Four reported missing 11/12/10 Apple Valley OH (1 alive - 3 found dead)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/19/timeline-missing19-art-gqfaklru-1.html?sid=101
Knox County abduction timeline
November 19, 2010

Nov. 10

• Tina Herrmann's ex-boyfriend, Greg Borders, who lives at her home, leaves for work at 3:40 a.m. He talks to Herrmann an hour later and receives a text from her at 11:30 a.m., saying she fed their dog. At some point, family friend Stephanie Sprang arrives at the Herrmann home.

• Kody and Sarah Maynard, Herrmann's children, attend classes at East Knox Middle School and return home on the school bus that afternoon.

• Herrmann doesn't show up for her 4 p.m. shift at the Dairy Queen in Mount Vernon. Her manager calls the Knox County sheriff's office. A deputy knocks on the door of the home at 481 King Beach Drive in Apple Valley about 8 p.m. and again at 11 p.m. Both times, nobody answers the door and nothing appears wrong. Herrmann's Ford F-150 pickup truck is in the driveway that night.

Nov. 11

• Herrmann's manager at the Dairy Queen enters the King Beach Drive home to check on her and finds blood. Herrmann's pickup truck is gone.

• A deputy sheriff gets permission from Borders, Herrmann's ex-boyfriend, to enter and finds an "unusual" amount of blood. The family dog also is missing.

• Herrmann's truck is found that evening, 7 miles away near Gambier. Sprang's Jeep is found in the garage of the King Beach Road home.

• Matthew J. Hoffman, 30, is seen in his parked car near where the truck was found. He speaks to a deputy.

Nov. 12 and Saturday

• Investigators continue the search for evidence at the King Beach Drive home while volunteer searchers fan out throughout the county.

Sunday

• A SWAT team from the sheriff's office enters Hoffman's home at 49 Columbus Rd. at 8 a.m. and finds Sarah alive, bound and gagged in the basement of the house near Mount Vernon. Hoffman, who offers no resistance, is placed in jail.

Monday

• Investigators search the lakes and woods of Mount Vernon's Foundation Park, a former gravel-pit area converted into a recreation area. Other searchers concentrate on Apple Valley and the Gambier area.

• Hoffman is formally charged with kidnapping.

Tuesday

• Hoffman appears in a video arraignment from the jail. He is appointed a public defender, and a judge orders him held under a $1 million bond. Searchers continue to comb the woods and fields.

Wednesday

• Sheriff David B. Barber reports it is likely that the missing are dead. Search efforts continue as hopes dwindle of finding the three alive.

Yesterday

• Attorneys for Hoffman give authorities information about the location of the bodies. The bodies of the three victims are found in a hollow tree in the Kokosing Lake Wildlife Area north of Fredericktown, more than 12 miles from Herrmann's home and miles away from where searches were concentrated.

[New Monkey]

Terri, I am so very sorry for you and for your community.  There just are no words. . .

[pink angel]

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/video/10tv.html?videoUrl=/sites/10tv/videos/2010/11/19/knox-co--mourns.xml

The families were told when the bodies were found, they were NOT intact.


He did dismember them! The monster!

[pink angel]

video of the tree being chopped down  - before/after
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuvPDqcu7W8

[cw618]

terie, my mom was totally freaking out, she called me 3 days after the fam went
missing, said she was afraid,she is visiting in utica 10 miles south of mt V, i was going
to go get her, then they found the girl and the arrest, mom says utica was on pins and
needles, rumors were some crazy person is out and about, its not even safe in the daylite
it has shook my mom up pretty bad, she is from clev, and is use to crime, just not that
type, where people get taken, she said its not like the drug crime activity, its just a lone
monster  on the loose, she still doesnt understand how 4 people ,could be takien at one
time. im going down sat afternoon, to see her, im thinking she might want to come back
early, moms GG niece dosent get it ethier, such a small place why here, and how did
the monster get here

[AmandaReckonwith]

Not graphic, but powerful video of the tree before and after.

Made by someone who was there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuvPDqcu7W8





Case archive album for the Herrmann-Maynard-Sprang case:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Herrmann-Maynard-Sprang%20Murders%20%20-OH-/

[AmandaReckonwith]

Oops, sorry I should have looked first, pinkangel posted the same vid.

Not sure if you all had the crankycrankerson link though.

[Bearlyhere]

Just another thought...I was past digusted with Nancy Grace.  I could not even watch ten minutes of her bull chite reporting on this case.  She took half info and twisted it to be sensationalism.  I do not even recall what she was saying exactly, I  just knew she was so far off with her yelling and ranting, that I had to turn the channel.

