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

[SuperTmo]

did the husband somehow find out that she switched the cruise reservation to her boyfriend's name instead of his? That would upset me. Not enough to hurt someone but dang.

 

[audge86]

It makes logical sense to search the townhouse. It's a place connected to crystal.

 

[tara83]

I can't get over her doing that about the cruise.I mean that is just cruel to switch it from ex to boyfriend.Seems best to just put it off.

 

[Presley78]

did the husband somehow find out that she switched the cruise reservation to her boyfriend's name instead of his? That would upset me. Not enough to hurt someone but dang.

Hmmmm - now that's a thought...I know when I was going through my divorce I wasn't totally transparent with my ex about my new love interests. When he did find out I moved on, it was by mistake because he received a phone bill to our old house and he saw the call activity. He actually called my BF at the time and made some rather threatening statements that he never followed through with. I think the fact he found out that way made him more upset than if I had told him myself.
But the thought of ex finding out about the BF by similar means gets my gears going [emoji848]


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[luckystar01]

You have to keep in mind that people in an adult relationship don't typically have a "Will you be my girlfriend?" talk. That's not how it works.

 

[pamelado2]

Since the BF is the only one speaking lets start with him as to why nothing he says makes sense:

1. First he says they were dating for two months since June but now he says they have only been dating 1 month.

2. He is the last person to see her alive. He even says this in the Crime Online article
3. He gave stills and video to the media first. Why not LE first?????
4. On Ashleigh Banfield last night he said he does not like how LE is treating him and he said that by LE'S indications, he does not think he did so well on the polygraph test.
5. You see Crystal wearing two different dresses, first he says she is wearing purple and then he says she was wearing a black one.
6. Last night they showed the footage of crystal walking to her car, BF explained that this footage was the footage from Friday ( August 25th) but that his SS had a glitch and the time stamp says 8/19/17.

It also says 7:35 at the bottom of the video.

7. In BOTH videos it is bright and sunny but the billboard picture she supposedly sends him it is dark and cloudy.

8. BF says she had a black bag with her but when LE went to search ex husband's house, they could not find it.
They also could not find the PC that he had gave her.


These reasons are why I am so suspicious of the boyfriend.

#3 from what I understand, LE twas not immediately involved because if the hurricane. He contacted family to find out if they heard from her. Probably mentioned video and they wanted to see it. Not strange IMO

#5 If he was in the shower when she left he may have been getting the color of her dress from the video. Perhaps the family said - "what was she wearing, we need that for the flyer". If he didn't see the whole video he may not have realized the lighting was wonky (or she changed).

#7 The BF's house and his jewelry store are a few miles apart. The sky can change drastically when a storm is rolling in and could have already been quite cloudy by the time she reached the jewelry store. I witnessed that here in NC when the remnants of Harvey came to us a few days ago. The sky was partly sunny when I went in the grocery store and I came out to a huge downpour

#8 She never made it to her husband's house, why would the bag be there? It would be with her.

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[SuperTmo]

It makes logical sense to search the townhouse. It's a place connected to crystal.

Maybe for the cops but not the family, IMO, unless she made the ex believe that is where she was staying when not at his house.

 

[tara83]

It's a shame the family went through her car first when it was found.There could have been some DNA evidence but now it won't matter.

 

[SuperTmo]

Hmmmm - now that's a thought...I know when I was going through my divorce I wasn't totally transparent with my ex about my new love interests. When he did find out I moved on, it was by mistake because he received a phone bill to our old house and he saw the call activity. He actually called my BF at the time and made some rather threatening statements that he never followed through with. I think the fact he found out that way made him more upset than if I had told him myself.
But the thought of ex finding out about the BF by similar means gets my gears going [emoji848]


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I wonder what email address was used to set up the cruise reservation. Maybe both of their email addresses were on it and on the 24th he got an email confirming the itinerary (like many airlines send out) and instead of finding his name he found the boyfriends.

I agree with Tara - should have just put the cruise off. Maybe it was scheduled for that time as one last fun thing before school started?

This is all so weird!

 

[SuperTmo]

Could Crystal have changed her dress? Like he saw her lay out her dress before he got in the shower, and she initially put it on, but then changed it?

 

[audge86]

Maybe for the cops but not the family, IMO, unless she made the ex believe that is where she was staying when not at his house.

