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

[CHERIE.T]

12.20, not 12.27.

So that has given them less than 5 minutes to bike from the store, down to the bike path, get on the bike path, and spirited away with no one seeing or hearing a thing.

TG, the witness who swerved to miss the bikes at 12.20, did not notice the wheels still turning...in my opinion, they probably would have been, if the girls had been abducted by surprise this way.


:moo:

Is that even possible timewise?
Iirc it was said that ride would take more than 7 minutes.

 

[JaimeInLA]

BBM -

Can you please tell me where this information has come from? I swear I'm not trying to be nit-picky (I'd rather be called "detail oriented" - ). I have read several articles about Dan's legal situation but have not come across this information; i.e., a plea deal would have (possibly?) reduced his time to 5 years. That is not very long considering what he is facing. Thanks for any info.

No problem, here you go: (BBM)

From: Huffington Post, notice Wylma's remark toward bottom of article:

Lyric Cook-Morrissey, Elizabeth Collins Missing: Judge Delays Trial Against Father Daniel Morrissey

By RYAN J. FOLEY 07/27/12 02:32 PM ET

WATERLOO, Iowa — A judge on Friday delayed trials in four drug and domestic abuse cases pending against the father of one of two missing Iowa cousins, saying the two-week search for the girls had made it difficult for him to focus on preparing a defense.

Daniel Morrissey could have been ordered to stand trial as early as Tuesday in the cases, which charge him with assaulting his estranged wife and possessing, making and delivering methamphetamine and carry the possibility of decades in prison. But Judge Andrea Dryer agreed to Morrissey's request for a delay, tentatively scheduling the cases for trial Aug. 28.

"I can understand why recent events may have had your mind and attention on matters other than preparing for trial with your attorney," Dryer told Morrissey during a brief hearing at the Black Hawk County Courthouse in Waterloo. But she warned him he faces "very serious charges" and needs to be ready for trial in a month.

Morrissey is the father of 10-year-old Lyric Cook, who went missing July 13 with her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins after leaving to ride bikes in Evansdale, just miles from Waterloo. He has come under intense scrutiny from law enforcement officials because of his ties to the region's methamphetamine trade, but authorities have said he is not considered a suspect.

Morrissey's mother-in-law, Wylma Cook, said Morrissey had been giving investigators information on other methamphetamine makers in recent months to shave time off his own possible sentence.

"Dan `narc-ed' on a bunch of people," Cook said, using a slang term for telling police about other drug users and dealers. "Everybody knows that."

Cook said Morrissey had been expected to accept a plea agreement July 12, the day before the girls vanished, but decided not to do so because he was not ready to go jail. She said prosecutors had shaved his sentence from more than 45 years to 30 years and then to 10 years, with a mandatory five years behind bars, because of his cooperation.

Prosecutor Brad Walz, who did not object to the delay in Morrissey's trials, has repeatedly declined comment on Morrissey's plea negotiations.

Cook said "it's possible" her son-in-law made an enemy through his cooperation with police, and she said investigators are scrutinizing Morrissey's associates as they search for the girls. He recently met with them to allow them to go through all the contacts in his phone, Cook said.

 

[voxrock2000]

Here is what i think happened. *Dan has been giving police information. If his sentence is to be reduced from 45 years to 5 years, he is selling out either a few big time players, or a lot of small timers. I bet he has been being threatened as to accepting this plea deal for a while. *Someone has a lot to lose, like 40 years or more of their life or a larger drug ring is at risk. *This guy is a two bit criminal, but the larger world of meth is a global empire full of people who treat is as big money business and will risk life or death every day. *The threat was probably made that they would never see their child again if he took that deal. *The last call to police was probably in panic since this family has probably been living in fear of this threat. It didn't happen that day, but it did happen soon after. Elizabeth was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sad to say, this was probably perpetrated by organized crime, people who know what they are doing and may never be caught, professional criminals. *With the trial put off, and drug overdoses and the family blabbing about 'narc this and narc that', i dont think we have seen the end of this drama by a longshot. *The missing kids are just a small piece of this sorry situation imo.*

 

[otto]

What makes it so hard for me to piece together is not knowing for sure if TG's sighting of the bikes just before 12:27 is accurate or not.

12:15 - seen on camera on Brovan St.
12:20-12:27 bikes on path at lake (no girls)

This is possible if times on either end are off a few minutes. Or if the bikes he saw were not theirs - but what are the odds two other bikes would be abandoned at that spot earlier and then the girl's bikes also end up there? Maybe LE is not announcing TG's sighting because he saw the bikes on a very different part of the path. Maybe he saw the bikes on the path near the parking lot area. I think I am going to go with that assumption. He may have seen the bikes that day on the path and had to swerve to miss them - but he did not see them in the spot where they ended up. I don't know. Nothing makes sense with the time frame.

