Found Safe OR - Erin McClintock, 40, dropped kids at school, Aloha, 21 Oct 2019

[Oregonmama]

This case reminds me of the Jennifer Huston case. I have tried doing a search here to find her thread and link it to no avail.

I thought about that last week. That was another heartbreaking case

 

[claudianunes]

I don't think this is going to end well. If she was okay, she would probably call the police and let them know that she was okay and that she wanted to be left alone, no? Someone that wants to be left alone probably doesn't want a bunch of people looking for her. Something went wrong, I don't know if someone did something to her though.

 

[savagewoman]

IMO
One of the things that bothers me about this case.... her ex is very knowledgeable about tracking people (it was in a posting, not sure what he does for a profession). If she left voluntarily, she must have learned a lot about what police look for from her husband/ex when people go missing.

Very worried about her

 

[happyday]

I can’t get the car stickers off my mind. I almost wonder if she was angry about something or felt unappreciated. Just because those stickers were her kids’ sports stickers with their names and they seemed to be halfheartedly ripped off. Could be she was really upset about something someone said or how they acted and it might not even be a big deal but in her mind it was the last straw. She was reportedly pretty grumpy on the way to school that morning.
But my theory from there is that she wanted to teach a lesson and maybe just a break for herself as well. Maybe not even well thought out—just parked the car by transportation, angrily ripped stickers off and left. But in my theory she calls or comes back pretty soon after she cools off. If this is what happened then something has happened to her.

 

[Jillybean78]

I can’t get the car stickers off my mind. I almost wonder if she was angry about something or felt unappreciated. Just because those stickers were her kids’ sports stickers with their names and they seemed to be halfheartedly ripped off. Could be she was really upset about something someone said or how they acted and it might not even be a big deal but in her mind it was the last straw. She was reportedly pretty grumpy on the way to school that morning.
But my theory from there is that she wanted to teach a lesson and maybe just a break for herself as well. Maybe not even well thought out—just parked the car by transportation, angrily ripped stickers off and left. But in my theory she calls or comes back pretty soon after she cools off. If this is what happened then something has happened to her.

The stickers were ripped off? I hadn’t read that . I’m wondering if she ripped them off so people wouldn’t recognize her car right away, or maybe she took them with her as a keepsake...???

 

[claudianunes]

Has she been separated from the father of her children for a long time or is it a recent thing?

 

[momrids6]

Teenagers.
Usually this stage is when some kids of divorced parents move to the other parents home, or want to. The grass is always greener and all that. And thenà you've got puberty. And heading to them leaving for school. And major stress - and reflection. Not a great time in ones life, full of ups, downs, and changes. What is worrying me is amount of time she's been gone

 

[KaylynnCouture]

I interpreted the removal of the stickers to mean that her plan was to take her car with her. So she removed the stickers so it wouldn’t be as easy to spot on the freeways or when everyone was undoubtedly looking for her. But, at some point, something made her change plans and she ditched the car.

Just my two cents.

 

[KJ's Mamu]

Has it been confirmed that the stickers on her car were intact before she went missing? How do they know the the attempt to remove them was recent?

 

[butterscotchoysters]

I believe the place where her car was found is significant. Tualatin Hills has some of the most popular baseball fields in the area, and she would have spent a lot of time there watching her kids play. I don't think it is mere coincidence that her car ended up being left behind there.

One thing that remains unclear right now is the length of time that her car was parked at Tualatin Hills. She disappeared sometime on Monday, and the media alerts started going out late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Her car was not found until late Thursday afternoon. Now it is probable that the car had been there all along since Monday, and people didn't think much of it until word got around that she was missing. However, it is possible that whatever happened to her happened somewhere else, and those responsible didn't drop the car at Tualatin Hills until sometime between Monday and Thursday. But given that the police have stated that they do not think foul play is involved, I tend to find this scenario unlikely.

So I would agree that the most plausible scenario is that she left of her own accord. If one were to hatch a plan to get away, it makes a lot of sense to start from someplace familiar. The spot where her car was found is perhaps 50 yards away from the #67 bus line. From there, one can take the bus to the MAX light rail station at 158th and Merlo. At that point, the possibilities are almost endless, and one can disappear into the wind. The MAX goes to downtown Portland and eventually all the way out to PDX Airport.

