The Tolland County 6

  

 

Debbie Spickler 13, missing from Rockville/Vernon, since July, 24 1968

Irene Larosa 17, Missing from Ellington, CT since March 1971

Janice Pockett 7, missing from Tolland, CT since July 26, 1973

Lisa White. 13 Missing from Rockville/Vernon, CT since Nov 1^st 1974

Susan La Rosa Missing from Rockville/Vernon, CT since June 22, 1975

Patrica Luce Missing from Rockville/Vernon, CT since July 18, 1978

Debbie Spickler and Janice Pockett.

I consider Debbie Spickler’s case and Janice Pockett’s case as the outliers in the Tolland County 6. As far as connections to the other cases that I listed, the only real connections that I have found are they all happened around the same general time and in the same general area. However, both cases seem to also have something that seems to set them apart. In the case of Debbie Spickler it seems to happen years before the others, and Janice Pockett seems too young to fit the victim profile. If not for both of the factors, I think I would be calling this post the Rockville 4. I think that you will see what I mean.

Debbie Spickler. 

 

Debbie Spickler 13, would go missing from Henry park in Vernon on July 24, 1968.

 

The area where Debbie Spickler went missing. The white dot on the lower right is 1/2 Fox hill Dr. where she was staying.

While there isn’t a lot of information on this case, Debbie was staying at a relative's house at ½ Fox Hill Dr the day that she went missing. It has been said that Debbie and her cousin were said to be looking for a friend that day. Eventually splitting up to try and find the person. Debbie was last seen walking towards the pool in Henry Park. Debbie has not been seen since.

Janice Pockett

 

janice Pockett.

Janice Pockett would go missing on July 26, 1973, not far from her home in Tolland, CT. After returning from the grocery store, Janice and her sister got into an argument over the color of toothbrushes that they had bought. Not long after that, Janice asked her mother if she could go down the street to collect a dead butterfly that she had hidden under a rock. This was near the intersection of Rhodes Rd and Anthony Rd. According to her sister, this was like a perfect butterfly. Wings and all still intact. They had found it on an earlier walk with their mother, and Jancie had placed it under a rock so that she come back and get it. Her mother told her to go and get the butterfly and come right back. Giving her a white envolpe to put the butterfly in. This was the last time that anyone would see Janice.

The intersection of Anthony and Rhodes Rd where Janice went missing. Here house is one of the first few on the right side of Anthony Rd. Brice Grove Primary school was not built until 1999

Tolland, Ct. The white dot is the intersection of Anthony and Rhodes Rd, where Janice went missing.

The two points on here show the distance between where Janice Pocket went missing and where Debbie Spickler went missing.

Janice's mother would eventually go and look for her with her sister. Finding Janice's bike laying on the ground, and no Janice. The police were called and searches began. Eventually, a witness came forward saying that they were going to the store that day. One of the neighbors, Nancy McDonald. She said she was traveling west on Rhodes road. When she came to the intersection of Anthony and Rhodes Road, there was a station wagon parked across the dirt road, so she could not continue down Rhodes road. She was forced to take a left and head to the store by going down Anthony Rd. It was a blue 4 door station wagon, and there was man about 6'2 skinny with a receding hairline near the car. The man that she saw was in a also green khaki uniform that Nancy said "workers" wore at the time. A quick google search of this type of uniform and the time period brings up a lot of military clothing. However, both protesters and active military had worn this type of clothing back then. This isn't what she describes, but it was a popular color back then.

Since I don’t live far from here, I made the half hour or so drive to Tolland so see the lay of the land for my self. The impression that I came away with was that this area was what I would call “the middle of nowhere.” Though the intersection where Janice went missing is just a little over a mile off of the main road, you have to remember that this is the main road of a farming town. If 84 even existed at this time, it was a fairly new highway. The Birch Grove Primary School near the intersection where she went missing wouldn’t be built until 1999.

Also, if you really look at the map there is only really 4 ways in and out of this area. This is why the only witness to Janice's disappearance turned and went down Anthony Rd instead of Rhodes Road. Couple that with the fact that Janice went missing around 3:30 in the afternoon and the man who was seen around the time that she went missing was wearing a uniform, it makes me wonder a few things. Did the person who took Janice get out of work, and just happen to see her on their way home? If so, is it possible that the person lived in the area, and that Janice still might not be all that far from home?

The Rockville 4.

 

I generally like to cover cases in chronological order because sometimes going over the events as they happen can revel clues. With all the odd connections between the next four cases, I decided not to cover it that way. This is also why I listed the cases at the top of the post. So you could quickly reference who went missing and when.

