Ricky Holland Vanished

When I first set up the Richard Holland is Missing Forum I had quite a few topics locked so only registered users could post messages. It was my feeling then that I only wanted people posting there that would make positive contributions to the message board. By positive contributions I don’t mean only “pro-Holland parents” contributions.

I just wanted a good discussion of what people thought might have happened to Ricky. Not many people posted at the forum and while discussing the issue with someone in an email one day the suggestion was made that perhaps if I unlocked some of the topics more people would be willing to post messages. So, I followed the suggestion and unlocked most of the topics. Still, not many have posted or registered.

I have extended an invitation to the Holland’s via email to a reporter from the Lansing State Journal, through the message board to the Victim’s Advocate, and through the message board to the “guest” who posted as a friend of the Holland’s for the Holland family to visit and participate in the forum. So far I have not received a response from them or any sign that they have visited the board. I have a place on the board for people to leave “birthday wishes” for Ricky and that was not done.

I have had two guests post messages claiming to be close to the family or to Ricky. One guest posted as Ricky’s biological father and even left his full name and address. I edited the message removing the last name and address because I did not think it appropriate to leave that type of information on the message board. As far as I can tell he has not come back to the board.

I do think it is noteworthy that if the biological father did in fact post to the message board it speaks volumes about who cares about Ricky. His father has been portrayed as someone who was incarcerated at the time of Ricky’s disappearance. Most people would view Ricky’s parents as nothing more than low-lifes because they lost custody of their children. I would expect more from the Holland’s than what Ricky’s father has accomplished. He found the message board and posted a message. Again, I say, if that was him.

Last week someone claiming to be a friend of Tim Holland left the message below. They also posted as “guest” and did not register. I am posting that message in it’s entirety in this blog entry because it is a revealing glimpse into what is happening with law enforcement and the family regarding the investigation.

I will also be making comments below the quoted material. My comments will appear below the block quotes of text.

“I want to let you know some information that is not being revealed by the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department concerning the investigation into the disappearance of Ricky Holland.
First, when the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department responded initially to the Holland’s call for help to find their missing son, a deputy requested more officers and a detective to search the neighborhood. The Ingham County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch responded back to the requesting officer that they were too BUSY and the last two times they came out to the residence, he (Ricky) was hiding in the trees. The requesting officer was told that no additional help would be forthcoming and the officer should direct his attention to the trees near their residence. It was nothing for the Ingham County Sheriff’s deputy to be concerned about…”

Why have we not heard this information in the media at least quoted from the Holland’s attorney? He seems very quick to defend the Holland’s and make comments about how their rights are being violated. It would seem to me that the denial of an adequate search in the beginning would have at least made the news. The only reference made to any of the above information you state is once when Ricky ran away he was up in the trees watching the deputies look for him. There was never a mention of two occurrences of this happening.

“…Second, no AMBER ALERT was issued immediately. The Holland’s were informed that their son met the criteria for an amber alert. The ALERT was finally issued 16 hours after their son had initially went [sic] missing. This was only done after the Holland’s begged and pleaded with the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department to have an AMBER ALERT issued…”

The news sources state that the reason the AMBER ALERT was finally issued was to locate the biological mother, and that was accomplished.One of the criteria for the Michigan AMBER ALERT was met as soon as Ricky went missing:An endangered missing person under 17 years of age is reported to law enforcement, and one or more of the following circumstances exist;

Amber Alert cannot be activated for a runaway child or a child who is a victim of a parental abduction involved in a civil dispute.Although Ricky met the first criteria listed for an AMBER ALERT to be issued in Michigan, Ricky was considered a runaway the first few hours or at least 16 hours, so according to AMBER ALERT criteria law enforcement could not issue an AMBER ALERT before they determined he was indeed not a runaway.

“…Third, the Holland’s were told to stay at home by the Chief Deputy. The Ingham County Sheriff’s Department would keep the family informed as to what transpired in the search for their son. Does this seem unusual? It does to me. What PARENT in their right minds would not strike out on their own to find their missing child? The Holland’s took this as an odd request since Mr. Holland, an Intelligence Officer for the U.S. Army, had offered to help the command center in anyway that he could to find his missing son. Mr. Holland had to insist that he be allowed to search for his son…”

I never understood this information when I read it in news accounts. I could not understand how any parent would or could be told stay home and not help in the search for their missing child. It appeared in the news accounts that the Holland’s cooperated with that request and never did help in the search for their son. I also could never understand why neither Tim nor Lisa Holland went on national television to spread the word about their missing son. Someone, a person claiming to be the victim’s advocate, made a comment on my site that Tim was also forbidden to appear in the national media by his employer due to the high security nature of his job. I suppose I could understand somewhat since Tim is in the U.S. Army and he must follow orders but do those orders also apply to Lisa in that she could not appear in the national media due to the high security of Tim’s job?

