MI MI - Jessica Heeringa, 25, Norton Shores, 26 April 2013 #6

[Some1Nose]

I’ve been trying to put the pieces to the puzzle together regarding Jessica’s personal belongings sitting on the front counter and the cash drawer reportedly sitting open. I think the abductor commandeered Jessica with the use of a weapon from inside the station to the back and outside to a waiting vehicle. That would explain no signs of a disturbance inside. Also, I don’t think the person/s who abducted Jessica was anyone she knew well. It may have been an acquaintance such as someone who habituated the store often and struck up conversations with Jessica to find-out certain things. The person may have had a confident and charming persona which caused Jessica to feel comfortable having conversations with them and divulging information that she wouldn’t ordinarily talk about.

I definitely don’t believe that Jessica would have willingly left her son behind. The video posted on here awhile back showing Jessica playing with her son at their home displays her motherly bond with her son. She was working a lot of overtime for his welfare.

All IMOO

 

[margarita25]

We had a case in UK a few years back where a little girl went missing (Shannon Mathews) and was presumed dead after there was no sign of her for a few weeks.

Turns out her mum had planned it - got a man to "kidnap" the girl, keep her captive in his flat and then planned to somehow claim the reward money. Motivation came from the huge amounts being donated to the Madeline McCann fund.

This "mother" (I use the term very loosely) had a number of children by different partners, and once Shannon was found, it was discovered that she'd been fed sleeping tablets and possibly other medication for months, and that generally hadn't been very well looked after. The children are all with foster families now, the mum recently got released from prison and the step-dad did time for possessing child *advertiser censored*.

It was one of those rare missing children cases that seems to have had a happy ending in that a number of children ended up with better lives.

Back to this thread, not saying that anything like this has occurred in Jessica's case, but it was just to answer the question asked as to why funds might be collected/solicited for a missing person case - in that case, the thought of donations/reward money actually motivated the crime.

wow...

 

[cebee]

I am not sure why they think putting some color on the picture would make anything different. ANd it is far too late to ask the 'witness' to give a description to another artist if she thought it was a '10' the first time around. I know they have good intentions but.... I still think the police were too stuck on the silver van and witness sketch in the beginning and may have missed clues that may have led another direction.
Since the witness did not see a struggle- just Jessica walking out with some guy then him driving away... could she be wrong on her time? Could it have been earlier, and Jessica walked out with some guy- maybe pointing out directions:? Or just chatting for a minute, went back in, he drove off in his silver van ( not being careful about being seen, since of course he had nothing to be concerned about..) driving right past the witness close enough for her to get a good look... and 5 min later Jessica was abducted by someone else? If she did not see a struggle, or anything to indicate Jessica got INTO the van... and we have been off on a red herring ever since??

 

[jenstar]

I am not sure why they think putting some color on the picture would make anything different. ANd it is far too late to ask the 'witness' to give a description to another artist if she thought it was a '10' the first time around. I know they have good intentions but.... I still think the police were too stuck on the silver van and witness sketch in the beginning and may have missed clues that may have led another direction.
Since the witness did not see a struggle- just Jessica walking out with some guy then him driving away... could she be wrong on her time? Could it have been earlier, and Jessica walked out with some guy- maybe pointing out directions:? Or just chatting for a minute, went back in, he drove off in his silver van ( not being careful about being seen, since of course he had nothing to be concerned about..) driving right past the witness close enough for her to get a good look... and 5 min later Jessica was abducted by someone else? If she did not see a struggle, or anything to indicate Jessica got INTO the van... and we have been off on a red herring ever since??

You know, that's crossed my mind a few times too. What if we have the wrong vehicle or something happened right after the last customer, and nobody saw it?
Then we're completely in the dark about the whole thing. Which is even worse because if you think about it..there's no "van" or "supect" or witness accounts to go on.

