GA - Katherine Janness, 40, fatally stabbed and dog killed, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, 28 July 2021 #2

[Quell]

I think it is okay for me to post this.. It's a recording of Emma's dad speaking for 8 minutes at a small gathering over the weekend. I am so glad Emma (and Katie) has/have him to advocate on her behalf.
This killer can't be caught soon enough.

Of note --
He tells how on the night this happened , Emma was held in the back of a police car for three and a half hours at the scene. This was in addition to the six hours she was at the police station.
"The FBI is involved. They have brought in agents, the entire Atlanta FBI is involved" (I doubt this is literal or that every single agent is on this case but maybe I'm wrong.. Or maybe just that each department within the ATL FBI has a representative on it)
They have not heard from the Mayor or anyone from the city.
He is strongly encouraging people NOT to go to the park at night at all. Realizes this is harsh but says that until the city can make it safe for everyone, don't go.
Talks about how it is a public place ,that tax dollars go to the park and they don't have working cameras and can't ensure it is safe. Points out that there are cameras everywhere .. Everywhere they can make money.
In telling people not to go to the park, he reiterates that it is not safe and that when we find out what they did to Katie, "what they did to her is ridiculous"

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This is from the vigil on 7/30

 

[Quell]

I think it is okay for me to post this.. It's a recording of Emma's dad speaking for 8 minutes at a small gathering over the weekend. I am so glad Emma (and Katie) has/have him to advocate on her behalf.
This killer can't be caught soon enough.

Of note --
He tells how on the night this happened , Emma was held in the back of a police car for three and a half hours at the scene. This was in addition to the six hours she was at the police station.
"The FBI is involved. They have brought in agents, the entire Atlanta FBI is involved" (I doubt this is literal or that every single agent is on this case but maybe I'm wrong.. Or maybe just that each department within the ATL FBI has a representative on it)
They have not heard from the Mayor or anyone from the city.
He is strongly encouraging people NOT to go to the park at night at all. Realizes this is harsh but says that until the city can make it safe for everyone, don't go.
Talks about how it is a public place ,that tax dollars go to the park and they don't have working cameras and can't ensure it is safe. Points out that there are cameras everywhere .. Everywhere they can make money.
In telling people not to go to the park, he reiterates that it is not safe and that when we find out what they did to Katie, "what they did to her is ridiculous"

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This is from the vigil on 7/29

 

[LotusPawprint]

This is from the vigil on 7/30

Thank you I edited my post. I don't recall seeing it, definitely don't remember hearing about Emma being half in police car for hours after and the comment about 'entire ' atl FBI being involved.

 

[nao]

I read many head lines.. most grusome ...most brutal...most etc.,i think they must be inexperiaced...

.but for blood.... What about clean up...that was never mentioned.. I listen to scanners usually they call clean up

 

[PrairieWind]

The writer’s perspective is predictable. Obviously, there’s truth there. However, this crime is unusually brutal even by LE’s admission. Atlantans are jaded about crime but when its own equally jaded LE uses out-of-the-norm adjectives to describe a crime scene, we sit up and notice. The fact the dog was also stabbed to death, the haunting photograph of Katie and Bowie crossing the rainbow crosswalk bridging a street (echoes of “rainbow bridge”) just before being murdered together, the fact that Emma feared for Katie’s safety and ended up being the one who discovered their bodies, the male passerby audibly freaking out in the background upon discovering the bodies as Emma placed the 911 call, the tight timeline, the bloody brazenness of the killer acting in the public heart of Atlanta—a popular city/residential district that has activity even in the wee hours — yet still somehow escaping unnoticed, the fact the only 9 cameras worked in a 187-acre park that is so popular that my husband and I spent 20 minutes stuck in a park traffic jam and winding through residential streets trying to find just one nearby parking space yesterday— all of these facts would compel the public’s attention regardless of the victim’s demographic. Or should.

I think you are totally misunderstanding the frustration of the writer.

 

[Shellinaya]

The writer’s perspective is predictable. Obviously, there’s truth there. However, this crime is unusually brutal even by LE’s admission. Atlantans are jaded about crime but when its own equally jaded LE uses out-of-the-norm adjectives to describe a crime scene, we sit up and notice. The fact the dog was also stabbed to death, the haunting photograph of Katie and Bowie crossing the rainbow crosswalk bridging a street (echoes of “rainbow bridge”) just before being murdered together, the fact that Emma feared for Katie’s safety and ended up being the one who discovered their bodies, the male passerby audibly freaking out in the background upon discovering the bodies as Emma placed the 911 call, the tight timeline, the bloody brazenness of the killer acting in the public heart of Atlanta—a popular city/residential district that has activity even in the wee hours — yet still somehow escaping unnoticed, the fact the only 9 cameras worked in a 187-acre park that is so popular that my husband and I spent 20 minutes stuck in a park traffic jam and winding through residential streets trying to find just one nearby parking space yesterday— all of these facts would compel the public’s attention regardless of the victim’s demographic. Or should.

