Deceased/Not Found CA - Sierra LaMar, 15, Morgan Hill, 16 March 2012 #13 *A. Garcia-Torres guilty*

[Plumeria5]

Let me start with this....:truce:....but I am going to just throw an idea out.
This would be expensive and perhaps complicated but maybe this will be invented someday. As each child boards the bus they swipe a card with their information on it. This information will go into a computer and if the child does not swipe in during a certain window of time of their scheduled stop...a text message will be generated to the parent's phone. The parents can then decide what to do to follow up on whether they ditched or are missing. No valuable time will be lost.

Ok...let me :waitasec: and I will be back to see what you all think.

 

[OldSteve]

My point was, I am doubtful that police would have taken action that morning, if Sierra had been reported missing earlier, but might have told her mother to wait and see if she came home at the regular time...thinking she probably just blew off school for the day...JMO

Agree about not calling the police right away.... but if I got a call saying my son was not in school, I'd be home in a flash and checking to see where he was. Okay my son never skipped, so that's why the alarm.

OT: I've seen cases where LE is very quick to act, and others where they don't...but I would not want it on my mind that I didn't act quick enough...

 

[Sjsleuth83]

Ok...let me :waitasec: and I will be back to see what you all think.

Way overly paranoid if you ask me. And in this case, it wouldn't have made any difference. She never made it to the bus stop.

IMO, anything short of injectible GPS trackers wont do much good. Best bet is to educate kids on how to be careful.

 

[OldSteve]

Let me start with this....:truce:....but I am going to just throw an idea out.
This would be expensive and perhaps complicated but maybe this will be invented someday. As each child boards the bus they swipe a card with their information on it. This information will go into a computer and if the child does not swipe in during a certain window of time of their scheduled stop...a text message will be generated to the parent's phone. The parents can then decide what to do to follow up on whether they ditched or are missing. No valuable time will be lost.

Ok...let me :waitasec: and I will be back to see what you all think.

That's a good :great: idea!

 

[Sjsleuth83]

I have a thought on the iPhone discussion. The same day the picture on twitter of SL facetiming herself with an iPhone she also went out to dinner with her friend. (Initials CF). Im willing to bet that it was her friend's phone in the picture, and her friend who accidently posted the tweet. Im torn on whether the tweet was her account hacked, or if someone accidently tweeted it. And if SL had been using this phone that night (maybe her phone's battery was dead), she may have still been logged into twitter and her friend didn't realize it.

I did notice that a lot of SL's tweets and picture uploads were "from iPhone" but I dont think this was ever when she was at home.

Thats my opinion on the phone situation. Im pretty sure her mom or friends would know if she had an additional phone, and by now LE would have ran a trace on this other phone.

 

[AZ1991]

I can understand being upset if your child skips school, but calling the police? That is one thing I would never think of. Not saying it is wrong, and maybe things have changed since my boys were in school, but I would not even consider it to be a police matter. I would get in my car and go find the little person and remind him of just how small they are. jmo

I've lived in over 5 states. Every single one held parents legally accountable for their child's attendance. All children in these states are aware of this. When your child skips school in these states, you are able to be prosecuted and send to jail. It is suggested (and that means if you don't you're likely to look much worse in court) that you inform the police department when your child skips school and of your effort to locate them. If your effort fails the police department then assists you (knowing you are not compliant in the truancy) in finding the child and punishment is normally negotiated between LE and the parents based on the child's past.

So yes, if my child skips school, I WILL be calling the police. Not might. Not if it gets too bad. EVERY time.

Also, be aware, a child not arriving at school doesn't mean they skipped. All the more reason to make LE aware of your attempt to locate your child.

 

[dog.gone.cute]

Can we go back to these? It makes life a lot less complicated. lease:

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/rotary_dial_mobile.jpg

:seeya: Me too ... Oh, how I wish we could go back to those phones ... LOL ...

Back to topic : Besides the searches, it appears that "things" are slowing down ...

Any updates ?

TIA !

