If innocent, would a press conference help Terri?

[ami]

I disagree. What she says to the public has no bearing on that.

... except if people don't even stop to think about something they saw that day, or someone they know who was acting oddly around that time, or some piece of evidence they've dismissed because they've assumed Terri is guilty and she's never said anything to disabuse them of that fact.

 

[kappy50]

ah, if walls could talk I'm sure you'd hear....now that would help, I am sure a whole bunch...press conference...nah...!

 

[SacreBleu]

Imagine if the rape kit results had come back with DNA from one or all of them. That press conference would not have made a jot of difference and would probably have significantly hurt them at some point in the judicial process.

Bingo! Which is exactly why Terri ain't Talkin'! She knows there's nothing to exonerate her...MOO.

 

[GrainneDhu]

If neither Kaine nor Desiree is suspected of participating in the disappearance of Kyron, then I, personally, don't see the point of "constructively criticizing" their public appearances. It makes it difficult to actively advocate to find your child and bring the perp to justice when you are also opening yourself up to be scrutinized and "Monday-morning quarterbacked" and worse. I applaud their courage and their candor, something we have not seen from Terri.

Since Kaine got away from Terri, he has been very open with the media, and I think that indicates who it was in the family whose idea it was to avoid the media.

Steadfast, sometimes an extreme example makes things clearer for me.

There is a case from 1984 where a husky 12 year old boy named Johnny Gosch disappeared from his paper route. He has never been found, according to most people and to the police. His parents were never suspects in his disappearance.

However, his mother, Noreen Gosch, has insisted that Johnny was abducted by a ring of pedophiles and lives in hiding. She claims that he actually visited her in the middle of the night in the late 90s. No other witnesses, no evidence left behind. She has gone into criminal court to testify that Johnny is still alive, which led to the finding of not guilty against an accused pedophile.

Johnny's father, John Gosch, does not believe his son is still alive. The local police do not believe Johnny is still alive. I can't think of any reasonable person familiar with the case who believes Johnny is still alive.

At one point, a copy of a photograph was given to Noreen anonymously. It showed a group of young adolescent boys in their skivvies in a bedroom or motel room and they appeared to be bound. Noreen identified one of the boys as Johnny and said that the photograph was evidence that he'd been abducted by an organised pedophile ring.

She continues, so far as I know, to believe that Johnny is depicted in that photograph even though LE has tracked down the person who took the photo and all the boys (now adult men) in the photo. According to LE, it's a picture of a junior high school wrestling team at state finals, commemorating a night of goofing around. They were pretending to be tied up. Why? They were 13 and 14 year old boys and that's the way they think!

Noreen Gosch is clearly a victim and it seems clear to me that she continues to suffer terribly to this day. That does not mean that when she says something, I automatically accept it as the objective truth. I just can't. Not because she is evil but because her personal filters and biases cause her to believe and say things that are not consistent with consensus reality.

As for Monday morning quarterbacking, it is sometimes useful. For example, in the Johnny Gosch case, LE assured the community that there was nothing to fear, it was an isolated incident, no need to worry. Sound at all familiar?

Based on those assurances, the newspaper that Johnny Gosch was delivering that Sunday decided after consulting LE not to change their procedures.

Two years later, almost to the day, Eugene Martin, a slight 14 year old delivering the same newspaper, disappeared under nearly identical circumstances. Almost completely the same, including same area of town, day of the week (Sunday), lack of eyewitnesses to the actual event, eyewitnesses placing Eugene near his drop spot, etc. The two boys even looked like they were the same age at disappearance because Johnny was large for a 12 year old and Eugene small for 14.

There's no evidence to link the two disappearances. But that newspaper immediately made the decision to change their procedures (including raising the age of their delivery personnel) and there have been no more abductions of their delivery staff.

I'm among those who believe that had LE not been so quick to characterise Johnny Gosch's disappearance as an isolated incident, Eugene Martin would not have been abducted.

A little constructive challenging of assumptions and biases, a little Monday morning quarterbacking, can be very useful. Might even save a life or two.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Wait, but didn't they refinance?

