AK - Samantha Koenig, 18, Anchorage, 1 Feb 2012 - #2

[sfbaynancydrew]

The only thing I see is everyone trying to see how high they can get the reward fund, but it is not really clearly spelled out how the reward will be paid out if she is located.

Back to being confused by this whole mess.

Joe, I agree with you. Really strange case!!!

Dad just made a public post to Facebook that included how he's been using the reward funds to pay his rent and utilities. His attitude was "oh well, it's my right to use the money as I see fit". I guess he's been taking some flack for it.

Gee, I wonder why?????

Still thinking of Sam and hoping she'll be coming home.

 

[bdawk20]

BBM

I would start where ever her cell phone lasted pinged.

BUT since I don't think any searches have been organized, conducted or assisted with by LE I think they either don't know where to look, know it would be a waste of time to look until the snow melts, they already know she is not where her phone last was or don't want to give out the information they know where the phone was last known to ping so people might start looking there.

It is almost like LE doesn't want anyone out searching for her. Why wouldn't they say something like "The night she was abducted her phone pinged in the general area of so and so or We know she or at least her phone might of traveled north out of the city by the information we gathered from her phone records"

This has to be the strangest case I have ever followed.

You got dad threatening to unleash on I guess the people or person he thinks is responsible, but we don't know who that is. LE not saying a word except that it might taint a jury if they were to release the video. No one doing any kind of searching that I know of. The only thing I see is everyone trying to see how high they can get the reward fund, but it is not really clearly spelled out how the reward will be paid out if she is located. And a bunch of goings on over on fb that I would rather not care to try and keep up on.

Of course JMO

Back to being confused by this whole mess.

According to the admin on her Help Find fb page about a week ago, her phone was left behind at Common Grounds. Take it fwiw, because that, among other things, is info that seems to change like the weather.

 

[bdawk20]

Joe, I agree with you. Really strange case!!!

Dad just made a public post to Facebook that included how he's been using the reward funds to pay his rent and utilities. His attitude was "oh well, it's my right to use the money as I see fit". I guess he's been taking some flack for it.

Gee, I wonder why?????

Still thinking of Sam and hoping she'll be coming home.

Yes, he certainly did post that. IMO, he deserves any flak he gets for it. So, do they keep throwing more and more fund raisers in order to pay his bills or to find Sam? I thought the money was advertised as being raised as a "reward fund"....
I'm sorry, but something is just not right here. I guess if someone came forward now, they'd get the reward minus whatever he has pocketed, and if nobody ever comes forward, he keeps it to live off of? Shady, IMO.

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

The facial features are the same. Hairstyles change with young women. Even hair color can change from one day to the next.
Yes, height and weight should be given as accurately as possible, but that's not the point I was trying to make. It would be impossible to determine exactly what she weighed at the time she was abducted.
You could have a roomful of people and parade two identical twins in front of them and ask each person to guess their height and weight. I guarantee you the range difference would astound you. If she was an average built young woman, not overweight or underweight, then everybody is going to be looking for a person who LOOKS like her... they're not going to be trying to figure out if she weighs 120 or 140, or is 5'4" or 5'5".

Everything you wrote is true, however it's less about the weight than it is about pictures they're posting. She clearly looks significantly different with a 20 pound weight fluctuation, which is, I think, the point of what we're saying....tell us who we're looking for! People's faces change with more or less weight, you can't just go by face alone. If I was actively searching for Sam on a street (unlikely since I live in California, but still!) and all I had were the perfectly posed, taken at an angle above the head pictures that they keep posting, I would walk RIGHT BY the girl in the Santa hat without even glancing her way. There was a picture of her and her father where she was also heavier and looked VERY different than the pictures they have plastered on her posters.

Sam is beautiful in all of pictures, but give us the ones that best show how she looked the day she went missing. It's not a snarky commentary on a young woman's weight (trust me, I would/could *never* do that), it's about needing an accurate way to identify her should someone (who does not know her in person) see her on the street.

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

Also.....what does her dad mean by "Sam is a statistic and has been one for several years now" " not by her own doing but at the hands of others"? What statistical group is he talking about?

I caught that too and it's telling of the environment she must have been raised in.

There is a part of me that wants to say, "someone needs to gently tell JK to reconsider his public postings" but at the same time, he is the ONLY one saying *anything* so I don't want him to stop posting lol.

 

[Miziree]

Also.....what does her dad mean by "Sam is a statistic and has been one for several years now" " not by her own doing but at the hands of others"? What statistical group is he talking about?

I think he is talking about sexual assault..it may have happened more then once..It happens a lot in Alaska and most times it is not reported. MOO

 

[Joe Friday]

Joe, I agree with you. Really strange case!!!

Dad just made a public post to Facebook that included how he's been using the reward funds to pay his rent and utilities. His attitude was "oh well, it's my right to use the money as I see fit". I guess he's been taking some flack for it.

Gee, I wonder why?????

Still thinking of Sam and hoping she'll be coming home.

When he said funds could be deposited into a Paypal account I kind of figured that would happen.


Once that gets out I don't think we will see much more of an increase in funds in the reward fund pool. Might even see people asking for their money back.

JMO

 

[Miziree]

They probably should have set up 2 accounts. One for the reward and one to help the family. That way people could have chosen to help with both or just one.

If he is not working because he is looking for Sam and can't pay his bills, It would be awful if he lost his home and job too.

MOO

 

[Joe Friday]

According to the admin on her Help Find fb page about a week ago, her phone was left behind at Common Grounds. Take it fwiw, because that, among other things, is info that seems to change like the weather.

Like I said earlier it makes no sense that if in fact her phone was left behind why no one would have answered the phone if it rang all morning long when James supposedly called the phone if it was left behind in the coffee hut.

