Missing, Karen Heim

42 year old Karen Heim's family is desperate. She has been missing since Christmas or the day after. Her family loves her and misses her, they need answers. I have read conflicting reports on the actual day she disappeared. Her abandoned car was found by Texas deputies on 12/27/05 near Clarksville, Texas. This is not far from the Texas-Oklahoma border. Her purse and keys were recovered from the vehicle. Heim's family is concerned because she did not know anyone in this area. It is about 220 miles from the Tulsa area to where her car was found.

Heim is a mother and daughter. It was reported her mother last saw Karen on Christmas. From a news report (link at bottom of post) her mother said she was in good spirits but had previously been depressed. Back in May, it appears Heim had testified against her ex-husband and friends during a methamphetimine lab trial. If she was involved with meth in the past, this may explain her depression but even more importantly, it may explain her disappearance.

If Heim was a previous meth user, her depression could be linked to its use. People who are meth users or even recovered meth users suffer from detrimental psychological effects of this home-made stimulant. When people use this drug, either by smoking it, snorting it, injecting it, or even eating it, it gives them a feeling of energy and a high that is intense. I cant help but wonder about the people who use this drug and if they are already self-medicating already existing depression. Methamphetamine abuse can lead to psychotic behavior including intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and out-of-control rages that can result in violent episodes. After people quit using methamphetamine,even for a short spell, withdrawal symptoms can occur, including depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and an intense craving for the drug. So much is unknown about this street drug. It grabs ahold of good people and makes them behave in shocking ways. Where I live in Oklahoma, I have seen this drug ruin more lives than alcohol or any other addiction. It has become a National epidemic that our Nation is not prepared for. We warn our children to not drink or smoke pot, along with this advice, we need to be educating them on 'crank' 'ice' 'crystal' 'speed' 'meth' or whatever it is called in your child's region of the United States. I had never heard of meth until I was in college. I certainly hadnt laid eyes on it until I moved to Oklahoma. It can at times be confused with cocaine, but meth has a repulsive oder that is recognizable, even by 'amatuer' users. It comes in different colors and shapes: yellow and cakey, clear and crystally, white and fluffy. But, do not let the form of this drug deceive you, it is all made up of the same household chemicals and just as deadly as a loaded gun.

If Karen Heim was depressed, did she just drive off because she could not take life anymore the way it was? She may have disappeared on her own or she may have committed suicide. I doubt either theory. Since Heim had testified against her former husband and his drug business associates at thier trial, she may have made some bad enemies. From an Appeals document (entire document link at the bottom of the post) it appears the people who Karen testified against are appealing thier sentences and still out on thier bail. Thier names are: Morgan Earl Windrix, David Allen Westcott, and Charles Arnold Mook. Read the entire appeal, it gives a good look as to what kind of operation she testified against.

SNIPPET BELOW
" On February 6, 2001, officers executed a search warrant of the Windrix property. The search included both trailers (Windrix's and Westcott's).Officers discovered methamphetamine, ingredients and equipment for preparing methamphetamine, marijuana, several firearms, video surveillance equipment, a ballistic vest, night-vision scopes, walkie-talkies, a radio scanner, and large amounts of currency. On May 15, 2001, another warrant was executed, this time for Mook's South Xanthus house. Officers discovered marijuana, a firearm, scales, syringes, gloves, methamphetamine pipes, receipts for methamphetamine-manufacturing ingredients and equipment, and large amounts of currency. A year later officers obtained further evidence-methamphetamine, ingredients, and a videotape of Windrix at a cook-in a May 10, 2002, search of Windrix's car after a traffic stop. This prolonged investigation resulted in a September 6, 2002, indictment charging Defendants with conspiracy. On September 23, relying in part on the indictment, officers obtained and executed a warrant to search Mook's North Garrison house for documentary evidence of the conspiracy, and, after a fruitful search, a second warrant to search the house for methamphetamine-manufacturing equipment and other nondocumentary evidence. The North Garrison searches yielded financial records, bottles, filters, scales, smoking devices, marijuana, firearms, ammunition, and large amounts of currency. During the first search, officers discovered a storage-locker receipt; they then obtained a warrant to search the storage locker, which they executed the following day. They found firearms, ammunition, paperwork, scales, glassware, plastic tubing, and a chemistry textbook."
END OF SNIPPET

From reading the appeals document, I gather Heim's ex-husband and associates are not small time. Thier operation was not sophisticated, however. They obviously were very serious about thier illegal activities and profited hugely in the monetary department. I hope Law Enforcement is looking at the people Heim testified against. I hope they are also broadening thier investigation to all the people involved with her former husband, down to just his various acquaintences. People are fond of saying "Someone always talks" about crimes that go unsolved. Well, I know plenty of cold cases that are stone cold just because of the fact that NO ONE is talking to ANYONE. In cases like these, the only way they get solved is by old time detective work, the old gum shoe detective method.

It just doesnt sit with me that Heim 'took off'. She may have been battling her own inner demons but I do not think these were as dangerous as the human demons that are responsible for her disappearence. Heim's family not knowing what happened to her is awful, they deserve answers and if Heim has met with foul play, her family deserves justice. Karen Heim has a son. He is missing his mother. Growing up is hard enough without a tragedy like this. We can put a man on the moon but we cannot find one missing person on the planet Earth.


newslink: http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0306/311514.html

appeals document: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=10th&navby=case&no=045016