Crime scene tape and Haleigh's house

[dunlurken]

Maybe Ronald himself is allowing LE to keep it. It is really the only thing that makes sense to me. If he had even a monthly contract, the house would legally be his as long as the rent was paid up to date. Most rent is due on the first of the month and she went missing on the 10th. He would retain control until the end of 30 days unless the contract was for six months or a year.

Ron has no rights. He's a renter. The owner can say who comes and goes unless LE has taken over the crime scene, which is what I suspect has happened.

ETA: Why does Ron and Misty choose to live in a tent, when friends and neighbors would surely open their homes to them?

 

[Bobbisangel]

According to Capt. Dick Schauland, LE doesn't know "what the crime is" at this point. Interesting. This means there is an alternative theory.


Capt. Dick Schauland:

"Somewhere down the line there's a crime. We don't know what it is at this point. We don't know if it's abduction-- what the crime is-- but somewhere down the line there's a crime. And so we've got to--we have to preserve the crime scene until we determine what it is we need from the crime scene and that'll depend upon what information is, uh, what information is turned up."

http://www.clipsyndicate.com/publish/video/846128/week_two_in_the_search_for_haleigh

That doesn't make much sense. Regardless of what type of crime it was the whole house should be gone over and LE should take what they believe is evidence. If they found blood somewhere in the house but didn't think there had been a murder they wouldn't just leave the blood there until it was confirmed that a murder had actually taken place! They would take samples of the blood.

It sounds to me like they aren't sure of what they are doing and so are keeping the house locked up as a crime scene until Haleigh is found. I've never ever heard of LE keeping a house as a crime scene for this long. If they do a good job going over the house and collecting what may be evidence then they won't have missed anything. I wonder if the family is even questioning this? I can understand Ron not wanting to go back into the house. That is where his daughter disappeared from. I don't know if I could go back either.

 

[winterrose]

I thought about that,he already said I'm not going back in there ,probably if she's found or not,so if he's paid up for the month,just let them keep it till they're done.It's not like the landlord can rent it right now with a child just abducted from it.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Ron has no rights. He's a renter. The owner can say who comes and goes unless LE has taken over the crime scene, which is what I suspect has happened.

They do have rights in Florida:

http://www.coj.net/Departments/Envi...r+Affairs/Floridas+landlord+tenant+rights.htm

 

[Bobbisangel]

DNA testing makes plenty of sense. But something is fishy here.

They don't need the house to send DNA away for testing. It would be sent to a lab somewhere.

 

[elle1919]

But it has been said that LE will not let them back in there. So I don't think Ron is just letting them keep it.

Right...I would be curious to know if Ron has asked for the home back...I mean in my opinion there is another child involved and even if just for the sake of providing normalcy for Jr I would go back in. Maybe Ronald is afraid to ask for the home back, I mean technically he has rights....right? He hasn't been named a suspect or person of interest. I also understand that him staying in the tent keeps the media attention on him and I can't fault him for that.

 

[elle1919]

They don't need the house to send DNA away for testing. It would be sent to a lab somewhere.

Of course....but what I mean is ....has enough time passed for extensive DNA testing to be back yet?

 

[tehcloser]

We really do not know how well LE has gone over it....there have been no reports. They may have already scoured every inch...and did not like what it turned up, and since they have not officially called this a murder investigation...there just are not saying anything. Unofficially, they may know it's a murder scene..KWIM?

 

[LeLe1953]

Also, that they can say in the same sentence...That door is always locked ...we never use it....then...the only time we use it is to take out the vacuum and vacuum the car, or take out the garbage....which is it, we never use it or we sometimes use it....very confusing.

And that door would be the one that would make sense to carry grocries in or take trash out. They must have used the back door.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

i found this wee bit of info on holding a scene for what it's worth... written by a 20+ yr police service veteran:

On the average, can you tell me how long access to a crime scene is restricted? I mean, what might be the longest that a crime scene unit would have an area taped off?

Good question, it varies on the complexity and seriousness of the crime itself. It could go for hours, days, weeks, to months if its a high profile murder, i.e. terrorist attack etc. If they go the search warrant route, they HAVE to stay until they are throughly satisfied. Once you leave the property you would have to get entirely new search warrant with new reasons for why you need it (Judges frown on that), so once you are on the scene, you stay until you are done. Sometimes we'll just sit around doing nothing on the scene when we "think" we're done, waiting to see if an idea pops into our heads about something we missed.

An "average" homicide scene will probably be 3-6 hours depending on resources and how big the scene. Hope it helped.

http://noveljourney.blogspot.com/2008/10/crime-scene-facts-from-rs-writing.html

According to this...it would make this place akin to a terrorist crime scene! We know that isn't the case. It does point out how abnormal this action is tho.

 

[nursebeeme]

one of the officals explained it has a crime has happened and until they find the crime they will not release it they will keep for as long as needed
i found it he says it about 2:15 in the video
http://www.clipsyndicate.com/publish/video/846128

bumping your answer, RJA... good find

 

[Indigo]

That doesn't make much sense. Regardless of what type of crime it was the whole house should be gone over and LE should take what they believe is evidence. If they found blood somewhere in the house but didn't think there had been a murder they wouldn't just leave the blood there until it was confirmed that a murder had actually taken place! They would take samples of the blood.

