GUILTY TX - Elizabeth Ennen, 15, Lubbock, 5 January 2011

[yosande]

Stevens said it's not their policy to run a criminal history on every person they talk to. It was only when detectives began to think that Salinas had lied to them about what he had seen and heard that night that officers looked into his background.

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=13912851

Well IMO it should be policy in every missing person case. Crimes might get solved a whole lot sooner if they know who they are dealing with right off the bat.

bbm, not every person, but the last one to have seen her, not that person?
Even when you find the alleged bf not missing as well?

LE believed him b/c the mom believed him?
I've seen her on video.

They simply didn't take it seriously enough, that's moo.

Making excuses is very unbecoming of LE imo.

 

[amysmom]

The night the report was taken, and Elizabeth's mother went to the Carriage House, and left hurriedly after a few minutues ... would that be when she learned that Elizabeth had been at the CH, and not the Villa? Where did she go when she left the CH?

It sounds like LE thought for a couple of weeks that Elizabeth babysat at the Villa, or am I misunderstanding that? I had never heard of the Villa, and thought they had always said the CH. :waitasec: Please help me out here.

O/T Maybe: How many young people are murdered every year? My head is spinning.

I don't get it either..We know the mom went to the Carriage House cos she's on tape running down the hallway towards the door later that night IIRC after 2a..It was first reported she was waiting for Salinas when he came back to motel with wife & kids then went home & called LE..Now it's some nonsense about the Villa cos that's what Salinas told LE (to get them off the right track) while supposedly helping VE fill out the 'missing person' report back at her house..Another poster thinks she may have been in "shock" & didn't get what he was saying about the Villa..I know she was hysterical (still is poor thing) but at some point she had to mention she had been babysitting at the Carriage House!

My head is spinning too over all these murdered young people! I have no clue how many there are but it sure seems like it's more&more lately

 

[Tammie63]

I do not know if this has been posted but here is Elizabeth’s Obituary
Funeral is scheduled for Friday
http://www.sandersfuneralhome.com/obituaries/2011/january/obituary_ennen.elizabeth.htm

 

[Tammie63]

Its unfortunate that regardless of LE or Family there was a lot of miscommunication because of the trust placed in the perp.
I don't know how to put this respectively... and believe me I am not trying to be judgemental or insulting and I mean no judgement towards EE's family. But based on my experience to put it bluntly sometimes LE can be come some what placid and make poor judgement calls based on how the residence looks and what neighborhood it is located in. If they pull up to a brick home with parents in business suits they aren't as likely to just assume a runaway ect but rather show more respect to the parents as intelligent individuals and get down to facts. If the house is located in a high crime area or not the finest of homes well some LE can assume, low intelligents, unstable family life ect and take things at face value. I hope this makes sense and doesn't come off insulting. I know not all LE is that way. I am just basing it on my experience working with LE.
moo

 

[MsFacetious]

I am still reeling from the fact that they say he "misled" them.

Seriously?

The KILLER misled the COPS?

Say it isn't so!

That NEVER happens!


Drew never said Stacy ran off with another man...

Mark never claimed Lori went jogging and didn't come back...

Josh didn't say that Susan let him take their children out in the snow...

Craig didn't claim to have not seen Destiny...

Casey didn't claim the babysitter did it...

Debbie's boyfriend didn't claim she just stopped by his house and left....

Oh wait... yes, they did... because they were misleading the cops to cover their tracks.

That is why "interjecting oneself into an investigation" is a red flag. That's why "the last person to see the victim" is a red flag. If they had not found the video that proved he was lying, I don't know if they ever would have made an arrest without finding the body.


I am glad that Diena Thompson at least acted very quickly and got to Texas. She is probably the most supportive, understanding, proactive person Elizabeth's mother has seen so far. Hopefully the grant she was given by that foundation will help.

 

[teddiebear1955]

Family living in motel means government was paying the bill, b/c they were homeless. How long have they been homeless?
How long have they lived in the area?

snipped my me

family living in motel government paying the bill .......and they have money to play BINGO......they are homeless ...but they are playing BINGO. and have a babysitter to watch the babies ............gas to run back and forth as seen in video ......but they are homeless ...i have to stop before i say something really ugly here.......

 

[my_tee_mouse]

Family living in motel means government was paying the bill, b/c they were homeless. How long have they been homeless?
How long have they lived in the area?

snipped my me

family living in motel government paying the bill .......and they have money to play BINGO......they are homeless ...but they are playing BINGO. and have a babysitter to watch the babies ............gas to run back and forth as seen in video ......but they are homeless ...i have to stop before i say something really ugly here.......

