Hello Sleuthers,
I have been conducting research and a few thoughts/ideas popped up and was curious what you thought about them.
The first is that from all indications, after the fire started, Jeannie and/or George were the first ones out of the house. If not the very first, they were out there very quickly after that (within seconds). If there was any "unusual" activities (i.e. kidnappers, abductors, etc.), it would have been very difficult for someone to grab the children without being seen by George or Jeannie or anyone else for that matter.
The next idea is that Marian (sp?) ran to a neighbors to call the fire dept. That means the neighbors were alerted very quickly after the fire started so if any illegal activity was happening, it would be increasingly more and more difficult as more and more people were around. So if there was an abduction, it would have had to have been all planned out and completed before the fire. And that means not alerting the balance of the family (assuming of course there was a plan or kidnappers at all).
OK, lets assume there never were any outsiders involved. The kids perished in the fire. What happened to the bodies? If George removed them, it would have been stunningly difficult, if not impossible to do before the fire dept arrived. Not to be gruesome but sifting through a pile of still very hot ashes would have been a very horrible (again, almost impossible) task. He would have most likely had to do this in the dark or at a minimum, with a lantern or some device from the barn. And how do you explain that to your family? And why would he do it? Where did the family go immediately after the fire during the night? Neighbors? I think I read where they spent some time in an outbuilding or barn structure after the fire. I cant imagine how awful that had to be only from living that close to the fire scene.
Lets say George somehow felt guilty for whatever reason and decided to relocate the bodies. It would have been stunningly difficult to do this because of the people around that would have been "on the scene". I'm sure an investigation of his property was conducted at some point.
Does anyone know if there was any kind of insurance pay out? Would there be records of this?
If there was an abduction, it seems odd (at a minimum) that it would have been conducted on Christmas Eve. It seems like an abduction would have been easier to do while the kids were walking home from school, etc. If Im planning this out, I would plan this to have as little "interference" as possible.
Also, the state fire marshal declared the fire started in the office next to the parents bedroom. Does anyone know what led them to this conclusion? I know they later recanted their statement but to be blunt, how could they know this? They are looking at a smoldering pile of ashes, how can you tell exactly where the fire started? I wonder if they had a clue like a penny in the fusebox (a relatively common practice back then). That would have been a tell tale sign. With the Christmas lights possibly overloading a circuit, George puts the penny in place and goes to bed. Didnt Jeannie said she was surprised to find the lights on (and blinds not drawn) after the phone call and before she went to sleep? And what led the fire dept to recant the statement? Was it an insurance matter? Was there some other motivation?
The local fire dept didnt do itself any favors by placing a beef liver in an ammo box and planting it in the crime scene. Was there any backlash to this? Did he lose his job because of this? Seems like someone should have held him accountable.
I have more questions but I was curious what the fellow sleuthers thought about this?
Thanks,
Dan
I have been conducting research and a few thoughts/ideas popped up and was curious what you thought about them.
The first is that from all indications, after the fire started, Jeannie and/or George were the first ones out of the house. If not the very first, they were out there very quickly after that (within seconds). If there was any "unusual" activities (i.e. kidnappers, abductors, etc.), it would have been very difficult for someone to grab the children without being seen by George or Jeannie or anyone else for that matter.
The next idea is that Marian (sp?) ran to a neighbors to call the fire dept. That means the neighbors were alerted very quickly after the fire started so if any illegal activity was happening, it would be increasingly more and more difficult as more and more people were around. So if there was an abduction, it would have had to have been all planned out and completed before the fire. And that means not alerting the balance of the family (assuming of course there was a plan or kidnappers at all).
OK, lets assume there never were any outsiders involved. The kids perished in the fire. What happened to the bodies? If George removed them, it would have been stunningly difficult, if not impossible to do before the fire dept arrived. Not to be gruesome but sifting through a pile of still very hot ashes would have been a very horrible (again, almost impossible) task. He would have most likely had to do this in the dark or at a minimum, with a lantern or some device from the barn. And how do you explain that to your family? And why would he do it? Where did the family go immediately after the fire during the night? Neighbors? I think I read where they spent some time in an outbuilding or barn structure after the fire. I cant imagine how awful that had to be only from living that close to the fire scene.
Lets say George somehow felt guilty for whatever reason and decided to relocate the bodies. It would have been stunningly difficult to do this because of the people around that would have been "on the scene". I'm sure an investigation of his property was conducted at some point.
Does anyone know if there was any kind of insurance pay out? Would there be records of this?
If there was an abduction, it seems odd (at a minimum) that it would have been conducted on Christmas Eve. It seems like an abduction would have been easier to do while the kids were walking home from school, etc. If Im planning this out, I would plan this to have as little "interference" as possible.
Also, the state fire marshal declared the fire started in the office next to the parents bedroom. Does anyone know what led them to this conclusion? I know they later recanted their statement but to be blunt, how could they know this? They are looking at a smoldering pile of ashes, how can you tell exactly where the fire started? I wonder if they had a clue like a penny in the fusebox (a relatively common practice back then). That would have been a tell tale sign. With the Christmas lights possibly overloading a circuit, George puts the penny in place and goes to bed. Didnt Jeannie said she was surprised to find the lights on (and blinds not drawn) after the phone call and before she went to sleep? And what led the fire dept to recant the statement? Was it an insurance matter? Was there some other motivation?
The local fire dept didnt do itself any favors by placing a beef liver in an ammo box and planting it in the crime scene. Was there any backlash to this? Did he lose his job because of this? Seems like someone should have held him accountable.
I have more questions but I was curious what the fellow sleuthers thought about this?
Thanks,
Dan