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

[sorrell skye]

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.

BBM

IMO, that video is useless, in terms of traffic, which is one of the things the videographer was attempting to capture.

 

[bgmiller5]

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?

Uh, no....

Maybe they were hoping to have enough evidence to not have to inform the public about the car at all.

 

[ozazure]

So it seems like black hooded Jetta's are not super rare?? Like it's not a once off make-do modification or unique way to hot it up.

 

[GrainneDhu]

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?

BBM

Maybe a mechanic who has access to many different cars?

I may be mistaken but I had assumed that the "peace symbol" the teenaged witness reported was actually the Mercedes symbol, which is similar. The Mercedes symbol sticks up at the end of the hood.

And just as I didn't recognise the term "boyfriend jeans" I wouldn't be surprised if a teenager today wasn't aware of the differences between the 60s peace symbol I grew up with and the Mercedes symbol.

 

[bgmiller5]

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.

Just because they didn't inform the public until last week doesn't mean they didn't look at them until last week. See my previous response. I am sure there is a lot more LE isn't telling the public, and they have reasons for that. LE never gives the public every detail or all the evidence, and usually not every detail to the evidence they do let the public see.

 

[houndstooth]

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.

Really one of the most edifying videos for someone to film would be Santa Teresa Blvd on a Friday morning during the alleged timeframe.
What is the rate of traffic? How easy would it be to toss a phone at that time? For an alleged stranger to hide her bag in the location during this same timeframe?
If not, to please explain what would prompt them to return to the area later to leave her bag? Risking unnecessarily being seen a second time?
Obviously, if we are to imagine the perp did it shortly after the phone toss in that same direction, when and where did the clothes come off in a two block stretch? Otherwise, for what reason did he/she leave her packed clothes in her neighborhood at all?

I don't care what color the vehicle this just makes no sense.

 

[houndstooth]

Just because they didn't inform the public until last week doesn't mean they didn't look at them until last week. See my previous response. I am sure there is a lot more LE isn't telling the public, and they have reasons for that. LE never gives the public every detail or all the evidence, and usually not every detail to the evidence they do let the public see.

By that rationale, if there HAD been another girl go "missing" in the meantime, LE might have been in a bit of a pickle though, huh?

For not issuing a warning.

As it happens, it appears LE had reason to think this was an isolated event, since they didn't.
It works both ways, what you reveal when you don't "reveal".

 

[sorrell skye]

Uh, no....

Maybe they were hoping to have enough evidence to not have to inform the public about the car at all.

LE stated, right after the empty handcuffs box & used condoms were found, that they didn't believe they were related to Sierra's disappearance, so I don't think the forensics results on those items had anything to do with when or why LE chose to either examine or to release info from the surveillance tapes.

According to this article about the red Jetta, LE "culled" the video surveillance tapes last week.

The Sheriff's Office announced Monday that detectives culled witness accounts and video surveillance over the past week to come up with the vehicle, described as resembling a red mid-1990s model four-door Volkswagen Jetta with a black hood.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking...office-seeking-red-mid-1990s-jetta-associated

 

[houndstooth]

LE stated, right after the empty handcuffs box & used condoms were found, that they didn't believe they were related to Sierra's disappearance, so I don't think the forensics results on those items had anything to do with when or why LE chose to either examine or to release info from the surveillance tapes.

According to this article about the red Jetta, LE "culled" the video surveillance tapes last week.

The Sheriff's Office announced Monday that detectives culled witness accounts and video surveillance over the past week to come up with the vehicle, described as resembling a red mid-1990s model four-door Volkswagen Jetta with a black hood.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking...office-seeking-red-mid-1990s-jetta-associated

Great news! The first significant find in almost two months!
Eureka! Too bad nobody thought to look at the surveillance tapes and witness account before last week. pfffft.
I can't help but take a little dig at LE and the FBI for this minor oversight, right?

 

[bgmiller5]

LE stated, right after the empty handcuffs box & used condoms were found, that they didn't believe they were related to Sierra's disappearance, so I don't think the forensics results on those items had anything to do with when or why LE chose to either examine or to release info from the surveillance tapes.

According to this article about the red Jetta, LE "culled" the video surveillance tapes last week.

The Sheriff's Office announced Monday that detectives culled witness accounts and video surveillance over the past week to come up with the vehicle, described as resembling a red mid-1990s model four-door Volkswagen Jetta with a black hood.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking...office-seeking-red-mid-1990s-jetta-associated

Exactly. They took all the information they had - witness accounts and videos they obtained from different sources - picked out what information they had that may have matched up ('culled'). Like putting a puzzle together that has a whole lot of missing pieces. It doesn't say they didn't start looking at it until last week.

"Sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza said the car was seen at the time and place where the 15-year-old disappeared, the morning of March 16 near Palm and Dougherty avenues in unincorporated Morgan Hill. He added that surveillance cameras from buses and Morgan Hill businesses also spotted the car near where other evidence in the case was found."

http://www.mercurynews.com/sierra-l...office-seeking-red-mid-1990s-jetta-associated

 

[houndstooth]

Exactly. They took all the information they had - witness accounts and videos they obtained from different sources - picked out what information they had that may have matched up ('culled'). Like putting a puzzle together that has a whole lot of missing pieces. It doesn't say they didn't start looking at it until last week.

"Sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza said the car was seen at the time and place where the 15-year-old disappeared, the morning of March 16 near Palm and Dougherty avenues in unincorporated Morgan Hill. He added that surveillance cameras from buses and Morgan Hill businesses also spotted the car near where other evidence in the case was found."

http://www.mercurynews.com/sierra-l...office-seeking-red-mid-1990s-jetta-associated

Cull usually refers to getting rid of something undesirable.
But, why it was chosen to use in this context I'm not sure.

 

[houndstooth]

Exactly. They took all the information they had - witness accounts and videos they obtained from different sources - picked out what information they had that may have matched up ('culled'). Like putting a puzzle together that has a whole lot of missing pieces. It doesn't say they didn't start looking at it until last week.

"Sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza said the car was seen at the time and place where the 15-year-old disappeared, the morning of March 16 near Palm and Dougherty avenues in unincorporated Morgan Hill. He added that surveillance cameras from buses and Morgan Hill businesses also spotted the car near where other evidence in the case was found."

http://www.mercurynews.com/sierra-l...office-seeking-red-mid-1990s-jetta-associated

Marlene LaMar sure says the darndest things!
She has an "unfortunate" turn of phrase sometimes.

 

[sorrell skye]

Just because they didn't inform the public until last week doesn't mean they didn't look at them until last week. See my previous response. I am sure there is a lot more LE isn't telling the public, and they have reasons for that. LE never gives the public every detail or all the evidence, and usually not every detail to the evidence they do let the public see.

I have no doubt these surveillance tapes were collected shortly after Sierra's disappearance, otherwise they would have probably been unavailable because they would most likely have been taped over. LE hasn't stated when they got around to actually examining the tapes they had in their possession. All we know is that they were "culled" last week. That's some pretty fancy wording by LE, now isn't it? "Culled". It leads one to believe that the tapes had been scrutinized and, for some reason, some cars had been ruled out whereas one in particular had not been. But we don't know WHEN LE examined the tapes, because they haven't said so.

Of course LE doesn't inform the public via the media regarding every detail of an active investigation. LE DOES NOT LIKE IT when their investigations go high profile because they risk losing control of information they would prefer to keep secret. High profile cases are a bane to investigators. I know this for a fact.

Nevertheless, this doesn't cancel out the question of why the info about the red Jetta was released when it was, nor does it explain why this particular red car has been called into question. Is it because it's red and because there have been two other recent unsubstantiated claims of alleged near abductions involving a red car in the area (Willow Glen & Walnut Creek)? God help anyone who drives a red compact car, then!

 

[sorrell skye]

Exactly. They took all the information they had - witness accounts and videos they obtained from different sources - picked out what information they had that may have matched up ('culled'). Like putting a puzzle together that has a whole lot of missing pieces. It doesn't say they didn't start looking at it until last week.

"Sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza said the car was seen at the time and place where the 15-year-old disappeared, the morning of March 16 near Palm and Dougherty avenues in unincorporated Morgan Hill. He added that surveillance cameras from buses and Morgan Hill businesses also spotted the car near where other evidence in the case was found."

http://www.mercurynews.com/sierra-l...office-seeking-red-mid-1990s-jetta-associated

So the pumphouse where the Juicy purse was found "wedged" between a cactus and the building has surveillance cameras? I doubt it. I've looked at several pics of that shack & I haven't seen a surveillance camera in any of the pics.

According to the google maps I've looked at where the cell phone was found, there are no businesses.

I'm wondering what Morgan Hill business surveillance cameras Sgt. Cardoza is talking about?

 

[houndstooth]

So the pumphouse where the Juicy purse was found "wedged" between a cactus and the building has surveillance cameras? I doubt it. I've looked at several pics of that shack & I haven't seen a surveillance camera in any of the pics.

