Deceased/Not Found CA - Sierra LaMar, 15, Morgan Hill, 16 March 2012 #14 *A. Garcia-Torres guilty*

[Reannan]

oT
Weirdly enough, when I was growing up 40 years ago, there was this predator that would use different motorcycles and exchange the parts on them so that they looked different for each girl he kidnapped/murdered. So one witness would say the motorcycle had huge handle bars like a chopper, and the next one would say, no, they were normal handle bars, etc. the guy's name was John Norman Collins. My dad knew him when he was a kid.

There have been several attempts at kidnappings of young girls in the general area, but their has been different descriptions of the involved vehicles, and at least two of them are somewhat "customized", i.e the black hood on the red jetta, and the black mercdedes with the peace symbol on the hood. Could this be a guy who has access to vehicles that are in the process of being customized? Could he be "borrowing" cars that don't belong to him to commit his crimes?

 

[Fashionista_Gal]

Call me crazy, but I'd email this to the LE. I don't know why, but if they can track it...you just never know.

http://hondamarketplace.com/showthread.php?t=1764080

Here is a photo of a Jetta with black hood. It is from 1996 so probably not the same owners.

ETA: cluciano we were in the same place at the same time!

The Jetta in that pic is newer than '96. If you google a '96 jetta, the front and back are different. It wasn't until '99 that it had the more rounded front and rear like in that pic. If you google a '98 jetta though, that red jetta that LE shared as an example comes up first in the image search (for me, at least). So the Jetta they would be looking for has to be a '98 or older.

 

[bgmiller5]

This '94 Jetta went on sale in CA on 3/30/12 on CL...I sent the tip into LE. May be something, maybe not.

 

[LadyNorCal]

That's a great find. I think that someone ought to look into that ASAP! There have been several other attempts on girls.

 

[cluciano63]

If this car truly had a black hood (did we figure out if it is hood or roof???) it should be possible to find the driver, no matter what he has done with the car...people would remember someone having such a car just a month and half ago, and even more, if he now has something else. I can't imagine he won't be located...?

 

[Annie1004]

The Jetta in that pic is newer than '96. If you google a '96 jetta, the front and back are different. It wasn't until '99 that it had the more rounded front and rear like in that pic. If you google a '98 jetta though, that red jetta that LE shared as an example comes up first in the image search (for me, at least). So the Jetta they would be looking for has to be a '98 or older.

The VW guys are talking about the subject Jetta as a mk3 (third generation manufactured between jan 1992 and feb 1999) that would put the car model in the early-late nineties. Cardoza said the example car "wasn't 100%, but close." The camera images are more than likely not that sharp to positively identify the year of the car. LE won't be any more specific and is counting on a public tip to identify the specific car without divulging more details. iMOO.

 

[LadyNorCal]

It was mentioned tonight in the articles that the concom and the handcuffs are not related to Sierra's disappearance. That is a great relief.

 

[houndstooth]

If this car truly had a black hood (did we figure out if it is hood or roof???) it should be possible to find the driver, no matter what he has done with the car...people would remember someone having such a car just a month and half ago, and even more, if he now has something else. I can't imagine he won't be located...?

You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment on it!

Remember this was revealed because LE just can't seem to find this rare as hen's teeth car supposedly.

CCTV in color?

I noticed the VW enthusiasts were stating the obvious. How come LE didn't publish a still?
They do in bank robberies for pity's sake.

 

[cluciano63]

You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment on it!

Remember this was revealed because LE just can't seem to find this rare as hen's teeth car supposedly.

CCTV in color?

I noticed the VW enthusiasts were stating the obvious. How come LE didn't publish a still?
They do in bank robberies for pity's sake.

But if he had changed it before LE knew about it, they would have trouble finding it, especially if it was not "factory" as far as its appearance. Now, with the public knowing, I would think someone would know who had/has a car like this one, if it is as unusual as some of these photos...I've never seen one like it. JMO

 

[houndstooth]

But if he had changed it before LE knew about it, they would have trouble finding it, especially if it was not "factory" as far as its appearance. Now, with the public knowing, I would think someone would know who had/has a car like this one, if it is as unusual as some of these photos...I've never seen one like it. JMO

That's what I mean, Clu.
If LE knew about this car way back, why wouldn't you ask the public for the very reason you said?

