Deceased/Not Found CA - Sierra LaMar, 15, Morgan Hill, 16 March 2012 #5 *A. Garcia-Torres guilty*

[oceanblueeyes]

He made it sound like he sees the man often and this man is always dressed in black? I just find that strange. And by him saying he hasn't seen the man since Sierra disappeared it almost seems like he is implying the man in black could be involved.

Most people when asked for a description would give height, weight, age etc etc not a description of always wearing black. Although I suppose it's absolutely possible this man always wears black, I just find that to be an odd description. And NO I am not implying the farm worker is involved in Sierra's disappearance at all. It's just odd to me is all.

There are people that tend to where the same colors all the time.

I dont think he is trying to imply anything. He is just stating what he has observed and that he hasnt seen the man in the area since Sierra went missing.

I find him very genuine and honest.

What he saw may have nothing to do with Sierra but it is good that he is speaking up and I am sure he has told the same thing to LE but more in depth.

IMO

 

[mysticrose]

A person that always dressed in black everyday would stick out to me, and would certainly raise a flag if they no longer showed up at the stop after umpteen times of seeing them after Sierra went missing....

I'm sure Luis gave a full description to who asked for it

 

[mysticrose]

I would assume that there will be a video camera on the bus if it was public transit ?

 

[voxrock2000]

If I text my daughter and get no response I assume she is:
1. Napping (she could be an Olympic napper)
2. Charging her phone (which won't turn on until it has a partial charge
3. In the shower or the kitchen
4. Busy texting or IMing someone more interesting
I usually wait a half hour to an hour and try her again. It doesn't always work.

My point, is when did her mom start worrying? Was she home for hours wondering where Sierra was after school before she got the email from the school? Did they have a falling out that day? The pic she posted sticking out her tongue. Was she making a point? Did her mom think she was giving her the silent treatment? What was in the texts she sent after 3:45? When is she normally home from school and when did her mom get home if she worked until 3:45?

 

[Portabella]

I think if someone wears black everyday, and is at a bus stop daily it could be that it a requirement, sort of uniform for work. Many jobs require you to wear black pants and shoes and some fast foods even supply them.

 

[houndstooth]

My point, is when did her mom start worrying? Was she home for hours wondering where Sierra was after school before she got the email from the school? Did they have a falling out that day? The pic she posted sticking out her tongue. Was she making a point? Did her mom think she was giving her the silent treatment? What was in the texts she sent after 3:45? When is she normally home from school and when did her mom get home if she worked until 3:45?

This reminds me. Do we know when they first contacted LE to report her?

 

[liz b.]

He made it sound like he sees the man often and this man is always dressed in black? I just find that strange. And by him saying he hasn't seen the man since Sierra disappeared it almost seems like he is implying the man in black could be involved.

Most people when asked for a description would give height, weight, age etc etc not a description of always wearing black. Although I suppose it's absolutely possible this man always wears black, I just find that to be an odd description. And NO I am not implying the farm worker is involved in Sierra's disappearance at all. It's just odd to me is all.

I thought his description of the guy was odd too. And if it was just someone waiting for a bus, I don't see the relevance at all. The video looked to have been edited. If it was a guy who waited near the school bus stop, the bus driver may well have seen him..MOO It was never stated,or even implied,that the man at the bus stop had a vehicle...MOO

 

[askfornina]

This reminds me. Do we know when they first contacted LE to report her?

http://www.mercurynews.com/educatio...appearance-raises-questions-about-how-schools

The day Sierra LaMar failed to get on the school bus at 7:15 a.m., teachers logged her into their computers as absent, hour by hour, throughout the day.

But not until 6 p.m. -- nearly 11 hours later -- did Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill send an automated email and phone call to the mother of the teen who vanished almost two weeks ago.

The time lag cost critical search hours and frustrated Marlene LaMar, who drove to the high school that March 16 afternoon hoping her 15-year-old daughter missed the bus home. After more frantic calls to friends and family, she called police 27 minutes after receiving the 6 p.m. email that her daughter never showed up for school.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I, as well as all my kids, were all required to have a set of clothes (gym shorts & t-shirt and sneakers) just for PE, kept in our locker in the gym. We took them home on Fridays so they could be laundered and brought back to school on Monday. There was rarely a need to bring extra clothes, we didn't wear our regualar clothes for PE. Granted, that's been a lot of years ago, so things may have changed but the only time we brought a clean set of clothes to school was if we planned on staying overnight with a friend.

Back when I was in high school, we were supposed to wear these awful gym uniforms.

After the first few weeks of school, I, along with every other girl, stopped wearing the uniforms. We all brought a complete change of clothes to school with us on PE days. Including underwear.

This was in Iowa only a few years after Tinker v Des Moines and schools were very sensitised about the First Amendment rights of students. The only rule they enforced was that we had to wear gym shoes (safety rule and therefore permissible under Tinker).

