Smith Mountain Lake - significant?

A short while back, someone posted that the lead detective on Janet's case had been out to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, apparently in relation to Janet's case. We don't really know yet what the significance is, (if there is any). However, because the trip out there came so long after the investigation started, I can't help but believe that there's something very important going on regarding SML. Had Raven and Janet visited there in the past (and why would that interest LE over 9 months after the murder)? Has Raven visited there after the murder? How long after? Could it have been during the time that we know Raven was in Virginia - for the funeral on May 7th, the memorial service in a separate location on May 9th, and at least that one extra day of May 8th during which Raven could have been doing almost anything and even alone if he wanted to since he was driving his own vehicle alone during that time. Could it have been with another woman? We just don't know.

I guess the bottom line is that for some reason, over 9 months after the murder, police were at Smith Mountain Lake. Does this indicate that they are STILL looking at Raven as a suspect after all of this time? (I think so.) And if so, what are they looking for at SML? What do they think might have happened there? And when do they think it happened? I'm so intrigued by LE's visit to SML, and I'd love to explore everyone's thoughts on it.

I'm going to look for the original post. I think it's on Where's Raven, along with some past discussions about the types of events that occur at SML.

Here's the original post by terminatrixator on January 30, 2006:

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Where's Raven???

"... I did hear a very interesting scoop today.

I heard the Lead Homicide Detective, Detective Vaughn, of the Durham Police Department, who is handling Janet Marie Christiansen and her unborn child's brutal murder, just got back from a trip to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, where he was conducting interviews."

Following that post, there is some discussion regarding the lake.

I'm going to copy some information here so that new readers can get familiar with SML.

It seems that SML is largely a rental community during the summer season but they do have some year-round residents. The property appears to be very expensive. The rentals range from affordable to very expensive, depending on the type of accomodations one chooses.

Here's a link for rentals:

Realty Services Vacation Rentals at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

SML Chamber of Commerce and a list of some upcoming events:

Welcome To Smith Mountain Lake

May 9 - SMLCCP Annual Corporate Golf Cup
May 21 - Tom Maynard Memorial Poker Run
July 3/4 - Smith Mountain Lake Fireworks
July 16 - 5 wakeboarding tournaments
August 13 - The 15th Annual Antique & Classic Boat Show and Rally
September 24/25 - 17th Annual SML Wine Festival
October 7, 8, 9 - SML Charity Home Tour & Gala
October 15 - SML Fall Festival
November 5 - SML Fall Chili Festival

Long & Foster: Homes for sale in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

Smith Mountain Lake is one of Virginia's largest lakes and it holds the state record for striped bass and muskie. Smith Mountain Lake encompasses over 40 miles, 20,000 acres of water, and is surrounded by 500 miles of shoreline. There are many good reasons to choose to buy a home, land, or real estate around Smith Mountain Lake – low unemployment, high property values, high percentage of people with a college education, excellent schools, for example.

Bedford County, along the lakes northeastern border, is an attractive place to consider to buying a home or to invest in real estate. According to the Census, the combined city and county population is 66,671. The median home price is $99,900 and the median household income is between $40,000 and $28,000. The prices at which homes are bought and sold vary greatly depending upon their proximity to Smith Mountain Lake. The real estate surrounding the lake is often twice the price of the homes for sale within the city.

Long & Foster: Homes for sale in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

I just got the information that Detective Vaughn was there through a friend that lives in NC, they are still trying to find out the significance of SML. I myself would like to know the significance of it.

Some pics of property at SML:

Smith Mountain Lake Property

Some pictures of rentals on the lakefront:

Smith Mountain Lake Vacation Rentals - Silver Bay View Cottages

Smith Mountain Lake Vacation Rentals - Silver Bay View Cottages

Smith Mountain Lake Vacation Rentals - Silver Bay View Cottages

Smith Mountain Lake Vacation Rentals - Silver Bay View Cottages

Wow, this really looks like the perfect place for Raven ...

-> SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE HOTELS - MOTELS <--

Parasailing, scuba diving, go karts, jet skiing, water skiing, sky diving ... (Also biking, camping, annual triathalons ...)

--> SPORTS SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE!!

You’ve reached a little bit of paradise here at Smith Mountain Lake, where soaring mountains meet sparkling waters, where days can be as exciting and full, or as peacefully empty, as you’d like them.