If she did leave of her own accord, what is unclear is what her motives and endgame were. She does not strike me as the type who would just abandon her life and loved ones and run off with some new distant lover. So what do we know? Her son said on TV that she had been despondent in the days leading up to her disappearance. We also know that some of the stickers had been removed from the back of her car when it was found. Taken together, those clues suggest that possibly some latent resentment toward her kids was unleashed by whatever the final triggering event happened to be. If she decided to go somewhere and end her own life, she apparently did not leave a note behind. But perhaps the car, left where it was, with the stickers partially removed, was intended to serve as her final statement, and she did not want to be found after she did what she was planning to do next. It strikes me as a particularly cruel thing to do to one's loved ones, but people who find themselves in this state are usually not thinking rationally. It is not a good sign that there have been no phone pings nor activity in any of her accounts since her disappearance.

This whole story is just incredibly sad, and my heart breaks for her friends and family. They deserve way better than this, especially her kids. The uncertainty and anguish involved in not knowing where she is must be devastating. I pray that either she is found safe, or that her loved ones receive some closure in eventually knowing what happened to her.

 

[happyday]

Teenagers.
Usually this stage is when some kids of divorced parents move to the other parents home, or want to. The grass is always greener and all that. And thenà you've got puberty. And heading to them leaving for school. And major stress - and reflection. Not a great time in ones life, full of ups, downs, and changes. What is worrying me is amount of time she's been gone

You know, the more I think about this the more it makes sense. The most hurtful thing a teen can do, IMO, is choose the other parent over you. Even if it’s unintentional, she could have felt hurt and rejected by the entire family and that’s the one thing that makes the stickers being ripped off and her just gone make sense. Sadly, I don’t think she’s coming back.

ETA. Of course we don’t know that any of the sons did ANYTHING to cause hurt. I am not blaming anyone to be clear, just trying to come up with a scenario that logically could lead to the facts we do know—unhappy behavior, stickers ripped off and disappearing. Just want want to be clear because I didn’t like how my post sounded.

 

[happyday]

Has it been confirmed that the stickers on her car were intact before she went missing? How do they know the the attempt to remove them was recent?

Good question. I looked back and only found several posts saying some articles were reporting the stickers and then saying family verified the stickers being ripped off. I didn’t find the article that states that it was recent, but if someone finds it, please link it!

 

[Pianoturtle]

Good question. I looked back and only found several posts saying some articles were reporting the stickers and then saying family verified the stickers being ripped off. I didn’t find the article that states that it was recent, but if someone finds it, please link it!

I think it’s just assumed the sticker removal is recent because they were used as an identifying feature in the original missing flyers before the car was found.

 

[The Night Watchman]

I think it’s just assumed the sticker removal is recent because they were used as an identifying feature in the original missing flyers before the car was found.

Wait..what? So whoever had the car saw the original missing posters, and then maybe removed the stickers? Why else would anyone remove the stickers, not something you would typically do without reason.

This suggests that the car was moved to this location after the missing posters went out.

Self harm is usually fairly rash IMO, a person makes this decision and then acts.

So, hopefully it was Erin removing the stickers, well after she disappeared.

 

[Oregonmama]

No one can really know, except Erin, on how happy she was. Individuals can look great on the outside but inside there can be personal turmoil. I personally think, jmo , that she left on her own accord. Perhaps she knew how to leave with out a trace. Her teen sons stating that she was acting different the week prior to the disappearance , imo, tells the story here. There has no been no updates re Erin locally from LE and I believe this case is turning into a voluntarily missing person. JMO

 

[FlamingoLady]

I, too, believe she left on her own accord. The difference in demeanor the week prior, as reported by her sons, really lends me to that conclusion. Unfortunately, I think this will turn out to be a case of self harm as opposed to running off and starting a new life. I also think the ipad the took with her that morning (which she usually left at home) will hold some answers for the family, ie: suicide note/final last words in a video. MOO of course.

