River search for missing woman halted; many questions unanswered
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
By Anna Rochelle, Staff Writer & Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor

Indiana Conservation Officers officially discontinued the search of the West Fork of White River in Greene County for a missing Bloomfield woman on Tuesday, but they say the case is not closed.
They did check the river again on Wednesday morning and failed to locate Betty Carlton, 46, of Bloomfield, who was first reported missing last Sunday(July 13).

The focus now turns downstream where two fishermen reported seeing a woman floating mid-stream -- without a boat or floatation device -- in the White River on Sunday. That spotting was about 15 miles downstream from where she was last seen near the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, west of Bloomfield, according to Indiana Conservation Officer public information officer Max Winchell.

"Witnesses say she seemed to be fine and responded to them. They were not concerned and did not feel it necessary to call law enforcement until they learned of the missing persons report on the news," Winchell stated in a news release.

Winchell said any future search efforts would fall under the jurisdiction of District 7 Conservation officers.

"We've checked the river for four days now and in that time frame the water is 76 degrees now -- top to bottom. In four days in our experience a body should have surfaced in that time frame. There is an area of the river that goes into a wooded area because of the overflowing of the flood stage and the first chance they are going to check back in that area when they can get back into there," he said.

Water levels above flood stage hampered the search effort. The river was searched extensively about 15 miles on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with the aid of a side-scan sonar unit.

Winchell told the Greene County Daily World Wednesday, "One of the men saw her picture and stated that it was her...it kind of matches up with everything."

The Conservation officer said, "The reason we called off the search is because at the time we had no confirmation to our office or any of our officers that someone saw her go in (the water). We had later reports that several witnesses saw her floating in the river 15 miles downstream...and she was alive and well. When I say she was floating, she was just like a person floats in the water. She was alive. She was not in a boat, in a raft or anything like that. She was midstream in the river and was just floating."

Winchell pointed out that authorities have re-checked with the fishermen and their initial reports were consistent with her description.

At this point, the case is not considered a drowning, Winchell said.

"We've searched that area twice a day for four days now with nothing," he stressed.

The Conservation officer said his office has received no reports about a witness seeing the women actually go underwater.

"I would say if someone saw her go underwater that they would have called it in on Saturday night," he said. "It is certainly strange with the conflicting reports we are getting."

He added, "We don't have any information on that."

Call records at the Greene County Sheriff's Department give some limited clues as to Carlton's whereabouts on Friday and Saturday before she was reported missing on Sunday.

Sometime around 2 a.m. on Friday, July 11, the GCSD received a report about a woman who was walking westbound in the eastbound lane of the Veterans Memorial Bridge on State Road 54 over White River just west of Bloomfield.

The reporting party didn't think the woman was acting quite right.

A Bloomfield police officer was dispatched to the area. He reported back that the woman in question was Carlton and he had spoken with her.

According to the call record, she told the officer she was on her way to Linton. She was on foot and was advised that walking to Linton at that hour might not be a good idea. She was wearing a white tee-shirt, black pants and glasses.

Then at 6:45 a.m. Friday, the GCSD received another report from a driver who said a female had walked out in front of their vehicle and they had almost struck her. They said she was wearing a white tee-shirt and had glasses.

Shortly after that, at 6:59 a.m., they received another call from someone who had seen her near the Carpet America store on State Road 54 west of Switz City.

A GCSD deputy was dispatched, but he didn't see Carlton there. He did talk to someone who was sitting in a parked vehicle at that location. They reported seeing the woman described sitting on a guardrail and said she appeared to be okay.

The deputy reported they did not see Carlton in the area.

Then on Saturday at 4:59 p.m., the GCSD received a 911 call from an individual who said they saw a female on top of the Veterans Memorial Bridge and they were afraid the person was getting ready to jump.

They said the woman was wearing a pink top and black pants.

A GCSD deputy was dispatched to the scene, but did not find her on the bridge.

Instead, she was located near Hunter's Drive-In restaurant, west of the bridge, and the police officer stopped and talked to her.

At 5:07 p.m., the deputy radioed dispatch to report that the woman was Carlton and she seemed okay.

