Mariah Jennifer

Wild Bill and Cindy B. continued to live here in Little Hocking [Ohio] in her mobile home until June 13th, of 2001, at which time they had the mobile home moved to a location on the outskirts of Marietta, Ohio, where it remains to this day.

The family lived near route 220 which is the exact address of where another murder victim worked - Marie Blough [Belpre, Ohio 1986], who was also found beside the river, and whose case remains unsolved:

On June 13th, 2001, my friend Sindee, my grandson Joshua and I watched from a safe distance as Cindy B.'s mobile home was hauled to the new location. Even at that time, I remarked to Sindee and Joshua that I'd never seen that moving crew in this area before, and I wondered where they were from: Today, I still think that is a valid question, and I'd love to know if the Short family knew Cindy B. or Wild Bill, or if the "Martin's" in the picture were related in some way!

I'm also very much aware that there was some serious damage done to Cindy B.'s mobile home the day it was moved, and the equipment being used was defective in some ways. The mobile home shifted, almost ended up in a ditch along the highway in the Belpre area, and sat there for quite some time, while Cindy B. climbed out of the big truck and directed traffic! It was a sight to see.

After correcting the problems, the procession moved slowly toward the final destination. Upon arrival, the moving company promptly ran off the road with the trailer and nearly dumped it into a ravine! Instead of jacking it back onto the road, as they should have, they simply continued to drag the trailer along the ditch until they were able to get it back up onto the driveway. Even from the distance that I stood watching, I could hear the seams ripping as they crept along!

I told Josh and Sindee that the first rain we had would bring Wild Bill and his woman out of there like drowned rats! Sure enough. The first time it rained, I drove into Belpre, to a motel that I'd watched the other Bonnie flee to several times while she lived with Wild Bill, and there sat their vehicles!!

It was all amusing, and yet, I knew Wild Bill well enough to know he would be in a rage for a long time to come.

In August of 2002 Wild Bill was 48 years old, but could [and often did] pass for several years younger.

In August of 2002 Wild Bill drove a dark blue Chevy s-10 truck [ I dubbed the color Pepsi Blue, as numerous people can confirm - including several cops].

By August of 2003, the blue truck was gone and Wild Bill was driving a teal green, Ford truck [my husband bought a teal green Ford truck in 2003 "before" Wild Bill showed up with his.]

In August of 2002, Wild Bill had gray hair, a full beard and mustache.

When I met Wild Bill back in 1990, he was riding a maroon colored Goldwing motor cycle with a bumper sticker on it that said - Virginia Is For Lovers: He had followed Renay to Virginia when she went there to visit her brother [ who still lives there.] She told me that he came riding into the driveway as if he had known how to get there all along. But, even though he said the reason he followed her was because he couldn't bear to be away from her, he didn't stay long, and went "riding around the area" on his motor cycle 'alone,' and didn't return until the early morning hours. I knew exactly what she was talking about because I remember the motor cycle vacation he took to Kentucky with my husband and me. NEVER again!

In 2002 Wild Bill was riding a white, three wheeled [trike] Honda motor cycle. Back at that time, he usually wore a silver helmet [that I gave him back when we were friends] when he rode the cycle.

In 2003 Wild Bill and Cindy B. won a motor cycle poker run, and was mentioned briefly [until I ran across it!] on a web site. They are members of a motor cycle club and often take part in rides to raise money for various causes. I wonder if they rode in the one for Jennifer Short! Why wouldn't I be surprised if they did? Any FBI guys out there that could venture an answer on that one? Neah, probably not.

Some of the news article I ran across mentioned that the Short's were preparing to sell their home in Bassett, Virginia. Where were they planning on moving to? Were they moving to another state, or just to another location within Virginia?

Obscene phone calls: I realize that many people make obscene phone calls, but I know one man pretty well that makes them on a regular basis. He made them to me and he's made them to several women that I've spoken with. Wild Bill makes obscene phone calls - usually from pay phones because he doesn't think they can be traced. And, even though I promised "nothing psychic," I want to say that recent dreams have revealed that he has a car phone or a cell phone. If the dreams are correct, and if he's the one who made the obscene call to the Short household, then that should be easy enough to trace. Also, there are at least two women who could identify his voice - if anyone is ever interested.

The Short murders are not the first, nor the only murders within the state of Virginia that I have been interested in and felt a connection to. The 1998 murder of Carol Gordon in Front Royal, Virgina remains "one of my cases," even though no one wants to discuss it with me or anyone else. She too was shot, inside her own home. As far as I know the case remains unsolved. And, in case anyone's interested - Gordon was my daughter's maiden name - Christina Gordon. And, in case anyone's looking, Carol Gordon looked remarkably like my former sister-in-law Joyce Martin!

