AL AL - Brittney Wood, 19, Mobile, 31 May 2012 - # 5

[Bree0372]

Football Mom - Can a petition be done to force MPD's hands? They are wasting precious time. We all know that the sooner they start investigating the better their chances of finding her are. I just can't wrap my head around their thinking.

With Florida being so close, it's reasonable (IMO) to assume that she was taken across state lines. That would make it a FED case.

....wait a second, her tote bag was left behind? Somehow I never read that. That changes everything.

That was posted on FB in the comments on one of the many news articles. Her daughters birthday presents were also left at DHs house. I'm going to attempt to find it, so for now, accept that as a rumor.






ETA: Only July 18th, Fox10News posted this article on their FB page ( https://www.facebook.com/FOX10News?ref=ts )
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/mobile_county/woods-mom-arrests-overshadow-search

BW's dad comment (July 18th at 7:12pm) is what I had read. It doesn't say her tote (sorry for my error), but her clothes and some toys (unwrapped) that were given to her at her daughters bday party were found at Donnie's house in Styx River.

 

[revampz]

....wait a second, her tote bag was left behind? Somehow I never read that. That changes everything.

I agree....I vaguely remember about the presents, but not the bag......I have thought that she may have bolted with the help of Donnie......but she would have taken the bag with her.....now I am leaning towards her being deceased.

 

[Bree0372]

I agree....I vaguely remember about the presents, but not the bag......I have thought that she may have bolted with the help of Donnie......but she would have taken the bag with her.....now I am leaning towards her being deceased.

I apologize...her dad said clothes not bag.

 

[AstroKitty]

If she was taken over state line, it is a Federal case. I believe any abduction is federal though, but I may be wrong about that. Agh, we really need a criminal lawyer that's well versed to chime in.

If the bit about her tote bag is not a rumor, and it's real, my entire perspective on her being found alive is over. I was so adamant about her being found alive because for all accounts, her items were with her (minus a pre-paid phone, which is very replaceable). I can see someone ditching a cell phone that's prepaid if it ties them to some unsavory things that they are running from (or that they believe they will be tracked). I cannot believe however that someone would leave their personal belongings in a tote bag, completely behind without a second thought.

No ID is rather hard to work with these days, if her wallet was of course in the tote.

I'm guessing Brittney was most likely a cigarette smoker and if she was, she'd need her ID to buy a pack of smokes. I always thought it was likely she could have gotten on a bus with the help of friends, since the FBI is not involved and she's not "wanted", so who's to have stopped her from fleeing the state? *plus we have a few days before she was even reported as missing* but if she didnt' have her ID on her, she could not have purchased a ticket. She hardly looked 19 (in her photos she looks very youthful and if I'm over 30 and carded, there's no way she's getting around it).

I read a few times it's mentioned about her leaving her daughter behind or the gifts. Correct me if I'm wrong but those presents had been sitting there awhile. That never made sense to me though, because Donald Holland Sr was under investigation at that time, for four months. FOUR months. supposedly those gifts had been there less than a month, but more than 2.5 weeks.

It wasn't a mystery he was under investigation or what it was about either, so did she allow or bring her daughter around him? Or did they buy the gifts, have them wrapped and she was to pick them up and drop them off to her child? I'm guessing the latter and the reason they hadn't been picked up was due to the fact he had been investigated and accepting gifts from him would really upset her parents and maybe even her ex, where the child lives.

In the back of my mind, when I had to consider that she may not be alive, I wondered about the gifts...Maybe she was convinced to come out and get these things in order to get her there and a confrontation happened. A lot of people speculated Brittney confronted Donald but maybe it was Wendy that confronted Brittney, maybe Brittney had taken the side of the victim(s) and a fight ensued, leading up to homicide? I don't see Donald (I have no proof of his personality other than the crimes that he's accused of. I don't have the ability to read a timeline on FB or anything to get a sense of how he spoke or interacted) being the instigator here. Wendy has made snide rude comments publicly and "liked" any status that had to do with slandering Brittney. It's almost as if she's been painting a picture for the world to use as their basis and setting a stage since the "sick baby" post.

 

[reedus23]

I really didn't intend to be vague--yes, the person to whom I'm referring is no longer with us, due to his own actions. And if that's still vague, I'm referring to Donnie. :cow:

Thanks for directing me to the cow! Is that sufficient for MOO or do I need to also state it?

Got a bit of a laugh out of me on that. No, I think I got it and I would tend to agree with you. MOO as well.

 

[Zeaux]

Brittney's tote bag has not been found, nor has her wallet, ID, etc. Some personal belongings WERE found at Donnie's, but not those items. It was Brittney's dad who shared that info in a comment to a news article.

 

[AstroKitty]

Brittney's tote bag has not been found, nor has her wallet, ID, etc. Some personal belongings WERE found at Donnie's, but not those items. It was Brittney's dad who shared that info in a comment to a news article.

