GUILTY NH - AH, 14, North Conway, 9 October 2013 - # 4

[Mom24]

I'm wondering something about the whole walking home/taking the bus issue. Mom said AH was supposed to ride the bus home that day. She didn't say that it was typical for AH to take the bus home, just that AH was supposed to take the bus home THAT day. So, perhaps she did often walk home but for some reason was supposed to take the bus home THAT day. If that's the case, why was it so important that AH take the bus home THAT day? And more importantly, why didn't she? I know we keep focusing on a male perp, but I don't believe she had a "secret" man in her life, she had bf that she apparently felt strongly about so what if her "secret" friend was a female? Or someone she thought was a female? Someone who shared her love of all things Beatles?

 

[Mom24]

There are many inconsistencies here. ?

They might not be inconsistencies, and this may be why ZH's statements were written for her, not because they were trying to keep info from getting out but because things can get confused. Dad may reside in two places, i.e. north in summer and south in winter. Maybe Dad isn't in NH right now, maybe he's has a winter home in FL and resides there at this time of year. Maybe he's out of state visiting relatives and the reporter asked her where Dad was and she said "out of state". ZH is also fraught with worry, sleep deprived and probably not the best person to count on for detailed information at this point. Maybe AH had been walking home and ZH told her she needed to take the bus. Maybe AH was having problems with someone on the bus, hadn't told Mom and was walking home. Maybe AH was missing the bus because she was hanging out after class with friends and missed the bus more often than she caught it. Maybe Mom didn't know that AH didn't take the bus home.

 

[BelieveInMiracles]

Hey Everyone~

This is my first post on Websleuths (I finally decided to sign up). I don't usually get consumed with cases like these or follow through with them, but Abby's case has touched me like a case I followed on websleuths a few years ago. The case of Mackenzie Cowell I followed throughout and read every thread about her case. Some of the similarities of the two drew me to Abby's story such as both disappearing after leaving school (Mackenzie's was beauty school), and both sending a last text to boyfriend. Unfortunately Mackenzie's case did not have a happy ending. I pray for Abby's to have a different outcome. I really hope someone who knows something will come forward and clear their conscience to get this sweet girl back to her family. She is in my prayers every night.

I'm still quite confused on the older guy from online. In the interview with her mother, she said she didn't know of her talking to anyone online she didn't know. I honestly can't remember where that news of the older boy originated. Does anyone remember if that was stated in a press conference specifically, or was it just stated in the media?

Just a theory, but I don't get the impression she left on her own free will. If this older boy story is correct, I fear she may have met some new guy who friended her online, set a time to meet in person, and ended up with someone who tricked her with a fake profile. But I would assume that law enforcement has checked her FB page thoroughly. It's all so perplexing. Wish more info could be given to the public.

 

[cluciano63]

I'm wondering something about the whole walking home/taking the bus issue. Mom said AH was supposed to ride the bus home that day. She didn't say that it was typical for AH to take the bus home, just that AH was supposed to take the bus home THAT day. So, perhaps she did often walk home but for some reason was supposed to take the bus home THAT day. If that's the case, why was it so important that AH take the bus home THAT day? And more importantly, why didn't she? I know we keep focusing on a male perp, but I don't believe she had a "secret" man in her life, she had bf that she apparently felt strongly about so what if her "secret" friend was a female? Or someone she thought was a female? Someone who shared her love of all things Beatles?

I did not mean to suggest she was Beatles-obsessed (like me :blushing as she does have a wide range of groups and musicians on her page. I just happened to notice John Lennon on there and know that his birthday was October 9th. She may not have known.

 

[Mom24]

When I was that age and not where my mom thought I was (or where I was supposed to be), it usually involved one or more of the following: boys (older ones), sneaking beers.

Mine used to sneak to buy makeup. Sigh. So Walmart might have been for anything that she wasn't supposed to have. Makeup, chips, soda, etc.

 

[Mom24]

I did not mean to suggest she was Beatles-obsessed (like me :blushing as she does have a wide range of groups and musicians on her page. I just happened to notice John Lennon on there and know that his birthday was October 9th. She may not have known.

I think she posted something about the Beatles and saying she was born at the wrong time. And I think she quoted a few lyrics. BTW who isn't obsessed with John Lennon at that age, all that talent, angst-ridden lyrics and killed in his prime.

 

[Cardinal47]

I'm wondering something about the whole walking home/taking the bus issue. Mom said AH was supposed to ride the bus home that day. She didn't say that it was typical for AH to take the bus home, just that AH was supposed to take the bus home THAT day. So, perhaps she did often walk home but for some reason was supposed to take the bus home THAT day. If that's the case, why was it so important that AH take the bus home THAT day? And more importantly, why didn't she? I know we keep focusing on a male perp, but I don't believe she had a "secret" man in her life, she had bf that she apparently felt strongly about so what if her "secret" friend was a female? Or someone she thought was a female? Someone who shared her love of all things Beatles?

Honestly I think Mom meant what she said. Abby was supposed to take the bus home that day and probably every day. What Mother would want their daughter walking along the highway and through the woods for about 2 miles when there was bus service and she was at work.

