GUILTY TX - Alanna Gallagher, 6, Saginaw, 1 July 2013 - #8

[KMouse]

I don't get it.

The police would know exactly what kinds of vehicles these are. They have catalogs of vehicles down to the paint colors and interiors etc. Plus you would think they would do searches for those types of vehicles in the database and give the registered owners a call. There's no reason to not release the makes and models.

Maybe it's because they don't want to create a crowd surfing situation like what happened in the Boston bombing incident. But then again releasing those pictures creates a situation like that anyway.

I can hear the tip line now....
"Good evening, my neighbor has a dark colored car and he gave me the stink eye once when I took out my garbage so I think he is suspicious".

I really wish the police released more information with these photos.

 

[Dr. Know?]

I don't get it.

The police would know exactly what kinds of vehicles these are. They have catalogs of vehicles down to the paint colors and interiors etc. Plus you would think they would do searches for those types of vehicles in the database and give the registered owners a call. There's no reason to not release the makes and models.

Maybe it's because they don't want to create a crowd surfing situation like what happened in the Boston bombing incident. But then again releasing those pictures creates a situation like that anyway.

I can hear the tip line now....
"Good evening, my neighbor has a dark colored car and he gave me the stink eye once when I took out my garbage so I think he is suspicious".

I really wish the police released more information with these photos.

Maybe they are prepared to listen to everyone of those stink eye tips. Maybe someone might remember something like "back two years ago, their son killed my cat" or "oh I just remembered we had a pizza delivered"...just hoping for something to happen asap I guess.

 

[alterholic]

IMO it's a Mitsubishi Lancer and an older model Accord.

I'd put money on the Lancer, as I have owned several Mitsubishi's and can recognize them in a heartbeat. The Accord I'm not as certain about - definitely too small to be a Crown Vic.

 

[kkdj]

It could have been a number of days before LE even became aware of this cam -- owners could have been away, etc.

(I'm a little ways back in the thread, so if this falls in an untimely way, please excuse.)

LE had even mentioned that they were waiting to see some home video surveillance as some owners were on vacation.

 

[BeginnersLuck]

I don't think LE is looking for the public to identify the make or model of these vehicles. If anyone would know that information they would.

They could be looking for the owner to come forward or someone that knows the owner to come forward. They could be trying to jog the publics memory on that day. Or, they could be doing this strategically to get a reaction from the perp.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I don't get it.

The police would know exactly what kinds of vehicles these are. They have catalogs of vehicles down to the paint colors and interiors etc. Plus you would think they would do searches for those types of vehicles in the database and give the registered owners a call. There's no reason to not release the makes and models.

Maybe it's because they don't want to create a crowd surfing situation like what happened in the Boston bombing incident. But then again releasing those pictures creates a situation like that anyway.

I can hear the tip line now....
"Good evening, my neighbor has a dark colored car and he gave me the stink eye once when I took out my garbage so I think he is suspicious".

I really wish the police released more information with these photos.

I totally agree. These pics are nothing but crumbs. They know the make & model and the times. If they REALLY wanted some help they would have released more info. WTH happened to the red truck?

 

[greenpalm]

I don't think LE is looking for the public to identify the make or model of these vehicles. If anyone would know that information they would.

They could be looking for the owner to come forward or someone that knows the owner to come forward. They could be trying to jog the publics memory on that day. Or, they could be doing this strategically to get a reaction from the perp.

I was just talking about this to my husband.

Clearly LE KNOWS what kind of cars these are. So… what ARE they after?

I think BeginnersLuck has a good thought here. Maybe these photos will leave the perp wondering, "What else do they have on camera?"

But then again… if they really had anything there would be an arrest.

I have to take them at their word up to a certain point. They've gone over all the hours of footage, and they've identified and spoken with every other car captured on video that day, except these two, and now they want to tie up loose ends by finding who was in these cars. Maybe they saw something.

 

[ArianeEmory]

The problem with staring at blurry photos too long is your brain starts to do this:

Pareidolia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You see it a lot with the Jodi Arias crime scene photos (the ones that are just big blurs).

 

[CluelessWonder]

If I were a police officer with access to that video camera, here's how I would have approached things.

1. Make a list of every vehicle that passed in front of the camera the day she was killed.

2. Note the time and the make and model of the vehicle or a close description.

3. Drive through the neighborhood and match up the vehicles on the camera with people who live in the neighborhood.

4. Go door to door with photos of certain vehicles to match them to people who may have visited someone in the neighborhood.

5. Identify all vehicles for which the owner/driver is still unknown.

6. Look at video for the days before the incident to determine whether any of the unidentified drivers were in the neighborhood on previous occasions.

If all of those things happened, it may be why they are interested in this two vehicles. The vehicles appear to have passed at least an hour apart. And we can safely assume that they weren't the only vehicles to pass.

What ought to happen now is that people will start to send in tips regarding who might be driving these cars. And maybe one of the drivers will call in, too.

 

[greenpalm]

I had another thought too. It's very probably that LE has spoken with the killer.

