Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: River Cruz - A Woman Spurned?

It seems that River Cruz AKA Crystal Holloway AKA George Anthony's mistress went to the hospital for attempting suicide. She didn't succeed, which always means to me that you are seeking attention more than death (if you really want to die it is easy to make sure it happens). She claims she did it because she was upset over people saying nasty things about her on the Internet, that they didn't believe she had an affair with George or she was just out for money.

What I see in River is someone who displays a narcissistic personality disorder and finds ways to have people focus on her. Being "normal" and having a "regular" life just doesn't do it for her, so she finds one way or the other to be in the limelight or in the middle of some excitement. She hung around the Anthony's as part of the search group, then hooked up with a married man (probably more exciting to be with THE George Anthony than an unknown fellow), claims she has many health problems including a brain tumor (maybe she does, maybe she doesn't), lives with some guy who pays her bills, and gave (or sold) her story to the National Enquirer. She has a bit of a minor criminal record; her sister has a more major one. Apparently, her sis, Cecilia AKA Skye was involved in a larceny using River's driver's license, at least her fingerprint was on a license that was shown at the pawnshop where the thievery occurred and Skye was the one who went to jail. Skye also claimed River was a liar in a court matter, but still the sisters hang out together.

River may be telling the truth about Georgie Boy, that they had a thing going on. But, what does this tell you about her character? She is involved with a married man who is pretty much despised by a good many people for his behavior and possible cover-up of his granddaughter's murder. And, IF River did not come forth to tell her story about George saying that his granddaughter's demise was "an accident that snowballed out of control" for money, then why didn't she go to the police the minute she heard her lover knew Casey had done in the child? Why didn't she want the police to know this information earlier so they could move the case forward?

Dr. Lilllian Glass believes River Cruz is being truthful about the whole incident. I believe she is a manipulative, attention-seeker who may well have made up the part about George saying it was an accident; after all, a lot of people believe this and River may believe this as well. George may have made some statement like "I don't know.. I don't know if Casey is involved...maybe it was an accident that spun out of control...." I doubt he out and out told her he knew what happened. I don't have much love for George or any of the Anthonys but River Cruz seems more to me like a woman spurned (as she trashed George on her now defunct Twitter account) than someone who wanted to see justice done.

And all the stuff about River Cruz being the prototype for Zenaida Gonzalez? Rubbish. When Casey said Zenaida was beautiful and Cindy Anthony said the Zenaida was a 10, all you have to do is look at River Cruz to know she doesn't rate that high on the beauty meter (my 26-year-old son gave her a 3 and he didn't know who she was).

River Cruz picked her poison and she has to live with the results. She has children to care for and, if the suicide attempt wasn't another selfish cry for attention, then killing herself because her feelings were hurt and leaving her children motherless is even more selfish. Outside of maybe proving George is a cheat, her testimony won't be worth a damn in court.

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: It's a Plane, It's a Bird, It's Natalee!

What's a police force to do? Once upon a time, tips went straight to their investigators and they sorted through them, acting on the ones they thought had merit. Granted, sometimes they ignored a good tip and wasted time on a bad one, but the world today is a whole new animal. If the police response isn't good enough, the tipster goes public.

Take the Natalie Holloway case. Some vacationers on a cruise went snorkeling and took some pictures underwater of the fishies. Months later, while looking at one of the photos, they suddenly thought that they saw a skeleton under the water and, of course, Aruba plus possible skeleton means Natalee Holloway! They became excited and contacted the FBI. But they didn't stop there. The story (somehow) got out to the media and the couple did the rounds of news shows including Nancy Grace. Divers on Aruba haven't yet found anything.

The problem for the police is having a tip they don't particularly find credible going public and then there is a clamoring for them to follow it up, no matter how silly. Many tips have come in from people stating they have seen Natalee here and there and everywhere (in probably more locations than that traveling gnome) and you just can't follow them all up if there is no good reason to do so. Police pockets are not that deep that money can be tossed just to make everyone happy.

I was asked what I would do if I were the police in this case. Well, I have looked at the photo and I am not convinced it shows anything more than rocks and coral that look sort of like a skeleton. I might do the simplest, cheapest thing like put out a request for anyone who remembers the couple or the snorkeling boat to contact police. Then if I got an exact site, I might let volunteer divers from the area dive there and give a report. But that is probably all I would do because I do not think more is worth doing.

And what of the swamp that Joran van der Sloot says he dumped Natalee in? Should the police dredge the whole swamp based on a pathological liar's ridiculous story? I don't think so. But, that story is also all over television and the Internet, so there are those already angry the police aren't searching the heck out of the muck.

