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 PERSONAL

Don't forget the Sinclairs
Letter to the Editor
From: www.reformer.com

Editor of the Reformer:

What tragedies families all over the United States have been facing: the news of Chandra Levy's body being found; the 5-year-old in Florida who has been missing for a year and a half; and the young girl in Utah who was abducted from her home. I urge everyone in Brattleboro and the surrounding area to not forget about our own tragedy.

I'm talking about the disappearnace of my niece, Bethany, and her mother, Tina Sinclair. I urge anyone who may have any information to ´call the New Hampshire state police or the Chesterfield police. It is time for this tragedy to come to an end. Thank you for your time.

Glenda Deuso Mitroff
Randolph

Sinclairs women are still missing
Letter to the Editor
From www:reformer.com

Editor of the Reformer:

Tina and Bethany Sinclair have vanished, but not from our hearts and minds of their family and friends. We all miss and love them more than words can begin to express. Tina and Bethany will always and forever be in our hearts.

It is not like Tina to be gone this long without calling her family. Tina and Bethany disappeared on Feb. 3, 2001. No one has seen or heard from them since.

Tina was living with her boyfriend, Eugene Van Bowman, at his home in Chesterfield, N.H. That evening they got into an argument and he claims he left and when he returned, Tina and Bethany were gone.

How did they leave? Where did they go? If anyone out there knows where Tina and Bethany Sinclair are or knows what happened to them, I beg of you, please call the New Hampshire State Police at (603) 358-3333.

Tina -- if you are out there somewhere, please call me. We all love and miss you and Bethany very much. You have both stole a piece of our hearts.

There is not a day that goes by we all don't think of the two of you with tears in our eyes. We love you both, and miss you terribly. Please come back to us if you're OK.

Mary E. Lewis
mother and grandmother
of Tina and Bethany Sinclair

Always treasure the children
Letter to the Editor
From: www.reformer.com

Editor of the Reformer:

Please today hug your child and shower them with love. Call your children who are grown and no longer live with you and tell them how much you love them.

I'm so fortunate that I can hug my children Jim and Kaitlin, and that they hug me back and tell me how much they love me. My heart breaks that my brother Jeff will never get to hug his daughter Bethany Sinclair. He will never see her go to the prom, graduate, go to college, get married, experience the joy of being a grandfather.

It seems as every week there is a new story in the news of a child being abducted/murdered. I wish that the disappearance of Tina and Bethany Sinclair got national media attention. Maybe by now there would be some answers. Maybe the families and friends of Tina and Bethany Sinclair would have some answers and some closure of this horrible tragedy.

I would urge anyone who has any information to please contact the New Hampshire State Police or the Chesterfield Police.

Glenda Deuso Mitroff

In a card that my sister, Tina sent me in 1997, she quoted Thornton Wilder, and ironically, I just came accross it the other day...

"There is a Land of the Living and a Land of the Dead,
and the Bridge is Love.
The Only Survival and The Only Meaning"

Everyone is lonely at the bottom and cries to be understood; but we can never entirely understand someone else, and each of us remains part stranger even to those who love us.

Finding this card at this time was a gift that I believe my sister sent to me on that day last week when I needed the strength to push forward at this continually difficult and painful time.

Thank You Tina.

My sister was a beautiful, insightful woman and a very loving and caring mother. She was also very hurt by situations which occurred throughout her life, which was similar to mine. I understood her for that reason. I know that she never meant for anyone to be hurt or for anything like what was done to she and Bethany to have happened.

I miss her every day and wish they were both here for me to talk to and hug again. Bethany should have graduated from High School this month. That proud and wonderful day that we could have shared with them was taken from us.

I will never give up finding justice and peace for them.

Sharon

Thanks to all who came to search once again for clues in finding out what happened to Tina and Bethany. I understand that some of you felt very strongly about particular areas that were searched this weekend and intend to continue searching until you no longer can this year. Again, my heartfelt thanks. Please let me know how it is going as often as you can.

The Montel Williams show that the case was featured on will air on November 19th. Channel Nine in your area *(VT/NH) airs the program at 4pm I believe. If anyone can tape it for me that would be great as I will be at work.

The family is gearing up for much needed legal representation and we are concerned about finding proper counsel for such an array of needs. Please let us know if you have any thoughts on this.

We are also concerned about the cost of continuing the investigation and legal needs on the behalf of the family of Tina and Beth and have developed a trust fund at Chitendon Bank in Brattleboro, VT.

Thankyou all again for you support!

Peace,
Sharon

In response to a letter in The Keene Sentinel letter box on July 23rd, I'm going to take a leap as a "frustrated family member" and attempt to clear up some inaccuracies.

Obviously, the readers of the Keene Sentinel are taking what they read as fact and disregarding the possibility that the media isn't always accurate. So let me see if I can straighten some things out for some of the readers of this paper.