That's quite the assumption. People sometimes live in these motels because they cannot get a long-term apartment due to past credit problems, not having the money for the initial rental and utilities deposits, waiting for the closing on their houses to go through, etc. Bear in mind that there are now quite a few families living in long-term motel situations due to having lost their homes.

It does not necessarily follow that families living in motels are homeless and living "on the dole." For many families, this is the best they can do right now, and they are doing it on their own, without any help from the government.

To make wide-spread, automatic assumptions about any group of people is a dangerous thing to do, not to mention profiling.

 

[amysmom]

I am still reeling from the fact that they say he "misled" them.

Seriously?

The KILLER misled the COPS?

Say it isn't so!

That NEVER happens!


Drew never said Stacy ran off with another man...

Mark never claimed Lori went jogging and didn't come back...

Josh didn't say that Susan let him take their children out in the snow...

Craig didn't claim to have not seen Destiny...

Casey didn't claim the babysitter did it...

Debbie's boyfriend didn't claim she just stopped by his house and left....

Oh wait... yes, they did... because they were misleading the cops to cover their tracks.

That is why "interjecting oneself into an investigation" is a red flag. That's why "the last person to see the victim" is a red flag. If they had not found the video that proved he was lying, I don't know if they ever would have made an arrest without finding the body.


I am glad that Diena Thompson at least acted very quickly and got to Texas. She is probably the most supportive, understanding, proactive person Elizabeth's mother has seen so far. Hopefully the grant she was given by that foundation will help.

All true but! I believe LE did not FALL for any of the above BS! from the second they heard it=LE was very suspicious..In this case they FELL for the BS! from Salinas but still it took only days for LE to learn that E did not run off with the son..It shouldn't have taken even a day to learn that it wasn't the Villa afterall..A 'guest' check is pretty simple so what happened there?..They never even checked up on "the last person to see the victim" as if that didn't matter cos the mom vouched for him??? That's no excuse to miss this major "red flag"..It's clear ALL of the normal protocol went out the window here..At the very least they were way too slow on the uptake. :banghead:

It appears this was caught only cos they finally looked at the Carriage House video..And they were lucky to have it..If not, it's possible he would never have been arrested at all..I refuse to believe it took him revealing the location of the body to up the charges from 'kidnapping' to 'murder'..It seems to me they had enough evidence to convict him without it but we'll never know that for sure.

I must add I so admire DT & admit I was one of the many that doubted her..I wish I could tell her "sorry!".

 

[Ellebelle]

"Friends have set up a fund to help the family with burial costs. Residents may donate under Elizabeth’s name at any local American State Bank."

I'm glad a fund has been set up for the family.

I can't believe a funeral home hasn't stepped up to donate their services.

 

[peeples]

I can't believe a funeral home hasn't stepped up to donate their services.

They do in the death of any child in our town, I find it hard to believe they haven't.
When my grandmother passed away they asked every month in the billing statement to add $2 to cover the funerals for children' whose parents could not afford a funeral. 2 years later my son who was 7 at the time had 2 classmates who died in tragic accidents and both funerals and burials were done free of charge.

 

[amysmom]

I can't believe a funeral home hasn't stepped up to donate their services.

Especially since any fool can see this family has very little $$$.

 

[watchful_eye]

LE REALLLLLY F*kt up on this one. BIG TIME. How on earth do you classify a young woman as a runaway if she went missing without her purse, phone, and coat (in winter weather)?????? WOW. WOW.

If I were her family, I would file suit and quick, especially if tests conclude she was killed far after she was reported missing/seen being kidnapped on tape.

LE waited TOO LONG to look at surveillance footage from that motel--if they knew that is where she was last visiting. Apparently there was confusion as to what motel she was at? Her mother---how did she not know what motel her daughter was at? Did she know? If I ever left the house to babysit, my mother got the address of where I was going. If I was just running errands, she'd ask where. She wasn't mean or even paranoid about it, she just wanted to know, so that if anything happened, they could trace steps. Clearly they couldn't rely on anyone else involved (in the Salinas family), as they were lying.

Don't worry, I am not blaming Elizabeth's mom. I don't think she's a horrible mom either. I feel terribly for her and her family.

Yet, as a teenager, you better believe my mother would never let me babysit or visit anywhere but a home in a safe neighborhood. Even if my mother knew the person who lived in the motel, she would STILL refuse that I go there because the motel in itself was unsafe and in a bad area. Clearly, Elizabeth's fate was not caused by others in the area or motel, BUT, Salinas had lived a "rough" and criminal enough life to lead him to living in a bad part of town. Thus, making the motel UNSAFE. Cause and effect.

One word for LE everywhere in the US and world: THINK and READ THE CLUES before you CLASSIFY. As someone has as their signature about calling someone a runaway: "...You may be giving a perk to the perp!"

