https://frankreport.com/2018/04/16/unsolved-mystery-did-raniere-murder-kristin-snyder/

Unsolved Mystery: Did Raniere murder Kristin Snyder?

April 16, 2018

Alleged sex-slaver and cult leader Keith Raniere, currently in federal pretrial custody with pending charges of sex trafficking and forced labor, is being scrutinized by federal law enforcement as he never has before.

Aside from his 1990s Consumers Buyline scam, which was shut down by the NY Attorney General as an illegal pyramid scheme, NY State and federal law enforcement in the Northern and Western Districts of New York have long turned a blind eye to crimes and intimidation committed by Raniere, his financial enabler, Clare Bronfman, and others in the cult.

Questions still linger, however, in a 15-year old case of a woman, Kristin Marie Snyder, who was reportedly pregnant with Raniere’s child at the time of her disappearance. Officials concluded she committed suicide. Now, as the current federal probe intensifies, turning over all stones in the vast Raniere/Bronfman network of criminal activity, the story of a long-forgotten victim warrants revisiting.

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Kristin Marie Snyder, born on December 14, 1967, was last seen on February 6, 2003. She was 35. The official story is that she committed suicide by taking a kayak out to sea in Alaska and tipping it over on purpose. Her body was never found.

Snyder was an environmental consultant in Anchorage, Alaska. She lived with her domestic partner, Heidi Clifford. A member of the Anchorage Nordic Ski Patrol, Snyder was qualified in survival training and avalanche rescue. She was an avid kayaker – and a respected business person in Anchorage.

Kristin Snyder lived in Anchorage in a suburban neighborhood with her partner, Heidi Clifford.

Street view of Kristin Snyder’s neighborhood.

In November 2002, Snyder attended a 16-day NXIVM “intensive” in Anchorage taught by Nancy Salzman, known also as Prefect in the cult.

The course seemed to make her unhinged. Snyder visited her parents, Robert and Jonnie Snyder, at their farm in Dillon, S.C. for Christmas 2002.

Kristin Snyder’s parents.

She appeared angry and tearful, and claimed Raniere was incredible, her parents said. When her parents challenged her about Raniere, Snyder ended discussions and telephoned her ESP “coach”.

Her parents said they saw a “descent into mental illness … that … was a direct result of the manipulation of her mind by…’Vanguard’”.

After leaving her parents, Snyder visited ESP headquarters in Albany, NY in January 2003.

Raniere was excited about “mentoring” her. Raniere, a self proclaimed scientist, said he wanted to conduct experiments on gay women to determine if his mentoring could convert them to heterosexual. According to other women Raniere has mentored, he does not use condoms when mentoring women.

After being mentored by Raniere repeatedly, Snyder returned to Anchorage. She took a second 16-day NXIVM “intensive”, taught in January-February 2003 at the Westmark Hotel.

Heidi Clifford, her partner, also attended . Clifford said Snyder appeared sleep-deprived. Snyder said she was trying to emulate Raniere who said he slept less than two hours per night.

“Vanguard doesn’t sleep, so I don’t need to sleep”, Snyder said, according to Clifford.

Sources say Raniere does sleep little at night. But he sleeps a full eight hours during the day, they said.

Alaska State Police Sgt. Brandon Anderson said there were notes written by Snyder that indicated a “sort of a mental breakdown” was occurring.

Thanks to her NXIVM classes and one on one NXIVM therapy sessions, Snyder became absorbed with trying to remember details from childhood. She “remembered” she had been sexually abused as a child. During her last call to her parents, Snyder told them she was responsible for the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia which disintegrated and killed seven people on February. 1 2003.

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What was not reported until now is that Snyder told friends Raniere got her pregnant. One of the NXIVM teachers, Esther Chiappone, told students Snyder was delusional and to ignore her comments. Chiappone claimed Snyder was saying things to get attention.

The Westbrook Hotel where the ESP Intensive was conducted.

According to the story NXIVM members told police, Snyder left the seminar at 4 pm and drove off in her 1999 Toyota truck. But a sources who was there claim that Snyder’s truck was parked at her home and she came to class with other students that day.

The official NXIVM story is Snyder voluntarily left class. But several eyewitnesses tell Artvoice/Frank Report that Snyder did not voluntarily leave – and was, in fact,s ordered to leave by Chiappone.

Although Chiappone told students Snyder was delusional, when Clifford asked if she could bring Snyder to a hospital, she was “…told not to bring her to the hospital. ” according to Clifford.

No attempt was made to get her medical attention.

Whether she left or was ejected, the class continued without Snyder.

According to her “Presumptive Death Certificate”:

“At approximately 7:00 p.m. her roommate/domestic partner, Heidi Clifford, concerned because of Ms. Snyder’s recent bizarre behavior …. contacted the Anchorage Police Department to report Ms. Snyder missing. Ms. Clifford also contacted a friend of Ms. Snyder, Kenneth Powers and they began a search of the Anchorage area.

Clifford told police she suspected Snyder was headed for Seward, Alaska, about 130 miles from Anchorage.

The following evening [Feb. 7, 2003], Snyder’s truck was discovered at Miller’s Landing, a campground, fishing and kayaking resort in Seward, on Resurrection Bay. The driver’s door was unlocked and the key was in the door lock. Two handwritten notes were reportedly found on the passenger seat.

One note said:

“I attended a course called Executive Success Programs (a.k.a. Nexivm) based out of Anchorage, AK, and Albany, NY. I was brainwashed and my emotional center of the brain was killed/turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin, but my internal organs are rotting. Please contact my parents … if you find me or this note. I am sorry life, I didn’t know I was already dead. May we persist into the future,”

The other note read:

“No need to search for my body.”

The next morning, according to her “Presumptive Death Certificate”:

Millers Landing resort personnel discovered a storage shed containing kayaks and gear had been broken into and an old kayak was missing. The storage shed was close to where Snyder’s vehicle was located.

A kayak was missing from a shed nearby. This kayak, made of wood and fiberglass, with no rudder, was not outfitted for flotation. It had not been in the water for 15 years. It was described as seaworthy but would sink if tipped.

Alaska State Police began a search.

According to Miss Snyder’s “Presumptive Death Certificate”:

On February 8, 2003 and February 9, 2003 a large search effort was conducted in and around Resurrection Bay. The search consisted of Alaska State Troopers, Seward area fire/EMS volunteers, the US Coast Guard, Forest Service law enforcement, the Seward Police Department Civil Air Patrol and friends of Snyder, many of whom are part of an organized search and rescue team as part of the Nordic Ski Club. After two full days of active searching no sign of Ms. Snyder was located. Air flight was accomplished on 2/14/03 with negative results.

During the investigation, no one from NXIVM was permitted to speak with police until the cult members cleared it with NXIVM leadership. Police went along with this unusual condition and during every police interview with witnesses, NXIVM officials were present during the interviews with police.

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