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FAMILY QUESTIONS A MEMBER'S DEATH IN 2003

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The mother of Timothy Stone believes his death was no accident. Renata Balleza knows her 17-year-old son was no saint. She says Stone had just gotten out jail when tragedy struck.

“He turned his life around, he wasn't an angel,” says his mother.

Out on Highway 57 just outside Chidester, Balleza describes how Arkansas State Police says the accident happened.

Balleza says, “The body was found not far from the car. It veered off right here, there was as bounce. You can see where the car had to on all fours.”

His car hit a tree and now a cross marks where his body was found September 23rd, 9:40 p.m. in 2003.

His car, two years later, sits in his grandfather’s yard. His mom doesn't think the wreck was an accident.

Reporter Todd Wilson asks, “So, did he lose control at the corner?” And his mom says, “No, I think he was pushed off.”

The initial report says the car turned over three times before sticking to a tree. It also says that Stone was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Richard Milner.

Milner said at the time he declared it an accident, but has since changed his opinion.

Milner says, “Theory was, he was ejected from the vehicle. If you were ejected from a vehicle, you're going to end up wrapped around a tree or tied up in a knot. You are not going to be laid out like you're in a casket.”

Since the accident was filed as an accident, an autopsy was not preformed. And the only way to do that was to change the death certificate from “accident” to “could not be determined,” and that is exactly what has been done.

Balleza says, “My daily life is thinking of what steps we're going to do next. A lot of grief, unanswered questions, a lot of feeling like justice wasn't served.”

Todd Wilson, Reporter

Created: 3/9/2005 10:32:04 PM

Updated: 3/10/2005 10:45:56 AM

Accident or Murder: Search Continues into Son`s Death
( Air Date: 2/17/2005 )

A year and a half after her son`s death, an Arkansas mother hasn`t given up on the fight. Renata Balleza is trying to prove that the car wreck her son died in was no accident. This week, she may have gotten one step closer in her journey to justice.

The coroner who pronounced Timothy Alan Stone dead at the scene of his car wreck is now asking the Arkansas Department of Health to change his death certificate. If granted, the cause would no longer be listed as accidental, but undetermined.

The night of Sept. 23, 2003, a 17-year old Timothy Alan Stone took a drive down Highway 57 outside of Chidester.

Soon the Sheriff`s department received a 911 call.

"I`m on Highway 57 South, right past the 76 junction," said the anonymous caller. "There`s a car in the ditch on its side...I`m not from here, I`m just passing by."

A State Police accident report says Tim`s car overturned three times when it left the road.

A few feet away from where the car stopped laid Tim`s body.

"Tim Stone was lying flat on his back, feet together one hand on his chest, like this, the other at his side," said Chief Deputy Coroner Richard Milner, who pronounced Tim dead at the scene. "That`s a little unusual in my opinion for someone who`s been ejected from a vehicle."

After hiring her own investigators, Stone`s mother, Balleza, believes a different theory from what the reports show.

"He`s saying they ran him off the road that night, drug him out of the car and beat him up," she said of her investigator.

"I believe there was some foul play," said Milner.

Balleza and the coroner say they don`t believe the car overturned three times.

"There`s no marks on the top hood, the trunk. It was completely clean," she said.

Milner says that accident could not have been what caused the injuries to Tim`s skull.

"Mush. I`m not trying to be graphic, but I`ve never seen anything that bad," he said. "With that severe head trauma, I would`ve expected to have seen blood on the inside of the car."

Now, that coroner is requesting to change the death certificate to an undetermined cause of death, hoping for an autopsy.

"I`m sure no mother would ever want to see their child exhumed after being laid to rest. However, in Tim`s case, an autopsy may give us some answers to questions we have," she said.

Balleza and one of her private investigators say next week they plan to request to exhume and autopsy Tim`s body.

Meanwhile, the Ouachita County Prosecutor says he cannot comment on the case because State Police are still investigating.

However, he says there is no timeline on when he`ll receive the case file to determine whether to prosecute.
Reported by Brandis Griffith

Diligence Due in Any Death

By John Tarsikes

It seems that in Arkansas, all deaths are natural. If you get shot off of your porch, you naturally die. Same thing happens if someone pounds your head flat. When an unnatural death does occur, it is the duty of various officials to do due diligence to quantify the causes, whether the victim is a corporate CEO or a crackhead. Death is the great equalizer and knowing who, what, why, how and when can help us to prevent further untimely death, be it the result of medical, accidental or intentional causes. This knowledge also removes clouds of doubt from the innocent, points out the guilty, and provides closure for survivors.

We know 17-year-old Timothy Stone wasn't a CEO, nor was he a crackhead. He was just a kid. He was a kid who had been in trouble and had gang associations, but not yet an adult. This alone should flag his untimely demise for closer examination.

On face value, the case looks open and shut. An uninsured kid sucks down some brews and flips his car. Case closed.