Instead of :scared: (running in circles) LE should start from scratch in a different time frame. Starting with the last customer. Again.. JMHO

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

The investigation into Jessica's disappearance went nowhere fast. :moo:

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

We`re going to take a break. On the other side, a very scary, awful case. There`s a mother who`s missing. We`re going to try to find her. And stay right there. We`re going to do everything we can when we come right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a car here. But it just -- there`s another car out front. But it is very suspicious why there`s nobody here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So did you yell or anything or...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I hollered hey, you know, walked around the building. It`s just -- I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They saw a gray or silver minivan leaving that establishment.

HEERINGA: He probably lured her out by saying he needed help. Jesse would have helped anybody, and that was probably her downfall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s been more than a month and a half since Jessica Heeringa disappeared. She left behind her purse and her keys. No money was stolen from the gas station. So was Jessica the target of somebody who knew her schedule and waited for the right moment to snatch her?

Straight out to Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor -- you have prosecuted so many horrific cases. What is your sense of this case, Wendy?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, you know, the good news is, they have a sense of the van -- its color, the fact that there was a guy there. A silver minivan, that`s not a common car. So the possibility of finding that van I think is great.

There`s blood. We know it`s her blood. Is there a possibility of that being mixed with maybe some DNA cells from whoever the offender was, whoever took her?

The downside of the case at this point, Jane, is it`s been a while. It`s coming up on two months. And in a case like this, if you haven`t found the victim by now, the odds aren`t good. But we still have to try, because that van holds some important clues.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at this beautiful girl. What is wrong with our society that a woman cannot work alone without risking her life? Shortly after Jessica vanished, a very worried man pulled up to the Exxon Gas station and he called 911. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just walked inside, there`s nobody. There`s a car here, there`s another car out front. But it just -- it`s very suspicious why there`s nobody here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. So did you yell or anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I hollered hey, you know, walked around the building. It`s just -- I don`t know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ABC News is reporting tonight that an employee at an adjacent store said he saw a man in a silver minivan -- similar to this one -- approached Jessica and say, "Hey, what are you doing over there? Aren`t you supposed to be inside," in a flirty tone.

Again, this is the man that cops are looking for. He is described as a white male, 30 to 40 years old, six feet tall with wavy hair parted in the middle. And we understand that there was some blood -- was there a camera inside this convenience store? If there was, maybe we would have video of this person. If there wasn`t, why wasn`t there? Those are the questions I have. I don`t have the answers.

Cops think Jessica knew her abductor, and her mother told our affiliate she believes the person who took Jessica lured her by saying she needed help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEERINGA: I think whoever did this had been in the gas station before, and maybe Jesse knew him as someone coming in or even a regular, maybe. And he probably lured her out by saying he needed help. Jesse would have helped anybody and that was probably her downfall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: My heart goes out to that woman. And if you know this man, or think you know that man, definitely call authorities immediately.

Sally, North Carolina, your question or thought, Sally?

SALLY, NORTH CAROLINA (via telephone): Yes. I was just wondering not to judge or anything, but is there not possibility that she was in on it?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A possibility that what?

SALLY: That she was in on it, that she knew what was going on?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t think so, and I`ll tell you why. I don`t think that`s how -- if a woman wants to disappear, how she does it. I don`t think this woman would torture her family. I don`t think she would leave her purse and her keys behind and her vehicle. She has a child. She has a fiance who is devastated.

I don`t think that`s how it`s done, and I think this woman is -- if we`re lucky -- in danger. And I pray, I pray that she`s found. If you know anything, please call authorities immediately. We`re looking for this man right here.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1306/12/ijvm.01.html

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Missing mom taken by someone she knew?