Those were just some clothing of hers and her daughters gifts, correct? I'm sort of relieved to know her wallet, ID and tote were not discovered. That gives me a glimmer of hope here. I know it's not much but it's hope.

I wonder if people still realize that if an ID is found, you can put it in any US postal mail box w/out an envelope and it will go to the address listed on the card?

Does anyone know if the trash cans at the truck stop were searched for her belongings?

 

[Zeaux]

Does anyone know if the trash cans at the truck stop were searched for her belongings?

RSBM

I doubt it because by the time Mobile PD informed the family or anyone else that Brittney's phone pinged off that tower (everyone needs to keep in mind her phone pinged off a tower near the truck stop--she's never actually been placed at the truck stop), one week had passed since she was reported missing. The trash would have been long gone by then.

 

[FootballMom]

RSBM

I doubt it because by the time Mobile PD informed the family or anyone else that Brittney's phone pinged off that tower (everyone needs to keep in mind her phone pinged off a tower near the truck stop--she's never actually been placed at the truck stop), one week had passed since she was reported missing. The trash would have been long gone by then.

BBM: further adding to this... no eyewitnesses (employees, locals, truckers, etc.) or security camera footage from the truck stop that place her there.

Additionally - that ping could have come from anywhere within a 1 mile radius of that tower (not necessarily because her phone was actually at that location).

 

[AstroKitty]

BBM: further adding to this... no eyewitnesses (employees, locals, truckers, etc.) or security camera footage from the truck stop that place her there.

Additionally - that ping could have come from anywhere within a 1 mile radius of that tower (not necessarily because her phone was actually at that location).

I'm aware that she wasn't seen at the truck stop and it was just a ping at the near by tower. I just mentioned it because from all things said, it was like a hub for people coming and going on I-10, not because she was there.

*edited to add* my feelings were just that if someone where to try and throw people off her where abouts, they could have disposed of her items there to stage her "exit". There seems to be a lot of stage setting going on, and that's why I brought it up. I wasn't trying to add to the confusion or rumor.

 

[FootballMom]

Football Mom - Can a petition be done to force MPD's hands? They are wasting precious time. We all know that the sooner they start investigating the better their chances of finding her are. I just can't wrap my head around their thinking.

RSBM: Not that I am aware of... that was my hope & intent when I was making the inquiries.

I wanted to make them aware of the lack of effort and concern that was being exhibited by MPD as the investigative agency and BCSO (because IMO - that is the real "scene of the crime" location so to speak) and also because precious time was being lost with the ability to retrieve valuable information, etc...

I forgot to add that I also asked DPS to contact the US Marshall's Service in Mobile because they are the agency that handles the satellite transmissions... and again - it did not produce any results... because MPD doesn't want them to do anything for some unknown reason.

As we have discussed earlier - I understand the desperate financial situation in the City of Mobile and that makes sense but what does NOT make sense is their refusal to accept outside assistance that is offered which would not cost them a dime.

IMO - that is reckless, immoral and unconscionable and further adds to my list of people who I'd like to see held responsible for their actions.

again... as always, JMO.

 

[FootballMom]

I'm aware that she wasn't seen at the truck stop and it was just a ping at the near by tower. I just mentioned it because from all things said, it was like a hub for people coming and going on I-10, not because she was there.

*edited to add* my feelings were just that if someone where to try and throw people off her where abouts, they could have disposed of her items there to stage her "exit". There seems to be a lot of stage setting going on, and that's why I brought it up. I wasn't trying to add to the confusion or rumor.

Nah, I know... my post was really meant as a memory kick-starter/clarification of facts for all of us (and new people jumping in).

But also as far as a "hub" we've been told that is not a popular place during the day and at night it is even worse, truckers even avoid that place... but you are correct, if you want to make evidence disappear or attempt to link someone's disappearance to one of the seediest locations in the area that would certainly be the spot (from what we have been told).

 

[Inthedetails04]

I'm not sure what to think about her whereabouts anymore. Perhaps she wasn't in either place the night she disappeared. Maybe someone went to great lengths to cover what happened up. Did the cell phone transmissions (pings) definitively determine that BW was actually located at either place? No video, no pictures, no sightings (beyond the neighbor), no other evidence whatsoever. Only speculation and circumstancial evidence and anyone can make those out to be whatever they wish.

And concerning the neighbors sighting of BW. Was the neighbor correct? Did they see BW and an unknown male in the Styx River area? Not sure how close they were to the house when they claim to have seen her but I have been within 50ft or so of a person and thought they were someone that I knew very close before. Turns out that they weren't.

The fact that personal items were located at the house is not unreasonable, especially if BW had spent any length of time there.

