MA - Vanessa Marcotte, 27, murdered, Princeton, 7 Aug 2016 #5

[Evey]

What if she did have a creepy work stalker that put tracking on her phone for just a second...he would likely take the time to learn her schedule and pick and even scout his location....seems intersting to me the time of her last documented run was almost exactly a year prior (within a month)...what if she spotted her coworker stalker in her tiny town and it totally creeped her out...but not enough where she actually thought he was creepy enough to be in Princeton cause he was following her, so felt paranoid even mentioning it to others...but still change her settings anyway....just a thought

A thought I've had is she could have left her phone alone at work long enough for him to grab it and do whatever or open the app and see her routes and take a photo of the screen for his own records or to install some secret thing. It would creep me out very much if i was her and someone from work or who I recognized frlm New York randomly appeared. Even if at the store it still would weird me out and I really think something made her change the settings. Even a creepy person at the store who seemed to know a lot about her runs. And I assume that she could share her runs on fb and maybe she did and they saw them.

 

[ForensicMass]

One of the big problems I am having with relying on 16 runs over a year old in nature...is that if she made her MMR app private because she got spooked or no longer wanted people to see it ... why would she change that but not the runs themselves?

She would know that people could still see her old run data and if they wanted to use it to try to find her, could...so if she was trying to shake someone off...why would you still keep the same route or schedule knowing it's still public?

If you made the ability to track you tougher wouldn't you also change your habits so they wouldn't know your new ones? ... sort of like changing the lock instead of just locking someone out?

Just for the sake of accuracy some of the runs are less than a-year-old with respect to the time of the crime

 

[ThinkHard]

What if it was someone she knew from high school? This person could have seen her running, pulled over and initiated a conversation. They could have gone down the cart path looking for a shady place to sit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It could also be someone she knew from HS days but wouldn't have had to go to the same HS as her, as she went to private school in Worcester and spent most of her HS and childhood years living in Leominster.

 

[liz b.]

That I am not sure of. I can ask my google buddy. There probably is some kind of fingerprint there. I would imagine. They're probably checking me out right now since I've searches her routes in there like 50 times.

I tend to think LE could do it. What I find odd is this : how would the killer even know about this app ? Did VM allude to it on any SM sites ? If not, perhaps her killer knew about it because a) he is a runner too or b) it is someone with large amounts of time and energy to devote to his obsession of VM...or both. jmo

 

[The Farm]

I tend to think LE could do it. What I find odd is this : how would the killer even know about this app ? Did VM allude to it on any SM sites ? If not, perhaps her killer knew about it because a) he is a runner too or b) it is someone with large amounts of time and energy to devote to his obsession of VM...or both. jmo

I wonder if someone was trailing her/bothering her/ harrassing her if she would have told anyone? I know I would have. I do not mean on her runs in general but in life.
And if that is the case might be one of the things that LE is keeping close.

 

[ForensicMass]

I tend to think LE could do it. What I find odd is this : how would the killer even know about this app ? Did VM allude to it on any SM sites ? If not, perhaps her killer knew about it because a) he is a runner too or b) it is someone with large amounts of time and energy to devote to his obsession of VM...or both. jmo

I'm not sure the killer knew anything about this app whatsoever.

 

[liz b.]

I wonder if someone was trailing her/bothering her/ harrassing her if she would have told anyone? I know I would have. I do not mean on her runs in general but in life.
And if that is the case might be one of the things that LE is keeping close.

Yes, that could be. But, if so, why go running in an area with few cameras or people around ? Alone ? Has LE ever said that VM had mace or pepper spray on her ? Or a weapon of any kind ?

 

[liz b.]

I'm not sure the killer knew anything about this app whatsoever.

Thanks. because if he did it totally rules out some guy out for a drive,trolling for vics. jmo

 

[ForensicMass]

Thanks. because if he did it totally rules out some guy out for a drive,trolling for vics. jmo

To me the most useful thing someone can gather from the app is precisely where someone starts and ends their runs. Which often coincides with their place of residence.

 

[Rocky1]

In relation to a new trend of joggers being attacked, I think there are a few factors that may make people think that.
With things like MSN, internet, cable tv 24 hour news, someone is more likely to hear about an attack in Pueblo Co, while living in Banjor Maine as opposed to say maybe 25 years ago when you may have read it in a one square inch story in a newspaper on page 6, and that makes it seem like these types of crimes are spiking.
It is a crime of opportunity. The chances of seeing a lone female in her late 20s, or 30s jogging are more than seeing say the same female out in her back yard sunbathing.
I'd bet if you compare the amount of female joggers being accosted compared to a woman hitchhiking 30 years ago, the numbers are a lot lower, but because not many people hitchhike anymore, you never hear about that happening.
If the thinking is that late 20/30 year old women slim and athletic with long hair are being targeted, that may be because most women that jog fit that description. I don't see too many 70 year old women jogging.

