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jacpotts · 5 years

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No More Drama | Juliac

Who: @heyjuliette , @jacpotts

When: Saturday, May 18th

Where: The WHS gymnasium

What: After months of awkwardness over Julie’s ex, Jac and Julie finally address the bad blood that has been between them their whole lives.

Jac was having a lot more fun at this baby prom than she'd anticipated. Of course, at first she only chaperoned to keep an eye on Teegan, but he seemed to be faring well by himself. She'd even broken her tradition of wearing a sensible pantsuit or jumper and opted for her own recreation of the famous 13 Going on 30 party dress, so maybe that was what was making her feel so spry and fresh. She was able to maintain a professional demeanor as a chaperone, of course, but she felt so light. It all reminded her of a way simpler time. When the familiar opening chords of (You Drive Me) Crazy started blaring through the speakers, though, Jac knew that her professional demeanor had to come down for a small dance session. She started pumping her arms upward and out, but didn't get too far before accidentally elbowing someone next to her. "Oh! Pardon," she started, before noticing it was Julie...In dog ears. "Oh! Juliette...Pardon. I -- um," she gestured to her head with a furrowed brow. "...what's so early 2000s about being a dog? Are you the Beverly Hills Chihuahua?"

Julie wasn't really much of a chaperone type person. If anything, she was still the type of girl that needed to be chaperoned. But after Mairi had enjoyed the Valentine's ball so much that she hadn't stopped talking about it for weeks after, Julie couldn't resist signing up to chaperone the Morp so that Mairi could have another fun time at a dance. However, Julie had forgotten how old the youngest castle kid in Walt was and hadn't expected to see anyone from home at the dance. At least until she got elbowed in the middle of keeping her eyes on Mairi learning to spin from the Morp DJ and found out that Jac was also chaperoning. "You're fine, Jacqueline. Whatever." Julie replied, stepping back rather than actually wanting to engage in an interaction with her least favorite person. "No. Mairi wanted me to be the Tinkerbell to her Paris Hilton." Julie replied, politely but reluctantly, gesturing towards her little girl up at the DJ booth in a short blonde wig, tiara and pink dress. "What are you? Vomit?"

Jac followed Julie's gesture to see Mairi up at the DJ booth giggling and learning from the DJ, and her heart sunk. She put on a smile, albeit a sad one, and clasped her hand over her heart. "Of course she knows about Paris Hilton," she chuckled, unable to hide on her face how much she missed babysitting the little girl. "I'm Jenna from 13 Going on 30 during the party scene!" She held her arms out and twirled, feeling the skirt bubble up around her hips. "I don't usually wear dresses out, but this felt like more of a costume party anyway." She held her small purse meekly to her chest and gave a sigh. "As long as I've got you here, Juliette -- I wanted to let you know how much I miss being around Mairi." Of course she could see her while Crannog was there, and in passing whenever she would visit. But it wasn't the same as babysitting. "And not that you'd let me know if she missed me, too, but I can assume she does. This is all kind of getting a little petty and out of hand, don't you think?"

Julie Julie might have felt a little shitty about how she'd banned Jac, seeing her now and knowing full well how much people, especially those who were damn near family like Jac was, tended to love her daughter. But in Julie opinion, it would've been too much of a bitch move if she hadn't upheld Crannog's decision that dating would only confuse Mairi, right down to the letter. "What can I say, I like to keep my baby cultured." Julie looked over Jac's outfit once again and shrugged as if she'd never even heard if that movie before (even though she absolutely had). Jac looked nice, of course. But Julie would rather die than let her ever know that. "Bold of you to assume that Mairi even mentions you, but okay." Julie didn't look away from Mairi, to answer Jac. Just in case some of the truth about how Mairi occasionally asked for Jac to babysit would be visible in her eyes somehow. "There's nothing petty or out of hand going on, Jacqueline. Crannog was the one that came up with the idea that dating anyone would only confuse Mairi in the long run. I'm just listening to him. If I wanted to get out of hand with you by now, you know exactly how I'd go about it."

Jac raised her brows at Julie's subtle dig, but kept her shoulders high. She hadn't known that Crannog had said that...But maybe he didn't consider what they were doing to be dating. Which she didn't have time to overthink and agonize over in her woman-brain that wanted to run to him immediately and ask if they were dating or just hooking up or what. "Well, I didn't know he'd said that but...People change their minds, Juliette. Have you two discussed whether or not he's changed his mind? I think I'm kind of different than him or you bringing home some stranger. She's known me her whole life." She didn't even think to mention that maybe it'd be more confusing for a child to have two parents who weren't together but also didn't seem to be romantically interested in anyone just for her sake. "I really don't know what I've done to make you dislike me for so long. I've wanted nothing more than for you to consider me family and maybe if you had, I'd find some reason not to pursue Crannog. But considering how you've never treated me like anything but the daughter of the help, I can't do that."

