Jessica Heeringa - Michigan

[LadyBlue]

Despite a new pledge for a $15,000 reward and hundreds of tips, there is still no sign of Jessica Heeringa nearly six days after the young mother vanished from her job at a gas station in western Michigan.

Police released new surveillance video Wednesday from a local business that shows a silver or gray minivan sought by investigators in the disappearance of the 25-year-old. She was last seen Friday night near the close of her shift at a Exxon Mobil in Norton Shores.

The newest video came from a business about 1 mile north of where police got another video that was released earlier this week. It shows the van passing by about 11:04 p.m., Norton Shores Police Chief Daniel Shaw said. The license plate was not visible.

Police believe Heeringa disappeared sometime between 10:50 and 11:15 p.m. Friday.

Police have said the Exxon Mobil did not have any cameras, complicating the investigation. Officers plan to go through the city's business registry and call businesses to make sure they did not miss any potential video.

A spokesman for Exxon Mobil Corp. said Wednesday that the company will be contributing $15,000 to a reward fund for Heeringa, along with the Exxon- and Mobil-branded distributors in Michigan.

A sketch, made with the help of a witness, was released Tuesday of the man seen in a minivan near the gas station around the time Heeringa disappeared. That sketch has generated hundreds of tips from the public, which investigators have been prioritizing and following up on, Shaw said.

"They're trying to locate those people, verify if there's likeness or not, and then if there is, try to determine their whereabouts on the night of Jessica's disappearance," he said.

Heeringa's family continued to pass out fliers Wednesday and said the next step will likely be to organize search parties. They have received an outpouring of community support, including hundreds who gathered at a vigil earlier this week.

"We kind of have to take it a day at a time," said Diane Homrich, Jessica's grandmother.

Her family also is getting help from a public relations firm in Florida. Ryan Julison, president of Julison Communications, has a close friend who grew up in Norton Shores and volunteered to work with the family.

"They're a family who is not accustomed to this kind of situation," Julison said. "They need someone to come in and help them."

Police believe Heeringa was abducted, because there were no signs of a struggle in the station and her belongings — including her purse, with cash inside, and her vehicle — were left behind.
www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/01/new-video-missing-woman-case/2128091/

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[LadyBlue]

State park searched in hunt for missing mom Jessica Heeringa

Police came up empty-handed after searching a state park in Norton Shores on Thursday for a western Michigan mother who vanished from her job nearly a week ago.

Investigators had received a tip of gunshots heard between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. Saturday in the area of P.J. Hoffmaster State Park. Jessica Heeringa is believed to have been abducted between 10:50 and 11:15 p.m. April 26 from her job at the Exxon Mobil gas station on East Sternberg Road in Norton Shores.

Norton Shores Police Chief Daniel Shaw said police did not find anything in the air and ground searches of the park. Prior to the search, police learned a person had found sunglasses that resembled glasses Heeeinga owned, but Heeringa’s fiancé later said they did not belong to her, Shaw said.

Police said they believe the tip about gunshots is credible but pointed out that Saturday marked the opening day of turkey hunting season, and hunting is permitted in the southern part of Norton Shores.

“We have no information connecting the gunshots to the Jessica Heeringa case, but we have organized an aerial and ground search of the area,” Shaw said in a news release Thursday prior to the search.

The 1,200-acre state park is about 4 miles from the gas station where Heeringa was last seen.

Police said they believe Heeringa, 25, who has a 3-year-old son, was abducted because there were no signs of a struggle in the station, and her belongings — including her purse and vehicle — were left behind.

All video's on Jessica's case can be found at this link:
www.freep.com/article/20130503/NEWS/305030014/State-park-searched-in-hunt-for-missing-mom-Jessica-Heeringa

[LadyBlue]

NS Chief: Secret Service investigating

NORTON SHORES, Mich. (WOOD) - As the search for Jessica Heeringa continues, Norton Shores Police Chief, Daniel Shaw, tells us United States Secret Service Agents and detectives with the Ottawa County Sheriff's department have been called in to help find the 25-year-old woman. The additional investigators plan to be in Norton Shores helping with the case for as long as possible.

The additional investigators haven't changed the way employees at the Norton Shores Police Department are handling the case. Chief Shaw says, "We haven' reduced the number of investigators we have it's just different people in different roles."

