GUILTY Australia - Jill Meagher, 29, Melbourne, 22 Sep 2012 #1

[The Unfortunate Ms M]

Me too. You are on a main road, in public. MM would have to be seriously desperate to persist in that situation.

I wouldn't. A lot of people would feel really weird about calling 000, I know I do. I did it once, witnessing a serious thing from my window, and even then i was worried i was wasting police time and i had to tell myself over and over that i was allowed to call, thats what 000 is for, etc

 

[LegallyBrunette]

Actually, I would probably have gone into the kebab shop and had them phone police and husband.

 

[revampz]

Yep Somanto think you are spot on....or else they have come back and thrown the bag out....dont know why though

 

[*Indigo*]

Just checked out the facebook page for Jill Meagher and one person has provided a link to a news item about a Dutch backpacker who was raped by a man who had followed her as she walked home from a pub in St Kilda around 2:30 in the morning, July 15th this year...He pulled over in a red hatchback car and told her that she was being followed and pointed behind her to a black parked car that was parked..he said he would give her a lift and she agreed and got in but it became clear he wasn't taking her home - the car doors were locked and he drove to a dark lane where he raped her. She convinced him to drive her home where she ran screaming inside her house and he fled.
The man with the blue hoodie talking to Jill looks similar - IMO
Also another poster has said it looks like he is pointing behind Jill at something - could be using the same ploy???

Here is a link

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/youre-being-followed-backpacker-sexually-assaulted-after-con-20120801-23dvb.html

 

[Strangeworld]

Okay here's my take (please correct me if this doesn't fit with the CCTV!)

Blue hoodie is hassling her, it creeps her out so she pretend to text and waits for him to go further up the road.

She contemplates going back the way she came but decides against it, instead deciding to continue up Sydney road, but while on the phone to her brother for some reassurance. Doesn't believe the situation is serious enough/warrants alarming her brother by divulging the true reason for the call.

Is on the phone to her brother while she goes past the Turkish place, hence all the voices in the background. Round the corner down Hope Street believing she is alone. At this point the call to her brother is over, but still has her phone in her hands as she waits for her brother to call her back.

In the laneway on the left side as you walk up Hope Street Blue Hoodie and accomplice pull her into a waiting car, her handbag slips out of her hands but she holds on to the phone. Woman in Turkish restaurant hears her scream but no one is close enough to see anything.

As many people have already suggested, someone finds the handbag on Sat (probably before the case has received media attention) freaks out when they realize it's implicated in a missing persons case and places it back sometime on Sunday/monday morning.

BBM
I remember hearing in that news clip where they interviewed locals and that one lady said the woman in Turkish restaurant called police, she said they didn't show up. Wonder if they did come by and do a patrol - very sad if they didn't respond.

 

[Makara]

Here are a few screencaps from the Youtube video. IMO the guy in the blue hoodie doesn't look all that young to me. In the last screencap where he has his back to the window, it looks like he has fair hair that is closely cropped. Gill is just out of the frame in that one but it appears he is talking to her. I have quite a few more screencaps to post but I'll have to do it a bit later.

Blue Hoodie heading north.


Blue Hoodie face.


Blue Hoodie heading south.


Blue Hoodie from the north again with back to window.


Jill Meagher CCTV Footage - YouTube

 

[somanto]

why would she go past the Turkish place? It is north of Hope St. Lux Way comes off Hope St

Well near enough to the Turkish place that noise from the patrons could be heard on the phone. Perhaps she lingered at that intersection while speaking to her brother before venturing down Hope Street.

 

[Timmy]

Here are a few screencaps from the Youtube video. IMO the guy in the blue hoodie doesn't look all that young to me. In the last screencap where he has his back to the window, it looks like he has fair hair that is closely cropped. Gill is just out of the frame in that one but it appears he is talking to her. I have quite a few more screencaps to post but I'll have to do it a bit later.

Thanks Makara. you're a gem! Thank you to everyone else too for keeping us up to date with twitter (Doc) and news etc. It is much appreciated!

 

[FruitTingles]

Great information that the CCTV footage of Jill came from the Duchess Boutique on Sydney Road and that Jill was actually seen walking on that side of the road directly in front of the boutique. It's interesting to note that according to police the CCTV footage capturing Jill was time stamped at 1:41am. Secondly her phone call to her brother commenced at 1:43am. So it would seem that she made that call just two minutes after passing the Duchess Boutique. If she was walking while talking on the phone she would have reached, or almost reached the intersection of Sydney Road and Hope Street where there is a chemist on one corner and a shoe shop on the opposite corner and next-door is the Alasya Turkish Restaurant, which operates until 3:00am. The shoe shop may no longer be there now. I sourced this info from Google Maps (captured in 2009) and the shoe shop did have a 'closing down sale' sign in the window. Are any of the locals able to enlighten us as to what is there now?