Julie turned to Jac finally and raised an eyebrow at her question. "We discussed it at the dance and it's barely been more than three months. So doubtful." Julie crossed her arms and momentarily considered just walking away from Jac and not entertaining anymore conversation. But part of her wanted to keep talking just so in the end she could remain the bigger person. "If Crannog won't be with mewho's known Mairi for longer than she's been alive, there's absolutely no say you'd ever be the exception to the rule." Julie narrowed her eyes at Jac's claim that she didn't know what she'd done to make Julie hate her so much and stepped a bit closer to the other girl. Even though they were both the same height, Julie had worn higher heels and knew exactly how to hold herself to seem intimidating anyway. "You don't think I hate you because your mother's my family's housekeeper, do you? I genuinely could not care less who's kid you are. I didn't like you when we were kids because every time I wanted to hang out with my twin brother, you were always in the way. And somehow twenty fucking years later, you managed to get the literal love of my life away from me. As far as I can tell from the De La Betes and the Potts, that's not how either of us was raised to treat family. So why should I have ever treated you like something you're clearly not?"

Jac nodded, bringing her arms down to her hang by her sides so as to appear calm and casual and not at all tense like she was definitely feeling. " 'Won't" be with you? You make it sound like you've been trying to get back together," Jac rolled her eyes knowing that that idea had to have been preposterous. Crannog would have told her...right? And then Julie mentioned the real reason she had been so awful to her their whole lives, which Jac kind of already figured out on her own, but there was something gratifying about hearing the juvenile reasoning straight from the other girl's mouth. "That hardly sounds like my fault at all. And besides, you had the rest of your life to be around him after I left but then you ran off to join the circus or whatever, so it looks like we both still abandoned him." She let out a shaky breath, then, realizing the rest of what Julie had said. "...The love of your life? Julie, I -- " she stammered, her heart sinking as her brain tried to comprehend that idea. She softened, stepping closer to the other girl. "...Julie, I did not know that. I just assumed that if you were living together and not together, that it was over for good. If I had known -- if Crannog had known, we would not be doing this. You should tell him you still have feelings."

Julie glared at Jac's eyeroll but didn't bother to correct her statement. She had an old ass wound to get off her chest and it was a little more important. "It felt like it when I was a kid, especially when you had so many brothers and all I had was my twin and my way more fragile little siblings. And an orchestra is much more interesting than whatever you did for years, so don't even start." Julie crossed her arms over her chest and stepped back when Jac softened and stepped closer in a way that was a lot less confrontational than she had. Julie knew how to do weird tense conversations with Jac, not whatever the other girl was trying to do right then. But then she couldn't help but let out a loud bitter laugh. "Crannog does know. I told him on New Year's and then he was making out with you a month later. So yeah, you are doing this with him knowing full well how I feel."

Jac didn't necessarily see what her having so many siblings had to do with Julie and Rainier's relationship, but she conceded anyway. "Juliette, you know that what you and Rainier have is irreplaceable. I could never take your spot and would never even try. I got a little overzealous with the realization that I'd found my soulmate, but I was also like -- five," she chuckled bitterly to herself as the walls seemed to come down between the two of them, which made the dropping of the bomb that Crannog knew of Julie's feelings fall even harder. "Oh," was all she could say for a second, finally letting her woman-brain do its worst in her head. "I really didn't know. Men, right?" She tried to joke, but knowing that both she and Julie felt so strongly for Crannog, just lumping him in with the shitty majority felt wrong. Even if it was true. "And here I thought you were just being a spoiled little princess who doesn't know how to let go of an old toy. I'm standing down. You two have something to work out, and I'm just complicating it." It stung to admit, but now that she knew Julie's side of the truth, it was necessary.

Julie rolled eyes this time and uncrossed her arms to flip her hair over her shoulder. "I know that now, Jacqueline. But I was like barely older than you and by the time logic had kicked in that it was a little psycho to always be pissed about my brother having a pal, I'd already made up a million other stupid petty reasons to hate you." Julie shrugged, her lips quirking up into a hint of a grin as she realized just how funny it all sounded out loud. And she almost laughed for real when Jac attempted to make a joke about Crannog. But since Julie did have something of a heart behind all the crazy, she did sort of feel bad for Jac in a way she'd probably feel gross about later. "I wouldn't give me that much credit. I'm totally a spoiled little princess who doesn't know how to let go of an old toy. But I think that old toy might just be my soulmate?" Julie had noticed that Jac's mention of Rainier as her soulmate didn't sound like something that wasn't true anymore and she didn't know exactly what she'd do with that information just yet, but she would think about it more if it ever came up again. "Thanks for stepping down, Jac." Julie said, testing out using Jac's nickname for the first time...ever? "I know the dick was probably bomb."

