Kelly Rothwell

Kelly Rothwell
Much Loved Sister, Daughter, Friend

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Say It Ain’t So….It’s a “What the Hell?” and an “I Can NOT Believe It” Moment…..

Despite an over whelming amount of firsthand knowledge, obvious evidence of fraud, deceit and abuse and a HUGE dose of stupidity, it seems that Melissa Walker has decided to stand by her man after all...well, CLOSE to her man at this point as he is in jail at the present… or at the very LEAST make kissy noises through the recorded jail phone system…

When there are some things that make absolutely NO sense and one wonders what the HELL is going on in a woman’s mind, along comes David Perry, womanizer, manipulator, obsessive abuser, thief, probable killer and Vacuum King to totally turn the world on its ear; to literally charm the pants and possible mind of Melissa Walker, Army Specialist, Craig’s List Hottie, wifely bail poster long enough to post his bail on the second set of fraud charges he is now facing. Can Melissa ignore the mounting evidence of his involvement in Kelly Rothwell’s probable death?

Apparently she can, she does, she will... Etc… sounds a bit like marriage vows, doesn’t it?

It seems to me that this incredulous move on Ms. Walker’s part, to re-align herself with Perry suddenly seems incredibly suspect. What does she REALY know? Was she already involved with Perry while he was still with Kelly? She denies it but one has to wonder the curious coincidence of David Perry’s comments to the gym manager that he was moving to Hawaii and cancel his member ship. Then Melissa, a Las Vegas Army National Guard Reservist gets transferred to Hawaii… Kelly Rothwell goes missing, David Perry marries Melissa Walker, and then she “realizes the truth about how dangerous he is”... Files for divorce on New Year’s Eve, the deadline for joint tax deductions and all OTHER kinds of stuff like that (no joined assets, how convenient).

Seems like a good way for Perry to hide some money, wouldn’t ya say?

Now she is suddenly back with him, standing firmly by his jail cell, prepared to fork over the ten grand needed to spring him from the pokie. WHAT???? Two other words come to mind but I can’t say them here.

All of her protests of not knowing anything now ring hollow to my ears… maybe the divorce was a ploy to take the heat off of her? Shift the attention elsewhere? How else to you explain it?One interesting fact is that despite the protest of never reading anything written about this whole debacle at Perry’s request, my IP capture on my blog speaks volumes of OH HELL NO, THAT’S A LIE….

Melissa Walker said in an email that she only recently (read December) looked at this blog and what was written herein… that she was moved to realize that he was bad, naughty, not so nice.. blah blah blah…. Not so, not so…

I have documented proof of MANY blog views from Las Vegas, Hawaii and California(where Melissa’s family lives) from as early as late May of last year and then MANY more after that and continuing to the present from Hawaii and then Louisiana where Cassie, Melissa’s sister lives. Now I can respect the fact that Cassie wanted to protect her sister and it’s admirable that she tried to talk some sense into her. I got nothing but love for that...But don’t lie and tell me that she NEVER looked at the many posts from myself and other journalists just “because he told me not to”.. Kinda crap until DECEMBER??? Again, WHAT??? You add the other two words...

But something smells rotten in Denmark... yeah; something does NOT make sense… Could Perry’s diabolical, evil mind (yeah, I said it) have thought THAT far ahead to find a girl on Craig’s List who was going to move to Hawaii, murder his girlfriend, marry the Craig’s List girl by convincing a lenient judge (Yay, way to go Judge Smith, what a Patriot!) going to Hawaii while out on bail for Fraud and Grand Larceny charges, change his name on his license to HERS, possibly put a LOT of stolen money into new wife’s bank account, then realize that his assets might be seized and says they should divorce so that the money will stay in HER name (Stop me if you’re having trouble following along) and then when they DO seize the assets (they did today, but that’s tomorrow’s blog) and THEN get the girl to use said stolen, hidden money to bail him out from the (wait for it..) Charges of stolen money???

I can’t MAKE this stuff up!!!! OMG!

