Deceased/Not Found CA - Sierra LaMar, 15, Morgan Hill, 16 March 2012 #5 *A. Garcia-Torres guilty*

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Reporter: She is stopped everybody that she possibly can. You have tears in your eyes. What are they telling you, ma'am?

Marlene: They are telling me that they've seen her at the bus stop a lot. Um, you know, and um, that tells me that you know, as far as, you know, they said something about the scent stopping at the driveway, well, that tells me that um, you know, she did walk to the bus stop. You know?
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-co...s-father-is-registered-sex?source=most_viewed

This is a quote that stood out to me early on and that I'm still unsure of.. Marlene is indicating that in her speaking with the morning travelers of the roads around their home that some of them are indicating that Sierra did make it to the area of the bus stop that morning..

????????????????????????
 
This is a quote that stood out to me early on and that I'm still unsure of.. Marlene is indicating that in her speaking with the morning travelers of the roads around their home that some of them are indicating that Sierra did make it to the area of the bus stop that morning..

????????????????????????

It seems the opposite to me, that it appears she DIDN'T make it to the bus stop...maybe her mom was just thinking as opposed to something having happened inside the house or at the door...JMO
 
New here. Great insights by all.

My thoughts:
I feel the clothes were packed because it was a Friday and she had plans to hang out with friends. If she had intentions of showering at the friend's home, then I'm sure she would want to put on fresh underclothes too and not the same ones she had on all day in school. That to me, says why the shoes weren't found, because she was going to wear them and only change the clothes.

As for the makeup and brush, her hair appeared to be curled in the photo taken that morning. Maybe she didn't want to brush the curls out and didn't take one. Her eye makeup was done and if all she needed was a lipstick/lip gloss, she could have carried that in her pocket.
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Snipped for space
BBM

Hi Dee226,

Agree with the other posters on a Great first post, and I agree with the fact Sierra was planning on a complete change of clothes at some point.
I wonder though, her mother seemed to be unfamiliar with this "extra clothes" theory. So for me it would seem it was something special that her parents were not aware of.
Furthermore, It has been a while since I was a teen, but went to dances after school on Fridays all the time, and would NEVER think of not re doing my hair and make-up--times may change, but a teens vanity ? I am not so sure. At 15 what boys think is everything.

I would think her parents would have known about her after school change of clothes plans.

It could be she was not even planning to go to school that day and was being picked up by , like you said, someone she knew and it went horribly wrong?

I find it curious also that Sierra would take a picture of herself with the clothes she packed in her bag--I think they were the same, right?
 
RE: Keys
We have a garage that can take codes to get into (as I'm sure many of you do too!). My kids are too young to use it now. My husband and I use it going out for exercise or when we get picked up to go out. When our kids get older they will surely use it to go in and out. No keys needed :)
 
Snipped for space
BBM

Hi Dee226,

Agree with the other posters on a Great first post, and I agree with the fact Sierra was planning on a complete change of clothes at some point.
I wonder though, her mother seemed to be unfamiliar with this "extra clothes" theory. So for me it would seem it was something special that her parents were not aware of.
Furthermore, It has been a while since I was a teen, but went to dances after school on Fridays all the time, and would NEVER think of not re doing my hair and make-up--times may change, but a teens vanity ? I am not so sure. At 15 what boys think is everything.

I would think her parents would have known about her after school change of clothes plans.

It could be she was not even planning to go to school that day and was being picked up by , like you said, someone she knew and it went horribly wrong?

I find it curious also that Sierra would take a picture of herself with the clothes she packed in her bag--I think they were the same, right?

My DD used to pack a change of clothes on Fridays, before she had a drivers license. And here is why---she and her friends usually made plans together during lunchtime, about where they were going that night. And that usually meant a sleepover at one of the houses. My DD would call me after school and say " Can I go to Amanda's to swim this afternoon? Hailey is going to go to and we want to have a sleepover, and I ALREADY HAVE MY CLOTHES So you don't need to drop me off or anything." It was my kids way of setting it all up beforehand so nobody needed to go out of their way, and she was ready to go from school already.
 
