OMG. So much more new info to read! Just trying to catch up is imposing! A second arrest!?! Yes that's how far behind I am! But for good reason! My daughter and granddaughter has come back to the nest and I got to keep "my precious" until Sat evening! And she's not about to let me look at anything BESIDES her!! Which is absolutely what I did all week. Look at her and love on her and kiss that sweet little face the whole time! BUT imagine my surprise when last night while visiting with my grandmother and catching her up on recent news, including the first arrest in Tara's case I found out another had been arrested! So I've been trying all day to catch up and still do not even know if her body has been found yet.... still catching up on here to find out! Anyway! I have gotten to where they are searching a pecan orchard still. I just have to say, as a pecan farmer and my family owning two orchards, you HAVE to keep it up. otherwise the grass will take over everything. This pecan orchard from the photos I've seen, looks well kept up.
Someone had to have noticed at some point while keeping it up, something being off. Not saying the owner had anything at all to do with this crime. Just that someone wasn't paying much attention to the finer things going on.
A few things to point out (that has probably been clarified and I haven't reached that part yet so ignore these statements if they have been):
Many farmer's own land in several surrounding counties. But all of the property is under the same company name. A good friend of mine has a tonnnnnnn of land and always has different crops going on. From olives to blueberries to tobacco to cotton to pecans. All require different levels of care.
Most larger orchards do use tree shakers to shake the pecans loose and use machines to pick up and sort out the pecans. We used to do that. Now we just let them fall and spend the majority of the harvest time either picking up on hands and knees and pecan picker uppers and a small push pecan picker upper.
It's dirty work. Some also hire people to pick up for them and get paid by the day. Then you have to always be on guard to thieves trying to steal your pecans too. In a good night, they can clean you completely out. Seriously.
So back to my original statement... after this many years, someone had to have ignored a lot of clues. Down here, coyotes are horrid too. They will kill anything and dig up everything. So nothing stays buried for long. Fences don't keep the coyotes out either.
If they picked up like we did and do, you would eventually come across something.
Kids partying in someone's orchard??? ONLY if there were NO other homes or farms around for miles and miles. Cause farmer's watch out for each other's land.
We will shoot first and ask questions later. Seriously. My papa always said there were 3 things you don't mess with, a person's family, their dogs and their land. Those three things will get you killed.
So if someone WAS partying out there... it was known by the owner and ignored.
My family's land is KNOWN to be very protected and people know we will shoot them if we catch them on it. Catching them can be hard though honestly if you aren't there the majority of the time. We have cops they drive through our property a few times a day due to some recent incidents and if they see our vehicles they will quickly announce themselves just to be safe.
I can't tell you how often my papa and daddy and now we grandchildren notice even the smallest things. We investigate smoke ALWAYS. You could loose 20 yrs worth of pecans and pines if a fire gets out. Another reason why neighbor farmer's watch out for anything out of the ordinary. It's their land that can go up too. If the dog barks we investigate it. If there's a smell in the air we investigate it. If there are a bunch of tire tracks we investigate it and put up cameras. People get arrested.
I have personally escorted people off our property with a gun that was fishing in our pond and attempting to hunt. Locals know the farms that are watched closely and only the idiots and dangerous people decide to intrude. So you have to take those things seriously.
Now mind you.... there are many many many over grown unkept pecan orchards covered in spanish moss down here and it breaks my heart. This orchard doesn't look like one of those kinds.
When you personally mow and crawl over the ground of a pecan orchard.... you know the ground. Right now we have 3 trees lost to lightning and it will take 20 years to get those trees replaced properly. You tend to love your trees. EVERY one of them when it is your income including the ground under them. Past two years have been extremely terrible for many pecan farmers as well as us. Nothing worth a crap falling or nothing falling at all. You tend to hate a heavy fall as much as no fall honestly.
But it all goes back to the orchard itself. You know your orchard. But I wouldn't care if they searched mine at all.
To be completely honest, years back when we cut all our timber we were all worried that they might unearth something from a crime or anything like that! Because people are dirty and back then it was THICK in the pines. And dangerous too. Thankfully the only thing found was my prized buck that had crawled away into a thicket and until then was just a "Big Fish" story! Worst part was one of the guys on the crew took the big rack home with them. BUT HEY at least there was finally evidence of my big buck!
I don't like for deer to get away and me and daddy had drove on the back hoe all through that thicket looking for him until like 3 am. We had literally drove right by him and didn't even know till later.
So to say a pecan orchard is possibly where she has been found is beyond shocking. A thicket or something would have made more sense.
I have to wonder if either of the suspects worked at that farm at some point as a young teen looking for some extra cash for the weekend. Or if they knew someone who did.
I dunno..... Just happy but shocked! Still got to catch up but wanted to put down my observations before I forgot them! Back to reading!! Only on page 29!
