Missing Geraldine jackson- 87 Year Old Grandmother(BODY FOUND W/PHELPS)

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Investigators Still Baffled By Missing Great Grandmother

Dec 28, 2006 - A search for 87-year-old Geraldine Jackson will take place on Saturday at 9:00am on Irish Road in the Town of Colden. Investigators returned to the scene of her house fire Thursday, looking any signs of human remains.

Fire investigators and state police were on their hands and knees, going through the rubble. Jackson, who lives alone, has not been seen or heard from since last Friday. Her grandson Andrew Jackson says, "She knew we were coming to her house Sunday after church. She wouldn't have left. She never left the house. She'd sit outside the deck during the summer, but she never left that house." State Police say they have combed the area, but right now there is no explanation of what happened to Jackson.

Firefighters were using grates to sift through the rubble. Chief Jodi Feidt of the Colden Fire District says, "We're just digging through the rubble, every place we possibly can. Typically with people, they try and go somewhere where it's safe. We don't know if she's in a closet, a corner, could have fallen through the floor. We're digging in every corner to find anything that doesn't resemble wood or dry wall." Jackson is described as a spry woman in good health.

Her six-year-old great granddaughter Alexa says, "We still lover her and when all this happened, we hope she's okay. If we can't find anything, who knows." Investigators have not officially ruled out arson, but say they are confident Jackson is not in the house after their work on Thursday.

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061213/NEWS/612130310

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This is  in my neck of the woods......things are cold and have been rainy, no way this Grandma just walked away. Sounds like the fire was to cover a crime IMO, yet they say remains can't be found. Hope they keep looking......

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No sign of elderly woman after house burns
December 29, 2006, 12:25 PM EST
COLDEN, N.Y. (AP) _ An 87-year-old woman was still missing Friday, a week after fire destroyed her home.

Relatives planned to search the property surrounding the charred shell of Geraldine Jackson's home Saturday after numerous searches of the ruins revealed no human remains.

The fire's cause remained unknown and authorities had not determined whether there was foul play.

"I have no idea where she is. But I don't think she's alive," Jackson's son, Lynn Jackson, told WGRZ-TV. "Not after this length of time."

Jackson, who lived alone, was last heard from Dec. 21, one day before fire destroyed her home in rural Colden, about 18 miles south of Buffalo.

Lynn Jackson said his mother was mentally sharp and would not wander off. She had planned to have her family, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren, over for Christmas Eve dinner, he said.

http://tinyurl.com/yhtfqc

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Orchard Park home invasions...Colden fire

Dec 29, 2006 - Two home invasions in Orchard Park early this morning have peeked the interest of police who've been looking into the disappearance of an elderly Colden woman. Investigators aren't exactly saying there may be a connection to the mystery surrounding Geraldine Jackson's whereabouts...but they aren't ruling anything out.

There are still no signs of the 87 year old woman a week after the fire that destroyed her Irish Road home. Thursday's intensive search of the ruins turned up no signs of a body. But today's early morning home invasions less than 10 miles away are raising new questions. N.Y.S. Police Lt. Steven Nigrelli: "I can tell you we have investigators working right now with the Orchard Park police department. We're interested in finding out what their MO were in those cases were and see if they match ours."

Saturday morning, Jackson's family and friends will be out searching the woods near her home..hoping to turn up any kind of clues as to what may have happened to her. Tracy Jackson, Granddaughter-in-law: "She doesn't even own car...wouldn't go out in the woods, had all her marbles so to say. Just not in character for her at all so these pieces of the puzzle just aren't fitting right now."

They're hoping for the best..but they fear the worst. Andrew Jackson, Grandson: "If we go up there and we can't find nothing with the amount of people in the area.. then somebody had to have taken her." Tracy Jackson: "She was a frail, little old lady that everybody loved. I don't know if it's just something in the area that's going on up there but it's just really bizarre."

Even though police have already scoured the area around Jackson's home...they want to go over it one more time. Tracy Jackson: "If we just knew an answer and everyone could be at rest with this.. it's just tearing us apart right now."

New York State Police, the Erie County Sheriff's Department, Colden Fire Department and State Parks rangers will coordinate the effort. Police say they realize many people would like to help look for Geraldine Jackson, but they say they have enough volunteers lined up for tomorrow. The Erie County Sheriff's Helicopter will also be used in the search.

