Need help researching this case

This is a really tough one, because neither the state nor the names of the victim and the suspect are provided but I think it's not impossible.

The episode aired April 30, 2003 so that should provide some clue as to the date.

...

WILLIAMS: Please welcome Debra to the show.
Debra, you had a question about your sister--you had a question about your sister, correct?
DEBRA: Yes. My sister's been missing for about seven months now, and her husband passed away about three months ago.
WILLIAMS: Wait. You know what? Why don't you just back up and tell Sylvia the whole story. She--she went missing first, correct?
DEBRA: Right.
WILLIAMS: And the police investigated initially. Your--her husband stated that she left with her wedding rings and her engagement rings on, correct?
DEBRA: Correct. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
WILLIAMS: She's gone. Now at this point in time--wait, before you make a--the police were investigating, and at some point in time, were they not getting ready to call him in for a lie detector test?
DEBRA: Yes.
Ms. BROWNE: And then he passed?
DEBRA: Right, that day.
WILLIAMS: And he passed--OK--OK, go ahead. I'll shut up.
Ms. BROWNE: No, that's OK. I don't want to interrupt you. I just want to tell you that he did it.
DEBRA: He did do it? Do you know where we can find her?
Ms. BROWNE: Pardon me?
DEBRA: Do you know where we can find her?
Ms. BROWNE: It remind--w--where she lived, is there a swampy area? A marshy area?
DEBRA: It's on the side of a mountain.
Ms. BROWNE: Because it looks like there's a ravine and a marshy area. So she's not that far from where she, you know...
DEBRA: She's near the house?
Ms. BROWNE: Exactly.
WILLIAMS: Go to where--is there water near that--that hillside, mountain area?
Ms. BROWNE: So it's marshy.
WILLIAMS: A small little lake or a small body...
Ms. BROWNE: See, here's what the tragedy is here. He knew he was going. Do you see what I'm saying? He wanted her to go.
DEBRA: Did he have an accomplice?
Ms. BROWNE: No. OK, let me put it to you this way. Let's say I know I'm gonna die. So I love Montel so much, I'm gonna kill him. No, I'm not. I would never do that.
WILLIAMS: Hey!
Ms. BROWNE: I'm gonna kill him because I figure I have nothing to lose, right?
DEBRA: Right.
Ms. BROWNE: And then I die, OK? The secret dies with me. Do you see what I'm trying to tell you?
WILLIAMS: Now his--his death was--now his death was--he died in a fire, correct?
DEBRA: Correct.
WILLIAMS: Did he light that fire or did somebody else...
Ms. BROWNE: Oh, sure he did.
DEBRA: He did? It was ruled accidental.
Ms. BROWNE: Accidental, my foot. What...
WILLIAMS: Well...
Ms. BROWNE: ...if you put kerosene around, and you throw a light on it, that's accidental? I don't think so.
WILLIAMS: And it was so accidental that it took place on the day the police were calling him in to take a lie detector test.
Ms. BROWNE: Yeah, honestly. Do you--you know, you don't have to be psychic to figure that out. Come on.
DEBRA: Will we find her?
Ms. BROWNE: Yeah, I'm telling you, it's right near a ravine in a marsh.
WILLIAMS: And just--just so I can help, 'cause--'cause Sylvia refers to anything that's a wetland as a marsh.
Ms. BROWNE: As a marsh. Yes.
WILLIAMS: So even if it's by a mountainside, if there's water, a stream running down, brackish water, anything like that...
Ms. BROWNE: That's right.
WILLIAMS: ...that wet area is what she's talking about on the marsh.
Ms. BROWNE: Exactly.
WILLIAMS: So i--beside a stream. Go look near that near--near her home.
DEBRA: Thank you, Sylvia.
WILLIAMS: All right. Let me take a little break. We'll be back right after this.

...

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I really don't see how this is researchable without more info. Sorry about that. I find these two bits telling, though, and possibly worth pointing out on RSL's site:

Sylvia Browne said:

you know, you don't have to be psychic to figure that out. Come on.