My niece informs me that they STILL have those dorky gym uniforms and girls STILL pack a complete change of clothes on PE day.

(My mind boggles--my niece, who has to try on at least two different outfits even to go to the grocery store, could bring herself to pack a single change of clothes for PE days? and did she take a carryon case for her makeup? Some things, an aunt is better off not to know)

 

[anju481205]

You know everyone that is suspicious of this Luis guys- we don't even know how or what the reporter asked him. It would be kind of weird if Luis just blurted out that there's a black clothed man everyday at the bus, however most likely te reporter asked him first "so is there anyone that looked suspicious to you around her area" or "any idea as to who she may be with?" it's all media editing folks. But I agree that it's super weird how LE hasn't done a drawing or that the fact this info of a black clothed man hasn't even blown out of proportion by the media as the handcuffs and condoms were and RSo dad. Maybe the man came forward and was cleared by investigators

 

[GrainneDhu]

He is a farm worker.

He is on this video too.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8593656

As for how he was dressed, if I knew I were going to be on TV, I would try to dress "nice normal." Meaning not anything formal but definitely good enough to eat at a family type restaurant.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I hear you, PS, and wonder if this neighbor is credible, why has there been no "composite sketch" of this person. I would think this is pretty big news, so why have we not heard or seen a sketch of this guy .:moo:

Hard to tell from the video but my first question would be, was the witness close enough to get a good look at the suspect's face?

There's all sorts of studies that show that humans can recognise other humans via the way they stand or walk without seeing the other person's face.

If the witness just recognised him by his general outline and way of moving, he may not have enough to do a sketch.

Plus, sometimes LE does *not* release sketches. In the Elizabeth Smart case, for instance, her parents had to make a unilateral decision to go public with the sketch after the PD refused to.

 

[GrainneDhu]

He made it sound like he sees the man often and this man is always dressed in black? I just find that strange. And by him saying he hasn't seen the man since Sierra disappeared it almost seems like he is implying the man in black could be involved.

Most people when asked for a description would give height, weight, age etc etc not a description of always wearing black. Although I suppose it's absolutely possible this man always wears black, I just find that to be an odd description. And NO I am not implying the farm worker is involved in Sierra's disappearance at all. It's just odd to me is all.

I do not know this witness, so I have no idea what cultural things may come into play for him.

But I do know that there is a fascinating body of research that shows that people from different cultures use different characteristics when describing strangers.

So, for instance, someone who is Japanese uses different characteristics to describe a stranger than someone who is USAn.

Unlike smiles, for which there is lots of evidence that they are hardwired, apparently recognition traits are purely learned.

 

[90Nine]

BBM
Something to think about......[/QUOTE

A question came to mind last night - the current bus driver says in her interview that she's been driving Sierra for 6 weeks. Nothing has been mentioned about a previous bus driver. I wonder if Sierra only started taking the school bus 6 weeks ago and had a ride before that (since moving there in October).

Does anyone know?

 

[90Nine]

I am not sure what you mean? If the man is a white man with long hair wearing dark clothing, then it is what it is, no?

I agree. I am sure he gave a very in depth description to LE. He did not have time to do that on the quick video.

IMO

It seems like they could easily find out who this guys is. If he takes a regular bus (I don't know if that is the case) everyday, then likely he has a bus pass that can be traced back to him, and the driver can give more information.

That would be great!

 

[90Nine]

By using google maps I can see that there is a stop on the 68 line at Santa Teresa and Scheller, and also one at Santa Teresa and Palm. My guess is Luis was referring to a guy at a VTA stop.

So this is possibly a bus stop that this guy walked past Sierra to get to his stop everyday....

On a side note, if that is the case, then is really poor planning by the school district. I did a bunch of research on how school bus stops are chosen, and this would be an odd scenario. :twocents:

 

[houndstooth]

Hi Houndstooth - Just thinking outloud...I'm confused as to why Luis would make a very clear statement at the end about the man at the bus stop not being there again after Sierra disappeared.

Don't know.

But, he said he wasn't in the field (on Santa Teresa) on the day she disappeared, so he isn't there every day.
How would he know definitely if he has been there since or not?

 

[JDB]

You know what is strange is this field worker talks about this man, But the bus driver never has said a word about a man hanging around the bus stop, So I really wonder how credible this is which might explain why there is no sketch.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Sorry Clu, everybody.
I listened again and he works in the field near where the bag and phone were found and that's why he's never seen her before in his life!
This is not the school bus stop.

The man he sees waiting on the side of the road is over there.
So I guess I'll ask again: Anybody have a bus route for VTA for Morgan Hill?

I googled VTA and got the bus routes.
Sorry...I don't know how to bring over links yet.

 

[Whisperer]

Why has no one brought up the fact that the perp may be a farm worker?