NEWS: Callie Starnes tweets about Gail's case.

There's a lot of stuff to report today, but one of the more interesting things are the tweets from Callie Starnes about Gail's case, tweeted earlier during the broadcast of the 6:00 news. You can see all the tweets using the #GailPalmgren hashtag here.

The most interesting one to me is that Matt took Gail's sister Diane Nichols to court to try to get that $17,000.00 back! Gee, what a nice guy he is.

I've put these in chronological order so you can read them top to bottom.

calliestarnes Callie Starnes
#GailPalmgren The flyer I just held up is the original. I remember the weekend we heard Gail's name for the first time.


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
This is the first time we are showing Tammy Helton on tv. Friends say Gail suspected she and Matthew were having an affair. #GailPalmgren


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
Our policy is to report missing person cases only if police ask. We had to contact SPD to confirm Gail was missing. #GailPalmgren


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
@internalex the money is still with her sister. Matthew took Diane to court to try to get it back.


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
Carol Coppinger is the woman who alleges seeing Gail on the trails. Police say no way to know for sure. #GailPalmgren


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
@internalex Authorities won't release ANY details in case. Friends have given us the VIN number. No hits that we know of.


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
We don't have access to #GailPalmgren's medical records but friends and family say she was not depressed.


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
@_Sofonias_ No, #GailPalmgren's children have not been questioned by police. They could know why she decided to go home that day.


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
The real estate agent who listed the Palmgren home says she's treating it like any other sale, though #GailPalmgren's name is on deed.


calliestarnes Callie Starnes
@_Sofonias_ the TBI is now reviewing the case and offering suggestions. #GailPalmgren

Six Months Later News

Two news articles have gone live online in the last hour that I wanted to post links to:

Gail Palmgren disappearance: Six months later

Search For Gail Palmgren: 6 Months Later

More later tonight...

Six Months

It has been six months since Gail Nowacki Palmgren went missing.

Melpomene asked in comments on the previous post:

I would love to hear from some of the people who knew her, loved her and are missing her..


Did she enjoy celebrating Halloween? Did she enjoy decorating the house, dressing up and handing out treats to the children in the neighborhood?

I think these are terrific questions. While I did not know Gail, my thoughts today are with her children as they get ready for Halloween and as we embark on the winter holiday season. I wish them peace and closure, and most of all to be reunited with their mother.


---



Gail was last seen driving away from her home at about 12:15 PM on April 30, 2011. She was driving a 2010 dark red Jeep Rubicon in Red Rock Crystal Pearl color. The Jeep has a tire cover with a blue daisy and "Life is good," and her trailer hitch had a novelty Goofy cover. Her license plate reads "EAZY ST." Gail is 5 foot 8, 135 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes.

Gail and her husband Matt Palmgren were about to separate with plans for divorce. In the months before her disappearance, she had given paperwork and evidence to friends to hold for the impending divorce proceedings. Also, Gail had been speaking to friends and relatives for a few weeks prior to her disappearance about fears that she was being followed. She had given several items and even money to relatives and friends to hold in case something happened to her.

Her last phone call was to her husband Matt Palmgren, apparently to let him know she had dropped the kids off at home. She has not been heard from since. Her phone last pinged on May 2nd, the day she was reported missing, and it has not been found. No sightings of her Jeep have been confirmed since the sighting by a neighbor around noon on April 30.

Matt Palmgren did not call police about his wife missing until after her sister Diane Nichols called police first, about 45 hours after last hearing from Gail. Soon after Gail was reported missing, Matt, his girlfriend Tammy Helton, and his mother Julanne Palmgren retained criminal defense attorneys. Neither Matt, Helton, his mother, nor his kids (the last to see Gail before she disappeared) have been questioned by police and no person of interest or suspect has been noted.

Police searched the Suck Creek area in May, reportedly did an aerial search several months ago, and are planning another when the leaves fall. After several months while hashing out an agreement for restricted searches as dictated by Matt's defense attorneys, law enforcement finally began searching the Palmgren homes in July. To our knowledge, nothing was found, but items had been removed from the homes and people had been staying in the homes during the months since Gail disappeared. Volunteers and relatives have searched the Chattanooga area looking for signs of Gail. None have been found, and no signs of an accident have been uncovered.

