IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #6

[Angleena]

I think a pontoon would be pretty large on that lake. I was thinking of a 2-seated paddle boat that people peddle to make it move. Its much smaller than a pontoon. Has LE been more specific about the exact boat type they are looking for?

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It's a pontoon paddle boat. Same size as a paddle boat, just that it looks like a miniature pontoon but instead of a deck, it has a little bench to sit on and the peddles.

Information about the pontoon paddle boat.

http://www.aquacycleusa.com/original.asp

 

[jacy]

Reminds me of an experience I had in the 7th grade, back in the Spring of 1975. Our teacher said he was going to give some after school instructions on the metric system for those of us not "getting it." We were permitted to go home to change out of our uniforms, and then return back to school at 4:00pm. As I was walking alone back to the school, about half way there, a Volkswagon Beatle slowly rolled down the one way street, inching up behind me. As the man (probably late 20's) pulled up next to me, he said "excuse me, do you know how to get to Rockaway Blvd?" My hinky meter immediately went up, as Rockaway Blvd was only a half of a block away from where I stood. I told him it was straight ahead at the next intersection. He then asked me if I could point to it on the map he had in front of him. Right then, chills went up my spine, and I knew I had to get out of there immediately. I quickly said, "no I'm late for something" and turned around to run in the opposite direction of the one way street, and continued to run the next 4 blocks to my school...while constantly looking over my shoulder to see if this car would be following me. There was not even a single person walking around for me to ask for help. When I arrived at the school, I was the only person to show up for the extra class, except for our dedicated teacher. I was a wreck inside because of what just happened to me, but for some reason I didn't tell him. I guess I felt somewhat embarrased, as I always considered myself to be independent and street wise...silly I know! I'm sure if I told my teacher, he would have made sure I made it home safely. Instead, I kept quiet and simply was extra alert to my surroundings on my walk back home. I don't even remember if I mentioned it to my parents. So, needless to say, my two young children are always in my sight. I never let them walk anywhere without me, and I don't care if it seems over protective. Children will always be innocent targets, and I pray Lyric and Elizabeth will be found.

You can't be too 'overprotective' these days. I still grab the arm of my 13 year old when we're in a busy parking lot and he indulges me with an eye roll. Last week, I saw a mother holding her infant as she walked across a heavily trafficked parking lot. Her 2 year old trailed behind her a good ten feet. She never looked back once. I don't get that at all.

 

[Wondergirl]

The paddle boat witness is an enigma. Usually they are at public lakes where you can rent them or private lakes where people leave them. How would you transport it? Pickup truck or trailer? It seems odd that someone would trailer one up and drive to the lake and not be simeone who did it often and would therefore be known to the locals. In the middle of a hot sunny day you think more people would have noticed this. Who just drives around with a paddleboat looking for a lake? If the paddleboat was used as a lure it would have to be a multi-person abduction. Someone distracting the girls with the boat, they drop their bikes, someone tells them to leave their purses behind the fence if they want to go for a ride, they get near the fence, an accomplice waiting behind the fence grabs them and makes an escape on the highway. The paddleboat guy never has to be more than a distraction, he just goes about paddling while someone else grabs them on the highway side of the fence.

BBM: This is a good post, thanks, Vox.

 

[imamaze]

Hey peeps.

Listen.

No one has been named by LE or MSM as a POI or suspect in this case.

The parents, whatever you may personally think about them, have not been named.

That means that they, and their families, their neighbors, and their friends and "associates," are not to be sleuthed or badmouthed 'round these parts at this time.

Yep, there's stuff in the UK Daily Mail. We allow that link, but we treat it cautiously. Please keep your focus on sleuthing what may have happened to Lyric and Elizabeth in these threads.

This post falls at random, and :tyou:

Bumping...

 

[Sunlight]

What was in the purse? The lake, go to the lake.... Who has a "van"? What errands?

I have a whole new perspective.

