Victim: Alexis Murphy, 17, missing from Shipman, VA, 03 August 2013 - #7

[bredavis]

http://www.wset.com/story/23764240/update-judge-sets-jury-trial-date-for-randy-taylor
Jury Trial Date set for February 3-14 for the abduction charge. Two weeks and more than 50 witnesses for the prosecution!!! WOW!

The article didn't state whether or not he entered a "not guilty" plea. Hopefully they will have more updates later! I'll be watching the 6 o'clock news tonight!!

 

[bredavis]

UPDATE from the local Lynchburg newspaper:
http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/article_6d25ffe4-3c1c-11e3-aee1-0019bb30f31a.html

 

[CHERIE.T]

Welcome and thanks for the updates brea Davis.
I never thought Alexis would be gone this long.
Hoping she will be found soon. Prayers to her family.

 

[oldwindow]

http://www.wset.com/story/23764240/update-judge-sets-jury-trial-date-for-randy-taylor
Jury Trial Date set for February 3-14 for the abduction charge. Two weeks and more than 50 witnesses for the prosecution!!! WOW!

The article didn't state whether or not he entered a "not guilty" plea. Hopefully they will have more updates later! I'll be watching the 6 o'clock news tonight!!

His laywer said he is innocent of the charge, so that automatic no guilty plea in the courts. Randy Taylor has not disputed it.

I don't think he did it dispute his lawyer say..

What I would like to know is was his brother ever in Virginia at any point. What was he(rat) driving when in the area of S.Clark timeline, which was they year of 2009/10. When was that car sold to purchase another. If some can shed some light on that then . I could connect something and a build theory.

This would help the A. Murphy case, as well as others.

 

[oldwindow]

I think he thinks he's smart. From his wrap sheet, it appears that he has been able to worm his way out of some charges or receive lighter sentences. So, maybe he is good at destroying evidence and maybe he has educated himself in that area and the legal system. I think spending time in prison turns some into better criminals. They learn skills on how not to get caught the next time. So yes, I guess I would say he is street smart or criminal smart.

He appears to have been liked by those that worked with and knew him. He was trusted with his son and seemed to be able to maintain a relationship with the mother even after accusations that he was involved in the disappearance of another missing girl. I would consider him a psychopath or other similar personality disorder.

Here are a few things that give me the chills about him:

1. Him going to the press saying he was harassed by police and how it ruined his life. So yes, I think he enjoys taunting LE and he thinks he is smarter than them.

2. His communications with Samantha Clarke right before her disappearance. I think he used the younger crowd and the situation to prey on her. This did end up drawing attention to him though and so he tried to make sure he was more cautious with Alexis, but it didn't work out so well for him. I have to laugh at the ridiculous excuse he came up with, when they did zero in on him. I wonder if there may have been a better outcome with Samantha, if the LE resources that have been used in Alexis's case were used in hers. I think it's a good possibility that the FBI was called in so quickly, because they realized the connection and they most likely have a serial killer on their hands.

3. The fact that he would sit in parking lots. I feel like he was watching and waiting for his next victim. I can't erase this horrid picture from my mind of him stalking Alexis.

My hopes are that they have plenty of video footage that the public is not aware of, among other evidence to get a conviction on him and keep him behind bars.

I pray for the family of both girls, that something will break and they will find their daughters.

@3rd part.. I think he was stalking both of them.. Because I think in that time frame he owned a camper and there is trail parks in both areas. Every area where there a kid napping suspect the link is a trial park near by. He owned a trailer.

 

[Inspector Gidget]

I live an hour from Charlottesville.I was in the subway today at Locust Grove,VA today near orange county.There was a girl standing in line that looked familiar too Alexis.I even took a second look but not as thin and petite as her.In my mind I was thinking why couldn't this be her.A chill came over me as I realized she is probably not among us any more.It just made me feel so sad and helpless.

 

[margarita25]

UPDATE from the local Lynchburg newspaper:
http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/article_6d25ffe4-3c1c-11e3-aee1-0019bb30f31a.html

Thank you for the update. Heartbreaking and sickening.