If you are concerned that a mother and her child have been missing for two and a half years and the person who might be responsible is not only a convicted child molester but is also walking among you, you might want to take this situation seriously and write to and call your elected officials and Law Enforcement to prompt them to do whatever it takes to solve this case. He could be the guy in line at the grocery store, a service tech that comes to your house to fix something, or the man wandering on your "safe" New England streets.'

In response to your comments about the issue of releasing Vs. sealing the search warrant and investigation details of this case to the press, let me make something perfectly clear about the issue:
You, the general public, or even we, the friends and family of Tina and Bethany, as frustrating as it might be, do not need to know all of the details of the investigation to know that this is a very grave situation. Unsealing the evidence will not help us know that any more than we already do!
That is exactly what we DONT want! Why do we want to give the defense in this case all of the information to help them build on so that they have a case that might get this guy off and lose a conviction? Why would you want that information out there jeopardizing the integrity of the case and threatening the only chance we will have to make sure the person responsible might see the light of day again? Unsealing the information can only serve to soothe your curiosity and damage this case in every possible way!

Now let me clear up some seemingly sorted details for the letter writer and anyone else who would like to know what we, the "frustrated family members" know.

On Saturday, Feb 4, 2001, Tina Sinclair, 35 at the time, went to pick Bethany, then 15, up at the movies in Keene, NH, where she met Bethany's date, and his mother. Upon returning to the home that they shared with Eugene Van Bowman, on Mountain Road in W. Chesterfield, NH, according to Eugene, he and Tina had an argument and he left. He says that when he returned, Tina and Bethany and some of their belongings (not her 15yr old cat or her car) were gone. They have not been seen since. There has been no activity concerning SS numbers, credit cards, cell phones or substantiated sightings of the two.

The police were called during the week because Bethany did not show up for school and her friends who were used to speaking with her daily, hadn't heard from her. The local police got involved on February 10th and began questioning friends and family members. The state police were not involved until April and only at the pleading of family members. The first search warrant was not executed until mid April, nearly two months after they vanished. The FBI has still had absolutely no input in this case despite the pleadings of family members for them to get involved.

Contrary to the writer whom I am responding to, this is in fact a criminal investigation. It is still classified as a missing persons case, with the suspicion of foul play. And forgive me Mr. Letter writer, but with all due respect, how many times do they have to dig up concrete floors, wells and septic systems, river banks and use cadaver dogs before common sense tells you what they are looking for?

Friends and family have been silently searching for evidence and leads all along to try to find out what has happened to Tina and Bethany. Despite being quieted by Law Enforcement and threats of legal action for impeding an investigation and trespass warnings, we have done all that we could, and will continue to until justice is done!

As far as your comments sir, about the family's decision to call in world renowned Psychic Investigator Carla Baron and comments and responses by state police investigators, let me just say a few things.

People may have opinions about the use of psychics in missing person investigations, but all over the world this is an avenue that has been explored and is progressively and successfully being used in otherwise unsolved cases. I dont care what the dictionary says sir, if a loved one of yours was missing I hope you would explore all you could to find them!
Carla Baron has been phenomenal in her insights and the detailed information she has given us in how to find Tina and Bethany. Combined with validating information we already knew to be true, we have finally gone against the wishes of state police investigators and organized our own searches and media events.

We are hopeful that as we are aware they have done at least a few times in the last two and a half years, the state police investigators will head the information offered by a psychic. However, this time we would like for law enforcement to place the trust and faith in the Psychic Investigator Carla Baron, who has proven to us, family and friends of Tina and Bethany to be the most accurate, professional and promising link to finding them that we are yet to find.

The opening question asked by the writer to whom I am responding to today was "Is it at all but impossible to learn anything about the circumstances surrounding the disappearances of the two Chesterfield women back in 2001."
I hope I have helped you in that regard sir, and in closing I will tell you what I have learned.

After two and a half years of working with missing people organizations all over the country who have helped me and advised me and counseled me in this horrifying event in my life, I have learned that we cannot rely on Law Enforcement to solve every case by themselves. Community members need to get involved. We need to do whatever we can to keep the media and the interest of the general public sparked to maintain support and motivation in a final solution and prosecution.

I will not rest until I find my sister and my niece and the person responsible for taking them from us is justifiably prosecuted. I hope I have your support!

Sharon Garry

Sharon Lashing Out

I can't even describe the anger and frustration that I feel when reading about the Law Enforcement attitudes, reluctance to follow up on certain leads and based on character flaws a seeming attitude that somehow these women brought whatever happened to them on themselves. We went through very similar problems and I feel the loved one's pain over this. If not for Tina being a mother and her daughter missing too, I'm afraid we would have or maybe we are, in the same boat with our investigators, troop C in NH. They tried the character assasination thing but you all know that didn't even begin to fly with me! No one, I dont care how far they've strayed from an otherwise perfect lifestyle path, deserves to be taken from their families and loved ones. The lack of co-operation with higher Law enforcement is incredibly bothersome as well. We have stayed in contact with the local FBI in Boston since the beginning and they always had the same answer. State Police have to ask for assistance. Even after the lead investigator gave me answers to my "Why haven't you...?" with comments and questions like, "Not enough funds available...Do you know how expensive those methods/procedures are...? Do you know what it costs to do that...? Lack of enough man-power...limited access to current technology and equipment."

