Robert Ives is the top prosecutor in Carroll County, again, after a hiatus.
Good point about Ives' comments, and I have to agree so far as he has a locals' perspective, with regards to anything high-profile like this in Carroll County. By that I mean murders of any kind, which are fairly rare, there. Then suddenly there was the Flora case in late '16, three months later the girls were killed in Deer Creek Twp. east of Delphi proper.
It's gnawing at me, "local", or "not-so-local" but knows the bridge area, or complete stranger. A complete stranger would have had to do a lot of research before the murders, more than a local who had been there, obviously. He would have to get a "feel" for the terrain, the trails in the woods on private properties, and his possible escape route(s). A local who had been there before in years previous would have maybe had to reacquaint themselves with the area in question, at some point before the murders.
One huge factor on my end is the time of year he chose. As others here have noted, there is a very real possibility he chose the general time of Valentine's Day, maybe for shock factor, too, considering that was the next day. Maybe that's why he chose the spot where they were found, he pretty much knew nobody would really suspect anything bad happened, early on, and there was a very real possibility they wouldn't be found until Valentine's Day.
What else is significant about the time of year? The wooded areas are terribly overgrown during the warmer months, sections of the private trails are virtually impassable, according to YouTube videos I've seen. The area in question would have had much clearer lines-of-sight, and the trails would have been passable to get out of there, assuming he didn't leave via the cemetery, which was my original theory about an escape route.
I sincerely doubt it's a random person passing through, in the transient sense.
JMO
Great post - lots of excellent points. You emphasize the time of year of this attack. We have discussed this throughout the thread as you point out, but its worthy of picking apart again.
1. Valentines Day - the obvious. It suggests he hates women, or a woman in particular. I'm guessing it's his mother, but could be an ex-wife, girlfriend, or even an object of his obsession that "rejected" him. (Unbenownst to them)
2. Holidays can tend to "trigger" people in general, but even more so (it seems) those with unregulated mental illness. Did he start ruminating over his perceived grievance with women a couple weeks prior to the date and start carefully planning how to exact his revenge?
3. The trails - your observation about the trails being easier to pass that time of year is very interesting. Only someone very familiar with the area would know that.
4. Random person/transient - agree it is not a "transient". If we are all correct in our speculations about the Perp having murderous gear under his jacket - it would seem very difficult for a transient to have the ability to collect all this.
Your post is thought provoking in that it underscores the speculation that this Perp is a local, or from a neighboring area. The level of knowledge of the trails go far beyond randomness; this seems to be someone who spent a fair amount of time exploring them.
I'd like to dig deeper in to this concept of someone who would know the trails well. We need local perspective for this. Here are my questions:
1. Were the trails a family outing destination, or mostly a teenage hangout?
2. Did most of the Delphi residents frequent these trails, and if so, how often?
3. Were there annual activities held at the trails such as scout outings, camping, nature walks, bird watching tours, and so forth?
4. Were the trails, for the most part, not maintained or was it usual to see a park ranger or other workers working on the trail?
5. Have there been any other crimes committed on the trail?
I'm convinced the Perp has left plenty of clues on that trail leading up to the murders, and we haven't yet become aware of them.
Amateur opinion and speculation
