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Much More to Debate on Disappearance of Kristin Snyder!

01/31/2020·

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One of our regular commenters, Anonymaker, has posted his thoughts about the disappearance of Kristin Snyder in various comments.

I thought it would be interesting to cull some of these and put them in one post, in order to continue our quest to discover what happened.

By AnonyMaker

Was Snyder Murdered?

There are certainly questions about the case that deserve better answers, and reason to give some credence to those pointing to the possibility of Snyder having been murdered, even if opinions vary about the likelihood of that, but outright dismissal is absurd.

Is She Alive?

Keith Raniere’s investigators are reported to have said they had found Snyder, and there is supposed to be possible evidence including a photograph. That has only been mentioned briefly in passing, but for some reason we’ve never seen any of that case presented objectively.

It was convincing enough to leave Kristin Keeffe sure of it to this day.

As to the reported photo, yes we should see it. I don’t know why we haven’t, but you can’t necessarily read anything into that, or draw conclusions from it. You should know the fundamental principle, that the absence of evidence, is not the evidence of absence.

[Ed. Note: Keith claimed that a photo of Kristin Snyder and Heidi Clifford was taken at the Grand Canyon several months after Snyder’s disappearance. Barbara Bouchey and Kristin Keeffe both told me they saw the photograph but it was taken from such a distance that it was not possible to identify the women in the picture.

Heidi Clifford told me she did in fact go to the Grand Canyon with another woman who looked not unlike Kristin Snyder. She added that she had paid for the trip prior to Kris’ disappearance and decided to make the trip in memory of Kristin.]

Harbor Master Said All Missing Bodies Were Found

As I’ve noted previously, of the people from Seward washed out to sea in the wake of the 1964 earthquake, 100% vanished without any trace of them ever being found again. So if Snyder paddled the several miles out of Resurrection Bay into open waters, there is a reasonable likelihood that she and her equipment could indeed have disappeared entirely – though there can be some argument over how close to 100%, or least which side of 50%, the likelihood of that is.

You can’t compare the harbormaster’s accounting of what were probably accidental drownings that happened in the bay, to a case where someone may have paddled out into open sea in a deliberate attempt to commit suicide and not have their body found.

I’ve previously posted information from Alaska State Parks about kayak routes from Seward out to the Bay of Alaska – kayakers can definitely reach open water. Have you checked the moon phase for that night to be sure that there wouldn’t have been good conditions for nighttime navigation?

Anyway, it’s all pretty much apples-and-oranges, and speculation, unless we have one or more experienced, expert opinions relevant to kayaking out of Resurrection Bay.

[Ed. Note: One expert, who appears on the film, “The Lost Women of Nxivm” said he thought it was nearly impossible for no tarce of Kristin Snyder to be found, not even a paddle. He has been operating kayak tours – including regularly in winter – for something like 40 years. The harbor master, on the other hand, did relate a story about one of the found bodies, a suicide, who tied his body down with weights and using rope. His body was found because it floated upward and was spotted underwater. Had he chosen deeper water, his body likely would have been found, the harbor master said, because when they found his body, he was just a few days away from his skin sliding off and being released from the ropes. His sneakers slipped off and floated to shore, as I recall.]

Did Alaska National Guard Have Role in Kristin’s Disappearance?

The problem is there are at least two viable theories, and really two and a half or three if you include the variant that Snyder may have been murdered by someone other than the NXians. Given mutually incompatible theories, the raw probability of any particular one actually being true is relatively low.

And then there’s my fourth theory, which I’ll claim is as good as any other. Why have we never heard anything about Snyder’s mysterious work for the Alaska National Guard, who she listed as her employer?

Her job doing “environmental” work for the National Guard could both explain her psychotic symptoms, and why she disappeared.

She was actually employed doing some sort of unexplained, exotic work for the military, and none one has even thought to raise questions about that so far, in spite of the fact that it points to the sort of parties who would actually have the means, motive, opportunity, and known track record of making people vanish off the face of the earth – which shows just how superficial and sloppy the process (if it can even be called that) going on here is.

There’s a whole other conspiracy theory possible there, that may be just as plausible as the others, if not more so. I’m just not sure if I want to go down that rabbit hole.

Footprints

I don’t see anything about footprints around Snyder’s truck when reviewing the official reports that have been posted online; and it’s highly unlikely that there was obvious evidence of two people getting out of the truck that was just overlooked, though that may not be clear from whatever reporting or rumors have come down to us.

[Name Redacted]

As for [Name Redacted], doing a fact-check of what we actually know, turns up this account in the police report:

“[Name Redacted]said a bunch of them were there in a group and she believed Snyder left to attend a performance at the Performing Arts Center (PAC).”

We don’t know whether [Name Redacted]was lying, just repeating in good faith a lie she had been told, or possibly even recounting an honest misunderstanding (such as if she had misheard what had been said about where Synder was going, for instance confusing “PAC” for “back,” the sort of thing that also happens all the time in real life.

Right after the disappearance of Kristin Snyder, [Name Redacted] was gifted $50,000 to operate a cafe that consisted of a table and a sink.

I think she was more just a dupe and minion, who was gotten out of Anchorage at the point that NXIVM was having a lot of problems with bad publicity, not the least of it multiple cases of participants and members suffering mental problems or breakdowns.

NXIVM may just not have trusted her not to spill damning details of the negligence that lead up to Snyder’s disappearance, and moved her where she could be kept under close watch, though I will certainly concede that nothing conclusive can be said about her role until we know more; plus there’s also the possibility that she knew about drugging gone wrong that could have further contributed to Snyder suiciding..

