On March 10, 2017, Michael Chambers (70) was seen on surveillance at a Quinlan Walmart store. He can be seen entering the store, making a purchase and then exiting the store. This is the last known sighting of Michael Chambers.
Chambers is a well-known and loved member in the community, he regularly attends local car shows. He is described as a creature of habit by his children and although he is 70, most days he can be found working on and restoring old cars in his work shop. After 36 years of service with the Dallas Fire Dept, he retired in 2008. Michael Chambers was married to Rebecca (Becca) Chambers in 1980, they have two adopted boys between them and he has two girls from a previous marriage.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Friday 3/10/17
- 8:00 am, Becca spoke with Papaw on the phone
- 11:15 am, surveillance shows Papaw at Walmart.
- 3:00 pm, neighbors arrived home and did not notice anything out of the ordinary, they also never saw Papaw. The rest of the afternoon they did yardwork. For this reason detectives believe whatever happened to Papaw happened between 12-3 pm.
- 6:15 pm, Becca returns home from work
- 6:55 pm, Hunt County Sheriff’s Office receives a missing persons call.
- Investigators discover a drop of blood in Papaws workshop outside his home.
- To the side of the workshop was a large dowel rod on the ground with a bloody palm print on it.
- A search Friday night included a trained K-9team and a Department of Public Safety helicopter with heat-seeking technology turns up no sign of Papaw, the search was called off.
March 12, 2017
- Hunt County reached out to The Texas Rangers and the FBI for assistance.
March 13, 2017
- A press conference is held with Hunt County Sherriff’s Office and family.
- From the presser we learn Papaws wallet and truck are at home. His cell phone, ID and some cash are missing.
- When he spoke to Becca on the morning of his disappearance, she requested that he purchase her some mascara. This was one of the items he bought at Walmart. The other item(s) have not been released to the public. However after analyzing the security footage, many online sleuths have come to several conclusions regarding the item purchased. Most believe it could be antacids.
- Press Conference
Read about blood spatter analysis here
March 15, 2017
- Hunt County Sherriff’s Office announces that despite spending the day searching a 5 acre area northeast of Quinlan, no sign of Papaw was found. They are now hoping for another tip.
March 16, 2017
- A Facebook post made by Papaws granddaughter urges people to leave porch lights on every Friday night for papaw.
March 18, 2017
- Search dogs pick up on a scent and lead the sheriffs to a new area. Deer Lane and FM 2101, about 500 yards from the Chambers’ home,but the scent was lost.
March 20, 2017
- Becca changed the family’s cell phone plan. She removed Justin and disconnected Michael’s service. She claims that she was starting to struggle financially –this was ONE WEEK after his disappearance.
March 22, 2017
- Hunt County announced that after the K-9 hit on Saturday, they hoped to pick back up the scent Wednesday morning. The third search reveals nothing.
April 8, 2017
- 4th search turns up nothing.
April 20, 2017
- Becca begins to file paperwork to have Papaw temporarily declared dead. She does this is so she can sell his truck and other possessions to pay bills.
*This is where friction begins between her and family members*
Hunt County District Clerk received the following filings:
a) Application for Probate of Will and Issuance of Letters of Testamentary
b) Citation by Posting
c) Order Appointing Attorney Ad Litem
Sometime prior to April 20 Becca sold a red 65-69 FordMustang. Papaw bought this gorgeous, fully restored car at a car show and gave it to Becca as a gift.
She then sold his daily driver. The dodge truck, claiming the payments were too high.
From there she got rid of the rest of his car collection, mostly older cars that he was restoring.
May 2017
- Members of the Chambers family were subjected to a polygraph test. Becca was unable to complete her testing due to prescription meds she took on the same day. Becca does take one in June and this is when investigators and social media learn(via Papaws children and grandchildren) she had multiple affairs during her marriage. She claims Michael knew of the affairs but never confronted her about them.
May 5, 2017
- SAR from out of state did a grid search of the area around the home.
May 6, 2017
- A prayer vigil is held for papaw at Greenville sports Park.
June 6, 2017
the Hunt County District Clerk received the following filings:
a) Order Admitting Will to Probate; Authorizing Letters of Testamentary Signed
b) Proof of Death and Other Facts
c) Letters of Testamentary Issued
d) Original Last Will and Testament of Michael Glenn Chambers
e) Court-Ordered Delayed Certificate of Death Signed; mailed to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Austin, Texas.
Chambers Probate, Last Will and Testament plus more
June 8/9, 2017
- TXEQ and Team Watters Sonar Search and Recovery did a grid search along with sonar searches, again nothing is found.
July 2017
- Family learns that Becca had Papaw legally declared dead months prior.
Texas law states a person must be missing for a period of 7 years before they can be declared dead and a death certificate can be released. Becca submitted a proof of death to the judge to get this.
- Papaws daughter received a Facebook message from someone claiming a friend told him where the body was located. He told her more than one person killed him and that Becca was involved. He gave her an address of the location. (more info on this can be seen in screenshots below, family refers to this man as BD in the screenshot)
- Police were skeptical about the information due to the fact that he was a felon. They did search the area but not immediately after the info came to light. Nothing was found.
.October 2017
- A cellphone expert was brought in and Michael’s exact route on the day he disappeared was mapped out using his cellphone pings. it was discovered he’d left the house and driven to town via the Lake Tawakoni bridge (17 miles from his home)
- At 2:30pm that day, he went to the location once more. However, that’s where the pings stop.Through the cellphone data, they were able to discover he had been traveling around 2-4 miles an hour,
Personally, I had no idea pings could track a persons speed. But I’m not the cell phone ping expert.