Experience tells us that very few cases are ever so cut and dried, even the "simple" spur of the moment murder. You know the type. "I loved her so much I killed her," or "He made me mad, so I shot him." Even in those cases that look so simple, a forensic autopsy, victim/actor profile and thorough background investigation is necessary to quantify the motive. A wife may kill an abusive husband and admit to a simple murder, only to be exonerated when investigators doing due diligence discover it was really a self-defense homicide and not a murder at all.

Nomenclature is the first problem. There is no such thing as an accident. There is always a cause and effect relationship. A guy rolls his car. It is not an accident. He may have been drunk, he may have been dodging a deer, or he may have fallen asleep. These are the direct causes of the misadventure, but in fact due diligence will always expose the underlying cause.

A guy rolls his car because he got drunk. Okay, this is no accident. He wouldn't have rolled the car if he was sober, so why did he get drunk? Was he an alcoholic? Was he depressed? Cause and effect. If he rolled the car dodging a deer, was the deer trapped between the fences? Was he distracted by changing a CD? Or was he a PETA supporter willing to have a wreck rather than injure an animal? Again, no accident, just inept driving with mitigating circumstances. The same goes for asleep at the wheel. Had he worked all night? Did he have narcolepsy? Or did he have some other compelling motivation to travel while he was in an unsafe condition to drive? There are no accidents, merely circumstances, that taken in aggregate, result in a wreck.

Generally cops in the trenches do a quick look-see to determine if a case is an "accident" or a criminal offense. Remember, accident = more donuts sooner, crime = real work. In actuality, due diligence is the only way to tell, so every case should bear equal weight. Bad cop, no donut. This is a poor analogy. It should read Good cop, no donut because you're busy doing due diligence.

Various other old saws apply in investigation work : "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck..." or " Where there's smoke, there's fire" come to mind.

Back to the Tim Stone woodpile with the old saw:

1. Tim was gang associated.

2. Tim snitched off some of his banger buddies.

3. Tim was allegedly threatened with death by these same guys. 4. Tim reported this to the authorities. 5. Tim winds up dead. 6. Tim had property stolen from the death scene by at least one of the threateners.

QUACK!

When these circumstances are coupled with:

1. The death car with suspicious impact marks is "misplaced." 2. The deputy coroner says the position of the body is inconsistent with ejection from the vehicle. 3. The deputy coroner request for autopsy is denied. 4. The family's request for a private paid autopsy is denied. 5. The family home is shot up when pleas for continued investigation are made. 6. The impact marks are mechanically removed before the car is released to the family.

QUACK, QUACK !

And suspicions naturally mount when:

1. The death site is listed in two different locations.

2. The official "accident" report diagram does not reflect the narrative. 3. The official death scene investigation photographic evidence has "disappeared." 4. The alleged issuer of death threats bragged to witnesses that he beat Timothy to death. 5. The deputy coroner indicates this would be consistent with the observed head injury. 6. The items stolen from the scene prior to official interdiction are recovered from one of the parties to the death threats, who is not even charged in the theft.

QUACK, QUACK, QUACK !

The family of Timothy Stone was denied an autopsy at the time of Timothy's death. They were told they could not pay for a private autopsy. They have since learned that a private autopsy could not have been denied to them under Arkansas law, so now they are faced with the expense and emotional trauma of a private exhumation and autopsy. They need help. Anyone who would like to donate to this effort should do so at http://www.timothystonefamily.com .

Any application of scientific logic yields mathematical odds that strongly indicate this was not just an accident, but a duck, or a killing. A reasonable person must wonder, given the mishandled evidence and the lack of competent investigation on behalf of local authorities, if this is the result of lack of proper training or if it reflects a reluctance to uncover something more sinister. Remember, where there's smoke, there's fire. The next blaze could consume one or your kids.

John Tarsikes is a retired police Criminal Investigator and a licensed private eye.

Publication:Camden News;

Date: Friday, February 11, 2005 ;

Section:Main;

Page:1

Deputy coroner wants to change death certificate

An Ouachita County deputy coroner has written a memo requesting a change in the manner of death of Timothy Stone, reportedly killed in a September 2003 automobile accident, and family members say they will ask the state to exhume the body and perform an autopsy.

"I, Richard Milner, chief deputy coroner, Ouachita County, Arkansas, hereby request to change the manner of death on the death certificate of Timothy A. Stone from accidental to undetermined," Milner wrote in a memo dated Thursday.

    Milner told the Camden News he wrote the memo because, "I am not convinced it was accidental." He said it would be up to the family as to what steps will be taken next.

    Asked what caused him to change his opinion Milner said, "I’m not going to make anymore statements."

    Milner said he presented the memo only to Stone’s family.

    Milner first ruled that Stone was fatally injured from results of an automobile accident. Stone, who was 17 at the time of the accident, was reportedly killed when his vehicle left the road and overturned several times. Stone was ejected from the vehicle while it was overturning, according to an Arkansas State Police accident report.