Kristin Keeffe says she thinks Kristin Snyder is still alive.

Kristin Keeffe

I think she’s enough of a Kool-Aid drinker that she believes NXIVM’s ginned-up, self-serving conspiracy theory about Snyder’s disappearance.

Heidi Clifford

She gave the gun in her house to someone for safekeeping, which is a standard step when someone is suicidal, and then when Snyder went missing, reported her to the authorities as “suicidal” according to the official record.

In her most recent interview with Frank, she said “I just went forward into the police department as a suicide, like we all at that time believe[d], because of what happened.”

According to a 2017 piece by Frank, recounted in part more recently, “According to Miss Clifford, Miss Snyder lay in snow in an attempt at killing herself.”

Clifford, who was in a position to know better than anyone, believes that Snyder simply acted on the suicidal ideations she had been expressing. The armchair knowitallism which completely discounts that, really ends up being disrespectful to people involved and actually impacted by the tragedy, as exemplified at its worst by the basement-dwellers who harassed the survivors of Sandy Hook victims based on their irrational beliefs stemming from taking internet conspiracy theorizing too seriously.

Kim Snyder

I think Kim has had her chain yanked here, in ways that are probably not good for her. Clearly she’s not used to such an uncivil environment, and truly upset by commenters like Dirt.

Suicide Note

My guess is that Kristin wrote the main page while sitting in one or more places, perhaps just really well propped up in her truck, and then dashed off the second suicide note [“no need to look for my body”] at the last minute, maybe even after she’d gotten out of the truck, which accounts for some differences.

Murdered By Drug Dealers?

There’s also no reason to dismiss out of hand the possibility of her having been murdered by someone besides the NXians just because “she was spending all of her time at the convention.”

Plenty of people get killed as the culmination of disputes or involvements that have been going on for extended periods of time, or even just randomly. NXIVM’s conspiracy theory is that she disappeared because drug dealers were after her, but if there’s any truth to that then it’s possible they could have killed her, and her being in a convention at the time would have been completely irrelevant.

Nxivm’s Challenge

NXIVM was in the midst of a virtual outbreak of participants having severe psychological problems, and their pending name change was likely part of the damage control – though ultimately the bad PR would still virtually put an end to the most prestigious part of their business, the corporate and government recruiting.

Would Nxivm conspirators have written a suicide note to cover up a murder that blames Nxivm for the suicide?

They would likely have been desperate to completely sweep Snyder’s case under the rug, not to do something that specifically fingered them in a dramatic and even gruesome mental breakdown spelled out in tabloid headline terms.

As a reminder of what they were facing:

Cult of Personality
Forbes, Oct 13, 2003
” After sleepless nights and 17-hour days of workshops, a 28-year-old woman from a prominent Mexican family says she began to have hallucinations and had a mental breakdown at her hotel near Albany. She went to a hospital and required psychiatric treatment.

NXIVM cuts training school from plan

Halfmoon — Controversial company’s latest proposal still seeks to build headquarters, offices on town site

Times Union/December 21, 2003

“The 5-year-old company earns $4 million annually, according to an October article in Forbes magazine.
….
Mental health professionals who have seen NXIVM’s confidential manual and treated former students liken NXIVM to a cult. One of those professionals is Carlos Rueda, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in the Bronx. He also serves as an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College in Valhalla, Westchester County.”

An Espian’s brief life
Once a dynamic overachiever, a woman’s world deteriorated after she took classes offered by a Halfmoon-based group.
Times Union/February 1, 2004

“Carlos Rueda, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in New York City, has said he treated three NXIVM students for psychological disorders related to NXIVM courses. One, a 28-year-old Manhattan woman from a prominent Mexico City family, experienced a psychotic episode in NXIVM’s New Karner Road facility and required hospitalization in January 2003, a month before Kristin Snyder’s disappearance, according to Rueda and Albany Police records.”

Bizarre Suicides

I’ve actually witnessed a woman paddle a small craft out and capsize it in a suicide attempt, though that may have been more of the sort of dramatic gesture despondent people are prone to rather than a truly serious attempt to kill themselves.

And I knew a woman who traveled hours to the city where a former boyfriend lived, to shoot herself through the heart on his doorstep, speaking of dramatic gestures.

Psychotics in particular seem prone to unbelievably strange, and sometimes elaborately planned, suicides:

Some forms of self-annihilation are elaborate and richly planned.

“I collect files on certain types of suicide, especially those involving saws. To me, the rehearsal images that must accompany such plans have to be pretty gruesome.”
[I am going to spare readers citations of case histories, which can be found below]
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadow-boxing/201311/bizarre-suicides

Here’s an example of relatively elaborate and deliberate drowning:

Friends of an Enigmatic Artist See a Riddle in His Death
“The body of the 67-year-old artist was found floating 50 feet offshore on Jan. 14, an apparent suicide by drowning. But the reasons he might have killed himself elude both the police and his friends and fans. Although some tantalizing clues emerged after his death, he had told no one of his plans to make the 50-mile drive from his home in Locust Valley to Sag Harbor, where, on the evening of Jan. 13, he jumped from a highway bridge over Sag Harbor Cove and was last seen backstroking into the distance, the police say.”

And a couple of cases involving kayaks:

Autopsy: Missing kayaker shot himself
“Douglas Winter, the Lake Superior kayaker whose body was found washed ashore Nov. 5 just north of Two Harbors, committed suicide, his death certificate states.”

