Tim Miller & Texas Equusearch Hope to Do Landfill Search at No Cost to Authorities or Family for Missing Tynesha Stewart

19 year old Tynesha Stewart has been missing since March 15, 2007. Sadly, she is presumed dead as her ex-boyfriend, Timothy Wayne Shepherd , has confessed to her murder. Steward told authorities that he dumped Tynesha Stewart’s body in a garbage bin. This is when the story takes a contentious turn.

Houston authorities are balking at the premise of a landfill search due to the enormity and cost of such a search.

Because of that and the sheer volume of trash needed to be searched, sheriff’s officials say they are considering not searching the landfills at all. In addition, the search could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“You can see how this is going to be expensive, and there is little confidence that it would even turn up anything,” said Lt. Martin.

Enter Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch and their many volunteer members and connections to get the right assets for searching for missing loved ones. We spoke with Tim Miller regarding the prospects of the landfill search. Tim Miller stated, “that they have been talking to and will be meeting with Waste Management in the morning regarding the search of the landfill where Tyneshia Stewart’s body is believed to be”. Tim Miller had also met with the family of Tyneshia. Tim Miller told us the following, “I have every intention of doing this search and it will be at no cost to the Sheriff’s department or the family. I am optimistic that we can find her. Tyneshia Stewart needs to be found and brought home to her family.”

For the full story from the beginning and updates go to Missing & Exploited

UPDATE I: Agony, anger over decision not to hunt for teen’s body

We will just say that no search is impossible. If that were the case no searches for missing people would ever be initiated. Searching is not an easy job, if it were everyone would be doing it. That being said, there is no reason why the attempt should not be made. The issue seems to be cost, yet TES has stated they would do the search at no cost to the city or the family. Give the search a chance. No missing person should be considered garbage.

Faced with the “virtually impossible” task of excavating 40,000 tons of landfill waste to find Tynesha Stewart’s body, Harris County sheriff’s officials made the agonizing decision Thursday night that the odds of success were too remote to try.

Sheriff’s officials met with the slain Texas A&M University student’s mother, Gale Shields, shortly before a scheduled 7 p.m. candlelight vigil to inform her there would be no search for her daughter’s body.

“Oh my God!” a sobbing Shields said later. “It just broke my heart that they could put a dollar amount on my, on a person’s life, especially if they probably know where she is. … And they just want to leave her out there. They just want us to leave her out there in the trash because of a dollar amount. I just can’t understand that.” (Houston Chronicle)

All Updates from the beginning can be read HERE.

Administrative Notice: Forum Down For Upgrades

We are moving hosting companies for the Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum today and plan for the move and upgrades to take until Sunday afternoon. The forum will be unaccessable for the short time to provide some needed upgrades.

NYC Gets The Valentines Day Message – No Candy or Flowers, Just Condoms

Ready for that romantic Valentines Day? Got the Flowers? Check. Candy? Check. Bottle of Wine? Check. Free Condom from the New York City employee by the subway? Check.

You heard me right, New York City is spending city resources giving away condoms at train stations in New York City today. And these are not just any condom for Valentines Day that New York City has decide to give out, but a special NYC version that has a special wrapper that can be tracked.

If that just is not the height of romance, I do not know what is.

Taking advantage of the holiday for lovers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration was to unveil the official city condom in midtown Manhattan, where volunteers were to hand them out free at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street.
The health department’s condom program already distributes 1.5 million free condoms each month, but the regular wrapper doesn’t allow for tracking the effectiveness of the effort. Officials hope that will change with the new design, which is said to revolve around a subway theme, with different colors for the various train lines.
Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden recently told The Associated Press that the distinctive wrapper will provide the opportunity to include questions about the condom on the city’s annual health survey. via WCBS NEWSRADIO 880

Florida Creates Web Site For Parents To Check Childrens Driving Records

Florida has recently added a new website for parents to check their childrens driving records. This allows parents, who are responsible for the behavior of their children, a place where they can proactively check to see that their children are obeying the rules of the road.

While a bit intrusive, parents also need to monitor their childrens behavior. They are typically legally obligated, and in my opinion morally obligated, for their childrens actions. And if their children are misbehaving outside the home, the parents can remediate the situation instead of waiting for notification from the state.

Jeffrey Klapatch’s mother wrote on the site, “my big, beautiful, 6-foot-2, 200-pound son was killed in a violent motorcycle accident.”

Klapatch’s tragic end propelled his mother to action. On Jan. 1, 2007, the Jeffrey Klapatch Act went into effect in Florida.

“We have to give parents all the tools we can possibly give them to keep our children safe,” Pinellas County Tax Collector Diane Nelson said.

Parents can now check their children’s driving records up to the age of 18. Klapatch’s mother did not want another parent to make the same mistake. Her 18-year old son loved his motorcycle, and even more, he loved speed. He received nine speeding tickets before the fatal motorcycle accident.

“His parents did not know this,” Nelson said. “Perhaps maybe if this web site had been developed at that time, they would have been able to monitor that a little bit better.”

Once you’re on the highway safety and motor vehicles web site, click on the parental access link. You’ll be asked to enter your child’s drivers license number. Then you’ll have to verify the last four digits of your child’s social security number and birth date. via baynews9.com

New Comments Tool – Or A Little Addition Means A Subtraction in Spam

Scared Monkeys is a target for comment spam. Daily we get 1,000s of spam messages that need to be worked through to find the nuggets that you contribute to the site. While there are many tools out there, we have had mixed success with them.

So today and going forward, when you are posting a comment you will be posed a simple addition problem to prove that you are human, and not some soul sucking spambot that is out to drive us crazy. Just answer the question and it will get your comment into the moderation cue so that we can find it and approve it as quickly as we can.

If you see something not working right with the comments, please send me an email at tom at scaredmonkeys.com so I can get it fixed. Since we are testing this out, we may have bugs pop up, so let us know so we can fix them faster! Thanks