Letter to Police Chief
This is the letter I wrote to the Police regarding my last meeting (prior to my return home) with them December 5th 2007.
I attended this meeting with Angelika Radax, Pyschologist at UNIDO, who is bilingual.
Also present at the meeting were Chief Tikal (who spoke English) and Investigator Weiss, who we were all surprised to discover, also spoke English,
Chief Tikal,
Twelve weeks ago yesterday my son disappeared. On Wednesday it will be twelve weeks since I
received the phone call that would change my life forever.
I am feeling no less frustrated, anxious, angry, sad,numb, confused, then I was 82 days ago when I
first received the call from UNIDO stating my son was missing.
I will start by apologizing for not writing you earlier to thank you for taking the time to meet
with me and listen to my concerns. I felt that you were sincere, and not putting on an act for
my benefit. You had all the qualities that I had expected from the Investigators in your
Department. You made me feel comfortable with the way that you spoke to me, your
willingness to make eye contact with me, and your physical gestures all relayed that you were
definitely interested in what I was saying. You showed empathy, which, prior to our meeting, I
had not experienced from your Police Department, and I feel you were honest in your responses
to me. You never became defensive, but truly listened. I was, and remain, impressed and
grateful to you.
Having said that, I am still very angry, shocked, and saddened, by the way I was treated by the
Investigators assigned to this case, especially Mr. Weiss and Lt. Haimeder.
I have avoided writing this for several weeks as I fear that my speaking out will hurt the
investigation of my son's disappearance, by making members of your Department angry.
After several weeks I have come to the conclusion that nothing can damage the investigation
anymore than it already has, and that as a mother I have the right to demand justice as well as
the moral responsibility to speak out.
Since I have been home I have met with and spoken to numerous law enforcement officials.
I have relayed to them the circumstances of my son's disappearance, as well as the response, or
lack thereof, of the Vienna Police Department. None seem to understand why there has not
been more of a push to find out what happened at the Kaiserbrundl that evening, and all are
aghast at the way I was treated. They also don't understand why friends, family members,
people from his job, or anyone that knew my son were not interviewed.
I have also spoken to numerous Mental Health experts, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, etc. who
have never heard of "Spontaneous Suicide", and don't believe that running naked from a building
for numerous blocks and jumping into a river would ever be considered "spontaneous". They
also don't feel that my son would have been planning for the future, for example purchasing
groceries items, plane tickets, doing laundry, dropping off dry cleaning, etc, if he was planning on
committing suicide. They also ask what happened to him at the sauna.
I met with, and spoke with, over 50 of his friends and co-workers while in Vienna, and have
received e mails from many others since my return. None of them believe that he committed
suicide. I have not heard one single person in Vienna, or here in the states, who knew my son
through his job at UNIDO, or socially through his courses at Webster University, the gym
etc., including his Doctor, say that they felt his was depressed, overwhelmed, suicidal.
Not one person!
Just the opposite, everyone talks about his love of life, his plans to do more traveling, his plans to
work on another Masters Degree from Webster University, his goals at work, his love of his
family.
On October 21st I spoke with him for over an hour on the phone. We talked about my coming
to visit him for the Christmas Holidays, and also about me selling my house and coming to stay
with him for a couple of months before I bought a new house. On October 27, we spoke again
briefly, when I called to update him on the status of my selling the house. My son had also
spent 10 days visiting me at my home in September 2007, during which time he shopped for
clothes and shoes to take back to Vienna.
While I was in Vienna I had the opportunity to meet with my son's Doctor, Michael Moser,
Kratochwjestr. 8/5/1. Dr. Moser stated that he knew my son very well, had seen him the week
prior to his disappearance, and said that my son was not suicidal. He went on to say that my son
talked about taking additional courses through Webster University, and talked about traveling.
In other words, as the Doctor put it, my son talked about the future.
