VA VA - Katelin Akens, 19, Springfield, 5 Dec 2015 #2

[CookieM]

Locals, are there missing posters up in the area? Or were posters just handed out? Even if the general consensus is that she never made it to the mall or the metro station, there would be a LOT of locals who are in that area and visit the mall and station. Those people could have been on River Road that day and seen something. Missing posters should be up all over the area imo. Are they?

tia

 

[Yvettea]

following...

 

[Hexe]

If I was running away, I think I'd keep what little I had with me and not dump my suitcase at all

If I was running away, I'd rather dump my cellphone, that can be traced, rather than my suitcase and wallet. I can understand dumping a bank card, it's traceable so it would be useless, but why dump a wallet with all of it's contents? Why dump the ID? That something you would need, running away or not. Why to dump a suitcase and some clothes? The suitcase did not have a size of a wardrobe, right? We know that Katelin traveled light, what would be perfectly suitable for her if she wanted to run away. No need to dump anything, but traceable items.

 

[CookieM]

A lot of articles have said her "identification card" was found in her luggage. I wonder if it was specifically her driver license. In none of the articles have I read "driver license" so I just am wondering if she had a license or was it an ID card. Did she drive? Was it a school ID card and she also had a license but that was not left behind?
Just wondering...

 

[Ibiz]

If I was running away, I think I'd keep what little I had with me and not dump my suitcase at all; but if I did dump it, I'd put it in a dumpster where it would less likely be found.

1. Ether someone wanted the case found.

2. Or the person dumping it did so out of Anger/Fear/Desperation.

3. It blew off the top of a vehicle.

 

[nic<3]

Personally, I'm leaning toward- someone wanted that suitcase to be found.

 

[bluesneakers]

1. Ether someone wanted the case found.

2. Or the person dumping it did so out of Anger/Fear/Desperation.

3. It blew off the top of a vehicle.

IMO that's the right answer. Fear, desperation, panic, and not a lot of planning went into the act.

 

[ClaireNC]

IMO that's the right answer. Fear, desperation, panic, and not a lot of planning went into the act.

I agree, somebody in a rush and not thinking it through.

 

[Yvettea]

How far is it to the airport? Because I don't think someone would carefully drive to the mall as if they have delivered the passenger then casually fling the luggage along the side of a travelled road leaving the ID and the contents inside.

 

[katydid23]

If it is true that she did not have a bank account, a driver's license or a job, then I don't see her planning this big 'staged' event on her own. She seems to be a dependent type, and would probably have had a lot of help in running away, if that's what she did. JMO

 

[CookieM]

If it is true that she did not have a bank account, a driver's license or a job, then I don't see her planning this big 'staged' event on her own. She seems to be a dependent type, and would probably have had a lot of help in running away, if that's what she did. JMO

OR the opposite and she was feeling suffocated by the level of dependency she was now living with and wanted to escape.
moo

 

[Soulmagent]

OR the opposite and she was feeling suffocated by the level of dependency she was now living with and wanted to escape.
moo

So should I just check that homeless camp is case she decided to be totally and spontaneously self reliant ?

This girl did not just take off or decide to start with nothing including her 10 bucks.

 

[Hoosier952]

I don't think we know for certain that she didn't have a bank account or a wad of cash in her pocket. Amber and Katelin's family might not be aware of an account, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Most jobs pay via direct deposit (I don't know about Katelin's) and it's much easier to cash a check (if she receives paper checks) if you have an account at the bank. I realize you can cash payroll checks about anywhere, but not everyone likes walking around with their entire paycheck in their purse and most bills would have to be paid via card or check. Was Amber paying all of the bills? If Katelin's family was helping financially, how were they getting money to her? And honestly, if you're going to up and decide to disappear voluntarily, I doubt that $10 in the grand scheme of things is that big of a deal. She could have easily forgotten about it. Maybe she's got a job lined up at her destination.

I'm still hopping between each side of the fence on this one. I think my heart just wants to hope she's alive and it's causing me to come up with every possible reason evidence points to a voluntary disappearance. Because all of the evidence we're aware of also points to something sinister happening.

 

[CookieM]

So should I just that homeless camp is case she decided to be totally and spontaneously self reliant ?

This girl did not just take off or decide to start with nothing including her 10 bucks.

Is that snark? I'm not quite sure...

I for one have no idea exactly HOW much money she had with her. Maybe she had money saved up. Maybe at the time, it wasn't a concern. Maybe a person doesn't think through things rationally every minute of their life.
Maybe she was in contact with someone via sm/Kik or some other means and this person was more than happy to take her in.
Do you think all runaways have a great financial plan when they take off? If that were true we wouldn't have young people living on the streets getting involved in dark things just to stay alive.
I don't know Katelin, so I can't speak for her desire to stay in the life she was in, or whether or not she was happy, depressed, dependent, manipulative, or a million other things. People sometimes present one face to the world and another in the mirror.

