IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #1

[LisaB]

8 and 12? If it was the 12 year old meeting someone she met online for example no way was she taking an 8 year old with her. The only reason would likely be a romance in her eyes and who wants someone with them for that.(snip)

The girls are 8 and 10. While it is POSSIBLE a ten year old had an internet romance, I would not consider it likely.

 

[nursebeeme]

Evansdale police are not seeking additional search assistance from the general public Monday.

The department thanks the community for it's overwhelming support and at this point are suspending additional searches for now. When that changes, they will contact local media outlets and again ask for assistance from the public.

http://www.kwwl.com/story/19023342/evansdale-police-searching-for-two-missing-girls

 

[sreshowtime]

IMO- some one 'big & tall' could certainly hustle those bikes to that spot, parked close by, with the victims contained, say on Arbutus,working under an adrenaline rush...if they knew the area well
I swear it looks as if someone wanted it thought that the girls went into the water along there.
It has been my experience that so many people don't pay attention to what is going on around them...so did someone miss seeing something vital??
Gosh where are these poor girls?? Who has them , who took them?!

 

[Shelby2]

Very interesting! Thank you. And weird. Because it doesn't seem like Lyric's mother was looking for dates in July 2011. :waitasec:

According to the photos posted on Lyric's mother Facebook page, there are photos of her mother and her husband all through out 2011 ... including photos of their 14th wedding anniversary posted in September of 2011.

Lyric's FB profile says, "Lyric started using Zoosk" in July 2011 - right around the same time she friended her mother on FB. I don't think Lyric was looking for dates for her mom. (That doesn't look like a woman who is open to dating. :waitasec: Who knows.)

Lyric is 10 years old. I'm NOT suggesting that FB or zoosk is involved in this case whatsoever... but "Facebook requires individuals to be at least 13 years old before they can create an account." And you have to 18 to use Zoosk.

Whoever created that Zoosk profile had access to her FB account login and password. I hope someone was monitoring Lyric's internet use.

On her Mom's FB under 'general info' it says "interested in:men"
It is common to see this on FB, you can choose married, engaged, in a relationship, or interested in men or women.

 

[LisaB]

This sure doesn't look good. I hope that family or police are scouring the girl's facebook contacts, emails and phone contacts to find out if there was an arrangement to meet someone that claimed to be a 12 or 14 year old boy, or maybe just a discussion about what plans they had that day.

You have to be AT LEAST 13 and be attending HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE to join Facebook. These two were not even in Middle School/Jr. High yet, they were way under the age limit and still in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. There are REASONS Facebook has age restrictions.

 

[Storm]

IMO- some one 'big & tall' could certainly hustle those bikes to that spot, parked close by, with the victims contained, say on Arbutus,working under an adrenaline rush...if they knew the area well
I swear it looks as if someone wanted it thought that the girls went into the water along there.
It has been my experience that so many people don't pay attention to what is going on around them...so did someone miss seeing something vital??
Gosh where are these poor girls?? Who has them , who took them?!

I have a son who has to buy big and tall shirts, coats, sweaters etc and I really doubt he could handle two bikes and keep victims contained. 6'4" and 190 lbs just isn't that big. A really big tall person may be impaired by extra weight. If there is an athletic tall person around that small town, folks would probably know who it is..IMO ^i^

 

[auntiejoe]

The GM will be on JVM tonight on HLN.

 

[Lbugz15]

The Demoines Register .com July 15 9:34 am quote from Misty Cook Morrissey ....“Sometimes when you think about it, you wonder if they’re dead somewhere but you try to push those thoughts out of your mind,” she said.
Does anyone find that a mother of a missing child saying this is odd? My daughter told me of of the quote . I had to search its not any where else! Sorry Im having trouble posting the link!http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/...ies-hold-out-hope-for-two-missing-iowa-girls/

 

[Ollipop]

So if someone was going to ditch the bikes there, how would they get to that spot with 2 bikes? Can they drive into those trees? Drive around the trees?

A couple of grown ups would be noticed riding a kids bike but what if older kids rode them there then ditched them. Did anyone see any other bike riders that day?

That part is difficult, I agree. You could drive there, but you'd have to drive on the trail and approach a blind corner - no guarantee that someone isn't going to come around the corner - walking, jogging, or riding - at any moment. The wooded area there, though not thick and not large, surrounds a lift/pump station, and has a very secluded (even locals hardly notice it) driveway where a vehicle could be parked unnoticed. You could get to that spot in the trail in about a minute, although dragging two bikes or children would slow you down.