I stress this, as the Investigators theory for some time was that my son had received bad medical
news and that is why he he ran out of the sauna. You may not be aware of this, but in my son's
belongings, that the Investigators had picked up from the Kaiserbrundl on November 1, 2007,
was the Lab Results from my son's blood work. The Lab Results were dated October 29,
2007, the day he disappeared. The lab results were all negative. I have attached a scan of this
document.
On November 6, 2007 at approximately 13:30hrs. I was given my son's possessions by
Investigator Weiss in his office in the presence of UN Security, LT. Onstein. I did not go
through everything in his bag at that time as I was extremely overwhelmed and sat on the floor
holding my son's clothing and the crucifix that he always wore attached to his trousers. But, at
that meeting Inv. Weiss said that my son had committed suicide because he was "HIV positive"
and that my son had received the results the morning he disappeared. This was relayed to me
by Lt. Onstein . It wasn't until late that evening when I was back at my son's apartment that I
was able to go through his belongings, and at that time I found the lab results that had been
with the police for 5 days. Didn't they bother looking through his belongings to see if there
were any clue to his disappearance? If you thought that someone committed suicide wouldn't
you look for a suicide note?
As I told you during our meeting this was also the day that Inv. Weiss decided to deliver the
news that my son was "violent". This was after I had sat on the floor crying uncontrollably
while holding my son's belongings and had to be helped to my feet by Lt. Onstein. As you and I
both know Inv. Weiss has since retracted that by saying that he had the wrong information.
I can not get over the insensitivity of this man to tell me something that he "had heard", and
especially having sat there and watched me emotionally devastated. This was intentional and
was sadistic. I watched the expression of Lt. Onstein and know that afterwards his demeanor
had changed. Thanks to Inv. Weiss, Lt. Onstein walked out of that meeting believing my son
was violent, and I walked out knowing that I would probably never know what happened to my
son, as the people I was suppose to be able to trust, were not to be trusted, and would resort to
saying anything to demean the value of my son.
The following week my younger son, Mrs. Radix and myself met with another Investigator. On
that day Lt. Haimeder sat in on a meeting with an Investigator whose name I don't know. Lt.
Haimeder was extremely defensive yelling at me asking me why I was uncooperative. This was
in response to me asking the UNIDO translator, Psychologist Angelika Radix, what the
Investigator was saying to her. Lt. Haimeder also yelled at my son and slapped him on the back
of his head, not hard, but he had no right to touch my son. My son had said nothing, he had lit
a cigarette, which he thought was okay as the other Investigator in the room was smoking.
As in the three meeting that I had with your Investigators, the Investigators would speak in
German often for several minutes and then the translators would get an opportunity to speak for
a short time before they would be cut off by the Investigators speaking in German again. I
found this extremely frustrating, as I am sure you understand. As you'll remember at the
meeting I had with you, you were very clear that if you found it necessary to speak in
German that you would speak briefly and allow for it to be translated fully before you spoke
again. It became obvious to me that the Investigator was not letting Mrs. Radix speak, as she
also said this to me, and I starting crying from frustration. At this point Lt. Haimeder yelled at
me from across the room asking me why I was being uncooperative. I told him I was
not uncooperative that I was frustrated, sad, overwhelmed, scared etc. but not uncooperative.
At that point Lt. Haimeder came and sat directly in front of me attempting a different
approach, and that is when he explained to me that there were two different
kinds of suicide, pre-meditated and spontaneous. I told him that I had never heard of
spontaneous suicide. He then asked what kind of police officer I had been. I didn't understand what
he meant and told him that. He then said "were you parking meter maid?". I found that
insulting, but did not react and simply replied that I had been the head of the Neighborhood Police
Unit. He responded that that was why I didn't know about suicides.
Also during that meeting, Mrs. Radix asked the Investigator if they had checked my son's phone
while they had it prior to giving it back to me on November 6th. The Investigator told her that they
did not check the phone and asked to see it. I gave him the phone, and he then went through my son's
SMS messages, which were in English, and told us that it was clear that my son was cheating on his
partner. He made this statement as he saw that the messages were from "Fin-Yes!!Austria!" and "Fin-
No!Schweiz!!!". He decided that they were 2 different people and that my son was having an affair,
thus that is why he committed suicide. I tried to explain that they were both the same person, his
partner P., who used one phone # when he was visiting in Austria and the other # when he was at home
in Switzerland. The Investigator was not interested in listening to me and at one point when he was
having difficulty translating the SMS text I reached for the phone and he slapped my hand. This was
an Investigator who said that he did not speak English, who was now translating text that was written
completely in English.