    The ASP report stated that Stone was traveling south on Arkansas 57 near Chidester when he failed to maintain control of his vehicle and left the roadway. "Investigation at the scene revealed that the vehicle overturned side-to-side on the southbound roadside approximately three times, before sticking a tree with its left side. After impact, the vehicle overturned on to its left side and came to a final rest, facing a western direction," the report stated, adding that no braking marks were found at the accident scene.

    During a telephone interview today with Stone’s mother, Renata Balleza, told the Camden News the family will ask their attorney, Clint Mathis of Arkadelphia, to file a request asking that Stone’s body be exhumed and an autopsy performed.

    "An autopsy is what was needed in the beginning," Balleza said. "It may or may not answer our questions, but it needs to be done."

    "It is very clear it was more than an accident, possibly even murder," Balleza said, adding the family has hired private investigators to look into the incident and that those investigators agree it was not an accident.

    Ouachita County Coroner Sam McCord today told the Camden News he had not seen the memo and had not talked to Milner about the memo. After reading a copy of the memo obtained by the Camden News from the family, McCord said, "This is an open investigation by the Arkansas State Police. I have not seen any evidence for changing the death certificate," McCord said.

    McCord said it would be Milner’s responsibility to make any changes to Stone’s death certificate.

    "My case is not Sam’s case," Milner said when asked why he has not shown the memo to McCord.

    State police investigator Terrie Smith today told the Camden News the incident continues to be investigated. Smith said he is no longer the investigator on the case. "That has been turned over to Dennis Duran and he won’t be allowed to comment either," Smith said explaining Duran is an ASP investigator with the agency’s Pine Bluff office.

This Article Published 02. 01. 05

Camden News

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

My husband and I moved to Ouachita County ten years ago from Little Rock. Newly married we wanted to get away from the city life and move to a “small town.” He had friends here and had hunted her for years so we considered the change.

I had just graduated nursing school and was impressed with the small hospital here with the bunnies in the courtyard. We felt like this would be a good place to settle down – a few grocery stores, Wal-Mart, what else would we need?

A few years later I encouraged my parents to move here. They were approaching retirement age and we felt like White Oak Lake would be a good place for them to settle into a simpler life.

My nephew Timothy lived with them and was approaching his teen years. We thought a small town environment would be good for him. I have met a lot of good people here over the years. One thing I kept hearing was “If you want to kill somebody and get away with it, do it in Ouachita County.” I thought this was just small town gossip until September 23, 2003.

As I said earlier, Timothy lived with my parents. Unfortunately the “small town environment” idea was incorrect.

Timothy began to befriend a less than perfect crowd who formed a gang called “The Chidester Hot Boyz”. (I thought that kind of thing only happened in big cities.) The boys began experimenting with alcohol, drugs (to include marijuana and crystal- methamphetamine) and no telling what else. Later, trouble with the law followed.

Timothy had many dealings with the Ouachita County Sheriff’s office. He spent the last years of his life in and out of juvenile facilities. This was a nightmare for our family! We all tried to convince him that he was better than that, but his loyalties were with his “friends” as is the case with most teens.

He was sentenced to eight months in a juvenile facility in Lewisville, AR in early 2003. He had taken the rap for a group of boys who committed robbery. He refused to turn over any of the other individuals involved so the judge was tough on him.

This turned out to be a blessing. During his time there he did a lot of thinking about where his life was going and he decided to turn things around.

We had preached to Tim over the years about his destiny and he finally saw the light. He accepted Christ in May of 2003. We were proud but skeptical. When he was dismissed, he vowed not to be involved with the group of delinquents from Chidester.

During the last weeks of his life he was getting threatening phone calls from a few of former “friends.” He became frightened and told his grandfather and mother about it. They contacted Tim’s probation officer and were told to get a restraining order against them.

On the afternoon of September 23^rd Tim got another threat and my dad was going the next day to get the restraining order but was never able to make that visit.

My dad had purchased Tim a car so he could go to GED classes and get a job. He was prohibited from driving it until it was licensed.

Tim coaxed his Grandma (he was the light of her life) into allowing him to drive it a few miles down the road to a “friend’s” for a fifteen minute errand. That was the last time she saw him alive. That night will haunt us for the rest of our lives.

We got that dreaded visit from a Sheriff’s deputy and the Sheriff saying Tim “had rolled the car multiple times and passed away as a result.”

My dad was skeptical because he knew of the threats. The next day we contacted the Sheriff’s office and the Arkansas State Police to voice our concerns. They advised US to use a camcorder and record the accident site so they could investigate. Looking back that was their responsibility but that is only the beginning.

Tim’s mother has spent several thousands of dollars since on private investigation.

A friend of my dad’s told him that one of the boys that had been threatening Tim was driving around Chidester showing off some car stereo equipment, saying that he had taken it from the crime scene. After my sister, Tim’s mom confronted the boy he returned the items.

Upon calling the Sheriff’s office I was told, “Well he returned it, what do you want us to do about it?”

There was minimal damage to Tim’s car with NO damage to the top, front, hood, back or trunk which in our minds negates the idea of a car rolling multiple times. (Our forensic specialists concur.)