Visit us and find out why professionals find corporate – and personal – retreats here. Why honeymooners seek out our romantic inns. Why kids love to play in our parks and on our beaches. Why retirees build dream homes overlooking our lake. Why boaters, anglers, water-skiers and wakeboarders love our 22,000 acres of water and 500 miles of shoreline.

There’s high-end shopping, fine dining, art galleries, tournament fishing, championship golf and award-winning wineries. No matter the season, Smith Mountain Lake is a perfect vacation, with a full year’s calendar of festivals and events, plus indoor and outdoor diversions for any weather...

Smith Mountain Lake, VA

This is very intriguing but I don't know what the significance would be ...

Did Raven dispose of a weapon there shortly after the murder? Near the funeral even? Near homecoming?
DID he look into property there?
Did he have a tryst with someone at that lake?

What are all of the possibilities that would make this significant? What would make LE go to this location 9 months after the crime?

Are we thinking that SML might be the dumping place for a computer or the murder weapon? And if this is true, I believe that Karyn and possibly Jim knew about it.

If this is true, then I'd like to know how far away from the house the VX was parked. Could this have been the place Raven put the weapon and computer for safe keeping? How long would it take someone to get to the VX?

Very good questions, Jenifred. I assume that LE knows where the VX was that night? We've heard that it was possibly parked elsewhere with a For Sale sign on it but that's never been verified publicly as far as I know. In any case, as far as we know anyway, no warrant was ever issued for the VX. Therefore, Raven could indeed have deposited things there that night to dispose of later. Without LE checking that vehicle, I guess we'll never know for sure. Nonetheless, common sense tells us that that would be very dangerous. But there's nothing saying that he didn't dump some things off near a lake somewhere, in a pre-dug hole, who knows where - to go back later, pick the stuff up with the VX, and travel to Va. with it.

I don't necessarily believe that Jim or Karyn would know about it if he did dispose of things in Virginia for the simple fact that we've learned that Jim and Karyn were driving Janet's car (who went to the shop to pick that up, I wonder), and Raven was driving the VX alone.

The idea that he was also looking in to property there (possibly) is also upsetting. With WHAT money would Raven even be able to THINK about investing in SML property? It was WAY out of his league.

Insurance money?

JerseyGirl said:

.

Click to expand...

..snip: I guess the bottom line is that for some reason, over 9 months after the murder, police were at Smith Mountain Lake. Does this indicate that they are STILL looking at Raven as a suspect after all of this time? (I think so.) And if so, what are they looking for at SML? What do they think might have happened there? And when do they think it happened? I'm so intrigued by LE's visit to SML, and I'd love to explore everyone's thoughts on it.


..thanks for this thread.........the importance of smith mountain lake is now clear..

..as stated earlier, here and there, sml is about an hour's drive from the funeral location ?

..and raven had a "day off" between that and the memorial ?

..what an oppurtunity for raven to ( tell friends/family ) that he was going for a drive to sml ( "b/c it was a special place for he and janet" ? ) when in fact he was disposing of crucial evidence ?...the murder weapon.......

..it kills me that the VX may never have been searched and that it was the key place for "the murderer" to stash the knife, the 'stolen laptop' , immediatly after the murder.......

..or, as jersey surmised, did he go to sml to meet up with his latest "affair" ?

..whatever the reason, why would raven drive all the way there the day after the funeral ? and why would LE follow him there 9 months later "to conduct interviews"? interviewing who ? and why ?

..it seems that we know for sure that LE has been at smith mountain lake recently "conducting interviews" regarding this case.......

..did LE get an anonymous tip that led them there ?

..why on earth would raven go there? the day following the funeral, did he go alone ? did anyone see him anywhere ELSE on that day ? who cared for kaiden ? which vehicle was raven driving on that particular day ?

..it does seem highly suspicious ....why would LE end up at smith mountain lake many months later ? someone, or something, caused them to be there...........

lauriej said:

..why on earth would raven go there? the day following the funeral, did he go alone ? did anyone see him anywhere ELSE on that day ? who cared for kaiden ? which vehicle was raven driving on that particular day ?

Click to expand...

