MI MI - Jessica Heeringa, 25, Norton Shores, 26 April 2013 #1

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What's the latest news on this case? I haven't been able to come back most of the day to check.
 
There are two possible interpretations as to why he chose that route, IMO.

1. It was the easiest and most unobstructed escape route due to it consisting of 2 quick right turns away from the station. This would, however, still suggest that he knows the area very well even if he ended up on the interstate to go wherever he planned to take her. A left turn out of the station provides a quicker way for a perp to get out of dodge if he is unfamiliar with the area.

2. That he lives in that general area due to it appearing largely residential. He could also live on or near the lake. There also appears to be a public access area on Lake Shore Blvd that would certainly not be occupied that time of night. It is a side road just off of his possible route.

ETA: I would also be checking out that giant mobile home park (Oaks) on S Getty Rd as it appears there is a large body of water nearby just off of Norton. S Getty is a right turn off of his possible route. Any RSOs that live in this area?
 
misterGwriter said:
According to this news article, police are analyzing a DNA sample. I haven't seen any mention of that on here. Perhaps I missed it. I wonder where the DNA sample was obtained from.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/254807/14/Minivan-driver-sought-in-Jessica-Heeringa-abduction
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IMO, it could be that the person who happened upon the scene noticed more amiss than the absence of any personnel.

This might explain why the phone call came so promptly. Did anyone else think that the caller sounded a bit spooked?
 
KinseyWannabe said:
IMO, it could be that the person who happened upon the scene noticed more amiss than the absence of any personnel. :eek:

This might explain why the phone call came so promptly. Did anyone else think that the caller sounded a bit spooked?
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I think the 911 caller had pumped his gas and then realized there was no cashier to pay. So, didn't they have pumps where you could swipe your card?
My first thought if I didn't see anyone working is that they had been robbed and the employee/employees were injured or worse.
 
reedus23 said:
Forgive me again. I may be confused because I admittedly have been speed reading to try to keep up, but I have tried to read every post. I don't recall reading that the van in question was seen in the area you have indicated as it being seen turning around. I thought it was a co-employee or some other witness that turned around in that area because that person had seen the van at the Exxon and for some reason it raised concern in that person's mind. Can you point me to where the information came from that there was a sighting of the van in the area you have marked on this map? Thanks so much.
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Other than a few references on here, I have not seen anything specifically stating that the van turned around in that location. The location indicated on the map is the parking lot of a strip mall. There is a Verizon in that strip mall that may have a camera. I could be mistaken, but I believe that to enter that parking lot, you either have to drive North on Harvey St past the Meijer gas station and then come back, or travel East on Sternberg over Harvey St and turn left. The intersection of Harvey and Sternberg is very busy during the day and is equipped with several traffic cameras. They may have been turned off since it was after 11:00 pm, though.

ETA: In other words, there is no entrance to the parking lot right on the corner of the intersection. To enter the parking lot, the suspect would have had to take one of the entrances to Meijer. At that point, I would imagine that it would have been easier to just turn around in the Meijer parking lot itself. But that's just me.
 
Plumeria5 said:
I think the 911 caller had pumped his gas and then realized there was no cashier to pay. So, didn't they have pumps where you could swipe your card?
My first thought if I didn't see anyone working is that they had been robbed and the employee/employees were injured or worse.
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I believe the 911 caller stated that his gas tank was empty. He stated that the cashier did not authorize the pump in order for him to pump any gas, so he went into the store to see why the pump wasn't being authorized. It was at that point that he realized that the store was vacant and he called 911.
 
Tonto said:
There are two possible interpretations as to why he chose that route, IMO.

1. It was the easiest and most unobstructed escape route due to it consisting of 2 quick right turns away from the station. This would, however, still suggest that he knows the area very well even if he ended up on the interstate to go wherever he planned to take her. A left turn out of the station provides a quicker way for a perp to get out of dodge if he is unfamiliar with the area.

2. That he lives in that general area due to it appearing largely residential. He could also live on or near the lake. There also appears to be a public access area on Lake Shore Blvd that would certainly not be occupied that time of night. It is a side road just off of his possible route.

