SC SC - Amber Berbiglia, 23, North Myrtle Beach, 3 May 2013

[Wondergirl]

okay. finally. I finally feel like I made a bit of progress.

Anyone who can take a google walk-about, I implore you to drop the orange man somewhere close to the Old Sanders RD turn-off from the parkway, and follow along.

I want to know what Firetower RD. is used for. It looks like a police/tow/emergency service access road. It also looks like it could be used for atving/biking etc.

It cuts perpendicular to both the parkway and Old Sanders Rd. almost at the location of Amber's recovery.

Also, stand on the bridge, and swing around 360 degrees and look in all directions and tell me what you see.

Important to NOTE - The directions from Time Warner to the recover location are for the purposes of analyzing one potential route that Amber took. It's somewhere to start.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...E30AiTEhuCQxPyjQzA&oq=time+wa&mra=ls&t=m&z=15

 

[Wondergirl]

After looking at the location of the Time Warner building, I have to say, that if someone followed Amber in their own vehicle, they would have been on camera 10 times over.

For the purposes of narrowing down a place to start, I am going to also rule out a perp having gotten into her vehicle and waiting for her, because he would have been seen on camera in this manner as well.

So that leaves someone arranging to meet Amber or a random incident by a predator in waiting in the vicinity of Old Sanders Rd.

Following that line of thought, Amber would not have been flagged down on the overpass, there were too many vehicles.

What was Amber doing on that Old Sanders Rd.?

 

[spamelope]

Thank you so much for the map! Great job! Going to SC right now. I just had to do a quick detour to post about a crime that happened in my community. Horrible. We have our own Luka Magnotta in the making.

 

[spamelope]

That would be a horrible place for someone to be lying in wait. Way too open, and there's a driveway within yards of where she was found. Never mind that people were within feet of them overhead! And on a school day, and the underpass is a bus stop! So risky! Psychologically, that's got to be a bad place, even for a sk. I'm going to go with some kind of confrontation with someone she knew. I didn't think that this person necessarily meant to kill her because they didn't have a gun or knife. Now, IMO, I think that even less.

 

[WideOpen]

okay. finally. I finally feel like I made a bit of progress.

Anyone who can take a google walk-about, I implore you to drop the orange man somewhere close to the Old Sanders RD turn-off from the parkway, and follow along.

I want to know what Firetower RD. is used for. It looks like a police/tow/emergency service access road. It also looks like it could be used for atving/biking etc.

It cuts perpendicular to both the parkway and Old Sanders Rd. almost at the location of Amber's recovery.

Also, stand on the bridge, and swing around 360 degrees and look in all directions and tell me what you see.

Important to NOTE - The directions from Time Warner to the recover location are for the purposes of analyzing one potential route that Amber took. It's somewhere to start.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...E30AiTEhuCQxPyjQzA&oq=time+wa&mra=ls&t=m&z=15

Wondergirl, Thanks for all the images and maps. Very,very helpful.
I noticed the walking or bike path. Is that Firetower road which it leads to?

I am turned around and not an experienced google walker. Definitely worth looking at~closer when my eyes aren't crossing.

That is such an unusual location and especially in afternoon daylight hours. Now that I have walked it, it is much busier and more exposed than I previously imagined. Lot of pull offs to meet someone or what?

JMO

 

[Wondergirl]

Wondergirl, Thanks for all the images and maps. Very,very helpful.
I noticed the walking or bike path. Is that Firetower road which it leads to?

I am turned around and not an experienced google walker. Definitely worth looking at~closer when my eyes aren't crossing.

That is such an unusual location and especially in afternoon daylight hours. Now that I have walked it, it is much busier and more exposed than I previously imagined. Lot of pull offs to meet someone or what?

JMO

Firetower Rd. IS the path, I think.

Judging by the name, I am thinking this is an emergency access point for something.

Locals can you help?

Also, does LE set up speed traps off the parkway, and would they use Firetower Rd to sit and catch speeders?

