Arthur 39 and Latavia Joshua 35, (Bodies found) Msg. Since 1/9/09, East Chicago, IN

[Faith]

Search is on for couple reported missing


http://www.woai.com/media/news/0/7/b/07b27d15-9f84-4240-9cb9-11ee248cdf06/Story.jpg

January 14, 2009 (EAST CHICAGO, Ind.) (WLS) -- Search efforts are being organized for a northwest Indiana couple missing since Friday.

Arthur and Latavia Joshua of East Chicago were last seen by friends at a bar in Gary. Police are investigating, and Wednesday night, relatives and friends are planning their own search this weekend.

The family of Arthur and Latavia Joshua is offering a reward and actively searching for the East Chicago couple. Along with being parents, the Joshuas are known for being hard workers. Arthur Joshua is a manager at an industrial plant, where he has worked for about 15 years, and he is often recognized for his perfect attendance. Latavia is a nursing assistant at Munster Community Hospital. Given that, relatives say, they wouldn't just vanish.

"I feel like I'm in a nightmare...and I feel like one day I'm going to wake up and my son and daughter-in-law will be coming through the door," said Charlene McFerson, missing man's mother.

And that's the hope Charlene McFerson clings to -- knowing her 39-year-old son, Arthur Shonteau Joshua Jr. and his 35-year-old wife, Latavia, have been missing more than four days. The Joshuas have a 17-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter.

"These are kids...this shouldn't happen to them. They are loving, they are good. This shouldn't happen to them. This shouldn't happen to my grandchildren," said McFerson.

"All of a sudden this - out of nowhere, for no apparent reason - is hurtful," said James Lewis, missing woman's cousin.

Wednesday afternoon, East Chicago Police are piecing together the couple's schedule Friday night into Saturday morning. Police and family say they were last seen in Gary, celebrating their 14th anniversary with another couple, at the Beer Belly Bar.

After that, police say the couple's ATM card was used during a transaction at the Tech Credit Union. They are checking video tapes to see who took out $40.

"If it shows the victim, the missing people, doing the transaction....that's one thing. If it shows someone else, it might lead us in a different direction and all the parameters of the investigation will start changing," said Sgt. Juan Beltran, East Chicago PD.

Police and the family members say the Joshuas were last seen driving a hunter green, 2001 Dodge Durango. They have an Indiana license plate that says "In God We Trust." The plate number is IZ542.

In the meantime, Joshua's brother is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who has additional information, and he is concerned this may be a criminal case.

"If it is criminal activity, please let them go. They have nothing to do with nothing. They are just family. They are not about anything -- no gangs, no drugs, no violence," said DeAundra Joshua, missing man's brother.

There is also a possibility the Joshuas went to El Norteno, a Mexican restaurant in Gary. Police are still trying to confirm that information.

In the meantime, the family is planning a search on Saturday at 11 a.m. They plan to meet at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in East Chicago.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6604590

[Faith]

Couple Disappears After Anniversary Celebration

Last Update: 1/14 12:12 pm

Police in Illinois and Indiana are searching for a Chicago couple missing since Saturday evening.

Arthur and Latavia Joshua were last seen at a bar in Gary, Indiana, celebrating their anniversary with friends.

The couple's family and teenage children are worried about the two and say it's not like them to run off.

Surveillance video from the bar shows the Joshuas leaving together.

They later stopped at a nearby ATM, and police are waiting to review video from that stop as well.

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Couple-Disappears-After-Anniversary-Celebration/wtFTv81JfEuRfawSaiclIw.cspx?rss=68

[Faith]

E.C. couple hasn't been seen or heard from since Saturday

EAST CHICAGO | A Lake County police helicopter scoured the region Monday for a North Harbor couple who haven't been heard from since they left a Gary nightclub early Saturday morning.

The Sheriff's Department Aviation Unit helicopter searched for the couple and their SUV but found no trace, police said.

Family and friends say it's very unusual for the couple, who were out celebrating their 14th anniversary, to leave and not tell anyone.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday, Latavia Joshua, 35, a nurse assistant at The Community Hospital in Munster who had to be to work at 6 a.m., called a colleague from her cell phone to ask for a wake-up call, police said.

