NM NM - Patty Pritz, 14, & Mattie Restine, 13, Carlsbad, 11 Aug 1961 - #1

[Legacy]

Great points, Hurricane - your experience in forensics shows well, as does my lack thereof. Could it be possible then that the homicides occurred elsewhere, outside the vehicle, in another remote location and that the killer eventually placed them where they would have a better chance of being discovered - to "show off" his work and to revel in the publicity of the discovery?

A primary crime scene would also explain why the car was seen moving through the field with its headlights on. It might also explain why some of the clothes appeared folded and some tossed. Perhaps the killer saw the vehicle passing by and became more hurried in his efforts to clear his car for fear of being caught, especially if the vehicle passing by appeared to slow down as it passed.

The man sleeping in the vehicle is of utmost interest to me. If this could be determined to be Nichols based on the vehicle description obtained from the family, or if he had indicated to them that he had slept in his car the previous night, it might help establish his proximity to the scene. What strikes me is if it were Nichols sleeping in his vehicle, it would almost appear as though he was keeping guard over his prey, or to possibly assure that no one accessed the area, or that the car passing by did not return. Nichols has been described as a predator and child molester. To me, this crime has the markings of a predator-style abduction.

Of course, this is entirely speculation on my part. Just trying to keep it going - and hopefully in some small way help the process. Your input is much needed - and respected.

 

[Sunshine 1950]

Sunshine1950, has the family indicated the color of Nichols' car, or if it had two colors on it? The paperwork they still possess could be key in determining the color of his car and, in the outside chance the vehicle could be traced and recovered, could still hold the evidence needed to solve the crime once and for all. How did he explain away the scratches to his face the morning following the homicides as he was leaving town? Was anything out of the ordinary found in his belongings when he died that he could have kept as a memento from either of the girls?

Another observation noted from the reports: Willie D. Blair said that it was Bill Melton's idea to go where there were "lots of rabbits," and not his own. So it wasn't really Blair who led the two to the area, but rather Melton.

I have asked the grand-daughter to read these documents and add to them...but she is having trouble getting on here ....can't get registered. I have tried to help her...but guess I don't understand what the problem is.

I asked the same questions about Nichols...the documents I recieved from the gd. about the cars tells nothing about the color. I have copies of them...also a picture of Nichols...just haven't posted them. She hasn't said much about the other stuff....she is going to get her mother around the 15th and she is going to spend some time with her...maybe she can ask some of the questions we need answered....if she can get on here it would help.

I think Blair said that about Melton asking to go rabbit hunting to through the investigation off....Melton said that he didn't know Blair that well and he had never asked him to go hunting with him before that day. I need to find that in the reports I have....
Here lately I've been having trrouble finding stuff....why...it's all right here...just can't find it when I need it!
But I will keep working on it.
LEgacy thank you for all the information you have given me...makes me think a little better. Opens my mind I guess is what I'm trying to say.

 

[Sunshine 1950]

I also lean toward the assumption that the homicides could have occurred in a car. I believe the killer orchestrated his sick gratification scheme quickly and with a great deal of malice and forethought. Based on evidence shown here, the homicides could have occurred and the bodies disposed of within 1-2 hours' time. The recent posting by Sunshine1950 transcribing the account of the witness seeing the two girls escorted to the car by a man holding something in his hands only serves to confirm my suspicion. The man could not be clearly seen from where the witness was standing, so he estimated his age to be 27-30 years with a "mature" voice.

The entire ordeal could have started and ended in the pasture where the vehicle was seen, with trace evidence of the crime being confined to the car. Mattie's eyes were found tightly shut as if she was anticipating the gunshot that took her life. He probably killed her first, likely while she was still sitting in the front seat, which would have added to the frenzy of the second little girl, Patty, and to his own excitement. Patty's rape and murder then could have taken place in the back seat of the vehicle. With Patty being the smallest of the two and Mattie being about the size of the man seen escorting the two to the vehicle, this could confirm that he was looking for smaller, child-sized victims. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about Mattie being the largest of the two, it seems I did read this earlier.)

I don't know that any of the suspects would have had access to a private building for the murders as the primary suspects did not live alone (except maybe the teacher). The desert fauna of that area would prohibit the rape from occurring on the ground unless in a higher traffic area, say a well-traveled dirt road.

Mattie was much shorter than Patty. Patty would have been the taller girl. Mattie the shortest.
I would say that with the cuts that were on Patty's back that she could have been raped on the ground. I haven't posted any of that stuff because of the information contained in the autopsy reports. Patty had cuts...deep cuts on her back and on her knees. They could identify what did those...maybe a rock or maybe knife, of sharpened stick.

