www.justiceforchandra.com

[rd]

Familiar story. Tamika files a domestic abuse report and disappears. Boyfriend won't talk to family or press, what he tells police is secret. Her car found abandoned in an apartment complex, her drivers license and all her belongings at home, her beloved pregnant dog forced to eat the litter of puppies to stay alive.

In short, another rmissing woman.

rd

click to read the online true crime mystery novel Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy

www.justiceforchandra.com home page


from www.abcnews.go.com (fair use)

No Trace — or Headline
Why Do Some Missing Persons Cases Receive More Media Attention?

By Bryan Robinson
ABCNEWS.com
Sept. 15, 2004

Authorities believe Tamika Huston disappeared sometime between June 2 and June 14.

Based on national headlines, Lori Hacking was a much more important person than Tamika Huston.

Lori Hacking's name should sound familiar. When the 27-year-old Salt Lake City woman was reported missing July 19, the case generated headlines both in Utah and around the country. The national media followed the exhaustive search for the missing woman, who was said to be five weeks pregnant, the increased scrutiny on her husband, and finally, his arrest on a murder charge. Police believe Mark Hacking shot his wife after she discovered he had lied about his plans to go to medical school, but her body has not been found.

However, if you've never heard of Tamika Huston, don't feel embarrassed.

If you're not a resident of South Carolina — specifically, Spartanburg — you have most likely never heard of Huston. Only the local media and Black Entertainment Television Nightly News have covered her case.

Huston, 24, disappeared more than a month before police believe Lori Hacking was reported missing. Huston was last seen June 2 at a friend's house, and relatives believe she disappeared between that time and June 14, when an aunt in Florida reported her missing.

Investigators say they have few meaningful clues in Huston's case. Relatives — led by Huston's aunt Rebkah Howard, a public relations executive — have been trying to bring national attention to their search. Though America's Most Wanted has made plans to cover the case on an upcoming episode, the family's efforts have been mostly unsuccessful.

For the family, it's been especially frustrating to see Huston's case largely ignored while the Hacking case and the disappearance of Brigham Young University student Brooke Wilberger grabbed headlines.

"I'm very well aware of how the media operates and how to get their attention. I'm very keen on the fact that the media can't cover every story that comes down the pike," said Howard. "Unfortunately, there are thousands of missing persons throughout the country.

[rd]

(continued)

"If every case was covered as widely as Lori Hacking or Brooke Wilberger, quite frankly, I don't think there'd be room for anything else on our news broadcast or newspaper," Howard said.

"Unfortunately, what I find disturbing is that I think there's a trend," she said. "I don't think there's a fair representation of the missing person cases that are out there. I think the media hone in on specific cases and generally stay with a certain profile."

Empathy and Jealousy

According to the FBI, thousand of adults and children are reported missing every day in the United States. But only a select few generate the attention from television networks. Because news organizations cannot devote resources to all missing person cases they learn about, most families have to do without the extra help media attention might provide.

Howard was able to bring her niece's story to BET Nightly News, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and America's Most Wanted. But even her resources and professional skills have not been enough to bring national exposure the search for Huston.

"I am in public relations and I have the resources and the skills to pitch to the media, and I am still having a difficult time," Howard said. "It makes me wonder about the hundreds of families out there that don't have the resources and the skills that I have and they really must be up a creek."

Howard said she feels for the families of other missing people, but she can't help feeling a pang of envy at all the attention some cases get.

"You become familiar with other families who are going through the same thing you are going through," she said. "You have empathy, you have compassion for these other families who may be getting more attention than you do. But it's a sad situation because at the same time, you are almost jealous of them."

The Formula for High-Profile Case

Some believe media organizations follow a formula when they decide to give attention to a missing person case. Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking, Brooke Wilberger, former Washington intern Chandra Levy and University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin all seemed to fit a specific profile: young, attractive white women either in college or just a few years removed from college. All were from middle-class or upper-middle-class families who had the money and resources to keep their cases in the media.

Missing males and missing non-Caucasians in general rarely seem to attract the national attention that the Levy, Peterson, Sjodin and Wilberger cases received.

"There are at least three categories that determine whether your case will get a lot of publicity or not," said Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar at the Poynter Institute in Florida. "They are gender, race and class, in no particular order.

"In terms of gender, it just seems as if much more attention goes on to those cases where there are women who are missing and especially if they are young women, they are attractive, if they've left behind a archive of interesting photographs or better yet, videos," he said. "I think we still, in spite of all the reforms that feminism has introduced into culture, the damsel in distress is still a very compelling story."

