Nothing could be more painful than losing your loved ones. Especially, when they disappear suddenly leaving you in hope and despair both. Unfortunately, most of the cases of disappearance trail off into a dark tunnel. But then there were some cases in the past that did get solved and led to some astounding revelation, not necessarily the good one. The disappearing case of Timothy Carney falls into this category. This unusual case occurred in 2001 when his car was spotted dumped by the roadside. From there on began the investigation that went on for seven years and when it reached its finals stage nothing looked the same as the beginning. By then everything had turned upside down.
If we go by Unidentified Persons System and National Missing about 600,000 people records missing in America on a yearly basis. The estimation of 2014 broke all the possible records. In 2014, the US recorded about 90,000 cases of disappearance. Surprisingly, 60% of them are adults.
Sadly, the cases of disappearances are increasing in numbers day by day. The authorities should not take these cases lightly and should spring into action immediately after it gets reported. Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio's investigator Amy Dobbs explained, “The first 12 to 24 hours are the most critical in an active missing persons investigation.”
The authorities should not take long in kickstarting an investigation heavily depends on the time. Dobbs said, “The longer it takes for a case to be reported and become an active investigation, the less likely a positive outcome will occur.”
One should take action within three hours if a minor goes missing. It won't be wrong to say that the first three hours following the disappearance decide the future of the case. You may wonder why? According to Washington State Attorney General’s Office, about 76 percent of children die within three hours of their abduction. Isn't it scary?
Carney, a 25-year-old working man had no idea that he was very soon going to make headlines worldwide. The incident took place in Butler, New Jersey. The man was putting up in an apartment of the same city. He had been living away from his family. He shared the apartment with Roy Anthony who happened to be the last person to see him before his disappearance.
Let us find out a little about Timothy Carney. Known as Tim among friends, he was an introvert by nature who liked spending his time in Church. He was religious and had made it a point visiting the church at least twice a week. That day too he was about to go church. But did he reach?
Carney had something going on in his mind before he vanished in thin air. The man had rung his boss to inform that he would come late for the work. As Tim was a loyal and sincere employee, his boss did not ask him the reason behind it. However, little did anybody knows that it was going to be the last time someone heard him speaking.
The man did not show up to work that day. He even stopped taking calls. Things took a serious turn when he did not appear the next day also. Soon after, his car was discovered on the side of a road touching the border between Elizabeth and Newark.
Carney moved out of his parent's house and relocated to Butler immediately after he got this job. However, he used to visit his parents once or twice a month. On the day of his disappearance, his parents too tried to contact him through phone but again he did not answer nor he called them back. What had happened to him in a matter of an hour?
No need to say his family went devastated when they heard about the discovery of his car and the condition in which it was found. Phyllis and Ed – his mother and father turned to authorities for help. However, they knew that merely lodging missing report was not enough. They were going to pull all the stops to get their son back. But were all their efforts going to make any difference?
Phyllis Carney could not stop crying when she learned that her son had gone missing. She remembered the night just before his disappearance. He had hugged her. Phyllis recalled, "We had dinner, he said, 'Mom I love you,' and that was it."
The Carneys took help from Kristen Foundation. It is a national organization with the aim of tracing and bringing missing adults back home. The organization came into existence in 1999 and is named after another missing adult named Kristen Modafferi.
Modafferi got disappeared mysteriously in 1997. The unfortunate incident followed shortly after she moved to San Francisco. The girl had enrolled herself in an art course at the University of California, Berkeley and was going to join it a few days after she moved in. On the very day of her disappearance, she had done a shift at a coffee shop called, Spinelli’s. The shop was built inside a mall located in the city’s Financial District.
Modafferi had opened up with one of her co-workers about her plan of going to Baker Beach post her shift. Later on the day, Modafferi was seen roaming in a mall with an unidentified woman. In addition to that, Modafferi was also spotted in a bank. She had visited the bank to withdraw cash. There was a CCTV footage of that. The 18-year-old girl went missing right after three days of the cash withdrawal.
20 years went by and the police could not find any clue or evidence. Also, the woman she was spotted with, in the mall stayed a mystery to everyone. Every effort made by her family and authorities met a dead end. However, instead of cowing down, her family decided to turn Kristen into a ray of hope for those who strive to locate their loved ones who have gone disappeared. It was then Kristen Foundation was built.
