From the family
My family and I have been searching for my sister, Sheri Swims, since her mysterious disappearance. Unfortunately, I have received very little help from the authorities for many of those years. It is like Sheri vanished "Without a Trace.” We had been in the dark until our family reached out for help to the CUE Center, Miami-Dade police and Miami Herald reporters. Sheri is on the internet, she has had numerous articles written about her, the family has had conversations with the Miami police and Miami Herald reporters and even had personal property excavated based on a tip that Sheri was buried beneath a waterfall where the media (televised) was even involved.
Finally, after all of these years, I am so thankful that I was referred to Monica Caison from the CUE Center by the Doe Network. Monica has been absolutely wonderful, passionate about her work, gives 100% of herself and is great with the families of the missing. She made things happen when there was nowhere else to go. I trust Monica completely and she is the one who is responsible for getting my sister’s Cold Case reopened and she organized the excavation that took place July of 2007, but the results were unsuccessful and I still have a lot of unanswered questions.
Not a day goes by that I do not think of Sheri and wonder what happened to her and where she is. After 26 years of searching, I was hoping for closure but it hasn't happened yet. I will continue my search until I find the answers "What Happened to Sheri."
Thank You,
Karin Flynn
Sheri Lynn Swims
http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/sheri-lynn-swims/
From: Monica Caison
This case has all the twist and turns of what most would think is a "tall tale". A call to her mother late at night from a police station the night she disappeared, by the time anyone would try to make sense of it, she vanished, never to be heard from again. Her family has spent years in the search for her along with our center. In 2007 CUE Center and law officials went to a home upon request of a home owner (he believed Sheri was buried in his waterfall) to search this area; man made and absolutely beautiful, all made out of rock, expensive decorative plants and concrete, a paradise. He also wanted searched a building structure and surrounding field search as well. We brought in sonar (GPR) and K9 units, all court worthy, prepared to find her from the information we had on the inside of this case.
We arrive and immediately meet with law officials at the site to discuss the search and the planning of it for the next day, everyone seems to feel good about this effort. The home owner was so grateful that once and for all these rumors/tips and some facts will be put to rest, even his wife expressed to me that she felt someone was in or underneath this site of beauty that was built. This house sat beside a grassed air strip, back in the day people flew in and out, use your imagination on that one.
The next morning was busting with bright sun and the heat would be soon underway, so we had to work steady, preparing all documents, setting up the sonar tech and his equipment as well as probing the ground getting as tight to the area as we could; we wanted to have every advantage for all concern to afford success. As the GPR was just about completed moving away from the area of our main interest, the first K9 was launched to work, with in about 15 minutes it began to dig and gave a trained final alert, then two more were sent out; although inches away from the hole, all gave an alert and all were committed to a small area that had been probed. Almost at the end of that operation, our GPR tech waved officials and myself over determining two separate areas of concern and he felt strongly that they should be dug up. This also backed up what the K9's were trying to tell us humans.
Now came the brief meeting with officials and myself in private to determine what action to take place? The question was presented to me do you want to walk away and say something is here and leave it? Do you want to deem this as a crime scene and be released and tomorrow we will dig? Of coarse I chose the later. So, before this would happen "they" the officials wanted to call in two of their K9 finest and confirm what our team of K9's had done that day; secretly I thought what if their K9's did not hit, would they over look our efforts? Well, if fact the K9's did come in and we were allowed to stand by and watch as this was still my search effort. We all stood near by, almost in a row leaning on our vehicles, watchful with much anxiety.
The first one was launched, this K9 was awesome he worked hard and even though his handler kept pulling him away, tugging on the leash his dog was dragging him to the area of concern and hit and hit hard, barking and sitting on one hole and then began to dig. It was shown to all this K9 agreed! Then the next one out, different path but the end result was the same as all the others, and that K9 could barley be pulled from the area. I put my hand up in the air and gave a high five to the searcher standing closest to me.
Again, another private meeting and it was decided they would dig the next morning. I borrowed the orange can of marking spray paint from my GPR expert and walking with the detective, I outline a large area that I advised should be dug up with in the lines and explaining in detail my thoughts out loud. We all shook hands and we left driving out to another part of Florida as I still had one more case to work on before leaving this state.
I hardly slept all night, thinking of the land owner as he share many concerns of his property and dreams his wife had had, thinking of the ever so large lizard type pets they had that scared the crap out of my searchers when they snuck up on us during the search, but mostly thinking is this it, will her family finally be able to bring her home. In the wee hours of the morning I finally drifted off to sleep and was awoke by a small knock and someone saying, are you up? I in fact jumped up very fast, my phone began to ring and on the other end I heard loudly, "turn on the channel news now", this person exclaimed!