Clark believes race and class may play a subconscious role when national media considers whether a missing person case merits coverage. To some TV executives, the disappearance of a young, white female from an affluent family may somehow be more of an appealing story than the search for a young, African-American female from a family that isn't very well-off.

"Race has always been a factor in crime coverage and most of the missing person case that we see sort of involve the suspicion of foul play," Clark said.

[rd]

(continued)

"And some old racist views of crime still influence subconsciously the decisions that we make. There was a time in American life that in big newspapers in big cities, the terrible distinction was made between good murders and bad murders. The bad murder was the poor gang member killed in the projects. The good murder was murder of the rich white socialite, or the murder of a debutante perhaps killed by her ex-boyfriend."

Initially, the Hacking case — with a young pregnant woman missing and her husband suspected in her disappearance — bore some resemblance to the Laci Peterson case. Clark acknowledges that the parallels and the ongoing trial of Peterson's husband, Scott, may have fueled national interest in the Hacking case.

In addition, Tamika Huston's disappearance may have suffered from unfortunate news timing. When she vanished, the Iraqi prison abuse scandal, the beheading of American hostage Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia, and the 9/11 commission hearings were dominating the headlines. New developments in those stories may have been exhausted by the time Hacking's case emerged.

"In all missing person cases, there is a basic engine that drives the story, and that is 'What Happened?' " Clark said. "There was much less coverage of these cases before the existence of 24-hour cables news networks. And these cases fit the perfect formula between the slowly evolving narrative of the cases and the insatiable appetite for content on these cable news stations."

No Closer to Solving the Mystery

Still, the lack of national attention given Huston's case seems almost as puzzling as her disappearance. She is young and attractive. Her family and friends have the resources to get media attention and have offered a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to her whereabouts. CrimeStoppers in Spartanburg has offered an additional $2,000 reward.

However, investigators say they have received relatively few clues and are no closer to finding Huston today than when she was first reported missing.

"We are really no further along in this case today than we were on day one," said Spartanburg Public Safety Department Capt. Randy Hardy. "Usually money is a motivating factor, but we haven't received a whole lot of tips, which is just baffling to me. It just leads me to believe that maybe no one has really seen this woman."

It took some time for family members to realize Huston was missing because she was single, lived alone and had recently quit her job as a waitress. Police investigators found Huston's cell phone, three uncashed checks and driver's license when they searched her home. Her pregnant pet pit bull Macy — who friends and relatives say Huston treated like her own child — had given birth and eaten most of its litter of puppies. Huston's car was found a week after she was reported missing, parked at an apartment complex where she didn't live.

Before Huston disappeared, she had filed domestic abuse charges against her former live-in boyfriend. Terence Moss has been interviewed by authorities but investigators do not consider him a suspect in Huston's case.

"He has cooperated with us. He has answered all our questions. We can get our hands on him whenever we want," Hardy said. "We don't have anything to suggest that there's been any foul play. That would change the complexion of this case significantly. … What's tough is that if she is someone who just doesn't want to be found, she can be anywhere with all the time that has passed."

[rd]

(continued)

‘This Feeling of Emptiness, Loneliness’

Huston's relatives say she would not have just run away from her family.

They say it wasn't unusual for her to spontaneously visit relatives and extended family in Florida and along the East Coast, but she would always tell someone where she was going. Huston's family insists she was happy before she disappeared.

"There was nothing wrong. She was fine," said her father, Anthony Huston. "We have the type of relationship where she would have told me if something was wrong."

Howard says her niece seemed to have reached a turning point in her life where she was looking forward to taking on new challenges, returning to school and perhaps settling into a career. Still, Howard said Huston had not told family members about the domestic abuse charge against her ex-boyfriend.

Huston's relatives say they are not accusing Moss of being involved in her disappearance. But they say they're troubled by the distance they say he has maintained from the family.

"No one is mad at him or accusing him of anything, but we just wish he'd talk to us," said her father. "We just want to find out what happened to her."

Moss could not be reached for comment. He is not listed in local telephone directories and has declined to talk about Huston's disappearance to local news outlets.

Anthony Huston said he last saw his daughter when he went over to her home to cut her grass. It has been a long summer for him, and the anxiety over not knowing where his daughter is, not hearing her voice, has weighed heavily on him.

"I just have this feeling of loneliness, emptiness," he said. "We have no idea where she is, where she could be."

