TN TN - Karen Swift, 44, Dyersburg, 30 Oct 2011 - #3

[AmyMarie222]

I think the simplest possible answer is to give those kids a better life, regardless of David's salary. Even if Karen was alive and David was financially supporting them, Karen would have still done whatever she could to give them an even better life. I think it's completely kosher to have a fund for those kids.

 

[cluciano63]

I'm sure it is "kosher" as you say...I am just not convinced of the financial need, I guess. What they have and will endure is horrific, but so many children are in real, dire need, I'd have to know more, to donate money, as to what their needs are.

My sister is a teacher and she has been bringing food to school for years, so that the kids in her class can have breakfast, which they don't get at home; that to me is a real, physical need that I can freely give my $ to help her do this. Her daughter now also teaches, a 2nd grade class, and is finding she needs to do the same.

That's all I am saying...so many children need things, right now. I was under the impression the Swift children will be taken care of by their father, all assuming he did not kill their mom of course.

JMO

 

[cocomod]

Where is the justice for Karen? Come on LE, please make an arrest already!

 

[SNOWINMEMPHIS]

Just watched the local news.
Saying once again that the ME report isn't ready to be released yet.
So sorry for this entire family
What a terrible time for such a loss, as if there would ever be an "appropriate" time....
Here we are about to celebrate with our families and friends.
I can't help but wonder if Karen had already bought some gifts and they are going to be there but without her.
Nothing can ever replace a Mother.
No one ever loves you the same way.
My dear Mother always told me that a woman is never really grown until she loses her Mother.
Thank God I am not "grown up" yet.
Those poor children.
JMO

 

[hollyblue]

I'm sure it is "kosher" as you say...I am just not convinced of the financial need, I guess. What they have and will endure is horrific, but so many children are in real, dire need, I'd have to know more, to donate money, as to what their needs are.

My sister is a teacher and she has been bringing food to school for years, so that the kids in her class can have breakfast, which they don't get at home; that to me is a real, physical need that I can freely give my $ to help her do this. Her daughter now also teaches, a 2nd grade class, and is finding she needs to do the same.

That's all I am saying...so many children need things, right now. I was under the impression the Swift children will be taken care of by their father, all assuming he did not kill their mom of course.

JMO

I agree at this point in time there doesn't seem a need for monies, imo. Now if he is found guilty...it may be a different story. Surely Karen had life insurance also. The children have a home and a father who is working. They no longer have a mother...priceless. What they all need at this time is kindness, consideration, and bunches of love. Somethings are more important than monetary.

Is David's family in the area? TIA

 

[OldSteve]

Got to believe the LE has lots of evidence to process.
We, sadly, don't know what they have. Hope they don't tunnel vision. Better to take their time and get it right, and speaking of taking their time, if it's first degree murder, they want to get as much evidence as they can to support that, else a case like this will turn into manslaughter.

 

[cocomod]

I just have a feeling that the know who it is, and they are not afraid of a flight risk. I think that they are waiting for all of the forensic tests to come back to make certain that they have their "guy", then they will go in for the grand jury indictment. They said that they had DNA evidence on her body and in her car. I just think that they know, but are keeping an eye on said POI, and proceeding with caution.

 

[otto]

I don't remember where I read this, but I thought it was Karen's mother that was looking for donations for the funeral and family ... but I didn't understand that when I read it ... as I kind of assumed the husband would look after all of that.

 

[Nehemiah]

Is David's family in the area? TIA

I never hear anyone speak of David's family and I have wondered about them myself.

People tend to reference Karen's brother (who spoke to the media) as if he lives in Tennessee ; however, neither David's nor Karen's families are from here. They are from AR and MO, although very close to TN. Because they are not "locals", the Swifts and their families were not widely known until this tragedy forced them into the spotlight.

Perhaps someone else here knows of David's family?

 

[Joe Friday]

Also, I think it goes without saying that there is a chance David could be the main suspect in Karen's death, and therefore unable to provide for his children.

Why would David be unable to provide for the children even if he was currently the main (unnamed) suspect in Karen's murder? (Which it hasn't been determined yet if she was in fact murdered, because the ME haven't finished their report and signed the death certificate indicating such. LE is just assuming she was murdered by the placement of her body in the vines and what I take were visible injuries to her body)

Has he lost his job? Is he in jail? Is he off work because of some medical issue? I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be be able to be working now just because LE might suspect he is involved in his wife's death?