The Coroner has told our family that in retrospect he feels something else happened to Tim as his injuries were inconsistent with a car accident.

An individual has since come forward and told us that a deputy from the Sheriff’s office came into a local convenience store showing off post-mortem photos that were taken at the murder scene. (These photos are now missing) At first we didn’t believe it but she accurately described what Tim was wearing, the position of his body AND his injuries.

As time has passed, one of the killers has bragged to multiple people about what he did to Tim. These witnesses have given their statements to police.

Some forty-plus days after Tim’s death a “specialist” with the Arkansas State Police came to investigate the scene. The area of highway he looked at was two miles away from where Tim was killed.

To date my father’s home has been shot at and he continues to get threatening phone calls in the middle of the night. Everyday we are forced to live the loss of our beloved Tim. The human part of me blames myself - WHY DID WE COME HERE? The spiritual part of me knows that God saw Tim the way I did and wants Tim with him. So where we lived didn’t matter. So to the people out there with children - IS THIS THE ENVIRONMENT you want for them?

Don’t say it won’t happen to you because that is what we thought. I am not an officer of the law or an attorney. But it seems to me that they have plenty of evidence of motive and plenty of other things (of course I can’t expose them all). So, what is it going to take?

It makes me wonder if they are covering up for these boys because they don’t want someone within the drug ring exposed. ????

We pay our taxes to provide their salaries and they are supposed to protect us. The prosecutor and the police need to step up to the plate and make a decision. My family as well as our community deserves closure.

It is my hope that you will print this article in your paper as soon as possible.

Thank you,

“Tim’s Aunt Robin”

Robin Holdcraft

www.timothystonefamily.com

This Article Published 12. 30. 04

Death in Arkansas

Kathryn A. Graham

I think every reader would agree that death is never a good thing. However, dying in Arkansas can be particularly awful, especially if foul play is suspected in your manner of death.

Take the case of young Timothy Stone, a 17-year-old boy killed a little over a year ago in an incident which was officially reported to be a one-car accident. Death by misadventure … or was it?

Young Timothy was no stranger to trouble. He lived with his grandfather in Ouachita County. Over the years, he had fallen into a circle of less than desirable friends, and he had become involved in a few things that most parents would want their children to avoid.

The real tragedy is that Timothy was finally trying to change all that.

Some time before his death, Timothy became aware that some of his erstwhile friends had been involved in a home invasion robbery involving the theft of several firearms. He did what any parent would want him to do - he told his grandfather about it. His grandfather set the boys up to prove it and asked the Sheriff to arrest them.

Instead, based on the statements of the boys who were themselves about to be arrested, the nearby Nevada County sheriff arrested Timothy.

When Timothy got out of jail, in early September of 2003, he received a number of actual death threats from the boys involved in the theft, as they believed he had asked for their arrest. Timothy's grandfather visited his probation officer with him to report these threats, so they are officially on record. As one of the boys involved was just old enough to be considered an adult, the grandfather was advised to report this to the Sheriff.

During the days leading up to his death, Timothy confided to several family members and friends that he was frightened of these boys.

September 23, 2003, was the last day of Timothy Stone's life. He spent most of the afternoon helping his grandfather with yard work, then made and received several phone calls. Timothy had been forbidden to drive the new car his grandfather had purchased for him as a reward for turning his life around, as he had no insurance, but his grandmother granted permission for him to run a quick errand to a friend's house. Timothy was supposed to return within fifteen minutes, but that was the last time we know for sure that anyone saw him alive.

At 9:40 that night, a call came in concerning a fatal single-car accident on Hwy. 57. Timothy's short life was over, but this is where the strangeness really begins.

On the next day, one of the boys responsible for the earlier threats, turned up with stereo equipment removed from the car Timothy was driving after the accident. The man who told Timothy's mother and grandfather that this lad had the stereo equipment turned up dead under unknown circumstances only a few days afterward.

There are only three large wrecker services in the county that might be called to remove Timothy's grandfather's car from the scene of the accident. One of them was called by the Sheriff. When Timothy's grandfather asked the Sheriff's Dept. where he could retrieve his vehicle, he was told that they "had no idea." By the time he located it - which he had to do by actually snooping around, as the car was stored well out of plain sight - a week had gone by, racking up a total bill of well over $1000. The car was about to be demolished, and the private investigator hired to look into Timothy's death, Susan Townsend, had to buy the car back out of her own pocket to prevent its demolition. At that point in time, there were two black marks on the vehicle consistent with an unpainted bumper. Timothy's grandfather flaked a tiny bit of one mark off with a pen knife and tasted it. He later stated that it tasted like rubber.

A few hours later, both marks were completely gone, showing only scraping by some sharp instrument.

Official accident reports show two different locations for this accident, separated by two miles!

The official accident report diagram also indicates that the car flipped three times and wound up resting on the vehicle's top. There was no damage of any kind to the top, hood, or trunk of the vehicle, not even scratches.