 

[Tuba]

My take on the criminal evidence left behind is that the kidnapper could not wait to heave the Android out the window as soon as he glimpsed it, not only because Sierra might contact or even connect with it. I think he knew how traceable phones are, leaving a red hot streak wherever they wander. Doesn't everybody? Partly for that reason, I do not believe he carried a phone of his own, nor did he need one to accomplish this crime. In fact, every move he made, at and from Paquita Espana, smacks furtive to me. He also seems to possess a criminal confidence & daring that is astonishing.

 

[AZ1991]

Way overly paranoid if you ask me. And in this case, it wouldn't have made any difference. She never made it to the bus stop.

IMO, anything short of injectible GPS trackers wont do much good. Best bet is to educate kids on how to be careful.

...Man, when will these be on the public market! I am the freaky-ist of freaks and I would DEFINITELY want one for my kid. Shoot, I have a freaking Tagg dog tracker on my dog and have been trying to get a major university to allow my dog to be used for the study of the locational accuracy of inject-able tracking devices... I never want to lose my dog, man.

FREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK ALERT!

 

[houndstooth]

I have a thought on the iPhone discussion. The same day the picture on twitter of SL facetiming herself with an iPhone she also went out to dinner with her friend. (Initials CF). Im willing to bet that it was her friend's phone in the picture, and her friend who accidently posted the tweet. Im torn on whether the tweet was her account hacked, or if someone accidently tweeted it. And if SL had been using this phone that night (maybe her phone's battery was dead), she may have still been logged into twitter and her friend didn't realize it.

I did notice that a lot of SL's tweets and picture uploads were "from iPhone" but I dont think this was ever when she was at home.

Thats my opinion on the phone situation. Im pretty sure her mom or friends would know if she had an additional phone, and by now LE would have ran a trace on this other phone.

But, but, but, what about her beloved Samsung Galaxy phone?
Why would she be using everybody else's when she apparently has this?

There was some discussion on Twitter, not naming names that this wasn't Sierra's phone that was found.
That her mother didn't recognize the phone.

How did such "rumors" get started?
Or better still, WHY would they get started?
Why would her friends buy into this Galaxy that was found not being hers?
They ought to know if she had one or not.

This bugs me.
I wish there was a description of what the Galaxy looks like, colorwise.

 

[dog.gone.cute]

Let me start with this....:truce:....but I am going to just throw an idea out.
This would be expensive and perhaps complicated but maybe this will be invented someday. As each child boards the bus they swipe a card with their information on it. This information will go into a computer and if the child does not swipe in during a certain window of time of their scheduled stop...a text message will be generated to the parent's phone. The parents can then decide what to do to follow up on whether they ditched or are missing. No valuable time will be lost.

Ok...let me :waitasec: and I will be back to see what you all think.

:seeya: Sounds good to me ... and you better put a "patent" on this idea ... before someone "steals it" !

With today's technology, there has to be a faster way to notify parents when students do NOT show up at school and their parents have NOT called the school to let the school know the student will be absent for the day ...

:moo:

 

[AZ1991]

:seeya: Sounds good to me ... and you better put a "patent" on this idea ... before someone "steals it" !

With today's technology, there has to be a faster way to notify parents when students do NOT show up at school and their parents have NOT called the school to let the school know the student will be absent for the day ...

:moo:

Like a week ago, my sister realized (she's a HUGE procrastinator) that prom was less than a month away and she didn't have a dress! OHMAGOSH! 911 EMERGENCY! So my dad decides since him and I both have Friday off we will have her skip school and go (we all work the weekends to it's not easy on her days off) on Friday. Friday, 9:36am. My dad gets a call. "Hi, this is such and such Prep, your daughter, so and so did not show up today and we are verifying that her absence is parentally mandated."

So he apologized for not calling in before (they only accept calls from one parent's phone and it cannot be a home phone to call in absent kids) and thanked them for calling.

So if my sister was SUPPOSED to be at school. I can't even express what state of panic would begin. And I would be SO THANKFUL that her school calls after the first class because the panic is much better used the faster you figure out someone is where they aren't supposed to be.

Although this is a Prep school and not a city high school and has very few students, but they start making calls after the first bell rings and their attendance gets electronically sent to the front desk.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Let me start with this....:truce:....but I am going to just throw an idea out.
This would be expensive and perhaps complicated but maybe this will be invented someday. As each child boards the bus they swipe a card with their information on it. This information will go into a computer and if the child does not swipe in during a certain window of time of their scheduled stop...a text message will be generated to the parent's phone. The parents can then decide what to do to follow up on whether they ditched or are missing. No valuable time will be lost.