I felt sorry for Melissa Walker initially... Now I’m not sure she isn’t all part of this elaborate scheme and has been from the beginning… an old girlfriend in the way is a powerful incentive to do bad things, especially when she knows your dirty little secret and where the suitcases of cash are hidden…

That’s all for tonight... my indignation needs some sleep.

All I can say is unbelievable…. Seriously??

Meanwhile, Kelly Rothwell is still missing...

This article contains information that was obtained exclusively by me, is copyrighted and cannot be used or reproduced in any way without my express permission for it's reproduction unless/ and/ or/ is expressly attributed to Leigh Clifton and Tampa Bay Crime Report. Leigh Clifton © 2012

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

An Intimate Interview With Lindsay Rothwell



Lindsay Rothwell will be appearing on Nancy Grace on March 14 to talk about her sister Kelly’s life and the impact that her death has had on her family and friends.

In a phone interview tonight Lindsay spoke about when Kelly was living in Florida at the condo that she and David Perry had shared. Kelly had been offered a fabulous job in Charleston, West Virginia with Embassy Suites and went there for three months, living at the hotel for free while she tried the job on for size. It was during that time that Kelly and David argued very often; Kelly really wanted to accept the job in West Virginia on a permanent basis. She had fallen in love with Charleston and was only 6 hours away from her family in Nottingham, Maryland.

But Perry didn’t like West Virginia; Lindsay says that by that time in their relationship, Kelly had decided to leave Perry. According to Lindsay, Kelly at some point broke off the relationship.That’s why she chose the job in West Virginia.But Perry was persistent in his pursuit of Kelly, who was still living in West Virginia and was adamant that Kelly NOT move permanently and also insisted that she keep the condo in Indian Rocks Beach. During that time in a conversation with Lindsay, Kelly told Lindsay that “Perry was involved in something bad “and she was trying to get out of the relationship altogether.She also told Lindsay that Perry was making frequent drives every couple of weeks from Florida to New York, and vice-versa, sometimes stopping in West Virginia to plead for Kelly to take him back.

“He made promises to her, trying to manipulate her, telling her he would stop whatever he was doing that was "bad", Lindsay said. Kelly told her that what he was doing could have potentially devastating consequences for her if anyone found out.

“Kelly told me, in so many words, that Perry threatened her; that she would pay for it if she said anything anybody. We were in a restaurant at the hotel she worked at and I could tell by her body language and the look in her eyes that she was scared, afraid of him and what he could do to her. But I believe that in her heart, she NEVER thought he would have killed her, but she did believe that he could really hurt her physically and drag her into his potential nightmare, involving her in something she did not want to be in."

Lindsay said that David’s manipulation extended to keeping Kelly from her family.
“When they would drive back and forth to New York before Kelly tried out the job with Embassy Suites, Perry would refuse to stop to visit Kelly’s family, even though they literally drove by the exit right near the Rothwell home.

“He wouldn’t even let her have five minutes with us... that must have just really hurt her that she was so close to her family yet he would just drive by the exit,” Lindsay says angrily.

”They drove by here a lot on their trips to New York and only one time did he let her stop and see her family. They were supposed to stay for four days but all of the sudden Perry had an “emergency” in New York and insisted that instead of staying at the Rothwell’s, Kelly had to go with him to a hotel. He wouldn’t even let my sister stay at my Mom’s house; instead he insisted she had to go with him back when he went back to New York first thing in the morning. Kelly asked him to just go, take care of whatever emergency he said he and pick her up on the way back. He wouldn’t let her stay. I think he thought she was going to run to get away from him. He would not have had control of her; he was a control freak. He knew she would have had the support of her family. That’s why it was so sad when she gave me that hug.”

It was then Lindsay says that it seemed that Kelly sensed that it might be the last time she would see her family.

“I could tell from her touch and body language and the way she looked at me. Her eyes were sad, scared. When she hugged me goodbye, it was an extra long, genuine hug; she held on really tight to me. It was like I might not see you again, and I love you. And it was like she was saying ‘I’m sorry for this evil man who is putting me through this’, like she couldn’t find another way out of it. It was like she knew that it was the last time we would ever see her. I felt it. I could feel that something was wrong, something wasn’t right. I was scared but didn’t know why. Looking back, now I know why I felt that.”

