GUILTY IL - Katrina Smith, 30, beaten to death, Machesney Park, 23 Oct 2012 - #1

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HeinekenMan said:
I have family from Rockford. The Rock River isn't a stream. It's a river. It's not going to be easy to find her if she's in the river. It could take days and days.
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The Rock river is a fast moving river with lots of debris such as tree limbs and brush. It is a tributary of the Mississippi. It flows south southwest to the Mississippi. I do think if she is in the river they will find her in a short amount of time.

One thing I noticed though is that if you continue out west on Lathum road you are quickly into the "country" and there are lots of roads and more desolate spots to leave/hide a body.

JMO

ETA; Wanted to add that I do know and have somewhat traveled the country roads west and north of Machesney Park in my younger life. The perp may have driven out and hid Katrina's body and then abandoned the car on the way back into town.

jmo
 
B4igo2it said:
Keep in mind that forensics need to ID prior to letting anyone know who it has positively been ID'd to. You sure don't want to tell the news to the wrong people KWIM
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Yup. It took several hours for them to get Celina Cass out of the water, too. It's a slow process. And they don't alert anyone when they believe they've found a body. They finish their process, which includes preserving evidence, before allowing family to ID the body. Then the information has to go to family members before it goes to the media.
 
WideOpen said:
The Rock river is a fast moving river with lots of debris such as tree limbs and brush. It is a tributary of the Mississippi. It flows south southwest to the Mississippi. I do think if she is in the river they will find her in a short amount of time.

One thing I noticed though is that if you continue out west on Lathum road you are quickly into the "country" and there are lots of roads and more desolate spots to leave/hide a body.

JMO
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The river is not as deep as I thought it was. It's about 15 feet deep at the deepest point. Remember that the wider parts are going to be more shallow. Also, rivers have a cut bank and point bar. The point bar is the area where "things" are collected, I believe.

rivers8.jpg
 
HeinekenMan said:
The river is not as deep as I thought it was. It's about 15 feet deep at the deepest point. Remember that the wider parts are going to be more shallow. Also, rivers have a cut bank and point bar. The point bar is the area where "things" are collected, I believe.

rivers8.jpg
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how far down is this from where they were searching today? just wondering how long it would take to wash someone up downstream?
 
nervous_nellie said:
how far down is this from where they were searching today? just wondering how long it would take to wash someone up downstream?
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It wouldn't take long for a body to be carried quite a distance under certain conditions. Factors include body weight, flow rate (the speed of the water), the amount of debris and the straightness of the flow. And remember that weight can be altered based on whether a body is weighed down.

On the map, there are a few point bars south of the mall. Then the river straightens out. A body could float all the way through Rockford during the overnight hours. But most murderers weigh down bodies to conceal them. That could cause the body to sink straight to the bottom and not move much.

Of course, we don't have any real confirmation right now that she's in the water. For all I know, she's visiting a friend.

I'm a little curious about the kind of errand you would run at 9 p.m. on a week day. Fast food or the grocery store? And why would you call it an "errand"? It seems like the police would be more specific if they had something more specific to go on. If she was going to, say, Pizza Hut, they'd want to ask if anyone saw her at the restaurant. It sounds like whoever said she was on an errand can't really tell us what that errand was. I don't know about you. But, if someone runs out to shop, comes home and leaves again...I'm going to ask where the heck they are going. After all, they just got home.

I have a feeling that 7-8 time frame was used to prepare for her return. And I'm not talking about a candlelight dinner.
 
HeinekenMan said:
It wouldn't take long for a body to be carried quite a distance under certain conditions. Factors include body weight, flow rate (the speed of the water), the amount of debris and the straightness of the flow. And remember that weight can be altered based on whether a body is weighed down.

On the map, there are a few point bars south of the mall. Then the river straightens out. A body could float all the way through Rockford during the overnight hours. But most murderers weigh down bodies to conceal them. That could cause the body to sink straight to the bottom and not move much.

Of course, we don't have any real confirmation right now that she's in the water. For all I know, she's visiting a friend.

I'm a little curious about the kind of errand you would run at 9 p.m. on a week day. Fast food or the grocery store? And why would you call it an "errand"? It seems like the police would be more specific if they had something more specific to go on. If she was going to, say, Pizza Hut, they'd want to ask if anyone saw her at the restaurant. It sounds like whoever said she was on an errand can't really tell us what that errand was. I don't know about you. But, if someone runs out to shop, comes home and leaves again...I'm going to ask where the heck they are going. After all, they just got home.

I have a feeling that 7-8 time frame was used to prepare for her return. And I'm not talking about a candlelight dinner.
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i agree -- i think le may be calling it an "errand" to see if any eye witnesses come forward for that specific time frame that will match up with where someone said she was allegedly running this "errand" kwim?
 
i'm also wondering if this could possibly be a suicide?

maybe she was seeing someone else and went to meet him? maybe this person was jealous that she was with her husband?

in either of these situations, she could have used the excuse that she was going out to run an errand. just trying to think of all the possibilities :)

i wish i had a better feeling about this case... but unfortunately i dont think it's going to have a very good outcome!!
 
I read the brief statements from the step-daughter, but am i missing the statement from her Husband?
 
Anyone know if the husband is also the father of the girls D and I forget the other sister? I'd assume so given the Smith last name.

They seem very attached to her and fond of her based on things I've read
 
A news story I saw called the girls her stepchildren, so I am assuming they are her husband's children. She has none of her own.

LE gave no updates today?
 
Knox said:
A news story I saw called the girls her stepchildren, so I am assuming they are her husband's children. She has none of her own.

LE gave no updates today?
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Just wasn't sure if she'd maybe been married prior since we don't know the husband's last name.

I'd assume it was her current husband given she shares the last name of the girls, but...you never know! (If she was using a previous name for some reason, etc.)
 
I'm concerned that something bad has happened to this lady. Its not likely that she left her nearly brand new car in the middle of nowhere and threw her phone on the ground in one place and her purse in another. It doesn't seem likely that someone would do that and then commit suicide either. Her stepdaughters and friends seem very fond of her. Not much has been said about her husband. Did anyone except him see her leave his house at 9 p.m.? Was anyone else at home at his house besides him when she was there? Was she in the habit of running errands at night on week nights, especially if she had to be at work the next morning? I hope her cell phone will give some information. Does anyone know if her car had a GPS or On Star or anything like that?
 
If you do a google search for her address in Machesney Park, you find an interesting state government link.
 
Jan said:
I'm concerned that something bad has happened to this lady. Its not likely that she left her nearly brand new car in the middle of nowhere and threw her phone on the ground in one place and her purse in another. It doesn't seem likely that someone would do that and then commit suicide either. Her stepdaughters and friends seem very fond of her. Not much has been said about her husband. Did anyone except him see her leave his house at 9 p.m.? Was anyone else at home at his house besides him when she was there? Was she in the habit of running errands at night on week nights, especially if she had to be at work the next morning? I hope her cell phone will give some information. Does anyone know if her car had a GPS or On Star or anything like that?
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According to the specs for her 2012 Chevy Cruze, it comes with OnStar. But it's only standard for six months. Then you have to start paying for it. Her car is probably a year old right now. Since she moved out on her own, she might have let it expire rather than pay the monthly service fee.

I have a feeling someone did a great job of covering tracks.
 
The address where she lives? Why does it appear to be in a Business district? That or someone is running a business out of her house?
 
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