Lisa White.

On October 31, 1974, Lisa was picked up by her mother at the State Police station. She had been caught with her friend Maria and a couple of guys throwing pumpkins out of the window of a car on Interstate 84 near the Massachusetts border. Her mother grounded her and told her that she wasn't to see anyone that she had gotten into trouble with. On November 1st, Lisa waited for her mother to go to work before making the trip on foot from her home one Regan Rd, (Not to be confused with Regan St which is much closer) to her friend Maria's on Prospect street.

 

Approximate distance from Lisa White house on Regan Rd to her friend Maria's house on Prospect st. Note where Rockville Pharmacy is as well. It will be important in the next case.

 

According to Maria on the Paper Ghost's podcast, Lisa wanted to apologize to Maria's parents about getting her into trouble. Since Maria's mother wasn't home, and her father asleep, Lisa left a note for them. At some point that night, Lisa said goodbye to Maria and headed home. It was the last time anyone would see Lisa White.

The distance between Lisa White and Debbie Spickler's disappearances. The red boundary is Rockville, which is a section of Vernon, Ct.

Susan LaRosa.

 

Susan LaRosa.

 

Seven months after Lisa White went missing, Susan LaRosa 20, would go missing after leaving her home on Ward St in downtown Rockville on July 22, 1975. According to her husband Bob LaRosa, Susan left in the evening to go to the pharmacy. She was going to get formula and call her mother from the payphone. This is something that Susan would do every day. 

 

The distance from Ward St to the pharmacy. Walking this direction takes you past where Maria lived on Prospect St, where Lisa White was last seen. Maria, Lisa White's friend, also used to babysit for Susan LaRosa.

 

Bob Larosa was the last person to see Susan alive. Bo LaRosa also used to live next to Lisa White on Regan Rd.

Irene LaRosa.

 

Irene LaRosa missing since 1971.

 

Again, the connections to these cases can be a bit hard to follow, so reference the timeline if it gets too confusing.

Irene LaRosa is the sister of Bob LaRosa. Irene went missing sometime in 1971, and it was not reported to police for 45 years. During the research into one of the podcast's that covers these cases, Irene's niece would discover this, and finally report her missing. While there are rumors that she might have run away, her connection to Bob LaRosa, whose wife would go missing 4 years later, at least deserves a mention.

 

Patricia Luce

 

Patricia Luce went missing from 7-11 in Rockville. Just two months after Susan LaRosa's body was found on May 23, 1978. Near I86 (now I84) in Vernon.

This shows Ward St where Susan LaRosa went missing on the far right. Going down Prospect st where Lisa White went missing. Past the 7-11 where Patricia Luce was last seen. The end point on the left being the Pharmacy, where Susan LaRosa was heading.

 

Patricia Luce was dropped off at the 7-11 by her brother David Luce on July 18, 1978. thier parents were out of town, and her brother had just gotten his new Motorcycle on the road. While he was somewhat hesitant to leave her there, she said that she would be fine. He wouldn't figure out until trying to go home later that night that something was wrong. He had tried to get into the house, but it was still locked. Patti had the only key. When he had dropped her off at the 7-11, it was the last time that she was seen alive. Her body being found in Marlboro, Ct March 13, 1979.

 

One of the more interesting connections in these cases is that Lisa White and Patricia Luce were on the same Cheerleading team. 

 

Lisa White and Patricia Luce on the same cheerleading team.

Inclusion and exclusion.

There are a lot of theories about which of these cases might be connected and which might not be. The Paper Ghost's Podcast goings further into detail about these cases, including a lot of interviews with family members and witnesses from the days that this happened. It focuses a lot on the possibility of Bob LaRosa being involved in more than just the case of his wife going missing. Paper Ghost's makes a great point though about inclusion and exclusion. No matter what, you can not seem to include or exclude a case from another. Even down to Janice Pockett who was 5 miles away, in the middle of nowhere. As reported from the Paper Ghost's podcast. Bob LaRosa got rid of a station wagon, and some of his green Khaki clothes.

Patricia Luce's case was covered in the Crossing the Line podcast, which was also by M. William Phelps who also did the Paper Ghost's Podcast.

  

 Sources and further Reading.

Paper Ghosts Podcast.

Crossing the line Podcast.

News Paper Clippings.

 

Where is Vanessa Morales?

