until they had a body. and so another four years passed. mike s sister teri became more and more dissatisfied with the progress detective wilson was making. i think at first he was very zealous. he felt that, you are right, a lot of this isn t adding up and i believe at first they worked very hard to find my brother. as the years went by, the unknown had become unbearable for the snyder family. they wanted answers from the police. i think he got very upset with me that i was being pushy. our phone conversations got less and less. i would call and leave a message and my messages weren t being returned. they kind of, i think, put the case on the back burner, i believe. detective wilson did continue to look for mike snyder but wilson had to also focus on the 20 other cold cases that needed his attention.
in the late 80s ellen pled guilty to embezzlement. the charges were dropped after her probation. suddenly ellen snyder s skeletons were starting to see the light of day. while detective wilson was doing his investigative work, mike s sister teri, a schoolteacher, was doing hers. she told the detective about a second home mortgage that ellen took out, teri claims, without mike s knowledge. we actually have a copy of that document, of the second mortgage. and it s clearly not my brother s signature on either line. that s true, ellen says. she did sign mike s name, but says mike knew all about it. the more teri thought about mike, the more she remembered his growing frustration with ellen in the months before he disappeared. he would intercede phone calls that collectors were calling wanting to know why their credit cards were past due and all of these things he had no idea of.
these were bills he thought ellen run up and not identity theft. right. not long after mike disappeared, ellen found herself in debt. she had 20 creditors and owed more than $120,000 on her credit cards. did mike know about the debt before he dropped by her work? is that why mike had showed up in a rage? had he discovered the financial mess in to which she put their family? and if mike had been abusive, had ellen come to the conclusion that she could solve that problem with a gun? detective wilson was growing more and more skeptical of ellen snyder s story and so was mike s sister teri. without any real proof that ellen had something to do with mike s disappearance, there was nothing that could be done about those aching suspicions. there was nothing that could tangibly prove murder enough to get an arrest warrant for it
problem with a gun? detective wilson was growing more and more skeptical of ellen snyder s stoimpl and so was mike s sister teri. without any real proof that ellen had something to do with mike s disappearance, there was nothing that could be done about those aching suspicions. there was nothing that could tangibly prove murder enough to get an arrest warrant for it until they had a body. and another four years passed. mike s sister teri became more and more dissatisfied with the progress detective wilson is making. i think at first he was very zealous. he felt that, you are right, a lot of this isn t adding up and i believe at first they worked very hard to find my brother. as the years went by, the unknown had become unbearable for the snyder family. they wanted answers from the police.
8-year-old son michael moved in with mike. did he seem like he was happy? he did seem like he was happy. he did. mike had no children of his own. now he was filling a void in young michael s life. mike s sister teri. he treated him almost like his own son. they shared interests. they would tinker in the garage together. it wasn t long until ellen noticed that mike s affection wasn t all she wished for. i m happy we are going to have valentine s day together. we re in love and he doesn t come home. he decided he was going out it with his friends. on valentine s day. on valentine s day in he couldn t understand why i was upset about this. not every guy makes a big deal out of valentine s day so ellen chalked it up to mike not being the most sensitive of men. were you sad? i m not sure if sad is the right word for it. i think i was a little confused