How Did the Side Door Get Opened?/Door Locks/Use of Cinder Block**REVISITED**

[debs]

I don't understand why Misty, if she was going to go out, wouldn't just use the front door, since it's screened in and less likely to be seen if she left it a little ajar. Why prop this back door, which isn't afforded ANY sort of privacy, being clearly seen on the house with no tree cover or porch cover. Why would a perp want to risk this open visibility, when the screened porch would provide at least a little cover while in the commission of the abduction?

I have never understood the back door as entry. Not from the very first.

 

[elle1919]

*Bold by me*

OK...granted under the circumstances a completely innocent person will be inconsistent about some details, given the benefit of the doubt...we'll only pick at the major one(s).

So Misty is very clear and only refers to ONE block and that it is STILL THERE...suggesting to me that the inside door was not visibly propped open by anything (unless wedged @ the hinges and not reported to us by anyone).

On NG we saw the producer demonstrate clearly that the inside/solid door closes on its own when left in the open position. I don't think we saw if it closes and latches...but it def'n swung to the close position.

At the risk of driving this thread OT (too) it is worth noting that Misty says the last time she Haleigh was when she was sleeping and Misty was cleaning...NOT...when I went to sleep...the best-case scenario there gives Misty the benefit of the doubt that she did not 'see' Haleigh when she *went to bed* that night.

My apologies if this has all been covered before infinitum. :blushing:

First of all thank you for ressurecting this thread! I think this exact topic might hold the key to what happened to Haleigh. In my opinion if more people would concentrate on these details we might work towards getting some answers.

A light just came on for me when you were pointing out the fact that Misty stated in the 911 call that the door was wide open, but there were 2 doors right. A screen door and the back door? The screen door must have been the one that was "bricked" as Misty described it because she states that the brick is still there and on the "walkway". So even if that screen door was bricked open the back door should have been closed? Or was it propped open as well? I remember from the NG show that Teresa N stated there was a pile of laundry on the floor in front of the door beside the washer so is that what was holding open the door?

Didn't LE just remove the screen door? Something seems funky.

 

[Donjeta]

I don't understand why Misty, if she was going to go out, wouldn't just use the front door, since it's screened in and less likely to be seen if she left it a little ajar. Why prop this back door, which isn't afforded ANY sort of privacy, being clearly seen on the house with no tree cover or porch cover. Why would a perp want to risk this open visibility, when the screened porch would provide at least a little cover while in the commission of the abduction?

I have never understood the back door as entry. Not from the very first.

I guess the perp might use the back door if he noticed that it was left open and that the adult/s in the house was/were sitting on the porch near the front door, maybe entertaining visitors, smoking pot, listening to music, talking loudly, snoring...

 

[debs]

I guess the perp might use the back door if he noticed that it was left open and that the adult/s in the house was/were sitting on the porch near the front door, maybe entertaining visitors, smoking pot, listening to music, talking loudly, snoring...

But see, I don't get why Misty herself would use the backdoor. The front door has the added screened porch. If in your theory they were sitting on the front porch, why not just use the front door?

The back door is visible clearly, especially with that honkin' ramp all the way up to it, and it does not make sense to prop it open to head to the front....in fact, to head ANYWHERE.

 

[LunaticFringe]

Misti should have had a key regardless.What if there was a fire?Nancy Grace should have asked him specifically if Misti had a key to that lock.

 

[passionflower]

wonder if B can figure out who's fingerprints were the LAST ones on the lock or knob of door!
unless gloves were used........
But IMOO I think it was STAGED!

 

[Quiche]

I think Misty played by her own rules when Ron (authority figure) was at work...she's 17 after all. She used the door often.

I think the images of the door knob do not look brand new.

I think the dogs tracked out that door because the children played out there on the ramp, often.

I think Misty bricked the screen-- to allow kids to run in and out without slamming.

I think Misty had guests and forgot to close up as she would normally do. moo

 

[elle1919]

I tend to agree with you. I think Misty propped open the door to hear the kids. Maybe had a habit of doing this. Perhaps went a few doors down to smoke some pot with friends or something along that line. Something she did many times while Ron was at work. Maybe she didn;t want him to know what she was doing. She was just 17 and playing a grown up role with a pretend hubby and 2 kids. So if she did leave , just a short distance or into a neighbors home, and if it was a habit, I can see someone KNOWING this, a SO, and taking advantage of the situation. He could have been sitting in the trees and just waiting for her to leave. That would explain why Misty didn;t hear anyone. SHe was not inside home. It would explain why cinder block was propping door open. It would also explain how a So could pick the right opportunity to take Haleigh IF this was something Misty had been known to do often. I just don;t buy Misty getting up just before Ron was to come home and then also her going into the bathroom down the hall instead of using the one right there in the bedroom where she and the kids were sleeping. UNLESS the toilet was non functioning and we have not heard that.