On Friday November 29^th 2019 Christine Holloway picked up her New used 2017 Ford Focus from the dealership with her daughter Vanessa Morales, and her boyfriend Jose Morales. After leaving the dealership they stopped at Jose’s parents house in New Haven. While I am not sure for the reason or duration of that visit from there Christine and Vanessa went back to 6 ½ Myrtle Ave in Ansonia, Ct. While Jose left and went to a guy named Hector’s.The reason for going to Hector’s apartment was so that the two of them could go to Bridgeport, Ct to pick up some PCP. Then they returned to Hector’s apartment and smoked some of the drug. Around 10 that Friday night Jose got a phone call and left to head to Christine's house in Ansonia, Ct.

There is no way to know exactly what happened in 6 ½ Myrtle Ave after this because the only person who really knows the answers to that question is Jose Morales. What we do know is that Christine stopped communicating not communicated with anyone via her phone starting on Saturday November 30^th. The day after getting her new car. This is one of those things that is hard to wrap your mind around. I know personally that if I got a new car I would have at least made an excuse to drive it to the store, but I guess that everyone is different. Like I said the only person that really knows is Jose Morales and he doesn’t come off exactly truthful.

Come Monday morning December 2, 2019 Christine nor Vanessa showed up to the day care where Christine was employed, and Vanessa where Vanessa attended. After her coworkers not being able to get a hold of her, Ansonia police were called to do a welfare check on her home at 6 ½ Myrtle Ave. Which is small apartment above a garage that she rented. Which had it’s own private entrance. Body cam footage shows Christine’s new Ford Focus parked outside, however no one answered the door. Police would end up leaving and contacting the Christine’s family. It was shortly after police left 6 ½ Myrtle Ave that Jose was seen leaving by a neighbor.

Around 7:30 that night Christine’s Brother and his Girlfriend showed up to the Ansonia police department stating that they had not been able to get a hold of Christine. They told police that they had gone to Jose’s parents house to ask if he had seen Christine. To which Jose said that he had seen Christine and Vanessa leave that morning for daycare, and he left at the same time. After 8 pm that night Police gained entry into 6 ½ Myrtle Ave and found Christine's lifeless body. Eventually Jose would be taken in and questioned before being arrested and ultimately charged with Christine Holloway's murder. To this day Vanessa has never been found.

This is where things start to get a little strange. During the investigation it was found that Jose had called 911 at 1:52am on Sunday 12/1/2019. The only thing that can be heard is Jose saying Myrtle Ave into the phone. After the call was enhanced a females voice can be heard in the background saying “Stop. Hang up. Who are you calling?” Between Vanessa being missing still, and this phone call, it may be possible that she is still alive.

But maybe not. In this laypersons opinion I am not convinced that Jose is the type of person who would be able to hand off a child to someone, and that it has been kept a secret for nearly 5 years now. Nor do I think he would have sold her because he didn’t run. I could be wrong, but he just doesn’t come off that way. What I think he did was try to rip off someone for drugs

What I speculate is that he had called someone for drugs with no intention of paying them. When they started beating the crap out of him he called 911 and was saying “Myrtle Avenue” so the cops would come to that area and scare the people off. Jose would eventually tell the police that people had tried to enter the apartment at 6 ½ Myrtle Ave and beat him up. Which is why he had called 911. With all of the other things that he was lying about, I doubt that anyone tried to attack him inside of his apartment. Also that Sunday he would be seen at a gas station where his card was declined for a pack of cigarettes. I mean if you had come to, why didn’t you report the attack on Sunday, or Monday?

This is one of those situations where dumb luck seems to be at play. If you have never read into the Case of Jenifer Kesse, there is a perpetrator seen dropping off her car on video, however in all of the frames, their face just happens to be blocked by a fence. The woman who can be heard on the 911 call might be a person who won’t come forward because they could be arrested for dealing drugs. Giving Jose room to create doubt. This is one of those things that I think the state would give immunity for testifying against him, but that is just an opinion.

Without that person coming forward, or Vanessa being found, this could make it rather difficult for the state to gain justice to the level that is appropriate. For what happened to Christine at the very least. While I hope that Vanessa is still alive, I wonder if Jose did something else to her.

Whatever happened to Vanessa, if she lived or is something else, she should be placed with her mother, or back into the hands of people that Christine trusted. Everyday since that weekend is just another theft of a mothers love for her child, and needs of a child for that love. It is an act of selfishness for both Jose and the woman on the 911 call not to be truthful with police.

I hope one day that Vanessa is found.

Thanks for reading,

Phoenix.

 

Billy Smolinski. Missing since 2004.

I want to start here with this just because it is note worthy. This is the first and only case that I have found where I have heard anything like this. Here is a person’s mother looking for their child, and here is Billy Smolinski’s most recent ex-girlfriend, who is a mother of 5, ripping down his missing posters. Billy Smolinski’s mother would eventually get arrested for harassing her sons former girlfriend for get this…. Putting up the missing posters…... to harass her. I still to this day find it shocking.

