Both pair of footwear were found at the scene. I have a feeling that the bodies were skeletonized from being there since July 13, 2012. The foot wear could have been worn, or been on top of the foot, and it would look the same 4-5 months later ... with the only difference being that some bones might be in the hightops near Elizabeth's bones. Lyric was wearing flipflops. They wouldn't have been on her feet ... because they would be bones lying on the ground. I doubt that there was any useful grass evidence on the flipflops.
IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #23
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Both pair of footwear were found at the scene. I have a feeling that the bodies were skeletonized from being there since July 13, 2012. The foot wear could have been worn, or been on top of the foot, and it would look the same 4-5 months later ... with the only difference being that some bones might be in the hightops near Elizabeth's bones. Lyric was wearing flipflops. They wouldn't have been on her feet ... because they would be bones lying on the ground. I doubt that there was any useful grass evidence on the flipflops.
That CK's account was set up just a few hours ago I noticed. I think the real one was deleted or removed due to SO status on facebook. It's probably a fake one. jmo
But I agree with your comment "stay classy". ha! Why would you want to talk/write like that? I've seen perfectly smart people write like that. It's not exactly text message code either.
GrainneDhu
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Grandma drove by the parking lot and skateboard park but didn't get out of the car.
My hunch is that she thought she could see the whole bike trail from her car, which is true except for one short stretch across the lake. Which happened to be where the bicycles were found. She didn't get out at the other park or the elementary school, either (which can both be surveyed from a vehicle).
I think I remember Ollipop, a verified local, saying that there are only 3 places in Evansdale that two kids on bikes could reach easily: a city park, the elementary school and the Meyer's Lake area (bicycle trail and skateboard park).
From what I recall of one of Grandma Wylma's earlier interviews, she started out calling for the girls, then got in her car and started searching for them. Evansdale is pretty small, there aren't a whole lot of places for kids to go.
She wasn't really worried about something happening to the girls; when it came time for her to leave Evansdale on time for her appointment with her other daughter, she left as previously arranged. That sounds to me like a grandma who thought her granddaughters had either simply lost track of time or were being mildly naughty.
It wasn't until she got over to her other daughter's house and found out the girls were still missing that she started to worry. Her other daughter, Aunt TB, thought she knew the girls were at Meyer's Lake, so they drove back to Evansdale to check again.
When Heather heard the girls were missing, she immediately felt they had been abducted, so she went to the police station in person to make a police report. At that point, though, all of Evansdale had been searched via car, so it wasn't that big of an intuitive leap to make (I'm not putting her down, I'm just saying it wasn't a suspicious leap to make).
Otto your last map was awesome! The possible bike routes are a great help to me. Could you please highlight the location of the Collins' home?
You have the word camera on a different building - were there other cameras on these possible routes? TIA
lease:
You have the word camera on a different building - were there other cameras on these possible routes? TIA
lease:GrainneDhu
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Law enforcement has repeatedly asked for help. Repeatedly. Has made many announcements basically saying that no matter how tiny or insignificant you think your tip is, please call it in. Then they set up an email account, in case people might feel more comfortable with email.
As for warning parents to be careful, what would be the point? I live 90 miles away and unaccompanied kids became an extinct species in my area. It's normal in the summer to see little packs of kids roaming all over with no direct adult supervision but that came to a screeching halt 14 July. Even in Wal-Mart, where it is normal to see an adult with the cart and kids making a loose orbit around the moving centre point, kids were being kept within arm's length of parents.
If a parent were so dense as to not be extra vigilant, a warning wasn't going to make a difference.
As it was, even without a warning, there were a rash of "attempted abductions" that turned out to be misunderstandings probably fuelled by fear.
Personal observation: I have noticed that there are states that seem to have a high level of official warning culture and states that have a low level of official warnings. For instance, in Pennsylvania there are signs on every bridge warning that the bridge surface may ice up before the roadbed does.
I have never seen such a sign in Iowa. In Iowa, that's considered something every driver should know before getting behind the wheel and not worthy of wasting signage over.
Neither state is correct, it's just differences in culture.
Excellent report, easily understood. Appreciated!
Do you know "anything" about the crime scene where the girls were
found, status of the bodies, length of time they had been there ...
anything ? Even rumors from LE or anyone close to this ...
Please know in advance, Im asking and posting knowing full well you may not know anything or have any way to know, but I am frustrated we have literally nothing from LE and may not have into the future ...
Thanks.
If the girls have been at the body site since early in this, then yes, things
could be as you describe. But do we know anything to substantiate a
clock on how long they have been there? Im just asking - maybe I missed
something. Obviously Im looking for something to work with - arent we
all!
lease:GrainneDhu
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All I know is what I've read in the msm. I don't do FB if at all possible because I find it upsets me.
Oh, plus what I know from a lifetime of living in Iowa. I had never realised so clearly before that Iowa has soaked into me bone deep.
