Which of these Suspects Murdered Lacey Claire Gaines?

Lacey Claire Gaines Case: The Suspects Posted on April 13th, 2010 by Valhall 

Who stole Conor's Mommy?

Sometime between 3 pm and 7 pm on December 7, 2009, Lacey Claire Gaines was murdered.  Since the autopsy has not been released we do not know exactly how she was murdered.  An electrical cord was around her neck and she was found with a 4 inch gash across her throat.  There was also a small nick reportedly observed on her left shoulder – possibly from the path of the knife as her throat was cut.  Lacey’s throat was cut with a knife from her own kitchen.  Lacey loved to cook.  She is reported to have been found fully clothed with no defensive wounds on her body.  Lacey was not small in stature, and she was fiesty.  The lack of defensive wounds has led to the suspicion the murderer was some one she knew who possibly engaged her conversation before initiating a blitz attack.  There have been rumors her hands were bagged, but that has not been confirmed.

As covered before “Daniel” Sanchez, whose real name is Regelio Sanchez (aka Regelio Alvarado-Sanchez) had abused Lacey in their relationship and continued to threaten and harass her after she left him.  In addition to the beating in the parking lot at Lacey’s grandfather’s funeral, an instance previously discussed, Lacey confided in her friends of other abuses.  After Conor was born Lacey began to share with her good friend Julien instances of Daniel fighting with her and confided he had strangled her.  She also mentioned “scrapes on her neck” in these communications with Julien.  (Bear in mind that English is Julien’s second language so for some things we have to take into account loss of accuracy in conveying statements he recalls.)  Were these scrapes from being choked?  Were they scrapes from a knife?  These questions may remain unanswered for all time.  Julien had urged Lacey to leave Daniel and go home to her parents, but Lacey told him she and her mother’s relationship was strained at the time.

In addition to Julien being told of the abuse, Lacey’s friend Josh Vinson saw the evidence of abuse himself.  Josh recalls several occasions where he would witness bruises and black eyes on Lacey when she visited with him.  At one point Lacey even fled to Josh’s house when she had had all she could take.  Lacey would eventually go, for a short time, to a shelter and did permanently move out of the relationship with Daniel.

In November 2008, just before their planned Wedding, Daniel pushed Lacey’s head through a wall and strangled her until she passed out.  He was allegedly pulled off of her by his brother “Abraham”.  Lacey ended the relationship.  What is unknown by this writer at this time are the answers to the following questions:

*  Were they still living in the house Lacey’s parents have provided for them when this incident occurred?

*  If so, when the relationship ended who remained in the house?  Did either of them?  Was Lacey forced to leave by Daniel or was she successful in forcing Daniel to leave?
Regelio “Daniel” Sanchez is reportedly from Mexico.  It is unknown if he is in the country legally but the suspicion is that he is not.

At some unknown date (possibly the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009) Lacey began a relationship with Juan Valadez.  In at least one communication Lacey had with a confidant in February 2009 she shared that Juan could testify to “all the times he has seen me beaten up”.  This would lead us to believe that Juan and Lacey had known each other for sometime prior to the end of the relationship between Lacey and Daniel.

In February 2009 Lacey had become fearful of her life and Conor’s.  Daniel had begun to send threatening text messages.  Lacey was now living with Juan Valadez in Chicago.  Juan and Lacey filed a report with the Chicago police over the threats.  There are allegedly police reports at the Crete, Illinois police department which include phone traps.  At some point, either before or after the police report was filed by Lacey and Juan, Daniel stole Lacey’s mail and started making phone calls to contact numbers he found on that mail.  Also during this time Lacey shared with a friend that Daniel shot at his ex-wife’s new boyfriend in Hanover Park or Schaumberg.

As previously discussed, in March 2009 is when Daniel filed a petition for parentage.  That case remained unresolved at the time of Lacey’s murder in December due to Daniel apparently not appearing for the September 2009 hearing.  Some people claim Daniel began to pay child support after this hearing, but that has not been confirmed.

Very little is known about Juan Valadez.  Rumors have it that he and Lacey had actually married, but there has been no official document produced substantiating that.  As shared earlier, when Lacey last spoke with Julien by phone just 3 days before her murder she stated neither she or Juan were ready to get married, so this would lead one to believe they had not yet done so.  However, at the same time, Lacey had begun using the name Lacey Valadez on emails, etc.  Juan, like Daniel, is from Mexico and, again, it is unclear if he is in the U.S. legally.

