TN - Gail Nowacki Palmgren, 44, Signal Mountain, 30 April 2011 - #12

[realdeal]

It appears now that a ruling of "accidental" will be the outcome:

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/16183651/investigators-working-to-remove-jeep-of-missing-mom (time on article: 12:36 p.m.)

Pearl, I can't help but hope they don't rule too quickly, but I fear you may be right.

I am truly torn on this case...
if MP or TH have no connection whatsoever to Gail's death, I don't want them convicted for it obviously, but something seems pretty fishy for the "gal on the side" to lawyer up (along with MP and his mom) if they truly believed Gail had just deserted the family.

I hope this is thoroughly investigated from every angle, and not written off as "solved" too hastily.

 

[Pearl*]

Not trying to be argumentative but Hammond saying this appears to be accidental does not equate to the outcome being ruled as an accident...JMHO

IMHO..Just because something appears to look a certain way, doesn't make it a factual reality..JMHO

Of course. I think the headline is significant, in that this is the first time I've heard a statement saying what it appeared "to be" at all. Always before, statements have been in terms of possibilities and statements of what evidence was lacking rather than what was present.

Obviously, no final determination has yet been made, and even when it is, we will probably never know all that led up to this tragic event. And, honestly, beyond the foul play possibilities, the public is probably not entitled to all the details, in my opinion. For instance, are we owed the information of where she was going or where she had been? Or who she had talked to and when? What was said? Probably not. If foul play can be ruled out, the rest could be considered a matter of family privacy. They really haven't had much of that since May.

I note, however, that the headline appears to be a paraphrase rather than a direct quote, as I find no actual quote from the sheriff anywhere in the article. So, again, we just don't know.

 

[amysmom]

It's possible Gail was turning around & hit the 'gas' vs the 'brake'..That does happen quite often when ppl are upset &/or in a hurry..Both may be true in this case BUT! why wouldn't some of the bushes have been taken down when she went over? No matter what really happened that makes little sense to me especially since the big rock did.

I'm pretty 'new' to this case so can someone explain to me where in relation to the 'accident' (?) road her home is? TIA!

 

[RabidBadger]

I think the Sheriff overstepped his bounds by saying it appears to be an accident. The vehicle hasn't even been transported to Knoxville yet for analysis, the autopsy is yet to be done, and accident reconstruction remains. He has virtually nothing to make the PRE judgement upon, and I would think he would know to hold his tongue until some data comes back.

 

[cleo612]

What about if she was backing in something like this to turn around, and hit the gas instead of the brake-or thought she had shifted into drive, but actually was still in reverse? If she was very distraught, something like that could have happened...

It seems that this scenario could have happened; or it could have been that she pulled into it, with plans to turn around, but was hit/pushed over the edge by another vehicle.

The reports of her being followed are, for me, difficult to set aside.

 

[Cazzie]

I think the Sheriff overstepped his bounds by saying it appears to be an accident. The vehicle hasn't even been transported to Knoxville yet for analysis, the autopsy is yet to be done, and accident reconstruction remains. He has virtually nothing to make the PRE judgement upon, and I would think he would know to hold his tongue until some data comes back.

Thank you for this post!

At least the article linked above said that Gail's Jeep will be taken to a crime lab. Is that SOP, or could it mean more?

 

[Emeralgem]

Thank you for this post!

At least the article linked above said that Gail's Jeep will be taken to a crime lab. Is that SOP, or could it mean more?

My understanding is that is NOT a SOP... JMHO

O/T..I recall a horrible accident back in the late 70's where a car went airborn on South Terrace close to Bacon Trail.. There were four or five young men in that car and the car wrapped around a telephone pole about 20- 25 feet up in the air.. They had to saw the telephone pole in half to get the car down.. To this day the car and the pole sits on top of Mostellers wrecking Service on Main Street..


BTW..I also read this on twitter today..

meganboatwright Megan Boatwright
Hammond: Once #jeep is down it'll go to state crime lab. Goal is to have it down before the rain comes. #GailPalmgren

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Been away for the weekend - ironically I was up near Gail's home town. I am just catching up now. I suppose it's possible that somebody ran her off the road, but equally possible that this is just a horrific fluke accident. It may just be one of those times where life is horribly and tragically unfair - where the "what if's" will continue to persist.

I do remember a story about a guy who was arrested on the mountain for intentionally running 3 teens off the road around this time. I can't remember how close in time that incident occurred to when this happened to Gail. Could the LE be looking into that angle at all?

 

[Emeralgem]

Been away for the weekend - ironically I was up near Gail's home town. I am just catching up now. I suppose it's possible that somebody ran her off the road, but equally possible that this is just a horrific fluke accident. It may just be one of those times where life is horribly and tragically unfair - where the "what if's" will continue to persist.

I do remember a story about a guy who was arrested on the mountain for intentionally running 3 teens off the road around this time. I can't remember how close in time that incident occurred to when this happened to Gail. Could the LE be looking into that angle at all?