By Richard Dool

updated 11:37 AM EDT, Thu June 13, 2013

NEED TO KNOW
•Jessica Heeringa disappeared on April 26th
•If you have any information please call Silent Observer at 231-72-CRIME

http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/06/12/missing-mom-taken-someone-she-knew

 

[Darcyline]

I was reading about an older, unrelated case about a little murdered boy. Sometimes I like doing that just to take a break from cases now and/or learn from long-term unsolved cases. Anyway, a little boy was kidnapped and a witness swore that they saw a man and a truck by where the boy was kidnapped. So, the cops released a sketch and the vehicle information and the idea was that they thought this was the truck and kidnapper. Now, over two decades later one of the cops from the case said he regrets that because they are having doubts whether that man or the truck were even involved or exist.
Serious cold chill-I hope they are EXTREMELY sure the van and man pictured were involved in this case. At least we have video confirmation that a van exists and was in the area. Can you imagine 20+ years going by and then having one of the cops say, well, the van may not have even been related? Disappearances seem so hard to solve though because obviously if a witness saw a vehicle and man that could be involved you have to get that information out there.

I am not sure where I am going with this, but it is disheartening that we are approaching the two month mark and I am getting vague Holly Bobo feelings which is not a good thing.

 

[cluciano63]

It is possible that the van is not involved and the driver has not seen the news or the posters. Many people just glance at such things and do not pass on the information and lots of people get their news just from national news sites online, if at all. I tend to glance at MSNBC every day or so, just to check major stories. But many of their titles say things like "Van sought in kidnapping" for example, without saying where, unless you open the story.

But if not the van, then LE is really in a bad way, since they seem to have little else to chase down.

 

[vega]

Well, I hope she ran away, because it does not appear that she will be found via the sketch or the van, at this point.

Well since sketching (color or b/w) "10 out of 10" quality eye-witness accounts and doing data base searches for silver vans from the comfort of the PD station is not working, how about we try a good old fashioned grid search in the actual physical world of the surrounding area. We could even use a little deductive reasoning and map out the search grid accordingly. Oh wait , we don't want to do field searches because the searchers might "muck up" the potential crime scene. :scared:

 

[nerosleuth]

To the best of my knowledge there has been no information on the second vehicle. My computer has a feature which magnifies the image each time you click the mouse. Others
must have similar features as well. Perhaps if the websleuths keep working with these videos they will be able to read the rear plate or the vanity plate on the front of the vehicle. It could have the dealers name. Good websluthing!

I can think of two ways that a dealer’s name can be seen on a vehicle.

One is that some dealers have their name on the frame that holds the vehicle's license plate.

Another is that on some dealers have their name affixted somewhere on the back of the vehicle.

 

[nerosleuth]

Since the witness did not see a struggle- just Jessica walking out with some guy then him driving away... could she be wrong on her time?

and 5 min later Jessica was abducted by someone else?

You know, that's crossed my mind a few times too. What if we have the wrong vehicle or something happened right after the last customer, and nobody saw it?

It’s quite possible that the witness may have seen someone else leaving the station but didn’t see someone else entering the station afterwards.

If that is the case, then LE is looking for the wrong vehicle and suspect to begin with.

I keep thinking about the back area inside the station. Here is a thought.

Most gas stations with convenience stores have a restroom in the back part of the building. Was there a restroom or restrooms inside the building where Jessica worked?

 

[SteveP]

Well since sketching (color or b/w) "10 out of 10" quality eye-witness accounts and doing data base searches for silver vans from the comfort of the PD station is not working, how about we try a good old fashioned grid search in the actual physical world of the surrounding area. We could even use a little deductive reasoning and map out the search grid accordingly. Oh wait , we don't want to do field searches because the searchers might "muck up" the potential crime scene. :scared:

I have to agree with you. Why there has never been one single search is beyond me. Yeah, I know the line..."Well, since we feel she was taken by vehicle, she could be anywhere, and we wouldn't know where to start. Yada, yada, yada..."

Well guess what? Nothing so far seems to have panned out, so at this point, what have you got to lose? If nothing else, get some boots on the ground and look like you are doing something proactive. Start at the Exxon station. Trace the parts of the route that the phantom van was known to have traveled. Check the remote areas in the vicinity. Jessica may not be found, but something that could tie into her disappearance might be, and that may give a lead as to a direction to go. At this point, I think we can conclude that the 10 out of 10 sketch is most likely not going to find her, and Lord knows how many more thousands of vans still have to be checked out. And whatever happened to that much-anticipated profiler report? Surely it has been turned over to LE by now, one would think...my guess is the average WS member could probably have produced one by week two that would be as helpful....