A Disturbing New Lesson

And that's something that all families of missing persons have in common, no matter what kind of media attention their cases may receive: an irreplaceable void.

Though the Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson and Dru Sjodin cases ultimately ended tragically, with the discovery of the missing women's remains, at least the respective families had some sense of closure.

The Spartanburg Department of Public Safety asks that anyone who may have information regarding Tamika Huston's disappearance to contact investigators at (864) 596-2035 or CrimeStoppers at (864) 58-CRIME. More information about the search for Huston can be found at two Web sites her friends and relatives have set up for her at www.tamikahuston.com and www.tamika.info.com.

No matter the ultimate outcome in the search for her niece, Rebkah Howard was learned another lesson in her training as a public relations executive.

"It's been very disturbing for me," she said. "Not only has this been a very personal challenge with my niece missing, but it's been a professional challenge: 'How can I get some attention from the national media?' Because it may be that attention that brings Tamika home, or worst-case scenario, the person who brought her harm to justice."

Copyright © 2004 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

[peripeteia]

It seems obvious that Tamika has been missing since some time, likely close to the time that she was last seen near June 2nd. There must be some finger prints other than Tamika's on the steering wheel. What we seem to have again is someone who has answered all the questions, as a suspect. The police have not pointed their finger at the exboyfriend. It is obvious that a new forensic team is needed to go into the house, as there has to be some information in the house. Surely someone can figure out how long a dog could survive without food, other than eating the litter of puppies. There should be other finger prints on her car keys. It seems likely that Tamika would not leave without her purse and stuff which was left in the apt. It sounds like she did not have many friends and lived a life alone with her boyfriend and dog.

The dog must have been barking all that time alone in the house? Surely the neighbours heard the dog barking? The perp must have been known to Tamika else the dog would have had any intruder for supper.

Given that the boyfriend was abusive, it seems this is likely the direction to look. There maybe a friend of her exboyfriend who could be involved? Someone Tamika met at the restaurant? Why did she quit her job, where had she gone to look for a job after she left the one she had.

Perhaps it is difficult to get into the paper because the police have done a poor job investigating this case as they have reported nothing in the newpaper giving any leads, in fact they do not even know when she went missing, this says to me someone is not talking.

Personally I think that the exboyfriend should have a polygraph.

What to do in such cases, it seems that the police need to go back and fill in some blanks, like determining when she may have gone missing?
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[rd]

Exactly the same situation with Chandra. If you've recently left employment when you disappear, your disapperaance is not taken seriously for weeks and months even if everything you own is still in your home.

That has to change.

rd

[rd]

Washington Times op-ed from Deborah Simmons which is pretty good. Comments follow.

rd

from www.washtimes.com (fair use)

Where is Tamika Huston?
By Deborah Simmons
Washington Times Op-Ed
June 3, 2005

Tamika Huston's smile is as captivating as Laci Peterson's. Tamika Huston's disappearance is as deserving of attention from the mainstream media as Chandra Levy's and the aptly "runaway bride."

Have you heard of the Tamika Huston case? It is highly unlikely since the Big Three networks are ignoring the kidnapping. Indeed, if it weren't for a local cable program on which I am a panelist, I never would have heard of Tamika Huston either.

Like the three other missing women, Tamika Huston is a twenty-something whose disappearance from her home in Spartanburg, S.C., is baffling -- mostly because a 911 caller told police of her killing before Miss Huston had been reported missing. She has not been seen or heard from since late May of 2004. Her purse, ID and other such belongings were found in her home. Her car was found abandoned near the home of a former boyfriend. Inside the car, police found keys, but none belonging to Miss Huston. The key to the mysterious keys was actually determined by "America's Most Wanted," which aired its initial segment on the Huston case in March.

Spartanburg authorities have interviewed relatives, friends and ex-boyfriends, and numerous others. The FBI has deemed the disappearance of Miss Huston a kidnapping. Why? One of the keys found in Miss Huston's car opened a door in another complex. An ex-boyfriend used to live there, and in that apartment police found blood evidence. DNA tests have determined that blood is in fact that of Tamika Huston.

Tom Morris Jr., senior correspondent and producer of "America's Most Wanted," who I recently interviewed on television, deserves considerable credit for pushing the where-is-Tamika-Huston case upon a national audience. A subsequent segment on what he rightly calls a "bizarre" kidnapping will air later this month.

"Bizarre" is apropos for two primary reasons. For one, police received a 911 caller who claimed that her brother had drowned Miss Huston. Police followed up on the tip, but found no such lady in the lake.