I thought the initial report from facebook that was posted here was that "a" bike was lying on the path and the man had to swerve around it. Has that morphed into two bikes?

 

[Jules71]

BBM -

Can you please tell me where this information has come from? I swear I'm not trying to be nit-picky (I'd rather be called "detail oriented" - ). I have read several articles about Dan's legal situation but have not come across this information; i.e., a plea deal would have (possibly?) reduced his time to 5 years. That is not very long considering what he is facing. Thanks for any info.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #8

 

[Unscripted]

By the way, the co-defendant has been located. He is no longer on the lam.

Alive?

 

[elepher50]

What makes it so hard for me to piece together is not knowing for sure if TG's sighting of the bikes just before 12:27 is accurate or not.

12:15 - seen on camera on Brovan St.
12:20-12:27 bikes on path at lake (no girls)

This is possible if times on either end are off a few minutes. Or if the bikes he saw were not theirs - but what are the odds two other bikes would be abandoned at that spot earlier and then the girl's bikes also end up there? Maybe LE is not announcing TG's sighting because he saw the bikes on a very different part of the path. Maybe he saw the bikes on the path near the parking lot area. I think I am going to go with that assumption. He may have seen the bikes that day on the path and had to swerve to miss them - but he did not see them in the spot where they ended up. I don't know. Nothing makes sense with the time frame.

Hi Jules,

I am of the opinion that our two girls did not make it to the lake at all. Double MOO.

 

[SapphireSteel]

But logically, the only value in 'planting' their bikes in a place to throw the search or investigation away from a particular place. Overall the risk of being seen carrying a pair of girls bikes and/or leaving fingerprints on said bikes is very high.

Plus, of course, this would preclude a sedan as the vehicle, since you could not transport two girls and two bikes in a car with the trunk closed.

If it were a stranger abduction, their bikes/purse would be left exactly where they were abducted.

To me the purse is the key element....it was lost at the time/place of abduction. Any woman or girl is unlikely to lose something that is literally hanging from their neck (and contains a valuable phone).

Look at a map....the road by the pond... Maiden Lane > it looks to be tree-covered and is right near where the bikes and purse were found.

Someone parked a van there and abducted the girls at the edge of the lake.

What if the girls were accosted by someone they knew, in a car, between the store and the lake.

What if the person was someone they knew and trusted, who had actually planned this abduction, for whatever motive.

What if the person told the girls there had been a bad accident, gramma was in hospital, they had to come quick, chuck your bikes in the truck/boot/leave them here with fred and joe they will take them home for you.

Take them back to the offenders house, closeby, why an accomplice dumped the bikes at a pre-arranged location that was considered to be perfect to stage an abduction.

I just cannot get past the timeline. TG is a credible witness, he is adamant he saw the bikes at 12.20, it has been repeated several times by msm so I'm taking it. It had to be this way, simply by the speed it took place. Assuming of course TG was not mistaken. It also means more than one abductor.

:moo:

 

[MotherOcean]

I am still confused as to where Dan and Misti's relationship is. He assaulted her months prior and they were separated and Misti had a BF. Then, the girl's go missing, her BF is jailed and we hear her in all the interviews saying, "Dan & I" as if they were a couple. They were also in hotel/motel room together. In one interview they were standing very close/touching and it appeared she even nudged him as he was speaking of the previous disappearance of Lyric with the other cousin. In another video he has his arm ariund her waist. In , yet another, he is holding the media back from her in a very protective way. I am curious as to why the sudden change in their relationship. Or, do you view this as a coming together for their daughter's sake? I just don't know what to make of it. And where is this bf now?

Domestic violence is a cycle. Someone wants control and attempts to gain it through various types of abuse (not always physical, there are MANY forms of abuse), usually at a time when the other is pulling away from the relationship (due to smothering, or feeling the control, or wanting to turn over a new-leaf in life, get a fresh start elsewhere). There is then a break due to conflict and/or the abuse. This is when LE or social services is most likely to be involved. A lull happens for awhile. Eventually the lull is broken, the couple regain contact & communication, and a honeymoon period begins. Physical affection, gifts, promises to love forever and ever, to rebuild the family... occur during this time. Until... controller isn't satisfied and just wants more, more, more and victim begins to move away physically, emotionally (back to feeling smothered, or whatever, etc.) ... and the cycle begins again... of course this is the nut-shell version.

I think there is enough available publically through MSM for me to say that DM is a perp. He almost killed his wife!

There are dynamics in the relationship that most people won't ever understand.

I've commented before about DM's first t.v. interview when he stressed that the family was being "reconciled". They are in the "coming together, we're going to be stronger than before" part of the reconciliation. His statements about that perfectly fit into the cycle.

Not saying he has anything to do with the girls' disappearances.
Not intending to bash anyone. It is the cycle that has to be broken.

