First real post here and I have read all of the previous posts....sorry, this will be a little long.
I don't live in MLT but have lived around the MLT area for 30 years or so.
I seem to have just enough information to start investigating but not enough to draw any actual conclusions and as a result seem to be going around in circles.
Here are my impressions and thoughts...
The first thing I would want done would to have bloodhounds with Cheryl's scent, all over the area where she parked and the surrounding streets as well as the area where she was left in the culvert.
I would want them walking up driveways and around cars parked in driveways etc. I would want to know if her scent ever lead to the street implying an abduction by car or across or along the street to a house etc.
Driving around that neighborhood you see quite a few home with chain link fences and gates restricting access and so it might be difficult, but most do not have fences.
It was stated earlier that K9's were used, but does that mean bloodhounds?
I saw pictures of MLT police using German Shepherds in early photos, but bloodhounds are the only breed who's evidence is admissible in U.S. courts.
I would be contacting these people
http://www.k9sardog.com/ if the police were unable to provide bloodhounds
"Trained man-trackers" (as reported in the Herald) are not the same as animals detecting scent.
They can't detect footprints on pavement and sidewalks and the culvert area is covered with blackberry brambles.
It seems that the circle of suspects usually begins with the family and moves outward to people who have contact and then to neighbors and then people in the neighborhood. That is why I think it is probably someone from that area who had observed her.
The area near her house, the park n ride and the culvert (where she was found) has many steep embankments off the shoulder of the road where two people could have easily thrown someone hiding them from site, but the culvert is one of the few that has very few houses and a single person could have hidden her.
My impressions about the street where her car was found and the trail etc. reflect my own experiences hitchhiking all over the u.s. as a teen.
I'v been in precarious situations but I also have a bit of denial about anything bad happening to me, so I am not overly cautious, but I am always aware of my surroundings.
The trail is "creepy" to me due to all of the other side trails I found along the trail.
These are well worn trails that lead down to, and away from, the main trail. Some lead to houses and others I did not follow far enough to find out where they went.
The street her car was found is not that close to the park and ride.
I would say a 5 minute walk at a good clip. to the main park n ride area.
If I used that park n ride, that street would be a place of last resort to park. If the Park n ride was full, it would be the closest place to park though.
I would take the sidewalk any day over the trail because the trail is muddy, dark and made me feel apprehension. It does not feel safe in the light, let alone dawn or dusk.
There is a video camera at the end of that trail on the park n ride side so it could be determined how often she actually took the trail.
I find it odd and curious that the one day she forgets her badge this happens.
I say "the one day" because being a system's analyst, I am sure she was a linear thinker and doubt she forgot her badge often.
My crime investigation experience is extremely limited and is only a reflection of what my wife has recorded on tv (due to my lack of interest in learning how to operate our tv), as a result, I have watched endless episodes of every true crime show out there.
So, keeping it simple, This is where I am at with the limited knowledge I have.
I think she left her house and parked on the street.
Because it has been reported that they found items of hers outside the car ( I tried to find the link but can't at the moment), I think she got out of her vehicle and shortly thereafter, realized she didn't have her badge.
At that point, I think she was either literally picked up and taken to a vehicle or enticed to a house or vehicle.
She was kept somewhere for hours or days and left in the culvert sometime that week.
I think the person is from MLT or nearby. It would be very easily to get on the freeway at that point and drive away, hiding her somewhere where else, but they didn't.
I do not post much of anything online, but from the pictures I have seen, Cheryl seemed like a really sweet person who contributed a lot of good to the people around her.
We need to keep the pressure on and keep this story alive to get it solved.
Here are more pictures of the park area and the park n ride.
Four levels of parking and a huge parking lot.