Ok...let me :waitasec: and I will be back to see what you all think.

Plumeria, I am sure that your idea will be adopted by some school systems.

But I hope that each school system will be allowed to decide for themselves whether such a system is important for them or not.

For instance, I live in a rural area in a rural state. I'm a local property owner and I am well aware that the life or death of a small town is dependent upon having a school and a library. In turn, that small town affects my property values, so I attend the local school board meetings when I can.

Every few years, someone gets all huffed up about installing security cameras at the local schools (the entire school district serves fewer than 1000 students). "It's for the SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN!!!" is how it's always presented.

There is no way to reach that town without going on gravel roads. There is no problem with truancy. There hasn't been a murder in my county in over 50 years. So far as I know, there has never been a kidnapping or abduction in the 150+ years of recorded history.

So every few years, the school board listens to the pros and cons at the budget meeting and votes it down.

If the only factor to consider was safety, then I'm sure everyone would be all for it. But safety is not the only factor. Money is a huge factor and there is only so much money to go around. Most of the money is taken up in fulfilling state mandates (which are a good thing and I do not disagree with them).

The relatively small amount of money leftover is usually used for things that enrich student experience directly. Like increasing the school nurse's hours. Or purchasing a couple more computers for student use. Or bussing the freshmen and sophomores to a series of career days in the nearest big city, that show kids what sorts of jobs are out there in science, arts, math, etc.

I happen to think that those things are a lot more important than security measures that, statistically, will never be needed.

Other school districts have different sets of conditions to consider and may well decide that it's a good investment.

 

[wasalurker]

:seeya: Sounds good to me ... and you better put a "patent" on this idea ... before someone "steals it" !

With today's technology, there has to be a faster way to notify parents when students do NOT show up at school and their parents have NOT called the school to let the school know the student will be absent for the day ...

:moo:

Put a bar code on each student ID. Have those that take the bus swipe their id's as they get on. Then each student that walks in the doors of the school have to swipe as they go in - sort of like a turnstile - it will turn or whatever when the id is swiped.

Swipe ID to leave also (same thing - turn stile or whatever)

Then you would have them getting on the bus, getting to school, leaving school, getting back on the bus.

Any ID's not swiped by a certain time (1st period, 2nd period, etc) would get a text, call, email that the student's card had not been swiped. Somehow this would intermingle with the parents who have called in for their student. Again, it would go into the computer via ID#. If a notation made or call made, then it would nullify the text, email, or call.

Computers are great and using a barcode/id# system would probably work. The trick would be getting everyone in the doors by a certain time. Or out. Maybe have each room have a scanner/swiper and in 1st period you have to swipe the card.

 

[AZ1991]

Put a bar code on each student ID. Have those that take the bus swipe their id's as they get on. Then each student that walks in the doors of the school have to swipe as they go in - sort of like a turnstile - it will turn or whatever when the id is swiped.

Swipe ID to leave also (same thing - turn stile or whatever)

Then you would have them getting on the bus, getting to school, leaving school, getting back on the bus.

Any ID's not swiped by a certain time (1st period, 2nd period, etc) would get a text, call, email that the student's card had not been swiped. Somehow this would intermingle with the parents who have called in for their student. Again, it would go into the computer via ID#. If a notation made or call made, then it would nullify the text, email, or call.

Computers are great and using a barcode/id# system would probably work. The trick would be getting everyone in the doors by a certain time. Or out. Maybe have each room have a scanner/swiper and in 1st period you have to swipe the card.

For some who haven't been in school for a long-ish time, this may seem totally cray cray nutso.

I was a freshman in high school, what, five years ago? Six? Ugh I'm getting old :floorlaugh:


The school I went to my freshman year (randomly the most rural school as well - no, both of the schools I went to in this county actually had this system) had this system. You had an ID tag with your picture, a bar-code that with your student ID under it and it was in the school colors and I'm not totally sure but I think the whole county was on this system.

