Found: Human remains identified as two of three missing

Found: Human remains identified as two of three missing

by Stephanie FIlson, Point Pleasant Register Gallipolis Daily Tribune

07.26.11 - 10:33 pm

William “Jeff” Crawford’s whereabouts still a mystery

GALLIPOLIS FERRY, W.Va. — After two days of careful excavation surrounding the area where human remains were found in Mason Co., W.Va., over the weekend, investigators with the West Virginia State Police Crime Scene Team have confirmed that two bodies were found on site and have been identified as Tonda (McCarty) Nelson and Ashley (Baird) Crawford. According to officials, the two women, along with Crawford’s husband William “Jeff” Crawford, have been missing since June 17, 2011. Mr. Crawford’s whereabouts are still unknown.

“We are now dealing with a homicide investigation,” said Sgt. E.B. Starcher of the Mason County Detachment of the West Virginia State Police.

Investigators have also released that the remote site where the two women were found is owned by a family member of Matthew Woods. Woods, also of Gallipolis Ferry, was arrested Friday on charges of first degree murder in the shooting death of Rene A. Gonzalez. As of press time, investigators say the two cases are not connected.

Starcher reported Sunday that the human remains of at least one person had been found that evening, around 8:30 p.m., just off of Duncan Creek Road in Gallipolis Ferry. From that time, until the early morning arrival of forensic specialists on Tuesday, the West Virginia State Police Crime Scene Team closed the road to traffic and secured the site of the shallow grave that had been discovered by a group of people walking through the woods.

Forensic specialists from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., arrived on site Tuesday morning to help state police process the scene. They have since completed the work of processing the Duncan Creek scene.

Mystery has shrouded the case since the trio’s disappearance, and known details seem to only lead to more questions. The Crawfords’ mobile home located on Jeffers Ridge in Southside, W.Va. was destroyed by what investigators called a “suspicious” fire in the early hours of June 17. A few days later, family members reported the couple missing, and Nelson was reported missing shortly afterward — she was said to have been last seen with Ashley around June 16. The Crawfords’ vehicle, which was reportedly located in Mason County by investigators, has been impounded by the sheriff’s office.

Investigators had considered various scenarios before Sunday’s grim discovery and Tuesday’s confirmed identification of Crawford and Nelson, including the trio hiding out from some unknown danger or the trio starting a new life, based on initial reports from family and friends who say the Crawfords had expressed a desire to leave the area and move south, possibly to South Carolina or Alabama. It is now known that foul play was certainly involved in the disappearances; what isn’t known is the whereabouts of the third missing individual — William “Jeff” Crawford. Investigators report that no cell phone or bank activity has been detected since the three vanished.

The family of Jeff Crawford, whose 29th birthday was June 29, has been circulating a Facebook post asking that anyone with information on Jeff contact them anonymously with their information or tips at P.O. Box 73, Point Pleasant, W.Va., 25550.

The West Virginia State Police is leading the investigation of the deaths of Nelson and Crawford, as well as the ongoing search for William “Jeff” Crawford. Anyone with information may contact them at (304) 675-0850.

Copyright 2011 Gallipolis Daily Tribune. All rights reserved.

© mydailyregister.com 2011

State fails to heed lessons from school consolidation

Gazette Online
(Aug. 24)

The emperor has no clothes
State fails to heed lessons from school consolidation

THIS is really sad. The West Virginia School Building Authority continues blindly down its path of destruction, taking into consideration not one single shred of evidence to support what it is doing. But destruction is what the SBA achieves. With your money and your blessing, dear readers.

Eight years ago, I put up a pretty good fight against school consolidation. I fought it on West Virginia Public Television and in the Gazette, in the courtrooms in Clay and Greenbrier counties, and in open school board meetings in Randolph, Preston and Mason counties. I lost, of course. So did West Virginia children and the folks who live in the wonderful small towns of this state.
I argued then, and I argue now, that the work of the SBA destroys the children of this state. I had less empirical evidence at that time. I have more now, and the information is just too sad.
These guys are supposed to be educators. They are supposed to encourage our children to learn and employ the benefits of science. Yet, in their own work they disregard or reject the very method which they espouse for their children. For the best scientific research has shown again what we have known for many years: Consolidation destroys children.
The research I discuss here is not my own. I am indebted to many hard-working souls whose labor I will share with any individual or school board who requests my sources. This information is based on cold, hard numbers computed through the best scientific methods we know.
Consolidation does not save money. Countless studies have proven that. In many cases the cost per student increases with consolidation.
Consolidation does not improve student performance, contrary to the theory espoused by the icon of American education, Dr. James Conant. Bad and ill-informed theory that.
Conant argued in his book, "The Comprehensive High School," published 31 years ago, that a larger school would provide an economy of scale and allow for more specialized classes, a greater variety of activities. Well, he was right about the variety and the specialization. What he implied, of course, was that this would improve American education. In that he was not correct. Implemented, the theory has destroyed the very thing he wished to improve.
We know now that the expanded curriculum benefits only a very small minority of children. On the other hand, we also know that as school size expands, student participation decreases.
We know now that the students shipped in from rural communities participate less in school activities than they did in their own small community schools. We know now that attendance drops and truancy and behavior problems increase as school size grows.
Controlling all other variables, we know now that the use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco, alcohol and controlled substances increases with the size of the school. We also know that consolidation is a major cause of school violence.
The list is very long. Teacher-student interaction is damaged by large schools. Small schools are more flexible and adaptable to the particular needs of that school. The children of poverty fare the worst in the move to consolidation. Parental involvement decreases as schools consolidate. Small communities are ruined when they lose the centerpiece of community life.
So why does the SBA continue to impose its treacherous will upon the small communities of West Virginia? It's like the story in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." Once you've destroyed a few lives, you've got to keep on doing it or else you'd have to admit you were wrong. And what bureaucrat has ever been wrong?
We read that student achievement scores have been going down over the past several decades.
Did it ever occur to anybody that the years covered by this discouraging revelation are identical to the years in which we have been consolidating our schools?
Did anybody ever notice that while departments and schools of education have multiplied, and while the bureaucratic accrediting agencies placed more and more demands upon those schools and departments, school violence has increased and student performance has been going down?
Does anybody notice anything wrong with this picture?
Hello out there! We've ruined the children. Does anybody hear me? Does anybody care? Is anybody out there? The emperor has no clothes.

Dr. Warner, a professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College, is one of the Gazette's contributing columnists.