AL AL - Danniella Vian, 24, Mobile, 17 Jul 2018

[Deleted member 227095]

I think the police identified a suspect in the surveillance from the gas station. They pulled it from TV because they didn't want to tip off their suspect. I believe they are now surveilling him to either get enough evidence to charge him or so he'll lead them to a body.

This would explain the radio silence, lack of public involvement, and the prompt deletion of the surveillance video.

An interesting theory that sadly cannot be proven due to lack of any public update from the Mobile PD. I would like to believe you are correct as it might make it possible for DV to be found or justice to be obtained for her death. You might be correct as to why Mobile PD and the family are hiding the identities of the people at the Shell station that night with DV. I might be inclined to give your theory a high probability of likelihood if it were in the 1-2 week window after disappearance. But too much time has passed to realistically think that Mobile PD has a suspect and is watching them and just waiting for the right time to arrest them.

But there are other alternatives to explain why the Mobile PD has supressed information in this case. Many of these alternative theories have been discussed earlier in the thread. Your theory gives some benefit of the doubt to Mobile PD and I'm not certain that trust in them is well placed as it relates to the handling of this case. Look at the gap in time before DV is reported missing, look at when the case might have first been picked up by Mobile PD, look when it was passed over to Homicide to start looking again after the trail had gone cold and look at the words of the Chief in his press conference. I think to anyone that has followed missing cases for any length of time that the performance of Mobile PD hasn't been particularly inspiring of our confidence IMO.

My recollection of the timeline though is that the Chief did his press conference after the CCTV footage was removed from the internet. The Chief said they had tracked some leads but were then out of leads and so were asking for help from the public. How is the public to help with zero information as to what happened on the night DV went missing and in which direction was she heading? The press was at that conference and asked NO probing questions as to how the public can help with no information. Because the Chief gave no specific instructions to the public as to what to look for or how to assist, I'm inclined to believe that the press conference was simply a ruse to buy more time. Maybe they did have a suspect/s but after this amount of time the suspects and DV are sadly long gone in all likelihood IMO. I'm also not inclined to believe that it was a suspect that was on the CCTV. If it were a suspect on the CCTV there would be a process to name a POI or suspect, issue BOLO, issue APB, get a warrant, go to grand jury etc. Nothing like this was done and it appears no action was taken by Mobile PD. We don't even know if a BOLO was issued for DV and DV car! No FBI has been called to assist in car GPS issues or phone records. Have any warrants even been issued associated with this investigation? Is Pearl Motors in any way responsible for anything that happened to DV? How and why was GPS deactivated? We simply don't know.

My suspicion is that the trail of DV such as it was had been lost while the case file travelled through the Mobile PD in-boxes. If the trail is cold and there are no more leads I am surprised the press or the family is not now pursing re-release of the CCTV footage. Based on what we have seen so far in this case the basic protocols followed by reputable police organizations for missing persons don't appear to have been followed. Does Mobile PD even have a protocol for missing persons cases or is the lack of process and procedures for missing pesons the reason so few missing people are ever found in Mobile? If there is no process for finding a person then how about a process for finding a missing vehicle as so far as we know the DV car is still missing? Look at the amount of time this case kicked around within the Mobile PD before ending up in Homicide. Enough time passed for the trail to go cold such that any expertise in investigation within Homicide would be hard pressed to find anyone or a vehicle. Entire situation is quite sad and I feel sorry for the young daughter who won't grow up knowing her mother.

 

[cedgison]

I think the big difference in the MT case vs DV case is resources. In the MT case the Sheriff and family immediately called in the Iowa Bureau and then the FBI showed up.

In this case there was a missing person on Tuesday and the 'in law family' didn't file a report until Friday by all accounts. So, most likely nothing was done at the earliest until Monday by LE (just a guess) when the file hit the desk of someone in LE. In this case it didn't get bumped to Homicide for awhile and most likely nothing was done to gather up CCTV along the route in the interim. Not all systems archive tape so who knows what was available to LE by the time the case settled with a detective and they started doing something. Assuming they had to get warrants that would mean they were trying to track down CCTV nearly 2 weeks after the disappearance.

No wonder the Chief seemed out of leads and low energy IMO as the poor detective that got the file had next to nothing to go on other than Shell station footage. When the Chief spoke at the PC he seemed out of leads and out of ideas and was asking the public to help but didn't supply any new information as to direction and other cars in the party train group. The PC with the Chief seemed to be a sham as it had none of the detail that we are so used to with a real missing persons case and there was zero sense of urgency.