Jac noticed the twitch in Julie's smile and felt her own do the same. This was all so...stupid, now that they were fully adults. "Well I'm sure all one million couldn't have been made up. I do tend to -- I don't know, leave the lid peanut butter jar just oh-so slightly unscrewed?" She could think of a million reasons of her own to hate herself, definitely, but they were more introspective than funny. Her brows cocked up when Julie used the same terminology about Crannog that she had used about Rainier. Hearing it like that...Well, if she hadn't already stood down, she would've right then. Imagining, say -- one of the Lumos girls falling for Rainier...Just the thought nearly had her breaking out into hives. She almost placed a gentle hand on Julie's shoulder, but stopped short when she made the comment that fully sent her over the edge into laughter. Once the gut-busting subsided, Jac wiped the corners of her eyes where tears of hilarity had built up, and sighed. "....It kinda was, not gonna lie. But I'd prefer to have a clean conscience over all the 'bomb dick' in the world. And to finally have a moment with you where I don't feel like I'll leave with a knife somewhere in my body that wasn't there before."

Julie actually started to grin at Jac's response and shrugged. "Well I think your accent is a little cray sometimes but it's still not worth all the energy of hating you." Julie joked, now that they were trying to get along it was really nice to laugh together about silly shit and their now mutual ex's dick like gal pals. Like a little taste of what their lives could've been like for decades now if they'd had learned to share a little better. "I don't think I have anything on me tonight, so you would've been fine either way but yeah. I like not wanting to leave you with a knife somewhere in your body." Briefly Julie wondered if they should hug or something to really complete the moment, but then her gaze flicked up to Mairi again up at the DJ booth before returning to Jac's face. "Uh you wanna come say hi to Mairi? We should be going back home soon and she has soooorta been asking about you."

Jac laughed out loud this time, shrugging. "I will agree that my accent is pretty cray. You got me there," she nodded. This was nice -- she'd never thought about what it could be like with Julie without them hating each other. She almost made another quip about the knives before Julie mentioned Mairi. Her heart nearly burst at the mention of getting to say hi, and even more at the confirmation that she had, indeed, been asking about her. "Really?!" she asked gently with a sigh, gazing up at the little girl at the DJ booth. "I'd love that," she nodded in Julie's direction and, without thinking, threw her arms around her in a hug.

#( interaction: juliette )#( feat: juliette )

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unsolvedcrimes · 7 years

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Beverly Potts was just ten years old when, on the night of 24th August 1951, she disappeared.

Beverly was reported missing when her parents’ search for her, after she missed curfew, failed. The large scale search issued by police included extensive door-to-door canvassing of entire neighbourhoods and vacant lots along with traces of any suspicious vehicles. Despite the thousands of tips which poured in via telephone, all enquiries eventually fell short. Things became even more complicated when Beverly’s parents and her older sister, Anita, were cleared of any suspicion after it was determined that Beverly was a happy child with no problems at home. Authorities knew then that likelihood of Beverly’s family harming her or her having run away was slim.

The last known sighting of Beverly occurred on the night of her disappearance when she had been seen standing beside a beat-up black 1937 dodge coupe, conversing with the two young men seated inside. When the police heard this, they found it odd because everyone knew Beverly to be a shy and quiet girl, someone who would never talk to strangers — especially at night. Officials determined that this could only mean Beverly knew her possible kidnappers.

Over half a century has passed since ten-year-old Beverly Potts’ disappearance and so the likelihood of us ever uncovering the truth of what happened to her is, unfortunately, very small. Sadly, her abductors and potential murderers may never be brought to justice.

#missing person #unsolved disappearance #unsolved cases #cold case #true crime #tcc #usa #child #female #missing

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sciencespies · 5 years

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A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

https://sciencespies.com/nature/a-3-8-million-year-old-skull-puts-a-new-face-on-a-little-known-human-ancestor/

A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

Spotting the intact Australopithecus skull in the Ethiopian dirt caused paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie to literally jump for joy. “It was something that I’ve never seen before, and I’ve seen a lot of cranial fossils,” he says.

The chance discovery by Haile-Selassie and an Ethiopian shepherd has created a captivating portrait of 3.8-million-year-old face, providing an unprecedented look at a hominin species from a key stage of human evolution. Experts say the extraordinary fossil can help redefine the branches of humans’ evolutionary tree during a time when our ancestors had just evolved efficient ways to walk upright.