 

[Sunshine 1950]

Great points, Hurricane - your experience in forensics shows well, as does my lack thereof. Could it be possible then that the homicides occurred elsewhere, outside the vehicle, in another remote location and that the killer eventually placed them where they would have a better chance of being discovered - to "show off" his work and to revel in the publicity of the discovery?

A primary crime scene would also explain why the car was seen moving through the field with its headlights on. It might also explain why some of the clothes appeared folded and some tossed. Perhaps the killer saw the vehicle passing by and became more hurried in his efforts to clear his car for fear of being caught, especially if the vehicle passing by appeared to slow down as it passed.

The man sleeping in the vehicle is of utmost interest to me. If this could be determined to be Nichols based on the vehicle description obtained from the family, or if he had indicated to them that he had slept in his car the previous night, it might help establish his proximity to the scene. What strikes me is if it were Nichols sleeping in his vehicle, it would almost appear as though he was keeping guard over his prey, or to possibly assure that no one accessed the area, or that the car passing by did not return. Nichols has been described as a predator and child molester. To me, this crime has the markings of a predator-style abduction.

Of course, this is entirely speculation on my part. Just trying to keep it going - and hopefully in some small way help the process. Your input is much needed - and respected.

Legacy I will look at the police reports and see if there is more information regarding that car...I remember something about another report about a man being there....and they took him in....but decided he was looking at girly books and doing his thing there...but they didn't think he was involved in the murders. I'll look that up and see if the car matches anything we have here.

I just don't think the NIchols family knows or remembers what color his car was...but he did have two cars during that time....'53 Chevy and an a Plymouth...but he sold the car he had the night the girls were killed soon after he returned home....I don't know the date on that either.

SO much we don't know about Nichols.

 

[Sunshine 1950]

My memory is sketchy at best - I was very young when we moved from the area. I was glad to see you post that there used to be rides there. When I went back several years ago there were no rides, but my vague memory from childhood told me there should have been. I wasn't sure I didn't have it mixed up with somewhere else.

Aren't there municipal buildings parallel with the access road to the beach/park area on the opposite side? Maybe someone from the area could better answer this one.



Here are some of the reasons why I think Earl Nichols is not a legitimate suspect regardless of what his daughter and granddaughter say today.

If we are to believe witness Keith Bunnel then he establishes a time and location for when the two girls first made contact with the rightful suspect; 9:00 p.m. on Friday Aug. 11th in front of 603 N. Mesquite St., just a couple of blocks from Patty’s house at 403 N. Mesquite St. The suspect pulled the car over to the curbside ahead of the two girls who were on the sidewalk. The suspect got out and approached the girls. After some conversation consisting of giggles and squeals the two girls got into the car willingly, as the suspect held the door open for them. This gives every indication to me that one or both of the girls knew the driver of the car who approached them. To help establish the credibility of Bunnel we need to know two things. Was one of the girls bigger/taller than the other, and did they both have shoulder length hair or longer?

From all known evidence it appears that the location where the bodies of the two girls were found on Aug 13th was a dumpsite, indicating that there is/was a second crime scene location somewhere else. Mattie’s body was fully clothed and both shoes were on her feet. Her body position gave the appearance that she had been carefully laid out. Patty’s body was nude and she had been tortured, her clothing and shoes had been thrown about as if they were thrown out of the car, and it gave the appearance that she had been dumped where she lay. There was no blood splatter evidence anywhere except on her head where she had been shot indicating that she had not been shot in that location. Even though the head shots to both victims were through and through no bullets were ever found, all confirming that this was a dumpsite only.

The scene and the condition of the bodies indicate that this was a crime of passion directed toward Patty. It was all about Patty and Mattie was truly in the wrong place at the wrong time. If Nichols was the perp why was all of this anger directed toward Patty and not both victims? If Nichols committed this crime where would he have taken the two girls? If Nichols had committed this crime at another outdoors location why would he bother to move the victims to where they were found 7/10ths of a mile off the road? Nichols (or Rabe, et al) would have left the bodies at the original crime scene.

Anne, were there any more details to come out of Patty’s diary about her boyfriends and dating life, and what does her sister Connie have to say about her not going with the girls to the beach that day?