I lost it with them more than once. If this was a celebrity or a more important/respected/well-known community member, would any of those things matter? They would find a way and they would have found them and solved this crime. So my next move was to find search and rescue teams willing to volunteer. People with equipment, divers, search dogs, ATVs, horses...LE would not even speak to them! Now they have this filthy, potential murderer and convicted Child molester lurking around those otherwise peaceful, quiet nieghborhoods. Looking at all of the unsolved missing persons cases in VT and NH makes me sick! Those cases got very little if any media attention in VT and NH. For the people I know who have lived in and around Manchester, NH and bordering VT and NH and the CT River all of their lives, that I have shown this information to, they are appalled! I dont question why those cases are still unsolved, and its not suprising how commonly the same and similar cases have repeated themselves over the years. It's a very sad day when a muderer is so much smarter than our own LE Agencies. Whoever has been killing many of these women, he has been getting away with it for far too long!

I am sorry for the families of Maura and Brianna and all of the many others in our area. All I can say is, dont give up. Stay on their backs and keep the media involved because when the public is aware, they call the investigators and the Politicians and votes at stake keep LE motivated. Do whatvever you have to, even if it means becoming a Private Inv yourself! I have!
I will not stop untill that *&*&%#^@ is on Death Row!

WE SHOULD GET TOGETHER WITH AS MANY MISSING LOVED ONES OF NEW ENGLAND AS WE CAN AND GAIN MOMENTUM AND SUPPORT AND MEDIA ATTENTION NOT ONLY TO OUR OWN CASES BUT COLLECTIVELY THE MANY CASES IN OUR SMALL AREAS THAT MOST PEOPLE AREN'T EVEN AWARE OF! IT IS TRULY ASTONISHING AND ASIDE FROM ALL WE KNOW ABOUT TINA AND BETHANY, I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO IGNORE THE APPARENT CONNECTIONS THAT SOME OF THESE CASES SEEM TO HAVE AND THE LACK OF INTEREST, MEDIA ATTENTION AND LE MOTIVATION THAT HAS EXSISTED FOR OVER 20 YEARS! ARGH! IS ANYONE ELSE AS FRIGHTENED AND SHOCKED AND ANGRY AS I AM??
PEACE,
SHARON

SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWNS DONT REPORT CRIMES

...BECAUSE THEY DEPEND ON THE FINANCIAL NEED THAT THEY HAVE THAT TOURISM, AND TAX PAYING VACATION OWNERS BRING, WHO COME TO NEW ENGLAND TO FIND PEACE AND SAFETY. OUR LOCAL MEDIA DOES NOT WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT THE CRIMES BECAUSE SURVIVAL IN THESE SMALL TOWN DEPENDS ON ITS TOURISM.
NEXT LOOK AT THE POLITICS INVOLVED.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TRAINING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND REQUIREMENTS FOR A POSITION IN LAW ENFORCEMENT IN A SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWN VS. A LARGE METROPOLIS?

WHAT KINDS OF RESOURCES, TAXPAYER MONEY, EQUIPMENT AND MAN-POWER IS AVAILABLE IN THESE SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWNS?

THEN GO TO EGOS AND REPUTATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE COUNTRY BUMPKIN TOWNS WE'RE LOOKING AT. AFTER BEING MADE A JOKE OF OVER AND OVER BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ABILITY TO DEAL WITH LARGER THAN USUAL CASES OF CRIMES, THE EGOS OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES HAVE BEEN BRUISED, HENCEFORTH, THE REASONS FOR THE OBVIOUS RELUCTANCE TO TURN AN OTHERWISE TOO DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO HANDLE CASE TO A MORE EQUIPT, BETTER TRAINED AGENCY LIKE...UM...I DONT KNOW...THE FBI, IS CLEAR.

EVER SEE THE MOVIE SUPER TROOPERS? ITS A COMEDY ABOUT VT STATE POLICE.
NOT SO FUNNY WHEN IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT PEOPLE ARE BEING TAKEN, KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED AND NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT, SO IT KEEPS HAPPENING.
YOU KNOW WHO'S LAUGHING DONT YOU?
THE EVIL @*^(&_^$@ WHO ARE PERPETRATING THESE CRIMES AGAINST OUR CHILDREN, DAUGHTERS, SISTERS, MOTHERS, AUNTS, BROTHERS AND FRIENDS!!
FOR GOD'S SAKES. SOMEONE NEEDS TO WAKE UP!!!
LIMITED INTERNET ACCESS IS THE LEAST OF THE PROBLEM.