Utah connections...

[reportergirl]

I came across this forum while researching online. I joined primarily to help get you more accurate information about Raven's family and background. I grew up with Raven and his family lives down the street from mine in Utah.

I'll start with the whole name changing thing. From what I have read, many of you believe Raven's family changes their names frequently. This is really not the case. When Raven and his siblings were fairly young in CA, his parents divorced and from what I understand, when the children moved away from their father to Utah, they took on their mother's maiden name, Abaroa, and from what I remember, it was because they did not want to be connected with their father anymore. So, they dropped the 'Peters' from their name when they were very young. They were all Abaroa when they moved into my neighborhood when Raven was around 14 or so. When some of the children got a little older, they more or less started maintaining more of a relationship with their father and so took back on the 'Peters' name as a hyphen, Abaroa-Peters, etc.

To say that name changing is a common practice would be truly false.

Karyn is his mother, and he comes from a very good family. Our families are very close and have been since they moved in.

 

[Chica]

ReporterGirl - thank you so much for the clarification. Anytime we can get FACTS rather than SPECULATION is of great assistance.

 

[SouthEastSleuth]

I came across this forum while researching online. I joined primarily to help get you more accurate information about Raven's family and background. I grew up with Raven and his family lives down the street from mine in Utah.

I'll start with the whole name changing thing. From what I have read, many of you believe Raven's family changes their names frequently. This is really not the case. When Raven and his siblings were fairly young in CA, his parents divorced and from what I understand, when the children moved away from their father to Utah, they took on their mother's maiden name, Abaroa, and from what I remember, it was because they did not want to be connected with their father anymore. So, they dropped the 'Peters' from their name when they were very young. They were all Abaroa when they moved into my neighborhood when Raven was around 14 or so. When some of the children got a little older, they more or less started maintaining more of a relationship with their father and so took back on the 'Peters' name as a hyphen, Abaroa-Peters, etc.

To say that name changing is a common practice would be truly false.

Karyn is his mother, and he comes from a very good family. Our families are very close and have been since they moved in.

Hi reportergirl -

Thank you SO much for joining. One of the more interesting aspects of this case is hearing from individuals who knew both Raven and/or Janet personally. So you thoughts, opinions, etc., are well welcomed here!

So, if I may ask, when you first heard about Janet's murder, what were your thoughts, etc.? And in reading many of the posts here, it's easy to discern that there's much speculation on Raven, as the perpetrator. Do you have thoughts and/or opinions on that, specifically??

Any info you are willing to provide would be extremely helpful, rest assured!

 

[reportergirl]

My first instinct from hearing about the murder is that Raven is innocent. He is a generally goo-natured and good hearted person. I remember when they met and I met Janet for the first time seeing how very much in love they were. Everytime I have talked to him or his family, they talk about how much in love they are still, from the first time they met.

I just really don't think that Raven has it in him to harm a fly.
Another thing I want to maybe clear up is about his online activity on myspace.com. Someone posted that he listed single. I wanted to check for myself, so I found his listing. It did indeed say single, but I wanted to see if this was because he just didn't take the time to fill everything out when he signed up. So, I tested it out and signed up myself. It did indeed list single automatically when I clicked on 'complete personal information later.' Often people don't want to take the time to go through and answer the questions. Takes too long.

I also know that his younger brother Derek and sister Shiloh are big into myspace.com, so I speculate that he joined to communicate with them, as they are not living in the same state.

Also, when he signed on just after Janet's death, he did so to read a poem his brother posted on his blog about her death. Raven posted a reply to his brother's poem on the date in question, a heartfelt 'she loved you so much, Derek.'

I'm going to a movie right now, but when I get back I will check again and try to clear up anything else I can.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Also, when he signed on just after Janet's death, he did so to read a poem his brother posted on his blog about her death. Raven posted a reply to his brother's poem on the date in question, a heartfelt 'she loved you so much, Derek.'

Thanks for joining us, reportergirl.

I have a couple of questions about the statement above. If Derek wanted to write a poem for his sister-in-law, doesn't MySpace seem a bit impersonal to do so? And if he wrote it there, how did he inform Raven about it? E-mail, phone? It seems to me that maybe it would have been just as easy (if not easier) to read the poem to Raven over the phone or to e-mail it to Raven. I've been extremely fortunate to never have experienced such an unspeakable tragedy so I don't know if there's a privacy issue like that or not but MySpace just seems like such a wide-open place that I would think that maybe something as special and as personal as the poem for Janet might be preferred kept between those close to her. But as I said, I've never experienced something like this, and we all know that everyone is different.

Thanks again for registering here. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

 

[Timex]

Again, im not sure how much I would read into that. Mark Lunsford often came in chat and spoke about very personal things, as well as quoted scripture, shared poems he had received etc. This was all while Jess was still missing, and he wasnt even a techie.

The internet has became a place to post such memories. Since the internet was their way of communicating, I really dont find it strange that his brother posted such a poem online, but that's just how I see it.

 

[reportergirl]

Jersey girl,


If you look at all of Derek's online activity, his myspace is more like a journal than a way to communicate. He probably told Raven to look online to read the entry. It's pretty typical for Derek, he sort of dances to the beat of his own drum, often posting poetry and intimate thoughts on myspace for friends and family. It appears to be more of an outlet for him than verbal forms of communication.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Jersey girl,


If you look at all of Derek's online activity, his myspace is more like a journal than a way to communicate. He probably told Raven to look online to read the entry. It's pretty typical for Derek, he sort of dances to the beat of his own drum, often posting poetry and intimate thoughts on myspace for friends and family. It appears to be more of an outlet for him than verbal forms of communication.

I guess I can understand that; lots of us are more comfortable expressing ourselves in writing. Thanks for your response.