It seems the opposite to me, that it appears she DIDN'T make it to the bus stop...maybe her mom was just thinking as opposed to something having happened inside the house or at the door...JMO

That just occurred to me when I read it again.

At first I thought the mom had faulty logic: her scent stops at the driveway = she made it to the bus stop, but she probably means that her scent stops at the driveway = she was on her way to the bus stop.
 
My problem with the theory that the perp(s) forced Sierra to undress is that it doesn't fit with where her bag was found. Not enough time to take off the clothes in a car, fold them and place them in the bag before the bag was pitched out of the car.

I agree that it would be a good way to extend mental control over the victim but I just don't think it happened here.

I really think that, for whatever reason, Sierra packed a change of clothes before she left that morning.

I'd love to know what kind of trace evidence (if any) they found either inside or outside the bag.

Ya, I dont think its very likely, but just suggesting IF the clothes in the bag were the ones she was wearing, it could be a possiblity. Im still thinking the clothes were a spare, or the bag was placed for other reasons.


Im also wondering if they've confirmed with the bus driver that Sierra took the bus EVERY single day? Or did she occasionally not take the bus. I dont know why, but I just have a feeling that she wouldn't have gotten into a strangers car right at her driveway. She may have had a friend or someone from school that would ocassionally take her to school, and willfully got into the car with them at the driveway.

I also have a less likely, but possible theory, that she and a friend had a pre-arranged plan to runaway if she ever decided she wanted to. Her last post on tumbler about "wanting to be found..." could have been code for "its on tomorrow". Not very likely, but would be incredibly smart of her.
 
Clothes:
> The fact that a change of underwear was found with the clothes makes me wonder-- if all she was going to do was change into or out of her clothes immediately why the "underwear"? I mean wouldn't she use the underwear she had on and just change the clothes? This to me would mean she did not want to wear the same underwear--for some reason right?

If she had PE class, she would have wanted fresh underwear. At least I know I did when I was in high school and refusing to wear the dorky gym uniform any longer. Panties and a bra fold down to practically nothing, so don't take up much space in a bag.

Also, she may have wanted to change the colour of her bra when she changed her top; if so, then *obviously* she'd want to change her panties to match. <imagine a teen girly-girl eyeroll here>

> They would not answer the question about urine on the clothes, leading one to believe there is some truth to that--does it have to only be urine? If urine, maybe it is animal from being left outside.
If they did not want to answer that question it also might mean it was some other fluid, like blood or semen.

Or they don't want to get led into the maze of only denying what was not found. If the media senses that a spokesperson can be "herded" that way, they will be relentless in questioning until it's clear to the world and the perp exactly what was or was not found associated with the bag.

>Wouldn't it seem if she did not pack those clothes "who" and "why" would they be folded "neatly", I mean just throw them in there--only if you did not want them to wrinkle would you care?

Many sexual assault victims have been forced to undress and have described folding everything neatly. It's an attempt to buy time because they dread what will happen after they are done undressing.

> Her mother said she had not seen the clothes LE found, so how did LE know they were hers?

I assume that LE would ask her mother if she had such-and-such clothes but also do some forensic testing to make sure. They had the bag for 4 days before they released the information, so they had time to run DNA tests on what they found.

>How do they Know the family have alibi's for the time she went missing, the exact time of her disappearance has not been determined. There is a window of some 11 hours?

The window is much tighter than that. Her smartphone sent a text at 7:11 am from her own home. At 7:24 am, she failed to show up for the bus. Whatever happened to Sierra, happened in that 15 minute window.

Texting:
> LE said they traced her last text to her cell phone at home at 7am, Texts can be sent by anyone, right?

True. However, that seems unlikely, in view of the fact that a trailing dog did track her to the end of her driveway.

> With reference to "her" Texting style--Whoa!! Yes normal teens are not squeaky clean when talking or texting friends, that's a given. But her texting style was reflective of someone VERY comfortable with heavy duty cursing, like everyday language. Seems like a pretty tough girl--at least in her texting.
Cheerleader or not , I would not want to be on her bad side.