“This cranium looks set to become another celebrated icon of human evolution,” Fred Spoor, a human evolution researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, writes in a News & Views article that accompanied Haile-Selassie and colleagues’ new study in the journal Nature.

The amazingly complete skull surfaced at Woranso-Mille, in Ethiopia’s Afar region, back in 2016. But it has taken 3 and a half years of hard work to answer the first question that arose—just what kind of skull is it?

Composite image of human hands holding “MRD” by Jennifer Taylor.

(Photography by Dale Omori and Liz Russell / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

Haile-Selassie and colleagues compared the skull (dubbed MRD after part of its collection ID number) with a wide variety of hominin fossils from across Africa. They sized up different morphological features to see what species the cranium represents and where it fits in the interconnected lineages of our family tree. The results identify the skull as belonging to a male Australopithecus anamensis. The hominin species is theorized to have vanished a bit earlier than 3.8 million years ago after giving rise to a later lineage, Australopithecus afarensis, to which the famed fossil Lucy belongs. A. anamensis has traits of both apes (climbing arms and wrists) and humans (changes in the ankles and knee joints to facilitate walking on two feet).

Most previous fossil specimens of A. anamensis are limited to small bits of bone, such as a tooth, partial jaw, or fragment of arm or shin. The opportunity to study a nearly complete braincase and face confirms the “southern ape” as a unique species and shines light on the differences between two of our most ancient hominin ancestors, A. anamensis and A. afarensis.

“Most of A. anamensis’ own traits are quite primitive,” Haile-Selassie says, noting the individual’s small brain, protruding face and large canine teeth. “There are a few features exclusively shared with A. afarensis, like the orbital region in the frontal area. But everything else is really primitive. If you look at it from the back, it looks like an ape. This is something that I never expected to see in a species that is hypothesized to be the ancestor of A. afarensis. So it changed the whole gamut of ideas in terms of the relationship between those two.”

The skull also casts doubt on prevailing ideas that the older lineage directly gave rise to the younger, instead suggesting that the two lived together, coexisting for at least 100,000 years. But the study authors stress that it’s still quite possible that early populations of A. anamensis gave rise to A. afarensis perhaps 4 million years ago—they just didn’t die out immediately afterwards.

“Probably a small population of A. anamensis isolated itself from the main population, underwent major changes, and over time distinguished itself from the parent species of A. anamensis. That’s probably how A. afarensis appeared,” Haile-Selassie says.

A reconstruction of the facial morphology of the 3.8 million-year-old ‘MRD’ specimen of Australopithecus anamensis.

(Photograph by Matt Crow / Facial reconstruction by John Gurche made possible through generous contribution by Susan and George Klein / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

The research team argues that the relationship between the two ancient hominin species, believed to be ancestors to our own genus Homo, may be a prime example of a nonlinear evolutionary scenario common in other non-human species. Anagenesis, when one species evolves so completely into another species that the progenitor disappears, is not the primary way the branches on our family tree diverged.

“Just because one species gave rise to another, it doesn’t mean that the source species (ancestor) disappeared,” Rick Potts, head of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program who was not involved in the new study, says via email from a dig in Kenya. “We’ve known for some time that the human family tree is branching and diverse, like the evolutionary trees of almost all other species. The new cranium is significant because it illustrates this pattern of biodiversity in a poorly known period of hominin evolution, just as our ancestors evolved a stronger and stronger commitment to walking on two legs.”

Paleoanthropologist Meave Leakey and colleagues reported in 1995 that A. anamensis was the first known species to evolve an expanded knee joint that allowed each of its legs to briefly bear all of its body weight during bipedal walking. Bipedalism set our ancestors apart from the apes, enabling ancient hominins to take advantage of a wider range of habitats than those available to tree climbers.

A second, related study helped to more precisely date the cranium fossil by investigating minerals and volcanic layers where it was found. The work also helped describe the long-vanished world in which A. anamensis and his kin lived.

The 3.8 million-year-old cranium of the ‘MRD’ specimen of Australopithecus anamensis.

(Dale Omori / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

The skull was buried in sand that was deposited in a river delta on the shores of an ancient lake. The sediment deposits also held botanical remains, revealing that the environment around the ancient lake was predominantly dry shrubland, but there was a mixture of other local ecosystems as well.

“There were forests around the shores of the lake and along the river that flowed into it, but the surrounding area was dry with few trees,” Beverly Saylor, a geologist at Case Western Reserve University and lead author of the second study, said at a press conference. The evidence suggests that, like contemporaries from other sites, the male hominin likely dined on a tough, ape-like diet of seeds, grasses and similar fare.

