GUILTY IL - Willow Long, 7, Watson, 8 Sept 2013 - #4

[SieSie]

Petition could spur Willow's Warning to replace Amber Alert
http://www.illinoishomepage.net/sto...ce-amber-alert/d/story/0l8alYVgzk63t265BNtBSw

Thanks for the link, I signed the petition!

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Well FWIW, I'm still trying to find out whose van it was that was used to transport Willow for disposal. Was it his or did he have to wait until his sister returned from her night out to dispose of Willow's body?? Does anyone know?

Good question...

I may have missed it... But all I have in my notes is that he used a 1997 White Pontiac Montana Min-Van (per Probable Cause Statement)...

We do not know who this Mini-Van belongs to, do we...

:waitasec:

 

[Kamille]

"We received a hotline report on Sunday and immediately launched an investigation for protective custody and on Tuesday, it was upheld in juvenile court," he said. "Overall, seeking protective custody is, in itself, rather rare, and we do so only when we believe it is necessary for the safety of the child or children."

Clarkin said he could not divulge details of the hotline report which prompted DCFS' involvement with the case but did say the reason for some confusion on the case may be because the agency rarely takes protective custody of a child in Effingham County.

"It may seem unusual to folks in Effingham County because, luckily, these are rare occurrences in the case of child death or abuse," he said.

Safety also may be an issue for Long's uncle, Justin DeRyke, who has been charged with three counts of first degree murder in the case, since his incarceration. An official source said DeRyke has been the subject of threats from some individuals coming into the Effingham County Jail.

http://effinghamdailynews.com/local...stody-after-abuse-report#sthash.dTCqXO2m.dpuf

BBM

This is another reason why I suspect it was LE that called in the report. DCFS has not been known in the past to be so proactive so quickly in other cases when receiving reports from anonymous callers IMO.

 

[ToothlessFairy]

I know what the opinion of most is, but I don't believe it was LE that called in the report, sorry. I think someone who knows CD and JD, who may have seen her at the bar that evening, and knows a little "something" about JD...called it in. Grandma said they were asking themselves if maybe their son had problems, something they didn't see. I think someone else in that community saw that something in the past via interaction with JD and Willow...and never called it in because it was "none of their business"(same excuse many people use, sadly). Them finding Willow's body gave whoever this someone is...reason enough to notify DCFS at that point. ...jmo, I don't believe it was LE at all.

It happens time and time again, neighbors and friends don't call. The child is still alive after seeing x..y..z so they just shake their head and say "that poor kid" and let it go. Finding a dead body, though - would cause them to report abuse and/or neglect. I don't know anything about murder cases (thankfully) but as far as abuse goes...this happens a lot. People don't call until the extreme happens, when it's too late, sad sad.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

BBM - IMO, an anonymous caller would report a possible neglect/abuse case. DCFS would have determined how many neglect/abuse charges to investigate.

We don't know if there have been other issues prior to Willow's disappearance that concerned a neighbor, friend, bio dad, etc. Willow's disappearance may have been the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak and the concerned individual made the report.

I am wondering, too, if a neighbor/relative had witnessed some abuse/neglect prior to the "event" of Saturday night...

and with knowledge of Willow's disappearance... Decided to call in their observations...

JMO

 

[2Hope4]

BBM

Clarkin says it was the first time they'd received a call about Willows' family, but the girl's mother and uncle are under investigation. Willow's uncle has been charged with first-degree-murder for allegedly stabbing her multiple times in the throat and chest. There's a possibility that Willow's mother may be charged for misleading police. She originally reported seeing Willow alive Sunday morning. The girl was actually killed on Saturday.

http://www.wjbdradio.com/LocalNews/DCFS-Takes-Custody-of-Willow-Long-s-Brother#.UjSP2j-Gcel

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

I'm most interested to see what kind of he was viewing:scared:

The type of found on JD's computer could also indicated what "interests" he had...

and may assist LE in discerning if JD had acted out inappropriate/illegal fantasies in the past, as well...

JMO

 

[Isabelle]

BBM

This is another reason why I suspect it was LE that called in the report. DCFS has not been known in the past to be so proactive so quickly in other cases when receiving reports from anonymous callers IMO.

LE may well have suspected that someone was being untruthful about what happened, or knew more about the events surrounding Willow's disappearance. That would give them good reason to call DCFS. On the other hand, someone close to CD may have been on the edge for sometime about calling DCFS and Willow's disappearance prompted them to let it it all out!

 

[Apollo]

I know what the opinion of most is, but I don't believe it was LE that called in the report, sorry. I think someone who knows CD and JD, who may have seen her at the bar that evening, and knows a little "something" about JD...called it in. Grandma said they were asking themselves if maybe their son had problems, something they didn't see. I think someone else in that community saw that something in the past via interaction with JD and Willow...and never called it in because it was "none of their business"(same excuse many people use, sadly). Them finding Willow's body gave whoever this someone is...reason enough to notify DCFS at that point. ...jmo, I don't believe it was LE at all.

It happens time and time again, neighbors and friends don't call. The child is still alive after seeing x..y..z so they just shake their head and say "that poor kid" and let it go. Finding a dead body, though - would cause them to report abuse and/or neglect. I don't know anything about murder cases (thankfully) but as far as abuse goes...this happens a lot. People don't call until the extreme happens, when it's too late, sad sad.

