It was a fine day in May and we pulled up and talked about some books. We covered Blitz by Daniel O'Malley and, because it was recently Mother's Day, I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. And we spent way more time on them than we usually do, so we must have liked them. Quite a few people read the Blitz. Incorrigible_muffin had previously covered it, but was disappointed in the a payoff, and said the two story lines didn't really resolve. Aurora_the_Off-White said that she liked it, but agreed that it wasn't on the same level as the first two.
She said that Blitz could have a strong philosophical payoff even if the storylines didn't have an strong resolution. If someone read Blitz by itself without the first two novels, they might enjoy it more. Carbonjen thought there was a lot to like about the writer, saying he writes women well. Muffin said there were a lot of interesting possibilities in the world he created. The author covers the British and American versions of supernatural bureaus, but there were many of these throughout the world.
We talked about the story's structure. The main character's lost memory lets the author explain the supernatural elements in detail and do the worldbuilding without any distracting exposition. Munsontime had a thought, asking if it was technically the same person in the body or a completely new personality that developed after the wiped memory. If a personality is a product of the experiences and memories the person accumulates, then it's probably a different person.
Munson blitzed through the first two and is currently on the third. He was surprised at the spelling of the main character's name, Myfanwy Thomas, having listened to the audiobook. I was surprised and a little disappointed that the pronunciation is just "Miffany". Princess_MoNaanKay stopped by to return the first book int the The Checquy Files, The Rook that I had lent out. I thought she was returning it specifically because we were reading The Blitz, but she said she's decided to see other bookclubs. So we just need to move on and live our best bookclub life and hope she finds happiness.
Jennette McCurdy was apparently in a show called iCarly. I had never seen it or heard of it, so I think I missed a lot of context from the book. Everyone else in our group really liked the book - finding it insightful and funny. Most people agreed that the things the author's mom did stood out, and so did the actions of Dan Schneider, who was the creator of iCarly. But she didn't go into that in depth. Muffin said the system that pipelines kids into the entertainment business is fundamentally responsible for many of these abusive situations, and the actions of the mom are a product of that. Aurora thought that the author used humor to cope with loss and grief.
We talked about long wait times for getting books from the library. Carbonjen actually bought Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica because she was not optimistic about it becoming available through the library. She didn't have as many spicy romance recommendations as last time, but did have a couple. She thought Pestilence by Laura Thalassa was good and a fun concept. It's the first of The Four Horsemen series; a romance involving the four horseman of the apocalypse.
She liked The Siren a lot less. I think this was the one by Kiera Cass. Apparently the characters said the word "fishcunt" too many times and it became grating. She also didn't like how a lot of the characters in A Court of Thorns and Roses were developed in the story. She mentioned Brutal Prince only to say it was brutally bad, and is reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and liking. And that makes Muffin happy.
Sassypapaya recently read Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, which is very popular around these parts. I think she said she read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and may have had good things to say about Lightlark by Alex Aster, or that may have been someone else. She was too far away from me for me to follow the conversation from that side of the circle very well. She asked about Verity by Colleen Hoover and Muffin said that Colleen Hoover was a step up from Stephanie Meyer.
Munson and his friends have a rule for their bookclub: you can't use the term "Beautiful Prose". But if he was forced to provide an example of beautiful prose, then he might use it when talking about Another Country by James Baldwin. He described it as "Kerouacky" - intimate and sexual especially for 1961. It's about the Jazz scene in NY in the 60s, with themes of race, gender, and sexual orientation in its cultural context. A slice of life story in the gay, black, jazz scene in New York. The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens is next for his other bookclub, Apparently Hank is bumping up against age 100. It was estimated that his cold-blooded policy directives are responsible for 4 or 5 million deaths. We talked briefly about Red Rising by Pierce Brown, which was the biggest book in the world for a minute. Munson said that, as a sci fi guy, he had already read many similar stories before and it just wasn't a big deal for him.
Assaulty recently read American War by Omar Al Akkad, and talked about how people end up on different sides of a conflict. Many times people don't have a choice about which side they end up on, and American War addresses some of these themes. She asked for more like this book. Asterion7 suggested Paolo Bacigulupi works such as The Water Knife and Shipbreaker, which are near future works with major themes of climate catastrophe. For this kind of thing I always recommend Afterwar by Lilith Saintcrow. Saintcrow a romance writer and I was really surprised by this book. It's gritty and hard, and a little spicy but not romantic.
Assaulty also read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and likes reading about creative partnerships like this. She told us about Nevada by Imogen Binnie, which is one of the inspirations for Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters; This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone; and The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks, the first book of the Night Angel trilogy.
Muffin told us about The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson, the next book after the The Yellow Wife, which features Lumpkin's Jail. The House of Eve takes place in DC and Philly and ties in with the events of the first boo., The author will be giving a talk on June 8th at the Library of Virginia, and Muffin wanted to read this before seeing the author.

Please join us for a talk by award-winning author Sadeqa Johnson on her new novel, The House of Eve, the follow-up to her book Yellow Wife, which won the Library’s 2022 People’s Choice Award for Fiction. In this moving work of historical fiction set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the stories of two women collide in unexpected ways as they both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives. The House of Eve was an instant New York Times best seller and was selected by Reese’s Book Club as the February 2023 pick. A book signing will follow the talk.
The Carole Weinstein Author Series supports the literary arts by bringing both new and well-known authors to the Library of Virginia through online or in-person events. Free and open to the public, the series focuses on Virginia.