The Carneys had very high expectations with the foundation. They made billboard appeals on Route 23 several times that was financed by the organization. Big enough to catch the attention of any passerby. The giant billboard consisted of Carney's picture. Above the photo was the word MISSING written in bold and big font. Along with that, the advert included contact details as well. There are many billboards running along with the route. "This way we keep his memory alive until he comes home," Phyllis Carney explained.
Hardly a day went by when his parents did not pray to God for his safe return. Phyllis Carney pleaded, "If you can hear me, come home, we love you, miss you, see you soon. That was for Tim. That was for Tim."
Phyllis Carney asked, “Is he warm? Is he well? Is he under a bridge, somewhere in a box? Is he healthy? Does he not know who he is?” They soon were going to get answers to all their question. They better had prepared themselves for the incident in the offing.
Despite all their endeavors, they could not get any breakthrough. There were no sign and no lead. It seemed as if this case too was going to slip into one of the dark tunnels of time. Days changed into weeks, weeks into months and months into years, the man remained untraced. In a snap, seven years flew by and the case still stood unsolved. Was it the end? An incomplete end of his story? No, there was more to it.............
Though his family was still trying to locate him, they had made terms with the fact that perhaps they would never be able to see their son. However, life has its own way of surprising people. Just when his family was about to give up, a breakthrough happened in his case. The breakthrough was an astounding one. A big surprise was awaiting Carney's parents.
After seven years of investigation, prayers, and efforts, officers eventually managed to trace Carney. The news was broken by Tri-Boro Patch, a New Jersey news site. The site had fetched Captain Jeffrey Paul's statement on the issue. Paul issued the statement from the side of Robert Bianchi, Morris County Prosecutor.
The arduous journey that began on September 28, 2004, had finally reached its end. As Paul puts it, "Mr. Carney was reported missing on September 28, 2004." He continued, “He was subsequently located on September 23, 2011, and as a result was cleared from the missing person’s database. Mr. Carney was found alive and well but did not wish to disclose his whereabouts.”
Now the question was how did he go missing? And as he was alive and in good health why did he not contact his family? Carney did not disclose where he was staying. His family, on the other hand, held an organization or a person responsible for his strange behavior. They suspected that their son was under the influence of someone who was not letting him make contact with his family.
They believed that Carney was controlled by a church that also had links with the road where his car was discovered. The founder of the Kristen Foundation and mother of Modafferi, Joan Petruski revealed to Tri-Boro Patch that his family had suspicion on a religious body named Gospel Outreach. For those who don't know the leader of this Christian group is pastor Jim Lethbridge who previously has been accused of illegally inducting members from families. There was more to it......
Det. Colleen Pascale, Butler Police had deduced at the beginning of the case, “There is nothing to this case that indicates foul play. It is my belief, he, for whatever reason, didn’t want to come home.” His mother also disclosed that he was not happy with his job. “I think he was under a lot of stress. He wanted to get out from under stress and so he took off. Whether he had a plan or not, I don’t know,” revealed Phyllis.
Carney's mother backed up her allegation by saying that Carney had become a member of Gospel Outreach before going missing. She also added that she had found the church’s leaders controlling by nature. She went on narrating an incident when the leaders had visited the hospital with Carney to see his aunt as they doubted he was cooking up the whole thing. “They tried to get him away from his family, like, we’re your family now.” Phyllis said.
Though Carney did not divulge his whereabouts even to his parents, they are positive that he is staying in Chicago, Illinois right now. Petruski explained, “We know where he is and his family knows where he is but we don’t really know what’s in his mind right now.” “Hopefully, he’ll stay put where he is.”
Petruski called his family “as perplexed as anybody else,” after finding out that their son did not want to get in contact with them. However, they were happy and content that he was doing fine and was living a blissful life.
Though the family did not come forward to make a statement on this matter, Petruski spoke on their behalf, “We’d rather have him alive and well than any other circumstances.” “The family is happy about that and I don’t think they hold anything (against him) other than they’re happy he’s alive and they’ll work from there” she concluded.
So wasn't this story unbelievable? The family who struggled for seven years to find their son eventually learned that it was their son only who did not want them to find him.