As you know, I never had any meetings or conversations with any of your people without a staff
member of UNIDO present. I mention that to confirm that my relating of the facts can be
substantiated by other people, and more importantly people that speak German fluently.
Your Investigators tried to say that my son had two identities and had two passports. That is not true,
as I told you, my son legally changed his name, on his birth certificate, Social Security card, Drivers
License and Passport. I have his cancelled passport and the changed one. They were done legally in
the US and in Austria. People did call him Mike and Michael, it was his middle name. Is that a
crime? Even when I showed your Investigators all his documents they insisted on saying to the
translators that he had two identities.
Here are the facts of what happened prior to my son's disappearance. On October 29, he accompanied
his partner P. to the airport. He received his Lab results which were all negative for HIV. He went
back to his apartment to put in a load of wash. He went to work, spent time with numerous co-
workers, spoke to and saw his trainer from Holmes Place, spoke via phone to other friends. He
shopped at the commissary at the UN at 16:15hrs on October 29th, and purchased baking paper and
bottles of vanilla extract, among other items. The baking paper and vanilla extract were in his bag left
at the sauna. The other items, Doritos, were in his office at UNIDO. He signed out of work at
18:00hrs on October 29th, after being at work all day. A copy of the sign in/sign out log is also
attached.
I have also attached scanned copies of Air Berlin reservations that my son had made, and purchased,
some as recent at October 22, 2007, for flights to visit his partner in Zurich, where he lived and worked.
And another to visit his partner in Finland, where his partner's family lives. these are only a few that
I have scanned. I find it extremely odd that someone who doesn't want to live would make plans for
the future such as these.
My question on 10/31/07 was and continues to be, what happened at the Kaiserbrundl on October 29,
2007? I know from being inside the sauna myself, having been taken on a tour of it on December 6th
by the manager, that there are video cameras. Why weren't the tapes ever taken and or at least
viewed by the Police? Why was the guest list never checked? The manager and co-manager both
initially reported there had been a fight between my son and a tourist, and the tourist supposedly went
to the hospital. They also said that it happened at 22:00hrs not 19:00hrs and that they called the
police but the police didn't come. There is also no record of that at your call center. Isn't that
suspicious, and a three hour time difference is a lot of time.
What I have been told by your Investigators is that, at exactly 1850 hours, on October 29, 2007 my son
was sitting downstairs in the sauna with his eyes closed, listening to his music, with his headphones on,
when he was tapped on the shoulder by an unknown person. He then, according to your
Investigators, panicked, and ran from downstairs in the sauna, up the stairs directly pass his changing
room where his clothes, wallet, and all his personal belongings were, and out the door with just a towel
on. The manager showed me his changing room, which was directly at the top of the stairs. And
strangely enough on November 6th, 2007, when I was given my son belongings back by Investigator
Weiss, my son's music player and headphones were in his backpack in the bag. How did that happen?
His music player was on an armband, did he rip it off, throw it and run outside? I don't think so. By
the way, it works, it is not broken.
Did your Investigator Weiss tell you that my son sent an SMS at 1927hrs on October 29, 2007 to his
partner, and that it is still on his phone?
Did Investigator Weiss also tell you that a friend of my son, Arnissa, called and spoke to him at 1930hrs,
October 29, 2007 for approximately 10 minutes?
With the treatment and discrepancies in what I have been told, I believe it is apparent why I do not
trust that my son's disappearance will ever be solved.
On November 3rd I was told by Investigators, through a UNIDO interpreter, that the canal was being
patrolled daily by Police Boats looking for him. The day that I met Lieutenant Haimeder and asked
about the boats searching for my son, I was told by him, that there were no boats searching the canal,
that it would be a very expensive thing to do and he would not authorize it.