Coconut read the second book in the Great Cities series by N.K. Jemisin called the The World We Make. Asterion7 picked up Trust by Herman Diaz, a Pulitzer prize winner. He also read We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin and liked it enough to finish it, but not much more than that.
assaulty is looking for a gateway to Sci Fi, and asked about the distinction between Sci Fi and Fantasy. However many people there are in the room, that's the number of different opinions you're likely to hear at any given time. Some say it's magic versus technology. If Sci Fi doesn't have magic, what about Star Wars and force lightning from those Sith guys? So maybe Star Wars is actually Fantasy and Star Trek is Sci Fi. But what about wormholes and different dimensions and the super annoying character Q? It's a subject worth exploring, but there might not be an answer. To me those are just two different themes with strong aesthetic styling.
Assaulty may have read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler or it might have just been recommended to her because she is interested in Sci Fi and liked The American War. Skyvrbyvr loved Octavia Butler's Kindred giving it 5 stars. She says it's not just beautiful prose: she respects that Butler is not afraid to create gruff and real people - characters that are somewhat unlikable but somehow still relatable.
Aurora had a huge list of completions and I have no idea if these are all hers or not. But this month she read a bunch of first books across several series. I think heard Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo; Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams the first of the The Dragonbone Chair series (I think she deemed it meh); Elantris by Brandon Sanderson also caught a meh; and Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, the first of the Gentleman Bastards series.
The last one generated a lot of interest as a lot of us have read it and really liked it. Like The Checquy Files, the first book is fantastic and there are diminishing returns after that, though I haven't read the last two: The Republic of Thieves and The Thorn of Emberlain. Munson says that if you read Sanderson, then The Stormlight Archive series is the way to go. Aurora also has Circe by Madeline Miller on hold at the library.
We talked about a few books about music, I think all of these are from Munson, including Meet Me in the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011; Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain; and Sing Backwards and Weep, a memoir by the singer Mark Lanegan. We also talked a little about Nardwuar, a music interviewer who is amazingly in-depth but often described as offputting.
Munson says he can sometimes be invasive and not enjoyable but agrees that he is talented. Nardwuar is likely autistic and we were informed that "neurospicy" is no longer acceptable. Obviously, I'm cool with someone else deciding what they find offensive and following their recommendations, but I wish we had something to pivot to. We talked about how the line between normies and nerurodivergents can be pretty thin and while gatekeeping mental health can be frustrating, it's also infuriating that people resist any accommodation for neurodivergent people.
I knocked off a few books, including On a Night of A Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark; Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, and Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins. The last was comparable to Station Eleven in terms of quality and themes. The story wasn't as good, but the prose was pretty exceptional. The author was able to do some things I hadn't seen before. I'm reading The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, and listening to a couple courses about Human Pre History, First Civilizations, and pre-Alexandrian Empires.
Apparently George RR Martin joined the writer's strike and is not writing anything, not that you could really tell. We talked about the 8th season of Game of Thrones, and how those two producers just ruined at least hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of DVDs, downloads, books, and comics. One of the most disastrous effects of incompetence on a brand I've ever seen.
We talked about Patrick Rothfus's Name of the Wind and how the main character was a bit of a Mary Sue, but the narrator might have intentionally been portrayed as unreliable. Someone brought up Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami, and we added The Moor's Account as August's non-dorky read. Some of the guys don't want to me call it a Muggle book anymore, and would rather call it a regular book. Maybe we need to keep looking for the right term.
We talked about books with actual paper pages versus reading on a device or listening to audiobooks. Carbonjen says she prefers the Kindle Paperweight because her dogs chews up actual books. I read paper, epub, and listen in about equal proportions. I was listening to Dodge, or Fall in Hell and was not liking it, but started liking it better when I flipped to the epub version. Munson says he uses safari reader on his laptop and will set it to autoscroll. We also compared strategies for downsizing our libraries. Very few people keep every book they buy anymore, especially if you have moved your collection a couple times.
We talked about the St. James Muse, trails on the James, the resurgence in skating, and art classes at the VMFA and Visual Arts Studio. We also talked about all the pedestrians being hit by cars and how squaring street corners can slow cars down. Right now corners are rounded, encouraging cars to take them at speed. And how dash cams are an essential equipment for cars now. Chop Suey is now Shelf Life and Wonton is now "Wonny". But has retired and been replaced by two new cats, presumably who are earning much lower, entry-level wages.
Someone brought up BookTalk.org, saying they mostly got ass recommendations out of it. I've used https://www.whatshouldireadnext.com and it isn't so bad, but really isn't any better than Goodreads. I've used Shepherd a couple of times, which can be really good if you're looking for exactly the type of book that has been covered in one of their lists, but it seems to only accept general categories.
Coming Up on June 18

• Fall; Or, Dodge in Hell
• or some other Neal Stephenson book

Coming Up on July 23

• Just pick a book in your To Be Read pile and tell us about it. We were lamenting the large backlog that each of each is carrying around and decided to just knock some of them out.

Coming Up on August 20

• The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
• The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami

This is Part 2 of this write-up. Please read part 1 first. This is the link:
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/143r7l9/felix_vail_the_pedophile_serial_killer_caught/

PART 2:

ANNETTE CRAVER:

