Women are disappearing around St. Louis

[snopes]

Comment: Hello friends and friends of friends that send forwards -

I never never never mass e-mail, but something happened to me this week
that I would like to make all my female friends aware of.

This is not a forward...this is not second hand passed-around information
that you have to check for validity or truth -
This is an honest, frightening, and troubling experience that put my
safety in danger this week, and I want you to know about it so you can
protect yourself

Yesterday while at work at the hospital, I got a page from security who
informed me that my rear tires were low on air, and that I should leave to
take care of it before they went flat.

I went down to the parking lot and found that both rear tires were losing
air and there were three screws evenly spaced around the tires - I thought
little of it except that maybe I had ran over some screws and carefully
drove my car to the shop.

When they took the tires off, the mechanic told me with concern that he
thought that given the placement of the screws (each on the edge of the
space between treads and right on the border of the sidewall) that there
was no way the screws were placed there by accidental run over. He advised
me to call the police and report the incident informally.

When I called Saint Louis city police I was transferred from the
dispatcher to a detective after describing my problem. I thought that odd
since I was really just reporting an incident. The detective started
asking me very intricate questions - where I lived, worked, all the places
I have been parked in the past 2 weeks, if I have noticed anyone honking
at me or trying to wave me aside while driving, and If I had noticed
anyone following me. - Again I thought this detailed interview was odd
given the nature of what I was reporting -

The detective then informed me (in relative investigative confidence) that
they are currently working on the cases of the disappearances of several
women within 90 miles of Saint Louis. All women are connected by only one
thing - their cars were found abandoned on the side of the road with flat
tires and screws screwed into them.

They conjecture that the "perpetrator" is targeting females between 25 and
30 and while they are parked or otherwise occupied will screw the screws
into the rear tires causing a slow leak. Then they believe that these
women are being followed and either signaled to pull over by "kind"
passers by that their tires are low OR followed until their tires blow
out/go flat and then the perp is showing up valiantly to offer help.

I obviously find this incredibly scary. Please check your tires. I will
see many of you tomorrow at the wedding.

Love, Helen

[guruwan2b]

I seriously doublt that a detective would have given out that much unnecessary information to just anyone who called in.
I googled for missing St. Louis woman and there were some, but I didn't see many any where the car was found with screws it the tire. Wouldn't that be one of those things they might try to keep quite?

[diddy]

Originally Posted by guruwan2b

I seriously doublt that a detective would have given out that much unnecessary information to just anyone who called in.
I googled for missing St. Louis woman and there were some, but I didn't see many any where the car was found with screws it the tire. Wouldn't that be one of those things they might try to keep quite?

If I were you I would be mighty careful about googling "Missing girls" and "screw" in the same box

[annabohly]

Good thing i'm 38 and not 25-30.

[guruwan2b]

I retyped my google keywords at just the last minute... Might have raised a few eyes over in IT.....

[Tootsie Plunkette]

Originally Posted by snopes

The detective started
asking me very intricate questions - where I lived, worked, all the places
I have been parked in the past 2 weeks, if I have noticed anyone honking
at me or trying to wave me aside while driving, and If I had noticed
anyone following me...

...whether I was wearing panties, had I even seen any gladiator movies, would I like to see his collection of etchings...

Again I thought this detailed interview was odd
given the nature of what I was reporting

Originally Posted by Tootsie Plunkette

...whether I was wearing panties, had I even seen any gladiator movies, would I like to see his collection of etchings...

Didn't that happen at a McDonalds or something?

[Aud 1]

I told you my superpower was invisibility.

[TuFurg]

" there were three screws evenly spaced around the tires"


So I guess they should look out for a guy with a drill and a tape measure hanging around cars...

Originally Posted by TuFurg

So I guess they should look out for a guy with a drill and a tape measure hanging around cars...

Or maybe a topography major?

[Eddylizard]

The detective then informed me (in relative investigative confidence)

So your idea of keeping something relatively confidential is to write it in an e-mail, send it to as many people you can think of, and urge them to do the same.

Please do not become a spy or an intelligence officer, or indeed apply for any job involving classified information. There is no role for you in these professions.

Anyway, I don't know how reliable a news source this is but

We forwarded her e-mail or Schron Jackson, spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Jackson's response was short and sweet and exactly what I expected.

"I checked and the SLMPD is neither aware of any such incidents nor involved in any investigation related to this matter."

Oh and sorry Helen, I didn't see you at the wedding.

[Simply Madeline]

"I checked and the SLMPD is neither aware of any such incidents nor involved in any investigation related to this matter."

Well of course not. The OP wasn't referring to St. Louis, the city; but rather to Saint Louis, AKA Louis IX. Women are disappearing around him. Which is odd, because he died in like 1200-something.

[Lancastrian]

I blame Jean Claude.

[Aud 1]

One part of the story that really stuck me as weird turns out to be true. Both of my sisters work in the huge medical complex that is the one place you could refer to offhandly as "the hospital" and have people know what you mean in St. Louis. I thought it was weird that security informed the woman that her tire was flat. That seems way too touchy feely for security at a huge medical center. They both said this was true. One has worked there nearly 10 years and was informed by security when she left her lights one. (Everyone has unique ID tags on their cars.) The other one just started and this was mentioned in her orientation.
Neither one of them had heard this story however.

[Horse Chestnut]

Well, there is a missing woman in St. Louis, whose car was found with a flat tire. No mention of why the tire was flat, and no suggestion that there was a rash of these disappearances.

Also, here's a missing woman in Dallas-Fort Worth with a similar M.O.

sounds like scare tactics to me - either that or a sleek underhand advertising campaign by companies that make tyres which never deflate!