We don't know for sure that he went there around the time of the funeral. It just seems interesting to me that LE has been in the area, conducting interviews when we know for sure that Raven was indeed there after the murder. Not necessarily at the lake itself (although I tend to believe that he was), but definitely in the area. And to have had an entire day between funeral and memorial service, his own vehicle, and plenty of people that probably would have given nearly anything to be able to hold on to Janet's baby, I believe that it's possible that Raven had the opportunity to slip off alone if he had wanted to.

And if he didn't slip off to there during the days of the funeral, then he must have been there at SOME point after the murder. I don't believe that LE would still be conducting interviews at the lake 9 months after the murder if it was just to touch base with people that might have seen him while he was vacationing 2 years ago. IMO, it's something more significant than that. We'd need to hear from people that knew Raven during that period of time - did Raven go away at any point between May 9th and when he moved to Utah?

I would be willing to pay money to know the answers to the questions you asked above. I think that the reality is, however, that people that know the answers to these questions aren't going to come here and share what they know. And that's okay; I can't say that I blame them. However, for all of you that do know of Raven's behaviors, please ... I beg you ... take a long, hard look at your recollections. Does anything seem off? Does anything seem forced? Does anything seem inappropriate or inconsistent with a grieving spouse? Does he really seem to care about Kaiden or does it seem he's pushing him off? Ask yourself these questions and if you have even a shred of doubt, keep your eyes wide open. Don't be blinded by the Raven that you think you know because if he did this crime against the person that should have meant more to him than anyone else in the world, he can do it to you too. And if he didn't do it, then I hope & pray that that will come out too. In the meantime, there are many of you that see Raven on a regular basis; just keep your eyes open. And call LE if anything seems askew. It's the right thing to do, especially for that baby boy.

JerseyGirl said:

We don't know for sure that he went there around the time of the funeral. It just seems interesting to me that LE has been in the area, conducting interviews when we know for sure that Raven was indeed there after the murder. Not necessarily at the lake itself (although I tend to believe that he was), but definitely in the area. And to have had an entire day between funeral and memorial service, his own vehicle, and plenty of people that probably would have given nearly anything to be able to hold on to Janet's baby, I believe that it's possible that Raven had the opportunity to slip off alone if he had wanted to.

And if he didn't slip off to there during the days of the funeral, then he must have been there at SOME point after the murder. I don't believe that LE would still be conducting interviews at the lake 9 months after the murder if it was just to touch base with people that might have seen him while he was vacationing 2 years ago. IMO, it's something more significant than that. We'd need to hear from people that knew Raven during that period of time - did Raven go away at any point between May 9th and when he moved to Utah?

I would be willing to pay money to know the answers to the questions you asked above. I think that the reality is, however, that people that know the answers to these questions aren't going to come here and share what they know. And that's okay; I can't say that I blame them. However, for all of you that do know of Raven's behaviors,

please ... I beg you ... take a long, hard look at your recollections. Does anything seem off? Does anything seem forced? Does anything seem inappropriate or inconsistent with a grieving spouse? Does he really seem to care about Kaiden or does it seem he's pushing him off?

Ask yourself these questions and if you have even a shred of doubt, keep your eyes wide open. Don't be blinded by the Raven that you think you know because if he did this crime against the person that should have meant more to him than anyone else in the world, he can do it to you too.

And if he didn't do it, then I hope & pray that that will come out too. In the meantime, there are many of you that see Raven on a regular basis; just keep your eyes open. And call LE if anything seems askew. It's the right thing to do, especially for that baby boy.

Click to expand...

JG - Great Post, I wanted to bold a bit so that it stands out.

I so have to say (as you all may have guessed) that I believe 100% that he did do it, and will stand by this until the bitter end.

lauriej said:

..it does seem highly suspicious ....why would LE end up at smith mountain lake many months later ? someone, or something, caused them to be there...........

Click to expand...

I wish I knew what brought this about. Was it indeed a tip? Or are they STILL connecting the dots after all of this time? Does it have something to do with evidence that's since been analyzed?

Does Janet have family in the Smith Mountain Lake area?

lauriej said:

..snip: and why would LE follow him there 9 months later "to conduct interviews"? interviewing who ? and why ?

Click to expand...

One thing is for sure about SML - the same people that might be around that area in May or June wouldn't necessarily be the same people that are there in the winter months. The Lake is a huge tourist draw and is much more populated in the warmer months than in the winter months.