English woman missing in Cyprus turns up decades later in Arizona, and other stories

Samuel Little, considered to be one of the U.S. most prolific serial killers, has died in prison at age 80. They’re still trying to locate/identify his victims.

In Arizona/England/Cyprus: they’ve found Lee-Tracey Miley, who was reported missing by her son in 2019 but had actually been out of touch with her family since 1991. She went on a vacation to Egypt that year, then traveled to Cyprus (an island nation in the Mediterranean) and never returned. Ms. Miley was located safe in Arizona. She claims she was injured in a car wreck in Cyprus and developed amnesia, and had no recollection of her previous life in Bournemouth, England.

In California: the recent arrest in Michaela Garecht‘s case has given hope for answers to the family of Amanda Nicole Eileen “Nikki” Campbell, a four-year-old girl who disappeared from Fairfield on December 27, 1991. The video clip in this link includes a color photo of Nikki which I had not seen elsewhere, and have added to her casefile.

In Florida: Steve Calkins, a former sheriff’s deputy, has been found not civilly liable for anything in the 2004 disappearance and presumed death of Terrance Deon Williams from Naples. It’s a very peculiar case. Williams’s family had filed a wrongful death suit against Calkins, who is the last person known to have seen Williams and was also the last person known to have seen another missing man, Felipe Santos, who had gone missing under nearly identical circumstances the previous year. The case had been forced into binding arbitration due to an error by the plaintiffs’ attorney, and the arbitrator ruled they had no case against Calkins.

In Iowa: it’s been nearly six months since ten-year-old Breasia Terrell disappeared from Davenport, and here’s a timeline of her case.

In Massachusetts: they’re still looking for Lisa Therisa Hazard, a 29-year-old woman who disappeared from New Bedford in March 2019. She had a drug problem and told her son’s father she was going to check into a rehab center in Fall River, but it’s unclear whether she even ever left New Bedford.

In Missouri: this article honors Marianne Asher-Chapman, who founded Missouri Missing, a nonprofit organization that helps families of people missing in Missouri and publicizes their cases. Asher-Chapman’s daughter, Michelle Angela “Angie” Yarnell, disappeared from Ivy Bend in 2003.

Also in Missouri: they’ve found the remains of Brandon L. Wood, a 23-year-old who disappeared from Mountain Grove in 2015. Curiously, the bones turned up in an area that had been previously searched.

In Ohio: this article talks about cold missing persons cases in Ohio, particularly in Butler County. It mentions Cynthia Louise Carmack, a 15-year-old missing from Hamilton since 1987, and Ronald Henry Tammen Jr., a 19-year-old Ohio University student missing from Oxford since 1953, among others.

In Oregon: this article is about the narrowly averted NamUs defunding and how it would have affected cold cases in that country.

In Texas: Fox San Antonio has released a recording of an interview police did with Elizabeth Johnson, mother of Gabriel Scott Johnson, who disappeared on December 27, 2009 at just seven months old. Elizabeth says she gave Gabriel to another couple to raise, but police have been unable to identify these people and think the child is probably dead. She was convicted of custodial interference and unlawful imprisonment, but acquitted of kidnapping, and was released from prison in 2014.

In Wisconsin: they’ve found the remains of Benjamin D. Bodwin, a 54-year-old man who disappeared from Athelstane in 2018. His death has been ruled a suicide.

In England: the police have released video footage of Steven Clark, a 23-year-old man who disappeared from Marske-by-the-Sea, Cleveland in 1992 and is presumed murdered. His parents were recently arrested and questioned, then released. They deny any involvement in their son’s presumed death and called the idea “absolutely ludicrous.”

In Russia: they’re still looking for Ayana Vinokurova and Alina Ivanova, two three-year-old girls who disappeared from Alina’s grandfather’s yard in a remote village called Sinsk in the far eastern part of the country back in 2013.

Suspect convicted in Gabriel Johnson disappearance

Tammi Smith, who tried to illegally adopt seven-month-old Gabriel Johnson who’s been missing two and a half years, has been convicted of forgery and conspiracy to commit custodial interference in his case. (This was a few days ago but I just caught it; like I said, I’m behind.) She lied on a court document about Gabriel’s paternity because she knew the baby’s father, Logan McQueary, would not agree to the adoption. Smith faces up to three and three-quarters years in prison.

