Found Deceased TX - Crystal Seratte McDowell, 38, Baytown, 25 Aug 2017 #2 *Arrest*

[SuperTmo]

Also last night on Ashley Banfield's show the sheriff said they were still trying to authenticate the videos that Paul sent them.

That is what I thought. I'm not sure why Landchick is saying otherwise as fact but refusing to provide a link when asked.

 

[Suglo]

A minor point about the texts never being read: when I get a text on my iPhone, I can read it on the lock screen. It doesn't show as opened in my text messages though. Often I'll see a text and read it on my lock screen and not actually "open" the text for a while. So it's *possible* she saw the texts. Obviously never responded, though.

The default is to be able to see the texts in the locked home screen. You can however, change the default so that they don't show up on the home screen. What's the use in having your phone locked if anyone can walk by and read your messages as they come in. I have mine set to no preview as I don't want my kids or family members being able to see my texts. It would be interesting to see if she had changed the default. If I were living with my ex and had a new BF, I would definitely not have text previews enabled on my phone.

 

[tarabull]

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1709/07/ptab.01.html

BRIAN HAWTHORNE, CHAMBERS COUNTY SHERIFF (via telephone): You know, this is an investigation that`s obviously very complex, and you realize how many friends and relatives and people that we have in regards to persons of interest. So everybody that is a person of interest that surrounds her, which there are (INAUDIBLE) we may be in a -- I`m going be asking Tim to redirect the search in another area tomorrow.

BANFIELD: Where to?

HAWTHORNE: Well, it`s another location that`s going to be north of there. And with that being said, it may be related to some other person of interest. So what we`re doing is, I told you last night we`re trying to sit down and evaluate and make sure we have educated searches, not searches that are just blind. And so it`s not just me making these decisions. We`re sitting down as a team of investigators and looking at difficult places that we think it`s in our best interests for Tim and his experts to look.

BANFIELD: Is the Cedar Bayou done? Is it -- is it exhausted, and did it yield anything?

HAWTHORNE: Well, it has not turned anything up yet. I don`t know as it`s done. I`ll know tomorrow. Tim`s group -- like I say, they`re professionals, and they`ll be giving us maps tomorrow of every place that they`ve covered. And then we`ll see if there`s any holes that we need to go back and look at. And then we`ve got some new search area with -- we are excited for them to go look at. In this game, it`s about ruling things out at this point...

[20:25:02]BANFIELD: Sure.

HAWTHORNE: ... as we continue to have investigators that continue to go seek additional leads.

BANFIELD: Can I ask you -- the new search area, is it remote? Is it -- does it involve water? Is it rich with buildings, homes? Can you characterize the new area at all?

HAWTHORNE: Well, I will tell you that this is an urban side of a rural county, but it`s still very rural. And almost everything at this point has water on it at some point. Now, a lot of the higher ground has drained, but so much of the ground that we`ve asked Tim to look at has a lot of standing water. It`s very difficult country to do -- it`s all about rubber boots and airboats, quite honestly, at this point.

 

[pamelado2]

I didn't have this exactly memorized and I have since slept but you are exactly RIGHT!

This would put her AT HOME around 7:45-7:50. Next text she received at 8:01 I believe from the ex husband.

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Exactly, so that's why I don't see how the husband could be involved. She gets home and within 10-15 minutes he's killed her and is sending cover up texts!?!?!?

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[SuperTmo]

See, I view this as girl talk. Do you think I should tell him" kinda stuff it just doesn't seem like it is deception but I am sure the ex husband knew because she was spending the night OFTEN with BF.


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For someone new to this story and trying to get caught up, you are inserting a lot of "facts" that just aren't proven. We don't know if the ex knew about the boyfriend. In fact, what we do know seems to imply the exact opposite. We only know of one night that we are sure she slept over with the boyfriend, which was the last night we know for a fact she was alive. We don't know about any other nights.

 

[4SAM]

You know how everyone has been talking how the BF is up front and always on camera, talking and such. What if he is like the type whom we have seen on other threads that get a thrill over watching the panic, search go on even though that person was the one that committed the crime.

 

[luckystar01]

Nothing like waking up in the morning and seeing 12 new pages and getting that sunken feeling in your stomach like "Oh god, they found her." And then reading all 12 and still having the same exact feeling like, "Oh god, they still haven't found her."

I swear this case is all I've been thinking about.

I just want to thank whoever posted the transcripts of last night's HLN show. That really puts Tim Miller's comments into context. Last night someone watching it live claimed that he said he didn't think she'd ever be found. This made a lot of people upset, as you can imagine.

What he really said is that his biggest fear right now is that she will never be found if she ended up in the water and her body made it to areas impossible to get to via a ground search. But he also said that had drones out there yesterday and will have a helicopter out there today to aid in the search. Later, he flat out says, "But you know what? We`ve got some other resources I`ve called on and everything. And I think we will get to them areas. So you know, we`re not done by a long shot."

IMO that's just a completely different vibe from what people were saying that he stated last night. He seems to be acknowledging that this is one of his most difficult searches, but I wouldn't go as far as to say he doesn't think she'll ever be found.

The important thing is that they have lots of resources and they won't give up anytime soon.

Another thing that stood out to me about his interview is where they are discussing whether she will be found alive or dead and he says, "MILLER: Well, you know, I gave up on Elizabeth Smart, too. And I`ve been wrong many times, and I certainly hope I`m wrong this time. But I think what, you know, information that we`re getting on the investigative end of it, you know, it just doesn`t look like that`s going to be the case."