Amazing, but not surprising that Salinas got away with his violent actions years ago, and was let out onto the streets to hurt others and his family. Typical.

 

[amysmom]

Don't worry, I am not blaming Elizabeth's mom. I don't think she's a horrible mom either. I feel terribly for her and her family.

sbm

It's been reported VE was the 'protective' type so I believe if she did not feel Salinas was like "family" she would not have allowed her to go there to babysit..She may not have even known it wasn't a "nice" place but honestly from photos I've seen of the outside it looks OK to me..I tend to believe she was "protective" & a loving mom from her devastating reaction to losing her daughter..There's no pretending going on with her imho..If anything, she's guilty of being naive enough to trust this SLIME! That, unfortunately, is the way some ppl are.

eta..I truly hope some day she'll be able to forgive herself cos she probably does feel she's to blame/responsible..I can't even imagine how horrible it must be to live with that.

 

[CathyR]

The mother vouched for Salinas and it was Salinas who stated that he believed she had run away with his 19 year old son. Regardless of the income, race, etc., of the people reporting her missing the police had every reason to believe that she was a runaway. They had witness statements and the belief of people who knew her well. It was when they found inconsistencies in his story like saying it was the Villa ( another seedy motel with a large bar), not telling the police he had seen and spoken to his son (after he reported Elizabeth to be with him) and didn't even bother to ask about Elizabeth that the police started to investigate him. It took a little time for Salinas to mess up and when he did LE was there. If they knew his criminal history earlier would it have helped? They could have questioned him further but letting him go free with a rope around his neck was best. They only had to watch him climb up on that chair.......... and they knew who and what but it was only when they learned where that EE was found.
This is a sad time in our city.
Many have asked why our funeral homes do not provide free services to children.
Lubbock is the hub in a large wheel of many many smaller farming communities. Our hospitals draw people from over 200 miles away. Too many children die ( illnesses and other accidents) in our city for the funeral homes to give away their services. When a funeral home does that then unfortunately many feel entitled to the services and demand it. It is no longer an act of kindness and compassion but a burden upon the business. There is always someone who is willing to mess up the goodness of others.

The donation system works well as certain charities who do help out with funeral expenses for children can give to the funds without pressure from others that they are obligated to do so. Funds are most often donated anonymously. Funeral homes have reduced their rates to cover cost only and often when the remainder ( if there is any) is unpaid by the family, the balance owed is donated to the fund by the funeral home. There was a time many years ago when the funerals of children were paid for by certain church groups, civic organizations etc.


I am amazed the Carriage House still had the videos as most places keep reusing the same tapes over and over erasing the previous videos when recording over them. It is a God send of good evidence against Salinas.

One of God's special angels was called home and God made sure that the evil force that destroyed the physical body of his angel would be caught and punished.
The evidence against Salinas is irrefutable. The tape shows all but the actual murder.

This is one case we would all agree upon the guilt of the accused. I find that to be a rarity on this forum.

I predict he will be convicted and will receive the DP.

 

[MorenoI]

RIP Elizabeth, another sad day for many of us.

 

[LaWanda]

Respectfully snipped:

I am amazed the Carriage House still had the videos as most places keep reusing the same tapes over and over erasing the previous videos when recording over them. It is a God send of good evidence against Salinas.

This is the reason why I would have an issue with LE not acting immediately. If the CH had recorded over the tapes, LE would never know what happened and Salinas could have quite possibly gotten away with murder. :maddening:

 

[Angleena]

I am not going to be one to quickly point the finger at LE. There are too many things that we don't know, and we don't know what they were doing behind the scenes.

LE can't just walk into the hotel and demand to see the videos if the Manager/Hotel Owner isn't offering them up. They have to get a warrant. I don't see a judge ordering a warrant with the information they had. Suspicion or a hunch does not lend to probable cause. Even his criminal history alone does not give enough probable cause for a judge to grant a search warrant. Our laws are governed by the constitution and the 4th amendment with the right to privacy. Judge's are very careful when approving a search warrant.

Complications are added to that. We have a mother who believes Salinas and trusts him, therefore no doubt is cast upon him. He stated he last saw Beth when he dropped her off at her home. The mother had no reason to disbelieve that and therefore the police had no reason to disbelieve that. (Not putting blame on the mother here, I think any one of us would have been the same way with someone we believed we could trust). Salinas also threw his own child under the bus and cast suspicion on him. Most of us ethical and loving parents would never turn our children in to the police unless we honestly believed they were involved (it's hard for us to grasp on to the fact that other parents would - therefore it's not the first thought that would come to mind).

It's also been stated that Salinas stated she babysat at a different hotel. Do we know if LE went to this hotel? Do we know if this hotel even had security cameras?