EDIT to add:

Here are some photos of my favorite Cycle of Abuse/Violence Charts for anyone who is interested: (at bottom of page)

http://www.cchers.org/cap/about.html

 

[iamnotagolem]

I haven't seen anything reported about them searching the river, does that mean they haven't? Do any of the locals know? That would be my first guess based on other cases (Celina Cass).

 

[robo_geek2]

No problem, here you go: (BBM)

From: Huffington Post, notice Wylma's remark toward bottom of article:

Lyric Cook-Morrissey, Elizabeth Collins Missing: Judge Delays Trial Against Father Daniel Morrissey

By RYAN J. FOLEY 07/27/12 02:32 PM ET

WATERLOO, Iowa — A judge on Friday delayed trials in four drug and domestic abuse cases pending against the father of one of two missing Iowa cousins, saying the two-week search for the girls had made it difficult for him to focus on preparing a defense.

Daniel Morrissey could have been ordered to stand trial as early as Tuesday in the cases, which charge him with assaulting his estranged wife and possessing, making and delivering methamphetamine and carry the possibility of decades in prison. But Judge Andrea Dryer agreed to Morrissey's request for a delay, tentatively scheduling the cases for trial Aug. 28.

"I can understand why recent events may have had your mind and attention on matters other than preparing for trial with your attorney," Dryer told Morrissey during a brief hearing at the Black Hawk County Courthouse in Waterloo. But she warned him he faces "very serious charges" and needs to be ready for trial in a month.

Morrissey is the father of 10-year-old Lyric Cook, who went missing July 13 with her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins after leaving to ride bikes in Evansdale, just miles from Waterloo. He has come under intense scrutiny from law enforcement officials because of his ties to the region's methamphetamine trade, but authorities have said he is not considered a suspect.

Morrissey's mother-in-law, Wylma Cook, said Morrissey had been giving investigators information on other methamphetamine makers in recent months to shave time off his own possible sentence.

"Dan `narc-ed' on a bunch of people," Cook said, using a slang term for telling police about other drug users and dealers. "Everybody knows that."

Cook said Morrissey had been expected to accept a plea agreement July 12, the day before the girls vanished, but decided not to do so because he was not ready to go jail. She said prosecutors had shaved his sentence from more than 45 years to 30 years and then to 10 years, with a mandatory five years behind bars, because of his cooperation.

Prosecutor Brad Walz, who did not object to the delay in Morrissey's trials, has repeatedly declined comment on Morrissey's plea negotiations.

Cook said "it's possible" her son-in-law made an enemy through his cooperation with police, and she said investigators are scrutinizing Morrissey's associates as they search for the girls. He recently met with them to allow them to go through all the contacts in his phone, Cook said.

While criminals are not always the best and the brightest, to abduct someone in broad daylight is very very risky, and in terms of revenge, this is too complicated and involved, IMHO.

Getting back to location, to me the purse is the key element....it was lost at the time/place of abduction.

Any woman or girl is unlikely to lose something that is literally hanging from their neck (and contains a valuable phone).

Look at a map....the road by the pond... Maiden Lane > it looks to be tree-covered and is right near where the bikes and purse were found. Someone parked there and abducted the girls at the edge of the lake.

 

[Jules71]

I thought the initial report from facebook that was posted here was that "a" bike was lying on the path and the man had to swerve around it. Has that morphed into two bikes?

I was just thinking that. This is worth checking out for sure.

 

[IAM]

I wonder if that reduced sentence of 5 years is per charge or all combined. Per charge would still be at least 15 years in prison...a significant amount of time and might be enough to scare him into wanting to flee. And if it was only 5 years for all charges...he had to rat people out to get that reduced sentence and serve his time in prison with people that might not appreciate that fact. That could be scary enough to make him want to flee.

 

[iSleuth]

No problem, here you go: (BBM)

From: Huffington Post, notice Wylma's remark toward bottom of article:

Lyric Cook-Morrissey, Elizabeth Collins Missing: Judge Delays Trial Against Father Daniel Morrissey

By RYAN J. FOLEY 07/27/12 02:32 PM ET

WATERLOO, Iowa — A judge on Friday delayed trials in four drug and domestic abuse cases pending against the father of one of two missing Iowa cousins, saying the two-week search for the girls had made it difficult for him to focus on preparing a defense.

Daniel Morrissey could have been ordered to stand trial as early as Tuesday in the cases, which charge him with assaulting his estranged wife and possessing, making and delivering methamphetamine and carry the possibility of decades in prison. But Judge Andrea Dryer agreed to Morrissey's request for a delay, tentatively scheduling the cases for trial Aug. 28.

"I can understand why recent events may have had your mind and attention on matters other than preparing for trial with your attorney," Dryer told Morrissey during a brief hearing at the Black Hawk County Courthouse in Waterloo. But she warned him he faces "very serious charges" and needs to be ready for trial in a month.