Kayaker tied large rock to ankles to drown herself, officials say
” A 24-year-old kayaker who vanished during a family camping trip in Georgia had tied a rock to her ankles with an extension cord in an apparent intentional drowning, police said on Monday. Maranda Whitten’s body was located in Point Lake Monday morning, three days after she was last seen in a teal-colored kayak.”

Finally, here’s one that I think readers may just find curious:

Florida man faked his murder using a gun and a weather balloon

It was apparently a copycat of a “CSI Las Vegas” show, presumably by someone who wanted to die but did not want to have his reputation tarnished by suicide.

Comments (54)

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Bangkok01/31/2020

Frank, you have too many typos and word errors to make this an easy to read story (showing you typed it too fast). I suggest you re-read it and CLEAN IT UP, pronto, you asshole. For example: (and then dashed off 'the second' at the last minute) WTF does that even mean, you asshole? (Would Nxivm [bad] actors 'written' the suicide note to cover up a murder…) Just a basic typo, but clean it up, sir.

Frank Parlato01/31/2020

You're right I did make a couple of typos and I corrected them. How come, if you are supposed to be me, as some people have said recently, I did not notice the mistakes, but you did?

AnonyMaker01/31/2020

Frank, you of all people should know the true believer or conspiracy theorist response to that: it just further demonstrates how devious you are, in setting up such a calculated diversion, and thus is simply more proof of what you're really up to!

Mexican Lady01/31/2020

Maybe Bangkok is your editor conscious and hence why he identifies these edit errors. I feel Scott Johnson is mine. He always replies to my comments 🙂 even when I post as anonymous 😉

Scott Johnson01/31/2020

Obviously to throw us off track, just like when Raniere investigated the disappearance of Snyder.

Anonymous02/01/2020

This gave me quite a chuckle.

Peaches01/31/2020

“exotic work for the military” Anony where did you hear this? She was doing some type of work with plants in Kentucky. Is that what you mean?

AnonyMaker01/31/2020

Please see my response to Ann Lee, above.

Peaches02/01/2020

How can I find little ole Ann Lee with you blocking up the comment section. Jeez write a freaking article already. ….A better one. Thanks 😊

Flowers01/31/2020

In the Greater Vancouver area, where I live, I'm aware that the bodies of people who drowned in this area are often never found. There have also been numerous cases of “floating feet” , some of which were never identified, and some which were identified as belonging to people who had disappeared outside of the Vancouver area. It's possible that some of Snyder's remains were found elsewhere and never identified. Bodies can float quite a distance, depending on the currents. As for people who choose bizarre suicide methods, I did know someone who killed himself with a homemade guillotine. The ex-boyfriend of someone I know committed suicide by attaching a rope to his neck and tying the other end to a vehicle, then putting a weight on the gas pedal…… We also have no clue what Kristin was planning as she headed towards Seward. She may not have decided to kill herself until she saw the kayak was left there, and was available for her to use. Earlier she had half- heartedly attempted suicide by laying in the snow, which was obviously not a serious attempt.

Peaches01/31/2020

Clifford, “She added that she had paid for the trip prior to Kris’ disappearance and decided to make the trip in memory of Kristin.” Or not and it was a celebration in a successful premeditated perfect murder. Heidi Clifford was a very very…… very busy lady. Hey who took care of your “demented” mother while on your vacation? Did you leave her strapped up in her rocking chair back in Alaska?

AnonyMaker01/31/2020

I appreciate Frank putting together these pieces from several comments I made. Sometimes after realizing I've written quite a bit piecemeal, I wonder if I shouldn't have just written a post and submitted it to him. I hope readers will forgive the slightly choppy way it ends up coming out. And I'd intended to write one more comment to elaborate on a point I only referred to in passing in one of the above segments: If the NXians had been trying to drug Snyder, that could have had the unintended consequence of actually making her more prone to suicide. One of those counter-intuitive things many people may not know, is that depressed or distressed individuals are actually more likely to commit suicide once they have been started on anti-depressants or another type of medication; this is well-known by professionals and borne out by studies and statistics. It's generally ascribed to the effect that people in the depths of depression and dysfunction may not even have resolve to carry through with suicidal thoughts, whereas once they start to improve they can then manage to act; research has also suggested that some medications simply have an effect of increasing suicidality as well, though that's not fully understood yet.* Plus if Snyder had been given drugs had that started to improved her condition, then she certainly would have been in good enough shape to make the drive to Seward. Though I don't think that her condition necessarily ruled out her driving to Seward, regardless; the person in the best position to judge that, Clifford, told authorities that Snyder might go to Resurrection Bay and to check there, so apparently she didn't think Snyder was bad enough off not to be able to make the drive. I don't actually see any evidence that the NXians were drugging Snyder, and realistically it would have been hard for them to surreptitiously get her doses of medication on the regular schedule required, though irregular doses could still have had an effect. But we know they had a prior history of attempting such things, and it can't be ruled out. I think it would actually have been more typical of the hapless amateurism of the NXians, to have tried to fix a situation caused by their shoddy and negligent practices by attempting something underhanded, which had the unintended consequence of making things much worse – contributing further to someone ending up committing suicide – than that a bunch of such people with no prior history of violence, somehow came together to deliberately take the life of a friend and fellow human being, and then so successfully cover it up as to fool seasoned law enforcement investigators. * Reference, for example: Do Antidepressants Increase Suicide Attempts? Do They Have Other Risks? “Antidepressant medications are widely prescribed to try to decrease the symptoms of depression and to reduce the risk of suicide. However, the medications have risks that outweigh the benefits for more patients than you probably realize. When a person’s depression starts to lift, he or she may feel less hopeless and helpless. That sounds like an improvement, but when people feel less helpless but still feel depressed, they may think about suicide as a way out, whereas before they were too immobilized to make a suicide plan. For that reason, a decrease in the symptoms of depression can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts or actions. That risk is well known by mental health specialists, and can occur regardless of the type of treatment that a patient is receiving, or even if the patient is feeling less depressed without any treatment. However, reducing depression is not the only reason why antidepressants can increase the chances of a person committing suicide.” http://www.center4research.org/antidepressants-increase-suicide-attempts-risks/