She told her friend she and her husband, Arthur Shontey Joshua, 39, a supervisor for 15 years at Pollution Control Industries in East Chicago, were leaving Beer Belly's in the 4400 block of Cleveland Street and would be home in the 3500 block of Block Avenue shortly.

The couple and their hunter green Dodge Durango haven't been seen since.

"I don't understand how they could just disappear," Shontey Joshua's mother, Charlena McFerson, said Monday.

She filed a missing person report Saturday night after getting word that first her daughter-in-law and then her son failed to show up for work.

"It was very uncharacteristic," said Hammond resident Robert Snelko, a co-worker and friend on the midnight shift with Shontey Joshua, a regular "Employee of the Month" honoree at the recycling firm.

"If anybody goes to work, it's my son," McFerson said. "And Latavia, too, she's dedicated -- she has perfect attendance at the hospital." The couple -- both E.C. Central High School graduates -- haven't answered their cell phones, called their employers or anyone else, as far as anyone knows.

Arthur Shontey Joshua is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. Latavia Joshua is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. The license plate number on their SUV is IZ542.

Anyone with information about the missing couple is asked to call the East Chicago Detective Bureau at (219) 391-8268 or (219) 391-8400.

http://nwitimes.com/articles/2009/01/13/updates/breaking_news/doc496d5a94a486b329373367.txt

[Faith]

http://imgsrv.wbbm780.com/image/DbGraphic/200901/1149691.jpg

Posted: Wednesday, 14 January 2009 11:43AM

Family Searches For Missing NW Indiana Couple

GARY, Ind. (CBS) ― Family members are searching for a Northwest Indiana couple who have been missing for more than four days after leaving without a word.

CBS 2's Pamela Jones reported that Arthur Shontau Joshua, 39, and Latavia Joshua, 35, had gone to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary at a local bar in Gary, and left the bar to return home around 12:45 a.m. Saturday morning.

Latavia Joshua telephoned asked a friend to give her a wake-up call so she could get to work Saturday morning. There was never an answer or call back when the friend began calling at 5:30 a.m., family members said.

The family has posted flyers to try to get information about where the couple might be. They said the Joshuas are a family-oriented couple who would not be expected to run off.

The couple remained missing as of Wednesday morning, family members said.

http://www.wbbm780.com/Family-Searches-For-Missing-NW-Indiana-Couple/3658978

[Faith]

Couple disappears after anniversary celebration

http://www.kare11.com/assetpool/images/090114103657_chicago_couple.jpg



Police in Illinois and Indiana are searching for a Chicago couple missing since Saturday evening.

Arthur and Latavia Joshua were last seen at a bar in Gary, Indiana, celebrating their anniversary with friends.

The couple's family and teenage children are worried about the two and say it's not like them to run off.

Surveillance video from the bar shows the Joshuas leaving together.

They later stopped at a nearby ATM, and police are waiting to review video from that stop as well.

http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=536306

[Faith]

Couple Vanishes in Indiana

An East Chicago, Ind., couple vanished after celebrating their anniversary with friends at a Gary bar over the weekend.

Now, their relatives and teenaged children are searching for clues into the disappearance.

The couple was last seen in Gary, and police confirm that the stopped at an ATM machine near the Ridge Road bar where they had been with friends into the morning hours Saturday. Police planned to look at a tape from a bank security camera Wednesday for any clues to the couple's disappearance.

Police Cmdr. Cynthia Haynes said she is asking all businesses along Ridge from Cleveland Street in Gary to Cline Avenue in Highland that may have security cameras to either check their video from Saturday morning from about 1a.m. or call police and permit officers to review the tapes. She added her department has no leads in the investigation.

There is a search party for the couple scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. Volunteers should meet at the Tabernacle Missinoary Baptist Church at 3715 Butternut Street in East Chicago.

Anyone with information is asked to call the East Chicago Police Department at 219-391-8400.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28658226/

[sarahhod]

Cops seek clues to missing pair

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2009/01/15/news/lake_county/doc5b8b0498182da7038625753f000c98f5.txt


BY STEVE ZABROSKI
Times Correspondent | Thursday, January 15, 2009

EAST CHICAGO | Detectives continued their search Wednesday for clues in the weekend disappearance of a North Harbor married couple.

