Kimberly Whitton and daughter-missing since 6/22/07 Alabama

[klaasend]

No word on missing mother and daughter; community scared

July 7, 2007 06:16 AM PDT


There's still no word on a missing mother and daughter from Jackson county.

It's been more than 2 weeks since anyone's heard or seen Kimberly Whitton and her 11-year-old daughter, Haleigh Culwell.

Their disappearance has shaken their Sand Mountain community.

"I am terrified. I am absolutely terrified," a Section woman said.

Kim's husband, Barry Whitton, was a suspect in his first wife's murder.

Michelle Whitton was reported missing nearly 10 years ago.

6 weeks later she was found in a shallow grave. Investigators say she was beaten to death.

Barry Whitton was never charged.

People in Section say his current wife and stepdaughter's disappearance seems all too familiar.

"Everybody in Macedonia and Section, I would say 99-percent to my knowledge is aware of Barry and circumstances that happened in his past with his first wife. And they are all literally terrified of him and what he could do them," a Section woman said.

One of Kim's friends, also wanting to remain anonymous, says she's just concerned about finding Kim and Haleigh.

She's trying to remain hopeful.

"If she's out there, we love you Kim. Come home," Kim's unidentified friend said.

But she says the more time that passes, the harder it becomes.

This weekend will be especially difficult. Kim's 37th birthday is today.

"It makes me nervous. It makes me wonder why she hasn't called because I think she would call. I just hope that she's ok and that's not the reason that she's not calling," Kim's friend said.

Investigators say there's no evidence of foul play in Kim and Haleigh's disappearance.

Barry Whitton is not considered a suspect.

WAFF 48 News tried calling him for comment, but he did not answer.