So, maybe this isn't a 'real' missing persons case? If not, what is it? Car jack? Drug Buy gone Bad and Violent? Abduction? Watch the PC to get a sense of what seemed to be going on at the time in LE and IMO it wasn't much. This could have been a ruse by LE but for what reason?

Was there a BOLO on the car? We don't know. Was there a BOLO for DV? Again we don't know. Did DV meet the criteria for Amber Alert? Maybe, but we don't know. Did LE find and interview all the people on the party train ride that night? We don't know. On FB 'MIL' stated that the person that turned out of the Shell station in front of DV in order to go back to Dublin's to look for the phone had been interviewed by police but wasn't a suspect or some similar language. Did DV really lose her phone or was it stolen from her? We don't know. I believe it would be unlikely for LE to share information about anyone at such an early stage of the investigation so I really wonder why the 'MIL' said what she did about the person on FB. I wonder if the 'family' is afraid of any of the people on the party train ride and so are complicit in keeping their names and faces out of the spotlight. Most 'family' would be shining a light on the people who were the last to see their loved one hoping for some bit of information that might find their loved one. Not in this case. The party train people have vaporized and LE let it happen because they knew who they were. Why? Are any of these people affiliated with LE or the military? We don't know.

So far, MSM hasn't tracked down or interviewed or NAMED any of the people on the party train ride who were the last people to see DV alive. Is this suspicious? Absolutely. The press decison to pull the Shell station footage is also questionable as we are all sitting here so many days later with no info, no arrest and no way for the public to help find DV. Why won't the station that pulled the tape put the tape back up and let the public help? As far as I am concerned that station is now just as responsible as LE for NOT FINDING DV as they withheld key evidence that perhaps would allow someone from the public to provide critical information to locate DV! This would make an interesting lawsuit IMO! Pro Bono atty's are you out there to take case this on? The station took the tape off the internet most likely believing an arrest or some action was imminent. So far there has been nothing from LE. What is the argument to continue to withhold the tape? Why isn't the family out arguing publicly with the station that pulled the tape to put it back on the air and internet? This is just another mystery.

LE has released no names of POI or Suspects? No update on whether DV car was ever found and why GPS wasn't working. Why wasn't FBI engaged to reactivate GPS and find car and DV? We don't know. No update on which direction DV was heading as she left the Shell station. What is the LE theory as to what happened so that maybe the public can assist in this case? We don't know. Why did the local station agree to pull the Shell station CCTV when that information could possibly have allowed the public to have enough information to find DV? We don't know.

This case is odd because everyone seems to just be going through the motions. Its as if the people involved know what happend but aren't sharing it and are just waiting for DV to show up alive or in a body bag. From the beginning its felt like as sleuthers we were in the twilight zone with nothing to grasp on to and nobody in the immediate family/friends circle that appears credible or believable. TT and Mom have been absent from the process and a 'MIL' who appears to have custody of DV child (although we have zero information on the legality of the custody arrangement) is leading the charge to locate DV because in her words, "...she doesn't want her granddaughter to have to look for her mother years from now...". DV allegedly wasn't being searched for because she was loved and missed by these 'in law people' but rather only because of her daughter. DV by all accounts is estranged from most of her birth family and doesn't appear close to the 'in law' family in Mobile. The custody situation must have been difficult for all involved. I can't say with any of the MSM reporting that any of us know much if anything about DV other than she worked hard and long hours in two restaurants to afford to buy her car? Did she go to school? Did she ever go to school? What happened along her life journey that might have derailed her and left her in Mobile surrounded by people that don't seem to have her best interests at heart? We sadly don't know much about who DV is/was? I am surprised that the press or the 'family' has done zero to humanize DV and make her a real and relatable human being?

Mobile being a port city has an interesting and diverse crime profile and has significant violent crime for a city its size which has been trending upward in recent years. But I'm not sure whatever resources the local LE had to work with were deployed to find DV and this makes me angry. Sadly my guess is that DV is no longer with us as so much time has passed since her disappearance. But what makes me sadder is that her poor young daughter who doesn't even have the ability at age 4 to completely process what has happened will never know what happened to her mom due to inaction and ineptitude by the Mobile PD. JMO BTW!

I apologize for being late to the convo so this may have already been presented. DV is too old for an Amber Alert but could qualify for a Silver Alert if she had a known cognitive impairment (I haven't heard if she does or not).

Also could the surveillance video have been pulled by the media because someone in it - perhaps even someone on the party train - has connections to law enforcement or even state/local politics and they are being protected?

