There are lots of cases of missing people leaving no clues behind, but in these cases
some vital clues may be crucial in bringing answers to the families of lost loved ones.
Number 5
It’s now over a year since Russell Hill and Carol Clay were last seen while camping
in the Victorian Alps.
Russell and Carol were in their mid-70s when they vanished in March 2020.
They had known one another since childhood and, even though Russell was married, were
believed to have been having an affair together.
The scandalous nature of their camping trip caught headlines when they disappeared after
their campsite was found burned to the ground.
The two started their trip on March 19th, Russell’s wife unaware Carol would be joining
him on his trip.
They spent the first night at Howitt High Plain, then moved on to Wonnangatta Valley.
It’s not known if this was where they intended to spend the remainder of the trip, but Carol
had told her friends she would be back on the 28th or 29th.
Russell was last heard from when he spoke to a friend over HF Radio the following day.
He didn’t report any issues and his friend apparently didn’t suspect anything was wrong.
Later that day, fellow campers would come across their site burned to the ground.
Authorities would later discover a mobile phone charger was to blame.
The car they had been travelling in was also found at the site with some minor fire damage,
but Russell and Carol were nowhere to be seen.
While it could initially seem like two lovers running away from their old lives, police
are convinced someone else was involved in their disappearance.
Police initially believed a drone found nearby belonged to Russell, and that the couple may
have been victims of illegal hunters in the area trying to cover their tracks.
While the drone was later claimed by someone else, the theory is still popular, especially
as some reports claim crossbow bolts were found in the area near the site.
More than a year after the couple vanished, another big clue was unearthed.
Police moved Police moved their search site away from Wonnangatta Valley for the first
time, working off a tip.
Two shovels were found in an area of brush in Mount Hotham, 80km northwest of the couple’s
campsite.
The shovels were sent off to testing, and the investigation abruptly returned to the
Wonnangatta Valley again.
The development gives hopes more answers will be found soon.
Sources: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/wife-of-missing-camper-robyn-hill-fears-the-worst-in-disappearance-of-russell-hill-carol-clay/news-story/a271e1a29dc5726663be6d65a237da94 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9468679/Police-new-clue-search-missing-campers-Russell-Hill-Carol-Clay.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9594473/New-twist-case-Victorian-missing-campers-having-affair.html https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/not-safe-best-mate-of-missing-camper-russell-hill-issues-bombshell-warning/news-story/6c32bde6e95a13ab0bde36fbc37c40f2
Number 4 The family of Saniyya Dennis are still looking
for answers after the 19-year-old student disappeared on April 24th, 2021.
Saniyya, the daughter of rapper Calvin Byrd, is a Buffalo State College Honours student,
living on campus at the time of her disappearance.
According to the official time line of events, Saniyya left campus at around 11pm and took
two buses to Niagara Falls.
There, at 1.20am the following morning, her cell phone pinged for the final time, with
investigators determining she was likely on Goat Island.
She hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
There are a number of confusing aspects in the case.
According to reports, Saniyya posted a picture on her Snapchat around the time of the last
ping.
It was taken in front of the Nikola Tesla statue, looking out over the falls.
However, it’s been disputed if the photo was authentic, due to the lack of a time stamp,
and some have claimed police dismissed it.
Saniyya’s family have been critical about the investigation, which they believe took
too long to gather information, and is currently missing vital surveillance footage, such as
that from the bus she took to the falls.
Saniyya was allegedly the only person on the bus during her journey, and it’s possible
the footage could have provided some insight.
Saniyya’s father also went to businesses in the area around the falls, looking for
any surveillance footage that could confirm she was there, and that she wasn’t with
anybody else, but came up empty handed.
Police concluded Saniyya took her own life at the falls.
According to investigators, she had had an argument with her boyfriend and, after leaving
dozens of unanswered calls for him, decided to travel to the falls.
She allegedly sent text messages to friends discussing the act, and one friend talked
her out of taking her own life, but police believe she later changed her mind.
However, Saniyya’s family disagree with the verdict.
