Theory #1: Stranger Abduction by the "Couple in the Car"

[Dr. Doogie]

...The main point is that this aspect of the informant’s story is credible.

So far, every detail of her story that we have been able to verify one way or the other has proved factual. I am to the point that I believe we have to take her report of seeing Anna as truthful until we find specific evidence otherwise. (I still believe that some aspects of her story are embellished, but are built upon a foundation of the truth).

If this is truthful, that means that we are on the right track with the theory that Anna was abducted by a stranger and raised as his daughter. And that means that, at least in 1976, Anna was alive and healthy, which eliminates the possibilty that she was taken by a predator and was killed shortly after the abduction. No, she was alive, which means that she probably is still alive out there, ready to found.

Let's find her!
:woohoo:

 

[Dr. Doogie]

Any chance we can talk to some retired policemen who might be able to offer some personal insight into any suspects they had but couldn't charge???? Some of the police from that time must still be around!

Great idea! I'll look into it.

 

[SherlockJr]

Let's find her!
:woohoo:

We're all here with you Doogie & Annasmom!

 

[SherlockJr]

Doogie, you and Sherlock are going to be proud of me. I just got home from a marathon reading session at the Half Moon Bay Library. I read all the 1976 issues of the Half Moon Bay Review, looking for burglaries in particular, and in fact the paper reported many burglaries from May to September of that year (the informant believes she saw a 47-year-old man with an eight-year-old girl some time between September and November of 1976.) No names of suspects in these cases were given, and there was no follow-up on the stories...

Burlaries reported between May to September. I find it odd they ended in September. (the time the witness saw Anna) Could they have left town soon after?

 

[Annasmom]

We're all here with you Doogie & Annasmom!

I just love you guys.

I was in such a hurry to post the Review material that I neglected to include this story from June 10, 1976.
"Thieves who have been trucking away thousands of dollars worth of loot from isolated Coastside ranches during recent weeks hit the ranch of a San Francisco mortician and trucked away more than $6,300 worth of shop equipment. James L. Taylor, 53, who said he works several days at a time in San Francisco and then returns to his ranch on Lobitos Creek Road, reported to Sheriff's Deputy David R. Vogt that not only was his ranch burglarized, but a neighbor's as well."
Lobitos Creek Road is a stone's throw from Purisima Creek Road, where Anna disappeared.
The story continues: "Ranchers reported they have seen a blue flatbed truck in the area during the past few days when the burglaries took place. Vogt said Taylor's barn and ranchhouse were entered by burglars wearing gloves and using bolt cutters. He said they apparently knew exactly what they wanted."

 

[itsreenw]

Doogie, can you get in touch with the tipster and ask if she'd be willing to meet with a sketch artist to do a composite of the man and girl?? Anybody know where we'd find a sketch artist if she says yes????

 

[itsreenw]

excerpt from article about Lawrence Singleton:
Link http://www.salon.com/march97/news/news970305.html

on a cloudy Wednesday, Feb. 19, now 69-year-old Lawrence Singleton began his day by installing a drainpipe alongside his newly renovated home in the Orient Park neighborhood of east Tampa, Fla. He'd transformed the abandoned barracks his brother Herb bought him into a showplace. His yard was perfectly preened. He fastidiously wiped his cat's paw prints off neighbors' cars. "Bill," as Singleton called himself these days, brought steaks to neighbors and happily watched their kids play with Kala, his Rottweiler puppy. Down at the Brandon Crossroads Bowl, where Singleton was a regular in the Monday afternoon league, his fellow Golden Agers found him "a friendly guy," a good bowler, who'd stop by the snack bar for a midday beer.
Some of his bowling buddies heard he had a past -- a rape in California. "Bill" insisted he'd been "framed." Singleton seemed no more ominous than any other aging native son who returns to spend his last years at home and at peace.

I know it was determined that Bill and Michelle was not Lawrence Singleton and a companion but I just saw the name Bill and thought it was a coincidence.

 

[Annasmom]

excerpt from article about Lawrence Singleton:
Link http://www.salon.com/march97/news/news970305.html

I know it was determined that Bill and Michelle was not Lawrence Singleton and a companion but I just saw the name Bill and thought it was a coincidence.

That would have made him 47 or 47 in 1976, unless my arithmetic is completely off (which it sometimes is.) Our informant said Bill said his age was 47. Have we for sure ruled out this man?

 

[gardenmom]

That would have made him 47 or 47 in 1976, unless my arithmetic is completely off (which it sometimes is.) Our informant said Bill said his age was 47. Have we for sure ruled out this man?

I sure hope so, Annasmom.

 

[itsreenw]

I will try to find a picture of Singleton from the 70's but I'd really like the tipster to have her description of the pair Man/girl drawn as a composite before she sees the pic of Singleton so her memory isn't distorted.
I am also trying to find his CA addresses.
One thing to note-Singleton did have a van. I don't think it was him though. Seems he wouldn't be interested in little girls although he did tell Mary Vincent he had a daughter named Debra when he picked her up. He does not have a daughter named Debra. It could have been a lie to make her feel comfortable about riding with him. I think he told Mary his daughter was around her age.