Snipped from article:http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/kyron_hormans_parents_plan_fun.html

On Friday, The Oregonian learned that Terri Horman's parents recently refinanced their home with a $165,450 mortgage, paying off the previous mortgage of $86,000. The deed of trust was filed Aug. 17 in Douglas County.

Neither Houze nor Terri Horman's parents could be reached for comment Friday about money

Wow, I stand corrected! Thank you.

The previous article I'd read said that reporters had not found any recent changes of title.

I am still hopeful for their finances; in today's credit market, they could not have gotten a mortgage unless they had a good credit history and the means to pay off the mortgage.

It may well be quite a financial pinch for them.

 

[Calliope]

Speaking as a member of the public, if she had spoken out early on in a manner I and others have described, enough doubt in my mind as to her guilt would been generated to have me on the fence about her guilt/innocence.

And with more people being on the fence, and with a strong image of Terri out there to counteract the evil stepmom image, surely LE would have been pressured by the public, especially by Skyline parents, to put more emphasis on an abductor inside the school.

JMO

LE doesn't show any signs of bending to public pressure now, so I don't see them bending to it in your scenario.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Bingo! Which is exactly why Terri ain't Talkin'! She knows there's nothing to exonerate her...MOO.

I was unclear.

In the Duke lacrosse case, there was evidence that could decisively rule certain suspects in or out. In Kyron's case, I can't think of anything that could decisively rule TMH in or out.

If she is factually innocent, her timeline is full of holes with the only known eyewitness being 18 months old at the time. TMH's DNA should be all over the place because she lived with Kyron and likewise, his should also be all over the place. I infer that there was nothing out of the ordinary discovered in the Horman family truck, since it was not impounded.

And even if TMH is factually innocent, the sexting with MC repels so many people that many use it as one of the events that causes them to believe TMH did it.

So at this poing, TMH's position is, in my humble opinion, too different from that of the Duke lacrosse players for their strategy to work for her. They knew that there was a decisive test in the works but there is no such test for TMH whether she's guilty or innocent.

 

[Calliope]

JMO but it might have. The investigators are people with likes and dislikes and subjective opinions of the subjects of their investigations and the images the players project of themselves in public and in private might have an effect on who they go after and how hard they try to get them hanged.

Anything that you say may be used against you in the court of law but IMO it could work the other way around as well. If and when the jury members have seen the public statements of the suspects before the trial or have had them filtered through the public discussion or if the tapes are brought up in the courtroom as evidence for some reason, there is a chance to make both a good impression and a bad impression.

It doesn't matter if the evidence is overwhelming but if the prosecutor doesn't have all that much and the defense attorney does a good job personal impressions and the opinions that the jurors have formed about the defendant's character and sincerity might sometimes tip the scale one way or another.

If the prosecutor doesn't have all that much then there's reasonable doubt and the person is acquitted.

But considering that many think Terri is a sociopath who has managed to manipulate pretty much everyone in her life, would we really want to take the chance she'd charm the potential jury pool to the point she would get away with murder and kidnapping? And if that was even possible, why wouldn't her defense attorney have her out there every day, all day long?

I prefer to try cases within the courtroom. If the process has broken down to the point that jurors enter a case knowing how they'll vote based upon pre-trial PR by any of the players, then God help us all.

 

[SmoothOperator]

Originally Posted by STEADFAST
If neither Kaine nor Desiree is suspected of participating in the disappearance of Kyron, then I, personally, don't see the point of "constructively criticizing" their public appearances. It makes it difficult to actively advocate to find your child and bring the perp to justice when you are also opening yourself up to be scrutinized and "Monday-morning quarterbacked" and worse. I applaud their courage and their candor, something we have not seen from Terri.

Since Kaine got away from Terri, he has been very open with the media, and I think that indicates who it was in the family whose idea it was to avoid the media.

And below is response to this above post

Steadfast, sometimes an extreme example makes things clearer for me.

