Found Deceased TX - Crystal Seratte McDowell, 38, Baytown, 25 Aug 2017 #2 *Arrest*

[SuperTmo]

This case is driving me nuts.

My knee jerk reaction after hearing about the cruise reservation change is that the Ex found out about it. Another man taking his place on a family vacation would make even the calmest man mad. I fear he killed her in a fit of rage. I wonder if he has consented to the kids being interviewed. I will never forget how the parents of Baby Lisa Irwin obstructed and refused to let her brothers talk to the police. If the kids haven't been interviewed because the ex isn't letting it happen, I will consider him my #1 POI.

But WTF is up with the boyfriend. He is a stage 5 clinger or a bunny boiler or SOMETHING. Why is he so weird and needy. What is his motive in all of his talking? Why is he being such a sketchy guy with this video footage while patting himself on the back about how helpful he is.

 

[EyesofTheSouth]

Wait. Does he have two DVR's? One for outside cameras and one for inside? If he only has one, isn't that what records the date and time stamp?

I agree - why would she go anywhere but to be with her kids during a bad storm. Especially since it sounds like the ex's area flooded a lot if he had to be helicoptered out for the polygraph test.

I don't think he has two dvrs. As I read in the Banfield transcripts posted a few pages back, he claimed the interior cameras backed up to the cloud so the time and date couldn't be tampered with, but that apparently other cameras backed up to a dvr -- the outside camera with the wrong date -- which he is claiming experienced a glitch and caused the date to be off by 6 days.

I call bs on that. I'd like to see proof that anything backs to the cloud. It would make no sense to store some footage local and others online. Why not store it all in one place?

Anything stored on a dvr can be tampered with. You can easily delete entire days. I think it's a convenient explanation as to why he provided footage of her leaving that was dated from nearly a week prior

 

[SuperTmo]

Families did not know for several months to a year.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

So most likely the kids didn't know what was up. Otherwise they ran the risk of letting the news slip. Surely your friend wasn't canceling dad out of a family trip and bringing the boyfriend of one month instead? This isn't normal behavior and it certainly isn't conducive to a solid co-parenting relationship.

 

[EyesofTheSouth]

This case is driving me nuts.

My knee jerk reaction after hearing about the cruise reservation change is that the Ex found out about it. Another man taking his place on a family vacation would make even the calmest man mad. I fear he killed her in a fit of rage. I wonder if he has consented to the kids being interviewed. I will never forget how the parents of Baby Lisa Irwin obstructed and refused to let her brothers talk to the police. If the kids haven't been interviewed because the ex isn't letting it happen, I will consider him my #1 POI.

But WTF is up with the boyfriend. He is a stage 5 clinger or a bunny boiler or SOMETHING. Why is he so weird and needy. What is his motive in all of his talking? Why is he being such a sketchy guy with this video footage while patting himself on the back about how helpful he is.

I believe the sheriff said the kids talked to a counselor of some sort.

 

[luckystar01]

lol "bunny boiler"

 

[SuperTmo]

ExpressJet

Thank you! So she was a current employee? I thought early articles or news stories said "former flight attendant" but maybe that was said in error.

 

[Eileen730]

We don't know that her kids even knew that the parents weren't together anymore. But even if they did, they are young and don't understand complex things like adult relationships. All they know is that mom and dad live in the same house and so nothing is any different to them. And even if they knew about the divorce and understood wholly what "not together" means, when the parents live in the same home and present themselves as a happily married couple, the kids will have hope that their family will stay together.

Changing a family vacation to bring along mommy's new "friend" instead of daddy would be so confusing for those kids. I find that to be a downright cruel thing to do. Even if they NEVER were told daddy was going, if they all lived together and everyone but dad went, and then mommy has a new friend, those kids are going to wonder why dad stayed home.

We don't know when the cruise was planned and paid for.
Maybe EX didn't want to go. Or was told he has to get his own cabin. We don't know the circumstances here .... Heck I wouldn't really want to go on Vacation with my EX.... They are divorced..
he needs to deal with that fact!
JMO

I don't think the EX can accept the fact shes not his anymore.
JMO

 

[tara83]

I believe it was reported that the kids were interviewed.

 

[4SAM]

I find it strange that a women doing so good financially would need to borrow an old laptop/cell phone from a guy she just started dating. My gut says BF.

Oh I love bunny boiler term...lol

 

[gregjrichards]

Thank you! So she was a current employee? I thought early articles or news stories said "former flight attendant" but maybe that was said in error.

Former

Although she only became a realtor about a year ago, Crystal is already bringing in tens of thousands of dollars in revenue each month for the company, Jeff told Dateline. Prior to becoming a realtor, she had been a flight attendant for ExpressJet for several years.