So now we are left with a lot of speculative scenarios. It's quite possible that the background voices her brother heard on the phone came from patrons of the Alasya Restaurant. Did Jill decide to venture inside to grab something to eat? Did she meet up with someone she knew and decided to join them for a while? Was she hassled and accosted by someone or a group near the restaurant? Did someone decide to follow and attack her when she was even closer to her home. The fact that the owner of the restaurant said she heard screams may indicate that something happened to Jill very near the restaurant. I wonder if the restaurant owner bothered to investigate where the screams came from?

Then there is the alternative. Jill did make it home.

Below are some screencaps I grabbed from Google Maps to satisfy my own curiousity about the area. I've driven through Brunswick quite a few times over the years when I've visited Melbourne but I needed to get my bearings in relation to where Jill was last seen. From where she was seen on the CCTV footage outside the Duchess Boutique, there is nothing but shops and business houses on either side of Sydney Road. There are no dark alleys or parks that she could have been dragged into.

That's my two bobs worth and MOO except for the pics which are real, albeit three years old.

The Duchess Boutique Sydney Rd. Brunswick.
View attachment 26907

Looking along Sydney Rd. from the Duchess Boutique towards Hope St.
View attachment 26908

Intersection of Hope St. and Sydney Rd. (Bloody truck!!) You can see the Alaysa Restaurant in the right of the pic.
View attachment 26909

A closer view looking down Hope St. with the Alaysa Restaurant on the right hand side of the pic on Sydney Road.
View attachment 26910

Excuse me for "butting in" (I'm new at this and have been reading through everything for the last couple of hours), but do you think the male in the blue jumper that was seen talking to her in the CCTV footage out the front of 'Duchess Boutique' could have been in the background of the phone call to her brother? As he is clearly seen with her and they continue to walk on out of CCTV footage sight and then she is supposed to have made the phone call to her brother? Interesting....:waitasec:

 

[Strangeworld]

Thanks for posting those grabs, Makara. His face looks kind of gaunt - high distinctive cheekbones too. Someone I'm sure will recognise him - depends on if they come forward. Hopefully if he is not involved in her disappearance, he will come forward of his own accord.

 

[Dan_Saul_Knight]

Hey all...

I have been following this case with much interest from the outset as well as following this discussion thread. As with most of you on here my opinion on what actually happened to Jill has fluctuated from one extreme to the other as events have unfolded.

I follow many cases and have a reasonable understanding of how these things play out. This case to me is by far the most baffling I have come across. With all the information we now have there are a number of scenarios that fit the facts, this is what makes this unfortunately so intriguing.

I have discussed this at length with my better half and we feel there is nothing suspicious around Jill going out without her husband. We go out separately, particuarly on a Friday night as it generally involves after work drinks. Again nothing of note around just taking her phone and card, my missus on occassions will take from her purse (wallet) only what she needs and put those items in her bag. No issues around her refusing a walk home, it's her local and she has walked the walk on many occasions.

Here's what I find odd - and I have no answers just questions.

From the CCTV clearly something is happening on the street which Jill, blue hoody and man looking back has seen and seem to look at over a period of time. With the mass media involved in the search, posters locally and Jill's striking features why have these witnesses that the police are now looking to not come forward previously...?

If she is feeling threatened from blue hoody and makes a call in the hope it will usher him away, why call her brother in Perth and not mention this incident. Why not call her hubby who is just round the corner...?

The handbag. If it has been placed to confuse the police why place it within a stones throw of where a potential abduction took place. Would it make more sense to go to the other side of town well away from where any offence may have taken place...?

The woman in the Turkish take-away heard a scream, presumably above the sound of her customers and the busy Sydney Road and if it was Jill she would have been on Hope Street. Why have no residents from the quieter Hope Street corroborated this story...?

Why are the Police and Tom Meagher not facing the cameras together. In other cases we have seen an official press conference with perhaps a model or mannaquin dressed like Jill, specific times and places highlighted to jog peoples memories...

That's my three ha'pennys worth for now. I have no idea how this will play out other than sadly knowing the longer it does the graver my fears for Jill.

A note on Tom. My other half and I have discussed his actions. We found it odd that he just kept calling her. In that situation I would call my missus and after not getting any luck call friends. We are also intrigued about where one would "drive around looking". If you know she was just round the corner where would you drive. Having said that, there is something I learnt from the Madeleine McCann case when the parents were castigated for their narcissistic behaviour. There is no standard way to react to these situations other than behaving the way one always behaves, i.e. if you are narcissistic by nature you remain narcissistic when dealing with a tragic situation. Tom would appear to be an over worrier, hence his actions are those of an over worrier and not those of someone trying to hide something.