There is a case from 1984 where a husky 12 year old boy named Johnny Gosch disappeared from his paper route. He has never been found, according to most people and to the police. His parents were never suspects in his disappearance.

However, his mother, Noreen Gosch, has insisted that Johnny was abducted by a ring of pedophiles and lives in hiding. She claims that he actually visited her in the middle of the night in the late 90s. No other witnesses, no evidence left behind. She has gone into criminal court to testify that Johnny is still alive, which led to the finding of not guilty against an accused pedophile.

Johnny's father, John Gosch, does not believe his son is still alive. The local police do not believe Johnny is still alive. I can't think of any reasonable person familiar with the case who believes Johnny is still alive.

At one point, a copy of a photograph was given to Noreen anonymously. It showed a group of young adolescent boys in their skivvies in a bedroom or motel room and they appeared to be bound. Noreen identified one of the boys as Johnny and said that the photograph was evidence that he'd been abducted by an organised pedophile ring.

She continues, so far as I know, to believe that Johnny is depicted in that photograph even though LE has tracked down the person who took the photo and all the boys (now adult men) in the photo. According to LE, it's a picture of a junior high school wrestling team at state finals, commemorating a night of goofing around. They were pretending to be tied up. Why? They were 13 and 14 year old boys and that's the way they think!

Noreen Gosch is clearly a victim and it seems clear to me that she continues to suffer terribly to this day. That does not mean that when she says something, I automatically accept it as the objective truth. I just can't. Not because she is evil but because her personal filters and biases cause her to believe and say things that are not consistent with consensus reality.

As for Monday morning quarterbacking, it is sometimes useful. For example, in the Johnny Gosch case, LE assured the community that there was nothing to fear, it was an isolated incident, no need to worry. Sound at all familiar?

Based on those assurances, the newspaper that Johnny Gosch was delivering that Sunday decided after consulting LE not to change their procedures.

Two years later, almost to the day, Eugene Martin, a slight 14 year old delivering the same newspaper, disappeared under nearly identical circumstances. Almost completely the same, including same area of town, day of the week (Sunday), lack of eyewitnesses to the actual event, eyewitnesses placing Eugene near his drop spot, etc. The two boys even looked like they were the same age at disappearance because Johnny was large for a 12 year old and Eugene small for 14.

There's no evidence to link the two disappearances. But that newspaper immediately made the decision to change their procedures (including raising the age of their delivery personnel) and there have been no more abductions of their delivery staff.

I'm among those who believe that had LE not been so quick to characterise Johnny Gosch's disappearance as an isolated incident, Eugene Martin would not have been abducted.

A little constructive challenging of assumptions and biases, a little Monday morning quarterbacking, can be very useful. Might even save a life or two.

I respectfully must ask, what exactly does the response of the extreme situation have to do with STEADFAST post about the "nit-picking" done of Kaine and Desiree and that they should be applauded rather than met with criticism over anything and everything they do or say in the media?


Don't get me wrong I understand the meaning of the extreme situation... That because LE announced the first abduction of the delivery was an isolated incident there were no changes made in the delivery policies. Therefor due to know changes per LE statement of it being isolated incident another young boy was abducted in very similar manner...

But what would that situation just mentioned have to do with STEADFAST stating the fact of ppl unjustly hyper-analyzing KH and DY ?

Could be quite possible I'm missing something... Sure wouldnt be the first nor the last time for that happening..

 

[pufnstuf]

Steadfast, sometimes an extreme example makes things clearer for me.

There is a case from 1984 where a husky 12 year old boy named Johnny Gosch disappeared from his paper route. He has never been found, according to most people and to the police. His parents were never suspects in his disappearance.

However, his mother, Noreen Gosch, has insisted that Johnny was abducted by a ring of pedophiles and lives in hiding. She claims that he actually visited her in the middle of the night in the late 90s. No other witnesses, no evidence left behind. She has gone into criminal court to testify that Johnny is still alive, which led to the finding of not guilty against an accused pedophile.

Johnny's father, John Gosch, does not believe his son is still alive. The local police do not believe Johnny is still alive. I can't think of any reasonable person familiar with the case who believes Johnny is still alive.