“…Fourth, a bloodhound team came to the Holland’s home after the ground search had ended and tracked their son’s scent to a McDonald’s in Perry, Michigan. This is where his scent dissipated. The Ingham County Sheriff’s Department totally discounted this as factual, since they did not have a deputy with the bloodhound team. However, the bloodhound team had requested that a [sic] Ingham County Sheriff’s Deputy accompany them prior to them beginning to track the Holland’s missing son…”

The following is from an article published by the Lansing State Journal on July 7, 2005:“…Hopes were high late Wednesday as searchers focused on another lead, a possible sighting at a McDonald’s restaurant. A bloodhound picked up a scent to follow nearby. But the dog lost the scent, which may not have even been Ricky’s, police said…According to news accounts in the Lansing State Journal the search for Ricky was not called off until July 10, 2005.

And, on the 8th of July this from the Lansing State Journal:

“…Dogs picked up a scent, and searchers found the partial footprint as they followed them.
About 40 minutes later, a teenager at the search site told police he’d seen a boy who looked like Ricky earlier in the day.

The teen told police the boy ran away when he yelled “Hey!”

Police said they believe the footprint was made by Ricky because it matches shoes identical to the ones he was wearing when he disappeared after 9:30 p.m. Friday.

His parents bought another pair of the blue-and-white Stride Rite tennis shoes to have available for comparison. The tread on those shoes matches the print found Thursday, police said…”
It appears from the above account that the police were investigating that area aggressively and Tim and Lisa even bought shoes to compare with the footprint.

“…The Sheriff’s department has (and continues) to display a complete lack of compassion and a great degree of ineptitude. Your county should be proud as to how they are wasting your tax dollars and tormenting an innocent family which now suffers the indignity of being victimized by the people who are here to “Serve and Protect”…”

I don’t live in Ingham County; I do not even live in the state of Michigan. I do have to say that if I did live there I would have been out with the search teams helping to find Ricky.

“…I have listened to my friend describe how his home was raided in the early morning hours by deputies who cut up their new carpeting, tore down patched walls, damaged the family van, confiscated clothing and inflicted the final indignity by digging up the family’s deceased dog making the whole fiasco more of a media event…”

It is great that Tim has someone to express his frustrations to regarding the search warrants. I wonder who Ricky is expressing his fears and terrors to if he is still alive. Tim should understand being in the military and being an Intelligence Officer what is entailed in a criminal investigation. Having a search warrant served on your premises must certainly be an unpleasant and disruptive experience. The military also teaches their soldiers to “suck it up” and take it when the going gets rough. As to the “final indignity” – digging up the family’s deceased dog, law enforcement was apprised by the Holland’s that they had buried the dog. A shoddy investigation would have ignored that burial. A thorough investigation involved checking the burial site to make sure it was not Ricky. This investigation, in my opinion is not about Tim and Lisa Holland and their impression of being or feeling put upon, it is about finding a missing child and finding the truth about what happened to that missing child.Things can always be replaced.

“…The investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s department has been nothing short of a travesty. Each day, that boy’s trail grows colder while resources are wasted harassing this boys family. I have known Tim and Lisa for several years. During that time, I have seen them demonstrate a great degree of patience, love and devotion to their children, providing them with a good, loving and nurturing environment. Now, during their greatest moment of need when they need the support of the community and local law enforcement, they have been subjected to harrassment [sic] and humiliating tactics. On top of this, they have intervened in Tim’s job to have him suspended from performing his daily duties in an effort to break him mentally and emotionally…”

Do you believe Ricky is still alive after being gone for over 100 days? Don’t you believe that if Ricky were still alive at this point in time he would have called attention to himself with his un-medicated behaviors?I am sorry, from what you have posted I do not see harassment. I see efforts to resolve a child’s disappearance.I find it very hard to believe that the U.S. Army is taking orders from the Ingham County Sherriff’s Department regarding Tim’s job and what duties he can perform during the investigation into the disappearance of his son. Unless of course the detectives have provided his employer with plausible reasons why Tim is a “person of interest”. Otherwise the idea is ludicrous to say the least.