There are two main theories from the people who say Gail simply ran off. One is that she withdrew (or "stole" as some people put it) $420,000.00 from bank accounts just before she left. Since then it has been stated many times that she did not withdraw money but rather changed PINs on her own retirement accounts. These accounts have not been accessed by Gail since she disappeared, and she never attempted to get the money she gave others to hold for her.

The other theory is that she is in an underground safe shelter for women. Since it has been six full months, I personally feel that by now she would have gotten the legal assistance and protection she needed, and could have resumed returning to her children and her life. No woman would simply languish underground without her kids, her relatives, her friends, her money and her belongings. She would be trying to get her life back. Further, her friends and relatives say she would not have abandoned her kids, and I see no reason for them to lie.

Something happened to Gail. While it's true that she could have been in an accident or done something while despondent, the circumstances and timing of her disappearance point to foul play. To my eyes, it seems evidence of foul play has not been found simply because it has not been seriously searched for.

However, eventually someone will come forward with information or Gail and/or her Jeep will be found. That is simply all that there is to it. It may take time, it may take a lot of luck and even upset a lot of people who would rather this case not even be discussed, but she will be found. When she is found, the truth will come out.

WRCBtv To Have In-Depth Story on Gail This Monday

Just a reminder as we head into the weekend: WRCB is doing a story on Gail for Monday, the 31st. They already have a promo video up on Facebook, with comments of course.

I'm not local so I will have to wait until the video goes on WRCB's website, but anyone who watches it live at 6:00 PM is more than welcome to comment here, and on BGHN too.

Governor Haslam: Please Include Gail Palmgren In The Reward Fund

According to WRCBtv's recent article, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is still reviewing Gail Palmgren's case. A few other cases in Tennessee have rewards offered by the Governor's office for anything that leads to the apprehension, arrest, and conviction of the person or group that is criminally responsible. Haslam's office still has not made a decision on whether to offer the same for information about Gail.

Tonight, I am sending a letter to Governor Haslam asking that he please offer a reward for information regarding Gail Palmgren's case. I am posting Governor Haslam's address (which is public information easily available online) for those of you who want to join me.

Office of Governor Bill Haslam
1st Floor, State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243

Bring Gail Home Now also has a reward fund set up with a little over $1,700.00 as of right now.

Gail will be found.

NEWS: Matt Palmgren Calls Police on Arlene Durham

This just in from WRCBtv, as seen on Callie Starnes' Twitter a few minutes ago:

FIRST ON 3: Husband calls police to report missing wife's friend

Matt says Arlene has been harassing him and hugging his kids without permission. I'm not making that up, go read it for yourself. The entire article is worth a read, but I'd like to point out one specific quote from Lee Davis, Matt's lawyer:

"I frankly don't trust her, I've asked the police to investigate her," said Davis, "she was, by our investigations, the last person who was with Gail Palmgren before she dropped off the kids."

Well, now we know where the attempt to make Arlene look like a suspect comes from. It's an official theory from Matt's criminal defense attorneys, apparently, and it's interesting to go back and look at the people on various forums who have been pushing this particular theory for a few months. And isn't it odd that these lawyers say there has been no crime until they want to undermine Arlene Durham's credibility?

UPDATE: The Times Free Press has an article up as of about 11:15 PM Eastern:

Palmgren claims harassment

There is a little more info on this article, which basically says Palmgren thinks Arlene hugged his kid without permission, took photos of his car, and followed him one day. He has been videotaping this:

He gave a police officer a CD with video of Durham following him. The officer reviewed the video and saw what appears to be a gold van following him, according to the report, but the officer returned the CD to Palmgren because no charges are being filed.

It's too bad Matt didn't suggest to Gail that she video the car(s) she thought were following her, maybe we wouldn't all be praying for Gail to come home if he'd suggested that instead of just dismissing her as paranoid.