Hi there...I am not trying to pick apart your theory but I just wanted to clarify the point you made that I bolded red. A lot of posters here seem to think much like you that Misty might have been at a friends house getting high or a few houses away so she propped open the door so she could hear the kids.

It was my understanding, according to the Locals thread in the parking lot that this was a mobile home community that was generally older people and it might be classified as sort of a retirement community or comparable. Every house and persons inside those houses were searched and re-searched, interviewed and re-interviewed. No-one has come forward stating Misty was with them or at their house that night. Now for Misty to be absent minded enough to prop open a door and still be able to hear the children would HAVE TO MEAN she would be in earshot....very close by....right? Yet no-one has come forward or even mentioned that Misty was with them on this night. Is everyone in that community lying to LE? Because the posters in the community are posting that they allowed LE to come in and search and re-search. I am sure if Misty was out wandering around that night someone would have said so by now. Maybe they have who knows. LE is being very tight-lipped.

I just don't know that Misty was out of the house that night. It is more believable that she was dead asleep and didn't hear someone come in or that she injured Haleigh herself and tried to fake an abduction. I just have been thinking a lot about the theory that Misty was out of the house and it just doesn't make sense. If she herself propped open that door.....she would have done it because she was close by and I can't see how if she was close by someone wouldn't have come forward with that info by now.

 

[BondJamesBond]

Misti should have had a key regardless.What if there was a fire?Nancy Grace should have asked him specifically if Misti had a key to that lock.

Anyone familiar w/ the video of the back door able to tell if the deadbolt was keyed on the inside or a knob on the inside? (IOW...would a key be required to operate the deadbold from either in or outside?...or only from the outside?)

FWIW, I seem to recall both Ron & the NG producer showing that the door 'stuck' and required some force to open/close.

 

[BondJamesBond]

Any information on the origin of the block ever made? I was under the impression that it was unlike others in the area....am I imagining things?


Again...my apologies for being behind on the case info...I'm trying to re-establish the current facts/evidence before plowing off too far into 'theories'.

 

[fortytwo]

Anyone familiar w/ the video of the back door able to tell if the deadbolt was keyed on the inside or a knob on the inside? (IOW...would a key be required to operate the deadbold from either in or outside?...or only from the outside?)

FWIW, I seem to recall both Ron & the NG producer showing that the door 'stuck' and required some force to open/close.

Thumbturn on the inside of the door. No key required.

Also, for what it's worth I can say with some certainty that the deadbolt lockset was not installed by either the trailer manufacturer or a locksmith. This would lend support to Ron's statement that he put the lock on himself.

 

[debs]

From watching the NG video, there was just a toggle knob on the deadbolt, no key action from the inside. The door stuck, so it would be Herculean effort of a little girl to open it herself.

 

[fortytwo]

*Bold by me*

OK...granted under the circumstances a completely innocent person will be inconsistent about some details, given the benefit of the doubt...we'll only pick at the major one(s).

So Misty is very clear and only refers to ONE block and that it is STILL THERE...suggesting to me that the inside door was not visibly propped open by anything (unless wedged @ the hinges and not reported to us by anyone).

On NG we saw the producer demonstrate clearly that the inside/solid door closes on its own when left in the open position. I don't think we saw if it closes and latches...but it def'n swung to the close position.

At the risk of driving this thread OT (too) it is worth noting that Misty says the last time she Haleigh was when she was sleeping and Misty was cleaning...NOT...when I went to sleep...the best-case scenario there gives Misty the benefit of the doubt that she did not 'see' Haleigh when she *went to bed* that night.

My apologies if this has all been covered before infinitum. :blushing:

Thank you very much, BJB, for bumping this thread. I wasn't aware of it.

I have copied my post from the "new details..." thread to this more appropriate one for further consideration.

A point to add to complicate an already complicated set of circumstances. My apologies.

If a concrete block was indeed involved in propping open the back door it could have just as easily propped open both screen and solid doors as either one.