They were shown surveillance footage from the falls which allegedly shows her going
over, but they do not believe the “black dot” is Saniyya.
They also claim she never had a boyfriend with who she was serious enough to warrant
such a reaction to an argument.
Sources: https://ourblackgirls.com/2021/05/01/saniyya-dennis-19-was-last-seen-leaving-campus-in-new-york/ https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/saniyya-dennis-missing-buffalo-college-student-died-by-suicide
https://wblk.com/missing-buffalo-state-college-student-saniyya-dennis-father-gives-update-on-search-efforts-video-interview/ http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2021/may/13/shock-disbelief-and-betrayal-family-saniyya-dennis/
https://news.yahoo.com/snapchat-photo-missing-student-shows-211632839.html
Number 3
On April 22nd, 2005, Wendy Dehoop drove her husband to work at a Home Depot in the small
town of Eugene, Oregon.
It was the usual morning routine for the couple.
Usually, Wendy would go on to the even smaller town of Halsey where she worked at the Georgia-Pacific
Mill.
It was a journey that would take her less than an hour.
But this time, Wendy didn’t show up.
Wendy’s boss was the first to report her missing after she failed to show up to work.
She was also reported missing by a man named David Tishim, who some sources claim was her
boyfriend.
Little progress was made in the first few days of the investigation.
It’s not known how seriously the disappearance was taken.
Wendy was an adult, and it may have been the case authorities figured she had vanished
of her own accord.
She had at least one child with her husband, but if David Tishim was a boyfriend, it could
be her private life was considered complicated enough to explain the sudden disappearance.
Six days after Wendy disappeared, the first trace of the 44-year-old since she left the
Home Depot was found.
A man walking his dog found Wendy’s purse in Eugene, and handed it in at a local Bi-Mart.
Wendy’s wallet was missing.
Four days later, the same man led authorities to Wendy’s car, which he found abandoned.
It appeared Wendy – or someone else driving the car – had driven back the way she had
come after dropping off her husband.
There was no indication of foul play, and little information is available about the
state the vehicle was in when it was found.
There has been little progress in the investigation since the car was found, and there are far
more questions than answers in this case.
It’s possible the man who found the two items found them at the same time, but didn’t
realise the car was important in a missing person case until days after he handed in
the purse he found on the street.
If the two clues were found together, though, it’s hard to figure out why he would have
handed the purse in at the store he did, rather than a closer location.
Sources: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/7slcss/missing_and_forgotten_wendy_dehoop/ https://charleyproject.org/case/wendy-marie-dehoop
https://ourblackgirls.com/2018/11/01/missing-04-22-2005-wendy-marie-dehoop-vanished-after-taking-her-husband-to-work/
Number 2
Leah Roberts disappeared in March 2000, leaving behind a series of clues that have led to
numerous theories about what happened to the young student.
Leah had gone through a lot of tragedy in her life.
She had lost both her parents, her mother when she was 20 and her father a few years
later after a long batter with a lung disease.
She was also involved in a serious car accident, in which she thought she would lose her life.
Thankfully, Leah survived, but had to have a steel rod placed in her right femur.
Both losses took place while she was at college, studying Spanish and anthropology.
At first it seemed she would stick the course but, with six months left before graduation,
she was ready to start something else.
Friends would later say Leah felt frustrated that she wasn’t doing what she loved, though
she wasn’t entirely sure what it was she wanted to do.
She took up a number of new hobbies, and became fascinated by the work of Jack Kerouac, one
of the leading names in the Beat Generation literary movement, and in the final days before
her disappearance spoke with friends about the book which described his time at Desolation
Peak.
Leah was last seen by her roommate on March 9th, 2000.
She agreed to go to a babysitting job with her roommate the following day.
While her roommate was at work, Leah left the house, taking her Jeep Cherokee and newly
adopted kitten with her.
Her roommate wasn’t too worried when she came back and found Leah missing, but when
she hadn’t shown up by the following day, she contacted Leah’s family to see if they
knew what had happened.
A search of Leah’s room found she had taken a number of cherished possessions.
