SC - Heather Elvis, 20, Myrtle Beach, 18 Dec 2013 - #13

[stillwatersc]

I was saying no crazy mob in December - after the post (mid January) was made that brought on a HUGE public outrage there certainly were a large amount of people that had a distaste for SM and OMW.
I was reading that article yesterday scratching my head. I know they say they were harassed in December…but no arrests were made and no charges were pressed. There has been no evidence of this harassment published (that I've seen). Just wondering if it really happened. If there were arrests or charges for these December harrassments please enlighten me.

Thank you. Anyone can make a claim resulting in a PR being filed. Doesn't mean the claim is true.

 

[JnRyan]

I've been thinking about this. Could it be because LE didn't have a clue who was involved in the BD case so they released ping info to give some location information hoping to get additional tips. And maybe in HE case they do have a clue and do not want to show their hand with ping information? Wouldn't the release of ping information allow a potential suspect to generate an alibi for very specific times and dates. An alibi that was far from any ping location. Just a thought.
As much as I'd love to have ping times and locations, it's better kept out of the public if it will be a snare later on in an arrest.

But if the person or persons LE is looking at is guilty, THEY ALREADY have an idea where HE's phone would have pinged. The guilty will have already set up their alibi. It's the innocent who would be clueless about locations and times. It's now a cat and mouse game between a potential suspect(s) and LE.

 

[JnRyan]

I look at the PR and I hesitate to consider who I would suspect who could be directly involved in HE's case just from that doc. I have two men, an OMM who I know little about and an alleged angry ex-bf who I know next to nothing about. Neither is making public statements to declare innocence or make denials. <Mod Snip>. And LE will only say that HE's date is the only one cleared. I can't theorize on this as there is more one aspect as to might be involved just from the report.

Then I keep coming back to the car at PTL. My gut tells me HE did not drive it there, but rather it was planted there by a guilty party. I've kicked that around about how a single individual could've planted the car there and left unseen - towed it there and drove off in tow vehicle, walked/jogged away, took a bike with them in the car, etc. To me the simple theory seems best - park the car and use the method that gets them not only away from PTL, but out of the area the fastest. Because the quicker they can vacate the area, the less chance of being seen. That doesn't involve a single individual, but someone with an accomplice to drive them away in a 2nd vehicle. And if they did by chance consider pushing or running the car down the boat ramp having a getaway vehicle is best if that plan goes badly.

That the car remained there for over 24 hours without being reported tells me that the guilty was either extremely lucky or they knew the activity around the landing in the winter. And I believe the car was there on the morning of the 18th. (I have nothing to base that on except that whatever happened was sometime after 6 AM on the 18th. Again, the less time the guilty has HE's car, the less chance they can be associated with or seen with it. IOW, get rid of it ASAP.) That is, they didn't just know of the existence of PTL, but were around it enough to be familiar with the activity this time of year. If the later is the case, they may have been surprised that the car was found before Saturday morning.

I think whatever happened, occurred quickly, and wasn't a coverup of an accident. To be done this quickly with no crime scene to be found, no body, no evidence and have the car at the landing early on the 18th had to be given a great deal of thought and planned in advance.

But again, all just theories on my part. Someone may look at the same data and see something entirely different.

 

[jellybeanz]

That also touches upon internal vs external locus of control. When it's never that person's fault (external)—the universe is out to get them, they didn't do well on a paper because the biased professor doesn't like the topic, their collar-less cat is lost because their lazy roommate left the gate open, they overslept because their inconsiderate neighbors were watching a loud movie the night before, etc etc. A fully internal locus isn't the best either (didn't know well on the paper because they are a terrible writer, the cat got out because they're an awful pet owner, etc) but at least it doesn't manifest as negatively in personal relationships.

The most unpleasant people I have ever known/dated (sadly) have been the former type. Zero accountability. Since everything in their life is so outside their control (supposedly), it's not surprising they latch onto anything they know they can control, even if it's at the expense of someone's self esteem. Someone like this who feels they're getting away with something would be especially delighted at the opportunity.

:two cents:

One of the most redeeming traits a person can have, IMO, is the ability to acknowledge that what they said was uncalled for, that they can see how their behavior may have alarmed people, etc. But that requires empathy..

Another excellent post. Thanks bettie.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Quick question... Did Heather still work part time at House of Blues while she was working another part time job at Tilted Kilt? If not, when did she actually stop working at HOB?

 

[floridamomma]

I think things can quickly escalate in a case like this where stress is high, emotions are raw, strong personalities are involved, and justice is not forthcoming.