I will check my reports again...but original investigation didn't say anything about her diary....but I will PM about the diary later.
Connie Pritz died about two years ago...with cancer.
I talked with her three times over the phone....she didn't want to have anything to do with the investigation or with my inquiry....she thought the Lord would take care of the individuals that killed the girls. She also stated she never was suppose to go to the beach with Patty and Mattie....she wasn't living at home when the girls were killed. I have that in the reports as well.
Connie told her half sister ....after she and I talked....that she had always thought David Blair killed the girls...but she didn't ever say that to anyone.

Why? I don't know. I believe David Blair and Connie were maybe friends when this happened or maybe she knew David.

 

[Legacy]

Monahans, Texas is about 126 miles from Carlsbad. This area is known for oil production, so I'm wondering if the job Blair went to involved working on a rig. If so, it would not be unusual for a driller to look for replacement crew in the middle of the night. From what I've observed, this type of work has historically been known to have a high turnover rate. Sometimes someone "twists off" or gets fired during a shift and the driller is responsible for finding a replacement quickly to keep his crew running. If this happened on the night shift, the driller would have been hard pressed and looking for a replacement to either complete that shift, or start on the next one. This could also be true for any type of industry, I suppose, but oilfield production is a 24-7 operation.

Since Blair was apparently unemployed and likely being supported by the parents in the interim, the possibility that his parents were pushing him to get a job and wanted to make sure he made the effort to get the job and be "responsible," makes the late night send off not as suspicious. It is possible that Blair would have been quite agitated at his parents' insistence that he go to work. There also was mention of work being done by Willie D. Blair to his son's car sometime around this time, so the escort could have involved making sure he didn't break down on the way.

But, what truly strengthens my suspicions of Nichols as a suspect over Blair, is the fact that there was not more of an effort to hide/bury the bodies. If the suspect is known or could be tied to the murder, there are usually great efforts to conceal the victim's body. Again, this case appears that the killer wanted the girls' bodies found, so he "displayed" them where they had a pretty good chance of being discovered.

Many in town thought Blair could be capable of committing the murders, but had they known a person described as a child molester was lurking in the shadows of the municipal building watching the girls at the beach, would their suspicions as quickly have turned to the new suspect? If they had known the girls were later seen scuffling toward a car escorted by a man holding something in his hand, would their suspicions as quickly have turned to Nichols? This man parked in front of the girls and exited the vehicle as if to trap them. They probably thought the man lived where he parked, so thought nothing of it - until it was too late. Had the girls known him and wanted to accept a ride from him, wouldn't he just have pulled up beside them, rolled down his window and said, "hop in?" The eyewitness account of the abduction on Mesquite Street sent chills down my spine, since it no longer appears to have been someone the girls knew.

 

[Legacy]

I do believe that if law enforcement and the citizens of Carlsbad had known that Nichols had been in town and mentioned seeing the girls at the beach, coupled with the reports that he had returned the next morning to his daughter's house with scratches on his face and left town suddenly (although his visit was to have been for an entire week), he would have been high on the list of suspects in this crime had this information been brought to light sooner. Then, with him disposing of his car within a short time...

With what was most probably skin found under Patty's fingernails, indications are that she fought for her life. Blair's wife mentioned nothing indicating that Blair's appearance indicated he had been involved in an altercation, only that he was agitated.

Given Nichols' reported attempted child molestation in California and his family's suppressed suspicions over the years, he is indeed an intriguing suspect. So much more could be learned from the Nichols family...I hope they will join us here or that law enforcement will give them the ear they are seeking. I do believe the clock is ticking on this one due to the daughter's age. This tip in itself, since it is new information, should be sufficient to pull the file from the shelves. Come on law enforcement, we need you to step it up!

 

[TOM BEYER]

I do not think Nichols to be the killer for several reasons. If he had been, he would have dumped the bodies either where he killed them (in Carlsbad) or back along the highway towards Pecos, Texas. Nichols would not have taken the bodies to the west. Killers are both lazy and pragmatic, they don't want to do anymore than they have to. He sounds more like a "want-to-be witness" and may not have even been at "The Beach". Nichols may have been exaggerating his role.

 

[TOM BEYER]

The placement and location of the bodies suggests Blair was a more likely killer. He wanted to distance them from his residence in Carlsbad, yet make a statement. Blair is saying "Good Girl" about Mattie (like he doesn't have anything personal against her) because she is fully clothed and carefully laid down and "Bad Girl" about Patty because she is nude, her clothes flung around, and she has clearly been raped. If Blair thought that Patty was pregnant with his child, that is a motive for murder. He was responsible for his wife, Bonnie, losing two unborn child due to Blair's beatings. Blair proved his was capable of violence towards pregnant women.

