Skyla Whitaker, 11, & Taylor Placker 13 - Found Murdered - #14

[GetSmart]

Once again I take to the previous articles written :
http://newsok.com/article/3256335/?print=1

June 12, 2008
For slain Weleetka girls' kin, pain keeps coming

"WELEETKA — Rose Whitaker took one look at the man waving at her in the road Sunday and knew something was terribly wrong.
"They're gone,” the man said when she pulled up alongside him. "They're both gone. The girls are dead.”.......................

"Placker stopped her and wouldn't let her get close,” said Claudia Farrow, Skyla's grandmother. "He just held her and said, ‘They're gone.' ”.............


At the crime scene, Claudia Farrow bolted toward her granddaughter's body, making it about 50 feet before she was stopped. She just wanted to see her special granddaughter, who'd been in the process of finishing her first quilt for 4-H. The family waited at the scene until 3 a.m. hoping for some answers. ....
..........

In a news conference Wednesday, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Ben Rosser said investigators are trying to find children who talked to the girls often and knew their habits.
"We're talking to young people because the victims were young,” Rosser said. "We've got leads, and we're talking to their friends, but a lot of people are harder to find than others.”
Earlier Wednesday, investigators said two guns were used in the killings.
Jimmy Farrow said he'd been told that the first night.
"They said there was a high-powered weapon and a low-powered weapon,” Jimmy Farrow said. "One of the TV stations showed shell casings piled up in the road where it happened.” ................................

When they didn't return and could not be reached by cell phone, Peter Placker went looking for them and found the bodies. He called 911 using Taylor's phone. Wednesday, Joe Mosher, Taylor's great uncle, said the family is distraught and not interested in talking to the media...........................................
We are not crazy ..this is the info that we a been given time after time.. JMO
GS

 

[FlowerChild]

Questions, questions, questions

Please add yours.

I'm going to start from scratch.

Was it usual for the girls to have sleepovers? Did they alternate houses in a set plan or was it random as to whose house they would sleep over (As in, on Tuesday, Skylar would sleep at Taylor's; on Thursdays, Taylor would sleep at Skylar's.) Yes, almost every weekend - we are not aware of any schedule

How did they get to each other's houses? Did someone drive them? The same person? Probably parents

What is in their clubhouse? How long have they had it? Where is it in position to everything else. In the Plackers backyard (it was an old shed)

Who was the more dominant in their friendship? don't know

What time did Skylar and Taylor leave the Plackett house? around 4:30 we think

Was anyone at home when they left? If so, who? We don't know, however it appears that both Peter and Vicky Placker were gone for at least 45 minutes between 4:30 and 5:30 and came home and found the girls dead

Where did the girls say, if anything, they were going? To walk to the bridge (over Bad Creek) and back - it's a 1 mile round trip - or about 16 blocks

How long would it have taken them to go from the house to wherever. 15-20 minutes there, 15-20 minutes back

Did anyone see them on their walk? One witness saw them "within minutes" of their deaths walking back home from the direction of the bridge

What animals went with them? Taylors Chihuahua

How long were they gone before someone went to look from them? less than an hour

What time did the mother (I can't keep names straight) call to say she would be picking up Skylar? Taylor? (Her daughter) 5:05-5:10 PM

Was it usual for the mother to come get her daughter? Don't know, assume so

Did someone call either of the girls to say come back?If so, who. According to a local contact Rose spoke with Skyla before the walk about 4:30, and attempted to call he at 5:05 and got no answer. Rose then called Peter Plaker, who tried to call Taylor and got no answer

Did both girls have a cell phone? Did anyone else? Have those cell phone records been checked? Yes, they both had a cell phone and yes, OSBI took them (home computers too)

Who found the girls? Who called 911and how many calls were made and from where? Whose phone? We don't know - we only know of one call from a woman who we assume is Vicky Placker, we were also told Peter Placker called from Taylor's cell phone at the scene

Did anyone hear anything? 3 ear witnesses came forward

How close are the neighbors? Closest one is at least 1/2 mile away as the crow flies

What is the terrain like along the road. What is normal traffic like. Who would be most likely to use that road and where does it go (from both ends) Flat or gently rolling plains/woods - traffic is fairly busy for a remote dirt road because it is part of a popular route between another small town and Hwy 75

That's all I can think of for now.

