IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #24

[SoBeCzar]

Even though the bikes are in an odd place as an abduction site we all know children have been abducted in broad daylight in public places with no one having noticed a thing.
All this killer had to do was lure them close enough to be pulled into a vehicle. He didn't have to jump out and struggle with them. I've pondered many times if he acted alone. I guess if he grabbed one and held a gun on the other he could have acted alone. The bodie sites being in two places although close together has made me question if it was one killer or two.
A female accomplice would make it that much easier to get a couple of children to peer in a vehicle at an imaginary stray or injured dog. Then again if it were a local male the kids knew by sight they may do the same without thinking twice.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Apparently neither my parents, my brothers, nor I have control over our children as none of ours ever had a bedtime before 8 pm.

All I can think of is "sure, put the little ones to bed at 7 pm if you really, really adore being awakened at 5 am by a bunch of kids ready to roar into the new day."

As a dedicated night person all my life, I have loathed anything and anyone who expected coherent activity out of me before 11 am.

At the earliest.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Quoting myself - LOL! OR....Maybe the dealer takes the girls right there in the parking lot of Lofty's -- stuffs them in his car at gunpoint. Then says to the meth user/buyer -- "Get rid of these bikes." The meth user puts the bikes in his car/truck, and drops them off on Maiden Lane, while the dealer drives the girls to 7 Bridges and disposes of them.

The one thing meth addicts can be relied upon to do is run their mouths. There would be rumours and people turning in tips on the same person like mad if a meth addict had anything to do with this.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Let's assume that the girls decided to take off for 20-30 minutes. Why didn't they take off right away? Why did they first ride their bikes to the shopping center near the old post office, then loop back, ride past the house, pass the Cornbelt Auction, and decide to go to the Lake on River Forest Road?

For one thing, most kids don't think in terms of "this activity will take X amount of time." That's why parents of small and young children are constantly reminding the kids of time, time, time: they are hoping that some day the concept will sink in.

For that matter, I live with an adult who demonstrates no firm grasp on the passage of time or how long it will take him to do something. In Mr Grainne's world it takes as long as it takes. He lives in his own time zone and he's not the only adult living there.

Why wouldn't they ride around on their bicycles for awhile and then get inspired to ride to the lake? That's exactly how many of my childhood adventures started. We hardly ever started out thinking "we're gonna do thus and so." We just met up with our friends and then let inspiration strike.

Sort of the same way we all drove our mothers crazy by opening the refrigerator door and staring in for long periods of time while we tried to decide what we wanted. Back then, refrigerators weren't all that efficient and if you let the heat in, it took forever for it to cool down again. Adults make up their minds what they want out of the refrigerator before they open the door; kids open the door and wait for inspiration to strike... while the heat pours in.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I stumbled upon this site after a search using the name of a person that's been bounced around the area here for a week or two by many and just wanted to add my thoughts. I've known Drew and Heather for a few years now and they are the most generous, caring people you'll ever find. They're the kind of friends you rarely have in life. My mother passed away a few days after the girls went missing. Drew insisted on coming to the celebration of life we had for her even after I told him that I'd understand if he didn't. He insisted on being there and stayed until it was over, as did Heather and the kids. There are a lot of rumors swirling around about a suspect/suspects here the last week or so as I mentioned in my first sentence. I just hope that whomever the person/persons responsible for taking two innocent children are caught and justice is served. I see one other person I know was brought up on this site in a discussion relating to where the girls were found; Mark aka "Guitar Ted". He's a good guy and is someone I've known for years. He's the lead tech at a local bicycle/ski shop. I know that everyone on here wants this to be resolved but it seems at times people are drug into this even though there is no way at all they were involved.

Welcome to WS!

My condolences on the loss of your mother.

Like you, I often worry about the reputations of people who come into these discussions, particularly in this day of google everything and everyone.

I'm glad you decided to join the discussion. The more points of view, the better.

 

[SapphireSteel]

Are there ice cream trucks, the kind with the annoying music, in the town during the summer?

Ay yi yi the ice cream truck again!

This was a topic of some debate way back in the beginning, just like

Creeper boats and canoes
Craigslist
Puppies
Campers
City employees
Certain witnesses
And my particular favorite, mobility scooters.

The Ice Cream Vendor from Hell is an excellent theory, but I can't help but think he would've been either caught by now, or LE would have asked the public if they had any information about one by now, same with the other theories we all chewed over.

It is incredibly frustrating. At this stage, we don't even know for sure if the girls actually reached the lake (although I believe they did).

They just vanished. I think it's safe to say no one saw or heard a damn thing, as we would've been told. Ice cream trucks are attention magnets, someone would have seen it.

It was perfectly planned and executed by someone the girls knew and trusted, in my opinion, not a random creeper driving around on the offchance.