I hope this doesn't boil over and damage the investigation or prolong recovery of Heather.

years ago I was friends with a normal, middle class couple. he had an affair and she found out... he left, rented a house for him, his gf and all their kids. this didn't go over well with wife. one morning when none of the kids were there, the house burned down... suspicious, but nothing was ever proven. but we all know she did it! just an example of how things can get serious, FAST, when a woman is pissed. he moved back in with her that day, and is still there!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[Aint Bee]

I still don't think it is out of the realm of possibilities that HE went to the other landing on Peachtree Road, which is an extremely popular hangout/meetup spot for people her age. She may have been waiting for someone there or she could have been watching for someone to drive by so she could then follow that person to PTL. But in the course of waiting, someone else approached her and something happened to her. If that was the case, it would be logical for the abductor(s) to move her car down the road to the more secluded PTL where it would not be discovered so easily.

Edited to add: if she did go to meet SM at the other landing (sorry, I don't know the name of it) then perhaps a crime took place there instead of PTL. I wonder if LE checked for evidence that she was there?

 

[Aint Bee]

And while I am supposing, I will run this up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it. I bet the girls at Tilted Kilt are promised all sorts of things from lonely (and/or perverted) men. Maybe there was one who told her, "you just say the word, any time, and I will whisk you away from your problems. I have money and can take care of you."

 

[Jersey*Girl]

IMO, the roommate told TE everything regarding HE & SM. Initially, she may have held certain things back. But after Heather was missing for a few days, it got real in a hurry.

I don't advocate vigilante justice, but I certainly do understand how a parent of a missing child could be pushed to that point. IMO, TE isn't frivolous in his not-so-veiled accusations. He has a good idea what happened, but is having difficulty waiting for LE to take some action. Can you blame him?

Not at all. I don't blame him one bit, I'd want answers too. At the very least I'd want to know why this person wouldn't even sit down with me and answer questions. Hell, take a poly. Idk.

I agree with you...but Knox, how many times have you thought about what happened to CB in Samantha Koenig's case? I will probably always have that in the back of my mind when researching cases like it. The way he & his mom took to the www & airwaves infuriated many, but it was all bc they knew CB was innocent. Both even said disparaging things about Sam, some may have even been true. TE's actions sort of reminds me of how JK reacted. We questioned that. Heather's case is different than Sam's in regards to the phone call info. It's very suspicious, and the actions on the net after the fact make it even more suspicious, but what about if its a situation like what happened in Sam's case? My gosh CB & his family received death threats over that stuff and a couple family members had to even move thousands of miles away - I forget where but thought it was NC, SC or TN.

I think in this case the actions of a couple people make them more suspiciously the public's eye, but what about if one or both are really innocent?

Did the actual phone calls truly go back and forth between Heather's cell and SSM until 6:00am or was there just activity between the two until 6:00am? I'm asking bc maybe they hung up from their call way earlier but there may have been texts between the two phones afterward. If so, the ping info could be important - which we don't have.

If a perp was in Heather's apt either before she arrived home from her date or during the night, then they would know she was on the phone with somebody. All of us that looked up SSM before the police report came out found right away where he lived by a simple google search. If Heather was followed or stalked somehow, this person could have grabbed her and moved her car to PTL theirself, maybe even texting back & forth using Heather's cell as if it were her. Literally just a thought, trying to think outside of the box.

Where SSM lives and PTL - would both cells ping off of the same tower? if so, that could be another reason the public is so focused on him bc the tower may make it appear to some they were together when in fact her cell could have been at PTL but he could have been home.

So so so much points to SSM, but its all circumstantial. If someone I love were ever under suspicion for something nefarious, I'd hope for them to not be convicted on circumstantial coincidences but rather strong evidence to back up the circumstantial but probable info.

For me personally, my mind keeps going back to SSM being related to this somehow, but I very much wonder if I think that way bc of the suspicious actions of those around him.

 

[NewYork625]

I need help.

Can someone please link the online tool that shows crimes in Horry County? Is there a historical one as well, or only the last 24 hours?

Thanks to anyone who can help me with this.

This is the historical one:

http://spotcrime.com/sc/horry+county/daily

No names given.

Also, public index search by name or date (names given): http://publicindex.sccourts.org/horry/publicindex/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

 

[Jersey*Girl]

The account holder with T-Mobile can access phone logs, text logs and data activity when viewing their account online. If activity occurred on her phone after 3:41 a.m. on December 18th, in all likelihood the account UI would have been updated by the time it's stated the car was found on the night of December the 19th to reflect this activity.

If for some reason the activity around 6 am that's being referenced by LE is actual communication manually being sent by someone instead of automatic email downloads then it is still very possible this would not show up on the bill at all. Apps such as What'sApp and even Skype will allow users to message and call one another on their cell phones without it appearing as phone communication. It would only show up as activity.