We Will Never Stop Searching Slideshow

We Will Never Stop Searching Slideshow: BRING’s trip from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, United States to 3 cities Tampa, Glens Falls and Wetumpka was created by TripAdvisor.

Bring Gail Home Now has created this terrific slideshow about Gail. Check it out!

UPDATE: iMarshals is featuring Gail in their missing persons section. They are a non-profit, non-governmental organization that uses online social media, facial recognition programs, and info from the public to find fugitives and wanted criminals as well as missing people.

Wristbands For Gail Palmgren Search Efforts

BGHN has wristbands for Gail available for a $5.00 donation plus 65 cents shipping. The funds (after costs of the bands and postage) will be used to further search efforts for Gail. For more details and how to get your wristbands, read Bring Gail Home Now's discussion page here.

Balloon Release For Gail

May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the small,
The mean and the powerful,
The short and the long,
The subtle and the gross:


May all beings everywhere,
Seen and unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become:
May all be filled with lasting joy.


Let no one deceive another.
Let no one anywhere despise another.
Let no one, out of anger or resentment,
Wish suffering on anyone at all.


Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.


Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.


Then, as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.

News From the CUE Rally

Sounds like the CUE Rally was a success! Here are some news stories already out today about the event:

News Channel 9 Coverage: Search for Gail Palmgren Gains National Help

Interesting tidbit at the end of the article:

Local law enforcement officers say they'll start doing a high-angle search for any signs of Palmgren once most of the leaves fall.

WRCBtv Coverage: Signal Mountain mom featured in nationwide missing persons tour

Saturday, detectives from Signal Mountain Police Department and Hamilton County Sheriff's Office were present for the rally. It's the first time law enforcement has attended a community meeting for Gail Palmgren.

Also encouraging! Thank you law enforcement for showing us that you are paying attention!


Times Free Press: Group Spotlights Gail Palmgren Case

Also, Callie Starnes just tweeted a picture of the wristbands handed out at the rally, which you can see on this post. I'm hoping those of us who couldn't make the rally can buy some of those wristbands, maybe for a donation toward CUE.

My thoughts are with you all in Signal Mountain tonight, with Gail and her family and her friends.


UPDATE: Here's another article from the 22nd:

WDEF: Rally For Missing Gail Palmgren

CUE Rally Reminder and Open Discussion Thread

REMINDER: The CUE Road to Remember Rally is this Saturday, October 22 at 1:00 PM at the Signal Mountain Pruett's on Taft Highway.

Please feel free to use this as a discussion thread for anything you want to talk about today.

Unidentified Remains Found Tonight in Renaissance Park, Chattanooga

I just checked in on Twitter and Callie Starnes, reporter for WRCBtv, is reporting that human remains were found in Renaissance Park earlier today. UPDATE: As of about 10:55 PM Eastern time, Callie has tweeted that police believe the deceased is male.

These are her tweets, which I have put in chronological order so they're easier to read:


Callie Starnes
BREAKING: Human remains found in Renaissance Park. Kids found skull while playing. CPD says partially clothed body severely decomposed.
58 minutes ago


Callie Starnes
Headlights point to where body was discovered. twitpic.com/71xorp
57 minutes ago


Callie Starnes
Investigators can't tell if body is male or female. No items found w/body to suggest person was homeless. Taken to M.E.'s office.
50 minutes ago


Callie Starnes
@becauseofdavid at foot of Market Street Bridge near parking lot. Dozens of joggers probably pass this spot every morning.
29 minutes ago


Callie Starnes
Lots of tweets out there from people hoping for leads in Gail Palmgren case. CPD says clothing leads them to believe remains are male.
1 minute ago


Read Callie's Twitter here. If there are more tweets tonight, I will post them as well.

CUE Rally on October 22

C.U.E.'s The Road To Remember Rally National Tour 2011 will stop in Signal Mountain on October 22nd.

The event will be held from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM at Pruett's Food Town, 1210 Taft Highway in Signal Mountain. (Note this is the new updated time, it's no longer starting at noon!) C.U.E. will be spotlighting the case of Gail Nowacki Palmgren who went missing around 12:15 PM on April 30, 2011.

