GUILTY CA - Erin Corwin, 19, pregnant, Twentynine Palms, 28 June 2014 - #11

[tvscum]

I am familiar with the Dale District (and I agree with the previous posters that "Rose of Peru" is a mining claim, not a district proper). While I don't live exactly there, I have been exploring the area (including the underground mines) since the 1990s. There is a lot of history lying around in California.

Do you know the GPS coordinates of the mine were EC was found? There is a lot of disinformation out there.

 

[emt4526]

Do you know the GPS coordinates of the mine were EC was found? There is a lot of disinformation out there.

The general area has been identified by the MSM. But the exact location has not been made public. It is not the wood-timbered shaft/headframe that was in a lot of the picture (that's the actual Rose of Peru Mine). Unfortunately, I can't share any details about which exact hole or what was found in/near it. The actual location had no distinguishing features and was not on the topo map. We found it as part of an exhaustive search.

 

[77DarkHorse7]

The phone company would know if they came from her phone

I believe, if they had the phone company records on hand they wouldn't have had to ask her friend in TN to send them the messages. Phone records also often take a couple months to get back. But, even if it turns out they came from her phone, was it actually her who sent the messages?

JMO

 

[77DarkHorse7]

The general area has been identified by the MSM. But the exact location has not been made public. It is not the wood-timbered shaft/headframe that was in a lot of the picture (that's the actual Rose of Peru Mine). Unfortunately, I can't share any details about which exact hole or what was found in/near it. The actual location had no distinguishing features and was not on the topo map. We found it as part of an exhaustive search.

I've heard that there were tire treads out there. How well defined were they, could you see the tread or was it just a regular rut that wasn't very defined?

 

[Seajay]

The general area has been identified by the MSM. But the exact location has not been made public. It is not the wood-timbered shaft/headframe that was in a lot of the picture (that's the actual Rose of Peru Mine). Unfortunately, I can't share any details about which exact hole or what was found in/near it. The actual location had no distinguishing features and was not on the topo map. We found it as part of an exhaustive search.

Can you share if you were specifically looking for that particular mine??

Are all the mines out there gold mines?

How old would you say they are on an average? Are they what would be considered newer mines or those that date back to the California Gold Rush?

In your exploration of mines, have you seen gold or other valuables down in the shafts?

Approximately how many mines have you been in/explored?

Do you have to do many rescues from abandoned mines?

I know, I ask a lot of questions. I love history.

 

[nikb]

Thanks emt4526 for the info and Seajay for the questions - interesting questions!

Thought this info might be of some interest about the mines in that general area: http://www.westernmininghistory.com/articles/487/page1/. Also this one's a property for sale listing but it gave me the creeps!: http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/15103480/Old-Dale-Mining-District-29-Palms-CA/. Specifically "Lot Size: 7,967,124 SF" and under Highlights: "great view of Joshua Tree National Park <snip> secluded <snip> other properties around are owned by the goverment" and under Description: "between Twentynine Palms CA and the west border of Joshua Tree National Park. One mine is 142 acres and the other mine is 40 acres." And this just happens to be two mines (one property apparently?) that are for sale... out of how many hundreds in the area? It really is pretty amazing that she was found!

 

[Seajay]

Thanks emt4526 for the info and Seajay for the questions - interesting questions!

Thought this info might be of some interest about the mines in that general area: http://www.westernmininghistory.com/articles/487/page1/. Also this one's a property for sale listing but it gave me the creeps!: http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/15103480/Old-Dale-Mining-District-29-Palms-CA/. Specifically "Lot Size: 7,967,124 SF" and under Highlights: "great view of Joshua Tree National Park <snip> secluded <snip> other properties around are owned by the goverment" and under Description: "between Twentynine Palms CA and the west border of Joshua Tree National Park. One mine is 142 acres and the other mine is 40 acres." And this just happens to be two mines (one property apparently?) that are for sale... out of how many hundreds in the area? It really is pretty amazing that she was found!

So they think someone is going to build the McMansion on it? Are people who buy that land allowed to develop it? I mean, the whole great view business. If it was for mining, you wouldn't care what the view was like when you are hundred of feet belong the surface.

 

[nikb]

So they think someone is going to build the McMansion on it? Are people who buy that land allowed to develop it? I mean, the whole great view business. If it was for mining, you wouldn't care what the view was like when you are hundred of feet belong the surface.

I know, the whole thing is kind of weird. I think that's what gave me the creeps about it.

 

[Seajay]

On Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda "Secret Life" they are featuring a case of a guy in the U.S. Army who was having an affair with an Army wife. She told him she was pregnant and she wanted $1,000 to make it go away or she'd tell his CO and have him dishonorably discharged from the Army, and bring dishonor to his family. (She wasn't pregnant.) He conspired with another to have her murdered and did.

