Beaverton (Oregon) police believe coach ran off with 15 year-old girl

NW Cable News ^ | 10/01/03 | TERESA BELL

[bedolido]

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Beaverton Police think an area softball coach ran away with one of the girls on his team.

Investigators say 15-year-old Michelle Elizabeth Smith has been missing since September 26. A friend told officers Smith wrote a note hinting that she was running away. The missing girl, who also goes by the name Mimi, has not been seen or heard from since.

Friends and family told police they had reason to suspect that Smith left with her 38-year-old softball coach, Andrew James Garver.

Investigators later learned that Garver had been absent from work for several days, liquidated some of his assets, and told his daughter that he was considering a move to California.

Garver also recently withdrew money from a joint account that he shared with his estranged wife, according to police.

Both Smith and Garver failed to show up for their team’s softball game last weekend.

Police think Garver is driving a dark blue, 2003 Nissan Murano with temporary Oregon license plates, 664512. They said Garver recently swapped out his old vehicle for the Murano.

Garver is 6 feet tall and weighs about 190 pounds. Smith is 5'6" tall and 130 pounds. Police think the pair is traveling together.

Anyone with information on Smith’s or Garver’s whereabouts was urged by police to contact Detective Dan Kelly at (503) 526-2298.

[bedolido]

Michelle Smith (right) in a team photo with her coach, Andrew Garver.

[ex-Texan]

Don't think he will be doing any more high school coaching.

[opticoax]

He'll be playing the position of catcher in prison.

[af_vet_1981]

All he had to do (to avoid breaking the law and risk prison) was wait three years for a wife.

[af_vet_1981]

He'll be playing the position of catcher in prison.
How would you know this ?

[Aaron0617]

Garver also recently withdrew money from a joint account that he shared with his estranged wife, according to police.

AGAIN!!?? Another guy in his late 30s going through a divorce running away with an underage girl.

sigh...well, I'm hoping things turn out okay for her. They usually do, that is when the girls have some previous type of relationship with these morons. He'll probably be captured in CA or Las Vegas like they usually are when the money is spent. Then do his 7 year prison term, unless it's a woman then in that case it's probation.

Yes women...I think I remember at least 2 cases where 2 female teachers ran away with their male high school students to Las Vegas as well.

[thinktwice]

This guy is toast.

Immoral? Maybe.

[af_vet_1981]

Just stand there and take it like a man! Stop being such a liberal pansy!

Oh, I see, the conservative wing of the Sodom and Gommorah sect ...

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Lolita. Lo-lit-a. The tongue taking a trip down the pallette to stop at three on t. She was Lol to her friends a school,....

[Frunabulax]

Michelle Smith (right) in a team photo with her coach, Andrew Garver.

OK, who's the genius who thought we couldn't tell which one was the girl and which was the dirty old man?

[bedolido]

Stop being such a liberal pansy!

I had to reread your post. The first time I read it I didn't see the word pansy... I saw a similar word for the same usage that refers to a feline. I have to start reading slower.

[twittle]

Garver also recently withdrew money from a joint account that he shared with his estranged wife

Okay, why is this guy sharing a bank account with his estranged wife?

[Sender]

Well I hope they have a really fun time on their little fling, because both of them are going to be grounded when they get home. What makes these guys think they can get away with this stuff?

[af_vet_1981]

I think I found my first troll

I was board one day so I decided to fill this out and see how stupid you people are. I generally do not care about the US, the troops or 9/11.

Is this like fishing or what ?

[apillar]

When I was in high school (Late 1980's). One of the male teachers married one of his former students about a week after her graduation (she had turned 18 about a month before). He was in his 40's and had divorced his wife earlier in the year.

The funny thing was nothing was ever said or done about it and he kept teaching (still is I think). Even though anybody with a lick of sense knew that to get married a week after graduation they had to have been together during her high school days. The girl had been his teachers "aide" for the previous two years.

[MineralMan]

Based on the photo, it looks like folks were aware of this relationship between the two. They don't seem to be bashful about it.

Sad business.

[WayneM]

board?

Spelling at a second grade level....send 'em back to the darkside.

[af_vet_1981]

Note the racial overtone of his user id.

[af_vet_1981]

He was zotted. That was like catching my first fish.

[Aaron0617]

Based on the photo, it looks like folks were aware of this relationship between the two. They don't seem to be bashful about it.

