WA WA - Shantina Smiley, 29, & Azriel Carver, 8 (fnd deceased), Olympia, Mar 2010 - #3

[houndstooth]

bbm

According to this article Det. Stine said it was submerged, and in the 911 call, it is also said it was almost completely covered, when it was first noticed.




http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/mar/19/missing-boys-death-ruled-accidental/?print=1


911 Call

http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-031610-audio-search,0,2743159.mp3file

Keys on the DASH?! That's new to me. I didn't know that where they were left!

Thanks! I am surprised that it was still deep enough to mostly cover it 5 hours after high tide though.

ETA: Conversely, it would have been covered 5 hours before high tide there too. So completely submerged by 1 am??

 

[sorrell skye]

I'm posting this pic again to show what the beach looked like when the van was found, and how it likely looked when they arrived (although nighttime).

The beach near the shoreline is not the kind of shoreline that is easy to get stuck in, as I've posted before. There are too many rocks, or shells, or whatever they are - there would have provided ample traction, IMO. It doesn't appear to be a loose, sandy shoreline.

I don't believe the reason for being at the water's edge was due to being stuck (at the time they arrived). After the tide washed in, it's possible, due to the water washing the sand from beneath the tires. But, IMO, not when they arrived.

 

[PaulR]

I wonder if her body could have been eaten by one of the thousands of sixgill sharks that live in the Sound. They can get very big, not much is known about them...

 

[Beyond Belief]

I wonder if they were sleeping in the rear of the van. Maybe thats why she opened the hatch, if she was already back there, to see what was going on with the water.

 

[candi123]

What??? That is very suspicious! I'm sure after all this time having that vehicle, she would have figured the GPS out. It seems like maybe she was trying to pass the time and keep her son occupied and didn't have her phone with her because she didn't want to be found? Soooo odd. I am now really convinced that she was not in the right frame of mind that night!

Just because it was a Caravan does not mean it actually had gps. I had one a couple of years ago and did not have gps. You can get a luxury model or a basic.

 

[sorrell skye]

Keys on the DASH?! That's new to me. I didn't know that where they were left!

Thanks! I am surprised that it was still deep enough to mostly cover it 5 hours after high tide though.

ETA: Conversely, it would have been covered 5 hours before high tide there too. So completely submerged by 1 am??

Yes, Hound, the keys were found on the dashboard. Also, according to this article, coloring books were found in the van, too, even though the doors were open:

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22859850/detail.html

Inside the van, investigators found children's coloring books, car keys and miscellaneous items, but nothing that can direct them to the whereabouts of Smiley and her son.

It also appears the water went no higher than the top of the seats.

 

[RubyRed]

Keys on the DASH?! That's new to me. I didn't know that where they were left!

Thanks! I am surprised that it was still deep enough to mostly cover it 5 hours after high tide though.

ETA: Conversely, it would have been covered 5 hours before high tide there too. So completely submerged by 1 am??

bbm

I wonder how she was keeping Azriel warm? Did she start the van, occasionally, then take the keys out.?

 

[floridaheather]

"Besides searching the area, investigators have looked at phone records and talked to people who know Smiley or her son or may have seen them Saturday night. Her fiance, Robb Simmons, told authorities she was a recovering alcoholic who had relapsed two weeks ago."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000864-504083.html

It also asks at the end for information on her "whereabouts" & leaves a number to call--one of which is a Thurston Co. Crime Stoppers line, the other is the sheriff.

 

[sorrell skye]

Does anyone know what time LE arrived @ the beach on Sun. the 14th?

 

[PaulR]

I wonder if they were sleeping in the rear of the van. Maybe thats why she opened the hatch, if she was already back there, to see what was going on with the water.

... or to make leg room for them to stretch out.

 

[Beyond Belief]

Don't the backseats fold down in that van?

 

[houndstooth]

Yes, Hound, the keys were found on the dashboard. Also, according to this article, coloring books were found in the van, too, even though the doors were open:

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22859850/detail.html

Inside the van, investigators found children's coloring books, car keys and miscellaneous items, but nothing that can direct them to the whereabouts of Smiley and her son.

It also appears the water went no higher than the top of the seats.

Again, that description is more in line with photo evidence that the water did not wash all the sand off the windshield and areas of the hood on the driver side. You can see where it is washed clean on the passenger side of the hood in those garage photos on the first pages of this thread.

 

[sorrell skye]

Odds are low - IMO. They are rare, almost extinct and don't come above 500 feet. Not sure where you got thousands....

http://www.komonews.com/news/69353182.html

Looks like the females like to have a good time with the boys:

"When a pregnant 14-foot shark washed up near Shelton, biologists found close to 80 pups. Sadly, none survived. But tests showed that up to eight different male sharks had fertilized her eggs."

More from the link:

"These days, instead of 40, cameras at the Seattle Aquarium capture only one or two sharks at a time," Christiansen said.

 

[PaulR]

Odds are low - IMO. They are rare, almost extinct and don't come above 500 feet. Not sure where you got thousands....

http://www.komonews.com/news/69353182.html

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/segments/view/1714

It’s believed Puget Sound is a sixgill shark nursery: a safe place to give birth and raise hundreds or perhaps a thousand or more young sharks.

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=15115

Based on analysis of tissue samples, scientists believe the sharks in Puget Sound are related – an extended family estimated at about 8,000 adult sharks. That could be the adult population for Puget Sound or for a larger area. It is also a very tentative estimate and probably a conservative one, she adds.

They don't have to come above 500 feet, but if her body sank due to the cold water, she'd come to them - so to speak.

 

[90Nine]

Yes, Hound, the keys were found on the dashboard. Also, according to this article, coloring books were found in the van, too, even though the doors were open:

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22859850/detail.html

Inside the van, investigators found children's coloring books, car keys and miscellaneous items, but nothing that can direct them to the whereabouts of Smiley and her son.

It also appears the water went no higher than the top of the seats.

when they say top of the seats, do they mean the cushion or the head piece?

 

[sorrell skye]

Again, that description is more in line with photo evidence that the water did not wash all the sand off the windshield and areas of the hood on the driver side. You can see where it is washed clean on the passenger side of the hood in those garage photos on the first pages of this thread.

BBM

That makes sense - if the van had been "completely submerged", as the 911 caller claimed, how could the sand have still been on the windshield in such a distinct pattern when it was found?

Does anyone still have that photo of the van's windshield?

 

[sorrell skye]

Found the pic.

 

[floridaheather]

Right you are. You can sleep or whatever on the beach without driving almost to the waters edge! Backing down. Seems like an intoxicated person would not think to back down there as most people who go to the waterfront park face out to enjoy to view and watch the water. Only if you were keeping watch in the other direction would you face an unattractive road bed.

OMG. that's so true! That is the only reason someone would turn their vehicle around and face the road. And that is the reason! But is it to watch for someone or wait... LE needs to GO BACK & ask these people very carefully abt the directions she had asked for...

 

[sorrell skye]

when they say top of the seats, do they mean the cushion or the head piece?

That's what I'd like to know, too!

 

[yosande]

Does anyone know where the scent was lost, as the stepdaughter said the scent was lost, not that they never found any. tia