Gary R. (Tow Truck Driver) Interview Only - 7/24/08

[Themis]

When George was driving the car it was a week after it had been towed , right? I was thinking more in terms of the timeline. Surely , if Caylee had been in that trunk on the 17th of June and after for any period of time that car would have certainly had an odor strong enough to pentrate outside the car.

Understand the thought, but that is a science based answer that can be tested. There's only one true fact answer; it could or could not and variations. Smell is a gas based physical matter and can be measured. However, if there are no operating noses near it ... .

 

[momtective]

The tow truck driver was close enough to the vehicle to see that there was a car seat in the backseat. We know the car had a horrible odor at that time because KC had stated it to Amy. It stunk and so does this whole case. Is there a soul involved in this entire case who is telling the truth?

 

[Kooba]

Understand the thought, but that is a science based answer that can be tested. There's only one true fact answer; it could or could not and variations. Smell is a gas based physical matter and can be measured. However, if there are no operating noses near it ... .

Can someone tell me if Simon Birch had smelled something while the car was at the lot and before the A's came to pick it up? I have not read through all the statements so I apologize for asking knowing it has already been answered.

 

[Spyglass]

When George was driving the car it was a week after it had been towed , right? I was thinking more in terms of the timeline. Surely , if Caylee had been in that trunk on the 17th of June and after for any period of time that car would have certainly had an odor strong enough to pentrate outside the car.

Towed from AMSCOT 6/30. GA drove it home 7/15.

 

[mysteriew]

I believe the tow truck driver that he couldn't smell it. First, it was locked up, the smell was somewhat contained. Second, anything he did smell may have been minor and/or dismissed as from the dumpster. But most important, the sense of smell is affected by a lot of things.

Colds, sinusitis, even cigarette smoking or inattention can affect the sensitivity. So if he has a cold, he still has to work. He is supposed to tow a car and finds it locked. He is on a job and his attention is focused on his routine of towing. If he got any whiff he could easily have not paid attention to it, simply dismissing it as from the dumpster- he might not even have remembered it. With the cold and his diminished sense of smell, he could easily have not smelled it or not remembered smelling it.

Also temperature could affect the dispensation of the odor. Heat would cause it to worse. At 9 am it would be warm, but not as warm as say 11 or 12 pm.

 

[Themis]

The tow truck driver was close enough to the vehicle to see that there was a car seat in the backseat. We know the car had a horrible odor at that time because KC had stated it to Amy. It stunk and so does this whole case. Is there a soul involved in this entire case who is telling the truth?

You are right. KC said to Amy it smelled and she got rid of the smell on 6/27. It had to still smell on 6/30 when it was towed from Amscot. We know it still smelled on 7/15 when GA picked up the car from the wrecker yard and drove it home because he drove with the windows down. Therefore, CA's statement that there was no smell is ... not only wrong, but perhaps a mis-truth. :liar:

 

[Balthazar]

There was a woman who died in the garage of a house down the street from my mother but wasn't discovered for 2 weeks. The stench could be smelled from the street - which is at least 20 feet from where the woman's body lay (BTW, it's a 3500 sq ft house and the new owners had to gut it, including all new studs and drywall to get rid of the odor. Even after it was gutted, I could smell it just driving by on the street! And it turned out they had a problem with the cement slab and had to do some special treatment to it to solve the problem.) I cannot believe the tow guy couldn't smell the death smell, even with a cold. The smell is so permeating, it would have even gotten onto his clothes. I wonder if anyone he knows (such as his wife or girlfriend) noticed the stench? Even the tow lot manager could smell the smell from the outside of the car and told GA that it smelled like a car they had where someone committed suicide. This is very suspicious to me. Even if he was breathing entirely with his mouth, he should have noticed something was off.

 

[mysteriew]

Interesting PrincessRose. Was there times of the day when the odor became better or worse? How many days was she dead before they found her? Was it winter or summer?

 

[Lili]

You have also got to consider that the guy arrived, looked at the situation and proceeded to adjust his equipment to retrieve the car and was on his way a span of only 10 minutes. He wasn't wasting any time and his hydraulic equipment is probably located just behind the cab of his truck. He probably didn't spend much time really close to the car, and the car was beside a dumpster. He probably associated any smell with the dumpster. I think maybe the air temperature and air movement may play into the situation too.

 

[TURBOTHINK]

Four possibilities.

1. There was no smell.
2. There was a smell and he did smell it but doesn't want to be involved so he said he had a cold and couldn't smell anything.
3. There was a smell and he didn't smell it because the trunk had a sufficient seal so that it wasn't smelled outside the vehicle on the day of the towing.
4. There was a smell but it was parked by a dumpster so he didn't recognize it came from the car and doesn't remember that.

GA said he drove home with the windows down so it clearly impacted the inside of the car on that day.
Seems the second option is more likely.

I doubt he was around it long enough to smell it. Because it was locked up, he just hooked a hook to it and pulled it upon the flat bed. It takes all of 3 minutes to hook one up and be gone with an experienced driver.

They hooked up my large SUV, had the bed tilted and pulled it right on. The lever was beside the cab of the truck, so it is very unlikely he was even close to the car except to place the hook and chain it down.

With a cold you also tend to breathe though your mouth.

 

[TURBOTHINK]

I just re-read that and I was wrong about the flatbed. He put dolly wheels under the front and hooked it in the rear. He said it took 10 minutes including getting them to sign off on it. So he really was never around the trunk to smell it.

 

[Cerenity2u]

I think a few factors combined, may have kept the tow truck driver from smelling anything out of the ordinary.