 

[margarita25]

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Victim: Alexis Murphy, 17, missing from Shipman, VA, 03 August 2013 - #5

Is this one of the posts you were looking for? HTH

Thank you Tennlyn. Hope all is well with you.

 

[oldwindow]

I have questions.. Didn't one girl get found by buzzards flying over head by a farmer..

I want to know can investigator use buzzards to track scent of the dead like they do blood hounds dog. Would this possible.

 

[cluciano63]

I have questions.. Didn't one girl get found by buzzards flying over head by a farmer..

I want to know can investigator use buzzards to track scent of the dead like they do blood hounds dog. Would this possible.

Jmo, but I think once buzzards, etc. find a body, they are in and out in a matter of a day or so...so you would have to happen to see a flock of them at the right time. I think, not sure.

 

[NuSleuth]

I live an hour from Charlottesville.I was in the subway today at Locust Grove,VA today near orange county.There was a girl standing in line that looked familiar too Alexis.I even took a second look but not as thin and petite as her.In my mind I was thinking why couldn't this be her.A chill came over me as I realized she is probably not among us any more.It just made me feel so sad and helpless.

That made me sad .
Alexis is actually 5 ft 7 so she is not petite in height btw.

 

[21merc7]

I have questions.. Didn't one girl get found by buzzards flying over head by a farmer..

I want to know can investigator use buzzards to track scent of the dead like they do blood hounds dog. Would this possible.

If an investigator sees the buzzards circling overhead, they can certainly go to that area to see why. I don't think they can train them though. Although I saw a show on PBS about birds, and one guy's bird was a vulture, but they just let them fly and film it. The vulture got lost and they had to find it, and, of course, the pet vulture would only come to it's owner.

Actually, any dogs taken into the woods with hunters or investigators would be able to find decomp. Almost all dogs seem to love going to it (or any smelly thing), just that the investigators must use ones specially trained for targets, not tangents. So, the hunter may not notice the hunting dog is trying to sniff where a body is buried and may just think the dog is sniffing squirrel pee. Lol.

 

[Gardenlady]

UPDATE from the local Lynchburg newspaper:
http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/article_6d25ffe4-3c1c-11e3-aee1-0019bb30f31a.html

This infuriating. Her poor family. I am heartbroken thinking of her poor aunties having to sit through this. Bless them, and poor mom who is so shattered whenever I see her.

Come home soon Alexis. We won't forget you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

[oldwindow]

I was reading about vultures , it said vultures don't just eat the old dead that has been decomposed all the time( they love that to btw), they actually like fresh dead and smell it better to 1-2 mile ahead and very deep in the soil below. When they find it, they swirl over it and swoop down and dig where its at to pull it up. I was thinking just tie the beak, so it cant damage the corpse/body.. it would be easier to find a body in the woods since vultures smell is so very powerful.

This is why I asked because its a lot area for dog( blood hound) to travel but a bird, like a vulture can be tracked with Gps and camera and followed. It can clear whole area in matter of minutes and find the scent of the dead better, I was thinking if they gave it a scent or trained it to get a scent to track, it would find it in 1 day, If it was near by.

I saw hawk owners do this to find rabbits. I was thinking maybe a trained vulture could do the same to find a corpse ,thanks or the reply

 

[4MYGUYS]

I was reading about vultures , it said vultures don't just eat the old dead that has been decomposed all the time( they love that to btw), they actually like fresh dead and smell it better to 1-2 mile ahead and very deep in the soil below. When they find it, they swirl over it and swoop down and dig where its at to pull it up. I was thinking just tie the beak, so it cant damage the corpse/body.. it would be easier to find a body in the woods since vultures smell is so very powerful.

This is why I asked because its a lot area for dog( blood hound) to travel but a bird, like a vulture can be tracked with Gps and camera and followed. It can clear whole area in matter of minutes and find the scent of the dead better, I was thinking if they gave it a scent or trained it to get a scent to track, it would find it in 1 day, If it was near by.

