Skyla Whitaker, 11, & Taylor Placker 13 - Found Murdered - #6

[SewingDeb]

Welcome to our new posters.

SoonerFan, thank you for any news you bring us. I am so sorry about the death in your family.

 

[SuziQ]

Good morning to all new members.

Littledeer, thanks for bringing over that info.

 

[Claycat]

Actually, Christine, I think it was a good idea! This place is like a think tank. We might have come up with something LE hasn't even thought of.

 

[SewingDeb]

I agree ClayCat. If I were LE, I would be reading here on whichever case I was working on.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I just signed up-but I like WebSleuths and hope to stick around. Sorry if I come "out" of left field-but here is what struck me about the Weleetka killings. The first thing was WHY the father or grandfather went looking after 30 minutes. It was a Sunday afternoon and they claimed it was not unusual for the girls to walk that far. 30 minutes is not that long-if you are in a relaxed country setting. Even not answering a phone, I have to wonder why the grand mother was calling. I wondered if he got a phone call-even a call and hang up. Some sign a vendetta was just perfected on his family. THEN I could see a hop in the car and go check on the kids.

I would want to see his incoming calls. I wanted to know what the old man did for a living? They mentioned they moved in the country to be safer-which conflicts with the next comment "there are so many meth labs out here." If I was upset-I would not be throwing out conjecture..I did not get it. Number two observation, they were a LOT of bikers at Taylors funeral. They stood tall with resolve-so this seemed odd.

The crimes were so clear cut cruel-it is the show of power-the ultimate show of power, however sick that truly is. Not pedophile-they are typically after one, and not into killing (usually..) And the bad check writer (GREAT WORK) someone here posted, is not really a violent deal--and we have to wonder if a jail record is not a requirement for anyone out there--BUT the Bandidos dudes someone in here suggested makes PERFECT sense. It seems more likely pay back for a witness - gang related. If true, SURE they are going to say it was an American Indian and General Custard was with him!

If the mob just killed my family-and I could be next, I sure would not be talking Italy-I would be talking Alaska or Siberia. Fear is what will probably keep this case from being solved. Really, how many Indians own a white Ford or chevy Truck in even an hour radius. Either just a few, or they are right near reservation-so plenty. That Federal come down on a Placker just sounds like it has sooo much to do with this. Another person here rightly mentioned Taylor lived around some dangerous people. I saw no Bikers at Shyla's funeral. And I am NOT saying Bikers are bad people-but you can bet they will handle this. Another reason the police probably are going to be led all around on this one. After days of thinking about the WHY? It seems real clear with the Fed set up thing, someone may have sang, and someone may have wanted to prove a cold point. Notice no one went and just did the old man in? That was for "pain" and effect-and to show perverted example.

Welcome GideonsTrumpet!

If Taylor and Skyla left home around 4:30 it was longer than 30 minutes before he went to look for them. Skyla's mother didn't even call Taylor's mom until 5:08 pm and then they first tried to call Taylor on her cell phone, not go and look for her but to call her and tell them to come home. I am sure like most moms Taylor's mom wanted to make sure that Skyla had everything she brought all packed up and ready to go when her mother arrived there. I know I always told my children to come back home if one of their friend's parents were on the way.

I don't find the bikers at the funeral odd. Bikers also can grieve about the loss of life and arrive to show their respects just like anyone else. They knew LE was there gathering the guest book at each funeral so they didn't seem fidgety about that at all.

And yes they were extremely cruel and cold murders but unfortunately we see extremely cruel and heinous murders way too often in our country.

From what the police has stated the witnesses they have are not affiliated with any of these families. I think the guy standing by the truck at almost the same time of the murders looks like the composite sketch which certainly could be an American Indian. I would think the citizens around there are use to seeing Indians. It seemed there were quite a few at the funerals.

Taylor may have lived around people with criminal elements but I was reading this morning on InSessions and it seems that maybe Skyla's family also may have had people in her own family that are in the criminal justice system.

As far as I have read where Peter Placker's brother, Joe, was involved in the Federal charge, I didn't see anywhere that Peter Placker was ever tied to that, not even by the Feds, unless I missed it. Since Joe got a lessor sentence, I do think he most likely agreed to rollover on the others but then Joe Sr. has his own children and I am sure grandchildren where if any retaliation was going to be made it would be done to one of his own rather than a niece.

imoo

 

[believe09]

Hey now, I would think that even simple speculation can be a valuable tool, since the debate process we engage in tends to weed out the weak vs the strong evidence and scenarios. JMO...Imagine having to run through all of the scenarios yourself vs having 12K available to do the work for you lol...Kudos Christine2448!!!