It is conceivable the girls were lured around that fence and into those woods. I have seen trash back there implying that people do go back there, and there is rough lake access in there, but like I said, any noise or movement would be easily noticed from the trail. A vehicle on that trail, in that spot, would be very odd, very risky.

I was merely thinking that if I wanted to "throw off the scent," I might take the bikes to the lake, but it really isn't likely. I'm worried that some other, possibly unrelated-to-the-event kids took those bikes there, and are now afraid to speak up. Also, the for the girls to get there from where they were last seen, pick that exact spot, and then disappear, in that timeframe, is really fairly tight. I live a block away, my kids wouldn't dream of heading to that spot. When we walk it, we pick up our pace there, because the threat of a fast-moving bike coming around the corner is just so imminently threatening. When we walk there at night, we pick up our pace because its dark, tight, and spooky right there for about 30 steps.

 

[hollye]

Directly across the lake, close enough to almost yell to someone standing there, is a park, with a dock, playground, shelter, etc. Kids play there all the time, there are docks. I have never seen someone swimming. There rarely is a boat on the lake.

For the record, for the entirety of the trail around the lake, there are only about 3 spots, totaling about 50 feet, where you could not be seen from the highway and/or residences on the lake. The bikes were found in the most-sheltered-from-view spot on that trail. It is the least-likely spot to stop to play, as there is no access off the trail due to the fences.

In my eyes, if I were ditching the bikes, or looking for a spot to rummage through a bag I'd found/stolen without being watched, that is the spot on the trail to do so. I'm not convinced the girls took the bikes there. I'm not convinced the girls or anyone who may have taken them threw the bag over - it could very well have been someone who happened upon it afterwards if it was just laying by the bikes.

Also, the woods between the trail and Arbutus are only barely thick enough to even call "woods." At most points, you can see completely through to the other side. Not everywhere, and it is most dense down by the trail there. That spot on the trail is plain spooky and quiet and sort of claustrophobic, even during the day, except for the constant hum of highway traffic almost immediately overhead.

Can you please look at my map and direct me to locations of where the bikes and bag were found? Are the markers that I have fairly accurate as to the locations? If not, can you direct me to where I should put the markers? Thanks!

Glad to have locals for perspective!


Hollye

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wishbone]

The WCF Courier's live twitter feed. There is an interview with Elizabeth's parents on there:
http://wcfcourier.com/twitter-updat...tml_7502e29a-ce9a-11e1-80bf-0019bb2963f4.html

It also says there is no public search using volunteers today. Why not!?! So many people turned out on the weekend, and I'm sure one of yesterday's articles posted here mentioned that donations of food and water were pouring in.

Authorities decided at 7 p.m. another full-scale search with the public’s help won’t be held today since the vast majority of people are volunteers, including Evansdale firefighters coordinating the search effort, and need to go back to work.

“Officers are thinking let’s wait-and-see what comes up. Right now there’s nothing more to check, we’ve already covered about 12 square miles,” said Capt. Rick Abben with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office.

However, Abben said law enforcement officials will continue their around-the-clock investigation and search for the children.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Offi...f-Search-for-Two-Missing-Girls-162593266.html

 

[nursebeeme]

Also, concerning how and where the girls had been spotted:

Elizabeth lives directly behind Lederman's Big and Tall store. I believe that the media used that as a reference point rather than the address of her home as more people would know where that is - its not the only business there, but one of the oldest, and has a huge sign. I'm assuming that the g'mother last seeing them at home and them "last being spotted near Lederman's" are reporting the same thing.

The trail the bikes were found on passes withing two blocks of that location, across a fairly busy (for a small town, anyway) street. To get from Elizabeth's home, to the trail, and then to the lake, could easily be done in less than 10 minutes. The trail travels south, past a closed school, past a skatepark, across another fairly busy road (the skatepark AND the local police station are both on that road - the park adjacent to the trail, the LE station less than a mile away). The trail continues for one block through residential backyards, shielded somewhat by trees, then crosses Arbutus and again is sheltered fairly well until it comes to the fence at the highway, where it turns and continues, completely open to view, until it disappears behind the "wooded area" off Arbutus, through the tight double-fenced area, and then up behind the lake, where it is in plain view of both the highway, the park across the lake, and all the houses on the lake.

thank you sooooo much for this very detailed description of the trail~! Do you think that they made it to the spot that the bikes were found? It would seem to me that they did because so much of it seems to be out in the open where people would have seen something happen..

then again maybe not... we have seen plenty of other cases where children have been snatched walking home from school in broad daylight (sommer thompson), on their way to school (amber dubois) and the list goes on.