It could be argued that most or many murders in Atlanta, or in America, fit many of those descriptions. In any case I thought the article made a few good points. We still don't know what made LE make those comments about "uniqueness". I would imagine every murder scene is unique, horrifying and terrible in their own ways.

It's true this one has affected me more than the others, maybe because I can identify with her more. The dog, the walk in the park at night with a podcast on, thinking you are safe when you aren't. That could be the story of most of my dog walking. When I lived in another city before the ATL area I walked my dog exclusively at night, quite late, without a care in the world. Now I think that was probably crazy. Many nights I would imagine someone was following me and tell myself, "don't be silly, it's just your imagination...." so in that regard, it seems close to home for me.

 

[Shellinaya]

I would still like to know at what time did Emma try to text/call Katie? In the interview I saw, I don't think she gave any times. It helps to pin down the time of the attack and I think that is very relevant in this case.

Emma said in her first interview that it was about an hour after she saw her, which she said had been about 11:30 pm, so people extrapolated it would have been around 12:30 am that she got home and started calling and texting.

 

[Shellinaya]

I have always thought that to activate Find My IPhone you need to have the phone in your possession. Which I wonder if she misspoke and saw her location? I also thought that you would need to be signed in onto an iCloud account to turn it on or off. I mean if someone wanted to share their location that’s easily done, but find my iPhone’s intent is to prevent theft not for tracking.

I have an iphone and also thought Find My Phone only works with your own phone because you have to have an Apple ID for it to work. Of course Emma could have had Katie's ID and iCloud info but why would she have? Why would they be tracking each other to begin with? I wonder if it was another app where you can track someone if they want you to do that.

 

[lollygag]

I have an iphone and also thought Find My Phone only works with your own phone because you have to have an Apple ID for it to work. Of course Emma could have had Katie's ID and iCloud info but why would she have? Why would they be tracking each other to begin with? I wonder if it was another app where you can track someone if they want you to do that.

You can track your iPhone from your iPad or iMac as well- as long as Emma had the log in, she could do it from another one of Katie’s devices. I have my partners log in and vice versa.

 

[DobbyRN]

I have an iphone and also thought Find My Phone only works with your own phone because you have to have an Apple ID for it to work. Of course Emma could have had Katie's ID and iCloud info but why would she have? Why would they be tracking each other to begin with? I wonder if it was another app where you can track someone if they want you to do that.

I heard Emma say in an interview that she had Katie's ID and iCloud info but I don't have a link to the interview.

 

[Lewiston]

I think you are totally misunderstanding the frustration of the writer.

I disagree, but you're welcome to conclude that about me. Everyone has an opinion. Everything, even murders, get politicized these days. No problem. I'm just here to discuss Katie and Bowie's murders and, hopefully, help keep the public conversation alive until the murderer (s) are caught. Carry on....

 

[BGGS]

There's a way you can enable permissions so that you can be located by those you give permission to. Ive family that do it. It's kinda like find my phone but different. So that realtime, they would be able to see wherever the phone/person is.

Yes, this. My daughter and her boyfriend used to use this when, for example, she’d be driving for 6 hours to visit him. That way he could make sure nothing happened to her along the way.

 

[Lewiston]

It could be argued that most or many murders in Atlanta, or in America, fit many of those descriptions. In any case I thought the article made a few good points. We still don't know what made LE make those comments about "uniqueness". I would imagine every murder scene is unique, horrifying and terrible in their own ways.

It's true this one has affected me more than the others, maybe because I can identify with her more. The dog, the walk in the park at night with a podcast on, thinking you are safe when you aren't. That could be the story of most of my dog walking. When I lived in another city before the ATL area I walked my dog exclusively at night, quite late, without a care in the world. Now I think that was probably crazy. Many nights I would imagine someone was following me and tell myself, "don't be silly, it's just your imagination...." so in that regard, it seems close to home for me.

In a perfect world, every crime would be treated equally. That's not reality. In the 1980's and early 1990's I did 12-hour volunteer shifts assisting rape victims at a public hospital and quit after witnessing too many poor women having to sit with ejaculate in their mouths for hours, waiting to be treated, while insured (wealthier) women were immediately treated and cleaned up. I couldn't accept that the world is unfair and felt I was supporting that unfairness. Now I wonder if I should have just stayed to hold the women's hands through it.

The problem with this case is the public doesn't have all the facts of this case and there's been wild speculation. I read and heard some very disturbing things about the "uniqueness" of this case that could end up being untrue. If true, there's good reason the APD asked the FBI to assist with this case within 24 hours and instructed people to walk in groups of three or four if entering the park at night. If untrue, the author is correct and Atlanta's leadership is far less enlightened than I give it credit for.

 

[mickey2942]

Yes, this. My daughter and her boyfriend used to use this when, for example, she’d be driving for 6 hours to visit him. That way he could make sure nothing happened to her along the way.

Yes, it surprises me how many young couples have this app on their phone, so they can see where the other person is at any given point in time.