IIRC.. That incident occured at the end of May or early June , not too long after school was dismissed for the summer.. There were four people in that jeep, however IIRC none were teenagers. A young woman and her husband were killed as well as a cousin.. An uncle who was also in the jeep survived...JMHO

 

[realdeal]

I do remember a story about a guy who was arrested on the mountain for intentionally running 3 teens off the road around this time. I can't remember how close in time that incident occurred to when this happened to Gail. Could the LE be looking into that angle at all?

Are you referring to the teens on 4-wheel ATVs?

 

[poppyfrock]

I cannot shake the facts that Gail was in fear for her life, told her sister and police she was being followed when she was driving with the kids in the car and 30 minutes after dropping them off, she has a fatal accident. It's almost as if whoever was following her was waiting for her to drop off the kids.

Of course, there is always the very real possibility of fatal accident. We are all only human and everyone of us is capable of error. Especially if we are ill, distracted or upset. What if there was a medical problem and she passed out? I think that is very unlikely, but still possible. However the possibility of that happening the same day she is afraid of someone following her and not having a fatal accident until the kids are out of the car seems even more unlikely.

What if some random stranger ran her off the road on accident and didn't tell anyone since no one was around or saw? What if someone backed out of that driveway and hit her? Would she go over? How fast would the person in the drive have to be going to knock her over? They probably couldn't get that rate of speed from the driveway right?

Well, I have a million questions and no answers. I don't know what to believe happened to Gail. But I have been so worried about her since I found out she went missing. All I know is the way she went is terrifying whether it was an accident or not. Bless her heart. Thinking of you, Gail.

 

[wilco]

I live in Red bank, a community on the east side of Signal Mtn. I've followed this story locally, and I've followed it on this site.

In retrospect, I am very disappointed in our search efforts. It's hard for me to believe that all of these bluffside roads were not minutely searched for signs that a vehicle had gone over the side. This location on this road is probably the first place to look, based on what we knew at the time.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/aug/13/meeks-charged-murder/

This is the case I was thinking of...he is accused of running a Jeep off of the road intentionally.

 

[Emeralgem]

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/palmgren-1007013-jeep-gail.html


After taking a closer look at the vehicle, the Sheriff tell us most of the damage is on the rear end of the jeep. That's consistent with the damage investigators say came from the jeep rolling off the bluff.

 

[Yoda]

I know I need sleep, but can someone tell me who's vehicle this is in the GP story?! It's not red. Is this the second vehicle that we could only find one reference to in the news? (and that i thought was a different story in an earlier post) And if it is does anyone know anything about it? Was it dumped, could there be another victim?

 

[believe09]

I know I need sleep, but can someone tell me who's vehicle this is in the GP story?! It's not red. Is this the second vehicle that we could only find one reference to in the news? (and that i thought was a different story in an earlier post) And if it is does anyone know anything about it? Was it dumped, could there be another victim?

Last I checked, the vehicle was still considered to be unrelated to Gail's case. Until we get a MSM or LE source, I think there are a number of rumors swirling that cannot really be addressed here yet.

 

[Emeralgem]

I know I need sleep, but can someone tell me who's vehicle this is in the GP story?! It's not red. Is this the second vehicle that we could only find one reference to in the news? (and that i thought was a different story in an earlier post) And if it is does anyone know anything about it? Was it dumped, could there be another victim?

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/16183651/investigators-working-to-remove-jeep-of-missing-mom

The above link states it is the latest picture of Gail's jeep.. Looks blue to me. Just wondering IF the jeep has been wrapped in some type of blue material to prevent further damage when they attempt to take it down the mountain..JMHO..

 

[ThoughtFox]

I know I need sleep, but can someone tell me who's vehicle this is in the GP story?! It's not red. Is this the second vehicle that we could only find one reference to in the news? (and that i thought was a different story in an earlier post) And if it is does anyone know anything about it? Was it dumped, could there be another victim?

I think that picture must have been taken as the sun was going down behind the mountain. If you look at the front, it appears dark grey, but that's because the red is in shadows.

The top frame of the car is black because it wouldn't have been seen with the roof on it.

I believe the "blue" thing at the back is ceiling of the jeep roof, but it's torn back on it's hinges. It can't be a new plastic cover the searchers put there because you can see piles of leaves on it where they fell naturally. Also, notice that the chrome bumper looks blue also, which I think is just because the light is dim.

 

[SuziQ]

It looks like the Jeep is flip rightside up now. It's the black top we now see that looks blue in the photo.

 

[Yoda]

I think that picture must have been taken as the sun was going down behind the mountain. If you look at the front, it appears dark grey, but that's because the red is in shadows.

I believe the "blue" thing at the back is ceiling of the jeep roof, but it's torn back on it's hinges. It can't be a new plastic cover the searchers put there because you can see piles of leaves on it where they fell naturally. Also, notice that the chrome bumper looks blue also, which I think is just because the light is dim.

Thank you! I had to go and look at what that type of jeep looks like originally. Now it makes more sense.