Tag Archives: FBI

merry christmas anna maciejewska

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Photo of Anna and her mother at Christmas, 2016.

Dear Anna,

Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia, Anna Maciejewska. Merry Christmas wherever you are. Maybe I will just talk to you directly today?

The photo I posted was lent to me by the people at Finding Anna Maciejewska on Facebook.

We never met, but I still think of you often. The mainstream media seems to have forgotten you, but me, your friendly neighborhood blogger and many others have not. So I thought I would write you a letter.

I have three women as friends who were Polish by birth like you. Two I worked with once upon a time, and one is a very dear friend and married to one of my oldest friends in the world. Like you they emigrated here and became citizens to live their American dreams. They are among the most genuine and lovely people I know.

They all love Christmas. I am guessing you did too. One of these friends of mine for years has been sharing the beloved Polish Christmas tradition of the Oplatek, or the Christmas wafer. I don’t have to tell you about what the wafer is, as you know. But for everyone else reading this, please enjoy what the Polish Women’s Alliance of America has to say:

Christmas Wafer – Oplatek

Sharing of the oplatek (pronounced opwatek) is the most ancient and beloved of all Polish Christmas traditions. Oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water, similar in taste to the hosts that are used for communion during Mass. The Christmas wafer is shared before Wigilia, the Christmas Eve supper. The head of the household usually starts by breaking the wafer with his wife and then continues to share it with everyone at the Wigilia table. Wishes for peace and prosperity are exchanged and even the pets and farm animals are given a piece of oplatek on Christmas Eve. Legend has it that if animals eat oplatek on Christmas Eve, they will be able to speak in human voices at midnight, but only those who are pure of spirit will be able to hear them.

This tradition dates back many centuries when a thin, flat bread called podplomyk was baked over an open flame and then shared with the family gathered around the fire on Christmas Eve. Patterns would be cut onto the bread to make breaking easier. This is why oplatki today still have patterns on them, usually of Nativity scenes. You can order Oplatki from PWA. Learn how here.

Everyone who knows me Anna, knows how much I love Christmas. Some of my favorite mercury glass ornaments are Polish made. The ornaments made in Poland and Germany and once upon a time in the Ukraine are just truly magical.

This morning I stumbled across two things. One was a post written by a man who took part in searches for you in 2018. I never knew it existed. Here, let me share a little bit:

April 30, 2018 Finding Anna (and Ourselves) :The Frustrating Search for a Missing Mother, Wife, Daughter and Friend By Larry Goanos

I spent part of my wife’s birthday recently looking for a dead body in the woods of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Yes, really.

I joined a group of about 20 people who had gathered in Malvern, Pa. to search for the missing-and-presumed dead body of Anna Maciejewska, a wife and mother who went missing in April 2017…Anna’s elderly parents in Poland, both cancer survivors, are grief stricken, frustrated and angry. And to make things worse, Anna’s husband has reportedly prohibited them from seeing their now four-year-old grandson.

Anna was not a young, attractive model or a wealthy socialite, and she didn’t fit into most of the other categories of missing persons anointed by the media as being worthy of intense and prolonged coverage. She was just an average American, like you and me, and she has vanished from the face of the Earth, leaving her family and friends distraught and seeking answers.

Most likely, you’ve seen clips on the news of packs of volunteers searching fields, woods and riverbanks for the remains of crime victims. It’s a horrid task and, in a way, nobody wants to find the object of the search – a body – as they cling to a sliver of hope that the person is somehow alive. That is, unfortunately, almost never the case.

But I can tell you that the search for a missing person is also a heartwarming act; it’s people banding together to help one another in a time of unimaginable stress and grief, especially for the victim’s family. An act of despicable inhumanity, the killing of an innocent person, paradoxically gives birth to an outpouring of love and unity among many, including people who did not know the victim….As one of mankind’s greatest minds, Albert Einstein, said, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”

Anyone with information about Anna’s disappearance is asked to call the Pennsylvania State Police at (610) 486-6280. 