At one point, a copy of a photograph was given to Noreen anonymously. It showed a group of young adolescent boys in their skivvies in a bedroom or motel room and they appeared to be bound. Noreen identified one of the boys as Johnny and said that the photograph was evidence that he'd been abducted by an organised pedophile ring.

She continues, so far as I know, to believe that Johnny is depicted in that photograph even though LE has tracked down the person who took the photo and all the boys (now adult men) in the photo. According to LE, it's a picture of a junior high school wrestling team at state finals, commemorating a night of goofing around. They were pretending to be tied up. Why? They were 13 and 14 year old boys and that's the way they think!

Noreen Gosch is clearly a victim and it seems clear to me that she continues to suffer terribly to this day. That does not mean that when she says something, I automatically accept it as the objective truth. I just can't. Not because she is evil but because her personal filters and biases cause her to believe and say things that are not consistent with consensus reality.

As for Monday morning quarterbacking, it is sometimes useful. For example, in the Johnny Gosch case, LE assured the community that there was nothing to fear, it was an isolated incident, no need to worry. Sound at all familiar?

Based on those assurances, the newspaper that Johnny Gosch was delivering that Sunday decided after consulting LE not to change their procedures.

Two years later, almost to the day, Eugene Martin, a slight 14 year old delivering the same newspaper, disappeared under nearly identical circumstances. Almost completely the same, including same area of town, day of the week (Sunday), lack of eyewitnesses to the actual event, eyewitnesses placing Eugene near his drop spot, etc. The two boys even looked like they were the same age at disappearance because Johnny was large for a 12 year old and Eugene small for 14.

There's no evidence to link the two disappearances. But that newspaper immediately made the decision to change their procedures (including raising the age of their delivery personnel) and there have been no more abductions of their delivery staff.

I'm among those who believe that had LE not been so quick to characterise Johnny Gosch's disappearance as an isolated incident, Eugene Martin would not have been abducted.

A little constructive challenging of assumptions and biases, a little Monday morning quarterbacking, can be very useful. Might even save a life or two.

I've read a good bit about the Gosch case. There are some really wacko conspiracy theories out there. Sadly, I think that Noreen bought into some of those theories. At any rate...

I was wondering if you would mind linking me to your source which provided the info bolded above. Thanks.

 

[Donjeta]

If the prosecutor doesn't have all that much then there's reasonable doubt and the person is acquitted.

But considering that many think Terri is a sociopath who has managed to manipulate pretty much everyone in her life, would we really want to take the chance she'd charm the potential jury pool to the point she would get away with murder and kidnapping?

Naturally it is not a desirable outcome that she'd get away with murder but people thinking that she is a sociopath and a murderer doesn't make it so. So far she is a free individual who hasn't been arrested or charged for anything and she has the right to try to charm anyone she wants to, IMO, just as all the rest of us, if her lawyer doesn't advise against it.

And if that was even possible, why wouldn't her defense attorney have her out there every day, all day long?

IMO there is no doubt that it is possible for guilty people to charm others into thinking they're innocent and for innocent people to convince others with their sincerity. We see that on WS on some controversial cases IMO (although people differ about whether various subjects belong to the guilty group or the innocent group).

But it works the other way around as well and I assume her lawyer thinks the risks are greater than the potential benefits. He doesn't just have to decide whether Terri can charm everybody or not but he also has to consider the evidence, if any, that Terri has told them LE might have.

I prefer to try cases within the courtroom. If the process has broken down to the point that jurors enter a case knowing how they'll vote based upon pre-trial PR by any of the players, then God help us all.

I never said anything about jurors entering the case knowing how they'll vote or trying the case out of court. Don't they have the juror selection process just for that reason to try to prevent those people who are heavily prejudiced being selected in the jury?