 

[SherlockJr]

I will try to find a picture of Singleton from the 70's but I'd really like the tipster to have her description of the pair Man/girl drawn as a composite before she sees the pic of Singleton so her memory isn't distorted.
I am also trying to find his CA addresses.
One thing to note-Singleton did have a van. I don't think it was him though. Seems he wouldn't be interested in little girls although he did tell Mary Vincent he had a daughter named Debra when he picked her up. He does not have a daughter named Debra. It could have been a lie to make her feel comfortable about riding with him. I think he told Mary his daughter was around her age.

If the tipster gave us the information that Singleton rented from her father, I would guess she would know what he looked like.

I found he did have a daughter.

 

[SherlockJr]

That would have made him 47 or 47 in 1976, unless my arithmetic is completely off (which it sometimes is.) Our informant said Bill said his age was 47. Have we for sure ruled out this man?

According to SSDI, Lawrence Singleton was born on July 28, 1927 and died on Dec. 28, 2001. He would have been 49 years old in the fall of 1976.

 

[Dr. Doogie]

Have we for sure ruled out this man?

I do not believe that Singleton is the same "Bill", but when I saw the same article that Itsreenw posted, I started looking into him. He did have a daughter named Debra Ann who is alive and well, working as pyschiatric nurse in Seattle, WA. Some of the facts that we know about her line up with what we suspect happened to Anna, but there appear to be legitimate birth records showing that Debra Ann was born in 1963 (which would be too much of a stretch to pass Anna of as this age, especially in her younger years). However, I would be more confident in this conclusion if we could find a picture of Debra Ann for comparison, but I have not located one yet.

 

[Dr. Doogie]

It dawned on me that we have two potential areas of followup investigation on the tipster's information:

1) See if the SMC Sheriffs have any information about suspects in the rash of burglaries around HMB in 1976. If they questioned anyone named "Bill" or "William", then that may be a match.

2) The tipster thought that Bill may have been a tenant of her father. We know what houses he currently owns and it appears that they are the same addresses that he owned in 1976. I would like to see who lived in these houses in 1976 and see if there is a Bill and Michelle renting one of them in 1976. I have been trying to locate a Polk's City Directory for that area and time, but have not had any luck. The local San Mateo libraries do not have any. Anybody have any suggestions on how to find one?

 

[Annasmom]

Doogie, can you get in touch with the tipster and ask if she'd be willing to meet with a sketch artist to do a composite of the man and girl?? Anybody know where we'd find a sketch artist if she says yes????

I just realized nobody had responded to this good idea. Sherlock found software which lets you create a mug shot, and at some point we might ask the tipster to try this. Two things: We don't want to burn her out, since she is under family pressure not to get involved. Second, we're still trying to check out things she has already said. To date, every little thing she has said checks out completely.

 

[Shadow205]

It dawned on me that we have two potential areas of followup investigation on the tipster's information:

1) See if the SMC Sheriffs have any information about suspects in the rash of burglaries around HMB in 1976. If they questioned anyone named "Bill" or "William", then that may be a match.

2) The tipster thought that Bill may have been a tenant of her father. We know what houses he currently owns and it appears that they are the same addresses that he owned in 1976. I would like to see who lived in these houses in 1976 and see if there is a Bill and Michelle renting one of them in 1976. I have been trying to locate a Polk's City Directory for that area and time, but have not had any luck. The local San Mateo libraries do not have any. Anybody have any suggestions on how to find one?

This might be a good place to start http://www.oldtelephonebooks.com/pblink.html

 

[itsreenw]

If the tipster gave us the information that Singleton rented from her father, I would guess she would know what he looked like.

I found he did have a daughter.

I was trying to say that IMO, it would be best to do a composite based solely on what she visualzes from her memory rather than for her to see a picture now that may confuse her actual memory recall with what she sees in a picture. Good find on the daughter. I can't find much on him except the FL trial info.

 

[SherlockJr]

I was trying to say that IMO, it would be best to do a composite based solely on what she visualzes from her memory rather than for her to see a picture now that may confuse her actual memory recall with what she sees in a picture. Good find on the daughter. I can't find much on him except the FL trial info.

Itsreenw has found a couple artists in California who has agreed to help us on Anna's behalf. I spoke with the tipster a few nights ago and she has agreed to meet with the artists to see if a composite can be made of both Bill and Anna.

 

[Gina_M]

Itsreenw has found a couple artists in California who has agreed to help us on Anna's behalf. I spoke with the tipster a few nights ago and she has agreed to meet with the artists to see if a composite can be made of both Bill and Anna.

Yay!! That's good news :woohoo:

 

[SherlockJr]

The woman today, who saw Anna, was in her teens 30 years ago. She only mentioned seeing "Bill" and "Anna" in her home.

The last conversation I had with the newspaper tipster corrected me and told me that she heard a woman's voice but never seen the woman appear at her bedroom door.