 

[Wondergirl]

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/photos.aspx?id=893399#.Uu3SMfldVIE

Sorry for quoting myself.

Many people asked early on if dogs were brought in to track.

Please note the BLOODHOUNDS sign on the back of LE vehicle in this picture.

I believe that is the answer to that question.

Either perp was inside, close enough to the recovery location, without a trail of blood to lead the dogs on, OR perp was gone in his vehicle.

IF the murderer drove to this location, then it is likely that he could have left his vehicle on Firetower RD. while lying in wait for his victim.

Once again, Firetower Rd. or the bike/walk path, runs parallel to the way the brige is running in this picture, directly ahead of where Heather's vehicle was found. I think.

 

[Just K]

Today was the first time that I have watched the news video with the car at the crime scene and then possibly after it was towed. The first thing that struck me was that there appears to be damage to the driver's side front wheel/tire and hubcap. the fact that she put up a good fight and the phone was in close proximity to her fingertips as well as what sounds like a frenzied attack, makes me wonder if their was some kind of road rage incident after some minor collision.

The other thing that stands out is the nearly one hour time frame from the Time Warner CCTV and the phone message or attempted call to a friend/acquaintance family member, whoever. Then there is almost another hour and a half before the passerby calls 911. Where did she go between 2:30 and 4:00 PM?

Before heading to the Time Warner location, did she fill up her tank, at the gas station, or just buy some gas or just convenience item/items? This is important because the car was found running and at least 2 1/2 hours passed from the time she left Time Warner....only five minutes away (1.6 miles.) The amount of gas purchased and what was left left in the car could indicate how much was used.

IMO, either she met up with an acquaintance or went to meet someone and/or did more errands or she was attacked in some sort of a road rage incident. The road rage incident makes the most sense to me. Let's say an incident occurs and she tries to evade an angry driver, she ends up down there, the other driver forces her off the road, comes at her car enraged, she grabs her phone to call for help and she tries to get away but is grabbed and a physical altercation ensues. If it were a bump and abduct situation, IMO, the killer would have had a better location planned and Amber wouldn't have been left there with her engine running and the phone right near her hand.

 

[trigger]

I thought about a road rage incident also. I cannot understand why her car door is closed.

Her cell phone holds clues, imo.

I cannot get any of the videos to work or my google maps.

 

[Wondergirl]

-Amber was found outside her vehicle. Was she trying to get away from her vehicle, get away from her attacker, or was she taken there by her killer?

-Was Amber's door open? If so, which door?

-Was the radio on in her car?

-Did Amber travel that Old Sanders RD in the past?

-Was Amber sexually assaulted?

-If Amber had defensive wounds on her arms, and she fought off her attacker, how could she possibly have her phone at her fingertips? Doesn't this imply she was able to get to her phone AFTER the attacker left her for dead?

-Was Amber still alive when found by LE? I have seen it stated both ways.

-How was her body positioned compared to her car?

 

[Wondergirl]

I have added the Overtime Sports Cafe and the Murphy's Gas Station to the Map, where she was recorded on video prior to 1;30 pm that day. It is in a completely different direction. It gives good context to look at the geography of these locations.

Does anyone have her apartment address?

Murphy's Gas Station - November 2013 LE released video of Amber, prior to 1;30 pm

Time Warner - Witnessed paying bill at 1;30 pm

Old Sanders Dr. - Recover Loction at 4;30 pm

Overtime Sports Cafe - Amber's place of work for 4 pm that day

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...QAiTF6ds8gd9ULsQ&oq=murphy's+&mra=pd&t=m&z=13

 

[Just K]

The radio question is important, too. If it was on and if the volume was way down, she may have intended to call someone.

Was the heat on?
Was a turn signal on?
Was the car off the roadway and if so by how much?

Was her car on the side with the wood post fence. If so, she'd have no real escape except to cross to the other side of the roadway, correct?

 

[Wondergirl]

The radio question is important, too. If it was on and if the volume was way down, she may have intended to call someone.

Was the heat on?
Was a turn signal on?
Was the car off the roadway and if so by how much?