 

[SuziQ]

Thanks Windchime for the new thread!!!!!

:blowkiss::blowkiss:

p.s. What are the requirements for a forum?? (hint hint) LOL

Lots and lots of begging! I was hoping that an arrest would have been made before a forum was needed. It would be good to have a forum to keep straight the family connections and rap sheets. That was alot of work to gather it up and make sense of it. I hope our good sleuthers who took on that task are keeping track of it somewhere so we don't lose it.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Skyla does have a brother listed in her obit. It says brother, Edward Gordon, Columbus, Kansas...


http://www.joplinglobe.com/neo_sek/...=secondarystory

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/lo...ml?start:int=15

Baxter Springs is 16 miles from Columbus.



Just thought it interesting especially since there has been so much discussions about family ties. I had never heard of this case and the victim, Richardson 's hometown was about 40 miles away from where I live.

OOPS let me try the links again.
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=edward+gordon%2C+baxter+springs,+kansas&meta=

http://www.joplinglobe.com/neo_sek/local_story_009195001.html?keyword=secondarystory

imoo

 

[MissHolmes]

Good Morning all and to our new posters.
I will be working on the tree throughout the day adding more info.

Here is a new article about the community:

http://newsok.com/weleetkes-no-dot-on-a-map-but-still-a-community/article/3259305/
Weleetka's no dot on a map, but still a community

 

[Dalaipardon]

thanks all for the warm welcome.

I, too, thought of the GS murders. I grew up hearing lots about Lori Farmer because I was just a few years younger and my mom thought I looked like her. My mom has never gotten over that crime. At least in that case I think most people are pretty settled with the idea that Hart committed the crimes (am I wrong on this? Is there something new?). We didn't see justice, but IMO it's still better than not knowing.

In case anyone is wondering, I would say that seeing someone with NA heritage would not necessarily be that unusual for people in Weleetka. It would probably be more unsual for them to just see someone they don't recognize period on that road. Many people, even those who identify as "white", have NA ancestry and that county is pretty diverse (as is much of OK - people always seem surprised by that). Clearview is a historical black town, Okemah was a white sundown town until the 60's/70's or so, and Weleetka is kinda' a mixed bag of whites and NAs and all degrees in between. It's mostly "white" though, and I know there is probably some degree of racism among some of the people (sometimes even by people who have heritage of the group they are racist against - people just don't know their own history).

So, this brings me to my point, does anyone else think that truckload of boys who had been shooting down by the creek was cleared as suspects awfully quickly? It seems like the cops just knew it wasn't them and I'm wondering if it's because this description of the NA man was offered up so quickly.
I'm not trying to blame those boys, but I just hope this mysterious NA man in the white truck doesn't live in the same town as Susan Smith's black man with the stocking cap.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I didn't know that we usually don't send LE links to our threads....I always include links to our discussions when communicating with them. I am sorry you seem to disapprove with the way I am handling things. I have no problem with them reading here, I welcome it. That is exactly why we mods/admin work so hard to keep them cleaned up and on topic.

No, sorry...I guess I didn't realize you send them all when you communicate. (Guess I should start doing that as I send them to specific posts I think are applicable to the discussion of the communication to keep them from wading through is all.)

It worries me that LE could put it all on a backburner instead of taking us seriously when we do have things to send them which we feel are pertinent. I do think there are a lot of good things we have come up with, but I think they are ahead of us on those fronts as they have all the information at their fingertips. I guess you never know what they could be missing tho as we have seen many times before. Hopefully, they will actually take time to scan through it.

I don't mind them reading here! I just haven't been able to keep up and wondered if something came up that I missed completely that warranted sending the information. I guess the answer to that is "no" then?

I also suppose I am just frustrated with the slow progress and the way they are so quiet about things. Also, that I can't be here to follow this closely! I want them to solve this and bring the POI/ in. Sorry if my frustration plus being exhausted gets the better of me lately.

 

[TeeOne]

I'd like to think 3 Girl Scouts (Doris Denise, Lori and Michele) were waiting for Taylor and Skyla when they arrived and that right now there is a big ol' bunch of giggly, silly angels having a sleepover - halos askew, pillow fighting with fluffy clouds and painting each other's faces with stardust.

