Tried to post this yesterday but somehow it disappeared (through no fault of administrators). Must have been an internet glitch. First though - thanks to all the great comments and ideas here. Great to see so many haven't forgotten about Vanessa, even though we're coming up on four months.
I still think parking on BSR for about 30 minutes (at a minimum) is a problem, especially when you consider 1) how close BSR is to the police station (minutes), right down the road; 2) that the owner or a neighbor could conceivably have driven by and called/stopped that day- if this was planned, that's a big risk to take on a weekend in broad daylight; and 3) that there are no obvious reasons to stop there. That path off BSR is no trail and nothing is nearby (as Rocky said); and 4) the risk of someone smelling smoke and calling it in. Also, there is the idea that if the perp had his car there, why not put her into car and drive to another safer locale? I just can't conceive of anyone taking that risk without a very good reason.
I think searunner's idea makes sense and Rocky's too. It would be easy to confuse a dark unmarked police SUV parked on the side of the road at, say, 4 or 5, with a dark SUV seen there at 3. And witnesses are quite often unreliable. Also, why the three-month wait? That just makes no sense to me. If it's a recent tip, then that lends even more credence to the idea the witness/witnesses recollections may be off.
Another possibility - the perp accidentally left something incriminating at the scene and had to return. He would be in a hurry to retrieve it and would take that risk. If he did drive a dark SUV he may even have felt somewhat confident, knowing witnesses might dismiss the vehicle as police and not call in a tip about it.
One last idea - Neither the DA, newspaper "sources," or the police have mentioned a sexual assault. All references I've seen about this refer back to the early press conferences. Recent police statements/releases make no mention of it. It could mean she wasn't in fact assaulted or could just mean they're keeping quiet on everything but the dark SUV.
I still think parking on BSR for about 30 minutes (at a minimum) is a problem, especially when you consider 1) how close BSR is to the police station (minutes), right down the road; 2) that the owner or a neighbor could conceivably have driven by and called/stopped that day- if this was planned, that's a big risk to take on a weekend in broad daylight; and 3) that there are no obvious reasons to stop there. That path off BSR is no trail and nothing is nearby (as Rocky said); and 4) the risk of someone smelling smoke and calling it in. Also, there is the idea that if the perp had his car there, why not put her into car and drive to another safer locale? I just can't conceive of anyone taking that risk without a very good reason.
I think searunner's idea makes sense and Rocky's too. It would be easy to confuse a dark unmarked police SUV parked on the side of the road at, say, 4 or 5, with a dark SUV seen there at 3. And witnesses are quite often unreliable. Also, why the three-month wait? That just makes no sense to me. If it's a recent tip, then that lends even more credence to the idea the witness/witnesses recollections may be off.
Another possibility - the perp accidentally left something incriminating at the scene and had to return. He would be in a hurry to retrieve it and would take that risk. If he did drive a dark SUV he may even have felt somewhat confident, knowing witnesses might dismiss the vehicle as police and not call in a tip about it.
One last idea - Neither the DA, newspaper "sources," or the police have mentioned a sexual assault. All references I've seen about this refer back to the early press conferences. Recent police statements/releases make no mention of it. It could mean she wasn't in fact assaulted or could just mean they're keeping quiet on everything but the dark SUV.