Where is Tamika Huston? That is the precise question that still haunts, with no sign of any reasonable answers coming anytime soon.

Miss Huston, 25, is a native of Washington with lots of friends and relatives tied to this area (her mother still lives here and Miss Huston is a cousin of former Washington Redskin Desmond Howard). Miss Huston is a graduate of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, and had worked at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. She also got her wish and exhibited her lovely voice during auditions on "American Idol."

Friends and family, who maintain a Web site (tamikahuston.com) also question the lack of attention the case is getting from the mainstream media, pointing out that while "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," the syndicated drive-time radio program, and blackamericaweb.com have reported on the Huston kidnapping, national outlets are suspiciously quiet, preferring to give us daily updates on the bride who didn't want to walk down the aisle.

Remember the barrage of daily news stories on Chandra Levy, the intern who disappeared quicker than you could say Gary Condit? Remember Miss Levy's distraught mother pleading for her daughter's return? Remember the interviews and stories by Larry King, Katie Couric and Matt What's His Name? I even remember my police chief, Chuck Ramsey, and federal authorities using the term person of interest, and I remember a laidback congressman from California saying he had nothing to do with Miss Levy's disappearance.

I also remember the early days of the Laci Peterson case, and thinking how could a "devoted and loving" husband dump his wife on Christmas Eve and roll her body -- her very pregnant body -- into the Bay. The Peterson case most certainly drew considerable media attention from the very fact that both the Levy and the Peterson cases were out of Modesta, Calif., and involved sex, lies but no videotape. But when we learned that Miss Levy's remains had been found and that corpses of Mrs. Peterson and her unborn son had washed ashore, we knew that closure was eventual.

There are no such signs in the Huston case -- at least not yet.

While law enforcers continue to follow leads and question persons of interest in the Huston case, the media continues to ignore a kidnapping that seemingly should lead to either questionable investigative strategy or a dead body.

I'm praying that Tamika Huston, who has a tattoo of a tiger on her right thigh, is as alive and well as her housemate -- a Pit Bull who was pregnant when Tamika disappeared. The dog was severely malnourished when they found her, and only one puppy survived. Indeed, the media asking where is Tamika Huston (NPR carried a report last month) is as critical to such missing-person cases as the law enforcers grilling persons of interest.

[rd]

We have another pattern here besides significant others making a woman disappear, and that is the random columnist who claims racism in coverage of the missing women. They invariably mention Chandra as a poster child for unwarranted coverage while the disappearance du jour is claimed to be overlooked due to not being white, although the columnists dance around their assertion.

I've addressed every time I've seen one of these over the years. The occasional case that captures cable news attention (the Wash Times columnist cites Big Three as if they covered these cases extensively rather than cable, but she writes for the Washington Times so that can only be expected) actually must meet much more complex criteria than race to first get their attention and then sustain it with viewer interest.

I've written on these factors in other threads but among them I contend that race is the least of the factors, if a factor at all. Compare to the current case of Tracey Tetso, for example. Basically same story, with at least Tracey being somewhat more of a mystery because not even blood was found as with Tamika. The lack of coverage is identical, despite Tracey being an attractive white woman.

Simmons like all the others thinks she has uncovered some gem of wisdom when they complain of racism in coverage of missing women, but they are totally off the mark. When it is too obvious the boyfriend did it, it's not a compellling mystery, just a murder case.

Deborah makes excellent points about the boyfriends in those disappeared women cases, and an excellent finish on the value of coverage. But her most important point is that the cases are sex and lies, but no videotape.

rd

[rd]

I believe I heard in the news over the weekend that Tamika's body was found and some evidence against her boyfriend had been found, sounded like some of her blood found in his apartment. Not sure of the details as I just caught a few seconds of it. A search of Google just now didn't turn up anything on this.

She was just one more inconvenient woman made to disappear by her boyfriend or husband. So obvious, in fact, that the only thing the boyfriend can do is deny he was the boyfriend of a missing woman. Helps if you're a powerful congressman named Condit intimidating bewildered DC bureaucrats.

rd

[gozgals]

website: Family note (and read more)

*Much apologies, I was working on something else; wrong url was placed, correction - updated:


http://www.tamikahuston.com/pages/1/index.htm




BREAKING: Man Charged in Tamika Huston's Disappearance

Click here for more information.