Responses in red
The Catch Up Thread answers a lot of your questions - and many you haven't asked yet. We do not have all the answers, OSBI and the families are not being forthcoming on many details

My Opinion

 

[txsvicki]

The statement "some are harder to find than others" must have meant something. Why would OSBI go out of their way to say something like that about finding and questioning kids.

 

[lilacwine]

What if Peter started to make the 911 call, but then handed the phone to Vicky to go to Rose?

I know it sounds a little speculative... but he could have decided to go to Rose... or look around.....

 

[ArizonaGiGi]

http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=

*******************************************************************************************



Click on the EXTRA; full press conference link.


If you listen very closely in the beginning when the phone is dialing 911 you will hear a tiny

childs voice in the background state "he thinks their dead" or "she thinks their dead"


This is right before the caller says "RUN RUN".

Anyone have an idea who the child might be? Did Skyla have a little sis?

I posted this last night but didn't see anyone answer.
Have any of you listened to that part, can you tell what the little girl? is saying? Who is she/he?
I want to know who it is because it might pinpoint who was there and what was happening. Trying to picture it all. :-(

 

[Morag]

The statement "some are harder to find than others" must have meant something. Why would OSBI go out of their way to say something like that about finding and questioning kids.

They also said it was hard to interview kids...and that they knew that someone knew something. And over and over they said the girls might have interupted/encountered something at the bridge.

Why play that heart-rending 911 call, if not to shake the conscience of the someone who knows something? And they still believe it was locals.

I'm going to make a big guess here- there is no POI- he's just a ruse to make the killers feel comfortable enough to talk among themselves or others.
And the reason he looks like a Native American is because the sketch artist is NA.

Boys with guns, a dog who showed up at the bridge the next day...no motive to kill these children...I think LE thinks that this is a stupid, spur-of-the-moment crime which can happen when people/young people are fooling around with guns...

 

[ArizonaGiGi]

What if Peter started to make the 911 call, but then handed the phone to Vicky to go to Rose?

I know it sounds a little speculative... but he could have decided to go to Rose... or look around.....

I think Rose must have been there about the same time as the Plackers arrived because per my post just above this one, there is a little child saying something in the background of the 911 call just before the woman states 'RUN RUN !" . Maybe it was Skyla's little sis?

 

[LifeSaver]

Near the murder scene? No, there isnt' much of anything in that area

 

[FlowerChild]

They also said it was hard to interview kids...and that they knew that someone knew something. And over and over they said the girls might have interupted/encountered something at the bridge.

Why play that heart-rending 911 call, if not to shake the conscience of the someone who knows something? And they still believe it was locals.

I'm going to make a big guess here- there is no POI- he's just a ruse to make the killers feel comfortable enough to talk among themselves or others.
And the reason he looks like a Native American is because the sketch artist is NA.

Boys with guns, a dog who showed up at the bridge the next day...no motive to kill these children...I think LE thinks that this is a stupid, spur-of-the-moment crime which can happen when people/young people are fooling around with guns...

That would be a HUGE NO-NO! The equivalent of making up an African American POI because the artist happened to be African American. Over 25% of Oklahomans are members of an American Indian Tribe and probably 50% have some Native American blood. The Sketch Artist is himself a high ranking member ( a Peace Chief) of the Cheyenne Tribe and has a traditional Native Amercan family. There is NO WAY he would be a party to such a discriminatory act. The POI was not made up and he exists - but in Oklahoma there are probably 10,000 men who resemble the POI - and only ONE is the POI.

My Opinion

 

[evelyn24]

http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=

*******************************************************************************************



Click on the EXTRA; full press conference link.


If you listen very closely in the beginning when the phone is dialing 911 you will hear a tiny

childs voice in the background state "he thinks their dead" or "she thinks their dead"


This is right before the caller says "RUN RUN".

Anyone have an idea who the child might be? Did Skyla have a little sis?

I posted this last night but didn't see anyone answer.
Have any of you listened to that part, can you tell what the little girl? is saying? Who is she/he?
I want to know who it is because it might pinpoint who was there and what was happening. Trying to picture it all. :-(

I mentioned this a few times, but the caller is not saying "Run Run", she's saying, "WHAAT?" "WHHHAAAT?" (in disbelief) to the little girl's comment, "he thinks they're dead."

Again, the caller is most likely Vicky Placker, as she stumbles on her words and calls one of the murdered girls her "daughter" then her "grandbaby."
I don't know what other kids are around the Plackers?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Yes, I finally concur with the Whaaat...whaaaaaat, too. Took me quite a few times to hear it tho. You can hear the T sound at the end of the second one.

