CUE Center “2012 Family Photo”

This writer was “waiting on the last train to Georgia…or rather… the next plane to Connecticut” trying to put all of the visual and emotional pieces together of this inspiring experience.

Southern hospitality… conversations frequently peppered with “Y’all” which was somewhat foreign to this Yankee girl…but nice just the same….   Ladyjustice was taken into the fold right away.  The Searcher, Monica Caison wasted no time recruiting her volunteer help…. [This was LJ’s kind of place already!]  After a day of air travel, the pajamas and an old episode of “Law and Order” on the tube would have to wait… There was work to be done….’Lots of work! The behind the scenes hustle ‘n bustle of activity and fatigue on the dedicated volunteers faces was starting to show with general craziness or short fuses…. But all was well… They’d work out the kinks and put out the fires somehow…

Collating program books, making badges, filling CUE Center tote bags with an endless array of “necessary trinkets” emblazoned with the cool CUE Center logo on the  red or black bags…and lined along the walls of a back corridor, was quite a sight! Seeing the endless array of donated homemade food items reminded LJ of a home style wedding preparations with every family member and neighbor making their prized dish!   It was a whirlwind of activity with setting up meeting rooms, audiovisual checks, practice presentations, frantic calls…. all going on simultaneously!  During the Conference, there were endless gift bags and raffle tickets which is the mainstay of fundraising for non-profit organizations.

One hundred seventy to two hundred registrants were crammed into the Holiday Inn with a jam packed agenda… Somehow it all worked with an army of hardworking volunteers. Many CUE Center volunteers are family members of the missing… and forever after their experience, are recruited and become recruiters.  Victims-volunteer’s faces and their big hearted natures tell the story.  They may be waiting in limbo for more work on their cold cases, or… they may have been inspired by others…or, as one fresh faced volunteer reported to Ladyjustice, a sole missing poster on the grocery store window gave her the impetus to do something!

Another soft-spoken woman, a teacher from Raleigh, saw Monica Caison on the news and decided to investigate, as her son demonstrated behavioral changes as a college student, pitched a tent on the beach… and then disappeared again… ten years ago.   Was it foul play? Was it mental illness?  She was looking for direction.  She gave herself permission to acknowledge denial. She may have had an epiphany and wholeheartedly participated in every activity during the Conference!   She wanted to learn…  Such grace… Such a wonderful woman! She had found a new family and a safety net.

“The Wall” honoring the missing

There were many impressive speakers covering topics of personal stories of the missing- (Literally from the mountain top – a hiker, to those of who were killed and abandoned at a former housing site); Presenters on intimate partner homicide, forensic anthropology, gangs – the forgotten youth, the aftermath of crime, legal matters in death declaration, building public awareness and being media savvy, hearing the perspective of a true crime writer and sonar training….and a heart wrenching candlelight vigil/unveiling of this year’s missing person’s wall.   HOWEVER, nothing quite captures the essence of CUE’s mission like the vital connections made in the pursuit of saving lives.  Little did attendees know what would happen…?

Like Clockwork:

A day of boating on Lake Robinson near the Darlington/Chesterfield line in North Carolina turned into tragedy.  Seven young men in their late 20’s and early 30’s went boating on a pontoon boat on Friday night, March 23^rd.  South Carolina Now.com and WISTV news articles reported that they started across the lake and “the boat motor ran hot and cut off.” Following this, each of the friends drifted and jumped into the water to cool off.  Over a course of time, five of the seven men surfaced, the boat most likely drifted away and they noted that the other two, Casey Lloyd and Andrecia Jarod Delaine did not surface and ultimately drowned.  One friend, Gene Johnson was distraught over their efforts to save their friends.  Gene, in fact, was rescued after his dog jumped in the water to save him.  Reportedly, an investigation was ongoing to determine if this situation was accidental, or to rule out criminality. Toxicology reports were also pending on the two men who died.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Chesterfield County Sheriff’s office began the four day search… However, there is a back story… Reinforcements were needed… vital resources that only the CUE Center could provide….  According to Connie Braddock, a State Coordinator for CUE, and a Search and Rescue Technician, the set of circumstances played out like neatly stacked dominoes to result in a valiant search and rescue mission.  Captain Andy Locklear of the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office happened to be attending the vigil to accept CUE’s “Keeper of the Flame” award on behalf of the Michelle Haggadon family.  He learned of the tragedy unfolding.  He knew they needed resources and manpower. Some of those resources were not available to him had it not been for the CUE! Coincidentally, Chuck Elgin, a presenter and expert on sonar equipment and techniques was utilized immediately.  Not only that… but Robin Moore’s skilled cadaver dog, Roscoe from Tennessee was also in attendance and they were deployed to the scene. Although other rescuers from CUE were weary, they too made the 2  1/2 hour trek to the scene to assist local investigators.

