Mother hopes to revitalize search for her daughter

By LEON M. TUCKER

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 20, 2000

Peg Christensen spent more than 22 hours on an airplane this week in search of answers.

The tired 74-year-old said she came to the United States from Melbourne, Australia, to help friends and investigators piece together the mystery of what happened to her daughter, Rosemary Christensen, who disappeared more than a year ago.

"For a long time it's been hard to wait for something to happen, and everything seemed to lead nowhere," the elder Mrs. Christensen said. "My role is to try to get some results."

Rosemary Christensen of Belleair disappeared in August 1999 after leaving the Indian Rocks Beach real estate office where she worked. Her car was found parked outside her condominium at 1706 Belleair Forest Drive after her co-workers reported her missing.

On Tuesday, Christensen visited the Century 21 office where Rosemary worked before she vanished.

"I want to plead and urge anyone who might be able, to come forward with information," Christensen said. "We can't accept that Rose disappeared without a trace and we won't rest until we find out what really happened."

Investigators with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office have not been able to secure a solid explanation. They also are not sure whether Peg Christensen's arrival will offer much help in solving the case.

"As far as Mrs. Christensen being a source of information that would lead us to solve the case, (that) remains to be seen," said Lt. Stephen Shipman. "We certainly would like to sit down with her and share with her what we've done in the past year. But I don't think she'll have any information that will shed light on anything that we have talked about."

Police say Rosemary Christensen's husband, Robert Glenn Temple, remains under suspicion. The morning after Christensen disappeared, Temple and his 22-year-old girlfriend purchased painting and cleaning supplies at a Largo Wal-Mart. The couple later moved to Decatur, Ill.

"All along I've tried to avoid using the term "suspect' because we haven't determined that there was a crime," Shipman said. "But obviously the activities that transpired the week Rosemary disappeared were highly suspicious."

Last year, Temple described his wife as a "swinger," an assertion investigators have not been able to prove.

Police say they have not been able to contact Temple at all this year.

"We have not had contact with him since last year," Shipman said. "At some point obviously we would like to talk to him and bring him up to date about what has been done so far."

Christensen will remain in the Tampa Bay area for three weeks. She is staying in Clearwater with her daughter's friend Laurel Zyvoloski. "A year ago Robert Temple sent everybody off on this wild goose chase that Rosemary was a swinger," said Zyvoloski. "That gave him enough time for him to get out of town with all of Rosemary's stuff.

"I just want it to be over with."

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