 

[cedgison]

An interesting theory that sadly cannot be proven due to lack of any public update from the Mobile PD. I would like to believe you are correct as it might make it possible for DV to be found or justice to be obtained for her death. You might be correct as to why Mobile PD and the family are hiding the identities of the people at the Shell station that night with DV. I might be inclined to give your theory a high probability of likelihood if it were in the 1-2 week window after disappearance. But too much time has passed to realistically think that Mobile PD has a suspect and is watching them and just waiting for the right time to arrest them.

But there are other alternatives to explain why the Mobile PD has supressed information in this case. Many of these alternative theories have been discussed earlier in the thread. Your theory gives some benefit of the doubt to Mobile PD and I'm not certain that trust in them is well placed as it relates to the handling of this case. Look at the gap in time before DV is reported missing, look at when the case might have first been picked up by Mobile PD, look when it was passed over to Homicide to start looking again after the trail had gone cold and look at the words of the Chief in his press conference. I think to anyone that has followed missing cases for any length of time that the performance of Mobile PD hasn't been particularly inspiring of our confidence IMO.

My recollection of the timeline though is that the Chief did his press conference after the CCTV footage was removed from the internet. The Chief said they had tracked some leads but were then out of leads and so were asking for help from the public. How is the public to help with zero information as to what happened on the night DV went missing and in which direction was she heading? The press was at that conference and asked NO probing questions as to how the public can help with no information. Because the Chief gave no specific instructions to the public as to what to look for or how to assist, I'm inclined to believe that the press conference was simply a ruse to buy more time. Maybe they did have a suspect/s but after this amount of time the suspects and DV are sadly long gone in all likelihood IMO. I'm also not inclined to believe that it was a suspect that was on the CCTV. If it were a suspect on the CCTV there would be a process to name a POI or suspect, issue BOLO, issue APB, get a warrant, go to grand jury etc. Nothing like this was done and it appears no action was taken by Mobile PD. We don't even know if a BOLO was issued for DV and DV car! No FBI has been called to assist in car GPS issues or phone records. Have any warrants even been issued associated with this investigation? Is Pearl Motors in any way responsible for anything that happened to DV? How and why was GPS deactivated? We simply don't know.

My suspicion is that the trail of DV such as it was had been lost while the case file travelled through the Mobile PD in-boxes. If the trail is cold and there are no more leads I am surprised the press or the family is not now pursing re-release of the CCTV footage. Based on what we have seen so far in this case the basic protocols followed by reputable police organizations for missing persons don't appear to have been followed. Does Mobile PD even have a protocol for missing persons cases or is the lack of process and procedures for missing pesons the reason so few missing people are ever found in Mobile? If there is no process for finding a person then how about a process for finding a missing vehicle as so far as we know the DV car is still missing? Look at the amount of time this case kicked around within the Mobile PD before ending up in Homicide. Enough time passed for the trail to go cold such that any expertise in investigation within Homicide would be hard pressed to find anyone or a vehicle. Entire situation is quite sad and I feel sorry for the young daughter who won't grow up knowing her mother.

As little has LE has released, I don't think it's gone cold, necessarily. My understanding is that the Missing Persons Unit at MPD is just 1 person whereas the Homicide Unit has 6 detectives/more manpower and resources, and that's why it was handed over to them.

 

[DakotaMayi]

I know no one on WS likes her but this case is perfect for Nancy Grace.

I actually don't mind her. Sometimes. Lol. And yes, it really is.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

Also could the surveillance video have been pulled by the media because someone in it - perhaps even someone on the party train - has connections to law enforcement or even state/local politics and they are being protected?

Yes. A number of posts have been made about the reasons for non release of information and you are correct that LE, prominent local person in politics or other field, person to fear such as organized crime/drugs/prostitution, and military have all been named possibilities. Little has made sense about this case from the beginning IMO. How a simple night out to celebrate can go so horribly wrong I can only imagine? But the lack of detail for the public to work with is really the tip off to me that this case is lacking leads and any direction. Sad situation overall and I'm surprised the Mobile PD Chief is not being held accountable by Mayor and State Officials. But it seems like this is very sadly par for the course with missing cases in Mobile. Google the missing stats in Mobile and its probably one of the last places in the world you would want to go missing.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

If you take a google ride between the Dublin Pub and the Shell station and then back again via a different route its hard to believe there is not more CCTV footage available to LE to track DV. If the party train headed downtown after the Shell station vs. going to Dublin Pub it appears that there is also good coverage via CCTV. When I have a chance I will go back and look for traffic cams. I just find it so hard to believe that DV just vanished without a trace without showing up on CCTV someplace in Mobile. Its this dependance on technology (GPS) and video (CCTV and Traffic Cams) that it would be so much easier to have confidence in the case being solved if the FBI were involved. With the overall crime burden in Mobile its hard to see 6 detectives having the time to dedicate to solving this case and deal with ongoing new cases. Maybe tweeting politicans and asking for intervention to get the FBI involved or at least the State Crime Bureau might provide the manpower and technological resources that local LE seem to be lacking.

