Florida - Actually, an entire family is missing. Latisha Rutledge, 22, is 8 months pregnant and has two children ages 4 and 2. She had been living with her uncle in Florida for a few months trying to start her life over, but things didn’t work out. Two weeks ago, the uncle dropped her and her children off at a Greyhound bus station so that they could take a two day trip from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to Downtown Detroit. It’s the last time they have been seen.
Rutledge’s mother Marsella Satchel said that Latisha has no money and she has not been able to file a missing persons police report yet, because police told her she must contact every hospital in Fort Lauderdale and Detroit before it can be filed. Latisha’s baby was due any day. Greyhound does not require photo identification at all its terminals so there is no way to know if Rutledge even boarded the bus and they will not release passenger information unless law enforcement requests it.
Sorry for the shit image associated with this but no online sites have her picture posted, and her name doesn’t even draw any hits in a Google News search.
40 responses so far ↓
1
jenjen0135
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:08 am -Hmmm. Sure I worry for the kids. I worry for the unborn baby. But I really don’t see anyone causing a problem–(RE-kidnapping or killing) for Ms. Rutledge, except Ms. Rutledge.
Issues-issues. Does anyone else think that with 2.99999 kids, that you should pick your ass up, close your legs, quit relying on relatives and moving around…etc, etc…
AND that maybe at that point there isn’t a “fresh start” but one that will require a lot more work since she has almost 3 kids?
Are these relatives “enablers” ? They watch the kids while she goes to work, school, get laid…?
Priorities.
2
LL44
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:20 am -I’m thinking uncle did something very bad.
3
jenjen0135
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:28 am -By this time, I would think that LE would be a lot more involved, seeing as little kids were involved. They could be tracking down ticket numbers, deaprting busses, video surveillance of the boarding area and waiting rooms…
If nothing else, to verify that she was actually there. Wouldn’t hurt to check out the unc’s house too…
I don’t think everything is being told in this story.
4
Morbid
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:37 am -The only thing not being told is the fact that we are probably discussing a poor family. A family that cannot afford flyers and billboard space and do not have the ability to drum up support via the media or through Facebook. It’s just the way it is.
We have stories about women missing and we have the story up within hours complete with a slew of pictures to choose from. Then we have stories like this in which we don’t know anything about until TWO WEEKS after they disappeared. No news stories, no images, no nothing.
Granted, there has not been any sign of foul play as seen in some of the other cases we are currently discussing this month, but there wasn’t any indicators of foul play when Kyle Fleischmann went missing either. That family just had the resources to keep his face on the news for a long time.
Like I said before, it sucks to be you if you are poor and go missing, it sucks even worse if you are deemed ugly, poor and go missing. You are on your own.
5
Pirelli Jones
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:51 am -I don’t really like to provide unsolicited flattery (read: kiss ass) but couldn’t help thinking along those lines as I read this story.
Thanks for posting it!
6
Morbid
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:57 am -But, but…I THRIVE on it!
7
thepooh5
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:59 am -What?
8
Morbid
Jan 24, 2008 at 11:03 am -That was Pirelli Jones agreeing with my comment and specifying that they agreed with me not because I am a genius and the owner of this site, but because they felt the same way.
9
thepooh5
Jan 24, 2008 at 11:06 am -What a sad but true statement.
Missing is missing!! There are kids missing - the police need to get off their collective asses and help find these kids. I’m afraid, since its 2 weeks out, it will be too late for them. I pray for their safe return.
10
dammitall
Jan 24, 2008 at 11:24 am -Yeah. That’s what I’m thinking. Probably fed them to the gators.
11
thepooh5
Jan 24, 2008 at 11:28 am -What really burns my ass, is the cops. You must wait 48 hours to file a missing persons report - then if there is foul play, they have the nerve to ask, “why did you wait so long to report them missing?”
Its a catch 22. The cops have an excuse as to why “not to do their jobs” - immediately and also, provide themselves with a potential “scapegoat” when they are unable or unwilling to do their jobs, as they are paid to do - like helping her mother, by picking up the phone and calling locally to hospitals and morgues, having the local paper run pictures of all of the missing.
Did I understand it correctly - the police informed the mom that she must check every hospital in Ft. Lauderdale and Detroit, before filing a missing persons report? What a cup of shit!!
Poor people do not have the means to keep a loved one’s face plastered in the news, hence, just like this family, they have been missing 2 weeks before we heard anything.
But, let the all mighty dollar come into play - then its “high-profile” — a life is a life and a missing person is a missing person. What does the money have to do with it? Except, the fact, the country as a whole, does not care about human life in general - no one gives a rat’s ass about the terrible crimes that happen to inflame us, they only care if the people involved are actors or atheletes.
