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

[ClaireNC]

AndiLA, what would be the likely route for the SD to take from Spotsylvania to the airport? Would he have come anywhere near River Road? Do we know how far it would be to Springfield Mall area? I know where Woodbridge is and there is a marina there. I know where Fredricksburg is because there are some great shops there off of I-95. How far is River Road from I-95?

I do not mean to overwhelm you with questions! TIA for any you (or anyone) can answer.

Here's a map with approximate locations: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z2VLvG6QAl8U.kpkgKIYWcTLo&usp=sharing

 

[Tillicum]

How do you go about buying a prepaid phone (sorry if that's a stupid question!) I mean, do you just get it off the shelf basically and purchase or do they ask for info about the purchaser? Could she have purchased another prepaid phone ahead of time? Paid cash so no real record of the purchase?

She could've got one off a rack for under $10. Just pay at the register, no big deal JMO.

 

[CookieM]

I agree with the bolded:

"Another point I wanted to bring up, is that IF a person is choosing to disappear themselves, they may not be thinking very logically about anything, to be quite honest. It could have been something that was not planned out very far in advance at all. Maybe she was stressed out about a number of things, been going through feelings of "what should I do?" and actually been planning to get on that flight to begin with, but then had a sudden change of heart and impulsive moment."



I agree and I have been trying hard to come up with a scenario where that might have happened. But I cannot figure out one where she would not have been seen on camera or discovered electronically already.

If she went on as though she was going to fly home, then suddenly decided to change plans, then she would have already walked into the mall and been heading to or been on the metro already. There should be video, if so.

And if she decided spur of the moment, to change plans, why is her luggage back in Spotsy area? How did she get a car and a ride back in that direction if it was a sudden plan to leave the old plans aside? I can't figure out how that part happened.

I want to believe she is OK< and just hiding out after a little mental breakdown. But I don't see how it could have happened in that way without her being caught on camera or seen by someone, etc.

All these are good questions and points!
I do wonder if she will be discovered on camera somewhere. Have they finished looking through footage?

When I say she was planning on flying home, I meant until that morning and that's why she told her stepdad to drop her at the mall instead.

Could she have hitched a ride from someone? Not the safest thing, obviously, but if you are desperate, you make crazy choices.
The luggage in the ditch is curious for sure.

Could she have communicated with someone via snapchat, met them and something went awry from there? Drug overdose and they freak out and dump her stuff and leave her somewhere? That could explain why she would have sent the text which would buy time if she were "partying" with a friend, and would also explain how she left the area of the mall, and why her luggage was just dumped.
(Not saying she was a drug user, but recreational drug use is not unheard of, so just throwing it out there.)

just more thoughts

 

[tiffay01]

I still would absolutely love to know when and where her phone pinged when those messages were sent, and what time they were sent!!

 

[Tillicum]

IDK if the SD is responsible but if he isn't someone did a heck of a good job setting him up :thinking:

 

[LaLaw2000]

I'll have to look at a map in a bit and see where this River Rd is that her bag was found. IMO, there's no reason to get off of the freeway from Spotsy to Springfield. It's a straight shot up 95. And from Spotsy to the airport 95-395 would be the route taken. I'm not familiar with the backroads as I rarely travel further south than fredericksburg, but on the occasion I feel the traffic is too heavy on 95, I'll take Rte 1 down (I think its also called Richmond Hwy). So, this River Rd area is baffling me, I'm finishing up a paper for school and haven't had a chance to really look at where it is in reference to the route(s) that make the most sense (to me). As soon as I'm done, I promise to take a look and give my feedback!

Thanks, AndiLA, but please do not do that. Your answer was good enough! Besides that, your paper is more important than my questions. Good luck with that paper!!!!

 

[LaLaw2000]

Here's a map with approximate locations: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z2VLvG6QAl8U.kpkgKIYWcTLo&usp=sharing

Thank you so much, ClaireNC! I appreciate it! Excellent map!

 

[Hoosier952]

I was trying to figure out a time line, but with so few details, I can only come up with something that's foggy at best.

We know Mom dropped her off Saturday at some point. Assuming Mom works a standard 9-5 job, she likely was dropped of somewhere between 7-9 am or 11am-1pm. Could have been any point that day really, but before work would probably be the most likely time with lunch break coming in second.
SD claims he drops her off at the mall. No way to figure out the timing here.
Katelin's flight was at 5:40 pm and I'll assume she had planned on being at the airport 2 hours pre-flight as suggested by the airport.
On Saturday, Metro trains leave every 15 minutes, and from the Metro station it takes 18 minutes to get to the airport. So she would have needed to board the ~3 pm train to get there 2 hours early.
I think someone said it takes about an hour to get from SD's home to the mall area, so they would to have had to leave around 2 pm at the latest, but it wouldn't have given Katelin much time to shop or much of a time buffer if traffic was bad.
Their drive would have been during daylight hours.
That's the best I can narrow it down assuming everything we've heard is true and those numbers could be multiple hours off everywhere.

Admittedly, it's not a helpful timeline. Giving the public or at least locals a timeline would be massively helpful. Why haven't they pushed a car description or timeline? Someone could have been following SD or seen him drop off Katelin at the mall. Someone could have seen Katelin walking with someone outside the mall. Why not something vague like "did you see a silver 4-door sedan with VA license plates around the mall or on -whatever- road between noon and 2pm?" It might spark some memories.

Since we're still discussing possibilities, I'd like to bring up the idea of her SD helping her runaway. I can't find any reason where that scenario doesn't work with the facts we know.

