VA VA - Katelin Akens, 19, Springfield, 5 Dec 2015 #3

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IMO nothing points to a live Katelin, sharing an apt. Working a job, and staying mum on the subject.

The staging of her get away, suitcase found looking like it was pitched out of the car, stepfathers story that later proved to be incorrect, Take each piece of the story and it just doesn’t fit. JMO of course,
 
dotr said:
Nov 12 2015
Good video.
Encrypted cellphone may hold keys to cracking cold case of missing teen
"Encrypted cellphone may hold keys to cracking cold case of missing teen"
Click to expand...


I have always suspected the creepy step-father. Poly... Cellphone...

IMHO, if he wasn't guilty, he would provide his password to his cell phone. I wonder if he has pictures of her on it.

I wish that there was a super savy tech hack that would use their gift to help police instead of putting malicious virus out there.
 
Hi, new to Websleuths, but I like to follow missing persons’ cases. One that has me intrigued is the Katelyn Akens. It’s frustrating to me because all signs point to the former stepdad, yet 1. What’s the motive and 2. Why hasn’t there been an arrest?

Your thoughts?
 
drjones said:
3 years gone.

barely a mention this year.

<modsnip: removed accusations against individual who has not been officially named by LE as POI or suspect>
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this person has been officially named as a person of interest in this case, it is covered in an earlier thread on here (or maybe this one? idk)

i personally spoke with the police and confirmed this and provided tricia with a screenshot of the conversation which she said was acceptable and was then posted on one of these threads.

there is absolutely officially a person of interest in katelin's disappearance.
 
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/attachments/poi-jpg.109054/

and just seeing this guidance from sillybilly;

"ETA: And as someone suggested upthread (and because the name is not included in drjones query or the Sheriff's response) probably best we use either step-dad, SD or real initials, rather than a full name."

dont think i ever saw the above reply, i was told it was ok to use his name but i guess we are limited to SD or JRB, not sure why since his full name is now public and the police have said this person is a person of interest?

all good tho, initials for now. cheers.
 
sillybilly said:
Sorry I'm so late replying katydid. I'm sure you know by now it is a YES :) The info drjones got for you doesn't get much better or more official than that.

ETA: And as someone suggested upthread (and because the name is not included in drjones query or the Sheriff's response) probably best we use either step-dad, SD or real initials, rather than a full name.
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Just bumping this for drjones.

ETA: I see drjones found it quicker than I did.
 
This case really frustrates me. It reminds me too much of the cold cases we see on Investigation ID. And 20 or 30 yrs later a group of investigators comes together, reads the old notes, and they end up finding an obvious suspect that was overlooked or cleared mistakenly.

I saw one recently where a 14 yr old girl was found dead, in the woods, in a teen hang out area. She was found by a man and his wife and child, who were on a day hike.

And so the detectives went through a long list of potential suspects--her stepfather, her boyfriend, her uncle, her weird neighbor, and they were all cleared. Case went cold.

Twenty years later a young man comes forward, and tells LE that he thinks his stepfather killed a young girl 2o years earlier. And it turns out that the family that 'found' her that was his family. And his stepfather actually killed her, then forced his wife and stepson, who was only about 9 or 10, to go on a hike. He didnt tell then why but it was a weird, odd day, the kid said.

Anyway, the frustrating part, and the reason I am mentioning it here, is that when detectives looked into the kid's stepdad, all kinds of obvious connections came up for the crime. He was a neighbor of the victim, and he knew her and she had actually complained about him harassing her previously at a party. Just weeks before.

And he was a pot dealer and knew all the teens and went to their parties. And he was known to hang out at the place where her body was found because he smoked pot there with the kids he sold it to.


So this is the guy that called cops to the body. And they never figured out the connections he had to the victim and her friends and to the body dump site?

It makes me wonder, in cases like Katelin's---are they really looking at the stepdad closely and would they know if he had incriminating stuff going on?
 
katydid23 said:
This case really frustrates me. It reminds me too much of the cold cases we see on Investigation ID. And 20 or 30 yrs later a group of investigators comes together, reads the old notes, and they end up finding an obvious suspect that was overlooked or cleared mistakenly.
Click to expand...

