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

[PLT]

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...

Could also be the luggage tag from her flight home.

 

[ClaireNC]

Could also be the luggage tag from her flight home.

Do you mean her flight to Virginia? She lives in Arizona, so her return flight would have been going home. There wouldn't be an official airline-issued luggage tag if she carried on her suitcase.

I believe it was said that the ID that she used was a state issued Arizona ID, since she doesn't have a driver's license.

 

[JnRyan]

Do you mean her flight to Virginia? She lives in Arizona, so her return flight would have been going home. There wouldn't be a luggage tag if she carried on her suitcase.

Could be her tag for the flight from AZ. I usually don't pull my old tags off till the next time I arrive at the airport, so her tag for the trip to VA may have still been on the suitcase.

 

[charminglane]

Carry on bags should have a luggage tag AND your info inside the bag, too.
In case you and your bag are separated.
Like right now.

 

[bluesneakers]

Could be her tag for the flight from AZ. I usually don't pull my old tags off till the next time I arrive at the airport, so her tag for the trip to VA may have still been on the suitcase.

I have a plastic luggage tag that's always on my bag. And like you, if I check it I usually leave the sticky tags on until I use it again. I don't think that's what they found on her bag though. I think they mean an actual ID card of some kind.

 

[PLT]

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

I agree. I was going to relay a past experience early on in this case but because I got a different vibe I did not share and also didn't want it to seem like I was making any comparisons to Katelin's relationship. When I was in my early 20s I had a good childhood friend who was living with a very controlling girlfriend for 2 years. He had been living with her in her place while completing graduate school. She went away for 2 weeks (a "2 week pass" as he called it) and my friend decided to hang out with his old group of friends. On his last night of "freedom" , he packed a bag so that he could stay overnight at his best friend's (designated driver as well). .

After the last bar of many, he becamet very quiet in the car ride home (back seat) and then after checking missed messages (girlfriend called every half hour and if he didn't answer she kept calling/leaving messages)...he went on a tirade about the issues he was having. He literally started tossing things she gave him out the back window. Shaving bag, packed items, the shirt he was wearing - and finally the big finale was the bag itself and the ringing cell phone. We were speechless but none of us suggested we go back and get the items. The driver was worried that someone would take the cell phone but it was a highway with a sharp hill near the guard rail and no one was risking it. My friend spent 3 weeks with his buddy and no contact with anyone while he got everything sorted out. His friend did not tell anyone he was there but those of us in the car knew.

Had we not been there - and someone found the items and reported him missing it may have looked differently than a liberating exorcist.
The big difference here is that this occurred after a night of drinking . His girlfriend was worried and called family but as soon as she mentioned getting the police involved - the friend confirmed he was okay and to back off. He is now happily married and so is she - to other people.

This was a memory sparked by this case and another way luggage could get in the road but I do not think this is what happened ......as much as I wish it was the case. That is why I was asking which side of the road the luggage was found on - passenger or driver.

 

[1&2&3]

Since we don't know one way or the other, I am putting this out there as a thought. Could Katelin have had a drinking or drug problem? Did she go to the mall as stated, meet up with someone, go with them, and became obnoxiously drunk or high?

After partying, the person left her, however, her luggage was still in their car. Someone called the police due to her drunkeness behavior - I mean really far out there! The police put her on a 72 hour involuntary committed status in a hospital. Is that the right terminology? If that happened, no one would be able to find her during that time frame. No one is notified of this happening, and if family is trying to locate a loved one, the hospital and the police department will not tell you a thing! Not even that the person has been arrested, is in jail, or is in the hospital. Likewise, the hospital does not have the persons' name listed on the registry. It is like that person disappeared! Sorry to say I know this from first hand experience with my alcoholic brother.

The point being that if this happened, then the police department involved may have contacted the LE in the county where the mall is upon hearing that she was reported missing. Therefore, LE knows she is alive and did not return home upon discharge.

I do not know what their legal responsibility is under such a circumstance. Katelin is 19, had moved out of the parental home, so for all purposes was on her own as an adult. ***SPECULATION ONLY***

 

[ClaireNC]

Carry on bags should have a luggage tag AND your info inside the bag, too.
In case you and your bag are separated.
Like right now.

I am pretty sure we were talking about an official luggage tag that the airline attaches to your bag when it is checked. A luggage tag that you make yourself to identify your luggage or put in one of those plastic holders, would not count as any kind of official identification.

Personally, I use my business card, attached in a holder on the outside and few tucked inside the suitcase. However, I'm not sure that a young adult would think to put some kind of tag on their suitcase if they were planning to carry it on. It seems like one of those things I would have to remind my children to do at that age.

Why are we discussing this anyway? I doubt that LE meant a luggage tag when they said that her wallet with her ID was in the suitcase.