Born on the 7th of December 1965, Annette Craver was intelligent and creative. At 15 she was a singer-songwriter and in her senior year at a private school that specialized in medicine. Her dream was to become a midwife.
http://charleyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/vail_annette6.jpg(A photo of Annette Craver.)
In the summer of 1981, she and her mother, Mary Rose greeted people at a friend’s yard sale in the Montrose neighborhood in Houston, Texas. They had just returned from a vacation in Mexico, and Annette felt heartsick, still infatuated with a boy named Adolfo, who was unable to join her in America.
VAIL MEETS ANNETTE
While people browsed the sale, Vail pulled up on a motorcycle and spoke with Annette. He was 41 and had done some carpentry work in the area. “When I saw her, I thought, ‘That’s going to be my new girlfriend,’” he said about the 15-year-old.
In April 1982, Rose and her daughter invested in a Tulsa home that had a rental cottage behind it. Rose began renovating both. After graduating from high school, Annette joined her mother in Tulsa. Vail appeared a few days later, and convinced Annette to leave with him on his motorcycle. They lived off the $500-a-month Social Security check that she received from her father’s death 3 years prior. It would be over a year before Mary Rose would see her daughter again.
That fall, Annette (who was still 15) would fall pregnant, and Vail would force her to have a painful abortion.
Jerry Woodall, reportedly friends with Vail later recalled an embarrassing scene, where the 42-year-old Vail was in a sleeping bag, having public sex with a 16-year-old Annette, only 20 feet away from him and his then-wife Meredith McMackin. Annette grinned and waved at them. Woodall and McMackin did their best to ignore them.
McMackin would later say that Vail had “this coldness and controlling aspect to his personality. Annette was so open and alive, but I think he just totally dominated her. He would try to convey that he was this higher form of being. At first, I thought maybe he was evolved, but then I realized it was this arrogant act.”
Later that summer, police in California would arrest Vail for violating probation a dozen years earlier. Annette telephoned Woodall, who gave her $200. After Vail walked free from prison, he and Annette decided to get married. However, as a 17-year-old she needed permission.
Annette told her mother that she loved Vail, that they were already “spiritually married” and that they would travel to Mexico and get married there if she refused. Not wanting to lose her daughter completely, Rose said OK.
On August 15th, 1983, in Bakersfield, California, the couple were wed.
AFTER THE MARRIAGE
Four months after the marriage, Annette turned 18, allowing her to collect more than $98,000 ($293,500 today) from life insurance policies on her late father. Accompanied by Vail, she withdrew all the money in cash from a San Antonio bank. She bought a Fiat convertible that Vail liked and paid for his dental work.
In April 1984, Rose returned home to find Annette waiting at her door. She told her she wanted to divorce Vail, and enroll in college. She talked about Vail’s temper, including an incident where he had broken his hand trying to punch his wife. He missed and hit a wall.
A few weeks later, Vail showed up. The couple fought constantly, and Vail left after a few days. Mary Rose said that Vail was “insanely jealous” and would become furious when Annette spoke of her desire to go out with younger men.
She and Annette worked on renovating the two homes after Vail left, enjoying their time together. The 2 even started a garden together.
Annette received a letter from Vail, who vowed their time apart would fuel their love. He wrote to her: “After we hung up, I went out to a park and ran and hung and talked with God and smoked some and shot some pool and rode with the top down out through the marsh playing ‘Iron Butterfly’ [“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”] and bathing every inch of your body-spirit being with love.”
He referred to being away from Annette as “deprivation jail” and to her ego as “his jailor.”
“The idea of her cutting away ego’s “feeder roots and creating roots between your spirit and the cosmic ground of loving makes me hot for you. My mind is kissing you everywhere.”
After that, Vail would return to Annette’s life. Rose said, “Annette told me, ‘Felix is the wisest person in the world, and I can’t make decisions without him.’” His influence on Annette had only grown stronger. According to Rose, she even compared Vail to God, a comparison Vail agreed with.
After this, the couple angrily insisted that Rose move out and deed the house to Annette. Accompanied by suicidal thoughts brought on by Vail’s continued control over her daughter, Rose left for California to stay with family and friends, deeding the house to Annette for $7000 ($21,000 today) before she did.
Annette would add Vail to the deed, and a month later had deeded him both homes, leaving him as the sole owner.
ANNETTE’S DISAPPEARANCE
Mere weeks after deeding the houses to Vail, the couple told neighbors they were leaving on vacation. When Vail returned in October, he was alone.
Vail told a neighbor that Annette had a lot of money wither her when he’d left her, and that she was likely visiting friends in Denver.
Upon learning that Annette hadn’t come back with Vail, Mary Rose called him. “He told me that while they were camping, Annette had a sexual dream about being with other men in Mexico, and she wanted to go there,” she recalled to an investigative reporter years later. “He claimed that the dream made them both realize that she should have her freedom.” The next day, Vail told her he had put Annette on a bus with $50,000 ($150,000 today) but didn't elaborate.
On Oct 22, 1984, Rose filed a missing person’s report. She told the Tulsa Police Department that each person who spoke with Vail “gets a different story about the amount of money that Annette took with her and where she might be. We all believe that he knows where she is or has done something with her.”
On January 22, 1985, Detective Dennis Davis and another officer questioned Vail at his home (This is obscenely late to start questioning him). By this point, Vail had filed for divorce, citing an inability to find her after a “diligent search.” Davis said her mother, Mary Rose, mentioned her daughter had received more than $90,000 from her father’s estate. Vail confirmed this was true, saying the couple had spent much of that money traveling in foreign countries. He said they kept their money in cash because they didn’t trust banks and that he had found about $10,000 in cash when he returned home.
The next day, Vail called a lawyer, who promised to talk with the officers and tell them to “leave me alone,” as he wrote in his journal.
When Davis returned five days later, Vail had a detailed alibi: The couple left Tulsa between noon and 3 p.m. on Sept. 13, 1984, and stayed the night in a hotel in Claremont, Oklahoma. After two nights of camping on the river, Annette woke up and told Vail she had decided to leave him. He took her to the Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis and left before she bought the ticket. (There is no Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis, and there has never been a Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis.)
He told the officers that she had told him she was headed for Denver, where she planned to get a fake ID card and leave for Mexico. When asked if he would take a lie detector test, Vail said no.
After Davis left, he wrote a letter to Rose. He blamed her for the “bad things” about Annette, told her that after the couple had returned from Costa Rica Annette had been “seeing friends and relatives --- completing her relationships with them for the purpose of getting ready to drop everybody and start over.” He wrote that Annette “disappeared herself from you” because Rose kept imposing her “value system” on her, and said Annette viewed her mother, grandmother, and herself as “zero self-image whores for approval.”
He explained the 2 had no plans to communicate, he did not know where she was, and that “I also assure you that even if I did know, I would not tell you.”
When Rose returned to Tulsa in April 1985, she entered the cottage Annette used to live in, only to find almost all the young woman’s belongings were gone, including her clothes and her diary.
Inside a Barbie suitcase, Rose found a photograph of her daughter and several of her identification cards. She also located things that Annette had written, including a Feb. 17, 1984, note that contradicted Vail’s claim that the couple had spent most of her inheritance on their travel to Mexico and Central American countries.
Instead, the note detailed how they used the money to buy the Fiat, pay off all of Vail’s loans, and deposit $36,000 into Louisiana Savings. It said that as of that day, they had $41,600 ($125,000 today) in cash.
Rose shared the information with the police. Detective Davis showed up again, and Vail told Davis the couple divided the money into smaller cashier’s checks, contradicting his earlier statement that they kept the money in cash.
After a while, Davis left, and despite the (seemingly obvious) suspicious behavior of Vail, closed the missing person’s case.
AFTER ANNETTE’S DISAPPEARANCE
Rose kept calling Vail after this and was finally able to reach him on September 14th 1985.
When asked about Annette’s whereabouts he refused to tell her.
When asked about Annette’s missing clothes he said he gave them to charity.
When asked about the insurance money, Vail told her ‘That’s all she really cared about.’ Rose hung up.
Two years later, fed up with the lack of progress in Annette’s case, Rose would return to Tulsa. She spent thousands of dollars on private investigators to locate Vail. When that failed, she simply went and found him herself.
Tipped off that he was staying at someone’s house, she went there with a friend and found him sitting outside. When asked where Annette went, he replied “Mexico.” When asked where in Mexico, he said the 2 had made a pact to contact each other every 5 years, contradicting his statement that the 2 didn’t have plans to communicate. Rose didn’t believe a word of it.
The whole time Vail never looked up, never stood up and never looked her in the eye.
BETH FIELD
Some time after this, Vail began dating Beth Field. Soon the couple had began arguing, and Vail would call her a “whore.” During a December 1987 argument, he would strike her so hard he ruptured her ear drum. She told Vail there was no justification for violence, to which he responded, “If you quit behaving like a whore, I’ll quit hitting you.”
In August 1988 Beth received a call from Rose, sharing details about the disappearance of her daughter, Annette. From that point forward, Field said she began to examine Vail’s words more closely, realizing that he had likely murdered her.
Four months after the call, he entered her home unannounced. Already drunk, he accused her of “imagined promiscuity,” according to a court order. He slapped her, struck her, and threw her across the bedroom. She asked if Vail was going to kill her, to which Vail replied, “It depends on what you tell me.”