Arthur and Latavia Joshua were last heard from shortly after 1 a.m. on Saturday as they left a Gary nightclub for home after celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary.

"We don't know if any foul play was involved, or if there was an auto accident," said Sgt. Juan Beltran, of the East Chicago Police Detective Bureau. "The weather has been making it difficult to canvass."

The Lake County Sheriff's Department Aviation Unit searched the area between the couple's home and Beer Belly's in the 4400 block of Cleveland Street by helicopter on Tuesday, but found no trace of them or their green Dodge Durango, police said.

Friends and family members said it was very unlike Latavia, a nurse assistant at The Community Hospital in Munster, and her husband, a longtime supervisor at Pollution Control Industries in East Chicago, to miss work and not answer their cell phones.

Beltran said investigators are checking security camera video from bank ATMs and other businesses in the area for possible images of the couple from Saturday.

"We're hoping they use their cell phones or make a transaction with their credit cards," he said. "We hope and pray they're OK."

Arthur Shontey Joshua, 39, is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. Latavia Joshua, 35, is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighs 200 pounds.

Anyone with information about the missing couple is asked to call the East Chicago Detective Bureau at (219) 391-8268 or (219) 391-8400.

[Faith]

Ind. Couple Vanishes After Anniversary Celebration
Police, Friends in Frantic Search for Couple Who Left Jobs, Family Behind
By SARAH NETTER
Jan. 15, 2009

http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ht_missing_in_couple_090115_mn.jpg

Police says they have no leads on the fate of an Indiana couple who disappeared without a trace nearly a week ago after celebrating their 14th anniversary.

The families of Arthur "Shonteau" Joshua, 39, and his wife Latavia, 35, are frantic, saying the East Chicago, Ind., couple would never have abandoned their jobs and teenage children.

"This is a nightmare," said Charlene McFerson, Shonteau Joshua's mother. "Things like this don't happen in East Chicago."

East Chicago police are asking for the city of Gary, Ind., where the Joshuas were last seen, and local businesses to turn over surveillance tapes from the night of Jan. 9 and the early morning hours of Jan. 10, hoping to get clues as to what may have happened to them.

East Chicago Police Sgt. Juan Beltran told ABCNews.com that the Joshuas celebrated their anniversary at a Gary lounge called Beer Belly's, leaving between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. before stopping at an ATM to take out money.

They were driving a hunter green 2001 Dodge Durango with an "In God We Trust" specialty Indiana license plate, number IZ542.

After leaving the lounge, Latavia Joshua then placed two phone calls -- one to 15-year-old daughter Paris, and another to a co-worker requesting a wake-up call to make sure she was at work by 6 a.m.

That's the last anyone heard from them. Family members reported them missing after Latavia Joshua failed to show up for work as a nurse assistant at Community Hospital in Munster, Ind. "That's very unusual for her according to her supervisor and her work record," Beltran said.

Police are looking into whether the Joshua's, who were high school sweathearts, may have had an accident or whether they met with foul play.

"We don't know for sure," he said

The couple may have been headed to El Norteno, a Mexican restaurant also in Gary.

"According to the family, they usually go to that spot after going out partying," Beltran said.

But in the week they've been gone, police have not been able to speak with the night manager who was on duty at El Norteno that day, nor have they been able to collect area surveillance videos.



http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6655783&page=1

[Faith]

Report: Missing E.C. couple made ATM transactions after leaving bar

An East Chicago couple missing since early Saturday used an ATM after leaving the Gary nightclub where they celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary, according a broadcast report Thursday.

"The first time it was $40. Then the next time it was $20, right after each other." Latavia Joshua's brother Craig Lott told NBC5. "That don't seem, it just don't seem right. If they headed home, what do they need $60 for?"

Thirty-nine-year-old Arthur and 35-year-old Latavia Joshua were last heard from shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday after the couple left Beer Belly's, in the 4400 block of Cleveland Street.

"They had an awesome time. They were dancing," Beer Belly's owner Gina Demase told NBC5.

Demase told the television station that surveillance cameras at the nightclub also show the Joshuas getting into their car and pulling on to the road in front two minutes later.

