Deceased/Not Found CA - Sierra LaMar, 15, Morgan Hill, 16 March 2012 #13 *A. Garcia-Torres guilty*

[Auramyst]

I still don't think the clothes were extra. I think the clothes in the bag was what she was wearing the day she vanished.

Sadly, I agree... it's such a horrible situation. I think the perp(s) made her remove her clothes and made her put them in her bag. She may have folded them without really thinking about it... an automatic response or something like that.

 

[BeginnersLuck]

I think the bag hiding spot could be a "good enough" hiding spot. If the goal is to dispose of it so not be found with it, or for it not to be in the home when she is reported missing, and to not be seen disposing of it, it sufficed.

You'd have to be pretty confident that nothing in the bag is going to point straight to you, I guess it depends how much knowledge they had of touch dna, fibres etc whether this was a reasonable thing to do if there was no legitimate reason to link the bag to being around your person, car or home. Nothing compelling on the clothes.

I am trying to find a source for information about the phone pings. I could swear there was information that they determined the phone was tossed shortly after 715, although that may have been media spin, can anyone else recall that? I am finding many earlier stories have been merged or deleted from news sites.

Looking back in the media links thread, the first one I read about the phone is they located it by pings. The second article stated searchers found it. Then this article states: "We can't confirm one way or the other," said Cardoza, who added that the girl's cell phone is dead and thus cannot be tracked.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20202246/search-continues-missing-morgan-hill-girl

I don't recall them specifically stating the phone pings helped them determine when it was tossed.

 

[Tuba]

In reading on crime prevention, I was amazed by the clear insight of the following characterisations and want to share them.

"Defensible space is an area where residents feel some sort of ownership. In many built up environments, there are larger areas where no one owns or controls. These become magnets for criminal activity & the rest of the community therefore avoids these areas, which leads to their deterioration."

If the residents of Paquita Espana and surround had a sense of territory, it has been seriously violated. I think we are all subliminally impressed by the abduction from a controlled area of home ownership
(thought of as a hardened target) in stark contrast to the casual discard of personal items in undefended space. In a sense everything is turned on its head. Sierra was not abducted from the grim decadent metal shed and dead end road. Storing her personal belongings there--so conspicuously out of place--reminds us of that.

 

[Berry]

MARCH 23:

Sheriff Laurie Smith on Today Show says that they do not think she left the court (cul de sac)

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/46832709#46832709

What an odd thing to say!!!!

"because no one saw her" Sheriff said.
Sorry if it is a repeat from early days, sleuthers, but I never saw it before and it sends my personal ideas/theory sky high, the mystery thickens at home territory.

Also add that to Cardoza saying the "keys to this resolution will propably be found in the community".........

YES I agree, in her own little street/home community.

JMO

My BUMP for interview Wendy101

 

[Annie1004]

Looking back in the media links thread, the first one I read about the phone is they located it by pings. The second article stated searchers found it. Then this article states: "We can't confirm one way or the other," said Cardoza, who added that the girl's cell phone is dead and thus cannot be tracked.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20202246/search-continues-missing-morgan-hill-girl

I don't recall them specifically stating the phone pings helped them determine when it was tossed.

I remember in the very beginning that Sierra's cell phone was "turned off" versus dead (highly unlikely because I don't think she left the house for the day with a "dead" cell phone). I also recall that Cardoza would not say which side of the road the bag was found, which I thought was odd.

Then there are the Siamese cats at the shed, so it means that area wasn't a completely unknown place. Those cats were dumped there at some point on purpose. The chances of those cats being wild or feral are fat, slim and none. They once were pets, IMHO. (I hope they have since been rescued.). And while Siamese cats DO talk, it is not in our language, so they are of no help there.

There is just no news, but the family and KlaasKids are doing an excellent job of keeping this case in the spotlight for 6 weeks so far. The announcement of the new reward came just as things were quieting down.

Wasn't the Holly Bobo reward $250,000? And still unsolved?

 

[GrainneDhu]

Now, if the people taking ribbons and tearing down flyers could get away with not being caught for so long then think how easy it would be to abduct Sierra and go unnoticed.

SBM

That is a perfect indicator of how much neighbourly surveillance and observation is going on in that neighbourhood. I'd expect that all the neighbours are a bit on edge because of Sierra and yet they hadn't caught that person.

I don't think they are bad or uncaring people but I do think that the way the neighbourhood is laid out makes observation from inside one's house difficult.

 

[bgmiller5]

I remember in the very beginning that Sierra's cell phone was "turned off" versus dead (highly unlikely because I don't think she left the house for the day with a "dead" cell phone). I also recall that Cardoza would not say which side of the road the bag was found, which I thought was odd.

Meh?

Turned off at what point? Surely it was off when they found it. Even if it was fully charged on the 16th, they found it a day and a half later. If the tossing out the window didn't power it off (which it does my Android - just a simple drop usually does), the time lapse surely did. I'm just wondering when it stopped pinging, and if the GPS was turned on - where.

As far as the purse goes, wasn't the shed just on one particular side of the road?

 

[cluciano63]

I do recall LE saying in the beginning that her phone had never left the immediate area...so they concluded it was tossed right away. It only pinged in the same area, anyway. Is this correct, am I recalling this right?

 

[Pensfan]

This journal article on sexual homicides is interesting. One of the findings discussed is that 2/3 of the time the offender is at the location of the victim because he “belongs” there or his routine activities place him there.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...C67On6&sig=AHIEtbTWyJ5tYTXt7m6F3q0OJXAk4rInmw

Who belonged at the end of that road near Sierra's home?