 

[1&2&3]

Carry on bags should have a luggage tag AND your info inside the bag, too.
In case you and your bag are separated.
Like right now.

Checked bags should also have your info inside the bag in case the outside tag is torn off. Don't worry, the luggage handlers can get into your luggage even if it is locked.

If you are going somewhere and are not sure your cell phone will work, be sure to put the phone number of where you are staying. You do want that luggage to get to you, right?

 

[LivingJuicy]

Prior to going missing - when did Katelin's fiance actually speak to her? NOT text but voice call - has that been said?

I think it's time that a private investigator is hired (if hasn't been done already..)

I would personally donate money to assist in obtaining one if needed.

Following several cases here where a woman went missing - this doesn't feel voluntary. I really felt that it could have been but now, not this close to Christmas, not without a phone or vehicle or income.

Time to start sleuthing for me.... I'm very worried about the outcome of this.

 

[Tealgrove]

I am perplexed by the silence surrounding Katelin's disappearance.

If this was my fiancé, brother, sister, friend, cousin, etc., I'd be all over it and social media would be hopping. I'd be a VI and getting as many people to help as I possibly could. I'd be out there looking. I'd be on the first plane to find out what was going on.

We are out of the loop and I can't help but wonder if there are things in Katelin's background that may explain what is going on here.

I really want to believe that she just chucked it all and has gone on a toot but I don't think so. Every now and then I get that vibe and then I think about her luggage and can't come to terms with someone walking away without, at least, some stuff.

Where are you Katelin?

 

[daisymae]

I'm also very worried and don't feel good news is coming but hope I'm wrong. With Christmas coming in a few days, my heart is so sad that she may not be home for the holidays. We all feel so helpless as we wait day after day with no promising information.

I wonder how Amber and the 2 moms are doing. Where could she be?

I still believe the stepfather has something to do with this.

 

[ILOKAL]

I am perplexed by the silence surrounding Katelin's disappearance.

If this was my fiancé, brother, sister, friend, cousin, etc., I'd be all over it and social media would be hopping. I'd be a VI and getting as many people to help as I possibly could. I'd be out there looking. I'd be on the first plane to find out what was going on.

We are out of the loop and I can't help but wonder if there are things in Katelin's background that may explain what is going on here.

I really want to believe that she just chucked it all and has gone on a toot but I don't think so. Every now and then I get that vibe and then I think about her luggage and can't come to terms with someone walking away without, at least, some stuff.

Where are you Katelin?

How old is Amber, Katelin's girlfriend? Do we know? Do we know why Katelin moved to Arizona a year ago? Did she meet Amber in Arizona or did they know each other already? She was just getting ready to start cosmetology school, so what did Katelin do during this past year? Lots of questions to sort out.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

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

I don't see this as a "big staged event". She could have met someone in the mall lot and they could have driven back to the area. It is possible she decided she had no need for the suitcase so she just grabbed what she thought she wanted and tossed the rest out of the car to wherever it landed. May be no planning at all except the pick up. She may not have considered how it would look if someone found the suitcase either. She already told her fiance she wasn't coming back and would make arrangements later. Perhaps she thought she had it covered. Maybe she is not even aware of what has happened while she has been gone.

 

[PLT]

Yes sorry. By flight home - I meant from Arizona to her family. I usually don't tear mine off until traveling and I sometimes use the flimsy ones provided by the airlines. I didn't remains it was a real ID card being references - even worse .

 

[DatelineFan]

How old is Amber, Katelin's girlfriend? Do we know? Do we know why Katelin moved to Arizona a year ago? Did she meet Amber in Arizona or did they know each other already? She was just getting ready to start cosmetology school, so what did Katelin do during this past year? Lots of questions to sort out.

I don't have a source at the moment, but I'm quite sure she's known KA for many years. I read somewhere that they were childhood friends, and it became romantic in recent years.

Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[hey-Debbie]

Also, I would think if Katelin was as close to her sister as people are saying, wouldn't she of all people know if her relationship with Amber maybe wasn't so great? I think it's Amber and KA's sister that run the Find Katelin FB.

 

[ClaireNC]

I don't have a source at the moment, but I'm quite sure she's known KA for many years. I read somewhere that they were childhood friends, and it became romantic in recent years.

Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I think you are right

 

[Tabirey]

I don't have a source at the moment, but I'm quite sure she's known KA for many years. I read somewhere that they were childhood friends, and it became romantic in recent years.

Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct 😊

 

[Tabirey]

Also, I would think if Katelin was as close to her sister as people are saying, wouldn't she of all people know if her relationship with Amber maybe wasn't so great? I think it's Amber and KA's sister that run the Find Katelin FB.

Yes, Amber and Gabbi are the admins. 😊