And also this literally happened recently – a podcast I find intriguing The Ever Evolving Truth has picked up the mantle of talking about this. There is also a page on Facebook called Fresh Eyes on Anna Maciejewska. It gives me hope, even if I don’t agree with some of their take on your disappearance so far. BUT they are paying attention to what happened to you, and I pray their interest sparks other renewed interest from media, law enforcement, etc.  I also agree that even if you don’t agree with something, maybe see it through so every angle is covered, right? As an actuary you would look to all of the details to make sure you were correct, right?

Maybe the miracle of Christmas will help find you and bring you home? We all pray for that, Anna.

A Christmas wish and a wish for the New Year is for you to be found, Anna. You deserve to rest, your little boy deserves to know where his mama is, and your beloved parents deserve closure and answers along with your friends.

2 1/2 years missing is too long.

Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia, Anna Maciejewska.

Very Truly Yours,

Me

anna maciejewska is still missing

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I was asked by a friend who lives in Charlestown to post about Anna Maciejewska , who is still missing.  

According  to media and local reports she has not been seen since like April 2nd or April 10th (I have seen both dates in media reports and on social media, so I don’t know which one is correct. All I know is she has been missing for weeks at this point.)

I am guessing last person who saw her is her husband because well she is married and has a little boy named Andrew (do I have his name right?) who I think is like 4 or 5.  He must miss his mommy something fierce, so I figured I would put a post up in the hopes like all the media reports that someone somewhere has seen something.

Has anyone seen Anna Bronislawa Maciejewska?  The PA State Police want to hear from anyone who may have seen her. Call 911 or Embreeville barracks at 610-486-6280


Media reports continue to go out and the AP has picked up the story. 

It would be great if a national law and justice show like Nancy Grace could tell her story so please, if you are in the media or know media, pay it forward so Anna’s son  Andrew (?) doesn’t lose his mom.  Anna is Polish and I am also told that family in Poland is frantic.

Anna Maciejewska went missing from the Charlestown section of Malvern.  She was driving a blue Audi A4 she is 43 years old and 5′ 4″ and 150 pounds 
There is a Facebook page up for FINDING Anna Maciejewska.

She’s a mom. She’s not going to leave a little child like that. Please, if you have seen Anna Maciejewska, call the police.

west whiteland alert: missing special needs juvenile

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west whiteland 2I had posted this on this blog’s Facebook page earlier today but I just received what I am posting now from a reporter I know who was forwarded information by an FBI Public Affairs Specialist out of Philadelphia.  Since this kid has not been located that I know of, I Parkerthought I would do a proper blog post with the information I was given. Parker2

IMPORTANT Note: West Whiteland Police are leading the investigation, with the FBI supporting; please direct all media inquiries/tips to WWTPD at 610-692-5100.

This whole missing special needs person strikes a chord with me.  There are special needs facilities and group homes throughout Chester County.  Many of us have one of these places in our neighborhoods.  Sometimes I think the neighbors of these facilities care more about keeping an eye peeled for their special needs neighbors than the staff paid to do so 24/7. I hope this boy gets home safely, his parents must be frantic. He is only 14 years old. 14 can be such an emotional time for boys who aren’t special needs. Please call West Whiteland Police if you have seen him.

west whiteland

damaged people

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From the past comes ugly anger,
That left on their own.
Back to sling words,
Angry and cheap,
They damage no one but themselves.
Cyber bullies.

Damaged people,
Troubled mental turmoil.
Sad people, sad lives, a stalker’s existence
They damage no one but themselves.
Cyber bullies.
They don’t have me.

what do you think of adults who approve of cyber-bullying?

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cyber-bullying-posterAs many know, I have been the victim of cyber bullies for a couple of months now.  Cyber bullying happens to adults as well as kids.  People have liked and commented on the cyber bullying, which is tantamount to approval, is it not?

cyberbully3

People who are actual cyber bullies (as in doing it) are  individuals with serious issues who hide behind a keyboard.  They go well beyond First Amendment rights. People who like cyber bullying are sad people as well.

The objective of cyber bullying is to hurt.