Juan had exhibited jealousy over the short course of their relationship.  But there is no evidence he ever got violent or abusive over his jealousy.  What little we do know on this comes from Julien.  It appears Juan’s primary points of jealousy had to do with the men Lacey had to work around in her two jobs – which Julien states were at an “agency” and in a bar.  Apparently, according to Julien, the main point of Juan’s jealousy concerning Lacey’s work at “the agency” was that there were several other Hispanic men working in that “agency” who would flirt with, or otherwise act inappropriately with Lacey.

During Lacey and Juan’s relationship, Lacey shared with her friend Josh that Juan had a “crazy ex-girlfriend”.  At least one friend states that Lacey had told of this “crazy ex-girlfriend” calling both her and Juan’s phones repeatedly and them having to get their numbers changed because of it.

Apparently at some unidentified time in the relatinship this ex-girlfriend had “come around”.  Not only that but other friends state there was a rumor that when she “came around” it was because she was pregnant…and the implication would be, by Juan.  There is even an extremely unsubstantiated rumor that when this whole “ex-girlfriend is pregnant” rumored incident happened, that Lacey may have returned to Daniel for 2 or 3 days – but most of Lacey’s friends reject that rumor stating they just cannot see Lacey ever returning to Daniel.

To clear up what this “agency” was that Julien states Lacey was working for (keeping in mind this word is used by Julien and we get into translation errors) it was the management office of the house of ill-repute apartments Lacey and Juan were living in at the time of her murder – the Sunset Lake Apartments in Justice, Illinois.  Lacey had a job as a manager in that office.  The “other Hispanic men” who Juan would get very jealous of due to their flirting with Lacey were the maintenance men at the apartments.  It should be noted Juan was also working as a maintenance man at the apartments.

The reason this is important to point out is because of the rumor that lives at the Sunset Lake Apartment about who killed Lacey Gaines.  That rumor is that it was a maintenance man.  And that could be any maintenance man according to at least one review of the Sunset Lake apartments left on an apartment review site:

Or may be this online review:

Bernita – 01/30/10
oh and lets not forget the murder that occured almost 2 months ago. A young lady was killed in her own apartment by the maintenance man……

So who killed Lacey Claire Gaines?  Was it Regelio “Daniel” Sanchez?  Could it have been him and his brother Abraham?  Did Daniel finally decide to get rid of Lacey in order to get some form of custody of Conor?  Could this be because Daniel is NOT in this country legally and needs an “anchor baby” to establish a reason to be able to stay?

Was it Juan?  Had he become enraged due to jealousy over the situation with the apartment staff?  While there had been no reported instances of Juan being abusive – in fact, Lacy described to friends that he loved her and respected her – could he have let his jealousy take him over?

Was it Juan’s “crazy ex-girlfriend”?  Was she really pregnant?  Had she been stalking and harassing Lacey and Juan attempting to get Juan back and decided to eliminate the woman in her way?

Or was it one of ANY “drug dealing” maintenance men at the apartment?  All of whom allegedly have “keys to any apartment”?

We will next visit the situation with the investigation and see if there has been anything of value that could answer these questions.

Valhall.

Related Articles:

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/who-killed-lacey-claire-gaines/19403946

http://my.opera.com/LaceyClaireGaines/about/

Dana Pretzer covers the Lacey Claire Gaines Murder

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Missing Persons Awareness and Support Network
http://peace4missing.ning.com

Here's How To Prevent and Report Online Stalking

HOW TO: Prevent and Report Online Stalking

The social web is not just a model of our world, but an indelible and growing part of it. People correspond, they do business, and just like in the real world, they have addresses, and mailboxes. And in today’s pervasive and immersive online environment, it’s almost impossible to be completely anonymous.

The web gathers vast amounts of personal information that we willfully share online — our location, interests, purchases, friends, current activities, etc. Anyone tracking this information not only knows what we say, but in what location we say it, and to whom. This adds up to a large dossier of information on nearly every Internet user.

One issue that persists in a web-based world is online stalking (also referred to by some organizations as “cyber stalking”). An online stalker can easily hide behind Internet anonymity, or worse, behind someone else’s identity. Below is a quick guide to understanding online stalking and how to best prevent it from happening to you.

