Okay, I think I figured this out a bit better. According to public records, Mrs. Tolker's house was 3108 McComas Avenue. So I was way off in my thinking. That address is a good bit down McComas in the direction to the left of Drumm if you are heading to the plaza. That section of Drumm must not have been paved then? The "clearing" must have been to the right of Mrs. Tolker's yard, then they would have headed to the right onto McComas and then a left onto Drumm
Now I am realizing the "clearing" is right across from Hobson Street. Which is where Lloyd Lee Welch was arrested for burglary two years later. Do we consider this coincidence? (Sorry if I am reinventing the wheel here and this is old news....) .
I just looked at one of my older maps. It is a AAA Street Map of Montgomery County, the 1976-77 edition.
I think that what you state as the location of the Tolker house is accurate, and that it indeed may have been a few addresses/lots north of the intersection of Drumm and McComas. But that is not where the "clearing" mentioned in the news article would have been.
The map indicates that Drumm Ave. made an intersection with McComas Ave., but that Drumm did not go anywhere as a road after crossing McComas. That is, the map shows an ingress - like a driveway ingress which has curbing, but no road going on from it. There is a blank area between the intersection and the resumption of Drumm Ave. a few hundred yards to the west.
Today, Drumm actually goes for a bit longer in that direction from McComas BUT it dead-ends and you still have to walk for a short distance before getting on a drivable part of Drumm again.
I believe that the "clearing" was an area just West of where Drumm Crosses McComas today.
Mrs. Tolker's house on McComas would have faced east to McComas and her backyard would have extended to the west, parallel to what is now the newer portion of Drumm Ave. Looking to the south from her backyard garden, she could have seen the clearing, the pond beyond it, and the Nursing Home further beyond.
I think that the reporter was probably looking for anyone to interview who might have seen the girls that day and chose Mrs. Tolker because of the view she would have had of the clearing and the path the girls took. Note how it is stated that Mrs. Tolker was NOT working in her garden that day because of an appointment. This was probably a direct answer to a question posed by the reporter.
Hobson Street is very close to the intersection of Drumm and McComas. In 1975 it connected McComas to University Blvd. with no other roads connecting or crossing it. (Today Decatur connects it to Drumm (between McComas and Devin) - but NOT in 1975.
Hobson Street could be a connection in this mystery. If this POI Welch had some connection with it in 1975 it would mean that he had a connection with the neighborhood in an area very close to where the girls walked.
But simply as a road, Hobson Street might have been used by an abductor as an ingress and/or egress from that critical junction of McComas and Drumm.
I call it a critical junction for reasons stated before:
- It was the point where vehicle traffic could no longer follow the girls.
- It was quite isolated compared with the rest of the route between that intersection and the Mall.
- There are two or three eyewitnesses who place the girls at Drumm and Devin enroute home (only a few minutes from that intersection).
- A great deal of attention was paid to the Nursing Home Pond adjacent to it to the South.
- A great deal of attention and searching was made of the Wooded Area which begins near it.
- The reporter's interest in and reference to Mrs. Tolker and her garden view of the clearing also indicates an insight and recognized importance of that area.
As I have suggested before, the intersection of Drumm and McComas would have been a natural choke point for an abductor with a vehicle, because he could park fairly unobserved and pick up a child before he or she entered the pathway. That assumes that he had knowledge of the path shortcut. But even if he didn't know the area, it had an isolated look and could be a place to catch any child walking down Drumm - no matter what the route would be to his/her home from there.
Hobson St. would have made a good road to use in an intercept if leaving the Mall after seeing the girls cross the parking lot onto Faulkner (as opposed to following behind them on Drumm). A quick left turn on University and another left on Hobson would have gotten a driver to the Drumm/McComas intersection in about a minute.
Hobson Street would have provided an abductor with the fastest and most direct route to University Blvd and other main roads to both the east and west. A fast exit would be necessary whether or not an abduction was successful.