 

[liz b.]

To me the most useful thing someone can gather from the app is precisely where someone starts and ends their runs. Which often coincides with their place of residence.

On the site is a tab " Share with friends" This part of the app states : " Get extra (online) encouragement ", or " start a little friendly competition" I am guessing that someone on this part of that app made VM feel uncomfortable. I think by setting her app to private she would no longer be using the public "share with friends" part of the app. jmo This makes sense to me. jmo

 

[ThinkHard]

Yes, that could be. But, if so, why go running in an area with few cameras or people around ? Alone ? Has LE ever said that VM had mace or pepper spray on her ? Or a weapon of any kind ?

I think there is a big gap between being bothered by someone and actually fearing for your life.

 

[Rocky1]

As far as the google employee being involved, lets set his IQ, being too smart, or because he works for google etc aside for a second.
If he was an employee, although he would need her password, and that would be like giving someone your ATM pin number and bank account info, he may not need a tracking device in her phone at all.
He may have been close enough that she told him the details about her running times, that she visited a rural setting on weekends etc. In fact, he may not have had to visit the area in the past at all, using Google maps to find the path. All he would have needed was the town and her last name to find her moms address.
I do however think that LE has checked out every one of her coworkers, or at least questioned most to see if she had a strange acting coworker that was obsessed with her. I don't see someone acting that suave as to where he wouldn't have at least thrown one red flag, and if this is the case, maybe many red flags.

 

[ThinkHard]

As far as the google employee being involved, lets set his IQ, being too smart, or because he works for google etc aside for a second.
If he was an employee, although he would need her password, and that would be like giving someone your ATM pin number and bank account info, he may not need a tracking device in her phone at all.
He may have been close enough that she told him the details about her running times, that she visited a rural setting on weekends etc. In fact, he may not have had to visit the area in the past at all, using Google maps to find the path. All he would have needed was the town and her last name to find her moms address.
I do however think that LE has checked out every one of her coworkers, or at least questioned most to see if she had a strange acting coworker that was obsessed with her. I don't see someone acting that suave as to where he wouldn't have at least thrown one red flag, and if this is the case, maybe many red flags.

If he knew how to hack a phone cause he was techie he wouldn't need her password to install anything.

Also the address is under her aunt and uncles surname which is different then her moms married or maiden names.

 

[liz b.]

To me the most useful thing someone can gather from the app is precisely where someone starts and ends their runs. Which often coincides with their place of residence.

That and the fact that the app does have an interactive message feature, but jmo

 

[ThinkHard]

That and the fact that the app does have an interactive message feature, but jmo

It seems of he used the app to know where she was or messagebher..he would have to be a fellow runner too. I wonder if anyone had ever spotted her running in Princeton with anyone else before?

 

[ForensicMass]

On the site is a tab " Share with friends" This part of the app states : " Get extra (online) encouragement ", or " start a little friendly competition" I am guessing that someone on this part of that app made VM feel uncomfortable. I think by setting her app to private she would no longer be using the public "share with friends" part of the app. jmo This makes sense to me. jmo

I used the app for a couple years, but not lately. What you are referencing is simply where you can see how well others have done and they can see how well you have done It's really not quite as interactive as it might sound.

 

[liz b.]

I used the app for a couple years, but not lately. What you are referencing is simply where you can see how well others have done and they can see how well you have done It's really not quite as interactive as it might sound.

But can anyone comment on a person's progress ? Or anything else ? Because the app mentions " get encouragement " ? tia

 

[liz b.]

It seems of he used the app to know where she was or messagebher..he would have to be a fellow runner too. I wonder if anyone had ever spotted her running in Princeton with anyone else before?

Never heard that, but maybe... wonder if LE did check the ISP addys for this app though ?

 

[ForensicMass]

But can anyone comment on a person's progress ? Or anything else ? Because the app mentions " get encouragement " ? tia

They may have changed the application since I last used it it has been upgraded. It is possible that you could comment the way it is now I'm not sure. But they always did use that same kind of language "get encouragement ". Back when I used the app I just assumed they were referencing the fact that you can see your friends and they are progress. I know for a fact when I used to open the app and i could see that my friends had just gone for a long run at 5 o'clock in the morning, that is pretty motivating in and of itself. don't want to get left behind you know? We all did the 33 mile Pemi loop trail In a single day in New Hampshire's white mountains last summer. I once weighed 225 pounds and couldn't run a single mile. That app definitely helped me!

As far as a interactive messenger within the app I am not aware of anyone who uses that feature in My circle of friends. There are so many ways to message people these days