GUILTY TX - Alanna Gallagher, 6, Saginaw, 1 July 2013 - #7

[T4Tide]

LDHummingbird...

First, I am sorry for your loss. Alanna was so precious, and she deserved a LIFE, not a thread on this site. Thank you for coming here to help us. I've only been around a year or two, but I can tell you that there are people here on WS that have enough love in their hearts for people they've never met to fill the sky. Welcome.

Second, do you know if MM and his ex-wife ever speak or what kind of relationship they have since Alanna was born? They didn't have any children, right?

Third, do you know if Alanna or any of her siblings ever reported a "creepy" neighbor or friend in their neighborhood? Or anyone that keeps to themselves.... maybe yells at the kids if they come through his/her yard?

 

[LDhummingbird]

LDH, so many of us here have taken Alanna into our hearts. We've heard she was smart and aware of stranger danger. What else can you tell us about her as someone who knew her?

She loved the color purple, as has been reported. Earlier this year, she had gotten her hair cut short like mama's, but had more recently developed an ambition to grow her hair "as long as Rapunzel's" and so was growing it out. She loved people and never met a stranger. She was an extrovert in a family of introverts and thrived on company, which I guess is why she was outside playing so much. She could read and write fairly well for her age, and enjoyed reading just as much as everyone else in her family. She could be as silly as any child, but also had a serious streak which didn't come out much. She loved church, the worship and the people and the hymns. She and I bonded fairly quickly, but I don't know what else to say, really. She was a truly special child who was taken from this world too soon.

 

[LDhummingbird]

LDH, what is your theory on what happened to precious Alanna?

I think she was taken by someone she knew or at least recognized, honestly. She would've put up quite a fight against a stranger (and she'd taken karate, so she may've been better able to defend herself than other children her size) but she was pretty trusting of those she knew.

 

[ArianeEmory]

She loved the color purple, as has been reported. Earlier this year, she had gotten her hair cut short like mama's, but had more recently developed an ambition to grow her hair "as long as Rapunzel's" and so was growing it out. She loved people and never met a stranger. She was an extrovert in a family of introvertsand thrived on company, which I guess is why she was outside playing so much. She could read and write fairly well for her age, and enjoyed reading just as much as everyone else in her family. She could be as silly as any child, but also had a serious streak which didn't come out much. She loved church, the worship and the people and the hymns. She and I bonded fairly quickly, but I don't know what else to say, really. She was a truly special child who was taken from this world too soon.

BBM--I hope this helps put some people's minds at ease about why the family may just not be temperamentally capable of being the highly outspoken/Nancy Grace type of victim family.

Thanks again, LD.

 

[Wondergirl]

LDH, what sort of geographical radius was Alanna allowed to play in?

Was it usual for her to be unattended for long periods of time while playing?

 

[matou]

LHB: This is sensitive but do you know if Alanna could told her friends about her parents "polygamous" lifestyle (two fathers)? Was she instructed about how to deal with questions about it, to your knowledge?

 

[LDhummingbird]

LDH, what sort of geographical radius was Alanna allowed to play in?

Was it usual for her to be unattended for long periods of time while playing?

I don't know the family rule exactly, but she never mentioned playing with anyone who wasn't on her street. And in my observation, she was never unattended for long (i.e. someone always knew where she was), but of course I don't know how things were when I wasn't around.

 

[LDhummingbird]

LHB: This is sensitive but do you know if Alanna could told her friends about her parents "polygamous" lifestyle (two fathers)? Was she instructed about how to deal with questions about it, to your knowledge?

Alanna probably did tell her friends in passing about her polyamorous family. There was an incident in preschool in which she asserted to a little friend that she had "a momma, a daddy and a papa" and her friend argued with her, until a teacher intervened and confirmed that she did indeed have three parents. Alanna chimed in, "I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" and went around saying that phrase for days afterwards.

And with that, I'm going to need to take a breather. I'll check for more questions in a couple of hours.

 

[Wondergirl]

I don't know the family rule exactly, but she never mentioned playing with anyone who wasn't on her street. And in my observation, she was never unattended for long (i.e. someone always knew where she was), but of course I don't know how things were when I wasn't around.

Did Alanna's parents know where she was in the afternoon?

What time did they see her last?

Did Alanna ever have sleepovers at her friends houses?

What time did Alanna's parents alert you she was missing?

 

[raeann]

I hear "tape", as well. 'Maybe it has a little to do with TX accent? (just guessing, as usual)

Here is a reference that might help explain some......it's a linguistics professor talking about Texas "twang"


“For example, a more old-time pronunciation of face would be “faice” … A more old-time pronunciation of goose would be “gewse,” Hinrichs says.


http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2012/12/07/the-texas-twang-is-fixin-to-slip-away-yall/

 

[bar2121]

After all the locals' description of late garbage runs, trash lined streets that after noon, and cans not being required, I'd really love to know if the tarp was even obvious or if it just looked like more "bulky pickup day" stuff.