fi01/31/2020

I have already responded to some of Anonymakers' comments above, in previous post , but here are my responses again. It is not a valid comparison to compare the loss of bodies during the 1964 earthquake in Seward to a drowning in Resurrection Bay re issue if dead bodies will be found floating in Bay afterwards. The earthquake was a 9.2 Richter scale earthquake, and the 30 foot seismic tsunami wave that was caused by it traveled .9 miles into the town of Seward which sits on a flat bit of ground on the coast; the underwater landslides that resulted plus the tsunami caused much of the earth the town was on, as well as the structures on the earth. eg, buildings, to literally disappear forever, and be washed out to sea. Of course the bodies disappeared. So did the town. Poof. Gone. Nothing remotely like that was at play in Feb of 2003. Second, I asked / was told by kayaker who has been to Resurrection Bay that they thought it would take about 6 hours of steady paddling for a competent kayaker to get far enough out towards sea (south from, away from town of Seward which sits at head of Bay) so that something dropped in water would go out to sea, as opposed to floating up on shore of Bay– ie, if you wanted to have stuff disappear, eg a paddle, you'd want to paddle that far to think that paddle, if dropped , wouldn't float up on shore of Bay, in other words they'd guess it would take about 6 hours to paddle toward open water where stuff would float to open sea as opposed to shore of Bay, and this assumes no big southerly wind that would just blow it all back toward Seward, and Resurrection Bay is a windy place. For whatever that is worth. IMO 6 hours of paddling in day in winter would be impossible for most people, there's no lights, and Seward/ Resurrection Bay is a famous for bad weather. .

AnonyMaker02/01/2020

fi, thanks for your comments, and particularly for helping out with real research, or fact-checking, or whatever you'd like to call it, by reaching out to a resource you have with directly relevant experience and knowledge. I brought up the example of the earthquake to make the point that we were stuck with apples-to-oranges comparisons either way; the harbormaster's experience doesn't necessarily relate to small vessels heading out to open waters, either. But now that you've provided us with a truly useful opinion, we have a new and better baseline. And that also sent me back to look a the official report on the case and the searches that were undertaken, to see what those involved at the time were considering or had determined. My basic take is that their consultation with expert kayakers, and also certainly their consideration of weather and navigation conditions, lead them to search up to 25 miles or more from Miller's Landing, including adjacent bays and into “open-ocean,” so they seemed to conclude it was plausible, or at least not to be ruled out, that Snyder or her remains had gotten quite far out – and based on your experienced kayaker's judgment, far enough out that they might well have then been swept out to sea. I'd also note that none of those involved is known to have raised any objections, that not having been able to find Snyder or any sign of her, was unexplainable or indicated that authorities were on the wrong track. Here are relevant parts of the report, with some errors from what must have been an OCR scan: “RCC [US Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center] faxed the results of their open-ocean search” [no further information is available about the search] “i spoke by phone with Kenny Powers of the Anchorage Nordic Ski Patrol, who advised thai l coordinate with Marilyn Scarborough, who was among the volunteers present in Seward. Scarborough had many years experience Kayaking in Resurrection Bay, and provided key information on search areas for the next day. ” “The cutter Mustang was to search Kayaker's Cove, the eastern shoreline of Resurrection Bay to Cape Resurrection [approx. 15 miles from Miller's Point],. and Ragged and Fox islands. The USCG nelicopter was to search the western shore of Resurrection Bay to the tip of Cape Aialik [approx. 25 miles from Miller's Point], around the cape and into Aialik Bay [to the West]. The Civil Air Patrol was to conduct a shoreline' search around the tip of Cape Resurrection and into Day Harbor [the next bay East]. Ground searchers were to again hike the trail from Lowel! Point to Tonsina Point ” [that indicates that searched to and beyond the two capes on either side of the entrance to the outer part of Resurrection Bay, including the adjacent bays and open waters, as well as conducting a ground search in case Snyder hadn't actually taken the kayak and had instead headed into wilderness.] “Experienced kayakers on this search effort expressed the opinion that based on the sea conditions near the tip of Aialik Cape, that it was unlikely that a kayak could have rounded either Aialik or Resurrection Capes during the past few days.” [note that doesn't address the case of someone heading, or swept, directly out to sea, or having capsized] While I'd like see specific opinions about how to read this from some of those involved in the search, all I could find is that an Alaska journalist reports that friends think it was “a mental breakdown that led Snyder to suicide”: https://craigmedred.news/2018/06/03/untold-story/

Nutjob01/31/2020

There are three large things that don't make sense to me. 1. Why did [Name Redacted] tell the cops that Kristin went (or may have gone) to the Performing Arts Center when [Name Redacted] knew full well that Kristin was in no shape to do such a thing? And why did [Name Redacted] abruptly end this same conversation with law enforcement? 2. Why was the truck found 2 hrs away from Kristin's house, but next to [Name Redacted]'s cabin? 3. Why did notoriously cheap NXIVM give [Name Redacted] a sweetheart deal to move to Albany? A lady I used to know, taught me that once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern. Do I think [Name Redacted] killed Kristin? No (for several reasons). I think [Name Redacted] was unwittingly set up to make it look like she did.

