The latest update in the trial re Ryan Guitron: Kelly Meehan pleaded not guilty to his murder. Her boyfriend Vencil Leo Ash III has requested that some evidence against him is suppressed. Judge Weimer denied that request. Jury trial will start June 25, 2012. Guitron, an oil field worker, was last seen in Fort Collins about […]
Missing Persons
Justice for Joe Helt by Silvia Pettem
Joe Helt was last seen on January 16, 1987. The 17-year-old high school junior from Ellenville, New York, disappeared after a party at an abandoned ski lodge. One account states that he got a ride with three other teens, their car got stuck in the snow, and Joe decided to walk home. According to various […]
Book alert: “Cold a Long Time: An Alpine Mystery” by John Leake
“Cold a Long Time: An Alpine Mystery” about Duncan MacPherson by author John Leake is my new “must read” for this summer. Duncan Alvin MacPherson (Feb 3, 1966 – Aug 9, 1989), a Canadian professional ice hockey player, went missing during a short stay in Austria. John emailed to give me the heads up about the book. I scanned […]
Joseph Halpern Part 3 by Silvia Pettem
Joseph’s nephew had started his search for his uncle, Joseph Halpern, missing since 1933, by contacting the sheriffs’ offices in the four Colorado counties that border Rocky Mountain National Park. The nephew asked about unidentified remains that might be identifiable with DNA comparisons. In 2009, when the NamUs System was inaugurated, the nephew, as a […]
Joseph Halpern Part 2 by Silvia Pettem
For six days in August 1933, park authorities searched drainages and followed all possible trails for the missing 22-year-old hiker, Joseph Halpern. Authorities also checked the registers on Taylor and nearby peaks, but none showed Joseph’s signature––a customary procedure for climbers, once they reach a summit. Perhaps trying to be encouraging, a writer for the […]
Joseph Halpern Part 1 by Silvia Pettem
In the summer of 1933, twenty-two-year-old Cook County, Illinois, resident Joseph Halpern was vacationing in Rocky Mountain National Park with his parents and Samuel Garrick, a college friend. The motorists had driven Joseph’s Ford sedan and had stopped in the Black Hills and at Yellowstone National Park on their way west. Even though the country […]
The Beaumont Children: 1966 – 2012
Forty-six years ago, Jim and Nancy Beaumont were confronted with a nightmare that has been ongoing ever since. Their beloved children, all three of their children, vanished without a trace. It broke their hearts, their hopes, and their marriage. Over the years, South Adelaide Police did investigate more leads. They checked into child serial rapist […]
Willeke Dost: the latest
The Ducth prosecution announced the foster parents of Willeke Dost are no longer suspects. The court in the city of Assen had told the prosecution that if they wanted to prosecute the foster mother and foster brother, it had to do so before Jan 1, 2012. Right now there does not seem to be enough evidence against […]
Help find Aeryn Gillern
In October 2007, retired policewoman Kathy Gilleran received a call from Vienna, Austria, informing her that her 34-year-old son, Aeryn Gillern, was missing. Kathy immediately flew overseas to aid in the search for Aeryn Gillerner, but upon arriving in Vienna, she was shocked to learn that the local police had no interest in pursuing the case. Aeryn Gillern, a […]
Guest Post: “There are monsters that walk among us”
Guest Post: “There are monsters that walk among us” by Darren Bruce. Darren is a married father of three and has been a police officer for seventeen years. “I am a Detective Sergeant who has taken on various roles and am soon to undertake a change to run a Serious Sexual Offences Investigation Team. Over the years […]






