VA VA - Katelin Akens, 19, Springfield, 5 Dec 2015 #1

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
SthrnRaine said:
They must have figured out it made no sense either, because the article has been pulled. In a search for any other articles on a surveillance video I find nothing comes up where she has been spotted on any, only that LE will be reviewing tape.
Click to expand...

You'd think if she was actually at the mall, someone would have remembered a girl lugging a suitcase around a shopping mall and notified LE......
 
There are too many conflicting reports in MSM quoting the family. Is it poor reporting in the area or is the family telling multiple stories?
 
Soulmagent said:
There is a new metro station in Spotsylvania so if the metro was the plan , why not this one?
http://www.vre.org/service/stations/spotsylvania/
Click to expand...

VRE and Metro are two separate entities. VRE is a fast, passenger AMTRAK style train that has several stops, one of which is Union Station in DC where you can transfer over to Metro. Metro is a subway style train (that's always breaking down) and has a sprawling map of stops across the DC metro area, including one in Springfield.

I think my point is, if she were to trade VRE for Metro or vice versa, it'd have to be done at Union Station. Or, she could walk the 3 mile difference in Springfield (crossing interstate 95), or catch a local bus to either or. Last, VRE does not stop at the airport, but Metro does.
 
astridxx said:
VRE and Metro are two separate entities. VRE is a fast, passenger AMTRAK style train that has several stops, one of which is Union Station in DC where you can transfer over to Metro. Metro is a subway style train (that's always breaking down) and has a sprawling map of stops across the DC metro area, including one in Springfield.

I think my point is, if she were to trade VRE for Metro or vice versa, it'd have to be done at Union Station. Or, she could walk the 3 mile difference in Springfield (crossing interstate 95), or catch a local bus to either or. Last, VRE does not stop at the airport, but Metro does.
Click to expand...

VRE also connects easily with Metrorail at Franconia-Springfield, Alexandria (King Street), Crystal City, L'Enfant and Union Station. The Metrorail fare is separate; transfer to Metrorail is not included in your VRE fare unless you hold a Transit Link Card (TLC).
Click to expand...

http://www.vre.org/service/rider/connection/
 
JerseyGirl said:
There are too many conflicting reports in MSM quoting the family. Is it poor reporting in the area or is the family telling multiple stories?
Click to expand...

There really is, isn't there? Some family said "family dropped her off at metro" and step-dad says "I took her to mall." And then there's the case of the text saying "I made it to the airport." ... so much misdirection...
 
astridxx said:
VRE and Metro are two separate entities. VRE is a fast, passenger AMTRAK style train that has several stops, one of which is Union Station in DC where you can transfer over to Metro. Metro is a subway style train (that's always breaking down) and has a sprawling map of stops across the DC metro area, including one in Springfield.

I think my point is, if she were to trade VRE for Metro or vice versa, it'd have to be done at Union Station. Or, she could walk the 3 mile difference in Springfield (crossing interstate 95), or catch a local bus to either or. Last, VRE does not stop at the airport, but Metro does.
Click to expand...

This is all ridiculous when the stepdad drove her all the way up to the mall area but couldn't drive a few more miles to the airport??? I still can't get over that, traffic or no traffic! I can't imagine dropping off my thin 19 year old at a mall when she is to board a plane cross country. How early did they leave the house to provide enough time for her to stop at the mall with luggage in tow, shop, drag luggage and shopping purchases over the the Metro 1 mile away, ride the Metro to the airport, then drag luggage through the airport for check-in, stand in line for TSA, and finally get to the gate?? She'd have to leave her house at least 6 hours or more before her expected flight departure!
 
Adding to the confusion are the comments from the Sheriff in this People article, which seem to imply that they think she took off? I hadn't seen that in any of the prior reporting... http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20972321,00.html

""The contents of luggage gave us some leads that we're following actively as we speak," he says, adding that it didn't show any signs of being tampered with. He would not elaborate on the specific nature of those contents, citing an open investigation, but he did say that it gave him hope Akens would be found alive."

"We're hoping – and this has happened before – that she simply decided that she wasn't going to go back [to Arizona] and made other arrangements," [Captain] Pearce says. "Information recovered from her social media accounts and her cellphone records shows that [that may be case]."

