WY WY - Katie Ferguson, traveling back to Cody from Alabama w/her two children & ex-boyfriend when she vanished around Little Rock AR, 10 Oct 2023

[TravelingBug]

It seems like LE may have found the vehicle just in time for either of two scenarios.

If it were truly out of gas, had Aviles beaten them there it'd have been moved and they'd not have found it.

If he were just saying it was out of gas, then it's likely he would be planning to try to destroy evidence in it by trying to burn at least some of it.

Unless I'm missing it in the aforementioned article where this snippet came from, I've not seen whether LE said it was truly out of gas or if that was a cover for why he was coming to the vehicle with gas (as in also a cover for why it had been abandoned).

Given he'd been back at least a few days at that point, and managed to at least remove the seat and attempt to clean, it seems likely it was just a cover story, IMO.

Deputies were still investigating the Durango when a man walked up to them with a gas canister.

Later identified as Aviles Jr., the man said he was there to fill the Durango up because it had run out of gas and was inoperable, says the affidavit.

 

[Dargon335]

It seems like LE may have found the vehicle just in time for either of two scenarios.

If it were truly out of gas, had Aviles beaten them there it'd have been moved and they'd not have found it.

If he were just saying it was out of gas, then it's likely he would be planning to try to destroy evidence in it by trying to burn at least some of it.

@TravelingBug I agree. Although we don't know for sure, it's possible that the 'gas canister' could have been intended to start a fire and burn the vehicle and the associated evidence. It's also possible the fuel would have been used to move the vehicle to a different location. Either way, I agree that LE found the vehicle before either of those two scenarios took place.

 

[Knox]

Sad news, though I think we all knew the direction this was headed. My thoughts are with Katie’s kids and loved ones. Dammit, I hate that this happens far too frequently.

 

[Frannie]

What do you mean “sad news” - has she been found?

 

[Dargon335]

In search for missing Cody woman, authorities find blood in ex’s vehicle

[...]
Ferguson was last seen in early October, as she began heading back to Wyoming from Alabama with Aviles and their two children. Aviles and the kids made it back to Cody with his vehicle, but Ferguson did not.

Investigators later found Aviles’ SUV in a remote area south of Cody, with a “large quantity” of dried blood inside; the passenger seat — which Ferguson reportedly rode in during the trip from Alabama — had been removed, as had blood stained trim, charging documents say.

The federal charge relates to a fully loaded magazine for a .45 caliber Glock that authorities found in Aviles’ SUV last week, with charging documents alleging some blood was found on the back of the piece of the equipment.

Ferguson’s mother told Cody police that her daughter had relapsed into drug use and had called Aviles for help, according to Williamson’s third-hand summary of the account. After spending several weeks together in Alabama, the affidavit says Ferguson, Aviles and their two young children headed back to Wyoming.

But Ferguson went missing along the way.

The affidavit indicates Aviles later told Ferguson’s family that she left to go get drugs near Little Rock, Arkansas, and never returned. However, when Cody Police Sgt. Josh Van Auken spoke with Aviles on Nov. 2, he told the sergeant that Ferguson “was not missing” and simply didn’t want to speak with her mother, the affidavit says.
[...]

 

[azure]

What do you mean “sad news” - has she been found?

They found putrefied blood and a bullet hole in the passenger side of the SUV they were traveling in, and the passenger seat is missing. IMO, we will not be getting good news.

 

[Dargon335]

They found putrefied blood and a bullet hole in the passenger side of the SUV they were traveling in, and the passenger seat is missing. IMO, we will not be getting good news.

Although there is no conclusive evidence one way or another at this time, based on the facts reported in MSM and by LE regrettably I must agree.

The fact that LE reported large amounts of blood were found in the vehicle, as well as a bullet hole in the passenger side, and the passenger seat was entirely missing, would seem to indicate a traumatic event took place in that vehicle.

 

[Knox]

What do you mean “sad news” - has she been found?

In short - Katie will not be returning home to her kids, IMO.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“We have gone through something very tragic with the loss of Katie,” said Angela Ferguson, Katie’s stepmother, in an audio statement sent Monday to Cowboy State Daily

The footage also captured a bullet hole covered over with duct tape piercing the passenger-side door in the Durango and a heap of clothing covering the front passenger seat, according to court documents.

Someone would later remove that front passenger seat, strip portions of the vehicle trim off and stuff the trim into trash bags in the back of the vehicle.

Investigators found the trash bags, cleaning supplies, various tools, blood-stained clothing and .45-caliber Glock ammunition in a loaded magazine during their search of the Durango, according to the affidavit.

Federal authorities charged Aviles Jr. with being a felon in possession of ammunition since he has a prior felony of heroin possession.