It makes me sick that any members of the family might have seen or heard her craziness.   I had lost all respect for her long ago, but now that I see fist hand how she twisted the local info that everyone was given, there is no reason to watch her ever again.  It is not justice when family members hear her rants on half truths.  They have enough to contend with. 

I can honestly say, if Nancy Grace had logged onto wbns or nbc4 online forums she would have known more facts than the drama she played.  While there was speculation on the forums, there were also friends and people in the community able to give out some info as well as voice the truth about the victims. 

The families deserved so much more than for their pain to be fodder for her sensationalism. 
MOO

Terri

 

[New Monkey]

Wow.  I wonder how long it took him to do the unthinkable.  I wonder if he was in that house when the deputy came by both times.  I wonder where Sarah was while he did these things.  Wow.

[Lenie]

Good evening all,

The one question I really have is how did they know Sarah was in his home?  Someone had to have known something and informed. But again, this investigation has been so tight lipped.  And I guess that's good.  Given that Sarah and other family members are hearing all of this, they deserve privacy.  LE has been so professional and caring for the family.  These are small town officers and they have been incredible.  They also gave full credit to every agencythat came in to help.    I have been so impressed.

Terri

Terri first off we are almost neighbors. I live in Fairfield County.

I read in one of the news articles that he was questioned early in the case because he was sitting in his car in the same parking lot the truck was found and very close to the truck.
I really think that he did not kill them all at once. I think he killed the women first and then got to the kids when they got off the bus from school.

Just horrific and my prayers go out to the families.

[Terri]

Pink, 

thank you for the video...I think   The ba.....

This just makes it more surreal.  Who in the he...does this stuff?   MOO but this cannot have been his first time. 

And just as this is a small community for the Maynard/ Sprang family, Hoffman's parents are living in a glass bowl.  I cannot blame these people for anything...at this point there is nothing to suggest they were anything but the average family.

I think one noticeable, is that for such a small town is that there has been limited gossip about any of the people involved.  I am sure it is going on, but it is not being plastered all over the forums.  There seems to be much respect for everyone.

CW,  I have family in Homer, just outside of Utica....such a small world.  I am in Canal Winchester just outside of Columbus. Suburb really.
Seeing how small and personal everything can be in such small communities make this all the more shocking to me.  You pass each other, shop at the same stores, etc.  I know people who have moved to these areas to raise their children away from all the nonsense in Columbus.

My little five year old loves to run through the house sans clothing...I have stopped it out of fear someone can see him through a window. 

I am thinking your mother's sense of trust has been totally shifted. 


One thing someone pointed out very early in the investigation, is that when questioned if the the people were presumed dead,  the sheriff responded with a verbal "no" while shaking his head yes.  I am paraphrasing.

I am glad this is over and the healing can begin for all involved.  I am praying and crying for a day when there are no new threads on SM and no major headlines in any town.

Terri

[Terri]

Lenie,

I am almost literally on the border of Franklin and Fairfield.  Canal Winchester is located in both counties.  We are neighbors.  My family is mostly from Licking. If we research our families, most of us from the counties were inter related at one time or another .

I tend to agree with you...the sheriff said Sarah was in the home but he would not elaborate on what she saw or knew other than she likely knew some were dead very early on.   If I remember right, the mother did not go to work on Wednesday but the children were in school. 
Have you heard any rationale for Hoffman lining his walls with leaves?

There is such a large part of me that does not want to know...does not want this info provided to the public.  I just want it to all go away.  But realistically, it did happen and we will all know soon enough.... someone is likely to write a book.   This is the first time I have felt with every cell of my body that the family should have total privacy.  This is just too close and I cannot stand to think anyone would gain attention or money out of this.  I think my strong feeling is because of the averageness of the family...like the Pettit family in Conn.     I hate that  the details and their pain are public.   Too much for the average person to take in.

Terri

[Terri]

Lenie,

I have wanted to comment on your avitar for some time now...I love it.  I want everyone to be held safely in loving hands.

Terri

[no rose colored glasses]

I can't even imagine what all of you and the community are thinking about this horrific crime. My thoughts and prayers with the families, friends and community    I have followed a great number of cases, but this has got to be one of the most disturbing and horrific that I have read. I gave up even trying to figure why, how can anybody not only kill, but to dispose of the remains in a tree the way he did 

[pink angel]

Lenie,

I am almost literally on the border of Franklin and Fairfield.  Canal Winchester is located in both counties.  We are neighbors.  My family is mostly from Licking. If we research our families, most of us from the counties were inter related at one time or another .

I tend to agree with you...the sheriff said Sarah was in the home but he would not elaborate on what she saw or knew other than she likely knew some were dead very early on.   If I remember right, the mother did not go to work on Wednesday but the children were in school. 
Have you heard any rationale for Hoffman lining his walls with leaves?