JMO

 

[AmyMarie222]

Why would David be unable to provide for the children even if he was currently the main (unnamed) suspect in Karen's murder? (Which it hasn't been determined yet if she was in fact murdered, because the ME haven't finished their report and signed the death certificate indicating such. LE is just assuming she was murdered by the placement of her body in the vines and what I take were visible injuries to her body)

Has he lost his job? Is he in jail? Is he off work because of some medical issue? I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be be able to be working now just because LE might suspect he is involved in his wife's death?

JMO

Sorry - I meant to say that if David ends up being the main suspect and eventually convicted of Karen's murder, he would not be able to provide for his children. I should have used the word 'convicted' rather than just 'suspect.'

 

[LindaG]

There has never been any mention about who Karen went to the Halloween party with, who she spent her time with during the party and who she left with.

I also have a question about the time line. IIRC, the Halloween party at the FARMS ended at midnight and Karen did not receive a call from her daughter until 1:30 - correct?
That leaves 1.5 hours of time which have not been accounted for.

Is it possible that Karen went to the party with friends and left with friends to continue the party elsewhere? After picking up her daughter, taking her home and getting her to sleep (and seeing that she was not seriously ill), did Karen go back out to meet up with her friends again?

This seems like it would be a long night of socializing, but I am trying to avoid 'tunnel-vision' by assuming the husband did it, solely because that is what statistics indicate. I feel that if they had enough evidence, they should have arrested him by now.

I reject the idea of a random killer because of the staging of her clothes and car. So much points to the husband, but so much seems to point elsewhere. Baffling.

moo

 

[StrayKat]

Her car being found across the street from the neighbors house, that neighbor poisoning her dog, then the neighbor being arrested the day she goes missing??? That says a lot to me. IMO

 

[ThoughtFox]

Her car being found across the street from the neighbors house, that neighbor poisoning her dog, then the neighbor being arrested the day she goes missing??? That says a lot to me. IMO

That's not correct about the neighbors - they are two different people.

The one who poisoned the dog was named Hogshooter.

http://www.stategazette.com/story/1781533.html

He was arrested for cruelty to animals and then released.

The one who found her car was named Marty Lamb and he apparently is a friend of the family. He wasn't arrested.

(Dyersburg, TN 112/2011) Marty Lamb was driving to work around 5:30 AM Sunday when he found Karen Swift's car with a flat tire on Millsville Road in Dyersburg. He says he didn't call police because he didn't think anything of it.

"I noticed it was her vehicle so I pulled in behind it and shined my lights, and I could see that she wasn't in her vehicle," said Lamb.

He figured she just walked home since she lives around the corner on Willie Johnson Road. Later that day he found out the mother of four is missing.

"My wife kept their two younger daughters while he was talking to the cops and trying to figure out where she was at," said Lamb.


http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-dyersburg-mom-missing,0,7442521.story

 

[FightTheOstrich]

As far as funeral donations go....in TN assuming she had a policy thru his work for example, he woulnt have been able to cancel it until the divorce was finalized. Unless granted permission by the judge during proceedings. Maybe, Karen's mother and the husband cannot agree on the cost and he wants a simple funeral and would like to put some of the money into savings or something. I also wondered if perhaps the insurance company is unwilling to payout at this time, especially if he is the beneficiary???

 

[TxLady2]

I disagree that LE hasn't determined that she was murdere. I'm pretty certain they were able to call it a homicide as soon as they found her body. Of course, the official determination is left up to the ME, but I think it's pretty obvious it couldn't have been from natural causes, nor accidental or suicide, so the only other option is homicide.

I am curious as to why some are so anxious for an arrest. I would rather see them take their time and gather all the evidence they need before they decide to arrest anybody. Rushing into it would be detrimental to their case, and I would think they want as much hard evidence as they can find, otherwise whoever did this could walk.

I personally don't think the husband did this, it has all the earmarks of a predator finding her stranded with a flat tire, abducting her and taking her somewhere else to assault and kill her. It doesn't fit a spousal homicide to me, but it's possible. I just won't stoop to convicting the man until there are more facts known. JMO.

 

[Joe Friday]

There has never been any mention about who Karen went to the Halloween party with, who she spent her time with during the party and who she left with.

