Thank you Auramyst and wfgodot for the welcome. I can't seem to get enough information on this case. It's been 20 years and I've never even heard of this case other than on Disappeared and websleuths. Amazing. This is truly a mystery. My first impressions watching Disappeared is:
1. The reason given why the two girls left Jannell's house at 2 a.m. is that there was no room for them. I realize there were relatives visiting from out of town staying there, but I can't imagine asking my daughter's friends to leave the house in the middle of the night because there is no room. I would somehow find room.
2. As in all cases of crime and cold cases, you look at who were the last people to see the victims? Again, Janelle. Not saying she is involved, but there may be something she's holding back.
3. Janelle and her bf are first on the scene of the crime. I am a little surprised that they went into the house on their own. I can't imagine doing this myself at that age, or even now, even if the door was unlocked. I may have opened the door and called out, but I would not have gone in. I would have thought the girls were not home because they had planned something else for the day. Moreover, I would never decide to listen to messages on someone's answering machine. It would consider that an invasion of privacy.
4. Janelle said she answered the phone while in the house. Again, I would not have done so. I would figure that if someone wanted to contact me, they would have called me at my own home. Then Janelle said the call was obscene, but she couldn't remember what was said. I have received obscene calls twice in my life, at separate times, and after all these years, I still remember what was said. Something is just odd about Janelle's account.
5. I think all of this went down between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., when it was still dark out and no immediate threat of the sun coming up. I think it was someone the girls knew. Perhaps Suzie peaked out of the blinds because someone she knew had knocked on her window, calling for her to open the door because they didn't want to awaken Sherrill. Since she knows who the person (s) are, she opens the door. Maybe they wanted her to loan them some money. But they were obviously desperate. Sherrill was awakened by the commotion, perhaps she even threatened to call police if they didn't leave, and it went downhill from there. All three could identify the perps so all three had to be dealt with. I don't think this was planned. I firmly believe the perps were known to the girls. There was no sign of forced entry. I don't think it was someone pretending to be a utility worker knocking on the door in the middle of the night as a ruse to get them to open the door. I don't care if it's the police, I'm not opening my door to anyone in the middle of the night. Just not going to happen!
Does anyone know if Janelle's boyfriend who went with her that morning has been identified? Did he go with her because she didn't have a car to go and check on the girls, or was he supposed to be going with the girls to the water park? If the later, I would find that odd. This trip would be planned by the girls. I can't imagine my girlfriends getting together for something like that, and one of them wants to bring a boyfriend on the trip.
Well, those are my first impressions. I better get back to reading the posts on this message board regarding this case so I can catch up. Thanks again for your kind welcome!