By the way, here's a personal message for miss Cindy B. - "It was on the motor cycle web site that I first learned when your birthday actually is! You lied to me when you said it was November 28th. Why? November 28th is when we buried my dead brother Mike Martin. November 28th is when Janet Miller was murdered [ her case remains unsolved also]. Are you now part of this maniac's sick game, or are you just another puppet in his hands? Better wake up before he sets you up and you lose everything you have, including your freedom - if not your life."

Foot Note: At some point, while still trying to find information on the Short case, I came across an article that said the report of Jenifer in a blue truck with a bearded man had been 'checked out,' and found to be unrelated to the case. It seems what Mr. Childers actually saw was simply a man with his own daughter!

I guess that is a simple enough mistake, however, I'd like to know why the man pointed a gun at Mr. Childers! Is this common practice in Virginia? Does most people drive around with a pistol in one hand and the steering wheel in the other, while a child sits beside them? Odd behavior, if they asked me ....... but then, they didn't ask me, now did they?

Ok, have it their way, dismiss the bearded man in the blue truck. Dismiss everything that connects to Wild Bill and see if I care. It's been nearly five years now, and it seems to me that good old Wild Bill is about the only person above suspicion, and there's still no answers in the case .... or in at least a dozen other cases where the 'circumstantial evidence' points directly at dear old Wild Bill. Wonder why.

2010 Update:

The Short family murders remain unsolved as I write this tonight. I've tried to keep up on any news about the case but there really hasn't been much.

A year or so ago, they came out with a composite drawing of a white truck that was supposedly seen near the Short home. If they hadn't said it was a 2 ton truck, I would have been convinced that it was Wild Bill's old Toyota that he modified in 1998 by removing the bed and constructing a wooden bed, complete with wooden rails.

Here's a photo of the composite drawing:

I don't have a picture of his truck after he modified it, but I do know several people who saw it and could verify that it looked like the drawing above -- except it was not a 2 ton vehicle. I'm wondering if the person who saw the truck could have been mistaken about the size of it. Then again, maybe it's just another coincidence.

I know that Wild Bill was driving the Toyota truck the day that his girlfriend's trailer was moved, and that I never seen him any angrier than he was that day.

Sindee, Josh and I had parked in the cemetery on the hill just before the driveway that they attempted to take Cindy B's trailer down. I saw them put it in the ditch, and I could hear the seams in the trailer ripping as they continued to drag the trailer along the ditch.

We were sitting there watching the fiasco when 'Bill topped the hill in the white Toyota truck, and I told Sindee and Josh that he looked angry enough to break someone's damned neck.

When he got down to the area where the movers were we could hear him screaming at them from where we were parked. He was furious. I guess I didn't blame him. You'd think a crew that moved mobile homes would know how to go about the job .... but that bunch had some real issues.

As I told above, I met with Cindy B. in November of 2005 and she told me several things. One of the first things I asked her about was who moved that trailer. She didn't know who they were, but said her father {who owns a large construction company} had hired them to come in here from some other state.

Later, a friend of Cindy B's told me that it had cost her father 13,000.00 to get the trailer moved, set back up, and a roof built over the entire thing because all the seams had been busted and it leaked like a sieve when it rained. I knew it did because the first rain we had, I drove to Belpre and there sat their vehicles at the Budget Inn.

This same friend of Cindy B's is the person who had the pistol that she wanted him to 'keep for awhile' but wouldn't actually give the man a reason. After we met, and he told me some of the things that I've listed on this page, and after I discovered he still had the .22 caliber pistol, I asked the man to fire 2 test bullets for me and put them in his safe.

He did. I was just certain someone would want the bullets so they could compare them to the ones found in the Short family ..... but no one ever came .... no one ever called.

I haven't spoke to the man in years now. I don't know if he still has the bullets or not. If anyone is ever interested, I'd be willing to try to hunt the guy up so they could talk to him.

PS: Wild Bill sold the white, flat bed Toyota in 2003. I haven't seen it since he sold it, but I do have the name of the person he sold it to.

He always has 3, 4, or 5 vehicles at any given time. For awhile there, he had 2 trucks, 2 cars and 2 motorcycles. The old Honda that my husband and I sold him is yet another bizarre story. It can be found by going to my December page and clicking on "Jack & Jill."

Sincerely,

Bonnie M. Wells