According to the google maps I've looked at where the cell phone was found, there are no businesses.

I'm wondering what Morgan Hill business surveillance cameras Sgt. Cardoza is talking about?

Sorrell,
I've turned this over and over in my mind.
If they withhold revealing at least a still from these tapes (with date/time stamp), how does this hurt a perp?
It doesn't. He/she knows where they were at all times anyway and it makes them think that LE has nothing on them, prompting them to take no action.
If they release a still it allows the public to engage in the hunt for them.
Less chance of escape.

It wouldn't fool a perp to float this story if fudged, just the public.
Know what I mean?

 

[sorrell skye]

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?

I agree - if this info about an alleged predator/abductor targeting teen girls driving a red Jetta wasn't released as soon as LE was aware of it (if LE knew that first week or even the second or third or fourth week) why was it not made public in order to protect other potential victims?

Most likely answer: LE didn't zero in on this random red Jetta until last week, when the leads had grown cold after searching all the percolation ponds and lakes and reservoirs in the area, & they decided it might be a good time to finally get around to looking at those tapes.

ETA: Why the red Jetta has been targeted is anyone's guess, since there were scores of other vehicles that were driven through that same area on the morning of Friday March 16.

 

[sorrell skye]

more articles on the latest news:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/07...a-girl-sierra/

http://www.montereyherald.com/breaki...tta-associated

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/...-sierra-lamar/

Nurse - none of these links seem to be working. Two of them say "Page Not Found" and the other one takes me to the main page of the Monterey Herald, where I can't find any reference to Sierra.

 

[houndstooth]

I agree - if this info about an alleged predator/abductor targeting teen girls driving a red Jetta wasn't released as soon as LE was aware of it (if LE knew that first week or even the second or third or fourth week) why was it not made public in order to protect other potential victims?

Most likely answer: LE didn't zero in on this random red Jetta until last week, when the leads had grown cold after searching all the percolation ponds and lakes and reservoirs in the area, & they decided it might be a good time to finally get around to looking at those tapes.

ETA: Why the red Jetta has been targeted is anyone's guess, since there were scores of other vehicles that were driven through that same area on the morning of Friday March 16.

Alls I knows is showing a facsimile vehicle instead of the "real vehicle" can not have served any furthering of the case, but appears a tactical error.
Help me out here. It does tend to lean toward the impression of one pulled out of a hat for some reason.

 

[sorrell skye]

Alls I knows is showing a facsimile vehicle instead of the "real vehicle" can not have served any furthering of the case, but appears a tactical error.
Help me out here. It does tend to lean toward the impression of one pulled out of a hat for some reason.

It's like I posted in a previous post: 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, IMO, they have no real evidence that this person has anything whatsoever to do with Sierra's disappearance.

If LE had any solid evidence that the red Jetta driver was involved in Sierra's disappearance, the last thing they'd do is broadcast info about the vehicle over the local news.

When LE suspects someone, they prefer to swoop in unannounced, for obvious reasons. LE is NOT in the habit of giving a perp a heads-up-here-we-come-get-outta-Dodge-while-ya-can warning.

 

[bgmiller5]

I agree - if this info about an alleged predator/abductor targeting teen girls driving a red Jetta wasn't released as soon as LE was aware of it (if LE knew that first week or even the second or third or fourth week) why was it not made public in order to protect other potential victims?

Most likely answer: LE didn't zero in on this random red Jetta until last week, when the leads had grown cold after searching all the percolation ponds and lakes and reservoirs in the area, & they decided it might be a good time to finally get around to looking at those tapes.

ETA: Why the red Jetta has been targeted is anyone's guess, since there were scores of other vehicles that were driven through that same area on the morning of Friday March 16.

You guys must be reading the "inside scoop" articles that I am not aware of, because I haven't seen anything about a predator driving around in a red Jetta targeting teen girls. All I've heard was there may be a Jetta connected to Sierra Lamar's disappearance.

Also, I've never EVER heard LE issue a "Look out for so and so the rapist driving around in this kind of car because he's going to get ya" alert. Any BOLO alerts are for apprehension purposes only. They don't induce panic. The closest I've ever heard of such a thing was on the news: "A guy driving a late-model van tried to get a girl in his car at a bus stop in East whatever town." You think there is a day 14 year old girls can let their guard down? I mean, really, dissing LE isn't helping at all. Take what they give you and help or don't say anything at all, that's my motto.