MOO
Folks jumping into this at this stage of the game, please review some past threads, and definitely the YouTube videos posted here. One video, taken last Fall, shows a lot of what we've been obsessing over in the images from LE.
It's plainly obvious to me there is a dirt road underneath the southeast end of the bridge, where I believe the confrontation started. Is there a vehicle in the SC pic? I don't believe so, the road would be roughly underneath where Libby would have been standing, not closer to the creek. The road can be seen in satellite shots, as well as in the great work by Bob S. and other great image sleuthers, here.
In quotes is from the last thread:
I definitely hear "the hill", but could see how you would hear "there." If it was "there", then they should only be looking in Louisiana. Again, I don't think it is "there" at all.
It sounds like Eastern Midwest/West PA/Upstate NY to me. Spoke too fast and nasally for Southern region.
Besides websleuthing, linguistics is another interest of mine. It's clear he says "Get down the hill". I grew up in Western NY, and know my Great Lakes and some Midwestern dialects. Clearly Midwestern accent/dialect, but off of the lakes. Kinda breathless, as he'd just crossed the bridge. Having watched the video from last Fall (it's on YouTube and has been posted here), that end of the bridge is overgrown with brush and whatnot, even during the cold months.
Seems too curt for a southern IN accent/dialect, but I'm no expert. I live outside Fort Wayne. There are two, distinct accents in Allen County. There's a definite Kentucky and even Tennessee influence on soeech among many who grew up here. I don't hear a twang, per se, but again I'm no expert. The rest of the people here sound like people in Western NY, upper Ohio, parts of Michigan, etc. Hard to nail down, but sometimes a dead giveaway is rhe "oh" sound, as in "down". I don't hear any vowel shifts, so definitely an "off the lakes" dialect, and not urban.
There's a road/path just below where the initial contact happened. It's in the video, and on maps posted here. He told them to go down the hill to the road, which obviously is more easily traversed than the woods. After that, they must have made it to the creek for a shallow crossing.
I'm getting chills just typing this. Furthermore, I wonder just how they were killed, and if that's why LE is really nervous. They were extremely tight-lipped about the case one week ago, today, when the bodies were found. Today, that poor ISP in the beginning looked like he was about to fall to pieces. I was right with him.
Justice for these two girls.