Investigators have asked Ridge Road businesses from Cleveland Street in Gary to Cline Avenue in Highland to check any security footage from early Saturday, according to the broadcast.

Police also told NBC5 that the couple's cell phone was tracked to a location near the bar and the bank, but the trail went cold.

On Tuesday, the Lake County Sheriff's Department Aviation Unit searched the area between the couple's home and Beer Belly's but found no trace of the Joshuas or their green Dodge Durango, police said.

Friends and family members have said it's not normal for Latavia Joshua, a nurse assistant at The Community Hospital in Munster, and her husband, a longtime supervisor at Pollution Control Industries in East Chicago, to miss work and not answer their cell phones.

Arthur Shontey Joshua is 5-foot-10 and weighs 240 pounds. Latavia Joshua is 5-foot-4 and 200 pounds.

Anyone with information about the missing couple is asked to call the East Chicago Detective Bureau at (219) 391-8268 or (219) 391-8400.

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2009/01/15/updates/breaking_news/doc496fddab8af47729604561.txt

[annalyzer]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28658226/

Missing Indiana Couple on Surveillance Camera
Couple Disappears After Anniversary Celebration


NBCChicago.com
updated 44 minutes ago
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. -- Surveillance video from a bar where a missing couple spent the evening celebrating their 14th anniversary is keeping family and friends hopeful for any clues that will help locate them.

Arthur and Latavia Joshua were last seen at Beer Belly's, in Gary, early Saturday morning

"They had an awesome time. They were dancing," said Gina Demase, who owns Beer Belly's. "They look like such a fun-loving couple. They looked like they were really in love with each other."

Other surveillance cameras at the bar show the Joshuas leaving the bar at 1:05 a.m., then getting into their car and pulling on to the road in front two minutes later.

Police say the couple then stopped at an ATM about a half mile away and made two back-to-back withdrawls.

"The first time it was $40. Then the next time it was $20, right after each other." Latavia Joshua's brother, Craig Lott, explained. "That don't seem, it just don't seem right. If they headed home, what do they need $60 for?"

Their cell phone was tracked to a location near the bar and the bank, but that's where the trail for the couple goes cold.

Police Commander Cynthia Haynes said she has asked all businesses along Ridge Road -- from Cleveland Street, in Gary, to Cline Avenue, in Highland -- that may have security cameras to check their video from Saturday morning from about 1 a.m.

So far, Haynes said there are no leads into the investigation.

"It dwindles your hope, you know. Just every passing day it makes it go down a little bit more," Lott said.

According to The Times of Northwest Indiana, Arthur Shontey Joshua, 39, is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. Latavia Joshua, 35, is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighs 200 pounds.

Latavia Joshua is a nurse assistant at The Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., and her husband is a longtime supervisor at Pollution Control Industries in East Chicago, the newspaper reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call the East Chicago Police Department at 219-391-8400.

[sarahhod]

Hunt for missing couple expands


http://www.post-trib.com/news/1383398,ecmissing.article

January 17, 2009

EAST CHICAGO -- Friends and family of a missing East Chicago man and woman will fan out today to look for evidence of what happened to the couple when they disappeared more than a week ago.

Searchers plan to meet for an 11 a.m. prayer vigil at Tabernacle Baptist Church in East Chicago, before hitting the streets to search for Arthur Joshua and his wife, Latavia.

The two celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary on Jan. 9 at Beer Belly's, a club in the 4400 block of Cleveland Street in Calumet Township, according to Charlene McFerson, Arthur Joshua's mother.

They left the club around 1 a.m. Jan. 10, and drove in their 2001 Dodge Durango to the nearby Tech Credit Union.

After making back-to-back ATM withdrawals -- of $40, then $20 -- the pair disappeared, according to McFerson.

East Chicago police reviewed video footage Friday that showed the ATM transactions, McFerson said.

"The detective told me the video shows (Arthur) driving, and that he's the one who makes the transactions," McFerson said.

Police said there was not any evidence of trouble on the tape, McFerson said.

But after that, the couple vanished. They haven't shown up for work or answered their cell phones since.

East Chicago police were not available Friday afternoon to discuss the case.