Statement from Tamika Huston’s Family

Friday, August 12, 2005




Our family would first like to thank the Spartanburg Public Safety Department for their commitment to investigating the disappearance of our beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, and cousin, Tamika Antonette Huston. The Department has spent tireless hours on her case over the course of the past year and for that, we are most grateful.



For our family, this day brings us both tremendous sadness and some sense of relief. While trying to come to terms with the fact that our Tamika will not return to us, we find comfort in knowing the person responsible for this most personal tragedy is being brought to justice.



We are sure those of you who knew Tamika agree that she was an angel sent to us for far too little time. For those of you who never met her, we hope her loving spirit has been revealed to you through her photos and through the words of her family and friends who love her so much.



Finally, we would like to thank the public for all their prayers and support. Your continued prayers and support are appreciated as our journey is still not over.



The Family of Tamika A. Huston

*note: Just got in and saw this. Once again- it has been changed. -G

[gozgals]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-15-missing_x.htm

Posted 8/15/2005 1:21 AM Updated 8/15/2005 1:53 AM


Acquaintance charged with woman's murder
By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY
Police in Spartanburg, S.C., have charged a man with murdering Tamika Huston, a 24-year-old African-American woman who became the subject of a debate over whether national news organizations lack interest in missing people if they aren't young, pretty, white women.

Tests could determine as soon as Monday whether remains found in S.C. woods are those of Tamika Huston, missing since May 2004.
Family photo via AP

Authorities also may have found Huston's body. The suspect, Christopher Hampton, 25, of Spartanburg, led investigators Friday to a wooded area in the city. Tests could determine as soon as today whether remains found there are Huston's.

Hampton was arrested by Spartanburg police Friday just before he was to be released from a federal prison in Edgefield County, S.C., where he had been serving time on a parole violation. He wasn't incarcerated when Huston disappeared in May 2004.

At that time, Hampton lived in an apartment where a significant amount of Huston's blood was later found, Spartanburg Director of Public Safety Tony Fisher said.

Hampton was an acquaintance of Huston's, according to Fisher and members of Huston's family.

Police were convinced she was dead in part because of the large amount of blood discovered in the apartment.

Fisher also said that additional "forensic evidence" had led his department to charge Hampton with murder. Fisher wouldn't comment further about the evidence.

The cases of Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking, Natalee Holloway, Elizabeth Smart and other young, white women have received heavy coverage by news media in recent years, but Huston's case got almost no national attention for nearly a year after she disappeared. When her case finally received significant coverage, the stories centered mostly on the media's lack of interest compared with cases involving white women.

Young, white women are not "typical" missing people: Slightly more than half of missing adults are men, and nearly 30% are black, although blacks account for 13% of the U.S. population. The FBI has nearly 50,000 active cases involving missing adults.

Media analysts such as Aly Colón of the Poynter Institute, a school for professional journalists, didn't accuse newsroom managers of outright racial bias. But they noted that the ranks of top editors and producers remain heavily dominated by whites.

That could lead to more stories about missing people who are white because such journalists identify more readily with them, Colón and others said.

Network executives such as MSNBC Vice President Mark Effron said race and gender weren't the driving factors in their choice of stories.

Rebkah Howard, Huston's aunt and the spokeswoman for the missing woman's family, said the family is relieved by Hampton's arrest but feels "as if we're only halfway there. ... We know it will be a lengthy process before he's ever convicted."

Immediately after reporting Huston's disappearance to Spartanburg police in early June 2004, her family began trying to call attention to her case. Howard, a public relations professional in Miami, alerted newspapers and TV stations in South Carolina. Within weeks, local media were covering the case.

Then Howard talked to four broadcast TV networks and major newspapers, including USA TODAY. Fox News Channel's On the Record with Greta Van Susteren briefly noted Huston's disappearance in August. No other national media covered the case.

At the same time, national news media gave heavy coverage to the July 19, 2004, disappearance of Hacking, 27, of Salt Lake City. Her husband, Mark, later pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to six years to life in prison.

Huston's full story wasn't told nationally until March, on Fox's America's Most Wanted. In May and June, National Public Radio and USA TODAY reported on Huston's disappearance and the lack of media interest in the case.

Howard said she is convinced that national media attention can make a big difference in solving a missing-person case.

"I have a huge amount of respect for the Spartanburg Public Safety Department, and they devoted an enormous amount of time to Tamika's case," she said. "But I know the national media attention we finally got only helped. It brought new leads, and it did keep a fire lit under the police."

