WA - Mackenzie Cowell, 17, Wenatchee, 9 Feb 2010 - #1

[armywife]

Electronic lock boxes typically generate emails to the listing agent that the house is being accessed. As a child of a real estate agent I would think Mackenzie knew that and the risk involved.

If she was wearing the black boots mentioned in her description then the footprints should be easily identifiable vs. comparing sneaker marks that could be male or female. IMO they have a good idea of who the footprints belong to [Editing to clarify] they would know quickly if they were her footprints vs. the suspect - not necessarily who that suspect would be.

 

[girlfawkes]

OK, well here's the story that states the car was reported around 8.

http://www.examiner.com/x-34328-Sea...ssing-teen-case-friends-set-up-website-reward

As far as accuracy, I don't know. I was under the impression that it was reported dumped @ 8, the cop came out and the family was mobilized by 10. Honestly, in this area a 2 hour time frame would make sense for this kind of report. Anyway, for her sake I hope that's the case. It means that whatever happened to her was that less prolonged.

 

[hndinglove]

be careful when quoting examiner pages as legitimate sources -- these articles are written by citizen journalists who are often paraphrasing other newspapers/tv channels, etc., with varying degrees of authority and fact-checking. they're not often trustworthy.

what a bizarre, sad case this is, all around. i hope they found DNA evidence either on the car or around the area where her body was found.

 

[girlfawkes]

be careful when quoting examiner pages as legitimate sources -- these articles are written by citizen journalists who are often paraphrasing other newspapers/tv channels, etc., with varying degrees of authority and fact-checking. they're not often trustworthy.

what a bizarre, sad case this is, all around. i hope they found DNA evidence either on the car or around the area where her body was found.

Thanks, I had no idea that was an amateur news site.

I hope they have some good forensic evidence too. They claimed the car was clean but labs take so long.

 

[Salem]

Yeah, I'll have to find that source. Why don't I bookmark everything, sigh... I'm pretty sure I remember that 10 pm was when her father was notified of the car being there but 8pmish was when the property owner had reported it. I'll look around and see if I can find it.

I remember this also. We talked about it at the beginning of the thread, because the car was reported so quickly. The majority of the discussion was about "in the driveway" versus "along the roadway" but the neighbors reported the car around 8:00 p.m. LE ran it down, figured out who it belonged to, MC's dad said yes it sounded like his daughter's car and she was out past curfew. The family then went to the car with the BOYFRIEND (I remember that ) and arrived there around 10:00 p.m.

Many of the early articles have been updated and revised, but I'll see if I can find the link.

Salem

ETA: well maybe I misread something? All the articles I can find either say the car was reported at 10:00 p.m. or it was reported "several hours" after Mackenzie went missing. So... I don't know.

 

[girlfawkes]

I remember this also. We talked about it at the beginning of the thread, because the car was reported so quickly. The majority of the discussion was about "in the driveway" versus "along the roadway" but the neighbors reported the car around 8:00 p.m. LE ran it down, figured out who it belonged to, MC's dad said yes it sounded like his daughter's car and she was out past curfew. The family then went to the car with the BOYFRIEND (I remember that ) and arrived there around 10:00 p.m.

Many of the early articles have been updated and revised, but I'll see if I can find the link.

Salem

ETA: well maybe I misread something? All the articles I can find either say the car was reported at 10:00 p.m. or it was reported "several hours" after Mackenzie went missing. So... I don't know.

Yeah, I thought I had seen another source as well, but maybe not.

On a separate note, I wonder if the BF has his own car?

 

[jnTexas]

I'm a real estate broker and I sell foreclosure homes. We do not use electronic lock boxes on foreclosures we use combonation lock boxes usually 4 numbers. Reason being the mortgage company requires access to the property and people cleaning it out need access. I work with many banks and we use about 5 different codes. Must foreclosure agents know all the foreclosure codes.
There is a good possibilty her daughter or the BF may have helped her in the past. Maybe go over and take photos of the foreclosure homes, put out signs, or check the home. In which case she would also know the codes.
The electric should be on at the property. Almost all foreclosure companies require the utilities to be on.

ETA: manufactured homes are very easy to break into if the dead bolt is not locked. When I have a foreclosure one a license or credit card usually will do the trick. Of course I only go in the ones I'm 110% the people have moved out of.
My worst fear is finding someone dead in one. Has not happened yet thank goodness. I feel horrible for the agent who found her.

