Found Deceased IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #37

[Grainne Dhu]

I doubt that police release information about an ongoing investigation to anyone - not just in this case. This caught my attention(Part 3): the interviewer asked about the police profile of a suspect 'who blends in the Evansdale and surrounding counties, and that the person used "quiet coercion" to kidnap the girls; that the girls were likely victims of opportunity.' That suggests to me that this had nothing to do with drugs or Misty. I have to wonder if one of Heather's coping mechanisms is to have someone to blame - in this case Misty. She did say that she has not spoken to her sister in a long time.

When my parents' house was robbed and my father's collection of Leicas and Hasselblads was stolen, the police did keep them pretty closely informed as to who had been ruled out and who was still not ruled out. A robbery, even one that ran into 6 figures, is not a murder, of course. I do recall reading about some cases where the surviving victims were kept pretty closely informed; one (name I cannot recall) involved a man who was suspected of killing his brother-in-law and business partner. In that case though, keeping the wife informed had two possible purposes: a) if her husband was guilty, it was not unreasonable to believe her life was also at risk and b) it put more pressure on the husband. It did turn out that the husband did it.

So my thoughts are that LE releases or doesn't release information as it suits the purposes of their investigation.

I noticed that statement about the girls being victims of opportunity.

The situation between Heather and Misty seems so sad to me. I guess I tend to empathise with Misty because I know from experience how it feels to be the sister who has majorly screwed up. I'm lucky in that my own sister isn't judgmental about my mistakes.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Heather believes that the girls were murdered within hours of abduction. If anyone knows the condition of the remains, it's Heather. This presents another contradiction. She says that she's read the stats and that children are typically murdered within hours of abduction. That is true of sexual predators, but not true when the abduction is related to some sort of extortion - like Dan's cancelled plea deal over drugs. On the one hand she thinks the abduction is related to Dan's drug deal, and then she describes the abduction in terms of typical sexual predator.

SBM

It doesn't make sense to me that the girls were abducted to extort Dan, since he had already made the decision to pull out of it. In Iowa drug cases, plea bargains almost always include a stipulation to testify against other users/dealers. So if, for example, one of the stipulations was to testify against another dealer, it would be in that dealer's best interests for Dan to refuse the plea bargain.

By refusing the plea bargain, the only person Dan placed at risk was himself.

I strongly suspect that neither Heather nor Drew is completely convinced on either theory (drug related or sex related), so she is left going back and forth and seeming illogical at times.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

It could be. I know that professionals quite often work the hours that they want, with the stipulation that the work a required number of hours per week. How they do that is their business. I think the fact that it was a Friday the 13th has significance.

Many hospitals in Iowa have their nursing staff on 12 hour shifts for 4 days out of the week. Fewer shift changes means fewer mistakes made due to shift changes.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Who has Friday afternoons off? Almost anyone.
Some examples.

- people on summer vacation
- retirees
- students
-free-lancers of any kind, self-employed
-entertainment industry workers
- hospital, hotel staff, emergency personnel - police, fire-fighters
- office cleaners
- restaurant staff
- office honchos taking an ' extended " lunch.
- someone calling in " sick "
- someone who actually is sick.

I am tending to rule out someone calling in "sick" simply because this seems like an organised perp to me and an organised perp would not want to be that obvious. An organised perp would arrange his hours for long weekends on a routine basis so that his absence at work would not be remarkable or memorable.

 

[threecrazykids]

SBM

It doesn't make sense to me that the girls were abducted to extort Dan, since he had already made the decision to pull out of it. In Iowa drug cases, plea bargains almost always include a stipulation to testify against other users/dealers. So if, for example, one of the stipulations was to testify against another dealer, it would be in that dealer's best interests for Dan to refuse the plea bargain.

By refusing the plea bargain, the only person Dan placed at risk was himself.

I strongly suspect that neither Heather nor Drew is completely convinced on either theory (drug related or sex related), so she is left going back and forth and seeming illogical at times.

I want to make it clear before I comment on this that my opinion on this matter in no way implies my belief that Dan was directly involved in the abduction/subsequent murder of his daughter - I am simply stating this for reference/view point on a potential drug connection.

In regards to the bolded:
"It doesn't make sense to me that the girls were abducted to extort Dan, since he had already made the decision to pull out of it."
We have no way of knowing that "word" got back to the "alleged" that he had rejected the deal. Maybe the wheels were already in place and moving swiftly before it was known that he wasn't going to narc on anyone to reduce his sentence.

And:
"By refusing the plea bargain, the only person Dan placed at risk was himself."
I'm just going to leave this comment and not say anything more - IF and that's a BIG IF, Dan owed anyone money, and you kill Dan, you don't get your money. I spoke with a family friend, who is NOT related to the case, but is in LE and he said that to me and it suddenly clicked. He said "lots of people may think that if they wanted to send a message to and his family to shut his trap that they would just shoot Dan in his front yard. Not likely if there is money owed. They want their money, not Dan dead. Dan dead = no money."