So maybe TE didn't see any actual calls or texts on the account after 3:41. However, he would have been able to tell if there was activity/data usage until 6 am.

Also, something nobody has really dug into is other internet activity. Maybe the GPS coordinates of each cell's activity throughout those early morning hours is more important than just the ping info bc since HE & SSM were in an affair, maybe they were using other methods of communication instead of the standard texting or emailing system. They could have been using a game app that has a chat feature is just one example that I'm talking about. Text msgs show up each time individually, whereas internet usage on an app shows up as a different mass log of the data usage, which sometimes takes longer to trace bc of roaming, connection via data plan or wireless network & such.

Le needs to do a tower dump.

 

[Aint Bee]

If PTL was used as a common meeting spot for HE and SM, perhaps someone who lives around there noticed and took advantage of that knowledge.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

The first thing I would do is request a private face to face conversation with the parents of the missing child with the hope that they would be able to sense my sincerity and honesty when I explained that I wasnt guilty of making their child disappear. I would also show any proof I had such as surveillance vids and phone records. I dont trust lie detectors but I may even consider taking one if it would help them get on the right track to finding their child quicker. If, after Ive tried everything in my power to convince them, they still harassed me, then, I may get angry. Even then I wouldnt behave like the Ms are behaving.

Me too. & if there are surveillance vids from those hours that substantiate those whereabouts, then was that proof saved? How is the data recorded? Does it revolve continuous and house data on an offsite server, or would it be house in home and recorded over after 24-48 hours? Etc...

 

[Jersey*Girl]

We have no idea how cooperative he was. Only that police questioned him.
In some of the early articles LE mentioned that some have been cooperative and some have not. Clearly the date was because he was cleared. We have no idea if SM was cooperative when questioned or not or anyone else really.

Waitasec, I thought he wasn't at first bc of the verbiage used regarding his call to Heather was to tell her to leave him alone. Then reports came out that said they were back & forth until 6:00am. So that made me, actually many of us, think that he wasn't very forthcoming. Now when I read the latest media reports that say phone activity between the two until 6:00am, that changes the possible scenario.

Date SS was cleared bc everything jives with what he said, checked out so police publicly cleared him.

BW never really had to be cleared in the first place bc she wasn't around when Heather went missing, therefore there's no reason to clear her of anything bc she isn't a factor.

Police haven't said anyone else was cleared, however her immediate family could most likely be taken off the table.

So that leaves everyone else as a potential with emphasis on a couple due to suspicious circumstances.

 

[Hatfield]

Not at all. I don't blame him one bit, I'd want answers too. At the very least I'd want to know why this person wouldn't even sit down with me and answer questions. Hell, take a poly. Idk.

I agree with you...but Knox, how many times have you thought about what happened to CB in Samantha Koenig's case? I will probably always have that in the back of my mind when researching cases like it. The way he & his mom took to the www & airwaves infuriated many, but it was all bc they knew CB was innocent. Both even said disparaging things about Sam, some may have even been true. TE's actions sort of reminds me of how JK reacted. We questioned that. Heather's case is different than Sam's in regards to the phone call info. It's very suspicious, and the actions on the net after the fact make it even more suspicious, but what about if its a situation like what happened in Sam's case? My gosh CB & his family received death threats over that stuff and a couple family members had to even move thousands of miles away - I forget where but thought it was NC, SC or TN.

I think in this case the actions of a couple people make them more suspiciously the public's eye, but what about if one or both are really innocent?

Did the actual phone calls truly go back and forth between Heather's cell and SSM until 6:00am or was there just activity between the two until 6:00am? I'm asking bc maybe they hung up from their call way earlier but there may have been texts between the two phones afterward. If so, the ping info could be important - which we don't have.

If a perp was in Heather's apt either before she arrived home from her date or during the night, then they would know she was on the phone with somebody. All of us that looked up SSM before the police report came out found right away where he lived by a simple google search. If Heather was followed or stalked somehow, this person could have grabbed her and moved her car to PTL theirself, maybe even texting back & forth using Heather's cell as if it were her. Literally just a thought, trying to think outside of the box.

Where SSM lives and PTL - would both cells ping off of the same tower? if so, that could be another reason the public is so focused on him bc the tower may make it appear to some they were together when in fact her cell could have been at PTL but he could have been home.

So so so much points to SSM, but its all circumstantial. If someone I love were ever under suspicion for something nefarious, I'd hope for them to not be convicted on circumstantial coincidences but rather strong evidence to back up the circumstantial but probable info.