I wonder if this might explain the conundrum of LE returning after clearing the scene to collect the screen door, and only the screen door. This has continued to puzzle me.

Do we know if LE actually saw the door(s?) propped open for themselves, or were they only reporting what they had been told about the scene once they arrived?

Could it be that they wanted to inspect the screen door more closely to determine if scratches or some other evidence might reveal more closely the exact placement of a block?

So far I have been unable to develop a scenario which would account for the delayed confiscation of only the screen door, or to think of what sort of evidence they might have decided they could obtain from off-site study that they could not have already acquired in situ during the lengthy investigation of the scene.

 

[BondJamesBond]

So even if that screen door was bricked open the back door should have been closed? Or was it propped open as well? I remember from the NG show that Teresa N stated there was a pile of laundry on the floor in front of the door beside the washer so is that what was holding open the door?

*snipped*

Can anyone confirm this statement from Teresa indicating that laundry was propping the back door open?

Is this the pile where Haleigh's shirt was found? The one she was allegedly wearing as she slept?

TIA!

 

[debs]

*snipped*

Can anyone confirm this statement from Teresa indicating that laundry was propping the back door open?

Is this the pile where Haleigh's shirt was found? The one she was allegedly wearing as she slept?

TIA!

NG's producer was standing at the back door doing the laundry-could-block-the-big-door-open demonstration, and Nancy asked Teresa if there was laundry on the floor that night. Teresa looked ashamed and answered that there was always laundry on the floor.

 

[elle1919]

NG's producer was standing at the back door doing the laundry-could-block-the-big-door-open demonstration, and Nancy asked Teresa if there was laundry on the floor that night. Teresa looked ashamed and answered that there was always laundry on the floor.

Thanks debs.....I was off looking for the transcrpt of the NG show when they released the trailer back to Ronald. It was that day or the very next one that Teresa gave the tour of the home and mentioned about the pile of clothes on the floor. I do not think that it was confirmed that the pink shirt that Misty said Haleigh was wearing that night was in THAT pile of clothes. I can remember thinking in my head that I wish someone would ask Teresa if that was indeed the pile, not sure if they did ask. So can we assume that the pile was there on the night that Haleigh went missing and can we assume if the clothes propped open the interior door?

 

[fortytwo]

*snipped*

Can anyone confirm this statement from Teresa indicating that laundry was propping the back door open?

Is this the pile where Haleigh's shirt was found? The one she was allegedly wearing as she slept?

TIA!

I'd have to review the segment myself for certainty, but the impression I was left with was that TN stated that the door 'could' (i.e. was capable of) be held open by laundry, not that it had been during the abduction.

Upon reflection I'm not even sure if she brought the subject up, more that she acknowledged with something of a G'mom's rueful reflection on 'the younger generation' that it wasn't uncommon for laundry to be on the floor there.

 

[fortytwo]

NG's producer was standing at the back door doing the laundry-could-block-the-big-door-open demonstration, and Nancy asked Teresa if there was laundry on the floor that night. Teresa looked ashamed and answered that there was always laundry on the floor.

Your recollection is much clearer than mine, but we seem to be in agreement.

This is one of the reasons I have leaned towards the 'both doors propped open with the block' idea, simply because it would take so little force to keep the solid door ajar.

The screen door is closer operated and would require some (perhaps not much) more force, and for Misty to even see the screen door open then the solid door would have to be as well.

If only the solid door was open then something as cumbersome as a concrete block wouldn't have been needful.

There are really almost too many options, and I suppose all are moot. The only real questions are if there were doors propped or not, and if so then by whom. The exact manner is not that important.

 

[mck16]

I say opened from the inside to carry something out the propped open screen door. Dogs tracked Hayleigh out that back door.

It would be interesting to know if Haleigh's prints were on the door either inside or outside. Especially since Ron said they didn't use that door and that she couldn't reach it.

 

[debs]

I'd have to review the segment myself for certainty, but the impression I was left with was that TN stated that the door 'could' (i.e. was capable of) be held open by laundry, not that it had been during the abduction.

Upon reflection I'm not even sure if she brought the subject up, more that she acknowledged with something of a G'mom's rueful reflection on 'the younger generation' that it wasn't uncommon for laundry to be on the floor there.

The producer tossed a shirt or towel or something onto the clean floor (no laundry on the floor at the time of the NG show) to show how it could block the big door with little or no effort. Teresa stood by quietly watching the demonstration until NG asked her outright whether there was laundry on the floor that evening.