AnonyMaker01/31/2020

Nutjob, I think all of those turn out to make some sense when carefully examined, even if they leave us with questions: 1. We don't know whether [Name Redacted] was lying, or just repeating a lie she had been told – or even repeating some sort of misunderstanding, such as that she thought someone had said Snyder was going to the “PAC” (which the police report indicates is what she said) when it was really “going back” (as in to her home) – just the sort of miscommunication that occurs all the time. I agree that she is a suspicious figure in this, particularly given the fact that she apparently wanted to call “friends” before further talking with troopers which makes it sound as if there was some coordination of what the authorities were, or weren't, told, though that's still could just be their trying to cover up negligence in the case of a suicide. 1A. I don't think we really know specifically what sort of shape Snyder was in. Clifford, who was in the best position to know, reported her as being capable of driving to Seward. And, as noted in another comment, if NXIVM was drugging her successfully, then even if she was previously virtually incapacitated, she could have been in shape to drive the night she disappeared: https://frankreport.com/2020/01/31/much-more-to-debate-on-disappearance-of-kristin-snyder/#comment-120392 2. Miller's landing was a place Snyder knew and liked, and frequented,* we just don't know why. The real questions are, did she become familiar with Miller's Landing because she knew [Name Redacted] , did she meet [Name Redacted] while making trips there – or could it indeed be one of those coincidences that just happens, like NXIVM's Apropos Club being run out of a building had formerly been a restaurant run by Heidi's and Gina's extended family? 3. NXIVM – and the Bronfmans – were not cheap when it came to trying to sweep the problem Snyder's case posed under the rug, or at least explain it away for internal propaganda purposes. They frantically wired in the ballpark of half a million dollars, sight unseen, to an unknown PI firm in California that apparently did virtually nothing, and then paid further money to Interfor (both firms were probably scamming the NXians, showing how hapless and incompetent NXIVM was in dealing with the real world). The deal with [Name Redacted], if it was even related to the Snyder case (we don't know, that there might not have been something else), involved comparatively little money in the big picture, and could have been intended to ensure her silence regarding things that could have further damaged NXIVM's reputation at the time when they were getting into serious trouble that was forcing a name change and costing them the most prestigious clients like Edgar Bronfman, not necessarily capital felonies. I like you, and I'll throw you a bone here: Inspired in part by both you and Heidi, I am starting to think it's relatively more plausible that the NXians had tried to drug Snyder, and either that went terribly wrong, or at least they thought it had or would look like it had if it came out. Lauren Salzman admitted she knew it was illegal, when she was involved in the drugging of a participant in another case, I believe just several months' previous. And if you want to go by the three coincidence rule, then given the Romano's/Apropos, Raniere/Del Negro/Vicente/Natalie (Natali)/Chiappone/et al, and Bronfman/Capone/Buffalo-Niagara/Albany connections, we'd have to conclude NXIVM was actually an Italian mob operation – which would indeed lead us to an in some ways superior theory of who might really have pulled off a murder staged as a suicide, compared to the hapless and gutless NXians on the ground in Anchorage. (I'd add a fourth or more, but there are other Italians who shall remain unnamed out of respect) * According to the police reports, “On 2-7-03 Anchorage Police Department reported that they had an active missing person case involving Kristen Snyder, and that there was information that she might be in Seward. Snyder was reported to be suicidal, ” and “Snyder had been missing from her home since the evening of 2/6/03. She had been depressed and suicidal and had kayaking experience in Resurrection Bay, Her truck had been found by AST the previous evening parked at the Miller's Landing kayak rental shed, where she had rented kayaks In the past. ” (note the reference there to “rental shed,” which clarifies a point of confusion that has been discussed previously; what officers called the “shed” was whatever structure was used as the rental office, and which was what was broken in to – probably to get a paddle – and not what the Millers know as the kayak shed that was not actually built until later; once again a certain amount of theorizing and speculation has occurred over a detail, that could have been resolved by paying closer attention to the evidence at hand)

