I am new to the community but need to set this record straight. The truth is Toni died as a result from a traffic accident. There was a lot of confusion and misinformation as the case was investigated as a criminal matter. That is to say that minimal information other than clothing, car description and direction of travel was provided. This would be done to maintain the integrity of the investigation to increase the likelihood of successful prosecution if an arrest was made should foul play have occurred. The detectives investigating only game two interviews. Crime watch daily and Kansas City Star. Due to editing and summarization much was likely lost in translation. The facts are this.
Toni left her her job on 1/15/17 around 4am. She was supposed to meet up with friends in mid town Kansas City Missouri but never arrived. Instead she drove to the separate community of North Kansas City where she was stopped by an officer at 4:25 for improper lane usage. She was given a warning and drove across the street to a gas station where her debit card was twice declined at the pump. She went inside, prepaid for gas and filled her car. When she drove to the gas station the GPS device that was plugged into the OBD2 port was working. She sent a text to a friend at 4:42 indicating she had been pulled over. At 4:49. She finally drove away from the gas station alone. The traffic stop and all her time at the gas station is on video. At no time did anyone approach her car. When she left the station her GPS was not working indicating she disabled bit or it malfunctioned. She left northbound from the station. Video from the businesses along 9 highway show no one was behind her or following her. The police dashcam shows the officer and his backup officer remained in the area after the traffic stop for a while and then went on working and answering calls for service until the end of their shifts at 7 am on the 15th.
Investigation led detectives to believe she traveled west on the 9 highway corridor a.d remained between highways 635 and 435 until 6am on the 15th at which time her phone went dark. The report that her phone was connected to the network until 9pm on the 16th was inaccurate and did not come from law enforcement. Cell phone records proved the 6am dark time to be accurate.
Even though Toni was last technically seen in the city of North Kansas City, they did not conduct the investigation. Rather the investigation was conducted by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department as she left her job in Kansas City, lived in Kansas City and was was would leave the city of North Kansas City and re-enter Kansas City as she traveled northbound from the gas station.
Family, friends, associates, coworkers and the boyfriend were interviewed by KCPD (KANSAS City Missouri Police Department) detectives. No specific indicators of foul play were noted, but it had not been ruled out either.
KCPD detectives stated an accident was the most probable reason for the disappearance. Extensive land searches were conducted using officers and canines. Aerial searches were conducted with drones and high definition cameras. The Missouri River seemed the most likely location for an accident as no signs of a wreck could be found on land. The two boat ramps along that 9 highway corridor were the most logical points of entry.
The Missouri Highway Patrol Water rescue conducted sonar searches of the Missouri River shortly after her disappearance and located a silted in truck just down stream of the Parkville boat landing. Floating ice on the river prohibited diving at that time. A second sonar search was conducted days later when the ice dissipated but the truck could not be found. The US Army Corp of Engineers was brought in conducted a third sonar search but found nothing. Last week a non profit company conducted sonar searches of the river at the request of Toni's father. The search was authorized by KCPD and was given probable search boundaries by the KCPD. The non profit was able to locate both the truck and a car just downstream of the Parkville boat ramp. The reason the other agencies likely missed the vehicles was explained by the non profit and is noted in other posts above. KCPD coordinated the recovery and Missouri Highway Water Patrol divers recovers both vehicles. The truck was reported stolen in 2015 and was not related to the Toni investigation. Toni's vehicle was in 20 feet if water in a fast current and was silting in. The car was brought to the service and had very minor damage as per the photos and video from the news choppers. The car suffered significant damage from the bank as if was drug to the ground level (see news photo/video as it was towed away. The body inside the car was preserved by the ice cold water and had no injuries other than a bruise on the leg per Toni's mom. An autopsy is being performed by the Medical Examiner which will confirm or crash the accident theory but the final reports take up to 12 weeks I hear.
The fact that Toni had a substance abuse problem has been well documented in this thread. It is not a stretch of the imagination to believe Toni used and became lost or confused in that pitch black area in the final hour of her life. All of the above information is a collection of news reports and interviews with a little bit of hearsay and personal observation sprinkled in.
The KCPD and family obviously know more than we do and will share it when the tine is right. I say we all take a moment of pause and wait for the medical examiner to decide. Once the case is closed it will all be public record and we can find out what the police knew or didn't know all along.