As I told you on the day that we met, I was given, what I believe to be credible information, that
contrary to what may be in the report, that scuba divers were not dispatched to the canal on the evening
of October 29, 2007 as I had been assured by Inv. Weiss. Honestly I find it hard to believe that
logistically that a team of divers could be dispatched sometime after the alleged call from the fisherman
at 20:20hrs, arrive set up, search and clear at 20:50hrs. I am sure they are efficient, but that time frame
is unrealistic.
The alleged call from the fisherman is extremely puzzling. I find it extremely unlikely that police
working out of the same precinct or district would not have some idea of a major incident happening.
According to Investigator Weiss, on October 29th, 2007 at 2020hrs. after the fisherman called, the fire
department, canine unit and scuba divers all responded to the Danube Canal. On October 30, and
October 31 2007, my son's partner and his upstairs neighbor went to the district or precinct office that
Investigator Weiss works to report my son missing. They went with a picture of my son, with his
shaved head, but the police would not take a missing person report and did not find it coincidental that
there was a bald man missing, even though they were shown his picture, and that the police were
investigating a bald headed man in the canal? I find that extremely unlikely that they would not have
heard of this case, if indeed it had happened.
The fisherman story also changed several times while I was in Vienna. Initially Mr. Weiss said the
fisherman saw a "bald headed man", then it became a body floating, then it became a scream and a
splash, and by the time I left it was a scream.
I went to the spot where the fisherman supposedly was. It is clearly a place where people drink and do
whatever they don't want to be seen doing, and clearly not a place to be fishing at 2020hrs.
As you know from our meeting, Investigator Weiss gave you a report that he filed on "his interview"
with me. From what I could see, it was a rather lengthy report. As I told you at that meeting
Investigator Weiss NEVER spoke to me or interviewed me, and as you will recall when you asked him
about it you said that his response, as he sat across the table from me was "well I was mistaken, it was
someone else". How does that happen? Who did he interview and put the report in my son's file?
We both know that he lied about my son being "violent". What else has been lied about? We both
also know that he speaks English as he displayed quite well when he demanded to know who told me
that there were no calls for the scuba team the night of October 29, 2007.
Prior to my leaving Vienna I had people contact the newspaper that printed that my son was
"emotionally unbalanced". The newspaper stated that all their information came from a police source
not the UN as Inv. Weiss indicated during our meeting. Another lie.
In closing, my son is American, Homosexual, and was known to frequent a Homosexual Sauna, the
Kaiserbrundl. Your Investigators know from interviewing my son's partner on November 3rd that my
son was "Mr. Gay Austria". My son also filed a complaint against the Police Department in 2003
regarding an incident with the police that occurred January 11, 2003. Although I would hope that in a
civilized society that none of these statements would affect the course of an investigation, I am not
naive enough to believe that it wouldn't. I was a Police Officer myself, and know that personal feelings
and prejudices do creep in on even the most professional of officers.
Having experienced the lack of professionalism, insensitivity, rudeness, bullying, and outright lies from
a small number of your police force, albeit, and unfortunately, the ones assigned to my son's case, it is
no wonder that I do not trust that this case is or has been handled properly.
Regardless of your Investigators personal feelings or opinions about my son's personal life and sexual
orientation, my son was a guest in your country. Not a criminal. Not a burden to your economy.
Not a threat to you or anyone else. He was a hard worker who loved his job, had an unending thirst
for education, prided himself on staying physically fit, and was proud of who and what he was. He
kept his private and professional life separate, which as far as I know is not criminal or suspicious, as I
have been led to believe by your investigators.
I also was a guest in your country. A guest that was experiencing the worse fears that a parent can
have, and I was treated in a manner I can only term sadistic.
I ask you or anyone else in your department what you would expect from a police organization if a child
of yours was missing. I believe that you would expect and demand no less then what I am asking for,
and that is far more then I have received thus far.