Heidi Hutchinson01/31/2020

Good job piecing this together, Frank! But without the rebuttals to AnonyMaker aka AnonyFakers overly conclusive comments and the posts from our Inspector Friend who concludes otherwise based on, herewith, untold facts — such as the Pizza receipts Heidi found from Kris’ truck, its proximity to [Name Redacted]'s cabin, the factual background on the footsteps leading away from both sides of the truck, and I might add if you don’t mind, my notes on the comparison to my sister Gina’s “suiciding” scenario and [Name Redacted]’s apparent “scapegoat” accessory after the fact role which explains her bribes from NXIVM including being made the proprietor of a cafe purchased by NXIVM — owned by Gina’s close relatives — 2 months prior to her “suiciding” — that I believe was at least co-planned with Kristin Keeffe and Keith Raniere — if not also executed with their hyper-assistance down to possibly pulling the trigger. Phew! 😅. When I have time perhaps I’ll write my own post in Gina who does seem to be getting short shrift around here lately given the plethora of explored and unexplored evidence. Lotta pieces missing in your puzzle, Anonyfaker, mocker, maker — that distorts the big picture — and let’s not forget how much loot Clare shot on that. One question: If psychos are prone to engineer elaborate suicides, what would a suiciding planned by a psycho like Raniere look like? Might it not involve a Buddhist Monastery, sacrificial rituals culled from Buddhism or Hinduism? Of course there wasn’t much time to plan Kristin’s suiciding that may have come about sooner than anticipated… Not too many ritual signs involved there, actually. As you suggested there might be for a psycho like Kris or Clifford in the diabolical planning of this convincing (for Kristin Keeffe anyway) disappearance — Something more like a murder that Keith boasted about. And for gods sakes a mommy faker, you sound like a loon with your secret Coast guard conspiracy theory. What, the Alaskan govt. killed her bc she, what, took pics of oily seals and they blamed “ Nexium” with a fake suicide note?! Or was it Clare’s dad again? Sounds like something Raniere & Co. would dream up. Along with the Arizona drug ring. Say, maybe Dennis Burke was in AZ with Juval Aviv but they forgot the zoom on the telephoto lens so the pics didn’t come out exact but enough to convince Kristin Keeffe Kris lives and deals drugs to this day!

Ann Lee01/31/2020

It's not exotic work teaching others how to discard pollutants, such as oil and gasoline safely. While in Kentucky she studied plants and rented a house in Lexington.

AnonyMaker01/31/2020

Work at military facilities involves exposure to far more dangerous, and even exotic compounds – especially given the unique mission of the AKNG, unlike anything in CONUS, which most people are unaware of. The safety basics of petroleum product handling are covered in longstanding FMs (Field Manuals), so Snyder was definitely involved with something more advanced and hazardous. Especially if she was involved in the decommissioning of the facility on Little Diomede, she may even have dealt with or been exposed to old Soviet materials and compounds. This was actually my area of specialty in the military, and I'll be writing more about it in the future when I can determine the best way to present it. It's at least as plausible a conspiracy theory as others, particularly as it brings in actors with the training and actual track record for making people disappear.

Peaches02/01/2020

She wasn't working at a military facility. I don't know where you're getting your information from about this exotic work. I do however find it interesting to bring the National Guard into a murder investigation.

Bangkok01/31/2020

With regard to the armchair idiots trying to solve this dubious death (myself excluded, as I'm not an idiot like AnonyMaker) I'm sure that even Inspector Clouseau — our retired USDA Beef Inspector — would agree with the following statement… A person who's REALLY contemplating suicide would not be fixated on telling others not to “search for their body” just moments before their death. Thus, the inclusion of such a passage (into an alleged suicide note where the body was NEVER found) is extremely telling and suspicious. Especially when the suicide note doesn't match the handwriting of the deceased. Kristin's suicide note passage (“no need to search for my body”) is not something she'd even be thinking about if she was about to end her life a few minutes later. Guess what? …That's something a murderer would be thinking about, when trying to cover their tracks and create a suicide 'hoax' without a body. It represents a fixation with 'EVIDENCE' before the crime was even investigated. This reminds me of Darlie Routier's 911 call (after murdering her 2 kids) where she tried to cover her tracks WAY TOO EARLY in the investigation, throwing major suspicion upon herself from day 1… During the 911 call to report that her 2 babies were brutally stabbed and nearly dead (but not dead yet), she kept fixating on the fact that she may have 'touched the knife'. The ambulance hadn't even arrived yet and the 911 operator was trying to get her to help her kids —- but she was already trying to cover her tracks by explaining why her fingerprints might be on the murder weapon, lol. Only a murderer would be worried about 'evidence' WHEN HER TWO BABIES were a few minutes away from death, screaming for their mom, bleeding in front of her. It's a very telling admission. Likewise, Kristin's suicide note sounds like a conveniently written (and very telling) “cover my ass” instruction from a murderer —- designed to keep police from trying to find her body and do an autopsy, which might reveal foul play. That's something a murderer would write in an attempt to make the investigation disappear as quickly as possible. I'm also reminded of Scott Peterson's case here. IMO Heidi Clifford reminds me of Scott Peterson on 3 issues. 1) Just as Scott Peterson tried to make Lacey's body disappear in the water and throw police off the scent with other stories —— I believe that Heidi Clifford wrote the suicide note to throw police off her scent, while getting rid of Kristin's body in the water somewhere, possibly a different body of water. 2) While Scott Peterson tried to blame Satanic Cult members for kidnapping Lacey, Kristin's murderer tried blaming NXIVM in the suicide note (for her depression) — thus taking the focus away from Heidi Clifford. 3) Just as Scott Peterson 'immediately' began watching porn, dating other women and moving on with his life — Heidi Clifford was getting ready to trash Kristin's belongings, sell her truck, payoff NXIVM, and move on with her life. Which she did. IMO these are two sociopaths — Scott Peterson and Heidi Clifford. AnonyMaker keeps accepting Heidi Clifford's statements as though they are gospel, even though she's a legit suspect who admitted to lying to police (about the pregnancy) to purposely keep the investigation away from her. Again, a person who fixates on 'evidence' (lying to police about pregnancy) is usually trying to cover up something, since it's not normal to do that. Only an idiot (like AnonyMaker) would trust the word of a known liar who had a motive to kill her wife (a love/sex triangle is the oldest motive known to man, lol). Yet AnonyMaker keeps trying to convince Kim Snyder to trust AnonyMaker's judgement about Heidi Clifford's truthfulness, LOL, which is like asking Kim Snyder to trust the word of Barney Fife. Have a nice day.