Kids don't know how Mothers worry and why. Kids sometimes have no sense of danger. They think they are invincible. It's rough being a single parent of a daughter that wants to do it her way.

Why she chose that day..we might never know. But I think Abby did what Abby wanted to do and maybe mom, like Mothers everywhere, didn't know until all of this happened.

Personally I am very curious about the events leading up to the phone call to LE at I think 7:10 that evening.

My questions would be;

Was the arrangement that Abby would call or text her Mother when she arrived home from school? Did she?

When did Mom arrive home and find Abby missing?

Who was called looking for Abby when she could not be found?

I think a couple hours of searching my mom might have happened before LE was notified.

I mean who expects their daughter to be MISSING?

 

[Cardinal47]

They might not be inconsistencies, and this may be why ZH's statements were written for her, not because they were trying to keep info from getting out but because things can get confused. Dad may reside in two places, i.e. north in summer and south in winter. Maybe Dad isn't in NH right now, maybe he's has a winter home in FL and resides there at this time of year. Maybe he's out of state visiting relatives and the reporter asked her where Dad was and she said "out of state". ZH is also fraught with worry, sleep deprived and probably not the best person to count on for detailed information at this point. Maybe AH had been walking home and ZH told her she needed to take the bus. Maybe AH was having problems with someone on the bus, hadn't told Mom and was walking home. Maybe AH was missing the bus because she was hanging out after class with friends and missed the bus more often than she caught it. Maybe Mom didn't know that AH didn't take the bus home.

Add to that Mom and Sister have to be scared to death. Somebody took their loved one and they might be next. I would be out of my mind with worry about myself and each other!

Now that's something to chew on!

 

[Mom24]

Honestly I think Mom meant what she said. Abby was supposed to take the bus home that day and probably every day. What Mother would want their daughter walking along the highway and through the woods for about 2 miles when there was bus service and she was at work.

Kids don't know how Mothers worry and why. Kids sometimes have no sense of danger. They think they are invincible. It's rough being a single parent of a daughter that wants to do it her way.

Why she chose that day..we might never know. But I think Abby did what Abby wanted to do and maybe mom, like Mothers everywhere, didn't know until all of this happened.

Personally I am very curious about the events leading up to the phone call to LE at I think 7:10 that evening.

My questions would be;

Was the arrangement that Abby would call or text her Mother when she arrived home from school? Did she?

When did Mom arrive home and find Abby missing?

Who was called looking for Abby when she could not be found?

I think a couple hours of searching my mom might have happened before LE was notified.

I mean who expects their daughter to be MISSING?

:ditto: Wasn't it reported that ZH arrived home at 7pm and reported AH missing at 7:17pm?

 

[CMac2]

:ditto: Wasn't it reported that ZH arrived home at 7pm and reported AH missing at 7:17pm?

Yeah, why so soon? What did she see (or not see, for that matter) when she got home that made her call 911 INSTANTLY, and how did she convince LE just as fast to call in God and everybody to search for her missing teen? Especially if Abby never made it home after school. Something made Mom hit that panic button immediately. They even sealed off the condo!

 

[liltexans]

Hey Everyone~

This is my first post on Websleuths (I finally decided to sign up). I don't usually get consumed with cases like these or follow through with them, but Abby's case has touched me like a case I followed on websleuths a few years ago. The case of Mackenzie Cowell I followed throughout and read every thread about her case. Some of the similarities of the two drew me to Abby's story such as both disappearing after leaving school (Mackenzie's was beauty school), and both sending a last text to boyfriend. Unfortunately Mackenzie's case did not have a happy ending. I pray for Abby's to have a different outcome. I really hope someone who knows something will come forward and clear their conscience to get this sweet girl back to her family. She is in my prayers every night.

I'm still quite confused on the older guy from online. In the interview with her mother, she said she didn't know of her talking to anyone online she didn't know. I honestly can't remember where that news of the older boy originated. Does anyone remember if that was stated in a press conference specifically, or was it just stated in the media?

Just a theory, but I don't get the impression she left on her own free will. If this older boy story is correct, I fear she may have met some new guy who friended her online, set a time to meet in person, and ended up with someone who tricked her with a fake profile. But I would assume that law enforcement has checked her FB page thoroughly. It's all so perplexing. Wish more info could be given to the public.

Welcome to Websleuths!

:wagon:

 

[cluciano63]

Are we sure the time Mom came home was reported? I have seen various postings about that.

 

[Mom24]

Yeah, why so soon? What did she see (or not see, for that matter) when she got home that made her call 911 INSTANTLY, and how did she convince LE just as fast to call in God and everybody to search for her missing teen? Especially if Abby never made it home after school. Something made Mom hit that panic button immediately. They even sealed off the condo!

Shaking head. I don't know. I just don't get it. Is it normal to seal off the home of a missing child who never made it home? Or did they at first believe she made it home and were protecting any evidence they might find only to later conclude she had never made it home? I just couldn't understand why the first call when you get home and find your child not there would be to the police. My first call would be to her friends, not the police. It would take me at least an hour before I'd pull that trigger, unless something was so awry that I knew something had happened.