Haile-Selassie and colleagues have been working in the area of Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia, for 15 years. When a local shepherd showed up in camp to announce the find of some intriguing fossils, Haile-Selassie was skeptical, especially because locals had often dragged him to visit supposed fossil sites simply because they needed a ride somewhere. He asked Habib Wogris, the local chief who organizes fieldwork in the region each year, to take an hour-long walk with the shepherd to visit the site of his find.

“The chief has seen a lot of teeth of hominins from the site and he realized that this tooth looked like a hominin tooth,” Haile-Selassie says. “As soon as he returned and opened his hand and I saw the tooth, I said, ‘Where did you find it?’ They said, ‘let’s go and we’ll show you.’”

The fossil site was in the region’s high ground, where the shepherd had moved his flock to escape seasonal flooding in lower areas. “He’s been living there like three months with his goats, and he saw the fossil when he was digging a hole for his newborn goats to make a protection for them from jackals and hyenas,” Haile-Selassie says.

Yohannes Haile-Selassiewith “MRD” cranium.

(Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

On site, the shepherd showed him where the tooth had been lying, and Haile-Selassie surveyed the surroundings looking for other fragments.

“Three meters from where I was standing there was this round thing, just like a rock, and I said oh my goodness,” Haile-Selassie’s recalls. His reaction, literally jumping up and down with excitement, made the shepherd remark that the doctor had gone crazy. “I speak their language, and I said no the doctor is not going crazy. He’s just excited,” Haile-Selassie laughs.

With the rare fossil’s formal unveiling today, the excitement of the initial find three years ago has spread throughout the community of scientists looking to put a human, or hominin, face on our distant ancestors.

Join us on Facebook or Twitter for a regular update.

#Nature

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infolibrary · 5 years

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10 Lesser Known Child Disappearances

New Post has been published on http://www.infolibrary.net/10-lesser-known-child-disappearances/

10 Lesser Known Child Disappearances

A couple of months ago we did some articles on unsolved mysteries. We are thinking of bringing them back. So today we are going to start with 10 Lesser Known Child Disappearances.

01. Michaela Joy Gareth

The kidnapping of Michaela Gareth is probably one of the better known cases on this list. At the time the case gained national attention, especially for the notoriety of how the kidnapping was acted out.

Michaela was 9 years old in 1988 living with her mother, father and two siblings in Hayward California. On the first day of Thanksgiving vacation Michaela and best friend Trina begged for permission to go the supermarket just two blocks away to buy candy and sodas. Though Michaela had never been there alone and her mother’s initial response was no, the girls kept pleading and in her mother eventually gave in.

Michaela and Trina arrived at the supermarket on their scooters, parked them outside and went in and purchased candy, soda and beef jerky. They left the supermarket by foot at first, forgetting that they had ridden on there on their scooters but quickly remembering and running back to fetch them. Michaela’s scooter had been moved from its spot in front of the supermarket door and put next to a damaged tannish-gold full-size sedan car. As she went to pick it up, a man in his 20’s with dirty-blonde hair and severe acne jumped out of the car, threw a screaming Michaela in the car and sped away.

Though an extensive police investigation was launched and the Hayward Police department received more then 5000 tips the first year alone, no trace of Michaela or her kidnapper was ever found. Michaela’s mom runs a website with letters to Michaela and updates about leads.

02. Eugene Wade Martin

You can’t talk about the disappearance of Eugene without mentioning another missing boy, John Gosch. Though vanishing two years apart, the details of their disappearances are eerily similar. Both were fresh faced paperboys living in Des Moines in the 80s, both had a paper route delivering the Des Moines Register in the wee hours and both never returned home one morning.

Normally 13-year old Eugene did the paper route with his older stepbrother but on this fatal morning he was alone. Eugene was last seen around 5 and 6am (accounts differ) wearing blue jeans, a red shirt and a gray pullover having a friendly conversation with a 30-something clean-cut white male in a car. Witnesses describe the chat as being friendly, almost father-and-son like, with no indication of danger. Between 6.10 and 6.15am Eugene’s lonely paper-bag was found outside of Des Moines, 10 neatly folded papers still inside.

At around 8.40 am the police were notified. Federal agents stated they strongly suspected John Gosch’s and Eugene’s disappearances were linked but though an nation wide bulletin was issued for the suspect, who they described as likely being an introvert and a loner, the boys and their suspected kidnapper remain missing. John Gosch story was propelled into the spotlight again during the late 90s following his mother, Noreen Gosch, claim that a now grown-up Gosch had visited her with a strange man, telling a horrifying tale about being sold into a pedophile prostitution ring, escaping and now living in hiding in fear for his life. Investigators have never been able to confirm Noreen’s account about the visit and John has never visited his mother again.