I am not a specialist when it comes to cell phones so I contacted several person's that are very tech savy, especially with smart phones, and all of them agreed that just because your cell phone is off does not stop it from being pinged. As a matter of fact, your cell is constantly pinging as it is being rerouted from one tower to another, unless you never leave your home. It's a lot like the Navy's use of sonar in ship's and submarines. There are two ways sonar is used, passive and active. The towers are passively pinging your phone with low frequency transmissions in the attempt to keep your service fluid but inevitably it fluctuates based on several factors. An active ping is the incoming and outgoing of transmissions (calls, texts and data). This is when your phone and/or the tower actively seeks out eachother to receive or transmit something. They reminded me that GPS is not needed to ping because GPS uses both towers and sattelites while your phone is simply pinging off a local tower so the GPS can be off but the phone still pinging. The only way to keep a phone or tower from passively pinging eachother is to remove the battery and/or destroy the phone. In addition to removing the battery you must also wait for the internal power source to use all of its backup power before it truly quits searching for a network to connect to. The fact is that I may not consider myself a genuis but I know some pretty smart people and I don't think they knew this so how am I to expect that someone close to BW knew it? In all likelyhood, BW's phone was passively pinging towers for hours or days after her disappearance so why hasn't this been investigated and if it has, then I wonder what the results were?

 

[reedus23]

BBM: further adding to this... no eyewitnesses (employees, locals, truckers, etc.) or security camera footage from the truck stop that place her there.

Additionally - that ping could have come from anywhere within a 1 mile radius of that tower (not necessarily because her phone was actually at that location).

Ok, none place HER there. Do any witnesses or camera footage put any of the other players there? My guess is LE either never checked into it or they did and never disclosed. I won't tell you which one is my opinion. Either way, I'm going to guess we don't know that answer????

 

[reedus23]

Following up on that thought, I thought someone (I thought a local/insider but not Zeaux) had indicated that it was confirmed that Donnie drove her to Grand Bay. Am I remembering this wrong or was that information wrong? I will see if I can go back and find that info and where it originated from. Zeaux, correct me if I'm wrong, but based on what was just discussed, is it fair to say that such information is just rumor then? If I even have it right in the first place anymore.

 

[Inthedetails04]

Following up on that thought, I thought someone (I thought a local/insider but not Zeaux) had indicated that it was confirmed that Donnie drove her to Grand Bay. Am I remembering this wrong or was that information wrong? I will see if I can go back and find that info and where it originated from. Zeaux, correct me if I'm wrong, but based on what was just discussed, is it fair to say that such information is just rumor then? If I even have it right in the first place anymore.

That statement made was that, CW reported to local media that MPD indicated to her that BW was picked up at the end of her street by DH. It is assumed that he drove her to Styx River where their cells both pinged. It was LE that stated that DH drove BW to Grand Bay though only her cell pinged there.

 

[Zeaux]

I'm not sure what to think about her whereabouts anymore. Perhaps she wasn't in either place the night she disappeared. Maybe someone went to great lengths to cover what happened up. Did the cell phone transmissions (pings) definitively determine that BW was actually located at either place? No video, no pictures, no sightings (beyond the neighbor), no other evidence whatsoever. Only speculation and circumstancial evidence and anyone can make those out to be whatever they wish.

And concerning the neighbors sighting of BW. Was the neighbor correct? Did they see BW and an unknown male in the Styx River area? Not sure how close they were to the house when they claim to have seen her but I have been within 50ft or so of a person and thought they were someone that I knew very close before. Turns out that they weren't.

The fact that personal items were located at the house is not unreasonable, especially if BW had spent any length of time there.

I am not a specialist when it comes to cell phones so I contacted several person's that are very tech savy, especially with smart phones, and all of them agreed that just because your cell phone is off does not stop it from being pinged. As a matter of fact, your cell is constantly pinging as it is being rerouted from one tower to another, unless you never leave your home. It's a lot like the Navy's use of sonar in ship's and submarines. There are two ways sonar is used, passive and active. The towers are passively pinging your phone with low frequency transmissions in the attempt to keep your service fluid but inevitably it fluctuates based on several factors. An active ping is the incoming and outgoing of transmissions (calls, texts and data). This is when your phone and/or the tower actively seeks out eachother to receive or transmit something. They reminded me that GPS is not needed to ping because GPS uses both towers and sattelites while your phone is simply pinging off a local tower so the GPS can be off but the phone still pinging. The only way to keep a phone or tower from passively pinging eachother is to remove the battery and/or destroy the phone. In addition to removing the battery you must also wait for the internal power source to use all of its backup power before it truly quits searching for a network to connect to. The fact is that I may not consider myself a genuis but I know some pretty smart people and I don't think they knew this so how am I to expect that someone close to BW knew it? In all likelyhood, BW's phone was passively pinging towers for hours or days after her disappearance so why hasn't this been investigated and if it has, then I wonder what the results were?