 

[TOM BEYER]

Willie Dee blair, father of David, and owner of the gun that Melton shot three rabbits with, clearly knew the area where the bodies were dumped. Melton apparently was the only one to have bagged some rabbits (& with Willie's gun), which indicates Willie had another motivation for being out there. He knew his son had dumped the bodies and wanted to throw suspicision away from his son by finding the dead girls. This sounds sort of illogical, but it often happens in murder cases. The Georgia case (eight family members dead) that happened very recently and the Menendez brothers Beverly Hills case have the perpetrators finding the bodies. Willie Dee may not have actually participated, but was directly linked.

 

[Hurricane]

I hope these links work. Here are pictures of the tail lights for the various models and year of cars as reported by witnesses. The 1953 Chevrolet owned by Nichols does have a round portion to the tail light, but when lite up you would also see the enlongated oval. The 1955 Chevrolet tail light is obviously not round at all. The 1956 Chevrolet, 1955 & 1956 Ford are obviously round tail lights. I believe that the 1956 Chevrolet is the most likely match to what witnesses were seeing that was involved in this crime.

1953 Chevrolet tail lights (Nichols car)
http://rides.rodandcustommagazine.com/ride/1102005/roychevy53/1953/chevrolet/bel-air/photos/5.html

1955 Chevrolet tail lights (what Bill Smith says he saw at 5:30 a.m. Aug 12th. He may have only seen the tail lights).
http://www.trifive.com/photopostgallery/showphoto.php?photo=24

1956 Chevrolet tail lights (what I think Keith Bunnel is describing, a 1955-56 GM with “round tail lights”).
http://www.chooseyouritem.com/classics/files/85000/85281-4.1956.Chevrolet.Bel.Air.2-Door.Hardtop.Sport.Coupe.html

1955 Ford tail lights (what A.W. Craft says he saw at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 12th).
http://www.countrycornerclassics.com/Ford/1955FordFairlane_gw/slides/DSC03868.htm

1956 Ford tail lights (what Bill Melton drove).
http://www.chooseyouritem.com/classics/files/102000/102145-4.1956.Ford.Fairlane.4-Door.Town.Sedan.html

 

[Hurricane]

Willie Dee blair, father of David, and owner of the gun that Melton shot three rabbits with, clearly knew the area where the bodies were dumped. Melton apparently was the only one to have bagged some rabbits (& with Willie's gun), which indicates Willie had another motivation for being out there. He knew his son had dumped the bodies and wanted to throw suspicision away from his son by finding the dead girls. This sounds sort of illogical, but it often happens in murder cases. The Georgia case (eight family members dead) that happened very recently and the Menendez brothers Beverly Hills case have the perpetrators finding the bodies. Willie Dee may not have actually participated, but was directly linked.

If David Blair called his father shortly after the killing Willie Dee Blair might have been involved in moving them from the killing scene and placing them in the Artesia Road area. Contained in the LE reports is the fact that a size 7-1/2 shoe print was found at the scene, the same size as Willie wore. As far as I know we don't know the size of shoe worn by David Blair. Anyone know?

 

[TOM BEYER]

Since Willie Dee, knew the dumping ground, it stands to reason his kid, David, knew it too. Killers often leave bodies in areas that they are familiar with. There is much more circumstantial evidence linking David Blair with the crime than Nichols. But we have many more questions than answers.

 

[Hurricane]

Legacy I will look at the police reports and see if there is more information regarding that car...I remember something about another report about a man being there....and they took him in....but decided he was looking at girly books and doing his thing there...but they didn't think he was involved in the murders. I'll look that up and see if the car matches anything we have here.

I just don't think the NIchols family knows or remembers what color his car was...but he did have two cars during that time....'53 Chevy and an a Plymouth...but he sold the car he had the night the girls were killed soon after he returned home....I don't know the date on that either.

SO much we don't know about Nichols.

If you are talking about the car seen on the morning of Aug 12th with the occupant appearing to be asleep, it was described by Bill Smith (5:30 a.m.) as a 1955 Chev and by A.W. Craft (8:30 a.m.) as a 1955 Ford. Both witnesses described the car they saw as being a light color.

I tend to believe that this car had nothing to do with this crime and the sleeping occupant did not know anything about the bodies near by, unless evidence is developed to the contrary.

