I wrote in my last post about an email I received Saturday before last from a reader who was a baby when the OCCK crimes occurred and who wondered why the crimes stay so far below the radar, even as the investigation was resurrected over the years. Another reader wrote today to make the very valid point that people who commit heinous crimes in high places must ALWAYS be protected. That is another very valid reason crimes like the OCCK may not only go unsolved, but are dissolved from the public consciousness.
It just works better for all involved if there is some dirtbag killer whose DNA is a match. It makes more sense. When it’s your banker, or a friendly cop, or your state representative, there’s a lot more to freak out about. And as the reader points out, the odds are you will never, ever know anyway.
On Sunday I was listening to a podcast as I was getting ready to take a walk to the ocean. It was about mindset, manifestation and the science of belief. I was tempted to find something else and I was resisting it, but I kept it on.
Tara Swart is a neurologist, so I decided to keep listening. She spoke about receiving signs from her husband after his death. She suggested thinking about loved ones who had died and asking for a sign.
Ok, I’ll play ball–but I didn’t put much energy into it. My sign would be cats because I was visiting a city and it’s rare to see cats in a downtown area or at the ocean.
The path near the ocean was really packed and about an hour into the walk I saw a man ahead of me wearing an old, well-worn sweatshirt that had a big AMC Gremlin on the back. I did a double-take. The writing above the BLUE GREMLIN said in wavy script: Denim Gremlin!!
If you are over 60 you might remember the AMC Gremlin with the Levi Jeans interior. If you were living in Oakland County in 1977, you remember the AMC Gremlin for other reasons.
The man was with a big group that took off and I didn’t have time to get a picture of the back of his sweatshirt with my phone.
On the way home I took a short cut and ended up walking past a “cat therapy/cat cafe” place on a side street. I paid the money to go sit with the cats for 15 minutes. I figured if nothing else, it was a sign to support cats that were waiting to be adopted. They were almost all “tuxedos,” black with white chests. Like 12 of them of various ages, sizes and coat length.
I have never, ever seen a sweatshirt or t-shirt with a vintage AMC Gremlin on front or back, but I checked the internet and they they are. It’s not my favorite car, as you can imagine.
The message Sunday before last wasn’t lost on me.
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I was 12 in 1977 living in Birmingham. I lived in fear of that stupid car. All of us children did. Seeing that sweatshirt would definitely would have freaked me out. Can you say PTSD? 😣
And the composite looks so much like RVH 😖
Hey Cathy, My father looked exactly like that Birmingham art dealer. I forgot his name. That gallery did framing for us. My dad was not the OCCK. However, he did drive an orange Gremlin with a black stripe. He was constantly stopped by the police and interrogated. I mean asked questions. Apparently , the police cannot tell between blue and orange. The authorities obviously did not want to catch the real killer.
It was John McKinney, Joe. Murdered in September 1977 in his B’ham art gallery.
Yes, Thank you. I believe that area now is a veterinarian clinic. Another guy besides Chris Busch who was shot with a 22 rim fire.