I am a blogger.  I am also a writer.  My opinions vary from the opinions of many on occasion. It’s life.  I am being bullied not because of that but for a much more personal reasons.   In a nut shell, I am being bullied because I am happy and love my life and crazy as it sounds, I am being bullied by people who chose to leave my life . These people  don’t even live in Chester County and they don’t know and have never met the majority of the few who like their efforts.

imageSome of the few people who approve of what is being done to me live in Chester County, but have never met me.  A volunteer at the Chester County SPCA is one who has liked things (out of deference to my friend Pat who is President of the board at the CCSPCA I haven’t mentioned this person.)  A couple of folks who may or may not be involved with other animal rescues but did not like things I wrote are others. Some people who have liked things on this page are what can be described as innocently naive to a lot of what is social media and who had absolutely NO idea what they were “liking” at first and then were mortified when they figured it out.

A few of these people who support this page (and there aren’t many who actually do support the cyber bullying efforts) live in or around West Vincent. They think they are above the law and like to tell people they are “connected” and what does that mean other than they know a couple of local and limited politicians who will eventually be out of office in a small, rural, and dysfunctional municipality?  The reason these West Vincent related people dislike me is  because quite simply I stuck up with my friends who have been quite literally victimized by the politics and pious hypocrisy of a small cabal in that township.  That and I objected to things like eminent domain for private gain when it was discussed a few Christmases ago with regard to the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show. It makes me chuckle that these strangers consider themselves relevant to my life, because they simply aren’t.

pious hypocrites

These people have never met me. They have never had a conversation with me. Yet they “hate” me. Does it sound like middle school lunchroom bullying to you or is that just me? And the irony is participating on a cyber bullying site only hurts them, not me.

Cyber bullying however, is no joke. The difference between adults being cyber bullied and kids is that as an adult you have the ability to tune the noise out and to consider the source. As an adult you have the ability to discern that someone is mentally messed up, kids can’t necessarily do that as they don’t yet have the emotional maturity.

Cyber bullying is wrong. And there is a big difference between blogging and writing and cyber bullying someone.  As a breast cancer survivor I am made of tougher emotional stuff than others. So can I handle this ultimately? Yes, because these are mean people who don’t matter.  But the reality is that I am one of millions of children and adults being cyber bullied every day. So I decided to share this today. And the people who applaud this kind of harassment and egg it on are just as bad as those perpetrating the cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying is indeed against the law. I choose to ignore my bullies for the most part because they only want attention, and yes they exhibit stalker-like behavior (think Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction only far less polished).  They have this twisted obsession when it comes to me which shows their mental state, unfortunately.  And I have indeed had feedback from law enforcement about this as well as mental health professionals.  It’s sad, but their issues are their own, not mine.

Take a stand against cyber bullying and cyber harassment and cyber stalking. And if it could happen to me, it can happen to you. Or your kids.

For more on cyber bullying read:

It’s the permanence of online abuse that makes cyberbullying so damaging for children

Also see stopcyberbullying.org and the FBI website (which has a lot about cyber bullying and similar behavior.)

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feds raid a horse rescue and dog tales too

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cowsSomeone told me months ago they heard the feds (as in law enforcement) were looking at horse rescues in PA.  Can’t for the life of me remember who said this, it was too long ago.

Well lo and behold, that has happened. No it isn’t Off The Track Thoroughbred Rescue or that Turning for Home out of Parx Racing run by that Barbara Luna and why on earth would you think that feds might be interested in little old them anyway? They are angels are they not? Do you sense sarcasm? Good.

I am sick of horse rescue. I love horses. I rode many moons ago, and don’t ride now and have never owned horses.  Some say that means I have no business saying boo about horse rescue, but I am sorry, horse rescue is the new puppy mill in Pennsylvania.  It is not really regulated and those who are supposed to keep track of horse rescues like that LAPs (Large Animal Protection Society) just seem to be asleep at the tractor or something.

