Deceased/Not Found UK - Bernadette Walker, 17, left parent's car, Peterborough, 21 Jul 2020 *Arrests*

[Vera_dci]

I still keep thinking about what evidence they have to charge. I have a feeling the text Bernie supposedly sent saying she would be home soon, was not from bernie and police have evidence to support this. Its not uncommon for murders to do this to gain more time. It happened in the samantha Eastwood case I followed on here. Her killer sent messages to her sister saying she needed to get away and then trying to suggest she'd been kidnapped by a mystery man she had met. I wonder if the police l have found bernies phone - could hold the key to motive .

 

[Sarahlou]

I still keep thinking about what evidence they have to charge. I have a feeling the text Bernie supposedly sent saying she would be home soon, was not from bernie and police have evidence to support this. Its not uncommon for murders to do this to gain more time. It happened in the samantha Eastwood case I followed on here. Her killer sent messages to her sister saying she needed to get away and then trying to suggest she'd been kidnapped by a mystery man she had met. I wonder if the police l have found bernies phone - could hold the key to motive .

I've thought from the beginning that they were probably stupid enough to use her phone to text from their house.

 

[mspuurfect]

I've thought from the beginning that they were probably stupid enough to use her phone to text from their house.

I'm not sure of that - I think they thought they knew what they were doing and don't think they would make such an obvious error but JMO

 

[mspuurfect]

I still keep thinking about what evidence they have to charge. I have a feeling the text Bernie supposedly sent saying she would be home soon, was not from bernie and police have evidence to support this. Its not uncommon for murders to do this to gain more time. It happened in the samantha Eastwood case I followed on here. Her killer sent messages to her sister saying she needed to get away and then trying to suggest she'd been kidnapped by a mystery man she had met. I wonder if the police l have found bernies phone - could hold the key to motive .

I think they transported her phone around and then messaged from somewhere - I still don't believe she was killed in the home but elsewhere, still believe she has been buried IMO. Just a massive theory but what if she was knocked unconscious at home and then transported to another location? The phones could have been left behind which is perhaps why it has taken LE so much time to make charges?? Again JMO

 

[Vera_dci]

Yes I think they transported phone. You'd have to be pretty stupid to not know phone locations can be traced in this day and age. I think maybe the dads Mercedes was picked up on ampr near phone ping and they had evidence from cctv that bernie wasn't in car. Its pretty suspicious if they faked a text message but could this alone be enough for charge though? Im hoping police were onto them pretty early on but watched in waiting hoping they'd return to bernie and they'd be able to locate her.
Disclaimer - this is a ridiculous theory but - could bernie be doing a Shannon Mathew's by herself. Its in mainstream media that she'd fallen out with parents. Could she have set them up? Left blood in car etc. I know its ridiculous but she seemed to be going through a rebellious goth stage could this be the ultimate rebellion

 

[esthome]

Yes I think they transported phone. You'd have to be pretty stupid to not know phone locations can be traced in this day and age. I think maybe the dads Mercedes was picked up on ampr near phone ping and they had evidence from cctv that bernie wasn't in car. Its pretty suspicious if they faked a text message but could this alone be enough for charge though? Im hoping police were onto them pretty early on but watched in waiting hoping they'd return to bernie and they'd be able to locate her.
Disclaimer - this is a ridiculous theory but - could bernie be doing a Shannon Mathew's by herself. Its in mainstream media that she'd fallen out with parents. Could she have set them up? Left blood in car etc. I know its ridiculous but she seemed to be going through a rebellious goth stage could this be the ultimate rebellion

I don’t think she’d do that to her siblings.

 

[Vera_dci]

What if she was just trying to frame dad and mum somehow got mixed up into it. I know its a wild theory but thought id throw it out for discussion.

 

[Ruthbullock]

I’m 100% convinced the car journey didn’t match their alibi- and possibly both cars were being used during the same period, or overlapped timings wise. (hence the joint enterprise, both have lied to create an alibi but in collaboration together) And this is the evidence (which probably isn’t enough in a trial), but enough to charge them. The other possibility is the mobile phone signals, but they only give rough areas. The police knew the car journey that night 100%, this is why they are searching at certain locations that seem quite spread out and random- I’m guessing the car stopped at these points. I suppose as someone pointed out there is a small chance (even though it seems completely unlikely) that BW is alive and hiding and her parents are innocent and we’re out looking for her that night. The trackers on Mercedes have been fitted as standard since at least 2009 (when we owned one)- they are a feature that allows you to alert the emergency services or breakdown by pressing a button on the dash, there cars were much newer models than that.
Edited to add: I know some have questioned that this might not have been available on their cars, but even if they didn’t use it, it did track etc and certainly existed 11 years ago (found a dated link rather than just a forum discussion about it)
Mercedes 'mbraces' Telematics

 

[Sarahlou]

I don't think for one second she is alive. I think the police have much more than mobile phone evidence.

