The Backpack/Bus Ride/Miami

[Salem]

Tornado Bus Lines is Mexican run and transports many people who want no contact with LE for various reasons. There is a video of a young man from the Bus Company that talks about EJ and her backpack. EJ did get on the bus. She was the only caucasion (sp?) woman on the bus. The young man points this out. She would have been very noticeable. While I understand the reluctance of the passengers to come forward, I feel confident that LE has talked to the bus drivers. That is just an assumption on my part, but it would be a relatively easy thing for LE to do.

I'm sure the video is posted in the media links and/or important info links.

Salem

 

[BeanE]

It may be that witnesses don't speak much English, and aren't comfortable with being on camera. Or that LE has asked them not to go on camera, and they're complying.

 

[chell]

Or she changed her appearance--I didnotice her hair looked a little darker when she was arraigned but I assumed that was done in Miami. Or she wasn't on the bus very long. It's just weird that given the publicity in the last couple of weeks, no one else has said anything. Maybe you're right and LE is keeping that card close to the vest.

 

[chell]

What would she have needed a GPS for if she rode a bus? Any ideas? Since she left other things that could weigh her down and seemed to bring only a minimal list of things it is intersting that a GPS was one of the things she had on her when she was arrested in MIami.

 

[captdj]

What would she have needed a GPS for if she rode a bus? Any ideas? Since she left other things that could weigh her down and seemed to bring only a minimal list of things it is intersting that a GPS was one of the things she had on her when she was arrested in MIami.

Item to sell on Craigs List is one thought....

 

[chell]

I guess but... that would provide another way to find her. I wonder if the GPS found with her is the one she travelled with to SA. I was thinking she left that one in SA but, at this point, I'm not clear if I just assumed that or if I read it in an earlier post. If it's a different GPS, it will be interesting to see what the forensics guys got from it if anything.

 

[kappy50]

Tornado Bus Lines is Mexican run and transports many people who want no contact with LE for various reasons. There is a video of a young man from the Bus Company that talks about EJ and her backpack. EJ did get on the bus. She was the only caucasion (sp?) woman on the bus. The young man points this out. She would have been very noticeable. While I understand the reluctance of the passengers to come forward, I feel confident that LE has talked to the bus drivers. That is just an assumption on my part, but it would be a relatively easy thing for LE to do.

I'm sure the video is posted in the media links and/or important info links.

Salem

Only verifying if you will, she got on the bus...GB could have been behind her or several people behind her, with some one else. Little baby, asleep, head covered, who's going to check..LE may or may not have...I don't think they have focused enough on that trip or that bus...

 

[TXangel]

I think that you can get off the bus and as long as you use your ticket in a certain amount of time (24 or 48 hours maybe?) you can get back on and resume your trip. I ride the bus a lot and I've never had to do this, but I think I remember reading it on my many tickets over the years.
When I do travel back home, it's part of the same route that Elizabeth took. I'm trying to remember if there are any of those extra stops- the ones that aren't listed on the itinerary when the ticket is printed or when you look it up online. I don't think there are but it's been awhile since I took that trip.

 

[chell]

I've been bugged by the bustrip too. I keep thinking that leaving such an obvious trail (buying a busticket from the station right across the street from the car isn't exactly unobvious if you know what I mean) must have been done intentionally and since there hasn't been a single fellow rider witness from the long busride to come forward talking about what EJ was doing, who she talked to, etc , I have suspected that she may have gotten off after a stop or two and ridden separately in a car or taken a small aircraft or even a different bus. If for no other reason than she didn't want to risk getting tracked. She may have gone directly to FL but since there is almost an extra day unaccounted for in there, she may have diverted slightly along the way.

The backpack disappeared somewhere enroute too. While she may have thrown it away or left it accidentally, I think she also could have stashed it along the route to FL. For all we know it could have a laptop with the adoption set-up details and some of the contacts well recorded, it could even have her payment etc. One more reason I think this is plausible is because those family pictures she had along with her in the SA hotels were not left in the hotel room and also were not with her when she was apprehended in FL. At least they are not listed on the arrrest documents. If they held some sentimental value for her and I believe they did since she drug them all the way to SA, where are they now? I believe she got off the bus, took care of some business and went to FL but not to the city where she purchased her busticket to. That would be expected.

My hunch is that someone followed the bus til it made one of its first stops and EJ hopped off and rode with this separate driver--basically quietly slipping into thin air and avoiding LE if they managed to catch up to her. I'd go so far as to say the ticket purchase was intended to put LE in hot pursuit of EJ on a particular bus that she had no intention of making the trip on. Meanwhile not only could EJ be moving toward her exit point, but G as well could be traveling a completely different direction.

 

[BeanE]

The backpack disappeared somewhere enroute too. While she may have thrown it away or left it accidentally, I think she also could have stashed it along the route to FL. For all we know it could have a laptop with the adoption set-up details and some of the contacts well recorded, it could even have her payment etc. One more reason I think this is plausible is because those family pictures she had along with her in the SA hotels were not left in the hotel room and also were not with her when she was apprehended in FL. At least they are not listed on the arrrest documents. If they held some sentimental value for her and I believe they did since she drug them all the way to SA, where are they now? I believe she got off the bus, took care of some business and went to FL but not to the city where she purchased her busticket to. That would be expected.

All of Elizabeth's belongings were found. See the Questions for the Family thread.

 

[chell]

Hi BeanE. I reread the "questions for the family" thread and only see that EJ belongings were recovered but the list I've seen in other places shows mostly items for G that were left behind and some of her clothes wer in the items LE obtained. Since you're in contact with the family, can they tell you if it's been confirmed that the framed photographs were amongst her belongings and are currently accounted for? I know I'm relentless aobut this idea that EJ may have stashed evidence and money along the way but I just don't want to drop it without hearing that those pictures are accounted for.

