IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #32

New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
  • #841
AmandaReckonwith said:
I guess we cannot change it, so I will just hope the phones are ringing with recollections of a white SUV.

But how frustrating. It happens a lot more than we admit, the ineptitude.
Budget cuts, personnel shortages, whatever... this seems like an important tip to wait 11 months to let out of the bag.

Anyways,
Case Archive, updated:
http://s296.photobucket.com/user/cr...6&page=1&_suid=137211436266204279371308698352
Click to expand...

Do you know where this picture was sourced from?

lyric.jpg
 
  • #842
Marilynilpa said:
Daniel Morrissey has pleaded to charges he continued to manufacture and sell meth after his daughter was abducted and found dead.

snip

On Monday, Morrissey entered a plea agreement that would limit his prison time to 45 years with a 15 year minimum or a possible suspended sentence with probation. He entered guilty pleas to four of the charges and Alford pleas — not admitting guilt but contending he would likely be found guilty of the case went to trial — to two charges.

snip

Sentencing on the drug charges will be at a later date, and the agreement doesn’t bar prosecutors from seeking to run the prison time consecutive with an earlier collection of drug charges that are still pending sentencing.

Those charges stem from incidents in October and December 2011, before the disappearance. With those, he faces up to 235 years with a 57-year mandatory minimum or possible probation.

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...cle_99ea3390-dd1e-11e2-83a7-001a4bcf887a.html

BBM

Huh? On the current charges he faces 45 years with a 15 year minimum or a possible suspended sentence with probation. On the older charges he faces up to 235 years and has to serve the mandatory minimum of 57 years, or possible probation? Does that make sense to anyone? Does this mean he could walk away and serve no prison time?
Click to expand...

That's how I read it.

More inexplicable shenanigans in the Iowa "justice" system.

:banghead:
 
  • #843
georger said:
I think you raise a very valid point.

Should there be a formal network of "helpers" who can help with these cases?

A panel of certified people who have the formal background/credentials
who would be willing to help LE weed through some of the mundane work
of sorting through witness reports and the like, who report to and work
with a case manager? Who pass an eligibility test and swear an oath of
non partisanship?

There are all kinds of people who would qualify for such work - retired and
otherwise.

It might help relieve stress and perform a serious function, on already
overburden law enforcement ... especially for case managers. I could see
this being employed at the State and local levels.

I am sure there would be Legislative support for something like this. I
wonder what law enforcement's response would be to an idea of this kind?

:seeya:
Click to expand...

Obviously, these individuals would be privy to all sorts of very personal information, and therefore would need to face stringent background checks and be thoroughly vetted before being allowed access to LEA investigative files such as tip calls, etc.

There would be possible pitfalls if not structured and planned accordingly.
 
  • #844
  • #845
palaminodee said:
no, but the vehicle appears to be a 1994 GMC Sierra Pick-up or close to that...i recognized the interior, we had one way back...
see the interior photos on this one for sale...or a vehicle with a similar interior such as this one...

http://www.marksautomart.net/1994-GMC-SierraCK1500/Used-Truck/FortDodge-IA/9815/2950601/Details.aspx
Click to expand...

From a quick google image search it could also be a GMC Safari I am specifically looking at the door lock style and location.
 
  • #846
  • #847
  • #848
  • #849
My favorite parts of this report I can't seem to quite grasp:

"Now that there's a little bit of a lull, we are able to start pouring through those reports and make those connections."

A little bit of a lull? Are you freaking kidding me? Right smack dab in the middle of the Michael Klunder nightmare of "Did MK do it...is there a connection?" they want to claim a LULL? :banghead:

If they have been soooo busy going through all of the rest of the info that they are just now coming back to these reports it just confirms for me that they have NOTHING to run with, just like they didn't on July 13th.

If they had solid leads they wouldn't be going back through these old reports trying to jog people's minds.

What's almost comical is our buddy Tony Thompson and his crew have been SOOOOO busy for 11 months working this case with 5 people assigned (full time) and going through all sorts of these tips and reports, etc...and yet no one in town knows anything.

How in God's green earth can all these tips/reports keep 5 people busy for a year and yet there is NO chatter around town.
 
  • #850
I can't help but think that the white SUV is just a red herring. Police have nothing and figure they can keep people at bay by releasing the white SUV sighting from 11 months ago. I think they either don't have a clue or are turning a blind eye.

These cases drive me nuts! It reminds me of Celina Cass except her media coverage died down about 3 minutes after her body was found and her mom joined the parade.

