Archive for the ‘Missing Persons Investigations’ Category

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Cops: Powell Planned Murder-Suicide – Took Hatchet to Kid’s Necks

By Dawn in Crime, Investigations, Missing Persons Investigations, MSI Detective Services, murder, Violence at February 7th, 2012 | No comments

 

 

 

 

 

The case of the Utah missing woman, Susan Powell, has been in the news for over two years. Child custody battles between the father of the children, Josh Powell, and Susan’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, have also been going on for years.

Apparently no one but the Coxes, Susan’s parents, could have predicted that things could only get worse – much worse.

Josh Powell left a voicemail for family members saying he couldn’t live without the boys and didn’t want to go on anymore. Then on Sunday, he set his house ablaze and killed himself and his two young sons.

Although Josh Powell painted himself as a tortured man, ridiculed without reason in the disappearance of his wife, the investigation and autopsy reports released showed the acts of a violent man who meticulously planned the double murder-suicide of himself and his two young sons.

Powell’s horrific murder-suicide seemed to come out of nowhere. Just days before, in a motion seeking custody of his children filed with a Washington state court, Powell said he missed his wife, and would remain strong for the boys. Things changed dramatically when the judge ruled against him, ordering the children to remain with Susan Powell’s parents for now.

On Sunday, Powell’s boys came for a routine supervised visit. They ran ahead, the social worker falling behind. Powell then locked the door, used a hatchet on his kids, and lit the house on fire. Powell and both boys died of smoke inhalation, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.

However, they also suffered “chop injuries” that contributed to their deaths — 7-year-old Charles was struck on his neck and 5-year-old Braden had injuries to both his head and neck, Baker said. Read the full article »

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Missing Cruise Ship Passenger Turns up Safe in Germany

By Dawn in Investigations, Missing Persons, Missing Persons Investigations, MSI Detective Services, witness statement at January 18th, 2012 | No comments

 

 

 

 

 

A German woman listed as missing from the Costa Concordia was located alive in Germany.

According to the Associated Press, Gertrud Goergens alerted police in Germany that she was alive and well. Goergens was removed from the official list of missing late Wednesday. There are still twenty-three passengers and three crew members missing.

Eleven bodies have been recovered. Currently, only one has been publicly identified as being crew member Sandor Feher, 38, of Hungary. The adult bodies, believed to be passengers, were all wearing life jackets and were found in the rear of the ship near an emergency evacuation point.

Jozsef Balog, a pianist who worked with Feher who was a violinist, told the Budapest newspaper Blikk that Feher was wearing a life-jacket when he decided to return to his cabin to pack his violin. Feher was last seen on deck en route to a lifeboat. According to Balog, Feher helped put life-jackets on several crying children before returning to his cabin.

I believe one thing that caught the attention of viewers as this story aired was how close the ship was to land. Read the full article »

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Va. College Student Visiting NYC Vanishes

By Dawn in Locate Investigations, Missing Persons, Missing Persons Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Private Investigator at January 12th, 2012 | No comments

Ian Burnet

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ian Burnet studies engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. He came to New York City to celebrate the New Year holiday with friends and has been missing since Dec. 30 – no one has heard from him. Sources say the 22-year-old has a history of suicide attempts, according to NBC New York.

Ian left his Richmond, Va., home the day after Christmas and took a bus to New York. He was planning to rent an apartment for a week with friends, authorities said.

According to The New York Daily News, Burnet’s last known contact was a text with a friend on Dec. 30. He was seen that afternoon at the apartment where he had been staying on 139th St. and Riverside Drive. He left without his cell phone and did not say where he was going.

Ian’s mother, Nancy Burnett, said, “It’s completely out of character. We have no reason to think that he would do something like this.” The last time she heard from her son was via text on Dec. 27, after he visited Central Park, she said.

Concerned family and friends utilized Facebook and the online community Reddit to spread the word about Burnet’s disappearance. Burnet’s older brother Jamie, a Reddit user, responded to one user who asked, “Have you ever thought he DOESN’T want to be found?” and said, “Yes. There’s a very real possibility that he took his own life, and I’m trying not to think about it. He has a history of depression, and there have been scares before. But he didn’t leave any last messages behind, which would be extremely uncharacteristic … I’m hoping that’s not the case.” Read the full article »

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Iran Court Sentences Former U.S. Marine to Death

By Dawn in Investigations, Missing Persons Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Politics at January 9th, 2012 | No comments

 

Amir Hekmati

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Iranian court has convicted an Iranian-American man of spying for the CIA and sentenced him to death, Iranian state news media reported Monday.

The alleged spy is 28 year-old Amir Mirzaei Hekmati. Hekmati ”has 20 days to appeal the court’s decision, which comes at a time of increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington,” according to a report in the Washington Post.

Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine Arabic language translator in Iraq, was born in Arizona and raised in Michigan. His family in Michigan, former colleagues and American government officials say Hekmati never served in the CIA and was in Iran to visit his grandmother.

Hekmati’s parents said they “are shocked and terrified” by the news, his mother Behnaz Hekmati wrote at the website they’ve set up to advocate for Amir’s release, FreeAmir. Hekmati’s father Ali is a professor of biology at a Flint Michigan community. “We believe that this verdict is the result of a process that was neither transparent nor fair.”

“Amir did not engage in any acts of spying, or ‘fighting against God,’ as the convicting Judge has claimed in his sentence,” his mother’s post continues. “A grave error has been committed, and we have authorized our legal representatives to make direct contact with the Iranian authorities to find a solution to this misunderstanding.”

Hekmati’s family said he had the permission of the Iranian interests section–the U.S. based diplomatic outpost for the Islamic republic–in Washington D.C. to travel to Iran in August to visit his elderly grandmother. After his arrest on August 29, Iranian officials told the family to keep quiet in order to facilitate his release.

However, in December, Iranian state media aired video of Hekmati allegedly confessing to having worked as a CIA agent. His family and friends vehemently deny these charges and said it appears he had given that “confession” under extreme duress. This would not be the first time an American was accused of spying in Iran, supposedly confessed and was put through a Kangaroo Court. Read the full article »

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