Help Me II

By

Bonnie M. Wells

www.starlightinnerprizes.com

Note: This story is part of my "Without A Trace Series."

Some words in this story are code words or clues and are "color coded."

This is the [2nd] page in the Donovan/Burns Series: PC-24

The Strange Events

The strange series of events began with my sister in October of 2002. By the time Patty called to tell me about the "words that appeared on the bathroom mirror" every time anyone took a shower and the mirror steamed up, half her friends and neighbors had already witnessed the event on more than one occasion. I laughed at her, and honestly thought some of the kids were responsible for the words .... but on the evening of October 27th, 2002, I drove to her house to see for myself.

The Writing

By the time I saw the "writing on the wall," several people had seen the words that appeared in the steam on the mirror in Patty's bathroom. "Why now?" Patty asked. She was packing to move from the house, and she had never seen the words before mid October.

I couldn't explain the "why now" question. But, as I looked at the clock and noticed it was well after midnight, I thought of my ex-husband [Gray Gordon.] October 28th is his birthday. I didn't mention Gary to Patty, but did tell her that the 'words in the mirror' reminded me of the still unsolved Kimberly Fulton murder case.

Patty's last name was Fulton and Kimberly Fulton (no relation) had been murdered and her home burned on the night of 3-05 1995. She and her son Daniel, whose father's name was Donovan, not Fulton, had both died that night. For awhile most people believed it was an accidental fire that took their lives, but several months later, the bodies were exhumed and an autopsy performed. It was determined that both had been dead when the fire was set.

The Reversed Word

By the end of the month Patty was moving from the house and had some friends come in to assist with some of the larger items. One of the first things she did was tell them about the words that appeared on the mirror. Of course they had to see the event for themselves, so off the gang went for one more spooky experience.

This time though was a little different. All the words appeared as before, but this time one of the helper's informed Patty that the word at the bottom of the mirror ... the one none of us could read .... was simply written backward.

It was ....A H T N A M A S. Reversed, it became Samantha!!

Patty was very excited when she called to tell me of the discovery. But what did it mean?

I didn't have a clue, and in fact didn't even know anyone named Samantha. I continued to think of Kimberly Fulton, but could not understand why we would be directed to look at her case after all this time.

I'd already given local law enforcement everything I had on the case, and as far as I was concerned it was now up to them to solve it or leave it lay. Still, it didn't make a lot of sense, even to me. Why remind me {or anyone for that matter} of an old case? I was accustomed to working cases "in advance" not years after the fact .... when all the facts were common knowledge, and had been in every news paper in the area.

Anyone could do that. I just dismissed the entire situation as some type of hoax. Perhaps there really were warped spirits that played sick games on people at Halloween time! I didn't know, and furthermore I didn't care.

Jail Break

November 4th, 2002

Branden Basham and Chadrick Fulks escaped from a jail in Kentucky.

Samantha Shows Up ...

Well, Sort Of

November 11th, 2002:

Nineteen year old Samantha Burns went shopping at the mall in Huntington, West Virginia, and never returned home from the trip.

The next day her vehicle was located in Wayne County, but there was no sign of her. The car had been set on fire and from the pictures on tv it was difficult to determine what color it had been.

The news paper said it was a maroon colored Cavalier.

I thought of the Cavalier that Wild Bill once owned and the maroon colored van he was driving at the time Kimberly Fulton was murdered .... but that's as far as I allowed my thoughts to go. That was probably further than they should have gone.

Still, I saw the name Samantha and I saw the "coincidence" between the name Burns and what was done to her car and to Fulton's home after she was killed .... burns .... both were set on fire and burned.

Abduction

November 14th, 2002

Basham and Fulks.... kidnapped forty-four year old Alice Donovan from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Conway, South Carolina, and then fled the area in her BMW.

Out Front And Movin'!

Both men have been captured as I write this story tonight.

Both women remain missing.

The reward is up to $35,000.00 in the Samantha Burns case, and all I can think is ....I wasn't working anything "after the fact." I've never done that, regardless of what anyone thinks.

And I think of Alice and the looking glass, and realize a "looking glass" is a mirror, just like Patty and I stared into in an effort to determine what was being told.

The P and the B stood for Patty and Bonnie. BMW are my initials, and I could have told the criminals that "I would be their downfall."

Come to think of it, I have told a few people that very thing.

The 305 simply has to be rearranged in order to see the reward being offered, and Donovan is one of the victim's names.

Cases Connected

Law enforcement will not confirm that the Burns and Donovan cases are connected .... but I will.

Samantha was written backward. That means when you look at whatever situation arises from the clues.....which was the Donovan case which occurred on Nov. 14th..... Then you have to "look back" in order to see the "beginning" of the picture ..... or "both victims," because "before" Alice Donovan disappeared from a "shopping area," something had already happened to Samantha Burns on Nov. 11th from yet another "shopping area" in yet another state.

