Woman's kin given help
BY NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
May 31, 2003
Hoping for answers
Sheila Owen (left) and Anna Owen talk about their missing relative, Latricia Fipps, during a press conference Friday. The
family was announcing that a $5,000 reward has been posted for information concerning her disappearance.
DAVID CRENSHAW / Tulsa World
Far-away survivors of
murder victims are assisting
a Tulsa family in efforts to
find a missing relative.
A family who lost loved ones in a
high-profile triple murder hundreds of
miles away is reaching out to help a
Tulsa family that is suffering a similar
pain.
The Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation is offering
$5,000 for information leading to the
safe return of Latricia Diane Fipps,
32.
Fipps has been missing since Nov.
20, and police fear that she has met
with foul play.
The Foundation is named for Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso,
sightseers who were reported missing
before they were found murdered
near Yosemite National Park in February 1999.
Tulsa Police Officer Scott Walton
read a statement during a Friday
press conference on behalf of the
foundation's executive director, Kim
Petersen.
While they were missing, Carole
Sund's parents, Francis and Carole
Carrington, posted rewards both for
their safe return and for information
leading to the whereabouts of their
rental car.
The Carringtons believe that the
posting of these rewards and the media attention they received contributed to the car's being located and
gave them the first break in the case,
according to Petersen's statement.
They were thankful that they had
the financial means to offer these rewards, and they created the foundation to help people who don't have
the financial ability to post rewards
for their missing loved ones.
Fipps' mother, Sheila Owen, said
she learned of the foundation from a
friend in California. After she contacted the organization, its officials quickly agreed to post a reward to help
find Fipps.
"It is really hard -- every morning,
every night . . . to think about this.
Just let us have her back," Owen
pleaded to anyone who might have
knowledge about her daughter's disappearance. "That is all we want."
Fipps was reported missing Nov.
21. She was last seen a day earlier in
the 200 block of South Phoenix Avenue, where she was working to remodel a house. Fipps left that location with her ex-boyfriend, police
said, and did not arrive at home or
pick up her children from day care.
"He said that he wanted to talk to
her," Owen said. "She went with him.
She trusted him."
Fipps' ex-boyfriend told investigators that he dropped her off at her
home, where she lived with her
mother.
"We were there, and we never saw
him come by. She never came
home," Owen said.
Fipps is white, 5 feet tall,
weighs 105 pounds and has
brown hair and brown eyes.
"She was a beautiful person. She loved life," Owen
said.
Fipps had adopted a 1-year-old boy and was working toward adopting her 3-year-old
foster daughter. Her family is
now raising the children.
"That is all she wanted all
her life is to have a baby, but
she couldn't have a baby of
her own, so she adopted,"
Owen said.
Anna Owen, Fipps' sister,
said the missing woman's
adopted son still looks at his
mother's picture every day.
It is heart-wrenching to see
the child long for his mother,
she said.
Even if Fipps is dead, the
Owens still desperately want
to bring an end to her disappearance.
"Just let us know where
she is," Anna Owen said. "Let
us bring her home, and let
us lay her to rest."
The foundation has helped
locate three missing people
and helped capture 18 murder suspects and one child
molester.
It has paid $72,500 in rewards to people who have
come forward and shared information regarding these
cases.
Anyone with information
about the case is urged to
call Detective Tom Campbell
at 596-9140. To claim the reward, tipsters have to contact
police within six months. After that time, the $5,000 reward is no longer available.
The reward is offered for
the safe return of a missing
person or an arrest and conviction in connection with the
person's homicide.
The foundation requires
that cases meet certain criteria before it posts a reward.
The missing person must
be an innocent victim and not
involved in illegal activities.
The disappearances also
must concern "at-risk cases"
not involving runaways or
custody battles.
Families of the missing
must have a legitimate need
and be unable to post significant rewards on their own.
Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com