 

[Mom24]

Are we sure the time Mom came home was reported? I have seen various postings about that.

You know, I'm not really sure.

 

[takeitfromme412]

You know, I'm not really sure.

Well really all we know is when she called the police...... and now that I think of it, it would have been conway police first at the scene and them to call the shot that said get the AG's office out here and state police major crimes.... then from there jane young would have been the one to get the fbi involved so really, zenya could have been home for an hoyr or so trying to find her daughter and then call LE at 7:10 p.m...... but what did conway police find that made them tae this so absolutely seriously since the moment they arrived on scene????

 

[CMac2]

Shaking head. I don't know. I just don't get it. Is it normal to seal off the home of a missing child who never made it home? Or did they at first believe she made it home and were protecting any evidence they might find only to later conclude she had never made it home? I just couldn't understand why the first call when you get home and find your child not there would be to the police. My first call would be to her friends, not the police. It would take me at least an hour before I'd pull that trigger, unless something was so awry that I knew something had happened.

They initially said over and over again that they believed she'd made it home. They said this was because of the K-9 track. I've never heard of anyone stating anything as absolute fact based solely on a K-9's reaction to scent- I know the dogs can be extremely helpful, but I always thought they FOUND something at the home, something that combined with the K-9 track, made them relatively certain she made it home. Then they backtracked on that statement, and said she really didn't make it home.

On the rare occasion LE is willing to release something as fact in this case, just wait a few days- they'll say the opposite later.

I agree- I'd call friends, check with neighbors, drive her normal route home, etc. THEN I'd call police. My kid (knock on wood) has never gone AWOL, even for a short time, and I'd still do those things first. What did Abby's mom see that made her bypass all those things? How did she know??

 

[BelieveInMiracles]

Shaking head. I don't know. I just don't get it. Is it normal to seal off the home of a missing child who never made it home? Or did they at first believe she made it home and were protecting any evidence they might find only to later conclude she had never made it home? I just couldn't understand why the first call when you get home and find your child not there would be to the police. My first call would be to her friends, not the police. It would take me at least an hour before I'd pull that trigger, unless something was so awry that I knew something had happened.

Just a thought, but is it possible her mom had access to check Abby's phone voicemails? On some phone plans you can call the number and enter a code to listen to any messages. Maybe she tried calling her between the hours of school getting out and her getting off work and when she never got an answer decided to check her voicemail and heard messages from her friends trying to contact her also? That would probably have made her concerned. (JMO)

(sorry for the run-on sentence - hope it makes sense) :blushing:

 

[jadejazzkayla]

Are we sure the time Mom came home was reported? I have seen various postings about that.

afaik, we don't know what time mom came home. there hasn't been a link provided with that information.

 

[CMac2]

afaik, we don't know what time mom came home. there hasn't been a link provided with that information.

Here's another thought too: I require my 15 y/o daughter to call me as soon as she gets home from school, so that I know she made it. I don't generally leave my office for close to 4 hours after she gets home, but I know what time she should be there. If I don't hear from her, I call or text her right away. Abby's mom could have been "looking" via phone calls, text messages, etc for her daughter from 3:00 in the afternoon, even if she didn't physically make it home from work until later that evening.

She could have been calling all the friends, BF, Abby's sister, etc well before walking in the door, and had it in her head, "If I don't hear from her by the time I get home, I'm calling the police."

Still doesn't explain LE's extremely enthusiastic response, but may explain why Mom called so soon after getting home from work.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Yes I remember a lot of it. That he was found because of the jogger Chelsea that he also got on the jogging trail.

But what I was trying to remember was the incident itsself. How did he grab her off the street and nobody saw anything? I forget that part. TIA

No one (unless LE knew) knew what happened until Carrie (Mom) confronted Gardner in prison. She asked him to tell her the whole truth. It had been assumed all along that Amber took her normal route, but on the day she was kidnapped, she took a route that was surrounded on both sides of the street with high fences. Amber had no where to get away.

I found this article, which tells it better:

Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle told "Good Morning America" today that Gardner told her in a jailhouse meeting that he forced Amber into his car on Feb. 13, 2009 by trapping her on a fenced street and threatening her with a knife and gun.

He "told her to get in the car or it would be a lot worse for her," McGonigle told "Good Morning America" today. "She had nowhere to go. She was stuck."

McGonigle, who had spoken with Amber about being approached by strangers in the weeks before her murder, pushed hard to meet with Gardner before he was sentenced to learned why he targeted Amber and how he captured her.

"She was in the wrong place at the wrong time," the mom said.
McGonigle said Amber had apparently taken a different route to school that morning for reasons she'll never know. Gardner said he found her one block over from her normal path.

"He said, 'I had a knife and a gun,'" she said. "He says he didn't show it. I don't know."

Gardner has said he drove Amber about a half-hour north of her hometown where he raped and killed her. McGonigle said she intended to keep most of the details of her conversation with Gardner private out of respect for Amber's father and the rest of her family who don't want to hear the details.

"I needed answers," McGonigle said. "I waited 15 months, and I needed some answers." Gardner's response, she said, gave her closure.