My guess, based on something Heather said in her first interview after the girls were found (without her husband), is that the girls' bodies were skeletonized. There was some sort of reference to the fact that when the time comes to bury Elizabeth, they will be burying bones.
So my guess is that the girls' bodies have been at 7 Bridges park since 13 July.
One thing I do know, to try to shed some light on the scene. Seven Bridges has been described as a "popular" hunting and fishing spot but I haven't seen any msm articles actually quantify what popular means in context. I think there are some WS members who read "popular" and imagine a place that gets many human visitors a day.
My educated guess is that there were probably many days last summer where no humans set foot in the park. People who go fishing mostly seem to me to be doing it as a rationalisation to sit in a nice area, enjoying a nice day (I'm so shameless I just do it...). In order to uphold the rationalisation, they feel they have to go where they might actually have a chance to, you know, catch a fish worth keeping. Last summer, that was not 7 Bridges. The water was really low, which meant that the water temperature was high and the fishing would have been really bad.
There would be no reason for pheasant hunters to go to 7 Bridges park, it's the wrong habitat for pheasant.
During the various deer hunting seasons (there's something like 10 different ones, no kidding), there were probably a total of 5 to 10 different groups of hunters in the park during the entire season. So maybe a total of 10-30 people overall. And they would not all cover the same ground.
Seven Bridges would not be a good place to catch people making meth because it's a dead end. Too easy for LE to set up a blockade and catch culprits. Meth makers mostly prefer places that have at least two exits. They are generally desperate and drug addled people but even a very dim bulb can see that setting up to cook where LE can trap you with a single vehicle is not a good idea.
The final potential group of users would be teens partying. Here, common sense flies out the window. Most teens, so far as I can see, have precious little in the way of strategic thinking ability. They acquire it by being outwitted. There may have been a kegger every weekend at 7 Bridges but people at keggers stick close to the keg. That's why they are there. And those kegs are heavy, not the sort of thing you carry off into the woods. You leave it in the back of your brother's old beater pickup truck.
If LE comes, kegger attendees scatter into the forest but they don't go far. They don't want to get poison ivy and they want to be close enough to know when it is safe to come out again.
I would be surprised if LE finds anyone who walked within 50 feet of where the girls' bodies were found between 13 July and 5 December.
I hope that gives a clearer idea of what "popular" means in this context.
BBM
That could be excellent for LE. Any evidence they collected should be the perps then.
Thanks Grainne, your wisdom and reading in this is appreciated. In
addition to your description of this summer, if it was as unGodly hot there
as it was here south of Evansdale, there werent as many people stirring
outside as usual this year, not until Fall. I do volunteer work at a park in
Linn County and attendance there last summer was down by 90+% until
Fall.
The perp may know this area and as others have suggested, may have
taken the girls there directly after the abduction, which may suggest
a sexual motive. That would narrow down the list and favour a local
person. I wonder where the FBI got this out of state idea, unless they
were referring to something on the internet, especially if it is a local who
comunicates his exploits with others via the internet ..
Again my appreciation to you and your very fine posts.
G.
GrainneDhu
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<BLUSH> Thank you.
I'm certain that Black Hawk and Bremer counties were as hot as Linn. It was a horrid, horrid summer with no redeeming value at all.
Drew Collins seemed convinced in his interview with Ron Steele that the motive for the crime was sexual. I suspect his wife shares that conviction because they have both started raising awareness of issues like human trafficking.
After following many crimes, I have come to regard anything the FBI says about a crime before it is solved with a great deal of skepticism. And now it turns out, since the huge FBI lab scandal, that what they testify to in court may not necessarily be as true as it ought to be.
To me, both known crime scenes scream of local knowledge. Doing a lot of research online would not have revealed that one spot around Meyer's Lake that is so isolated and yet so enclosed. Even someone who lives within sight of Meyer's Lake didn't realise that if a vehicle followed the old, overgrown track for Maiden Lane it would be out of sight of any other vehicles on the streets or any houses.
I believe the perp is relatively young (under 40 years old), male and has lived near both Meyer's Lake and Readlyn or had strong ties to people who lived in each location. I'm guessing that he is probably not a registered sex offender but he may have convictions for other crimes. I'm also guessing that he's not socially adept and that he's probably a loner. I think he probably did not have a regular job last July and he may be in financial hardship.
Marilynilpa
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Here's one comment about the girls wouldn't go too far, they were too young, but it didn't specifically mention the lake:
Elizabeth's mother, Heather Collins, said it's rare for her daughter to venture too far from home, but she may have been persuaded by her older cousin.
"We've talked about that before," Collins said "We've told them they're too young to go far."
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-16/iowa-girls-search/56245630/1
I also recall a more specific mention of the lake, I'll keep looking for a link. IIRC, it was Tammy who said the girls had been told it was too far, but I'm not certain.
