Thank you. I was also wondering about what the normal water levels were like. I was comparing those photos to the aerial views and it didn't look the same. I guess that means that the girls would have had to hug the fence to walk in that area with normal water conditions ... which brings me back to wondering if they really went through the gate. At the same time, why would their bikes be parked at the gate if they didn't go through it? I suppose they would have taken the risk of going through the gate and hugging the fence if someone was there with some sort of water craft.
A paddle boat has been mentioned and many have assumed that means a pedal boat, but where I'm from, paddlers are kayakers and canoeists ... so a paddle boat is anything that uses a paddle.
You're welcome!
I don't know the normal water levels, but I have to ask: Why do you think the girls hugged the fence to move easterly towards Maiden Lane when LE stated that the girls scent was picked up on the jetty and then up the bike trail and into the woods just beyond the end of the fence (by Maiden Lane)?
I believe the girls went through the gate and onto the jetty. They may have been offered a ride on a paddle boat but it was banked over by the Maiden Lane section of the lake and not at the jetty where they thought it would be. Someone beckoned them from that bank and since they couldn't navigate their way there along the inside of the fence of the lake, ditched their bikes and purse in a hurry to run up the bike path and into the woods. I believed they were grabbed there and placed in a vehicle and off they went.
This is a pic of a paddleboat. I have seen several in images surrounding the lake. You pedal it like a bike. Two people in the front and two can ride sitting on the back. Just an FYI.