thank you for sharing this story….interesting and very sad. But I guess they lived their lives the way they wanted to. Again, thank you for sharing. Lee in Eastern Utah [email protected] On Mar 26, 2012, at 5:31 PM, Don Fitchett wrote: > Hi Linda, > > I found this: > > *Associated Press Archive*- March 8, 2012 > Deceased Name:Patriciaand JoanMiller: APNewsBreak: Police find family of > dead twins > It took 11 days and the help of dozens of strangers, but police have > finally been able to locate the family of a pair of reclusive twin > sisters who were found dead in their California home last month.Patricia > and Joan Miller lived for nearly 40 years in South Lake Tahoe but often > shunned their neighbors. Their shared life ended in a mysterious > double-death. Police found one sister in a bedroom, and the other in a > hallway during a routine welfare check on Feb. 26. They were 73.Police > usually do not release the names of the dead without first informing > their relatives, but the sisters' shrouded lives made that impossible, > said Detective Matt Harwood with the El Dorado County sheriff's office. > With little information about the twins' personal lives to work from, > investigators issued a public plea this week asking for help in > notifying the sisters' next of kin.The response was overwhelming. Emails > and phone calls poured in and with the help of amateur genealogists who > read media accounts of the sisters' deaths, investigators tracked down a > first cousin and two second cousins late Wednesday.The cousins hadn't > heard from the sisters in years."They confirmed pretty much what > everyone else told me," Harwood said. "They were pretty reclusive and no > one really knows why."Harwood said the cousins told him they had lost > touch with the sisters through the years as other family members passed > away."They were just sort of the twins that no one had heard from in a > long time," he said.The cousins don't share the sisters' last name, > which might be why police had such a hard time finding them. They were > tracked down by at-home sleuths, who passed on the family members' > contact information to police. In one case, someone called one of the > cousins to confirm their blood line before giving the name to > Harwood.Harwood said the sisters deserved to have their family know > about their death, and he was pleased to complete that mission with help > from "people from across the country, just your Average Joe wanting to > try their hand on genealogy," he said."There's no way we could have done > it without you guys in the press and literally hundreds of people just > calling to help put the pieces together," Harwood said.One of the second > cousins lives in the San Francisco Bay area, and the two other cousins > live in Portland, Ore., where the twins grew up.Harwood said he has yet > to find a will, but plans to give some of the twins' personal items, > including their mother's furniture and family photo albums, to the > cousins.The discovery of next of kin provides some answers to the twins' > mysterious end, but their puzzle is far from solved.Medical > investigators have not been able to determine how or when the women > died, but their decomposed bodies suggest they had been dead for at > least several weeks when they were found, Harwood said. Toxicology > reports likely won't be available for at least two more months.There was > no blood or signs of struggle. The sisters' longtime home was not > unkempt, a likely sign of mental or physical illness, and they didn't > have a history of severe health problems, Harwood said."My perception is > one died and the other couldn't handle it," he said this week. "It > appears purely natural, but we are still trying to piece it all > together."Investigators hope to soon narrow down when the sisters died. > It's unlikely their killer was carbon monoxide poisoning, a common > danger in the winter, because a window had been left open and the house > was well ventilated.A neighbor spotted an ambulance at their house about > a year ago and assumed the sisters had fallen ill. Someone asked police > to check regularly on the house. When officers arrived Feb. 25 for a > routine check, no one answered the door. The next day, police forced > their way in and found the bodies.The twins were the daughters of Fay > Lang and Elmon Gordon Miller, who went by the name "Bud" and was born in > 1895 in Bremen, Ky., Harwood said. Their father was a dairy salesman in > Oakland, Calif., at one point, Harwood said.The sisters were never > married and didn't have children or pets. They seemed to prefer only > each other's company. They purchased their four-bedroom home together in > 1976 and may have been each other's only close friend.Joan Miller was a > senior accounting clerk in the payroll department at the Lake Tahoe > Unified School District from 1979 to 1984. Patricia Miller, who drove a > white convertible with red upholstery, worked in the El Dorado County's > social services office during that same time.When people called, the > sisters came up with excuses to get off the phone. Without explanation, > they stopped sending birthday cards to a childhood friend about a year > ago. And on the rare occasion when they left their home, the two women > didn't chat up the neighbors.As news of the deaths spread, former South > Lake Tahoe residents called police to report that they had lived near > the sisters for decades in some cases, and had hardly seen them. One > sent in a postcard that claimed the sisters were the only remaining > members of their family after their mother's death and their brother > died at war.Their secluded lives in their final years stand in contrast > to a youth full of glamour and entertainment.When the twins did talk to > outsiders, they often spoke of the singing career they had shared in > their younger years. The women briefly appeared on a 1950s television > show called the "The Hoffman Hayride" and posed for a picture with Bing > Crosby as children. The twins also entertained troops at military bases, > a childhood friend told Harwood.They appear young, beautiful and elegant > in matching off-the-shoulder gowns in a picture released by police.But > the twins never seemed interested in dating or expanding their social > spheres. They listed each other as their next of kin, Harwood said. > *Associated Press Archive* > Date: March 8, 2012 > Author: CRISTINA SILVA > Record Number: D9TC2GD80 > > hum.linda wrote: >> Hi Listers, >> Am looking for the obit of twin sisters, by the name of Patricia and >> Joan MILLER, d: 25, 2012, age 73 Place of death, South Lake Tahoe, El >> Dorado CO. CA. . Looking for names of next of kin, and of the sisters >> orgins, possible Oakland, CA. >> Thanks for any help, its appreciated. >> >> ~hum.Linda~ >> Words are the window to the Heart. >> >> >> >> >> ----------------------------------------- >> NORCAL ARCHIVES: >> http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ >> Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. >> Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. >> ----------------------------------------- >> To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to [email protected] >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > ----------------------------------------- > NORCAL ARCHIVES: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ > Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. > Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. > ----------------------------------------- > To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to [email protected] > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message