Day 101

Milwaukie Couple Missing in Suspicious Circumstances

Milwaukie, Ore. - Following a request from a concerned neighbor, a Clackamas County caseworker visited the Milwaukie home of Thomas George and Kristin Gordon George this afternoon for a welfare check. She did not find the couple at home, but did find what she described as “suspicious circumstances.” The social worker then initiated a missing persons report with Milwaukie authorities, who assembled a Search and Investigation (S&I) Team.

In a statement to the press, Lt. Mazie Cornwall, a spokesperson for the Milwaukie Police Department, said the home was found with doors unlocked, and a back door ajar. All vehicles registered to Mr. or Mrs. George, who are married, were parked on the premises. Wallets for both individuals, containing identification, bank cards, and cash were found with nothing apparently removed. Mobile phones confirmed to be those usually carried by the couple were also left at the residence.

Phillip Rogers, the couple’s next door neighbor, said he became concerned when he observed certain tasks had gone undone. “I seen the lawn hadn’t got mowed,” he said, “and they hadn’t come out in the yard so I could mention it. I had a peek in their windows. [It] felt like something wasn’t right.”

“These individuals are both adults,” Lt. Cornwall said, “Nothing compels them to stay at home, and we have no evidence of wrongdoing. They aren’t in trouble with us, we’d just like the assurance they’re somewhere safe.”

Of particular concern, according to Cornwall, is the fact that the couple’s Milwaukie property was the site of a suspicious, mob-related death in April. Ronzio Michael Waldrone was found dead April 27 of blunt force injuries near a vehicle on the premises. Authorities confirmed that Thomas George was the homeowner who fought with Waldrone as Waldrone attempted to gain entry to the vehicle. Waldrone’s death by brooming was considered an act of self defense, and no charges were filed. A known assistant of oft-indicted mobster Johnny “Mud Dauber” Daubins, Waldrone was described by police as a “professional bad guy,” and implied to be an enforcer for Daubins. What association Mr. George had with Waldrone or Daubins is unknown.

“We’re working the Daubins angle,” Cornwall said when pressed on the subject. “We’re aware of that angle, and it is a cause for concern.”

Cornwall, however, was quick to say that the residence showed no evidence of injuries, struggle, or cleaning to hide a potential crime. “It’s not like somebody wiped the place down,” she said, “or if they did, they went to a lot of effort to mess it up again.”

A search of the phones and numerous computers, though preliminary, has not turned up any communication related to a planned departure. Cornwall said investigators did find one item of particular interest—a journal, found on a table in the recreational vehicle Thomas George used as an office. That journal contained an entry dated from Sunday, which may confirm the couple was at the residence as late as yesterday. Cornwall said the entry seems to indicate a decision to relocate, but does not provide details about where the couple might be going, or with whom. Several entries in the journal mention a group of friends, referred to in the journal by pseudonyms, who were apparently staying or spending time in the vehicle.

“The persons mentioned in the journal, especially the ones referred to as ‘The Lady Bee,’ the ‘Man in the Cap’, and the ‘Forest Sprites’ are absolutely people we’d like to speak with,” Cornwall said. “If those people were to come forward, or if anyone can provide information regarding their identities, we would be highly interested in that information.”

A member of the Organized Crime Task Force said those names are not associated with any individuals they’re tracking.

The journal, an incoherent collection of rambling observations about isolation in the wake of Covid-19, may be impossible to decipher by anyone but its author. Nonetheless, authorities have published the entire text on a special website they’ve created to gather additional tips and leads. The team is hoping someone in the community might be able to cull out some information of use in locating the couple.

“We’re hoping it might get some attention,” Cornwall said. “Particularly if there was a ninth-grade English teacher, or someone else with experience parsing unstructured nonsense. We haven’t had much luck with it, to be honest, so any context the public can provide would be a big help.”

The full text of the journal can be found at heytomgeorge.com.

This story will be updated as new information becomes available.