Connie stated that the necessary components of a search of this kind include “ground pounders” (i.e. searchers on foot), mounted horses, land dogs, water dogs, ATVs (all terrain vehicles), divers and sonar equipment.

In the end, it was the combined effort of divers, searchers, trained dogs and sonar equipment that brought the situation to a resolution.  Although the outcome was bittersweet – tragic for those lost and relief for those saved, the heart of the operation was “the CUE CENTER Machine.”  Monica and company sprang into action and it worked “like clockwork”… and that is the point!  For Ladyjustice, this is the essence of CUE and “the ribbon on the gift” of such an inspiring conference!

Ladyjustice encourages all readers to make a donation to this wonderful non-profit organization at:

Community United Effort (C.U.E.) Center for Missing Persons

PO Box 12714 Wilmington, North Carolina 28405

Office (910) 343-1131

24-Hour Line (910) 232-1687

Fax Line (910) 399-6137 Email: cuecenter@aol.com

http://donnagore.com/2012/03/30/reflections-on-the-8th-annual-cue-center-for-the-missing-conference/

Trooper Frederick F. Guthrie Jr.

Badge #1322

On August 1, 2011, Trooper Frederick F. Guthrie Jr., 46, of Platte City, MO, and his Patrol K-9 Reed, were assigned to Missouri River flood duty. They were working in the area of Big Lake on Missouri Highway 118 at Missouri Highway 111 in Holt County, MO, when they were apparently swept away by swift flood water. Trooper Guthrie joined the then Missouri State Water Patrol on January 2, 1994, and transitioned to trooper with the merger to the Highway Patrol January 1, 2011, where he has served in the Water Patrol Division within Troop A serving Platte County.

On Tuesday August 2, 2011 at approximately 6:25 p.m. K-9 Reed was located in swift moving flood water approximately 100 yards from where Trooper Guthrie’s Patrol truck and boat were located. Trooper Guthrie’s K-9, Reed, was a five year veteran with the Patrol.

On September 28, 2011 Colonel Ron Replogle, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, regretfully announced the official death of Trooper Frederick “Fred” F. Guthrie Jr. This announcement followed the issuance of Letters of Independent Administration by Platte County Associate Circuit Judge, James Van Amburg to Trooper Guthrie’s spouse, Mrs. Teresa Guthrie.  Judge Van Amburg issued the letters after hearing evidence and declaring that Trooper Guthrie was killed in the line of duty on August 1, 2011.

Troop H officers continue to search daily for Trooper Guthrie’s body. He is believed to have drown, and is still missing.

http://www.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MSHPWeb/UltimateSacrifice/OfficerPages/trooperFrederickGuthrie.html

Woman calls missing trooper ‘her angel’

Patrol gathers to honor fallen trooper Fred Guthrie

Body of Trooper Fred Guthrie Found in Holt County

 January 12, 2012

HOLT COUNTY, Mo. — The body of Trooper Fred Guthrie was discovered today in Holt County.

The Missouri Highway Patrol said Guthrie’s body was located in a brush pile south of where his K-9, Reed, was recovered near the original search site.

“The recovery of Tpr. Guthrie’s body will give closure and comfort to the family, community, and members of the Patrol,” said Col. Ronald Replogle.  “I would also like to thank everyone who helped or volunteered during the search efforts.”

Guthrie and Reed disappeared August 1, 2011 while working on flood duty near Big Lake.