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/mis...sing-realtor-crystal-seratte-mcdowell-n796691

 

[SuperTmo]

Man, seriously starting to think that even if this poor woman's body was found 10 feet from PBP some of ya'll would be demanding proof that the boyfriend didn't know the ex worked there. :facepalm:

I'm sure the boyfriend knew where the ex worked. I think that would have come up, given how much her and her ex's lives were intertwined still. My boyfriend knows what my ex does, but now I can't remember if I told him that out of amusement / to share the irony or not (my ex is a tax auditor who lies on his taxes).

 

[iluvmua]

I find it strange that a women doing so good financially would need to borrow an old laptop/cell phone from a guy she just started dating. My gut says BF.

Oh I love bunny boiler term...lol

I never thougb of this. If she could afford a mercedes, then she could easily afgord a new phone/laptop.

 

[FlossyMay]

Did her uncle actually talk to her on Friday and hear her voice or did they text? If he actually heard her voice then all the dates on the video still would seem irrelevant I think.

Welcome to Websleuths. I would love to hear him say he spoke to her. That would make me feel a lot better about the sketchy timestamps.

 

[SuperTmo]

Part of me wonders if she left too. At some point when you keep too many balls in the air they crash down.


J.M.O.

Truly I hope this is the case, and I hope she isn't too afraid or embarrassed to come home. Just come home. Your kids will love you regardless.

 

[SuperTmo]

You have access to all her texts and history? Please post!


J.M.O.

FFS, really? It was on the interview he did with Banfield.

 

[SuperTmo]

That was me

Very good thinking on that one. Maybe he liked your idea!

 

[Plumeria5]

This vacation thing brings shades of Jodi Arias to mind.

 

[CuriousCat3131]

I do not have time to go back through all of these posts, but I have my own theory. Shoot holes in it, maybe I am missing something.

The video surveillance provided by Paul H. has the incorrect date/time stamp. This could be legit, but maybe it's not? I believe it said 8/19 or something?

My question is, how do we know Crystal was indeed staying at Paul's house and leaving from there that morning? Maybe the time stamp is accurate and something happened in their relationship that week prior.

That leads me to the Motel 6. Maybe she was not staying with Paul, but instead staying at Motel 6. Does that mean she could have gone missing sooner than we thought? Text messages are just that and they do not prove that Crystal sent them. There's no fingerprint attached to a text message. Anyone with her device(s) could have sent them.


Your thoughts? Like I said, shoot holes in this.... just was something I have been pondering.

Hmm. Did everyone see the update from Equusearch, today?

09/06/17 — The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office has requested our immediate help on the search for Crystal McDowell. We will be in need of searchers on foot and ATVs. We will be meeting on West Bay Road and Highway 99, east of the Cedar Bayou Bridge on Highway 99. Your Search Coordinator is David White, and he can be reached at (281) 799-9586.


Ex-husband works at PBP INC, correct?

They are searching today about 9-10 miles away from PBP (5151 Grand Pkwy). Check it out on Google Maps.


Edit - I stand corrected. It's maybe 9,000-10,000 feet from PBP, INC?

I have a lot to say and I hope I can get it all out here without confusing everyone. Just listened to Nancy Grace podcast. And something is sticking out to me that I missed before. They seem to be really questioning the text about Dallas. But we've all seen it right? It was sent from her phone to the Ex husband. Uncle was claiming from beginning he didn't think she sent that text. Ok.... but it exists AND it was sent Thursday night when she was with her boyfriend. Am I right? In the podcast, BF says they had a conversation about whether to leave town or stay home. So to me that says.... they DID consider leaving town!! He says they decided to stay. She also sends text to husband Friday, saying she was gonna stay. So what I'm hung up on....is WHY they are acting like this going to Dallas text is such a big deal!! She knew her uncle was going to Dallas, so isn't it possible in the conversation with the BF..Dallas is a place they may have discussed?? The other dude on the podcast says basically it was the ex who sent them in the direction of Dallas, away from the ping... but the ex provided the text that ALSO said she had decided to stay!! Putting all this together, I really feel like they are trying to pin something on the husband and what they are going off of (this text about Dallas) makes no sense to me!! It's so easy to explain!! Why is this being discussed as some kind of mystery?? Because the uncle didn't know about the conversation between the BF and CM about possibly leaving town before he storm? Because the BF is denying he knew about it? To me, it sounds like and feels like...they are using that ONE thing to place blame on the ex and it doesn't even make sense. Why? Because it actually makes sense that if she and BF were discussing possibly leaving and maybe during that conversation the ex texts her about the daughter wanting her mom to come home so in the middle of the discussion with BF, she texts she may go to Dallas! Makes perfect sense. They change their mind that night and her text changes the next morning to indicate she's gonna stay. And let me say this...if she didn't send that text about Dallas....who did?? Well who was she with that night when the text was sent???? Her BOYFRIEND. So if anyone other than her sent it, he had the opportunity. But the whole Dallas thing to me is a big nothing burger that is being turned into something major. I. Don't. Get. It. Help a girl out if anyone can make this make sense. Please!!

