PA PA - French Creek State Park, Union Twp, BlkFem 21-28, 349UFPA, bag w/ "FA", "O" & "ATER", Jul'88

[ScorpRising]

I have to look... Redner's is employee owned and operated here in Berks... Their logo is Red... I have to do some digging and I'll get back... I asked a co-worker to look at the remnants of the bag but he didn't recognize it.

IF the bag was used for smothering, my guess is that it was ripped open and placed around her head to leave the impression on the bag upright. Based on the skull fractures, I'm guessing it was placed over her face post-mortem.

ETA: If it is truly a 40 on the bag, that eliminates Redners as they are celebrating their 40th anniv this year. They were family owned and operated until 1975 when Earl Redner implemented an ESOP, giving ownership to employees with at least one year of service.

 

[Beyond Belief]

With the information of plastic bag usage beginning in 82 in my opinion we can place her death between 82 and 86.
Union twp is the area reported found. Its woods up to and around the historical attractions in the park. I will see if the park map says if there is camping in that area.

 

[STEADFAST]

With the information of plastic bag usage beginning in 82 in my opinion we can place her death between 82 and 86.
Union twp is the area reported found. Its woods up to and around the historical attractions in the park. I will see if the park map says if there is camping in that area.

The map I posted below is from the park website. Comparing the campsite area to Google, I found that the park did not have north at the top of their map, so I rotated it.

 

[Beyond Belief]

U forgot to add the link, lol.
They have lots of cabins and tent sites and sites set up for big groups with dining halls etc. I didn't find a map with the campsites laid out but surely there is one.

I 'd like to know if she was buried with a shovel or by hand. And since this was not a rape case, nor was she shot or stabbed, well maybe not, then maybe this was a drug overdose.

 

[Beyond Belief]

I believe she was buried on the road that lead to this place which is part of the park because a map had Union twp located to the right of the road.
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

This is a plantation type place with 14 out buildings, I doubt your allowed to camp any where near it.
http://www.outdoorplaces.com/Destination/USNP/pahopfur/index.htm

 

[LovinTK]

I've been gone for awhile so I'm just now reading this thread. I haven't read all of the posts yet but I just wanted to say that when I saw the picture of the bag the first thing I thought of was Family Dollar. I went and googled Family Dollar logo and looked at the images. They have one in black and white that looks similar.

 

[STEADFAST]

U forgot to add the link, lol.
They have lots of cabins and tent sites and sites set up for big groups with dining halls etc. I didn't find a map with the campsites laid out but surely there is one.

I 'd like to know if she was buried with a shovel or by hand. And since this was not a rape case, nor was she shot or stabbed, well maybe not, then maybe this was a drug overdose.

Sorry! Here's the link: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/frenchcreek/frenchcreek_camp.pdf

Keep in mind that on their map, north is to the left.

 

[reasypeasy]

If they were on a camping trip, they certainly could have been from out of the area, and bought their groceries before they left home. (Also, would explain why no one local has been ID'd yet.) Did we determine that there are indeed camping spaces there? Someone asked earlier, but, I didn't see that answer anywhere.

Another kind of bag we didn't consider yet is a dry cleaning bag. Maybe the first word is "fast". Perhaps a family owned and operated dry cleaning business. In viewing the bag's logo, it doesn't look like a clothing store bag to me. Usually clothing store's logo's are more "stylish". JMO

I have wondered whether it could be an ice bag, which was purchased full of ice for a cool box.

 

[Beyond Belief]

thanks stead, that map in the left hand corner is showing 345 running right through the park from Birdsboro out toward Warwick, that blew my idea they went in toward the Hopewell Furnance. now i am going to have go all the way down 345 on google earth to look at it. its beautiful country, one way each way with woods right up to the street.
Has anyone contacted whoevers in charge of this too see if we can get better information?

 

[Beyond Belief]

I am curious as to why there were no shoes also. weather cool enough for a jacket but no shoes. Theres no way u could walk around that place without shoes.



how abt LOC ATED

 

[reasypeasy]

I am curious as to why there were no shoes also. weather cool enough for a jacket but no shoes. Theres no way u could walk around that place without shoes.



how abt LOC ATED

If they were camping then the death could have happened in their tent, maybe as she was getting her jacket on and preparing to leave the killer there because of an argument. She gets whacked on the head a few times causing the hairline fractures, she is knocked out and oozing blood from head wounds, killer slides a plastic bag under her head to keep everything from getting bloody while he or she decides how to deal with the situation. Alas, she has gone camping with a sociopath who has worked out that no-one knows they've gone camping together. Doesn't take much force to suffocate an unconscious victim.

Or it could be a fairly standard hitch-hiker/date/roadside/"i'll give you a lift home" abduction scenario, and the shoes were removed to make it harder for her to run.