 

[ArianeEmory]

I had another thought too. It's very probably that LE has spoken with the killer.

You mean because of the roadblocks?

 

[Linda7NJ]

You mean because of the roadblocks?

The perp IMO lives in that neighborhood.

 

[human]

If we go with the Sierra Lamar case, LE had the car in their possession, yet they put pics out of the type of car and were asking for help from the public.

So who knows what is up.

I hope that LE in fact does know who did it and is doing these steps for their reasons that we do not know about.

With Sierra Lamar, they had the car and the perp's DNA. I forget how long it took to arrest him, but it was quite awhile. They even matched him to some other crimes.

Can anyone quickly recap the events of Sierra to see if this is going a similar route so we can feel confident that the perp is inches away from the orange jumpsuit?

 

[Dr. Know?]

Earlier today I was thinking about the perp being in contact with the law and why nothing was being said since it was deemed an isolated case.

Then we hear about the possible release of the red truck last night (unless it was assumed) and after the fire today we get pics of two black/dark vehicles. gar

 

[carbuff]

I don't get it.

The police would know exactly what kinds of vehicles these are. They have catalogs of vehicles down to the paint colors and interiors etc. Plus you would think they would do searches for those types of vehicles in the database and give the registered owners a call. There's no reason to not release the makes and models.

Maybe it's because they don't want to create a crowd surfing situation like what happened in the Boston bombing incident. But then again releasing those pictures creates a situation like that anyway.

I can hear the tip line now....
"Good evening, my neighbor has a dark colored car and he gave me the stink eye once when I took out my garbage so I think he is suspicious".

I really wish the police released more information with these photos.

They don't want to know the make and model of the vehicles. They want to speak to the drivers of these two specific vehicles that were on the street that day. And they don't want to pre-filter people's reactions.

If they said, for example, "We're looking for a black 1997 Taurus," they'd lose the guy thinking, "It can't be Aunt Mabel. Her Taurus is a 1998," etc.

 

[ArianeEmory]

If we go with the Sierra Lamar case, LE had the car in their possession, yet they put pics out of the type of car and were asking for help from the public.

So who knows what is up.

I hope that LE in fact does know who did it and is doing these steps for their reasons that we do not know about.

With Sierra Lamar, they had the car and the perp's DNA. I forget how long it took to arrest him, but it was quite awhile. They even matched him to some other crimes.

Can anyone quickly recap the events of Sierra to see if this is going a similar route so we can feel confident that the perp is inches away from the orange jumpsuit?

I wasn't familiar with this case so I just did a quick google. It does say they followed the suspect for weeks, but unfortunately I think that's because they were hoping he would lead them to the body. So not a good analogy. I'm still reading, not sure if they ever did find her.

 

[human]

How does one start a car on fire?

I can see if the car was unlocked and they started the upholstery on fire.

But, I think an accelerant would have to be used. I think cars are made so they don't burn that well or is that just airplane?

Was someone walking around with what? to start a fire.

Gasoline explodes when it starts a fire.

I just don't get how you would start a car on fire unless the person could open the hood and ? But, what about the danger to yourself when starting the fire?

 

[ArianeEmory]

human, there is more possible info on the fire in the scanner thread.

(Cars can catch fire pretty easily, and they don't really blow up like in the movies, generally speaking.)

 

[human]

I wasn't familiar with this case so I just did a quick google. It does say they followed the suspect for weeks, but unfortunately I think that's because they were hoping he would lead them to the body. So not a good analogy. I'm still reading, not sure if they ever did find her.

No, they never have found her.

But, it is the same in that they had the car, were asking the public for help, but did not put out that many details of the car.

Similar in they are asking the public for what????

 

[greenpalm]

You mean because of the roadblocks?

Yes, road blocks, or door to door, or something.

I recall from reading other crime analysis, (in particular I know it is mentioned in the writings about my classmate who was murdered in 1985) there are times when LE expects the perp to insert himself/herself into the investigation. The perp will talk to the press, the perp will talk to LE, they may even volunteer tips.

My classmate's murderer and rapist lived on her culdesac. He came out, stood on the sidewalk and wrung his hands with the rest of the neighbors. Years later I dated a guy who lived on that street and he spoke to the man who was ultimately convicted in the yard outside the night of the murders. He told my boyfriend, "who could do such a thing!" Or something along those lines.

Anyway, this person may not be the center of attention, but I'd be stunned, given the circumstances of the crime, if they don't live in the neighborhood, and I'll bet that they've spoken to the investigators at least once in all of this.

I'll see if I can find some links talking about this phenomenon. I'm sure it's partly motivated by curiosity about the progress in the investigation, and partly by trying to look and act, "normal." It goes hand in hand with the statistical likelihood that the killer and Alanna already had some acquaintance, even if just in passing.

My classmate was murdered by her sister's best friend's father, they all moved from an apartment complex to a street full of duplexes and had known each other for years. The profiling the Investigators did in that case blew my mind.

I'm sure they're doing profiling here too. Whether it leads to an arrest is another story.