The big fish, however, is Gabriel’s mother Elizabeth Johnson, who is the last person known to have seen him and who had repeatedly threatened to kill him. She confessed his murder to a police officer but I think it got thrown out of evidence. Elizabeth is awaiting trial for custodial interference, kidnapping and child abuse.

Articles:
Missing boy’s would-be adoptive mom convicted
Tammi Smith convicted in Baby Gabriel case
Tammi Smith convicted on multiple counts related to Baby Gabriel case

Gabriel Johnson’s mom is incompetent again

I’ve written about Gabriel Johnson‘s case before. He has been missing since December 2009, when he was seven months old. He would now be two and a half, but he’s probably dead and the police have openly said they think his mother, Elizabeth, murdered him.

Elizabeth was supposed to stand trial for kidnapping, custodial interference and child abuse, but she’s just been ruled incompetent. Again. Last summer she was found incompetent and then three months later re-examined and determined to be competent again.

This time, four out of five mental health experts said she was too screwed-up to assist her defense. This article notes that out of those four, only three thought she might eventually get her competency restored with drugs and counseling. Of course that’s what everybody wants to happen (except, perhaps, Elizabeth herself, see below), but in the meantime of course the trial will be delayed.

From this article:

Judge Paul McMurdie also ruled that there was not clear and convincing evidence that she will never be mentally fit to stand trial. McMurdie ordered her back in treatment and back into the restoration process. He requested an update on her mental health in 60 days.

Dan Raynak, Johnson’s attorney, argued that his client has not told him or any member of his defense team one fact about the case despite months and months of trying.

Raynak told the court his more than two decades as an attorney convinces him Johnson will never be able to be restored so that she can aid in her defense.

The prosecutor, and Gabriel’s father, believe Elizabeth is just playing games with everyone and it’s not that she is unable to assist her defense but that she refuses to. Elizabeth’s grandfather thinks she’s bipolar, and from her behavior I’ve read about I wonder if she might have a borderline personality. Which is not to say that she couldn’t be both bipolar and borderline at the same time. There’s a great deal of co-morbidity in mental illness — that is, people who have one diagnosed mental disorder not infrequently have more than one.

The East Valley Tribune also has a good article about this (the Johnson case that is, not mental illness), with more details.

Another psych eval for Elizabeth Johnson

Elizabeth Johnson, mother of missing baby Gabriel, has been ordered to undergo yet another psychiatric evaluation to determine her competency to stand trial. She was previously declared incompetent last summer, treated for three months and then found to be competent. I haven’t heard anything about an official diagnosis, although her grandfather said he thought she was bipolar. Her behavior sounds very borderline personality to me, but I leave that up to professionals.

Who knows when she’ll go to trial. I think it was scheduled for August, but if she’s found incompetent again it might be years.

Interview with Gabriel Johnson’s dad

Gabriel Johnson‘s dad, Logan McQueary, who hasn’t said much to the press, has done an interview. (On video, text summary).

“It pisses me off to see her,” said McQueary, speaking of Gabriel’s mom Elizabeth, who is accused of kidnapping him and suspected of much more. “I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t know what to do so I don’t want to see her.”

Meanwhile, predictably, Elizabeth’s attorney wants the case dismissed.

Elizabeth Johnson’s trial set for August

Elizabeth Johnson, mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, will go to trial in August for kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference in his case. He was seven months old when he vanished from San Antonio, Texas on December 27, 2009.

Today is Gabriel’s second birthday. The police think Elizabeth probably killed him — she confessed to that on three different occasions, then recanted — but she hasn’t been charged with murder. Yet.

Summary of Gabriel Johnson case

Gabriel Johnson has been missing one year and three weeks, in the kind of convoluted soap-operatic family debacle that’s a nightmare to research and write up. (Kyron Horman, Trenton Duckett and Haleigh Cummings are other good examples of this.) But this article today provides an excellent brief summary of Gabriel’s disappearance with all the twists and turns and people involved.

I’m sure the cops are working behind the scenes, but it seems like nothing really has changed since last year. Gabriel’s still missing, everyone is telling a million different stories, Elizabeth’s still in jail, etc.