 

[Bobbi]

I do believe that if law enforcement and the citizens of Carlsbad had known that Nichols had been in town and mentioned seeing the girls at the beach, coupled with the reports that he had returned the next morning to his daughter's house with scratches on his face and left town suddenly (although his visit was to have been for an entire week), he would have been high on the list of suspects in this crime had this information been brought to light sooner. Then, with him disposing of his car within a short time...

With what was most probably skin found under Patty's fingernails, indications are that she fought for her life. Blair's wife mentioned nothing indicating that Blair's appearance indicated he had been involved in an altercation, only that he was agitated.

Given Nichols' reported attempted child molestation in California and his family's suppressed suspicions over the years, he is indeed an intriguing suspect. So much more could be learned from the Nichols family...I hope they will join us here or that law enforcement will give them the ear they are seeking. I do believe the clock is ticking on this one due to the daughter's age. This tip in itself, since it is new information, should be sufficient to pull the file from the shelves. Come on law enforcement, we need you to step it up!

The first paragraph above says it all in a nutshell.....scratches on his face, skin under Patty's fingernails, immediately disposing of his car, leaving town suddenly, etc. Blair's wife may not have noticed any indication of an altercation due to the fact that perhaps Blair was unclothed when he commited the crime, but what was he so nervous and agitated about? Could Nichols and Blair have been in cahoots? Did anyone question Nichols about the scratches on his face?
I remember a lady that I worked with named Brenda Blair who told me she was divorcing her husband named David and I believe he worked as a city cop, this would have been in the mid to late '80's. I'm wondering if he is a relative of David Blair, perhaps son or grandson. This may be nothing but then again it may be something to look into.

 

[Hurricane]

Monahans, Texas is about 126 miles from Carlsbad. This area is known for oil production, so I'm wondering if the job Blair went to involved working on a rig. If so, it would not be unusual for a driller to look for replacement crew in the middle of the night. From what I've observed, this type of work has historically been known to have a high turnover rate. Sometimes someone "twists off" or gets fired during a shift and the driller is responsible for finding a replacement quickly to keep his crew running. If this happened on the night shift, the driller would have been hard pressed and looking for a replacement to either complete that shift, or start on the next one. This could also be true for any type of industry, I suppose, but oilfield production is a 24-7 operation.

Since Blair was apparently unemployed and likely being supported by the parents in the interim, the possibility that his parents were pushing him to get a job and wanted to make sure he made the effort to get the job and be "responsible," makes the late night send off not as suspicious. It is possible that Blair would have been quite agitated at his parents' insistence that he go to work. There also was mention of work being done by Willie D. Blair to his son's car sometime around this time, so the escort could have involved making sure he didn't break down on the way.

But, what truly strengthens my suspicions of Nichols as a suspect over Blair, is the fact that there was not more of an effort to hide/bury the bodies. If the suspect is known or could be tied to the murder, there are usually great efforts to conceal the victim's body.

Again, this case appears that the killer wanted the girls' bodies found, so he "displayed" them where they had a pretty good chance of being discovered.

Many in town thought Blair could be capable of committing the murders, but had they known a person described as a child molester was lurking in the shadows of the municipal building watching the girls at the beach, would their suspicions as quickly have turned to the new suspect?

If they had known the girls were later seen scuffling toward a car escorted by a man holding something in his hand, would their suspicions as quickly have turned to Nichols? This man parked in front of the girls and exited the vehicle as if to trap them. They probably thought the man lived where he parked, so thought nothing of it - until it was too late. Had the girls known him and wanted to accept a ride from him, wouldn't he just have pulled up beside them, rolled down his window and said, "hop in?" The eyewitness account of the abduction on Mesquite Street sent chills down my spine, since it no longer appears to have been someone the girls knew

.

Quite the contrary. The only reason in this case for the perp to risk moving the bodies from the kill site to the Artesia Rd area is because a link could be made between the perp and the kill site location. Nichols was from out of state and only visiting. Why would he not just leave the bodies at the kill site? The crime scene couldn't be linked to him.

As far as what Keith Bunnel witnessed I think this sighting works together somehow with the sightings by Geneva Smith & daughter, and Christine the employee at the Arrowhead Drive-In. Had the perp picked up the two girls in the 600 block of N. Mesquite and drove them down to the Arrowhead Drive-In? Smith doesn't say how the girls arrived, if she knew. But she knows that the girls got into the car and left with a 27-30 yr old man. Bunnel said that the man he saw was "mid-20's". The two girls went inside the Arrowhead Drive-In alone, while the man waited in the car. He could have drove them down from N. Mesquite St, let them out as he drove into the parking lot, then drove around and parked next to Smith while the girls were inside. When the girls came back out he called their attention to where he was parked and they got back inside the car again. It points to me that it was someone that was known in the communitity and that it was someone that Patty was either dating or wanted to date.