But hell, what do I know? At this stage I'm surprised no one is seriously considering alien abduction because that's how silent and quick it was.

:cow:

 

[SapphireSteel]

The one thing meth addicts can be relied upon to do is run their mouths. There would be rumours and people turning in tips on the same person like mad if a meth addict had anything to do with this.

Absolutely agree.

The large reward so kindly donated will bring every narc out of the woodwork.

Just pointing out...we actually don't know that there isn't someone working with LE to secure evidence, meth addict or not.

There could well be someone covertly taping conversations for LE, for example.

Unfortunately this sort of operation is usually not wrapped up within 24 hours like CSI shows. It can take weeks or even months before something tangible and incriminating is recorded.

:cow:

ETA: the 110 house blitz implies that this may indeed be the case. Someone's talking.

 

[threecrazykids]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...cle_83908d4d-9a49-56ab-889f-0ee013986400.html

Thompson said he can see the advantage of facial recognition tools, but he doesn't think it would have helped in the case of the missing cousins.

"We had hours and hours of surveillance tape," Thompson said. "Nothing."

This doesn't sound promising...:banghead:

 

[SapphireSteel]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...cle_83908d4d-9a49-56ab-889f-0ee013986400.html

Thompson said he can see the advantage of facial recognition tools, but he doesn't think it would have helped in the case of the missing cousins.

"We had hours and hours of surveillance tape," Thompson said. "Nothing."

This doesn't sound promising...:banghead:

They got the girls on tape...that's not "nothing".

What I think he means is, We got nothing we can use for the facial recognition software.

They got no strange faces on cctv, or at the least no images that were good enough for the software to work.

Which tells us something in and of itself.

:moo:

 

[Zafina]

Has there been any suspicious suicide is in the area since the girls gone missing? Just thinking...

 

[otto]

I agree that the direct route to the water is the most likely. However, I have this cynical view of the FBI and I'm also aware of the word games they play. If you want to check, I was one of the posters who strongly suspected that "we think they are alive" actually meant "we haven't found any evidence of death" rather than anything significant.

I wouldn't put it past an FBI spokesperson to employ some misdirection by telling the truth but not exactly in the way most people would take it.

I think it's almost standard procedure to state that a missing person is presumed to be alive until there is evidence to contradict that assumption. Police have to deal with facts, not assumptions, so the facts suggested that the children were not dead. Lisa Altimari Wallace disappeared in October and police are not even looking for her because there is nothing to suggest that she is not alive ... however, people close to her are extremely concerned.

We know that the dogs went to the water where the bikes were found. This was accompanied by the standard statement: without independent confirmation no conclusions can be drawn about the dogs activity.

 

[threecrazykids]

They got the girls on tape...that's not "nothing".

What I think he means is, We got nothing we can use for the facial recognition software.

They got no strange faces on cctv, or at the least no images that were good enough for the software to work.

Which tells us something in and of itself.

:moo:

In such a small town, you would assume (we know what that does) that no KNOWN hoodlum was seen on the tapes doing anything suspicious that day...or a RSO, or someone who LE knows as a criminal.

This is a fairly small town and I am going to go out on a limb and say that there wasn't anyone on those tapes that LE recognized as someone who jumped out at them as suspicious...that, or this officer could simply be lying and saying they have "nothing".

Does this lead us to believe that it is someone that LE hasn't seen before...NOT a local? :waitasec:

 

[SapphireSteel]

Has there been any suspicious suicide is in the area since the girls gone missing? Just thinking...

The girls uncle overdosed early on, apparently a suicide attempt.

Morrissey's court appearance Friday came hours after one of the girls' uncles, Jeremiah Cook of Waterloo, was hospitalized following an apparent overdose. Cook, 32, had been very close to the girls and was having trouble eating and sleeping since they disappeared, his mother, Wylma Cook, said.
She said Jeremiah was recovering in a Waterloo hospital and was expected to be okay.
"It all took a toll on him," Wylma Cook said. "My grandchildren were his prize possessions. He loved the children, and he's a very soft-hearted person."
Thompson, the sheriff, said the overdose was not related to the girls' disappearance.

A bit disturbing that gramma uses past tense, way back in July.

:cow:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/judge...her-of-missing-iowa-girl/article/feed/2016565

 

[Jacie Estes]

WATERLOO, Iowa - A federal judge has turned down a request to end the supervised release of one of the mothers of the two young missing cousins whose bodies were found last week.

Misty Morrissey, 35, also known as Misty Cook, the mother of Lyric Cook-Morrissey, has been under supervision in connection with a 2003 methamphetamine conviction since she was released from prison in 2006. The supervised stint is scheduled to end Jan. 30, 2013.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Judg...Remain-on-Supervised-Probation-183957401.html

 

[otto]

I had a normal childhood until I was 10 (when things when pear-shaped but not due to my parent's fault); my parents were married until my mother died last year and we were a very close, tight knit family. I was a serious, responsible kid and didn't deliberately do anything that I knew I shouldn't do.