There is such a large part of me that does not want to know...does not want this info provided to the public.  I just want it to all go away.  But realistically, it did happen and we will all know soon enough.... someone is likely to write a book.   This is the first time I have felt with every cell of my body that the family should have total privacy.  This is just too close and I cannot stand to think anyone would gain attention or money out of this.  I think my strong feeling is because of the averageness of the family...like the Pettit family in Conn.     I hate that  the details and their pain are public.   Too much for the average person to take in.

Terri

I have heard he was without electricity and was lining his walls with leaves for insulation.


I am sorry for the pain this has caused your community. Sorry for all the family and friends.

This has got to be one of the more horrific crimes I have ever heard of. A man kidnapping a family,a dog,  dismembering them and stuffing them inside a hollow tree.

It's a miracle that Sarah is alive! I can't image the horror she has lived through and I hope her family and community will wrap her will support and love as she tries to learn to live with her new reality. It's a reality no one should have to live with, much less a child.

I hope she has a good victim advocate assigned to her and her family and they get and keep her in counseling as long as she needs it. She will need it. I almost wish Elizabeth Smart would reach out to her, at sometime in the future. I think she could be a great help to her.

Sarah has a long journey ahead but she is a strong girl, surrounded by love. She is going to continue to be a survivor.

[pink angel]

second will = with

[no rose colored glasses]

I didn't read that about leaves for insulation, never even heard of such a thing before. I've been wondering from the beginning if Sarah was his main target for sexual reasons?    But then why would you take three people and the family dog?  There is absolutely not one ounce of sense in this. What a wonderful idea, about Elizabeth Smart, she is such a brave and courageous woman 

[SuzieQ]

Terri and Lenie, just want you to know I have a son living in Columbus, and at one time I had relatives living in Mount Vernon. Other relatives living all over Ohio. One of my favorite states.

Hoffman grew up in that area and I bet he knew where all the out of the way places were. I'm like you, I wonder if this is his first time. If he hadn't told them, they would never have found that tree.

[pink angel]

I didn't read that about leaves for insulation, never even heard of such a thing before. I've been wondering from the beginning if Sarah was his main target for sexual reasons?    But then why would you take three people and the family dog?  There is absolutely not one ounce of sense in this. What a wonderful idea, about Elizabeth Smart, she is such a brave and courageous woman 

He collected leaves at a park across the street from his home and would stuff them into trash bags to hang on his walls for insulation.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/17/national/main7063984.shtml

[Nut44x4]

Family friend says bodies of 2 Ohio women, boy were not intact when found inside hollow tree
Pal: Bodies of 2 women, boy not intact when found

By MEGHAN BARR | Associated Press | 8 minutes ago in US


The bodies of two Ohio women and an 11-year-old boy were not intact when they were found in the base of a hollow tree, a family friend said Saturday.

Joe Pejsa, 45, said investigators told him the bodies were found inside the tree along with the remains of the family dog. Authorities have not released a cause of death; preliminary autopsy findings were expected to be released Saturday afternoon.

The bodies of Tina Herrmann, her son Kody Maynard and her friend Stephanie Sprang were found in a wildlife preserve in central Ohio on Thursday, a week after they disappeared from Herrmann's blood-spattered home.

Pejsa, the uncle of Herrmann's former live-in boyfriend, said the family believed someone was watching them before they were killed. He described a man in camouflage sitting on a stump across the street several months before the slayings.

Matthew Hoffman, an unemployed tree-trimmer, is accused of kidnapping the girl and keeping her for nearly four days in the basement of his home in Mount Vernon, about 10 miles west of Howard.

Hoffman gave information that led investigators to the bodies of the others, Knox County Sheriff David Barber said, and he is the only suspect in the killings. His attorney has declined to comment.

Baker has said all three were killed in Herrmann's home in Howard, about 40 miles northeast of Columbus, though he did not say how.
It's not clear how someone managed to put the bodies inside the tree, which has since been cut down. Gary Ludwig, a supervisor with Ohio's Division of Wildlife, described it as an American beech, about 60 feet tall. Beech tree trunks are typically hollowed out, he said.

Authorities have not said why the four were targeted. The sheriff has suggested that Hoffman, who spent six years in a Colorado prison on arson and other charges, had been watching them for some time.

In Mount Vernon, where just about everyone has some small connection to the killings, the grieving process has begun.

Sprang's son Michael Kupiec told WBNS-TV that he has no hatred and is eagerly waiting for investigators to tell his family about what happened to his mother.

"Until we find out more, on if they knew him _ if he knew them, we don't really know anything," Kupiec said.

http://www.newser.com/article/d9jk164o0/family-friend-says-bodies-of-2-ohio-women-boy-were-not-intact-when-found-inside-hollow-tree.html