Minutes later, the GCSD received yet another call - at 5:11 p.m. The caller reported a woman was near the water's edge under the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Since a deputy had spoken with Carlton only minutes before, no check was made.

People walk down to the water's edge at that location on a frequent basis, according to GCSD Major Mike Hasler, who serves as chief deputy.

On Sunday at 3:50 p.m., Carlton's sister reported Carlton missing. The sister said Carlton had not been acting right.

According to the sheriff's department call records, a Bloomfield police officer then went to the road under the bridge to check for her there.

The Bloomfield Police Department subsequently contacted the Indiana Conservation Officers who began a search for Carlton on the White River.

Since news of the search broke, one other person called the GCSD on Tuesday to say they too had seen a female sitting on the bridge last Saturday, according to Hasler.

Carlton still has a court date to appear in Greene Circuit Court on Friday at 8:30 a.m. for an initial hearing on preliminary charges of battery upon a law enforcement officer resulting in bodily injury, a class D felony; resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; and public nudity, a class D misdemeanor.

The charges stem from an incident on July 7 in which Carlton allegedly attacked a Bloomfield police officer who was responding to her 9-1-1 call for help.

Carlton was arrested, but was released from the Greene County Jail on July 8, after posting $1,500 bond.

Anyone with information of the whereabouts of Carlton is asked to contact, Indiana Conservation Officers at (812) 837-9536 or any local law enforcement agency.

http://gcdailyworld.com/story/1445257.html

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ELLISTON - A Bloomfield woman who local police have been searching for since Sunday afternoon is probably the victim of a drowning - according to a resident who says she saw Betty J. Carlton go under the water.
Local authorities have been searching for the woman since she was reported missing Sunday afternoon by her sister. She was last seen in the Elliston area - under the Veterans' Memorial Bridge - Saturday afternoon at about 5:11 p.m.
On Monday, the Bloomfield Free Press received a telephone call from a local woman who said she watched helplessly as Carlton "walked out into the river and went under."
The caller, who told her story on the condition that she not be identified in print, said she first noticed Carlton sitting on the Veterans' Memorial Bridge Saturday afternoon.
"She was sitting on the wall of the bridge," she said. "She was hanging her legs over the edge and just staring at the water."
The woman told the Free Press in an exclusive interview that after she noticed the woman on the bridge, she drove to the Greene County Sheriff's Department to report the incident.
At the same time, a sheriff's deputy was on his way out of the department to check on Carlton.
By the time Deputy Skyler Pittman arrived, Carlton had gotten down from the edge of the bridge and was walking near its west end.
"She told me she was walking to Linton," Pittman said. "She was reasonable and rational."
After speaking with Carlton, he determined that she was not in distress and she was allowed to go on her way.
A short time later, Elliston resident Terry Coker saw her along the edge of the White River - up to her thighs in the river.
He approached her and again, she did not seem to be distressed.
"She told me she was just cooling her feet in the water," Coker said.
He and his family own the land on which the woman was found sitting Saturday afternoon.
In getting to the woman, he got his sports utility vehicle stuck in some silt at the river's edge and had to walk to his home about a quarter-mile away to get a tractor.
"When I came back, she wasn't there," he said.
It was during the time Coker left and returned that the Free Press caller said the woman apparently committed suicide.
"She was just staring out at the water," the caller said. "I saw her just walk right out into the water and go under."
The area in which the woman allegedly went in has an extremely steep drop off just after the river's normal bank.
"It was like a horror movie," she said. "She went all the way in … over her head … and I never saw her come back up."
The woman said she contacted the Greene County Sheriff's Department again and was told that they were aware of the woman's whereabouts.
"When they told me that her being in the water was not confirmed, I told them that I could confirm it because I just watched her go in," she said. "It really bothered me. I would not have let her do it if I knew what she was doing."
When Carlton allegedly went into the water, the witness was at least 100 yards away on the roadway leading under the bridge.
"I saw her go under and I just started freaking out," she said. "She was just looking at the water and then she was gone."
When questioned directly about the circumstances surrounding the incident, the caller was able to give details that are only known to law enforcement officials and have never been released to the public.
Also, Coker confirmed that he did speak with a witness at the scene on Saturday.
All of the above information has been forwarded to investigators by the Bloomfield Free Press.
Indiana Conservation officers were in the area Monday and Tuesday, searching the river for the woman, but they did not find her.
A Conservation unit from southern Indiana brought in a side-scanning sonar unit to try and help locate the woman.
However, the rapid current in the river, coupled with the heavy amount of debris, caused the sonar unit to be ineffective.
That search was called off Tuesday afternoon.
According to Max Winchell with the Indiana Conservation Police, a pair of fishermen reportedly witnessed a woman matching Carlton's description a short time after the Free Press caller said she saw her go into the river.
In a press release, he stated that a pair of fishermen saw the woman "floating midstream in the White River about 15 miles downstream" from where she apparently went in.
The fishermen told conservation officers that they talked to her at the time, and she seemed "to be fine and responded to them."
When the fishermen saw her, the woman was floating without the aid of any watercraft or other devices.
"She was just floating down the river," he said.
Carlton got in trouble with local law enforcement officials a week ago after she allegedly assaulted a Bloomfield Police officer in the area of South Seminary Street.
Her family also told investigators that she suffered from mental instability problems.
She is described as being a white female, 5 feet, 6 inches in height. She weighs about 170 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink t-shirt and black pants.
If anyone has information about the whereabouts of Carlton, they are asked to call the Greene County Sheriff's Department at 384-4411 or to contact their local law enforcement agency.
http://www.bloomfieldfreepress.com/