Timothy's body was found outside the vehicle, 48.7 feet in front and to the left of it, but the only broken window was the back window of the vehicle. That would seem strange to anyone.

The deputy coroner stated that the position of the body as found did not appear to be consistent with being thrown from the vehicle. He also stated that the crushing of Timothy's skull was consistent with "blows from a shovel." When said deputy coroner also suggested that an autopsy should be performed, the request was curtly refused with the feeble excuse that Arkansas could not pay for it. When Timothy's mother went so far as to offer to pay for the autopsy out of her own pocket, her request was also refused.

Since Timothy's death, a number of individuals, some of them very credible, have come forward to state that one of the boys known to have threatened Timothy before his death has since repeatedly bragged about beating Timothy to death with a shovel and getting clean away with it. To date, although this boy has been questioned and repeatedly failed a polygraph test in regard to Timothy's death, no arrest warrants have been issued. Meanwhile, at least one witness's home has experienced a break in, and shots have been fired at the home of Timothy's grandfather while Timothy's mother was visiting.

FOIA requests for the case file concerning this accident have turned up only one fact. The entire file is missing.

Finally, when the Sheriff was advised that there were additional witnesses, all he seemed willing to do was threaten to arrest the witnesses as accessories.

Does anyone besides me smell rotting fish here?

I have been a private investigator myself for several years, and one of the first things my mentor in this business taught me was to take nothing for granted. I may believe with all my heart that Timothy Stone was murdered, but I cannot prove it, and I may even turn out to be wrong. However, there is no question of any kind in my mind that a proper investigation into this boy's death should have been done immediately by the appropriate law enforcement agencies - and it was not done by either the Sheriff's office or the Arkansas State Police.

Why was such an investigation not done? I can think of several possible reasons:

• Timothy was not well liked by local law enforcement because of his legal history. This is a small community, and small communities have their prejudices.

• Timothy had some amount of alcohol in his system, which he did. Different metabolisms, however, handle alcohol differently. There is no certainty that he was severely impaired, or even if he was, that this was the cause of the accident.

• Sheer, criminal laziness. Homicide investigations are messy, expensive and time consuming.

• Vague rumors are rife of a flourishing trade in the manufacture and sale of meth-amphetamines in this county. The real truth might involve some occurrence that we know nothing about.

• Unbelievable incompetence on the part of commissioned officers of the law.

• One boy likely to have been an accessory to this murder, if murder it was (the one who had possession of the equipment out of Tim’s car), is the grandson of a former game and fish officer who is probably quite a good friend of the Sheriff.

I can't be certain, of course, but my money is on the last choice.

The family's next options are limited. Horrible though it may be for the family, there is only one remaining crime scene where evidence can be gathered - Timothy Stone's own body. Timothy's family members are raising money now for a private exhumation and autopsy of his remains. His mother is also founding a ranch for working with troubled youth in this part of Arkansas, in the hope that she may one day be able to help save someone else's son. If you would like to volunteer money or time toward these efforts, please visit http://www.timothystonefamily.com.

Let us hope that some answers may still be found that will bring Timothy's bereaved family some measure of peace and closure.

At the same time, let's also hope that Arkansas voters will find themselves just a bit motivated to clean house. Voters anywhere only have themselves to blame when they continue to vote for lazy and corrupt public officials, election after election.

To see this article click on the following link:

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/12/30/graham12302004.htm

Questions Click here

Click on the GO to Discuss these articles in Tim’s Forum

The Citizen's Voice - PA,USA

Psychic explores Song case

By:Ed Lewis

11/28/2004

Nationally recognized psychic Carla Baron never knew murder suspect Hugo Selenski or Penn State student Hyunjung Cindy Song.