If he’s convicted for possessing ammunition, Aviles Jr. could face 15 years in prison. He remains in federal custody

Family Of Missing Cody Woman Warns About Crowdfunding Effort

The stepmother and sister of Katie Ferguson of Cody, who has been missing for six weeks, warn that a 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 campaign started by a family member “may not…

cowboystatedaily.com

 

[Dargon335]

Family Of Missing Cody Woman Warns Against Bogus Crowdfunding Efforts

[...]
“We have gone through something very tragic with the loss of Katie,” said Angela Ferguson, Katie’s stepmother, in an audio statement sent Monday to Cowboy State Daily.
[...]

[...]
“As time goes on and we figure out who is going to get the children, who’s going to have custody – if we do get funds to help this tragic event, then I would hope that it would go towards funeral costs and back to the children,” she added.
[...]

Do these statements indicate her stepmother has information regarding Katie that LE has not released publicly?

 

[Dargon335]

I've not seen any official statements from MSM or LE sources indicating Katie is deceased. IMO this is the likely outcome, however AFAIK we have no confirmation of that at this time.

Since Katie's ex-BF and both of her children reportedly returned from the trip unharmed, then IMO there are only two logical possibilities regarding the large amount of blood found in his vehicle. Either the blood belongs to Katie, or to another unknown person. Blood and DNA testing should confirm this conclusion, however I've not read any official statements indicating the results of such tests.

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

What an idiot her ex is, but, hey, thanks for putting the majority of the evidence in one spot.

 

[Knox]

What an idiot her ex is, but, hey, thanks for putting the majority of the evidence in one spot.

That’s what drugs do to the brain.
Those poor kids, I hope they are being well cared for.

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

That’s what drugs do to the brain.
Those poor kids, I hope they are being well cared for.

Also, he really outkicked his coverage even being with her to begin with. I thought she was pretty. I'm sure without drugs being involved she would have had nothing to do with him. JMO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Around the time investigators found the ammunition in Aviles Jr.’s Durango, they also found a bullet hole in the passenger door, bloody clothes, other bloodstains and a missing front passenger seat, according to an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
.
Police bodycam footage suggests that Ferguson vanished somewhere near Arkansas or Texas, between Oct. 5 and 7, the affidavit indicates.

The bodycam footage from an Oct. 5 police encounter showing Ferguson still in the Durango did not depict bloodstains or a bullet hole.

But in footage from police encounters from Oct. 9 onward, Ferguson was not in the vehicle — but the bullet hole was in the passenger door by then, the affidavit says

Ex-Boyfriend Of Missing Cody Woman Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Gun Charge

A Cody man suspected of involvement in his girlfriend’s bloody disappearance pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Casper — to a different felony. He pleaded not guilty to a federal firearms charge.

cowboystatedaily.com

 

[vls12345]

I wonder if the bullet hole was from inside the vehicle going outward or from outside going inward?
Imo.

 

[azure]

The bodycam footage from an Oct. 5 police encounter showing Ferguson still in the Durango did not depict bloodstains or a bullet hole.

It seems like there were so many ways that Katie's (alleged) murder could have not happened. She was safely sober and with family until she called the ex to pick her up. Then there was a police "encounter" Oct 5, just before her murder. If they'd arrested the ex, she'd still be alive today.

 

[arielilane]

CODY, Wyo. (Scripps News Billings / Court TV) — A family is fearing the worst for the 33-year-old mother of two who went missing somewhere along a trip from Alabama to Wyoming in October and believes her ex-boyfriend may have the answers they are seeking.

“I never in a million years thought he would do something to her, I didn’t. But now I think he did and I think it was really bad,” Katie’s sister Nicole Ferguson said. “I don’t think she’s alive. I really don’t.”

Missing Wyoming mom case eerily similar to Gabby Petito story

Katie Ferguson was officially reported missing to police in Wyoming on Nov. 2, but her family fears Katie could have disappeared long before.

www.courttv.com

November 27, 2023

Katie, Aviles and their young daughters started driving back to Wyoming in early October, but only three of them made it back. According to the family, Katie was last seen in Trumann, Arkansas around Oct. 5 and was not in the vehicle on Oct. 9 when Aviles was pulled over in Texas.

 

[tlcya]

Nicole said the family is now waiting to hear back from investigators on the DNA results from the blood found in the vehicle.

“I just really hope he, Adam, will talk and just really say what happened,” Nicole said. “I love her and I don’t want to be negative but I don’t think she's coming home, but I at least want her to be found.”

The family has set up accounts at Big Horn Federal Bank and U.S. Bank under the Katie Ferguson Memorial Fund to go towards any searches or memorials in the near future.
'Very tragic direction': Family searching for answers in Wyoming missing woman case

 

[Teche]

What do you mean “sad news” - has she been found?

The passenger seat missing, the 45-magazine, projectile holes inside and outside the door, blood in the vehicle, a gasoline can, and the daughter’s statement that daddy accidentally hurt momma = poor outcome.