I wish we knew whether she was really spotted in the surveillance footage from the mall... Given that that would seem to be a huge development just to be casually dropped into one article, I'm assuming it was a mistake. This article has Pearce saying that she had not been spotted in the footage as of yesterday afternoon: http://patch.com/virginia/kingstowne/no-sign-katelin-akens-19-surveillance-video-police.
 
Oh, wait. There's a series of tweets from ABC7 news that I think explain the discrepancy: footage shows her step-father dropping her off in the Town Center (though I don't know what they mean by "the teen is not visible" -- could he have dropped off someone else?), but she never appears in the mall footage.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
So far no cameras have shown Akens at Mall. Investigators still poring over footage.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Akens vanished after her stepfather drove her from Spotsylvania County to Springfield Saturday.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Spotsylvania County Investigators say cameras at Springfield Town Center show car dropping Akens off. But the teen is not visible.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Stepfather is not a suspect in disappearance of 19 year old Katelin Akens. Surveillance video corroborates his account of events.
 
I used to live in Springfield, and the Metro (subway) station is next to the mall. The metro takes one directly to National Airport. I would be a logical decision to do a bit of shopping prior to boarding the metro. The station is a short walk from the mall.

Now, I live in Fredericksburg and am very familiar with the area. River Road does indeed meet up in a number of places with the Rappahannock River. I have a sick feeling she never got to Springfield and was dumped in the river. Downriver, there are rapids above Rt. 1. We've had a lot of rain recently and I'm wondering if the current is extra swift.

As for her cell phone, I hope the police pinged the location the call as I doubt it was placed from the airport.

I'm having serious suspicions here.

Sorry if anything here has been said before. I'm catching up on the thread.

ETA: I see I was referring to the wrong section of River Road. It begins in Stafford County, goes along the river (that's my neighborhood). It crosses into F'burg and goes north. From where she was coming from and north to I-95, it doesn't parallel the river. Still... with all the confusing reports, I'll hang her to see what develops.
 
SeaEclipse said:
Adding to the confusion are the comments from the Sheriff in this People article, which seem to imply that they think she took off? I hadn't seen that in any of the prior reporting... http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20972321,00.html

""The contents of luggage gave us some leads that we're following actively as we speak," he says, adding that it didn't show any signs of being tampered with. He would not elaborate on the specific nature of those contents, citing an open investigation, but he did say that it gave him hope Akens would be found alive."

"We're hoping – and this has happened before – that she simply decided that she wasn't going to go back [to Arizona] and made other arrangements," [Captain] Pearce says. "Information recovered from her social media accounts and her cellphone records shows that [that may be case]."
Click to expand...

I guess I understand why they'd think that - her clothes and phone are gone, and she seems to have priors? - but I just can't wrap my head around her just suddenly deciding not to return to her fiance, not seeing her baby nephew, throwing her luggage (with her wallet!) in a ditch, and running away..
 
Gilesfan said:
Probably right. I just want to point out that it is very common for people to metro in due to heavy traffic. I've done it before just to avoid the traffic and that is the popular stop to do so if you are heading up from the south. I don't have any reason to believe that it would be odd for someone to drop a person off at the metro if they are going to airport. You could be stuck in traffic and miss flight very easily.
Click to expand...

Indeed. We will be going to National in a couple of weeks. We will drive up the evening before to avoid the heavy traffic and shuttle to the airport from the hotel where we leave the car. In addition, the ride back to Spotsy from the airport is very nasty. I've done it too many times. Rush hour can begin as early as 3 PM and without an EZ pass for the HOT lanes down I-95, it can be a 3 hour trip.
 
SeaEclipse said:
Oh, wait. There's a series of tweets from ABC7 news that I think explain the discrepancy: footage shows her step-father dropping her off in the Town Center (though I don't know what they mean by "the teen is not visible" -- could he have dropped off someone else?), but she never appears in the mall footage.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
So far no cameras have shown Akens at Mall. Investigators still poring over footage.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Akens vanished after her stepfather drove her from Spotsylvania County to Springfield Saturday.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Spotsylvania County Investigators say cameras at Springfield Town Center show car dropping Akens off. But the teen is not visible.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Stepfather is not a suspect in disappearance of 19 year old Katelin Akens. Surveillance video corroborates his account of events.
Click to expand...

Maybe you can see the stepfather's vehicle and passenger door opening but not definitely make out who got out? That's my only thought..
 
