missing: March 2008 Archives

Here's what we know about the investigation into the missing persons case involving a former police officer who disappeared just after Christmas:

1). The "badly decomposed" body of former Pasadena police Lt. David Richter was found beneath a freeway overpass in Irwindale last Thursday.

2). There was a weapon at the scene, according to Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.

3). Richter's girlfriend, Noah Beltran, personal assistant to interim Pasadena police Chief Chris Vicino, has been placed on paid administrative leave for "misleading investigators" who were searching for Richter.

4) One of Richter's cars, which had been originally reported as missing, turned up in the garage of a friend.

5) Despite the discovery of a gun at the scene, no suicide note was recovered from his body, either car or his home.

6) Investigators from Irwindale, who recovered the body have been asked to remain silent about the circumstances.

Questions of the day: Is there something more sinister than a suicide going on here? Why all the mystery?

A body discovered under a freeway overpass on the 605 Freeway was identified as missing former Pasadena police Lieutenant David Richter, 55.

Richter has been missing for several months. According to the Pasadena Weekly, his girlfriend, an assistant to interim Chief Chris Vicino has been placed on administrative leave.

The coroner's office has not assigned a cause of death in the case, pending the outcome of toxicology reports.

The Save Jenny's Kids Web site has been shut down by Yahoo!, according to Jude Lopez.

"They said it violated their terms of service," Lopez said. "Show me where I did wrong. I'll correct what I did wrong."

But, thanks to the magic of Google you can still view it right here.

The site, devoted to the case of Jennifer Dejongh, from the perspective of her parents had been in operation for about a month. Their MySpace is still active.

Dejongh and her three children disappeared in November after she was ordered to turn the children over to U.S. Rep. Gary Miller, the children's grandfather. Miller's son Brian is the boy's father and he has filed suit against Lopez for libel, slander and defamation of character.

Some of the slanderous comments were apparently made on the John and Ken Show. The libelous statements were attributed to postings Lopez made on a site devoted to missing and exploited children.

*I did a whois look up for the site and it shows that Yahoo put a security lock on the domain.

*UPDATED

Looks like family and friends of Jennifer Lopez Dejongh have put together a MySpace site for the "Save Jenny's Kids" campaign.

The site features a picture of Lopez Dejongh and her three sons as well as several links to 206 friends. Here's the site if you're interested. Among the friends, Republican Presidential candidate John McCain. (Thanks Esther Chou for pointing this out).*

Lopez Dejongh, her husband George Dejongh and her three children, who happen to be the grandchildren of U.S. Rep. Gary Miller, have been missing since mid-November.  The disappearance came right after Dejongh was ordered to turn the children over to the congressman and his wife Cathy.

Lopez's dad, Jude Lopez, has been named in a lawsuit filed by the boy's father Brian. The suit alleges that Jude engaged in slander, libel and defamation during two appearances on the John and Ken Show in November.

Wonder if the MySpace link will lead to bad blood between Miller, who earlier supported Duncan Hunter, and McCain? (Doubt it)

DIAMOND BAR - A man whose three boys disappeared with their mother in October has filed suit against the children's grandfather, accusing him of libel, slander and invasion of privacy.
According to court documents, Brian Miller alleges Jude Lopez defamed him during appearances on KFI's "John and Ken Show" in November. The lawsuit also alleges that in December, Lopez posted private information about Miller on a Web site devoted to searching for missing children.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for June 24.
Lopez claims all of his statements to the talk show hosts were true and denies trying to humiliate Miller.
"If you listen to John and Ken, I never said his name one time," Lopez said Friday. "This suit is a money maker for those attorneys. I have proof of everything."
Lopez's daughter, Jennifer Lopez Dejongh, 30, and her children, Brian, 8, and twins Christian and Evan, 6, disappeared Nov. 19 in defiance of a court order to turn over the children to Miller's parents, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea.

The Lopez family has put together a website giving their side of the story in the ongoing custody battle between Jennifer Lopez Dejongh and Brian Miller.

Miller, the son of congressman Gary Miller, R-Brea, and Lopez Dejongh have three children together.

The children, their mother and her husband, George Dejongh have been missing since November.

Jennifer sent a letter to me from New Hampshire about a month ago, beyond that nothing's been heard from her.

I haven't had much of a chance to look at the website, but no doubt it tells the story from Jude Lopez's POV as he has told to us many times.