In our search for the abducted Julie Michelle Bullard we have been determined to seek the advice and confidence of the best minds in the missing person field. We were extremely fortunate recently to work with a well respected criminal profiler on gathering some psychological data that may prove of interest to others investigating this mystery.

If you've seen the movie “Silence of the Lambs” you've heard of criminal profiling.

Profiling a criminal – trying to find a criminal by using his behavior to define his personality – is called many things. The FBI is generally credited with developing much of the criminal profiling within the law enforcement community, but psychology has played a key role in adding to what we know about profiling and helping to refine profiling methods.

Profiling’s goal is to help investigators examine evidence from crime scenes and victim and witness reports to develop an offender description. The description can include personality traits and behavior patterns, as well as age, race or geographic location. Investigators might use profiling to narrow down a field of suspects or figure out how to interrogate a suspect already in custody.

Although the field of profiling is still developing, in recent years, many psychologists--together with criminologists and law enforcement officials--have begun using psychology's statistical and research methods to bring more science into the art of profiling. And psychologists have helped law enforcement by using their behavioral expertise to develop profiles of criminals. Informal criminal profiling has a long history. It was used as early as the 1880s, when two physicians, George Phillips and Thomas Bond, used crime scene clues to make predictions about British serial murderer Jack the Ripper's personality.

At the same time, profiling has taken root in the United States, where, until recent decades, profilers relied mostly on their own intuition and informal studies.

In 1974, the FBI formed its Behavioral Science Unit to investigate serial rape and homicide cases. The unit developed the idea of the "organized/disorganized dichotomy": Organized crimes are premeditated and carefully planned, so little evidence is found at the scene. Organized criminals, according to the classification scheme, are antisocial but know right from wrong, are not insane and show no remorse. Disorganized crimes, in contrast, are not planned, and criminals leave such evidence as fingerprints and blood. Disorganized criminals may be young, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or mentally ill.

One FBI agent says the basic premise is that behavior reflects personality. The FBI will look at evidence of how someone such, as a kidnapper or abductor, behaved during a crime to try to figure out the criminal's personality – and ultimately to solve the crime.

A rape case is analyzed in much the same way, but with the additional information that comes from a living victim. Everything about the crime, from the sexual acts the rapist forces on the victim, to the order in which they're performed, offers a clue about the perpetrator.

Psychologists have been helping to step up profiling's scientific rigor. Some psychologists have been conducting their own criminal profiling research, and what they've found can change some of the FBI’s key theories such as whether the organized/disorganized divide among criminals is as wide as once thought. In addition, psychologists are using what they know about human behavior to develop profiles that helps law enforcement in their hunt for criminals.

One such forensic psychologist has been approached by Blue Line Radio to offer his expertise in the development of a profile on an unnamed suspect(s) in the investigation of the abduction of Julie Michelle Bullard.
Michelle Bullard was abducted at gunpoint from the home of her friends in the early morning hours of January 2nd. No motive has been identified by authorities as to the reason why someone would target both the home she was taken from and why someone would deliberately choose to abscond with a woman that has absolutely no suspicious ties to any criminal activity or role in any illicit conspiracy regarding her disappearance.

Our generous psychologist and noted criminal profiler, worked for us on three conditions. One that we would not reveal the name of the suspect being profiled and two that his name remain anonymous. The third condition I can not reveal. We agreed to terms and he began work compiling information necessary to develop a complete psychological profile of the person or persons we assume to be involved in the abduction of Michelle Bullard.

As work began we discussed the possibility of a couple of options. One, the perpetrator acted alone and two, the perpetrator acted in concert with another.

I received the report yesterday and although I am not releasing the majority of findings I will release some of the more pertinent details below:

"It is noteworthy that UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT has characteristics which are significantly positively correlated with serial killers Dennis Rader and Edmund Kemper, spy Robert Philip Hanssen, and fictional character Hannibal Lecter. On the other hand, he is NOT positively correlated with serial killer Joel Rifkin (who has characteristics consistent with Asperger’s Disorder) or with fictional character Jason, and there is no positive correlation for ADHD. These combinations suggest above average intelligence, good interpersonal skills, independence, and a high probability sadistic criminal sexual acting-out. This UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT may very well have a “public life” similar to Hanssen and Rader."

If you recall both Hanssen and Rader went undetected for years. Dennis Rader, the BTK serial murderer, was an elder in his church and was gainfully employed. Robert Hanssen worked in the upper ranks of the FBI and continued his double life for nearly 15 years before he was finally discovered.

"He would always be in control and ultimately insensitive to the needs of anyone but his own, which would be deviant. Paradoxically, there appears to be some externally imposed restraint on his acting-out."

"Externally imposed restraint". Many times physical limitations can restrain someone from acting out on deviant fantasies. Age and size puts one out of character when pursuing children, it could be considered an externally imposed restraint thus limiting their ability to go undetected when pursuing them so many pedophiles will choose to engage in activities with children as a teacher, youth group leader, daycare worker so that they can gain contact with children unnoticed.

