Post by admin4laney on Feb 17, 2006 12:45:13 GMT -5
Heather Brianna Wilkins Mom Suspects She is Dead or with a Cult
LIVINGSTON, Mont. (Crime Library) — In the weeks before she disappeared, 17-year-old Heather Brianna Marie Wilkins, became captivated—possibly even obsessed—by a new sense of spirituality. She practiced deep meditation, took long walks alone to conquer her fear of the outdoors, and listened to tapes by new age guru Eckhart Tolle. She stopped washing and combing her hair and quit using toothpaste.
Then she vanished.
On Jan 11, three hours after meeting her boyfriend at the bus station in Livingston, Brianna borrowed her mother's ankle-length sheepskin coat, a pair of boots, took her boyfriend's wallet and the $200 it contained, and walked away, according to her mother, Chera Walsh.
"Maybe she had a psychotic break," Walsh speculated.
Walsh has also considered darker, more sinister reasons for her daughter's strange disappearance. "It's really a mystery that she went off like this and that she hasn't at least called to say that she's okay. At this point, with no communication, my thinking is there must be some foul play."
Brianna spent much of last year traveling around the country, often in the company of her boyfriend, 16-year-old Montana Standish. She lived briefly in Texas, South Carolina, and Washington state. During that time, Brianna never went more than a few days without calling home, Walsh said.
Although she left without her purse, wallet, or identification, Brianna has her mother's telephone calling card number memorized, Walsh said, so there is no reason for her not to call her family, unless she either doesn't want to call or can't call.
"Brianna doesn't have anything to run from or hide from," Walsh told Crime Library. "She is emancipated and now she's 18, so that's why I suspect that there's probably some foul play."
Brianna Wilkins turned 18 two and a half weeks after she disappeared.
Heather Brianna Wilkins
Walsh doesn't consider her daughter a runaway. "She's definitely a missing person," Walsh said. "She didn't just run away."
Walsh told Crime Library, and local police have confirmed, that Brianna was spotted several hours after she left home. A woman saw Brianna walking along the side of a road about 10 miles from her house. The woman offered the teenager a ride, but Brianna declined.
Others say they've seen Brianna in Livingston since she was reported missing. Walsh, however, dismisses those claims.
A female cab driver told police that she dropped Brianna off at a park in Livingston a day or two after her mother said she disappeared. The driver identified a photograph of Brianna as being that of the same girl to whom she'd given a ride.
Two men staying at a local hotel also reported an encounter with Brianna.
Charles "Easy" Talbot told Crime Library that one morning about a week after Brianna disappeared, he and a friend were in the lobby of the Guest House Inn at the corner of Main and West Park streets in Livingston getting coffee. At about 9:00 a.m., they saw a young woman walk into the hotel. She appeared to be very cold and was using her hands to cover her ears. Talbot said the temperature outside hovered near zero degrees. Concerned for her welfare, Talbot asked to look at one of her ears. "It was cherry red," he recalled. "It was pretty close to getting frostbitten. I could tell she'd been out in the elements for some time."
Something about the young woman nagged at Talbot. He thought he recognized her but couldn't quite remember from where. Talbot, who stands just a shade over 6 feet, described her as being tall and thin with blond hair. He gave her a cup of coffee as she sat down in the lobby to warm up. Talbot recalled her mentioning that she was going to meet her boyfriend for breakfast at a nearby restaurant. She also used a telephone in the hotel lobby. Before she left, the young woman asked another guest at the hotel, a man named Mark, for five dollars, but he didn't give it to her.
Later that night, Talbot realized the woman he'd met in the lobby was the missing woman he'd seen pictured in the local newspaper several times during the preceding week. The next morning, Talbot reported the encounter to the Livingston Police Department and identified two photographs of Brianna Wilkins as being those of the woman he'd talked to in the hotel the day before.
Talbot told Court TV he is positive the woman he saw was Brianna. "I was standing right next to her," he said.
Larry Jellea was with Talbot when they met the young woman in the lobby of the Guest House Inn. He said he spoke to her for about five minutes. Jellea said they talked about the Home Depot on North 19th Street in Bozeman, a town about 30 miles from Livingston.
Two days after the encounter, Jellea also reported it to the police, and, just like Charles Talbot, he used photographs of Brianna to identify the young woman he'd seen at the hotel. Jellea is positive the woman he saw was Brianna Wilkins. "It was her," he said. "I'm very sure."