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Buffalo News
Search continues for missing woman

12/31/2006
   State Police on Saturday continued their search for a West Falls woman who has been missing since a Dec. 22 fire destroyed her home.

Police also are investigating if the case is connected to two recent break-ins in Orchard Park.

Other police agencies joined in the search Saturday for 87-year-old Geraldine Jackson, according to Trooper Jim Krawczyk. Searchers included forest rangers and the Erie County Sheriff's Office, he said.

As of Saturday evening, there was nothing new to report in the investigation, Krawczyk said.

However, police are probing whether there is a connection between Jackson's disappearance and two break-ins early Friday in Orchard Park. Police said they don't have any evidence connecting them, but Orchard Park police and State Police are comparing notes on the cases, an Orchard Park police dispatcher said Saturday.

Orchard Park police believe the same man broke into the homes of two elderly women early Friday.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061231/4051390.asp?PFVer=Story

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Police To Develop Profile In Case of Missing Woman
WKBW-TV
January 02, 2007

Buffalo, New York - Investigators say they are now starting to develop a profile for a possible suspect in the case of missing 87-year-old great grandmother Geraldine Jackson.

There are no clues to her whereabouts, after a thorough search Saturday of the area surrounding Jackson's home. On December 22nd, her Colden house burned down and she hasn't been seen since.

Senior Investigator Ed Kennedy says, "We are developing a profile so to speak, but as far as persons of interest, that's part of the investigation and that's something I would not be able to divulge at this point." He also tells 7 News at least a few different handymen have done work on the home over the years. Kennedy says, "People who had been handymen so to speak or done work on the house would be of interest to us as for what they have done or seen being at the house."

There is still no official cause of the fire, meaning arson has not been ruled out. State Police say it's inappropriate to comment on what might be included in a suspect profile. Investigators say they are working on a missing persons poster that could be released later this week.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16444678/

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OMG seems things are really moving slow in trying to locate this missing elderly woman.  

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Investigators Want Missing Woman's Dental Records
Friday, January 5, 2007 08:50 AM - WBEN Newsroom

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Two weeks after Geraldine Jackson, 87, of Irish Road in Colden went missing in a fire that destroyed  her home, state police investigators have asked family members to provide access to her dental records, after a retired Buffalo fire expert continued an informal search for remains on her property.

Her son, Lynn Jackson, tells WBEN that officials have asked for permission to get the woman's dental records, and he is hopeful although not certain, that her remains may have been recovered at the scene of the fire.

"I keep saying she had to be in that house," he says. "The only thing I'm hoping right now -- and I don't know if it is going to happen,-- but police (are asking for release) dental records. I'm not saying they found something, but I'm hoping."

The fire's cause remained unknown and authorities had not determined whether there was foul play.

full article.......
http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=06575

[MsVada]

sounds like they might have found something to ask for dental records.  Unless that is standard proceedure.

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Sure doesn't  sound good Mrs.D......

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Hope fades for woman still missing
By GENE WARNER
News Staff Reporter
1/7/2007
   It's a total mystery, a baffling whodunit.

So baffling that investigators aren't even sure anyone has "dunit."

But it sure looks, on the surface, like foul play.

More than two weeks after 87-year-old Geraldine Jackson disappeared and her West Falls house burned to the ground, the lack of any other credible scenario points to the likelihood she may have been killed, her body dumped somewhere and then her house torched, investigators believe.

"You immediately suspect foul play," Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark said of the odd circumstances, including the facts that Jackson no longer drove and she didn't suffer from dementia.

"The suspicion, with her gone, is that she was the victim of foul play and that the house was burned to conceal evidence of criminal activity," Clark added. "That's a theory. Right now, there are no hard facts to determine what happened."

Authorities didn't know Jackson was missing until after her house was destroyed by fire on the morning of Dec. 22.

About a week later, 10 investigators spent seven or eight hours sifting through the rubble of Jackson's house on Irish Road, looking for any hint of her remains.

They found nothing - not a tooth filling or a belt buckle or any evidence.

full article.....
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070107/1060988.asp

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Second elderly woman goes missing

Connection sought to case in Colden

By T.J. PIGNATARO
News Staff Reporter
1/19/2007
   
Geraldine Jackson, left, has not been seen since her house burned down Dec. 22; Nancy G. Phelps disappeared after a Sunday night Bible group.

A massive daylong search for an elderly Marilla woman was suspended Thursday night on the same rural Colden road where another elderly woman vanished last month after her home burned down.

Investigators are trying to determine if there is a connection between the cases of Nancy G. Phelps, 69, who was last seen Sunday at a Bible study group in Alden, and 87-year-old Geraldine Jackson, who disappeared after her Irish Road home burned down Dec. 22.

"A very intense search has been conducted since [Wednesday]," Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard said, adding that there appears to be evidence of foul play in Phelps' disappearance from her home on Eastwood Road in Marilla.

Police found blood in the garage of her home and blood and a tooth outside of the garage, Howard said. It was not immediately known if the tooth and blood belonged to Phelps or another person, he said.

"It appears that she had left the house . . . unexpectedly or in some kind of a hurry, having left various items out that probably would not have otherwise been left out," Howard said. He wouldn't elaborate about the items.

The search shifted from Marilla to Colden on Thursday after police determined that Phelps' sister lives on Irish Road, across the street and not far from the burned-out rubble of Jackson's home.

full story.........
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070119/1065901.asp

[MsVada]

Oh my,  this doesn't sound good either.

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Focus turns to parolee in missing women probe
By JANICE L. HABUDA and ELMER PLOETZ
News Staff Reporters
1/20/2007
   
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Erie County sheriff's deputies use all-terrain vehicles Friday on Irish Road in Colden to search for Nancy G. Phelps of Marilla, missing since Sunday night, and Geraldine Jackson of Colden, missing since Dec. 22.

Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
A burned-out shell is all that remains of the home of Geraldine Jackson in Colden, which remains the center of an intense investigation.

A career criminal with a history of violent crimes against the elderly is in custody on a parole violation and authorities describe him as a "person of interest" in the disappearance of two Southtowns women.

Robert J. Henchen, 42, of Irish Road, Colden, was arrested after an overnight manhunt.

He is on parole for a Monroe County home invasion robbery during which a 76-year-old man was bound and covered with a blanket while his house was ransacked, according to media reports from that time.

Henchen was smoking a cigarette on the porch of a house on Hayes Hollow Road when parole officers showed up at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

"When they pulled into the driveway, he fled," said Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard.

Following an extensive search using dogs by State Police and sheriff's deputies, Henchen was found at about 3:30 a.m., hiding in the back of a vehicle, the sheriff said.

On Friday, police and volunteer firefighters spent a cold, snowy day continuing to search for any signs of the two women who have gone missing during the past month.

Nancy G. Phelps, 69, of Marilla, was last seen Sunday at a Bible study group in Alden. Authorities said foul play was suspected after finding blood inside her garage, and blood and a tooth outside.

And there's been no sign of Geraldine Jackson, 87, of Colden, since her house burned to the ground Dec. 22.
full story..........
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070120/1073809.asp

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Search For Missing Women Continues In Colden
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 08:12 AM - WBEN Newsroom

WBEN Reporter Tom Puckett
Exclusive WBEN Windows Media Audio

Colden, NY (WBEN) - Police from several agencies plan to be back in Colden today, to continue their search of wooded areas, and several ponds, near the Irish Road home of a man considered a "person of interest"  in the case of two missing elderly women.

http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=06685

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SEARCH FOR MISSING MARILLA WOMAN CONTINUES
01/25/2007
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A local woman remains missing as of press time on Tues., Jan. 23 after disappearing early last week. Nancy Phelps, a 69-year-old Marilla resident, was last seen at a Bible study group at a church in Alden on Sun., Jan. 14, local law enforcement officials told the East Aurora Advertiser. She was reported missing by her family after she failed to show up for work.

SEARCH OF AREA

A large-scale search operation involving local fire and police agencies began late in the afternoon of Wed., Jan. 17 following a visit to Phelps' Eastwood Road home by Erie County Sheriff's deputies. Searchers on foot, emergency personnel in all-terrain vehicles, and others canvassed the area. Marilla residents report that deputies were also in the area on Tuesday night.

The search was spurred on by evidence of foul play discovered in and around Phelps' home. The Buffalo News also reported that blood was found both inside and outside of Phelp's garage.