In a case that has baffled Centre County authorities for more than three years, the 44-year-old psychic profiler from Los Angeles, Calif., has been consulted by Ferguson Township police regarding the disappearance of the 21-year-old college student.
The missing person's case has led police to Luzerne County, back to the State College area and into the psychic world.
Song was last seen by two friends in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2001. The girls attended a Halloween party and drove Song to her Ferguson Township apartment.
Luzerne County authorities, working on five murders in Kingston Township, provided the first significant clue for Ferguson police.
"It's very frustrating," Ferguson Township Det. Brian Sprinkle said. "It's very unusual because we don't have a crime scene and we don't have a body. It's still considered a missing person's investigation.
"A missing person's investigation is not a crime. But information from up your area is the most promising over the last three years."
Paul Weakley, a police informant, told police that murder suspect Hugo Selenski led him to believe that Selenski had something to do with Song's disappearance, police said.
In January 2002, the Penn State Paranormal Organization asked Det. Sprinkle to consider another source in his probe - a psychic profiler.
Baron has appeared on Court TV, other networks and assisted grieving families in more than 150 cases through her special cognitive powers.
"The club asked me if I could talk to her," Det. Sprinkle said. "She provided a lot of information."
Baron said she does not solicit law enforcement agencies but has been asked by several throughout the country to assist in missing person's or homicide investigations. Primarily families of murder victims contact her, she said.
In mid-October 2003, Baron and Det. Sprinkle accompanied producers and a reporter from ABC Primetime to file a segment on the disappearance of Song.
Baron said she felt a connection between Selenski and Song before the meeting.
"It was my first time knowing, regarding Selenski to Song," Baron said.
Baron said Selenski and Michael Jason Kerkowski, a Tunkhannock area pharmacist convicted in February 2002 of selling controlled substances without prescriptions and insurance fraud, had gone to State College to meet with a male college student.
"They were doing a deal," Baron said. "They saw an opportunity. It was a crime of opportunity."
Baron said the male student had feelings for Song, but she resisted his advances. When they were doing their "deal," the male student saw Song and suggested to Selenski and Kerkowski that they abduct her, Baron said.
Baron said it was fairly bright the night Song disappeared. Det. Sprinkle later learned there was a full moon that night, he said.
"He visited her (Web) site," Baron said. "He may still be in the area (State College)."
Det. Sprinkle said Baron led ABC officials to an area near Interstate-80 and state Routes 11 and 15, between Williamsport and Wilkes-Barre.
"We were driving and kept coming back to that spot," Baron said.
Baron said the area was off a major roadway near a convenience store that has gas service and a railroad bridge over a stream that flows into the Susquehanna River.
"They may have gotten gas and cigarettes at that convenience store," Baron said. "They saw a dark area a little off the roadway.
"I see two of them dumping the body - not buried, but in water. They were trying to go back to State College. They didn't want to bury her near his home because he felt there were too many eyes on him."
Det. Sprinkle said he never disputed Baron's suggestions and she continues to be a valuable resource in the ongoing probe.
"Forensic psychics are another criminal tool," Det. Sprinkle said. "It has a place out there in the world for it."

The formative years

For nearly 30 years, Baron's grandmother visited a psychic named "Mary'' in the Pittston area.
As a young girl, Baron spent a considerable amount of time with her grandmother, who lived in Forty Fort. From 1971 to 1979, Baron accompanied her grandmother to her psychic readings.
"My grandmother first took me to see Mary when I was 11-years old," Baron said. "She told me I had an ability and it would come out over time.
"She told me I would be doing this."
Baron was the valedictorian of her graduating class from Lock Haven High School. She continued to take "road trips'' to see Mary while she was enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, where she studied to be a concert pianist.
"I was studying what I would be doing, but I kept having dreams of accidents," Baron said. "I would see certain specifics and see what's happening. One thing you don't do is change information."

The Selenski case

Weakley has been at the center of five homicide investigations since he led Luzerne County detectives and state police to 479 Mount Olivet Road, Kingston Township, on June 5, 2003.
Authorities discovered the bodies of Kerkowski, Tammy Lynn Fassett and three others on the property surrounding Selenski's home.
Weakley is in federal custody at the Pike County Jail. Ferguson Township police still has not interviewed him, Det. Sprinkle said.
According to court records, Weakley claimed Selenski indicated to him in April 2002 that Selenski felt he was under surveillance by the FBI.
Selenski allegedly told Weakley that he and Kerkowski had traveled to State College and kidnapped Song. Weakley said Selenski indicated that Song was kept in Kerkowski's gun safe inside his Hunlock Township home until she died, police said.

An investigative tool

Renata Balleza, of Houston, Texas, said she first learned about Baron while watching her on an episode of Psychic Detectives on Court TV that also featured the disappearance of Song.
Balleza contacted Baron a few days after that episode in early April regarding the death of her son, Timothy Stone, 17, in Chidester, Ouachita County, Ark., on Sept. 23, 2003.
Balleza said her son had been threatened by two men just days before his vehicle crashed on Highway 57 in Chidester.
"After the accident, I felt very uncomfortable. A lot of little things didn't add up," Balleza said. "She (Baron) actually visualized details about my son's murder that were not released to the public. She told me it was staged and to call police."
Balleza called the coroner that investigated her son's death and relayed Baron's information.
"The coroner told me that he was bothered by the scene,'' she said. "... my son's injuries were not consistent with a vehicle roll over.
"Right away I'm thinking a cover up."
Balleza said with the help of Baron, Arkansas State Police re-opened the investigation.
"She (Baron) was successful in the investigation and two suspects have been named," Balleza said. "Three witnesses gave police statements about my son's murder."

elewis@citizensvoice.com

State Police Reopens Investigation into Teens Death

At the request of his family, the Arkansas State Police reopened their investigation into the September, 2003 motor vehicle accident that claimed the life of 17-year-old Timothy Stone of Chidester. Stones family believes there is substantial evidence that his death as well as the deaths of three other area teens in an eerily similar accident several months earlier were homicides.

Chidester, AR (PRWEB) October 8, 2004 -- At the request of his family, the Arkansas State Police reopened their investigation into the September, 2003 motor vehicle accident that claimed the life of 17-year-old Timothy Stone of Chidester.

Stone’s family believes there is substantial evidence that his death as well as the deaths of three other area teens in a similar accident several months earlier were homicides.

