Saturday was a cold, wet day here in Kansas City. Over 20 cars pulled in the parking lot at the former Sam's Town Casino with hope; hope of bringing closure to the Lisa Irwin case while having an overriding hope that they wouldn't find her....hope that she is still alive.
I arrived around 10 a.m. and stayed about 40 minutes because I had a commitment I could not get out of. I spoke to several people who were bundled up and checked in at a canopy with a few volunteers, as we tried to keep the canopy from blowing away.
Every person I spoke to that was there told me they did not believe that Texas woman who suggested this search as a result of a what she labeled a psychic vision. However, like me, their attitude was "what the heck". What harm does it do to try yet another avenue no matter how it was suggested? Personally, as I told a reporter for Examiner.com yesterday, I think Google and Google Earth are a psychic's best friend.
We have heard that law enforcement officials sometimes use psychics in missing person cases. Why? Is it because of public pressure? Is it because they don't have to show them their files unlike willing profilers who would lend a hand?
I am not going to be one of those who speak poorly of the FBI or the KCPD. I have said time and again that I have the utmost respect for them. After all, we do not know nor should we know all of the nuances of the case and the information they have gathered from witnesses or searches. There is no reason they should play their hand while they seek a suspect in whatever happened. If possible, however, perhaps the release of some non-compromising tips would prompt others to consider they may have saw a piece of that puzzle that night and be able to add to it.
Why not ask the good folks at Texas Equine Search to assist? Again, like the "vision", what is the harm other than cost?
On another note, I have reached out to the man that was using Megan Wright's cell phone the night Lisa disappeared; the phone that someone using Deborah Bradley's phone attempted to call. I have texted Dane's new cell number and have not yet received a response. He could very easily minimize the continuance of his name being brought up in this whole affair if we knew the person(s) he was speaking with off and on that night before reportedly crashing on the couch around 5 a.m. Maybe he refuses to reply since it was me bringing another of Megan's temporary roommates to a Fox4KC interview where his name was then first inserted into the dialogue.
I see a missing baby case that's visibility is rapidly evaporating. The networks have all packed up and left town. The local TV stations no longer have it as their lead story. And, rightfully so. Having been in the news business, I understand that when there is nothing new happening, there is no news to report.
I see a curious person whose name has been brought up into this case that may not be out of jail for a while. John "Jersey" Tanko has a court date on unrelated charges for April 8, 2012. He is in Clay County jail on $10k bond and is being represented by a public defender. Jersey may very well have answers to this case that he refuses to share with law enforcement. On the other hand, he may be another unlucky person who was an easy scapegoat for lawyers looking to pin public perception of culpability on anybody but their clients.
My office is less than 10 miles from the crime scene. I have visited with and traded speculation off camera with local and network reporters for weeks about this case. Even having followed this case at ground zero, there are far too many variables to pinpoint blame in any one direction definitively. There continue to be too many unanswered questions, so that is why so many good-hearted people got their feet wet Saturday and decided "let's just look". They would rather be wrong about looking than wonder if they missed an opportunity to do the right thing for an innocent baby who did not ask for any of this.