I've read her twitter and tumbler accounts. I get the impression of a fairly naive kid who was putting up a facade of being tougher and edgier than she really was. Remember, this is the same kid whose mother turned her phone off at 9 pm each night; it's obvious she was supervised and cared about.

And to be honest, my own language is far from squeaky clean but I am non-violent except to lady beetles.

> Holly Bobo Case:

I know this is about Sierra La Mar, but does anyone else here that follows the Bobo case see some obvious similarities, Ir., Early morning,daylight, parents not there, no one saw her leave her house, personal items found several miles away, last convo with a friend at 7 am, and Scent dogs find abrupt ending of her trail? Curious, huh--although I don't know what it might mean IF anything:moo::waitasec:

As I understand it, her brother was present and witnessed Holly leaving but did not understand what it was he was seeing.

I think the similarities exist for the same reasons there were similarities between Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgway. There are only so many ways to successfully abduct someone under similar circumstances and so there are bound to be similarities between successful abductions.
 
Please everyone let's remember the family and the Mom boyfriend are not I repeat POI in this case. In fact the Father has stated the family has taken a lie detector test.

JDB,

:eek:hoh:Sorry if it seemed I was questioning the integrity of the family. That was not my intention, it was worded rather badly. I was trying to make a point that we really have an 11 hour window of opportunity for Sierra's disappearance, is that correct?
 
RE: Keys
We have a garage that can take codes to get into (as I'm sure many of you do too!). My kids are too young to use it now. My husband and I use it going out for exercise or when we get picked up to go out. When our kids get older they will surely use it to go in and out. No keys needed :)

That makes excellent sense! :):tyou:
 
My DD used to pack a change of clothes on Fridays, before she had a drivers license. And here is why---she and her friends usually made plans together during lunchtime, about where they were going that night. And that usually meant a sleepover at one of the houses. My DD would call me after school and say " Can I go to Amanda's to swim this afternoon? Hailey is going to go to and we want to have a sleepover, and I ALREADY HAVE MY CLOTHES So you don't need to drop me off or anything." It was my kids way of setting it all up beforehand so nobody needed to go out of their way, and she was ready to go from school already.

.....and you knew all about her plans , right? So did my mom when I went to the dances on Friday after school!

.......but Sierra's mom had NO clue . That seems strrange, to me anyway.:moo:
 
Ya, I dont think its very likely, but just suggesting IF the clothes in the bag were the ones she was wearing, it could be a possiblity. Im still thinking the clothes were a spare, or the bag was placed for other reasons.


Im also wondering if they've confirmed with the bus driver that Sierra took the bus EVERY single day? Or did she occasionally not take the bus. I dont know why, but I just have a feeling that she wouldn't have gotten into a strangers car right at her driveway. She may have had a friend or someone from school that would ocassionally take her to school, and willfully got into the car with them at the driveway.

I also have a less likely, but possible theory, that she and a friend had a pre-arranged plan to runaway if she ever decided she wanted to. Her last post on tumbler about "wanting to be found..." could have been code for "its on tomorrow". Not very likely, but would be incredibly smart of her.


There is a previous thread that has a brief interview with her current bus driver. She (female driver) said nice things about Sierra, but did not mention the regularity of Sierra's bus schedule.

One question came up - This new bus driver had only been picking up Sierra for 6 weeks..who is the previous driver and what happened to him.

I think the theory of her calling her mom at the last minute to say she is spending the night at a friend's house is pretty accurate. I am also thinking that maybe she had plans for Saturday..okay, don't laugh, but there was a Sharks game that Saturday. ::doh::

The fact that she took the bus everyday makes me wonder if her parents did not let her drive with older kids. Perhaps she was planning something with someone who drove and wasn't really allowed to go. It seems like there was a Sharks theme going on that day. I did not read anything about her going places with friends on her Twitter - but I could have missed it. It's not unusual for 15 year olds to not be able to drive in cars.
 
JDB,

:eek:hoh:Sorry if it seemed I was questioning the integrity of the family. That was not my intention, it was worded rather badly. I was trying to make a point that we really have an 11 hour window of opportunity for Sierra's disappearance, is that correct?