A judge gave her a protective order, requiring Vail to keep his distance. Two weeks later, the sheriff reported that Vail was nowhere to be found.
While Field was visiting a meditation center in Texas in 1990, Vail arrived. After composing herself, she told him “There is a part of you that goes off, and it’s sick and it’s dangerous.”
He looked at her and asked, “Really?” She said “yes, really.” This time, the message seemed to go through. Vail left the next day, and with a single exception about five years later, she never saw him again.
MARY ROSE LEARNS ABOUT THE OTHER 2 CASES
In the summer of 1991 (6 years after Annette's disappearance), Rose drove over 2000 miles to Canyon Lake, Texas to speak to Sue Jordan, Felix Vail’s sister. Jordan said that Vail had told her that Annette wanted to leave, that he took her to a bus station and that she left with some Mexican men, heading for Mexico. Jordan also mentioned that Vail’s first wife had drowned, which was news to Rose.
Before she left, Jordan also told her, “Oh, you know, there was another woman that disappeared. I remember her mother calling my mother for years, checking to see if they’d heard from her. I think her name was Sharon.”
After the conversation, Rose sat down at a typewriter, writing every word she could remember. She also called the public library in Lake Charles.
The librarian remembered the 1962 drowning of Vail’s first wife, Mary Horton. She told Rose that he had taken out life insurance policies on his wife prior to her drowning and that the insurance companies were suspicious and didn’t pay the full value. The librarian made copies of newspaper articles and mailed them to her.
After reading them, Rose reached out to Mary’s family in Louisiana, speaking to Will Horton. He shared her suspicions about Vail and a copy of the 1971 National Enquirer article made after Vail's son Bill reported him to the police. When she read it, she learned that Sharon’s last name was Hensley.
In 1994, she read in the newspaper about Dolores Strehlow’s disappearance from Medford, Oregon, seven years earlier. Police had just arrested her husband, thanks to the work of Detective Terry Newell. She contacted Newell, who helped her find the family of Sharon Hensley. When Rose dialed the Hensley family, Sharon’s mother, Peggy, answered. Rose asked if Peggy knew a Felix Vail. Peggy replied with "you bet I do"
THE INVESTIGATION HEATS UP… AND COOLS DOWN
The detective who helped Rose before, Terry Newell, contacted Jim Bell, a national expert in serial killings working for the FBI. When Rose talked with Bell, she felt like she'd finally gotten somewhere. He was interested in working on the Vail case if he could swing the time. He still remained busy with active serial killer cases, helping train task forces across the U.S. Vail’s son, Bill, told Rose that he was willing to testify, as long as authorities provided protection to his family. Both the Tulsa police and the district attorney’s office in Lake Charles revived their investigations into Vail, now considered a suspected serial killer.
Bell suggested the victims’ families gather with authorities at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, to share information on Vail. He was unable to work on the case and left the FBI in 1995. The meeting in Quantico never materialized, and the cases involving Vail grew cold once again.
A QUICK RUN DOWN OF EVENTS
In the fall of 1997, family and friends held a mural for Annette.
Diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Vail’s son Bill heard from doctors that he didn’t have long to live. He’s quoted saying “now I’ll get to be with my mom.” Months before passing away in 2009, Bill talked about his father in a recorded interview with his pastor at Grace Church in Overland Park, Kansas.
On Jan. 3, 2009, Bill died, and Vail wrote in his journal, “I feel a large empty hole in my being where his life presence has been for 47 years,” before writing about getting a good haircut. He drove to Kansas but didn’t attend his own son’s funeral. If he had, he would have heard the recording, with his son detailing how he had overheard his father talk about murdering Bill's mother, Mary.
When Vail learned of the recording, he wrote to Pastor Tim Howey, asking for a copy. He blamed his son’s statements on “false memories,” saying, “I have not known about it until now and am stunned.”
In 2012, while attempting to confront Vail with reporter Jerry Mitchell whom she had contacted to write about Vial, Rose was stopped by Kaye Faulkner, Vial’s sister. She told Rose and Mitchell of the recording and urged Mitchell to get a copy of it. She also said that she believed Vial had murdered Mary Horton, Sharon Hensley, and Annette Craver.
She gave the reporter Vial’s number, as well as the numbers of her other brother, Ronnie, and her sister, Beth. Vial didn’t answer those calls, so Mitchell left a message. Ronnie promised to speak to his brother on his behalf.
MITCHELL INVESTIGATES
Mitchell arrived in Lake Charles and stopped by the Southwestern Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Library, which shared copies from old city directories. He began tracking down people who had lived in the Maree Apartments with Felix and Mary.
Many described Mary’s fair of drowning. A close friend of Vails, Judson McCann II described Vial as a ladies’ man, and insinuated he was a cheater. “Many nights, his car wouldn’t be home, and Mary would be there with the lights on. When Felix was gone, it wasn’t because he was trotline fishing.”
Another close friend, Bob Hodges described Vial’s story of Mary ‘falling’ in the river as “horse manure.”
A college roommate of Mary, Sandra Sudduth Pratt, said “Nobody believed it was an accident.”
Mitchell shared Mary’s autopsy report with pathologist Dr. Michael Baden of New York City, who concluded that foul play had taken place in her death.
The report showed large bruises with bleeding into tissues on the left side of the neck, which he said suggested she suffered forceful neck trauma before entering the water. There were hemorrhagic bruises to the right calf and left leg above the knee, which he said were consistent with a struggle before her submersion. But most convincingly of all was the scarf authorities found around her neck that extended 4 inches into her mouth, which suggested traumatic asphyxia before entering the water.
“Somebody had to push that scarf into her mouth. She had to have that scarf wedged in her mouth before she was put in the water.”
A cousin put Mary’s brother Will Horton in touch with former detective “Rabbit” Manuel, who had headed up the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Office’s investigation back in 1962. He had never forgotten Mary’s death. “Felix’s story just didn’t add up. The fishing tackle was dry. The trotline was dry. The boat was dry. Even Felix’s cigarettes were dry, despite him telling the deputies he dove straight in the water to save Mary.”
He and Manuel met with “Lucky” DeLouche, who directed an elite task force unit that investigated homicides. Three young detectives took notes as they talked. Manuel shared details from the case, saying deputies (officers) wanted to prosecute, but the district attorney wouldn’t let them. Horton shared the autopsy report, Vail’s letters and his belief that Vail was a serial killer. Horton said DeLouche replied, “This absolutely fits the profile of a serial killer,” to which the other detectives agreed.
Shortly afterwards, DeLouche left the task force, and for seemingly the hundredth time, grew cold again.
After Mitchell posted a story about Vail titled “Gone” (It’s nearly 9,000 words long, and the precursor to the 35,500 word story I have drawn heavily from) a man named Wesley Turnage contacted him. He told him of a conversation he had had with Vail in 1963 during a car ride.
According to Turnage, Vail called Mary a bitch and said she thought another child would help solve their marriage problems. He quoted Vail as saying, “She wanted to have another kid. I didn’t want the one I got. I fixed that sorry bitch. She will never have another one.”
Mitchell would make another discovery. District Attorney Salter Jr. had ordered that the judge dismiss 882 criminal cases — more than three cases for each working day.
Will Horton told Mitchell the original detectives in the case told him that Salter wouldn’t allow them to present the evidence they had collected against Vail. That matched the stories Mitchell had heard from grand jurors’ families.
Horton then contacted District Attorney John DeRosier, who said he would be willing to reopen the case if there was enough evidence.
Then came an interesting wrinkle in the story. Finding Vail.
He’d disappeared, returning on Labor Day weekend 2012 to sell his property, before disappearing again. Luckily, another reader of "Gone" came to the rescue. He phoned Mitchell, telling him where Vial was. Canyon Lake, Texas.
Mitchell then contacted Enzo Yaksic, founder of the Serial Homicide Expertise and Information Sharing Collaborative. Yaksic then contacted Armin Showalter, acting chief for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, which specialized in serial homicide investigations.
Yaksic shared a copy of GONE with Showalter, who in turn called Calcasieu Parish Deputy Randy Curtis, now taking on the Vail case. Curtis phoned Mitchell to find out where Vail was. A few days later, he called back to say the FBI had discovered Vail purchased property at 737 Shadyview Drive in Canyon Lake.
On Jan. 18, 2013, Curtis decided to confront Vail. He found him at that address, living in a storage shed. Curtis said he read Vail his rights before asking him about the death and disappearances of the women. Vail refused to say anything, accusing families and The Clarion-Ledger (Where "Gone" was published) of lying about him. The whole time, Vail couldn’t stop smirking.
​
Will Horton gave Mitchell the number of his cousin, who was a caretaker for 90-year-old Isaac Abshire Jr. When Mitchell sat down with the man, he shared a haunting story.
Abshire had worked with Vail and offered him a room to rent out. Once Vail and Mary were married, Vail had moved out. Abshire viewed himself as “a big brother” to Mary, calling her “a sweet little girl.”
After the marriage, Vail had become angry at work, talking about how ugly his wife was when she was pregnant, and how he didn’t like his baby. On the Friday before she was killed, the couple visited Abshire, bringing Bill, who was still an infant. Mary privately asked Abshire if he thought Vail could take her baby away.
Two days later, Mary was dead.
Abshire and two other workers went out the next day to drag the river. The next morning, Oct. 30, 1962, he returned with one of them, Jimmy May, to continue dragging.
Abshire said while they were talking, “something popped up. A guy with binoculars asked, ‘Does she have blonde hair?’ I said, ‘Yes, that’s her.’”