Why is the family not screaming for justice in the media? I guess at least they are doing fund raisers and building the island park but how is that getting answers? I get that they are friends with Kent Smock ( hope I am remembering that name right) but I'd take to writing editorial pieces about the lack of progress in the case if I was waiting for answers nearly a year later, I wouldn't care if I lost a few friends over it.
 
  • #851
georger said:
I don't understand the part about: the "remote area of Seven Bridges
that is not directly accessible by vehicles,"

Is he talking about the place where the girls were found?

I have no doubt they would have been out there IF they knew the girls were there.
Remote, no roads ... whatever.

Click to expand...

At the time LE searched 7 Bridges and didn't find anything, they were probably relying on the statistic that says that most bodies are dumped within something like 75 feet of a roadway.

When time, personnel and resources are all limited, the people in charge are stuck with trying to figure out how to get the most bang for their buck. Relying on the statistics to indicate the most likely zone for finding bodies, they missed the actual bodies (which were something like 300 feet from the nearest road). I'm not going to badmouth them for that, they made the best decision they could at the time they made it.
 
  • #852
Just checked in to catch up as I do each day. Glad to see there is some activity moving forward. My opinion of this new development is as follows:
Two reports of a large white vehicle were obtained during the early canvassing period. Maybe reported to LE as a large white vehicle for lack of a better describing word. Maybe LE looked at many surveillance type cameras and only found a white van. Hence, the search for the white van on camera at the convenience store. Maybe when the third report of the white vehicle came in, LE had a drawing made from the observations of the people that saw the vehicle and all realized it was a large, older SUV. I know I'm grasping at straws here. Just hoping LE has had suspicions about someone or more than one person for quite a while (as I've always believed) and are finishing dotting the i's and crossing the t's to make an arrest. The real significance of this news to me is that LE contacted the media, which, as we know, they have hardly done at all.
 
  • #853
WHY did it take almost a year to bring the white vehicle to light? It still blows me way that this little town couldn't solve this crime. moo
 
  • #854
palaminodee said:
LE need to get these individuals to agree on a photo and get that out to the public.
I have an image in my mind, but others may think differently.
If it is in fact an older model of a chevy suburban or gmc, there are not that many of them around, especially in the north due to harsh winters.
Or was it a Ford Bronco OJ style suv??
Click to expand...

Actually, LE is following the gold standard in identifications by not asking the witnesses to agree on a photo.

Human memory is malleable. Research shows that picking out a photo or creating a sketch of a perp solidifies that particular image in the witness's mind. There has been a bunch or research done on photo and actual lineups, for instance. One simple, easy to execute change that increases the accuracy of witness IDs by a considerable percentage is to present each photo or person in the lineup separately.

Research shows that when a group of photos or persons are presented, the witness tends to pick out the person in the group who most closely resembles the person they saw. When the photos or persons are presented individually, the witness only has their own memory to compare with, making for a much more accurate ID.

This creates a huge investigative problem; for instance, if the witness starts out saying "light coloured" and with encouragement progresses to saying "white" then perps known to own a light blue vehicle will tend to be eliminated. And in court, of course, such a discrepancy can be a huge problem for the prosecution. In reality, what the witness saw was a light blue vehicle in the shadow of a building and the change of light conditions fooled their eye.

As that story illustrates, it's far better to get too many tips than it is to have someone withhold information because they assume someone else turned in the same information or because their memory differs in detail from information already released.

So, in Lyric and Elizabeth's case, what if someone remembers seeing a vehicle on Maiden Lane but in their memory, it was a white full sized van? If they see a photo of an SUV, they may decide that what they saw wasn't relevant or that they were mistaken.

Tangential comment: my 17 year old full sized van just went into a coma a few weeks ago. I gave it to a friend who has been good to us and he's gotten it running again, figures it has another 150K miles in it. He does his own vehicle work (is a NASCAR mechanic for fun), so had the skill to track down the wiring short without paying a small fortune.

My father is in love with his 20+ year old Mazda and thinks it is the perfect car.

My vet is still driving and babying the BMW she was given as a high school graduation present... that was more than 30 years ago.

None of us looked particularly out of place in older vehicles. It's not like California, where you see older vehicles that look pristine, almost like they've been restored but it's not unusual to see an elderly vehicle still on the road, wrinkles, age spots and all.

It is true that midwestern winters are hard on vehicles but it is also true that a lot of Iowans are frugal at heart and when they buy a new vehicle, they intend to get the full 300,000 miles out of it. In fact, that van was the first time I ever let go of a vehicle with less than 200K miles on it.
 