What did EC want from CL in relationship to the child? We may never know.

 

[emt4526]

I've heard that there were tire treads out there. How well defined were they, could you see the tread or was it just a regular rut that wasn't very defined?

On all of our searches, we will photograph a footprint or tire track that we come across if it looks even remotely like the one our subject has (if known.) This search was no different - lots of GPS waypoints, photographs and notes were submitted. I have no idea if any of them helped, but we record everything we can. The actual crime scene is processed by folks who do that for a living, and we aren't involved.

 

[emt4526]

So they think someone is going to build the McMansion on it? Are people who buy that land allowed to develop it? I mean, the whole great view business. If it was for mining, you wouldn't care what the view was like when you are hundred of feet belong the surface.

What they probably mean there is that the land is a patented mining claim. This has a specific legal definition, but it basically means that a mining claim was fiiled and productively worked for some years and the owners of the mine went through a procedure to gain permanent ownership of it. There was a moratorium on patented claims the last time I checked.

The actual mine would not be 142 acres, even if it were made of dozens of claims. Except for very large operations that employed an entire town, an underground mine you would typically find in the Western US would be anywhere from a hundred feet to maybe a mile or so horizontal drifts. In each 8-hour shift, a crew of 2-5 men in a hard rock mine could remove 1-2 feet of rock if drilling by hand and using blasting powder, and maybe 8' if using pneumatic drills and dynamite. So that should give you an idea of how much work would be involved in making a mile of tunnel.

 

[emt4526]

I'll do the best I can here.

Are all the mines out there gold mines?

They primarily mined Gold. There was also a large Iron mining operation farther South (Eagle Mountain) and other products like Silver and Copper were likely being produced as well. Those commodities may not have been present in high enough concentrations to warrant mining, but it was often worth it to recover them from ores that were already taken out.

How old would you say they are on an average? Are they what would be considered newer mines or those that date back to the California Gold Rush?

The mines out there range from late 1800s and were worked during various periods for the next hundred years, depending on Gold prices and such. The last ones shut down in the late 1970s/early 1980s. You can get an idea of when it was worked by the construction (i.e. wood timbering vs. expansion bolts and chicken wire). Often, there will be a mix of new and old in the same mine.

In your exploration of mines, have you seen gold or other valuables down in the shafts?

Gold ore quality is usually expressed in a quantity like ounces per ton. So it's not something you would see just looking around the tailings pile or examining the rock in the mine. I suppose you could find a nugget with a metal detector, but I've never seen that. Occasionally you'll find interesting stuff like miner's graffiti and such.

Approximately how many mines have you been in/explored?

I've lost count. I'm sure it's in the 100s.

Do you have to do many rescues from abandoned mines?

Surprisingly, no. At least until this year - our team assisted with this search/recovery and another one near the community of Red Mountain. There are occasions when I hear about someone driving an ATV or dirt bike into an unmarked shaft, but I haven't heard of that happening in a long time in San Bernardino County.

 

[EmmaRose]

The general area has been identified by the MSM. But the exact location has not been made public. It is not the wood-timbered shaft/headframe that was in a lot of the picture (that's the actual Rose of Peru Mine). Unfortunately, I can't share any details about which exact hole or what was found in/near it. The actual location had no distinguishing features and was not on the topo map. We found it as part of an exhaustive search.

Just wanted to add that I am in awe of the effort and determination you all put into finding Erin. It is much appreciated. Nice to hear about the good guys while sleuthing the bad guys!!

I also had a question. When mines have to be searched, what protects the searchers from the toxic air in the mines?

 

[Seajay]

I'll do the best I can here.

Are all the mines out there gold mines?

They primarily mined Gold. There was also a large Iron mining operation farther South (Eagle Mountain) and other products like Silver and Copper were likely being produced as well. Those commodities may not have been present in high enough concentrations to warrant mining, but it was often worth it to recover them from ores that were already taken out.

How old would you say they are on an average? Are they what would be considered newer mines or those that date back to the California Gold Rush?

The mines out there range from late 1800s and were worked during various periods for the next hundred years, depending on Gold prices and such. The last ones shut down in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

In your exploration of mines, have you seen gold or other valuables down in the shafts?

Gold ore quality is usually expressed in a quantity like ounces per ton. So it's not something you would see just looking around the tailings pile or examining the rock in the mine. I suppose you could find a nugget with a metal detector, but I've never seen that. Occasionally you'll find interesting stuff like miner's graffiti and such.

Approximately how many mines have you been in/explored?