Seems to me that LE has plenty of information that they are keeping to themselves for now.

 

[luckystar01]

Exactly, so that's why I don't see how the husband could be involved. She gets home and within 10-15 minutes he's killed her and is sending cover up texts!?!?!?

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I'm beginning to think she read those texts and went to his work. I know that they are "unread," but a message only appears to be read if you open up your messages to view it. Most androids and iphones will flash the text on the screen for a couple seconds when you first receive them. If she was driving at the time she may have just glanced down at her phone when she got the alert. Especially if she was on I-10 at the time, which is a major freeway.

 

[pamelado2]

That i find odd.

Unless he called and left a VM

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[BIC]

The default is to be able to see the texts in the locked home screen. You can however, change the default so that they don't show up on the home screen. What's the use in having your phone locked if anyone can walk by and read your messages as they come in. I have mine set to no preview as I don't want my kids or family members being able to see my texts. It would be interesting to see if she had changed the default. If I were living with my ex and had a new BF, I would definitely not have text previews enabled on my phone.

I preview my messages in the lock screen. There's many reasons for keeping your phone locked besides not wanting people to see your messages.

You can also set up iMessage to not let anybody see if you've opened their messages.


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[SuperTmo]

Do Crystal and the ex live in a detached single family house? Townhouse? Condo? Apartment? I wonder if there were any cameras in/around the area he lived. If it was a townhouse / condo or apartment complex there could be surveillance footage in parking areas or something. Same with Crystal's townhouse.

 

[SuperTmo]

Regarding the dishwasher. Did Crystal have a contractor doing the work or were they DIY'ing it? If she had workers, were they at the townhouse that day? The reason I ask is I know we don't know for sure, but we have speculated that it was probably for Crystal's townhouse. If it was, someone would have had to be present to unlock the house and accept delivery of the appliance. Who did that? How did the ex come to know it was delivered? Was he there? Did someone tell him? Who signed for that dishwasher??

 

[pamelado2]

I'm beginning to think she read those texts and went to his work. I know that they are "unread," but a message only appears to be read if you open up your messages to view it. Most androids and iphones will flash the text on the screen for a couple seconds when you first receive them. If she was driving at the time she may have just glanced down at her phone when she got the alert. Especially if she was on I-10 at the time, which is a major freeway.

Except it only takes 15 minutes to get from the billboard to the husband's house.

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[luckystar01]

Do Crystal and the ex live in a detached single family house? Townhouse? Condo? Apartment? I wonder if there were any cameras in/around the area he lived. If it was a townhouse / condo or apartment complex there could be surveillance footage in parking areas or something. Same with Crystal's townhouse.

Someone confirmed to know them said that the house was located in a relatively new development/area with lots of construction going on around it, and that there were lots of cameras set up by the construction crew in case anyone tried to steal their equipment. I may not have that 100% correct but that's what I remember reading.

 

[iluvmua]

If Crystal made it to her ex's house, wouldn't her phone ping there? Is there any information saying her phone pinged at his/their house? I thought it pinged near a park or something.

It did ping to a park area. I was thinking the same thing. That IF she made it home, the phone would ping from there.

They have been saying for days, she never made it.

 

[iluvmua]

They are also searching the area around paul's today.

 

[Dushi]

Is there video of the BF leaving the house after she left?

I also do not have time to read every page so if this has been answered , and it is annoying,please pass on by

 

[pamelado2]

Is there video of the BF leaving the house after she left?

I also do not have time to read every page so if this has been answered , and it is annoying,please pass on by

There is

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[SuperTmo]

Except it only takes 15 minutes to get from the billboard to the husband's house.

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Maybe she stopped to grab a coffee or breakfast sandwich or something from somewhere? :-/ Where are you, Crystal!

 

[Yellow Rose]

Some random thoughts here from a recently divorced mom , dating and dealing with an ex.
I can easily believe that crystal would not be forthcoming with ex about the fact that she and kids have decided to stay with new bf for weekend, instead of heading to Dallas. I don't see it as much of a deception but as a "none of his business anymore" reasoning.
I'm not going to judge her for how she was wading through this new territory. My ex definitely doesn't not know every detail about where my kids and I go when I have them. It's just not always his business.
However, a hurricane was coming so I'm sure she was going to tell him at some point where they would be. They are still his children and he has a right to know that. She just hasn't figured out how or when to tell him at that point maybe? Maybe waiting to do it in person or after she picked the kids up?

As for how long she had been dating this new guy, it's really common, although not a fun situation, for two people in a divorce to stay together in the house until all the paperwork and new housing stuff for the one moving out to get settled. So, even though they were still in the same house sometimes, they could have been NOT together as a couple for a very long time prior. I could not leave my house for 10 months after we decided to divorce due to property division and things like that. My attorney advised me NOT to go anywhere until everything was signed and done. So it really doesn't seem too strange to me that she was still there while townhouse was being redone. I am not alarmed that she had started dating again.
Who knows how long their marriage had been over at that point.

Also, if I read the text exchange between she and ex correctly,
I am guessing that she arrived very shortly after his text asking if she was close. No need to text when you're about there.
Maybe that's when she told him she and kids were going to bf's. And maybe she also told him about the cruise then too. And maybe that's when it got ugly.

My gut tells me that something happened when she arrived to get kids.

That weird other text a little later was a cover to make it seem like she didn't show. (Dishwasher arrived)

Of course, total speculation and all my own opinion.



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Almost word for word how I feel it went down. JMO