Peaches01/31/2020

I think we should stop focusing on these stupid paddles and kayak. Obviously, it's bullshit. Purple slippers, bullshit. [Name Redacted], piece of shit just like Esther. Clifford, brainwashed won't say the truth. Maybe Tammy Boyer will talk.

AnonyMaker01/31/2020

Peaches, I'm not quite sure what you're getting at there, but I agree that the focus on details ends up being unproductive. Someone posted just today on the previous topic, that they'd checked a friend who was familiar with kayaking in Resurrection Bay (more of a relevant opinion than we've gotten here in months), who said that paddling about 5 or 6 hours out from Miller's Landing gets someone to the point where a paddle in the water could either float out to sea or back into the bay depending on conditions – so it could go either way, literally. And a fact-check will show that LL Bean sells purple “slippers” or scuffs made out of wool with traction soles for outdoor wear – so depending whether that is referenced were big fuzzy slippers (like Frank posted a picture of) or something more robust, once again, there are two ways to look at it. And, yes, those involved seem to either be untrustworthy or even still stuck in a culty mindset. What we really need is either for some of them to finally tell the full truth of what they know – or for conclusive new evidence to emerge. We aren't really getting anywhere hashing over what is available to us here, which isn't even everything that the professional law enforcement investigators had available to them, or was available to the jury that made the finding which resulted in the issuance of the Certificate of Presumptive Death – a panel of citizens like us who may have asked some of the same sorts of questions, and possibly even taken testimony from some of the people we'd like to hear from.

AnonyMaker02/01/2020

While doing some further research and fact-checking, I ran across two articles with some interesting perspectives, one presenting an alternative theory of what Snyder might have done after parking her truck near Miller's Landing, which was apparently taken into consideration by Alaska authorities when they did ground searches, including using dogs, in addition to the nautical and aerial searches; and another about how relatively common it is for people to disappear given Alaska's waters and wilderness – with a reminder that such things can happen without even going very far from Anchorage: Human remains found near Seward likely not those of missing Mount Marathon runner “There are eight people missing” in the Seward area since 1993, she added, and trooper files hold an unknown number of cases of people who disappeared before that date. …. An old kayak missing from the yard at Miller's Landing, a resort at the end of the road, led to speculation she might have paddled off into Resurrection Bay, but she could just as easily headed down the trail to Tonsina Creek.” https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/human-remains-found-near-seward-likely-not-those-missing-mt-marathon-runner/2014/08/16/ Alaska, Land of the Lost “On average, 5 of every 1,000 people go missing every year, roughly double the national rate. Since Alaska began tracking the numbers in 1988, police have received at least 60,700 reports of missing people. As everywhere else, most cases involve runaways who eventually return home or are found. But Alaska has the highest percentage of people who stay missing. Investigators have compiled a list of about 1,100 people who remain lost. This in a state whose population — 650,000 — is less than that of San Francisco. …. In Alaska, even the largest cities lie in the middle of wilderness. “From this building, you can walk five minutes and be in deep woods,” says MacDonald, sitting in his Anchorage office. “You can go a mile, two miles out, and never be found. It happens all the time.” https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-feb-15-na-vanished15-story.html

Kim02/01/2020

Kim To the person that wrote this article today, I am the ONLY sibling left behind- and so know Frank has already hashed the A) The drug dealers———Wrong!!!! Kris has NEVER been on drugs—— no money owed to a drug dealer B) Frank talked to the Bay Master- all of the other bodies have been found. All of them. C) Kris had her own company( Ekologik.com). The US National Guard DID NOT kill my sister. When you bring a US Government into something like this, it is VERY serious. This was NOT something that happened. To say something like this, you BETTER have proof!!!!! You DO NOT!!!! D) We do know that NXIVM had a hand 🖐 in this. But as for the other things, NO!!!!! The other issues have been covered. Please recheck your facts- leave the US Government OUT of this thing. Please!!!!!!!! Kim Snyder

AnonyMaker02/03/2020

Kim, I'm glad to see you chiming in here. It doesn't seem that you're accustomed to dealing with the sort of rough-and-tumble and sometimes downright strange, online forum that Frank oversees here. To get on to what's most important, I think it's clear that NXIVM had a hand in what happened to Kristin. At a minimum, they recklessly used processes that can be dangerous to mental health in spite of knowing that from previous cases, negligently prevented her from getting necessary professional care when she needed it, and lied about and covered up their role when things went terribly wrong. The Seward harbormaster has a limited area of responsibility, so I've looked instead to what is in the official report about Kristin's disappearances and the searches that followed. The team at the search command post consulted people with “many years experience Kayaking in Resurrection Bay” and determined a search area ranging at least 25 miles from the harbor, around the capes at the outer entrance to the bay, all the way into the bays to the East and West, and out to open ocean – they apparently thought that a kayak might have gotten quite far. Alaska State Troopers worked with “Seward area fire/EMS volunteers, the U.S. Coast Guard, Forest Service law enforcement, the Seward Police Department, the Civil Air Patrol, and friends of Snyder's, many of whom were part of an organized search and rescue team as part of the Nordic Ski Club.” When an Alaska journalist asked friends of Kristin's in 2018, they said they found the murder “theory far-fetched. They believe it more likely Raniere and NXIVM played some role in a mental breakdown that led Snyder to suicide.” The 2018 article mentions that Kristin's friend Kenny Powers, the director of the Nordic Ski Patrol who teared up when interviewed by Frank, was also a former Alaska assistant attorney general – so the civilian searchers were lead by someone who was also an attorney and the second highest-ranking prosecutor in the state. A 2019 Times Union article reported that “Powers saw Snyder in the days before she disappeared. He recalled her as suicidal, a dramatically different person from the level-headed woman he knew for years before she began NXIVM courses and traveled to Albany to meet Raniere.” He even testified before the jury for the Certificate of Presumptive Death, so he must think that the investigation covered things, and find their inability to locate a body not too troubling. So far as I can tell no one else involved in the search raised any objection that the authorities were missing something or off track, or that there was anything fundamentally wrong, either. There's no proof that there was a murder – by anyone. As for the theory that Kristin was escaping drug dealers, that's NXIVM's self-serving internal conspiracy theory. I think it should be aired, just as an example to see how a bunch of people convinced themselves of something like that, which we know basically includes finding supposed evidence that's probably not actually probative, and reading too much into things like the way the memorial service was handled. And I mentioned Kristen's work at the National Guard (listed as her employer on the certificate) mostly as a way of demonstrating that it's possible to come up with all sorts of theories. Sorry if that fell flat.

