Found Deceased KS - Savannah Schneider, 23, Wichita, 31 May 2020, Visually Impaired

[fred&edna]

Damn. Just damn. Such a sweet soul.

After reading about Savannah and hearing what her friends had to say, that was my impression, too... she was a sweet soul.

 

[Rosiebones]

So, it sounds as if LE is investigating the MO of her death to determine if it was a homicide or something else?

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

“Savannah Schneider spent almost every day on walks with Esther Leete and her dog Gracie. After final confirmation of Savannah’s death, Leete is heartbroken, but said she’s glad Savannah’s worst pain is over, and rests easy knowing she’s with her Mom again. #KAKENews“
9:28 PM · Jun 15, 2020 (local/CDT)
https://twitter.com/elithetvguy/status/1272717657150808064?s=21
[brief video of Esther walking Gracie at the link]

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Wichita police: 2 missing women’s deaths not connected, no serial killer

 

[fred&edna]

“I’d like to know who she was with. Why did she die?” said Leete. “Savannah wouldn't get a Lyft car at 5 in the morning and go to a strange place and just wander around and get lost with her cell phone. I mean, she just wouldn't do that.”

Neighbors mourn loss of Savannah Schneider

 

[oviedo]

“Body found near railroad tracks south of Haysville confirmed to be female. Sheriff’s office says they had searched the area prior...but it was today’s volunteer crew who found her. No official confirmation yet on identity. That is expected to come in the next few hours.
@KAKEnews“ (BBM)
1:31 PM · Jun 13, 2020 from Wichita, KS (local/CDT)
https://twitter.com/mmobleykake/status/1271872958215184384?s=21

oh dear, the volunteer crew. I'm heartbroken for them and her family. Awaiting COD.
thank you for the update..

 

[evilwise]

Wow what a real cluster of tragedies. At this point, one could imagine almost anything having happened.

Her friends say that she was trusting with strangers online and it does seem odd, in June, for cadaver dogs to have missed a body and then volunteers to find it just a couple days later. I have less faith in hounds than a lot of sleuths but that still seems like there's a real possibility of it having been recently moved.

On the other hand, 5am is an odd time to be meeting up with someone and it's odd that she didn't have the bag that she always carried with her. Reactivating a deactivated Facebook seems like something someone might do to post a suicide note but I haven't seen any indication of any posts offering clues or insights into her actions.

I was going to offer that, when I used ride sharing apps, Lyft was noticeably shadier than Uber and I wouldn't have counted on good identification or tracking of a Lyft but I just referenced a 2020 article and it sounds like these days safety is a top priority for them all. Presumably law enforcement knows exactly where she was dropped off at but it might have been a public space without archived cameras.

Hopefully there's a lot more evidence than we the public have because from the story so far it's very difficult to speculate if this is foul play or a very wrought girl both psychologically and physically running out of strength.

edit:

Some of the circumstances of this case continued to nag at me so I went back and took a look for myself at her Facebook. It looks like she had a mildy palsy that I believe she was self conscious about in the real world but she was able to take flattering selfies and get a lot of support from random people online (she had over 4k Facebook friends).

She was very active on there in April and then reportedly deactivated it right after. This is starting to be a bit speculative but that's the sort of thing that might happen when a person gets into an "online relationship" and their partner in it is jealous of that attention.

If reports are accurate that it was reactivated five days after she went missing I can see that having been encouraging but now that she's been found deceased it becomes troubling.

I also watched this news report for myself Savannah Schneider still missing and the tone is quite concerning. I really just watched it for confirmation of her having "lost her father, mother and stepfather in the last two years" (quoted accurately from childhood friends interview) but the whole piece is concerning.

Her neighbor that it seems was sort of looking out for her says she broke their regular routine because she was "waiting for someone" and the way she describes what she saw in her security camera footage does not seem like a Lyft. The reporting on it being a Lyft says that info comes from friends' social media so it may not actually be accurate. The time also seems weird, did she usually go to walk her dog with Savannah before 5am?

Then the childhood friends comments were also concerning. I'd taken the trust in strangers online to mean mostly kept online and the Facebook tended to support that conclusion but the friends had a much more concerned time as if they were assuming she'd gone off with someone from online. Also all the interviews were conducted anonymously. Were they afraid of the type of people Savannah associated with?

I'm beginning to be concerned that there may have been a lot of suffering.

 

[fred&edna]

No doubt Savannah was very emotionally vulnerable before she took that ride - and this would seem to be a very important factor - no matter the forensic result. But, I will feel a bit more relieved once forensic testing and investigation is complete.

jmo

 

[cocomod]

Oh, so very sad. Rest peacefully Savannah

 

[Tigerlily81]

I know that Wichita PD released a statement saying their was no link between Savannah's death and Shalan Gannon's but I personally don't think they should just close themselves off to the idea of this being a double homicide. Savannah was found in the same area that had already been searched with dogs and from the video she wasn't that far from the tracks. I feel like they would have found her during the first search if she had been there when the dogs came through. The second search was announced publicly and that's when they suddenly found her right away that day where they'd already searched. To me, it seems like she was placed there purposefully where she would be easy to find. The fact that they found Shalan 8 miles away and it's been ruled a homicide but Savannah's COD isn't being shared makes me wonder even more. What are the odds that there is 2 separate killers running around dumping victims in the same general area at the same time? Also: Savannah had a pretty bad visual impairment so I highly doubt she would just be walking around in the bush alone by train tracks and die suddenly of natural causes. There were a couple locals getting really mad on a post about this all on Reddit and saying it was disrespectful to even talk about, so I'm wondering if someone complained about the online conjecture and LE is just trying to button everything up until they know more? Everything about all of this feels hinky to me and I hope the cops in Wichita are going to do their best by these women's friends and family.