  • #855
  • #856
pearl said:
Just checked in to catch up as I do each day. Glad to see there is some activity moving forward. My opinion of this new development is as follows:
Two reports of a large white vehicle were obtained during the early canvassing period. Maybe reported to LE as a large white vehicle for lack of a better describing word. Maybe LE looked at many surveillance type cameras and only found a white van. Hence, the search for the white van on camera at the convenience store. Maybe when the third report of the white vehicle came in, LE had a drawing made from the observations of the people that saw the vehicle and all realized it was a large, older SUV. I know I'm grasping at straws here. Just hoping LE has had suspicions about someone or more than one person for quite a while (as I've always believed) and are finishing dotting the i's and crossing the t's to make an arrest. The real significance of this news to me is that LE contacted the media, which, as we know, they have hardly done at all.
Click to expand...

I am reassured LE is making progress. Maybe some of the other ancient evidence makes sense now and will be used too? Historians will know!

:drumroll:
 
  • #857
Could it be true that Klunder drove a white van, and they are simply trying to tie him to the scene? Could this be a "fib" on the part of LE? I mean really??? I have heard no rumors about a white van on Arbutus. Shirley, if two people turned in the tip and they heard nothing more, don't you think tongues would wag?? They would be talking to their neighbors and wondering why they hadn't heard any more about it. To me, it doesn't add up.
 
  • #858
Squeeze said:
Could it be true that Klunder drove a white van, and they are simply trying to tie him to the scene? Could this be a "fib" on the part of LE? I mean really??? I have heard no rumors about a white van on Arbutus. Shirley, if two people turned in the tip and they heard nothing more, don't you think tongues would wag?? They would be talking to their neighbors and wondering why they hadn't heard any more about it. To me, it doesn't add up.
Click to expand...

If this is the work of a predator still on the loose, others will be taken and
killed in the future. Stay tuned!
 
  • #859
Evansdale population is roughly 4700, granted Waterloo is close by, but in a small town like that it seems impossible that someone doesnt know something. I live in the same size town, everyone knows everyone and they know what they are doing. I could go into random specific examples but I'm certain at least half the town if not more knows exactly what my family did on Saturday. In fact, I was questioned about it on Sunday. We moved into this house 2 weeks ago, we know all about the family that lived here previously because everyone has told us. We know where they live now (divorced, kids live with her) she uses her back door and parks in back. Seriously, this is small town life and we just moved to this town (and state) in April.

So how is it that not a soul saw a thing happen July 13 or noticed anyone missing during those crucial hours? :bangshead:
 
  • #860
iamnotagolem said:
Evansdale population is roughly 4700, granted Waterloo is close by, but in a small town like that it seems impossible that someone doesnt know something. I live in the same size town, everyone knows everyone and they know what they are doing. I could go into random specific examples but I'm certain at least half the town if not more knows exactly what my family did on Saturday. In fact, I was questioned about it on Sunday. We moved into this house 2 weeks ago, we know all about the family that lived here previously because everyone has told us. We know where they live now (divorced, kids live with her) she uses her back door and parks in back. Seriously, this is small town life and we just moved to this town (and state) in April.

So how is it that not a soul saw a thing happen July 13 or noticed anyone missing during those crucial hours? :bangshead:
Click to expand...

LE have made various comments over the months that pretty much say the same thing.

"we know someone saw something important and they're not telling us."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Pennysmom1
IA IA- Richard Neil Forsyth, 41, Waterloo, 13 January 1994
Replies
1
Views
473
Pennysmom1
Pennysmom1
PathToOblivion
ARG - María del Carmen Cash, 29, Salta Province, July 8, 2011
Replies
1
Views
2K
Nieves
N
FacelessPodcast
Japan - Namiko Takaba (32) murdered at home, 13 Nov 1999
2
Replies
22
Views
6K
Eliver
E
R
IA Terry Lee Vanden Hull, 20, Murdered 24 February 1975, near Maxwell, Iowa
Replies
0
Views
482
Richard
R
Pennysmom1
CA CA- Elizabeth Barbara Bartholomew, 80, Midpines, 8 Jan 1991
Replies
2
Views
303
John/Jane Doe
J

Members online

... and 114 more.
Total: 1,992 (members: 115, guests: 1,877)

Online statistics

Members online
115
Guests online
1,877
Total visitors
1,992
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
632,351
Messages
18,625,148
Members
243,101
Latest member
ins71
Back
Top