But we have discussed ad nauseam on this thread and on other threads that the prosecutor may use things that the defendant has said in the pre-trial pressers and interviews against the defendant. We have discussed that the lawyers are worried that if the defendants manage to look unconvincing in the pre-trial appearances or use the wrong words or the wrong intonation or convey a wrong emotion, look nervous or otherwise make a shifty impression and act guilty it may be a factor influencing people's perceptions and opinions about their client and somewhere down the road it might possibly influence the jury's decisions negatively for their clients and that's one of the reasons why they tell them to shut up and stay out of the media.

IMO it is only fair to note that the same evidence material that is available for use to further the guilty verdict in court is available to be used for the purposes of the defense as well. If, by any chance, the defendant appeared to say the right things and didn't appear to act guilty and made the jurors believe that the defendant is innocent and there is a plausible innocent reason for whatever evidence has been presented against him or her then who are we to say they're wrong? Maybe the defendant is innocent. If not the prosecutor must appeal and make a better case.


Trials are not a charm contest but as long as the outcome of trials is decided by humans and not by some machine that calculates probabilities on the basis of quantitative markers derived from the evidence there is going to be a certain human element in the decision making process about how to weigh the evidence. Perceptions about the defendant's and the witnesses' credibility and sincerity are part of that. But it's not just one-sidedly against the defendant so that only things that make him or her look like a guilty liarpants can be considered and it shouldn't be, IMO, because some of them are in fact innocent and sincere and credible for real.

 

[froginTtown]

All I can say say is: I WISH Terri would have gave a press conference...!!

Her lawyer must be thanking the stars that she didn't...!!

 

[MarieFaith]

LE doesn't show any signs of bending to public pressure now, so I don't see them bending to it in your scenario.

Edit: I was trying to quote everything in post 186, but it didn't work.

I'm not aware that at the present time there is any public pressure to focus on an abductor other than Terri. Hopefully, behind the scenes, LE has done all they can to rule that out. But right away they assured Skyline parents that this was an isolated incident, and not to worry about their children's safety.

I"m just joining others in pointing out that if early on Terri had publicly proclaimed her innocence in a heartfelt and passionate manner, it's a good bet that enough perceptions could have been changed to affect the focus of the investigation.

But at this point, it's too late. The time has past for Terri to be effective in this way. She missed the boat on this one.

JMO

 

[Calliope]

Edit: I was trying to quote everything in post 186, but it didn't work.

I'm not aware that at the present time there is any public pressure to focus on an abductor other than Terri. Hopefully, behind the scenes, LE has done all they can to rule that out. But right away they assured Skyline parents that this was an isolated incident, and not to worry about their children's safety.

I"m just joining others in pointing out that if early on Terri had publicly proclaimed her innocence in a heartfelt and passionate manner, it's a good bet that enough perceptions could have been changed to affect the focus of the investigation.

But at this point, it's too late. The time has past for Terri to be effective in this way. She missed the boat on this one.

JMO

Early on it may have made a difference as to what the public thought of her, but then again none of the parents were speaking to the press. That one press conference 9 days in, and then it was simply written statements read by the father and stepfather. I admit I'm a bit fuzzy on this, but I don't think we heard from Kaine again until he was with Desiree on the 25th. And IIRC, that was the first time we'd heard anything from Desiree.

I just don't see how it would have affected the police investigation. I'd hate to think it would, and I'd hate to think that the current negative public opinion is pushing the police to go after her. If they have her in the crosshairs and are not considering any other possibility, I want to believe it's because they have concrete evidence that she was involved.

But at this point, it's too late. The time has past for Terri to be effective in this way. She missed the boat on this one.

I agree. Nothing good would come of her speaking out now.

 

[Calliope]

I just want Terri to have told police all she knows about that morning. If she has, and the police just can't seem to track her movements for the hour that she was driving around, then IMO they really need to go back to the start and begin looking at other scenarios. My biggest fear is that just because she doesn't have an iron-clad alibi for her whereabouts, LE is neglecting to check other possibilities, and that someone has a 3 month head-start on them.

 

[Donjeta]

I just want Terri to have told police all she knows about that morning. If she has, and the police just can't seem to track her movements for the hour that she was driving around, then IMO they really need to go back to the start and begin looking at other scenarios. My biggest fear is that just because she doesn't have an iron-clad alibi for her whereabouts, LE is neglecting to check other possibilities, and that someone has a 3 month head-start on them.

