The Case of Michele Whitaker
For this case I watched the 5th episode of Gone. The episode is titled ‘Missing Michele.’
A 32-year-old woman disappears after being dropped off at a truck stop.
Background
Michele Whitaker was born on August 16, 1969. She was one of five children, and was very close to her entire family. Michele’s mom Laura Andrews, said that Michele was a very happy kid, until they moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, when she was 15.
Michele was described as having a big heart, and as someone who really wanted people to like her.
Michele, with her mom Laura, and sister Lynda
A Troubled Life
Once Michele was a teenager, she and her mom started to clash. She believed her mom was too strict, and it made Michele rebel.
Michele considered joining the Navy, but she fell in love with her recruiter instead. He was about 6-8 years older, according to Laura. After Michele graduated high school, she married this man, but the marriage lasted less than a year. Laura said the marriage was awful, and that Michele needed to get out, which she did.
After her divorce, the family moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina. By age 30, Michele was struggling. She worked part-time as a waitress, and was barely getting by.
One night after work, Michele met a man named David, and he offered her a ride home. David raped and beat Michele, leaving her face badly bruised. He was arrested a year later, and pleaded guilty to assault and battery. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
No matter what Michele did, she felt as if she couldn’t get her life together. She bounced around from her parent’s home, to friend’s houses, and sometimes even slept in her car.
The Disappearance
Shortly before Michele disappeared, she was arrested for drunk driving. She completed the jail sentence.
On August 5, 2002, Michele got into an argument with her mom. Laura wasn’t sure where Michele went after that, but received a call a few days later from the man that Michele had been staying with. He said that he hadn’t seen Michele in a few days.
Laura was now very worried. She contacted the police, but they told her that Michele was an adult, and there wasn’t much they could do.
Laura had a friend from the neighborhood named Sgt. Allan Woods of the Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office. He knew of Michele’s transient lifestyle, and told Laura that Michele would most likely turn up soon.
On August 21, 2002, an official missing persons report was filed. No one in Michele’s life had seen or heard from her, now for about two weeks.
The Search for Michele
The police obtained Michele’s bank records, but there was no activity on her account.
The police spoke to Michele’s ex-husband, but ruled him out immediately. They talked to her family, co-workers, and people she was known to have spent time with.
The police did discover that a man named Doug Gilmore was the last known person to have seen Michele on August 16, 2002. They met a local pool hall, where Doug said they hung out for a few hours, and left to drive around on his motorcycle. Doug then dropped Michele off at a truck stop the next morning. Doug told the police that Michele was hoping to go to Myrtle Beach. Doug took and passed a polygraph test, and didn’t seem to know where Michele went after he dropped her off.
Michele’s family created a missing person flyer of Michele. They handed the flyers out at the truck stop, hoping someone would recognize her. However, no one had seen her.
About a year into Michele’s disappearance, the case went cold. Laura begged local TV stations to keep Michele’s case alive in the news.
The Letter
In August 2005, about three years after Michele disappeared, the police received an anonymous letter. The author said that they knew where Michele’s body was, and had drawn a map. It said that Michele was near the water’s edge, near tall pines, and at the edge of the pond.
The location was only 25 miles from the truck stop where Michele was dropped off. The police spent two days searching the area, but they didn’t find anything. It was apparent that the letter was a hoax, and DNA confirmed that the letter had been written by a woman.
The police eventually told Michele’s family about the letter. They were disgusted that someone would create that, and give them false hope.
A Possible Connection
In October 2005, another case made the headlines. A man named Jonathan Vick was arrested for the rape and murder of Dana Satterfield, a beauty salon owner.
Dana Satterfield
Dana’s murder had occurred in her salon, where she was hung from a water tank. She had been strangled with a duffel bag strap. The salon was located about 12 miles from where Michele was last seen, and suspicions fell on Jonathan, because it was rumored that he had been a customer at the diner where Michele worked. Jonathan had a connection to Dana, because his mom, Mary Ann Vick, had been one of her customers at the salon.
Jonathan was also a suspect in the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend (or fiancé in some reports) Heather Sellers, who also worked as a waitress at a Waffle House, at the time of her disappearance.
There was never any hard proof that Jonathan had a connection to Michele.
In November 2006, Jonathan Vick was convicted of kidnapping, criminal sexual conduct, and murder. He was sentenced to life plus 60 years. He was never charged in connection to the disappearances of Michele or Heather.
Heather Sellers
Jonathan Vick
A New Life
After Michele had been missing for 5 years, her family held a vigil for her. Laura also created a webpage, with pictures of Michele throughout many years of her life.
In August 2008, a woman called the police. Lieutenant William Gary answered the call. The woman on the other end said that Michele Whitaker was alive, and living in Oregon. The woman had seen Michele’s case on an episode of Forensic Files, as well as the webpage that Laura had created. She recognized Michele as the woman who was living with her friends.
The woman wanted to prove that she was telling the truth, so she sent a photo of Michele to Lt. Gary. Lt. Gary printed out the picture, wrote ‘who am I?, on a post it note, and showed the photo to Sgt. Woods.
The Spartanburg police contacted the Oregon State police. An officer went to the home where Michele was living, and Michele confirmed that she was indeed Michele Whitaker. Michele’s fingerprints also confirmed she was the missing woman.
The police told Michele that her family had been searching for her for six long years.
The photo of Michele that was sent to Lt. Gary
Why Did She Leave?
Michele was interviewed in the last few minutes of the episode. She said she was tired of living the way she was living.
After the fight she had with her mom, she drifted around, and decided that her family would be better off without her. She originally wanted to go to Myrtle Beach, and get a job, where she would be paid under the table.
Michele met Doug on her last night in Spartanburg, and convinced him to drop her off at the truck stop. She said she caught a ride, and ended up in Las Vegas, California, and eventually Oregon.
Michele claimed she used her real name, and didn't know that her family was searching for her. She said she has a lot of guilt for what she did to her family, and for having the police spend money and resources looking for her.
Michele is now closer than ever to her family, especially to Laura.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m happy for once that this case has a happy ending. My only question is how did Michele not know that her family would search for her, or that she was on national news and media stations? I understand she was going through a lot, and I have a lot of sympathy for her. There’s just a few statements that Michele made that I’m a little confused about.
I hope Michele is living a happy and healthy life, and that she won’t ever disappear again.
Sources
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Michele_Whitaker
https://disappearedblog.com/michele-whitaker/
https://www.centredaily.com/news/special-reports/article42804417.html
https://www.imdb.com/news/ni61428271
https://www.wistv.com/story/5754698/man-found-guilty-in-decade-old-spartanburg-county-killing/