The call was made on Sunday----she wasn't found until Monday.

 

[ToothlessFairy]

I keep hoping there was no sexual abuse going on. Nothing has been said yay or nay from authorities, just opinions of others based upon the events he gave of that evening, and opinions based on unrelated, similar cases. Willow suffered enough at the hands of this [expletive], I pray the sexual abuse is never added to the list of her sufferings.

 

[ToothlessFairy]

The call was made on Sunday----she wasn't found until Monday.

hmm, true that. I still don't believe it was LE though...someone in that town knows something was up, and even if the call was placed on Sunday, I still think they knew she didn't "run off with a frog". That and I was looking around FB a lot in the early stages (as I'm sure many were) and that's partially why I am saying what I'm saying.

Thanks for the reminder about the timeline. I've been on this thread since the beginning but with so many fabrications going on and stories being told...it's hard (for me) to keep the timeline straight.

 

[Apollo]

hmm, true that. I still don't believe it was LE though...someone in that town knows something was up, and even if the call was placed on Sunday, I still think they knew she didn't "run off with a frog". That and I was looking around FB a lot in the early stages (as I'm sure many were) and that's partially why I am saying what I'm saying.

I think you might be right. There must be some reason the community doesn't seem too supportive of the family. Willow yes----the family, not so much.

 

[momof7]

I think you might be right. There must be some reason the community doesn't seem too supportive of the family. Willow yes----the family, not so much.

They may not be supportive because I would imagine something like this brings out the worst in people. From hiding their children to condemning anyone who may have had the opportunity to stop the evil before it happened.

Every case there is conversation and accusation about the families. Most of them are not good accusations either. Even in the Jessica Ridgeway case, mom and dad had to defend themselves in the beginning. From being a crappy dad because in lived in another state, to mom being a crappy mom because she let Jessica walk to school. Its common.

Not saying there aren't things in this case that are right and true. I don't know the family, but hesitate to jump on the bandwagon until LE says something one way or the other.

IMHO

Kelly

 

[scadder21]

The 2 counts of neglect against CD is most likely one per child. The 1 count of abuse by JD is most likely what JD did to Willow. I'm guessing that someone heard what they thought was a fight or whatever was happening to Willow on Saturday night and knew that CD was gone that night so thus the 2 counts of neglect against her and the 1 count of abuse for JD.

 

[scadder21]

I think you might be right. There must be some reason the community doesn't seem too supportive of the family. Willow yes----the family, not so much.

I think the reason the community isn't supportive is because A. One member of the family did it. B. The Mother lied to the cops(and some think that she had something to do with it) and C. The Grandfather came out immediately parroting JD's story and seems to believe him.

So the community sees a little innocent girl murdered and may think that 3 of 4 family members had something to do with it.

I think that has more to do with how the community is treating them more than prior information they have. Things spread around small communities like wildfire, if there were thoughts about them before hand we would already know about it.

 

[momof7]

The 2 counts of neglect against CD is most likely one per child. The 1 count of abuse by JD is most likely what JD did to Willow. I'm guessing that someone heard what they thought was a fight or whatever was happening to Willow on Saturday night and knew that CD was gone that night so thus the 2 counts of neglect against her and the 1 count of abuse for JD.

I do have one question though, how can it be neglect since mom left the kids with her brother, someone over 18 to babysit while she was out.

Would it be neglect if mom came home and didn't check on the kids or didn't come home until after brother was already gone to work?

I don't know, but it seems a stretch to be able to charge mom with neglect if she wasn't aware that her brother was going to kill or did kill her child.

Kinda feels like if that were the case, then anyone who goes out and leaves their child with a babysitter (even family) is taking the chance to be found neglectful if something happens. It would seem more likely to be charged with neglect if you didn't check on the kids when you came home or left them alone.

Kelly

 

[Azriell]

I just watched grandma's video interview. My heart is breaking for her.

 

[Ladylub]

I doubt the charges of abuse against mom has anything to do with leaving them with their uncle that night. Only way I can see it is if she personally knew he was not stable.
It was more likely the morning events like lying to police.

 

[windstorm]

IRRC when CD discovered Willow missing, she looked around the neighborhood. I would assume she did this "frantically" - knocking on neighbor's doors, yelling for Willow, etc. Maybe there was a neighbor or parent of one of Willow's friends who had seen things or suspected things in the past and because of Willow's sudden disappearance, decided to hotline the family. Someone could have even possibly heard something the night before (at the time of Willow's attack/death) and once they realized Willow was missing, called LE and then hotlined the family.

 

[momof7]

One of the reasons I think the kids were alone was because when mom started looking for Willow, she took her son with her and was frantically looking for the baby. One of the first things I would do is find my brother and ask him where she was, had he seen her etc etc. All we know is that she grabbed the baby boy and went looking and at some point CALLED the brother and by the time she got home he was there crying unable to find Willow in the house.

I would think the JD would be the first person, if he was in the house, the mom would have looked for.

Also, what was an hour early for his shift even mean. 4am, 6 am, 10 am...who knows?

Kelly