And yup, sorry I am allowed an opinion on this.  And my opinion is there is a lot of money being made by different folks only it is hard to keep track of the horses, their paperwork, who is caring for them, who is responsible for them and all that.

Every time we turn around a new “rescue” pops up.  Some of them are retreads and contacts of already suspect rescues and some are new. I love the ones that say they are a business but also a rescue. Call me confused but are they businesses selling horse or a non-profit rescue? It is all very confusing and we’ve been over it a dozen times at least.

I would say the issues with horse rescues in Pennyslvania are legitimate given all the comments.  And to those who leave comments with problems with horse rescues please go to the authorities.  If the authorities won’t listen you need to stand up somewhere under your own steam as many others are doing and be counted.  I do not know what else to say.

Below is the tawdry tale of the FBI busting  Another Chance 4 Horses on Station Road in North Heidelberg Township.

FBI raids Another Chance 4 Horses in Berks County

69 News, (follow: @69news), news@wfmz.com
Published: Apr 30 2013 11:51:14 AM EDT                                 Updated On: May 01 2013 04:40:48 PM EDT

NORTH HEIDELBERG TWP., Pa. –

Federal investigators raided a horse rescue operation in Berks County on Tuesday.

The FBI, acting on a federal search warrant, conducted the raid at Another Chance 4 Horses on Station Road in North Heidelberg Township.

Agents seized computers, cell phones, financial records, veterinary records and boxes of other items and documents related to the nonprofit operation and its sale and purchase of horses, according to an inventory list compiled by the agents.

 

For those dog lovers out there, yes there was a horrible case of animal cruelty again the other day in Chester County. It was in West Goshen and the kook claimed God told him to do it. Can you say schizoid?

Onto Justice for Argus and Fiona.  The trial of Gabe Pilotti is coming up unless it does a dance, and here is an update from Mary Bock:

Talked to the D.A.’s office today, it’s been we’ll over 2 months since Mr. Pilotti shot Argus and Fiona and he still has the shot gun in his possession. As each court date comes and goes I am starting to lose faith in our justice system.  How can this be that Tom Hogan was so passionate in his press conference announcing the charges they were going to file against Mr. Pilotti and now the D.A.’s office cant even seem to have the shot gun removed from his possession.  I’ve been given excuse after excuse as to why they are not in the drivers seat.  It is completely discouraging!   Our justice system at its finest.  I’ve been quiet, I’ve held back but now my patience is no more and I feel like my family and all of the people who have supported us have been taken advantage of and made to look like fools.  🙁  We have new dogs that we love very much, but we haven’t forgotten our old loves who were brutally shot by a sick man who then bragged about his conquest.  Hoping and praying that our justice system will do what it is meant to do.
I just pulled up the docket and wow I get also why she is frustrated. When is the trial? Is it still May 15th or will they say yes to the defense motion to move it to 6/17/13? Why is there a bail hearing on 5/7/13? Why hasn’t the gun he used to shoot the dogs been confiscated? Does the District Attorney of Chester County care about this case? Animal cruelty cases?
When it comes to Justice for Argus and Fiona what in the hell is going on? It’s a little hard to tell so if you can find out from the District Attorney please let everyone know….
The wheels of justice are VERY confusing.

about 60 pipe bombs? in public storage in malvern?

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Last night a headline broke on Malvern Patch:

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ps

Actual photo taken inside Public Storage in Malvern months ago

That really freaked me out because until a couple of months ago, I was a customer of that Public Storage – I had needed some extra storage when I first relocated permanently to Chester County.  It was clean and easy to get to and not creepy feeling the way a lot of those self storage places are.   The few months I was there we rarely saw other people, and given all the shows on television and cable about storage units (Storage Wars) and auctioning off abandoned storage units, you can’t help but wonder what people store there.

While a customer there I saw mostly people who were storing clothes and books and stuff like me and once in a while people who were antiques and collectibles dealers who didn’t have store fronts, and did shows.  Occasionally you would see an orphaned piece of  furniture or a lamp no one wanted left inside the front doors by the elevators, but that was it.