For more info, visit the CUE Road to Remember Rally Facebook page here.

I cannot attend as I live a few states away, but my hopes and prayers are with you all.

A Quick Websleuths Note

Websleuths made it clear that they do not want people talking about Facebook accounts or other blogs, including this one, on their thread for Gail Palmgren.

That probably means you can't use Websleuths to reply to posts on this blog, either.

Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I browsed Websleuths and found someone had responded to this blog post over there. They did not mention the blog, but their non sequitur comment with their own articles and links in the middle of people talking about other topics makes it pretty obvious what they are doing.

My big concern is that others might see what they did and believe it to be a sneaky way to get past Websleuth's rules. I wouldn't push it, personally. You never know when a Websleuths moderator will read the blog, put 2 and 2 together, and ban you for trying to circumvent their rule.

I keep mentioning these issues because I do not want anyone to get into trouble because of this blog. I doubt moderators or "that group" on Websleuths believes me, but it is the truth.

Missing Persons Cases Often Ignored

Below are several quotes from a sobering but important article published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2003. This is a very lengthy article that was originally published in 10 parts. You can find all of them at this link which starts with the first part of the article, and remaining parts are linked in order below. Quite a bit of the article is about serial killers and identifying remains, but much in the beginning is about the difficulty getting law enforcement to take missing person's reports seriously.

Note that in the article, when they say "the P-I" they mean the Post-Intelligencer, not private investigator.

The article specifically investigates cases in Washington state, but the article details problems with nationwide databases and records, so I see no reason to think the problems are confined within the borders of one state.

Some choice quotes, all from the first two parts of the article:

Because of a lack of knowledge, indifference or poor training, police officers in Washington state -- and around the nation -- routinely fail to take even the most obvious steps, conduct routine follow-ups or comply with the law when handling missing-persons cases, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found in a yearlong investigation.

"If people knew how little was done with missing-persons cases, they'd scream," said Gary Bell, forensic dentist for the Washington State Patrol's Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit.

Police consider missing-person cases a low priority, and there's no real penalty if they let them slide.

"Police departments hate missing-persons reports because they tend to be a pain in the butt," [Detective Tom Jensen, a longtime Green River Task Force member] explained. "Detectives will look for ways to dump cases so they don't have to do the follow-up work."

The P-I article describes specific problems of missing persons ignored who later turn out to be victims of serial killers:

...detectives often were overly eager to close cases on rumor or hearsay without confirming whether a missing person was really alive and well. Four women believed to be victims of the Green River Killer -- Gail Mathews, Andrea Childers, Mary Bello and Tammy Liles -- had been reported missing to various police departments. Yet their cases had been closed on the basis of unconfirmed sightings or rumors that they were alive. Investigators later learned the reports could not have been true -- the women had long been dead.

The problem of balancing respect for an adult's privacy and the possibility of foul play:

...small children don't disappear on their own. Adults are a different story. They can go and do what they please, and it's no crime if someone isn't where someone else thought they should be.


They also know, from past experience, that few missing people are victims of foul play.


In each of the past five years, the FBI reported that for every new missing-person case on the books, more than one was resolved. In 2001, for example, 841,266 cases were reported to the FBI, but 861,918 were cleared, reflecting closure of old cases.


Experts agree the number of missing adults reported each year -- almost 200,000 in 2001 -- is low because local police routinely take a wait-and-see approach. It's a matter of cost-effectiveness, they say.


"When you look at your midsize and smaller departments, probably none of them have a missing-persons unit," said Bremerton Police Capt. Craig Rogers. "With our resources, we have to make decisions on priorities and, obviously, crimes of violence are going to take top priority.


"So, when you get a missing-persons report with no obvious sign of foul play, it's probably not going to get the attention. You'd like to investigate every case, but you have to strike a balance."

---

A missing-person report is not a crime report. Nor does filing a report mean that anyone will go looking for the subject -- there's no law that says adults have to be where someone thinks they should be.


The report is a tripwire to alert police of a possible crime, and in many cases it is a way to reach across time and distance to identify any human remains that might turn up years later, hundreds of miles away.