What a pity - our sympathies go to our “heros” - which are such great role models………… Michael Vick, Britney, Lindsey, and on and on and on. I find it hard to care what is going on in their lives. They had it made, had a shot to do something good, and the money to make a real difference and all of them pissed it all away. But still, we “care” what happens to them - why not the people who never had a chance? They are the ones who need our sympathies.
12
Morbid
Jan 24, 2008 at 11:28 am -They only thing that kind of gets the uncle out of this is the fact she was seen at the bus station.
13
WryBread
Jan 24, 2008 at 1:57 pm -This isn’t just a matter of financial poverty. It also involves educational poverty. I know people who would be incapable of thinking to look in the phone book to find hospitals, let alone calling them and dealing with the operator and getting their message across in a way that will make them be taken seriously. Same with putting up posters, contacting tv stations and being taken seriously, getting online to rally support, and the other things that other families do. Many people I know live in essentially nonliterate, face-to-face, personal information/gossip networks, and are helpless when the faceless system begins to grind out its demands.
In a world that is so anonymous, where your skills at handling the system become way more important than the seriousness of your situation or what sort of person you are, it’s horrible that this mother was just left with a task and no one to help her. From the police’s point of view, most missing people turn up okay. But that’s no help to a frightened family.
I once tried to help a man get a job and realized that just filling out the forms was way beyond what he could do with his education And he had pride and I knew not to offer help. His abilities and intentions counted for nothing.
I haven’t said any of this too well. I guess I feel too much about it to be as clear as I’d like to be.
I hope this woman is okay. And frankly, I hope she stops having children until her life turns around. There seem to be a lot of women (and I dont’ know if she’s one) who think that having a baby with a man somehow ties him to her and will garner his support. Turns out to be otherwise a lot of the time, sadly.
14
jenjen0135
Jan 24, 2008 at 2:12 pm -THAT 48 hours line is BS. When a kid goes missing, people ignite. Cops and neighbors scatter, helicopters hover. Right? So what if they were with their mother? She was not exactly in a state to be travelling alone with small kids…Again, yes they may have been poor, but the damn police are feeding this family a line of BS if they won’t start a real investigation or at the very least make a report and start to follow up.
It is probably sitting on some lazy ass investgator in-box waiting to be looked at.
Income is not only what the cops look at, sadly. They also look at the history of the person involved, as well as the social class.
15
Miss. Hill
Jan 24, 2008 at 2:20 pm -Money talks. People are to busy taking pictures of Heath Ledgers casket being moved from one place to another, then to have concern for missing innocent children due to their status. Great!
16
Morbid
Jan 24, 2008 at 2:32 pm -Well at least now, when you put her name in Google, something comes up.
17
impqueen
Jan 24, 2008 at 2:41 pm -Whore.
I can’t talk, though, ’cause i do that too, and whenever one of our articles is on top, i’m all “yesss!” I even do the nerdy arm thing if nobody’s looking.
18
ashdavus
Jan 24, 2008 at 2:53 pm -How right you are!! My 13 year old commented on the fact that he thought it was rude and disgusting that the press and the paparazzi were snapping pics of the EMT’s bringing out the body bag.
19
dammitall
Jan 24, 2008 at 3:14 pm -Could be anybody, then. All kinds of predators hang out at the bus stations. Take the kids for some filmmaking, dump mom in the ocean. Those cops are full of shit.
20
Pirelli Jones
Jan 24, 2008 at 5:24 pm -Total BS it sounded like there were helicopters searching Reno within a few hours compared to the days it takes to realize someone didn’t get on/off a bus here. I’m still stewing over the length of time Ms. Lauterbach’s disappearance went unnoticed while under the gov’ts supervision no less.
21
Wonder
Jan 25, 2008 at 8:09 am -why detroit, does she have connections there ?
fla to detroit for a two day get away seems odd why not daytona…
22
ashdavus
Jan 25, 2008 at 8:19 am -The way I read it, her uncle is in Florida and the rest of her family is in Detroit. She was going home. The 2 days is the length of the bus ride.
23
Wonder
Jan 25, 2008 at 8:52 am -her mother is living in detroit and her daughter / grandkids never arrived then ?
this is real shitty coverage … no links eh
then we don’t know if she has not already shown up
seems like with all the missing preg. woman in the recent past ~ they would show more concern
24
ctomczak
Jan 25, 2008 at 10:43 am -I e-mailed this story to the Nancy Grace Show, maybe if dveyone else e-mailed the show Nancy would talk about it on the show and force the police to investigate.