The Highway Patrol said the two were swept away by swift flood water. Reed’s body was found the following day.

Crews searched for Guthrie for months without any success.

Services were held for the trooper in December. He was a 17-year veteran of the Water Patrol and Highway Patrol.

http://stjoechannel.com/fulltext?nxd_id=250262

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Fulton man investigated in the case but never charged

Branson Perry, seen above in photos posted on bransonperry.com, went missing from his home in Skidmore, Mo., 10 years ago. Tips can be left at that website.

SKIDMORE, Mo. (AP) — Friends and relatives of a then-20-year-old northwest Missouri man who disappeared 10 years ago have vowed to keep a promise to his recently deceased mother to find out what happened to him, even though they acknowledge he is likely dead.

On April 11, 2001, 20-year-old Branson Perry left his parents’ home in Skidmore and hasn’t been seen since. Officials have turned up little evidence in the decade-long search for Perry.

“We haven’t received any tips lately, not since last year. Every now and then we’ll get something,” said Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White, who was a deputy when Perry disappeared.

No one in the town has forgotten Perry. Plans are being made for another search this spring, just like those conducted every year for the last 10 years.

“Around town, we searched every oil well, every outside toilet. We searched everywhere that was possible for us to think that something could be there,” said Jo Ann Stinett, his grandmother.

Most people believe that Perry is dead, the St. Joseph News-Press reported Monday. When his mother, Rebecca Klino, died in February, her obituary said she had been preceded in death by her son.

“I think she knew he wasn’t alive, but she always wanted to continue to look for him either way,” said Monica Caison, founder of the CUE Center for Missing Persons.

Caison said she and other close friends of Klino’s promised her they would continue to look for her son.

One suspect in the case was identified in 2003. Authorities believe Jack Wayne Rogers of Fulton bragged in an online chat room that he abducted, raped and murdered a blond-haired man from Skidmore. In the same chat, authorities believe Rogers said police would never find the body because of how he disposed of it in a remote area of the Ozarks. Authorities searched the yard of Rogers’ home in Fulton in November of 2003 for possible buried evidence.

Rogers was charged separately with child pornography and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. However, he has never been charged in connection with Perry’s disappearance.

Sgt. Roger Phillips, an investigator for the drug and crime control division of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and a friend of Klino, is committed to finding answers.

“Just because (Ms. Klino) is not here doesn’t mean this train is not going to keep moving,” Phillips said. “It’s about getting to the truth.”

Online:

Tipline in case: http://www.bransonperry.com

———

Monday, April 11, 2011

Today is the anniversary of the disappearance of Branson Perry.  He has been missing for ten years.  I first heard of Branson five years ago when I sat in the kitchen of his grandmother, Jo Ann Stinnett.  Since that day, I have never stopped hoping that the family would get answers to their questions about the young man torn from their lives.

Branson was last seen at his home at 304 West Oak Street in the small town of Skidmore, Missouri.  He was twenty years old.  He is presumed to be the victim of foul play.

His mother, Becky Kilno, passed away last February without ever knowing what happened to her son.  Family and friends have vowed to continue the quest for this young man in Becky’s name.

Somewhere out there, someone knows what happened to Branson.  Ten years is too long to carry the burden of that information.  Whoever you are, it’s time to tell what you know.

You can submit a confidential tip to the Missouri State Highway Patrol to Detective Roger Phillips, (816)387-2345 or through the CUE Center for Missing Persons, (910) 232-1687.

You can also submit a tip online.  The link and further information is posted on the website for Branson and on his Facebook page.

I orginally wrote about Branson in my book about the murder of his cousin Bobbie Joe Stinnett, Baby Be Mine.

http://dianefanning.blogspot.com/2011/04/branson-perry-is-still-missing.html

4/11/11

Ten years ago today, a then-20-year-old Skidmore, Mo., man went missing from his parents’ home. One suspect, thousands of man hours and many searches later, he still has yet to be found.On an afternoon similar to today, the thin, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Branson Perry vanished with no notification, known witnesses or evidence. Despite the effort spent finding him, officials remain stumped.“We haven’t received any tips lately, not since last year.