Citing inconsistencies in the original accident scene investigation, the observations of the coroner at the scene as well as threats of physical harm made against Stone in the days prior to his death, his family hired a private investigator to further examine the evidence. That investigation is near completion and files have been turned over to the Ouachita County prosecutor and the Arkansas State Police’s Crime Investigation Division in Camden.

Stone died the night of September 23, 2003 after his car left Arkansas Highway 57 near Chidester. According to the State Police’s final report, the car became airborne and rolled three times before slamming into a tree. Stone’s lifeless body was found a few feet away.

The coroner, who examined the body at the scene, told the family that Stone’s massive head injuries were not consistent with ejection from a roll-over accident. Moreover, the condition of the vehicle did not indicate a roll-over. Photographs recorded the following day show distinctive markings on the ground consistent with the body being dragged away from the vehicle. Personal items were missing from the vehicle and were later found in the possession of one of parties who had threatened Stone previously.

Stone’s family finally located the vehicle a week later and observed a small black mark, possibly made by another vehicles bumper along the rear of the Stone vehicle. Stone’s family notified the Sheriff’s Office and when police returned several hours later that day the mark had been scratched off. Stone’s family now believes he was dragged from the vehicle and beaten to death.

Despite the suspicious findings of the coroner, the State Police investigators and the family’s private investigator, Ouachita County officials have steadfastly refused to reopen the case. One Ouachita County official dismissed the family’s findings as irrelevant and labeled Stone a “druggie” and a “homosexual”.

Once Townsend Investigations turned their reports and findings over to the State Police Investigator, Terrie Smith and County Prosecutor, Jamie Pratt, the case was re-opened.

To date, Stone’s family has spent over $10,000 seeking the truth about Timothy’s death. After his family began their own investigation, the home where his grandfather lives and mother visiting was sprayed with bullets and the family has received harassing and threatening phone calls. Stone’s mother, Renata Balleza of Houston, Texas, recently made an appearance on a program hosted by COURT TV legal analyst Nancy Grace to discuss the case and the family’s quest for justice.

Anyone with information about the death of Timothy Stone is asked to contact the family at their website: www.timothystonefamily.com

“We want to do what we can to get these people who brutally murdered my son behind bars where they belong. We believe they are responsible for multiple murders and will kill again” Renata Balleza said.

Publication:Camden News;

Date:Thursday, June 17, 2004 ;

Section:Main;

Page:1

Woman questions investigation Mother alleges foul play in her son’s 2003 death

by Sara Mitchell
    A former Camden resident now residing in Houston is not satisfied with the way her son’s death was investigated and has gone to great lengths to try to find answers.

    Renatta Balleza, mother of Timothy Stone, who was ruled fatally injured from results of an automobile accident Sept. 23, 2003, has hired a private investigator and consulted a psychic profiler to help in the case. She told the Camden News in a recent interview that she believes foul play was involved in her son’s death.

    Stone, who was 17 at the time of the accident, was reportedly killed when his vehicle left the road and overturned several times. Stone was ejected from the vehicle while it was overturning, according to an Arkansas State Police accident report.

The report, which was signed by Trooper Scott Ellis, stated that Stone was traveling south on Arkansas 57 near Chidester when he failed to maintain control of his vehicle and left the roadway. "Investigation at the scene revealed that the vehicle overturned side-to-side on the southbound roadside approximately three times, before sticking a tree with its left side. After impact, the vehicle overturned on to its left side and came to a final rest, facing a western direction." The report stated that no braking marks were found at the accident scene. Ellis was deployed with the military to Iraq shortly after the accident and has not returned.

Balleza says she thinks her son was forced off the road and fatally injured by two individuals who had reportedly argued with Stone earlier in the day. Balleza contacted Hollywood psychic profiler Carla Baron after she saw Baron commentating on the Court TV show "Psychic Detectives."

    Baron has appeared on several television shows, including "Court TV" and ABC’s "Primetime Live." Balleza said that Baron gave her initials of two individuals who she believed killed Stone. "The initials added up with what I had suspected," Balleza said.

    In an interview with The Camden News, Baron said there is not a doubt in her mind that Timothy Stone was murdered. "One of the murderers has a conscience and may very well make a confession," Baron said.

    The field of psychic profiling is a narrow one, according to Baron.

"Only a handful of psychics who do this are authentic," she said. She said she receives her information from a technique called "remote viewing," which she claims allows her to obtain information and details on particular cases without actually having to physically be in that location. Baron said this technique is extremely important to law enforcement, because "every minute counts in their investigations."

    Baron said the idea that psychic profiling is bizarre is fading and most of the time law enforcement has agreed to work with her. "We know we are on the same page when it comes to what is hopefully a most welcome ending for those families involved."     She said she realized a long time ago she might have a gift for seeing things that others could not. While growing up, Baron noticed that events would happen that she had previously dreamed about. "I then became very hungry for information about it and studied a lot. And I was very disciplined."