1. His sense of smell was off due to a cold.
2. By backing the tow truck up to the rear of KC's car, the exhaust from the truck may have temporarily overwhelmed the smell in the trunk.
3. By looking at his time line, he was only at the rear of the car for a very short amount of time, for a quick hook.
4. Not sure what the weather was that day, but wind direction, if there was any, could have also played a role. Wind may have blown the scent away from him.
5. He may not have paid attention to any smell coming from the car, due to the fact it was parked next to a dumpster.

I still believe in the original timeline of June 16th, being the last day of little Caylee's life. Nobody has come forward claiming to have seen her after June 15th, other than GA who claims to have seen her in the afternoon of the 16th. Just because 1 tow truck driver claims he didn't smell anything on the day he picked the car up, doesn't mean the smell was not there IMO.

 

[DotsEyes]

Just because the tow driver didn't smell anything unusual, does not mean there wasn't a smell. The car was closed up. No one could smell anything from the outside. It wasn't until GA opened the driver's door that Simon smelled anything.

Think about it. Cars are water tight, rain doesn't seep into the car or the trunk. Smells don't seep out either.

What is the story Padilla told about KC usign the car on the 27th?

 

[Friday]

Don't forget--Unlike most odors that begin dissipating when the source of the odor is removed, the stench of death continues to grow stronger and stronger, even without the body. I wonder if a little body would create less odor than an adult's?

Still, it would have been really nice if the tow-truck driver had smelled the odor. The defense will hammer on the fact there was "no odor" at the Amscot on 6/30.

Does anyone else feel like the prosecution just can't seem to get a real, definitive break in this case?

 

[cfromcanada]

People have different levels of sensitivity when is comes to smell..My mother has absolutely no sense of smell at all..I have a nose like a narc dog. This guy says he couldn't smell it,it was by the dumpster, I don't doubt what he says at all.

 

[froggierintexas]

My trunk must have a leak then because whenever I pop a new air freshener in the trunk I can smell it when I get on the sidewalk in front of the car. And there are other smells all around like the flowers, the neighbors smoking outside, cooking coming from other apartments. Yet I (and others with me) can still smell the new air freshener each time. For about the first week and a half.

 

[SCSam]

There was a woman who died in the garage of a house down the street from my mother but wasn't discovered for 2 weeks. The stench could be smelled from the street - which is at least 20 feet from where the woman's body lay (BTW, it's a 3500 sq ft house and the new owners had to gut it, including all new studs and drywall to get rid of the odor. Even after it was gutted, I could smell it just driving by on the street! And it turned out they had a problem with the cement slab and had to do some special treatment to it to solve the problem.) I cannot believe the tow guy couldn't smell the death smell, even with a cold. The smell is so permeating, it would have even gotten onto his clothes. I wonder if anyone he knows (such as his wife or girlfriend) noticed the stench? Even the tow lot manager could smell the smell from the outside of the car and told GA that it smelled like a car they had where someone committed suicide. This is very suspicious to me. Even if he was breathing entirely with his mouth, he should have noticed something was off.

IIRC, the amount of decomp in the trunk was quite small - unlike complete human remains that had broken down, Perhaps that has something to do with the overwhelming, pervasive stench - that is, it was bad, just not as bad as it could have been.

 

[chesterp]

Don't forget--Unlike most odors that begin dissipating when the source of the odor is removed, the stench of death continues to grow stronger and stronger, even without the body. I wonder if a little body would create less odor than an adult's?

Still, it would have been really nice if the tow-truck driver had smelled the odor. The defense will hammer on the fact there was "no odor" at the Amscot on 6/30.

Does anyone else feel like the prosecution just can't seem to get a real, definitive break in this case?

I feel the prosecution has an airtight case and we do not know half have of the evidence. The icing on the case is when the remains are found and the searching will continue as long as it takes to find Caylee's remains. TES,LE and the public will never give up on finding Caylee. She will be found, maybe not intact, but evidence will be found that she was DUMPED by KC, and that will seal the fate of KC no matter how hard the A's spew all of their lies...

I hope KC is scared to death.............she acted so cocky for so long and the gig is up for her and the A's.

 

[JustMy2Cents]

I think a few factors combined, may have kept the tow truck driver from smelling anything out of the ordinary.

1. His sense of smell was off due to a cold.
2. By backing the tow truck up to the rear of KC's car, the exhaust from the truck may have temporarily overwhelmed the smell in the trunk.
3. By looking at his time line, he was only at the rear of the car for a very short amount of time, for a quick hook.
4. Not sure what the weather was that day, but wind direction, if there was any, could have also played a role. Wind may have blown the scent away from him.
5. He may not have paid attention to any smell coming from the car, due to the fact it was parked next to a dumpster.

I still believe in the original timeline of June 16th, being the last day of little Caylee's life. Nobody has come forward claiming to have seen her after June 15th, other than GA who claims to have seen her in the afternoon of the 16th. Just because 1 tow truck driver claims he didn't smell anything on the day he picked the car up, doesn't mean the smell was not there IMO.

DITTO on the truck exhaust. Prolly diesel too.

 

[MiraclesHappen]

Don't forget--Unlike most odors that begin dissipating when the source of the odor is removed, the stench of death continues to grow stronger and stronger, even without the body. I wonder if a little body would create less odor than an adult's?

Still, it would have been really nice if the tow-truck driver had smelled the odor. The defense will hammer on the fact there was "no odor" at the Amscot on 6/30.

Does anyone else feel like the prosecution just can't seem to get a real, definitive break in this case?

OK so let the defense hammer away.

If 4 people tell me there was a rainbow, :raincloud::balloons: :raincloud::sunshine: :raincloud:and one person who is not blind says "I looked up and saw nothing" I still believe there was a rainbow.

If I were the prosecutor I would call the non-smelling tow guy as my witness just to take away the aha factor from the defense. I wonder if they'll do that.

jmho