What is the origin of the planking rumor?

[freespeech]

Have you ever seen a report that stated "And no one else was there." I certainly haven't. Officer Erhart confirmed who was there. Rudoy has confirmed who was there. The morning of Max's accident - Rebecca, her sister, and Max were there. ONLY them.

IMO, Rebecca's parity was not mentioned out of respect to her family. If indeed her sister was actually her daughter, that was not for LE to reveal. To me, this shows how respectful LE was with both Rebecca and her family.
JMO

I don't agree with your first statement and need a definitive affirmation that no one else was there. I don't want to assume something that really is not apparent.

For example, Adam stated that he cut Rebecca down but no one saw him do it. Therefore, it is fair to say there is no definitive proof that he did what he said he did.

I also do not agree with your second assumption as to the reasons that Rebecca's parity was not documented. I suspect that Lucas did not want to draw attention to the fact that he did not confirm whether or not she had her menses. That was a hot spot because she was found with blood on her legs and feet but he could not definitively state why. He assumed she had her menses because that was safer. Imo, he CHA (CYA) and got a promotion. He didn't lie or tell a half truth exactly. A little creative omission goes a long way and seems to be something that he could live with so it was all good from his perspective. Jmoo.

 

[freespeech]

Have you ever seen a report that stated "And no one else was there." I certainly haven't. Officer Erhart confirmed who was there. Rudoy has confirmed who was there. The morning of Max's accident - Rebecca, her sister, and Max were there. ONLY them.

IMO, Rebecca's parity was not mentioned out of respect to her family. If indeed her sister was actually her daughter, that was not for LE to reveal. To me, this shows how respectful LE was with both Rebecca and her family.
JMO

BBM

Wow. I just caught this. What does Rebecca's parity have to do with her sister being her daughter? If Rebecca's womb had shown that she had given birth in the past then how does it follow that she gave birth to her sister????

Hypothetically, since we don't know, she could have had a child in the past and given it up for adoption or miscarried. If you know that Rebecca's sister is actually her child then please link your source. Tia.

 

[freespeech]

The planking rumors began with the rumors that GS and ES were there in the first week of so after Rebecca's suicide. Some posters on Coronado Patch were sleuthing GS and found that she liked photography, so OF COURSE, the next rumor was that she was trying to get Max to plank.

Anne Bremner picked it up and ran with it. I would bet "investigators" never mentioned "planking" to her. JMO

So are you saying that Anne lied in your opinion?

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

So are you saying that Anne lied in your opinion?

Note the "JMO". But here's what makes me think that from the Press Conference from 9/2/2011:

REPORTER
There was a report that Max was planking when he fell. Did you hear anything about that?

GORE
I have no idea where that came from -- it was not represented to any family members by any of the investigators involved in this case.

And IMO, I don't think they said that to Bremner, either.

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

Here are the warnings for the razor scooters. Max was the perfect age for this scooter, it seems.

• Do not allow children under age five (5) to use the scooter. Pro Model scooters are for children ages six (6) and above. Children under age eight (8) should ride with adult supervision at all times. All children and preteens should ride with adult guidance at all times.

http://www.razor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/KickScooters_Manual_Version1_01-10_US.pdf

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

I suspect that Lucas did not want to draw attention to the fact that he did not confirm whether or not she had her menses. That was a hot spot because she was found with blood on her legs and feet but he could not definitively state why. He assumed she had her menses because that was safer. Imo, he CHA (CYA) and got a promotion. He didn't lie or tell a half truth exactly. A little creative omission goes a long way and seems to be something that he could live with so it was all good from his perspective. Jmoo.

Looks like this thread is getting derailed back to Rebecca, and now Lucas is in on the conspiracy, too?

Rebecca had an IUD. It causes spotting. She also hit the plants, causing blood. There was no need for Dr. Lucas to creatively omit anything, IMO

But that has nothing to do with planking...

 

[freespeech]

Here are the warnings for the razor scooters. Max was the perfect age for this scooter, it seems.

• Do not allow children under age five (5) to use the scooter. Pro Model scooters are for children ages six (6) and above. Children under age eight (8) should ride with adult supervision at all times. All children and preteens should ride with adult guidance at all times.

http://www.razor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/KickScooters_Manual_Version1_01-10_US.pdf

Max had just turned six. Possibly the scooter was a birthday gift.