Every now and then we’ll get something,” Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White, a deputy at the time of Mr. Perry’s disappearance, said.It’s not for lack of trying. Residents in and around the Skidmore area perform searches for Mr. Perry on an almost annual basis.“Around town, we searched every oil well, every outside toilet. We searched everywhere that was possible for us to think that something could be there,” Jo Ann Stinett, his grandmother, said.

While the location of Mr. Perry is uncertain, it is commonly accepted that he has died sometime in the past 10 years.During the continuing investigation, both of Mr. Perry’s parents have died, with his mother, Rebecca Klino, passing away in February. Offering the first confirmation by Mr. Perry’s family of his assumed death, Ms. Klino’s obituary stated she was preceded in death by him.“Obviously, (Ms. Klino) faced that he wasn’t alive. I think she knew he wasn’t alive, but she always wanted to continue to look for him either way,” Monica Caison, founder of the CUE Center for Missing Persons, said.

Despite large-scale searches, the closest the case came to a suspect or evidence was in 2003. That’s when a chatroom conversation discovered on the computer of Jack Wayne Rogers, a man charged with 11 counts of child pornography, allegedly found the man bragging about abducting, raping and murdering a blonde-haired male from Skidmore.In addition, Mr. Rogers allegedly admitted in the chat that he saw a missing person’s poster for Mr. Perry at a gas station in the town and said police would never find the body because of how he disposed of it.Sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on the child porn charges, Mr. Rogers has never been charged with a crime in connection with Mr. Perry.

With Mr. Perry’s assumed death, the lead activist in his search passing away and a trail gone cold, thoughts of the investigation coming to a close have been doused by Ms. Klino’s close friends, including CUE spokeswoman Linda Stovall, Sgt. Roger Phillips, an investigator for the drug and crime control division of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and Ms. Caison.“(Ms. Klino) made me promise … just to continue to fight for Branson,” Ms. Caison said. “She wanted Linda, Roger and I to promise, and we did, standing on a dirt road.”As the weather warms and the rain stops, plans for another search for Mr. Perry’s body are coming together, just like they always have, Ms. Caison said.In addition, Bob Fessler, vice president/general manager of the Lamar Advertising Co. in Kansas City, said he will put Mr. Perry’s missing person’s report and picture back up on the electronic billboard on the Belt Highway

.“Just because (Ms. Klino) is not here doesn’t mean this train is not going to keep moving,” Mr. Phillips said. “It’s about getting to the truth.”Any tips concerning Branson Perry’s body or whereabouts can be submitted confidentially by calling the CUE Center for Missing Persons at (910) 232-1687 or visiting http://www.bransonperry.com/submit-confidential-tip.

Andrew Gaug can be reached at andrew.gaug@newspressnow.com.

News article link= http://www.newspressnow.com/localnews/27498475/detail.html

On her deathbed, the mother of a missing Skidmore, Mo., man was promised that the search would not stop with her passing.On Feb. 14, Becky Klino, the mother of Branson Perry, died at her home after a long battle with cancer.

A vocal activist in the pursuit of her missing son, she never saw him again after his disappearance almost 10 years ago.Shortly before her death, Monica Caison, founder of the Community United Effort , and an active supporter of the search for Mr. Perry, told her she would not quit looking for him.“I promised that we would return to the area and we’d continue looking for Branson,” she said.On April 11, 2001, Mr. Perry mysteriously disappeared from his family home in Skidmore.

Despite some clues in the case — such as a suspected necklace and pendant of his being found at the home of a man convicted of multiple counts of child pornography — he was never seen again.