I hope LE has looked at other things besides Terri but IDK. In the Haleigh Cummings case it was said that LE questioned all the SO's in the area pretty quickly but I don't remember reading that in the Kyron case. There might be too many in the Portland area to make it practical since it's a larger city?

In any case I don't believe that LE is looking at Terri just because she doesn't have an iron clad alibi. There are other things that look a bit hinky and some of them might have been a factor.

As to how the public appearances of the family may influence the police investigation, I believe that the profilers are quite interested in watching the family speak in public or other taped interviews and trying to determine if their words and emotions are consistent with being innocent or if they act like they're hiding something.

 

[cypress]

Edit: I was trying to quote everything in post 186, but it didn't work.

I'm not aware that at the present time there is any public pressure to focus on an abductor other than Terri. Hopefully, behind the scenes, LE has done all they can to rule that out. But right away they assured Skyline parents that this was an isolated incident, and not to worry about their children's safety.

I"m just joining others in pointing out that if early on Terri had publicly proclaimed her innocence in a heartfelt and passionate manner, it's a good bet that enough perceptions could have been changed to affect the focus of the investigation.

But at this point, it's too late. The time has past for Terri to be effective in this way. She missed the boat on this one.

JMO

BBM

LE put a lot of pressure on Dede Spicher by indirectly naming her Terri's accomplice, complete with Dede being the star of a questionnaire, and Kaine and Desiree put quite a bit of pressure on Dede by publicly accusing her of being involved in their son's disappearance. On this site and others she was sleuthed, there has been speculation that she must be involved in a lesbian affair with Terri despite no evidence to support this salacious assumption, that she's lying, that she's an accomplice, etc. and based on what evidence? The media can't even get its story straight about her day and neither can the supposed witnesses. She hasn't been arrested. As far as we know, she never testified before the Grand Jury. In an interview, she said she told police all she knew, but that it wasn't what police wanted to hear, so this discounts any theory that she has been given immunity.

I don't understand how people are not outraged about the direction of this investigation. LE assured the parents of Skyline students that their children were not in danger. How can LE promise the parents of Skyline anything if they don't even know what happened or who was in involved?

Dede's life may not be ruined, but her reputation in that area of the country is probably ruined. Why? For what purpose? LE has indirectly named this woman as a suspect in a missing child investigation based on what evidence? It is unethical and just plain wrong. IMHO, LE is letting their theory guide their quest for evidence as opposed to letting evidence guide their theory about what happened, and the effect this is having on the community and the people who stand unfairly accused is wrong. LE needs to have strong, irrefutable evidence before they bring yet another player into the mix. I'm not interested in seeing another person dragged through the mud out of LE's desperation to solve this case. If something about Terri's alibi makes it impossible for her to have done this alone, and if the agencies involved can't produce someone with whom Terri colluded to commit this act after investigating her phone, electronic, and financial records, then maybe LE needs to look elsewhere.

With regard to the specific question of whether or not Terri should speak to the press or if she missed the boat, Terri said nothing at the first press conference but many diagnosed her as a sociopath and with various other personality disorders based on the number of times she blinked, the way she looked at Desiree, and the expression on her face. Her speaking to the press would only be fodder for people who decided she was guilty by her non-verbal actions at the first press conference.

 

[Calliope]

I hope LE has looked at other things besides Terri but IDK. In the Haleigh Cummings case it was said that LE questioned all the SO's in the area pretty quickly but I don't remember reading that in the Kyron case. There might be too many in the Portland area to make it practical since it's a larger city?

In any case I don't believe that LE is looking at Terri just because she doesn't have an iron clad alibi. There are other things that look a bit hinky and some of them might have been a factor.

As to how the public appearances of the family may influence the police investigation, I believe that the profilers are quite interested in watching the family speak in public or other taped interviews and trying to determine if their words and emotions are consistent with being innocent or if they act like they're hiding something.