 

[evilwise]

I know that Wichita PD released a statement saying their was no link between Savannah's death and Shalan Gannon's but I personally don't think they should just close themselves off to the idea of this being a double homicide. Savannah was found in the same area that had already been searched with dogs and from the video she wasn't that far from the tracks. I feel like they would have found her during the first search if she had been there when the dogs came through. The second search was announced publicly and that's when they suddenly found her right away that day where they'd already searched. To me, it seems like she was placed there purposefully where she would be easy to find. The fact that they found Shalan 8 miles away and it's been ruled a homicide but Savannah's COD isn't being shared makes me wonder even more. What are the odds that there is 2 separate killers running around dumping victims in the same general area at the same time? Also: Savannah had a pretty bad visual impairment so I highly doubt she would just be walking around in the bush alone by train tracks and die suddenly of natural causes. There were a couple locals getting really mad on a post about this all on Reddit and saying it was disrespectful to even talk about, so I'm wondering if someone complained about the online conjecture and LE is just trying to button everything up until they know more? Everything about all of this feels hinky to me and I hope the cops in Wichita are going to do their best by these women's friends and family.

I'm hoping that by announcing no connection, what they're low key saying is that they know who did both and are building their respective cases - but it could just be significantly different M.O.s

 

[MissMalowe]

The Wichita Police Department said this investigation is still ongoing, and are asking for anyone with any information to please call Crime Stoppers as they work to solve this situation. The anonymous tip line is 316-267-2111.

Neighbors mourn loss of Savannah Schneider

(BBM) Odd choice of phrasing. Could be the reporter's choice of words and not Wichita Police though I suppose. Is it worth noting that WPD hasn't announced that this is a homicide investigation only that the two women's deaths aren't related? Not sure what to think but am leaning towards self harm moreso than homicide. The bag being left behind at home and the 5am departure is odd timing for a meetup.

 

[Rosiebones]

Why would the van/Lyft driver have dropped her off by request in that vicinity, if that is what it was, since she couldn't have seen where it was and it didn't have an address? Would she have just said, "stop, let me out here"? Don't you think the Lift driver would have come forward by now if that was the case?

 

[Aydrianna523]

If the Lyft driver gets cleared, I'm thinking self harm.
A few red flags:
Did she leave early so she wouldnt be found right away?
No bag with her.
Her weight is shocking.
I haven't heard if she was depressed, though, but it seems her closest loved ones died.
It also seems that with a lot of friends, she wouldnt be extremely depressed. But living alone could do it to you, I suppose.
If it is self harm, I wonder if the news about it will just fall off the grid. Time will tell.

 

[Aydrianna523]

Also, for the more experienced websleuths, doesn't LE usually say that it appears to be a homicide IF the cause of death is clear?

 

[Rosiebones]

The Cause, Mechanism, and Manner of Death - dummies
All we know now is that she was identified. The ME has not released the CM of her death. Depending on what that is, LE labels it a homicide or not. That is how I have understood it to be done.
Please don't take the source from dummies at all personally, it was the simplest I could find. I just noticed it. LOL

 

[evilwise]

If there are obvious signs of physical trauma law enforcement will usually but not anyways allude to it in their statements but even if there isn't it doesn't necessarily mean that it wasn't homicide. It's very common for victims to get strangled or suffocated and that doesn't leave super obvious evidence, if any.

Again, the ride being a Lyft was reported in mainstream media but that article credited social media with the information

Also worth stressing is that it was reported her inactive Facebook got reactivated five days after she went missing.

 

[Rosiebones]

Friends of Savannah Schneider heartbroken, but glad to have closure
It sounds so very much like she just couldn't go on.

 

[fred&edna]

Friends of Savannah Schneider heartbroken, but glad to have closure
It sounds so very much like she just couldn't go on.

Good to have those personal memories of Savannah mentioned by her friends.

Of note, that news report is dated Jun 15, and states that, "Wichita police say they're still working to determine the circumstances surrounding Schneider's death."

I don't think there an obit, yet. 'Maybe the autopsy and investigation is taking longer than I actually thought.

 

[StarEyes]

This hits me. A few points:

I’m visually impaired, so this also scares me to death. The VI often have to lean on others to get directions if we get lost or finding goods in a store. I live only with my dog, who isn’t a Service (Seeing Eye) Dog. This is important: did Savannah have a Service Dog? Did she use a straight cane (for blind/VI)? I use a cane. I don’t remember any mention of those, but I could’ve missed it. It bothers me because if neither were with her...HOW did she know where she was and how did she walk without tripping/falling/getting injured? Without either, I wonder if she’s bruised on her legs from running into things, or fell and got injured, perhaps hitting her head. I’ve banged my head so hard on open cabinets, signs atop racks in stores, etc. to the point of almost knocking myself out. A straight cane can’t prevent that, unfortunately. Without my cane, I’ve slammed into glass doors/windows because I didn’t know they were there. Severely VI people know if we go anywhere at all without a Service Dog, straight cane or someone that can physically guide us, we can get in a bad way easily. If she didn’t have any of those, it’s likely that someone guided her with ill intent to wherever she may have ended up. So, who could that be, y’all? Some VI people are able to use their cane to defend themselves (mine has a very heavy big ball on the bottom). Did she have one? Was it still there if she did?

This bothers me so much. RIP sweet Savannah.

JMO (Edit by me bc I cant spell...ugh.)