It sounds to me like they aren't sure of what they are doing and so are keeping the house locked up as a crime scene until Haleigh is found. I've never ever heard of LE keeping a house as a crime scene for this long. If they do a good job going over the house and collecting what may be evidence then they won't have missed anything. I wonder if the family is even questioning this? I can understand Ron not wanting to go back into the house. That is where his daughter disappeared from. I don't know if I could go back either.

Maybe they're banking on finding Haleigh first. If she's alive, they know they don't need to find a murder weapon. If deceased, they may be able to determine COD, which would lead to the murder weapon. Without Haleigh, they have no idea what kind of evidence they're looking for. It could be anything.

 

[Daphne69]

Okay, so if RC gave them consent to search, do they have that consent until they leave or until RC says that's enough? If RC gave them consent to search, what can they collect from the scene? Anything they deem relevant? What about other illegal items that may or may not be around?

 

[elle1919]

Okay, so if RC gave them consent to search, do they have that consent until they leave or until RC says that's enough? If RC gave them consent to search, what can they collect from the scene? Anything they deem relevant? What about other illegal items that may or may not be around?

Exactly...do they need a search warrant or can they just take and sample whatever they please? That seems kind of crazy. These people do have rights and if it is ever found out that someone inside the family may have had something to do with whatever happened to Haleigh it seems like nothing they obtained would be admissable because of the pretenses it was obtained under. whew, color me confused.

 

[dunlurken]

They do have rights in Florida:

http://www.coj.net/Departments/Envi...r+Affairs/Floridas+landlord+tenant+rights.htm

I will disagree. When LE takes over the home, no one has any rights.

 

[ColdDayIn]

Also, that they can say in the same sentence...That door is always locked ...we never use it....then...the only time we use it is to take out the vacuum and vacuum the car, or take out the garbage....which is it, we never use it or we sometimes use it....very confusing.

I have to say, I don't find anything suspicious about him saying that about the door. Our back door stays locked, yet my husband checks the lock every night. You never know if one of the kids has turned the lock on it (my son is 3, so I def. could see a 5 yr old doing it). And, I could see myself saying the same thing about our back door if we were in that situation being interviewed and highly stressed. We never use our back door in the winter. The only time we use it is to go out to the shed in the back....See, that is pretty much what he said about his door, but honestly I would say that about ours, meaning that we don't use the door as you would a front door.

 

[aprilshowers]

You know guys, I never thought about this ... until this thread. It IS strange, that LE is keeping them from the home so long. I do believe that many families would be upset by now, and want to be able to get back in, to have some normalcy for their other child.

I guess I don't understand R not wanting to return, why? Even if Haleigh was taken from there, you would think he'd want to be close to the last place she was. I know I would. Actually, I'd want to look at things, around the bedroom, everywhere, to see if "I" find something unusual or amiss.

It IS pretty crummy, that they've had to stay in a tent, especially if they're not a POI yet, doesn't seem fair. I did notice though, that somebody let them use their RV, is that correct? That's MUCH better than a tent!

JMO

 

[dunlurken]

You know guys, I never thought about this ... until this thread. It IS strange, that LE is keeping them from the home so long. I do believe that many families would be upset by now, and want to be able to get back in, to have some normalcy for their other child.

I guess I don't understand R not wanting to return, why? Even if Haleigh was taken from there, you would think he'd want to be close to the last place she was. I know I would. Actually, I'd want to look at things, around the bedroom, everywhere, to see if "I" find something unusual or amiss.

It IS pretty crummy, that they've had to stay in a tent, especially if they're not a POI yet, doesn't seem fair. I did notice though, that somebody let them use their RV, is that correct? That's MUCH better than a tent!

JMO

They do not have to stay in a tent. It's their choice. Both Misty and Ron have family members who would gladly take them, from what I've heard. Is JR also sleeping in the tent? If so, then these people have no scruples. Where is junior?

 

[LaLaw2000]

Exactly...do they need a search warrant or can they just take and sample whatever they please? That seems kind of crazy. These people do have rights and if it is ever found out that someone inside the family may have had something to do with whatever happened to Haleigh it seems like nothing they obtained would be admissable because of the pretenses it was obtained under. whew, color me confused.

Initially, if Ronald gave LE consent to search, then LE could search. If LE asked if they could take a picture of Haleigh, cassettes, and tape, then LE did so and with Ronald's blessing. Ronald would have signed an acknowledgement of consent to search. As for the gun listed in the incident report; LE could take that gun because there was a recorded threat from Ronald to kill anyone he thought to have taken his daughter. That would have also been for Ronald's protection as well.

When LE started taking items other than what was mentioned in the incident report, I would bet anything there was a warrant so as to protect the chain of custody of any evidence found. JMO

 

[lady_bugs]

I mean, to me this seems like a big deal. Is it or no. I mean haven't they dusted for prints, and did all the things that normally LE would do. I just don't understand and was hoping someone could tell me if this has been done before or why they would be holding on to it this long.

I do know they kept Michelle Young's home for 13 days.