 

[EnvoyDriver61]

I didn't weigh in on the 911 call.

It does sound like a young girl. It's not someone who understands the gravity of the situation.

My thoughts were: Vicky: What?

child: He thinks they're dead.

Vicky: WHAT?

Because of the detachment of the child's voice, I don't think that person is related to either of the girls. I am really thinking it is a passerby's child somehow who is relaying information.

This is terrible speculation and one I haven't seen here, but what if there was a third child at the slumber party, perhaps, if Flower Child's informant is correct, Vicky and Peter were taking someone else home to their parents and got concerned upon learning that no one answered the cell phone calls and interrupted their trip to hurry back to find the girls?

 

[frogjustfrog]

I said I was going to back up for awhile and just read cuz this has had me pretty upset, but I'm back and want to respond to a few postings. oh foo! my phone is ringing. will be back in a few with replys.

 

[evelyn24]

I didn't weigh in on the 911 call.

It does sound like a young girl. It's not someone who understands the gravity of the situation.

My thoughts were: Vicky: What?

child: He thinks they're dead.

Vicky: WHAT?

Because of the detachment of the child's voice, I don't think that person is related to either of the girls. I am really thinking it is a passerby's child somehow who is relaying information.

This is terrible speculation and one I haven't seen here, but what if there was a third child at the slumber party, perhaps, if Flower Child's informant is correct, Vicky and Peter were taking someone else home to their parents and got concerned upon learning that no one answered the cell phone calls and interrupted their trip to hurry back to find the girls?

You know, I thought the same thing. It could be a neighbor's kid, because the concern is not really there in the little kid's voice.
Then again, do little kids really grasp the gravity of a situation like that?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

The statement "some are harder to find than others" must have meant something. Why would OSBI go out of their way to say something like that about finding and questioning kids.

It is summertime. Kids go to camp, families go on vacation, etc. I believe LE later followed it up with kids go "visit" other kids.

 

[tapu]

Flowerchild, SeriouslySearching, Get Smart, and others--wow, thanks for these threads and the incredible amount of information and thinking in them.


Yes, this is my first post, but I've been thinking about a scenario to explain locations, motivation, etc. If anyone wants to comment:

I believe that if these two girls came upon someone they knew doing something wrong, that they would act like they knew it, but never even begin to think that they could be killed under the circumstances. I think the girls would have turned around and walked home after saying, like, "<Person's name>, you're in trouble now" or somesuch. I think this is most likely if the person were a family member/close friend.

Now, say that the person is connected to local distribution of drugs. And they were there getting drugs from a major player in drug distribution. The major player may think, those girls have to go. He drives away from the scene, overtakes them on the road, and shoots them there.

Some of the reasoning behind these thoughts:
• The perp(s) executed these children with two guns and a lot of bullets. The shooters weren't "kids playing with guns" or even anyone who isn't pretty hardened already. Thus, guessing drug-related.
• The girls were walking back from where they saw whatever it was because nothing would be going down in view of the driveway. That's just where the guy(s) caught up to them.
• The person the girls knew may not have had much to do with the decision to kill them. He tells the girls to go away when they come upon the scene. It's the other guy(s) who care nothing about who the girls are and who think they need to kill them to keep from being described. (or, in that case, maybe the girls knew the id of the person but were not close to them)


Well, back to reading. Happy to meet you all. tapu

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I still think instead of a young girl...it could just as easily be a young boy. I don't think the child's voice sounds "detached" as much as the child was relaying information caught in the shock of it all. When parents or adults start freaking out around you as was happening on a grand scale in that situation...children are often taken aback and go into a mode of calm because of shock. It wasn't detachment as much as it was the shock of the situation, imo.

 

[tapu]

Ack, I can't believe I'm going to post again already but.... part of my job involves thinking how a child thinks.

I believe that most children in the situation described ("He thinks they're dead.") are experiencing nothing but excitement or, heightened anxiety, in more adult terms. It would take a while for that child to register shock, grief, anything beyond feeling electrified by the situation.

(er, imo)

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Welcome to WS, Tapu! Thanks!

That has been my theory, too. Drug dealer with a lot to lose with a local connection which is how he knew where the road was (since everyone says that it was remote which now I find even harder to believe).

It stated in the last article that the OSBI believes it could be drug related or thrill killing or (they named one more). Of course, no one really knows.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

LOL We seem to be on the same page here, Tapu. Only you said it much better! It is what I was trying to say, but it didn't come out quite right.