River search turns up no sign of missing woman
Thursday, August 7, 2008
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor

Indiana Conservation officers were back on the West Fork of the White River on Wednesday with sonar equipment looking for signs of a missing Bloomfield woman.
The approximate two-hour search of the river area near the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, just west of Bloomfield, turned up no signs of 46-year-old Betty J. Carlton, who has not been seen since July 12, according to Conservation Officer Gregg Swanson.

Swanson and C.O. Tom Lahay from Sullivan County combed the water and the bank from a boat looking for Carlton, who hasn't been seen for nearly a month.

Swanson said there are confirmed reports that Cartlon was seen along the water's edge near the bridge on July12, but other reports from alleged witnesses haven't really substantiated that the person they reported seeing was actually Carlton.

C.O. Swanson said the case is still being treated as a missing person case under investigation by the Bloomfield Police Department.

The Indiana Conservation officers were called in to assist with the water search because they have the side-sonar equipment and are experienced on the river, Swanson told the Greene County Daily World on Wednesday night.

"It's not a drowning although it's presumed that she drowned. We don't even know for sure that she is in there (in the river)," he said. "We really can't rule out anything at this point."

Swanson explained that officers initially looked in the water and on the banks after initial reports were filed, but flooding conditions were present. Now that the waters have subsided, they wanted to take another look.

"The thought process was maybe she drowned and never surfaced because she was caught on something," he said. "We've been searching the river since it happened. We've run the river several times."

The Conservation officer said periodic searches on the river will continue.

"We will continue to be out on the river. As far as using a sonar unit, I don't know maybe we can try it again, but I feel like we did a really good search."

Swanson likened the search for a body in the river to "looking into a forest trying to look for somebody."

"You've got the trees and the limbs and all of that and now we are talking about a black and white sonar image. It's kind of hard to tell," he said.

The conservation officer said "under normal conditions" based on the river's current, the weather, the water temperature, what she had eaten prior going in -- if she was in the water -- factor in to how long a body might stay submerged.

"The other big factor is the river crested after she allegedly went in and flooded into fields and woods and all that kind of stuff around that time when she would have surfaced. There are many, many factors," he noted.

Swanson said officers talked to two fishermen that saw her supposedly floating down the river -- about 10 miles downstream from the bridge on July 13, but he added, "I haven't talked to anybody who truly said 'yeah, I saw her for sure and she was in the water. I never talked to anybody who said that."