 

[Liz]

Yeah, I thought I had seen another source as well, but maybe not.

Thanks to you and Salem for trying to clear this up. I guess we'll just have to be clear that it's unclear as to exactly what time the car was found.

I don't know if it's shoddy reporting, or intentionally giving different times to throw the perp off. I've seen Mackenzie's height listed in different reports as 5'8" and 5'9"; and I've seen her weight listed as 110 lbs, 120 lbs and 130 lbs, in different reports.

On a separate note, I wonder if the BF has his own car?

That's something I've been wondering also. Also, as amysmom asked above as to whether he had an alibi.

So many unanswered questions. Hoping there is a resolution to this case soon, so that the Wenatchee area residents might be able to breathe a little easier, knowing a murderer isn't running wild amongst them.

 

[girlfawkes]

I'm a real estate broker and I sell foreclosure homes. We do not use electronic lock boxes on foreclosures we use combonation lock boxes usually 4 numbers. Reason being the mortgage company requires access to the property and people cleaning it out need access. I work with many banks and we use about 5 different codes. Must foreclosure agents know all the foreclosure codes.
There is a good possibilty her daughter or the BF may have helped her in the past. Maybe go over and take photos of the foreclosure homes, put out signs, or check the home. In which case she would also know the codes.
The electric should be on at the property. Almost all foreclosure companies require the utilities to be on.

ETA: manufactured homes are very easy to break into if the dead bolt is not locked. When I have a foreclosure one a license or credit card usually will do the trick. Of course I only go in the ones I'm 110% the people have moved out of.
My worst fear is finding someone dead in one. Has not happened yet thank goodness. I feel horrible for the agent who found her.

I had thought that too.

 

[girlfawkes]

Looking at JO's FB I don't see any Michaela, either. Maybe they were kind of off and on.

I'll have to look at his brother's MS page, hadn't done so yet.

Oh, I did see the reference in the article about Mackenzie and her BF being together that long. Like right there in front of my face

Has anyone found any condolence or memorial pages for her yet? (besides the family blog). I would bet that lots of friends would have written comments.

 

[riderofthestorm]

Hi Everyone,

New to the site, I've been following up on this story since I'm a local Wenatchee resident (I actually live about 1 mile from the development the young ladies mom lives in) and I drive the highway to Quincy through Trinidad/Crescent Bar several times a week.

It's interesting to see girlfawkes here, noticed her on the Wenatchee World pages too.

Before I start discussing this whole thing, I do want to reiterate something I heard on KIRO tonight from the DCSO spokesman, stating there are a lot of rumors and conjecture surrounding this case in the valley (the grapevine burns fast here), so just a heads up that it is making their jobs a little more difficult. Just a heads up and reminder that flagging rumor and/or conjecture would be probably greatly appreciated by DCSO that way it's clear what folks are reading here are essentially educated guesses. Just a thought on that.

There are some things that have intrigued me about this case. I've been going over in my head basically trying to profile this individual based on what is in the media. A complete shot in the dark and nothing more than conjecture, but so far this is sort of what I've been toying with:

This person is either one of two types of individuals: a newbie to this kind of stuff, or, someone taunting the police. Geographically speaking, the region is one of those places where things can go missing for a long time. There are plenty of places where things can be hidden that it would take weeks if not months to find. That is a major concept that has me somewhat baffled.

Another detail recently released is that the last cell phone tower ping of her phone took place at about 5:45 on Tuesday, about 2 hours after she was last seen from or heard of. That is a mighty big window when it comes to the Wenatchee area, as pretty much everything from Rock Island to Leavenworth is less than 30 minutes, and as girlfawkes mentioned earlier in the thread, Quincy is 45 minutes at most in good conditions. The big clue will be what tower pinged her last. Depending on what cellular company she is with, only AT&T really has any sort of decent service around Trinidad and Crescent Bar. Verizon has a dead zone from just past the rest area to about 2 miles north/west of Trinidad on Hwy 28. Service in the area is shoddy, when I drive the road it goes in and out.

If the tower that was pinged was up in the Wenatchee area, then we're left with more questions than answers. If it was Crescent Bar, it makes sense why her phone went offline. However the way DCSO and CCSO have been talking about that in the local paper leads me to guess it may not be the obvious tower.

Just some thoughts, love the discussion.

Here's to finding this monster.

 

[riderofthestorm]

I'm curious about the blocks he mentions-- Basalt blocks surrounding Quincy?