My Opinion

FlowerChild, What a beautiful image you gave me - thanks!

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome

 

[tamfish]

So, this brings me to my point, does anyone else think that truckload of boys who had been shooting down by the creek was cleared as suspects awfully quickly? It seems like the cops just knew it wasn't them and I'm wondering if it's because this description of the NA man was offered up so quickly.
I'm not trying to blame those boys, but I just hope this mysterious NA man in the white truck doesn't live in the same town as Susan Smith's black man with the stocking cap.

I would imagine that if they were cleared, it was because the guns/bullets used obviously didn't match.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

thanks all for the warm welcome.

So, this brings me to my point, does anyone else think that truckload of boys who had been shooting down by the creek was cleared as suspects awfully quickly? It seems like the cops just knew it wasn't them and I'm wondering if it's because this description of the NA man was offered up so quickly.
I'm not trying to blame those boys, but I just hope this mysterious NA man in the white truck doesn't live in the same town as Susan Smith's black man with the stocking cap.

I think that is highly unlikely in this case. In Susan Smith's case she is the only one that ever said she saw the black man. From what OSBI has said several witnesses have now come forth saying they saw the man that day.

imoo

 

[Dalaipardon]

But how does LE know which guns the boys had access to? Just from their word? One could assume that being rural hunter types, they might have access to quite a few guns.

 

[Dalaipardon]

And who are these witnesses? Do they have any connection to the boys? Are the boys included in those witnesses?

I'm not saying this is necessarily what I believe happened. I don't really have a strong theory, but it's something I've been thinking about.

It seems the boys were cleared almost immediately.

 

[Garnan]

MUSKOGEE (June 19)
Nearly 300 are arrested in sweep for fugitives
The U.S. Marshal Service has made 290 arrests in a sweep for fugitives in eastern Oklahoma.


Marshals reported Wednesday that 493 warrants were cleared last week during a five-day sweep in 11 Oklahoma counties. The targets of this sweep were violent offenders, gang members and sex offenders. Among those arrested were 108 people wanted on narcotics charges, 14 wanted on weapons violations and four noncompliant sexual offenders.

http://newsok.com/crime-and-court-briefs/article/3259328/undefined?pg=1

Maybe one of these people will know something, if this is a drug related crime and speak up to save their own behind. I sure hope so. I am not feeling very positive about this case at all. I really believed they would have someone in custody by now.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

And who are these witnesses? Do they have any connection to the boys? Are the boys included in those witnesses?

I'm not saying this is necessarily what I believe happened. I don't really have a strong theory, but it's something I've been thinking about.

It seems the boys were cleared almost immediately.

From what Brown has said these witnesses seem to be outside of the family and have no connection. Very well could be neighbors or regular people that travel the road often to and from their own community.

imoo

 

[murdershewrote]

If the family just moved recently to be "safer" and then these girls are murdered in cold blood...it just doesn't seem like coincidence to me. It wouldn't surprise me if the family (or someone in the family) had received a threat of some kind or felt some kind of danger, enough to move. I just don't see this as a random killing. What could be worse to do to somebody than kill their child? Although I can't imagine them being in something so deep as to bring it to that level, I guess it doesn't take much these days. I really am leaning toward this being planned out.

 

[Albert18]

What is their motive?

To me this looks like it was personal.

If the POI was part of the group and he is in his mid 30's and they were interrupted by traffic on the road, that doesn't sound like a thrill kill to me.

What about druggies or a meth lab or the girls saw something? This was a busy road and the girls were very close to the house, why wouldn't they have grabbed the girls and killed them in a secluded area.

I think this is one of the biggest clues. The girls were killed where they were walking on a busy road, on a Sunday afternoon, and the crime was apparently interrupted by traffic. Yet the girls were not grabbed and transported. That sounds like a message killing to me. They wanted them found right there, not far from their doorstep. It looks like an in your face type of crime. And it was obvious overkill.

Another thing to remember is the killers could have very easily gone straight to the house and killed all four people. So it probably doesn't involve Peter.

My guess is the elephant in the room is the rough crowd the Placker's extended family runs around with.

And the reason for the killings could be something stupid. Look back at the Clutter family in the In Cold Blood murders. Somebody spreads a false rumor about the Clutter's keeping a lot of money in their house in a safe and this FALSE rumor gets four Clutters murdered.