He continued, "As far as I'm concerned the last report of her was standing underneath the bridge. I'm not saying that the people who saw what they saw down the river didn't see it. It just seems to me that is not as a far sure of thing than someone who talked to her on the banks. I'm not saying that the people down river didn't see something, someone or her. It's a possibility, but I can't really say for sure on that. It's more of a speculation I guess."

Call records at the Greene County Sheriff's Department give some limited clues as to Carlton's whereabouts on July 11 and July 12 before she was reported missing on Sunday.

Sometime around 2 a.m. on Friday, July 11, the GCSD received a report about a woman who was walking westbound in the eastbound lane of the Veterans Memorial Bridge on State Road 54 over White River just west of Bloomfield.

The reporting party didn't think the woman was acting quite right.

A Bloomfield police officer was dispatched to the area. He reported back that the woman in question was Carlton and he had spoken with her.

According to the call record, she told the officer she was on her way to Linton. She was on foot and was advised that walking to Linton at that hour might not be a good idea. She was wearing a white tee-shirt, black pants and glasses.

Then at 6:45 a.m. on July 11, the GCSD received another report from a driver who said a female had walked out in front of their vehicle and they had almost struck her. They said she was wearing a white tee-shirt and had glasses.

Shortly after that, at 6:59 a.m., they received another call from someone who had seen her near the Carpet America store on State Road 54 west of Switz City.

A GCSD deputy was dispatched, but he didn't see Carlton there. He did talk to someone who was sitting in a parked vehicle at that location.

They reported seeing the woman described sitting on a guardrail and

said she appeared to be OK.

The deputy reported they did not see Carlton in the area.

Then on July 12 at 4:59 p.m., the GCSD received a 911 call from an individual who said they saw a female on top of the Veterans Memorial Bridge and they were afraid the person was getting ready to jump.

They said the woman was wearing a pink top and black pants.

A GCSD deputy was dispatched to the scene, but did not find her on the bridge.

Instead, she was located near Hunter's Drive-In restaurant, west of the bridge, and the police officer stopped and talked to her.

At 5:07 p.m., the deputy radioed dispatch to report that the woman was Carlton and she seemed OK.

Minutes later, the GCSD received yet another call -- at 5:11 p.m. The caller reported a woman was near the water's edge under the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Since a deputy had spoken with Carlton only minutes before, no check was made.

On July 13 at 3:50 p.m., Carlton's sister reported her missing. The sister said Carlton had not been acting right.

According to the sheriff's department call records, a Bloomfield police officer then went to the road under the bridge to check for her there.

The Bloomfield Police Department subsequently contacted the Indiana Conservation Officers who began a search for Carlton on the White River.

Authorities don't know if Carlton's disappearance could be linked to some legal problems she is facing.

There is an active warrant for Carlton's arrest because she missed a July 21 Greene Circuit Court date for an initial hearing on preliminary charges of battery upon a law enforcement officer resulting in bodily injury, a class D felony; resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; and public nudity, a class D misdemeanor.

The charges stem from an incident on July 7 in which Carlton allegedly attacked a Bloomfield police officer who was responding to her 9-1-1 call for help.

Carlton was arrested, but was released from the Greene County Jail on July 8, after posting $1,500 bond.

Anyone with information of the whereabouts of Carlton is asked to contact, Indiana Conservation Officers at (812) 837-9536 or any local law enforcement agency.

Greene County Daily World Staff Writer Anna Rochelle contributed to this report
http://gcdailyworld.com/story/1451251.html

http://gcdailyworld.com/story/1446704.html

Group witnessed someone in the river; Was it Betty Carlton?
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor

A rural Jasonville woman doesn't know if the person she and several other people saw floating in the West Fork of the White River on a sunny Sunday evening earlier this month was a missing Bloomfield woman.
Heather Sciscoe isn't sure now if it was 41-year-old Betty Carlton, but at the time she said there was no reason to be alarmed or to contact law authorities.

At the time she didn't even know anyone was missing in or around the river.

And, it is not terribly unusual to see anyone swimming or floating in the White River on a warm summer day, she said.

Heather and her husband, James and several other friends and relatives had gathered for an evening of catfishing at a river cabin, located about 10 miles downstream from Bloomfield.