The Columbia River runs through what is essentially a canyon valley, there are Basalt deposits all along the cliffs of the eastern edge of Mission Ridge, and some large Basalt deposits, if I remember from my Geology class at Wenatchee Valley College from years ago, around Crescent Bar and near Rock Island Dam along Hwy 28.

 

[TripleA]

I'm a real estate broker and I sell foreclosure homes. We do not use electronic lock boxes on foreclosures we use combonation lock boxes usually 4 numbers. Reason being the mortgage company requires access to the property and people cleaning it out need access. I work with many banks and we use about 5 different codes. Must foreclosure agents know all the foreclosure codes.
There is a good possibilty her daughter or the BF may have helped her in the past. Maybe go over and take photos of the foreclosure homes, put out signs, or check the home. In which case she would also know the codes.
The electric should be on at the property. Almost all foreclosure companies require the utilities to be on.

Exactly what I was saying, except up here in NY we rarely find utilities on. Every realtor I know has all of the forclosure codes. Would be nice to know what type of box this house actually has.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

Welcome to Websleuths, riderofthestorm. Thanks for your insight

 

[boondock]

KIROTV.com
Updated: 8:09 am PST February 15, 2010

FBI Joins Investigation Into Teen's Death

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22568465/detail.html

 

[boondock]

KXLY.com
Updated: 7:38 am PST February 15, 2010

Desperate search for teen's killer continues

http://www.kxly.com/news/22565609/detail.html

"Within that crime scene boundary was a residence. We got a search warrant and searched that residence," said Sheriff Gjesdal.

Investigators said they found evidence inside the home that suggests it is somehow connected to the homicide. - snipped

Later in the article it mentions family and friends of Mackenzie have set up a blog for others to leave comments and condolences. Here is the blog: http://mackenzie.nwi.net/

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I do have to say that we don't have any certain confirmation that J.O. was her BF, not through media sources. When I first looked into this story and sleuthed her MS and FB accounts it was my best guess. When I further looked into him and found the editred site and then my friend called both the state and local hotline, comments were made to her that seemed to confirm it. When she told them about the site and that they needed to look into it and that it looked like he was jilted and furious, they made a comment to the effect of "Oh, do you know about Joaquin?" (I haven't found that name on anyone's FB yet). Strange that it's ALSO a J name (and her MS handle was M+J).

First, I just wanted to say WELCOME TO WEBSLEUTHS to riderofthestorm and love_to_dig!

And then, respectfully snipped post above. Interesting. I have also had the "Joaquin" name pop up, but have been unable to track him down. I was told that he is involved in a gang and with drugs. I wonder who this guy is. And which guy was Mackenzie's boyfriend. Maybe we have been going down the wrong path with JO? Well, whether or not he was dating Mackenzie, at least LE (and hopefully more) will be aware of this teen in their community writing very disturbing things.

Thought we would have an arrest by now. Hoping for one soon.

 

[Salem]

Mackenzie's blog: http://mackenzie.nwi.net/ says her car was found at 8:00 p.m.

Most articles are saying 10:00 p.m.

Salem

 

[dreamweaver]

KXLY.com
Updated: 7:38 am PST February 15, 2010

Desperate search for teen's killer continues

http://www.kxly.com/news/22565609/detail.html

"Within that crime scene boundary was a residence. We got a search warrant and searched that residence," said Sheriff Gjesdal.

Investigators said they found evidence inside the home that suggests it is somehow connected to the homicide. - snipped

Later in the article it mentions family and friends of Mackenzie have set up a blog for others to leave comments and condolences. Here is the blog: http://mackenzie.nwi.net/

In the video with this news article:
the sheriff says, the residence is the crime scene.

 

[AnnieOakley]

The poem "Final Stand" had a line added. The line right after "Enlightens the crop your harvest reaps." is new (don't want to post it, it has a bad word). Doesn't seem really relevant though.

The poem "Lockdown" was also uploaded in the last couple of days.

The poem "Suck My..." has several blocks of text that were added. This is all new:

"Like first captain versus the last kid picked,
I’ll bring you to the ground and break both your wrists.
Purple nurp your t***, then enlist besmirching hits.
Handing out premature ejac******* forgiveness,"

Also a few words were changed throughout the poem.

BBM: there are some very sadistic images in his poetry... i can't believe that he isn't involved- but, if he's not, he still needs some major therapy- IMO