE would contact the local LE in SM and let them know about it tho so the family would know. Wanting to know if GP had any ties to Michigan?
 
hollyblue said:
On the FB page:

Jamie Jones, who is with the Michigan based Missing You Foundation has said he personally may have seen the jeep last week. He reported it to the MSP, but said the dilema is that she can be pulled over for a welfare check, but that is it. If she chooses to stay gone as adult and has commiitted no crimes.....then she can stay away. Hopefully, LE would contact the local LE in SM and let them know about it tho so the family would know. Wanting to know if GP had any ties to Michigan?
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But did he see the license plate clearly or was it just a red rubicon...a welfare check would be amazing in this case. Then people could stop worrying that she is dead.
 
sophieness said:
But did he see the license plate clearly or was it just a red rubicon...a welfare check would be amazing in this case. Then people could stop worrying that she is dead.
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Not the plate, but the flowered Life Is Good spare tire cover.
 
hollyblue said:
On the FB page:

Jamie Jones, who is with the Michigan based Missing You Foundation has said he personally may have seen the jeep last week. He reported it to the MSP, but said the dilema is that she can be pulled over for a welfare check, but that is it. If she chooses to stay gone as adult and has commiitted no crimes.....then she can stay away. Hopefully, LE would contact the local LE in SM and let them know about it tho so the family would know. Wanting to know if GP had any ties to Michigan?
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I can tell you that there have been a number of sigtings like this all across the country since her disappearance received media and people started spreading the word. I cannot give you specifics, and there is no link other than this one, but it is the truth.

LE is not required to tell her family, and they may not. She is an adult-she has committed no crime. They can request that she give family a call, but she does not have to. What if she had really good reasons for leaving? LE cannot force her to "out" herself. I know we covered some of this early on-LE may take her off the books and quietly close the case, LE may take her out of NCIC, LE may leave her there, LE might give family a hint or they may not.

If Gail is safe, I would encourage her to heal and then find a way to get back to her dear children. The ones who desperately need their mother-the person who has been their primary care giver until April 30, 2011.

If a reward is offered, you can expect the number of sightings to increase and the number of psychic tips to increase as well. And believe me, there have been several psychic tips from all over the world.
 
Can any of the locals reach out to those running the facebook page and creating flyers? I spoke with HCSO this morning-since they are lead on the investigation (yet still working closely with SMPD of course) the flyers may need to be updated with the following phone numbers for HCSO:

HCSO Criminal Investigations
423-209-8940 business hours
423-622-0022 after hours.
 
believe09 said:
Can any of the locals reach out to those running the facebook page and creating flyers? I spoke with HCSO this morning-since they are lead on the investigation (yet still working closely with SMPD of course) the flyers may need to be updated with the following phone numbers for HCSO:

HCSO Criminal Investigations
423-209-8940 business hours
423-622-0022 after hours.
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Believe09, I'm not 'quite' a local, but close enough to help out with this. Also I have a lot of SAR contacts in the area. Would that help?

I hope Gail is safe somewhere. But I won't lie- I am concerned she was injured in an accident somewhere that has not been driven/searched by locals. Perhaps she got farther than we think, and had an accident. Do you know if Gail smokes or drinks? That is not a character assasination btw AT ALL- just trying to think of where she might have stopped in, such as a convenience store or something?
 
I think that your questions are good ones Oriah. And yes, any update to the contact info will help.

I was intrigued to find out the department assigned to this case for HCSO.
 
believe09 said:
I think that your questions are good ones Oriah. And yes, any update to the contact info will help.

I was intrigued to find out the department assigned to this case for HCSO.
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Will do, Believe09.

Also I have a question for any locals- what was the weather like that morning at that specific time? I can look it up and will but would prefer a locals input. TIA.....

I too was interested to find the dept assigned was HCSO.
 
Oriah said:
Will do, Believe09.

Also I have a question for any locals- what was the weather like that morning at that specific time? I can look it up and will but would prefer a locals input. TIA.....

I too was interested to find the dept assigned was HCSO.
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I know Oriah-and the Criminal Investigations dept at that!
 
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