Capt. Eric Severson of the Livingston Police Department is in charge of the investigation into Brianna's disappearance. He told Court TV he believes the sightings of the missing teenager—both in the cab and at the hotel—are credible. "We have no reason to disbelieve them," he said.
Capt. Severson said the reported sightings of Brianna around town are one of the reasons the county's search and rescue team, which launched a massive ground and air search for Brianna immediately after her mother reported her missing, stopped looking for her. "They didn't feel that Brianna wanted to be found, so they called off their mission," Severson said.
Despite the fact that the sightings seem to indicate that her daughter was alive and well and still nearby as late as a week after she disappeared, Chera Walsh doesn't take any comfort in them. She doesn't think it was Brianna the witnesses saw. Referring to the reported encounter Charles Talbot and Larry Jellea had with her daughter at the hotel, Walsh said she and Brianna's boyfriend, Montana Standish, who has been staying with Walsh since Brianna disappeared, don't believe it. "We don't think it was a very legitimate lead," she said.
Walsh believes that her daughter may have fallen under the influence of a cult or similar group and may have left home to join them. She specifically mentioned the Rainbow Family, a loose confederation of people who espouse a new-age holistic philosophy of peace, love, and harmony, and who live in commune with nature.
"I could definitely see her going off and joining one of those families," boyfriend Montana Standish said. Thursday, Standish received a cryptic message from someone he said is a psychic in Great Britain who reassured him that Brianna is alive and well and among friends in the Rainbow Family. "I think she's all right," Standish told Crime Library.
Chera Walsh said she believes that someone may be preventing Brianna from contacting her, or perhaps Brianna doesn't want to contact her because of the influence of the people she's with.
Another scenario Chera Walsh considers likely is that her daughter may have walked off into the wilderness to die. "That is a strong possibility that she did that," Walsh said.
Although he declined to give details, Capt. Eric Severson said he is looking at new scenarios that might explain Brianna's disappearance. "There are a lot of things that don't make sense," Severson said. "There are a lot of mysterious questions. There're some quirky characters involved. You never know where this investigation will end up."
www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0206/1701_brainna_missing.html
LIVINGSTON, Mont. (Crime Library) — In the weeks before she disappeared, 17-year-old Heather Brianna Marie Wilkins, became captivated—possibly even obsessed—by a new sense of spirituality. She practiced deep meditation, took long walks alone to conquer her fear of the outdoors, and listened to tapes by new age guru Eckhart Tolle. She stopped washing and combing her hair and quit using toothpaste.
Then she vanished.
On Jan 11, three hours after meeting her boyfriend at the bus station in Livingston, Brianna borrowed her mother's ankle-length sheepskin coat, a pair of boots, took her boyfriend's wallet and the $200 it contained, and walked away, according to her mother, Chera Walsh.
"Maybe she had a psychotic break," Walsh speculated.
Walsh has also considered darker, more sinister reasons for her daughter's strange disappearance. "It's really a mystery that she went off like this and that she hasn't at least called to say that she's okay. At this point, with no communication, my thinking is there must be some foul play."
Brianna spent much of last year traveling around the country, often in the company of her boyfriend, 16-year-old Montana Standish. She lived briefly in Texas, South Carolina, and Washington state. During that time, Brianna never went more than a few days without calling home, Walsh said.
Although she left without her purse, wallet, or identification, Brianna has her mother's telephone calling card number memorized, Walsh said, so there is no reason for her not to call her family, unless she either doesn't want to call or can't call.
"Brianna doesn't have anything to run from or hide from," Walsh told Crime Library. "She is emancipated and now she's 18, so that's why I suspect that there's probably some foul play."
Brianna Wilkins turned 18 two and a half weeks after she disappeared.
Heather Brianna Wilkins
Walsh doesn't consider her daughter a runaway. "She's definitely a missing person," Walsh said. "She didn't just run away."
Walsh told Crime Library, and local police have confirmed, that Brianna was spotted several hours after she left home. A woman saw Brianna walking along the side of a road about 10 miles from her house. The woman offered the teenager a ride, but Brianna declined.
Others say they've seen Brianna in Livingston since she was reported missing. Walsh, however, dismisses those claims.
