Sarah Rogers -- Found Deceased 3/13/10

Sarah Rogers Missing (PICTURES): Son Cries At Night, Calls Out "Mommy"

March 9, 2010 3:20 PM
Posted by Edecio Martinez



BARRINGTON, N.H. (CBS/AP) The husband of 29-year-old Sarah Rogers, the New Hampshire woman who went missing in Maine, says their 2-year-old son keeps asking about his mother.

PICTURES: Sarah Rogers Missing

Sarah Rogers of Barrington disappeared on Dec. 13 after driving to Maine, where her car slid into a snow bank off Interstate 95 in Clinton. Maine police have searched the area several times and there was no sign of her.

They believe she was picked up by a passing motorist.

Rogers' husband and her father appeared on NBC's Today Show on Tuesday, and said that Rogers had stopped taking medication for bipolar disorder and was in a manic state when she fled.

Fritz Coulombe says their son cries in the night and calls out "Mommy" when he sees someone who looks his mother. The family hopes someone will call with information.

Anyone with information is urged to call the confidential tip line at (800) 422-0944, or Private Investigator Thomas Shamshank at (800) 422-0944.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000196-504083.html

It is heartbreaking to hear about Sarah's son calling out to strangers thinking they are his mommy. I hope someone sees the clip from the Today Show and calls in a tip.

Poor little guy, that is so sad. I'm glad they have brought Sarah back into the spotlight again. I can't imagine what these families go through not knowing where their loved one is.

How heart wrenching for this little boy - that's so sad.

Do we know if she might have been hurt or hit her head on the steering wheel when she wrecked? maybe she has amnesia? I can't imagine that if she did that bipolar and amnesia mix well together - she might still be walking the streets - maybe mixed in with the homeless or something... Did they do any kind of traffic stop on the highway in the days following her disappearance to see if the ppl that normally travel that route might have seen her get into a car?

I wonder if this could be connected to whatever happended to Maura Murray who disappeared on Feb 9, 2004 after a one-car accident on New Hampshire Route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire?
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Maura_Murray )

Two different states, but maybe we have someone who lives near both who preys on women in need...

I haven't looked into it very deeply but will when I get some time.

Sarah's body was found yesterday. I feel bad for her family, especially her little boy who is always looking for her.

MARCH 13, 2010

The family of Sarah Rogers would like to thank everyone who prayed and helped look for their loving wife,mother, daughter, sister and friend. It is with deep sadness to report that Sarah's body was located this afternoon, Saturday, March 13, 2010, 1/2 mile from where her vehicle was found near Clinton, Maine. The Medical Examiner has confirmed her identity.

Please respect the family during this time of grief and loss.

Sarah will be missed by many. Please feel free to sign the guest book.

Arrangements will be announced at a later time.

http://www.findsarahrogers.com/

This is a sad ending. And she was only half a mile away. I guess they have not stated if foul play was involved. There's been so much snow in that area. She could have been hurt from the accident, started walking and became disoriented. But you think there would have been tracks.

wow - could they just not look due to snow in the area for such a long period of time, or what?
I'm in TX, so not sure about the winter weather in NH - but I'm just guessing that this is what hindered the investigation?
Sad to think that if they had acted quicker, she might possibly still be alive...

I don't know how bad the snow was, but it is sad that she was only a half mile from her car and nobody managed to find her before now.

That's a very sad ending to this story. I feel really bad for her little boy. He's only 2.

N.H. police chief disputes Rogers account

March 16, 2010

The chief of police in Barrington, N.H., is rebutting claims that his department didn't do enough to detain a local woman who went missing Dec. 13 and whose body was found Saturday in Clinton.

Family said 29-year-old Sarah Rogers suffered from bipolar disorder and was experiencing a mental breakdown at the time of her disappearance. She drove her vehicle into Maine during a snowstorm, crashed the vehicle on Interstate 95 in Clinton, and walked away into the nearby woods.

Her body was found Saturday afternoon less than a half-mile away from her abandoned vehicle.

She apparently died of hypothermia, police said, but the state medical examiner in Augusta conducted an autopsy of Rogers' body Monday and did not release an official cause of death, saying the results were "pending further study."

Rogers' death in the Maine woods might have been avoided had Barrington police taken additional steps to detain the distraught Rogers or issue an alert that Maine State Police could have received in time, according to her father, Bob Rogers, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

On Monday, Barrington Police Chief Richard Conway defended his department's actions and said authorities did all they could.

"I feel we acted appropriately with information we had at the time and as the information developed we acted differently," Conway said. "We have great empathy for the family."

On Dec. 11 -- two days before she went missing -- Sarah Rogers was arrested by police in Barrington on a charge of driving while intoxicated, police said. Bob Rogers claimed that his daughter was improperly released when a Breathalyzer test showed her alcohol level below the legal limit, and that she should have been hospitalized instead.

Conway disputed that characterization of events.

"She wasn't just released," he said. "She was incarcerated for eight to nine hours and when the county facility felt she had passed (the sobriety test), she was released into the custody of her husband. She was charged and held and eventually bailed."

Bob Rogers said that Sarah's husband, Fritz Coulombe, subsequently took away his wife's car keys, but she then called Barrington Police and an officer "threatened to arrest him (Coulombe) if he didn't give them back." Conway said his department never made such an order.

According to Conway, before the drunken-driving arrest, Barrington police officers had been called to the Rogers and Coulombe residence at least twice previously for domestic disturbance reports.

"The issues were disagreements between her and her husband," Conway said. And in those cases, Rogers never appeared to be a dangerous person to herself or others, "not with the brief encounters we had with her," he said.

The morning of Dec. 13, Bob Rogers said Coulombe called police to report her missing and "stated to them unequivocally that Sarah was a danger to herself and possibly to others because she was in a disturbed state of mind." But, according to Bob Rogers, the police waited too long before issuing a "be on the lookout for," or BOLO, notice, he said, missing an opportunity for his daughter to be stopped by police while she was driving.

Not true, Conway said.

"That morning we were called there, we initially sent out a BOLO before we went to the house for a 'stop and hold,'" Conway said. "That was put out as an area broadcast, because that's where she was believed to be. She didn't have enough time to leave the area."

But she did. Rogers' car was found abandoned off I-95 in Clinton that evening.

The next day, Dec. 14, Barrington police issued a notice to the National Crime Information Center, which lists missing persons nationwide, Conway said. "That would have been seen by police in Maine as well," he said.

But Bob Rogers isn't satisfied with those explanations. He still questions why Barrington police waited so long to issue the nationwide alert.

"I'm at a loss for what changed, except time," Rogers said. "I would maintain there was no new information for police, other than time."

Rogers said that records show his daughter passed through the Gardiner toll plaza on I-95 around 1 p.m., drove back south through the toll at 4 p.m., and then back north through the plaza again at 5, before crashing her vehicle in Clinton.

"Yeah, I blame them," Rogers said of Barrington police. "My daughter was on the highways, it looks like, for about nine hours."

http://www.kjonline.com/news/n_h_-police-chief-disputes-rogers-account_2010-03-15.html

Sarah's death was caused by hypothermia and was ruled an accident.

http://www.wmtw.com/mostpopular/25241022/detail.html