 

[spurdie]

thinking more like this

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PPNQU2...&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B004PPNQU2

 

[Jax49]

thinking more like this

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PPNQU2...&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B004PPNQU2

On a non-swimming lake?

 

[hollyblue]

Maybe the man opened the door of his van to get his laundry out...it was in front of a laundromat. I don't think it can be assumed his intent was to abduct the girl.

IDK? He crossed lanes and was parked facing the wrong direction....illegal and quite noticeable by the local LE if they would have passed by. The article didn't mention if the driver had left the WHITE VAN (ugh) running or turned it off. Either way, he was well within violating her personal boundaries with touching her face. Prolly getting ready to grab her around the neck! Ew....the hair on the back mine just stood up. I live in the same city as you, and no longer will allow panhandlers to approach me in a parking lot. I had one (big female) even knock on my window after putting my groceries in the hatch and getting in and settling my purse,etc. I now lock my door the second it closes. I've had a person approach me in middle of the coffee isle in the store. Since, I've talked to people who tell me this is a guise and lucky I didn't have my purse snatched while digging for money to give them. Off rant...

 

[AndiLA]

It's a pontoon paddle boat. Same size as a paddle boat, just that it looks like a miniature pontoon but instead of a deck, it has a little bench to sit on and the peddles.

Information about the pontoon paddle boat.

http://www.aquacycleusa.com/original.asp

Oh dear god. It's the water version of the creeper van.

 

[cluciano63]

IDK? He crossed lanes and was parked facing the wrong direction....illegal and quite noticeable by the local LE if they would have passed by. The article didn't mention if the driver had left the WHITE VAN (ugh) running or turned it off. Either way, he was well within violating her personal boundaries with touching her face. Prolly getting ready to grab her around the neck! Ew....the hair on the back mine just stood up. I live in the same city as you, and no longer will allow panhandlers to approach me in a parking lot. I had one (big female) even knock on my window after putting my groceries in the hatch and getting in and settling my purse,etc. I now lock my door the second it closes. I've had a person approach me in middle of the coffee isle in the store. Since, I've talked to people who tell me this is a guise and lucky I didn't have my purse snatched while digging for money to give them. Off rant...

Oh I agree about the whole personal space thing...and go out of my way to avoid panhandlers, I have to say. They seem to always be in front of Walgreens. I am just not sure that every approach to a child, no matter how inappropriate, is always an abduction attempt.

 

[tlcya]

Oh dear god. It's the water version of the creeper van.

:floorlaugh:

Sorry, but that just struck my funny bone. Sometimes we need a bit of levity in these threads when we are frustrated with a case.

Thanks for bringing it.

 

[callyn]

This is not good news to me, she left her cellphone at granny's, well I for one am not buying this story now.

It's my understanding that it was actually grandma's phone and Lyric was allowed to use it. I don't know if that makes a difference about her leaving it, but to me it does. JMO MOO :moo:

ETA: Learned it was Lyric's phone after all.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

The paddle boat witness is an enigma. Usually they are at public lakes where you can rent them or private lakes where people leave them. How would you transport it? Pickup truck or trailer? It seems odd that someone would trailer one up and drive to the lake and not be simeone who did it often and would therefore be known to the locals. In the middle of a hot sunny day you think more people would have noticed this. Who just drives around with a paddleboat looking for a lake? If the paddleboat was used as a lure it would have to be a multi-person abduction. Someone distracting the girls with the boat, they drop their bikes, someone tells them to leave their purses behind the fence if they want to go for a ride, they get near the fence, an accomplice waiting behind the fence grabs them and makes an escape on the highway. The paddleboat guy never has to be more than a distraction, he just goes about paddling while someone else grabs them on the highway side of the fence.

Lake communities tend to be tight. People recognize and know the familiar boats vs. put-ins. They also know who has an old boat out back etc... So in my mind the paddle boat mystery shouldn't be that big of a mystery...

