Whatever Happened To: Sylvia Seegrist

Just over 20 years ago, Sylvia Seegrist went on a wild shooting rampage at a local mall.

[angel]

why would we want to remember her?

[Joan]

We would want to remember Sylvia as a reminder of how lacking our mental health system is. Granted, changes are happening slowly, hopefully surely, but our system has let down countless victims, resulting in homicide, suicide, and other heinous acts because these people were not in their right minds.

[Been there done that]

I knew one of the guys who disarmed her. He failed the State police test before that and after that incident with Sylvia he all of a sudden became a State cop.......

[that sucks]

I hear she works in Manhattan as a stock broker

[One Who Knows]

She's currently residing in upstate Pennsylvania in a Department of Corrections resort at the taxpayers expense. Since we're paying for her upkeep anyway, funding would have been better spent by providing adequate mental health services for her and other individuals. Additionally, laws should be reviewed to give families more leverage in accessing the mental health system for those needing help. While it is understandable that the rights of the patient must be protected, family members are often left to sort out situations gone awry when trying to help. The same professionals whom are paid to investigate whenever incidents occur should concentrate on advocacy of the patient in the aftermath. Mental health courts are not on hand to see the hell that family members experience at the hands of a mentally ill individual. We may not want to remember her but there are so many others out there just like her who are walking time bombs. If we do remember her, it should motivate us all to make our elected officials and mental health professionals create a seamless system that promotes dignity, respect and adequate care that would prevent tragedies like the Springfield Mall debacle.

[saunders]

a stock broker ??? that'a a laugh

[Just me]

Does anyone know what happened to the then teenagers who were implicated in the torturing death of Sylvia Likens in 1965 in Indiana? I heard that Mrs. Banizewski, the care taker died of lung cancer, but what of the others - Paula, John, Stephanie Banizewski, and Coy Hubbard?

[voltaire]

Sylvia is incarcerated. You can search on Google to answer your question; the Court TV Web site has an extensive story about her. She lived across the street from me and was was a very sad person--sexually and physically abused as a child, diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, and then permitted to "slip through the cracks" over and over, despite frightening behavior (some of which I witnessed) and many threats. Sad to say, the night she committed the mayhem at the Springfield Mall, I was supposed to meet a friend at the Magic Pan for dinner. We had a weekly dinner date there. For some reason he didn't want to go that night, and he couldn't articulated it, so we stayed home at his place...and whatever we were watching on TV was soon interrupted for a special news bulletin. We sat on the sofa holding hands, absolutely stunned. We would have been among the injured or dead: she shot right through the plate glass window where we usually sat in the cocktail lounge. We didn't feel afraid, just very very sad. And lucky that my friend had such good intuition.

[DelcoKnow]

I believe Sylvia wrote a letter which was printed in the Delco Daily Times on the 15th or 20th anniversary of the crime. Her mother, also contributed. As I child, I remember all of the ambulances screaming past my house that day wondering what in the world was going on?

To this day, I think of this incident every time I set foot in this mall.

[Ronniey]

she under the state and is currently trying to reopen her case so they can let her out

[RonJaws]

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders...

Wow

[claytoncramer]

voltaire wrote:

Sylvia is incarcerated. You can search on Google to answer your question; the Court TV Web site has an extensive story about her. She lived across the street from me and was was a very sad person--sexually and physically abused as a child, diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, and then permitted to "slip through the cracks" over and over, despite frightening behavior (some of which I witnessed) and many threats. Sad to say, the night she committed the mayhem at the Springfield Mall, I was supposed to meet a friend at the Magic Pan for dinner. We had a weekly dinner date there. For some reason he didn't want to go that night, and he couldn't articulated it, so we stayed home at his place...and whatever we were watching on TV was soon interrupted for a special news bulletin. We sat on the sofa holding hands, absolutely stunned. We would have been among the injured or dead: she shot right through the plate glass window where we usually sat in the cocktail lounge. We didn't feel afraid, just very very sad. And lucky that my friend had such good intuition.

Voltaire: if you are reading this, please email me at [e-mail]. I am writing a book about deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, of which Seegrist's story is one of many.

[geogre]

Why do we need to remember her, or the situation .
its not an date of the Spring mall, that would be october 31st.

Maybe its just Channel 10 way of getting higher ratings to connect with the feelings with VTU.

[LyndaAnneS]

geogre wrote:

Why do we need to remember her, or the situation .
its not an date of the Spring mall, that would be october 31st.
Maybe its just Channel 10 way of getting higher ratings to connect with the feelings with VTU.

I remember that day , and when i think about it i still get the chills. I left thru the same doors she came thru only 5 mins earlyer.. when i got home it was on the news , and i thought at the time , if i would of left a few minutes later i could of been shot to. To this day i wont walk thru those doors.

[psychosuzyq]

can anyone answer Just Me's Nov. &th post? I also want to know

[me too]

You are more nuts than she is. I hope they keep her locked up in a nice warm and safe room for a long time.

claytoncramer wrote:

<quoted text>Voltaire: if you are reading this, please email me at [e-mail]. I am writing a book about deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, of which Seegrist's story is one of many.

[ryan]

I live right next to the mall she made the shooting at.
My parents remember hearing the gun shots but they didn't do anything cause they figured it was something else?
I dunno, they never really tell me anything special about it except they saw it on the news and stuff.

[Jen]

angel wrote:

why would we want to remember her?

I just saw a story about her on TRU TV. She wasn't given inadequate health care. She was treated, but like so many schizophrenics, she opted not to take her meds. How can you force someone? We could tie her down and shove them down her throat...but then again, this isn't nazi Germany...yet, might be coming soon, though. As soon as January 20.

[LybertyBelle]

I grew up in Delaware county and moved to northern Virginia at the end of Sept 1985. I was just reading about the criminal history of Philadelphia on philly.com when I came across Sylvia Seegrist's story. Here's another website that has more info. She displayed extremely violent behavior but no action was ever taken against her. It wasn't the mental health system that failed her. I'd bet her parents wouldn't commit her. How could they live with the murders she committed on their conscience?

http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Seegrist,...

[SeanK]

Just me wrote:

Does anyone know what happened to the then teenagers who were implicated in the torturing death of Sylvia Likens in 1965 in Indiana? I heard that Mrs. Banizewski, the care taker died of lung cancer, but what of the others - Paula, John, Stephanie Banizewski, and Coy Hubbard?

WHO?!?!?!?!?! Try asking in an Indiana thread. They might know what the hell you're talking about out there. Also, 1965?!?!?!?!? That was three years before I was born, for Christ's sake!