She left behind a note which read “I’m not suicidal, I’m the opposite.
Remember Jack Kerouac”.
It seemed her talk about Desolation Peak might have been a clue as to where she had gone.
Checking Leah’s bank activity seemed to follow this theory.
Leah lived in North Carolina at the time, but there were a series of cash withdrawals
from her account made by someone travelling to the west coast.
A gas purchase in Oregon in the early hours of March 13th was the last transaction made
using Leah’s bank card.
Five days later, joggers on Mount Baker, not far from Desolation Peak, found a white jeep
that seemed to have been driven at high speed over a steep embankment.
Police traced the vehicle to Leah, and her passport, items of clothing, and some money
were found inside the car.
It appeared someone had been living in the car for a time, as blankets had been placed
in the windows to give the occupant some privacy, but Leah was nowhere to be found.
Investigators determined anyone in the vehicle when it crashed would have been injured, but
there was no blood found inside.
It was only years later, when two new detectives took on the case, that anyone thought to look
under the hood of the car.
It was then they found wires had been cut which would have allowed the vehicle to accelerate
without anyone pressing the gas pedal.
There have been a number of sightings over the years, with some saying Leah was in the
company of a man, and others saying she was walking alone, confused and apparently concussed.
A number of searches have taken place around the area in the years since, but Leah has
never been found.
One unidentified body was found in 2014, though investigators determined it belonged to a
male.
Interestingly, it did have a steel rod in its right femur, and the lot number indicated
it belonged to a batch that was shipped around the same time Leah was getting her own surgery.
A report indicated the John Doe was statistically likely to have gotten the operation in the
Northwest.
Whether this is a strange clue or an unconnected coincidence is unknown.
Sources: https://unsolved.com/gallery/leah-roberts/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150219174012/http://foothillsgazette.com/2010/03/25/10-years-later-missing-person-case-remains-open/
https://thetruecrimefiles.com/leah-roberts-disappearance/ https://www.whatcomcounty.us/292/Missing-Leah-Roberts
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/74dlcn/i_have_found_an_extremely_unlikely_coincidence/
Number 1
Heather Cameron is a Native American woman from Redding, California, who has been missing
for nine years.
Very few clues have been found in her case, which remains open and unsolved.
Heather was last seen in August 2012.
She had recently checked herself out of a drug rehabilitation centre, where she was
picked up by Daniel Lusby, her ex-boyfriend.
It had been a while since Heather and Lusby were dating, but they were still in the same
circles and spoke often.
It’s not clear if she was living with him or somewhere else between leaving the centre
and her disappearance.
Many people who knew Heather later claimed Lusby was abusive towards her, and he does
have an extensive criminal record including for drug use and violent crimes, but Heather
was still relatively close to him.
She had four children who lived with their father but she would see them often and, according
to friends, would do anything to make sure she was there for them when needed.
It was when the children’s father couldn’t get hold of her that she was eventually reported
missing, weeks after she was last seen.
It was August 18th when Heather was last seen.
She told friends she was going to the Keswick Dam area, about 20 minutes outside of Redding,
with Lusby.
The area is open to the public, with a number of trails.
It’s known for its steep hills and canyons, which results in poor phone reception.
At around 2.50pm, Heather sent three calls to 911.
She claimed she had been drugged and was being chased on foot.
According to some reports, a male voice could be heard in the background.
The calls were traced to the vicinity of Keswick Dam Off-Highway Vehicle Park, and the local
authorities immediately started a search of the park.
There was no sign of Heather, or any other suspicious activity.
The call was determined to have come from Lusby’s phone.
When asked by police, he claimed Heather had taken his phone from him and left for no apparent
reason.
He denies any involvement in her disappearance, and his phone has never been found.
According to one report, a month after Heather was last seen her food stamps card was found
a 21-minute drive from where she was last seen.
If she had been drugged, it’s unlikely she would have been able to make her way there
of her own accord.
Lusby remains a person of interest in the case, though has never been arrested, and
it’s impossible to rule out someone completely unknown to Heather could have
been involved.