With Mr. Perry’s 30th birthday passing on Feb. 24, Jo Ann Stinnett, his grandmother, said she still thinks about him frequently.“When I see somebody doing something he loved, or especially when I make cream puffs (one of his favorite foods) … I think of him,” she said.Despite the fact that she and other residents have looked almost everywhere in the area for him, Ms. Stinnett said she always feels a sense of incompleteness.“You always think, in your mind, there could be some other place you didn’t look,” she said.A deputy when the case began, Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White watched the story unfold and was hoping to see it solved before Ms. Klino’s death.“I think everybody wanted the case to come to some kind of conclusion for her before that happened,” he said.Currently, Mr. White said, the case has gone without any tips for the past year, but that doesn’t mean his department will stop looking.“It’s still an important case to us. Nobody deserves to just have vanished from our community,” he said.An investigator and close friend of Ms. Klino, Sgt. Roger Phillips, an investigator for the drug and crime control division of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said the case won’t close until it has been solved.“We’ll relentlessly pursue all leads, even after Becky’s death,” he said. “We will never close this until there is some resolution.”Despite the looming grimness of the case, a silver lining outlines it, as Ms. Klino’s suffering has now ended.

Usually the first to receive tips in regard to the case, Ms. Caison said Ms. Klino joked with her that the tables would turn once she passed on.“She was kind of funny. She said ‘Whenever I get to where I’m going, I’m going to finally know something before you do,’” Ms. Caison said.

News Source: http://www.newspressnow.com/localnews/27019260/detail.html#comments

Andrew Gaug can be reached at andrew.gaug@newspressnow.com.

It was Becky Klino’s dying wish to find her missing son.

“We would have liked nothing more than to have found him before the passing of his mother,” said Sheldon Lyon with Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Perry’s mother, Becky Klino, passed away Monday after a long battle with cancer.

Klino was actively involved in the search from her son, since he first went missing in April 2001.

Now, those close to the case are pushing forward. Many are more determined than ever to find answers in Perry’s disappearance.

“There is a steady flow of information,” said Monica Caison, with CUE Center for Missing Persons. “I feel like we are going to get a resolution. I don’t know why some cases take so long.”

Billboards with Perry’s face are surfacing again along the Belt Highway in St. Joseph. Nationally Perry’s name continues to circulate as well. He is featured on “America’s Most Wanted” and has his own Facebook page.

“We are keeping his information and his face out there,” said Caison. “It is working, but we hope we get that one call.”

Law enforcement feels leads are more valuable than ever in the case and tips continue to come in.

“We do get information even though it’s quite old,” said Lyon. “Then we act on it.”

The case remains active, but all tips have lead to dead ends.

Those involved still hope to find what they’ve been waiting for for nearly a decade.

“I know there is someone out there that is sitting on the fence,” said Caison. “I just want them to know they can remain anonymous.”

“Will we close the case because we can’t find Branson?” Lyon said. “No. We will keep looking.”

Contact the Missouri State Highway Patrol at (816) 387-2345 or the CUE Center for Missing Persons at (910) 232-1687 with any information on Perry’s disappearance. http://www.ncmissingpersons.org
or leave a confidential tip on Branson Perry’s website:http://www.bransonperry.com/submit-confidential-tip/

News video source: http://stjoechannel.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=186626

A Mother Waits, A Mother Dies

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Rebecca Ann “Becky” Klino on Valentine’s Day.  Becky was the mother of Branson Perry.

Branson was related to Bobbi Jo Stinnett and both lived in the small farming community of Skidmore.  I learned about Branson when I wrote about Bobbie Jo’s gruesome murder on December 16, 2004.  Lisa Montgomery killed Bobbie Jo to remove the baby from her body and claim it as her own.

Bobbie Jo’s death was dreadful and tragic, but her mother, at least, could bury her daughter and find justice in the courtroom with Montgomery’s conviction and death sentence.  Branson’s mother, Becky, on the other hand, still waits.  Branson, at the age of 20, disappeared in April 2001 under suspicious circumstances.

Law enforcement, at one point, targeted Jack Wayne Rogers as a possible suspect.  His chatroom discussion about a torture murder seemed to indicate his victim was Branson Perry.  No additional evidence linking him to that crime beyond what Rogers posted on the internet ever surfaced.  The investigation turned their focus to Skidmore itself–population 332–a town whose violent history began with the crimes of Ken McElroy and never seem to end.

For nearly a decade, Becky waited for answers and for justice.
Now, she is gone.  May she rest in peace.

Baby Be Mine, the book about the death of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, recounts the violent history of the rural area in and around Skidmore.