We don't know when the cruise was planned and paid for.
Maybe EX didn't want to go. Or was told he has to get his own cabin. We don't know the circumstances here .... Heck I wouldn't really want to go on Vacation with my EX.... They are divorced..
he needs to deal with that fact!
JMO


I don't think the EX can accept the fact shes not his anymore.
JMO

I don't think he was the only one who didn't accept the fact it was truly over. She was taking a cruise with him, she obviously wanted him to go. If not she could have taken a girlfriend with her. She chose to stay with him and the kids at the house. She based a lot of decisions on keeping the family together, even if it was for appearances. I am not saying it's wrong, I am just saying that it seems she was just involved of the appearance of it not being over. Jmo

 

[tarabull]

Primetime Justice transcripts from 8/31. The man sent in screenshots I believe and discussed their friendship.

8/31 Transcripts:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1708/31/ptab.01.html

SNIPPED...

BANFIELD: I want to now bring Brad Bozeman into the conversation. He is a colleague and a friend of Crystal McDowell and he joins me from Birmingham,

Alabama.

Just for way of introduction, Brad, you are a friend of Crystal`s in of absentia, you`ve never physically met face-to-face, but you have a business

relationship, you write all the time and you know a lot about each other`s lives. And maybe you are the best person to ask about what Crystal`s state

of mind was just two days before she disappeared because you have a series of text conversations. And I`d like to get you to sort of characterize what

you thought was going through her head at that time.

BRAD BOZEMAN, CRYSTAL MCDOWELL`S FRIEND: Yes. Me and Crystal did speak a lot via text and via phone. We worked together. We were colleagues. She was

a realtor, I have a credit repair company and, you know, we have met basically sometime in February of this year. You know, she`s just the

person that`s so easy to talk to. You know, just a giving person.

BANFIELD: Can I, Brad, I want to just put some of these text messages that you shared with Crystal, just again, two days before she disappeared.

BOZEMAN: Yes.

BANFIELD: You reached out to her saying, you`re happy and she said yes. You asked why? In love? And she said yes, with a happy face and hearts for

eyes. And you say he`s a lucky guy. She says, thank you, and sends a photo of Paul Hargrave, her new boyfriend and says he`s so dreamy. You say, Lord,

what is dreamy. And she says my boyfriend.

And you say, well, you deserve the best, no doubt. What did, you know, your ex-husband say? She says to you, yikes! I haven`t said anything to -- and we are redacting his name, even though the sheriff used it.

[20:45:04] I haven`t said anything to my husband. I guess I should. And you say he`s not going to be happy. I`m sure he can figure it out by seeing Facebook. And she answers no, I blocked him. Should I tell him? You answered, probably, if kids are involved with the new guy. She answers, true, they haven`t met him yet.

We are going on a cruise on the 31st, which her boyfriend Paul mentioned should have left tomorrow. You say I would be depressed if I was your husband, too. She says, well, you wouldn`t be a jerk to me like he has been. You say, no, I wouldn`t. She says he takes advantage of me and always has.

You say, I`m sorry, well, you`ll be fine. She says, yes, I`m so happy to move on.

Did you get the impression, and let`s be clear, her ex-husband is not charged with anything. The sheriff has said he doesn`t believe that he has anything other than the interest of finding his ex-wife. Did you get the sense there was something wrong between her ex-husband and Crystal?

BOZEMAN: Yes, I did. She, I mean, she is (Inaudible) about the divorce and about, you know, how they just weren`t happy. I mean, you see it, you see in the text messages, how she said that he takes advantage of me and (Inaudible).

BANFIELD: I think we are losing your connection, Brad. I`m sorry, I`m sort of losing your connection.

BOZEMAN: God.

BANFIELD: I just want to remind our viewers, though, that he is not a suspect in this case as of yet. Everybody is being looked at equally, maybe even me. I mean, that`s the way investigations begin. So I wanted to be clear about that. I just thought Brad`s conversation was telling and interesting about her state of mind.

We are going to continue to follow the story as they look for Crystal McDowell in Texas. Back after this.

 

[monkeypants]

FFS, really? It was on the interview he did with Banfield.

No, not FFS, for my sake.

I've seen that text obviously but who knows really the frequency and content.

Those 15 mins shine bright for some and they over exaggerate. I thought they released her text messages. His media whoring means nothing to me,no one in her life knew him and she had never met him either. He lived in another state.




J.M.O.