Click to expand...

Finally she admits it.

and

Montel Williams said:

'cause Sylvia refers to anything that's a wetland as a marsh.

---snip---

So even if it's by a mountainside, if there's water, a stream running down, brackish water, anything like that...

Click to expand...

If it's the middle of a desert and someone spits, it still counts.

If it's water melting off an iceberg, it's also a marsh?

I feel bad for Debra. She had this reading almost 5 years ago. She may still think her brother in law did it, whether he did or not. Hope she got (or gets) some real closure.

Nice how Montel sees that Sylvia initially is giving the woman the scenario that the husband was dying of cancer or something and KNEW it, and threw in the fire thing before she went much farther. Then Sylvia's only real choice was to make it sound like HE set the fire since she'd been saying he KNEW he was dying and wanted to take his wife with him. How sick! And of course, she's saying the sister is dead, which is even sadder, although probably true, and the husband is guilty when it could be the same people who took off with the wife came after him. I'll do what I can but I agree there's not much to go on!

Sadly to say that is one reason SB is still on tv, because she is so vague. Almost anything fits. I agree that Montel saved Sylvia who sounded like she was heading in the wrong direction.

Robert you might want a section just for these kinds of cases. People who consulted her in the past might hit your site and be able to fill in the details. If you showed the transcripts and pointed out where she is vague then that would maybe make people understand how desperate people read so much more into what she says.

I would also love to see a "montage" of transcripts where SB over and over gives the same advise. Like the vitamin suppl. or finding a body near a revine or marsh. I think if people see how often she uses these terms it might just hit home. Esp if you could show it was happening in every episode in a row.

Maybe an area that has, "need help researching this." Because if these stories are real, then someone (probably lots of people) know about this and would love closure.

How awlful not to know where your sister's body is, and have everyone think it was the brother-in-law who did it. What do the children think of their father? Miss Marple always said that the crime must be solved not for the sake of who is guilty, but for the sake of the innocent.

Susan

I spent a good hour searching online - I can't find anything without more info. Very frustrating.

mooseypops said:

I spent a good hour searching online - I can't find anything without more info. Very frustrating.

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Thanks, I appreciate it very much when someone helps me with the research.

I just spent another hour on it and nothing. You'd think something as sensational as that would have garnered at least one article.

EeneyMinnieMoe said:

Thanks, I appreciate it very much when someone helps me with the research.

I just spent another hour on it and nothing. You'd think something as sensational as that would have garnered at least one article.

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No kidding. No online newspaper article seemed to come even close. Do we know roughly when this was recorded, rather than aired? I was searching for a 2002 date, but that may not hve been entirely accurate.

EMM, I researched about an hour and a half this morning too and came up empty. Sorry! Not sure what else to try. Very difficult without any names, places, etc.

DEBRA: Yes. My sister's been missing for about seven months now, and her husband passed away about three months ago.

Since the show was broadcast in April 2003, this would have the sister missing sometime in 2002 & the husband 2003 (although the phrase "about 3 months ago" may put him back in 2002 also). I couldn't find anything either.

I did some research as well, but my endeavor was futile.

I. AM. A. WIZARD.

Folks, I think I have found it!



The Associated Press State & Local Wire



January 9, 2003, Thursday, BC cycle
Missing woman's wedding rings found at pawn shop

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 339 words

DATELINE: ASHEVILLE, N.C.



Detectives searching for a woman missing since August found her wedding rings at the shop where they had been pawned by her husband.
Roger White pawned his wife's wedding band and diamond engagement ring at Alan's Jewelry and Pawn in Asheville five weeks after Wayma Lynn Morgan White disappeared, police records show.
He reported her missing Aug. 17, telling detectives that his 44-year-old wife was wearing her wedding rings when he last saw her.