Let’s get into Billy’s case a little more before we come back to this because the case in itself is pretty strange. So since I started at sort of a middle point, let me dial this all the way back because this case usually told from the perspective of LE. What I mean by that is the investigation starts a few days after he was last seen, and that is not for a lack of trying on the family’s part.

So what I have gathered about Billy was that he was a hard working car guy. Usually had more than one job, and also buying cars on the side, fixing them up and then selling them. He was 31 at the time he went missing and owned his own home. He had separated from his long time girlfriend Mary Ellen Noble a year or more before which was described as mutual. Since Billy and Mary Ellen Noble had gotten the dog while they were together, Billy would call her to take care of the dog while he was away. (This is significant because mary Ellen Noble was watching the dog while Billy and Madeline were on vacation in Florida.

One of Billy’s jobs was working at a bus company. Whether or not they had met while working at the bus company together I am unsure of that fact, but they did work there together at the bus company during their relationship. What makes this significant is that Madeline (Billy’s more recent girlfriend) had been cheating on him with their boss from the bus company Chris. From what I gather Billy had been suspicious of at least her cheating on him, however I am unsure if he knew it was Chris.

What we do know is that shortly before Billy went missing he had been on a vacation with Madeline in Florida. It was expressed by Billy’s family that they were surprised that Billy even went because he didn’t travel all that much. It was during this trip to Florida that Billy would catch Madeline getting phone calls from Chris while they were on vacation. Billy even at one point supposedly took her phone, and Madeline started yelling for the police. While I am sure there are other details to this, Billy cut his vacation short and came home. It seems as though Madeline’s vacation ended at the same time.

According to Madeline, in the early morning of August 24^th, 2004 Billy showed up to Madeline’s house at around 4 am, put a ladder up to her window to talk to her. According to Madeline Billy wanted to get back together, which she said either no, or that she she had to think about it.

Sometime in the afternoon Billy made three calls to Chris, the last one leaving a voicemail that said “Chris, you better watch your back at all times.”

Later on August 24^th, Billy would end up going to Burger King and get a Whopper meal at 2:59 pm. Sometime after that he asked his neighbor Roy if he could watch his dog while he went “up north for three days” to look at a car he was thinking about buying. This would be the last time that anyone was known to have talked to Billy Smolinski.

Billy’s family would try and file a report right away, but since Billy was an adult, and he had told someone that he was leaving, LE made them wait until August 27^th to declare Billy missing.

In the following year not only would Madeline get caught tearing down his missing posters, and at some point Billy’s mother would get arrested for harassing Madeline. In January of 2005 Madeleine son Shaun Karpiuk, would die from an overdose. After doing a deeper dive into this case there are a few more people who died around this case that at the very least raises a few eye brows. Even someone who has told police he knew were Billy was buried, and the police even doing a few digs. Though I am not going to get into that now to keep this post simple and make my points.

None of this makes any sense.

For one, Billy had just asked Mary Ellen Noble to watch his dog while he went to Florida with another woman. Why would Billy ask his neighbor Roy, who it has been expressed by some that Billy didn’t like Roy. So knowing all of that, why wouldn’t he call Mary Ellen again to watch his dog? She had been watching the dog for him two or three days before that…..

Secondly, how is it that Billy drives over to Madeleine’s house in the middle of the night and gets a ladder to put it up to her window to talk to her, but has no problem calling Chris at work to threaten him? This would mean Billy got up in the middle of the night, drove to her house in a different town, either found the ladder or brought it with him (because he knew the doors would be locked??? Or as if they dated for a year and he didn’t have a key???)

So this is where I am going to get into pure speculation. Not to try and sway anyone to think what I think, but just to get a little more attention to Billy’s case.

If you have ever had a drug person in your family you would know what I am talking about. It is a disease that causes people to do things they normally wouldn’t do if they weren’t addicted to drugs. Especially heroin. This is a reason to keep your doors locked. Things sometimes just disappear and suddenly someone has money for drugs and you don’t see them for a week.

Now here is Billy, a car guy that always has a car in the yard that he is working on, probably sells them for cash. Might even keep cash in the house. Might of even had a wad of cash on him that he expected to spend on vacation in Florida.

So let me ask you, what seems more probable. Billy showing up to Madeleine’s house in the middle of the night and getting a ladder? Or her son, who probably couldn’t afford a cell phone, going to his mother for help, and putting the ladder up (probably because he knew where it was kept) and getting her attention for one reason or another?