They recovered the body, and Abshire could never forget what he saw. Her body was rigid, and a scarf was wrapped around her neck before going into her mouth. Blood boiled on the boat, everyone voicing the same opinion. Vail had killed Mary.
Abshire had kept photos from that day for over 50 years. He said he had given them to Deputy Curtis as well as a copy of the 1962 sheriff’s report, which listed 15 points suggesting Vail’s guilt.
Despite being behind on major bills, Vail had managed to pay an entire year’s premiums in advance for a $50,000 ($150,000 today) life insurance policy on his wife. He had a second life insurance policy on her for $8,000 ($24,000 today), which promised to pay double if she died by accident.
It was almost as if he knew she was about to die.
Deputies had reported witnesses claims that Vail had told them he didn’t love his wife, that she looked stupid and vulgar, and that he had had sexual relations with multiple women, and at least one man.
Vail told deputies that his wife was wearing an off-white leather jacket when she went into the water. But she wasn’t wearing the jacket when her body was recovered. Inside his boat, deputies found two life preservers. Mary had not been wearing one, despite her fear of drowning. As for the trotline the 2 were supposedly running, deputies found it still inside Vail’s tackle box.
Most witnesses the Deputies had spoken too felt that Vail was capable of killing his wife.
When asked if he believed Vail killed his wife, Abshire said “Oh, my God, yes.”
THE CHASE & THE FINAL CLUES:
Ever since Vail had sold his Mississippi property, Mary Rose had wondered if he would eventually sell the Tulsa property, the one she and Annette had lived in. He did. Vail sold it for $149,000. Rose asked the question on the mind of everyone investigating. “What is he going to do with all that money? --- He could be running.”
On April 30th Mitchell got a call saying that Vail had left Texas. He was pulled over by police in Columbus, Mississippi after hopping the fence of his now dead brother Ronnie’s property. Curtis told Mitchell that the Columbus police were sending him a photo of Vail and the white pick-up truck he was pulled over in. He once again warned Mitchell that Vail could be running.
Vail’s sister called again, saying she heard her brother was heading to Montpelier. She wondered if he was driving to the home of possible witness Wesley Turnage.
Mitchell called Turnage to let him know that Vail might be headed his way. Turnage replied “If he sets foot on my property, there won’t be no trial.” He called Mitchell back later, saying no one in Montpelier had seen Vail.
Private Investigator Gina Frenzel, who had questioned Vail herself, including pretending to be his girlfriend, called Mitchell with good news. Vail had contacted her and told her he was back in Canyon Lake. Mitchell informed Curtis.
On May 17th 2012, authorities arrested Felix Vail for the murder of his wife Mary Horton.
In telephone calls from the jail in Lake Charles, he shared his explanation of what happened the night of Oct. 28, 1962, when Mary died.
He referred to his first wife as a “coon-ass lady,” saying she was “half kneeling” on his feet when she “saw one of the float buckets that were on the line.” He said the boat was “going real slow along the edge of the bank when the boat hit a stump ... and it dumped her right out.” Vail said he shut off the motor and dove in “where she had plopped in the water. I mean, nothing. The river had sucked her right in.” He said he “dove around until I was exhausted, and came in immediately to the police station in town and reported the accident and that was it.”
This story differed greatly from his story in 1962 when he said his wife was sitting on top of a boat seat when she fell out, not that she was kneeling on his feet. Back then, he said nothing about hitting a stump — just swerving to miss it.
It also differed from the story he had told his son, where a wave from another boat had dumped Mary out.
Vail told Frenzel that the case “has been an avalanche coming down the mountain all that time, waiting to hit my head, and it finally has.”
He blamed the families and Mitchell, “an evil, shrimpy reporter,” for what had happened, calling the charges “fabricated” and insisting that “a large amount of money, hate and political ambitions are behind them.”
At Vail’s request, Frenzel returned his truck to his home and went inside to take care of a few tasks. While there, she spent 16 hours photographing all his journals, more than 2,400 pages. She also photographed letters, documents, photographs and business cards, some dating back to the 1960s. She found a collection of women’s jewelry, old buttons, pins, and even a glass dildo.
Disturbingly, if at this point unsurprisingly, she found a photograph of a naked 3-year-old girl. Frenzel later spoke with the girl, now a woman. The journals revealed that Vail had stalked her for years.
Frenzel discovered the birth certificate of Annette Craver, who had used it for previous trips to Mexico.
Mitchell and Frenzel poured through the journals she had photographed. They noticed gaps in them that lead them to believe Vail had ripped pages out, including times when he should have been with Sharon and Annette.
His journals were dominated by sex, dreams of sex and reflected an obsession with children. In a March 27, 1986, entry, Vail wrote about the visit of a woman and her daughters in his home. “The little girls were delicious --- We massaged some, hugged & kissed some & it was 12 (midnight) & time for them to go.”
On Aug. 29, 1992, Vail walked into the Wal-Mart in West Point, and as he wrote in his journal “a 1-year-old white girl looked in my eyes loving me like there was no age difference between us.”
When Mitchell interviewed Kert Germany, a co-worker of Vail in 1977 he said that Vail attracted women wherever he went, and that Vail had told him the best sex of his life had been with 2- or 3-year-old girl.
It was that this time that Alexandra Christianson, Vail’s ex-wife called Mitchell and told him her story. She also put him in contact with Bruce Biedebach, the man she had been on a date with when she left with Vail. Biedebach would tell Mitchell that during a party in 1965 that turned into a “boast-fest” Vail had boasted about something he had done, that no one else had done.
Killed his wife.
He told the men at the party that he had held his wife’s head underwater until she drowned.
Biedebach then put Mitchell in contact with Rob Fremont, who had bicycled around California with Vail when he was 13. He said that while riding with Vail, he had told him that he hit his wife on the head and drowned her. Fremont never rode with him again after that.
With as much evidence as they could possibly gather, the case went to trial.
THE TRIAL:
Vail’s trial began on August 8th, 2016.
District Attorney John DeRosier laid out the evidence clearly.
He spoke of the evidence against Vail about Mary’s murder on October 28th, 1962.
He spoke about Vail swearing to Sharon Hensley’s mother that she wanted to start a new life in 1974.
He spoke about his letters to Mary Rose, telling her he wouldn’t tell her where her daughter Annette was “even if he knew.” Vail smirked at that one.
Finally, he spoke to the jurors.
“Mary Horton Vail is gone, Sharon Hensley is gone,” DeRosier said, “and Annette Craver Vail is gone.”
“You’re going to write the last chapter, and it’s simply going to read, ‘And justice was finally done. William Felix Vail, guilty as charged.’”
Prosecutors called all three families to testify.
Will Horton told jurors of his sister, “Mary was the kind of person you would want as a friend.” He broke while talking about visiting his nephew after he death in 1962. “I just wanted Bill to know how much his mother loved him.”
Brian Hensley told jurors that he last saw his sister, Sharon, with Vail before the pair left Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1972. Other than a telephone call and letter in the months that followed, he said no one had seen or heard from her since.
When Mary Rose took the stand, Vail bowed his head.
This was the woman who had been working for 32 long years to bring him into this court.
This was the mother who had waited 32 years for this moment.
She called Annette “a huge light in my life. We were always loving toward each other.” She testified that Vail ran off with her daughter on his motorcycle and married her. She testified that Annette, who inherited nearly $100,000 and received two homes, disappeared weeks after deeding those homes to Vail.
Wesley Turnage, Rob Fremont, and Bruce Biedebach swore under oath that Vail said he killed his first wife. Biedebach said he asked Vail if Mary was a bitch, to which Vail had said yes. Vail laughed in court as he told the story.
The current coroner, forensic pathologist Dr. Terry Welke, testified that in most drownings, the body comes up in a “dead person’s float,” with the back of the head surfacing first and the limbs hanging down in the water.
After sharing a series of pictures to show it, he showed the court two black-and-white photographs of Mary Horton when her body was recovered on Oct. 30, 1962, less than two days after she reportedly drowned. Her body was stiff, with her hands over chest as if she was in a coffin.
They also saw the videotaped testimony of Isaac Abshire Jr, who had died in 2014. He said her body was stiff when it surfaced either sideways or face up when she bobbed up in the Calcasieu River.
That testimony helped contribute to Welke’s homicide conclusion. So did the unbroken grease-like stain across her Chi Omega sweatshirt, which he believed could have come from a tarp covering her. Welke concluded Mary was dead and stiff before her body went into the water, explaining why rigor had set in.
Testimony was heard of Vail not paying for his own wife’s funeral, despite having made thousands from her life insurance.
THE VERDICT
The jury didn’t even take a half hour to reach their verdict.
William Felix Vail Sr was unanimously found guilty of murdering Mary Horton. He was sentenced to life in prison.
After the verdict, the prosecutor also revealed that the FBI had found out that Vail had molested a child over 30 years ago. They were unable to put him on trial for it, as the statue of limitations had passed.
Finally, nearly 54 years after she was murdered, Mary Horton had found justice.
Finally, 42 years after her disappearance, Sharon Hensley had found justice.
And Annette Craver, with the help of her mother Mary Rose’s tireless efforts, had finally found justice after 32 years.
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/f75084c7dce4fb08e12e45ccba5e40a1
This a photo of Mary, Sharon and Annette. I felt it was fitting to end off with. May they all rest in peace.
MY SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/8284?nav
https://charleyproject.org/case/annette-michelle-craver-vail
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/felixvailgone/2016/12/29/felix-vail-gone-one-wife-dead-two-other-missing-jerry-mitchell/95895894/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5796622/mary-elizabeth-vail
https://charleyproject.org/case/sharon-hensley
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/20525?nav