I think the uncle was desperate and looked everywhere connected to her when she stopped responding to everyone. He probably also searched the boyfriend's house. We know he went to see her ex. I wouldn't be surprised if he tore the real estate office apart and looked in every vacant house she had listed.

If my loved one was missing and also renovating a townhouse, I would go search it to see if they stopped there and something happened. Makes sense to wonder if she wanted to check on progress. Now that Crystal is dating, she may have been more eager to get renos done so she could live on her own.

 

[SuperTmo]

I think the uncle was desperate and looked everywhere connected to her when she stopped responding to everyone. He probably also searched the boyfriend's house. We know he went to see her ex. I wouldn't be surprised if he tore the real estate office apart and looked in every vacant house she had listed.

If my loved one was missing and also renovating a townhouse, I would go search it to see if they stopped there and something happened. Makes sense to wonder if she wanted to check on progress. Now that Crystal is dating, she may have been more eager to get renos done so she could live on her own.

I could see opening the door and doing a quick check around, but to me "compromising the scene" sounds more invasive than that. But maybe even touching the doorknob = compromising.

Did the police get a SW for her townhouse or her house with the ex yet? I know there needs to be probable cause but when someone is missing a SW for their home(s) should be SOP. Frankly, the ex should let them search his house. Did they search the boyfriend's house? He said they wouldn't even need a warrant.

 

[4SAM]

Somewhere on thread 1 near the end, it mentions that 2 employees of the hotel are POI's? Did anyone else see that? I seem to not be able to go back to thread one to bring that story/quote over here.

 

[SuperTmo]

I didn't see that and read the last 10 pages of that thread this morning. Very interesting!

 

[audge86]

They searched her ex's home/their shared home.

That's where they found some real estate paperwork and her broken laptop with the factory reset

I don't know if they used a SW or if the ex let them search.

 

[tarabull]

Somewhere on thread 1 near the end, it mentions that 2 employees of the hotel are POI's? Did anyone else see that? I seem to not be able to go back to thread one to bring that story/quote over here.

The post with the link is here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...Crosby-TX-25-Aug-2017&p=13608627#post13608627

Snipped...

...Her black Mercedes C-Class was discovered at a Motel 6 at Interstate 10 and Highway 146. According to Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne, the car was found while the flooding from Harvey was ongoing. Two persons of interest associated with the motel were interviewed, Hawthorne said.

“After interviewing and detaining them for a while, the detectives now do not believe they had any thing to do with her disappearance,” Hawthorne said.

 

[pamelado2]

I could see opening the door and doing a quick check around, but to me "compromising the scene" sounds more invasive than that. But maybe even touching the doorknob = compromising.

Did the police get a SW for her townhouse or her house with the ex yet? I know there needs to be probable cause but when someone is missing a SW for their home(s) should be SOP. Frankly, the ex should let them search his house. Did they search the boyfriend's house? He said they wouldn't even need a warrant.

The ex-husband let them search without a warrant. That's why they said both the BF and EX were both very cooperative on the CBS interview.

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[Oakland CA]

.........

We have 3 men in her life here..

Ex
Uncle
BF

I'd add a 4th to the list.

The guy who was interviewed on AB's show last week that says he considered himself and Crystal as "best friends" as they (regularly?) texted each other.

I forget his name but he's the guy who suggested in their back and forth texts that she should tell her ex that the boyfriend was now doing the boat cruise.

I can't recall if he said they had or hadn't met in person but the "tone" of the texts from him seemed a little off.
e.g. reminding her how beautiful and wonderful she was.
He seemed kinda smitten (or obsessed?) with her.

Of the known (to us) men in her life, he's the only one that makes me go....hmmm

 

[cluciano63]

I can't see a motive for the boyfriend to hurt her.

 

[iluvmua]

I'd add a 4th to the list.

The guy who was interviewed on AB's show last week that says he considered himself and Crystal as "best friends" as they (regularly?) texted each other.

I forget his name but he's the guy who suggested in their back and forth texts that she should tell her ex that the boyfriend was now doing the boat cruise.

I can't recall if he said they had or hadn't met in person but the "tone" of the texts from him seemed a little off.
e.g. reminding her how beautiful and wonderful she was.
He seemed kinda smitten (or obsessed?) with her.

Of the known (to us) men in her life, he's the only one that makes me go....hmmm

His name is Brad and he lives in Alabama

I believe he grew up with her, not sure though.