Ping, Ping, Telephone Ping - Sachiko Basden

The latest on the mobile belonging to missing Tuscumbia woman Sachiko Basden is that it's on; she's just not answering. In such cases, it's very easy for law enforcement to get a court order to ping the phone, showing its location within meters. Some phone companies will do this for whoever pays the bill; in other words if there are four phones on a Verizon account, the account holder may have any one of them pinged and located. We have no idea how Ms. Basden's phone is set up, but surely authorities know where it is...if it's indeed on. 

Richmond Hills, a Tuscumbia subdivision where the Basdens live, is close to the Valdosta Highway. Surely the police wanted to ensure she hadn't been hit in busy traffic. Surely the police know the last person she called and who called her last and got an answer. 

Ms. Basden doesn't seem to have any family here with the exception of her husband and children. Her children (or at least some of them) use a different last name, so we may assume there's an ex-husband out there somewhere. Why would she have left four children behind? She has no money, no identification, and no vehicle. There have been no search parties or tracking dogs. Someone obviously knows something.

The whole thing is troubling since so many are thinking the worst. If Sachiko Basden wanted to embarrass her family, she's done it. If her family wanted to embarrass her, they've certainly done it.

Ms. Basden, if you're out there, it's time to come home. Please.

*****

A few years ago, a single man from Tuscaloosa married a woman with two children. Apparently he wasn't accustomed to the chaos, and arguments often ensued. One Friday night, there was a knock-down, drag-out (at least figuratively), and the man drove away, leaving his phone and billfold behind. When he hadn't returned by Saturday morning, his wife did the most logical thing - she took to Facebook.

Everyone felt sure the young husband would return by Sunday night and make it to work on Monday morning, but he didn't. At that point, everyone then thought he was probably dead or halfway to California. Then on Monday night he showed up as if nothing had happened.

He hadn't eaten in four days and had been sleeping in his vehicle in a parking garage. If a divorce or murder followed, we never read about it...