Again...this is just different thought processes about the drug connection, not implying guilt on Dan.

 

[roseofsharon]

Remembering Lyric and Elizabeth ...

Rest in peace sweet girls. Lighting a candle this evening.

 

[Yvettea]

This was the first missing person case I ever followed not here, just on my own through newspaper reports. I wish I'd had the support we have here as I tried to understand this case. I use the word understand loosely as there is no real understanding of what happened. Two beautiful vivacious children cut down for no apparent reason other than someone's sick pleasure.

I've followed your discussion as you have reconstructed the events. Unfortunately my memory of what happened has dimmed and I haven't been able to join in but I read what you write and it helps me not only to remember but to better understand

I will never forget these girls; never forget the sorrow of this community; and I profoundly regret what this has done to their family. My heart breaks.

 

[threecrazykids]

Regarding a person of interest, go to this Feb 2015 link and scroll down to the full 20 minute version of the press release: http://whotv.com/2015/02/03/evansdale-police-seven-bridges-wildlife-area-key-to-cousins-murder-case/

At approx. 6:15 minutes, the officer says that they do not have a single person that is a person of interest, but if you listen to the entire interview, at approx 10:23, in response to whether any specific suspects were discussed at their brainstorming session, he declines to discuss.

I suppose that when he declines to answer a question, I think the answer must be revealing of their investigation. I also keep in mind that officers will say what they think will generate the most information. If they announce that they have a person of interest, fewer people will respond to their plea for information. If they say they do not have a person of interest, more people will want to be helpful. He does make it clear that one piece of information could solve the case. If there was no person of interest, I think that one piece of information would simply take them on another journey of investigation. If they have an idea about who is responsible, but not enough evidence for an arrest, then, in my opinion, one piece of information could lead to an arrest.

I also just realized he answered the same (he declines to discuss) when asked if either of the girls families were familiar with or frequented Seven Bridges.

IMO, LE has continually given mixed communication regarding any of the parents possible "connections". On one hand we hear from LE that the parents "aren't considered suspects" - and yet when specifically asked if either of the families frequent the park you hear "not going to discuss". I suppose that could mean that the PARENTS may not have frequented the park but someone within the family may have?

IMO, I still am rubbed the wrong way that LE hasn't came out and made it clear whether or not they have completely ruled out all 4 of the parents by saying "Heather and Drew Collins AND Misty Cook-Morrissey and Dan Morrissey have been cleared of any direct connection to the abduction and murder of Elizabeth and Lyric."

They just seem to dance around it saying "they are not considered suspects AT THIS TIME". By throwing "at this time" in there, it automatically leads me to believe they are waiting on something that could connect them.

The reason it bothers me, I think, is that either they have a solid alibi or they don't. Period. LE knows, and really, that's all that matters, but I think just from reading the comments on the articles and on the KWWL facebook page there are many people who still strongly feel there is a drug connection even though LE has only mentioned Dan and Misty specifically as not being considered suspects, but are being questioned only about a possible drug connection.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dan-mor...faces-possible-trial-amid-search-for-cousins/

SBM:
Investigators have been closely scrutinizing Dan and Misty Morrissey and have subjected both of them to multiple polygraph tests. At the same time, they say they are not considered suspects in the case and are looking into their backgrounds and associates only so as not to discount any possible leads.

I know they have to keep everything close to the vest - I get that. But as a community they are talking out both sides of their face which I think is what is frustrating the community on the lack of progress. I think that if people were to know that there is a possible drug connection - some people will breathe easier. If they aren't involved in the drug world, their children aren't in danger of being targeted for a drug debt.

However, they are also stating that they want to catch this person as "it could happen again". Which leads us to believe that there was a sexual motivation behind the crimes and children are at risk.
Again...if that is the road they are going down, then why on earth haven't the parents ALL been cleared and stated as such?

For example - at the presser, when asked if either of the families were familiar with Seven Bridges (which is an indirect way of asking if the parents could have been involved), why wouldn't their answer maybe be "Well...their familiarity with Seven Bridges really is irrelevant, as they have been cleared of any wrongdoing in this case - however, we are still looking into anyone with possible connections to these families as a potential person of interest".

Right now, with their comment of needing "that one piece of information that connects it all together" may likely have to be the killer themselves or an accomplice, as the information they seem to be withholding from the public is always stated as "only something the killer would know".

 

[threecrazykids]

Just adding on to this "rant":

IF this is a sexually based offense, why aren't they calling it that and letting the community know? I have yet to hear "we have a sexual predator who killed these girls and we need your help".