Chief Shaw told 24 Hour News 8, that they interviewed 14 people of interest on Saturday. "we're not telling you how many people we've talked to, we're not telling you what address they live or how many cars we've stopped or that type of thing."
www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/muskegon_county/ns-chief-secret-service-investigating?ref=scroller&categoryId=10001&status=true

[LadyBlue]

'Around the clock' search for Jessica

NORTON SHORES, Mich. (WOOD) - Investigators continue to "work around the clock" to find Jessica Heeringa, who has been missing for more than a week, according to the chief of the Norton Shores Police Department.

Heeringa, 25, vanished from the Sternberg Road Exxon Mobil where she works around 11 p.m. April 26. Police say they believe she was abducted.

Norton Shores Police Chief Dan Shaw updated 24 Hour News 8 on the investigation Sunday evening via phone.

"We're going to find Jessica and bring her home," he said.

Shaw said investigators continue to interview witnesses and possible persons of interests. Tips also continue to come in. Several Sunday tips were classified as "high-priority," Shaw said and were looked into.

No suspect has been identified.

Authorities continue to focus their investigation on a suspect sketch and surveillance images of a silver minivan he is believed to have been driving. That van is their only lead at this point, Shaw said.

Shaw said going into the second full week of the investigation, the Norton Shores Police Department will continue to work with the other law enforcement agencies that make up the task force looking into the case.

Investigators have put in long hours, Shaw said, and a few extra people are expected to come in to help in the coming days, giving others a day off to rest before they return to the investigation "rejuvenated."

The US Secret Service is also aiding in the search. Shaw said the federal agency offered to help and local investigators agreed. An analyst is now helping sort through cell phone records, the state sex offender registry, vehicle data and data of people who match the description of the possible suspect seen in the sketch.
www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/muskegon_county/jessica-heeringa-abduction-investigation-update-may-5-2013

[LadyBlue]

A few things are really bothering me about this case. One is that there have yet to be any foot searches, why is that? They seem to be tunnel visioning on this silver Town and Country van so much that everything outside that box doesn't seem to concern them.

The second thing is as I'm remembering and still reading on the Holly Bobo case and the new team that's been working on it, seem to be pointing at someone local, someone that would have been familiar with the back roads where Holly's cell phone was pinging. One place in a cemetery for 15 min.

In looking at a map in Jessica's case, there is a cemetery on Airport Rd. called Norton Cemetery. Since we haven't been told about any cell pings yet, I'm wondering if there aren't some that could be pinpointed to that particular cemetery.

While Holly's case and Jessica's case haven't been tied together in any way, the Turkey season day has me wondering if there could actually be a connection, and if so, then I really feel that Norton Cemetery should be searched and any cell pings coming from that location looked into.

[LadyBlue]

Green Dot - Norton Cemetery

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[LadyBlue]

Red Dots - Surveillance Video of Silver Van

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[LadyBlue]

Six Petite Blonde Look-A-Likes Have Gone Missing In The Month Of April Including Jessica Heeringa, Kelli Bordeaux and Holly Bobo.

Six petite blonde look-a-likes gone missing in the month of April:
1). Jessica Heeringa went missing Friday April 26th 2013.
2). Heather Hodges went missing Monday April 9th 2012.
3). Kelli Bordeaux went missing Saturday April 14th 2012.
4). Holly Bobo went missing Wednesday April 13th 2011.
5). Brittanee Drexel went missing Saturday April 25th 2009.
6). Misty Gwinner went missing Tuesday April 5th 2005.
www.billwarnerpi.com/2013/05/six-petite-blonde-look-likes-have-gone.html

I don't care what the online community or the general public think about Bill Warner, PI, someone really needs to take a good hard look at the cases he's showing because you just can not ignore what is staring you right in the face, that girls who have gone missing could be sisters. Then if that's not bad enough, look at all the dates in April there.

1). Jessica Heeringa, blonde hair, 5' 1" tall and 110 lbs, 25 years old
2). Heather Hodges, blonde hair, 5′ 1′ tall and 99 lbs, 22 years old
3). Kelli Bordeaux, blonde hair, 5′ 0″ tall and 99 lbs, 23 years old.
4). Paige Johnson, blonde hair, 5′ 1″ tall and 110 lbs, 17 years old
5). Holly Bobo, blonde hair, 5′ 3″ tall and 110 lbs, 21 years old
6). Lauren Spierer, blonde hair, 4′ 11″ tall and 95 lbs, 21 years old.
7). Brittanee Drexel, blonde hair, 5′ 0″ tall and 103 lbs, 17 years old.

