OK, just some ponderings sparked by some of the new info bessie brought to the thread tonight:
bbm in the quotes:
I have a copy of the November 2009
Nashville Retrospect with the reprint of the
Nashville Banner article by Larry Brinton dated December 2, 1969.
Here are the facts from the portion not visible in the ad posted here
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - TN TN - Kathy Jones, 12, murdered while walking to Nashville skating rink, November 1969.
Some facts are new, some we already know, and some vary from other reports. I'm including all of them, paragraph by paragraph.
- The Civil Defense team started searching Sunday night
- Kathy left home headed to the skating rink at 7:45 P.M. on Saturday evening
- "...an investigation disclosed" that she didn't make it to the rink.
- A Metro policeman at the scene declared, "There had to be at least three persons involved in this." (Keep in mind, this is not an official statement. The officer didn't want to be identified, and it reads like an initial gut reaction. He goes on to say he would "probably want to kill" the persons responsible if he could catch them.)
- K's nude body was lying 20' from the alley.
- It couldn't be seen by searchers walking down the alley or the street.
- Her skates and clothing were lying at her feet. (This description differs somewhat from the one reported by the Scene.)
- K's blouse was used as a gag.
- Two strips of cloth torn from the lining of her jacket were used to tie her wrists. (Answers the question about the plaid cloth some speculated might belong to the killer.)
- Spectators were kept away from the scene while LE searched for clues.
- According to an investigator, it "appeared" the sexual attack had taken place at the scene where K's body was found
- Kathy left home by herself intending to walk to the skating rink.
- She had not been there for "some time" because "she didn't want her two little brothers following her."
- K's mom told the Banner that K earned $1.00 by helping her with housework on Saturday.
- LE didn't say if the money was found at the scene.
- After being taken to the funeral home, Metro M.E., Dr. T. E. Simpkins, was expected to perform "a detailed examination and possible autopsy". (This is not the same doctor we talked about earlier who was named in this article, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yHkcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fFEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6723%2C2584619)
- LE at the scene said it was obvious K had been "criminally assaulted, probably before she was slain".
- Parents were separated; father lived in Clarksville.
- The plan was for K to call her mom when she finished skating, and her mom would pick her up.
- When K didn't call, her mom went to the rink, but it was closed.
- After hearing from Mrs. Jones that K had never run away, had no problems at home, and had told her mom she'd call when she was finished skating, the CD director ordered the unit to search.
So, *IF*
The Banner got most things right (and taking into consideration that LE knowledge/theory/etc. could have been modified as more hours went by), sounds like Kathy really did set out on her journey pretty late in the evening, planning to walk, not take a bus. And we know now that the plan was for her mother to pick her up later, cued by a phone call.
That all would fit pretty well, thus far, with the "investigation" revealing that Kathy never reached the rink (assuming some folks who did go to the rink, rink employees, etc., were also questioned about seeing her there, as well). IF she was abducted near the KK, though, she got pretty close to her destination, though, right?
It could be that later developments in the investigation amended the initial thought that she never reached the rink somewhat, to the "it's not known" status we've heard elsewhere. Maybe somehow tying in to the suspicions about the bus driver...?
One thing that crosses my mind -- what if, for some reason, Kathy DID reach the rink, skated, and then, for whatever reason, was unable to use a phone at the rink to call her mom. She might have started out to find a phone elsewhere. Phone booth? Krispy Kreme?
I realize it was an impromptu, unofficial comment, but I wonder what about the scene caused the one policeman to say he thought at least three persons were involved? Just the whole horrible impact of it? Or was there something specific that made him think that, at initial glance? Maybe he just felt that it would have been hard for one perp to nab, bind, assault, and kill even one little girl so close (if it happened where she was found) to other people without being observed? (Not saying I think that, myself, just wondering if that maybe was his first impression.)
And that leads on into, why the initial feeling from one investigator that the attack happened where she was found? (We've talked about some possibilities already, I know.)
She was 20 feet from the alley -- so that kind of rules out someone just shoving her body and belongings from a vehicle...that is, unless there were tire tracks in the weeds (which, as far as we know right now, there weren't). OR maybe the weeds didn't start until a good bit out into the lot -- bessie says the vantage point of the photo seems about six feet from Kathy -- and thus a vehicle could pull pretty close without crushing the tall weeds.
Also, I suppose someone COULD have taken her out of a vehicle and carried her into the weeds ...
A dark b&w photo accompanies the article. I'll try to scan it later, but it's so dark, I don't think scanning will work well. General description:
The photo is taken from a viewpoint about 6 feet from K's body. Between the photographer and the body is a narrow path of pressed down weeds and grass. At the end of the pathway is K's body lying horizontally, and covered by what appears to be a white sheet. On either side of the pathway and behind K are tall weeds, at least three feet high. Strewn about in front of the sheet are light colored objects that look like pieces of paper, perhaps something used by the investigators. It's very hard to distinguish.
That path -- (bessie, some of this may not sound plausible to someone who has actually seen the photo, but as I haven't --):
(1) Could have been in existence already, a shortcut of some type, and Kathy and/or the perp could have just followed it.
(2) Could have been made by the perp pulling Kathy into the weeds either before or after the attack.
(3) Could have been made by the searcher who found her (and later, LE), with Kathy and the perp having gotten to the spot by another "path" that doesn't show in the photo.
The way you describe Kathy's body lying "at the end of the pathway" makes it sound as if, in the photo anyhow, it appears that the path doesn't continue on, bessie -- is that right?
Just sorting through some stuff "out loud", hoping it might help any or all of us onward...
ETA: bessie posted the photos link while I was composing this post, so I have seen the photo now. Oh, so sad.