SeaEclipse said:
Adding to the confusion are the comments from the Sheriff in this People article, which seem to imply that they think she took off? I hadn't seen that in any of the prior reporting... http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20972321,00.html

""The contents of luggage gave us some leads that we're following actively as we speak," he says, adding that it didn't show any signs of being tampered with. He would not elaborate on the specific nature of those contents, citing an open investigation, but he did say that it gave him hope Akens would be found alive."

"We're hoping – and this has happened before – that she simply decided that she wasn't going to go back [to Arizona] and made other arrangements," [Captain] Pearce says. "Information recovered from her social media accounts and her cellphone records shows that [that may be case]."

I wish we knew whether she was really spotted in the surveillance footage from the mall... Given that that would seem to be a huge development just to be casually dropped into one article, I'm assuming it was a mistake. This article has Pearce saying that she had not been spotted in the footage as of yesterday afternoon: http://patch.com/virginia/kingstowne/no-sign-katelin-akens-19-surveillance-video-police.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting actually stating that social media and cell phone records show she may have disappeared on her own. That's a key piece if accurate but also why leave your wallet unless you really want people to think you didn't disappear on your own. And this would have to include disappearing from family as well no? Unless you expect them to keep playing along...
 
Contrary to some reports, Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Pearce said Thursday that police have yet to find any surveillance footage of Akens at the mall or anywhere else. But he said police have corroborated the stepfather’s story that he dropped her off in Northern Virginia.

Pearce would not say how the story was corroborated, saying that was part of the ongoing investigation.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/...cle_d1261048-9f60-11e5-8ac1-9bfcd1eaae4e.html
 
Captain Jeff Pearce of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office said:

"The contents of luggage gave us some leads that we're following actively as we speak," he says, adding that it didn't show any signs of being tampered with. He would not elaborate on the specific nature of those contents, citing an open investigation, but he did say that it gave him hope Akens would be found alive.

"We're hoping – and this has happened before – that she simply decided that she wasn't going to go back [to Arizona] and made other arrangements," Pearce says. "Information recovered from her social media accounts and her cellphone records shows that [that may be case]."

He adds: "But until we can locate her, this is a missing persons case. We're not giving up."

http://www.people.com/article/spots...n-michelle-akens-missing-heather-ciccone-dead
 
JerseyGirl said:
Well this article makes no sense:

Police say surveillance video proves that missing 19-year-old Katelin Akens’ stepfather dropped her off at Springfield Town Center on Saturday.

At this point, police cannot confirm that she left Spotsylvania.

___

If she was truly spotted at the mall, why isn't Fairfax County involved in her search??
Click to expand...

Terrible reporting in this case...........
 
Authorities have been able to corroborate that Akens’ stepfather’s car was in the area of the mall that day, though there is no surveillance video of Katelin or her stepdad at Springfield Town Center. Captain Pearce says cameras were not covering the area of the mall that the stepfather says he left Katelin. He would not elaborate on how investigators confirmed the car was there.

Right now, police cannot confirm whether Katelin was at the mall or if she even left Spotsylvania. Authorities have also not yet said that the stepfather himself was at the mall, just that his car was in the area.

Akens’ stepfather is still being interviewed by police. He has not been called a suspect or person of interest in the case.

http://wric.com/2015/12/10/new-developments-in-case-of-19-year-old-missing-from-spotsylvania/
 
SeaEclipse said:
Oh, wait. There's a series of tweets from ABC7 news that I think explain the discrepancy: footage shows her step-father dropping her off in the Town Center (though I don't know what they mean by "the teen is not visible" -- could he have dropped off someone else?), but she never appears in the mall footage.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
So far no cameras have shown Akens at Mall. Investigators still poring over footage.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Akens vanished after her stepfather drove her from Spotsylvania County to Springfield Saturday.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Spotsylvania County Investigators say cameras at Springfield Town Center show car dropping Akens off. But the teen is not visible.

Stephen Tschida ‏@ABC7Stephen 21h21 hours ago
Stepfather is not a suspect in disappearance of 19 year old Katelin Akens. Surveillance video corroborates his account of events.
Click to expand...

So, reading between the lines, video show's StepDad's vehicle in the mall parking lot or at a curb, but no sign of Katelin?

edited: I see now that there is no video of the vehicle.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 85 more.
Total: 2,399 (members: 86, guests: 2,313)

Online statistics

Members online
86
Guests online
2,313
Total visitors
2,399
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
599,867
Messages
18,100,417
Members
230,942
Latest member
Patturelli
Back
Top