The group included three adult couples and three children.

Between 6 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 13, Heather Sciscoe said she noticed a person wearing either a black or orange lifejacket came floating by their fishing spot, which was located off of County Road 600W.

The river was high -- above flood stage -- that day, rising about two feet in the four hours the Sciscoe's were fishing. She's not sure how deep the water was in that location, but she did say the current was moving very swiftly.

"We didn't know if it a was guy or a girl. We never said it was her. And this person did have a lifejacket on," Heather told the Greene County Daily World in an interview on Tuesday. "I thought it (the lifejacket) was orange. My husband thinks it was black."

Heather continued, "My husband hollered twice 'Are you alright?' and they just looked at us and kept going."

No words were spoken by the person floating. The only thing visible above the water was the person's head.

"They weren't like floating with their body up (on top of the water). Their head was sticking up out of the water and they were floating down the river. It (the water) was moving pretty quick," she remembered.

Heather said she knows the person was alive at the time because they looked right at them.

"They acknowledged that we were there fishing and they were looking around," she recalled.

Sciscoe said seeing a person floating by concerned her, but she was quickly told by her husband that it was not unusual.

"It scared me because I wasn't around the river, so it scared me ... my husband asked 'Are you OK?' and they looked at us and looked back like they didn't care that we were there. Then they floated down a little bit and he hollered again 'Are you OK, do you need help?'. They just looked at us again. My first reaction was to call somebody for help. My husband grew up on the river and he said they did it all of the time. It's just something to do when you live at the river," Heather stated.

The next day she heard on the news that a woman was missing and it all clicked.

"I was like 'Oh my God'. I don't know that was her, but I wanted them (authorities) to know possibly if it was where I seen it," she said.

Sciscoe went to the Linton Police Department and told an officer what she had witnessed on the previous day. The LPD contacted Indiana Conservation Officer Greg Swanson, who later called her on the telephone.

"We reported that they had a lifejacket on and we didn't even know if it was her. We couldn't tell if it was a guy or a girl."

Indiana Conservation Officer's public information spokesman Max Winchell collaborated Sciscoe's version of what was observed.

"Witnesses say she seemed to be fine and responded to them. They were not concerned and did not feel it necessary to call law enforcement until they learned of the missing persons report on the news," Winchell stated.

Winchell said there is nothing new with the search for Carlton.

The Conservation officer pointed out that the river was searched extensively for four days after the woman was reported missing by a family member with no signs of her either in the water or on the bank.

Winchell said at this point this unusual case can not be called a drowning case.

"If there was a drowning it is unwitnessed. She was last seen in the river, but she was also seen alive and well. Whether she made it out or whether she drowned, at this point we don't know," Winchell told the Greene County Daily World on Tuesday afternoon.

The case has many unanswered questions and turns dating back to July 7 when officers answered a E-911 telephone call to her 208 South Seminary Street home.

Carlton answered the door nude and led police on a chase before she was taken into custody.

Bloomfield Town Marshal Kenny Tharp explained, "A (9-1-1) call came in from a lady who was requesting help. When Officer Shane Smith arrived he was met at the door by a nude, combative female. A physical altercation then incurred ... and she was taken into custody and incarcerated."

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in Greene County Circuit Court, at one point during the incident Carlton grabbed Officer Smith, attempted to flee and was eventually tasered in order to be subdued. Smith was assisted by Greene County Sheriff Deputy Chris McDonald and Worthington Officer Don Richardson.

Carlton was initially held at the Greene County Jail, but released after posting $1,500 bond the next day.

She was scheduled to appear in Greene Circuit Court last Friday morning for an initial hearing on preliminary charges of battery upon a law enforcement officer resulting in bodily injury, a class D felony; resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; and public nudity, a class D misdemeanor.

On Monday, an arrest warrant was issued because she missed the court date.

Anyone with information of the whereabouts of Carlton is asked to contact Indiana Conservation Officers at (812) 837-9536 or any local law enforcement agency.

Greene County Daily World Staff Writer Anna Rochelle contributed to this report.