SC SC - Amir Jennings, 18 mo., Columbia, Nov 2011

[TorisMom003]

Last weekend I was visiting my grandmother and we began talking about this case. My grandmother lives in Columbia, SC and I live an hour away. My grandmother was telling me that this case is one that my aunt is working on. My aunt works at the solicitors office. Second hand info that my grandmother passed on to me is that this "mother" has not co-operated at all with LE in Columbia and has been defiant. There has been no sign of any mental illness from the "mother" at the time of the talk with my grandmother. The "mothers" family appears to be standing firmly behind her and refuse to believe that she has had anything to do with Amir's disappearance. I will be seeing my aunt on Saturday and will try to get as much additional information from her that she is willing to disclose.

 

[lauriej]

http://www.thestate.com/2012/01/27/2129488/police-scouring-rural-area-for.html
Tip proves fruitless in search for toddler (+video)

Police acted on a “substantial, credible” tip on the whereabouts of Amir Jennings, who was 18 months old when he was reported missing by his grandparents in December, said Jennifer Timmons, Columbia Police Department spokeswoman. The five-hour search was called off about 3:30 p.m. when police finished combing an 8.5-square-mile area with no results.

The boy’s mother, Zinah Jennings, 22, is in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on a charge of cruelty to children. Zinah Jennings has not cooperated with police since her arrest in early January, and the tip that led to Thursday’s search did not come from her, Timmons said.

Jennings also faces prostitution and drug charges in East Point, Ga., after a November arrest.

 

[Donjeta]

Can you "comb" an 8,5 square mile area in just 5 hours?

 

[lauriej]

Can you "comb" an 8,5 square mile area in just 5 hours?

..my thoughts exactly "Donjeta".

..when they halted the search i was hopeful he had been found ! since LE had gone to considerable trouble setting up their command post/mobilizing dozens of trained search personnel.

..and yet no news.

..my 2nd hope is that zinah actually gave up his REAL location, in a CREDIBLE fashion--(i know, grasping at straws..)

( adding also, i don't mean to be excited-- that "he had been found"! i would much prefer that he IS alive somewhere, but i doubt it. to recover and lay him to rest at this point is the most i'm hopeful for.)

 

[summer_breeze]

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120127/NEWS01/201270311/Missing-toddler-s-mom-asks-release

11:00 PM, Jan. 26, 2012 |

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The mother of a South Carolina toddler missing since Thanksgiving is pregnant and mentally ill and should be released from jail because she needs medical care, the woman's attorney argued in court papers filed this week.

 

[summer_breeze]

http://www.wltx.com/news/article/17...Missing-Toddler-?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

7:50 PM, Jan 26, 2012

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Columbia police have called off their search of a wooded area in Northwest Richland County for missing Columbia toddler Amir Jennings, just hours after they began their probe.

<snipped>

Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott says a "credible tip" led his officers to this location.

Video at link

 

[stillwatersc]

Can you "comb" an 8,5 square mile area in just 5 hours?

Maybe they were searching in the right area and the mom is trying to make a deal before he's found. That is a long shot, but like you said that area is far too large to quit in 5 hours.

 

[stillwatersc]

Pride's motion also asks the judge to "bar media coverage of any and all future court proceedings," if the court would not allow her to appear in "civilian clothing."

That's a new one to me & I thought I'd heard it all by now.


TorisMom003 - Please don't share anything that could be confidential & get your aunt in trouble. I hope the solicitor's office figures out how to successfully prosecute Zinah. From the tips & search, sounds like Amir could have ended up in Columbia.

 

[Donjeta]

I hope you're right. Otherwise it could be that the tip was more specific than the 8,5 sq miles would suggest, pointing to a more specific location within that area, something that could be searched faster, or that they're planning to come back with more equipment.

 

[stillwatersc]

http://www.wistv.com/story/16609068/authorities-searching-for-missing-toddler-in-woods

Right in the middle of the search area is a cell phone tower which would have caught a cell signal from Zinah's phone, that police could use to trace her steps.

Maybe that's it - just a cell ping around the time Amir was last seen in a place Zinah had no business being. Afraid they'll never find him if that's the case.

 

[CincinnatiKate]

The civilian clothes comment doesn't surprise me. I was just recently involved in a case personally, where getting the defendant in street clothes was a MAIN priority for nearly 3 days of my life. It took nearly 8 hours of standing in front of numerous desks ( Fri, Mon and Tues) and literally waiting with a bag in my hand ...For a defendant to NOT be seen in stripes (here they wear black and white stripes) in public. It is my understanding that it would lead the public to see him as a criminal and not a victim. ...and our case was NOT public.

 

[CincinnatiKate]

cell phone pings cannot be instrumental in this case--- Mom was missing for a whole month before her car accident-- she was a streetwalker, which leads me to believe if she has a cell phone- it was a prepaid- and would be useless.

 

[JeannieC]

It is common practice for the defendant to wear street clothing during a trial if they choose to do so.

The closed proceedings is rare. In high profile cases where the media will fill the courtroom the courtroom is usually closed to the general public and the trial is sometimes televised. In the case of minors being tried the courtroom I believe the courtroom is closed to the public. In cases where the defendant or witnesses lives might be in jeopardy the judge can elect to hold a closed trial.

Under certain/special circumstances and with the judges' approval or ruling, the courtroom will be closed. I don't see any special circumstances in this case.

moo

 

[CincinnatiKate]

comments like THIS scare me to death. ",,,,, in a place Zinah had no business being"

where exactly, does an American Citizen "have no right being..."??