“…As a parent myself, I can not even begin to imagine the pain, hurt, fear and other emotions this family has suffered in recent months. I would ask your readers to inquire of the Ingham County Sheriff’s department what other possible leads they’re following and their reasons for tormenting this family? [sic] It sure has the look, feel, sound and smell of a department trying to cover its own mistakes…”

I am also a parent and I cannot imagine having to live day-to-day wondering what happened to my child and not making every effort to help find my child.The most recent article in the Lansing State Journal indicated that several police jurisdictions acting on a tip searched Ella Sharp Park in the city of Jackson, Michigan. The Holland’s used to live in Jackson just about a month before they moved to Williamston, isn’t that correct? It would appear that they are following up on leads.

“…The Holland’s hope, pray and believe in their hearts that their son is still alive…”

It would be nice if that were true, that Ricky is still alive but the odds say otherwise.

“…AT [sic] this point, any parent should have a right to know just what is being done to reunite a child with his/her family. If this is Ingham County’s tax dollars at work, then I think it is time for your community and the state Law Enforcement community to have an accounting of the departments [sic] practices and procedures. If you ask me the real persons of interest are not the Holland’s but the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department. Perhaps it is time to request this matter be elevated to the State Police level or another competent Law Enforcement office to assist this family. No one should be subjected to the humiliating, underhanded, dirty, and ethically challenged tactics that have been inflicted upon the Holland’s…”

Truthfully, I never understood after the AMBER ALERT was issued why the FBI did not become involved. I have seen that happen in recent months in other missing children cases. Usually it is automatic. I do believe I read somewhere that the parents of a missing child have the right to call in the FBI to help with the search without obtaining permission from the Sheriff.I do believe the FBI came to help in the Evelyn Miller disappearance which occurred the same weekend Ricky went missing. You do remember Evelyn Miller, she was reported missing from her home in Iowa in the early morning hours, and she disappeared sometime during the middle of the night like Ricky. Her body was found a few days later in the river. She was murdered. They do not yet have an arrest. They did find child pornography on her caretaker’s computer and he has been charged with felony charges for possession of child pornography. They searched his hard drive on his computer. He said there was nothing on his computer except fond memories of his children and of Evelyn. Turns out he was lying.Didn’t one of the search warrants served on the Holland home include the family computer?

“…One other final note: Mr. Holland stated that he was advised by the police that they had alibied [sic] some 90 sex offenders within a 20 – 30 mile radius of his home…all within forty days! Short of a “yes” or “no” interview with these offenders, you have to wonder about the depth and scope of these “interviews”. It should also make the inquisitive reader wonder if your own word or reputation can stand up to the credibility of a sex offender if you were in this situation. Apparently, its [sic] good enough for the Sheriff’s department! …”

Well, certainly sex offenders living in the area must be considered as “persons of interest” any time a child disappears.Unfortunately statistically speaking “persons of interest” are usually the last persons to see the child alive. Didn’t Tim and Lisa say they last saw Ricky when they tucked him into bed?

“…In closing, I would hope that your community would support the Holland’s as they face the daily nightmare most parents dread – a missing child. Requesting accountability of our elected officials AND those who serve and protect the community is not something we should take for granted. Please take a few minutes of your time and ask yourself what you would do if you were in the Holland’s position? How would you respond to such an insidious allegation? How would you hold your life and family together through such an ordeal? …”

If I was in the Holland’s position this is what I would do and would have done.

• I would have gone out and searched for my child. I would not have accepted the suggestions made – the one’s quoted in the newspaper accounts – “wait at home and we will bring Ricky to you”, or “wait at home because Ricky may call or come back home.”

• I would not have accepted my employer’s decision that I could not appear in the national media. Excuse me but “to hell with the job”. Even if Tim’s hands were tied in regards to his employer’s decision that does not preclude Lisa from appearing in the national media to make a plea for the safe return of her son.

• I certainly would not have obtained a lawyer so early in the investigation.

I am reminded of a recent case, Aarone Thompson. She was reported missing just last week. She also supposedly “ran away”. Law enforcement realized that something was not right. The father hired a spokesperson and was considering hiring a lawyer. All of this before the police called off the search and began looking at the father as a “person of interest”. As it turns out there is strong evidence that the child was murdered in her own home at least 1 ½ years ago. There were no recent pictures of Aarone and she was not enrolled in school.

Was Ricky enrolled in school? No, he was home-schooled.

People do terrible things to children in this day and age for reasons that are beyond mine and most decent people’s comprehension.

I will be more than happy to blog an apology when and if Ricky is found alive and the real abductor is charged. Until then in my mind your friends are “persons of interest”.