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I just love it.
Update
I don’t think this story should linger on ANY blog, but there has been no worthwhile updates. I already thought “daddy dearest” was at fault here and this proves the theory. Asshole. Unless a new unsub comes along(?)
Let’s all pray for their safe return – believe in a God or not. Seriously.
Something I feel strongly about is the welfare of dogs and cats. Something not mentioned alot in true crime, but, hey – it’s my site so here goes. The folks at Villalobos Rescue Center need help. Seriously. Please go to the site and give ’em a $1.00 or a $5.00 or whatever more hits yur fancy. Thanks!
http://www.vrcpitbull.com/home.htm
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/pitbulls-and-parolees/about-villalobos/
Wow. What’an eye opener this book was. I was an at-home mom at the time – watching the entire Columbine incident on CNN. The misconceptions that were put out by the media over the next couple weeks, months were crazy and mostly unrealistic. This book provides the facts as they came about. I am in the middle of the book right now and so far it was a law enforcement fiasco that allowed Eric and Dylan to perform this rage upon their high school. Please read it and let me know what you think as well. I’ll post more thoughts when I complete the book.
From the City of Lincoln’s home page:”All-America City 2006 – The City of Lincoln, located 25 miles northeast of Sacramento, was named a 2006 winner of the coveted All-America Cities Award given by the National Civic League (NCL) – the nation’s longest running and most prestigious civic recognition program.”
Folks living in Lincoln indeed love their little city. It has retained that small town feeling that their more well-known neighbor, Roseville, used to cherish until recently. With the skyrocketing prices of Silicon Valley during the late 90’s, many folks from the Bay Area have moved north. Myself included. We invaders have taken over the northern Sacramento and southern Placer County areas and have been the number one cause for the recent population expansion of Citrus Heights, Antelope and Orangevale in Sacramento County, and Roseville, Rocklin and Granite Bay in Placer County. Lincoln will not be left alone in this invasion. The new home and apartment businesses are flourishing and I see it catching up with Roseville in population growth very soon.
As you click around the city of Lincoln‘s homepage, an obvious missing link is highly noticeable if you are familiar with the area. Thunder Valley Casino (this – in 2006). The Community Links page includes more ascetic pastimes such as visiting Old Town Lincoln and provides links for the Feline Rescue, Dog Park, Lincoln Arts and the local Kiwanis Club (among others).
The usual opposition arose by some neighboring cities and residents in response to the United Auburn Indian’s initial proposition in 1999 to build a casino in the mostly-unpopulated (at that time) area of Lincoln. Compared with other developing deals and oppositions for Indian Casinos in California, however, Thunder Valley had no big setbacks and the casino was operational within 5 years. According to news articles released by the Auburn Rancheria, Lincoln was more than happy to allow the United Auburn Indian Community to set up shop in the unincorporated area of Lincoln just off Highway 65. Since the opening of Thunder Valley Casino in June 2003, that particular area is not so unincorporated anymore. Many senior housing developments and apartment buildings have cropped up, along with strip malls of shopping, within just a few miles of the casino.
Thunder Valley Casino is quite grand compared to some other Indian Casinos in Northern California. For folks traveling from the San Francisco Bay Area (including San Jose and surrounding communities), going to Thunder Valley Casino in the city of Lincoln removes 2 hours off the drive it used to take to visit the closest gambling establishments in the state of Nevada. Hence, it has become quite popular to more than just the neighboring towns and cities of Placer and Sacramento Counties. Buses of tourists, SUVs full of friends and relatives, and the lone driver arrive daily and at all hours to Thunder Valley Casino from the Bay Area.
The casino had remained relatively crime free. The usual crimes did occur, i.e. bad checks at the cashier, laundered $100 dollar bills, stolen credit cards, etc., but that was to change 3 years and 4 months after Thunder Valley’s grand opening.
In the early evening of October 4th, 2005, Christie Wilson drove to Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln from the home she shared with her boyfriend in Sacramento. According to statements made by her boyfriend, Danny Burlando, he went to dinner with his family and she decided to go to the casino alone. Although originally from San Jose, Christie was familiar with this area of Northern California having graduated from Chico State University, located 70 miles north of highway 65 from Lincoln. Christie, at the age of 27, had a natural sparkle about her. I did not meet Christie, but I’ve seen her photos and I’ve listened to her families and close friends talk about her and they make me wish I had known her. Christie was a beautiful girl with a big, friendly smile. Whatever the reason, Christie found herself in Thunder Valley Casino that evening, and it would be the last time she was ever seen or heard from again.
The CBS television show, 48 Hours, covered Christie’s disappearance on March 4, 2006. Interviews of family members stated Christie’s relationship with her boyfriend had been physically abusive on both their parts, and there was evidence that she may have developed a gambling addiction due to winning streaks at the blackjack tables.
Christie was at the casino for several hours that evening. Law Enforcement was able to create a timeline of her activity in the casino due to the many surveillance cameras placed throughout the building, inside and out, which is customary at all gambling establishments. For the last 3 and a half hours that Christie was in the casino, the cameras followed her gambling, with a companion, later to be identified as 54 year old Mario Flavio Garcia. The last place Christie was seen by the cameras inside the casino was sitting at a blackjack table in one of the popular card gaming areas. Christie was seen on video chatting and gambling, sitting beside the later-identified Mario Garcia. They were seen drinking wine and he had even given her money to gamble with during their time together.
The next camera view of Christie shows her leaving out the front doors of Thunder Valley Casino with Mario Garcia very close to her left side. The somewhat gritty video shows Mario’s arm seemingly reaching or grabbing at Christie’s arm and occasionally crossing over her back. The video time stamp was for October 5, 2005, 1:13 am.
Christie’s boyfriend, Danny, reported that he had tried several times to reach Christie on her cell phone. However, according to his statement to the police, it wasn’t until 2 days later, on October 6th, that he decided to drive out to Thunder Valley Casino himself. There, in the casino parking lot, he found her empty BMW. After the discovery of Christie’s car, Danny called her parents in San Jose .
Christie’s family and Law Enforcement immediately turned to Danny Burlando as a possible suspect in her disappearance due to their tumultuous relationship. It would be a few days before suspicion would turn elsewhere.
To be continued…
Pamela's Prose 