[gozgals]

http://www.thecarolinachannel.com/news/4852258/detail.html

Autopsy Report Expected Late WeekIn Tamika Huston Case
Bones Found In Wooded Area Near Duncan

POSTED: 10:10 am EDT August 15, 2005
UPDATED: 2:55 pm EDT August 15, 2005

SPARTANBURG -- More than a year of searching and waiting for answers may come to an end later this week.

An autopsy is expected to determine if skeletal remains found in a wooded area are the remains of Tamika Huston.

"They bear the characteristics of human remains. As for the exact idenity of those remains, again, that will have to be after analysis is completed in the laboratory," Capt. Billy Norris said.

On Friday, Christopher Lamont Hampton, 25, was charged with murder in connection with Huston's disappearance.

"We recently recovered additional foresenic evidence in this case. With this evidence, we are comfortable with preceeding with criminal charges for the murder of Tamika Huston," Spartanburg Public Safety Director Tony Fisher said Friday.

Just hours after being charged, Hampton made a statement to investigators, then led them to the scene off an empty road near a Duncan industrial park.

"Naturally, we wanted to find Ms. Huston and return her safely to her family. Unfortunately, that might not be the case. If these turn out to be the remains of Ms. Huston, then I feel that would be a step in the process of bringing closure to this case as well as to the family of Ms. Huston," Norris said.

Huston disappeared in June 2004. Forensic evidence found at an apartment Hampton rented indicated that Huston had bled there at some point.

Hampton and Huston were aquaintances prior to her disappearance.

Hampton was serving time in a federal prison on unrelated charges prior to his arrest.

Previous Stories:
August 12, 2005: Man Charged In Tamika Huston Disappearance; Remains Found
August 3, 2005: Family Raises Reward In Tamika Huston Case Again
July 30, 2005: Tamika Huston's Mother Talks About Year Without Her Daughter
March 15, 2005: Missing Woman's Family Increases Reward
March 15, 2005: Person Of Interest Found In Tamika Huston Case
March 14, 2005: Klaaskids Search Leader To Report On Huston Case
March 9, 2005: National Group To Help In Huston Search
February 19, 2005: Detectives: Tamika Huston Disappearance Now Considered Foul Play
December 23, 2004: Reward Increases Again In Spartanburg Woman's Disappearance
October 22, 2004: Tamika Huston Disappearance To Get National Attention

Copyright 2005 by TheCarolinaChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

G)

[rd]

Thank you for that info, gozgals. It looks like Tamika can finally be laid to rest and the boyfriend will be convicted. Somehow nailing yet another boyfriend in this assembly line of missing women doesn't seem to bring much closure.

rd

[rd]

America's Most Wanted started off with Tamika's case tonight. Good detective work from the Spartanburg police. They found Tamika's car abandoned at an apartment complex.

Then they got a 911 call saying "My brother said he killed his girlfriend and dumped her in a lake." When asked "Where does he live", the reply was the apartment complex where Tamika's car was found.

But the lake was searched, even drained, I believe, and she wasn't found. The caller was never identified, nor his brother who was supposed to live in those apartments.

Clearly it was a setup to blame Tamika's murder on an unknown boyfriend. Inside Tamika's car the police found a set of keys that weren't for her car and home. The police found the maker of one of the keys, and determined it was to another apartment complex. They went through the building, door by door, until they found the apartment the keys were for.

It was empty, but it had been rented by Tamika's boyfriend, who was now in prison on other charges. The police searched the apartment and found a cleaned up crime scene with traces of blood.

They have his keys in her abandoned car and her blood in his apartment, but no body. But when he is about to be released from prison, they charge him with murder. Once charged with murder, he tells them it was an accident and where he hid her body.

It is in a forest, not far from where you can drive up and haul her body into the trees. If his lawyer was Geragos, he'd be claiming she jogged there about now.

rd

[gozgals]

rd: I'm sorry I missed AMW- Maybe over the course of the week, I'll post in the shows feature.

I cannot even begin to post in a comment to add anything worthy to what you stated. You said it all. All this news at one time is hard to handle.
-----I have to state one thing:

In Tamika's case, "I find it hard at this point in time to buy the boyfriends BS story about an accident!" I won't buy it and I can't live with it!

The callous way, with such intent these creeps move the bodies of these poor women, and cover their trail just shows what disregard they all have for life. I must say this appears to be a pattern of behavior that is taking place in our society today when a man wants to get rid of a girlfriend. Our justice system has to start doing its job.

If I may quote you here: