Venus Rose Stewart 32, msg 5/3/10 - Colon Township, MI (Hubby Convicted)

[Nut44x4]

Local man organizing search for missing mother

May 12, 2010 5:55 PM
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A West Michigan man is calling for volunteers to help in the search for Venus Stewart.

Venus went missing on April 26th from her parents' front yard in Colon Township. There were signs of a struggle found after she went missing.

According to police, Venus' estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, is currently the only person of interest in the case.

Right after Venus went missing, volunteers began hanging up fliers all around the area, and State Police have been out searching in woods and water for any sign of her. Police were out for five hours on Wednesday but have still not found any sign of the missing mother.

Now, a local man is calling on the public to start helping with a ground search on Friday.

“You gotta do something,” said Denny Olson. “What if this was your daughter or granddaughter?”

In missing person cases, Olson is one of the first to step up. He's been helping with searches throughout West Michigan for years. His desire to help started when he and some of his friends went out on their motorcycles to help sheriff's deputies in Kalamazoo County look for a missing man.

“Went to the trails to find him,” said Olson. “I was the guy that happened to find him.”

Olson doesn't know Venus Stewart's family, but that doesn't matter. He believes the community has a whole needs to help bring some resolution to the case.

Now, he's calling on volunteers to show up at the park on Colon Road in Colon on Friday at 9:00 am, from there they'll spread out to cover a lot of terrain.

“Going to search north from father's home towards Leonidas, towards Fulton and also out east towards I-69 and cover as much territory as we can,” said Olson.

Teams of police and sheriff's deputies have already been out looking for Venus. State Police say if members of the public do plan to search, they ask that they be sure to get permission from property owners, and if they do find anything, to not disturb potential evidence.

Olson says he isn't trying to interfere with what police are doing, he just knows there's lots of ground to cover.

“MSP, county sheriff don't have enough officers to do it,” said Olson. “It's time for John Doe to step up to the plate.”

Volunteers are asked to wear clothing and shoes suitable for walking through woods and heavy brush.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1376428-bottom-mother.html

[Nut44x4]

A decomposed body has been found in Hudson Township, apx. 85 miles East of Colon Twp.
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=12471721

General area map US127/Hudson MI
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=US%20127%20Hudson%2C%20MI

Hop/Skip and Jump South to I-80 to head back to VA

Well, these say it is a 'skeleton' buried deep in the ground...huge difference between 'a body'  'a decomposed body' and 'a skeleton' I loathe the media...although, what would we do without them? Especially me...since I am the queen of copy and paste 

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=12473453
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=7439238

[Nut44x4]

Organizer of search Friday for Venus Stewart seeks volunteers
By Rex Hall Jr. | Kalamazoo Gazette
May 13, 2010, 12:04AM

COLON TOWNSHIP — A Vicksburg man is organizing volunteers to search Friday for Venus Rose Stewart, the 32-year-old Colon Township woman who has been missing for more than two weeks.

Denny Olson, a former leader in Michigan for the citizen-safety organization Guardian Angels, said the search will begin at 9 a.m. at a park on West Colon Road near Sturgeon Lake.

Volunteers will search from Colon north to Leonidas and Fulton and as far east as Interstate 69, he said.

“Anyone’s invited to take part,” Olson said. “You’ve got to dress accordingly.”

Olson said he has done similar searches for missing persons as a member of the Guardian Angels. He also took part in searches for Julia Dawson, a Sparta woman was found dead in 2005 along a rural road in Montcalm County, and Mary Lands, a Marshall woman who disappeared in 2004 and has yet to be found.

“I’ve just been following it since day one,” Olson said of his interest in Stewart’s disappearance and decision to organize a search.

Olson said he does not know how many people will show up to take part in the search.

Stewart has been missing since April 26 and Michigan State Police believe the mother of two was abducted between 7:10 and 8:30 a.m. outside her parents’ house in the 55000 block of Driftwood Drive in Colon Township.

Stewart’s mother has said her daughter was going to the mailbox to mail a letter when she was taken. She was last seen wearing pajamas.

Police have said Stewart’s estranged husband, Douglas Harrie Stewart, 29, of Newport News, Va., is the sole person of interest in his wife’s disappearance. They said they had received information Tuesday that he was back in Michigan.

Police are awaiting analysis of suspected blood found in Douglas Stewart’s Dodge Ram pickup truck during a search of it last week. Police also found in the truck a receipt for items that included a tarp, gloves, shovel and a hat purchased April 25 from a Walmart in Ohio.

State police Wednesday searched an area of St. Joseph County, but the five-hour effort didn’t turn up anything, Risko said. He declined to say exactly where police conducted their search.

Anyone who may have information about Venus Stewart’s whereabouts is asked to call the Michigan State Police post in White Pigeon at 269-483-7611 or its Regional Dispatch Center in Rockford at 616-866-6666.

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/organizer_of_search_friday_for.html

[seahorse]

Thank-You Nut,

I wonder what was in that letter she put in the mailbox?  It must have been pretty important, Venus left her two young

children (unsupervisored) so she could walk 80 feet to the mailbox, of coarse, if she lived, it would be 80 feet back.

Who leaves children unattended to mail a letter?  Whatever it was, I bet it was just one more nail in her coffin.

This makes me mad she didn't put those children a head of herself, after filing allegations she left with him for VA.

 

[MuffyBee]

Thank-You Nut,

I wonder what was in that letter she put in the mailbox?  It must have been pretty important, Venus left her two young

children (unsupervisored) so she could walk 80 feet to the mailbox, of coarse, if she lived, it would be 80 feet back.

Who leaves children unattended to mail a letter?  Whatever it was, I bet it was just one more nail in her coffin.

This makes me mad she didn't put those children a head of herself, after filing allegations she left with him for VA.

 

Seahorse-
I am not sure why you are being so harsh with Venus in this case.  You see, I have a rural mailbox that's approx 80 feet from my front door and I've walked out in the morning in my robe and slippers and put an outgoing letter in the box in the morning.  It doesn't even have to be an important letter, but I like to get the mail out before the postman shows up. Venus has a 3 year old and a five year old.  Venus was staying with her parents in their home, and her two children were in a front room of the house while their grandfather was asleep.  The grandfather was obviously in hearing distance of the two children, because they became noisy and woke him up.  I wouldn't consider walking out to a mail box with your father asleep in the house while a 3 year old and a 5 year old were in hearing distance of the grandparent "leaving the children unattended" or as you noted "unsupervised".  Venus may have felt safe being at her parents home, felt safe enough to go out and mail a letter in the front yard before the postman came.  As to what the letter she wanted to mail was, I don't know.  And I don't know if it had anything to do with anything in this case.  It didn't necessarily have to be important for her to walk it out to the mailbox in the morning in her jammies.  It could just be a casual movement on her part.  I don't think she was endangering her children.  If she had gotten dressed, jumped in the car and went down the road to town or something then yes, that would be leaving the children unattended.  I'm sure at some time in my life I may have gone out in the yard dressed in my robe and slippers in the morning to move a sprinkler or take out the trash while my children were inside and my husband was home in another room watching tv or asleep. Does this mean I left my children "unattended" or "unsupervised"?  I don't think it does and I don't think it's right Venus is being accused of leaving her children "unattended" or "unsupervised" because she was abducted while walking 80 feet from a house with her father in it to drop a letter off while dressed in her pj's.  JMHO

[seahorse]

Thank-You Nut,

I wonder what was in that letter she put in the mailbox?  It must have been pretty important, Venus left her two young

children (unsupervisored) so she could walk 80 feet to the mailbox, of coarse, if she lived, it would be 80 feet back.

Who leaves children unattended to mail a letter?  Whatever it was, I bet it was just one more nail in her coffin.

This makes me mad she didn't put those children a head of herself, after filing allegations she left with him for VA.

 

Seahorse-
I am not sure why you are being so harsh with Venus in this case.  You see, I have a rural mailbox that's approx 80 feet from my front door and I've walked out in the morning in my robe and slippers and put an outgoing letter in the box in the morning.  It doesn't even have to be an important letter, but I like to get the mail out before the postman shows up. Venus has a 3 year old and a five year old.  Venus was staying with her parents in their home, and her two children were in a front room of the house while their grandfather was asleep.  The grandfather was obviously in hearing distance of the two children, because they became noisy and woke him up.  I wouldn't consider walking out to a mail box with your father asleep in the house while a 3 year old and a 5 year old were in hearing distance of the grandparent "leaving the children unattended" or as you noted "unsupervised".  Venus may have felt safe being at her parents home, felt safe enough to go out and mail a letter in the front yard before the postman came.  As to what the letter she wanted to mail was, I don't know.  And I don't know if it had anything to do with anything in this case.  It didn't necessarily have to be important for her to walk it out to the mailbox in the morning in her jammies.  It could just be a casual movement on her part.  I don't think she was endangering her children.  If she had gotten dressed, jumped in the car and went down the road to town or something then yes, that would be leaving the children unattended.  I'm sure at some time in my life I may have gone out in the yard dressed in my robe and slippers in the morning to move a sprinkler or take out the trash while my children were inside and my husband was home in another room watching tv or asleep. Does this mean I left my children "unattended" or "unsupervised"?  I don't think it does and I don't think it's right Venus is being accused of leaving her children "unattended" or "unsupervised" because she was abducted while walking 80 feet from a house with her father in it to drop a letter off while dressed in her pj's.  JMHO

  MuffyBee,

Thanks for your opinion.

I would never ever, ever, leave a three year and a five year old unattended, I understand what you are saying.
It is just me, not for one minute would I leave two little children alone, just me.

I miss your Bee.

Seahorse



*fixed quote out of box

[Lifesong]

Venus is the victim of this crime.  While I respect everyone's right to have an opinion, I disagree completely with the "blame the victim" mode of thinking. 

Would going to the restroom also constitute leaving the children unattended?  It didn't look like a very big front yard or a great distance to the mailbox.  I imagine it may take longer to use the facilities then to stick a letter in the mailbox and run back inside.

It's not Venus' fault she was abducted and likely killed - it is the perpetrator of those crimes who is at fault.  Period.


 


JMO and only MO

[seahorse]

Venus is the victim of this crime.  While I respect everyone's right to have an opinion, I disagree completely with the "blame the victim" mode of thinking. 

Would going to the restroom also constitute leaving the children unattended?  It didn't look like a very big front yard or a great distance to the mailbox.  I imagine it may take longer to use the facilities then to stick a letter in the mailbox and run back inside.

It's not Venus' fault she was abducted and likely killed - it is the perpetrator of those crimes who is at fault.  Period.


 


JMO and only MO

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/tire_marks_where_venus_stewart.html


Another search warrant shows that police also found suspected blood during a search of a 1998 Mercury Sable that belongs to Douglas Stewart and that former neighbors of the Stewarts in Schoolcraft reported seeing what was believed to be the Stewarts’ Sable “cruising the neighborhood” April 25.

[Nut44x4]

Venus is the victim of this crime.  While I respect everyone's right to have an opinion, I disagree completely with the "blame the victim" mode of thinking. 

Would going to the restroom also constitute leaving the children unattended?  It didn't look like a very big front yard or a great distance to the mailbox.  I imagine it may take longer to use the facilities then to stick a letter in the mailbox and run back inside.

It's not Venus' fault she was abducted and likely killed - it is the perpetrator of those crimes who is at fault.  Period.


 


JMO and only MO

mine 2 ...especially the bathroom part 

[seahorse]

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1376492-bottom-mother.html


Husband of missing mother speaks


May 13, 2010 9:55 PM


ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – The search continues for a missing St. Joseph County mother, and on Thursday, her estranged husband called Newschannel 3.

 

Venus Stewart disappeared from her parents' home in Colon Township in April. Police suspect that she was kidnapped, but currently do not have any suspects.

 

After searching the truck of her estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, in Virginia, what police do have is a possible blood stain, along with a receipt from an Ohio WalMart for a tarp, hat, shovel, and gloves, purchased the day before Venus went missing.

 

Douglas is not currently in custody, nor is he facing any charges.

 

On Thursday night, Douglas Stewart called Newschannel 3. He said he wouldn't go on camera without his attorney's blessing, but he did give us a statement.

 

He said, “I am back in Michigan, I am home. There's nothing back in Virginia that's more important than what's going on here and my children.”

 

Stewart also said that if the police want him to turn himself in, all the need to do is ask. He doesn't however think that will happen, and says he has faith in the justice system.
 

Meanwhile, the search continues for Venus. On Friday morning a West Michigan man is rounding up volunteers to help search. They're meeting at Colon Park at 9:00 am. Newschannel 3 will also be there, and bring you the latest as it happens

[Nut44x4]

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/93809809.html

Search continues for missing Michigan mother
Story Updated: May 14, 2010 at 6:04 PM EDT

COLON, Mich. — The search for a missing Michigan woman intensified Friday. Dozens of volunteers spent hours hoping to find her.

The Colon Community Park is more like a command center. Denny Olson told a group of volunteer searchers the task at hand would not be easy.

"We stand a damn good chance of finding her. The trouble is 99 percent of where we are going to search we are not going to find her," Olsen said.

But none of that mattered to the people there. Their only goal was to find Venus Stewart, a missing mother of two little girls.

"It's very scary to the family not knowing what happened to their daughter," said Sue Billings, a volunteer.

Volunteers were assigned miles of ground to cover. They put on their game faces, knowing they could face discovering the 33-year-old's body.

For Connie Schwartz, one thing was more important — She wanted to help Stewart's family find answers.

"Try and put a closure to it," Schwartz said.

With food and water for much-needed energy during the hours-long mission, Billings and her 14-person crew were ready to work. Volunteers combed through tall grass and rocky dirt roads, just yards away from a sign that reported the woman's disappearance.

After a few hours, Sue's crew called police. They had found some suspicious items.

"There's a pair of tennis shoes and a Croc-like slipper that's back here," said Billings as she waited for county police to appear.

Missing in action were Venus' parents, Larry and Therese McComb.

"Half of me wants to be out there also, but I'm scared at what I might find," Therese said.

Venus vanished on April 26 as she walked to her parent’s mailbox. Her family suspects her husband, Doug, is responsible.

"There's no doubt in my mind," Larry said.

Police confirm Doug Stewart is a person of interest, but he has not been charged.

More than anything, the McCombs appreciate the outpouring of support from volunteers and the community.

"It's the only thing that has kept me going," Therese said. "I don't know how I'm going to write so many thank you cards."

Back at the park, Olson said the odds are against them, but they will not give up until Venus is found.

"It's that 1/100th of a chance that we may find her — that's what we need to run on," Olson said. "That's what's called ‘hope.’ That's what's called ‘faith.’”

[MuffyBee]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/tire_marks_where_venus_stewart.html
Tire marks where Venus Stewart disappeared appear to match tires on estranged husband's truck, police say
May 13, 2010

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Tire marks found at the scene of Venus Rose Stewart’s disappearance appear to match the tire treads from her estranged husband’s pickup truck, documents show.

A Michigan State Police crime lab technician who compared photos of tire impressions found near Stewart’s parents’ home in Colon Township and photos of the tires on Douglas Harrie Stewart’s silver 2005 four-door Dodge pickup truck said the photos “showed general tread pattern agreement,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained Thursday by the Kalamazoo Gazette from Newport News, Va., Circuit Court.
The search warrant affidavits also show troopers found signs of a struggle and clear plastic packaging for a tarp after they responded April 26 to the 55000 block of Driftwood Drive on a report that Venus Stewart, 32, was missing. Investigators have said they believe the mother of two, who was last seen wearing pajamas, was abducted between 7:10 and 8:30 a.m.

A neighbor told police that at about 7 a.m. April 26, she spotted a “light gray colored” pickup truck with four doors parked in a field near her residence and that a white male was “crouched behind” the vehicle. Five minutes later, the truck was gone, the search warrant affidavit says.

Police have identified Douglas Stewart, 29, of Newport News, as the sole person of interest in his wife’s apparent abduction and they disclosed earlier this week that a search of his Dodge pickup truck turned up suspected blood and a receipt for a tarp, gloves, shovel and a hat purchased April 25 from a Walmart in Ohio.

A search warrant executed May 5 shows that the suspected blood was found on the inside of the truck’s driver-side door above the handle.

Another search warrant shows that police also found suspected blood during a search of a 1998 Mercury Sable that belongs to Douglas Stewart and that former neighbors of the Stewarts in Schoolcraft reported seeing what was believed to be the Stewarts’ Sable “cruising the neighborhood” April 25.

State Police Lt. Mike Risko said Thursday that police were still awaiting results of crime-lab analysis on the suspected blood found in both vehicles. The search warrants show that investigators also took fingerprints, palm prints and DNA swabs from Douglas Stewart on May 5.

As their investigation continues, Risko said, police are trying to transport Douglas Stewart’s pickup truck back to Michigan for further analysis and to get a closer look at the tires. The crime lab technician who compared the photos of the tire impressions found near the scene of Venus Stewart’s disappearance and photos of Douglas Stewart’s truck tires “indicated she would need the actual tires from the Stewart pickup for more thorough, further analysis,” according to the search warrant affidavit.

Risko said the pickup truck and Mercury Sable were still in the possession of Newport News police, as of Thursday.

Meanwhile, a group of volunteers led by Denny Olson, of Vicksburg, was to search for Venus Stewart this morning in Colon and north to Leonidas and Fulton. They also planned to search areas to the east of Colon to Interstate 69.

Olson said Thursday he did not know how many volunteers might take part in today’s search but that members of Venus Stewart’s family, including her mother and father, Therese and Larry McComb, were expected to participate.

Police ask anyone who may have information about Venus Stewart to call the Michigan State Police post in White Pigeon at 269-483-7611 or its Regional Dispatch Center in Rockford at 616-866-6666.

[MuffyBee]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/wXPUC2R4DsI&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/wXPUC2R4DsI&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1</a>

[MuffyBee]

http://www.sturgisjournal.com/features/x968919650/Community-members-come-together-to-look-for-clues-in-case-of-missing-woman
Community members come together to look for clues in case of missing woman
May 15, 2010

Colon, Mich. —

More than 135 volunteers searched wooded areas Friday in Colon Township hoping to find clues about the disappearance of Venus Rose Stewart.
Stewart, 32, is a mother of two daughters who was reported missing April 26. She was last seen taking a letter to the mailbox outside her parents’ home on Driftwood Drive.
That property overlooks the St. Joseph River.
On Friday, Denny Olson, a former leader  in Michigan for the Guardian Angels, used the new Colon community park pavilion to register each volunteer and organize search teams.
He told volunteers that they must sign in and sign out, and work in teams.
“We don’t want to have to start looking for you at the end of the day because you didn’t sign out,” he said.
This was Olson’s 36th missing-person search.
“I’m good at what I do and we’ve had a 90-percent recovery rate from our searches,” he said. “We are obviously looking for the worst in this situation. You’ve got to think like a crook. Think how you’re going to make your escape with a body.”
Full community
People of all ages took part in the search.
Eighty-year-old Warren Maxwell of Sturgis was ready for action as he listened to Olson talk.
Jim Saxman, a retired farmer from Leonidas, said he had already done some searching near his property.
A mother-daughter team from Leonidas, Shelly and Melea Tovlovpas, waited as other neighbors were interviewed by a TV news crew.
Some young people, including Cody Rzepka, Lucas Calloway and Shandra Clawson, joined the search from Bronson. They walked along Covey Road.
Stewart was Venus Rose McComb when she graduated from Bronson High School in 1996. Her name is still familiar to Bronson residents.
David Dentler, 63, a retired oil worker living in Sturgis, returned to his vehicle parked near the St. Joseph River. After a two-mile walk along a dirt road, he said he started feeling worn out and needed a break.
“If my daughter was missing, I would sure appreciate all these people out looking,” he said.
Susan Wheeler and Mark Parks, neighbors of Venus Stewart’s parents, used bug spray to protect themselves as they searched through thick brush.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/searchers_comb_rural_area_of_k.html
(with video)
Searchers comb rural area of Kalamazoo County for clues to disappearance of Venus Stewart, of Colon
May 15, 2010

COLON — There were so many places to look for clues to what happened to Venus Stewart, from the tall prairie grass to the thick woods to the acres of open fields.

About 130 local residents scoured several miles Friday, looking for a trace of the 32-year-old woman who vanished April 26.

They didn’t find anything but deer bones.

Stewart, a mother of two daughters, disappeared in her pajamas while mailing a letter outside her parents’ home in Colon Township.

Michigan State Police have identified her estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, as the sole person of interest in the apparent abduction. Earlier, authorities said a search of his pickup truck turned up suspected blood and a Wal-Mart receipt for a tarp, gloves, shovel and a hat that were purchased April 25.

The volunteer search party gathered Friday morning in Colon, a city with a sleepy downtown of brick buildings on the eastern edge of St. Joseph County.
Some people wore camouflage hats and carried wooden walking sticks while others wore knee-high boots to wade through water. Several brought their dogs.

For Regina Howard, a mother of three, it was obvious why she needed to come out and join the search effort.

“If it was my child missing, I’d hope everybody would be here too,” said Howard, of Bronson.
Amy Kline said she felt that Stewart, a woman similar in age to herself, had left a noticeable absence in the community of fewer than 1,500 people.

“It’s devastating,” said Kline, 31, whose boss let her use an impromptu vacation day to participate in the search. “I felt hopeless until now. This is something I can do to help.”

Denny Olson, a former leader of the citizen-safety group Guardian Angels, organized the effort. Olson, who is originally from Vicksburg, said he has experience searching for missing persons.
The volunteers, who ranged in age from 20-somethings to middle-aged residents, spread out in groups to cover approximately a 30-mile area.

On county roads, several people walked past farm houses and indifferent cows, scanning ditches and the river banks for Stewart’s body.

Olson led a small group through a forest preserve. An overweight chocolate-colored dog named Brownie followed behind.

“This is just a big territory, guys,” Olson told the volunteers early in the search. “I could spend 20 years and never find her.”

Olson said he might lead a smaller search party next week, depending on the weather.

[islandmonkey]

Thank-You Nut,

I wonder what was in that letter she put in the mailbox?  It must have been pretty important, Venus left her two young

children (unsupervisored) so she could walk 80 feet to the mailbox, of coarse, if she lived, it would be 80 feet back.

Who leaves children unattended to mail a letter?  Whatever it was, I bet it was just one more nail in her coffin.

This makes me mad she didn't put those children a head of herself, after filing allegations she left with him for VA.

 

Seahorse-
I am not sure why you are being so harsh with Venus in this case.  You see, I have a rural mailbox that's approx 80 feet from my front door and I've walked out in the morning in my robe and slippers and put an outgoing letter in the box in the morning.  It doesn't even have to be an important letter, but I like to get the mail out before the postman shows up. Venus has a 3 year old and a five year old.  Venus was staying with her parents in their home, and her two children were in a front room of the house while their grandfather was asleep.  The grandfather was obviously in hearing distance of the two children, because they became noisy and woke him up.  I wouldn't consider walking out to a mail box with your father asleep in the house while a 3 year old and a 5 year old were in hearing distance of the grandparent "leaving the children unattended" or as you noted "unsupervised".  Venus may have felt safe being at her parents home, felt safe enough to go out and mail a letter in the front yard before the postman came.  As to what the letter she wanted to mail was, I don't know.  And I don't know if it had anything to do with anything in this case.  It didn't necessarily have to be important for her to walk it out to the mailbox in the morning in her jammies.  It could just be a casual movement on her part.  I don't think she was endangering her children.  If she had gotten dressed, jumped in the car and went down the road to town or something then yes, that would be leaving the children unattended.  I'm sure at some time in my life I may have gone out in the yard dressed in my robe and slippers in the morning to move a sprinkler or take out the trash while my children were inside and my husband was home in another room watching tv or asleep. Does this mean I left my children "unattended" or "unsupervised"?  I don't think it does and I don't think it's right Venus is being accused of leaving her children "unattended" or "unsupervised" because she was abducted while walking 80 feet from a house with her father in it to drop a letter off while dressed in her pj's.  JMHO

I agree Muffy and if that constitutes leaving children unattended DCF would be at my door ASAP. Also, with her father in the house I'm sure she thought a quick walk to the mailbox wouldn't endanger her kids. I too have gone outside to grill with the kids in the house and my parents watching them and taken a shower which takes much longer than walking 80 feet. PS~I go in my PJ's too

[theboyzmom]

Thank-You Nut,

I wonder what was in that letter she put in the mailbox?  It must have been pretty important, Venus left her two young

children (unsupervisored) so she could walk 80 feet to the mailbox, of coarse, if she lived, it would be 80 feet back.