There was no reason for her to have the phone on silent. She was working alone and I doubt they have a policy that cell phones must be stored in their cubby's on silent while working.

You sure would think LE or maybe even James would come forward and clear up all the misconceptions about what she had with her and what was left behind. If she had a certain purse with her and it just so ended up being seen in a local pawn shop or on Craigslist it could be a major break in the case. But if no one knows for sure what is missing and what is not who knows what to look for.

JMO

 

[bdawk20]

Like I said earlier it makes no sense that if in fact her phone was left behind why no one would have answered the phone if it rang all morning long when James supposedly called the phone if it was left behind in the coffee hut.

There was no reason for her to have the phone on silent. She was working alone and I doubt they have a policy that cell phones must be stored in their cubby's on silent while working.

You sure would think LE or maybe even James would come forward and clear up all the misconceptions about what she had with her and what was left behind. If she had a certain purse with her and it just so ended up being seen in a local pawn shop or on Craigslist it could be a major break in the case. But if no one knows for sure what is missing and what is not who knows what to look for.

JMO

It almost seems like they don't want people looking for anything except HER....almost like as if she were a runaway, kwim? Info on her things being missing or left behind has gone back and forth constantly. Someone on her Help Find fb page asked about any jewelry she was wearing, and was told "just keep looking for that face". It's almost as if they discourage that information being put out there. I mean, I swear it was weeks before we finally heard she was wearing some sort of green jersey when she went missing. I agree with you totally about the phone, and almost suspect the phone and purse ARE missing but LE and everyone else for some reason do not want to release any information about them, so they changed the story to her having left them behind.
You're also right about the purse, not to mention what if she dropped something personal somewhere in the hopes someone would find it. Noone has any reason to believe a piece of jewelry or otherwise could be hers if they were to find it, becasue nobody knows what to look for.
It is honestly one of the strangest missing persons cases I have ever followed.

 

[cluciano63]

Not as stange as Holly Bobo's case, but strange...

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

New fundraising event being advertised on the Facebook page. Another big party with bands, t-shirts, etc.
<modsnip>

https://www.facebook.com/events/370152549670678/

Wanna know what would help her at this point?? Giving accurate, timely information to help solve the case and then pointing resources in that direction.

 

[Joe Friday]

New fundraising event being advertised on the Facebook page. Another big party with bands, t-shirts, etc.

<modsnip>

https://www.facebook.com/events/370152549670678/

Wanna know what would help her at this point?? Giving accurate, timely information to help solve the case and then pointing resources in that direction.

The fb page said this fund raiser is being sponsored by a local lounge. I wonder if they will rethink this after learning funds are being used for personal things like paying rent, internet and utilities. I at least hope they check out what kind of account is set up at the credit union and deposit the money there. If is not a trust account I wouldn't deposit a dime in that account.

Maybe this whole thing is a conspiracy to just raise funds between the players involved.

JMO

 

[MagnoliaMom]

Gosh while I am certainly sympathetic to SK's dad needing help with bills during this horrible time, I agree that should be a separate fund than the reward money.

Where does reward money go if there is no one to reward? Has anyone ever collected?

 

[Dushi]

I have only read these last fifteen pages so I am not caught up on this yet
Its all sounds so strange, a young girl removed from her work at gunpoint
Her Dads comments seem to suggest he knows or thinks he knows what this is all about
Is this about some kind of revenge?
I hope they find her safe and bring her home

 

[Miziree]

Something I have been wondering about is if small airplanes HAVE to file a flight plan in Alaska, They do not. They don't even need a runway if the have the proper gear..She could be anywhere in the state. If someone took her in a plane and she is not alive..she may never be found.

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdav/akfly.shtml

"Though VFR flight plans are not required, they are strongly recommended."

I REALLY hope the police know more about who took her and where she is...MOO

 

[Joe Friday]

I personally think tips should be submitted to LE or Crime Stoppers. Not to a fb page.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...57163196.80186.328733013838027&type=3&theater

 

[isamom]

The lounge/bar approached them asking if they could do a fundraiser. I think people are misconstruing information. Yes, James did say that, but he has also had donations from people telling him to use what they donated for whatever he may need.
Just because we see things like his statement, it does not mean we can jump to conclusions on the fact he is just taking and using the money however he wants. He also states in that post
<modsnip>

So we do not know what people have told him when they have donated money, there has been many that have said use it to help keep yourself afloat during this time as well. There has been posts on the wall from people even saying they donated money to help him however he needs help.

 

[cluciano63]

At this point, I would rather hear from LE than anyone else...and they aren't saying much at all. Is this still considered a true abduction by LE? Hard to know.

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

@isamom, there is no need to be so defensive, we are asking legitimate questions in a rational way. We try to report things factually here and only quote that which can be proven with a link to the source, so please stop getting so emotional. No one is jumping to conclusions, we're quoting what he himself posted publically.

When money is called reward money, it typically isn't used for someone's living expenses. No one is stating that people wouldn't donate if they knew it was for just that. We're merely pointing out that being creative in your interpretation of "reward" money is probably not a good idea. It draws unwanted (and totally justifiable) scrutiny to what you're doing with other people's money. If people are comfortable donating for that purpose, that's fine, but just because a few people on a Facebook page say, "use my donation however you wish" doesn't mean he gets to use that as justification. There are also very real tax implications associated with what he's doing and I hope he has people (preferably a lawyer) guiding and assisting him. If not, he could get himself into trouble without meaning to.

Trying to keep the conversation "positive" isn't going to help bring Sam home. If my own kid was missing I'd much rather see bantering of ideas between people who care than trying to shush everyone and saying that all they can do is "pray".