Lindsay Rothwell never saw her sister Kelly again.

Kelly moved back from West Virginia, giving up her job, a job that she called her dream job.

It was shortly thereafter that Kelly joined the Police Academy. Lindsay believes that Kelly joined to protect herself from Perry. She also wanted to help other women who were in the situation that she was in. She knew it was bad. He had threatened her and although she denied it when Lindsay asked her if Perry had ever hit her, Lindsay saw the truth in her eyes.

“She denied it, acting like everything was ok,” Lindsay said sadly.

Kelly’s focus at the Academy was centered on battered women and drug intervention, two things that Lindsay believes Kelly was going through personally with Perry.
“I knew from previous conversations with Kelly that that’s why she chose to focus on these two main areas of law enforcement.”

Lindsay believes that Perry killed Kelly because she knew too much about his involvement in something.She feels that Kelly was targeted by Perry when he first met her, looking for someone who had a place in Florida. She feels that he used Kelly and her Florida connection. That’s why he made her put everything in his name, to keep control over her. He kept her away from her family. That’s why he didn’t want her to move to West Virginia,why he insisted on keeping the condo.Lindsay thinks his back and forth trips were suspect.

“He chose Kelly for a reason; I don’t think it was love at first sight. I think he used her to get what he needed, to keep a connection in Florida. He flattered her and showered her with all kinds of gifts, until she found out his true side, his evil side. He told her everything he thought a beautiful woman would like to hear. He preyed on her need to feel loved;he manipulated her,like I’m sure he’s done to other women in the past.”

David Perry took Kelly Rothwell’s heart and then he took her life…

A beautiful person who is still missing… This article contains information that was obtained exclusively by me, is copyrighted and cannot be used or reproduced in any way without my express permission for it's reproduction unless/ and/ or/ is expressly attributed to Leigh Clifton and Tampa Bay Crime Report. Leigh Clifton © 2012

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

David Perry Arrested!!!!

David Perry, the only suspect in the case of missing Police Cadet Kelly Rothwell was arrested earlier today on Grand Larceny charges stemming from The New York State Pension Fund in Steuben County, NY. The charges stem from money that was paid to Perry as part of his retirement package from the New York Correctional Facility in Elmira. Because Perry was allegedly injured in an inmate altercation in October of 2003,he received a greater part of his pension than he would have been if he had just retired after his 25 years...
According to sources close to the case, NY State police and West Elmira troopers surrounded Perry's house and he surrendered without incident.
The charges are listed as a CLASS C felony according to law enforcement. Perry was arraigned in Steuben County and is currently being held in the Steuben County Jail on $100,000.00 cash or $200,000 property bond. Perry's 1708 West Church Street house is valued at approximately $78,000.00. Perry used that property for his FIRST bail, from charges of Grand Larceny and Fraud stemming from the New York State Insurance Fund in Broome County, which paid Perry Workman's Comp benefits. He cannot use that property as bail collateral again.
Perry was attempting to sell the property and it was listed with an agent.
Below are the explanations of a Class C Felony, as defined by NY State Law:

Class C felonies include:
• burglary in the 2nd degree
• grand larceny in the 2nd degree
• forgery in the 1st degree
• criminal possession of a forged instrument in the 1st degree
• promoting prostitution in the 1st degree
• manslaughter in the 2nd degree
• arson in the 2nd degree
• robbery in the 2nd degree
• criminally possessing narcotics in the 1st and 2nd degrees
BAIL
Typically 10 percent fee is paid to bail bondsman who, in turn, pledges money to the court and agrees to be responsible for the debt. In the case of accused of federal offenses, the fee may be as high as 15 percent. A commercial bail bondsman, who is in the business of posting bond for a fee. The accused, the accused's family and/or friends will pay the bondsman's fee. No money is refunded. The initial payment is a fee to the bail bondsman. Bondsman may hire bounty hunter to locate the accused and bring him to court. The bondsman can sue the accused to recover any money that may have been forfeited to the court.

