IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #13

[nikb]

I think he definitely said "one" and his wife stepped in to correct him to "three."

Since he showed no sign of surprise or annoyance or puzzlement at being so corrected, my guess is that he wanted to say three but was misspeaking and he did not disagree with his wife's correction.

There was no instant of "oh right, someone told me to say three" or "why the heck are you saying that?"

It looked to me like he definitely agreed with her stepping in with the three.

Thank you! I wasn't sure between accent differences and just perceptions. That's a good point, I didn't see any kind of pause either.

I also noticed he said "we" a lot. It suggests to me that he often says "we" about himself and his wife (which I think is very sweet BTW). I think it's unlikely his wife saw the girls that particular day if she was out delivering papers, but I don't doubt at all that he/she/"we" saw the girls often. He also said "we" about himself and the town a lot so I think he's just really connected to his family and community. Don't mean to suggest anything w/that, I'm just trying to hard to help pin down the timeline.

 

[Ollipop]

Maiden Lane, a photographic history:

1930's
1950's
1960's
1970's
1980's (along came the highway)
1990's Note the beginnings of the trail, as Maiden Lane begins to be forgotten.
2011 Summer...after the new jetty, Maiden Lane all but gone.

 

[Ollipop]

Maiden Lane, a photographic history:

1930's
1950's
1960's
1970's
1980's (along came the highway)
1990's Note the beginnings of the trail, as Maiden Lane begins to be forgotten.
2011 Summer...after the new jetty, Maiden Lane all but gone.

The 70's was Maiden Lane's heyday. Prolly way into disco.

 

[otto]

Found this old map. Overlayed current road map, and it seems to indicate that Maiden Lane pre-dates most of the other roads in Evansdale. There was definitely a road there well before this lake was enlarged to make the highway.

Thank you for the map links. If the lane, next to the lake, has been around since at least the 50s, that could mean that anyone born during and after the 1950s knows about it ... meaning a lot of people in the area.

I thought I had read that the lake didn't exist until it was a quarry when the highway was built ... but in the 1950s it looks like a much larger lake than Meyers Lake today.

ETA: Anyone born in the area between the early 1900s-1970 would know about it.

 

[otto]

Maiden Lane, a photographic history:

1930's
1950's
1960's
1970's
1980's (along came the highway)
1990's Note the beginnings of the trail, as Maiden Lane begins to be forgotten.
2011 Summer...after the new jetty, Maiden Lane all but gone.

So maybe it was a party spot until the highway construction started. Teens from the 1970s and earlier probably know about it plus people that heard about it being a party spot years ago too.

Did you see any poison ivy along the Maiden Lane?

 

[hollyblue]

Maiden Lane is labelled on Bing Maps, so it must be on maps in the planning department.

How does the blind curve that you were thinking about relate to the gate?

I can't understand why they would build a street so close to the water, unless they were going to use it as an access road also? Maybe no one bought the lots because they didn't want a road in their view of the lake?

ETA: Nevermind, I see Ollipop's maps now.

 

[Ollipop]

Did you see any poison ivy along the Maiden Lane?

Not that I remember, and my kids and I, who were all wearing shorts/sandals, showed no signs of it. I wonder if they spray on all that public land? Or is Maiden Lane even considered public? Can't find MNdad's cool link of land ownership.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Oh yes, there are some.

I've seen an old bomb shelter at the University of Iowa (in Iowa City). I don't remember how to get there but I do remember we had to go through the steam tunnels to get there.

I wonder if it is still there? It was weird enough in the late 70s, with the packages of preserved foods from the 1950s still there. For that matter, I wonder if anyone official remembers the old bomb shelter?

And that makes me wonder if there is a bomb shelter or more than one at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

It's possible but I would think it unlikely and a fairly risky place. Even if no one official remembers it, chances are the maintenance staff is still sweeping the floors, etc. That's how it was at the one in Iowa City, anyway. The room itself was obviously not used for anything but the floors weren't dusty.

I go to the University of Iowa so this is very interesting to me. I never knew there was a bomb shelter on campus. I would love to find out what building it's in. I did some searching and someone posted a picture of the Hydraulics Lab building that had a "fallout shelter" sign on it. Could that have been the one you saw? It wouldn't surprise me if there's more than one on campus.

I definitely think there could be a bomb shelter at the Univ. of Northern Iowa. But I find it very unlikely that the girls are being held there.

 

[Ollipop]

I can't understand why they would build a street so close to the water, unless they were going to use it as an access road also? Maybe no one bought the lots because they didn't want a road in their view of the lake?

Seems like way back in the 30's, it was the lakeshore road. Slowly over the course of the next 7 decades, the surrounding area was developed and it just became irrelevant and forgotten.

 

[otto]

Seems like way back in the 30's, it was the lakeshore road. Slowly over the course of the next 7 decades, the surrounding area was developed and it just became irrelevant and forgotten.

It has to be a home grown local that knew about the trail ... just like the grandmother knew about it. If it's someone that partied there in the 1970s, that person would be nearly 50. It could be the offspring of someone that partied there in the late 1970s. I wonder if there's anyone in town that loves to remember the good ole days partying down by the lake ... or if there's some 45 year old whack job that's been festering in his own misery for the last 30 years.

 

[Ollipop]

Thank you for the map links. If the lane, next to the lake, has been around since at least the 50s, that could mean that anyone born during and after the 1950s knows about it ... meaning a lot of people in the area.