A female cab driver told police that she dropped Brianna off at a park in Livingston a day or two after her mother said she disappeared. The driver identified a photograph of Brianna as being that of the same girl to whom she'd given a ride.
Two men staying at a local hotel also reported an encounter with Brianna.
Charles "Easy" Talbot told Crime Library that one morning about a week after Brianna disappeared, he and a friend were in the lobby of the Guest House Inn at the corner of Main and West Park streets in Livingston getting coffee. At about 9:00 a.m., they saw a young woman walk into the hotel. She appeared to be very cold and was using her hands to cover her ears. Talbot said the temperature outside hovered near zero degrees. Concerned for her welfare, Talbot asked to look at one of her ears. "It was cherry red," he recalled. "It was pretty close to getting frostbitten. I could tell she'd been out in the elements for some time."
Something about the young woman nagged at Talbot. He thought he recognized her but couldn't quite remember from where. Talbot, who stands just a shade over 6 feet, described her as being tall and thin with blond hair. He gave her a cup of coffee as she sat down in the lobby to warm up. Talbot recalled her mentioning that she was going to meet her boyfriend for breakfast at a nearby restaurant. She also used a telephone in the hotel lobby. Before she left, the young woman asked another guest at the hotel, a man named Mark, for five dollars, but he didn't give it to her.
Later that night, Talbot realized the woman he'd met in the lobby was the missing woman he'd seen pictured in the local newspaper several times during the preceding week. The next morning, Talbot reported the encounter to the Livingston Police Department and identified two photographs of Brianna Wilkins as being those of the woman he'd talked to in the hotel the day before.
Talbot told Court TV he is positive the woman he saw was Brianna. "I was standing right next to her," he said.
Larry Jellea was with Talbot when they met the young woman in the lobby of the Guest House Inn. He said he spoke to her for about five minutes. Jellea said they talked about the Home Depot on North 19th Street in Bozeman, a town about 30 miles from Livingston.
Two days after the encounter, Jellea also reported it to the police, and, just like Charles Talbot, he used photographs of Brianna to identify the young woman he'd seen at the hotel. Jellea is positive the woman he saw was Brianna Wilkins. "It was her," he said. "I'm very sure."
Capt. Eric Severson of the Livingston Police Department is in charge of the investigation into Brianna's disappearance. He told Court TV he believes the sightings of the missing teenager—both in the cab and at the hotel—are credible. "We have no reason to disbelieve them," he said.
Capt. Severson said the reported sightings of Brianna around town are one of the reasons the county's search and rescue team, which launched a massive ground and air search for Brianna immediately after her mother reported her missing, stopped looking for her. "They didn't feel that Brianna wanted to be found, so they called off their mission," Severson said.
Despite the fact that the sightings seem to indicate that her daughter was alive and well and still nearby as late as a week after she disappeared, Chera Walsh doesn't take any comfort in them. She doesn't think it was Brianna the witnesses saw. Referring to the reported encounter Charles Talbot and Larry Jellea had with her daughter at the hotel, Walsh said she and Brianna's boyfriend, Montana Standish, who has been staying with Walsh since Brianna disappeared, don't believe it. "We don't think it was a very legitimate lead," she said.
Walsh believes that her daughter may have fallen under the influence of a cult or similar group and may have left home to join them. She specifically mentioned the Rainbow Family, a loose confederation of people who espouse a new-age holistic philosophy of peace, love, and harmony, and who live in commune with nature.
"I could definitely see her going off and joining one of those families," boyfriend Montana Standish said. Thursday, Standish received a cryptic message from someone he said is a psychic in Great Britain who reassured him that Brianna is alive and well and among friends in the Rainbow Family. "I think she's all right," Standish told Crime Library.
Chera Walsh said she believes that someone may be preventing Brianna from contacting her, or perhaps Brianna doesn't want to contact her because of the influence of the people she's with.
Another scenario Chera Walsh considers likely is that her daughter may have walked off into the wilderness to die. "That is a strong possibility that she did that," Walsh said.
Although he declined to give details, Capt. Eric Severson said he is looking at new scenarios that might explain Brianna's disappearance. "There are a lot of things that don't make sense," Severson said. "There are a lot of mysterious questions. There're some quirky characters involved. You never know where this investigation will end up."
www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0206/1701_brainna_missing.html