For me personally, my mind keeps going back to SSM being related to this somehow, but I very much wonder if I think that way bc of the suspicious actions of those around him.

Absolutely. There is always that chance it could be someone different and IMO that is why it would be so important to cooperate with LE like the date did. I am not sure of the level of cooperation with LE but it doesnt sound like there has been much. If not much cooperation, that makes things worse IMO.

What if there had been no other phone contact besides the date that morning. Can you imagine the scrutiny he would be under right now. But he cooperated and immediately helped himself by working with LE and the family. That is all he could do. He probably didnt know about any other phone activity and so he made sure he cooperated to help himself.

Oh well, everyone is different I suppose.

I do agree with you that there is always a chance it could be someone else. It is so imortant that LE finds out what happened for everyones sake.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Absolutely. There is always that chance it could be someone different and IMO that is why it would be so important to cooperate with LE like the date did. I am not sure of the level of cooperation with LE but it doesnt sound like there has been much. If not much cooperation, that makes things worse IMO.

What if there had been no other phone contact besides the date that morning. Can you imagine the scrutiny he would be under right now. But he cooperated and immediately helped himself by working with LE and the family. That is all he could do. He probably didnt know about any other phone activity and so he made sure he cooperated to help himself.

Oh well, everyone is different I suppose.

I do agree with you that there is always a chance it could be someone else. It is so imortant that LE finds out what happened for everyones sake.

Yeah, I agree.

I really wish we knew just a little bit more. Sometimes the public can be crazed...but many times the public the public can be utilized for the greater good. If le doesn't have hard concrete factual evidence right now, since its now been over a month I really wish they'd utilize the public. Maybe throw out a bone for the public to chew on & generate tips...

 

[Hatfield]

Yeah, I agree.

I really wish we knew just a little bit more. Sometimes the public can be crazed...but many times the public the public can be utilized for the greater good. If le doesn't have hard concrete factual evidence right now, since its now been over a month I really wish they'd utilize the public. Maybe throw out a bone for the public to chew on & generate tips...

Totally agree. Even if they would just make a few brief comments to assure the public they are actively working on things, it could help calm things down.

 

[Aint Bee]

Not much has been said about Heather's apartment, which leads me to think there wasn't anything there to help the case. But one thing I was wondering about was whether she bought any Christmas gifts for her family that would have been in the apartment? Right before Christmas, not working many hours at her job, the financial aspect of the holidays may have had her stressed out and not thinking clearly. Perhaps she was lured into a dangerous situation with the promise of money to help her out.

 

[Hatfield]

Not much has been said about Heather's apartment, which leads me to think there wasn't anything there to help the case. But one thing I was wondering about was whether she bought any Christmas gifts for her family that would have been in the apartment? Right before Christmas, not working many hours at her job, the financial aspect of the holidays may have had her stressed out and not thinking clearly. Perhaps she was lured into a dangerous situation with the promise of money to help her out.

Anything is possible. But if that case, I would think some phone contact would be necessary. I keep going back to her phone records. It seems like the phone records and phone pings may be the best thing they have to try to pin point her last whereabouts.

Its cases like this where I would want my children to have one of those Apps that provide a GPS locator on their phone and them at all times. Something that would show their location remotely and store the route taken. I know there are all kinds of Apps these days and I would insist on having one.

It would only be good until the phone was smashed or turned off, but at least it would provide more of a clue.

 

[SharetheLight]

I am wondering if there's a chance that LE knows exactly what happened due to actual evidence found and they are waiting to find Heather before they make an arrest? Would they do this? If it were me, and I were LE and knew what happened, I'd make arrests (I guarantee more than one person is involved/has knowledge of a crime) and try to get the person least involved to tell where Heather is and leverage a reduction of charges or sentence or something. It's a gamble but there's obviously a lot at stake for both sides. Does SC have any history of prosecution of a murder without a body? (For the sake of this thought, I'm assuming there has been a murder) Not just a circumstantial case, a case with some type of physical evidence but no victim found.
I'm just rambling. Hoping that they've got something. I know they know a lot more than we do but my hope is they have a lot more too.

Do any locals know the history of the state/district attorney for Horry County? That person's personality and track record could play into all of this as well.
I worked for the courts for a number of years and when high profile cases came up, you could almost predict with a good degree of certainty how they'd be handled (prior to arrests being made) depending on who the current elected State Attorney was for the county.
I guess I'm asking if anyone has any insight into this aspect of the case. What kind of person is the sitting DA for Horry County? What's their track record? Are they a risk taker? Do they have higher political aspirations? Are they frequently in the media? Are they a conservative prosecutor? Etc etc