MA - Vanessa Marcotte, 27, murdered, Princeton, 7 Aug 2016 #1

[Inthedetails]

I'm on the fence. I can see it being something like that but also think it could be someone she knew. As in someone she intentionally meant to hang out with for a bit but someone her mom wasn't a fan of, so perhaps she said she was "going for a run" but was really getting picked up in a car by someone she knew. I think in that scenario she is likely killed elsewhere and dumped back where she was picked up from and would have been "running".

Murder is not common in Princeton or even in surrounding towns, so for it to be random you'd think there would be more history of random attacks in the area. If it was someone from the halfway house I questions how they would have had the materials to burn her, or how they would have hidden her clothes.

The thing is, she is an accomplished, well-educated, poised woman with a great career going. I think she's past the stage of meeting someone while she is on foot and the other person in the car, without telling her mom. That sounds more like a teenager thing rather than a young professional, ykwim?

But...your mention of a car does make sense as I don't think the crime necessarily happened where she was found. It seems more of a place he dumped her. Perhaps it's someone who used tricks to get her to the car - asked for directions and then nabbed her??

IDK, IDK, IDK.

jmo

 

[ThinkHard]

I think the fact that they were just about the same age and both grew up in the same area points to the fact they could have known each other. And someone from Rutland would be familiar with the back roads of Rutland. Rutland is also a little more hick farmish, so it wouldn't be uncommon for people there to have gasoline around for farm equipment and 4wheelers.

 

[ThinkHard]

I understand your perspective. However as someone who grew up in the same school district as Princeton and had friends who went to Bancroft, as well as going to grad school and living in NYC myself at that age....it doesn't seem all that unlikely of a scenario to me.

 

[Inthedetails]

I think the fact that they were just about the same age and both grew up in the same area points to the fact they could have known each other. And someone from Rutland would be familiar with the back roads of Rutland. Rutland is also a little more hick farmish, so it wouldn't be uncommon for people there to have gasoline around for farm equipment and 4wheelers.

Good point.

Are there roads around her mom's place that would lead past properties that are isolated? Could someone who have lived on one of the roads have enticed her or grabbed her onto his property? I would imagine most property owners would have gasoline, if even for lawn mowers, but a more isolated place would be needed, I would think, for the fire. Does that make sense, given what you know of where she possibly ran?

 

[ThinkHard]

All the houses on the road are pretty isolated. They are mostly set back far and the whole area is heavily wooded.

 

[PastorJerry]

Princeton is northwest of Boston, about 65 miles away. The main reason people from outside of the area go to Princeton is to go to the Mt Wachusett State Park in the summer and the Wachusett Ski Area in the winter.

It's a beautiful rural town, near the small cities of Fitchburg and Leominster. Both cities are not doing well and have a fair amount of crime for Massachusetts. Fitchburg was a paper mill city and Leominster a plastics city.

I suspect that the perp followed her from NYC. Moo and all.

I agree, I think it's too random for the area. I believe the perp knew her and followed her home.

 

[ThinkHard]

Where would he have "hidden out"? How would they know she was going for a run then? Do you really think he tailed her the entire 3 hrs drive from NYC? On multiple major highways and all along windey back roads and then just stalked her house for days until she finally happen to go out for a run? I'm just not sure that makes much sense to me.

 

[Inthedetails]

Where would he have "hidden out"? How would they know she was going for a run then? Do you really think he failed her the entire 3 hrs drive from NYC? I'm just not sure that makes much sense to me.

ITA. I think this perp was local to the area, not someone who followed her from NYC. The fact that she was burned and left where she was, to me, indicates someone who knows the area and had a place to do the burning.

jmo

 

[ThinkHard]

I agree. But wish it wasn't the case, as it makes it that much scarier.

 

[Inthedetails]

Where would he have "hidden out"? How would they know she was going for a run then? Do you really think he tailed her the entire 3 hrs drive from NYC? On multiple major highways and all along windey back roads and then just stalked her house for days until she finally happen to go out for a run? I'm just not sure that makes much sense to me.

It's also entirely possible she didn't drive home. Living in NYC, she might not even have a car and traveled via the train to Boston, for example. We don't know.

 

[carbuff]

This happened about an hour from where we live. We have friends in the area and we're at Mt. Wachuset and other Princeton-area trails for hiking summer and winter. It's a VERY popular outdoor area and the weekend was absolutely beautiful. There would have been many outsiders around. Yeah, it's small and rural, but it's also only 40 minutes from Worcester, the second-largest city in the state, and from Fitchburg-Leominster, another populated area where there are plenty of places to stay unnoticed, etc.

Locals--meaning most of the state, really--are pretty rattled.

eta: and rumor is that it's a lot worse than what has appeared so far in the press. That might just be the fear speaking though.

 

[ThinkHard]

Agreed though it's more likely she would have taken the train to hartford instead of Boston. Cheaper train ticket but just about same driving distance from Princeton but shorter train ride to ny.

 

[Inthedetails]

Agreed though it's more likely she would have taken the train to hartford instead of Boston. Cheaper train ticket but just about same driving distance from Princeton but shorter train ride to ny.

Good to know!

 

[ThinkHard]

A couple corrections. Princeton has only one town btw it and Worcester and is at most a 20 minute drive, not 40. Also while the Mt is popular (more so in winter) its a couple miles away from where Vanessa went missing. The road she was on runs parrelel to the main route through town, so most people driving through stay off that road and stay on rt 31. So it's unlikely the road she was running would have had a lot of traffic. Princeton is small and friendly but there isn't really a downtown so people aren't usually just milling around back roads in town. But it is the kind of place where people wouldn't think twice about going for a jog alone and often leave doors unlocked. But it is definetly never crowded with people (accept by the mnt).

 

[snowleopard]

It sounds like someone local, with some kind of record (thinking burning to destroy evidence). From the time she went out, to when she was found was, I think, 7 hours, so it's not impossible she was abducted, taken elsewhere and returned to where she was discovered. But if that's the case, its sounds like someone who was comfortable returning there and burning etc. It would almost have to have been an impulsive attack on the part of the perp, saw her and 'had' to do something, otherwise it would likely be someone who knew she'd be visiting.

 

[PastorJerry]

Where would he have "hidden out"? How would they know she was going for a run then? Do you really think he tailed her the entire 3 hrs drive from NYC? On multiple major highways and all along windey back roads and then just stalked her house for days until she finally happen to go out for a run? I'm just not sure that makes much sense to me.

True, I wasnt thinking of the person needing to know the area. I just have a feeling it is someone she knows. So many of these crimes are not random and turn out to be someone you think you are safe with.

 

[Chelly]

http://www.telegram.com/article/20160809/NEWS/160809295

A vigil is planned Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. at the Congregational church on the Common in Princeton in support of Ms. Marcotte’s family and “to show that we are a community that responds to tragedy with love, not fear,” according to Rev. Linda Michel.

 

[ThinkHard]

I agree. I feel like it's a peer that she grew up with.

 

[PastorJerry]

I agree. I feel like it's a peer that she grew up with.

In a community that small, surely people would know of someone that is troubled. This kind of depravity, (sexual assault and burning), is pretty alarming. I'm hoping that some DNA was left behind.

 

[snowleopard]

Hi Pastor Jerry, I agree, I'm pretty sure it's a local, and unless he's a complete recluse, someone's going to notice something about him lately. The only silver lining I see here is that I'm almost certain he'll be caught.