Oh, I see. Didn't notice that before. He does has his hands around her hips AND she's standing awfully close. Okay, this was about to lead to my next question. "Where are the parents, didn't they notice this??"...But maybe they did.

A friend told officers Smith wrote a note hinting that she was running away.

Maybe the parents confronted her over it and told her to stay away from him then...she packed up and ran away with the guy.

[dixiechick2000]

The same thing happened on my daughter's high school softball team.

The coach was in his early forties and married to another teacher in that school. The girl was 15, and my daughter's best friend on the team.

They didn't run away together, but did have an affair for, at least, a year. And, for some part of this time, the girl's mother was complaining to school officials. IIRC, the mother found out after the season was over. Still, it took some time for the school to do anything about it.

He was not allowed to coach softball again, but was allowed to keep teaching.

My daughter and I were thoroughly grossed out, which is exactly how I feel today hearing about this every half hour on the news.

[ErnBatavia]

He'll probably be captured in CA or Las Vegas

Or Utah, where they might blend in a little easier...

[Reagan79]

If you can't wait three years then you don't really love the person. Plenty of teachers and principals marry students when they graduate from H.S. Some people even think it's cute.

[SamKeck]

An almost identical case happened in San Diego County a few years back when a coach and one of his fifteen-year-old female soccer players ran off to Mexico together but then came back to the States to face the music a few days later. Eventually, the coach went to jail on a variety of charges and the girl's parents sued the school district.

[bedolido]

He was not allowed to coach softball again, but was allowed to keep teaching.

That is horrible! What crazy people allow this type of low-life continue to teach. Do they think it won't happen again?

[BullDog108]

You're bad! Go to your room...

[dixiechick2000]

"What crazy people allow this type of low-life continue to teach. Do they think it won't happen again?"

I totally agree with you. While I don't know the particulars, I do know that the teacher's union had a lot to do with the decision to let him continue teaching.

As an aside, his wife (they stayed together), and her teacher friends, treated my daughter horribly simply because she had been a friend of this girl.

[biblewonk]

It's called transgenerational love.

[Clemenza]

Funny, from the picture, he looks like a "catcher" who would not be interested in girls. Maybe she's his "beard" for a more sordid life.

[Pagey]

She's really gushing in that picture.What always stupefies me regarding situations like this, is that you can only so much continuous sex,you do have to work for a living and he's completely given up his right to his freedom once he's through indulging this young girl, and the law nabs him. There's going to be a point in time (w/ out a doubt) where she's going to want to hang out and talk to her friends again. She's 15 for gosh sake. I will not ever understand behavior such as this. Ever.

[BobS]

"One of the male teachers married one of his former students about a week after her graduation (she had turned 18 about a month before). He was in his 40's and had divorced his wife earlier in the year."

So, are they raising a family or what? Stuff happens. MY body is 48 years old and I treat it well. It has brown eyes and brown hair that grows too fast. I always trained my body for fast reaction other than strength. I was never able to break the 300msec barrier with it. And I tried.

[NeoCaveman]

Strange happenings in Beavertown, at first I swore this had to be Pennsylvania.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I'm not sure it would have even made the papers in Pennsylvania......lol

[wideminded]

Maybe it's just the picture, but this girl looks remarkably mature for a 15 year old. She could pass for someone a lot older.

[xsmommy]

young girls running away with teachers prevalent in PA? not that i am aware of. Where was Mary Kay LeTournieu from? i am thinking that might have been oregon also. i know it was the Pacific Northwest.

[xsmommy]

most 15 year old girls could pass for much older. i have a teenaged daughter and while she doesn't look particularly overly mature, she has friends who do.

[NeoCaveman]

I was thinking that by the towns name it had to be in PA. LOL

[Rebelbase]

"If you can't wait three years then you don't really love the person. Plenty of teachers and principals marry students when they graduate from H.S. Some people even think it's cute."

I met a couple once that were in that situation. He was a 25 year old the P.E. coach, she was a one of his students (14) when they first realized the attraction.

They married when she turned 18, he put her through college. That was 14 years ago. They are still together.

[BobS]

"One of the male teachers married one of his former students about a week after her graduation (she had turned 18 about a month before). He was in his 40's and had divorced his wife earlier in the year."