The severe cold and snow have hindered the search for traces of Arthur, 39, and Latavia, 35, McFerson said.

But with a slight break in the weather expected this weekend, McFerson hopes a search will turn up some trace.

"We're hoping to look on every street in Gary, in every ditch and in every alley," she said.

[annalyzer]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6613075

The bodies of a missing East Chicago couple have been found inside their vehicle.
January 19, 2009 (GARY, IND.)
Police say 39-year-old Arthur Joshua and 35-year-old Latavia Joshua have been missing since January 9. Their partially submerged vehicle was found in a drainage ditch along Chase just north of 35th Avenue in Gary, Ind.
Autopsies are expected to be performed Tuesday on both bodies.

[packy]

Thank you, Annalyzer. So sorry they have not been found safe. My condolences to their families.

[Faith]

Oh this is terrible news. How sad! My prayers go out to the families and friends.

[Faith]

GARY | Upside down and in 5 feet of water, the SUV belonging to a missing East Chicago couple was found Monday afternoon with two bodies inside, police said.

The green Dodge Durango was pulled out of a ditch alongside the 3400 block of Chase Street about 6:15 p.m., said East Chicago police Detective Sgt. Juan Beltran.

The Lake County coroner's office confirmed the remains inside are of Arthur Joshua, 39, and his wife, Latavia Joshua, 35.

"It appears that they ran off the road," Beltran said. "There is no evidence at this time which indicates any foul play."

A snow removal crew noticed the SUV's wheels protruding from the surface of the water Monday afternoon, Beltran said.

The couple were last seen leaving a Calumet Township tavern shortly after 1 a.m. Jan. 10.

Autopsies of the two bodies recovered from the submerged SUV are scheduled for Tuesday, the coroner's office said.

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2009/01/19/updates/breaking_news/doc4975266fc365b263694097.txt

[sarahhod]

Terribly sad.

RIP Arthur and Latavia.:1222423:

My sincerest condolences to your family and friends.:1222423::1222423:

[annalyzer]

Very sad. RIP :1222423::1222423:

[SavannahStar]

Oh how sad. What a heartbreaking ending.

[Amusedtdth]

How awful.

RIP ~ Arthur and Latavia.

[TEXCIN]

My prayers go out to their children. Hope they cherish their memories.

[annalyzer]

http://nwi.com/articles/2009/01/24/news/lake_county/doc0579586f41d759318625754800046698.txt

Missing E.C. couple died of hypothermia, apparent drowning

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Arthur and Latavia Joshua were inseparable even in death.

The East Chicago couple - who disappeared Jan. 10 after celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary - were pulled Monday from the icy waters of an off-road ditch in the 3400 block of Chase Street in Gary.

Arthur Joshua, 39, and Latavia Joshua, 35, both died of hypothermia and apparent drowning, the Lake County coroner's office ruled Friday. Their deaths have been ruled accidental.

Lake County Coroner David J. Pastrick said the Joshuas suffered only minor injuries in the crash, but lost consciousness five to 10 minutes later because of the intense cold.

They were found with a "very small" amount of water in their systems, he added.

"They kind of fell asleep," Pastrick said.

Arthur Joshua's mother, Charlene McFerson, said it was a small comfort that her son and his wife were together, even in death.

"They were joined at the hip," McFerson said. "Whatever he did, she did and whatever she did, he did. Their marriage was just a great union."

The Joshuas had been missing for a week and a half before their sport utility vehicle was discovered.

Police said the couple's Dodge Durango appears to have run off the road, then flipped into the ditch.

Snow and ice covered the couple's SUV after the crash, shielding it from the family, friends and police searching for the couple.

A snow removal crew noticed the SUV's wheels protruding from the surface of the water Monday afternoon, East Chicago police said. Most of the Durango was underwater.

McFerson said she and her family canvassed the Chase Street area every day, but never discovered the vehicle because it was upside under a bridge and covered in snow and ice.

The couple had two children, ages 15 and 17. They also championed community work for the less fortunate, McFerson said.

"It's a comfort they will always be together, but my grandkids lost both of their parents," she added.

[cinjade28]

That is so sad...my prayers are with their family and friends.