Marilynilpa
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Statement from Wylma Cook:
Quote:
But she said they almost always stayed within blocks and had never gone to Meyers Lake, a mile away.
"It shocks me, OK. The girls never rode that far, never. It was in a two-block area, that's it. They always returned like I told them," Cook said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/wylma-cook-iowa-cousins_n_1699780.html
I still have not found the quote about the girls being told they were too young to go to the lake.:banghead:
Quote:
But she said they almost always stayed within blocks and had never gone to Meyers Lake, a mile away.
"It shocks me, OK. The girls never rode that far, never. It was in a two-block area, that's it. They always returned like I told them," Cook said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/wylma-cook-iowa-cousins_n_1699780.html
I still have not found the quote about the girls being told they were too young to go to the lake.:banghead:
tlcya
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don't think they would have even known the way to Meyers Lake," she told HLN's Nancy Grace on Tuesday.
Lyric's mother, Misty Cook-Morrissey, said the cousins were good about riding just within a few blocks of home.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/us/iowa-missing-cousins/index.html?c=&page=3
Lyric's mother, Misty Cook-Morrissey, said the cousins were good about riding just within a few blocks of home.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/us/iowa-missing-cousins/index.html?c=&page=3
tlcya
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Elizabeth's mother, Heather Collins, said it's rare for her daughter to venture too far from home, but she may have been persuaded by her older cousin.
"We've talked about that before," Collins said "We've told them they're too young to go far."
Misty Cook-Morrissey and Heather Collins are sisters.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-16/iowa-girls-search/56245630/1
"We've talked about that before," Collins said "We've told them they're too young to go far."
Misty Cook-Morrissey and Heather Collins are sisters.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-16/iowa-girls-search/56245630/1
tlcya
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'Pushing those thoughts out of your mind' The girls' families were holding out hope, according to news reports.
"Sometimes when you think about it, you wonder if they're dead somewhere, but you try to push those thoughts out of your mind," Misty Cook-Morrissey, Lyric's mother, told the Register.
"It's been good talking to people It keeps your mind off of what's happening," the paper quoted her as saying.
Elizabeth Collins' mother, Heather Collins, told the Register that it is rare for her daughter to venture too far from home.
"We've talked about that before," Collins said, according to the paper. "We've told them they're too young to go far."
NBC News affiliate WHOTV-Des Moines contributed to this report.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...-search-continues-for-young-iowa-cousins?lite
"Sometimes when you think about it, you wonder if they're dead somewhere, but you try to push those thoughts out of your mind," Misty Cook-Morrissey, Lyric's mother, told the Register.
"It's been good talking to people It keeps your mind off of what's happening," the paper quoted her as saying.
Elizabeth Collins' mother, Heather Collins, told the Register that it is rare for her daughter to venture too far from home.
"We've talked about that before," Collins said, according to the paper. "We've told them they're too young to go far."
NBC News affiliate WHOTV-Des Moines contributed to this report.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...-search-continues-for-young-iowa-cousins?lite
TripleA
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From my perspective of what my 9yo would and woud not do, I have to say that I believe the grandmother's thought that the girls would not go more than a couple of blocks. 10yo and 8yo is young, regardless of size. My now 17yo was adult size at 10yo, but she still looked and acted like a 10yo, just a big 10yo. Given my experience with my own children, which I understand is limited, I do not believe that the girls rode their bikes to Meyers Lake. I believe that the bikes and personal effects were thrown/placed there from a vehicle after the girls were already taken. I think the perp brought the bikes over and then went back and grabbed the purse threw that towards the fence and drove away. I think that the girls were picked up a lot closer to home.
I, too, recall one of the women (I lean towards thinking it was GmaCook) saying that the girls had previously wanted to ride bikes to Meyers Lake and had been denied permission.
If IIRC that statement was made in the first month after girls disappeared.
I have since tried and failed to find that statement a couple of times when the subj of why family would think they were perhaps at Meyers Lake if girls never rode there.
If IIRC that statement was made in the first month after girls disappeared.
I have since tried and failed to find that statement a couple of times when the subj of why family would think they were perhaps at Meyers Lake if girls never rode there.
Otto your last map was awesome! The possible bike routes are a great help to me. Could you please highlight the location of the Collins' home?
You have the word camera on a different building - were there other cameras on these possible routes? TIA
I made a decision to exclude information about the exact location of the victim's home for privacy reasons.
There is a camera at the back of the Cornbelt Auction, and that is the camera that captured the girls riding their bikes at about 12:15 on July 13. The red line shows the approximate angle of the camera for the video that we have seen. There would have been additional cameras along Lafayette - at least there would have been one at the bank, and possibly at gas stations ... but there is no additional video of the girls. That means it's possible that they were abducted right in the area near the home - within a on block radius of the corner of Brovan and Sipple.
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