IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #25

[Snowbunny]

Why did LE ask about the white van that was at Casey's and the guy came forward? Was there a sighting of the girls at Casey's?

 

[Marilynilpa]

And...That the girls NEVER went to the lake, but Tammy (I believe) charges to the lake to look for them, frantically questions people at the lake BEFORE the bikes miraculously appeared on the bike trail near the lake.

We live about the same distance from a river and bike trail, and if my daughters were missing, I don't think I would immediately go there or focus my search there...without there being some reason to suspect that they went there, especially if I believed they never went there previously!

Something about that Lake.....

BBM

I think Tammy knew that one or both of the girls had biked to the lake before. And that knowledge is what made her think to look at the lake, especially since Wylma had already driven around town and not found them. JMO

 

[Bootsctr]

So is this say they did see the girls going west on the bike trail that day? This is the first time I saw this. If this is the case then that says that the bikes weren't staged. I wonder who this man is?

There are no LE/FBI confirmed sightings of the girls at the lake or the bike trail and that is why so much speculation regarding if the bikes were staged or not. The last known official confirmed sighting is the video from the security camera and it confirmed that the grandmother had seen the girls when she said she did. All we know is the girls were last seen in the area where they were supposed to be.

 

[Kimster]

SierraShelby is now a verified insider.

 

[nursebeeme]

thank you Kimster! :cheer:

 

[Marilynilpa]

Here's something I found interesting about witnesses:

Breault and other authorities have made public pleas for people who might know anything about the whereabouts of Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, to contact officials, but they’re still waiting for those they believe have key information to come forward.

Earlier this week, officials asked that someone who was seen paddle-boating on Meyers Lake that Friday contact authorities, but the person still has not done so, Breault said this morning.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/ar...-by-key-witnesses-not-coming-forward-FBI-says

BBM

I suppose there might be more to this paddleboating thing than I originally thought, since it appears LE thinks this person has key information.

I wonder if the paddleboater ever came forward.

 

[roseofsharon]

There are no LE/FBI confirmed sightings of the girls at the lake or the bike trail and that is why so much speculation regarding if the bikes were staged or not. The last known official confirmed sighting is the video from the security camera and it confirmed that the grandmother had seen the girls when she said she did. All we know is the girls were last seen in the area where they were supposed to be.

This is the reason in my earlier post, I wondered if Cornbelt Auctions had cctv for the front of the business (parking lot and section of Lafayette) to pick up video of any vehicles/persons around or after 12:19 p.m. Persons/vehicles that store owners had never seen before. IMO

 

[janie]

Hoping a local will answer my question. Are jetskis used on Meyer's Lake?

I'm not sure about jetskis, but this site says electric motors only:

http://www.iowadnr.gov/idnr/Fishing/WheretoFish/LakesPondsReservoirs/LakeDetails.aspx?lakeCode=MEY07

 

[Bootsctr]

This is the reason in my earlier post, I wondered if Cornbelt Auctions had cctv for the front of the business (parking lot and section of Lafayette) to pick up video of any vehicles/persons around or after 12:19 p.m. Persons/vehicles that store owners had never seen before. IMO

I seem to remember someone posting some pictures of the front that showed no cameras. It was on a much, much earlier thread. I will see if I can dig them up.

 

[carbuff]

I agree...It's enough to rule the lake out or consider it...but to DRAIN IT?????

Perhaps some "super sleuthers" here can answer....have there been many other cases where a lake is drained based only on belongings being found near the lake or dogs leading towards it? With no eye witnesses seeing them in or near the lake?

We have many lakes and ponds where I live, and I do not know of ANY being drained, even when witnesses have seen missing people in them!

They partially drained a small reservoir near here (Boston suburbs) last spring looking for the body of a young man who was last seen walking not far from the lake. He wasn't really *near* it and I don't think they even had anything as concrete as dogs or belongings.

There have been others, too, though I can't recall details right now.

There are so many ponds, rivers, streams, reservoirs, holding tanks, salt marshes, estuaries, salt ponds, glacial kettles, etc. in New England that the first thing that comes to mind when someone's missing is, "Oh, they must have fallen in the water somewhere."

 

[JaimeInLA]

Here's something I found interesting about witnesses:

Breault and other authorities have made public pleas for people who might know anything about the whereabouts of Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, to contact officials, but they’re still waiting for those they believe have key information to come forward.

Earlier this week, officials asked that someone who was seen paddle-boating on Meyers Lake that Friday contact authorities, but the person still has not done so, Breault said this morning.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/ar...-by-key-witnesses-not-coming-forward-FBI-says

BBM

I suppose there might be more to this paddleboating thing than I originally thought, since it appears LE thinks this person has key information.

