There was an article in our newspaper a month or so ago about a couple of women in town who offer this service (eyebrow threading)...this is in Pensacola Fl...not a big Middle Eastern population here...
Thank you, czech! You've proven that threading is widely available in USA. I was thinking it had to be only in larger markets, but Pensacola is more suburban than that......I think we can say "widely available."
If the robe were put on her after death, there'd be blood staining/smears on it. I think she was wearing it when she died, and she died in her own home, or in a place where she felt comfortable with the idea of being in a robe.
I totally agree with you here. I know posing a victim is common, especially with serial killers, but this poor girl has catastrophic injuries that caused her brains to literally be blown out. (sorry) That robe would surely be a mess if someone dressed her in that after her injuries.
I think there is a better chance the girl is more local. She doesn't look middle eastern to me at all.
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I agree, Searching, that there is a better chance she is more local, and that the robe is of more local origination. However, Reannan has spent countless hours over several days looking for a similar garment in local markets, and had no luck. That's not to say it's not there! But I figured it was worth a shot to widen our research....and
(how old is your gramma?? :blowkiss: ) I have a very similar robe from 1981---the year my oldest son was born--it's velour, it's got a little collar, it zips up, it's got embroidery on the chest area, BUT there is no embroidery on the arm. That is the one thing I've not seen in local (USA) market. And while velour robes are from an ancient market here, silk velvet thobes are popular NOW.
I am praying someone can come up with an exact match---wouldn't that be wonderful to narrow down the time line?
As to your comments about identifying her as Tara, I don't quite remember how it was done, but I've seen one of those forensics shows where they took a known x-ray of a victim and superimposed the x-ray of an unknown victim over it to make a match. If they can do that, maybe they could use an x-ray of Tara and superimpose this photo over to see if eye-sockets, jaw joint, etc. match up?
Great find on the robe picture kgeaux! I think we are getting closer, but I think the design on the robe is more Greek than Middle Eastern. It appears to be something like the Acanthus Leaf pattern used in a lot of Greek and Italian designs, whether the item is furniture or clothing.
I am curious about what Docwho3 meant in his comment:
"I suspect the robe is a sort of distraction. According to the impressions on her skin, at the arm (as they appear when the image is enlarged and slightly edited for contrast and gamma corrections), the robe was not what she was wearing just before the pic was taken. I think the "robe" was a late addition, perhaps added for the pic."
What impressions on her arm are you seeing? I have said in an earlier post that I am surprised she is clothed at all. The clothing is obviously staged, and I have to assume that there is significance to the choice of clothing.
Reannan, you are the one who got me started! All your research inspired me. Your comments about the greek aspect to the design is intriguing. I'll have to look up that pattern. I feel we are getting closer....at least I hope so. The thobe I found is actually "ARABIC." So I'll see what I get with greek!
I can't answer for doc, but I see a slight impression on her forearm.....it begins right at the smear of blood and continues down toward the lower right of the photo. It could conceivable have been made by the armband of another garment, OR it could be that her robe has elasticized wrists , OR it could be markings from a restraint. But doc's observation is valid, if she was dressed after death, then the robe is a distraction. It would serve to make us think she was in her home or a comfortable location, when the exact opposite could be true.
Thinking outside the box now, and trying to go with
doc and concerned and others who have mentioned staging: Is the thought process something along the lines that the robe itself may have great significance to the killer? Maybe it was worn by his first victim? And now, as he kills others, he dresses them in death in the robe as a way or re-enacting the first murder?\\
I absolutely hate that I am trying to think like a murderer! I wish we had a profiler as a member of this board, because I betcha we could REALLY benefit.
I remember on another forum, during the Louisiana Serial Killer time, we had a professor of genetics and DNA who would post, and what a wealth of info she shared with us! We need some experts here!