So, are they raising a family or what? Stuff happens. MY body is 48 years old and I treat it well. It has brown eyes and brown hair that grows too fast. I always trained my body for fast reaction other than strength. I was never able to break the 300msec barrier with it. And I tried.

[Aaron0617]

Update: Didn't know she was living with the guy.

Still No Sign Of Mimi
October 7, 2003

PORTLAND - The search for "Mimi" Smith, a 16-year old Beaverton girl who authorities believe ran away with her softball coach late last month received national attention as her story was broadcast on Good Morning America, Tuesday morning.

Beaverton police have issued a kidnapping warrant for Smith's softball coach, 38-year old Andrew Garver. Garver and Smith had been missing for more than a week before authorities decided press charges.

The warrant charges Garver with second degree kidnapping, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Police believe Smith went with Garver willingly, but say she is too young to give her legal consent.

Smith was last seen at Beaverton High School on Sept. 26. That day, she apparently slipped a note to a friend, explaining she was going to run away. At about the same time, authorities say Garver liquidated some of his assets, withdrew money from an account shared with his estranged wife, and told his 15-year old daughter he may be moving to California soon.

Garver also changed cars. Police believe the pair are traveling in a 2003 dark blue Nissan Murano. The vehicle may still have an Oregon temporary sticker with the number A664512.

According to police, Smith had been living in Garver's home for about a year due to problems at home.

Mark Hyde, Beaverton Police Public Information Officer told Good Morning America that police believe Smith became close to Garver and the rest of his family.

"I think she [Smith] and her mother had gone through ups and downs and her mother was looking for a stable environment for her," Hyde said. "So for about a year and a half, she had been with the Garver family," he said.

Hyde also said that Garver should have known that he did not have the right to leave the area with Smith.

With friends and relatives spread out across the country, Hyde told GMA that authorities are not concentrating in any one direction. He also said "there are some relatives east and south of Oregon and some in the metropolitan area."

[Aaron0617]

Still No Sign Of Mimi (forgot link)

[EX wife of the idiot]

As the ex-wife and Mother of Andrew's only child. I find myself wanting to answer some of your questions...that way everyone reading will have accurate information. The reason they are so close in the picture is because OUR daughter who was MiMi's pitcher on the team, is on the other side of her Father in the picture. The two girls were the best of friends and considered themselves sisters. I asked the police to cut our daughter off the picture. Our daughter is the one that got the note at school. The reason that they ran is because MiMi moved in with my family (after Garver separated from his last wife) and we were asked by MiMi's parents to NOT allow them to see one another. We pulled her from his team and kept them apart. Guess that was just too much for them to take and off they went. We had NEVER thought that Andy was capable of being involved with a girl his own daughters age. ALL we knew was that he had cared for her (as a parent figure) for 2 years and that he thought of her as another daughter. We were obviously wrong. This has left his child devastated. She has lost a Father and a Sister. He needs to do what is right and bring MiMi back home.

[Aaron0617]

Andrew's wanted flier

Thanks for replying Ex wife of the idiot. I haven't looked into this case in awhile. THREE MONTHS!!! and still missing???

Usually these male coach/ female student runaway cases are resolved in a month. I'll say a prayer and hope this moron wakes up from his delusion and bring this girl home NOW!!!

Anyone know if the parents had any communication with the girl since the initial kidnapping?

[EX wife of the idiot]

Yes...STILL missing and haven't heard a word from either of them.

Our daughter's b-day came and went, Thanks Giving and Christmas. Not a word. He used to call her every morning before she left for school. Including the morning that they left.

I talk with MiMi's mother regularly and she hasn't heard anything either.

Good news....looks like the police are FINALLY trying to get America's Most Wanted to do a clip on them. I am praying that A.M.W. will pick it up. We haven't had one solid lead for over 3 months.

Thanks!!

[Tijeras_Slim]

You might be interested in the above.

[hellinahandcart]

Hmm...is she, or isn't she? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Happy New Year, all!

[Eaker]

Happy New Year to you and no, I don't think that this one is legit.

[EX wife of the idiot]

Why don't you ask HER before you ASSUME something that might make you look not very intelligent.

I was married to Andy for 12 years and with him for 15. We divorced in 1996 and share our only child together. We were high school sweethearts and married at the age of 19.

Thanks

[garbanzo]

All he had to do (to avoid breaking the law and risk prison) was wait three years for a wife.

Well you know the saying, the little guy wants what the little guy wants - and it wants it right now.