 

[Bobbi]

Also, a size 7 1/2 shoe of a man would indicate a man of small stature as that of the driver who stopped on Mesquite to pick up the girls according to the eye witness.

 

[Hurricane]

I do believe that if law enforcement and the citizens of Carlsbad had known that Nichols had been in town and mentioned seeing the girls at the beach, coupled with the reports that he had returned the next morning to his daughter's house with scratches on his face and left town suddenly (although his visit was to have been for an entire week), he would have been high on the list of suspects in this crime had this information been brought to light sooner. Then, with him disposing of his car within a short time...

With what was most probably skin found under Patty's fingernails, indications are that she fought for her life. Blair's wife mentioned nothing indicating that Blair's appearance indicated he had been involved in an altercation, only that he was agitated.

Given Nichols' reported attempted child molestation in California and his family's suppressed suspicions over the years, he is indeed an intriguing suspect. So much more could be learned from the Nichols family...I hope they will join us here or that law enforcement will give them the ear they are seeking. I do believe the clock is ticking on this one due to the daughter's age. This tip in itself, since it is new information, should be sufficient to pull the file from the shelves. Come on law enforcement, we need you to step it up!

The problem is that all we have saying that Nichols was in town that particular weekend is the memory of his 94 yr old daughter and 74 yr old granddaughter who possibly didn't even know much about this crime until the review articles of 2003-2004 started to come out. Their "suspicion" of their father/grandfather might not have even started until that published review of this crime. He may have been suspected by his family of being a child abuser for a long time but as far as we know he was never arrested for such crimes in his lifetime.

 

[Hurricane]

Monahans, Texas is about 126 miles from Carlsbad. This area is known for oil production, so I'm wondering if the job Blair went to involved working on a rig. If so, it would not be unusual for a driller to look for replacement crew in the middle of the night. From what I've observed, this type of work has historically been known to have a high turnover rate. Sometimes someone "twists off" or gets fired during a shift and the driller is responsible for finding a replacement quickly to keep his crew running. If this happened on the night shift, the driller would have been hard pressed and looking for a replacement to either complete that shift, or start on the next one. This could also be true for any type of industry, I suppose, but oilfield production is a 24-7 operation.

Since Blair was apparently unemployed and likely being supported by the parents in the interim,

the possibility that his parents were pushing him to get a job and wanted to make sure he made the effort to get the job and be "responsible," makes the late night send off not as suspicious. It is possible that Blair would have been quite agitated at his parents' insistence that he go to work.

There also was mention of work being done by Willie D. Blair to his son's car sometime around this time,

so the escort could have involved making sure he didn't break down on the way.

But, what truly strengthens my suspicions of Nichols as a suspect over Blair, is the fact that there was not more of an effort to hide/bury the bodies. If the suspect is known or could be tied to the murder, there are usually great efforts to conceal the victim's body. Again, this case appears that the killer wanted the girls' bodies found, so he "displayed" them where they had a pretty good chance of being discovered.

Many in town thought Blair could be capable of committing the murders, but had they known a person described as a child molester was lurking in the shadows of the municipal building watching the girls at the beach, would their suspicions as quickly have turned to the new suspect? If they had known the girls were later seen scuffling toward a car escorted by a man holding something in his hand, would their suspicions as quickly have turned to Nichols? This man parked in front of the girls and exited the vehicle as if to trap them. They probably thought the man lived where he parked, so thought nothing of it - until it was too late. Had the girls known him and wanted to accept a ride from him, wouldn't he just have pulled up beside them, rolled down his window and said, "hop in?" The eyewitness account of the abduction on Mesquite Street sent chills down my spine, since it no longer appears to have been someone the girls knew.

If David Blair was unemployed and owned a car in need of constant repair (is there a source for this info?) it stands to reason in my mind that the tires on his car would have a minimum of tread depth on them, which could be substantiated by the fact that LE found such tire tracks at the scene, one of which had no tread showing.

I think this same argument goes against Tommy Hawkins as a suspect using his fathers unmarked police car that night while being at home, alone. Police cars would not normally be running around on worn and bald tires.

 

[Hurricane]

Can anyone list the address for the Arrowhead Drive-In? I guess it is no longer there?

Is the beach area along Park Drive? At what point?

Hwy 285 would be the Artesia-Carlsbad highway?