 

[Homo Habilis]

The A16 might well be significant in this case. It's the road that connects Peterborough with Spalding, and virtually all the rural areas which were searched lead off from it. From where they were searching the other day, near the bridge just outside Peterborough, and Newborough, to Cow Bit near Spalding.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

The A16 might well be significant in this case. It's the road that connects Peterborough with Spalding, and virtually all the rural areas which were searched lead off from it. From where they were searching the other day, near the bridge just outside Peterborough, and Newborough, to Cow Bit near Spalding.

Interesting. Anpr cameras maybe

 

[Homo Habilis]

A lot of maize is grown around Spalding and Cow Bit. I can't help but wonder if the ensuing harvests will reveal something sinister.

 

[Tortoise]

I’m 100% convinced the car journey didn’t match their alibi- and possibly both cars were being used during the same period, or overlapped timings wise. (hence the joint enterprise, both have lied to create an alibi but in collaboration together) And this is the evidence (which probably isn’t enough in a trial), but enough to charge them. The other possibility is the mobile phone signals, but they only give rough areas. The police knew the car journey that night 100%, this is why they are searching at certain locations that seem quite spread out and random- I’m guessing the car stopped at these points. I suppose as someone pointed out there is a small chance (even though it seems completely unlikely) that BW is alive and hiding and her parents are innocent and we’re out looking for her that night. The trackers on Mercedes have been fitted as standard since at least 2009 (when we owned one)- they are a feature that allows you to alert the emergency services or breakdown by pressing a button on the dash, there cars were much newer models than that.
Edited to add: I know some have questioned that this might not have been available on their cars, but even if they didn’t use it, it did track etc and certainly existed 11 years ago (found a dated link rather than just a forum discussion about it)
Mercedes 'mbraces' Telematics

The Mercedes parked outside the house was a 2003 model.

Mother accused of murdering her daughter Bernadette Walker, 17, weeps in court | Daily Mail Online

 

[Ruthbullock]

The Mercedes parked outside the house was a 2003 model.

Mother accused of murdering her daughter Bernadette Walker, 17, weeps in court | Daily Mail Online

Good find, now I need to look back further. Have we any idea of the Age of the other car they took as evidence? I know they didn’t remove this car as evidence . An alternative is they had a black box fitted in either one or both cars.

 

[Homo Habilis]

It's got a flatty in that picture. Perhaps it had been over some rough terrain recently!

 

[Ruthbullock]

It's got a flatty in that picture. Perhaps it had been over some rough terrain recently!

Just being nosey had a look at the history of the vehicle- that tyre has always had a problem repeatedly. One thing the age of the car has clarified is- it wasn’t a mobility car (as you only keep them for three years before handing back)

 

[Homo Habilis]

Slick work, Ruthbullock.

 

[moody_chicago]

Sarah's loved ones are suggesting a kidnap because they cannot bring themselves to believe that their friend or family member is capable of what she's been charged with.

It's easier for them to imagine some elaborate kidnap plot or even alien abduction (not a serious suggestion) than allow themselves to think what if she is guilty as charged.

It's basic psychology, if they were to allow themselves to believe that Sarah has done this then the spotlight also turns to them ... 'how could I have been close to someone who would do this', 'could I have prevented it', 'why didn't I notice what was going on' etc ...

Regarding comments and accounts disappearing from social media - every journalist and oddball with no boundaries will be contacting anyone on the alleged perpetrators and victims social media.
From experience (my daughter was college friends with Georgia Williams (murdered by Jamie Reynolds) and has been at the same venues as the murderer. Journalists will spam every contact they can find for gossip.

Makes total sense. I agree that journalists can be ruthless and insensitive. An old friend worked with the “dexter killer” and even up to a few years ago he was still getting harassed about it.

 

[moody_chicago]

Because Bernadette is the victim in this situation, and it smacks of victim blaming to start painting her as “trying to get in a relationship” with her stepfather. I wouldn’t want my 17 year old daughter being talked about like that after her disappearance, would you?

I agree, it can sound pretty victim blamey. But let’s instead just say that her friends wouldn’t like her being talked like that cuz like, ugh I’m pretty sure her mom is a monster and doesn’t gaf about how Bernadette comes off lol

 

[Ruthbullock]

I think the suggestion of a 17 year old “trying to have a relationship” with her stepfather is rather offensive to someone who is, in effect not much more than a child. It’s a tired trope of a woman throwing herself at a poor innocent man who is powerless to resist. The reality is that a grown man should avoid getting into that situation in the first place.

I’m no victim, but at 17 I found older men quite attractive as did many of my friends. It didn’t sit well with me as they have lived as a family for a long time, but I’m also not discounting the fact that sometimes that can add to the appeal. There is also times the human psyche gets feeling and emotions mixed up and tipped over, so there is also the potential that there was no relationship, but the hope of one in the future. It made me uncomfortable when it first occurred to me, triggered by reading a few of the previous posts that night (and not something I had thought about before), it is merely a possibility that shouldn’t be discounted. It’s not one I added with anything less than concern and worry for the victim and certainly isn’t intended as victim blaming.