Why was he allowed to have it in the house and on the second floor? Weren't there any warnings against inappropriate indoor use? To me it seems that he should not have been allowed to have the scooter in the house or to use it without supervision no matter how much he wanted.

The scooter was an outside toy period. Why indulge him with something so dangerous? That was an accident waiting to happen, imo.

 

[freespeech]

Looks like this thread is getting derailed back to Rebecca, and now Lucas is in on the conspiracy, too?

Rebecca had an IUD. It causes spotting. She also hit the plants, causing blood. There was no need for Dr. Lucas to creatively omit anything, IMO

But that has nothing to do with planking...

Actually to be exact, I used the parity omission as an example, then you brought up if Rebecca's sister was her daughter, and then the conversation veered off course.

Also hitting plants didn't cause bleeding on her inner thighs because someone tied her legs together, imo, so that wouldn't have happened to her thighs or back because of the way she was tied. However, since, this thread is about planking the we should stick to that topic. Tia.

 

[freespeech]

Note the "JMO". But here's what makes me think that from the Press Conference from 9/2/2011:

REPORTER
There was a report that Max was planking when he fell. Did you hear anything about that?

GORE
I have no idea where that came from -- it was not represented to any family members by any of the investigators involved in this case.

And IMO, I don't think they said that to Bremner, either.

So are you saying that Anne did not get the information from an investigator?

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

Max had just turned six. Possibly the scooter was a birthday gift.

Why was he allowed to have it in the house and on the second floor? Weren't there any warnings against inappropriate indoor use? To me it seems that he should not have been allowed to have the scooter in the house or to use it without supervision no matter how much he wanted.

The scooter was an outside toy period. Why indulge him with something so dangerous? That was an accident waiting to happen, imo.

There had never been a problem with the scooter until Rebecca's little sister arrived. Coincidence?

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

So are you saying that Anne did not get the information from an investigator?

I think she got it, and then repeated it, from internet posting rumors. IMO

 

[freespeech]

There had never been a problem with the scooter until Rebecca's little sister arrived. Coincidence?

No not a coincidence. Coincidence is not applicable here and statement A does not logically follow B. Just because there had never been a problem "reported" does not mean there weren't any.

Also even if it were true that there had not been problems in the past which I do not believe was likely that would not negate the possibility of a problem occurring in the future so actually your statement doesn't make logical sense to me.

A six year old boy playing indoors around stairs with a razor scooter is a recipe for disaster, imo.

 

[freespeech]

I think she got it, and then repeated it, from internet posting rumors. IMO

Do you have any proof of the internet rumors? Where would those come from so early on in the case?

 

[MyBelle]

I think she got it, and then repeated it, from internet posting rumors. IMO

I think she got it from statements made by one of the witnesses to their other family members.

JMO

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

Do you have any proof of the internet rumors? Where would those come from so early on in the case?

Go back and read the comments on the Patch in early articles. They came because those that were (incorrectly) positive that GS was there found out she was a photographer...which of course, MUST mean Max was planking and she was trying to get photos.

No basis for it and it was only a rumor. A does not mean B.

 

[Betty P]

The following article from Money Watch, September 8, 2011, 'CEO Shacknai Wields Small Army Against Speculation on Death of His Girlfriend'

'...Media coverage has changed: A source close to the case told BNET that Rebecca told her family she believed Max, Shacknai's 6-year-old son, may have been "planking" on a stair rail before he suffered a fatal fall two days before she died. (Planking is a fad in which people photograph themselves lying face down in unusual locations.) USA Today initially published a story that included the planking reference, but that word was removed from later editions, as these images of Google's cache of two older versions of the story show:

USA Today did not return a message requesting comment. San Diego officials said at their press conference on the deaths that they had not heard of the planking theory from any witness, but there were no witnesses as to what Max was doing before he died. They theorized he must have run at the stair rail in order to gain enough momentum to sail over it and hit a chandelier before landing on the floor below.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_...on-on-death-of-his-girlfriend/?tag=bnetdomain.

I wondering if there is any truth in this and if Rebecca really told told her family that she believed Max had been planking.