 

[Considering]

I did specify doing the training at a different location. There are bike trails all over Iowa; the state is in the process of converting abandoned railroad lines into trails. Heck, if he just went up to Cedar Falls and hung out by one of the many bike routes there, he'd get his puppy trained in very little time.

I assume he'd station himself hidden in the woods near where the bikes were found. He'd decide whether or not to loose the puppy by looking down the trail to assess who was coming.

This is assuming he's a predator. If he is, it's important to keep in mind that predators prowl. They're looking for the right opportunity more than any specific victim.

An easy way to get one girl (probably Lyric) to come within arm's length would be to hold onto the handle end of the leash and hand her the leash snap to put on the puppy's collar. Many kids are taught never to allow a stranger to come within arm's length... but putting a leash on a puppy would be a natural, easy way to circumvent that.

Then he has the puppy on lead and Lyric firmly by the arm and all of a sudden, he's not Mr Wonderful Puppy Owner but someone altogether different.

He would just be using a puppy the same way Ted used a fake arm cast in combo with a tire iron or pry bar stashed on the ground under the edge of his car.

I think what is misleading about the highway is that at least one of the map sites (I think it's Bing) has a picture of that section from a few years ago and they happened to get a shot when there was only one car in sight. It made the highway look deceptively low traffic.

There is a crying puppy ringtone for phones. Perhaps a perp could have hidden in the woods near where the bikes were found and used something like that or a puppy crying on a voice recorder to lure the girls into the woods.

 

[callyn]

IDK? He crossed lanes and was parked facing the wrong direction....illegal and quite noticeable by the local LE if they would have passed by. The article didn't mention if the driver had left the WHITE VAN (ugh) running or turned it off. Either way, he was well within violating her personal boundaries with touching her face. Prolly getting ready to grab her around the neck! Ew....the hair on the back mine just stood up. I live in the same city as you, and no longer will allow panhandlers to approach me in a parking lot. I had one (big female) even knock on my window after putting my groceries in the hatch and getting in and settling my purse,etc. I now lock my door the second it closes. I've had a person approach me in middle of the coffee isle in the store. Since, I've talked to people who tell me this is a guise and lucky I didn't have my purse snatched while digging for money to give them. Off rant...

BBM Yesterday I was approached in a parking lot by a young man, not a panhandler but one trying to get a donation for something. He reached out to shake my hand and give me the rehearsed speech. In the past I would have shook his hand and listened while I walked, but yesterday I just gave him a look and said sorry, arthritis and before he could start his spiel, I said I don't carry cash and moved away fast.
I keep an eye out while I'm walking and especially while I'm putting stuff in the trunk. I keep my purse in front locked under my arm and try to look strong and 'with it'. I'm old, so sometimes I don't look so with it but I try.

 

[Sunlight]

Maybe the kids gave something to a paddleboater.

 

[Bodhi]

thinking more like this

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PPNQU2...&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B004PPNQU2

My first thought was a paddleboard too, spurdie, because I just came back from Martha's Vineyard. They've become quite popular. I've seen them at ocean beaches and lagoons in Maine, Massachusetts and NH. Don't know if they are used much inland at lakes.

We call the kind you sit in and pedal "pedal boats." But it seems they are called "paddle boats" in Iowa.

 

[Bodhi]

On a non-swimming lake?

I hadn't heard that swimming is not allowed at this lake. Is it a reservoir?

 

[sarx]

I've heard lots about dogs working the area around the bicycles. Does anyone know if the dogs worked from the PLS (place last seen), which I believe is somewhere different correct?

 

[i0wa]

Lake communities tend to be tight. People recognize and know the familiar boats vs. put-ins. They also know who has an old boat out back etc... So in my mind the paddle boat mystery shouldn't be that big of a mystery...

And there are less than 20 homes on this lake. With the likelyhood that this is a local lake resident's boat, why is this even given in a LE press release? It makes you wonder if a boat was "borrowed" without permission and the person is now afraid to come forward.