- The sheriff then releases a statement saying the only way he could have been traveling at around 2-4 mph is by bicycle. (I say 2-4 mph because Sheriff Meeks has gone back and forth in statements, sometimes it’s 2 and sometimes it’s 4) So they went back to the workshop and discovered a Papaws bike was MISSING!! ~~ All these months later, can you imagine?! ~~ So he strongly feels Papaw rode his bike to the bridge and committed suicide. His family, with the exception of Becca and maybe a few other members, dispute this theory.
Here’s the thing y’all, a bicycle travels at the speed of about 10 mph (light paced) and walking is about 3 mph. So where is this data coming from? What technology did they use? Was this based on pings? Was it the 2/4 mph based on an average speed? Were there possible stops and starts, sometimes faster, sometimes slower? This would be great info to know.
Here’s the other thing y’all, Papaw was in great health and always active, working on his cars. However, he was still a 70 years old man with really bad knees. This sheriff is saying Papaw somehow injured himself in his work shop, left behind his wallet but takes some cash and his ID and rides his bicycle 17 miles to a bridge. He then jumps in WITH his bicycle and not one person saw him on a bike or on the bridge. Why did nobody notice a missing bicycle of his until months later after the sheriff concludes the 2- 4 mph speed was only done on a bicycle? In fact, Papaws children recall one bike being at the home. That one bike was still there after he went missing. Sheriff Meeks has added a second bike to his theory, this is what Papaw rode on March 10th.
Now here’s the last thing y’all, the 2 mile bridge is pictured below. This is the bridge he decided to jump off? I have a hard time believing this.
Searches of the lake turned up nothing.
February 10, 2018, a 10 hour search at his old property, once again, turns up nothing.
Below are statements made by Papaws granddaughter and children on various social media platforms.
– When Becca arrived home, she found the house locked and all lights off, papaws workshop was locked and all lights off, papaws truck was locked. Keys were INSIDE the workshop. He usually locks the house up when working in the workshop but does not lock the workshop when working in it.
– His wallet and keys were found in the workshop. No ID. He always takes his hat off when working in the shed and places it in the same spot every time. His hat was not in its routine resting spot.
– The items Papaw purchased at the store were sitting on the restroom counter. The receipt was in the trash.
– His truck was locked and all valuables were inside the vehicle.
– No fingerprints in the home or Workshop other than papaws.
– The seat in Papaws truck was pushed up, as if a shorter person was driving it. This was noticed by his granddaughter. When brought to the sheriffs’ attention, they said it was probably just scooted up by investigators searching the truck.
– He keeps his phone charged. Never runs low on battery.
– Becca moved out of the home she shared with her husband fairly quickly. She attempted to put it up for sale soon after his disappearance but his daughter was able to stop the sale.
– However, it was still up for sale eventually it did sale it.
– On June 27, 2017 at a friends home, Becca told people that Michael “was not coming back”
Papaws family has enlisted the help of privateinvestigators Jane Holmes and Philip Klein. They do not believe he killed himself and feelBecca knows more than she’s letting on. Upon Michael’s death, she would have become the sole beneficiary of his estate and more than $750,000 pension.
She also hasn’t spoken with the media or helped in searches for her husband.
Klein Investigations has a search planned to take place in the Fall of 2019.
Now, of course Hunt County Sheriffs Office and Sheriff Meeks frown upon Klein Investigations being involved in the case. Meeks did an interview to clear up some concerns the public and family have regarding Meeks suicide theory. It’s actually quite revealing, Meeks is in a position of power and after watching the first 5 minutes, it’s apparent that he doesn’t understand how freedom of speech works. He sees a negative comment on a Facebook post and wants it deleted immediately. He assumes anyone that doesn’t agree with him or his department’s handling of the case is anti-law enforcement. He’s a joke.
LISTEN TO THE VANISHED PODCAST HERE https://www.iheart.com/podcast/268-the-vanished-podcas-27910375/episode/michael-papaw-chambers-28657890/
LINKS:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/37780
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/14/missing-texas-man-may-have-been-abducted-police-say.html
THEORIES
Early on in the case, one popular theory was that Papaw hurt himself in the shed and wandered away, confused. This would explain the blood drops.
But I think we can pretty much rule this theory out. He would have already been found.
Was it a burglary gone wrong? I guess it could be, but why was nothing of value taken from his home? Why did the intruder take Michael?
Did Michael upset someone enough that it led to an abduction? Do abductors let you take your cell phone?
Did he stage this disappearance on his own? Why leave behind his children and grandchildren? His life was cars, restoring car, car shows with friends. I don’t know that he would leave all that behind.
I truly believe Michaels death was planned out well. Someone knew his daily routine.
He locks the doors to the home when in the workshop. He locks the workshop when not in use. Did he even make it home from Walmart? Was he pulled over by the perp, this would explain why his ID is missing. Was he overpowered and taken somewhere to be murdered? His truck dropped off at home, Walmart purchases taken inside and doors locked? Was the crime scene staged with drops of his own blood then keys and wallet left behind before locking up. Remember, those blood droplets played a huge role in Becca’s proof of death. PaPaw disappeared on March 10th. BC filed the papers on April 20th, or 40 days later. The delayed certificate of death was not granted until June 7th, but the date of death is May 26th, or just one day before his 70th “half-birthday.” The timing of all this ties to his pension payouts.
One issue I have with this theory is, this was a small town and Michael knew Law Enforcement. Surely he would have become suspicious being pulled over by a stranger. Unless it wasn’t a stranger?
Its been over three years now and we still don’t know what happened to Michael Chambers? One thing we can be sure of is that for whatever the reason may be, loyalties between people often diminish , and over time as this begins to happen, we can only hope it’s enough to make someone come forward with information on Papaws disappearance.