25
Ruby
Jan 25, 2008 at 11:47 am -This one truly is nuts. They’re claiming there’s no photo ID required so they can’t know if she boarded the bus. Hello? Police work? Isn’t that what they call it? How about surveillence videos in the bus depot? How about other people who rode that bus? The driver, at least? Many would remember a woman who was 8 1/2 months pregnant with 2 small kids on a 2-freakin’-day bus ride. That’s a tough road to travel, my friend. I wouldn’t want to do it. But if she was on that bus, someone will remember her and know if she got off, and when. But if no one does the POLICE WORK to find out, then it’s all just a big mystery, eh? Shameful.
And JenJen0135? ITA agree with you — this is about class. And race. And education. All play a huge factor in both police response and media coverage, here, and it’s absolutely disgusting.
26
Unamused
Jan 25, 2008 at 5:17 pm -My money is on the uncle.
27
WryBread
Jan 26, 2008 at 1:40 pm -Is there an update on this? I sure hope this woman and her children are okay. But I have my doubts.
28
Morbid
Jan 26, 2008 at 1:53 pm -No updates at all. I have been trying to call the mother, but all I get is an answering machine. I cannot find info, or a picture.
29
ells9824
Jan 26, 2008 at 2:56 pm -Do we have the uncle’s first name?
30
Morbid
Jan 26, 2008 at 3:00 pm -Not that I have seen. I am not even sure I got the mother.
31
Hippiepoet
Jan 26, 2008 at 3:37 pm -3 people missing and no one knows shit? Something is definitely amiss. I believe they’re all dead, but where are they?
32
ells9824
Jan 26, 2008 at 4:11 pm -I found 2 bus routes that spanned over 2 days, but really not 48 hours. They both had transfers in major cities, and the news wasn’t really revealing anything that could be a clue to them. No unidentifieds…but the problem is its hard to find news that old. I don’t think she got off anywhere off route, because the driver would have to account for that, I think, and then the info would be easy to get…maybe.
Still digging, don’t have anything else to do today.
33
ells9824
Jan 26, 2008 at 8:07 pm -Well I went through NamUs for each state the buses would’ve traveled on those routes, but I am not sure how long any particular place waits until they send to them. I also went through unidentified databases in FL, KY and TN. Georgia kicked me back to NamUs, and Ohio didn’t have anything available. Again, not knowing how long till local kicks it up to state or national.
As of today, there were no UI females in her age range found recently. I tried to search the kids, no one under 5 of either gender turned up in those states.
News is too old to find anything locally about nameless people, but too young for it to be sent elsewhere I think.
Means nothing, they could be home, they could be gone on purpose, they could be at a shelter along the route with the new baby, they could be dead and not found. If anyone can think of any other ways to search let me know.
34
WryBread
Jan 26, 2008 at 9:55 pm -Thank you, Ells9824, you seem to be doing more than the police!
I guess she may have gone into labor and be in a hospital somewhere, but it seems like something like that would turn up on the news of the strange, “Greyhound Bus Mom Gives Birth.” That sort of thing. If she was in a shelter, why would she not contact her family?
Wouldn’t it be great if this turned out to be a big mistake and she just decided to stop somewhere and visit a friend. I hope so.
35
Wonder
Jan 27, 2008 at 2:04 am -I did find the news story on click on detroit
maybe someone would like to contact them to see if she had been found
http://www.clickondetroit.com/contact/index.html
36
impqueen
Jan 27, 2008 at 10:06 am -Morbid’s actually been calling Latisha’s mother, Wonder, but she isn’t picking up her phone.
37
WryBread
Jan 27, 2008 at 12:24 pm -This whole thing is mysterious. Why isn’t the bus line cooperating? As others have said, they could ask the bus driver if she/he saw a pregnant woman with two little ones. I’m sure the babies were not a pleasure to ride with over a two-day trip. The driver would remember them.
38
Morbid
Jan 31, 2008 at 3:53 pm -Reportedly, she has been found safe. She just failed to contact relatives. Once I get more information, I’ll post it.
39
thepooh5
Jan 31, 2008 at 4:23 pm -Hurray!! I hope the “reported information” is correct. I need one happy ending.
Now, can I smack her in the head for being thoughtless to her mother and the rest of her family. I don’t want to really hurt the new mother - just a little pop and say WTH, why didn’t you let your family know you were safe? I know they are very distraught, because I have been…………….
40
pms.247
Jan 31, 2008 at 4:41 pm -Great - we needed some good news!
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