GA GA - Becky Minish, 19, Augusta, 17 March 1987

[Sleuthster]

Good find, Sleuthster.

I did a side by side with Becky. Wish we had more pictures of her -- with her head tilted like that, it's hard to get a good perspective on her chin and nose.

Thank you Carbuff!
I think there are a lot of similarities down to the tilt of the head.

We've seen over the past decade stories of girls disappearing walking down the road and found years (even decades) later alive. I don't see evidence of any violence at that car (ie blood, struggle) noted on the case. Sounds like she locked the car and started walking because of the flat tire and then someone tried to break into and hot wire the car.

 

[Roselvr]

This is the only other pics I have of her

 

[Sleuthster]

In an Augusta Chronical interview with her brother, he notes that both their parents died in their 50's. This may be why there are not a lot of pics. He's holding the portrait pic. This is the photo Roselvr posted above. Sad story.

http://old.chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2005/02/25/met_444776.shtml

 

[carbuff]

Thank you Carbuff!
I think there are a lot of similarities down to the tilt of the head.

We've seen over the past decade stories of girls disappearing walking down the road and found years (even decades) later alive. I don't see evidence of any violence at that car (ie blood, struggle) noted on the case. Sounds like she locked the car and started walking because of the flat tire and then someone tried to break into and hot wire the car.

It sounds like they never considered any other option than violence and never really looked for her. Unless it's a case where LE has more evidence that they haven't made public, I don't see any reason to think she was in the car when it was damaged. Maybe she walked away, ran into somebody who said, "Hey, you're a good looking woman, you want to come dance at my nightclub?"

The way she tilts her head is interesting. That's the kind of mannerism it's hard to change because the person usually isn't even aware she's doing it.

 

[sloane7777]

I went to hs with Becky. Remember this like it was yesterday. Instead, tomorrow will be 26 years! Sad for her family.

So what is your take on this , I dont see any facial resemblance between the two, except the nose if these are really bad pics, maybe ....and becky wouldnt be living in Arkansas circumstances are really off?

 

[betterthaniusedtobe]

So what is your take on this , I dont see any facial resemblance between the two, except the nose if these are really bad pics, maybe ....and becky wouldnt be living in Arkansas circumstances are really off?

It doesn't look like Becky to me at all. Someone commented above about the tilt of her head in the picture. I think that is just the way the photographer had her pose. I don't recall that being a mannerism of hers, so to speak. Hth.

 

[scriptgirl]

How the hell do you pry a car door open? How do you smash a steering column? That takes time. No one noticed? Maybe there were 2 perps. What kind of people went to that KFC? Where any truckers regulars? Was the KFC in a crappy area? was the car swept for evidence? How do you lose case evidence? Makes no sense.

 

[carbuff]

You pry a car door open with a small crowbar, which is also what you'd use on the steering wheel. A tire iron usually, or a carpenter's pry bar. The kind of car thief who patrols the roads scavenging abandoned vehicles might leave this kind of damage.

Back when anti-theft interlocking systems were just starting to appear, a thief could sometimes disable it by damaging the steering column. It sounds to me like she left it locked and somebody pried it open and tried to damage the interlock so they could steal it, but failed.

 

[scriptgirl]

I think all this was done to get Becky out of the car, ie. the prying of the car door. But I still think that it is impossible that wouldn't have attracted notice. It would take time to pry open a car door, right?

 

[Roselvr]

How the hell do you pry a car door open? How do you smash a steering column? That takes time. No one noticed? Maybe there were 2 perps. What kind of people went to that KFC? Where any truckers regulars? Was the KFC in a crappy area? was the car swept for evidence? How do you lose case evidence? Makes no sense.

BBM

You would not believe how many cases where the records are gone. Some had been damaged in storage by water; mold. Some were also purged by accident such as Christopher Abyata. It happens unfortunately.

 

[carbuff]

Yeah, lots of ways records can get lost or destroyed.

One of the LE offices in my area lost all their records when the courthouse burned down.

In the central US, many courthouses and police stations lost important records in the Mississippi floods a few years back. Vermont courthouses flooded after Hurricane Irene.

 

[scriptgirl]

Aren't they supposed to put records on computer now?

 

[Meryl12]

The missing person Becky Annette Minish seems to have got a flat tyre, presumably she had to walk for assistance (in Match 17, 1987, people did not have cell phones).
Whatever happened to her, happened whilst she was walking for help for the flat tyre.
Other people broke into her car while it was on the side of the highway, breaking open the door probably with a tyre lever and smashing the steering column.

 

[scriptgirl]

How do you know she got flat tire? I think she was taken from the car while still in it. Did she have any enemies, anyone with an unrequited crush? Bitter ex, creepy coworkers?

 

[carbuff]

Aren't they supposed to put records on computer now?

I was talking about older records. Many LE agencies haven't had the resources or budget to migrate old records into the new systems, and when they do, there's seldom any validation to make sure information was entered correctly.

 

[carbuff]

How do you know she got flat tire? I think she was taken from the car while still in it. Did she have any enemies, anyone with an unrequited crush? Bitter ex, creepy coworkers?

The circumstances say the car had a flat when it was found: "One tire was flat, the door had been pried open and the steering column was smashed."

I suppose it could have gone flat while the car was sitting there, but it's a reasonable inference that she might have had a flat while driving, pulled over, and then either left the car willingly to get help for the tire or was taken from it forcibly.

 

[scriptgirl]

I think what happened to her is what happened to Cindy Lee Mellin. I think someone slashed her tire when she was at work or just about to leave and she got stranded and was attacked in the car. OR she was taken and the tire slashed after the fact to throw people off. It doesn't seem like a lot of work was put into this case.

 

[carbuff]

I was thinking that somebody loosened the valve stem, followed her until it went flat, and then offered her a ride. The vandalism could easily have happened later, while the empty car was sitting beside the road.

 

[scriptgirl]

It could of, but I think it happened when she was in the car. Is LE still looking into it?

 

[carbuff]

It doesn't sound like they ever looked into it.

If the point was to break into the car and kidnap her, I can't think of a reason why they'd want to damage the steering wheel. Even slashing the tire after they already had her would seem weird.