 

[Msswiss]

Here's a map with approximate locations: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z2VLvG6QAl8U.kpkgKIYWcTLo&usp=sharing

I live in Fredericksburg and this map is great. I wanted to also share that the River Road area has been known as a dump spot for as long as I can remember. People drop trash, cats dogs and any other items that are unwanted at the moment on this road. I found two kittens on the side of River Road in a cat carrier just tossed. This may be relevant may not be but just a local perspective.

 

[Yvettea]

This seems like stranger abduction to me. The text to throw people off (delay reporting her disappearance), the luggage thrown into the drainage ditch with debit card and cash inside, those things do not seem consistent with runaway.

Maybe LE is keeping a lid on things since this is such a huge time of the year for retailers and also a busy travel time (not wanting to create a panic.)

 

[msnewzealand]

But how would the stranger know who to text? Unless Katelin had 'fiancee' as her contact and 'mom'. I just feel if it is an abduction that it is somebody she knew. Or she was forced to send the text.

This seems like stranger abduction to me. The text to throw people off (delay reporting her disappearance), the luggage thrown into the drainage ditch with debit card and cash inside, those things do not seem consistent with runaway.

Maybe LE is keeping a lid on things since this is such a huge time of the year for retailers and also a busy travel time (not wanting to create a panic.)

 

[Hoosier952]

But how would the stranger know who to text? Unless Katelin had 'fiancee' as her contact and 'mom'. I just feel if it is an abduction that it is somebody she knew. Or she was forced to send the text.

Unless they just picked the last two people she had talked to or the people she shared long conversations with. Unless she deletes messages regularly, I wouldn't be surprised if flight info, plans for the day, etc. when somewhere in her phone. But it does seem like a waste of time for a stranger, especially since a stranger abduction would imply she was grabbed from a public, and likely busy, area.

 

[Yvettea]

But how would the stranger know who to text? Unless Katelin had 'fiancee' as her contact and 'mom'. I just feel if it is an abduction that it is somebody she knew. Or she was forced to send the text.

A stranger could use text history to locate the people she been texting and the content of the texts. Her fiancé and mother may have been the most frequently texted. For instance, if she texted her mom, "leaving for the airport," it would be obvious to text "made it to the airport."

 

[nic<3]

"We know Mom dropped her off Sunday at some point."

Her mom dropped actually her off on Saturday. =)

This is the most accurate report I've seen so far-- (except that she weighed around 145, not 112lbs.)

http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/kat...-airport-luggage-found-roadside-ditch-n477216

 

[neesaki]

I agree. I just don't see why she wouldn't take her cash at least. One could argue that a debit/credit card could be traced but cash..

I'd like to think that if she ran off she would have left her stuff at her mom's or with friends or something so Amber would get her stuff back. Seems spiteful to just dump your stuff for people to find. Somebody else could have riffled through her stuff before it was found and taken valuables, including cash and CC. I'm glad nobody did but it seems like a spiteful move if you're trying to run away. Though we really don't know the dynamic between Katelin and anybody in her life. I know it isn't unheard of for teens to stage their own disappearance but some things just don't seem to add up to me. I hope I'm wrong!

I hope she's safe somewhere!

Not only that, but if there's a perpetrator, why wouldn't they have taken the cash ? Didn't realize it was there? Wouldn't they have looked ? Idk :thinking:

 

[Yvettea]

Unless they just picked the last two people she had talked to or the people she shared long conversations with. Unless she deletes messages regularly, I wouldn't be surprised if flight info, plans for the day, etc. when somewhere in her phone. But it does seem like a waste of time for a stranger, especially since a stranger abduction would imply she was grabbed from a public, and likely busy, area.

It takes very little time to send a text and if you delay alerting the family you delay the crime being reported. Possible witnesses to the abduction could be lost, memories become fuzzy, delay is on the side of the criminal.

 

[Yvettea]

Not only that, but if there's a perpetrator, why wouldn't they have taken the cash ? Didn't realize it was there? Wouldn't they have looked ? Idk :thinking:

Avoid handling things and you keep your fingerprints off of them. A few bucks is not worth getting caught over.

 

[neesaki]

The article just said "some cash". Hardly helpful or lends a clue to anything...she could have had money in her luggage, money in her wallet, money in her pocket, etc.


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That's true, maybe it was a very small amount, like five or ten bucks or something. After thinking a bit, I remember a case here on WS of a woman who staged a crime scene including leaving behind cash, not a huge amount but seems like it was at least fifty bucks but I think it was more. Anyway, she was eventually found living in another state. People do choose to disappear for various reasons.

 

[ClaireNC]

I was trying to figure out a time line, but with so few details, I can only come up with something that's foggy at best.

We know Mom dropped her off Sunday at some point. .

Katelin went missing on Saturday, not Sunday. We don't have a lot of details for a timeline, but here is a short version.

Saturday Dec 5:
-Mom drops Katelin off at ex-step father's.
-Ex-step father claims he dropped her at the mall and Katelin was going to take the metro to the airport.
-Katelin's mom and fiancee each received a text message from her phone sometime late afternoon.
-Flight to Las Vegas scheduled to part at 5:40 pm. Katelin never checked in.

Sunday - Dec 6.
-Not sure if family contacted LE this day or not.

Monday - Dec 7.
-Luggage found in ditch on River Rd.
-Spotsylvania County Sheriff&#8217;s Office puts out an alert and the media picks up the story.

That is pretty much all we know or can say here.

 

[msnewzealand]

ah ok that makes sense!

A stranger could use text history to locate the people she been texting and the content of the texts. Her fiancé and mother may have been the most frequently texted. For instance, if she texted her mom, "leaving for the airport," it would be obvious to text "made it to the airport."