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1. Get the Facts

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The real key to the prevention of online stalking is remembering that every post you put on a social network could potentially be public. Sophisticated search engines and malicious data-stealing Trojans can find and share any information about you, even on the most trusted and secure social networks. Compromised data could potentially be used by criminals to harass you, harm you personally, or steal your identity.

The best thing to do is to stay informed about the latest threats and which popular sites may have been recently hacked. Some important resources with quality information include:

• The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Computers and Internet Privacy

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2. Be Cautious

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Whether you want to protect information on your Facebook profile or in your Gmail account, there is security software that can help you do it. For example, you can install software that will warn you if any sensitive words or numbers (like phone numbers, addresses, dates of birth, passwords, etc.) are entered onto a web page. You should also be sure your private and financial data is only entered into websites that have proof of their security from companies like TRUSTe or VeriSign.

Because so much of our day-to-day communication is done on social networks (sharing on Facebook, job hunting on Craigslist), it may not always be clear when we encounter the issue of online stalking. You may think you’re overreacting, but if you’re feeling intimidated or insecure about a situation and you’re not sure what to do, here are some sources that may help you determine if you’re being stalked.

• QuitStalkingMe.com
• WiredSafety.org
• State Cyberstalking Laws
• ConnectSafely.org

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3. Don’t Respond, Just Report

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Anyone who is being stalked or harassed online should not respond to the instigator. They should instead either report it to the online community where it’s happening (by flagging on social networks, reporting abusive links, etc.), or to other sites such as Cyber911 Emergency from Wired Safety, and Cyberstalking from The National Center for Victims of Crime. Keep a record of the communications, and contact authorities if it becomes threatening in any way. People who are under the age of 18 should also alert their parents or an adult they trust to help them properly track the communications and contact authorities as appropriate. Like bullying and harassment, stalking cannot be stopped by any technology. However, there are several ways to keep track of communications through IM, Twitter, Facebook, etc. The silver lining is that online stalking is probably easier to prosecute than physical stalking because the communications are usually traceable in some way.

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Missing Persons Awareness and Support Network
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The Unsolved Murder of Lacey Claire Gaines

Lacey Claire Gaines Case: Lacey’s Short Life

Posted on April 10th, 2010 by Valhall 

This is the first in a series of articles in which we will look into the December 7th, 2009 unsolved murder of Lacey Claire Gaines.  In this first article I hope to help you get to know Lacey a bit as a person, instead of a faceless, lifeless victim of yet another senseless and brutal murder.

Lacey Claire Gaines was born to Jill and Jeff Gaines of Grand Park, IL on December 1, 1989.  She was their youngest child.  Being the little sis of older brothers she grew up to have that endearing tom-boyish and outgoing spirit that a girl tends to develop when they spend their early years trying to “keep up with the boys”.

Lacey at 8 years old

Lacey would continue to have that out-going, heart-stealing and effervescent personality through-out her short life.  As she grew through adolescence she made many long-term friends who today miss her light, and wonder why it was stolen from their lives so quickly.  Those dear friends stretch from Illinois to Paris.  When Lacey was in high school her family hosted an exchange student,  Cedric Reveillere from France.  Cedric stayed with the Gaines family for 1 year.  Eventually Lacey was able to take a trip to Paris with a group of friends and she got the opportunity to spend some time with Cedric and his family as well.  Lacey was 15 years old when she professed her teenage love for him.  Lacey would continue to adore Cedric from afar for another year.

Cedric was not the only friend Lacey made in France.  There was also Julien Caherec.  Lacey and Julien would remain friends through the rest of her short life.  She spoke to him through text messages, online messaging and phone calls through-out the years.  Julien even came to America to visit Lacey in 2007.  They called each other their best friends, and Lacey referred to Julien as “juju”.  Their last phone conversation was December 4th, 2009, only 3 days before her murder.  Julien misses Lacey and wants to know who took his friend from this world.