Roger White died in a fire at his mobile home Nov. 25, the same day he was scheduled to take a polygraph test in the disappearance of his wife.
Investigators determined the fire started accidentally when heat tape underneath the mobile home ignited. They said White died from smoke inhalation. No autopsy was performed.
Family members said they consider the rings proof that Wayma White is dead.
"This is a huge weight taken off my shoulders," her sister, Joyce Morgan, said while sobbing. "My family had been looking to me to fix this and make it better, and I couldn't do anything."
Wayma White's family had complained for months that the sheriff's department had not taken the case seriously. Wayma White had been convicted more than 100 times on charges ranging from prostitution to drug possession.
But friends and family said in recent years, White had become a different person. She held a full-time job for three years and had stopped taking drugs.
Sheriff's Capt. Lee Farnsworth had said four detectives were assigned to the case.
Morgan led investigators to the new evidence when she met with them Wednesday afternoon. She told them a table saw was missing from the Whites' home.
Morgan and the detectives located the saw at the pawn shop. That led to the discovery of Wayma White's rings, Morgan said.
Farnsworth would not confirm which items had been recovered.
But a report that pawn shops must file with the sheriff's department lists the rings, along with four saws, as having been pawned by Roger White after his wife disappeared.

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Correction. I did find it.

November 26, 2002, Tuesday, BC cycle

Man dies in fire same day as polygraph test scheduled

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 611 words

DATELINE: ASHEVILLE, N.C.



A Buncombe County man died in an accidental fire the same day that he was supposed to take a polygraph test as part of an investigation into his wife's disappearance.

Roger White died Monday in a fire apparently caused by "heat tape" used to warm water pipes for his mobile home. The tape, wrapped around a section of the pipe above ground, overheated and transferred heat to plastic sheets and cardboard lying underneath White's mobile home.
Investigators do not suspect arson.


Now the relatives of Wayma Lynn Morgan White, 44, who disappeared in August, fear they will never know what happened to her.

"There's nothing the police can do now," said Debra Morgan, White's 44-year-old sister. "If a clue was in that trailer, it's ashes now."

Detectives were not surprised when Roger White, who spent three years in prison on bank robbery charges, reported to police his wife had walked out the door Aug. 15 to buy drugs. After all, she had more than 100 convictions on drug and prostitution charges, armed robbery and other felonies and misdemeanors.

He said she had $600 and a pack of cigarettes in her pocket.
Police assumed she'd just taken off, perhaps tired of working a regular job, or maybe she had relapsed into a drug binge after fighting her addiction for five years. Wayma White had not been arrested or convicted since 1997 and had perfect attendance at her job at Medical Action Industries in Arden.

"When the investigation was initiated we were told she left after a domestic dispute. There wasn't any indication she was in any grave danger," Capt. Lee Farnsworth said.

Roger White told authorities that he and his wife had an argument. He said she was drinking, and he tried to stop her from walking to the Shiloh community to buy cocaine.

"I tried to talk her out of it," Roger White told the Asheville Citizen-Times in an interview weeks before his death. "I thought I had, but I hadn't. I learned a long time ago you don't argue with an addict. It just pushes them away."

Wayma White's family said they're dubious of Roger White's account, and they also question how seriously the department has taken the case.
"I don't know why Roger keeps going around telling everyone she was on drugs again," said White's mother, Ann Morgan. "I know what she was like when she was taking drugs and she wasn't like that any more."

Desperate to know what had happened, the family hired a private detective, Tom Chickos of Asheville, who tried to retrace White's steps.
Chickos said he concluded White never made it past the driveway of her trailer. "And I really couldn't believe that after she disappeared, no one had questioned Roger White," he said.

The sheriff's department first questioned Roger White in October.
Farnsworth said Monday that deputies searched the trailer in mid-October, and did extensive interviews with Wayma White's co-workers. In recent weeks, the department has stepped up the investigation, putting four detectives on the case.

The family believes the department waited too long. Less than a week after she disappeared, White's family met with Sheriff Bobby Medford, insisting something terrible had happened.

"But I called him every day after that, and he never returned my calls," White's sister, Joyce Morgan, said. "I guess they just thought she was an old doper out partying again. I don't think they took her case seriously."
White's family said they fear that now vital clues could be gone forever.
"There's no doubt in my mind that I'll never see my sister again," Joyce Morgan said. "But for my parents' sake, and for some closure, I'd like to get her home and bury her."

