Midge Montana
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Bump for Leah
WA WA - Leah Roberts, 23, Whatcom Co, 13 Mar 2000
- Thread starter Doyle
- Start date
Small detail regarding the starter relay wire. Was talking with someone who is very familiar with that year/ model Jeep and apparently the wire can be cut rather easily via the passenger side front wheel well. Could easily have been cut without accessing the vehicle and using the hood latch, so perhaps it was cut while Leah was at the theater.
sasha17
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I know nothing about cars. If it was cut while she was at the theater, would it have been able to be driven to where it was found? Or would it had to have been towed away from the theater?
It’d be undrivable because the engine would not start. If anyone other than who disabled it were to do the repair, they’d have alerted her to the fact it had been tampered with. My theory is that because she was alone, her Jeep had NC plates, and it was filled with her possessions, she was spotted as a target of opportunity. The person who disabled the Jeep later became (to her) a Good Samaritan and offered her a pathway to getting it fixed. I think that person is “Barry” that briefly entered the restaurant. Have a feeling the composite of him might be a decent match.
Also, the starter relay can be easily bypassed. So, restarting the Jeep even with it cut or disconnected is very simple.
I don’t think she drove it again after arriving at the shopping mall and don’t see her as driving it over the embankment 35 miles outside of Bellingham. Whoever did was probably familiar with the area where it was found. Perhaps they had some ties to the Maple Falls or Glacier area?
Also, the starter relay can be easily bypassed. So, restarting the Jeep even with it cut or disconnected is very simple.
I don’t think she drove it again after arriving at the shopping mall and don’t see her as driving it over the embankment 35 miles outside of Bellingham. Whoever did was probably familiar with the area where it was found. Perhaps they had some ties to the Maple Falls or Glacier area?
MesquiteO21
Please take the time to read "The Gift of Fear"
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forgive my car ignorance but...how would the Jeep be able to get from the movie theater to where it was found with the start cut? (assuming it was cut at the theater). I wonder if Leah would know how to bypass the relay?
Couple of ways. One obviously would be a tow truck. Perhaps “Barry” was returning after getting a truck. He could have been employed by an auto repair or collision repair shop. The other would be to manually temporarily complete or bypass the connection. Not hard to do, but unlikely Leah would know how. If she did…she’d have driven it herself to any repair shop. If whoever cut it, eventually temporarily reconnected it and put Leah into it to drive it to where she thought the repairs would be made, there’d be a risk to him that she’d choose to drive it to another shop of her choice. I think it was towed. It was a Monday. Some smaller shops, especially in rural areas and ones that are family owned or with fewer employees have less conventional hours of operation. It’s possible she was towed to a shop that ended up being a very private crime scene.
Leah Toby Roberts
Born July 23, 1976 Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Missing since March 13, 2000 (aged 23)
Bumping this thread up.
I still feel that this serial killer should be considered and questioned regarding Leah's disappearance:
James Allen Kinney
Kinney was in the area at the time, had murdered another young woman in the same general location, and is currently serving a life sentence in Washington State.
I still feel that this serial killer should be considered and questioned regarding Leah's disappearance:
James Allen Kinney
Kinney was in the area at the time, had murdered another young woman in the same general location, and is currently serving a life sentence in Washington State.
I wanted to offer some thoughts as I have been researching this case for a while, though I won't claim to know anything. This will likely be a long post but I would appreciate a read and feedback.
While the man at the restaurant at the mall is certainly sketchy, the evidence suggests that Leah was likely attacked in the area where her truck was found.
Canyon Creek Road is right off the main, Mt. Baker highway, it is less than 3 miles from the town of Glacier itself and a mile from a lodging area, full of RV parks, a hotel, cabins and a bar etc.
Where Leahs car was found was about an Hours drive from where she was last seen. We KNOW Leah got into her vehicle on her own accord and left because the ticket stub for the movie was found in her Momentos box in her car. The movie ended at around 04:10 PM, so we can gather whenever she did leave the mall it was early evening.
Glacier is also only about 10 miles from MT. Baker itself, which was certainly an area Leah may have been looking to see. If she drove up to the Glacier area, and it was about to get dark she could have decided to make camp for the night somewhere in the area. Considering she is a woman driving alone and has a cat with her, she could have also usually made camp early so as not to be driving at night.
The indications on she was sleeping, or going to sleep in her truck when she was attacked? Her pants with her money were off, the pants she likely would've been wearing that day. The sheets on the windows had been hung up, and her ring was underneath the floor mat. Considering she was living out of her car, had her cat and a lot of stuff cluttering the car, assuming she slept in the front seat when she laid down to sleep at night, putting her ring underneath the floor mat would be sensible as opposed to putting it in the glove box (could be cluttered) or on the dash where it could slide. Just picture someone laying down in their front seat, taking their jewelry off and just sliding it right beneath them for safe keeping. LIke a night stand. It survive the crash didn't it?
More on the ring, I know her sister said Leah would never take off the ring but did Leah's sister go into the shower or sleep in the same bed as Leah? No criticism of her sister intended but how can she truly know this?
The only reason those sheets were up on the windows is because Leah was sleeping when attacked, and the offender, or offenders, tampered with and dumped the vehicle, likely nearby. Had the offender driven the vehicle 10-20 miles etc they'd of taken the sheets down, as you are guaranteed to get pulled over like that and its impossible to drive anyways with those coverings.
I believe Leah arrived in this area, and set up camp, and while she was sleeping or going to sleep was attacked, and the offender took the vehicle nearby and launched it onto a less traveled road. Whether she had encountered her attacker before at some bar who knows? But once you start looking at that her car was not ditched on some remote old logging road, but nearby to a tourist area and a small town right by the main highway it changes the outlook IMO.