Purtle's Internet Lineup for June 7th, 2023 4:38pm
Pics:

• “You can use the N95 mask you bought for the pandemic to filter out the wildfire smoke engulfing the entire Northeast” is a neat little sentence that lets you know we’re in the fun part of the century that future historians are going to talk about a lot. https://twitter.com/PanasonicDX4500/status/1666434160913678336
  
• Street Fighter 6 Stuff
  
  • [spoiler] You're fucking telling me Capcom spent months making JP out to be this sinister man of mystery only for the truth to be that he was simply --- https://twitter.com/UltimaShadowX/status/1666292663253868545
  • JP is fed up https://twitter.com/82kmnr_works/status/1666326838346498048 *
  • Combos/setups/tech
  • want to learn an infinite pick jamie style pick sonic boom on mordern controls for easy perfect booms and make your character as small as possible enjoy lol https://twitter.com/IhateMondays33/status/1666202585668390912
  • insane dj stuff https://twitter.com/vryu123/status/1666125748363571213
  • anti honda tech with JP https://twitter.com/NoMoreMrIceGuy_/status/1666139765673017345
  • anti honda tech https://twitter.com/FGC_Angrybird/status/1666429221005082624
• Zelda ToTK related stuff
  
  • megatron assemble https://twitter.com/w42854994/status/1664700498824265728

Clips:

• chill abs workout https://clips.twitch.tv/GloriousSmilingMagpieWoofer-1L9Q13CSXwB0aPwj
  
  • rhythmic gymnast in the USA National Team.
• waking up in NY today https://twitter.com/SavinTheBees/status/1666375612381147137
  

Videos

• Pokémon SoulSilver - Glitchless in 3:31:07 by Werster https://old.reddit.com/speedrun/comments/1435nvpok%C3%A9mon_soulsilver_glitchless_in_33107_by_werste
  
  • congrats to werster! https://twitter.com/wersterlobe/status/1666281944555065344
• 56 hit combo e.Honda + more - desk [2:17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK7xe5CKb2M
  
• The basics of pixel art [Graphics] Sakurai [2:58] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDno0U5UxSI
  
• A video about the difference in feel for Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble's motion between the original and Switch. https://twitter.com/LuigiBlood/status/1666391806630584320
  

Articles/News/Other

• Twitch Branded Content Policy Update [thread] https://twitter.com/Twitch/status/1666183145526538240
  
  • lsf thread on iit https://old.reddit.com/LivestreamFail/comments/142sm51/twitch_branded_content_policy_update/
• PGA Tour agrees to merge with Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf https://old.reddit.com/sports/comments/142gzrf/pga_tour_agrees_to_merge_with_saudibacked_rival/
  
• TIL there is no blue or green pigment present in the human eye. Eyes appear blue or green due to Rayleigh scattering, the same phenomenon that makes the sky appear blue. For this reason, blue eyes and green eyes can appear to change color depending on lighting. https://old.reddit.com/todayilearned/comments/142tbm4/til_there_is_no_blue_or_green_pigment_present_in/
  
• Reddit to lay off about 5% of its workforce Reuters https://old.reddit.com/news/comments/142zm8reddit_to_lay_off_about_5_of_its_workforce_reuters/
  
• Shooting at the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony earlier todayInsane/Crazy [:18] https://old.reddit.com/CrazyFuckingVideos/comments/1434oog/shooting_at_the_huguenot_high_school_graduation/
  
• Violent far right anti LGBTQ extremists viciously attacked LGBTQ parents outside of a Glendale, CA schoolboard meeting about recognizing June as pride month. As usual the police are helping the extremists. [:29] https://twitter.com/Esqueer_/status/1666262211101073408
  
  • Gays Against Groomers and several other right wing accounts are now explicitly endorsing violence committed against parents at an LGBTQ+ school resolution. This is where we are at. We have crossed a major line here and we need to recognize it. https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1666284087546462209
• It's official—a new face is joining the Monster Cereals for the first time in 36 years. Carmella Creeper is getting her own caramel apple cereal, and she's also joining a reworked version of Monster Mash Cereal, which brings the whole gang together in one box! https://twitter.com/cerealouslynet/status/1666436339431096329
  