Is there a lot of traffic in town around lunchtime?? I am wondering if a canvas of downtown (re: stop all cars going thru town and question people) would be helpful re: to jog anyone's memory on if they could have witnessed something unknowingly.

 

[Tracey4AU]

This is heartbreaking. Praying for a quick resolution... But it doesn't sound like a happy one.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Considering]

That was my first gut instinct. Its not a place to stop, even when you're walking, because its just so tight there with those fences. And, like I said, you can't see ppl coming from either direction, can't see the road, are blocked somewhat by the woods. That tight area, though, is short, only like 30 feet-ish, and then you are again in the open and visible. It just seems like a good hiding spot, not a good resting spot.

The guy who reported seeing the bikes there did so after they had been reported missing. He was riding, had to swerve, and made a phone call shortly after - I believe from the nearby gas-station. Traveling on bike, you could be around the lake and to that station in less than 5 minutes. He checked the time of the call he'd made, and determined that he'd passed the bikes minutes before. It didn't occur to him to report it at the time, but after hearing of the girls he called it in to the police.

I do believe these girls were taken, and I suspect that those woods and that tight spot on the trail are pivotal (along with that driveway that leads back to the pump/lift station). It just seems weird for the girls to get off their bikes there and walk unless the trail was impeded/blocked in some way. But it also seems odd that someone would have been able to "plant" or "ditch" two bikes there, as they'd have to get them back there somehow. I was wondering if someone else - local kids maybe - found their bikes (or saw them get left behind), and "stole/borrowed" them, hopped on that trail and raced down to that spot to check the contents of that bag and tried to toss it into the lake.

You could easily get to that spot from their last-known spotting in that time, but you'd have to be moving there determinedly, not lolligagging. You'd have to head straight to the trail to do so, as getting there by roads takes you through residential roads, traffic, many street crossings, etc. Bikers on that trail would hardly be noticed - it is used frequently and kids racing on it would not raise suspicion. I've never seen a motor vehicle on it except city vehicles/police doing maintenance, etc, including atv's. An atv on that trail would raise alarm/suspicion. Likewise, a boat on that lake would take longer to get in and out of than it would take to cross the lake. I could ride my bike around that lake in the time it takes someone to negotiate the boat ramp with a trailer.

I'm curious about the person who reports having seen the girls' bikes at 12:27. Do we know anything about him?

 

[liz b.]

http://www.kcrg.com/evansdaledisapp...f-Search-for-Two-Missing-Girls-162593266.html

The last sentence says LE is looking at "other possibilities "... what might that mean, I wonder ? JMO

 

[panthera]

KD, AFAIK, no one but their GM says they even saw them in the area behind the men's clothing store.. As another poster has written, no one saw them biking through the town. AFAIK, none of the guys working on the highway ever saw them ?

Sounds very plausible that they could have been abducted from behind the store. MOO

My thoughts also, that they never made it to the location the bikes were found, and the bikes had been discarded by the perp to make it appear that's where the abduction occurred. The purse, at least in my opinion, also appears to have been tossed.

MOO

 

[JodiR]

The MSM mentions the bikes being found, not at 12:27, but 4 hours later:
Lyric and Elizabeth were last seen riding bikes near downtown Evansdale just off Lafayette Road at 12:15 p.m. Friday. Their bicycles were located by an Evansdale firefighter about four hours later on the southeast corner of Meyers Lake along the bike trail.

from here: http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/up...d32-11e1-a656-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz20o6ioHVH

There is a Facebook posting of someone who said her dad saw the bikes on the trail around 12:27 ish. He didn't report it at the time because there was nothing out of the ordinary. Just 2 bikes there. No one was "missing" at that time.

 

[Shelby2]

The Demoines Register .com July 15 9:34 am quote from Misty Cook Morrissey ....
“Sometimes when you think about it, you wonder if they’re dead somewhere but you try to push those thoughts out of your mind,” she said.

Does anyone find that a mother of a missing child saying this is odd? My daughter told me of of the quote . I had to search its not any where else! Sorry Im having trouble posting the link!http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/...ies-hold-out-hope-for-two-missing-iowa-girls/

YES. I had to read it twice when I saw that.

 

[auntiejoe]

Did anyone do a map of Ledermans Big n Tall Clothing store
3524 Lafayette Rd, Evansdale, Ia?

 

[Shelby2]

I'm curious about the person who reports having seen the girls' bikes at 12:27. Do we know anything about him?

I don't know. I would take the sighting seriously if he actually KNEW the girls.