Skyla Whitaker, 11, & Taylor Placker 13 - Found Murdered - #2

[KR2tonenow]

That's the magical question, why even kill those poor girls? Hopefully Nancy can give us new info!

 

[MissieMt]

SS, I was wondering if that was really the ditch where they were found or if perhaps the actual ditch is behind some of the foliage where the memorial is.

 

[EnvoyDriver61]

The news articles I have read about the memorial state it is very near where the bodies were actually found. If you see the earlier pictures (google Weleetka in yahoo news photos), they had pictures when it was raining and that is where the water flows. I don't think there is a bigger or deeper ditch on the road.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

When you add in a witness in a car driving by the girls and the killers, it does make one wonder the rush to kill; I mean why let a driver go by and focus on two girls.

Evidently, the driver didn't see what the girls saw.

They just showed them on the local news searching below the bridge in the deep brush by the river and going deeper into the woods along the road. It showed the bridge, too. The OSBI Agent was explaining the survey equipment and about mapping out the scene.

They did say they won't be back tomorrow and this would probably be the last search of the area (which I take it to mean they didn't find anything).

 

[SeriouslySearching]

SS, I was wondering if that was really the ditch where they were found or if perhaps the actual ditch is behind some of the foliage where the memorial is.

They mentioned a "bar ditch" early on in the investigation. The slight ditch we see is definitely not a bar ditch. So I don't know.

 

[MissieMt]

Thank you EnvoyDriver61. I was just curious because we have a ditch that runs along our road, but you can't really see it due to all the high grass and weeds growing (thanks to the county being too lazy on their mowing )

 

[noZme]

quotes, pictures & more:

quotes from uncle joe
"Both families are having a very hard time, really. The people in the community, especially, have done wonders. They have all pulled together and they're helping these families and we appreciate that so much. They are doing a great job of taking care of these families."

One of Taylor's thrills, Mosher said, was rescuing turtles that she found in the road near her home. "She would take a black magic marker with her and write her name on them then turn them lose. She would rescue them off the highway, roads and such, and bring them out here and turn them loose," he said. "She loved it out here, she totally loved it out here. She loved animals, and had her own horse up here. She had dogs, cats; she loved animals. She was a very bright girl."
***
"They loved each other. Usually, if you saw them out here, they were both together," Mosher said. "One weekend they would be at Taylor's house, the next weekend they would be at Skyla's house."

Mosher said the families have laid their trust in the hands of the Okfuskee County Sheriff's Department and the OSBI to find the killers. "We all understand that there's only certain information they can release and it's best to release it all at once," he said. "They're doing a good job, and we appreciate that. I'm surprised there hasn't been an arrest yet, but there will be. It might take a little bit but whoever it was, will be caught.

"It's just a really sad thing that this happened and they'll pay their dues; they will pay their dues. Everybody asks if I want to hurt these people. No, I don't want to hurt these people. The people in prison will hurt these people. When these people are caught and they go to prison, that's the end of it. They will pay their dues in prison."
(emplasis mine)
http://www.city-data.com/city/Weleetka-Oklahoma.html



pictures of weleetka:
this is a local forum, scroll down the page & you'll see pictures around town http://www.city-data.com/forum/oklahoma/189488-need-info-about-weleetka.html#post1932643


the $25k reward is as much as the yearly income in that area
demographics from that same site:

Estimated median household income in 2005: $21,400 (it was $19,141 in 2000)

Weleetka

$21,400Oklahoma:

$37,063​

Estimated median house/condo value in 2005: $32,400 (it was $27,100 in 2000)

Weleetka

$32,400Oklahoma:

$89,100​

 

[Desertsand]

SeriouslySearching;Desertsand, I see you moved to the OTHER state. (Go Big Red!)

Yes, things in the quiet, wonderful existence we used to know in rural Oklahoma has changed over the years. It is sad to see the innocence stripped from people in this small community, but it is a reality people need to face. It is time to lock their doors and windows, take the keys out of their cars, and watch their children closely.

Yes, SS LOL I am a transplanted Texan but an Okie at heart. I guess this is what brought me out of lurker status.

I knew I had seen water running under that bridge but couldn't find a picture with a news agency to quote. I think it was on Nancy Grace lastnight.

 

[MissieMt]

Thanks for all the great info noZme. I saw the pictures on city data earlier-but WOW I didn't realize the reward equated to the average yearly income around there-that should get some people talking I hope. I would imagine that if it is a local person as many suspect there will be an arrest in due time. Criminals often like to brag about their crimes and word will get around as soon as that happens.

ETA: HOOK 'EM!!!
....sorry I had to do it with all the okies on this thread

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Nancy is on right now and it showed it again. They are showing good videos of the scene actually.

Off topic: We will still claim you until OU/Texas weekend.

:Banane09: I saw that, Missie!!

 

[SuziQ]

Envoy, thanks for the pic of the ditch in the last thread. I see it's not really a ditch but more of a gutter. The girls were out in plain sight.

What I find interesting is, if the girls had the opportunity, they could have run into the thick woods lining the sides of the road, and been invisible in 5 seconds. IMO, they knew and trusted their killer to let him get close enough to draw a gun on them, or they were picked off at a distance. Then finished off at close range.

 

[MissieMt]

Envoy, thanks for the pic of the ditch in the last thread. I see it's not really a ditch but more of a gutter. The girls were out in plain sight.

What I find interesting is, if the girls had the opportunity, they could have run into the thick woods lining the sides of the road, and been invisible in 5 seconds. IMO, they knew and trusted their killer to let him get close enough to draw a gun on them, or they were picked off at a distance. Then finished off at close range.

That's a very good point SuziQ. Unfortunately, I think the latter part of your statement is most likely.

 

[txsvicki]

`They're talking about trajectory on Nancy Grace. I wonder if they suspect a couple of jerks riding in the back of a pick up driven by someone else.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Thanks for the info, NoZ. It is just so sad they weren't at Skyla's for the weekend instead.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

`They're talking about trajectory on Nancy Grace. I wonder if they suspect a couple of jerks riding in the back of a pick up driven by someone else.

The spokesperson from the OSBI didn't seem to indicate anything as to where the shots came from as in trajectory. She was being careful not to give that info up. She did say they were checking for anywhere that someone could hide tho.

 

[Littledeer]

After seeing the road on Nacy Grace, I am picturing the girls walking off the side of the road more toward to the middle, it's not like where I live that is a paved road with lines and traffic, and we tend to walk closer to the edge of the road.

With the new witness coming forward saying he drove past them minutes before, would mean the girls probably moved over to one side of the road. (of course that depends if he was driving toward them or not).

I'm wondering if he also passed by the perps and maybe something happened between them ( even a fu** off) can get some people riled up) and they went after him.

But he was gone and they took it out on the girls???

Just throwing out ideas. But I really lean toward them seeing something and that is what got them killed. You don't shoot in the chest and then shoot in the head unless you wanted to make sure they were dead.

 

[SuziQ]

I wonder if the head wounds were pre or post mortem?

 

[Littledeer]

It was said that the girls were shot from the front and shot at the scene where they were found.

 

[Littledeer]

I might have this wrong, but one of them said it wasn't for sport but planned.

Did I hear that right??

 

[SuziQ]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/12/nancy.grace/

The bodies of Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Whitaker, 11, were found Sunday by Taylor's grandfather. CNN's Nancy Grace spoke with Skyla's grandmother Claudia Farrow and with Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. (more and video at the above link)