http://www.waff.com/global/story.asp?s=6756530

~~~~~~~~~~~~~edit by Nut to add images to first page.

[bleachedblack]

The husband having a history of an ex-spouse turning up dead makes this latest disappearance very suspicious IMO.

[bleachedblack]

1st wife's fate is a surprise to 2nd's dad
Saturday, July 07, 2007

Missing woman's husband didn't say it was a homicide

SECTION - The father of a missing Jackson County woman said he didn't know until Thursday that her husband's first wife was the victim of an unsolved homicide nearly 10 years ago.

Kimberly Whitton, 36, and her daughter, Haleigh, were reported missing June 28 by co-workers at Cloverdale Manor nursing home.

Until she disappeared, Whitton had missed only one day of work in her seven years as a licensed practical nurse at the nursing home, co-workers said Friday. They asked not to be identified.

Whitton's father, Jerry Compton, said Friday that her husband, Barry Whitton, "seems like a pretty nice fellow." He said he was surprised to learn about the circumstances of the death of Michelle Whitton, Barry Whitton's previous wife.

"He told me his first wife died from an overdose," Compton said. "But I found out last night that she was murdered."

Several weeks after her unexplained disappearance, Michelle Whitton's body was found partially buried in 1997 on a hillside in the Powell community about 15 miles from their Dutton home. No one was arrested in her death. Authorities said her death was a homicide but never disclosed how she died.

Although investigators had a suspect, District Attorney Charlie Rhodes said then that there was not enough evidence to make an arrest. Rhodes was unavailable for comment Friday.

Compton said he had not heard from his daughter since returning his granddaughter, Haleigh Brean Culwell, and stepgrandson, Ethan Whitton, both 11, to the Whitton home after the children spent several days with him and his wife, Pat, during spring break in March.

After learning that his daughter and granddaughter were missing, he said, he drove to the Whitton home near Section to talk with Whitton. His Ford pickup truck and his daughter's Dodge Dualie pickup were parked there, but no one appeared to be at home, he said

>>>>>>The Full Article

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1183799831307680.xml&coll=1

[MsVada]

hopefully if he did it this time, they get him and he doesn't get to go out and find another wife and live without bars.  

I am afraid it doesn't look good.  I'm saying prayers that I am wrong and they turn up somewhere.

] Maybe she's taken the daughter and gone into hiding somewhere to get away from him.

[bleachedblack]

Mother, daughter still missing

Published July 10, 2007
Jackson County Sheriff’s Department investigators are still actively searching for Kimberly Compton Whitton and her daughter, Haleigh Breann Culwell, who went missing from their Section home on or about June 21, 2007.

“We don't have a whole lot to go on at this time,”Chief Deputy Doyle York told The Daily Sentinel Monday. “We’re still working it as a missing person case.”

An Amber Alert has been issued for Culwell. She is listed on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site at www.missingkids.com.

“We’re getting phone calls,” York said. “We’re using everything we can to try and find these people.”

The Amber Alert program was created in 1996 in response to the kidnapping and brutal murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Arlington, Texas. The program, also known as America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response Plan, is designed for broadcasters and authorities to immediately distribute information about recent child abductions enabling the community to assist in the search.

Whitton, 36, and Culwell, 11, were reported missing by Mrs. Whitton's co-workers at Cloverdale Manor Nursing Home in Scottsboro on June 28. They were last seen on June 21.

Whitton's husband, Barry Whitton, apparently told investigators that his wife and stepdaughter left their Section home on their own.

Investigator's do not know what type of clothing Mrs. Whitton or Culwell were wearing when they were last seen. They do not know what type vehicle the mother and daughter were in when they left home. Mrs. Whitton's Dodge pickup truck remains parked in the driveway, according to reports.

Mrs. Whitton, 5'9 and 270 lbs., has brown hair and bown eyes.

Culwell is 5'2 and 110 lbs. She has blonde hair, blue eyes and wears braces.

Whitton's previous wife, Michelle Townsend Whitton, was the victim of a homicide. Her body was found on Jan. 21, 1998 in rural DeKalb County after she went missing on Dec. 7, 1997.

Jackson County authorities had a suspect, "but we never made a case," York said.

Mr. Whitton has been interviewed at least twice about the current case, according to York. He has not been described as a suspect.

http://www.thedailysentinel.com/story.lasso?ewcd=73e4994f7250d076

[Jennifer34]

Her husband says they left on their own but didnt take a vehicle?  

I have not heard anything on the local news about this.  I live in Birmingham, not Scotsboro but it still seems like something would have been on the news.

[bleachedblack]

Guess the law should keep a real close eye on one Mr. Whitton.

[MsVada]

I am still holding out hope that she and her daughter have gone into hiding from this sicko.......

[bleachedblack]

Could be, but why wouldn't she take her truck?....even if it were to the airport? Sure hope you're right MsD.

[Sleeks]

I truly hope she did just try to get away from him.  But I too, do not understand why she wouldn't have taken the truck.  The only possibly is that a close friend came to rescue her.  

This reminds me of a story (a cold case file) out of NJ where a husband was married once back in 75 - killed his wife in Indiana (I believe) then moved to NJ married again, and ended up killing her also.  Truthfully if it wasn't for the second wife's family, this man could have very easily got away with both murders (almost did) and went off to marry again.  

Just another reason to really pay attention to any domestic abuse.  IF any of you ever hear a neighbor fighting (consistantly) DO NOT hesitate to contact the police.  They do not really like to get involved with domestic abuse cases but TOO DAMN BAD, it is after all, their job!!!  And unfortunately all too often - it is too late.

[MsVada]

Maybe she was too scared to take the truck because she could be tracked somehow.  Maybe she took a cab to the bus station or airport as to not leave a trail.

[Jennifer34]

but wouldnt she contact her family.  I was hoping maybe she went into hiding, but I bet she would have figured out a way to keep her family from worrying.