03. Cherrie Ann Mahan

Cherrie was 8 years old when she vanished February 22, 1985 and was the first child to appear on The Centre for Missing and Exploited Children’s “Have You Seen Me?” search cards. The dark-haired third-grader from the Winfield Elementary School was last seen getting off the school bus only less than 100 yards from her family’s rural Pennsylvanian home, carrying a blue backpack decorated with a blue and red heart.

She never made it. Though new fallen snow covered the driveway to Cherri’s house investigators were not able to match any footprints to Cherri, leading them to believe, she was snatched off the side of the road. Possible only a minutes after leaving the bus, most likely by someone she knew as the shy child would not have gotten into a car with a stranger. A mysterious van was seen trailing Cherri’s school bus and though no one got a look at the driver, the van had distinctive features, making it easy to remember.

The van had snow-capped mountains and a skier skiing down the mountain wearing red and yellow clothes painted on both sides. Police was never able to locate the car or its driver and it is still unknown whether or not the car has anything to do with Cherri’s disappearance.

04. Lindsey Baum

In 2009 Lindsey, a bright, talkative blond-haired, blue-eyed 10-year-old living in McCleary, Washington, dreamed of becoming a veterinarian or an author when she grew up.

On June 26 Lindsey spent the evening at a friends house. Afraid of the dark and knowing she had a curfew at 10pm, she left her friends house around 9.15pm, a journey that should only take her around 10 minutes to walk. A neighbor, who drove past the child half way between Lindsey and her friend’s home, is most likely the last person to see her.

The case drew national attention, FBI became involved and the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s office followed up on hundreds of leads all to no avail. A local jewelry storeowner was named as a suspect and in 2011 his home was searched for possible clues to Lindsey’s disappearance. Though police stated they found several pieces of evidence, none could be linked definitively to Lindsey. To this day charges against the suspect has not been filed and what happened to Lindsey is still unclear.

05. Ricky Ray Barnet

Little Ricky had been visiting his grandparents on their Hillcrest Farms for a couple of weeks with his father in 1982, while his mother was in Idaho. At around 10 am the 2-year-old, clad in red and blue overalls, a pajamas top and cowboy boots was seen sitting in a hay wagon in front of one of the barns, watching a dozen or so workers unloading a delivery of chickens.

Approximately 15 minutes later he was discovered missing and at 10.30am after a fruitless search, the family called police. Though an immediate extensive search with more than 200 volunteers was launched, it yielded few clues to his whereabouts. Ricky’s grandparent’s farm was located seven miles north of Grangeville in a rural area surrounded by several hundred acres. Tracker dogs tracked the toddler’s scent to a fence line on the northwest part of the farm but then lost the trail. Police investigators first theorized that Ricky simply wandered away, got lost and succumbed to the elements. They recanted this later in the investigation after Ricky’s grandmother failed a polygraph. His grandparents were subsequently named as possible suspects in his disappearance.

Ricky’s grandmother was cleared for any involvement after passing a polygraph in 2001, almost two decades after her grandson’s disappearance. Ricky’s grandfather died before the exam could take place. The mystery of what happened to the hazel-eyed child remains unsolved.

06. Beverly Rose Potts

Though it has been more than 60 years since 10 year-old Beverly vanished after a trip to the park in Cleveland, Ohio, locals still remember her case. Around 9pm on August 24, 1951 Beverly set out on an 8 eight-minute walk home through her familiar neighborhood after spending the evening at the Showagon, an annual summer festival. Beverly’s mother Elizabeth who’d initially forbidden the shy fifth grader to go to the park, a punishment for being late a few nights before, had gave her special permission to attend the show this evening.

Beverly and her friend Patsy had already been at the park earlier that evening and returned to the carnival around 8.00 pm to see the show. Beverly was allowed to stay until the show was over while Patsy on the other hand had to be home before dark and left at around 8.40 leaving Beverly by herself. Patsy told police she last saw Beverly watching the show in company with a small, plump woman who curiously had her hand resting on Beverly’s shoulder. This woman has never been identified. When the show ended around 9.30pm a teenage acquaintance of Beverly’s recalled seeing her crossing the darkening park diagonally, heading in the northeast direction of her home. She never made it home and by 10.30 pm her frantic parents called the police.

As Beverly was described as being very shy and vary around strangers especially boys and men, people who knew her did not believe she would have gone willingly with a person she didn’t know. In 2000 the Cleveland Plain Dealer News reporter received 3 letters from an unidentified man confessing to Beverly’s kidnapping and murder. The man alleged to be on his deathbed prompting the confession. Investigators were however never able to locate the author of the letters and the authenticity of the confession has never been confirmed.

