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

[sorrell skye]

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.

:waitasec:

I think that's one of the points that's been put forward tonight - that if LE knew about an abductor driving a red VW, then why wasn't the public warned about it, especially since there have been 2 other alleged incidents, one in Willow Glen and one in Walnut Creek, both supposedly involving red vehicles, according to the alleged victims.

I don't think anyone has been "dissing" LE.

I think we've been questioning. I will always question until I receive answers that satisfy my questions.

 

[yodle]

What if Sierra managed to take a photo through the windshield before the phone was tossed? That might have shown a red/black hood combination.

Is it possible to retrieve deleted photos from a cell phone? Perhaps the analysis retrieved something that hadn't been seen before.

 

[bgmiller5]

No one is dissing LE? Haha, ok.

 

[yodle]

When I was a teenager in California there was a serial kidnapper/murderer on the loose (can't remember his name, it was a pretty famous case - he ended up being caught (or killed?) at the Canadian border after letting a victim go). He was trolling for victims at malls, I worked at one, and in that case LE DID come speak to all of us with a kind of 'he's coming to get ya' speech that scared the crap out of all of us. At that point in the case he had already gotten two or three young women and they seemed unable to catch him. Of course the techniques and technology are way better now...

 

[sorrell skye]

Acceptance of whatever *information* is provided is something that my beloved late father taught me to never to do.

If this means that I question, then I will question.

If this means that I question an authority figure, or ask for more information, then that's what I'll do.

I think this is what critical thinkers do, until they are provided with enough information in order to arrive at a conclusion that makes sense to them personally.

 

[bgmiller5]

Acceptance of whatever *information* is provided is something that my beloved late father taught me to never to do.

If this means that I question, then I will question.

If this means that I question an authority figure, then that's what I'll do.

I think this is what people who critically think do, until they are provided with enough information in order to arrive at a conclusion that makes sense to them personally.

I don't have a problem with questioning authority, but WS isn't authority and doesn't have those answers; it's usually a place to brainstorm. If you don't agree that there may be a red Jetta connected, then that is fine. But I don't think it's a bad idea for people to brainstorm around it just in case there's no big conspiracy revolving around it.

I doubt you would call LE and ask them the previous questions since, overall, they aren't the public's business. <modsnip>

 

[LisaB]

I could be very very wrong but...

I will not be surprised if this is solved and it turns out that the car had stolen tags on it.

In fact, that car may not have been registered for several years. Kept in some guy's backyard or barn and not on the roads at all, usually.

Then when he wants to scratch an itch, he steals some plates (so easy a DOG can do it), slaps them on it and he's set to go.

If I'm correct, then I hope he has family or friends or associates who know he has a red mid-90s Jetta and have just a few little doubts about the guy.

If the above is true, maybe that's why it took so long for the info to be released to the public. Perhaps LE was busy checking the mid-90s registered Jettas and came up with nothing.

That makes a LOT of sense. LE has been kind of ... well ... beaten up over their inability to crack the case and (apparent) inability to find the perpetrator. I'm sure they would have done whatever they could to find the guy themselves before releasing this information and asking the public to help. It would have helped their image a lot, as this is a nationwide case (at least). I hope that someone recognizes the vehicle and turns int he owner, who for all we know, could be female. The condoms and cuffs being unrelated reopens that possibility.

 

[LisaB]

WAY long shot here...
What if the car was put in a shop for repairs? One of the guys from the shop could have "borrowed" it, then returned it afterward to be painted and sold/returned to owner. I'm specifically thinking about the kind of shop that refurbishes trade-ins for resale/auction, so nobody would really notice. Someone may call and say they sold or traded a car like this recently. And, as with the mural on the van mentioned above, repainting the hood is a quick fix. The driver would not necessarily be "associated" with the car by way of paperwork at all.

 

[LisaB]

I deleted my last post, because the car with the peace symbol painted on the hood, is a different abduction attempt. I think the two stories were previously posted together, or something, and it was confusing.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-boyle-heights-attempted-kidnapping,0,3501571.story

That might explain the black hood? The peace sign would be WAY more unique and likely to be recognized. I don't know why they'd use black paint unless it was simply handy.

ETA: Oops, I thought you meant a red car with a peace sign painted on the hood was used in another abduction attempt. Now I see that the "peace sign" was not PAINTED on the hood, but was a hood ornament (i.e. Mercedes). My bad.

 

[LisaB]

If it is a teen, I wonder if the parents will try to "help" him or her? Or whether they will turn their child in. I agree it sounds like what a teen or young adult would drive. I have one (teen/young adult, not Jetta) and her cars have both been hand-me-downs.

 

[MonkeyMae]

FWIW I saw a post on Twitter last night saying the car was spotted in a Target parking lot in Watsonville near a known gang hangout. This person has many tweets about her abduction being gang related. She states the car was pulled over by LE and was swarmed with cops...but she also states she saw this car in the parking lot a few weeks ago with out of state tags.