And if they haven't known about this car since way back how come?

I'm afraid LE looks like they've created a bit of conundrum for themselves.

 

[sorrell skye]

IMO, an owner of a mid-90s VW isn't going to spend the money on paying a body shop to replace something as simple as a hood. Hoods are relatively easy to remove and to replace. LE might contact body shops, just to cover all the bases. If LE truly believes this might be a lead, they would also contact salvage yards, but even that might not pan out, since the owner might have paid cash for the black hood.

Personally, I doubt this red VW is related to Sierra's disappearance. But the release of the info regarding surveillance tape imagery of it has certainly inspired renewed confidence & media coverage of the investigation, hasn't it? Prior to this *lead*, all we heard about recently were jewelry fund-raisers & self defense workshop fund-raisers. Can't have folks losing confidence in the locally elected officials - especially 7 1/2 weeks into a high profile missing persons investigation, now can we?

Question: if LE has footage of this vehicle on multiple surveillance tapes, why haven't those images been released in an attempt to help locate the vehicle & it's owner/driver? Seems to me that would be a good way to help locate this car, rather than a media pic of a car that looks "similar".

Answer: because LE doesn't want to open themselves up to liability by broadcasting the actual surveillance images of whomever was driving that red Jetta, because they have no real evidence that this person has anything whatsoever to do with Sierra's disappearance.

That red Jetta certainly wasn't the only vehicle that was driven in that vicinity on the morning of Friday March 16.

 

[cluciano63]

That's what I mean, Clu.
If LE knew about this car way back, why wouldn't you ask the public for the very reason you said?

And if they haven't known about this car since way back how come?

I'm afraid LE looks like they've created a bit of conundrum for themselves.

I am not sure I believe they have known about it for "weeks" as I believe they said...if so, they were foolish to hold back so long...

As it is I am feeling scared for Sierra right now...(if she is alive...) as surely this guy has or will soon hear his car description and feel the pressure...whether LE finds him or not, he may think they are on to him.

 

[sorrell skye]

Exactly!

If this really were a suspect car and they knew it, why wouldn't they have alerted the public for the possibility they would strike again, if they thought it was involved?

Which is why until I hear more, this story don't really register that far over on the excitement meter, for me.
I am more curious why they did this in a written statment that the media STILL didn't report acurately.

Why not a presser? Did that one station have an exclusive with Cardoza and if so, why?

The lack of fanfare by LE in it's presentation of so portentious a clue was very unusual. Do they not have full confidence in it or what?

I totally agree - if this were information LE wanted to spread far & wide, why didn't they hold a PC that included multiple media outlets in order to ensure that everyone & God & His dog knew about it?

 

[houndstooth]

I am not sure I believe they have known about it for "weeks" as I believe they said...if so, they were foolish to hold back so long...

As it is I am feeling scared for Sierra right now...(if she is alive...) as surely this guy has or will soon hear his car description and feel the pressure...whether LE finds him or not, he may think they are on to him.

If getting eyewitness accounts of vehicles in the area and access to every camera in the first week wasn't done then I'd be very surprised.

For Sierra and for any other potential victims since, why wouldn't this have been released right off the bat?

 

[bgmiller5]

It sounded like they were possibly waiting to see if the condoms and handcuff box panned out before saying anything about the car. Maybe they didn't want to tip off someone until evidence was verified one way or the other. Now they're saying "If you've seen someone drive this car, let us know." I don't think it makes a difference if they told the public about the car now or later - they're trying to get as much evidence as they can on one person, not a vehicle.

 

[sorrell skye]

Reporter: "We should assume that you didn't see them throwing out a cell phone or putting her purse out in a field or anything like that - that wasn't caught on surveillance tape?"