07. Kevin Andrew McCarthy Collins

A year and twelve days to the day Cherrie Ann Mahan was dropped off her school bus and vanished into thin air another child across the country waited for a bus that he never boarded. Kevin was a freckled, stocky build 10-year-old who enjoyed played basket, had nine siblings and resided with his Irish Catholic family in San Francisco.

Around 6.40 p.m. on February 12, 1985 Kevin had finished basketball practice and was waiting for the bus on the corner of Oak Street and Masonic Avenue to take him home. Witnesses last saw him wearing his school uniform, talking to a 20-30ish blonde man, around six feet tall. A big black dog, possibly a Great Dane, accompanied the man. No one actually witnessed anything suspicious and it is not clear if the unidentified man had anything to do with Kevin’s disappearance. A big search effort was launched, thousands of fliers were distributed, billboards and newspapers with Kevin’s picture became a common sight around the San Francisco area but police found no evidence and a suspect was never named.

In 2013 investigators started digging in the backyard and the basement of a house belonging to a person of interest in Kevin’s case, who had lived there at the time of Kevin’s disappearance. No remains or evidence related to Kevin’s case was unearthed and Kevin remains missing.

08. Diamond and Tionda Bradley

In 2002, 365 yellow and white balloons were released into the air at the 35oo block of South Lake Park Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Afterwards a garden was planted in front of the modest two-bedroom apartment. All in remembrance of two young sisters who at that time had been missing for 1 year. The girls, one with a green ponytail holders in her hair, the other with violet and purple ones, are still missing.

On July 6 2001 3-year-old Diamond and 10-year-old Tionda left a note written in childish handwriting for their mother, saying the pair were walking to nearby shop and Doolittle School where Tionda was enrolled in summer classes. Their mother Tracey had left for work at around 6.30 am that morning and by the time she arrived home at 11 am the girls were nowhere to be found.

Though witnesses place the girls playing outside their residence at around 12-12.30 pm contradicting Tracey’s recollection of events, this sighting was never confirmed by officials. Police did start to suspect the family; Tracey, her mother and her father were somehow involved in the girl’s disappearance after Tracey refused to cooperate with investigators and allegedly shoved a police officer who tried to escort her to the station to discuss new leads in 2002.

They were all subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. An extensive search and follow ups on thousand leads, one that took the investigation out of out country, yielded few clues to what happened to the Bradley sisters.

09. Jeremiah Huger

In most cases of child disappearances there are no witnesses to the actual abduction. It is as if the child is there one minute and gone with a blink of an eye. In some rare cases like Michaela Gareth’s case and in more recent memory Jaycee Dugard’s in California in 1991, the kidnapper risked the danger of being seen and snatched the child in clear view of neighbors, friends or family members, as seen in the kidnapping case of Jeremiah Huger.

On June 25, 1985 Jeremiah, wearing a light blue shirt, dark shorts and white sneakers, was playing with his friends in the yard of his home in the New York City borough of the Bronx. An unidentified African-American male called the 4-year-old’s name from street and when the child ran to him, the man proceeded to grab the boy and leave. It is not clear if the suspect left the area with Jeremiah by foot or car or if the boy went along willingly. Jeremiah’s mother later stated that she suspected an abusive ex-boyfriend, who had previously threatened to kidnap the child, was responsible. The police never made any arrests in relation to Jeremiahs case and he remains missing to this day.

10.Todd Eugene Collett

Todd was only a few months shy of his fourth birthday when he vanished on January 23, 1964 from Santa Barbara County, California. The blonde, blue-eyed boy was playing with his twin brother and their friend across the road from a construction side. Todd’s mother had strictly forbidden the boys to enter the construction side and while Todd’s twin obliged Todd and the friend ventured toward the dirt embankments on their own.

Around twenty minutes later the friend’s mother saw him across the street, went to get him and asked where Todd was. The boy could give no clear answer but mentioned something about a fire and a bulldozer. A fire did actually burn at the construction site and was not put out for hours but investigators were never able to find any sign of human remains in the ashes. Tracker dogs indicated that Todd might have travelled over the railroad tracks and over an overpass but never found any clues to what happened to him beyond this.

People in the area describe a scruffy looking stranger lurking around the neighborhood at the time the child disappeared. The individual has never been identified and Todd has never been found.

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Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. A highway runs through Nederland. That and a river running perpendicular to the highway divide the town into sections that create shopping segments. Visitors intending to spend some time in Nederland’s shops usually park in the public spaces and once they find a place, they stick close to it.

The shops along the highway sometimes get bypassed because people who don’t know the town don’t realize that there are other great places to shop on the other side of the highway, with pedestrian walkways to help them get there.