And so I did.....while still on the phone with the caller, I saw all the law enforcement digging for my girl, but what I could not believe was they were all standing in my orange lines watching the dig take place in another area...??? I yelled, they are standing in my area that they need to be digging, what?! I told the caller, I have to go and hung up. I called the detective over and over, telling him to call me, I even told him in the messages that your digging in the wrong area, I told him your standing in the dig zone, to date I never got a call back. I was so upset.
This entire ordeal has left me puzzled. Reporters were blowing my phone up, "they could see the orange square", wanting a comment, etc. I, out of respect for the department never gave one. I thought maybe they knew something over night I was not aware of, maybe they reviewed some tips and we were off just a bit, maybe they know better where to dig? My conclusion was later that the word "maybe" never knew nothing and never has results in anything. It is what it is, maybe! Maybe always leaves something to questioned.
I was broken, asking myself why, how does this happen? Yes, they later released nothing was found, well we all knew that...they never dug the area the K9's and GPR advised, even LE K9's alerted too. So in fact (at the end of the day), we did walk away acting like nothing happened that day, thats the ugly truth. I vowed to this family I will not give up and I will not! Now, since this "event", the detective has retired, one of the K9's died, other K9's are slated to retire and worst, her mother passed, never having the answers she sought for so long. But I remain in touch with the family, keeping her case alive and dedicated to this case.
Over the years we have got quotes on the repair to disassemble this landscaped area that we think someone is in/under (Sheri), the quotes were anywhere from 40,000 plus to fix it back to the normal state, leaving our organization with no option other than to keep asking companies if they would donate that service in kind. To date the answer has been NO. Then you find yourself doubting in what you saw and believe, that lingering doubt, that small chance what if, what if the K9's were wrong.?
The bare hard facts are this - unless it is done we will never know, unless Sheri is located we still need to know. The question remains will we ever find someone who will call and say, "I will help to bring a resolve to this long time tip and lets move forward, we will handle the cost for this case"? Is their anyone who will take that chance, just because?
Every now and then I get an email or call, reminding me of people who care about Sheri and her being found, people who add to the mystery, people who encourage me to follow what is right and find away. I did get a call from a woman who did in fact come forward years ago (she claims), who will not tell me where she is or how to establish truth in what she has told me. She claims she was shot crossing an street after she came forward, she had no protection so she took off and has lived her life in hiding. Is that true? But, without a name, what can I verify? This call came years ago not long after I had left the search, never to hear from her again. Does this woman hold the key to the truth?
This is the reason for this blog, (thinking), that maybe, just maybe, she will check in on this case late one night and read this and reach back out, reach out to someone with facts and then maybe the truth will bring Sheri Swims home, finally!
But, again...their is that word "maybe" again.
Sheri Lynn Swims
http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/sheri-lynn-swims/
From: Monica Caison
This case has all the twist and turns of what most would think is a "tall tale". A call to her mother late at night from a police station the night she disappeared, by the time anyone would try to make sense of it, she vanished, never to be heard from again. Her family has spent years in the search for her along with our center. In 2007 CUE Center and law officials went to a home upon request of a home owner (he believed Sheri was buried in his waterfall) to search this area; man made and absolutely beautiful, all made out of rock, expensive decorative plants and concrete, a paradise. He also wanted searched a building structure and surrounding field search as well. We brought in sonar (GPR) and K9 units, all court worthy, prepared to find her from the information we had on the inside of this case.
We arrive and immediately meet with law officials at the site to discuss the search and the planning of it for the next day, everyone seems to feel good about this effort. The home owner was so grateful that once and for all these rumors/tips and some facts will be put to rest, even his wife expressed to me that she felt someone was in or underneath this site of beauty that was built. This house sat beside a grassed air strip, back in the day people flew in and out, use your imagination on that one.
The next morning was busting with bright sun and the heat would be soon underway, so we had to work steady, preparing all documents, setting up the sonar tech and his equipment as well as probing the ground getting as tight to the area as we could; we wanted to have every advantage for all concern to afford success. As the GPR was just about completed moving away from the area of our main interest, the first K9 was launched to work, with in about 15 minutes it began to dig and gave a trained final alert, then two more were sent out; although inches away from the hole, all gave an alert and all were committed to a small area that had been probed. Almost at the end of that operation, our GPR tech waved officials and myself over determining two separate areas of concern and he felt strongly that they should be dug up. This also backed up what the K9's were trying to tell us humans.