So let me ask this. Is it possible that Madeleine was tearing down Billy’s missing posters to protect her own son? Is it possible that over the year that Billy and Madeleine dated, that Shaun and Billy became friends and Shaun knew where Billy kept cash in the house?

Either way, Billy’s mother is still trying to get attention to her sons case. So thank you for taking the time to read this.

Is it possible that D.B. Cooper lived?

 

The basics of what we already know.

On November the 24^th, 1971 a man identifying himself only as Dan Cooper bought a ticket at the airport in Portland going for a short jump up to Seattle, Washington. Once in the air, he gave one of the flight attendants a note saying that he had a bomb, and that he wanted her to come and sit next to him. Over the next few hours he would keep the passengers completely in the dark about what was going on, as well as write notes for some of his demands, and had the presence of mind to ask for them back afterwards. It also seems as though he knew never to go near the cockpit, perhaps that is because he had some knowledge of cockpit voice recorders.

He demanded 200k in cash and 4 parachutes. He had the plane stay in the sky while the FBI gathered the money and the parachutes. DB Cooper had the 727 stay at the end of the runway and keep all the shades on the plane closed. It was also at this time the plane got fuel. Long story short eventually the Cooper was satisfied that he had gotten what he demanded he released the passengers. After arguing about leaving the staircase down before takeoff, it remained closed and one of the flight attendants showed him how to open it.

He told the pilots to fly at a certain hight, and at a certain speed. Eventually opening the door and jumping from the plane.

While I could go into more detail here, I would rather get to the speculation. There is a lot of great information out there that is not going to biased like my opinion. Season 1 Episode 5 of the old Robert Stack Unsolved Mysteries does a great reenactment of the events for its time, and even has interviews with some of the flight attendants that spoke directly with DB Cooper. For more in depth information about this case I would start there.

The speculation…….

John Douglas, the FBI agent and the author of Mindhunter, picked up from a bank robber that he was selective about choosing which banks to rob. He called this in some way profiling, and he applied the idea to serial offenders. With a lot of success and has left me wondering a bunch of times after reading his book, how did he fucking that…. Like the double breasted suit. How?

Anyway, not to get to off topic.

Have you ever put yourself there? Walking down this stair case, 10,000 feet above the earth, going around 200 mph. How the fuck did he even know where he was?

Now lets go back to the profiling. What if he did know where he was? Then is that possible?

I recently watched the series band of brothers. If you haven’t seen it I can promise you this, you will go through a world of emotions contemplating what these people went through. It also gives you that glimpse into being there. Inside one of those “flying tin cans” with a parachute strapped to your back, at night so the enemy cant see you. Way back in the 1940’s when things weren't don’t by sophisticated computers. Relaying on a navigator to go by land marks of light, the speed of the plane and a compass to gather your location. Letting you know when it is time to jump to coordinate your movements with others on the ground. We did in fact train people to do this.

Now this is 1971, the estimates of Coopers age was mid 40’s. Even at 45 in 1971, would make you 15 in 1941. Which is the same year as Pearl Harbor. Since this is a guess of his age, lets just say he was 17? Cooper could have joined the military any time after Pearl Harbor, as people were known to lie about their age to be able to serve.

So if DB Cooper was a navigator in World War 2 and had lived through however many flights, he was probably really good at it, and also trained to be able to jump out of a plane going this speed. With actual jumps under his belt as well.

If you consider this with some of things that were going on around that time with some of things he said it makes you wonder. Boeing at that time was laying off thousands in the Seattle area. If you were consider that not only this person might have been ex military, and worked at a Boeing factory for 20 plus years after the war only to get laid off, you might have a grudge. Which is maybe why he said “I don’t have a grudge with your airline, I just have a grudge.”

To be clear I am not saying this is what happened, but after all of these years it might be valid to ask these questions. So my other question I wanted to speculate on is, did he live?

The money found on Tena Bar may shed some insight that speaks to if Cooper lived. Along with the fact that they never found him, and he even may have sent a letter to the press saying he was on some island.

The 3 wads of cash were all found together on Tena bar in Washington. The cash was bound separately in 3 piles with three rubber bands. They were not bound together. Which logic dictates that it is more probable that it was placed there by someone rather than floated down the river. Also there were some tests about how long the rubber bands could have gone in that environment without breaking down, and it was only a couple of years.

So to me it at least seems possible that the money was keep from the elements for a significant time before being placed there intentionally to be found. I would guess intentionally for a couple of reasons. One to let people know that he lived and/or to see if he could ever actually spend the money.

Thanks for reading.