CO - Jessica Ridgeway, 10, Westminster, 5 Oct 2012 - #11

[katydid23]

I do not know if I feel Jessica was targeted (watched - stalked - observed) prior to that morning. To me it feels more like she presented as the perfect victim for a predator who in in the area.

A sort of combination of bad guy living or working in the area meets perfect victim who happens by at the exact wrong time presenting the perfect storm of events for this perp.

I agree. This sad case reminds me of Sierra Lamar, who was also abducted while walking alone to school in the morning. We all speculated that she was stalked or groomed by someone she knew---but in the end it was a random, opportunity abduction. She was happened upon in a very vulnerable moment by a sick and twisted monster. :rose:

 

[GrainneDhu]

I am not convinced that this predator had to know Jessica..or her family or her routine.

We have seen many of these type of pedophilia kidnappings and most of them where the child was abducted while walking to or from school did not know their kidnapper. Just like the Cody Wy 11 year old didnt. Imo, people like this seize upon the opportunity when they see it. They already have the lust and perversion for young children so it is always in the back of their mind and they are constantly looking for those opportunities.

All he had to do is see Jessica walking alone that day with no one else around.
It doesnt take but seconds to pull a child into a vehicle and leave with them. He didnt have to know anything about her. She was a young child the age that pedophiles like.

And everytime this seems to happen no one hears or sees a thing. The child is just gone......vanished without a trace until their bodies are found or never found.

ETA: If he did not know Jessica he would have no empathy for her and that is why he dismembered the body. It didnt bother him because imo he has no link to her at all. She was just a victim that got caught in his evil web.

I agree with all of the above.

For the bolded part, I think there was some study that showed that in some high percentage of non-family child abductions there were actually witnesses who did not realise they were seeing something wrong. They were going about their day, thinking about whatever they think about and they simply do not notice what is happening in front of them.

 

[pinto]

A couple of thoughts, not totally caught up on thread, so apologize if repeats

1. This might have been an out-of-the-way street, but it was near an elementary school, so the perp knew there would be kids around in the morning.

2. He wouldn't have wanted to be TOO close to school, as the concentration of cars and people increases.

3. JR was expecting a ride to school, right? Perhaps she got in the car because she thought it was the dad picking her up.

4. On that day, it had stopped precipitating (at least where I live) and the sun was coming out, by 7 am. When I woke up at 6, it was still snowing.

5. I agree that he might have forgotten about the backpack and dropped it off in Superior because that's where he happened to be. I also agree he could have put it there purposefully. It makes a difference as to what kind of person they are looking for ... more random, impulsive crime = he forgot about it; more organized crime = he placed it on purpose. LE seems to be fairly certain that it was a deliberate act, therefore they must have some information about the backpack (its contents, more specifically) to be publicizing that.

 

[izzyblizzy]

While I usually agree with profilers and the general perp profiles for these cases, I want to point out something that ocurred to me.

I know that these profiles are usually based on past cases and statistics over many years. The one thing that I have noticed in the last 10-20 years is how much people and generations have changed. It seems as if perps are becoming younger and violent crimes are not as unheard of from even the youth of today. It seems to me that a lot of people walking around from the ages of 10-35 are more or less desensitized to violence...unlike that of 30+ years ago. Our youth today grows up with shows like CSI, Identification Discovery, violent video games, and many gorey (sp?) stories can be read anywhere on the internet. Access to violence seems to be everywhere today.

It all makes me wonder how and why we really don't see the profiling of perps changing much over the years. Are we pidgeon-holing ourselves when we aren't looking at trends from the last 20 years?

This was a random thought I had while reading and wanted to share...maybe see what you all think?

Totally agree. The profiles all kind of sound the same, and the official FBI profile they released in this case is actually kinda of worthless because it is so broad. Just watch for "unusual" behaviour. I actually was kind of joking with my husband because I took him on a surprise birthday weekend the weekend she disappeared "You are a suspect because you left town suddenly Saturday morning!" (not a joking matter I realize, but it does seem like the criteria is so broad)!