Truly I hope for the sake of the families this turns out in the end to be that one good news story we'd all like it to be.

 

[Timmy]

Excuse me for "butting in" (I'm new at this and have been reading through everything for the last couple of hours), but do you think the male in the blue jumper that was seen talking to her in the CCTV footage out the front of 'Duchess Boutique' could have been in the background of the phone call to her brother? As he is clearly seen with her and they continue to walk on out of CCTV footage sight and then she is supposed to have made the phone call to her brother? Interesting....:waitasec:

That's not 'butting in', it's 'contributing', just like everyone else on here! Welcome!

 

[truthound]

Yep Somanto think you are spot on....or else they have come back and thrown the bag out....dont know why though

I wondered if the perp/s planted the bag because TM had said she didn't have it: thereby making him a more prominent suspect.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[FruitTingles]

Jill Meagher CCTV Footage - YouTube

I think this is the unedited version...I am sure a few of you have seen it......it is ages before he comes back again......I have also noticed that he does slightly check out the guy in the orange sweater as well....I am also convinced that him and Jill were walking very slowly (or stopped) at the right of the screen when the guy in the black top goes past and it is them he is looking at....

Kind of looks to me at one point when you first sort of see Jill, that he is trying to get her to go with him and to keep walking in his direction, if you know what I mean? Referring to when he points his arm out... ??

 

[GutFeeling!]

:wagon::Welcome1::welcome2::welcome::greetings::valentine::happy4th::fireworks2:

Hi! I love little pictures, went a bit silly, would apologize but I am not at all sorry lol - welcome

Hi. Another newbie here.

That's actually the reason I finally joined and stopped lurking so I could comment on the above. (I have always followed missing person cases ever since a girl I went to high school with disappeared and to this day always wonder how does someone just disappear?)

I didn't actually think the husband was in any way guilty in this instance whereas there are other cases like Baden-Clay where I have just thought something was off.

I think this is very much a case of some lowlife taking advantage of her being on her own and I hope she is found safe.

 

[theowlsgo]

Thanks for the screenshots Makara, I always find it hard to see much of anything in CCTV footage. I did notice in watching the video that when they are first in shot together, at about 1:56, she takes a small step backwards or away from him. She then seems to keep some distance between them and is maybe looking down at her phone. To me it seems like she is waiting for him to go away so she can keep on her way home.

I think if I was being asked for a cigarette, money, the use of my phone.. whatever it is that some random guy on the street is asking for, I would behave similarly. I've had a couple of occasions where I have not given money to guys who have directly asked me for it (usually I'll fish out some change from a pocket but if I don't have any handy, I don't feel safe pulling out my whole purse) and sometimes the guys will get a bit belligerant and 'in your face' about it. In those circumstances, I've tried to just step away or not make too much eye contact for fear of inflaming the situation further.

 

[GutFeeling!]

I wish that if someone still has Jill they will let her go - that they are better off letting her go.
I am praying that they will let her go and I am not a religious person.

Wouldn't that be just perfect?

 

[LegallyBrunette]

I wondered if the perp/s planted the bag because TM had said she didn't have it: thereby making him a more prominent suspect.


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TM said she didn't have her 'purse', take that to mean money purse/wallet, not handbag. A lot of us women do that, if you don't need all your cards, licence etc, just take small amount of cash and one card 'just in case'.

 

[aust amateur slueth]

Just checked out the facebook page for Jill Meagher and one person has provided a link to a news item about a Dutch backpacker who was raped by a man who had followed her as she walked home from a pub in St Kilda around 2:30 in the morning, July 15th this year...He pulled over in a red hatchback car and told her that she was being followed and pointed behind her to a black parked car that was parked..he said he would give her a lift and she agreed and got in but it became clear he wasn't taking her home - the car doors were locked and he drove to a dark lane where he raped her. She convinced him to drive her home where she ran screaming inside her house and he fled.
The man with the blue hoodie talking to Jill looks similar - IMO
Also another poster has said it looks like he is pointing behind Jill at something - could be using the same ploy???

Here is a link

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/youre-being-followed-backpacker-sexually-assaulted-after-con-20120801-23dvb.html

Gut feeling says its the same guy and same ploy, as soon as I saw the hair I got chills.

 

[TheStupidTree]

Apparently she had two bags. Her handbag and an abc plastic bag. Where is that bag? When I go to work I often carry an extra bag with my handbag. It's quite common (usually ppl will carry a harrods bag or upmarket dept store bag). I'll try to find the link where I read about the second bag.

http://mobile.news.com.au/breaking-...ill-meagher-case/story-e6frfku9-1226481749068