[msmarple]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GIRL_AND_MOTHER_MISSING?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Search on for Missing Ala. Girl, Mother
 
SECTION, Ala. (AP) -- Search teams Friday were combing 40 hilly acres in northeast Alabama for an 11-year-old girl and her mother, and the woman's husband was in federal custody on an unrelated weapons charge.

Kim Whitton, 26, and her daughter, Haleigh Culwell, were reported missing two weeks ago by her co-workers. Her husband, whose first wife was killed and buried in the area, told investigators she had left him, sheriff's officials said.

Barry Whitton was arrested Thursday. Nearly 10 years earlier, the body of his first wife, Michelle Whitton, was found partially buried in the hills of a neighboring town. Police never made an arrest in that case or disclosed how she was killed.

No bail had been set for Barry Whitton, whose initial hearing was set for Tuesday. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer.

About 75 state, federal and local law officers swarmed over property Thursday around Barry Whitton's log home on Sand Mountain. The site has a small sawmill where Whitton cuts lumber. Jackson County District Attorney Charlie Rhodes said the search could last several days.

Kim Whitton and Haleigh were last seen June 21, and were reported missing June 28 by Kim Whitton's co-workers at Cloverdale Manor nursing home.

Barry Whitton, 38, was charged with a weapons possession count that FBI spokesman Charles Regan of Birmingham is unrelated to the disappearance of his wife and stepdaughter. He previously had been convicted of receiving stolen property in 1988 and 1991, U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Jill Ellis said.

[MuffyBee]

This guy has a sawmill.  His first wife's body was found.  Maybe if he used the sawmill, the body of his second wife and the daughter will be a lot harder to find, if he did in fact murder her.  I don't know if this guy is guilty of anything  or not.  The weapons charge could be a way of holding him legally while they search.   And they haven't found the wife and daughter yet but it doesn't look very good for them.  Wondering if maybe the wife found out about first wife's murder or smelled fear and worried about herself and the daughter and left. If she was really afraid, she would be smart to leave no trail.  I guess we just have to wait and see what turns up.

[mrs. red]

when I did my internship I watched a trial where the police were investigating a murder by a husband that they just didn't have enough evidence for so they held him on a felon owning a gun charge... so they probably are holding him on what they can for now...

lightening most certainly strikes twice... and in this case looks like it has, sad to say....

[Red]

Barry Whitton arrested on the old unrelated gun charge ... otherwise known as "we know is is guilty as hell and have to hold him on something."



http://missingexploited.com/2007/07/13/barry-whitton-arrested-in-the-disappearance-of-kim-whitton-and-her-daughter-haleigh-culwell/


Because we all know that innocent people lie about how their previous wife died and that when one's wife goes missing for a week ... and you don't report her ... ah ... not a good sign on the "I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HER DISAPPEARANCE" front.

[MuffyBee]

Whitton, Culwell Still Missing
July 26, 2007

http://tinyurl.com/23jvsj

[Anna]

This is fairly near where I live.  There are no cabs available in the area at all and the nearest airport is at least an hour's drive in either direction, Huntsville or Chattanooga. 

At least the husband is now a suspect and not just a person of interest.  About time.

I do not have much confidence in the DA Rhodes ever doing much of anything about anything.  He has always struck me as trying to see how he could get out of prosecuting a case instead of going after some criminals.

My only hope in this is Doyle York, the Sheriff who came up through the ranks and is pretty sharp.  I think if anything is done it will be because he found evidence and pushed it but i fear both these victims are now dead and finding them is not going to be easy.  I would be looking at all that lumber equipment and for a wood chipper, things like that.  Horrible as that is to think, it could account for almost complete disappearance but so could burial in a very remote area and there are too many of those to search in this area.  Caves alone are too numerous as one of the highest number in the country.  Add to that bluffs and crevices and just massive land areas.  Alabama is second in land area east of Mississippi, much larger than most realize when it comes to open terrain.

This hill country is just ideal for hiding things and always has done so going back to moonshine days.  And it is not easily searched.  There are even abandoned coal mines, lots of caves on private property that have never been mapped, rock formations, dense forest land by the thousands of acres owned by huge paper mills awaiting crop maturation.  Right behind my house is 800 acre private club where I seldom have ever known of a single soul to set foot, go figure.  Supposedly for hunting and camping but is chained off and no one ever seen there for example.  Probably somebody's tax write off.

So if this gets solved, I have all my hope in Doyle York and it is slim hope.  Federal weapons charges can carry a hefty sentence, however.  This may keep him in jail for a very, very long time.  Perhaps before his release, this will have been solved.

I pray they are safe and ran away from him but believe they would have gotten word to their family if that was the case.  I think he killed them. 

[mrs. red]

WOW, Anna thanks for the informative post - but sad to say, it doesn't give me much hope these two will be found.  Please keep us updated if you hear stuff locally ...

[pdh3]

If they can get him convicted on the weapons charge, then there may be a chance for a jail-house snitch to get him to talk. I doubt it, but you never know. He's kept the murder of wife #1 to himself all these years, so he seems to be the kind to keep it on the down low.
Doyle York is an excellent sheriff, so if it can be solved, he will find a way, especially since a child is involved. I hope the family puts the heat on the DA to prosecute if there's ever enough evidence for a trial. I don't really know how motivated they are.
Anna is correct - that area is full of paces to hide bodies. Without some kind of idea where to start, it may be impossible to ever find his wife and step-daughter. Someday, a hunter may run across their bones, but if LE can't break that guy, I think it's hopeless....because I also think he killed them.