Who leaves children unattended to mail a letter?  Whatever it was, I bet it was just one more nail in her coffin.

This makes me mad she didn't put those children a head of herself, after filing allegations she left with him for VA.

 

Seahorse-
I am not sure why you are being so harsh with Venus in this case.  You see, I have a rural mailbox that's approx 80 feet from my front door and I've walked out in the morning in my robe and slippers and put an outgoing letter in the box in the morning.  It doesn't even have to be an important letter, but I like to get the mail out before the postman shows up. Venus has a 3 year old and a five year old.  Venus was staying with her parents in their home, and her two children were in a front room of the house while their grandfather was asleep.  The grandfather was obviously in hearing distance of the two children, because they became noisy and woke him up.  I wouldn't consider walking out to a mail box with your father asleep in the house while a 3 year old and a 5 year old were in hearing distance of the grandparent "leaving the children unattended" or as you noted "unsupervised".  Venus may have felt safe being at her parents home, felt safe enough to go out and mail a letter in the front yard before the postman came.  As to what the letter she wanted to mail was, I don't know.  And I don't know if it had anything to do with anything in this case.  It didn't necessarily have to be important for her to walk it out to the mailbox in the morning in her jammies.  It could just be a casual movement on her part.  I don't think she was endangering her children.  If she had gotten dressed, jumped in the car and went down the road to town or something then yes, that would be leaving the children unattended.  I'm sure at some time in my life I may have gone out in the yard dressed in my robe and slippers in the morning to move a sprinkler or take out the trash while my children were inside and my husband was home in another room watching tv or asleep. Does this mean I left my children "unattended" or "unsupervised"?  I don't think it does and I don't think it's right Venus is being accused of leaving her children "unattended" or "unsupervised" because she was abducted while walking 80 feet from a house with her father in it to drop a letter off while dressed in her pj's.  JMHO

I agree Muffy and if that constitutes leaving children unattended DCF would be at my door ASAP. Also, with her father in the house I'm sure she thought a quick walk to the mailbox wouldn't endanger her kids. I too have gone outside to grill with the kids in the house and my parents watching them and taken a shower which takes much longer than walking 80 feet. PS~I go in my PJ's too

I also have left kids in the house "alone" while I went to the mailbox or the grill. When you live in a rural area it is not uncommon to walk out to the mailbox - many times longer than 80 ft. Also remember that these are 3 and 5 year old kids. They are not babies. They were eating breakfast and her parents were in the next room. I do not see any problem with walking out to put a letter in the box.

[klaasend]

A Tumultuous Relationship

[seahorse]

A Tumultuous Relationship

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Thank-you Klaas,

Venus had some bad PMS. 

Edit:  What a rude thing to say about a missing woman who has likely been murdered by her ex.

[Lifesong]

Thank-you Klaas,

Venus had some bad PMS. 
Edit:  What a rude thing to say about a missing woman who has likely been murdered by her ex.

Wow. 

I listened to that clip.

I didn't hear them mention PMS.

I did hear that Venus had one domestic violence charge for bloodying Douglas Stewart's nose, and one Disturbing the Peace for arguing in the yard.

I also heard that Venus had taken out three (3) Orders of Protection against Douglas during those years.

The fact is that Venus removed herself and her children from that violent, dysfunctional, and unhealthy situation, separated herself from Douglas, and returned to live with her parents in Michigan.

I don't imagine her alleged PMS can be blamed for the fact Douglas stopped in Ohio the day before her disappearance and purchased a shovel, gloves, and a tarp.

PMS, indeed.