But who knows maybe they are on to something and just giving the public something to do while they are gathering evidence on things they know way more about than we do!

 

[eileenhawkeye]

This I completely agree with. All the "experts" keep repeating things we have heard since the '70's. Never taking into account the 12 year old girl that kills the 10 year old girl, the gun toting teens that kill for pure thrill of it or gang initiation, the recently released criminal that wants payback, the 20 year olds the bludgeon and rip apart a cheating lover, the angry neighbor that kills because your dog barks, and so on.

I understand we have become accustomed to having profiles, but I too, think they are pigeon-holing on some cases.

All of that stuff happened in prior decades. There was just no 24/7 media or national media websites with dozens of "slots" for headlines.

 

[tlcya]

no, we do not know that any of her remains are missing or ever were missing. We also do not know that she was dismembered... only that her body was found 'not intact'

Thank you. I had wondered if I had missed some sort of official word as to the exact nature of the state of remains. I was away for three days over the weekend.

So all we have is still the official cryptic wording regarding them "not intact"

Unless we want to (and I don't) take the word of unnamed sources being bandied about by various MSM sites.

 

[Lava]

The only one I can think of is Luka Magnotta, but his victim was not a child.

When I lived in LA (2010-11) there were at least 2 cases of body parts being discovered in parks, not really well hidden. I am pretty sure they caught the people and they were isolated incidents, but I was SHOCKED that it seemed so common.

 

[ZhaZhaHa]

And my theory on the body placement and all of that; I think he wanted it to be found, just like the backpack. He knew that this exact spot was where teens hang out and would visit. I don't think he knew the garbage service would be called out there, I think he wanted teens out there looking for "ghosts" to find her. If he didn't want her found, he could have just driven 10 yards further up the road and she wouldn't have been found. I don't know about other states, but in Colorado when you see a pull-off, you know there's a reason for it. It's a place where people frequently pull over and get out for a photo opportunity or a hiking trail, etc.

And after reading some theories on the other thread, I think it is possible he is a photographer. I would be curious to know how visible she was from the road. If he placed her there and stood back to photograph the area, could she be seen at all in the photograph? Or is she hidden? It may be part of his weirdness, like he wants to save pictures of the scenes (yea, I know this was a Criminal Minds episode or two...)

 

[LisaB]

Just had a thought (please forgive me if its not an original one; I've been skimming lately) with regard to the backpack and why it was placed where it was.

The location where it was left seems odd, unless it was left there after the crime took place.

What if it all happened like this:

1) Jessica taken, killed, and left (because I refuse to word it any grislier than that)
2) perp is on his way home, wrapped up in the emotions from what he just did when he spots Jessicas backpack still in his vehicle

He has to pull over and leave the bag, because he can't have it in his vehicle when he gets home - he just didn't really notice it before because his focus was on Jessica.

She was abducted on Friday morning and the bag, placed in plain view, was not found for several days. According to a neighbor, he reported it the FIRST time he saw it, and is certain it was not there previously.

Mom saw her out the door. Mom did not watch her walk down the street. That quote by MSM is incorrect. Mom clearly said in the interview that she saw her out the door.

I wish the reporter who misquoted mom would correct his mistake, because it continues to confuse people. And, I wish I'd never quoted him.

Someone stated that you could see almost to the park from Jessica's doorway. I think this is where the confusion came in. Mom COULD have seen her walking most of the way, but has stated clearly that she DIDN'T.

 

[NC Analyzer]

Respectfully I disagree that this perp had a history of sexually molesting children known to him. Pedophiles who molest children known to them usually do love the child in a very sick way and they believe that the child also loves them. Jerry Sandusky would be the current poster boy for this type; he had a history of jealousy and grief when one of his victims would end the relationship. And it is clear that he feels massively betrayed by his victims because he talked himself into believing he was helping them.