 

[Taeobi]

If EJ was traveling on a bus presumably with other people around and received a call from LE wouldn't it make sense then that she said as little as possible so as not to be overheard? We know she refused to confirm that Gabriel was alive on that call.

12/27 is also when she refused to speak with TS on the phone. Could this have been b/c she didn't want to be overheard while traveling as well?

However, if it was that simple, why would she have answered the phone when LE called? It seems like her cell phone would have caller ID that would show her an AZ #.

Maybe she thought it was LM calling from a different number and was actually surprised to find it was LE?? Just a thought...

 

[BeanE]

Hi BeanE. I reread the "questions for the family" thread and only see that EJ belongings were recovered but the list I've seen in other places shows mostly items for G that were left behind and some of her clothes wer in the items LE obtained. Since you're in contact with the family, can they tell you if it's been confirmed that the framed photographs were amongst her belongings and are currently accounted for? I know I'm relentless aobut this idea that EJ may have stashed evidence and money along the way but I just don't want to drop it without hearing that those pictures are accounted for.

I'm sorry, chell. I didn't see your question until just now. This post in the Questions for Family thread:

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4812253"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Questions for the Family **No Discussion**[/ame]


confirms from Gabe's family that all of Elizabeth's belongings were found. All means every item.

The information we receive directly from Gabe's family is more reliable than what we receive from reporters.

 

[BeanE]

Maybe she thought it was LM calling from a different number and was actually surprised to find it was LE?? Just a thought...

Since Logan went right to the police station, I'm going to bet that LE used his phone to call Elizabeth, and that she answered it because she thought it was Logan.

I like that thought.

 

[Taeobi]

Has anyone figured out (if indeed she rode the bus) where she got off at? When I looked up Tornado's FL stops, they were listed as Plant City and Ft. Meyer. So did she get off at one of these and find other means to travel to Miami? Can anyone shed some light on this for me, please?? TIA!!

 

[kappy50]

Was anyone ever able to determine the exact route the bus took from SA to FL. ???

 

[kissdegirl]

Partial repost in appropriate thread:

Between Dec. 21 and 27, Johnson stayed at two motels in San Antonio, the HomeGate Studios and Suites and the Quality Inn and Suites, according to authorities. While there, she was seen with a Hispanic man at both motels and riding in a smaller SUV, according to a Maricopa County Superior Court document.

When Johnson left the Quality Inn and Suites, where she was last seen with the child, she left behind baby items including a portable baby bed and Gabriel’s hospital identification band from his birth.

After her arrest, Johnson told an FBI agent that she met an unknown couple at a park in San Antonio who wanted to adopt the baby on Dec. 25, according to a Maricopa County Superior Court document. Johnson then told the FBI agent she gave Gabriel to the couple in the parking lot of the Quality Inn and Suites the next day and signed an adoption form, according to the court document.

FBI agents in Florida were able to locate Johnson at a youth hostel by tracing her through a computer she was using there and at a nearby library to message Tammi Smith’s MySpace page on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30. Police confiscated a new cell phone, a GPS tracking device and a knife from Johnson, according to the court document.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/150453

Still trying to figure out why EJ kept the GPS on her after leaving everything else behind. Also, the photos of Gabriel in her camera. I don't get that, still. She obviously didn't make it easy to find the GF's car, so why keep something with a log of your travels on you? Doesn't make sense. She may as well driven GF's car to FL...why leave that in SA as well as all Gabe's stuff?

 

[NewMommy09]

Partial repost in appropriate thread:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/150453

Still trying to figure out why EJ kept the GPS on her after leaving everything else behind. Also, the photos of Gabriel in her camera. I don't get that, still. She obviously didn't make it easy to find the GF's car, so why keep something with a log of your travels on you? Doesn't make sense. She may as well driven GF's car to FL...why leave that in SA as well as all Gabe's stuff?

Good questions.
Maybe she needed to give it back to whoever she got it from?
Or she was supposed to meet up with someone who could/would destroy it so it could not be used to determine where she had been?

Those are the only two idea's I could come up with and neither seems very likely. It's obvious that she wouldn't want to leave the GPS in the car or at the hotel where it would be automatically tied to her and used for information. But just dumping it somewhere would have been sufficient, I would think. :waitasec:

 

[kissdegirl]

Good questions.
Maybe she needed to give it back to whoever she got it from?
Or she was supposed to meet up with someone who could/would destroy it so it could not be used to determine where she had been?

Those are the only two idea's I could come up with and neither seems very likely. It's obvious that she wouldn't want to leave the GPS in the car or at the hotel where it would be automatically tied to her and used for information. But just dumping it somewhere would have been sufficient, I would think. :waitasec:

Dumping it anywhere long the way is what I thought too.

Maybe she wanted to use it while finding her way around in FL....but mine goes dead if not charged in the car. Do they have a cord to charge with regular outlets?

 

[Litlred]

Partial repost in appropriate thread:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/150453

Still trying to figure out why EJ kept the GPS on her after leaving everything else behind. Also, the photos of Gabriel in her camera. I don't get that, still. She obviously didn't make it easy to find the GF's car, so why keep something with a log of your travels on you? Doesn't make sense. She may as well driven GF's car to FL...why leave that in SA as well as all Gabe's stuff?

Maybe she kept it to pawn at a later date for $$$. Also she could have kept it because she was going into unfamiliar territory. The garmin has some nice features "points of interest" which you can look up restaurants, fuel, transit, lodging, shopping, banks, hospitals, etc... quite easily. I have one and I'm going to plug in a couple of the addresses where we know she has been and look at the "points of interest".