Another reason why someone who is the focus of an investigation shouldn't speak out, innocent or not.

It's not the SOs LE would know how to contact that I worry about, but the ones who have managed to slip through the cracks (either noncompliant with registration or those not yet caught). In fact I'd say the RSOs are probably the least of my concern.

 

[Aedrys]

Grainnedhu, that case has some good points. But what bothers is me is that I have yet to hear Desiree and Kaine put out wild theories about what happened to their son, unless the theory that Terri did it is wild to some, I suppose. It's not wild to me, though. They have not put forward pedophile rings or drug lords or anything else out there that just doesn't make any sense. They are going with their gut, logic, and hope.

Now you want a case where wild, crazy, unbelievable theories have been put forward, you should follow the Casey Anthony case. Her parents believe any wild theory out there BUT the only one that makes sense, that their daughter killed her daughter. I'm sure Cindy Anthony will be another Noreen for the rest of her life. But Desiree and Kaine are FAR from being anywhere NEAR a Noreen.

I just don't see the correlation here. These people aren't making things up and misleading the public. They're trying desperately to find their son and get the person they believe responsible to tell them where he is without violence against her, just threatening words. My gosh, Terri is getting off easy if there's only words threatening her right now. They are being as sane and reasonable as they can be in a horrific time like this.

Not even LE or the community is naive about this. There wouldn't be cameras in school if everyone believed it was just Terri and nothing else. I'm sure LE has checked out every perp they can in Oregon just in case. I don't think there is tunnel vision here, just logic and sensibility. Terri's story has holes, it's not adding up, and she has done actions that have just pointed further at her. It doesn't make sense to be sexting someone when you're the focus of an investigation. It just doesn't. LE is supposed to ignore all of that and look elsewhere just because she's pretty and a loving mom and couldn't have done this? That wouldn't make sense.

This is not an extreme case. It may bring about extreme feelings, but it's definitely NOT the Johnny Gosch case all over again. I don't have fear that there's some unidentified perp out there that will just do this again because everyone will look the other way. As far as I've seen, NO ONE is looking the other way here, or is readily assured of this being an isolated incident. There wouldn't be cameras and meetings at the school if that were the case. Despite Terri being the main suspect, no one is letting their guard down just because it's probably her that did this. If anything, people's guards are up MORE.

We're a much more informed public these days. It's harder to get lies past us. We're not naive, we're not leaving our doors unlocked, and because of Kyron, we can't even be totally secure inside of a school anymore. Whether Terri talks or not, sense and sensibility reigns here, and Thank GOD for that. I couldn't take another Casey Anthony case.

The only thing not making any sense here is Terri, and that's her own fault. There's nothing she can do about that now, either.

 

[cypress]

Grainnedhu, that case has some good points. But what bothers is me is that I have yet to hear Desiree and Kaine put out wild theories about what happened to their son, unless the theory that Terri did it is wild to some, I suppose. It's not wild to me, though. They have not put forward pedophile rings or drug lords or anything else out there that just doesn't make any sense. They are going with their gut, logic, and hope.

Terri had a DUI five years ago, by all accounts an isolated incident, and both Terri and Dede have had multiple traffic violations; however, beyond that, neither Terri nor Dede has had any other major scrapes with the law.

It is "wild" to me that Terri, with her 18-month-old daughter in tow, facilitated Kyron's abduction from a school in which she was well-known, with the help of another seemingly normal, law-abiding woman and with the help of an unknown third party who is keeping Kyron alive but hidden, convincing all those involved to maintain their silence in the aftermath of the state's largest investigation of its kind and despite consistent national attention, subsequently losing her home, child, reputation, friends, and for reasons neither Kaine nor Desiree can even begin to speculate about or understand. It is mind boggling to me that the number of agencies involved in this case, including the FBI, have not managed to infiltrate this ring of suburban criminals, or that Terri, as careless as she seems to be about her electronic correspondence while the focus of an investigation, was somehow thoughtful and responsible enough to not leave a shred of evidence that would lead to her accomplices.