GUILTY MI - Venus Stewart, 32, Colon, 28 April 2010 - # 1 *D. Stewart guilty*

[RubyRed]

so he has an alibi and his parents live fairly close to her. Wonder what kind of vehicle his dad drives?

If his alibi is air tight then they need to look closer to home because I do not feel this is a stranger abduction.

 

[Calliope]

If she really did fear for her life and believed that he abused and/or molested the girls, and his alibi holds up, then the theory she disappeared herself is not so far-fetched.

 

[pufnstuf]

Same here. Just odd that they're in such need after over 2 months time. I took it not so much that they left in a hurry, but that she probably didn't have room to pack that stuff. IIRC, both vehicles were registered to him, and in VA, so how did she get to Michigan?

My guess is that a parent or sibling came and got her.

If she is not working, if he is not paying support (and more than likely, he wasn't, at least until the courts determined custody arrangements), and if her parents aren't very well-off, then I can easily see the need they would have. When you have nothing, no money, no disposable income, then paying a dollar for a happy-hour coke at the Sonic is a big expenditure.

 

[pufnstuf]

If she really did fear for her life and believed that he abused and/or molested the girls, and his alibi holds up, then the theory she disappeared herself is not so far-fetched.

If this is so, then her mother should consider a new career path. Her performance on NG would earn her an Emmy, if she were faking her despondency.

 

[Calliope]

How would they fake the kids disappearing? The kids will have to be accounted for. With an absent mom, that increases the likelihood that the father would regain custody.

Why would Venus do this a week after she had been given temporary custody of the children? I just don't think that this is plausible.

Temporary custody is just that... and he was allowed phone calls, she may have feared he'd be allowed visitation in person.

This sort of thing does happen. Considering the previous protection orders (and the responses from the court), she may have been just desperate enough to try to pull something like this. I don't think it's probable, but I wouldn't rule it out completely.

 

[Calliope]

My guess is that a parent or sibling came and got her.

If she is not working, if he is not paying support (and more than likely, he wasn't, at least until the courts determined custody arrangements), and if her parents aren't very well-off, then I can easily see the need they would have. When you have nothing, no money, no disposable income, then paying a dollar for a happy-hour coke at the Sonic is a big expenditure.

True; is there any record of the court assigning any child support?

ETA: was she not working ?

 

[Calliope]

If this is so, then her mother should consider a new career path. Her performance on NG would earn her an Emmy, if she were faking her despondency.

Well, that's why I asked if she had help from her family or did it on her own (or with the help of someone else).

 

[RubyRed]

If she really did fear for her life and believed that he abused and/or molested the girls, and his alibi holds up, then the theory she disappeared herself is not so far-fetched.

Wouldn't she have disappeared with the children too? To take off herself and leave them behind if they have been molested, doesn't seem plausible to me. I can't see her just disappearing because he could very well end up with custody of them. The children can't stay hidden for ever eventually the father is going to want his rights acknowledged.

 

[pufnstuf]

If his alibi is air tight then they need to look closer to home because I do not feel this is a stranger abduction.

I'm still hung up on the vehicles missing and Doug refusing to tell the police where they were, leaving it to the police to search for the cars.

I think I read that forensics was just today going to his house to go over the vehicles. I'd have thought that those vehicles would have been immediately impounded upon finding them so that forensics could go over them without the husband having a chance to clean them up. Maybe the police have kept the vehicles and Doug under surveillance until they could get a warrant on the vehicles.

Also, although Doug supposedly has two alibi witnesses, police still consider him a POI. I'd LOVE to know what those alibis are and who gave them. Also would love to know where he hid the vehicles.

I get the feeling that Doug is playing games with LE and with Venus' family. Hiding the car and truck, continuing to call the parents' home, unable to be located during the day that Venus disappeared until late that night, and then with alibis... this guy gets off on playing games with people. He thinks he's intellectually superior to everyone around him. IMO, he did this, and he thinks that LE is too stupid to figure it out... he thinks he's already gotten away with it.

All IMO.

 

[krista]

There is NO WAY Venus's mother is acting this grief!! If Venus 'faked an abduction' I can't imagine her being this cruel to her own parents and not telling them that she is ok.

I'm not saying that abductions don't happen in the mornings, but when was the last time an adult was abducted by a stranger at 7:30am. It just seems impossible to me that it could be anyone else--outside of someone who was paid by Doug.

 

[eyes4crime]

so he has an alibi and his parents live fairly close to her. Wonder what kind of vehicle his dad drives?

!

Great question!

 

[pufnstuf]

True; is there any record of the court assigning any child support?

ETA: was she not working ?

Have heard nothing about her having a job.

Usually when the courts assign parental rights, they also assign parental responsibilities. If it's true that the court assigned him the right to call the children every night for telephone visitation, then I'd bet that the court also determined how much child support he was to pay monthly.

As we know, according to the law, rights are not dependent on responsibilities, and vice versa. Whether he paid or not, he was promised the visitation by telephone. And, whether he visited or not, he'd still have to pay support, if it were ordered.

