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– Weekend Edition – VOLUME 174 • ISSUE 20 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2025
‘More to this’ Revisiting the disappearance of Frances Hatadis Katelyn Welsh Tahoe Daily Tribune
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Although the photo of Frances Hatadis with the city of South Lake Tahoe Police Department is black and white, the description as having blue eyes and gray hair begins to cast Photo courtesy of SLTPD color in the mind’s Frances Hatadis went missing eye. Yet, certain Aug. 2, 1997, from South Lake details surrounding Tahoe. her case remain gray. The 68-year-old mysteriously vanished from South Lake Tahoe at the beginning of August 1997. “Chapter one in the cold case handbook is evidence will be lost,” SLTPD Lt. Jeff Roberson said. “And also technology changes over time. Relationships change over time.” It’s these three elements, the former detective explained, that can either make a case or undermine one. “Sometimes all three.” But just how are these elements at play in Frances’ case? At the time of her disappearance, the ■ See DISAPPEARANCE , page A8
AT THE EDHCSD
Special election still on to fill vacant seat Noel Stack Mountain Democrat photo by Shelly Thorene
More than 200 people of all ages gathered in front of the El Dorado County Courthouse Tuesday in conjunction with a nationwide 50501 movement (50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement) as a response to the policies and actions of the second Donald Trump administration.
Protesters speak up for democracy Shelly Thorene Staff writer
A crowd of more than 200 people of all ages showed up with signs, some wearing blue and yellow clothing, in front of El Dorado County Courthouse in downtown Placerville Tuesday night to protest and express concerns about the recent policies of the second Donald Trump administration. Organizer and President of the League of
Women Voters Elizabeth Leslie-Gassaway, 52, of El Dorado Hills said she reached out beforehand to all political parties — including Republican groups, Independents, members of the Green Party, Libertarians and others — to ask them to get together to peacefully protest and support democracy. “We’re here to promote democracy and to remind our elected officials we are democracy,”
Editor
The special election to fill the El Dorado Hills Community Services District Board of Directors seat once held by Chuck King is still on despite new information shared by board President Stephen Ferry and staff about the election’s cost and timeline. At a special meeting Wednesday night it was shared the special election will conservatively cost the district around $75,000, far more than previously estimated, and that per the California Elections Code an election will not be held until November 2025, resulting in a four-person board for another eight-plus months. Ferry asked his fellow board members to reconsider the special election and instead appoint a new member this month — an idea backed
■ See PROTEST, page A5
MAIL LABEL
■ See ELECTION, page A5
County jail expansion project progressing Jo Carrerow
Mountain Democrat correspondent
Courtesy rendering
The Placerville jail expansion will add nearly 23,000 square feet of space on .65 acres adjacent to the current facility.
The design portion is approximately 91% done and some of the site work has already begun on the Placerville Jail expansion project, according to El Dorado County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Laura Schwartz. The project is expected to achieve “substantial completion on June 11, 2026 with physical occupancy on Aug. 10, 2026,” she added. ■ See EXPANSION, page A8
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