Some recent cases I've followed: a teen who was "unhappy" got a 41 year old man to pick her up from her own home while her family was right inside the house. She was then not allowed to return home and the creepy dude (who she met via Kik) destroyed her phone.

Another young man disappeared himself for two whole months before reappearing and apologizing for causing his family and friends heartache because of his disappearance. I have no clue where he was for 2 months, but he managed to survive on his own for that long without being found.

Another college aged girl seemed to vanish into thin air in CA. On her way to a bus stop, but never got on the bus. Later found in another city at a shelter. She apparently was feeling a lot of pressure in her life and needed to get away. A huge search went on for her, helicopters, dogs, etc.... her family was notified that she was safe during a vigil they were having for her.

I don't think it is out of the question for her to have disappeared herself (actually that's best case, I think) because just the three examples I gave also were people who left with basically the clothes off their back. It could happen.

 

[Soulmagent]

Snipped.

Is that snark? I'm not quite sure...

.

If it was I , didn't mean it to be.

I know people decide too take off everyday ,with nothing but they don't normally toss out what they did take when they left home in the first place,on the street. So what would happen with no I.D and no anything is that she would end up being reliant on someone even more so than she was already because now she doesnt even have her I.D to gain employment . Or she would end up in a homeless camp or such place. No snark . Just what would happen.

I think she would have been tracked down already if she took off on her own because she would have been on video at the mall and they would have released a description of her clothing.

 

[coeurfragile]

My theory on the suitcase is one of two options:

1. Desperation
2. To throw people off (my personal theory)

But... Regarding the desperation theory... If someone didn't want the suitcase to be found, whether it was Katelin or a perp, why not ditch the suitcase in a dumpster out of the area? No one would be looking for it until days later and it would already be buried in a landfill.

Surely even if someone was desperate to get rid of the suitcase, there were better options.

2. If Katelin was voluntarily walking away I can see her ditching a cell phone and/or bank card in the dumpster or trash somewhere, but why ditch the rest of the stuff? Even if she kept it until she bought a different bag and different clothes to conceal herself, I still don't understand why she wouldn't ditch it in a trash can or dumpster afterwards.

The suitcase in the drainage ditch seems intentionally misleading.

I do not believe she walked away voluntarily.

 

[JnRyan]

1. Ether someone wanted the case found.

2. Or the person dumping it did so out of Anger/Fear/Desperation.

3. It blew off the top of a vehicle.

I suspect it is #2 out of fear or desperation. I don't believe they went through the suitcase or they would have seen the wallet. Probably didn't even think about it. As far as going through the case, they probably didn't or they tried to minimize handling the contents. You might explain fingerprints or DNA on the outside, but it would be harder to explain why they would be inside. If Katelin's mother dropped her off Saturday morning with the intention of the stepfather taking her to the airport later that day, then the suitcase was likely already packed when she was dropped off.

I don't know about #1. They might have wanted it found, but the presence of the road crew may have been an unknown factor for whoever threw it there. They may have hoped it would be undiscovered for much longer.

 

[charminglane]

Was the luggage tag still on the bag????

 

[charminglane]

Does SD's car have a trunk???

 

[PLT]

I've heard this theory before, it was brought up in the Kendra Hatcher case when Delgado, who arranged Kendra's murder, was let go after a traffic violation. BD is now in Mexico.

So IMO that's not what's going on, or at least isn't the reason for the silence. They could be building a case and waiting to make an arrest though.


I really hope if they have a suspect they are closely monitoring the person.

I hope the same. My only fear is that in a few cases - (ex. Joseph Garcia) - there was painful silence because little was truly being done. Granted, it involved two different counties and lack of communication but this poor guy's car was left on the side of the road....running...with no signs of him. He dropped a friend off at the airport and that was the last anyone heard. Family waited for updates for over a month. No searches, etc. Turns out he was found by someone not far from the running car. I can think of a few others where we thought LE must working in the background but then slowly the cases dropped to Page 2, 3.....

Others like Shane Montgomery were very visible for weeks and full media attention was given. What makes Katelin different from Shane?

Believe me, I am a full supporter of LE and err on the side of trusting but I am getting a bit nervous here with no asks for help or updates like the Heather Graham case. But my full time job is far from LE's so I can't sit behind the safety of my screen and second guess their work. (I can't imagine a public discussion board commenting on how I should handle a project - :>).