Knowing if the trash collectors hadn't run yet could also explain the perp's haste. Anyone know if trash was all collected by the time LE started taping off roads?

I live in the neighborhood that Alanna lived in and I want to say it a very good possibility that the trash had not yet come when she was discovered. As far as the neighborhood she was found in, I'm not sure the route of the trash pick up that day. It is very likely that the trash is picked up from my neighborhood and then heads south towards the area she was found.

Maybe the perp left to dispose of her and took the back roads and were surprised to see that the trash had not yet run and made a quick decision to leave her there thinking the trash would be getting picked up at any moment.

 

[greenpalm]

I think it's going to turn out to be far worse than anything we imagined...

That simply isn't possible, My Dear. There are some scary things in the closets in my head.

I hear "tape", as well. 'Maybe it has a little to do with TX accent? (just guessing, as usual)

Here is a reference that might help explain some......it's a linguistics professor talking about Texas "twang"


“For example, a more old-time pronunciation of face would be “faice” … A more old-time pronunciation of goose would be “gewse,” Hinrichs says.


http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2012/12/07/the-texas-twang-is-fixin-to-slip-away-yall/

Well, that's pretty funny since I'm a 5th generation Native Texan, and current resident I'm MORE qualified to understand the twang, wouldn't you think?

 

[jjenny]

I live in the neighborhood that Alanna lived in and I want to say it a very good possibility that the trash had not yet come when she was discovered. As far as the neighborhood she was found in, I'm not sure the route of the trash pick up that day. It is very likely that the trash is picked up from my neighborhood and then heads south towards the area she was found.

Maybe the perp left to dispose of her and took the back roads and were surprised to see that the trash had not yet run and made a quick decision to leave her there thinking the trash would be getting picked up at any moment.

The perp wouldn't have left her in the middle of the street if the perp wanted her to be picked up. And, since she was found after 7 pm, the trash had to have been picked up by then.

 

[CatFancier]

The perp wouldn't have left her in the middle of the street if the perp wanted her to be picked up. And, since she was found after 7 pm, the trash had to have been picked up by then.

Upthread a bit (maybe page before this), a local said she thought trash may have been picked up between 6-8pm.

 

[Jo in Calif]

I live in the neighborhood that Alanna lived in and I want to say it a very good possibility that the trash had not yet come when she was discovered. As far as the neighborhood she was found in, I'm not sure the route of the trash pick up that day. It is very likely that the trash is picked up from my neighborhood and then heads south towards the area she was found.

Maybe the perp left to dispose of her and took the back roads and were surprised to see that the trash had not yet run and made a quick decision to leave her there thinking the trash would be getting picked up at any moment.

From the pictures that I've seen of her location it sure doesn't look like trash any where else. LE got there pretty quick and roped off the intersection, doubt if the trash truck came through. If trash had not been picked up in her neighborhood until after she was found, I think it had already been picked up where she was dumped.

 

[greenpalm]

I live in the neighborhood that Alanna lived in and I want to say it a very good possibility that the trash had not yet come when she was discovered. As far as the neighborhood she was found in, I'm not sure the route of the trash pick up that day. It is very likely that the trash is picked up from my neighborhood and then heads south towards the area she was found.

Maybe the perp left to dispose of her and took the back roads and were surprised to see that the trash had not yet run and made a quick decision to leave her there thinking the trash would be getting picked up at any moment.

Well, then if that's true, and there was still trash waiting to be picked up, what made the family who discovered her look at that particular bundle of trash and decide it needed attention? Were they simply suspicious because it was on the curb near their home and they hadn't put it there?

 

[kkdj]

Baffling. I tend to think the drop was intentional and did have to do with trash pickup and thats why she was rolled in a tarp. She was also in bag right? And her head in a Walmart bag? Could this be so fluids would not drain out? Sorry to be so graphic. But if the wrappings were made to appear as something for the trash co. To pick up, then that means that whoever did this knew the trash was being picked up late and prepared the package for such. In that case it points to the perp living in the area and not just someone passing
imo thru.

 

[raeann]

That simply isn't possible, My Dear. There are some scary things in the closets in my head.




Well, that's pretty funny since I'm a 5th generation Native Texan, and current resident I'm MORE qualified to understand the twang, wouldn't you think?

I think thats exactly what the professor is implying. That it no longer really exists, depending on the speaker and their background. Therefore, just as Texas speakers don't fit a certain pattern anymore......listeners would also hear things differently.

 

[mysticrose]

It is possible she was placed there and the garbage truck did not pick her up, maybe because of where she was placed instead of being closer to someones home

 

[jjenny]

From the pictures that I've seen of her location it sure doesn't look like trash any where else. LE got there pretty quick and roped off the intersection, doubt if the trash truck came through. If trash had not been picked up in her neighborhood until after she was found, I think it had already been picked up where she was dumped.

I don't see any trash in the photos either. I don't buy trash being picked up that late.