I saw hawk owners do this to find rabbits. I was thinking maybe a trained vulture could do the same to find a corpse ,thanks or the reply

Good idea. This makes a lot of sense. I didn't know the vultures would dig. I have seen them circling for a week or better over dead deer. Would love to hear from anyone who has experience with this idea.
It reminds me of an article I read (somewhere????), about using drones with sniffer capability. But if I remember correctly, the artificial "sniffers" were not yet ready for work.
Apparently vultures were tried without success in Germany a couple of years ago. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/bird-brained-idea-vulture-detective-training-hits-headwinds-a-770994.html

 

[Curious Me]

As far as to if RAT is smart or not... probably not very smart.... but anyone can learn things from experience. He's done it before... and he knows how to destroy and conceal evidence. He just got more caught this time and with the FBI involved, they WILL discover a lot of what he has been hiding. I just hope they can find Alexis and bring closure to the family.... but most importantly, glad RAT is off the street.

Me too, I'm glad RAT is off the streets. It was a real bonus that they zeroed in on him right off. We, at least, know he was definitely with Alexis just before she disappeared. She did not evaporate into thin air, but the conclusions reached are not hopeful ones because of RAT's involvement. Nail this guy, and nail him good with evidence please!

Praying that they find Alexis soon, her dear family needs that closure.

 

[BeginnersLuck]

Good idea. This makes a lot of sense. I didn't know the vultures would dig. I have seen them circling for a week or better over dead deer. Would love to hear from anyone who has experience with this idea.
It reminds me of an article I read (somewhere????), about using drones with sniffer capability. But if I remember correctly, the artificial "sniffers" were not yet ready for work.
Apparently vultures were tried without success in Germany a couple of years ago. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/bird-brained-idea-vulture-detective-training-hits-headwinds-a-770994.html

After reading that article, I have to wonder if they have been feeding the vultures. I imagine if humans are feeding them, then they become lazy and don't hunt for food. This could affect the experiment.

Also, there are different species. I wonder if any species would be smarter or less stubborn than the ones they used.

I ran across this interesting article about vultures and the impact they can have on human remains. I wanted to share this, because so many times in cases I will read that a skeleton has been found and think that the body had to have been there for a significant time period. Apparently, vultures can skeletonize a body within hours, making it look like the person has been dead for months or years, when it could only have been days.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/texas-body-farms-vultures_n_1330782.html

(I'm sorry, I know this is O/T, but I thought others might find it informative and don't know where else to share it)

 

[Just K]

I saw a dead deer (complete) one day and the next day it was just bones.

 

[4MYGUYS]

I saw a dead deer (complete) one day and the next day it was just bones.

WoW! I've seen 'em beside the road for some time, but probably with the car traffic they last longer. This info is really amazing and very informative. Thanks all! hope too it isn't OT, but it is important to realize the actual timing that is so crucial to prosecuting and even finding the perpetrators.
From Beginners Lucks link it seems to be a pretty new avenue of science for LE.
Another predator that has recently infiltrated central VA, but I don't know about the Lovingston area is the coyote. They have become quite a problem in some areas.

Pray the fall brings new answers for Alexis and her loved ones.

 

[Just K]

WoW! I've seen 'em beside the road for some time, but probably with the car traffic they last longer. This info is really amazing and very informative. Thanks all! hope too it isn't OT, but it is important to realize the actual timing that is so crucial to prosecuting and even finding the perpetrators.
From Beginners Lucks link it seems to be a pretty new avenue of science for LE.
Another predator that has recently infiltrated central VA, but I don't know about the Lovingston area is the coyote. They have become quite a problem in some areas.

Pray the fall brings new answers for Alexis and her loved ones.

Yes, coyote are rampant in Northern VA, too. I don't know what devoured that deer but I saw it right after it died and the next day I was checking to see if Animal Control had picked it up. I was devastated by what I saw.