First a little about me. I recently turned 50. I live in the Philadelphia area, but I travel quite a bit throughout the Northeast US for work. I'm attractive with a slight dad-bod build (and working my way towards fit, but right now in-between). I'm successful and established in my career. I lean dominant, but mostly as a playful "pleasure Dom," and I have a very caring and nurturing side. Very honest and straightforward. Frequently tested and clean.
So what about you? You should be under 30, and preferably under 25 (but at least 18, regardless of your state's laws). I like a thin/slim/athletic build but I don't mind a little pudge. And I have a special fondness for A/B-cups :)
It would be great if you're somewhere in southeastern PA or NJ, but since I travel you don't have to be - other areas I frequent are DC/Baltimore, Pittsburgh, upstate NY, CT and MA. Other areas of New England are possible but less frequent. I'm open to any race/ethnicity.
As I said I'm caring and nurturing, and ultimately I have a lot of love to give the right Baby Girl. But don't think I won't put you over my knee if you've been a bad girl. Although one night stands can be fun, ideally I'm looking for a long-term connection. I want to be your friend, your lover, your mentor and perhaps your muse.
Your experience level with men does not matter to me. In my prior Age Gap relationships, I have found the most rewarding moments to be with less experienced/repressed/shy/introverted partners, helping them explore their sexuality and truly blossom. Just graduating (and 18+)? Don't go off to college without experience :)
But if you already know what you like and what you don't, that's perfectly fine. Either way, please have a significant interest in both giving/receiving oral.
Besides the obvious Age Gap dynamic, Praise Kinks, Showing Off/Being Shown Off, Semi-public play are all things that interest me. And bi/bicurious girls go to the front of the line.
Yes, I'm looking for a lot. I realize that. But if you've read this far, and think you fit what I'm seeking, please send a message and let's see if there's a good fit. And if there is let's start our New Adventure.

Hey all, thought I would share our thoughts from Detroit this year. For reference we have attended Belle Isle a few times in the past and loved it there (even named our dog Belle). We take our two kids (ages 13 and 10 now) and had various family members with us throughout the weekend also. Also worth noting, my husband had a major ankle surgery recently and was using one of those knee scooters or crutches. And be advised, I’m a wordy person :)
Also for reference - we are a completely normal race attending family who accidentally formed a relationship with CGR at the Belle Isle race in 2016. We typically get credentials for races VIA Mike Hull and Blair Julian and now Tyler Rees allow my kids to get into Scott Dixons car for a few minutes when they arent busy.
Friday - Friday was a disastrous hot mess. I’ll take credit for not doing as much research as I usually do but races are usually so smooth that I expected more from the volunteers. Don't blame them necessarily and we knew that this is a new event and would be some kinks - but 99% of the volunteers told us they had no idea what was going on either (and half of their walking talkies didnt work) and many members of various crews that we talked to said the same thing. We were ill advised on where to park and ended up parking very far away. No one knew how to direct us to even enter the GP in an appropriate location or where the autograph session was (which is what we were trying to get to first) - We actually ended up walking through the Rec Cen by chance and literally accidentally walked into the autograph session line - so we got super lucky on that one. It was VERY nice that that part was inside as it was already like 90 something degrees at that point of the day. Got through the autograph session, got our yearly pic with Dixon and were pretty happy with how that worked out. Ate lunch inside then wanted to go to the paddock before practice. We walked back and forth several times before the GP volunteers told us the proper way to get to the paddock (which was across the track/bridge from where we were). So we found our way to a track crossing location and then they had absolutely no idea what time the track crossing times were. After waiting for a long time they still couldn't figure that out so we decided to just go across the bridge. Shoutout to the volunteer who helped carry my husbands knee scooter up and down the steps so i didn't have to do it. After we finally got across into the paddock we were again directed to the opposite section of where we wanted to go - so we did a lot of walking back and forth. Finally found the proper paddock and were able to check out all the cars and such before going over by the pits to watch practice 1. My husband and I alternated going into the pits and there was a nice area just on the other side of pit entrance where the kids were allowed to stand and could see everything also (which was nice bec/ they’re always jealous that they can't go in the pits with us). After practice we went back into the paddock for a while while we met up with Tyler and Blair and my kids got their quick visit with the car. Then headed for our car which again was a disaster. No one could tell us how to get OUT of the event at this point. They had us walk out the front of the Ren Cen then walk up the street only to tell us we then had to walk up the other way, then we did that then they told us that was the wrong way again… etc, you get the picture. Meanwhile the streets and everything was so bumpy my husband's scooter thing was flipping all over the places and he fell several times. Handicap services were nowhere to be found with the carts we were told would help drive us around if we needed. I know, we expected the streets to be bad, we aren't new to cities or anything (and especially not this one, been here several times) but it was soooo bad. Husband went with crutches for the next two days instead.
Saturday we found a better (closer) parking garage over by Hart Plaza… Our main goal before qualifying was to hit the merch shop and gear up. Checked out everything over there… food trucks, fan zone etc… We felt like the fan zone was extremely lacking compared to races we had been to in the past. Everything was just so spread out and disorganized. The Firestone booth where my kids typically get the little temp tattoos and drive the racing sim game was shoved in a random alley between two food trucks and some local merchants not near the fan zone where you would expect it and other major sponsors like PNC booths were in super random locations also. Most importantly, the merch tent was nowhere to be found over here. We asked about 1000 volunteers and FINALLY found one that told us the merch tent was VERY far away from where we were. More on that later. We walked around here checking out all the free viewing spots since there was an issue with our grandstand seats and as it turned out we didn't actually have anywhere to sit which we didn't find out until Saturday. Walked along the river from Hart Plaza to the paddock area and ended up finding a pretty cool spot to watch qualifying right next to the victory circle. We were right up on the track and if we stood on the little benches there could see pretty good but this area would have really really benefited from a jumbotron so we could actually follow the race. After qualifying we figured out how to get to the store which consisted of going all the way outside of the circuit and walking a ton. We actually ended up getting our car first and driving over there and the very nice police officers let us park and walk in bec/ of the handicap/crutch situation. The merch tent people said hardly anyone had been in there and the people that had had all been complaining about how terrible it was to get there. Turns out the reason they were where they were was because there was no area large enough where the ground could support the weight of the 18 wheeler the tent attaches to near where the rest of the fan zone was set up.
Sunday we had a parking pass for the garage inside the paddock so that helped cut down on our walking and helped the husband out a ton. We just got lunch and hung out in the paddock to watch all the cars head out before the race. Something that we noticed is even though the grandstands were sold out the paddock felt extremely empty compared to most other races we’ve been too. Mid Ohio and Pocono we’ve been shoulder to shoulder with people standing in front of the CGR tent before the race and for a good portion of time we were the only ones in front of it on Sunday. Something cool that i guess they started doing since we’ve last been to a race is they lined up all the trucks that they ride in for the parade lap around the track before the race inside the paddock instead of in pit lane - so if you’re in the paddock at that time you see all the drivers line up in there trucks and there's a little parade through the paddock first before they hit the track. A lot of people stood by their driver's truck and got a last minute pic or autograph. We watched the race from the same free area along the river that we watched qualifying from and like i said it was a great spot but if we hadn't been able to have peacock on our phones we would have had no idea what was actually happening during the race. They did have the audio broadcast on speakers over by Victory Circle but even though we were pretty close to there we couldn't hear that at all.
Our main takeaway is that this is off to a great start - but there is a lot to build upon. Definitely need more grandstands and in the free viewing areas add some jumbotrons! Of course the volunteers will improve as time goes on I’m sure. One positive thing is the way everything was laid out it really felt like a city wide event - with all the free viewing areas and most things outside of the gates where anyone could just walk in and see things was great BUT at times it actually felt like they focused TOO much on the community aspect and some of the race logistics became secondary. Definitely need to reorganize some tents/booths/areas and at least up more signs directing people around! then i think they're good to go :)