The "state to state" issue was shown by my sister's getting ready to leave the state of Ohio. She would ultimately go to Florida, back to West Virginia, back to Ohio, and eventually in December of this year head back into Florida.

If one follows the trail of Basham and Fulks it doesn't take long to see how the pair went from state to state and even "doubled back" in their crime spree.

Although there is video evidence linking Basham and Fulks to Alice Donovan's abduction, there apparently is nothing that connects the two escaped convicts to Samantha Burns ..... except that one little piece of psychic work done by one lone, determined woman in Little Hocking, Ohio. And that is now posted for all the world to see. Time will eventually tell if I am right or wrong ..... and then.....so will I.

Basham and Fulks also kidnapped someone else, but it was a man and he was tied up and eventually worked loose. This is not the case with Burns and Donovan. As with Kimberly Fulton and her child, so it is with Burns and Donovan.

Isn't it ironic that Donovan was 44 years old and Burns was 19 years old. Donovan was old enough to be her mother.

It is possible that Donovan and Burns may be found close to one another ..... as Kimberly and Daniel were.

Note: To law enforcement or search parties:

This means .... If and when you find either one of these women ..... be certain to search the entire area in a Fanned-out-circle pattern. It is possible that the other woman will be only a short distance from the first one. Kimberly and Daniel were not in the same room, but were in the same home, so it is possible that the psychic information is showing us that Burns and Donovan are in the same general area, or the same state: There is another possibility. One may be found, and then a short time later the other one will be found .... perhaps not "together" or even in the same state, but separated by a "short time period," instead of "distance" as indicated in my first assessment of the information.

I continue to feel a strong connection to Ohio, but do not know the reason at this time. I do however feel a guard rail, electric power lines ... like on the huge metal towers, and the number 6 remains constant. I will post any additional clues if or when they come in. / BMW

NOTE: The following news article came in to one of the yahoo groups that I am a member of: I thought it should be posted here so that people can see how the case of Samantha Burns has "progressed" over the months. Also of some interest, at least to me, is the fact that April 23rd is Samantha's birthday.

Until tonight I was not aware of this fact. I find it very peculiar that my sister's name has been "duplicated" via two murders in our area. Those being, Patsy Sparks and Kimberly Fulton.

Of course we saw the Fulton case throughout the above story, but we saw nothing that represented or identified Patsy's case ....until now, that is!

Patsy Sparks disappeared on the night of April 22nd, 1992. It was after midnight, so that made it April 23rd, which was a direct strike on the date that I'd predicted that we would lose another woman in this area. Just last night {4-22} I added a few things to Patsy's page on this web site, which can be found by clicking on "Patsy Sparks" at the bottom of this page:

April 23, 2003

News Article:

Missing Woman's

Birthday Is Today

By Rebeccah Cantley-Falk -

Herald Dispatch

www.herald-dispatch.com/2003/"

Samantha Burns

First it was Thanksgiving. Then Christmas and Easter. Now, it is Samantha Burns' 20th birthday, and her family still doesn't know what happened to the Marshall University student missing since Nov. 11.

Each day is difficult for Burns' family, said her grandmother, Arlenea Hughes of West Hamlin, W.Va. But the holidays and today -- Burns' birthday -- make the sense of loss even more poignant.

"You still wonder why," Hughes said.

"You know it's real, but it's hard to believe. You go to bed with it, and you wake up with it.

You think somebody should know something, and we should be able to find out something, but we can't."

Samantha Burns Coverage

Burns, also from West Hamlin in Lincoln County, was last seen at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville about 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 11. Her car, a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier, was found about 3:30 a.m. Nov. 12 in northern Wayne County. It had been burned.

** Special Note: November 12th was Kimberly Fulton's birthday!

The red star marks the Huntington Mall at Barboursville, West Virginia:

This map shows West Hamlin; Barboursville; Huntington; as well as Lincoln County; Cabell County and Wayne County:

Burns lived with her parents, John and Kandi, and her younger brother, Wesley, and commuted to Marshall.

She was enrolled in the physical therapy assistant program at Marshall's Community and Technical College.

Burns' family members will remember her today in their own way, said Burns' aunt, Marilyn Fulks of Branchland.

"I'll probably light a candle for her," she said. "That's what I did at Christmastime."

Immediately after Burns' disappearance, her family mounted a campaign to find her by posting fliers throughout the region and beyond.

A Web site also was created, and Burns' story was featured on "America's Most Wanted."

After searches in Wayne County and of the Guyandotte and Ohio rivers, police have not released any information to indicate they are close to solving the case.

Two Kentucky fugitives, now in custody in South Carolina, however, have been called suspects.

Police arrested L. Branden Basham, 21,and Chadrick E. Fulks, 25, after a multi-state crime spree.