But I did sometimes make mistakes about how long I had before it was time for me to come in. I did sometimes lose track of the time when I was having fun. I did sometimes go off to have what I thought of as adventures. My sister and I (14 months apart) did sometimes egg each other on into pushing the envelope a bit.

My view that Elizabeth may have occasionally pushed the envelope a bit has nothing to with assumptions about Lyric or any other child. It is based on my own life experience, which includes seeing that children don't really have much of a time sense until they are 12-14 years old.

And when I see "responsible young girl" applied to an 8 year old, it makes my heart sink. Eight year olds are too young for it to be developmentally healthy for them to be taking responsibility.

I must be developmentally unhealthy because by the age of 8 I had already had three years of classical music lessons and it was my responsibility to practice each day for my exams. If I didn't practice, I was in trouble with my music teacher.

I realize that there are personal experiences where people pushed the boundaries at the age of 8. There are also personal experience where people didn't push the boundaries at the age of 8. We don't know what Elizabeth did, but I haven't seen any reason to assume that she did push the boundaries ... so I'm assuming that she was a normal, happy 8 year old child that was happy to do what was expected of her.

 

[SoBeCzar]

The girls uncle overdosed early on, apparently a suicide attempt.

Morrissey's court appearance Friday came hours after one of the girls' uncles, Jeremiah Cook of Waterloo, was hospitalized following an apparent overdose. Cook, 32, had been very close to the girls and was having trouble eating and sleeping since they disappeared, his mother, Wylma Cook, said.
She said Jeremiah was recovering in a Waterloo hospital and was expected to be okay.
"It all took a toll on him," Wylma Cook said. "My grandchildren were his prize possessions. He loved the children, and he's a very soft-hearted person."
Thompson, the sheriff, said the overdose was not related to the girls' disappearance.

A bit disturbing that gramma uses past tense, way back in July.

:cow:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/judge...her-of-missing-iowa-girl/article/feed/2016565

I'm not disturbed by the past tense usage, but the uncles manner of death is disturbing. But I guess is someone is a substance abuser it can happen, especially in times of severe stress.
As to the idea of the girls witnessing a drug deal, (it has been bantered around a bit} I knew a drug user and most of the drug deals he was involved in were quite public. He'd just call his "friend" and meet up at a convience store and make an exchange while appearing to have just run into each other. One would stay in their car and the other would approach. Most drug deals are so common looking I doubt is they would bat an eye at being seen by an adult even. And for a big drug deal I think that would be carried out in a house. I seriously don't think even the most paranoid drug dealer is going to do anything to 2 young kids straying by. This isn't the 70's. Drug deals are much more common and take place everywhere.

 

[GrainneDhu]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...cle_83908d4d-9a49-56ab-889f-0ee013986400.html

Thompson said he can see the advantage of facial recognition tools, but he doesn't think it would have helped in the case of the missing cousins.

"We had hours and hours of surveillance tape," Thompson said. "Nothing."

This doesn't sound promising...:banghead:

As Edgar Allan Poe observed, the best place to hide something is in plain sight. If the perp in this case is local, then surveillance tapes won't be of much use because his vehicle will belong on them.

 

[Simp]

I'm not disturbed by the past tense usage, but the uncles manner of death is disturbing. But I guess is someone is a substance abuser it can happen, especially in times of severe stress.
As to the idea of the girls witnessing a drug deal, (it has been bantered around a bit} I knew a drug user and most of the drug deals he was involved in were quite public. He'd just call his "friend" and meet up at a convience store and make an exchange while appearing to have just run into each other. One would stay in their car and the other would approach. Most drug deals are so common looking I doubt is they would bat an eye at being seen by an adult even. And for a big drug deal I think that would be carried out in a house. I seriously don't think even the most paranoid drug dealer is going to do anything to 2 young kids straying by. This isn't the 70's. Drug deals are much more common and take place everywhere.

IIRC the uncle didn't die. Let me look for a link.

Well, the above article states the uncle was "hospitalized"

 

[SoBeCzar]

As Edgar Allan Poe observed, the best place to hide something is in plain sight. If the perp in this case is local, then surveillance tapes won't be of much use because his vehicle will belong on them.

Everyone will know it is his vehicle and he will have to answer to why he was there. It will put him on LE's radar at least.

 

[SoBeCzar]

IIRC the uncle didn't die. Let me look for a link.

Well, the above article states the uncle was "hospitalized"

Oh, I see it says he was hospitalized in the article. That's what I get for rushing thru and not actually reading!