Monday, March 12, 2012

A Year Later and Little to Go On; A Family is Still in Pain and Kelly Rothwell is Still Missing…






Surrounded by photographs of missing Police Cadet Kelly Rothwell to his left and David Perry, the only suspect in her disappearance to his right, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri spoke at a press conference this morning to update the case.

“Today marks the one year anniversary of Kelly Rothwell’s disappearance from her Indian Rocks Beach condo she shared with then boyfriend David Perry,” Sheriff Gualtieri said. “I’m here to announce that an additional $25,000.00 reward is being offered by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s department for information that leads us to where Kelly Rothwell is.”

Sheriff Gualtieri explained that this reward, made possible using money seized in drug busts, will be in addition to the $25,000.00 already being offered by the Rothwell family, for a total of $50,000.00. Sadly conceding that Kelly is in all likelihood deceased, Gualtieri nonetheless hopes that the public might have seen something then or sees something now, might remember something last March 12, 2011 that might provide a clue as to what happened to Kelly Rothwell.

“As of right now, we have few leads and we’re hoping the public will see these photos (on easels behind him) and remember something.”
Gualtieri also said he was not hopeful that Perry would give any information about Kelly, even if confronted with jail time for the New York fraud and larceny charges Perry currently faces.
"Why would he admit to an even stronger charge, like murder?"

Admitting that this was a very difficult case to work, Gualtieri said that the information they do have has been very limited. Pinellas County Homicide detectives Mike Bailey and Amy Plourde have been assigned to the case since last year: Plourde has a special tie to Kelly, in that she also attended and graduated from the St. Petersburg Police Academy, where Kelly was to have graduated from last April.
Gualtieri acknowledged to reporters that forensics from the condo search yielded little to go on conceding that since they lived together, it would be normal to find both of their DNA mingled together.

Gualtieri also said that New York State investigators sent portions of the rug in David Perry’s 2006 Honda Civic, to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office for forensic testing of the fibers. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Forensic Unit is widely respected throughout the US as being one of the top investigative forensic labs in the country. They did not find any female DNA or fibers on the rug, but the Sheriff admitted that the rug had been thoroughly cleaned by Perry, using very strong chemicals, prior to his releasing the car to New York detectives.
“Strong corrosive chemicals, like those in cleaning products, break down DNA very quickly,” he explained.

Last March 12, 2011, Kelly went home after lunch with a friend, with the intention of breaking up with Perry, whom she described as controlling and manipulative. At 3:30 PM, Kelly left the Chili’s Restaurant on Rt. 19 where she was having lunch with her friend Donna Scharrett in Clearwater to drive back to Indian Rocks Beach. Donna had asked Kelly if she wanted her to come with her, to help her with her belongings. Kelly declined; telling Scharrett that it “would be ok” and that she was more worried about Perry’s reaction to her leaving him, thinking he might be sad.

“Kelly was more concerned about how it would affect Dave and she wanted to be able to comfort him, in case he got upset,” Scharrett told me in an interview last March. “That’s the kind of girl Kelly was, always concerned for other people.”

Kelly walked alone into her second floor condo at approximately 4:15 PM and was never seen again.

Downstairs neighbors recall hearing a series of bangs or thuds around 4:30 PM that afternoon, then the sound of incessant vacuuming from Kelly’s apartment above theirs.
That same afternoon/evening, David Perry abruptly left Florida, bound for Elmira, New York, his hometown. Cell phone pings from his cell phone around the area of I75 and State Road 52 were later investigated by the PCSO (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office) and a search was conducted in that area. Kelly was not found. There was also a cell phone ping from Kelly’s phone around 5:20 which coincided with a text that Scharett received, purportedly from Kelly. But the strange wording and misspellings made Scharrett suspicious; they did not sound like Kelly at all. Then Kelly did not show up to retrieve keys for a house she planned to rent from a fellow cadet later on that Saturday March 12, 2011. When Donna Scharrett heard that she failed to show up, she called Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office the next morning, March 13, with a sick fear of dread in her heart. She asked them to do a home welfare check on Kelly, knowing that it wasn’t like Kelly to miss the meeting that evening of the 12th to pick up keys, especially when she had planned to move into the house after leaving Perry later that afternoon.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told reporters today that Kelly is presumed deceased and that Perry, who was officially named a suspect in her disappearance last June, has not cooperated with police inquiries. He was also suspected of traveling to both Ohio and Oklahoma during the immediate weeks after he fled to New York.

