Gina Hutchinson dead – and 4 months later Kristin Snyder disappears; lingering questions haunt some in Clifton Park

There are some who still remember.  And wonder if the real story will ever be known.

With new revelations from sources about the disappearance of Kristin Snyder in Alaska, the “suicide” of Gina Renee Hutchinson is also coming into focus.

Sources are speaking to Frank Report about her. Two “suicides”, four months apart by two women who were avowed lovers of Keith Raniere?  Were they suicides? Did Keith – like Dr. Kevorkian – assist?

In both cases, information is missing from the official narrative. There are people in Clifton Park who know more than they told authorities.

Gina R. Hutchinson allegedly committed suicide on October 9, 2002.

She was a girlfriend of Keith Raniere.  Her sister said he statutorily raped her when she was 15 years old. He was in his mid-20s at the time.

She was from a broken family, attending Colonie High School. He persuaded her to quit high school.  Gina was raised as a Mormon. Keith used to climb through her bedroom window to have sex with the girl, with her mother in the house unaware, her sister said.

One day, Gina’s older sister, Heidi, caught him and confronted him: He was an adult man sneaking into their house.

Keith told her she did not understand. Gina’s soul was much older than her biological age. He explained Gina was a Buddhist goddess come to earth to be with him in his mission. She was his consort. His eternal companion.

Heidi thought he meant to marry Gina, who would be 16 shortly.

Gina soon quit school and left with Keith. She soon discovered that Karen Unterreiner was his secret girlfriend: Then came Linda Smith, Pam Cafritz, Kristin Keeffe, Barbara Jeske, Dawn Morrison, Barbara Bouchey, etc., etc., etc. One after another. For years, he was with Toni Natalie.  Toni left when she found out about the other women.

Gina loved Keith but hated being in a harem. He was her guru. She was, after all, a Buddhist goddess and he was a great soul. Sometimes, she thought he was the Buddha himself.

He promised her much.  She built her life around him. She was a very intelligent young woman. In 1988, when she was 23, a source tells Frank Report, Gina and other women assisted Keith Raniere to complete his famous MEGA Socirty IQ test, which he took home and returned it for grading one month later.

He later claimed the results of this IQ test showed he had scored one of the highest IQ scores ever achieved. [The claim was rejected by the American editors of the Guinness Book of Records.]

Gina worked for a time at Consumer’s Buy Line, Keith’s business that went bust after stiffing thousands of customers – and getting shut down as a Ponzi scheme by several states..

Against Keith’s wishes, she studied religion and anthropology at the University at Albany. She found mentors among her male professors, which Keith didn’t like. She was not allowed to date other men.

She rebelled against the harem. She tried to break away permanently, but one of the women in Keith’s inner circle would call repeatedly, urging her to return.

Keith told her sex was like playing the violin or tennis. It wouldn’t bother her if he played tennis or violin with another women. Why did it bother her if he had sex with another women?.

She told Keith she would play a little “tennis” herself.  He became infuriated. He was her “guru” – which meant that she must never be with another man.

She was distressed. She left him. One of the inner circle women told her that Keith might die because they were spiritually connected. She came back. She tried to adjust to harem life. She hated it. She stayed. She went. Like a yo yo. On again, off again, for 19 years.

She was living about three miles away from Keith in a small home with Mary Ketz.

One day she met a man and had sex with him. She confessed to Keith.  He cursed her and it is believed he raped her. Then he told her she could never cure her “ethical breach” in this lifetime. Her soul was cursed and she would have to wait until she died and came back in her next life before she could atone for what she had done to him.

What happened next is not clear.

She appeared confused. Much like Kristin Snyder. She may have been pregnant.

There may have been a threat. She may have told Keith she was pregnant.

This is speculative, but some in Clifton Park wonder.

She sent a friend a card that said “Never stop believing.”

She left Clifton Park and drove her Toyota Tercel to Woodstock and got a room at Cocco’s Motor Lodge.

***

Like Kristin Snyder, it started out as a missing person report.

Gina Hutchinson lived at 261 Lapp Road in Clifton Park about 3 miles from Keith Raniere.

She was 34; 5 ft. 6 m., 120 lbs., Blond hair. Blue eyes. She drove a Toyota Tercel.

It was reported to police that she was “mentally disordered”.

October 11, 2002.

Sergeant David Downes of the Woodstock Police Department received a report from Colonie Police to attempt to locate Gina Hutchinson of 261 Lapp Road in Clifton Park, New York. Investigator Vitale stated she might be distraught over the fact that her mother had just died. Family members [unnamed] were concerned that she might harm herself.

It was reported by family members [unnamed] that Gina had sent personal articles and letters to family members. The letters stated if something were to happen to her, not to worry and that the Buddha would take care of her.

It was a Friday night about 10 PM.  Sergeant Downes and Patrol Officer Howland started checking the area for her car. They found it parked on Macdaniel Road, north of Meads Mountain Road, a few hundred feet from the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, called Karma Triyana Dharmachakra.

The two policemen walked through a field toward a pond north of the monastery.  About 500 feet from the vehicle, Sergeant Downes noticed a small flashlight lying next to the pond. PTL Howland noticed the body of a female lying in an embankment off the side of the pond.

Detective Brent Vannosdall wrote the police report.

The body of Gina Hutchinson was found on October 11, 2002, at approximately 10:25 PM.

Investigator Manley arrived at the scene. Police secured the area from the deceased’s vehicle to her body with crime scene tape.

It was dark and the fire department supplied outside lights powered by a generator.

Miss Hutchinson was found lying on her back, along the bed of a small stream, fully clothed with multiple layers. Her body was well preserved and appeared to be in complete rigor mortis. Livor mortis was not visible. Blood and a gunshot wound were present in Hutchinson’ head. A black .20 gauge pump action shotgun was lying on top of the body with the muzzle stuck in her hooded sweatshirt. There was one discharged .20 gauge Winchester shotgun shell in the chamber (buckshot). The weapon and shotgun shell were examined, removed and secured by Inv. Manley.

At 12:49 AM, representatives of Lasher’s Funeral Home arrived. The body was removed from the stream bed. Police examined her right front jacket pocket. It contained car keys and a lighter. The left front jacket pocket contained a cardboard box of Winchester .20 gauge shotgun shells/5 pack with one missing, a pack of gum and a motel room key to Coccos Motor Inn.

The left front pants pocket contained a Buddha medal. The right front pants pocket was empty.

The body was “packed” by Kenneth Peterson and removed to Kingston Hospital morgue pending a postmortem examination.

The Colonie Police were notified. They notified the next of kin.  The “missing persons” entry was cancelled

Miss Hutchinson’s vehicle was inventoried by Inv. Manley at the Kingston barracks.

***

Was it a suicide? Maybe. But why did she get a room at a motor lodge?

And why did she use a shotgun – and where did she get that gun?

And was she, in fact, pregnant?

And when did she last speak to Raniere or one of his minions?

The questions keep coming – but there are no answers.

[to be continued]

Frank Parlato