 

[10ofRods]

I think she sounds depressed and suicidal. She tried to pry the stickers off because all the work that had gone into the boys and their sports was over. She felt completely defeated. If the boys were wanting to live with their dad, that would be the kind of blow that would drive a mom over the edge. An already depressed mom might also be very upset if the boys expressed that their dad's house was bigger or whatever. The boys were freshmen or sophomores, I believe. Difficult age, Dad was probably the Fun Parent.

I think this will turn out to be self-harm too, although the iPad is the one clue that makes it only slight less dire. If it's true, though, she must have had some means of doing it. If she wanted the iPad to hold a suicide note, she ought to have left it in the car. The only means of suicide in that area, it would seem, would be a pond - so???

If she did in fact head for public transport, wouldn't the boys have noticed if she took a back pack? If she planned to leave for parts unknown, wouldn't she have packed a bag or something?

 

[Oregonmama]

I think she sounds depressed and suicidal. She tried to pry the stickers off because all the work that had gone into the boys and their sports was over. She felt completely defeated. If the boys were wanting to live with their dad, that would be the kind of blow that would drive a mom over the edge. An already depressed mom might also be very upset if the boys expressed that their dad's house was bigger or whatever. The boys were freshmen or sophomores, I believe. Difficult age, Dad was probably the Fun Parent.

I think this will turn out to be self-harm too, although the iPad is the one clue that makes it only slight less dire. If it's true, though, she must have had some means of doing it. If she wanted the iPad to hold a suicide note, she ought to have left it in the car. The only means of suicide in that area, it would seem, would be a pond - so???

If she did in fact head for public transport, wouldn't the boys have noticed if she took a back pack? If she planned to leave for parts unknown, wouldn't she have packed a bag or something?

In re to the Ipad, jmo, but she wanted to still have contact with social media and local news. Perhaps she didn't think that Ipads can leave digital footprints like cell phones do.

 

[Occam's Zebra]

I think she sounds depressed and suicidal. She tried to pry the stickers off because all the work that had gone into the boys and their sports was over. She felt completely defeated. If the boys were wanting to live with their dad, that would be the kind of blow that would drive a mom over the edge. An already depressed mom might also be very upset if the boys expressed that their dad's house was bigger or whatever. The boys were freshmen or sophomores, I believe. Difficult age, Dad was probably the Fun Parent.

Lots of assumptions here ... we don't know much if anything about their custody agreement, what the boys are like, or who (if anyone) was the "fun parent."

That said, having two boys in HS and being 40 and recently divorced could certainly be hard. As a parent of teens myself, I know that some days are really difficult and other days you find yourself wondering how they grew up so fast. They don't need you the way they used to, and it can be hard to remember what you did with all the time you had before they were born. It's possible she started to feel less needed in their lives and that was difficult for her. I hope she's okay and just taking a break somewhere...

 

[10ofRods]

Lots of assumptions here ... we don't know much if anything about their custody agreement, what the boys are like, or who (if anyone) was the "fun parent."

That said, having two boys in HS and being 40 and recently divorced could certainly be hard. As a parent of teens myself, I know that some days are really difficult and other days you find yourself wondering how they grew up so fast. They don't need you the way they used to, and it can be hard to remember what you did with all the time you had before they were born. It's possible she started to feel less needed in their lives and that was difficult for her. I hope she's okay and just taking a break somewhere...

Yes, I'm just speculating and going on intuition. Since she was moody and angry around the two boys, I would assume that whatever was getting to her was enough that she would involve the kids and show them her irritability (whereas no coworkers have mentioned anything about abnormal work performance).

Being "less needed" wouldn't precipitate someone running away or committing suicide unless there was something else going on, mental health-wise. Of course, it's very hard to see someone else's depression and many depressives do better at work than at home.

If in fact she's just taking a break, again, I wonder if any of her things are missing. Seems to me that if she took more things from her house, the family would have said that on their FB and wouldn't be looking so hard near the park.

I think something specific happened, that triggered her leaving (or self-harm) and trying to scrape off the boys' participation stickers is significant.

She is a working mother. I assume she shares expenses for her apartment. It's a big deal for a person to abandon those responsibilities just to rediscover themselves. It doesn't seem to be in her character, according to her family.