When such pedophiles kill, it is usually out of panic because they feel threatened with exposure. They understand that society as a whole deems their actions to be sick and wrong but they are internally convinced they are helping the child(ren) they love.

I can't see any way in which someone could believe that snatching a child off the street is helping her. I think the perp in this case was looking for a victim he could control and, sadly, Jessica fit his profile.

I've been involved in many cases of child molestation. We can profile these guys extensively but the fact remains that if they are seeking gratification they will find it. A pedophile often escalates to murder. Just because the early victims are known to him doesn't preclude him from moving on to stranger abductions.

 

[GrainneDhu]

BBM - This was my original thought, which is why I would love to know what leaves LE to believe it was done intentionally.

If you look at the map of the neighbourhood where the backpack was found, it's not really a place you'd be if you were going somewhere else. It's a typical subdivision with lots of curvy streets, cul de sacs and no major roadways going through the middle.

 

[pinto]

Oh, and on no. 3 above ... I wonder what kind of car/truck the dad drives, or were at their house and looked possibly similar enough to what perp was driving for her to be confused. If it was a Subaru, it's CO, as I said in another thread, 50/50 chance. An SUV of some sort, another 25% chance. Or most likely, IMO, a van ... a household with young children is likely to have a minivan.

Perp car didn't have to be a minivan, though. Girls of that age aren't normally noticing exactly what kind of car or truck something is, more likely just the color. (Case in point: the WY abduction witnesses described vehicle as a white sedan, but in fact it was a white SUV.)

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Re the opinions of missing & murdered children garnering this type of attention:

Jessica was dismembered. That in & of itself would have media swarming like flies all over this story. Doesn't matter what she looked like, her age, her status - her body was in pieces. I'd still like to know if any part of her was missing & if so - what?

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Did le release an actual picture of her found backpack? They're sitting pretty right on evidence they've collected. This case has me creeped out & I almost wish I didn't know about it. I'm already spooked enough to let my son walk home from school & we live just 10 houses away!

 

[brighidin]

There actually hasn't been confirmation of dismemberment. Please see nursebeeme's post below:

Re the opinions of missing & murdered children garnering this type of attention:

Jessica was dismembered. That in & of itself would have media swarming like flies all over this story. Doesn't matter what she looked like, her age, her status - her body was in pieces. I'd still like to know if any part of her was missing & if so - what?

no, we do not know that any of her remains are missing or ever were missing. We also do not know that she was dismembered... only that her body was found 'not intact'

ETA: I haen't seen a pic of the backpack. Anyone else?

 

[nursebeeme]

Moderator note: If anyone has a problem with a post hit the ALERT button in the right upper corner of the post and a moderator can review it for you. Do not use snark when posting; always address the post and not the postER.:seeya:

just in case anyone missed this ^^^^^^^^^
:nurse:

 

[SurfieTX]

Did le release an actual picture of her found backpack? They're sitting pretty right on evidence they've collected. This case has me creeped out & I almost wish I didn't know about it. I'm already spooked enough to let my son walk home from school & we live just 10 houses away!

No. Very early on they said they would not be releasing a picture of the backpack or commenting on its contents.

 

[NC Analyzer]

I know it appears to some that all child abductions receive national attention, but I can assure you that many do not! While there may be a bit of local coverage when a child is abducted, very few actually reach MSM.

 

[tezi]

BBM - This was my original thought, which is why I would love to know what leaves LE to believe it was done intentionally.

I think there was some sort of message left with the backpack.

JMO, IMO, :moo:, and all other disclaimers.

 

[Sleuths4Me]

Wouldnt W 108th be considered a main road?

You can say because it leads to the housing development but I say no since it doesn't take you anywhere but the rec center and houses...maybe a few businesses down that road but no stores, gas stations, etc...no reason to go down that road unless you are going home or the rec...it doesn't go through to another main area where one would shop, get gas, etc...a road less traveled then say 104th/Church Ranch or 120th - those are main roads...not a lot going on down 108th.