When we walked into school we scanned in our IDs. The day before school started there was a MANDATORY school ID photo day, and you had to show up between this time and that time. When we got lunch, we scanned our IDs. We had lunch "accounts" and we could "charge" our lunch or even put a ton of money on your account to feed you for the year. Your student ID number was your parent's username for your attendance and grades log online. So basically it's like half way there to ultimate understanding of your child's whereabouts on school days.

 

[wasalurker]

For some who haven't been in school for a long-ish time, this may seem totally cray cray nutso.

I was a freshman in high school, what, five years ago? Six? Ugh I'm getting old :floorlaugh:


The school I went to my freshman year (randomly the most rural school as well - no, both of the schools I went to in this county actually had this system) had this system. You had an ID tag with your picture, a bar-code that with your student ID under it and it was in the school colors and I'm not totally sure but I think the whole county was on this system.

When we walked into school we scanned in our IDs. The day before school started there was a MANDATORY school ID photo day, and you had to show up between this time and that time. When we got lunch, we scanned our IDs. We had lunch "accounts" and we could "charge" our lunch or even put a ton of money on your account to feed you for the year. Your student ID number was your parent's username for your attendance and grades log online. So basically it's like half way there to ultimate understanding of your child's whereabouts on school days.

yep my sons had this in middle school and high school for lunch, library, on-line grades etc. But they did not have to scan when they got to school or on the bus. So just expand it to scan at school (when you walk in) and on the bus.

 

[AZ1991]

yep my sons had this in middle school and high school for lunch, library, on-line grades etc. But they did not have to scan when they got to school or on the bus. So just expand it to scan at school (when you walk in) and on the bus.

I definitely agree, especially about the bus thing. Besides all the 100% in your face reasons to have a form of "bus attendance", when I was in high school I had TONS of friends and randoms that I knew that would tell their parents they are taking the bus, only to get a ride from some dude that was too old for them and likely didn't want to talk. Happened too much for my comfort level.

 

[LisaB]

http://cdn2.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/samsung-galaxy-s-2-hero.jpg

But, but, but, what about her beloved Samsung Galaxy phone?
Why would she be using everybody else's when she apparently has this?

There was some discussion on Twitter, not naming names that this wasn't Sierra's phone that was found.
That her mother didn't recognize the phone.

How did such "rumors" get started?
Or better still, WHY would they get started?
Why would her friends buy into this Galaxy that was found not being hers?
They ought to know if she had one or not.

This bugs me.
I wish there was a description of what the Galaxy looks like, colorwise.

 

[houndstooth]

http://cdn2.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/samsung-galaxy-s-2-hero.jpg

Are they always black?

See here's the thing. She lost her i-touch in January.
Borrowed her sister's.
Then at some point she got this "beloved Galaxy"?

Are there any tweets or posts about how awesome it is?
How much she loves this phone?
How about the day she got it?
Noting the first time she used it?
How much she'd been wanting one?

How come there are people coming out trying to explain
how this phone she's holding must be somebody else's phone?
Why is she always using somebody's I-phone when she had
her beloved Samsung Galaxy?

Why are kids tweeting about the phone found wasn't hers?
That the mom said this?
Well even if the mom did or didn't say it, they ought to have known and said
"Of course she had a beloved Samsung Galaxy phone!"

I haven't seen this. Nor have I seen her in her any pics with a black phone as you have shown.

 

[LisaB]

Are they always black?

See here's the thing. She lost her i-touch in January.
Borrowed her sister's.
Then at some point she got this "beloved Galaxy".

Are there any tweets or posts about how awesome it is?
How much she loves this phone?
How about the day she got it?
Noting the first time she used it?
How much she'd been wanting one?

How come there are people coming out trying to explain
how this phone she's holding must be somebody else's phone?
Why is she always using somebody's I-phone when she had
her beloved Samsung Galaxy?

Why are kids tweeting about the phone found wasn't hers?
That the mom said this?
Well even if the mom did or didn't say it, they ought to have known and said
"Of course she had a beloved Samsung Galaxy phone!"

I haven't seen this. Nor have I seen her in her any pics with a black phone as you have shown.

You make sense. Really. But the phone they found had her contacts in it, her messages to and from her mom and her friends, and probably music, twitter, and photos that indicated it was her phone. And her mom said it was her phone, it was only one person on Twitter who said it wasn't, right?