GUILTY NH - AH, 14, North Conway, 9 October 2013 - # 8

[Mom24]

So, back to AH. The parking lot behind the Walmart is used for access to some trails in the Green Hills Preserve. http://www.whitemountainmilers.com/green-hills-preserve-multiple-distances

Go to Walmart in North Conway and park around to the left side of the store in the open area in the back. You will see a dirt trail/road heading towards the power lines behind the store. Follow this road over the railroad tracks and head towards the power lines. The trail will curve around to the left under the power lines.

 

[Mom24]

and they talk about this trail:
The killer ridge run/Mason Brook Loop

You can also make a challenging 13+ mile loop that can take upwards of 3 hours depending on your endurance and conditions. Park at Walmart and follow the dirt trails over the train tracks and connect with the Corridor 19 Snowmobile trail. The trail curves around to the left and then to the right under the power lines. Just after the power lines, look for some single track trail on your left. Take that into the woods and keep on going until you cross a brook. Immediately after the brook, take the trail to the right that goes straight up Rattlesnake Mountain. When you summit Rattlesnake, you can follow a little used single track trail to Middle Mountain and then over to Peaked Mountain. As you then descend on Peaked, take the trail to the Black Cap Connector Trail to the summit of Black Cap. On your way up Black Cap, make a note of the Mason Brook Trail on your right as you will be coming down that way on your return trip. Once you summit Black Cap, turn around and retrace your steps until you get to the Mason Brook Trail. Take a left onto Mason Brook and follow it down until it comes out at a dirt road in what looks like an old sand pit. This is the Corridor 19 Snowmobile Trail. There is a kiosk just to your left when you come off of Mason Brook onto Corridor 19. Take a right onto the dirt road and follow it up the hill for about 1/2 a mile until you come to a much larger sand pit area. In this area the main dirt road will continue straight on through the sand pit and go a bit to the left. The Corridor 19 Trail forks off this main dirt road and goes just up the hill a bit. Follow Corridor 19 for another 2.4 miles and you’ll be back at Walmart. This is a pretty technical run and can be wet and muddy depending on the season

Question is, could someone have parked a car on the snowmobile trail?

 

[RANCH]

Actually it was eileenhawkeye who suggested the reward money be used for a PR firm and you agreed. But it's a mute point since the FBI would have to agree to divert those funds and I would guess if it's for a reward it can't be used for anything other. And it would most likely present a financial hardship for most families to come up with 10K to hire a PR firm.

I'm not sure that it would cost $10,000 to hire a decent PR firm. I only used the that figure when I found out that the reward was $20,000 and divided that in half. I didn't know that it was FBI reward money.

Maybe a good PR firm would take on the job for $5,000 and that money could be raised by family and friends? That sounds like something that could be looked into. MOO.

 

[Steleheart]

When I read the comments on her Ask page about her arms and her response my impression was that it was classic facetiousness - the irony being that it is SO Not her. IMO

Plus cutting is an extremely sensitive subject and would have been very hurtful if it were serious. I didn't get the same feel from her reaction as I did from the harassment posts. That all was just creepy.

I have not gotten any impression from her or anyone that she is depressed. Introverted, perhaps.

JMO

 

[Steleheart]

So, back to AH. The parking lot behind the Walmart is used for access to some trails in the Green Hills Preserve. http://www.whitemountainmilers.com/green-hills-preserve-multiple-distances

Go to Walmart in North Conway and park around to the left side of the store in the open area in the back. You will see a dirt trail/road heading towards the power lines behind the store. Follow this road over the railroad tracks and head towards the power lines. The trail will curve around to the left under the power lines.

Yes, I saw some maps and whatnot re running courses in that area. Plus I read early on somewhere that the powerline trail off Eagle's way is used by the Track Team. I think it's common for people to be on it and not as remote/secluded as people may think?

 

[LookingHoping]

People around here use the power line trails for walking, running, cross country skiing, atv'ing, snowmobiling, hunting, etc. They are wide open and if you look down you can see fairly far even when not newly groomed. I wouldn't think twice about taking a power line trail as a cut through.

 

[Mom24]

She was on the xcountry team, I wonder if they used the same trails to practice.

 

[Mom24]

People around here use the power line trails for walking, running, cross country skiing, atv'ing, snowmobiling, hunting, etc. They are wide open and if you look down you can see fairly far even when not newly groomed. I wouldn't think twice about taking a power line trail as a cut through.

are there often cars parked behind the Walmart? I'm just wondering if it's common for cars to park there while their out on the trails and how many might be parked there. If someone had been stalking her, or watching her, and they knew her route it would be a perfect place to park and wait for her and they'd not stand out if people routinely park back there to use the trails.

 

[Cardinal47]

Pudding pond is close to her home, but I think it's closer to her home than to Walmart.
Any locals around to give a description of what it looks like behind walmart or why anyone would be back there? Reason I ask is, is it a place where teens hang out or a make out spot, etc? Going to date myself here, but when I grew up going behind Zayre's was for getting answers to the upcoming tests. People would write answers to test questions for the classes on the wall, and teachers used the same tests year after year. Just wondering if there was something behind the walmart store that locals know about. Also, I remember a pic of the area and I noted how rugged the terrain looked behind the store and wondered how close the mountains in the pic were to the store.

I remember a huge search at Pudding Pond. Perhaps locals could tell us where the search was concentrated when that group of retired LE and search dogs came in that weekend. Being from another state all of this is a blurr but I think the group came in about 3 weeks into the investigation.

What a great discussion this evening. Many great minds on this WS topic.

I believe TIME is what changed the way we see Mom and LE responding.