The P-I article continues, saying that even when foul play is indicated, cases are ignored:

Through hundreds of interviews and analysis of hundreds of police reports and information in three state computer databases, the P-I found that police statewide routinely botch or ignore missing-person cases, even when there are ample indications of foul play. As a result, families have been left with unanswered questions, countless dead have been buried without a name and killers have been allowed to roam free.

This particular quote made me cringe (bolded by me):

"I don't think any law enforcement agency is going to dedicate those kind of resources to track down each and every missing person" without signs of a crime, said Bremerton Police Capt. Craig Rogers.


When asked about open cases, Rogers said: "Is it possible that some of these cases might end up with foul play involved? Anything's possible."

Sound familiar?

"If there was credible evidence to show us that we would focus on criminal activity here, perhaps we would have moved a quicker on some of these things," said Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond.

In an interview Wednesday, Hammond told Channel 3 this is still a missing persons case.

"I've seen cases strange enough where you would just swear somebody was dead to foul play and they do turn up, even years later," said Hammond, "so you can't discount that."

Gail Nowacki Palmgren was last seen on April 30 at about 12:15 p.m. while driving away from her home in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. She was driving a darker red (Red Rock Crystal Pearl) Jeep Rubicon with a Goofy tire hitch, a personalized Alabama plate that says "EAZY ST," and a black tire cover with a blue daisy and "Life Is Good" printed on it. Gail is 5 feet 8 inches, 135 pounds, blonde hair and brown eyes. If you have seen Gail or her Jeep, contact Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 423-209-8940 or call your local police. If someone may be in danger, call 911.

On Websleuths and Facebook

This is just a quick post about the recent goings-on around the web today.

There has been some behind-the-scenes grumbling that the people who run BGHN also run this blog, and that is not true. (I doubt this post will convince the grumblers otherwise, though.) I want to clarify that this blog is not officially part of the Bring Gail Home Now Facebook page. I like BGHN and support what they do, and if anyone wants to take what is posted here and also re-post it on BGHN they are absolutely welcome to do so. This blog is pro-BGHN, but we are two separate entities.

The second point: Websleuths recently shut down their thread on Gail again. When it came back up, the moderator repeatedly stated that what happens on Facebook and on "other blogs" (that would be us!) cannot be mentioned on Websleuths. If you are a Websleuths participant, please keep that in mind.

Websleuths undoubtedly means any comments, speculations, and opinions made on this blog, but since this blog also has news articles and summaries and will have a timeline (hopefully soon) I don't know how that is going to play out. I assume that if you use the resources/links on this blog for a post on Websleuths but just don't mention this blog, it should be fine.

More about Websleuths: This was brought up by a "concerned friend" (ha ha) when the blog first opened, but there is reason to believe Websleuths will ban you if they find out you post on this blog:

WS Bashing:


Threads and posts attacking WS Policies will not be allowed. Further, any member found to be bad mouthing the WS community at an outside location will have their membership blocked. If you do not care for this community, you really have no business here anyway.

If you're a Websleuths member, I want you to be fully informed before you decide to post here, and if you decide to post I highly encourage you to use a pseudonym that will not link you to WS. I encourage you to not accidentally out yourself, and of course, do not out others. One Facebook page has received warning emails from Websleuths saying they will start banning people on Websleuths for what they have said on Facebook.

Personally, I think that Websleuths is morally and ethically out of bounds with their attempt to control discussion on unrelated websites. I completely recognize Websleuths' right to have any rules they want, but I do feel that Websleuths cannot and should not be trying to control what people say on Facebook, Blogger, or any other website. As I mentioned before, they would have to sleuth their own members to determine a connection, which seems a little creepy to be honest.

One of the reasons I started this blog is that I believe people need an outlet to vent their frustrations. This blog seems to have become an outlet for those who think something hinky is going on at Websleuths. As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to discuss it all you want. Websleuths disagrees, and if you're a member of Websleuths, you need to be aware of that.

This blog isn't only about venting our spleens. We're all here because of Gail Palmgren, and tomorrow I will be posting a discussion topic that I hope you will all join in on.