When Lacey was 16 years old she began a sexual relationship with a man 10 years older than her.  His name was Regelio “Daniel” Sanchez and he worked in Lacey’s uncle Vic’s restaurant.  In March 2007 Lacey became pregnant.  She was 17 years old.  Daniel did not want to marry her.  And it was at this time that Lacey’s life began to change.  In reading the brief history of Lacey’s life, it appears that Lacey’s parents did not react favorably to the news their daughter was pregnant.  Instead of taking legal action against a man who had obviously had sexual relations with a minor, they chose to declare Lacey emancipated, allegedly due to insurance reasons, and Lacey went to live with Daniel’s family in a small house in Steger, Illinois.  Lacey would begin to complain to friends and family members that she felt she was being taken advantage of.  Eventually Lacey and Daniel would move into a small rented house they shared with Daniel’s brother Abraham.  Lacey shared with confidants that she was sending $300 a month back to Mexico on Daniel’s requests.

There began to be signs to Lacey’s friends and loved ones that Daniel was abusive.  She arrived at her grandfather’s funeral, in 2007 while still pregnant, very upset beyond the loss of her grandfather.  She would later confide that Daniel had beaten her in the parking lot.  Daniel had just been fired from his job by Lacey’s uncle Victor and didn’t want Lacey attending her own grandfather’s funeral because of that.  When they arrived at the funeral Daniel became enraged when Lacey hugged Victor’s son, Adam…so Daniel beat her.

On January 3, 2008, just before her 18th birthday, Lacey gave birth to a beautiful little boy, Conor.
In April 2008 Lacey began to speak to Julien in their phone calls about Daniel abusing her.  She also confided in another close friend, Josh Vinson, about the abuse.  Lacey even fled to Josh’s house at one point, arriving beaten and scared.  She told Josh that Daniel was trying to steal her spirit, but she wouldn’t let him.  Josh would later tell of seeing Lacey many times with black eyes and bruises.

In May 2008 Lacey’s father bought a house and refurbished it, allowing Daniel and Lacey to move in.  Lacey’s parents also gave Daniel a car to drive, and supplied him a phone.  In November 2008, after invitations had already been mailed out, Lacey called off her impending marriage to Daniel after he pushed her head through a wall and choked her until she passed out.  It is unknown how brutal this particular beating would have been if Daniel’s brother, Abraham, had not been there to pull him off her.

Shortly after Lacey and Daniel’s break up Lacey began a relationship with Juan Valadez.  In February 2009 Lacey began to voice fear to others because Daniel was sending her threatening text messages and had stolen her mail.  Daniel went so far as to call contacts listed on her bills.  It is unknown to this writer what the purpose of contacting these individuals was.  A police report was filed and Lacey fled to a shelter.  During this period of time Lacey’s friend, Julien, states Lacey had to change her phone number numerous times due to harassment from Daniel.  Julien also claims that Lacey had to move “a few times” – also because of Daniel.

In March 2009 Daniel filed a petition for parentage with the court and a court date of May 14th was set.   At that time, Lacey confided in Susan Murphy-Milano, an advocate for victims of domestic violence, that Daniel was threatening to take Conor and flee to Mexico.  In April 2009 Juan returned from a visit to California and Lacey wrote to confidants that they would marry that summer.  At the same time an investigation into Lacey’s filed report against Daniel was taking place and the investigating officer wondered why Lacey’s parents were paying for a phone for her abuser.

On May 14th Lacey appeared in court but the hearing was postponed to September 25th when the court declared Lacey had not been properly served by Daniel.  Lacey’s mother and grandmother attended the brief court appearance.  They described Lacey as acting “rude”.  Lacey would confide in others that she had become frustrated because “no one would take her abuse seriously”.

It is past May 14th that details about Lacey’s life become blurred and confused.  Some people have heard that she and Juan had married, but no evidence of that marriage has been produced.   Lacey’s communications with her friend, Julien, ceased between June and October of 2009.  On September 25th the hearing on Conor’s parentage was schedule, but apparently Daniel did not appear.  Lacey’s mother would later state that Daniel began paying child support for Conor, but this has not been confirmed.

On December 1st, 2009 Lacey turned 20 years old.  On December 4th she had her last phone conversation with her dear friend Julien.  Julien initiated the phone call and they spoke for some time.  Lacey told him she was working two jobs:  one at an “agency” and another in a bar.  She told him Juan was jealous of both jobs for varying reasons.  Julien asked her if she and Juan were going to get married and Lacey told him neither of them were interested in doing so at that time.  Julien describes the conversation with Lacey as “not the same as before”.  He states “…this time she doesn’t seem happy and she had a little voice”.

