After an extremely positive response to the first 2 parts of this article, the Hanson family agreed to answer more questions giving some insight into the ongoing investigation and the series of events leading to Marie's disappearance.
Q: At what point exactly was Skamania County notified of Marie's disappearance?A: On the evening of July 9th Tawny (Marie's daughter) called Skamania Sheriff's office and reported Marie missing. She emailed a picture of Marie to them, they stated that they would distribute posters on the following day.
Q: Were posters distributed?
A: When Tawny and I arrived on July 14th, we saw 2 posters, on at a gate and one at info. We also ran into several people who stated that they had been shown a poster, and several who stated that they had been shown Marie's id by the neighbor.
Q: So, the neighbor was really looking for Marie, and if yes, how long did he look?
A: Marie had left her purse, with her id, in her camp area. The neighbor showed her ID in the Gathering area for at least one day, asking if anyone had seen her. His last sighting of Marie was early in the morning, just before dawn of July 8th.
Q: Originally the family was stating that the last sighting of Marie was July 5th or 6th, why the confusion?
A: When the neighbor originally reported Marie's disappearance to the family, he stated that she had been missing for '72 hours', and that he had seen her before dawn. By doing the math, we backtracked the date to July 6th, and were looking for anyone who had seen her on July 5th or later. It took 2 1/2 months to track down people who had attended the gathering and who had seen her as late as the night of July 8th.
Q: Did the neighbor report her missing to the authorities?
A: No, the family reported her missing the evening of July 9th.
Q: There were two men who played a big part in the search for Marie, what can you tell us about Owl and the man in the sketch?
A: When Tawny and I arrived in Washington, we met Sheriff Pat Bond at the Gathering site the morning of July 14th. Detective Bond escorted us throughout the day at the site. We approached almost everyone who was still there, or at least anyone who did not turn away from us when approached. There were still hundreds of people there. Many people reported that they had seen Marie the evening of July 4th, sitting next to a man that they identified as "Owl". It is common for Rainbow family to use a name other than their given name and we began to research who "Owl" might be. Once we began posting on our website and our Facebook page, we began getting "Owl" tips, the most predominant one about a Rainbow from Florida. Ultimately we were either contacted by, or tracked down about a dozen different Rainbow's named "Owl", none of whom had either attended the Gathering or met Marie.
As for "Sketch Man", his sketch was done in cooperation with Law Enforcement because the man had been seen with Marie, or with the dog Bandit several times. We were looking for him to see if he had any idea of where Marie had gone, or what had happened to her. The man in the sketch was never identified and we never discovered who he was.
Q: What about that dog Bandit?
A: Bandit belongs to Marie's neighbors. Bandit went to the Gathering w/ Marie and the neighbor.He was seen several times with the man in the sketch, and frequently with Marie. Many people will remember a dog, and not a human, so when we started looking for the man in the sketch, we posted a picture of Bandit. He is home.
Q: What was the reaction to Marie's disappearance from the local major media outlets in Portland, OR.?A: I think that a universal problem that families with missing adults have is that the media loses interest rapidly. In Marie's case, there was almost no reaction initially and we had sporadic coverage at best. We had much better coverage in California and Nevada.Q: Continuing on the subject of media, I understand there were at least two reporters that work for major media in the Sacramento, CA area, how did they become involved?A; Shawn Boyd of KOVR in Sacramento Ca became involved and did an long segment on Marie's disappearance because he is the nephew of Marie's best friend Carrie Wieland. Cassandra Duvall of KRNV in Reno did many segments over three months. She became interested in the story very early on, and followed up with us quite a bit. We really appreciated all the help that these two wonderful people gave us.Q: You and other family and friends traveled to the site twice. Did those visits give you a better perspective of the efforts actually happening on the ground?A: Yes, traveling to the site initially gave us a 'lay of the land', and helped us realize what a huge area that was involved. It also gave the Law Enforcement a feel for the family and through us they gained an idea of the kind of person that Marie was, eventually helping them realize that she had not left the gathering under her own free will. This led to several Law Enforcement searches. We were also able to make some contacts in the Rainbow Family.
During the second visit we were able to get an even better idea of the terrain. We were able to meet and get to know people that we had been talking to for months by email and phone, and we were able to observe a Law Enforcement search and a Rainbow search. Both groups put forth a huge effort on our behalf, long hours in miserable weather, with very little results. We so appreciate what the search and rescue crew , and our Rainbow friends did for our family.
Q: Did law enforcement and rainbows work well together?A: Hmmmm, no comment. Actually, at first I felt that they were on different planets. The Rainbows had such good information, such insight into the event and other pertinent details and if felt like Law Enforcement was not listening to them. Eventually they had a more open line of communication, helping each other, especially during the last few weeks before Marie was found.Q: What are you finding yourself missing the most about Marie?A: Marie and I had a unique relationship, we were both parents to our kids (my son Tim, and her daughter Tawny, who are married) and we were both grandmothers to our grandkids.I miss her laugh, her great humor and wit and her love for her family. My heart aches for her daughter Tawny, who misses her every hour of every day, and for our two little ones. The other day my grandaughter, who is 5, saw a picture of an angel and said "my grandma's an angel now" to a complete stranger who just looked at us and walked away. Until you lose someone you don't know what it is like to not have them in your life, we will never be the same.Q: If someone was at the gathering any time during the 7th, 8th or 9th of July parked near the back 150 gate and is not sure if what they saw is important or not, what would you say to them?A:Email us. No matter what you saw. We won't know if it was important until we hear from you. We are still trying to piece together the last two days of Marie's life, please contact us.Q: If someone does have information or pictures, is there a way they may contact the appropriate officials or family members anonymously?
A: The South Lake Tahoe Police Department has an anonymous hotline (530) 541-6800. Of course anyone can email us at findmariehanson@gmail.com, or message us on the Marie Hanson Missing Facebook page.
Q: Do you know how Marie died?
A: The Medical Examiner has not released his findings yet, and we expect it could take several more weeks. We do know that she was ill the last day of her life, we do know that she was found within a half mile of her last campsite, we do know that she would have come home if she were able to do so. Other than that, we will wait for the report.
Q: What will happen to the Marie Hanson Missing Facebook page and her website?
A: We will continue to use both as long as there is an active Law Enforcement investigation, so that we can share information with our thousands of supporters.
We have begun to use our Facebook page( in a very limited manner) to help other families of missing persons spread the story of their loved ones. We will not be 'spamming' dozens of postings a day, we will probably concentrate on one story per week. We are limiting our involvement to those families who directly contact us, and who have a connection to us or Marie in some way. Recently we posted for Steven Moline's family, he was believed to have been headed to the Washington Rainbow Gathering at one time,however he became lost on the way to Bagby Hot Springs. His mother Carol helped us hang posters the first week that Marie was missing. We also posted on behalf of Anastasia "Belle" Payne's family, because Belle was known to attend Rainbow Gatherings, and her Grandmother Sharon and Mother Lora contacted us and asked for our help, due to our large Rainbow Family friendship base.. Another family, whose sister Rosemary Day is missing, contacted us and asked for our help, and we posted her information.
Our friends should be assured that we will use Marie's page with respect as long as Facebook allows us to do so. We have been warned that since Marie is deceased that we should close her page. I have appealed to them to allow us to keep posting while the Law Enforcement investigation is ongoing, and have not heard from them yet.
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