Posted by Holliston at 8/12/2008 9:42 PM and is filed under Michael Tapley,Missing

Michael Tapley left work February 15 to spend the President's Day weekend relaxing at home.  Home for him and his wife Gina consisted of a cabin in Snowflake, Arizona.  He built the cabin as a vacation get-away.  It was by no means luxurious.  No phones, electricity powered by solar panels and just a compost toilet (think Port-o-Potty). 

When he didn't show up for work as a school bus driver the following Tuesday, his boss called the police.  After several hours of desperate pleas, they finally went to his cabin to check things out.  No one was home.  No foul play appeared evident by looking through windows.  That was the end of their check.  They would not take a missing persons report from Michael's boss telling him it needed to come from family.  Ten days later, he called Michael's mother asking if the sheriff department had followed up on his report.  They hadn't and February 26 marked the day the Tapley's became a family of a missing person.

"We started calling the Navajo County Sheriff's department," Michael's sister Kim Palmer said.  "They told us that adult men can go missing if they wanted to.  Finally they took the missing persons report.  But they wouldn't do anything other than taking the report.  Then they stopped taking our phone calls."

What?!?  The police wouldn't talk with the frantically worried family? 

"They would say the person in charge wasn't available and we'd leave them a voicemail," Kim said.  "And they wouldn't return our calls.  I tried calling and because my last name isn't Tapley, they would take my calls.  After they found out who I was, they wouldn't take my calls anymore either."

Now all this time, remember, both Michael and Gina are missing. 

Gina and Michael on their wedding day

Michael's daughter Christine drove the 3 hours from her home in Mesa to Snowflake to search with her baby in tow.  She contacted the neighboring Coconino County Sheriff's Department because that was an area where Michael liked to hunt.  "We thought maybe he was out scouting for a hunting trip he had planned with his father for the fall," Kim said.  "It was possible he got lost or was stuck in a snowstorm.  The Coconino Sheriff sent a helicopter up to search on February 29."  They didn't find anything.

Shortly after that, the Navajo County investigator assigned to the case was replaced.  "I'm not sure if it was because someone from Coconino County contacted them but he was replaced and a new investigator took over.  He broke into my brother's house and searched the property.  He sent a helicopter up in another area.  He ran an APB (all points bulletin) on my brother's vehicle.  Within an hour, he got a hit back from Missouri, about 1200 miles away.  It was there on February 22.  The police found out Gina had family near Kansas City, MO, including her mother.  The local police went to Gina's mother's house.  She said Gina wasn't home and that she had gone out for cigarettes.  She said she would be right back.  Gina never came back."

Gina didn't come back because she was heading back to Arizona--alone.  On March 10, she walked into the Snowflake Police Department, they took her statement and let her go.

"She claimed Michael woke up on Tuesday (the day he was supposed to return to work) and told her he had a headache and wasn't going to work.  He went back to bed and slept until noon, which my brother does not do," Kim said.  "Gina said the next day he woke up and said he was taking her to see her family in Missouri.  While he was semi-retired, he needed the bus driving job as it was his main source of income."  Without phoning his boss, Gina claimed Michael and her packed up their truck and made the long drive to Missouri.  "This was all totally out of character for Michael," Kim said.  "My brother was not spontaneous.  He planned things out.  He would not get up and say let's drive to Missouri."

"Gina said she dropped my brother off at the Isle of Capri Casino in Kansas City while she was visiting her family.  When she went back, he wasn't there.  She said she couldn't find him and claimed she tried to file a missing persons report but the police wouldn't take it.  She said she assumed he would find his way home to Arizona and she left."

As it turns out, there's no evidence Michael ever made that trip to Missouri.  In fact, on the way there, the truck needed to be repaired and records show a stop in Wichita, Kansas.  The repairman said Gina was alone and the truck was so packed with belongings, there wasn't room for two people.  Once Gina got to her family's home, Michael was not with her. Several surveillance cameras at the Isle of Capri Casino were checked.  No Michael.  And to make things even more strange, while in Missouri, she gave away Michael's truck--their only vehicle--to her brother's co-worker.  She got out of the truck and handed them the keys along with a note, supposedly written by Michael, transferring ownership.  It wasn't signed but rather Michael's name was printed on the bottom. 

"This information was found out March 10," Kim said.  "It took the Navajo County Sheriff until May 5 to send the note in for handwriting analysis.  We have never heard any results.  My feeling is they never sent it in."

It appears part of the problem with the Navajo County Sheriff's Department is the number of detectives that have been assigned and then re-assigned.  "There have been at least 6 different people put on this case," Kim said.  "The person in charge now is Roger Stevens and he is extremely uncooperative.  He does not like to speak with women."

Here is a portion of the mission statement on the sheriff's website.

The Sheriff of Navajo County is an elected position with powers exercised under common law, except in so far as it has been modified by constitutional and statutory provisions. The powers of the Sheriff are delegated to employees of the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in order to fulfill the requirements as established by law.

This mission is accomplished in an atmosphere of trust, mutual support and understanding maintained through participative involvement by all employees.

The powers and duties of the sheriff are to preserve the peace; prevent all affrays; breaches of the peace; riots and insurrections; attend all courts, except justice and police; take charge and keep the county jail; endorse all process and notices; serve process and notices; secure the home of a deceased person until heirs or executor has been determined; command as many inhabitants of the county as the sheriff deems necessary in the execution of his duties; conduct and coordinate search and rescue operations involving the life or health of any person; request the aid of volunteer posse and reserve organizations; assist other counties at the request of that Sheriff; cause prisoners who on work release to reimburse the county.

Gary H. Butler

It appears Sheriff Gary Butler hasn't read it.  "He has not returned any correspondence we have sent to him or even acknowledged any correspondence," Kim said.  "He has not acknowledged or returned any phone calls we've made to him.  Finally Christine spoke with him and he told her, 'You really don't think that little bit of a woman could hurt your big ole dad, do you honey?'"

Kim and her family think otherwise.  Tomorrow, I'll tell you why.