Now came the brief meeting with officials and myself in private to determine what action to take place? The question was presented to me do you want to walk away and say something is here and leave it? Do you want to deem this as a crime scene and be released and tomorrow we will dig? Of coarse I chose the later. So, before this would happen "they" the officials wanted to call in two of their K9 finest and confirm what our team of K9's had done that day; secretly I thought what if their K9's did not hit, would they over look our efforts? Well, if fact the K9's did come in and we were allowed to stand by and watch as this was still my search effort. We all stood near by, almost in a row leaning on our vehicles, watchful with much anxiety.
The first one was launched, this K9 was awesome he worked hard and even though his handler kept pulling him away, tugging on the leash his dog was dragging him to the area of concern and hit and hit hard, barking and sitting on one hole and then began to dig. It was shown to all this K9 agreed! Then the next one out, different path but the end result was the same as all the others, and that K9 could barley be pulled from the area. I put my hand up in the air and gave a high five to the searcher standing closest to me.
Again, another private meeting and it was decided they would dig the next morning. I borrowed the orange can of marking spray paint from my GPR expert and walking with the detective, I outline a large area that I advised should be dug up with in the lines and explaining in detail my thoughts out loud. We all shook hands and we left driving out to another part of Florida as I still had one more case to work on before leaving this state.
I hardly slept all night, thinking of the land owner as he share many concerns of his property and dreams his wife had had, thinking of the ever so large lizard type pets they had that scared the crap out of my searchers when they snuck up on us during the search, but mostly thinking is this it, will her family finally be able to bring her home. In the wee hours of the morning I finally drifted off to sleep and was awoke by a small knock and someone saying, are you up? I in fact jumped up very fast, my phone began to ring and on the other end I heard loudly, "turn on the channel news now", this person exclaimed!
And so I did.....while still on the phone with the caller, I saw all the law enforcement digging for my girl, but what I could not believe was they were all standing in my orange lines watching the dig take place in another area...??? I yelled, they are standing in my area that they need to be digging, what?! I told the caller, I have to go and hung up. I called the detective over and over, telling him to call me, I even told him in the messages that your digging in the wrong area, I told him your standing in the dig zone, to date I never got a call back. I was so upset.
This entire ordeal has left me puzzled. Reporters were blowing my phone up, "they could see the orange square", wanting a comment, etc. I, out of respect for the department never gave one. I thought maybe they knew something over night I was not aware of, maybe they reviewed some tips and we were off just a bit, maybe they know better where to dig? My conclusion was later that the word "maybe" never knew nothing and never has results in anything. It is what it is, maybe! Maybe always leaves something to questioned.
I was broken, asking myself why, how does this happen? Yes, they later released nothing was found, well we all knew that...they never dug the area the K9's and GPR advised, even LE K9's alerted too. So in fact (at the end of the day), we did walk away acting like nothing happened that day, thats the ugly truth. I vowed to this family I will not give up and I will not! Now, since this "event", the detective has retired, one of the K9's died, other K9's are slated to retire and worst, her mother passed, never having the answers she sought for so long. But I remain in touch with the family, keeping her case alive and dedicated to this case.
Over the years we have got quotes on the repair to disassemble this landscaped area that we think someone is in/under (Sheri), the quotes were anywhere from 40,000 plus to fix it back to the normal state, leaving our organization with no option other than to keep asking companies if they would donate that service in kind. To date the answer has been NO. Then you find yourself doubting in what you saw and believe, that lingering doubt, that small chance what if, what if the K9's were wrong.?
The bare hard facts are this - unless it is done we will never know, unless Sheri is located we still need to know. The question remains will we ever find someone who will call and say, "I will help to bring a resolve to this long time tip and lets move forward, we will handle the cost for this case"? Is their anyone who will take that chance, just because?
Every now and then I get an email or call, reminding me of people who care about Sheri and her being found, people who add to the mystery, people who encourage me to follow what is right and find away. I did get a call from a woman who did in fact come forward years ago (she claims), who will not tell me where she is or how to establish truth in what she has told me. She claims she was shot crossing an street after she came forward, she had no protection so she took off and has lived her life in hiding. Is that true? But, without a name, what can I verify? This call came years ago not long after I had left the search, never to hear from her again. Does this woman hold the key to the truth?
This is the reason for this blog, (thinking), that maybe, just maybe, she will check in on this case late one night and read this and reach back out, reach out to someone with facts and then maybe the truth will bring Sheri Swims home, finally!
But, again...their is that word "maybe" again.
