Hi, I’m new to the forum. I used to live very close to the last confirmed sighting and it’s brought back so many memories that I just can’t get Sarah’s case out of my head until there’s some proper news. I don’t want to offend anyone but I found it a really tricky area to live in – I was assaulted once and threatened on the street more times than I can recall. It was the only place I ever had any trouble despite 30-odd years living all over south and east London and being out and about late at night a lot (I work unsocial hours). Anyway, I just had some thoughts to add about things that have come up a lot.
Regarding the calling/texting to say she was safely home, I get why so many people think this would have been the normal or at least sensible thing to do, but I also think many independent women would feel it was a slightly oppressive expectation. I personally would feel a bit smothered and infantilised if friends or boyfriends expected it. I might do it as a one-off, but as a habit I would be concerned it would be the thin end of a wedge that ended up leaving me too anxious to do anything independently ever again. In a new relationship I would frankly find it controlling. Just a different perspective.
There’s also been a lot of speculation about what might have been the most sensible or logical routes for Sarah to take, wondering what side of the road she might be on, why she might cross the road etc. It reminded me that when I lived round there, and especially after I had had so much hassle, I started to mix things up a fair bit. Round the Common in particular is a busy old place, there’s a lot of coming and going day and night, not all of it innocent. I used to use Clapham Common tube a lot but what I did after I emerged depended on what was happening when I got there. Sometimes I took the 137 bus to Kings Avenue, sometimes a minicab home and sometimes I walked, using about three different routes. What I did on any given night depended on who was around and how they looked, whether anyone had approached me, or sometimes just an instinct I couldn’t put my finger on. All of this is to say, what route Sarah took and why may not be amenable to logic. She knew the area and was streetwise. She may have started out using a logical route and then something set her spidey senses tingling and she changed tack. imo it’s that kind of area – stuff is constantly happening and you have to be ready to adapt your plan. Maybe that’s why she seemed to have set a route up Poynders Road but then suddenly isn’t there anymore.
Finally, I just wanted to reiterate what was said upthread about bringing the police’s attention directly to anything you think you’ve spotted on CCTV or similar and not assuming they’ve already seen it for themselves. There was a high profile missing person case in my local area a couple of years ago and the local community really worked together in putting together volunteer search teams, mass viewing of footage etc and it was really invaluable as the police were so stretched in terms of manpower and resources that they just hadn’t been able to move as quickly as volunteers with time on their hands. So if you think you’ve got something worthwhile to point out, please do it, as it could be the thing that makes the difference.
JMO.
