Wow, so many pages of discussion since last night!
FringeDomina, I just want to give you a HUGE Internet hug.
Thanks! :seeya:
I think maybe it's just a way of speaking*, but ... what with the "propped" some thought they heard instead of "tarped"... I do wonder. Probably not, though.
ETA* - sometimes I hear people speak of an object as "just sitting there", and sometimes people depersonalize a body, speaking of it as an object ... that's what I'm thinking
People here do say "[it's] sitting there", meaning it's currently in that spot, whatever position it's actually in.
Welcome and thank you so much for sharing your story!
If it's any consolation, my personal opinion is that the two incidents are unrelated because of the difference in time. If Alanna had been snatched in the middle of the night, I would be more concerned about a connection. I'm glad you reported the incident as a tip so that LE can evaluate the possibility. I suspect you are right that one reason they did not follow up with you is that they probably do not feel it is relevant.
Yeah, the time difference is mostly why I haven't pressed harder on it. On the other hand, if some guy was looking to take a girl in the night while her parents were away, and ended up stymied, maybe snatching one in broad daylight was desperation.
Jeeeeez the creepiness of those words. I may have to insist LE question them just so that I can not think them ever again. But it would be the most freakish coincidence in the world - Alanna's family are literally the
only people we actually know in Saginaw. (We technically live in Fort Worth, one street away from the city line.)
I didn't see a lot of response to this, but I definitely think you should follow up and bug LE about this. Sometimes mistakes are made and tips are ignored or overlooked. I would insist they take it seriously. Why was someone in your driveway at the wee hours of the morning? If your husband saw him go into a specific house, couldn't he be questioned as to what he was doing there? I think you should follow up until they take you seriously and show they are taking you seriously by at the very least talking to you about what you saw! JMO
See...I'd think that if they were that much at a loss, they might at least want to talk to the guy. :?
I know. And there was a story last night (updated with video at around 11:30 Saginaw time) where there was talk of releasing video stills and surveillance of the area where Alanna was found. Someone worried? Their garage almost caught fire, the FRONT end of the car which was facing the garage has a lot of damage from what I can tell. That means someone probably lit the fire right there under the front end.
Another creepy coincidence is that another local who knows the family posted last night saying she saw a guy on her property about a month ago and he ran off.
Not a month ago, less than 48 hours before Alanna was taken.
Hi, welcome..... You didn't call the cops because your husband saw the man enter his home, is that correct?
:moo:
At the time, he thought he did. After Alanna was found it occurred to me that the guy might have just ducked behind the bushes to throw my husband off the scent. I asked if he'd actually seen the door open, and he said he hadn't, and neither had he registered the sound of it opening/closing.
I'd contact the police. Walk into a station and show them the photo of the house and cars you took that night.
Demand (nicely) that they take down your report.
I'd call Alannah's parents asap.
If I was them I would want to speak to you asap.
This is very important.
If I were you, I would not call, I would go to PD in person.
I'm seriously considering it. I don't want to seem like some kind of attention seeking, obsessive freak wasting valuable LE time with something that's truly not relevant. But...I agree with you. If I were them, I'd want to know more about a stranger lurking in the dark at the home of one little girl, so soon before another was taken. I'm afraid the tip might have been skimmed over and discounted during a time when they were getting lots of them, and focusing on a red truck.
I've never seen this guy before. I have no idea if he lives at that house, or in this neighborhood.
I'm so torn!