What we have here is a set of unfortunate circumstances that became complicated (by Salinas) and the only person to blame is Salinas...there is no other person to point the finger at.

So the question comes up, should they do a background check on everyone that reports a crime? No, I don't think so. We have anonymous reporting in the USA for a reason. There are plenty of people out there that don't want to get involved and turn a blind eye. There are a good many people out there that only get involved because they can remain anonymous. I would hate to see it come to a point where people stop reporting because they know that a background check is going to be run on them.

I personally believe that instead of using our energy to find blame, we could use it to try to come up with a better way to handle these missing children cases. We could do something to eliminate the profiling a child as a runaway because of their age. We could stand up and be a voice and find a way to get law makers and law enforcers to take a different look at how they handle these cases.

No matter who we blame, no matter how angry we become..none of it is going to bring Beth back.....but we can give her a voice.

 

[MsFacetious]

Law enforcement never mentions getting a warrant for the tapes.

They went there, asked for them and got them. That simple. The motel totally cooperated and handed them over. We have no reason to believe they would not have done that on day 1, 5, 10, 15 as well.

No, it is not going to bring Beth back. But what if he had killed someone else during those 18 days? What if evidence deteriorated and they couldn't prove he actually killed her? So if he claims he handed her off to somebody, he might only be convicted on kidnapping.

All true but! I believe LE did not FALL for any of the above BS! from the second they heard it=LE was very suspicious..In this case they FELL for the BS! from Salinas but still it took only days for LE to learn that E did not run off with the son..It shouldn't have taken even a day to learn that it wasn't the Villa afterall..A 'guest' check is pretty simple so what happened there?..They never even checked up on "the last person to see the victim" as if that didn't matter cos the mom vouched for him??? That's no excuse to miss this major "red flag"..It's clear ALL of the normal protocol went out the window here..At the very least they were way too slow on the uptake. :banghead:

Yes, this was my point. In case, after case, after case the perp misleads the cops. That's what they do! And case after case after case the cops see through it quickly, even when the victim's family does not.

Lori's family didn't initially think Mark had anything to do with it.

Susan's family didn't initially think Josh had anything to do with it.

Lacy's family didn't initially think Scott had anything to do with it.

Debbie's family didn't initially think Blu had anything to do with it.

The person the family didn't think was involved was the person of interest from the beginning in all 4 cases.

Some members of my family will still defend my cousin's boyfriend. I don't think there is any evidence whatsoever that CLEARS him in her murder and plenty of evidence that she may have known her killer.


If law enforcement took the family's opinion of the perp and went with that... never investigating the person after that... they never would have looked at many of the perp's to begin with. They wouldn't be looking at Shawn Adkins, Casey Anthony wouldn't be awaiting trial and many other cases would have gone unsolved.

 

[LaLaw2000]

First of all, rest in peace, sweet Elizabeth. No one can ever hurt you again.

Secondly, I am disappointed that so many are more angry at LE than the murderer, or so it seems. LE knows much more about the evidence in this case than we do, and will make sure this killer gets what is coming to him.

Could we have done a better job than LE? Somehow I do not think so. We are sitting in the comfort of our own home doing the equivilent of Monday morning quarterbacking and do not have all of the facts or evidence that LE does. After all, Elizabeths poor Mother had seemed to believe (in the beginning) what this said. IIRC, she had at first thought that Elizabeth could have possibly run away.

One thing I do believe LE should have immediately done is run the name of everyone, including the Mother, so that they would know the background of the people they were dealing with. LE everywhere should do this as SOP, IMO.

I am not going to be blaming LE because they were told she may have run away with the ' son, and was even pointed toward another motel as having been the one Elizabeth had babysat in, IIRC.

May God bless and keep Elizabeths Mother and brothers and help them get through this tragedy. GB all of Elizabeth's extended family and friends.

MOO

 

[KR2tonenow]

IMHO - I absolutely do.

1. they look alike
2. a few hours is nothing (Colorado City and Lubbock are about two hours away from each other). This also attempts to perceive a disconnect in the 2 cases.
3. I reflect on the case of Amber Dubois and Chelsea King cases. San Diego is a busy city, and although these victims lived 10 miles apart, it's not unlikely that 100 miles is impossible. Same killer - 2 victims.
4. Motel connection? Different motels - but still, a motel.
5. dollar store connection? Both went to a different dollar store?
6. Both declared runaways (Yah right)
7. Both did not have any personal belongings.
8. Last known sighting by perp (in the HD case, I believe SA to be involved)

I'm more and more concerned about HD, and feel just awful about Elizabeth. I hope LE is lining up the circumstances in both cases and taking a good hard look.

All MOO

Best,

Mel

Very well said and ITA!