A man with deviant fantasies that is attractive and young can easily work his way through the many trusting women available in social settings in a modern society. Perhaps that is why "date rape" is so frequent among college coeds. But a man that is disfigured, a character like the Phantom of the Opera, might have to use trickery and more aggressive, perhaps violent tactics, just to have a moment alone with his victim.

Another external restraint could be the level of risk involved in acting out on the deviant fantasy. A business or community status could be jeopardized, there could be a criminal history that should one act be found out then a string of others will be discovered. These prior criminal acts may or may not be related to the one investigated and could also incriminate others, others that would be innocent of the deviant act. These restraints could create a myriad of lies and deceptive tactics to cover up the secretive deviant life. You will find that these sort of secrets are rarely if ever shared with anyone outside a family. Usually you will find a history of incest within the homes of these sort of individuals, where secrets fester outside the home.

We asked the profiler a few specific questions. Again I am not releasing the entire report just that which I feel is pertinent to the situation at hand.

Question: How likely would it be that this unidentified suspect(s) has raped before?
Answer: Unless this is the surfacing of years of sadistic fantasizing, he has very likely engaged in criminal sexual conduct, which may or may not involve rape.

Question: Do others know his secret side?
Answer: Not likely. He would not trust anyone enough to directly “share” his pathology. However, he may communicate with others one way or another (e.g., write related stories, communicate on the internet, teach a related subject, conduct therapy or counseling, etc.).

He would find it extremely difficult to find another, outside of an identical twin, with the same experiences, with the same amount to loose if caught and with the same interest.

If someone did know his secret side and not condemn it, that person would most likely be someone inside the family. Again referencing the subject of incest.

Question: Is he smart enough to plan “the perfect crime” or more likely to commit a crime of passion and/or opportunity?
Answer: He is smart enough to avoid easy detection. His paranoid characteristics would serve him well in planning and committing a crime. Planning the crime would be as reinforcing as committing the crime. In fact, successfully concealing the crime would be as reinforcing as planning it. He would already be planning his next crime and he would learn from experience. On the other hand, the longer his self-conditioning goes on, the more subject to acting-out he becomes.

"Self conditioning" is something the Olympic athletes are constantly doing. Their minds are wrapped around the event, the challenge. They train, they use a technique called visualization where they imagine, fantasize about the competition and how they will go about defeating the odds against their defeat.
In this subject we examined, we have found that his planning, his conditioning is just as exciting and fulfilling as the act itself. Particularly when you factor in the escape of detection. The act itself has little existential value without the planning and the escape.

Question: When confronted with possibility of capture would he kill another or kill himself as an attempt at escaping exposure?
Answer: The general absence of anxiety, guilt, and shame, and his high level of self-serving power and control indicate he would kill another before himself.

IF YOU WANT TO GET OUT AND SEARCH ON YOUR OWN CONTACT ME FOR SOME OF THE MORE LIKELY LOCATIONS

We looked over a few maps and examined a handful of selected locations. Locations out of the way and yet accessible by vehicle or short walk. These locations were spotted by air and later covered by foot. Some were along creeks and streams, some were in newly stickbuilt homes and others were in the woods, along trails and paths. A few places were on US Government property, at one such location I was surprised to find a group of soldiers in the middle of a war game. I came up on them because of my interest in a Kudzu covered abandoned farmhouse I spotted from the air. I handed the armed, camoflaged new recruits Michelle's flyer, apologized for trespassing and left quickly without being shot. It is a good idea to have the landowner's permission before entering the property to be searched. Marijuana fields are often booby-trapped and poachers may mistake you for a nice sized buck. Becareful!

When you walk in the woods looking for abandoned structures you have to also becareful about where you step. Sometimes subtle clues can be crushed by your heavy unguarded footstep.

Other times you can find yourself in a particularly eerie situation such as when I was walking the woods off of Nursery Road. Several hundred yards off the road, I was guided by a familiar smell of blood. If you have ever hunted or fished or happened upon an accident scene where a good deal of blood has been let, you will always remember the smell of blood. Fresh blood is a smell all too unique. My heart raced as I approached the location I was being led. There was thick mud to walk through and briars that cautioned me to turn back. But I made my way in and saw what nearly turned my stomach.

Over the last 4 weeks I have made my way into many wooded area and have stumbled on curious items. Latex gloves in the middle of nowhere, bones and remains all of which were turned over to the authorities.

And like those past items this newest find turned out to be unrelated. A mixed blessing I guess you could say.

But people do not just disappear. Michelle Bullard is somewhere, alive or dead she needs to be found. I am the last person to want to stumble across the things I have found. I am lazy, my knee is in serious pain and in most of my searches, actually all but 3 of them, I am alone, in the middle of nowhere, sometimes out of cellular range with only the stubborn determination of finding Michelle to guide me.

I make time, you can too. Walk your property, encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.