I've lost count. I'm sure it's in the 100s.

Do you have to do many rescues from abandoned mines?

Surprisingly, no. At least until this year - our team assisted with this search/recovery and another one near the community of Red Mountain. There are occasions when I hear about someone driving an ATV or dirt bike into an unmarked shaft, but I haven't heard of that happening in a long time in San Bernardino County.

Thank you for your responses. They are enlightening. I love learning new things.

 

[emt4526]

Just wanted to add that I am in awe of the effort and determination you all put into finding Erin. It is much appreciated. Nice to hear about the good guys while sleuthing the bad guys!!

I also had a question. When mines have to be searched, what protects the searchers from the toxic air in the mines?

Good question. For the most part, hard rock mines have fewer bad air problems than say coal mines. But they aren't being ventilated and you never know if there's been an historic fire or if there's rotting timber. So each team has a 4-gas monitor that checks the Oxygen level, CO (Carbon Monoxide), H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide) and HC (Hydrocarbons). We use a couple of units:

http://www.rkiinstruments.com/pages/gx2001.htm
http://us.msasafety.com/Portable-Ga...Multigas-Detector---MSHA/p/000080001600001017

Before we send someone down a hole, we like to lower one of these down if possible. In any event, we always _lower_ the first person down, rather than letting them rappel. This ensures that we can get them back out quickly if they get into trouble. We also have "self-rescuers" which are a one-use breathing apparatus that gives you about 30 minutes to escape. We don't always bring these - it depends on the situation.

Oh, and we also have 6 of these:
http://www.biopak240r.com/

The Biopaks are pretty interesting - theoretically, they give you 4 hours of completely self-contained life support, allowing you to walk, perform tasks, etc in an atmosphere that is incompatible with life. In reality, they are pretty cumbersome and feel a bit like suffocating slowly in a space suit. These were paid for by a state grant, and funds never materialized to allows us to train regularly with them. So we don't often use them.

 

[EmmaRose]

The general area has been identified by the MSM. But the exact location has not been made public. It is not the wood-timbered shaft/headframe that was in a lot of the picture (that's the actual Rose of Peru Mine). Unfortunately, I can't share any details about which exact hole or what was found in/near it. The actual location had no distinguishing features and was not on the topo map. We found it as part of an exhaustive search.

Wow. No wonder CL thought no one would find Erin.

 

[EmmaRose]

Good question. For the most part, hard rock mines have fewer bad air problems than say coal mines. But they aren't being ventilated and you never know if there's been an historic fire or if there's rotting timber. So each team has a 4-gas monitor that checks the Oxygen level, CO (Carbon Monoxide), H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide) and HC (Hydrocarbons). We use a couple of units:

http://www.rkiinstruments.com/pages/gx2001.htm
http://us.msasafety.com/Portable-Ga...Multigas-Detector---MSHA/p/000080001600001017

Before we send someone down a hole, we like to lower one of these down if possible. In any event, we always _lower_ the first person down, rather than letting them rappel. This ensures that we can get them back out quickly if they get into trouble.

That makes good safety sense. And thank you for the links. Stay safe!!

 

[moonbeams]

I don't think we know the half of it.

EXACTLY! Considering all we know is what's in one leaked warrant and one arrest warrant, it's obvious we know a small, teeny portion of what LE has found. We have no clue what other evidence they have. I'm sure it's substantial since they are talking DP.

 

[RSC]

You can get a log of where texts are sent to and from very quickly. As to who actually wrote the message, it sounds like she had a history of texts and calls with this friend regarding CL. Since LE clearly ruled out JC, I can't think of anyone else who would have sent them.

I believe, if they had the phone company records on hand they wouldn't have had to ask her friend in TN to send them the messages. Phone records also often take a couple months to get back. But, even if it turns out they came from her phone, was it actually her who sent the messages?

JMO

 

[roadrunnermt]

Even though he was due EAS, he was still set to be in reserves right? So technically it would have messed with all that if EC or NL either one threatened to take it to his higher ups, which both could have actually threatened that trying to get the action they wanted out of him.

I think either NL and/or EC both threatened CL in some way. Gave him ultimatums about what he needed to do. To the point he felt he was backed into a corner and felt that murder was his only way out. We don't know something regarding this, things that were said between him and the two ladies.

He may have blew smoke up EC about his wife finding out and him not seeing his daughter again. He may have not considered his military career as a motive. But the fact remains, something about this whole thing made him feel like murdering Erin was a way out of this. Something was important enough to him that he murdered Erin. We can discount every possible motive he might have as not being important enough to commit murder but the truth of the matter is, something was, because he did. IMO, JMO, MOO.