So I was floored when I saw Malvern Patch’s headline last night about the sleepy yet clean Public Storage and I am equally shocked this morning that yes, the bomb squad borrowed from Montgomery County (apparently Chester County doesn’t have one?) detonated BOMBS last night!  Sweet Jesus!  How long were they in the storage facility?  The risk to the public with this if not for law enforcement could have been crazy.

This also makes you think about all the other self storage facilities around here on and off that Route 30 corridor, doesn’t it? Remember that developer of Malvern (who isn’t getting the Whip Tavern is also bringing more self storage to Malvern called “Cube Smart”.)

So how do these self storage companies really know what is being stored?

Mr. Bomb Storage in the news broken by Malvern Patch (EXCELLENT job by the way in getting that out there) ends up is a Ponzi schemer named  “Istvan Merchanthaler, a 42-year-old man facing federal charges related to a $2 million Ponzi scheme.”

And Patch reports that there was a lot of law enforcement there last night.  Given what it was about, I have no doubt in my mind ATF was there too.

I hope they throw another book at this freak Istvan Merchanthaler for those explosive devices.

Here is the updated story from Patch (Malvern Patch really does do local news well as opposed to a lot of other Patch sites), and from Michael Price at The Daily Local:

Bombs Detonated in Park After Storage-Unit Seizure

A series of explosions shook houses Thursday night as authorities destroyed pipe bombs in East Whiteland’s Valley Creek Park.

By Pete Kennedy and Eric Campbell  Email the authors  March 7, 2013

malvern patchTwo bomb-disposal units were among the multiple emergency response teams working at the Public Storage facility in Frazer Thursday evening after a large amount of explosives was found inside a storage locker.

FBI agents and bomb technicians worked in and around the building, located on the unit block of Lancaster Avenue, as local police and fire departments controlled traffic, maintained a perimeter and kept ready to respond to any incidents.

Around 8:30 p.m., bomb squads from Montgomery County and Philadelphia began hauling the explosives from the storage facility to nearby Valley Creek Park. The explosives were transported inside large metal containers on trailers, and each trip involved a convoy of fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles…..

Shortly after 11:15 p.m., as a light snow fell, the first in a series of explosions shook houses and woke sleeping residents miles away. At least five explosions occurred before they stopped around 1:15 a.m. Friday.

There were also reports of an explosion earlier in the day, around 7 p.m., but employees at businesses near Public Storage said they did not hear anything at that time.

The FBI had notified East Whiteland Police that they planned to execute a warrant within the township, but the circumstances that led the agency to Malvern are unclear. The Daily Local News reports that the storage locker was registered to Istvan Merchanthaler, a 42-year-old man facing federal charges related to a $2 million Ponzi scheme. Harman said agents told him a Maryland resident had been arrested in connection with the bombs.

Federal agents remove explosives from Malvern storage locker

 By MICHAEL N. PRICE mprice@dailylocal.com

Posted: Thursday, 03/07/13 10:35 pm Updated: Thursday, 03/07/13 10:43 pm

EAST WHITELAND — Federal agents and bomb squad units removed a high amount of explosives from a storage locker Thursday night in the unit block of Lancaster Avenue in Malvern.

According to a high ranking official close to the investigation, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and members of the Montgomery County and Philadelphia bomb squads removed about 60 pipe bombs from a storage locker at Malvern Public Storage and transported them to a nearby park, where they were to be detonated.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous due to the ongoing and sensitive nature of the investigation, said that the storage locker was registered to 42-year-old Istvan Merchanthaler, a Chester County man facing federal charges in connection to a Ponzi scheme that officials say defrauded investors of about $2 million over the past seven years.  Officials close to Merchanthaler’s case said the suspect was connected to similar explosive investigations in other states, and added that he is facing charges in multiple jurisdictions throughout the east coast….The United States Attorney’s Office announced additional fraud charges against Merchanthaler Thursday

Ponzi schemes are bad enough without adding BOMBS to the mix. So what was the goal here? Defraud some people and blow some others up? Wow. Nice guy this  Istvan Merchanthaler, right?