CA CA - Phuong Le, 24, Fairfield, 25 April 2010 - #2

[Blue Ridge]

Actually...I guess we'll know what the family really knows/expects by whether they cancel the search.

 

['Ailina]

I just can't imagine being told by someone from the media. I can less imagine someone from the media taking me or escorting me out to the site.

I can't blame members of the family for saying something like, "Take me there now!" But still...if I were a media representative, I think I would've stepped back and let LE bear that kind of message to them. Just breaks my heart.

 

[Whisperer]

Napa area weather has been mid 60's to high 40's at night.

 

[darlin gal]

They DID keep emphasizing "similar physical characteristics" as Phuong. And we don't know if she was clothed. I really wonder if the family was able to identify her since they were there (but LE just not able to publicly say until positive ID by ME)....not sure what condition a body would be in after almost 2 weeks out in the elements.

It's nothing you'd want a family to see. imo

They probably didn't remove her from the scene till this afternoon.
Family probably had to get dentals to supply or will have to in the morning.
The coroner usually just picks up the body, the ME does the autopsy.

 

[eyes4crime]

Just logged on and want to give a big 'thank you' to all sleuthers who gave updates and summaries...accurate and helpful reading.

As terrible as it sounds - I hope this is our beautiful daughter, sister, friend, nurse - hopefully evidence will give some clues regarding COD and who done it!

Did it actually take LE all day to figure out it might be Phuong? And how terrible for the family that the media contacted them - LE must not be sure at all about who it is and that worries me. Maybe she can't be identified by the normal means such as clothes, items with the body, teeth! How awful! moo

 

[sarx]

Is it just me or is the media out of control? All in the name of a story and getting that shock value on tape. What a horrible thing to do to a family, and to do it without LE they further risk destroying evidence at the scene. And what if it wasn't her, then you just took some poor family out to see some other dead body? And what if it was her. What am I missing here?

 

['Ailina]

Is it just me or is the media out of control? All in the name of a story and getting that shock value on tape. What a horrible thing to do to a family, and to do it without LE they further risk destroying evidence at the scene. And what if it wasn't her, then you just took some poor family out to see some other dead body? And what if it was her. What am I missing here?

Definitely out of control. Would it be going too far to say -- in this case -- some member(s) of the media abused the public's trust? The more I think about it, the more I think this was an ethical travesty.

Then again, I'm no journalist, so I'm not acquainted with what's "fair game" and what's not in the news world.

 

[darlin gal]

Just logged on and want to give a big 'thank you' to all sleuthers who gave updates and summaries...accurate and helpful reading.

As terrible as it sounds - I hope this is our beautiful daughter, sister, friend, nurse - hopefully evidence will give some clues regarding COD and who done it!

Did it actually take LE all day to figure out it might be Phuong? And how terrible for the family that the media contacted them - LE must not be sure at all about who it is and that worries me. Maybe she can't be identified by the normal means such as clothes, items with the body, teeth! How awful! moo

With multiple agencies involved, it always takes more time. It sounds like they spent most of the day processing the scene. All without media catching on. Which to me is great. They don't need prying eyes and shots of a body being removed on the 10pm. news. jmo

(News of a body being found didn't get picked up by the news till about 9:00 pm. CA time) just over an hour or so before the news conference.

 

[sarx]

Just logged on and want to give a big 'thank you' to all sleuthers who gave updates and summaries...accurate and helpful reading.

As terrible as it sounds - I hope this is our beautiful daughter, sister, friend, nurse - hopefully evidence will give some clues regarding COD and who done it!

Did it actually take LE all day to figure out it might be Phuong? And how terrible for the family that the media contacted them - LE must not be sure at all about who it is and that worries me. Maybe she can't be identified by the normal means such as clothes, items with the body, teeth! How awful! moo

It's hard to say what's going on especially with the media pulling the stunt they did. In my experience though, just because they didn't speak up right away doesn't mean they didn't know and I'm sure the whole media thing really complicated everything. Information goes down a whole chain of command and then to the family and then generally to the media, they play it close to the vest until they have facts so as not to send out false hopes or bad news and so it can be hours and hours before the information gets out to the public. It doesn't mean at all that they don't know, just that they're trying to do things sensitively. Unfortunately that couldn't happen this time from the sounds of it. Even though the media spread the word LE had to still follow their protocols and confirm everything first regardless.