On Saturday, the weekend before Thanksgiving many of the businesses in town were trying to attend to Thanksgiving needs as well as prepare for the big shopping day, Black Friday. This is the last chance to fund their shops before the coming winter. With the exception of snowsports traffic, the long, slow economic slump that is typical of a tourist town is approaching.

It is also the time to put their best Nederland gifts out front, to nudge holiday shoppers into sudden “special gift” inspiration.

In the hub of the downtown area, the Nederland Visitor’s Center has many of the Ned-ish items that tourists love to take home with them and locals love to send to those who can’t visit. Where else in the world can you get a Frozen Dead Guy Days anything? There are shot glasses that say, “I am so dead.” Also, Awaken Blueberry Hot Sauce to impress guests with your other worldliness. Books about the area written by local authors and trail maps of everywhere you might want to go in the Indian Peaks, Nederland and Gilpin County region. Center manager John Scarffe says free maps are in abundance. An extra added attraction this year is safety lights that can be attached to bike handles. The best part is that they are free, a gift from Boulder County Open Space.

Tucked off the highway, behind the bank, Ace Hardware store has so many cool gifts it is hard to make any decisions in one day unless you know exactly what you want to purchase. Even then, there are many stocking stuffers that can change your mind in a second. It is the art of spontaneous consumption. Ace Hardware has laser lights to shower your home with dancing angels and snowflakes. One can purchase Santa hats, blinking scarves, giant stockings, wrapping paper and clip-on red and green ribbons. There are toys and bird feeders, tools and chain saws, dog gifts, camping equipment and even Christmas trees. When one has paid for all the items on their list, there are specialty root beers and free popcorn to go with them.

Every Ned shopping experience is a party.

Things are popping at the Blue Owl Bookstore. Often people feel like they want to give a more meaningful gift than the hoards of toy promotions found in advertising inserts. A book is forever, no batteries needed. John Haworth says they just received the local author’s anthology published by Janette and Julian Taylor, which will be a hot item for locals. On a shelf where they will be easily seen, mercury glass candle holders are filled with dancing light and candles to accompany them. While contemplating their purchases, visitors are compelled to sip hot chocolate topped with generous amounts of whipped cream.

Above the book store, the Grow in Peace Hydroponic shop is filled with myriad types of compost, soil and all the pots and grow lights that will be needed to create your indoor crop of plants. Kyle Busey says his trellis netting is popular for canopy management.

“We have a new 1,000 watt grow system that uses more efficient technology.” This year Kyle is experimenting with various kinds of peppers, mostly the really hot kind that he plans to grow and then clone for the holiday season next year. His favorite hot pepper right now is the chapilita which is way up there on the list of burn.

Just off the highway, next to the Alpaca Hop Inn, the Alpaca Store and More is filled with soft, warm fleece classic coats and shawls and jacket/sweater jackets, socks and gloves. Anything made with alpaca is a treasured gift. The fleece is harvested from the big-eyed, humorous and curious animals that you can’t help but hug.

At the Carousel of Happiness, riding a one of a kind lovable critter, and listening to the music is always a gift. One can purchase punch cards for up to 10 rides for a great present, insurance for the recipient that he or she will ride again.

Melissa and Doug series of toys and gifts fill a wall and have been popular this season. There are tons of Carousel label items: water bottles, baby onesies, t-shirts, hats and awesome Christmas tree ornaments.

The Carousel puppet room is available for parties all season long.

Next to the Carousel, the Train Cars offer a comfortable place to have a snack and a drink and enjoy the quaint, warm atmosphere while you take a break from walking around town. The booths in the antique car are perfect for enjoying a game of dominos or backgammon or cards. Dennis and Beverly Potts of Boulder come to the Train Cars every weekend to relax and play a game together.

Across the highway, in the A-frame, is the Harvest House, where Stacy Johnson’s marijuana is locally grown. During the holiday season, the shop is holding a Dab Rig Raffle with the proceeds going to the Wild Bear Nature Center. The Dab Rig is a new bong used for concentrates, a new hash.

The Harvest House also sells t-shirts, hats and a whole bunch of delicious cookies. They have partnered with a local ski area for a punch card which gives a free 10th ticket for purchasing nine.

Not only is shopping locally convenient and therefore cheaper, it is a fun way to find the holiday gifts that will please everyone. Meeting the local business owners and employees is a good way to become a part of the community. These people aren’t part of large chains, they are our neighbors and friends, and like us, they are working hard to keep Nederland’s economy sustainable.

Shop Local in Ned Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. A highway runs through Nederland. That and a river running perpendicular to the highway divide the town into sections that create shopping segments.

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