Hello everyone!
I’m a genealogist & I am trained in discovering local Michigan family lineages and stories through vital records, census records, and newspapers.
This is the interest form I put together for anyone interested in learning more about their personal Michigan family history. I create family trees, ancestral maps, and historical road trip itineraries based on YOUR personal family history! It’s a great way to connect with your heritage and wonderful knowledge pass down to future generations.
LINK TO INTEREST FORM: Family History Interest Form
Here are some things you can discover from my research:

• Newspaper articles about your ancestors (Crime? Scandal? Who knows!)
• Custom ancestral mapping showing your approximate ethnic admixture
• United States migration mapping showing how your ancestors migrated throughout the country
• Your great-great-great grandparents’ names
• Physical descriptions of your ancestors from census records and war draft cards
• Six full generations back of your family tree
• Photographs of your ancestors you have never seen before (Found in Newspaper archives, I have subscriptions to several newspaper websites)

I have a degree in Anthropology and have spent several years working for a professional genealogy company. I have been working as an individual genealogist for about 6 years. If you have any questions about my research, please fill out an interest form or email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
For those of you with ancestry outside of Michigan, please send me a message. I’d be happy to help you or direct you to a better suited genealogist. Thanks!
Ancestral Origins Map Example
https://preview.redd.it/oezeft5j7n4b1.png?width=962&format=png&auto=webp&s=25ba10269388996e818a9134e378128ad890fa92
USA Origins Map Example
https://preview.redd.it/er98huoj7n4b1.png?width=973&format=png&auto=webp&s=9799ef2c0f3a7f0cd151a18873313e0e80dcd626
LINK TO INTEREST FORM: Family History Interest Form

Hello everyone!
I’m a genealogist & I am trained in discovering local Michigan family lineages and stories through vital records, census records, and newspapers.
This is the interest form I put together for anyone interested in learning more about their personal Michigan family history. I create family trees, ancestral maps, and historical road trip itineraries based on YOUR personal family history! It’s a great way to connect with your heritage and wonderful knowledge pass down to future generations.
LINK TO INTEREST FORM: Family History Interest Form
Here are some things you can discover from my research:

• Newspaper articles about your ancestors (Crime? Scandal? Who knows!)
• Custom ancestral mapping showing your approximate ethnic admixture
• United States migration mapping showing how your ancestors migrated throughout the country
• Your great-great-great grandparents’ names
• Physical descriptions of your ancestors from census records and war draft cards
• Six full generations back of your family tree
• Photographs of your ancestors you have never seen before (Found in Newspaper archives, I have subscriptions to several newspaper websites)

I have a degree in Anthropology and have spent several years working for a professional genealogy company. I have been working as an individual genealogist for about 6 years. If you have any questions about my research, please fill out an interest form or email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
For those of you with ancestry outside of Michigan, please send me a message. I’d be happy to help you or direct you to a better suited genealogist. Thanks!
Ancestral Origins Map Example
https://preview.redd.it/11s3471a7n4b1.png?width=962&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c0cf09661198f78fda90b75235398cab54abe18
USA Origins Map Example
https://preview.redd.it/hj8biwia7n4b1.png?width=973&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f33c060ba5462c18493c27c47bbd2e4542121b7
LINK TO INTEREST FORM: Family History Interest Form

Hello everyone! I've noticed a few messages in my DMS and posts on the New York Guns subreddit asking about what happens after someone has been hospitalized. As someone who has been fighting for three years to regain my gun rights due to a false accusation of involuntary commitment, I've gathered a wealth of information on New York's mental health law (MHL) and how it works. I want to provide as much information as possible to those facing a similar situation. Unfortunately, the state of New York doesn't offer any guidance on how to regain your gun rights or even if they've been taken away in the first place, which is why I'm here (obligatory, I am not a lawyer).
Before we dive in, I want to clarify that I'm not advocating for individuals with mental illness to have access to firearms. If someone is mentally unstable, they shouldn't possess guns. However, those seeking hospitalization for a crisis or help shouldn't have their gun rights removed indefinitely. Mental health treatment should be viewed similarly to caring for our physical bodies. If you injure a muscle in your thigh, it doesn't mean you'll avoid exercising your legs forever. You'll take steps to heal the injury and eventually resume your activities.
New York's mental health law is a Safe Act provision covering various mental illness and hospitalization aspects. For this post, I'll focus on the admission process, precisely the four most common types of admission standards:

1. Voluntary admissions (Section 9.13): When someone is involuntarily admitted to a hospital for mental health reasons.
2. Informal admissions (Section 9.15): When someone has a mental illness requiring treatment and is suitable for access on an everyday basis, without needing to fill out an application.
3. Involuntary commitments (Section 9.27): Involving individuals who present themselves to the hospital with impaired judgment, lacking understanding of the need for care, and posing a substantial threat to themselves or others. Two medical doctors need to sign off on this.
4. Emergency Observation (9.39): Involving individuals alleged to be mentally ill and requiring treatment. If they have sufficient evidence to support that you are mentally sick, they will replace you with any of the holds above.

Understanding how the United States Code addresses mental health hospital admissions is crucial. Section 922 G 4 of Title 18 in the United States Code discusses mental defectiveness or commitment to a mental institution. Voluntary entries and observational holds are not considered disqualifying events. If you've been involuntarily committed, affirmative defenses within this code can help you regain your gun rights. However, I won't be able to delve into those specifics since the statute can be found online and is self-explanatory. Unfortunately, the state of New York illegally reports observational holds as involuntary commitments; this is what I am suing the state about. You might wonder why a hospitalization in New York can affect you across all 50 states. It's because the New York Office of NICS Appeals and SAFE Act transmits all hospitalization data directly to the FBI's NICS system. The FBI doesn't have any checks and balances to verify the claims. If you try to appeal directly to the FBI, they will redirect you to New York, stating that it's not their problem.
Once you determine the type of hold you've been placed on, the next step is to locate the "Certificate of Relief from Disabilities" form on the New York State Act Office website. This application requires a lot of information, but providing everything they ask for is essential, except your entire mental health history beyond the initial hospitalization. They can't verify it, and it's none of their business. If you provide your entire account, they may use any past statements against you to try and reject the application. I made that mistake, and they used something I said about the comic book character The Punisher to my first-year high school therapist as evidence of why I was a danger to the public. Provide them only with the relevant files for your hospitalization, only. I recommend consulting a psychologist for a thorough psychological evaluation and their professional opinion on your firearm safety. Attach these documents to your application. If you need help, you can look for lawyers to fill out the form. Please be prepared for a lengthy review process; mine took a year because of COVID. If the state rejects your application, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit. However, if you have yet to go through the appropriate channels to regain your gun rights before suing, the court might dismiss your case under a motion to dismiss.
That covers the basics, but if anyone has further questions, I can provide a wealth of information. Just so you know, I only know about the New York mental health law and may be unable to help with other states' laws, as each state has its regulations and intricacies.