 

[Beyond Belief]

No missing report filed, this woman should have had children. I wonder if she had a past, like maybe spending time in prison.

The jacket sounds like a track jacket typical for the time period.

 

[pjclover]

My first thoughts in looking at the bag was that it was spelling out FAMOUS on the top row, and then a CLO on the bottom. My mind went to something like... Famous Closeouts? Famous Brand Closeouts? Some sort of warehouse-type store or second run sales maybe?

I googled a couple things can came out with this: Famous Brands Outlet in Watkins Glen, NY. Here's their website - it looks like they've been operating since 1984-
http://www.famousbrandsoutlet.com/retail_store.htm

I'd be interested to see if they ever used bags that maybe had something along the lines of "Famous Brands Outlet - Closeout Prices!" or something to that effect. My husband brought up a good point about the "ater"- it looks to use like a "ated" - maybe "incorporated?"

 

[Beyond Belief]

I have also interpreted the lettering as CL, the 4 idea is just too thick compared to the other lettering.

We need to keep in mind the jacket was not in the grave but close to it.

 

[pjclover]

CL could be quite a few retail related words. Closeout. Clearance. Closing. But the more I think about it the less sense it starts to make!

The way I'm thinking of it, if it's not part of the store name, it has to be pretty important for the company to pay the expense of printing it on a bag.

It's also curious that the bag seems to be a grocery bag or liquor store bag based on the size and texture and those types of stores don't tend to have clearance or closeout sales. Sure, grocery chains have sales all the time, but I've never seen it advertised on a bag. What other stores would have those sort of bags? Chinese food restaurants?

That brings me back to thinking the CL is, in some way, part fo the store name.

 

[STEADFAST]

The CL (if it is a CL) could be "CLOTHES" or "CLOTHING."

 

[CarlK90245]

artist's reconstruction

DoeNetwork page: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/349ufpa.html

I've been thinking that FA_MO with 40_ below it might be Fairmont 400. There is a Fairmont 400 nightclub in Dubai. It probably wasn't in existence back in 1988, but the name Fairmont 400 may have been connected to something else other than the Dubai nightclub.

There is also a Fairmont WV - home of Fairmont State University

 

[pjclover]

The CL (if it is a CL) could be "CLOTHES" or "CLOTHING."

Famous Clothing? Famous ______ Clothing?

I lean towards FAM instead of FA_M because I think that the bag looks as if it ripped between the A and the M and the shot we're seeing shows it pulled apart as opposed to a chunk actually missing. I keep thinking that if someone were to take that section of the bag and just put it together it would connect without any missing letters.

There is a chain of mall stores called Famous Labels Clothing. A quick Google search gives some locations in the Midwest, one in Las Vegas. There is also a Famous Labels Incorporated that seems to be headquartered in Illinois. http://www.nexport.com/company.cfm?company=34136_FAMOUS_LABELS_INCORPORATED_CLOTHING_APPAREL_MARION_IL. I've been thinking that I see a "ATED" at the bottom of the bag. Could this be "Incorporated" after all?

 

[Billylee]

We've discussed just about every "ated" we can think of that would be on the bottom of a bag:

"confederated" as in grocery store chains, "family owned and "operated" as in any business, "incorporated" ditto, keep "refrigerated", as in perishables, "medicated" as on a livestock feed sack. I suppose it could even be x-rated, though I've personally never seen that on the bottom of a bag (maybe I don't shop in the right places lol) And if it is an R instead of a D on the end, as in ater, it could be "eatery" , or .....I've looked at so many possibilities now this bag is driving me loco! This is the last one I can come up with and that is, the only bags that usually do say "keep refrigerated" come from fresh meat markets or farms. Perhaps it says Farm Fresh to You at the top and the bottom says keep refrigerated. (I swear I see a Y on the top.) I GIVE UP!

 

[pjclover]

We've discussed just about every "ated" we can think of that would be on the bottom of a bag:

"confederated" as in grocery store chains, "family owned and "operated" as in any business, "incorporated" ditto, keep "refrigerated", as in perishables, "medicated" as on a livestock feed sack. I suppose it could even be x-rated, though I've personally never seen that on the bottom of a bag (maybe I don't shop in the right places lol) And if it is an R instead of a D on the end, as in ater, it could be "eatery" , or .....I've looked at so many possibilities now this bag is driving me loco! This is the last one I can come up with and that is, the only bags that usually do say "keep refrigerated" come from fresh meat markets or farms. Perhaps it says Farm Fresh to You at the top and the bottom says keep refrigerated. (I swear I see a Y on the top.) I GIVE UP!

All quite possible.

If only there was a photo of some attempt to reconstruct the bag or unwrinkle it. I wonder if the detective assigned to the case could offer any insight as to whether this was done? I looked back through the thread and don't think I saw a mention of it, but could easily have missed it.