Mobile PD did obtain the records of Brittney's phone pings as well as her call and text history. Her phone did not ping one time since the last ping at Grand Bay at approximately 1:47 a.m. May 31, 2012. She did not have GPS activated on her phone (within the week she disappeared she had gone to a prepaid sim card after being on a family plan and had not yet activated the gps), so it only pinged when it was in use. There were no pings between Styx River and Grand Bay in that 1.5 hour period up to the last ping. Then nothing. Anything you may have heard about her phone being turned on about a week after she went missing is erroneous information. It has been confirmed by the phone carrier that they initiated action on her account that caused the change in the ring/voicemail.

Mobile PD believes Donnie picked up Brittney near her mother's home around 7:30 pm Wednesday, May 30, 2012. They also believe he was the one who drove her back to the area those early morning hours due to his phone records. His phone had quite a bit of activity during that time frame when Brittney's did not.

 

[reedus23]

Mobile PD did obtain the records of Brittney's phone pings as well as her call and text history. Her phone did not ping one time since the last ping at Grand Bay at approximately 1:47 a.m. May 31, 2012. She did not have GPS activated on her phone (within the week she disappeared she had gone to a prepaid sim card after being on a family plan and had not yet activated the gps), so it only pinged when it was in use. There were no pings between Styx River and Grand Bay in that 1.5 hour period up to the last ping. Then nothing. Anything you may have heard about her phone being turned on about a week after she went missing is erroneous information. It has been confirmed by the phone carrier that they initiated action on her account that caused the change in the ring/voicemail.

Mobile PD believes Donnie picked up Brittney near her mother's home around 7:30 pm Wednesday, May 30, 2012. They also believe he was the one who drove her back to the area those early morning hours due to his phone records. His phone had quite a bit of activity during that time frame when Brittney's did not.

Bear with me and I hope I'm not frustrating anyone with the questions. According to the prior post, a cell phone pings even if turned off. It will only stop pinging if you take the battery out and the juice is used up. Am I wrong then to say that someone likely took the battery out while at Styx, thereby explaining why no pings for that 1.5 hours, then the battery was replaced back into the phone at Grand Bay, causing it to ping again, and then either the battery was permanently removed or phone destroyed causing it to no longer ping again? As an aside Zeaux, I never put too much stock into the week later info because of the source (WWH if I remember correctly).

Regarding Donnie, I understood he had picked Brittney up near her mother's home. So Donnie was in Grand Bay those early hours as well based on his phone pinging. I assume it was at or near the same time Brittney's phone pinged in Grand Bay, correct? So the unknown is whether he took Brittney and her phone or if he just took her phone to Grand Bay, correct?

Do I have that right then? Sorry for the questions. Just trying to keep it straight in my head.

 

[Inthedetails04]

Mobile PD did obtain the records of Brittney's phone pings as well as her call and text history. Her phone did not ping one time since the last ping at Grand Bay at approximately 1:47 a.m. May 31, 2012. She did not have GPS activated on her phone (within the week she disappeared she had gone to a prepaid sim card after being on a family plan and had not yet activated the gps), so it only pinged when it was in use. There were no pings between Styx River and Grand Bay in that 1.5 hour period up to the last ping. Then nothing. Anything you may have heard about her phone being turned on about a week after she went missing is erroneous information. It has been confirmed by the phone carrier that they initiated action on her account that caused the change in the ring/voicemail.

Mobile PD believes Donnie picked up Brittney near her mother's home around 7:30 pm Wednesday, May 30, 2012. They also believe he was the one who drove her back to the area those early morning hours due to his phone records. His phone had quite a bit of activity during that time frame when Brittney's did not.

No one is disputing this. What I was merely pointing out is that, contrary to popular opinion, your cell is constantly pinging regardless of incoming or outgoing transmissions. You do not have to have GPS activated. This is confirmed by contacting the technical support department for all of service providers, including AT&T, whom I contacted personally.

 

[Zeaux]

No one is disputing this. What I was merely pointing out is that, contrary to popular opinion, your cell is constantly pinging regardless of incoming or outgoing transmissions. You do not have to have GPS activated. This is confirmed by contacting the technical support department for all of service providers, including AT&T, whom I contacted personally.

I'm going by what I've been told is in the records as obtained by Mobile PD. I'm not anywhere close to knowledgeable about this type thing, but if what you're saying is accurate, and I have no reason to doubt it, then that brings into question a few accepted 'facts'. Hmmm

I've not personally seen Donnie's phone records, but I've been told his phone pinged in the Tillman's Corner area, but not Grand Bay. I realize it doesn't quite make sense that LE believes he drove her yet his phone didn't ping where hers did. Please don't shoot the messenger.