No Stone Unturned? An Owen Rooney update.

What is a desperate family to do? Ignore "low grade ore"? The family has to track down all these vague sightings and deal with the distracting calls from psychics offering vague visions and uncertain knowledge.

Those of us who are emotionally detached from the situation tend to focus less on amnesia and more on foul play. Therefore we focus on Grand Forks, BC rather than all these dream-catcher sightings on Vancouver Island or in Calgary. The family members do not have the luxury of discounting such sightings. Or perhaps they do have that option but choose to fully explore the low-grade ore because that is all the ore that they have available to them.

Reports are of paranoid behavior but is that a proper terminology for a belief in a limited few being after him? If everyone or if a large segment of the population is believed to be intent on doing someone harm, then the term paranoid may come to mind, but if its a limited few perhaps simply enemy is the proper term. This view becomes even more relevant when the loud argument at a Grand Forks eatery is considered since the people who accosted Owen Rooney were described as "scruffy looking". The reported argument in Yacky Jackis seems to be much more of a lead than these sightings in Calgary. Yet the view of the RCMP is that there is no Yacki Jacki lead to pursue and no efforts are being made or will be made in that direction.

He was severely beaten not merely "involved in an altercation" as the RCMP are wont to downplay the situation. The people who beat him may have become fearful of facing criminal charges and been unaware of any defects in his communicative abilities. Yet Grand Forks was searched and there were helicopter over-flights there as well. Since the severe beating was elsewhere there is a likelihood the persons involved live in Christina Lake and may have taken Owen Rooney there from the area of the hospital picnic table. Those who administered the severe beating and were perhaps fearful of facing serious criminal charges would surely know which medical facility to go to since there are so few in the very rural area. If they force or lure Owen Rooney away from the hospital it is clear they will no longer face any charges. The best way to beat a murder rap is to never be charged with it much less go to trial on it. This is true, even if the rap were only going to be Assault with Grievous Bodily Harm. If you kill the complaining witness, the case ends right then and there. I've no idea what animosity existed prior to the concert but the argument at Yacky Jackis and the fight at Christina Lake may provide some indication that he did indeed have enemies. Perhaps they were the same set of enemies, perhaps not, but if these were the people supplying the very colorful phrase "paranoid behavior" to the police then certainly the RCMP should be a good bit more careful. Certainly those who administered the beating, no matter how confident of their story being believed and no matter how confident of their legal grounds know that removing the complainant from the picture entirely removes any possibility of the RCMP ever charging them with any offense at all. No charges to answer to means no legal fees, no arrest, no trial, no risks at all. Given the severity of the beating that was administered it is rather clear that the persons involved have little hesitancy to utilize extreme violence whenever they wish to.

Sure the family must track down all these geographically remote sightings that presuppose an amnesia situation lasting several months, but what options do they have? Sometimes family members face reality squarely such as the relatives of Derek Kelly who insisted right from the start that the "missing" Derek Kelly should be considered by the RCMP to be a murder victim. Often its hard for family members to be appreciative of risks involved. One Texas family wanted to send relatives into a rugged area to search for a missing family member and was upset when Canadian authorities banned not only family members but all volunteer searchers. Canadian authorities wanted to preserve the scene for the use of scent dogs and the authorities also were mindful that the terrain was rugged and searchable only by technically trained and well-equipped teams. Often family members want unrelenting efforts expended despite the risks to searchers and the financial costs involved in continuing a search. Yet, I am mindful that many Search And Rescue missions have been terminated prematurely. One search for a man who is believed to have gone missing from a California wilderness area near his home was terminated promptly because of the risks to searchers, the expenses involved and the fact that there had been freezing nights in an area known to be populated by mountain lions. Yet some people, aware that no partial remains have ever been located, focus on a life of wealth and leisure and prior good moral conduct. None of his friends or acquaintances think he would knowingly expose searchers to risks or family and friends to an emotional burden of doubts as to his status. What weight should be given to these contrary viewpoints? Should the family members viewpoints be given great weight? Even those people who only knew him years previously have stated that while they hope he simply opted for a "do over" in life, they do not think he would be the type of person who would cause undue alarm or cause the expense of a search.

Is Owen Rooney without his wallet, without his hospital bracelet and without his memory as to his identity or his recent abodes? Well, family members often do want to cling to hope and hope for a person having severe and prolonged amnesia yet somehow making a living selling trinkets is a way of clinging to hope of continued life. Continued life is what the family wants most. Hope of continued life is their greatest strength but it can also be their greatest weakness as it is a source for distorted perceptions and evaluations of evidence. If he was severely mentally confused after leaving the hospital, he would at the very least have noticed his hospital band on his wrist as would anyone he encountered. Even if he was without any other identification that would be a clue to him and to others. Severe and prolonged general amnesia after trauma is actually quite rare. Deeply encoded memories such as one's own name are very rarely lost. Reports of his earning a living by driving a truck for a decorative stone retailer seem strange when one wonders how a mentally confused and disoriented person who is unaware of his own name and lacks a drivers license could ever have obtained such a job.

I too would hope that Owen Rooney is still alive. However, I'd be looking for him in remote areas between Grand Forks and Christina Lake. And I'd be looking for the attackers and the couple at Yaki Jackis. I would not be traipsing all over Vancouver Island trying to track down door to door vendors and I most particularly would not be doing this after I learned the initial report was by a woman whose neighbors all said there were no door-to-door salesmen of any sort for that entire week.

Is this analysis distressing to the family? Well, I'm glad they are probably not going to be reading it, but distressing or not, I feel that a proper assessment is that his troubles began at that hospital. I don't know if he actually did get up and wander away from that picnic table as is reported. Very little else has emerged from the hospital and its close-mouthed staff. So how is it that this "he stood up and ambled away" has emerged. It surely puts the hospital in a better light and I am therefor suspicious of it simply because it is exculpatory and is just about the only statement that the hospital was willing to make. He lugged those belongings with him all of that day even after the accident. He lugged it to the bus station and then to the hospital, but he amiably sauntered away from it after receiving contra-indicated drugs? Well, its possible, but I wouldn't put any money on it. He was in a confused state prior to the hospitalization and drug administration but he still had a concern for lugging his backpack around with him. Yet the hospital claims that they saw him simply get up and saunter off without any concern at all. Strange behavior on his part. Even stranger behavior on the part of the hospital and its employees.