ETA-Is it really true that the media took them out there?

 

[sarx]

Watching the news now, how is it that in one breath it is said that the body was found in a very remote area where nobody would be hiking and then the next breath they tell us that a woman walking her dog found the body?

 

['Ailina]

ETA-Is it really true that the media took them out there?

Fairfield PD said in the presser that they did NOT ask the family to the scene. They were brought by the media.

Did anyone happen to record the newscast? I'm afraid I didn't annotate quotations, so I won't say the words I've got there are verbatim.

 

['Ailina]

Watching the news now, how is it that in one breath it is said that the body was found in a very remote area where nobody would be hiking and then the next breath they tell us that a woman walking her dog found the body?

I'm thinking 30 - 40 yards from the road is enough out of the way, a person walking their dog on the road wouldn't have ventured into that specific area. Maybe?

And I'm also thinking the woman walking her dog might've detected an odor that led her there, or maybe even her dog did. Maybe we'll learn details eventually.

 

[eyes4crime]

It's hard to say what's going on especially with the media pulling the stunt they did. In my experience though, just because they didn't speak up right away doesn't mean they didn't know and I'm sure the whole media thing really complicated everything. Information goes down a whole chain of command and then to the family and then generally to the media, they play it close to the vest until they have facts so as not to send out false hopes or bad news and so it can be hours and hours before the information gets out to the public. It doesn't mean at all that they don't know, just that they're trying to do things sensitively. Unfortunately that couldn't happen this time from the sounds of it. Even though the media spread the word LE had to still follow their protocols and confirm everything first regardless.

ETA-Is it really true that the media took them out there?

BBM
:furious:
I hope the media thing is a rumor - if not, they should be ashamed of themselves. :furious:

 

[eyes4crime]

Watching the news now, how is it that in one breath it is said that the body was found in a very remote area where nobody would be hiking and then the next breath they tell us that a woman walking her dog found the body?

sarx - you are our dog expert! Could a dog without cadaver training still smell decomp?TIA

 

[darlin gal]

[/i][/b]

BBM
:furious:
I hope the media thing is a rumor - if not, they should be ashamed of themselves. :furious:

The police said at the press conference, that they did not bring the family to the scene. That the media had notified the family about a body being found and the family showed up at the scene.

 

[darlin gal]

sarx - you are our dog expert! Could a dog without cadaver training still smell decomp?TIA

I don't know about the dog but I am sure a human could detect an smell of decomp wafting about a 2 week old body. jmo

 

[sarx]

"Someone called the police and said they had seen the body"
"It was found about 30 or 40 yards away from the road"
"In a very remote area, not a place where you would go hiking" "in the middle of nowhere"
"the family has been notified of the discovery" (per police spokesman)
Quoted from ABC 7 news at 11

The brother makes no mention of media bringing them out, just that police haven't told them anything yet.
Amy H. the reporter says that another brother came up to her at the scene at 10 pm and asked if they (the reporters) knew anything.

 

['Ailina]

The police said at the press conference, that they did not bring the family to the scene. That the media had notified the family about a body being found and the family showed up at the scene.

I HOPE the media "only" informed the family. That would be slightly less disgusting than them physically taking or escorting the family out there. As I wrote before, I wouldn't blame the family at all for wanting to get out there as quickly as possible if they had this kind of information, but if the media actually TOOK the family there...wouldn't that be interference of some kind? Isn't there some kind of journalism code against that?

 

[sarx]

sarx - you are our dog expert! Could a dog without cadaver training still smell decomp?TIA

Absolutely, especially a fresh case like this. I wish I could have read the street sign on the news to try and figure out where she was found. The way they were talking this is an area where people wouldn't be out hiking, but I'm not sure if people would be walking the roads or not. Even if a dog or person did smell it though, why would they go tromping off into this remote canyon looking for the smell that far off the road? If you live in remote areas you smell decomp from time to time and generally don't think twice about it, just figure some critter died. It's really making me wonder who called it in, all I've heard so far is "someone".

 

[sarx]

I don't know about a code, but I'm pretty sure if you want to get info quickly from LE you don't go circumventing them.

After listening to the brother I am not sure what happened one way or the other. It wasn't clear at all.