Where is a cell phone tower in this country, that would record a ping, and, help convict a grown woman (who until Christmas Eve was wandering around giving blow jobs and smoking blunts) because she wasn't "supposed to" be there? She is a wandering, non nonsensical "floater"...her being under a bridge, way to the north and zig zagging all over is expected, as equally as her standing on the same street corner for 22 days straight.

In my opinion, ANY tower in this country, is placed where it is because PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE THERE. Cell phone towers are not placed in isolated places. They are not tracking devices for the masses... (unless I am horribly naive, and they really are Big Brother)

 

[JeannieC]

CincinnatiKate

comments like THIS scare me to death. ",,,,, in a place Zinah had no business being"
where exactly, does an American Citizen "have no right being..."??QUOTE

Where was this comment?

 

[Sparklin]

comments like THIS scare me to death. ",,,,, in a place Zinah had no business being"

where exactly, does an American Citizen "have no right being..."??

Where is a cell phone tower in this country, that would record a ping, and, help convict a grown woman (who until Christmas Eve was wandering around giving blow jobs and smoking blunts) because she wasn't "supposed to" be there? She is a wandering, non nonsensical "floater"...her being under a bridge, way to the north and zig zagging all over is expected, as equally as her standing on the same street corner for 22 days straight.

In my opinion, ANY tower in this country, is placed where it is because PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE THERE. Cell phone towers are not placed in isolated places. They are not tracking devices for the masses... (unless I am horribly naive, and they really are Big Brother)

I think 'have no right being' was meant as someplace a mom shouldn't be with a tiny child....could be wrong, but that is how I took it.

 

[CincinnatiKate]

CincinnatiKate

comments like THIS scare me to death. ",,,,, in a place Zinah had no business being"
where exactly, does an American Citizen "have no right being..."??[/B]QUOTE]

top of this page #201.

I took it the same way---and mean no disrespect..this statement is how the majority of civilians feel--- but my question remains... WHERE would it ping that a mother and small child would have no business being? I cannot think of such a place. She was running--anywhere it would ping can be explained in this particular case...IMO

 

[angelmom]

http://www.wistv.com/story/16609068/authorities-searching-for-missing-toddler-in-woods


Maybe that's it - just a cell ping around the time Amir was last seen in a place Zinah had no business being. Afraid they'll never find him if that's the case.

comments like THIS scare me to death. ",,,,, in a place Zinah had no business being"

where exactly, does an American Citizen "have no right being..."??

Where is a cell phone tower in this country, that would record a ping, and, help convict a grown woman (who until Christmas Eve was wandering around giving blow jobs and smoking blunts) because she wasn't "supposed to" be there? She is a wandering, non nonsensical "floater"...her being under a bridge, way to the north and zig zagging all over is expected, as equally as her standing on the same street corner for 22 days straight.

In my opinion, ANY tower in this country, is placed where it is because PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE THERE. Cell phone towers are not placed in isolated places. They are not tracking devices for the masses... (unless I am horribly naive, and they really are Big Brother)

Not to speak for Stillwatersc, but maybe it's a place where Zinah denies ever going or a place where no one in her family or group of friends can think of why she would be there.

There are cell phone towers in isolated places...sometimes as a bridge to the next place, and also because breaking down in your car or getting lost in an isolated place is exactly when you need your cell phone to work. That's the kind of PR that a cell phone company does NOT need.

(When we were in the Grand Canyon and several other national parks two years ago, it was a big deal that the Verizon people had coverage but the AT&T people did not. The day I took a wrong turn and had no service was a BAD day.)

 

[stillwatersc]

comments like THIS scare me to death. ",,,,, in a place Zinah had no business being"

where exactly, does an American Citizen "have no right being..."??

Where is a cell phone tower in this country, that would record a ping, and, help convict a grown woman (who until Christmas Eve was wandering around giving blow jobs and smoking blunts) because she wasn't "supposed to" be there? She is a wandering, non nonsensical "floater"...her being under a bridge, way to the north and zig zagging all over is expected, as equally as her standing on the same street corner for 22 days straight.

In my opinion, ANY tower in this country, is placed where it is because PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE THERE. Cell phone towers are not placed in isolated places. They are not tracking devices for the masses... (unless I am horribly naive, and they really are Big Brother)

I meant if they are researching where she was, following her steps to try to figure out where Amir was left. They are pretty sure of a day range where Amir was no longer with his mom, by talking to witnesses. If they see all her pings are around the same areas, where she frequents, then she heads out of town into a secluded area where she has no known friends or associates - they think it could have been to get rid of Amir. They can't use that info to "convict" her, but it does provide a clue to the location of the baby. They have been trying to find him for over a month and probably running out of options. There are many cases where ping data is used to track movements of suspects or try to find missing people. I didn't make this up. I quoted from a MSM article concerning the cell tower possibility.

 

[CincinnatiKate]

Mom is NOT speaking. She has not confirmed or denied anything and has not answered ANY questions with a direct answer.

Single prostitutes go places that they deny or forget, and places family and friends would say they had no business being... I cannot expect the police to hunt at every tower that her phone pinged at in a whole month, between two states. Do you even know if there IS a cell phone? (I honestly can't remember TIA)

Surely if a cell phone was on for a whole month while she was missing she would not be declared missing---am I correct?

A pre paid would have had to been paid for as the billing cycles are less than 30 days or by the minute usage, and if it was a contract phone, it could easily be seen that the phone was being used daily, by phone company.

(thanks for the debate and discussion!!!)