SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, Tennessee (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- The husband of missing 44-year-old Gail Palmgren and his co-worker Tammy Helton have both been terminated from their positions at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Matt Palmgren’s wife went missing April 30 after she dropped the couple’s two children off at their home at 40 Rodgerock Drive in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. She drove away in her maroon Jeep and has never been seen or heard from since. [See description of her Jeep below.]
Matt Palmgren waited two days before reporting his wife missing. Asked whether it was unusual for someone to wait 48 hours to notify police, Signal Mountain police Detective James Tizzio said, "If it was my wife, if it was me, hopefully I’d have called sooner.”
According to a local sheriff major crimes detectives are now assisting in Gail's disappearance.
According to Timesfreepress.com, records show Signal Mountain police were called to Matt and Gail Palmgren’s home several times in response to arguments the couple had during the days and weeks leading up to Gail’s disappearance.
On April 22 was the first trip of at least three that police made to the Palmgren home in response to Gail's calls of domestic disputes she had with her husband.
When Gail called again on April 29 to report another dispute with her husband police, during their investigation of the incident, provided her with "phone numbers of a safe place to stay."
On April 29, Gail took the children to Alabama to stay at a lake house for the night, Timesfreepress.com reports.
According to her husband, she dropped their children off at their Signal Mountain home and she was never seen or heard from again.
Before Gail went missing she gave several hotel invoices to a friend. They show that her husband, Matt Palmgren, paid cash for hotel rooms locally at the Double Tree and Hampton Inn. Another hotel invoice places Matt Palmgren at a hotel in Batesville, Miss., and shows that he also paid cash there.
Tammy Helton’s divorce was finalized in February, and she has a new home in Batesville, Miss., sources said.
About a week before Gail vanished her husband flew to Pennsylvania to attend an insurance conference.
Sources said he left the conference without attending any of the sessions and joined a female BlueCross employee at another location, and that they then drove back to Chattanooga together where she allegedly bought a car there, Chattanoogan.com reports.
Chancery Court filings dated May 6 show that Matt Palmgren attempted to legally separate from his wife and sought custody of their two children, six days after she went missing.
He filed a restraining order, a request for custody of their two children, and possession of their home, WRCBTV.com reports.
He claimed his wife had access to hundreds of thousands of dollars in their accounts and was suffering from severe mental illness. He also claimed Gail took jewelry, changed pin numbers to those bank accounts, and took the children’s passports.
In a sworn statement he claimed his wife suffered “bouts of depression,” was on several prescription medications, and was “delusional.”
Gail’s family denies those claims.
“Absolutely not,” said Diane Nichols, when asked if her sister has a history of mental illness. “She is a very intelligent person, healthy, has two kids at home, she loves those kids, this is unusual.”
Recently Matt Palmgren withdrew the Chancery Court filings.
Matt Palmgren and co-worker Tammy Helton fired by BlueCross
According to Lee Davis, the defense attorney representing Matt Palmgren, BlueCross sent Palmgren a letter Monday informing him he was fired. The letter, Davis said, references the disappearance of Palmgren’s wife.
“Obviously, it cites the investigation. We’re not going to discuss the details at this point,” Davis said.
BlueCross also cited misuse of company equipment and inappropriate email use for letting the employees go, sources said.
Sources said Palmgren’s co-worker, Tammy Helton, manager of government product development for BlueCross, was let go for similar reasons. Helton has been consulting with defense attorney David Barrow.
Ongoing missing persons investigation
According to Sheriff Jim Hammond, major crimes detectives and the Signal Mountain Police are working on the case.
As of Tuesday afternoon authorities say Gail’s disappearance remains a missing person case and that there is no evidence of foul play, or that a crime has been committed.
They said they are following all leads.
Sheriff Hammond said, “It is highly unusual that it has been this long and her vehicle has not been spotted.”
Matt Palmgren said in an earlier interview that he hired former Chattanooga Police Department investigator Matthew Mathis to find his wife.
“Mr. Palmgren, through our office, is cooperating in every way he can with this investigation to find Gail,” his attorney Davis said.
Diane Nichols, Gail’s sister, said the situation has been “tragic” for everyone involved. “We feel bad about everything that has happened. Our family continues to focus on finding my sister and on the wellbeing of the children,” she said. The Palmgrens have a 12-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl.
Gail’s family handed out more than 2,500 flyers in three days after she went missing, hoping someone had seen her.
Description of Gail’s Jeep
Gail drove a four-door maroon 2010 Rubicon Jeep Wrangler with a black soft top. The wheel cover on the back has the words “Life is Good” and a daisy painted on it. The trailer hitch has a picture of the Disney character Goofy on it, and the Jeep has Alabama tags that read “EAZY ST”.
Gail is 5’8” and weighs 135 pounds. She has blonde hair and brown eyes.
If you have any information about Gail’s disappearance or her whereabouts you are asked to call the Signal Mountain Police Department at 423-886-2123.
A Facebook page, "Bring Gail Home Now" has been created as a support for family and for news updates.
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Sources: WRCBTV.com, Chattanoogan.com, WRCBTV.com (May 11), Timesfreepress.com, Timesfreepress.com (May 7)
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