LINKS TO COLDEN CASE

The case may be linked with that of Geraldine Jackson, an 87-year-old resident of Colden. Police have been searching for Jackson since a fire destroyed her home on Irish Road in Colden on Dec. 22, 2006. Police expanded their search to Colden after discovering that Phelps has family living near Jackson's house.

A search in Colden reportedly turned up items belonging to Nancy Phelps. Jackson's Irish Road home is roughly 20 miles from Phelp's home in Marilla.

'PERSON OF INTEREST' IN CUSTODY

Area media report that Robert J. Henchen, 42, also a resident of Irish Road in Colden, has been named a person of interest in the cases by the Erie County Sheriff's office, and that Henchen is being held on parole violation charges.

>> Full Article
     http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17745003&BRD=984&PAG=461&dept_id=141126&rfi=6

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Nancy Phelps


Geraldine Jackson

DNA Results Back in Case of Two Missing Elderly Women

(January 29, 2007) - - Investigators say some DNA test results are back, and they're helpful in the case of two missing elderly women in the southtowns.

DNA results show the blood and tooth found at the Marilla home of 69-year-old Nancy Phelps belong to the missing woman.

But there is still no new information on the whereabouts of 87-year-old Geraldine Jackson of Colden.

Police have named Robert Henchen as a suspect.

He's being held on a parole violation.

Police are also hoping a victim from an Orchard Park home invasion will be able to identify Henchen in a line-up.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6004698

[Elaine]

Thanks for the update BB, I have been wondering where these two women were. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound very good.

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Suspect in Home Invasions, Missing Women to Appear in Lineup

February 8, 2007) - - The prime suspect in the disappearance of two elderly southtowns women faces a police line-up in another case on Friday. News 4's Mylous Hairston reports that this lineup concerns a home break-in that happened in Orchard Park.

Robert Henchen is a suspect in two late December home invasions in Orchard Park. He'll appear in a lineup on Friday.

Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark said, "They wear numbers around their necks, and they come out onto a stage."

That stage is at Buffalo police headquarters, equipped with the only lineup room of its kind in the area.

Frank Clark explains what the victim or witness will be instructed to do.

Clark said, " 'If you recognize the person that you saw on the night of whatever, write the number that is around his neck in the box below.' "

That will be repeated with the order and number of the lineup changing.

Robert Henchen will actually be in two types of lineups at Buffalo police headquarters.

In the second lineup, the victim won't be able to see him.

Clark said, "In this case, I understand we're going to do a voice ID. ... They're behind the curtain, and instructed to say something. 'Give me all your money, and don't move.' "

So how reliable are the lineups police have turned to for decades?

Clark said, "If that's the only thing you have, that witness and nothing else to tie the defendant to the crime, then you have a flawed case."

If Henchen is IDed on Friday, he'll be arrested and charged immediately.

Henchen's lineup on Friday is tied to two home invasions in Orchard Park.

That lineup will take place at 1:00 in the afternoon.

He's also a suspect in the case of two missing women, Geraldine Jackson and Nancy Phelps.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6061593

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Henchen identified in lineup in home invasion case
By GENE WARNER
News Staff Reporter
2/17/2007
   The Colden man considered a "person of interest" in the disappearance of two elderly Southtowns women was picked out of a lineup twice Friday by the victim of an unrelated Orchard Park home invasion, law-enforcement officials said.

But authorities cautioned against any suggestion that the identification would help them crack the baffling disappearances of the two women, Geraldine Jackson, 87, of Colden, last seen Dec. 22, and Nancy G. Phelps, 69, of Marilla, last seen Jan. 14.

Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark and Orchard Park Police Chief Samuel M. McCune confirmed that the victim in the Dec. 29 home invasion on Ellicott Road in Orchard Park picked Robert J. Henchen, 42, in a pair of physical and voice lineups.

In both lineups Friday, each of the six men stepped forward and recited a certain phrase for the victim to hear.

Clark said he expects an Erie County grand jury to hear the case against Henchen in the Ellicott Road burglary within the next week to 10 days. Authorities lack the evidence to present to the grand jury on a similar home invasion on Murphy Road the same day.

>>> Full Article
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070217/1046121.asp