Deceased Fort Worth family searching for grandmother, Carolyn Riggins, who disappeared after winning big at bingo hall

[Satanica]

FORT WORTH, Texas — For a month, Kendra Holleman has been searching not just for her 69-year-old mother, Carolyn Riggins, but for any kind of answer.
“The ‘don’t knows’ is what’s killing us,” Holleman said.

Riggins disappeared July 11. Holleman talked to her earlier that day about getting groceries.

Riggins has partial dementia, and the last place the family knows she went is the Watauga Road Bingo Hall at 6535 Watauga Road. They know that night she won big and no one has seen her since.
[....]
After no one heard from her, Holleman went to Riggins’ apartment on July 15, finding nothing gone, not even her daily medicine. Holleman then filed a missing person’s report with Fort Worth police.

“At that point, I felt like something was going on,” Holleman said.

A police camera captured the license plate of Riggins’ grey Lincoln headed north on I-35 in Denton around 5 a.m. on July 12, the day after bingo, but it didn’t capture the driver. Holleman said the sleeping pills her mother takes daily make her doubt Riggins was driving.

“That's really unbelievable that she would be driving at the that time in the morning because when she takes that medication, she sleeps till about 10 or noon,” she said.
Fort Worth police have questions too and are asking for help in the missing persons case.

“She’s maybe gone on a long vacation after her winning that night,” Fort Worth Police Department spokesperson Tracy Carter said. “We’re just hoping that she can come home safely to her family.”

With their mother missing a month, the family feels lost.

“I break down like everybody else,” Holleman said. “I don’t let my sister see that, so it’s really tough.”

Holleman said she’s stopped searching around Watauga and has been going to lakes, fearing the worst.
[....]
“In my heart, I already know she is gone,” Holleman said. “As long as my sisters stay hopeful, then that’s what I’m striving for. That’s what I get up for."

Officials are offering up to $1,000 for information related to Riggins' whereabouts.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 817-469-8477. Tips can also be made online. Officials said all tips are anonymous.

Fort Worth family searching for grandmother who disappeared after winning big at bingo hall

Carolyn Riggins, 69, drives a tan 2002 Lincoln Town Car with Texas license plate No. CGB-1453.

www.wfaa.com

 

[Sejanus]

Winning big is relative.

Guessing someone rolled her for it maybe.
People will kill over loose change.

 

[cubby]

Why is a woman with partial dementia allowed to go anywhere by herself?

 

[Satanica]

A reward 69-year-old Carolyn Riggins’ disappearance stands at $5,000. Efforts are underway to increase it.
[....]
Investigators say just hours after her bingo win, a freeway surveillance image captured Riggins’ license plate on her 2002 tan Lincoln Town Car with a black top headed north of Fort Worth on I-35 West.

Police support the family’s efforts to enlist the independent canine team. The same group was instrumental in the discovery of the remains of Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen.

“The latest information we have is that this volunteer canine team is coming in, which is great,” said Fort Worth Police Spokesperson Buddy Calzado. “We don’t want to leave any stone unturned. We want to look in places that maybe haven’t been looked. That we’ve thought of, we’ve been in, if they can help in any way, we’re definitely open to it.”

The police department and team Texas K9 will coordinate efforts later this week.
[....]

Texas K9s step in to search for missing Fort Worth woman last seen at bingo hall

The nationally accredited team, Texas K-9s, will help sniff out possible evidence.

www.fox4news.com

 

[Satanica]

Her car was located in a wooded area in Cooke County on Saturday, and there was a body in it. The remains are being examined to determine if it's Ms. Riggins.

Body Found Inside Missing Fort Worth Grandmother's Car

The car of a Fort Worth grandmother missing since July has been found in a remote area of Cooke County, and a body found inside the vehicle has not been positively identified, police said.

www.nbcdfw.com

 

[Satanica]

I think she may have made it to Denton, but overshot and landed in Cooke County just above Denton County. Probably ended up running off the road in unfamiliar territory trying to get back on track or she had taken her sleeping pills and passed out. I don't know if they will be able to tell the cause of death.

It seems a long way to drive for bingo though. Watauga is a suburb of Fort Worth and is about 35 miles from Denton if you're taking I-35 and 287.

 

[Keepalowprofile]

I think she may have made it to Denton, but overshot and landed in Cooke County just above Denton County. Probably ended up running off the road in unfamiliar territory trying to get back on track or she had taken her sleeping pills and passed out. I don't know if they will be able to tell the cause of death.

It seems a long way to drive for bingo though. Watauga is a suburb of Fort Worth and is about 35 miles from Denton if you're taking I-35 and 287.

If you're a gambler, no where is too far.
There is 2 casinos in my town and people drive from Sacramento to come up and gamble. 68 miles if they are at the north end of Sacramento.

 

[Satanica]

But, bingo? Yeah, I'm not a gambler at all, and I wouldn't drive two blocks for bingo. It would have to be a big crowd for a big jackpot, I would imagine, so what about social distancing and all that crap? Whatever. She shouldn't have been driving such distances with partial dementia and possibly screwing up her sleep medication.

 

[Satanica]

My opinion is that she had a medical emergency. I don't think there was any foul play since there was still money in the car, although the article doesn't indicate if it was most of the money or just a few loose bills. I'm hoping the autopsies will reveal the cause and settle everyone's minds.

[....]
“Even though we laid my mother to rest, you’re still not able to grieve properly because of the unknown,” said daughter Kendra Holleman. “We still don’t know how she died or why she died.”
[....]
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office tells NBC 5 an autopsy to determine cause and manner of death is still pending.

The family said they hired a private pathologist to conduct a second autopsy.

Police previously informed Riggins’ family there were no obvious signs of murder and that some of the cash Riggins’ won was still in the car.

The family, however, feels detectives from Fort Worth and Cooke County aren’t prioritizing the case.
[....]
A spokesperson with the Fort Worth Police Department tells NBC 5, the missing person’s case has been closed. However, ‘if the findings come back from the ME that there was foul play, we would assist Watauga and Cooke County with our homicide detectives. This case is not a case that we would take lightly. Every investigation we handle, we handle with the utmost in care.’

The Cooke County Sheriff’s Office has yet to respond to NBC 5’s request for an update on the investigation.

The family of Carolyn Riggins has set up a GoFundMe to help with costs associated with their investigation into her death. If you would like to help, click here.

One Month Following Tragic Discovery, Family of Missing Grandmother Desperate for Answers

One month ago, a tragic end in the search for a Tarrant County grandmother. Carolyn Riggins’ body was found inside her car after disappearing over the summer. Now her daughters are expressing frustration at the lack of answers surrounding their mother’s death. NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero reports.

www.nbcdfw.com

 

[Victoria]

I'm curious to know where in the vehicle her remains were found, Front seat, back seat, sitting, slumped or on the floorboard?

 

[Satanica]

I was wondering, too. According to the article, investigators took the car twice.

The car had been held by Fort Worth police, released, then held once more, according to Riggins’ sister.

 

[kajan]

The Vanished podcast did a very in depth episode on this case, her family tried so hard to find her.