Anonymous02/01/2020

Kim, in regards to the presumptive death certificate, why are Clifford and Powers present for the deposition and not your mom and dad? I see they both signed their names.

Bangkok02/01/2020

I'd like to take this moment to criticize both Frank and Kim Snyder. 🙂 I have yet to hear anybody give a cohesive theory of Kristin's death — this includes both Frank and Kim Snyder. I hear people (like Kim) saying that NXIVM had a 'hand' in it — while conveniently ignoring the FACT that Keith would NEVER have authorized his minions to forge a suicide note that directly blamed NXIVM's teaching methods for Kristin's depression. Keith viewed NXIVM's teaching methods as HOLY MATERIAL. Keith viewed NXIVM's teaching methods as SACRED. Keith viewed his teaching methods as INCAPABLE of being 'challenged' or 'criticized'. Thus, Keith did not authorize that suicide note. Period. If you disagree then you're simply in denial and should seek psychological help ASAP. Therefore, that suicide note was either written by Kristin herself (which means it was a SUICIDE and NXIVM was not involved) —- OR it was written by somebody other than Kristin or NXIVM, which kinda only leaves Heidi Clifford as a logical suspect. 🙂 🙂 If NXIVM simply encouraged Kristin to kill herself — and she was psychotic enough to follow their advice — then that's not really a crime in Alaska, especially back in 2003. It's just a case of Kristin being BATSHIT CRAZY and sending herself to the other side. Case closed. If Frank (or Kim Snyder) believes that Kristin was forced to write that note under duress from NXIVM, then that's just not a PLAUSIBLE theory —- since it still violates the basic FACT that Keith would not have coerced Kristin to write a note that directly criticized/blamed NXIVM's teaching methods. *If Kristin wrote the note herself, she did it OF HER OWN FREE WILL and was simply a BATSHIT CRAZY lunatic. IMO that note was either written by Kristin herself or Heidi Clifford. Period. There's no other logical theory. Both Frank and Kim Snyder don't believe that Heidi Clifford was responsible for Kristin's death — they both believe that NXIVM was the responsible party, not Heidi Clifford. Thus, both Frank and Kim Snyder have theories which pretty much ignore the suicide note problem (i.e. the fact that Keith would never blame NXIVM's teaching methods for Kristin's depression) —- which means both Frank and Kim Snyder have illogical theories which have no basis in reality. 🙂 I'm beginning to think that neither Frank, nor Kim Snyder, have any clue as to what fucken happened and are no more enlightened than anybody else here. Which means this story is pretty much over now —– and we may as well just build a parking lot over this story and move on to something else. We're just moving in circles now. Frank is simply orchestrating a big circle jerk now, where the same shit gets rehashed and nobody will accept certain facts. Time to bring in the bulldozers and build a new parking lot over this story. 🙂

Heidi Hutchinson02/02/2020

Lol, on the ass hanging. Sure, we can get along if you’ll please not play patsy to toxic trolls and CONCLUDE someone you never met has “sociopathic tendencies.” By all means let’s only use real pieces and while you hypocritically accuse others of mashing fake pieces in, you lob off entire segments yourself to mash the whole thing together into a distorted conclusive picture. I anticipated, answered your question on another thread, it’s “yes,” with some additional info and explanation on the Romano’s. You’re doing some great research and edification here and for that I am grateful just, please, this place is psycho enough examining Keith Raniere ET AL w/o everyone taking aim at each other. Reminds me of “Jacob’s Ladder” — govt. tries out psychotic drugs on troops who turn on each other is the very dark plot. The movie takes place in the fractured mind of the survivor — a disabled veteran.

Anonymous02/03/2020

Frank & AnonyMaker, Good article! Excellent analysis/investigation of parallel suicides; AnonyMaker must have spent some time looking into suicides. Not exactly the funnest endeavor. Thanks for taking your time AnonyMaker to investigate things. ******** I have to agree with Bang-ding-a-ling; It’s time to leave this story alone. I don’t think it’s good for the loved ones of Kristen Snyder. Kristen Snyder – when she was healthy – would have wanted her loved ones to be happy and live full lives. This series of articles is not helping them. One way or the other NXIVM had a hand in Kristen Snyder’s disappearance. I believe that is a fact we can all agree on.