Was her car on the side with the wood post fence. If so, she'd have no real escape except to cross to the other side of the roadway, correct?

BBM - Why is that wood post fence there anyway? What is it trying to deter, under the overpass like that?

 

[Wondergirl]

If LE specifically chose the video surveillance of Amber at the Murphy's Gas station before she paid her TW bill, then, they are clearly wanting to trace her movements BEFORE her murder.

This fact really makes me wonder.

The facts that were known prior to November 2013 with the new release of information, did not really point to it being a stalking/planned murder.

Why release that video now, and why not release an actual still photo of what Amber looked like that day from the video?

 

[Wondergirl]

http://www.wbtw.com/story/22168513/...eath-still-a-mystery-police-seek-publics-help

After studying the pictures and video, doing google walk-abouts, I think I can confirm that Amber was travelling from the EAST, and travelling WESTBOUND, on Old Sanders Dr.

That detail makes a huge difference.

Also, it does appear that her vehicle was stopped right on the road, not pulled off the road at all.

Please note, that if Amber was actually travelling westbound on Old Sanders, then that would mean she would not have reached Firetower Rd yet, and it would also mean that she would not have travelled from TW north on the Parkway, to the Old Sanders turn.

Here is the current Google Map view, facing westbound, travelling from the EAST as Amber appears to have been doing.

 

[carbuff]

BBM - Why is that wood post fence there anyway? What is it trying to deter, under the overpass like that?

Probably to keep people and maybe animals from walking up the side of the bridge and getting on the highway above. It looks like it has several strands of barbed wire strung on it.

 

[spamelope]

I think with as much hand to hand combat as there apparently was, they almost have to have some DNA. Unfortunately, it looks like there's a huge backlog in SC. So maybe in the next few months they will know the gender, possible hair/eye color, etc. and especially if they're already in the system. Or perhaps they already have this info and are working on apprehending the person. I sure wish they would share more info with the public. http://sclawyersweekly.com/news/2013/07/29/crime-lab-backlog-slows-murder-prosecution/

 

[meglor]

I am a 22 year old female and I live in Little River and work in NMB a few minutes from where Amber's body was found. Her case as well as Heather Elvis' case has stuck with me..
Something I have noticed since moving to LR (from Charleston in August of last year) is the HUGE homeless population, mainly in NMB... and I mean huge. I was shocked at how many homeless I see on a daily basis here. Unfortunately, many suffer from mental illness and/or are using drugs. We have unfortunately had an issue with them where I work on HWY 17 in NMB, and the Lowes Improvement store near my work has issues with them constantly.

Anyways, I wonder if something happened with a homeless person... whether they were pretending to be injured and she tried to help them, they jumped in front of her car (this has happened to ME before in NMB...) and she got out to help or something and they took advantage of her. Was anything stolen from the vehicle? Just a theory...

People here, especially women for obvious reasons, are very nervous though. Wish the police were more open about the case.

 

[neverletgo]

I am a 22 year old female and I live in Little River and work in NMB a few minutes from where Amber's body was found. Her case as well as Heather Elvis' case has stuck with me..
Something I have noticed since moving to LR (from Charleston in August of last year) is the HUGE homeless population, mainly in NMB... and I mean huge. I was shocked at how many homeless I see on a daily basis here. Unfortunately, many suffer from mental illness and/or are using drugs. We have unfortunately had an issue with them where I work on HWY 17 in NMB, and the Lowes Improvement store near my work has issues with them constantly.

Anyways, I wonder if something happened with a homeless person... whether they were pretending to be injured and she tried to help them, they jumped in front of her car (this has happened to ME before in NMB...) and she got out to help or something and they took advantage of her. Was anything stolen from the vehicle? Just a theory...

People here, especially women for obvious reasons, are very nervous though. Wish the police were more open about the case.

:goodpost:

Also, :wagon: to Websleuths, meglor!

Glad to have you here on Amber's thread with us. :seeya:

 

[spamelope]

Welcome, and thanks for your input, Meglor!