The two escaped Nov. 4 from the Hopkins County (Ky.) Jail and are now facing charges in South Carolina for the abduction and murder of Alice

Donovan, 44, of Galivants Ferry, S.C. Donovan, missing since Nov. 14, has never been found, but investigators have said they have surveillance video showing her abduction from a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Marilyn Fulks said the family doesn't know for sure whether the two were responsible for Burns' disappearance.

"We don't know what the FBI has or what they've uncovered," she said.

"They don't tell us, because they don't want to jeopardize the case.

But if they (Chadrick Fulks and Basham) did it, it should be brought out."

Watching high-profile missing persons cases, such as the Laci Peterson case in Modesto, Calif., has also been difficult for Burns' family, Hughes said.

Finding out what happened to Burns would not ease her family's pain, but it would give them closure, she said.

"You never want anyone to die, but it's a great blessing to be able to bury them and know where they are and go to the grave," Hughes said.

Burns' family members also think someone must know what happened to her, Marilyn Fulks said.

"If you look at the facts, they had to have another vehicle to drive out where they found her car," she said.

"Somebody knows what happened. That's my personal opinion."

Hughes is holding onto her faith and waiting for answers, she said.

"We just have to live and hope and pray and trust the Lord," she said.

UPDATE: June 17th, 2004:

Just in the past few days I have identified several of the things I spoke of in my original story.

I now know why I felt "a strong connection to Ohio" and feel secure in saying it is "NOT" because Samantha Burns or Alice Donovan are here:

Also, I have been able to identify the connection I felt to Kimberly Fulton and her little boy Daniel, and will explain a portion of that identification: Daniel's birthday is the same as the detective I wrote to a few years ago when I worked some of the unsolved cases in this area. That detective's middle name is "Wayne" and Samantha Burns' car was located in "Wayne" County:

There is yet another connection to "Kimberly" but I cannot go into detail about it at this time. However I will say it has helped to "direct my attention," in the Burns case.

I said ... "the number 6 remains constant, and so it has. June is the 6th month of the year, and is the month in which this update is being done.

My Theory

Although I will not explain my reasoning at this time, I will give those interested enough details so that they might search in the areas in which I feel are important.

I believe Samantha Burns was abducted at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, and forced to drive her own car with her abductor(s) holding her hostage. I believe they traveled route 60 toward Huntington, West Virginia.

Again, I will not explain my reasoning, but as there was a connection to Kimberly Fulton, so I believe there is with Samantha Burns, and the Guyandotte area is very important. See map:

Samantha's vehicle was discovered in Wayne County and according to news reports the area in which it was found has been thoroughly searched .... including the two rivers which are located in the area..... but she has not been located. I have never felt that Samantha Burns or Alice Donovan were "in water," but from day one have felt that both were in "wooded areas,"... un-buried, and perhaps hidden from view by weeds, brush, berry vines, etc.

Also, I have believed all along that their bodies are within a few feet of the road that their abductors took them down. And I believe, at least in the Burns case that the road in question is very familiar to her abductor, as is the surrounding territory.

If I'm correct about the Guyandotte area being the area in which Samantha was forced to drive her car, then I'd venture to guess she is still there, and the car was driven out of the area by whoever kidnapped her. Now how they left Cabell county and entered Wayne county is anybodies guess, because I have seen no reports on exactly where Samantha's vehicle was located, except "northern Wayne county," which really doesn't pinpoint the location of the vehicle at all. So, I'm going to take another dance in the dark here and speculate that her car was driven from the Guyandotte area and back out route "60" to route "64" and then brought south into Wayne county.

The abductors may have gotten off 64 and onto 152 and dropped straight into Wayne county, or they may have stayed on route 64 until they hit Wayne county. Not knowing where the vehicle was found makes it impossible to trace their route. I guess where the vehicle was found is not really the important issue here, though is it? Where Samantha Burns and Alice Donovan are located is the real issue, and it's one that I am continuing to work on, just as I work on all my cases.

I have had no contact with any branch of law enforcement or any individual police officers on either of these cases. Nor have I been in contact with any of the Burns family, but I was contacted by Alice Donovan's daughter {that story is on another page}.

In my opinion, if we could locate Samantha Burns, and have the evidence to present to the abductor(s), then it is possible that they would tell everyone where Alice Donovan is. I believe they are under the mistaken idea that they cannot be charged with murder .... or the state cannot prove murder ..... without a body. That is incorrect.

Many years ago a woman by the name of Kathy Farmer was abducted here in my home area. She has never been found, and yet two men sit in prison today convicted of her murder. So it is not impossible. However, it would make things a lot easier for the prosecution if one of the women could be located.

Therefore my efforts, as almost always, are to help the families, the police and the prosecution. Not that anyone will ever notice or care, but that's okay...... I care, and that's all that is important right now, because I believe my help was asked for .... in advance, and I have no intentions of walking away, regardless of what anyone thinks.

Bonnie M. Wells