 

[Flascga]

I would expect an update in this case within the next week or so. They'll either have a suspect or will release more images of Katie and a timeline of her path along with additional images of a suspect. If you triangulate the park to major intersections APD/FBI should be able to review cameras within an approximate time frame if the suspect left in a vehicle. Also there isn't a timestamp on the image of someone who appears to be Katie walking north on Piedmont Rd - that's important to investigators. Emma mentioned Katie was flying to visit her mom, I'd assume they have confirmed that there was a return flight as well and not a one-way ticket? Why would a video of the jogger not be released and instead an image? It's not the same jogger. My gut is someone VERY CLOSE to her is involved.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

The more I think about this the more I think it was someone who knew the park VERY well. They knew there weren't cameras where the crime was committed, they knew it would be dark under the trees/behind the stone entrance. They knew how to get out undetected. Could it be someone that does/did maintenance for the park... Maybe landscaping or even security at events held there... or a technology worker in the area. I don't think this was a random homeless person, most homeless people in the area are very frail and not capable of such a crime. I truly believe this person appears normal. Definitely not personal they would have solved this by now, not homeless - being from ATL I just don't for 2 seconds think that's the case here. It's someone skilled, somewhat intelligent, and able to fly under the radar in the community. I also think this person isn't one to flee but probably still in the area. He's probably so sick he watched everything unfold - them being discovered, police arriving, the vigil etc.

They may have a criminal record but in Georgia it has to be a felony in order to get your DNA on file. It's possible though if they do have DNA they can trace it to ancestry or 23 and me. That may just take a bit. The more days that go by without an update is making me think they don't have any leads. I hope I'm wrong and that Katie and Bowie get justice!

**also is it possible that the killer could've had a change of clothes with him or hidden in the woods?

Interesting thoughts. Your last point about the killer having a change of clothes stashed somewhere in the park reminds me of when people will hide bottles of alcohol in the ground before Lollapalooza and other festivals. I’m sure it would be easy enough to dig a hole and put clothes in it and cover it up for later use. Obviously we don’t know whether or not this is the case with Katie and Bowie’s killer but IMO it’s a possibility. At least it would explain how the killer was able to slip out unnoticed.

 

[Lewiston]

For what it's worth -

Atlanta's 1979-1981 child murders terrorized Atlanta's Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms when she was a 9-year-old child. She supported opening that case for further investigation and seems to be acutely aware that some victims' murder investigations are prioritized over others. In this instance, she told citizens there is no evidence of a serial murder or hate crime. Even if time proves this to be a serial killing, it's still too early to characterize it as such (murders of three or more people taking place over more than a month with a significant "cooling off" period between murders), so Mayor Bottoms is right. If this turns out to be a serial killing, I fully expect the same criticism at play during the 1979-1981 Atlanta serial killings -- that the city didn't want to call attention to the murders out of fear of inciting public panic and damaging its huge convention revenue -- will be applied here, whether warranted or not. The convention industry is just crawling back from months of being shut down during the pandemic.

 

[Lore Listener]

<modsnip - quoted post removed>

I am a runner and this is absolutely true. Super interesting, and I admit I hadn't even considered this as a way to determine whether there are 1 or 2 runners. I was going by the clothes/shoes. Which is weird because I definitely notice other runner's habits and quirks when I'm running!

Running Gait: What It Is, How to Analyze, and How to Improve
Why your arm swing is so important to running and how to improve it

 

[BGGS]

I am a runner and this is absolutely true. Super interesting, and I admit I hadn't even considered this as a way to determine whether there are 1 or 2 runners. I was going by the clothes/shoes. Which is weird because I definitely notice other runner's habits

This is so interesting! So can you or one of the other runners here figure out if there were two different joggers, or one, just by looking at the video/stills?

 

[Quell]

I would expect an update in this case within the next week or so. They'll either have a suspect or will release more images of Katie and a timeline of her path along with additional images of a suspect. If you triangulate the park to major intersections APD/FBI should be able to review cameras within an approximate time frame if the suspect left in a vehicle. Also there isn't a timestamp on the image of someone who appears to be Katie walking north on Piedmont Rd - that's important to investigators. Emma mentioned Katie was flying to visit her mom, I'd assume they have confirmed that there was a return flight as well and not a one-way ticket? Why would a video of the jogger not be released and instead an image? It's not the same jogger. My gut is someone VERY CLOSE to her is involved.

A video of a jogger WAS released. It was subsequently deleted (or at least I have not been able to locate it again). It was of the jogger headed down 10th toward Monroe. He turns left into the Charles Allen Gate. I found it curious because the gait and stride were somewhat different than those of the jogger in picture in the three stills later released whom some claim is the same jogger. I'm no running *expert* but am pretty certain runners have signature postures, holding patterns, heel/toe strikes, gaits and strides. And these two were/are different IMO

I am a runner and this is absolutely true. Super interesting, and I admit I hadn't even considered this as a way to determine whether there are 1 or 2 runners. I was going by the clothes/shoes. Which is weird because I definitely notice other runner's habits and quirks when I'm running!

Running Gait: What It Is, How to Analyze, and How to Improve
Why your arm swing is so important to running and how to improve it

ohhhhh thank you for this!
will spend some time absorbing.