On Monday, December 7, 2009, Lacey phoned her grandmother and asked if she could babysit Conor.  Lacey stated she was not feeling well and had a doctor’s appointment.  Lacey’s last communication was at 3:30 p.m. December 7, 2009.  Lacey was found, at approximately 7 p.m. that evening, murdered in her apartment.  She was reportedly found by Juan.  She was discovered with an electrical cord around her neck and a 4-inch gash in her throat.  While there have been no official documents released in her autopsy, sources close to the investigation state there were no defensive wounds found on Lacey’s body, and there have even been statements made that her hands were “bagged”.

Lacey’s murder remains unsolved with no suspects in custody or named.  Conor, now 2, will live his life not knowing the out-going and loving nature of his own mother.

In coming articles discussing the unsolved murder of Lacey Claire Gaines we will look at what little is known about potential suspects, and about the ebbs and slight flows of the investigation.



Links to Lacey’s Life:
Lacey’s Myspace
Lacey Claire Gaines Memorial website



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Missing Persons Awareness and Support Network
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Don’t blame me, blame my sex addiction

Once the excuse of philandering celebrities, it now seems more and more of us have got a lust habit and are following the stars into therapy ...

"We’ve seen a 25% increase in six years in the number of people coming to us,” says Don Serratt, founder and chief executive of Life Works, one of the UK’s leading specialists in “curing” sex addiction.

“It’s purely because awareness has increased,” he continues.

“Behaviours haven’t changed in thousands of years — there just wasn’t any help before. We’ve had rock stars who cannot stop acting out on the road. They basically get women thrown at them and they can’t stop. We’ve had people who’ve bankrupted their families because they can’t stop going to prostitutes.

“The US has seen an even bigger rise [in people going to sex rehab] than we have — I would guess in excess of 50% — because people are much more open to getting help there.”

Help for what? Certainly, sex (and love) has been proved to light up the same areas of the brain as cocaine — but can a normal human instinct ever become a true addiction like booze or pills? Which isn’t to deny that there’s a seam of compulsive sexual behaviour that is so awful, it really doesn’t matter what label you give it.

“An addiction is to continue to do anything in spite of negative consequences,” believes Serratt, who has known family men lose everything to cripplingly expensive hooker habits, and nice middle-class ladies engage in outrageous (and often illegal) sex despite the huge risk to their reputation and health.

It’s been estimated by a leading American specialist (and then widely queried) that up to 3% of the population could be sex addicts. But surely there’s a line to be drawn between the man who spends the kids’ university fund on prostitutes and common-or-garden affairs?

Not any more, believes Serratt: “Sandra Bullock’s husband, as a single guy, was probably fine to go to this tattooed woman and do whatever. But because of being married and being high profile, he experiences negative consequences — so to continue to do so is an addiction.

“If you’re in a relationship and you keep having affairs, then you’re a sex addict.”

Couldn’t you just be stuck in an unhappy marriage? “Well,” he says, “then you would get out of your marriage, no?”

Hmm. It’s this grey area — which used to be written off as dumb men listening to their baser instincts — that seems to be confusing us, especially on planet Sleb, where everything tends to be black or white.

James and Woods are not exactly trailblazers in this respect. The comedian Russell Brand, who says he has slept with more than 1,000 women, was treated for his compulsive need to screw around. Likewise David Duchovny, the American actor, who did a stint in therapy when his marriage hit the skids.

Eric Benet, former husband of the actress Halle Berry, suffered the ignominy of being sent to rehab by his mother-in-law after cheating on her daughter — but plaintively objected to being seen as a sex addict.

“In retrospect, it’s not what I would label my situation,” he said afterwards.

“It was presented to me that for the marriage to have a shot, this is what you need to do ... I went and heard other people’s stories and realised this is really not my struggle.”

Could the labelling of every cheating husband as a sex addict merely be the latest manifestation of a trend to pathologise old-fashioned bad behaviour as a disease? After all, both overeating and gambling have been elevated into addictions that are often blamed on genetics or depression.

And what about women — do they ever suffer from so-called sex addiction?

“The reality is that it’s probably about 70% men and 30% women,” says Serratt. Women are more likely to suffer from “love addiction”, he claims, “which can have just as severe consequences”.

Not that he makes a huge distinction between the two conditions: “There’s a saying, ‘Scratch a sex addict and you’ll find a love addict’ — well, scratch a love addict and you’ll find a sex addict.”

Don’t blame me, blame my sex addiction - Times Online