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Brava/o Eeney!!

Ligeia said:

Brava/o Eeney!!

Click to expand...

Your first guess was right.

Here's another one I've been looking at for a very long time but haven't found anything on. It's a particularly sad story.

It aired July 2005 and btw, isn't it funny how Montel never provides states, never provides the names of counties, cities, towns, etc., rarely provides more than first names, doesn't name the police department, no indentifying characteristics whatsoever...but always provides perfect dates? "July, 13, 2001 at 4:15 pm", "Midnight April 23, 1999", "Christmas Eve 1989 a few minutes past 5".

Whenever I start out, I have no idea who or where or how but I always know when.

...

Well, you know, my next guest says the mystery surrounding her brother's death has left her and her family with a lot of unanswered questions. Take a look at this.
(Excerpts from video)
MARY: My younger brother Steven was murdered on Sunday, March 7th, 2004. At the time, he had been working on a house that he was trying to sell. We became concerned when he didn't return home. His body was found lying on the floor in the house, covered in blood.
I don't believe that this was a random robbery, because there was already a "for sale" sign on the house. And there was nothing inside. My brother's murder remains a mystery that has devastated our family.
(End of excerpts)
WILLIAMS: Please welcome Mary to the show.
What has this been like for your family?
MARY: I'm sorry, what?
WILLIAMS: What has this been like for your family?
MARY: Actually, my mom and dad passed away in the last year also. My mom passed in November of cancer, and my father passed a month ago with cancer. I was their caregiver...
Ms. BROWNE: For them.
MARY: ...for four years. And my fa--my brother was murdered in March of this year. So...
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
Ms. BROWNE: Who did he know or who do you know that he might have known by the name of...(name censored by network)?
MARY: (Shakes head)
Ms. BROWNE: Well, I'd look into that, because I've had people say--I don't know. This had something, by the way, to do with a female and also another house deal. Two things.
MARY: Another house deal?
Ms. BROWNE: Yeah.
MARY: My mom passed before my brother. My brother--was my mom there with my brother when he passed?
Ms. BROWNE: Oh, of course, they all were--all are, honey.
MARY: I mean, he was alone.
Ms. BROWNE: They all are.
MARY: And I didn't want him to be alone.
Ms. BROWNE: When you go, everybody will be there. When I go, everybody will be there.
MARY: We were with him the day that my brother had passed. Not--we were trying to help him get the house ready for sale.
Ms. BROWNE: Right.
MARY: And my dad was still on chemotherapy, so we took him--I took him home, because it was getting cold. It was in March. And I talked to my brother that night from 8:45 to 9:15.
Ms. BROWNE: And then he was gone.
MARY: Every time he'd--I talked to him or I talked to anyone on the phone he'd say, `I love you.' But when you were around--and when we left that day. He gave us both a hug and kiss and said, `I love you.'
Ms. BROWNE: I know. He was saying goodbye.
MARY: That's just how my brother was.
Ms. BROWNE: I know, but that's--it was a way of him saying goodbye.
MARY: He was just so sweet and so young.
Ms. BROWNE: It's all right. There's no--there's no special time.
WILLIAMS: Are they--so, are they...
MARY: I miss him so much.
Ms. BROWNE: I know you do.
MARY: I miss my parents, but I miss him so much.
Ms. BROWNE: I know you do.
WILLIAMS: Will they solve this crime?
MARY: Will they solve it?
Ms. BROWNE: Yeah, they will solve it. Yeah. Because this person goes around to these empty houses for some reason that had something to do with this.
MARY: OK.
WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am.
MARY: Thank you.

...

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Wow you are amazing Enny!

Susan

sgf8 said:

Wow you are amazing Enny!

Susan

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My five favorite words.

Seriously, thank you very much. All of your encouragment and praise means alot; it's part of what keeps me going.

I live in Asheville.

Bumpity bump bump

Also I'm going to try and look into this this week sometime. WAY TO GO EENEY!