Questions I still have.
1) Where was her cat when she went to the movie? a 2 hour movie and an hour or more at a restaurant, where is her cat? Obviously her cat would've ran away during the attack, assuming he's with her, and I don't believe she got rid of the cat or he ran away prior, but where would he be when shes hanging out at some mall?
2) Assuming it took her about 5 hours to get from the gas station in Oregon and Bellingham, putting her arriving at or before noon, what was she doing in the 2 hours or so before?
3) The guy at the mall, the one who described "Barry". What made the police go back to him after the police reexamined her vehicle 7 years later and found it was tampered with? Is it because they had nothing else? Is it because the Barry story was a red flag? Or something else?
4) I do not believe she was with anyone at the gas station in Oregon, and was simply checking on her cat, and/or checking to see what pump she was on, but I'd like to know if there was any evidence of her chatting with people in this part of the country ahead of her
I wanted to offer some thoughts as I have been researching this case for a while, though I won't claim to know anything.
.
In conclusion, the evidence suggests a stranger attack, on a high risk woman traveling alone, who by the behavior we know exhibited would've likely revealed to anyone that her friends and family did not know where she was. She was sleeping out of her vehicle after the first night of travel, her vehicle is found in an area she was likely traveling too, nearby to an hour where travelers stay. But questions remain as to her interactions with this guy at the mall, what caused her to stop and see a movie in Bellingham, and what did she do with her cat during this time.
If there are any crucial details or information I left out, as I said Im sure I haven't read everything there is to know, please fill me in as it could always alter current scenarios.
While the man at the restaurant at the mall is certainly sketchy, the evidence suggests that Leah was likely attacked in the area where her truck was found.
Canyon Creek Road is right off the main, Mt. Baker highway, it is less than 3 miles from the town of Glacier itself and a mile from a lodging area, full of RV parks, a hotel, cabins and a bar etc.
Where Leahs car was found was about an Hours drive from where she was last seen. We KNOW Leah got into her vehicle on her own accord and left because the ticket stub for the movie was found in her Momentos box in her car. The movie ended at around 04:10 PM, so we can gather whenever she did leave the mall it was early evening.
Glacier is also only about 10 miles from MT. Baker itself, which was certainly an area Leah may have been looking to see. If she drove up to the Glacier area, and it was about to get dark she could have decided to make camp for the night somewhere in the area. Considering she is a woman driving alone and has a cat with her, she could have also usually made camp early so as not to be driving at night.
The indications on she was sleeping, or going to sleep in her truck when she was attacked? Her pants with her money were off, the pants she likely would've been wearing that day. The sheets on the windows had been hung up, and her ring was underneath the floor mat. Considering she was living out of her car, had her cat and a lot of stuff cluttering the car, assuming she slept in the front seat when she laid down to sleep at night, putting her ring underneath the floor mat would be sensible as opposed to putting it in the glove box (could be cluttered) or on the dash where it could slide. Just picture someone laying down in their front seat, taking their jewelry off and just sliding it right beneath them for safe keeping. LIke a night stand. It survive the crash didn't it?
More on the ring, I know her sister said Leah would never take off the ring but did Leah's sister go into the shower or sleep in the same bed as Leah? No criticism of her sister intended but how can she truly know this?
The only reason those sheets were up on the windows is because Leah was sleeping when attacked, and the offender, or offenders, tampered with and dumped the vehicle, likely nearby. Had the offender driven the vehicle 10-20 miles etc they'd of taken the sheets down, as you are guaranteed to get pulled over like that and its impossible to drive anyways with those coverings.
I believe Leah arrived in this area, and set up camp, and while she was sleeping or going to sleep was attacked, and the offender took the vehicle nearby and launched it onto a less traveled road. Whether she had encountered her attacker before at some bar who knows? But once you start looking at that her car was not ditched on some remote old logging road, but nearby to a tourist area and a small town right by the main highway it changes the outlook IMO.
Questions I still have.
1) Where was her cat when she went to the movie? a 2 hour movie and an hour or more at a restaurant, where is her cat? Obviously her cat would've ran away during the attack, assuming he's with her, and I don't believe she got rid of the cat or he ran away prior, but where would he be when shes hanging out at some mall?
2) Assuming it took her about 5 hours to get from the gas station in Oregon and Bellingham, putting her arriving at or before noon, what was she doing in the 2 hours or so before?
3) The guy at the mall, the one who described "Barry". What made the police go back to him after the police reexamined her vehicle 7 years later and found it was tampered with? Is it because they had nothing else? Is it because the Barry story was a red flag? Or something else?
4) I do not believe she was with anyone at the gas station in Oregon, and was simply checking on her cat, and/or checking to see what pump she was on, but I'd like to know if there was any evidence of her chatting with people in this part of the country ahead of her
I wanted to offer some thoughts as I have been researching this case for a while, though I won't claim to know anything.
.
In conclusion, the evidence suggests a stranger attack, on a high risk woman traveling alone, who by the behavior we know exhibited would've likely revealed to anyone that her friends and family did not know where she was. She was sleeping out of her vehicle after the first night of travel, her vehicle is found in an area she was likely traveling too, nearby to an hour where travelers stay. But questions remain as to her interactions with this guy at the mall, what caused her to stop and see a movie in Bellingham, and what did she do with her cat during this time.
If there are any crucial details or information I left out, as I said Im sure I haven't read everything there is to know, please fill me in as it could always alter current scenarios.