“He won’t talk, he knows how law enforcement works, and he used to be a Corrections Officer in New York. He has counsel and he isn’t saying a word. We can’t get him to cooperate at all.”

Meanwhile, David Perry became involved with a woman named Melissa Walker, a National Guard Reservist, who Perry met on Craig’s List. Whether or not he started an online relationship while he and Kelly were still together is not yet known. But too many coincidences keep popping up. Perry told the manager of the local gym where he worked out, that he was moving to Hawaii soon and to cancel his membership. Then shortly thereafter, Melissa Walker, who was living in Las Vegas, was re-stationed at Tripler Army Hospital, in Hawaii.

With Perry returned to New York, charges were filed against him by the New York State Insurance Fund, who paid his Workman’s Comp claim from October 2003, in which he claimed to have been injured in an inmate-related altercation. Several of his fellow Corrections Officers stepped forward to testify at a Broome County Grand Jury that Perry faked his injury and then bragged about how much money he was making from Work Comp and Social Security. Perry was arrested in May on his way back from where police think was a visit to Melissa Walker in Las Vegas. Meanwhile Perry was seen , both in Florida and New York, working out, biking and kite sailing in the Gulf of Mexico behind the condo he and Kelly has shared.

Although indicted on Felony Grand Larceny and Fraud charges, Perry used his home in Elmira to post bail after spending five days in jail. Remarkably, with a judge’s permission, Perry was allowed to go to Hawaii last August to visit Melissa Walker.

He married her in a waterfront ceremony on the beach.

Perry remains in Elmira, taunting Kelly’ s supporters on FaceBook and a salacious blog, True Crime Report, where he spews venomous vitriol about Kelly, her family and those who seek justice for her probable death. He conveys a “catch me if you can” attitude towards those that would bring him to justice, stirring up false controversy among Kelly’s many followers and then reveling in the attention.

For a whole year, Kelly’s mother Nancy, her sisters Lauren, Lindsay and Kristen, her father and countless friends and family have been waiting for some news, some clue as to where Kelly is. It’s widely believed that David Perry killed Kelly Rothwell and disposed of her body.

The Rothwell family did not attend the press conference, preferring instead to mourn their devastating loss in a much more personal and private setting. But they are grateful for the love and support that they have been shown since Kelly‘s disappearance and probable homicide. Her mother Nancy lights a candle every night at a memorial they have constructed in her home outside of Baltimore Maryland, where family photos and pieces of Kelly’s history surround her with memories that sustain her. Kelly’s dog Lucy is also now with Nancy and is a constant comfort and a blessing to her, she says. Nancy cannot fathom how anyone would hurt Kelly or why… her pain is palpable,even through the phone.

Kelly’s sisters Lauren and Lindsay, fraternal twins, have also tried to make the incredibly difficult adjustment to life without their big sister. They both say that they know she is around them, that she is free of pain. But it will always be hard to reconcile that Kelly is no longer a phone call or an email away.

Nancy Rothwell,in a phone interview this afternoon, said the Rothwell family is overwhelmingly grateful to the PCSO for the doubling of the reward being offered in the effort to find her daughter Kelly.

“Today is such a painful day for me and my family as we reflect back on Kelly’s life. She was always energetic, kind to everyone, and always tried to trust and find the best in everyone,”she said, emotion welling up in her soft voice.

Sadly, for Kelly Rothwell, her trust in David Perry was horribly misplaced.
And it cost her her life.

One year, 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,765.81277 hours, 525,948.766 minutes … Kelly Rothwell has been gone. Someone knows something, someone saw something….

Meanwhile Kelly Rothwell is still missing…..


This article contains information that was obtained exclusively by me, is copyrighted and cannot be used or reproduced in any way without my express permission for it's reproduction unless/ and/ or/ is expressly attributed to Leigh Clifton and Tampa Bay Crime Report. Leigh Clifton © 2012

Perry

Perry
David Perry mug shot