Early Morning

Sitting here with a cup of tea and thinking about what I hope to get accomplished today.  My "routine" was altered a bit when I went to Yahoo to work my morning crossword puzzle and discovered they hadn't put up a new one.  Irritating when I can't do things in my schedule of events.  But I'll get over it.  For one thing, I can get my blog written.  Some days I just can't seem to get in the mood to write anything.  Perhaps because nothing much happens out of the ordinary.  I know. I've never let that stop me before. Ha!

I watched 'The Captive' on Amazon Prime last night.  It was on the free list.  So often I have to go to IMDB and look up the movie to see where I've seen the actors and actresses in other presentations. The actress last night was also in 'The Killing' which I enjoyed.  Even though IMDB only gave it a 5.9 rating, I thought it was much better than several movies they've rated higher. Since I had sat down early to watch TV, I ended up renting ($5) a second flick called 'Nightcrawler.' It starred Jake Gyllenhaal and while I usually like his acting, he played a bad guy in this one and he must have done a super job of acting 'cause I didn't like him at all!  Very tense movie and it did not end the way I wanted it to.  Still, it held my interest all the way through.

One of my half-sisters in Penn. called yesterday and said 'Unsolved Mysteries' was going to run a piece on her daughter who went missing in 2003. Said the local paper also did a write-up. I marked my calendar for June 3rd so I can see how they present it. Here's the article from the paper:

The search for a young woman who disappeared over 12 years ago is getting increased media attention.

Family friend Judy Fisher and mother Pauline Bailey are bringing the case of Phylicia Thomas, presumed dead and last seen at her Lake Township home in February 2003, to Unsolved Mysteries, beginning with a “short-story format” on the show’s website on June 3.

Fisher said after a search employing cadaver dogs in April was unsuccessful in finding Thomas’ body, she felt she had a duty to Bailey and to Thomas to continue searching for answers.

The dogs did not find any indication of human remains after scouring a site along Golf Course Road. The area was the site of what was formerly the home of Steve Martin, who had been named a person of interest in the case and subsequently committed suicide in prison.

“Walking toward Pauline after the search, knowing we did not find Phylicia’s body, was one of the hardest things I ever had to do,” said Fisher. “I could see in her eyes that she just desperately wanted to find her daughter.”

She hopes exposure on a show such as Unsolved Mysteries will provide a chance to gather more information and encourage those who might know something on the case to come forward.

The presentation on the show’s website will include footage of both Fisher and Bailey sharing the facts of the case and personal feelings, as well as a brief video of Thomas before she went missing.

“Although we have received numerous tips in regard to the case, I believe someone out there knows something that will make a significant impact on the case,” said Fisher. “Hopefully, Unsolved Mysteries will help them overcome any fear or reluctance and courageously come forward.”

Fisher said she believes that Steve Martin had something to do with Thomas’ disappearance, but that more than one person was involved.

She said she believes Thomas’ disappearance and supposed death is related to her desire to find information regarding the case of Jennifer Barziloski, who disappeared in 2001 and whose skull was discovered in 2010 in Hunlock Township.

“Phylicia said to her mother at one point that she believed that Jen’s disappearance was suspicious and that she had been murdered,” said Fisher. “Shortly after that, she herself turned up missing.”

Fisher said she has been in touch with the Pennsylvania State Police regarding her appearance on the show, and they have been supportive.

“Lt. Steven Polishan, of the crime investigation unit, encouraged us to continue to share information about the case, making it more likely the case will be re-opened,” said Fisher.

Some of those who came forward with information had been involved in crime, said Fisher, and lacked credibility.

“For example, one person who claimed to know something about where the bodies might be buried has a history of being a crack addict,” said Fisher, “so we’re going to attempt to get more evidence from other people.”

Still, she said, the nature of the crime which involved young people in a party atmosphere, makes it likely that witnesses may be involved to some extent in the drug scene.

The website presentation and possibly a future television show will include information about both Thomas and Barziloski, which Fisher thinks is the “absolutely the right thing.”

“The two cases are related,” she said. “If we can bring closure, and perhaps justice, to both families, perhaps, we can all sleep at night.”

Maddie came by to do some weeding out front for me yesterday. Sure looks a lot better.

While she was doing that, I decided to try and draw the Kuhn St. house.  My first attempt was so bad (I have little artistic talent) that I opted to trace the blown-up photo I had printed out.  Eventually, I hope to get a drawing good enough to frame.

Wayne and Hunter came by earlier to pick up the small freezer I've had in my garage but haven't used in several months. Decided it was silly to let it sit there getting rusty when somebody else could be putting it to use.

Jenni is thrilled to have a freezer right in her house so she doesn't have to go out to the garage. She had made a Costco run the day before and I asked her to pick me up a slab of salmon.  Ended up with 11 meals.

While she was here, Maddie wanted to show me this "thing" she saw on YouTube called 'Charlie, Charlie are you here?'  She balanced two pencils on each other and drew this cross showing yes and no. We couldn't make it work but I did look it up online. See video below.

Well, that's about all I got today.  Mary and Andy come back from NY. Oh, and granddaughter, Catie has a new job.  I've got to make a post office run later this morning. Mailing off a couple of books to my pal, Barb Shaw, who is working in Skagway, Alaska until the end of September. She has no TV, radio, or Internet so is getting by with books.  Since I just cleaned out my shelves, I chose two I think she'd like.  A Thousand Acres and The Elephant Whisperer.