If this were true, then this could be the reason CPD was trying to contact her. To verify the story.

If this was true and it was perceived that Rebecca was at fault as the adult in charge at the time then that may have been the true motive for her murder. I'm also wondering whether hospital records mention a planking episode. I can see a parent going into a rage and blaming the 'babysitter' on duty if their child had been seriously injured in a planking episode. That would make sense to me.

That also would have been a strong motive for scrubbing the planking references from the media. Possible someone is trying to hide the reason why Rebecca was murdered. Jmoo.

Very interesting, thanks for creating a thread on this topic.

The fact that USA Today was later scrubbing articles with the "planking" reference seems a solid indication that Jonah's PR firms were taking proactive steps to quash the story. The fact that CBS news mentions it in this article indicates they wondered about it too.

On it's face, talk of a "planking" accident in connection with a child's accidental death isn't controversial. The fad was in full swing at that time and accidents were routinely reported in the media. In this case, its logical to consider "planking" as a possible cause, so what's the big deal? The autopsy report hadn't been released yet. Scrubbing it from news media coverage is somewhat suspicious.

Even more suspicious is the timing of the media "scrubbing" operation. It didn't occur while Max was in the hospital, it days after Rebecca's and Max's deaths.

You have to wonder why JS would want to scrub those news stories of "planking" accident references after both were dead.

The only explanations I can think of is to:

Falsely create a rumor that RZ had attacked Max and caused his death and

Put pressure on SDSO and the ME to erase any mention of "planking" in their reports.

Just speculation on my part, but I can't come up with any other explanation for why JS would pay someone big money to pressure major news outlets (USA Today) to remove those references.

MOO

 

[Zinn]

Very interesting, thanks for creating a thread on this topic.

The fact that USA Today was later scrubbing articles with the "planking" reference seems a solid indication that Jonah's PR firms were taking proactive steps to quash the story. The fact that CBS news mentions it in this article indicates they wondered about it too.

On it's face, talk of a "planking" accident in connection with a child's accidental death isn't controversial. The fad was in full swing at that time and accidents were routinely reported in the media. In this case, its logical to consider "planking" as a possible cause, so what's the big deal? The autopsy report hadn't been released yet. Scrubbing it from news media coverage is somewhat suspicious.

Even more suspicious is the timing of the media "scrubbing" operation. It didn't occur while Max was in the hospital, it days after Rebecca's and Max's deaths.

You have to wonder why JS would want to scrub those news stories of "planking" accident references after both were dead.

The only explanations I can think of is to:

Falsely create a rumor that RZ had attacked Max and caused his death and

Put pressure on SDSO and the ME to erase any mention of "planking" in their reports.

Just speculation on my part, but I can't come up with any other explanation for why JS would pay someone big money to pressure major news outlets (USA Today) to remove those references.

MOO

I have another reason to suggest. Theoretically, if one or more additional children were involved in Max's accident, there may have been a desire to protect the other children by reporting it as an accident involving only Max. In such a case, there could have been a continuing desire to protect those children (or child, depending on the number of children involved) by pressing news outlets to scrub any information that hinted at the involvement of other children or deviated from the officially released version of events in any way. Additionally, Rebecca's death could've added to the desire to protect others as there may have been concern about violent action taken against anyone believed to be involved. (IIRC, there were special measures taken to protect the dog when he emerged from the kennel.) And, theoretically, if LE was misled about the details of Max's accident, there may have been concerns about legal repercussions as the result of conflicting information coming to light, particularly after Rebecca's death.

This is all pure speculation on my part. Just my opinion.

 

[Ausgirl]

I find the idea of a 6 yo 'planking' pretty ludicrous, in general.

The only way I see this happening is with lots of encouragement/pressure from an older kid. With a camera, as this is the point of the exercise after all.

I agree that if references to it were scrubbed, it was probably because somebody worked this out and realised it pointed squarely to older kids being directly involved.

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

Editors usually edit things if they are incorrect. The EDITOR has the final decision on what is in and what is out. Not a PR firm.

 

[CuriousGeorgia]

So the "other children" are minors and we aren't suppose to sleuth minors, correct? Especially ones that were not even at the scene. Wouldn't this fall under the "no sleuthing minors" rule of WS?