No in fact since she did not make her 1st class were looking at a half hour max.
 
jumping off Ransom's post (#769 from Thread #4)
Now mom calls Sierra's phone at 3:45pm, can the LE tell 'where' that phone is at THAT exact time? I'm trying to understand if LE can track her "pings" from her phone as the car that picked her up would travel? Meaning they can say for sure she was at home at 7:11am when her text went thru, can they follow just the phone itself, i.e. down which road it went? Hope I made that clear?!! LOL! TIA!

SBM

The short answer: Yes.

A slightly longer answer is based on how cell phone pings work.

Whenever a cellphone is powered up (or whenever it has a battery in place), it sends out a ping every 6 seconds or so to locate the nearest cell tower. This is so that if there is an incoming call or text to that particular number, the cell network will know which tower to route the call through all the towers in the US. There simply is not enough bandwidth to route every single call and text through every single tower!

The cell company keeps a record of each cellphone's pings for a certain minimum length of time (I believe it is 12 months). LE can subpoena the records of pings for a specific cellphone number to receive the record. Keep in mind that this record is pings that are received once every 6 seconds, so it's pretty accurate.

If only one tower receives the ping from a specific cellphone, LE can tell which direction the ping came from (north, south, east, west of the tower) and can get an idea of how far away the cellphone was pinging. This can narrow down the location of a single ping to an area of several square miles. If the cellphone is moving, the differences between pings can narrow the area down further.

If more than one cell tower receives a ping from a cellphone, the tower that gets the strongest ping is the one that incoming phone calls or texts are routed through.

However, the other towers that receive pings from that phone keep a record of those pings as well. By using a process of triangulation, the location of a given cellphone can be pinpointed down to a matter of feet.

The part of tracking a cellphone via pings is in getting the subpoena for the records. LE has to find a judge to sign off on the subpoena and then they have to deliver that subpoena to the cell company. After that, it's just a matter of a few minutes to get the data from the phone company and feed it into a tracking program.

So as soon as LE received the ping data from her cell company, they knew when and where her cellphone had travelled during the period of time for which they received data.

Make sense? I'm not so clear at explaining it in words.
 
So, there is some hope. I wonder if her social media record indicates someone who may have been interested in her, or someone she was planning to get together with. So, it's someone she knows. I bet this is solvable. I pray it is.

I sure hope Sierra is ok and there has to be a good reason for them to believe this.I think some of her close friends might have an idea what happened.They should speak up before it is too late.
 
.....and you knew all about her plans , right? So did my mom when I went to the dances on Friday after school!

.......but Sierra's mom had NO clue . That seems strrange, to me anyway.:moo:

No, I didn't know about them BEFORE she left for school. That was my point. She would take clothing with her, just in case she made plans--then she would call me after school and ask for permission. I think Sierra may have done the same thing. Her mom didn't get home until 6 or so. Friday after school there are usually basketball games or soccer games---maybe she planned to do something with a friend and wanted to be ready, just in case MOm said yes, imo.
 
I'm pretty sure this has been brought up before, but LE's comment that she may have gone with someone willingly (and that person(s) is preventing her from coming home) triggered a memory. When I was 15, I lived on a cul-de-sac in a residential Bay Area city. Two other kids from my high school lived on my street. Every day I'd RACE to the bus (because I was always running late), but one day one of the kids, a senior, stopped in his car and asked if I wanted a ride. Without thinking twice, I got in his car. I didn't know him well, but I knew he went to my school. I hated taking the bus soooo much that I didn't think twice about getting in a car with an older guy I didn't know very well.

I feel like this could be a likely scenario in this case. Perhaps somebody approached her and told her that he or she was a senior at her school? And Sierra, being a new kid in school, didn't know that they were lying?
 
If she went with someone she knew, chances are they are withing 5-6 years or so of her own age, just guessing...would such a person have access to a place to keep her all this time? That is what I worry about...I fear the instinct would be to get rid of her, especially if they had assaulted her or held her against her will, so as not to have her as a witness. JMO
 
Thanks for the warm welcome!
I wonder what new evidence LE got to give them this new theory.
 
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