ETA: I would also be checking out that giant mobile home park (Oaks) on S Getty Rd as it appears there is a large body of water nearby just off of Norton. S Getty is a right turn off of his possible route. Any RSOs that live in this area?
Click to expand...

I would like to add a third possibility. He may have decided in advance to take her to the nearest, remote area. That would likely have been the Ross Park area, which is remote and right on Mona Lake. Taking a left onto Airport Rd from Grand Haven Rd will take you right to the park area.
 
Tonto said:
There are two possible interpretations as to why he chose that route, IMO.

1. It was the easiest and most unobstructed escape route due to it consisting of 2 quick right turns away from the station. This would, however, still suggest that he knows the area very well even if he ended up on the interstate to go wherever he planned to take her. A left turn out of the station provides a quicker way for a perp to get out of dodge if he is unfamiliar with the area.

2. That he lives in that general area due to it appearing largely residential. He could also live on or near the lake. There also appears to be a public access area on Lake Shore Blvd that would certainly not be occupied that time of night. It is a side road just off of his possible route.

ETA: I would also be checking out that giant mobile home park (Oaks) on S Getty Rd as it appears there is a large body of water nearby just off of Norton. S Getty is a right turn off of his possible route. Any RSOs that live in this area?
Click to expand...

What's this info? Do we know what route the perp took? TIA!!!!!!!!!!
 
gitana1 said:
What's this info? Do we know what route the perp took? TIA!!!!!!!!!!
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If you look at a few posts prior, Otto posted a map with a marker for the Exxon station where Ms. Heeringa was working and also a marker for the tavern where the surveillance footage was obtained from. Using those two points, we know the suspect would have had to travel west on Sternberg Rd and turned right onto Grand Haven Rd, heading north. That's all we know related to the suspect's route at this time.
 
misterGwriter said:
If you look at a few posts prior, Otto posted a map with a marker for the Exxon station where Ms. Heeringa was working and also a marker for the tavern where the surveillance footage was obtained from. Using those two points, we know the suspect would have had to travel west on Sternberg Rd and turned right onto Grand Haven Rd, heading north. That's all we know related to the suspect's route at this time.
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The freeway is quite close to the gas station. The 2 loops shown just east of the gas station, are they just exit ramps off the freeway not entrance ramps?
 
Plumeria5 said:
The freeway is quite close to the gas station. The 2 loops shown just east of the gas station, are they just exit ramps off the freeway not entrance ramps?
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There are actually two freeways in close proximity. The exit ramps you're referring to are for US 31, which runs North and South. The ramps are literally within view of the Exxon station. Since the suspect did not get on US 31, I think it is safe to assume that they didn't intend to travel North or South.

The other freeway is I-96 East. If you refer to Otto's map, the suspect could have accessed I-96 E by continuing North on Grand Haven Rd past the tavern for another block or two and turning right onto Hile Rd.
 
Plumeria5 said:
If he was taking her to Mona Lake it appears there will be a lot of workers and activities taking place there until May 10th.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/04/norton_shores_property_owners.html
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Mona Lake is actually quite large, especially if you include the surrounding watersheds. The dredging referenced in the article relates only to the westernmost channel that connects Lake Michigan to the Mona Lake watershed. If you look at a map, the area being dredged goes from Lake Harbor Road to Lake Michigan. In comparison, look where Ross Park is located on the map. It is 2-3 miles away. Also, there wouldn't be any workers at 11:00 pm at night.
 
misterGwriter said:
It's actually not a freeway. The posted speed limit is 35 MPH I believe. The van does appear to be exceeding the speed limit.
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It's Michigan. The entire state drives like maniacs on their way to a fire. Speed limits are more like minimums.
 
gingerbread said:
Is the suspect "minivan" the one that shows on the police chief's screen in the picture in the post above? To me that looks like a crossover - maybe a Hyundai Santa Fe or something similar.
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I'm still catching up, so maybe this has already been corrected, but the car that is clearly visible in the still photo is NOT the car they are talking about. In the video you can see a silvery minivan fly by on the highway BEHIND the car that is parked. *That* is the van they are talking about, and not the car parked in front of the bar...

ETA: Oh, I see this was caught. Yay! It actually had me really confused for a bit, too. I thought, surely they can tell that's not a van, ha! :D
 
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