And so it goes on. Sometimes someone really does have information that is being ignored by the police and I can understand that they would want to push for it to be taken seriously, by whatever method possible. But, we should give the police a bit of a break. We need to realize that they have to decide which are the best tips to follow up and which ones to ignore. Just because they are not digging a hole to China doesn't mean they aren't trying to find Natalee.

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Crimes against Teachers

I looked forward to sending my first child to school. I imagined a cute classroom with Mary Poppins for a teacher and students in crisp uniforms eagerly learning their lessons. What I saw when I visited my local public school was more similar to a juvenile detention institution than an educational venue of any sort. I chose to home school and I continued until my children went to college. The teachers I saw were wardens in an out-of-control child-controlled nightmare and I had an opportunity to stay home and keep my children out of the muck.

Everyday I hear horror stories coming out of our schools. For example, one teacher was reprimanded for informing a student that her clothing was totally inappropriate and that she looked like a prostitute. I have seen the way some teenage girls dress to go to school and some of the girls do indeed look like they've been working on the street. Whether this teacher was exaggerating the girl's style of dress or not, I don't know, but it was her classroom and she had the right to expect students to look and behave appropriately. Maybe the teacher should have used more "sensitive" language and softly spoken to the child, perhaps, "suggesting" she choose a more "appropriate" selection of clothing. And maybe the parents should support the teacher and not overreact and get the teacher in trouble.

PLEASE! THIS is what is wrong with our schools. Teachers are not treated as respected elders with the power to put students in their place should they need to be put there. Disrespect of a teacher should get a student in very hot water, not the teacher. This even applies to upper level education as well. I just got a call from the college I teach at because the students were offended I was failing them for not doing the work and plagiarizing. I am considered harsh for leveling with them and giving them the grades they deserve. I was even told I "upset" a student for discussing Mark Furhman's use of the N word in connection with the OJ trial, so I should be more racially sensitive (not that the student should actually do any of the work and stop trumping up ridiculous charges against a teacher to get back at her).

If we don't get our act together, ALL children will be left behind; we will have raised a generation of ignorant, undereducated ingrates and we will pay dearly for it in the future.

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Does He REALLY Love Me?

Wow! Doesn't she feel lucky! She has met the man of her dreams - handsome, successful, rich, a rising star - a Tiger Woods, a John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sandford- and he loves her! He wants to marry her! Off she goes, happily believing that he cares deeply for her and will share a life with her that is meaningful, honest, forever.

And then she founds out. Her beloved husband has been catting around, coming home night after night, trip after trip, to her bed, making love to her, but after making love to someone else. He looked her in the eye time and time again and said, "I love you" and "I was so lonely without you in my hotel room" and "Of course, there is no one but you". But, the text message on his phone say differently, the condoms in his luggage, the photo in the National Enquirer.

Now she questions their entire relationship. What was she really to him? A conquest? A ticket to something? A son and daughter maker? She may never figure it out but there is one thing that is likely if she is married to someone with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder - she is a tool.

Politicians, famous athletes, movie stars - it often takes a serious case of narcissism to get to the top, to beat everyone out, to focus so heavily on one's rise. It takes a lot of confidence to believe in oneself to a level that allows one to trump the competition and to hang in doggedly to get the prize, to put everything else and everyone else on the shelf while one pushes on. Now, not everyone in these fields has such a personality disorder and some are lovely people with a strong drive to accomplish something or they have a passion for an art or a sport that just propels them forward. They still care about others and when they find someone special, they don't allow their career or fame to harm their mate in any way.

But, those with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder don't have quite that level of empathy for their spouse. They may LIKE their spouse a lot; she is attractive, hot in bed, helpful on the political trail, supportive of his career, great with the kids, etc. But, this kind of "affection" is similar to how one feels about one's car; you can REALLY like your car, polish it, tune it up regularly, enjoy the wind in your hair when you have the top down; but it's a car, you know; it can be traded in when you get bored with it or you can get an extra one if you like to change up. It is a tool, something very useful and amusing, but it is something you purchase and control the use of. For a narcissist, spouses can fall into the same category.

But, she won't be able to tell in the beginning. The narcissist can be very enthusiastic about the new addition to his life. Wow! She is pretty! She is nice to have on my arm! She's pregnant! She is going to have my son! Interestingly, some narcissists, after they are caught cheating, don't understand what all the hullabaloo is about because they still "love" their wives! After all, he didn't take her to the junkyard....he just rented a different vehicle while he was out of town. His feelings for her may not have changed at all because they were never the kind of feelings she thought he had for her in the first place.

It is a tough position to be in when you meet someone; how do you know what kind of person they are? All one can do is look to see if he or she is truly caring and empathetic. Stay in the relationship before marriage long enough to see if you are treated well and are truly special. If you are getting less than inspiring treatment or are just treated like everyone else, maybe you will find yourself part of a harem one day; you may be the Number One Wife, but he will be every woman's boyfriend.