Take it with a grain of salt considering the source.

 

[TxLady2]

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?

Maybe. IIRC, she lived on a cul de sac. Could be that neighbors saw a car with this description on that street that morning, knew it didn't belong in that neighborhood, and called it in. Then someone else spotted a car with that description in the area where the purse... or was it the cell phone... was found. LE put 2 and 2 together and thought that was just too much of a coincidence. Then they started looking at security videos and the car shows up in one or two of them.... voila! could be a connection.
The car may or may not be important, but where this car was spotted just may be. Maybe someone else will come forward and say they saw a car like that near a lake or river or some abandoned building or somewhere a body could be hidden.
Who knows? It's worth a shot. Wouldn't be the first time LE has chased leads that turned out to be nothing related to a case.

 

[Cottontop]

Good Morning.

I just wanted to comment on the speculation about LE not looking at the tapes until recently.

LE in this area are professional and so are the FBI, who were involved in this case early.

Morgan Hill is not New York. It's not like LE have hundreds of cases to compete with this one. This is a HUGE case for these detectives and it can be guaranteed that every single detail that could be looked at, was looked at.

There is absolutely nothing that has been mentioned on this site that they haven't already done, thought of, or looked in to. The detectives assigned to this case have obsessed over it way more than even we, as web sleuths, have.

All of the video surveillance was, IMO, gathered in the first week or so of the investigation. Video surveillance will also include businesses that are in the area surrounding. For example, gas stations. There are some within a normal distance from SL house. There are also million dollar homes in the area that probably have video surveillance. In addition, they gathered video from buses in the area. All of that takes time to coordinate and if at some point they saw a theme of "red Jetta", then they decided it needed to be looked at. By now, all that they could do in their official capacity has been exhausted and they are asking for the public's help.

Now, it's very simple. If the person who owns the car is innocent, they contact police and talk to them about being in Morgan Hill on March 16.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I am so glad that the police are stepping up the pace on this case.

I definitely believe LE has witnesses and tapes showing the red Jetta in the area around the time of Sierra's disappearance and in areas where evidence has been tossed imo. This is a very good lead especially since the owner of the red Jetta has not come forth on their own to tell LE they were in the area that morning when Sierra was abducted. LE even knows the vehicle they are looking for is a red Jetta with a black hood.

This sure wont be the first time they have put out a generic picture of the same model and make of a car they are wanting to find so I know everyone will be looking out for that color and car description.

Imo, why LE doesnt put out the actual photo of the vehicle is they dont want it known exactly where the car was located at the time the camera took the footage.If this pans out and turns out to be connected to Sierra's abduction then if there is a trial they will use that footage and location against the perp.

I have felt from minute one that someone was in the area that morning and nabbed Sierra and took off with her.

I hope this is the break they need. Everyone in the US needs to be on the lookout for this vehicle because he could be in another state by now.

IMO

 

[NCSleuth]

Probably not related, but there is a 1996 Red Jetta listed for sale about 60 miles away. Has a white hood.

 

[cluciano63]

I think that LE MUST have DNA and/or fingerprints on Sierra's belongings that they cannot identify, otherwise how could they say for sure that the other items (handcuffs, condom) were not related??

 

[concentric]

Just my opinion/thoughts, but I'm really feeling this a.m. that LE has an all-points bulletin out, both here in the states, that would include NM, and over the Mexican border. I posited earlier that someone could have a destination over the border.

When I posted that 2006 article here about a 15 yr. old girl being abducted into prostitution, the locale was Albuquerque, NM.

Interesting that one of our posters here, Mr. + +, said early on that Albuqueque NM would be his guess as to where a transfer could take place.

Another point I want to make is this:

Some predators are very good at car/truck assemblage/painting.

Think of Gary Ridgeway (Green River). He was in the business of painting trucks.

 

[houndstooth]

No one is dissing LE? Haha, ok.

My "dig" was not that I thought they had just gotton around to looking at this evidence last week.
It's that they wanted the public to THINK they had just gotton around to it last week.

Why? Because they neglected to mention it before now.

I was just playing along.

 

[concentric]

Another thought on my mind this a.m. was:

In the 2006 article I posted, the teenagers were hidden in dog cages, wooden drawers under beds in motel rooms, etc.

If the perp. stopped at a motel for example, with Sierra still alive, what would he use to conceal her? Would it be a large suitcase with roller wheels he would place in the trunk, or a large duffel bag?

Just thinking.

 

[nursebeeme]

My "dig" was not that I thought they had just gotton around to looking at this evidence last week.
It's that they wanted the public to THINK they had just gotton around to it last week.

Why? Because they neglected to mention it before now.

I was just playing along.

bbm: the article/interview with LE said it took weeks of piecing the video and interviews together

(ie: not a quick process)