Why wouldn't you want to release this is being treated as a sex crime if it indeed is? Any reason we want to keep that info under wraps since the family is supposedly cleared?

 

[dotr]

Wishing we could for a moment go back in time, right about now, or soon from now.
Someone could tell the girls, that since it is so hot right now, to just stay inside, finish your cold drinks, let's watch a nice movie like "Aquamarine", later, when it is cooler we can all go shopping for some nice things for the birthday party coming up..

sigh...

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Just adding on to this "rant":

IF this is a sexually based offense, why aren't they calling it that and letting the community know? I have yet to hear "we have a sexual predator who killed these girls and we need your help".

Why wouldn't you want to release this is being treated as a sex crime if it indeed is? Any reason we want to keep that info under wraps since the family is supposedly cleared?

They may not know if it was a sex crime or not, so by refusing to say so they are keeping up whatever pressure they can on the perp(s). A very common LE strategy is to keep the perp(s) guessing as to what LE knows to keep open the possibility of someone doing too much explaining. For instance, in another case I saw, one of the guilty parties had constructed an alibi for the time of the murder. She said she went into a clothing store and left "at 2:41 pm." Really? She wasn't looking at her receipts at the time, which dovetailed perfectly with her alibi. So who comes up with something like that off the cuff? It's not necessarily guilty knowledge but it is over-explaining.

If the girls' bodies had been reduced to undisturbed bones, the positioning of the bones could be suggestive. For instance, I remember reading about a case over in the Rockies where the woman's body was left in an abandoned cabin. She had decomposed to bones when found several years later but she was in a starfish position and her clothes were bunched around her waist, so LE inferred sexual assault even though the only DNA that survived was her own.

In Iowa, out in the open? Less likely that the bodies were undisturbed by scavenger activity. It may not have been clear whether one or both girls had been sexually assaulted at Seven Bridges immediately prior to death.

Since Chief Smock did say that LE was working on more than one theory of the crime, my inference is that LE does not know.

 

[carbuff]

But a good investigative officer almost never says somebody has been cleared, because it's rare that there is actual evidence of innocence. At the moment someone can look like they're completely out of the picture, but tomorrow a new piece of evidence can turn up that suddenly makes everything look different. A new witness speaks out, or somebody recants what they previously said, or somebody finds something that belonged to the girls in a place they hadn't looked before -- anybody can go from being not a suspect to a suspect in the blink of an eye.

 

[otto]

Just adding on to this "rant":

IF this is a sexually based offense, why aren't they calling it that and letting the community know? I have yet to hear "we have a sexual predator who killed these girls and we need your help".


Why wouldn't you want to release this is being treated as a sex crime if it indeed is? Any reason we want to keep that info under wraps since the family is supposedly cleared?

I've made no secret of the fact that I have no criticism of the investigation or investigators. There have been many comments sprinkled throughout this discussion with objections to the fact that police are not providing daily reports to the media.

In order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, police will only release information that serves to advance their investigation. They do not release information to satisfy the curiosity of the public. Police have announced to the public that they must be very careful with their children due to the unsolved abduction/murder, so the lack of investigative details has hopefully not resulted in parents assuming that the abduction and murder of the young girls was not a very serious event. Police have been clear in stating that could happen again.

 

[otto]

But a good investigative officer almost never says somebody has been cleared, because it's rare that there is actual evidence of innocence. At the moment someone can look like they're completely out of the picture, but tomorrow a new piece of evidence can turn up that suddenly makes everything look different. A new witness speaks out, or somebody recants what they previously said, or somebody finds something that belonged to the girls in a place they hadn't looked before -- anybody can go from being not a suspect to a suspect in the blink of an eye.

Lyric's father, Dan, is not a suspect.

 

[24Roses]

Drew and Heather went to Seven Bridges today. There are some interesting comments under a story on the KWWL Facebook page right now. A few things I had never heard mentioned before. I hope this is ok to say or I will delete.

 

[gofer]

God bless our girls.

 

[carbuff]

Lyric's father, Dan, is not a suspect.

I know he's not. I never did think he or any of the parents had anything to do with it, and I wasn't referring to him or to anybody in particular -- just addressing the comment about LE not saying they're "cleared." I tried to be general with the examples of the kind of thing that can cause a person--any person, any case--to suddenly come under the LE microscope, but I guess I wasn't general enough.

 

[charminglane]

Thinking of young lives cut short and wandered here.
Another year.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Drew and Heather went to Seven Bridges today. There are some interesting comments under a story on the KWWL Facebook page right now. A few things I had never heard mentioned before. I hope this is ok to say or I will delete.

Comments with new info may have already been moderated out; I didn't see anything there that I hadn't known before.

 

[Squeeze]

I see a name mentioned that I hadn't heard before. SK.

Also, I don't recall LE releasing any info about the state if decomposition. Did I miss it??

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