I wonder if the paddleboater ever came forward.

Uh oh. Here we go again!

 

[nikkiw319]

Hoping a local will answer my question. Are jetskis used on Meyer's Lake?

I've never seen a jet ski on the lake. I've only ever seen pretty small fishing boats out there and though I don't go to the lake that often (there have been periods in my life where I frequented it more, usually in the warmer months to bike or walk around it) I've never seen it all that busy. Most days there's nothing on the water.

 

[nikkiw319]

I can stand behind draining the lake. Draining it ruled out that they were in it and was easy enough to do. Simply pull the plug so to speak. However, it was disheartening to see them wasting so much time thinking those girls were in the lake. I think we live in such a community that most of us believed there is no way those girls have been abducted. It just wasn't in our thought process. I was sure that we'd find those girls having wandered down the trail, across the bridge, and lost in a cornfield. Because I never imagined something like this happening in our town. I know that's not the right way to think and that no community is immune to this but having it never happend, many of us were.

Draining the lake shouldn't have had that much focus IMO. They should have pulled the plug, had one person stand there to keep watch, and moved on with the other possibilities. I think that just because if they had been in the lake, there would have been nothing that could have been done at that point anyways.

 

[tlcya]

I'll grab the bacon

 

[SierraShelby]

If Im not here to post, and G comes back, I hope somebody asks:

(a) did you see any people/vehicles or unusual activity in the area during your ride at the park, especially as it might relate to the girls ?

(b) when did you encounter the police at the park - photo of you with
them .. coming back from your ride, at the beginning of your ride? Aprx
time of the photo?

there was a guy got out of his vehicle and started walking at the depot then i seen, when i returned he left as i did. there was two people fishing on north west corner of the lake . a vehicle pulled in as i was leaving the parking lot of the lake then a few cars on laff that about it

 

[Marilynilpa]

I haven't looked, but the website Evansdalesearch.com says that that was reported at the press conference, and also that they have "zero leads". Well, we all know that isn't true. I'll have to look later for the actual transcript. I'm wondering if this website is something we should be putting any stock into.

Please keep in mind the "zero leads" comment was made at a press conference on July 17. At that point, LE may have had "zero leads". If any forensic evidence was collected in the searches, it would have been sent to Ankeny and I doubt the results would have been available on July 17. They had not finished conducting interviews, verifying alibis, etc.

IMO, it isn't unreasonable for LE to say on July 17 that it had no leads.

I believe evansdalesearch.com is more or less a repository of information from different sites, such as the Des Moines Register and the WCF Courier. I have no reason to believe their info is incorrect.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I agree...It's enough to rule the lake out or consider it...but to DRAIN IT?????

Perhaps some "super sleuthers" here can answer....have there been many other cases where a lake is drained based only on belongings being found near the lake or dogs leading towards it? With no eye witnesses seeing them in or near the lake?

We have many lakes and ponds where I live, and I do not know of ANY being drained, even when witnesses have seen missing people in them!

I used to live along the Iowa River downstream of Lake MacBride, the big reservoir on the river. Almost every summer, the Iowa River would be drained down to less than 30 inches so that the fire department could conduct a search for a drowning victim. Fire fighters walk shoulder to shoulder down the riverbed with probes to find the bodies of people who go into the water above the weir in Iowa City.

Keep in mind that even though it is called a lake, Meyer's Lake is really more like a pond. It is actually a borrow pond, which means a little quarry that was mined for rock to construct I-380. It isn't like a natural lake or a reservoir; it's actually quite small and man made (what man has made, man can unmake).

 

[Pensfan]

I agree...It's enough to rule the lake out or consider it...but to DRAIN IT?????

Perhaps some "super sleuthers" here can answer....have there been many other cases where a lake is drained based only on belongings being found near the lake or dogs leading towards it? With no eye witnesses seeing them in or near the lake?

We have many lakes and ponds where I live, and I do not know of ANY being drained, even when witnesses have seen missing people in them!

This lake was small and manmade/artificial. It was easy to drain and had pumps to drain it. These were likely factors in why it was drained. Here is another example:
http://www.localnews8.com/news/Poli...-man/-/308662/17007882/-/e11rf4z/-/index.html
I remember other cases where rivers were emptied, so searchers could check them.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Hoping a local will answer my question. Are jetskis used on Meyer's Lake?

I'm not a local but I do know that Meyer's Lake is filled with leeches.

Do people jetski in waters that have leeches? If so, do they call themselves "snack food"?

 

[Simp]

Jeez, I missed A LOT!!!! Welcome!!