In the beginning everybody hoped Abby had just taken off. Perhaps nobody saw anything but after the one month - six week period that hope seemed to dim and we heard more about maybe Abby got into a car with somebody she knew.

It would be interesting to put together a timeline and how those changes in attitude came to be among those speaking at press conferences.

Regarding the facts of this case I think it's time for LE to release a statement and say one way or another Abby might be a runaway. Lots of folks seem to think she ran so they have said something like 'she will show up when she shows up'.

What harm would it be to the investigation to say yes she made it home and took things or no she never made it home? I don't think any other than it would clear up the runaway theory.

MOO

 

[rizzo0904]

Their PR may be good in North Conway, but it isn't far reaching. I own two homes in NH...one is 2 hours southwest, one is 2 hours southeast of N. Conway. I have not seen one thing about AH...not a flyer, not a billboard, not one overheard conversation. And as I said before, only ONE person I work with knew what I was talking about when I brought her up. They need word to spread!

 

[rizzo0904]

are there often cars parked behind the Walmart? I'm just wondering if it's common for cars to park there while their out on the trails and how many might be parked there. If someone had been stalking her, or watching her, and they knew her route it would be a perfect place to park and wait for her and they'd not stand out if people routinely park back there to use the trails.

Wasn't there a post or pic of AH saying how it was just her and trucks in the parking lot? Was it at Walmart? I'll try to find it.

 

[Mom24]

This is the pic i was talking about.

The mountains appear very close but I'm wondering how close they really are? It really struck me how rugged the nearby terrain is for this area.

 

[LookingHoping]

This area is called Mt Washington Valley for a reason. The terrain is very rugged. Look at the satellite maps.

 

[Cardinal47]

That $20,000 reward is FBI money soley for the purpose of the return or recovery of Abby or for the arrest and prosecution of anyone who may be responsible for her disappearance... it isn't coming from the family

I always wondered why the reward money never grew.

I know the community behind finding Dylan Redwine raised $50,500.

Morgan Harringtons reward money was at $100,000 with $50,000 coming from the Metallica Band...Morgan went missing after attending their concert.

Also do you think the amount of reward money matters?

 

[Mom24]

I remember a huge search at Pudding Pond. Perhaps locals could tell us where the search was concentrated when that group of retired LE and search dogs came in that weekend. Being from another state all of this is a blurr but I think the group came in about 3 weeks into the investigation.

What a great discussion this evening. Many great minds on this WS topic.

I believe TIME is what changed the way we see Mom and LE responding.

In the beginning everybody hoped Abby had just taken off. Perhaps nobody saw anything but after the one month - six week period that hope seemed to dim and we heard more about maybe Abby got into a car with somebody she knew.

It would be interesting to put together a timeline and how those changes in attitude came to be among those speaking at press conferences.

Regarding the facts of this case I think it's time for LE to release a statement and say one way or another Abby might be a runaway. Lots of folks seem to think she ran so they have said something like 'she will show up when she shows up'.

What harm would it be to the investigation to say yes she made it home and took things or no she never made it home? I don't think any other than it would clear up the runaway theory.

MOO

Agree. Early on I really did believe she had left of her own accord and when she got cold and hungry she'd turn up. She's a teenager, and by nature teens can act first and think later. Add to that that no one saw anything and it just seemed like another angst-ridden teen. As time went on I more wanted to hope she had run away because that was "safer" but when you re-read articles with the thought that she met with a dangerous situation, what was said by LE and her mother takes on a different meaning.

 

[Mom24]

This area is called Mt Washington Valley for a reason. The terrain is very rugged. Look at the satellite maps.

any idea on how close those mountains are to the parking lot behind walmart? And am I correct in assuming the closer of the two peaks is rattlesnake?

 

[Mom24]

Wasn't there a post or pic of AH saying how it was just her and trucks in the parking lot? Was it at Walmart? I'll try to find it.

Yes, I think it was on her twitter feed. I'm not sure she mentioned where she was parked at the time, behind the walmart or in the regular parking lot.

 

[Cardinal47]

Okay, someone (not me) suggested the 20K might well used to hire a PR firm for the family. I agreed a PR firm is a good idea for a family to use in cases like this, and further added that I felt a PR firm might be willing to do it for free, especially since it might bring a PR firm positive publicity. Not saying they must do it for free or that money is coming from the family. However, I do agree a PR firm in a situation like this is a good idea since many times the families don't know how to handle keep the press involved and how to get the word out. The family has been lucky in that help getting the word out has been done by people making t-shirts, magnetized signs, billboards, etc. All these things cost money and the services have been largely donated ( I believe there's been a fee for the tshirts if you order one), but I'm sure a PR firm could come up with some rather unique methods for getting the story out, irregardless of where the money comes from or how much the cost is. The real point to the entire conversation is whether this family, or any family with a missing person, could benefit from a PR firm in helping further the search for their loved one. I believe it's a good idea.

I think your idea of hiring a PR firm is a wonderful suggestion. I don't believe I have heard of that being done before.

 

[Crickets]

She was on the xcountry team, I wonder if they used the same trails to practice.

Her mother said she wasn't on any organized sports teams. Perhaps she ran track or cross country in middle school, but I haven't read anything about whether she did or not. She had only been a freshman for a month before she disappeared, and according to her mom she wasn't on a team at the time. Her mother did say she was a runner and a skier (but you don't have to be on a school team to do those things).

 

[rizzo0904]

Yes, I think it was on her twitter feed. I'm not sure she mentioned where she was parked at the time, behind the walmart or in the regular parking lot.

Thanks. So if Walmart was a normal spot for her, could she have met up with a trucker? That's a quick way out of town.