I also have a question about the time line. IIRC, the Halloween party at the FARMS ended at midnight and Karen did not receive a call from her daughter until 1:30 - correct?
That leaves 1.5 hours of time which have not been accounted for.

Is it possible that Karen went to the party with friends and left with friends to continue the party elsewhere? After picking up her daughter, taking her home and getting her to sleep (and seeing that she was not seriously ill), did Karen go back out to meet up with her friends again?

This seems like it would be a long night of socializing, but I am trying to avoid 'tunnel-vision' by assuming the husband did it, solely because that is what statistics indicate. I feel that if they had enough evidence, they should have arrested him by now.

I reject the idea of a random killer because of the staging of her clothes and car. So much points to the husband, but so much seems to point elsewhere. Baffling.

moo

BBM

Who confirmed that the cloths and car were staged? I believe that is just a rumor or theory started here on WS. I could be wrong though. If you actually have information stating that the car and cloths were staged please post it along with a link. TIA

 

[Joe Friday]

There has never been any mention about who Karen went to the Halloween party with, who she spent her time with during the party and who she left with.

I also have a question about the time line. IIRC, the Halloween party at the FARMS ended at midnight and Karen did not receive a call from her daughter until 1:30 - correct?
That leaves 1.5 hours of time which have not been accounted for.

Is it possible that Karen went to the party with friends and left with friends to continue the party elsewhere? After picking up her daughter, taking her home and getting her to sleep (and seeing that she was not seriously ill), did Karen go back out to meet up with her friends again?

This seems like it would be a long night of socializing, but I am trying to avoid 'tunnel-vision' by assuming the husband did it, solely because that is what statistics indicate. I feel that if they had enough evidence, they should have arrested him by now.

I reject the idea of a random killer because of the staging of her clothes and car. So much points to the husband, but so much seems to point elsewhere. Baffling.

moo

BBM

Karen supposedly arrived home around 1:30AM. I don't think it has ever been published what time Karen received a call or text from her daughter asking her to come pick her up.

The text Karen sent to her friend was at 11:00 PM or 11:30 PM and could have been Karen wanting to see if her friend could pick up the sick daughter since Karen was out having fun. Either that or maybe Karen wanted to stay at her friends home since Karen and David might have had a fight earlier in the evening possibly having to do with Karen going out and Karen didn't want to return home. JMO

The time line of when Karen actually arrived home I believe was set by David. So I don't know if we can take that to heart. The daughter that was home was likely sleeping and wouldn't have known what time Karen arrived home. The younger daughter I doubt would have any recollection of what time she was picked up or arrived home, kids don't pay much attention to that kind of stuff, especially if they are sleepy or sick. The people that hosted the party the child was at would likely know what time Karen picked up the daughter. Karen's phone records might also tell the story of when she received the call and where Karen was at the time compared to when David said Karen arrived home. Any large gaps in time I would be suspicious of.

All JMO

 

[ThoughtFox]

I disagree that LE hasn't determined that she was murdere. I'm pretty certain they were able to call it a homicide as soon as they found her body. Of course, the official determination is left up to the ME, but I think it's pretty obvious it couldn't have been from natural causes, nor accidental or suicide, so the only other option is homicide.

I am curious as to why some are so anxious for an arrest. I would rather see them take their time and gather all the evidence they need before they decide to arrest anybody. Rushing into it would be detrimental to their case, and I would think they want as much hard evidence as they can find, otherwise whoever did this could walk.

I personally don't think the husband did this, it has all the earmarks of a predator finding her stranded with a flat tire, abducting her and taking her somewhere else to assault and kill her. It doesn't fit a spousal homicide to me, but it's possible. I just won't stoop to convicting the man until there are more facts known. JMO.

I have a hard time understanding why a predator would be lurking around on such a lonely road out in the middle of nowhere between 2-5 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Unless he was specifically stalking Karen, I just can't see it, and so far we don't know of anyone else who is a suspect.

 

[cocomod]

The reason that I want to see an arrest is because there is likely a murderer out there on the street loose. Will they murder again? We do not know, because we do not know the motive for murdering Karen. I believe that LE thinks that this is a homicide because they have said that her body had injuries. She was pretty far away from her car, and they have not given any indication that they believe anything otherwise.

Karen did not deserve to be take away from this life and away from her children. Nobody has the right to determine the end of another person's life. I want justice for Karen.