Cardoza (looking, IMO, noticeably uncomfortable with this question): "Uhhh... N-, we're not gonna comment on that, No."

http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/sierra-lamar-case-sgt-jose-cardoza-talks-about/vG94Q/

In other words, the unspoken answer to the reporter's question seems to be, IMO, "No - we don't have surveillance footage of the driver of the red Jetta throwing out a cell phone or putting her purse out in a field".

Just keepin' it real, folks. Just keepin' it real.

 

[houndstooth]

Reporter: "We should assume that you didn't see them throwing out a cell phone or putting her purse out in a field or anything like that - that wasn't caught on surveillance tape?"

Cardoza (looking, IMO, noticeably uncomfortable with this question): "Uhhh... N-, we're not gonna comment on that, No."

http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/sierra-lamar-case-sgt-jose-cardoza-talks-about/vG94Q/

In other words, the unspoken answer to the reporter's question seems to be, IMO, "No - we don't have surveillance footage of the driver of the red Jetta throwing out a cell phone or putting her purse out in a field".

Just keepin' it real, folks. Just keepin' it real.

So, if they don't have video of the car throwing out evidence, and they don't have video or an eyewitness of someone putting her in a car, then what do they have but a car, like dozens of others during the moring commute at an intersection where they already said she didn't reach, and to Santa Teresa, where it's a main thoroughfare?

 

[sorrell skye]

It sounded like they were possibly waiting to see if the condoms and handcuff box panned out before saying anything about the car. Maybe they didn't want to tip off someone until evidence was verified one way or the other. Now they're saying "If you've seen someone drive this car, let us know." I don't think it makes a difference if they told the public about the car now or later - they're trying to get as much evidence as they can on one person, not a vehicle.

So since the empty handcuff box & the used condoms have been ruled out forensically, ergo a driver of a red mid-1990s Jetta with a black hood, who just happened to be driving in that area, must be involved?

IMO, it DOES make a difference as to when LE chose to inform the public about this vehicle. If surveillance tapes weren't looked at until last week (6 weeks into Sierra's disappearance), well, that says a whole helluva lot about where the focus of the investigation has been prior to this point, and it ain't been on surveilance tapes of random vehicles, IMO.

This is what I call grasping at straws because the forensic results haven't provided any substantial leads.

Why don't we just pin a tail on a donkey and see where it leads?

 

[GrainneDhu]

Someone videotaped the walk Sierra would have to make on her way to the bus stop. It's a long walk, I didn't see one car during the video.

http://youtu.be/S5icjeP8FF8

Interesting video.

She said she was filming at around 3 pm on a Saturday. I wish she could have filmed around 7:15 am on a school day because traffic patterns can vary by day, particularly between business days and weekends.

I notice that the shoulder is mostly sand/dirt but it does support many clumps of vegetation and it makes an audible crunch as she walks on it, so tracking conditions weren't too bad, particularly on a cooler day. Lots of little nooks and crannies in that footing for scent particles to get stuck in.

It took her 5 minutes and 35 seconds to make that walk. Tack on another 2 minutes for Sierra to get from her house to the road the video was filmed on and it's easy to see why Sierra might still be at home at 7:11 am; she had plenty of time to walk to the bus stop in time for the scheduled 7:24 am pickup.

As a rural resident in a much more rural area than that, I wouldn't hesitate to walk that route but I suppose to people used to urban/suburban environments it might seem isolated and therefore threatening.

I laud the videographer's respect for the privacy of the people living on Sierra's street but a bad part of me wishes she would have filmed the cul-de-sac.

The rest of me wants to club that bad part of me like a baby seal.

 

[sorrell skye]

So, if they don't have video of the car throwing out evidence, and they don't have video or an eyewitness of someone putting her in a car, then what do they have but a car, like dozens of others during the moring commute at an intersection where they already said she didn't reach, and to Santa Teresa, where it's a main thoroughfare?

Exactly! The media interviewed Marlene @ the intersection the very next day after Sierra's disappearance (Saturday) when she was passing out fliers with RG, and even on a weekend there was considerable traffic. I expect there was even more traffic on a Monday-Friday work day.

That so-called red Jetta with a black hood was NOT the only car to pass through that intersection on the morning of Friday March 16.