I don't think Sierra was grabbed by a pedo. She looked like a beautiful young woman.

 

[Whisperer]

It sure seems like the crime was kept in a very small area. I have to wonder what evidence they took out of the foreclosed house on Scheller.

Where the purse was found does dead end but there is Dougherty at the end....There are some very impressive homes on that street. (not to be confused with the Dougherty in front of Sierra's house). Doughtery breaks up at Scheller and is separated by fields. The Dougherty at the end of Laguna may have some of the highest priced homes around the area.

.....however up to the point where you reach Dougherty, there are some very run down places. There is quite a mix of real estate out there. I wonder if the perp lives around there. I would think he would drop the belongings in a place he knew.

Evidence tossed, evdence placed and evidence gathered are all within about a mile or so from the house.

 

[Whisperer]

This journal article on sexual homicides is interesting. One of the findings discussed is that 2/3 of the time the offender is at the location of the victim because he “belongs” there or his routine activities place him there.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...C67On6&sig=AHIEtbTWyJ5tYTXt7m6F3q0OJXAk4rInmw

Who belonged at the end of that road near Sierra's home?

I don't think Sierra was grabbed by a pedo. She looked like a beautiful young woman.

Good question and one we have never discussed due to some factors. Suffice to say there is more than meets the eye at the end of the cul-de-sac.

 

[cluciano63]

This journal article on sexual homicides is interesting. One of the findings discussed is that 2/3 of the time the offender is at the location of the victim because he “belongs” there or his routine activities place him there.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...C67On6&sig=AHIEtbTWyJ5tYTXt7m6F3q0OJXAk4rInmw

Who belonged at the end of that road near Sierra's home?

I don't think Sierra was grabbed by a pedo. She looked like a beautiful young woman.

Right up Ted Bundy's alley, actually...he looked for girls with long dark hair...
Still, seems a very unlikely place to come across one, unless he had been scoping her out for a while...

 

[Whisperer]

Who would know the house on Scheller was empty? That house is almost at the bottom of Paquita Espana. Dougherty turns into Scheller a few yards from Paquita Espana.

On the map it sure looked far away but it is very close.

 

[Whisperer]

Right up Ted Bundy's alley, actually...he looked for girls with long dark hair...
Still, seems a very unlikely place to come across one, unless he had been scoping her out for a while...

One said they saw a guy walking by (on Dougherty from Scheller) each morning, talking on a cell. They haven't seen him since. They gave the description to LE though. There dog jumped on him one morning so the witness got a good description.

Another person (up the road) says they walk by alot, he thinks they are just calling for a ride to work. They live in the Orchard.

...Who Knows? One thinks he's a perp; another thinks he's a worker.

 

[BeginnersLuck]

This journal article on sexual homicides is interesting. One of the findings discussed is that 2/3 of the time the offender is at the location of the victim because he “belongs” there or his routine activities place him there.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...C67On6&sig=AHIEtbTWyJ5tYTXt7m6F3q0OJXAk4rInmw

Who belonged at the end of that road near Sierra's home?

I don't think Sierra was grabbed by a pedo. She looked like a beautiful young woman.

Pedo/sex offender, hard to tell. There are some that have a particular preference and some that broaden their category. Who belonged at the end of the road near Sierra's home? Anyone that had any work in that area or lived in that area (either present or past) that would have had enough knowledge to know when she walked out that front door.

 

[Whisperer]

If you look at the latest reall estate map of the parcel, one can see there is a lot going on on the properties of the cul-de-sac. Remember the land on the parcels are two acress. This is not striclty a residential area. I would assume it is zoned for a few agriculture, business and residential. I can safely assume some owners of the home have developed the land and it has dual use....some of it being business.

 

[BeginnersLuck]

Meh?

Turned off at what point? Surely it was off when they found it. Even if it was fully charged on the 16th, they found it a day and a half later. If the tossing out the window didn't power it off (which it does my Android - just a simple drop usually does), the time lapse surely did. I'm just wondering when it stopped pinging, and if the GPS was turned on - where.

As far as the purse goes, wasn't the shed just on one particular side of the road?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I beleive the phone was found at 7 pm the next day. I'm not sure what time the rain had started, but I know the cells I've had don't fair well when they get wet.

 

[Whisperer]

The huge shed where the bag was has another shed directily across the road from it. It is small and full of junk but you will recognize it by the mattress laying at the entrance.

 

[GrainneDhu]

This journal article on sexual homicides is interesting. One of the findings discussed is that 2/3 of the time the offender is at the location of the victim because he “belongs” there or his routine activities place him there.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...C67On6&sig=AHIEtbTWyJ5tYTXt7m6F3q0OJXAk4rInmw

Who belonged at the end of that road near Sierra's home?

I don't think Sierra was grabbed by a pedo. She looked like a beautiful young woman.

Interesting article, thanks.

I agree that Sierra probably looked too old to appeal to a pedophile in the strict sense of the word (one who is attracted to pre-pubescent children). She may have been appealing to a hebephile (someone attracted to adolescents, roughly from puberty to 17 years old) or to an ordinary sexual predator.

 

[BeginnersLuck]

The huge shed where the bag was has another shed directily across from it. It is small and full of junk but you will recognize it by the mattress laying at the entrance.

Yes, I wonder who disposed of their junk their? When seeing some of the sheds and some of the photos of the searches, there were pictures of mattresses and suitcases in the hills or fields. It just reminded me of places a transient might crash.