    Baron graduated at the top of her class with a music degree from Carnegie Mellon, After a career in music, she went full time in 1993 into the profession of psychic profiling. She has reportedly worked with law enforcement, most recently with the Elizabeth Smart abduction. Baron says she has also done some work with the O.J. Simpson case.

    Balleza has also hired Little Rock private investigator Susan Townsend to gather information and collect evidence concerning the investigation of the wreck. Regarding the law enforcement investigation of Stone’s death,     Townsend recently told the Camden News, "It’s not what they say it is. If it is what I think it appears to be, then it’s a cover-up."

    Townsend reportedly has been working on the case for several months and has interviewed numerous people. She said she has recovered evidence that she claims contradicts the law enforcement investigation of the case. "I have around 50 reports from my findings," she said. Townsend said she planned to today turn over her reports to 13 th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Jamie Pratt.

    On the night of the accident, Stone was pronounced dead at the scene by Ouachita County Deputy Coroner Richard Milner. Milner told the Camden News that he has since had "second thoughts" about the incident. "I was called out there thinking that I was going to a scene where there was a fatality from an automobile accident," he said. "Hindsight is 20-20 because there are two things that have bothered me and they are the condition of the head and the positioning of the body."

    Milner said he has told the state police about his feelings and they did a reenactment of the accident. "But that was way after the fact, so I’m not too sure about the accuracy of such a thing."

    State Police investigator Terry Smith told the Camden News that a reconstruction of the accident was conducted and that no evidence was found that Stone died from foul play. "I do not have any concrete evidence except that this was an accident," Smith said. "Why wasn’t this mentioned when everyone was out there?" he asked. "Nobody came up with this until way after the accident."     Smith said that Stone’s body bounced around in the car while it was turning over. "His head could have gotten hit then." Ellis, the trooper who completed the accident report, noted that Stone was not wearing a seat belt.

    "Richard Milner is not a forensic pathologist," Smith said. "He is a coroner." According to Smith, the training for a coroner is minimal. "I could run for coroner tomorrow and I might win," he said, "but I couldn’t tell you if you needed your tonsils out."     Milner also said he verbally took his information to Pratt. In an interview with the Camden News, Pratt said the prosecutor’s office does not get involved until an investigation is complete.     "Richard Milner came to me some months ago with some concerns that it was not a car wreck, but instead a homicide," Pratt said, "and I referred him to the state police." Pratt said he has not received a recommendation from the state police to prosecute, but will look into the matter. "If the case is ongoing, I cannot really comment on the matter."

    Balleza’s father, Marvin Isom of Chidester, filed a complaint, through his attorney Winston Mathis of Arkadelphia, against Sheriff Paul Lucas alleging violation of the state Freedom of Information Act. According to a request for public records under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act,     Isom requested the following records for purposes of inspection and copying: "Any records, reports, incident reports, investigations, recordings or memoranda, photographs, a complete unedited copy of the log of radio traffic of 00:01 hours September 23, 2003 through 24:00 hours September 24, 2003 concerning Timothy Stone’s death." The complaint was filed in Ouachita County Circuit Clerk’s Office Wednesday morning.

    Lucas told the Camden News that he had no information to provide Isom because the sheriff’s office did not investigate the accident.

    Balleza said that before her son died, he was trying to get a restraining order against two individuals who were threatening him. She says she wants justice to be served. "Not only was I distraught over my son’s death," she said, "but also in the fact that nobody was doing anything about it."

Arkansas Mother Says Son`s Death No Accident
( Air Date: 7/16/2004 )

A n Arkansas mother, who lost her son in a 2003 car wreck says it was no accident.

Seventeen year old Tim Stone died on Highway 57 in Ouachita County last September.
Today his mother says she`s looking for answers.

Renata Balleza says she is certain her son was murdered. She`s even hired private investigators to help her search for the truth.

Tuesday, September 23, 2003, Tim Stone was driving outside of Chidester.

A State Police accident report says Stone failed to maintain control of the vehicle and his car left the roadway. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

"We did receive information immediately following the accident that definitely brings about, it was more than just an accident," said Balleza.

The State Police accident report says Stone`s car overturned three times during the accident. But Balleza doesn`t buy it because there was little damage. She says even more suspicious was that police didn`t tell her where the car was taken after the accident.

"There`s just a lot of things that went wrong."

Balleza says she knows her son was threatened by other teens who were once his friends. Like any other teen, she says he had his problems, but was cleaning that up.

"Anyone that knew him had seen the change in him," she said.

Troubled teen or not, what Balleza believes really happened that September night, she hopes will see the light of day.

"I believe he was run off the road."

Balleza and her private investigator have turned over their evidence to State Police, who`ve turned it over to the Ouachita County Prosecutor.

Balleza is hoping arrests could follow.

Prosecuting Attorney Jamie Pratt says they can not discuss the case, because the investigation is still open.

Ouachita County Sheriff Paul Lucas says his office was never in charge of the investigation into Tim`s accident, that they assisted Arkansas State Police.

Reported by Brandis Griffith

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