Morrissey is the father of 10-year-old Lyric Cook, who went missing July 13 with her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins after leaving to ride bikes in Evansdale, just miles from Waterloo. He has come under intense scrutiny from law enforcement officials because of his ties to the region's methamphetamine trade, but authorities have said he is not considered a suspect.

Morrissey's mother-in-law, Wylma Cook, said Morrissey had been giving investigators information on other methamphetamine makers in recent months to shave time off his own possible sentence.

"Dan `narc-ed' on a bunch of people," Cook said, using a slang term for telling police about other drug users and dealers. "Everybody knows that."

Cook said Morrissey had been expected to accept a plea agreement July 12, the day before the girls vanished, but decided not to do so because he was not ready to go jail. She said prosecutors had shaved his sentence from more than 45 years to 30 years and then to 10 years, with a mandatory five years behind bars, because of his cooperation.

Prosecutor Brad Walz, who did not object to the delay in Morrissey's trials, has repeatedly declined comment on Morrissey's plea negotiations.

Cook said "it's possible" her son-in-law made an enemy through his cooperation with police, and she said investigators are scrutinizing Morrissey's associates as they search for the girls. He recently met with them to allow them to go through all the contacts in his phone, Cook said.

:-( very disheartening

 

[Sunlight]

What if the girls were accosted by someone they knew, in a car, between the store and the lake.

What if the person was someone they knew and trusted, who had actually planned this abduction, for whatever motive.

What if the person told the girls there had been a bad accident, gramma was in hospital, they had to come quick, chuck your bikes in the truck/boot/leave them here with fred and joe they will take them home for you.

I just cannot get past the timeline. TG is a credible witness, he is adamant he saw the bikes at 12.20, it has been repeated several times by msm so I'm taking it. It had to be this way, simply by the speed it took place. Assuming of course TG was not mistaken.


:moo:

How do you know TG was "adamant" about the 12:20 time? Where is that info? Just wondering, because I'm curious.

 

[JaimeInLA]

Alive?

LOL! Yes. Alive and well.

 

[gngr~snap]

Sure it's possible, but then again, my ten-year-old wants to run away when I tell her to shovel out that pigsty she calls a room. Ugh.

I just think kids balk at authority, some in small ways, some in bigger ways. Even kids from non-felonious families.

NOT normal for a 10 year old to threaten running away.


I raised 5 who didn't balk at authority. They respected authority.

Of course I DIDNOT raise mine when on the puter either....,didnt have one
back them. :moo:

Goodfellas

:what: huh???
As in "what happened"

 

[elepher50]

Domestic violence is a cycle. Someone wants control and attempts to gain it through various types of abuse (not always physical, there are MANY forms of abuse), usually at a time when the other is pulling away from the relationship (due to smothering, or feeling the control, or wanting to turn over a new-leaf in life, get a fresh start elsewhere). There is then a break due to conflict and/or the abuse. This is when LE or social services is most likely to be involved. A lull happens for awhile. Eventually the lull is broken, the couple regain contact & communication, and a honeymoon period begins. Physical affection, gifts, promises to love forever and ever, to rebuild the family... occur during this time. Until... controller isn't satisfied and just wants more, more, more and victim begins to move away physically, emotionally (back to feeling smothered, or whatever, etc.) ... and the cycle begins again... of course this is the nut-shell version.

I think there is enough available publically through MSM for me to say that DM is a perp. He almost killed his wife!

There are dynamics in the relationship that most people won't ever understand.

I've commented before about DC's first t.v. interview when he stressed that the family was being "reconciled". They are in the "coming together, we're going to be stronger than before" part of the reconciliation. His statements about that perfectly fit into the cycle.

Not saying he has anything to do with the girls' disappearances.
Not intending to bash anyone. It is the cycle that has to be broken.

I am in agreement with what you are saying 150% and I too noticed DM stressing the family was reconciling and coming together and that he thought this was a positive thing.

 

[katydid23]

Respectfully, I have to disagree. I would think that the recent rash of abduction attempts, in some cases of more than one child, would be the most likely scenario.
What good would abducting two girls do in terms of revenge or stopping DM from talking to police?

I have to agree with Otto in this matter. I think people are making way too many assumptions based on the parents history drug abuse.

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't both parents take and pass drug tests? So why would they pass tests if they were still in the business of selling or consuming drugs?

Dad's court appearance was scheduled for the day before the girls went missing. And he rejected a pretty good plea deal, inexplicably, and put off the trial.

What a HUGE coincidence, that this man, who reportedly 'narcked' out a lot of others to get that deal, was right smack dab in the middle of that mess when his daughter went missing.

It is really hard to ignore that coincidence. If it werent for the timing of the trial and court dates, I would be ignoring the drug history.

 

[Thinkzerz]

What happened at Dans court case today?