 

[eyes4crime]

There is NO WAY Venus's mother is acting this grief!! If Venus 'faked an abduction' I can't imagine her being this cruel to her own parents and not telling them that she is ok.

I'm not saying that abductions don't happen in the mornings, but when was the last time an adult was abducted by a stranger at 7:30am. It just seems impossible to me that it could be anyone else--outside of someone who was paid by Doug.

Just think of the evidence that had to be pre-planned:

...Finding a slipper and putting enough dirt on it so it can leave prints on the propane tanks.

...Staging a person to hide long enough to be seen but not recognized

...staging an appearance at the water

...staging tire prints

Logic tells me it is a ludicrous suggestion...just my opinions

 

[krista]

I'm still hung up on the vehicles missing and Doug refusing to tell the police where they were, leaving it to the police to search for the cars.

I think I read that forensics was just today going to his house to go over the vehicles. I'd have thought that those vehicles would have been immediately impounded upon finding them so that forensics could go over them without the husband having a chance to clean them up. Maybe the police have kept the vehicles and Doug under surveillance until they could get a warrant on the vehicles.

I'm a newbie to WS, but I really don't understand why LE can't haul someone in for questioning when they do very strange, very obviously guilty things. Josh Powell on a camping trip in freezing temps with two children, Doug suddenly unable/unwilling to show LE where his vehicles are located???
Why in the world are people allowed to be so blatantly suspicious, yet not get interrogated regarding their actions.
Agh...

So, LE does now have both vehicles? When did they get them...and did Doug provide them, or did LE find them on their own?

 

[thinkaboutthis]

so he has an alibi and his parents live fairly close to her. Wonder what kind of vehicle his dad drives?

I seem to remember seeing some photographs of the children with Doug's father at a farm...this was on Doug's myspace page...maybe his folks have a large farm nearby?

 

[pufnstuf]

And let me say...

Going through what she's gone through... leaving her home with her children, moving to her parents, under alleged threat by her husband...AND in this economy. It is very possible that her parents wanted her to be with the children and look for work later after this all got settled.

The stress that she must have been under I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

(Just looked at Michigan's TANF requirements... Venus probably could receive TANF and food stamps, and possibly WIC for her children. There is no length of residency requirement in MI... your eligible for benefits as soon as you become a state resident.)

 

[Calliope]

Wouldn't she have disappeared with the children too? To take off herself and leave them behind if they have been molested, doesn't seem plausible to me. I can't see her just disappearing because he could very well end up with custody of them. The children can't stay hidden for ever eventually the father is going to want his rights acknowledged.

Not if he's framed for her abduction and murder...

I'm not saying this is what happened.

I don't believe that DS took her. I think he may have had someone do it, or else it was a stranger abduction (possibly someone from her past or had been watching her since her return).

My above posts were in response to the 4 scenarios Natal posted that could be the case if DS's alibi holds up. #4 was the most interesting, considering all that's been reported regarding VS's fear for her life, accusations against DS for molesting the girl(s), etc.

No, the girls can't stay hidden forever. But if Mom disappears and takes them with her they may never be found either. It's happened before, just saying that it's not outside the realm of possibility.

At this point I don't believe that's what happened; I'm simply responding to what Natal posted. Someone said above that if DS was involved and he's still calling the home from where she was abducted, he's evil. If she plotted this and made arrangements to set him up to be charged with her abduction, then she's evil.

I guess in that respect, I'd want to know if it's usual for father (stepfather?) to be home on Monday mornings. Did mother leave at her usual time for work that morning? Does Venus know Doug's schedule for work or other activities, particularly on Sundays and Mondays. Did she know specifically what he'd be doing on that day? Do the girls usually sleep that late on Monday mornings? Is the oldest one in school yet? ya know... that sort of stuff.

 

[thinkaboutthis]

I seem to remember seeing some photographs of the children with Doug's father at a farm...this was on Doug's myspace page...maybe his folks have a large farm nearby?

and apparently he has now switched his myspace to private

 

[pufnstuf]

I'm a newbie to WS, but I really don't understand why LE can't haul someone in for questioning when they do very strange, very obviously guilty things. Josh Powell on a camping trip in freezing temps with two children, Doug suddenly unable/unwilling to show LE where his vehicles are located???
Why in the world are people allowed to be so blatantly suspicious, yet not get interrogated regarding their actions.
Agh...

So, LE does now have both vehicles? When did they get them...and did Doug provide them, or did LE find them on their own?

If I recall correctly, the vehicles were found May 4. Still hardly any information about that. Evidently, police are holding their cards close to their chest. I HOPE that DS is being watched 24/7.

 

[RubyRed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phsoi9VdCVE&feature=player_embedded


In this video,they also talk to the ex. They report a suspicious person was seen near the lake drenched in water. It also says they will have ex's reaction in a later news cast on his reaction to being a POI. Did anyone watch a later new cast ?