Sorry for the rant....I feel better now. Oh, and as always, JMO

ETA My brother was LE for 30 years, and I have several other family members in LE. I really do have the utmost respect for LE usually. I'm just pissed and frustrated here.

 

[Treelights]

I have to agree with you. Why there has never been one single search is beyond me. Yeah, I know the line..."Well, since we feel she was taken by vehicle, she could be anywhere, and we wouldn't know where to start. Yada, yada, yada..."

Well guess what? Nothing so far seems to have panned out, so at this point, what have you got to lose? If nothing else, get some boots on the ground and look like you are doing something proactive. Start at the Exxon station. Trace the known parts of the route that the phantom van was known to have traveled. Check the remote areas in the vicinity. Jessica may not be found, but something that could tie into her disappearance might be, and that may give a lead as to a direction to go. At this point, I think we can conclude that the 10 out of 10 sketch is most likely not going to find her, and Lord knows how many more thousands of vans still have to be checked out. And whatever happened to that much-anticipated profiler report? Surely it has been turned over to LE by now, one would think...my guess is the average WS member could probably have produced one by week two that would be as helpful....

Sorry for the rant....I feel better now. Oh, and as always, JMO

Hey I like "Just Your Opinion!!!"
Seriously, if they do nothing, they get nothing. If they do some searches of some kind, it is better than not looking all!!! Perhaps they will find a clue, or a break in the case.

 

[jenstar]

It is possible that the van is not involved and the driver has not seen the news or the posters. Many people just glance at such things and do not pass on the information and lots of people get their news just from national news sites online, if at all. I tend to glance at MSNBC every day or so, just to check major stories. But many of their titles say things like "Van sought in kidnapping" for example, without saying where, unless you open the story.

But if not the van, then LE is really in a bad way, since they seem to have little else to chase down.

Or that this person knows exactly who he is and chooses not to step forward in fear of persecution. That always crossed my mind..whether it be a passerby or a regular customer; (the sketch OR the van alike) this person wants no further contact (or isn't allowed contact) with the police. So even if he did have information he chose to "mind his own business" rather than help further the investigation. As ridiculous as it may sound. JMO

 

[Tonto]

It really is a half-assed investigation, and under the surface has been since the beginning. They paid it a lot of lip service at the start, and even made sure the media was around when they randomly pulled over vans, but that's about it. Merely a show, IMO. As for actual investigative work consistent with a missing persons case, they get a D at best.

 

[jenstar]

It really is a half-assed investigation, and under the surface has been since the beginning. They paid it a lot of lip service at the start, and even made sure the media was around when they randomly pulled over vans, but that's about it. Merely a show, IMO. As for actual investigative work consistent with a missing persons case, they get a D at best.

I agree. Let's play "If I were Jess's abductor"

#1. I'd get rid of that Blue Exxon Shirt. It's probably on the side of the highway somewhere. (That would be something to look for in a ground search on the side of nearby roads and highways.)

JMO

 

[multicat]

This case keeps bugging me. The sketch looks like my ex boyfriend who lived in the midwest, drove mini vans a lot, and was not mentally stable. But he would be a (probably) well preserved 50 year old, not 30-40.

 

[cluciano63]

Now I begin to wonder about the glasses found early on. Did we ever learn for sure that hers were NOT missing? Otherwise, that may be another piece of evidence the perp may have tossed, so she would not see where they went, or get a good look at him, assuming he meant to keep her alive.

 

[jenstar]

Now I begin to wonder about the glasses found early on. Did we ever learn for sure that hers were NOT missing? Otherwise, that may be another piece of evidence the perp may have tossed, so she would not see where they went, or get a good look at him, assuming he meant to keep her alive.

Yeah, they were quite sure that they were not hers. The frames were different according to the boyfriend. I think Imamaze has the MSM article dates stamped down in the info thread.