A Place for Questions - Page 5

Richard · #**101** 08-11-2012, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motherof5

I am wondering about "Jimmy".....he seems to be the star witness regarding TRM. I understand that Coffey didn't come up until later but it seems logical to show a photo of Coffey to the person who claims to have seen TRM talking to the girls. I realize that people change over the years but if LE really thought Coffey was their man...they could get their hands on a photo of him from the 1970's to show to Jimmy. Thoughts anyone?

Actually, the Montgomery County Police do have a photo of Fred Coffey taken in April 1975 when he started working for Vitro Laboratories. It was the photo for his ID badge. And I know that they showed that photo to another person who saw a tape recorder man on an earlier date than "Jimmy"s" sighting.

Coffey became a person of interest in this case in early 1987 after being convicted of multiple child molestations and while on trial for the murder of 10-year-old Amanda Ray. It was about that time that MCP obtained the photo from Vitro and began investigating him. I do NOT know if they contacted "Jimmy" again at that time or at any time after.

I agree with you. MCP investigators should make contact with "Jimmy" and with all of the other witnesses to question them again and to show them photos - not only of Coffey, but also of any other persons of interest mentioned in these threads or considered possible suspects by police over the years.

iamnotagolem · #**102** 08-14-2012, 07:28 PM

In many recent cases when children go missing, the parents are looked at extensively. Is it known whether or not either or both parents were looked at as possible suspects?

Motherof5 · #**103** 08-26-2012, 12:40 AM

Richard....I'm confused about where the woods were and understand that homes have been built since 1975 in that area. You had said-

"There are a few small residential roads on the right and left from Drumm, but soon it intersects with McComas. At this point, the girls usually turned left on McComas and then right into a wooded area with a foot path. The foot path came out on Jennings. The girls would then continue west on Jennings until they came to their home on the corner of Jennings and Plyers Mill Road. The footpath was, of course, inaccessable to vehicle traffic."

The girls would turn left on McComas and then walk how far before turning right into woods? Once on McComas....would they make an immediate right or walk past the nursing home and then turn right into the woods? I've been looking at the map and see that I've been wrong about the woods.

Richard · #**104** 08-26-2012, 09:43 PM

The entrance to the path through the wooded area was very close to the corner of Drumm and McComas. The girls would have turned left and then an immediate "half right" on to the path.

They would NOT have passed the Nursing Home before entering the path, which ran between the Nursing home and the homes on Drumm.

Jennings and Drumm were a short block apart and roughly parallel to each other near Plyers Mill Road. The path through the wood was a "short cut" which ran diagonally through the undeveloped wooded area to a place on Jennings Road near the girls' home.

Today, there are more homes and yards where the woods used to be, and there is a fence around the nursing home yard by the corner of Drumm and McComas, so there is no longer any access to where they would have entered.

There is also a pond in the Nursing Home yard which was there in 1975 and which was thoroughly searched by police looking for the girls. Today, that pond is larger and covers over some of the origional path and woods.

A vehicle could not have driven down the path, so it is more likely that any abduction (involving a motor vehicle) would probably have taken place before the girls entered the path area. A very likely place for such an abduction would have been at or near the intersection of Drumm and McComas.

It is, of course, also possible that the girls could have simply continued on Drumm all the way to Plyers Mill Road, then turned left and walked to their house. In that case, an abductor in a vehicle could have followed them a little further on Drumm, but Drumm Ave was (and still is) blocked off (to vehicle traffic) midway between McComas and Plyers Mill roads. Again, an abductor wanting to set up an ambush at a choke point would have picked the intersection of Drumm and McComas.

Motherof5 · #**105** 08-27-2012, 09:16 AM

Thank you...that clears it up for me.

Motherof5 · #**106** 09-01-2012, 07:32 PM

Does any know if the nursing home parking lot has changed any since 1975? Not the pond...but have they added to the actual parking lot or is the layout the same today as it was back then?

Gruffin · #**107** 09-03-2012, 12:54 PM

Perhaps this aerial USGS photo taken March 26, 1972, about three years before the disappearance, can give you a better idea of what the area looked like. Unfortunately, the resolution is not the greatest, but it was the best period photo I could find when I searched the web in the spring of last year.

Plyers Mill Road goes lengthwise along the base of the photo. The large street that bounds Wheaton Plaza on the northwest is University Boulevard. The large street that bounds Wheaton Plaza on the northeast is Viers Mill Rd. The large north-south street on the right of the photo that Viers Mill Rd. comes out of is Georgia Ave. You can see the pond in the middle lower left of the picture near the intersection of Drumm Ave. and McComas Ave, with the nursing home nearby. The resolution appears too poor for mere walking paths to be visible.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Motherof5 · #**108** 09-03-2012, 02:22 PM

Thank you so much for posting the photo.

Richard · #**109** 09-04-2012, 12:43 AM

1972 Aerial Photo...

Thank you for posting the link to that photo.

Looking at the shopping center, you can see the large (almost) square building on the left, which was Wards. On the far right is the other "end store", Woodward and Lothrup (aka Woodies).

Between the two end stores are four equal size sections of shops, separated by walking areas. The intersection of those walking areas is easily seen. It was known as "Mall Center" which is where there was a fountain, and was the place where the Easter Bunny display was located.

The girls were seen by various eyewitnesses in the walking area between Wards and the Mall Center.

Back in 1975, this was an open air mall, meaning that all of the walk areas were exposed to the weather and entrance to the various stores was from outside to inside.

The small looking dark square just north of Wards was the movie theater.

Motherof5 · #**110** 05-19-2013, 12:13 PM

Just wondering....has anyone considered that the girls may have gone to Wheaton Triangle Bowling Alley? Mary was bowling while the girls were at the mall....I'm assuming she was bowling at this bowling alley as it was near their home and the mall. Mary was home by 3:30. Maybe the girls decided to head over to the bowling alley and ride home with their mom? Mary said that she first thought they may have gone to a movie or a friend's house....maybe they decided to stop by and watch their mom bowl then ride home with her but never made it?