[LadyBlue]

Police Chief: Jessica Heeringa's abduction task force to remain intact as long as 'credible leads' come in

As of Wednesday, May 15, a person of interest or suspect hasn’t yet been identified.

Shaw said a silver or gray minivan is definitely linked to her abduction and a man driving that van away from the gas station the night of her abduction holds the key to her current location.

Shaw has said investigators believe she was abducted by a person with whom she was acquainted in some way. A blood droplet found outside the gas station has since been identified as Heeringa’s.

Authorities have said they believe she is alive and can still be brought home safely.

The driver of the van being sought by police is described as a white male, approximately 30 to 40 years old, 6 feet tall, medium to heavy build with broad shoulders, light brown or sandy blond, wavy hair parted in the middle and slightly longer on top.
www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/05/police_chief_jessica_heeringas_1.html

[LadyBlue]

'High-priority tips' in Heeringa case

NORTON SHORES, Mich. (WOOD) - Investigators trying to find Jessica Heeringa, the 25-year-old who disappeare.d from a Norton Shores gas station on April 26, say they received several promising tips over the weekend.

While Norton Shores Police Chief Dan Shaw wouldn't offer specifics on the latest tips, he did share tip criteria detectives are using.

Based on an FBI formula, tips are assigned to to three categories: High, medium and low importance.

"For example, one criteria is they can identify the person in the sketch," Shaw said. "That would be one of those factors."

In two rooms at Norton Shores City Hall, task force members, made up of officers from several agencies, continued to work the case on Monday.

24 Hour News 8 was allowed into one of those rooms, where computers are set up to allow detectives to pour over the information they've received, crunching data to figure out what's important.

The silver Town and County minivan seen at the gas station on the night that Heeringa disappeared is one example.

"One of the things that they were able to do for us very quickly is narrow down the number of minivans owned by white males between the age of 30 and 40," Shaw said.

Detectives were able to narrow the number of vans from ten of thousands to 220 in short order.

With the one-month anniversary of Heeringa's disappearance looming, 24 Hour News 8 asked Shaw how long the task force, wich includes more than a dozen officers, would continue in their efforts.

Shaw said that was a week-by-week decision.

The Norton Shores Police Department has spent about $20,000 in overtime for city officers investigating Heeringa's case.

Shaw said he hasn't had to go to city leaders to ask for more money and will cut his budget elsewhere to cover the costs.

Shaw also said that time and money wouldn't determine how long the task force stays together, but rather, information.

"As long as there are valuable leads coming in - high priority leads - and as long as there are items to be followed up on, they will stay with this investigation," Shaw said.

The tip line is up and running 24 hours a day. If you have any information, call 911 or Silent Observer at 231.722.7463.
www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/High-priority-tips-in-Heeringa-case

A side note from LadyBlue - When you get to the bottom line of why they begin cutting the budget down so those officers who are needed elseware will leave the Jessica Heeringa case. They say the investigation is still open after a year, but it takes money to hire officers. So, the bottom of the bottom lines are MONEY!!

[LadyBlue]

Today, 06:32 PM
cluciano63's Avatar
cluciano63 cluciano63 is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: NM
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If the vehicle is not registered to the perp, age breakdowns are not going to help, i.e if registered to a girlfriend, etc.
www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208553&page=39

And out of the chaos comes Clu at websleuth's, with what I've been screaming for a month now, and makes total sense. Um, one would HOPE that they are closer to solving this than we think, because if not, the Jessica Heeringa case will carry on for years. If they aren't thinking about what you've pointed out, well, I can't even wrap my mind around that. And, I'm really bothered by the Norton Cemetery on Airport Rd.

I can't help but think about the Holly Bobo case and these new PI's that the family hired are finding so many new things, and the most important one to me was that Holly's cell phone pinged for 15 min at a cemetery not far from her home through those woods. In both cases the cemeteries, are within blocks from where both young women abducted.

Then add another connection, one drop of blood left at the scene of both cases. Many wonder if it could have been a needle used to inject something to stun the girls and swept them away. I have wondered the same thing however, would you not need to hit a blood vessel to get a drop of blood? I've had shots but they never bled enough to leave a solid drop of blood.

AND, another complication to the injection is that Holly was quite capable of walking into the woods with this guy, using her own steam, and apparently not hallucinating.

Now let's add another connection, both girls were taken around the 1st day of Turkey seasons in each area. Then we have one man wearing camos and the other wearing bright orange, ? could that be an orange vest for hunting? No one can say, just the facts ma'am.