 

[3dzer0]

Not much info, but at least it is in the news ...

9-year-old helps search for missing woman even though he doesn't know her

 

[whatinthekentuckyhell]

I am following along on a private Facebook page (not the one mentioned before) that JDT is apart of - she has answered a lot of questions that are being asked here.
I know SS aren’t allowed so how can I share this info?

 

[Alethea]

I am following along on a private Facebook page (not the one mentioned before) that JDT is apart of - she has answered a lot of questions that are being asked here.
I know SS aren’t allowed so how can I share this info?

You can let us know what the page is, I don't know that we can discuss it if it's not on the official page though. Someone should tell her to create an official "Missing" page so we can discuss the information she posts.

 

[DakotaMayi]

I don't like where this is going.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

I am following along on a private Facebook page (not the one mentioned before) that JDT is apart of - she has answered a lot of questions that are being asked here.
I know SS aren’t allowed so how can I share this info?

What is the name of the page.? The other sleuthing Facebook page had no info and mil wasn’t sharing anything new. Maybe some tweets to wake up the press might help. Are there any investigative journalists in Alabama?

 

[whatinthekentuckyhell]

You can let us know what the page is, I don't know that we can discuss it if it's not on the official page though. Someone should tell her to create an official "Missing" page so we can discuss the information she posts.

There is an official page, that she is apart of.
But there’s a ton of other sleuthing pages she’s on top that the info is on ‍
I just thought I’d share the info.. this is in a secret group on fb so I can’t even link it!

 

[whatinthekentuckyhell]

What is the name of the page.? The other one had no info and mil wasn’t sharing anything new. Maybe some tweets to wake up the press might help. Are there any investigative journalists in Alabama?

The page is called truth sleuth - it’s a secret group on fb. JDT and her friend are in there chatting away

 

[Deleted member 227095]

The page is called truth sleuth - it’s a secret group on fb. JDT and her friend are in there chatting away

Interesting. Can you report on here but pose the information as hypothetical? I don’t think that should violate tos.

 

[flute4peace]

Interesting. Can you report on here but pose the information as hypothetical? I don’t think that should violate tos.

I don't think so but you could flag a mod to ask.

 

[whatinthekentuckyhell]

Ok.. so hypothetically speaking.. where could we take this case if we knew...

1. The homocide detectives pinged her vehicle after the shell station (I.e. they have a CCTV that puts her at another location after the gas station)

2. This is being treated as a criminal case not a missing persons case.

3. DV was not married to TT - she may have been a victim of domestic violence.

Just some random ideas I thought of.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

Interesting. Can you report on here but pose the information as hypothetical? I don’t think that should violate tos.

Ok.. so hypothetically speaking.. where could we take this case if we knew...

1. The homocide detectives pinged her vehicle after the shell station (I.e. they have a CCTV that puts her at another location after the gas station)

2. This is being treated as a criminal case not a missing persons case.

3. DV was not married to TT - she may have been a victim of domestic violence.

Just some random ideas I thought of.

what interesting ideas. Based on your theories which way did she heAd out of shell station? Did she go downtown or out of town? Do you think the car dealer is involved?

 

[Deleted member 227095]

what interesting ideas. Based on your theories which way did she heAd out of shell station? Did she go downtown or out of town? Do you think the car dealer is involved?

What is your thinking on what criminal means? Drugs, identity theft, car theft, prostitution etc.?

 

[whatinthekentuckyhell]

what interesting ideas. Based on your theories which way did she heAd out of shell station? Did she go downtown or out of town? Do you think the car dealer is involved?

Not out of town...

But.. in my personal opinion.. I would say the #1 suspect should be TT unless proven otherwise.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

Not out of town...

But.. in my personal opinion.. I would say the #1 suspect should be TT unless proven otherwise.

Totally agree! I have checked all the local jails and can’t confirm him being in jail. He also has been missing from all the events. Will keep looking as he could have been I. Jail in Kansas or North Carolina. You are on a roll today so any more good ideas?!!!