I thought I had read that the lake didn't exist until it was a quarry when the highway was built ... but in the 1950s it looks like a much larger lake than Meyers Lake today.

ETA: Anyone born in the area between the early 1900s-1970 would know about it.

BBM

I agree with all but the bolded. Jump from the 50's map to the 80's map, and you see they dug the canal, and almost doubled the size of the lake, leaving the huge forested area as the island. Unless I'm reading it wrong. I don't believe it was ever a quarry (there is one not far away), but was considered a borrow pit for the construction of the "new" highway 20.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Do you remember where in the trail it was ... east or west of the gate, at the gate?

I believe it was looking east of the gate but I am shaky at my east-west and map or photo reading.

It's not a huge dip, just enough to make a difference to a pedestrian or bicyclist.

 

[Ollipop]

It has to be a home grown local that knew about the trail ... just like the grandmother knew about it.

The son of a local realtor was talking to me once about the history of Evansdale (they live right down the street from me, and their property is on the lake). He might be 30 (high estimate), and was telling of the "raging keggers" he used to attend out in the corn fields just north of the lake. I don't know how much he was exaggerating or embellishing, but the point is that someone born in the 80's would still have memory of there being "out of the way" spots around the lake.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Maiden Lane, a photographic history:

1930's
1950's
1960's
1970's
1980's (along came the highway)
1990's Note the beginnings of the trail, as Maiden Lane begins to be forgotten.
2011 Summer...after the new jetty, Maiden Lane all but gone.

Thanks Ollipop!

The first picture from the 1930s looks like the land around Maiden Lane was being used for cattle pasture. It was sprinkled with trees but not heavily covered. Cattle love eating tree sprouts, so cattle pastures in Iowa often have that pattern of sprinkled trees.

And then, at some point, whoever it was stopped grazing cattle in the area and there was nothing to stop the trees from filling in.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Thank you for the map links. If the lane, next to the lake, has been around since at least the 50s, that could mean that anyone born during and after the 1950s knows about it ... meaning a lot of people in the area.

I thought I had read that the lake didn't exist until it was a quarry when the highway was built ... but in the 1950s it looks like a much larger lake than Meyers Lake today.

ETA: Anyone born in the area between the early 1900s-1970 would know about it.

Respectfully, comparing the pictures from the 1930s-1970s shows Meyer's Lake as much smaller, rather than larger.

There was a small pond there before the interstate (as shown in the photos) and the IDOT quarried it out to provide rock for the interstate. A very common thing along interstates in Iowa and Nebraska (maybe other states but Iowa and Nebraska are what I know).

 

[nikb]

2020 hindsight right? (no one in particular in mind)

 

[Ollipop]

Maiden Lane is labelled on Bing Maps, so it must be on maps in the planning department.

How does the blind curve that you were thinking about relate to the gate?

Pic 1: On the trail, approaching the gate area from the west, showing the downhill slope and slight curve.

Pic 2: From the gate, looking back to the west, showing the trail rising and curving.

Pic 3: From just past the gate looking east, showing the trail rising again and curving (the elevation of the trail bottoms out at just above lake-level from about where the double fences start on the west end until it leaves the lake's shore and into the woods on the east end. The east end has a sort of "S" curve.)

Pic 4: From just south of the end of Maiden Lane, looking east, showing the trail rising and "S" curving. This is the beginning of the creepy spot.

Pic 5: From the east end of the lake-side fence, looking back to the west, showing the trail dropping and curving into the creepy spot.

I've seen maniacs ride bikes thru this spot at what must've been 20-ish mph, a pretty good clip considering you have little time or space to maneuver if something/one else is on the path. The worst is when bikers approach from both directions simultaneously.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Not that I remember, and my kids and I, who were all wearing shorts/sandals, showed no signs of it. I wonder if they spray on all that public land? Or is Maiden Lane even considered public? Can't find MNdad's cool link of land ownership.

It probably is sprayed, no matter who owns it.

If the city owns it, then they'll Round-up a couple times a year to keep the poison ivy down. Same thing for a private owner, to avoid fines for allowing noxious weeds.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I go to the University of Iowa so this is very interesting to me. I never knew there was a bomb shelter on campus. I would love to find out what building it's in. I did some searching and someone posted a picture of the Hydraulics Lab building that had a "fallout shelter" sign on it. Could that have been the one you saw? It wouldn't surprise me if there's more than one on campus.

I definitely think there could be a bomb shelter at the Univ. of Northern Iowa. But I find it very unlikely that the girls are being held there.

My lips are sealed. <LOL>

The one my friends and I discovered definitely wasn't under the Hydraulics Lab, though.

I haven't looked for the place we entered the steam tunnels 30 years ago but I have a feeling that the laser facility was plopped right on top of it.

How inconsiderate of the Board of Regents. Late adolescents need adventure and a place to smoke dope that isn't on the Pentacrest (where we had smoke-ins in the 1970s).

 

[CHERIE.T]

Could the scents of the girls have lasted from previous visits. It doesn't seem like they were strangers at the lake.

From http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/petdetective-scent.php



EDIT: Found this: Human Scent and Its Detection
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-...ence/kent-csi/vol5no2/html/v05i2a04p_0001.htm

One of our SARS people here said scent dogs are trained to hit on the last deposited scent. I can't provide a link, but I can tell you that it is here on the girls forum back a few threads.