Hi all
I joined to post in this thread, but I may stick around for a while. It looks like a great place to be a part of.
Anyway, reason why I am posting. I used to buy and sell clothing on ebay, many moons ago. From 2003 to around 2005 or so. I also have 4 kids of my own, the youngest is 11 and the oldest is 24.
Anyway, this left me with a lot of clothes for whatever reason I could not sell. I would buy pieces from op shops, (before they went all up market) and resell them. I would also buy clothes from smaller backyard manufacturers and wholesalers etc.
I used to be a bit of a hoarder, and wouldn’t throw something out because I may need it one day. <cough> So I would store clothing in boxes, vacuum bags, plastic crates...and suitcases. I had around 4 cases of clothing at one stage.
So I have also moved house a lot. Consequently this would involve lugging all my crap with me. I recall a move where my ex had helped, and unbeknown to me had put all my clothing into a corner of the shed where the weather got to it. We also had a neighbour with cats, and after a year or so in the house, we moved again. All the clothing in the suitcases were ruined. They had significant water damage, and smelt like cat pee. It was gross.
The reason this Wynarka case struck a chord with me, apart from the fact that I am a mum myself, was because when I saw that suitcase with the contents it could very well have been one of mine. More shockingly, there were a few items that were the same as ones I have had. The fake Dora PJ top, the Holden shorts, the blue boxer shorts, the jacket, and the butterfly slipper. To make sure I wasn't imagining it, I asked my kids if they recognised any of it. My 17 yr old did for some of them.
Now I know there is no way it would be any of my gear, as I threw all that stuff out at the dump in general rubbish a long time ago, and I did not recognise any of the other stuff, but I was freaked out nevertheless.
I decided to post here because there has been a lot of conjecture about how many items of clothing fit into a suitcase, and the reply is "a lot." Even a small one the same size as the Wynarka one. Also there has been a lot of speculation about the origin of the clothing, and why there would be a mix of clothing.
I don't believe the one she was found in was this little girls suitcase, I believe it was an opportunistic grab to hide her. I think the quilt and the tutu may hold the key, the tutu more so than the quilt. The reason I say this is they know there were only 28 of them sold. Maybe they can track down some, if not all, of them. However, the quilt, though distinctive, may not ever come to the attention of the person who made it. Even though it would be easily recognised, as can be seen by the quilters dedication on here already in matching up pieces of it. What awesome work. But what if the lady who made it isn't on the internet? Likely. Or doesn't watch TV? Less likely. Or isn't watching the night it has been shown, or doesn't watch the news. Many people don't. Or they may be older with poor eyesight, or senile, or even deceased. So that's what i think about the quilt. But you never know, someone may recognise it. I read through every last post so far, and the idea of recreating the quilt was a very good one. It may be too degraded to get it all though, but something tangible like that would be much more useful in jogging someones memory.
As for the origins of the clothing, I have been trying to remember where I got it all.
The Dora PJ's I had, I recall buying from a closed door sale. I bought around 4 pair, along with some other licensed products like sheets sets etc - also counterfeit. One quilt cover I purchased had a hole about 20 cm (8inches) wide to put a double bed quilt into! Anyway, I listed them (but not the quilt cover) and had a person email me to tell me they were counterfeit. I didn't know at the time, but they said they were missing the "the" and the colours were all wrong. They also pointed out the eyes looking like Japanese eyes. So I withdrew them and chucked them into storage. Hence why I remember them so well.
The Holden boxers - I had bought a pair for my son, but they were too small for him, so he never wore them. I think the ones I had were a size 8 or 10. I don't think I ever listed them on ebay, but I bought them from an end of season sale at either K-Mart or Target.
The blue boxers with the brown bears. Not sure where I got mine from. They were either a hand me down, as I had quite a few cousins, sister etc who would pass on their clothes to me, or I bought them in a bulk lot. I was also selling a line of clothing for a backyard manufacturer that went out of business, and I recall having a lot of boxer shorts in amongst those items. I can't remember specifically where I got them, only that I had more than one pair, in different sizes.
The butterfly slippers I had were a hand me down - exactly the same as the one at Wynarka. Zips up either side, and a hard sole which was perfect when my daughter was a toddler, as she could walk outside without the bottoms of them getting grotty. They were purchased from K-Mart. Pale pink with a purple butterfly lined with silvery sparkly stuff.
The jacket - I am reasonably confident it was the same as the one in the pic. Mine was a pale dusty pink colour, with stitching over it in patterns. It was lined with lambswool, and I am reasonably sure I also got it from K-Mart at an end of season sale. My youngest was born in 2003, and I recall packing it away for when it would fit her. Unfortunately, due to me forgetting, by the time I remembered it, it was too small for her.
Now all of my ruined stuff was in a large light blue suitcase, much larger than the Wynarka suitcase. And it was trashed when I discovered it. A lot of water damage over time that had left a lot of black mold, and the smell of cat pee was awful. The smell had permeated all parts of it, and stunk to high heaven. The suitcase had also faded considerably.
But because I had so much stuff, I could easily fit 50 into a smaller case. Especially if they were satin, or lightweight material. I can also recall selling MissX with that tag, and all the pieces I bought were from op shops. A lot of the ones I had were things like tank tops, short skirts etc. None of which would ever fit me, being of the larger varierty as I am
I sold these as they moved fast on ebay at the time, and they were lightweight for posting.
I also recognized the Sally tag, though not sure of it. I think mine was on a pink machine knitted jumper with a flower appliqué on the front. Not real sure though, but this rings a bell.
The only other tag I recognised was the H.F with the kangaroo. I don't recall anything with those letters per se, but the kangaroo used on that logo is a very common Chinese knock off symbol. I don't think they still make clothing with this kangaroo on it, but for a while there was a lot of Chinese knock offs flooding the markets etc, and they had exactly this kangaroo. I studied a lot of knock offs, as I didn’t want to buy any more.
So there is my bit to add. In light of this, I think maybe the perp had been interrupted for whatever reason..illness, moving, death in the family etc. They may have lived in the area. They have seen a suitcase with a bunch of clothing in it, or already had it. If I had suitcases of differing clothing lying around, I am sure I would not be the only one. So maybe someone in the family used to sell clothing much like I did, or raid op shops (there are a lot of these sort s of suitcases handed in at op shops) or maybe they just snatched the suitcase from an op shop drop, or a rubbish pile.
I was thinking for a while maybe the suitcase was stolen from it’s resting place, which the perp had kept, and suitcase man is the perp. He knew it had been stolen and had been dumped, so was walking looking for it with a bigger case to put it into when he found it. That’s the only way I can think of to tie in suitcase man, but more likely he had nothing to do with it. Occam’s razor.
Sorry for the long post, especially for my first post here, but maybe it might help people track down any of the other bits and pieces of clothing. I don't think it will help though, as it seems to be a lot of cheap stuff that is, or was, freely available, at least in SA.
I do hope they find the evil creep/s that did this, as it would be simply awful to think it may not be solved, and a poor innocent little girl has been so carelessly discarded like rubbish. It breaks your heart.
Sorry again for the scroller folks.