I would love to see some more pressure applied in this case from LO...not sure what they could do and I'm not trying to pick on them, I know they are doing the best they possibly can given the circumstances, but it would be awful for this to remain unsolved. It feels so within reach.
 
katydid23 said:
Also, if we are going to search and speculate about possible motives for stepdad to harm her.....:thinking:


There is one that has always niggled at me....but it may occur to me and seem possible, only because I am a childhood abuse survivor---so I would lean towards this scenario, where most would not think about it...


But is it just a sad coincidence that KA was currently dealing with that difficult situation, where she felt she had been sexually exploited by her two friends when she was drinking with them a night or 2 previously?

In my mind, she may have shared that story with her stepdad, in a vulnerable, emotional moment. And he may have reacted in a very predatory and aggressive manner with her, seeing it as the perfect time to have his way with her too. It might have just been the perfect opportunity and he took advantage of it.


They were alone on his large piece of land, no one would miss her for several hours, and so he had plenty of time to cover up things....
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(Brand new to this so I may be a little behind) I had the same thought as katydid23. For whatever reason, she may have told SD about her threesome experience the previous evening and if he had had ideas about “seducing” her, he may have taken it as an invitation to act on his own fantasies.
This may be a bit far-fetched, but after hearing that in her discarded suitcase they found her wallet, credit cards, phone charger, toiletries, but NO clothes, I find myself thinking that maybe he’s got her locked up in a basement on some other property. I thought it was said, police never searched the property he “rents” to his mother because it’s technically leased to her so legally they can’t search it. But the SD stopped going to work the day she disappeared and if he had her locked up somewhere, clothing might still be useful whereas credit cards, phone charger, id etc are all only necessary for the outside world.
 
Akens’ mother, Lisa Sullivan, spoke to the news outlet about her daughter’s mysterious disappearance. On the day 19-year-old went missing, Sullivan drove to her ex-husband’s home so that he could bring Aken to the airport for her flight back to Arizona, where she lived.
Sullivan told WTTG-TV that her ex-husband, James Branton, appeared glad to see them.

“He seemed happy, excited,” Sullivan said. “They were talking about her cosmetology school, her high school diploma. They were talking about it, sitting on the couch.”

SNIPPED BY ME

According to the report, investigators would learn days later that Akens never got to the mall, despite the claim by Branton. In fact, the last time she was seen alive was at his home.
Within days of Akens missing her flight, road crews reportedly came upon her luggage in a ditch several miles from Branton’s residence. Her wallet, ID and glasses were found inside, but her clothes were missing.

There was also a strange Facebook message that Akens’ account sent a friend, indicating she didn’t want to be in either Virginia or Arizona.

Police told the news outlet Branton has not told the truth about where he brought Akens that day, has refused to take a lie detector test and will not disclose the password to his phone.

Where is Katelin? The last person to see teen missing for years – her own father – refuses to help investigation, police say
 
If he did something... which I'm sure most of us believe he did... but the important thing is that the subject's FAMILY believes he did something... How is he able to hold down a job? Who would employ someone under that kind of cloud of suspicion? Who would risk their business to employ a man who refused to cooperate with investigators in this manner?
 
helpfulcharlie said:
If he did something... which I'm sure most of us believe he did... but the important thing is that the subject's FAMILY believes he did something... How is he able to hold down a job? Who would employ someone under that kind of cloud of suspicion? Who would risk their business to employ a man who refused to cooperate with investigators in this manner?
Click to expand...
He isn't charged with anything so legally they have no grounds to fire him right? What I don't understand is how they can't get a warrant for his phone
 
bellesnwhistles said:
He isn't charged with anything so legally they have no grounds to fire him right? What I don't understand is how they can't get a warrant for his phone
Click to expand...

Warrant schmarrant. If they can't break the encryption what's a warrant going to do? Sounds like they have his phone, or have cloned it, anyway. Hopefully they kept it, and advances in breaking encryption/newly-discovered vulnerabilities will allow them to get into it at some point.

As for "grounds to fire him," you don't need that in Virginia. You can fire anyone at any time for any reason. Of course, you open yourself up to lawsuits if your firing appears discriminatory in the usual discriminatory manner (age/race/sex), but I don't see that in his case. Nowadays, you can fire someone for bringing unwanted negative attention to your business.
 
helpfulcharlie said:
Warrant schmarrant. If they can't break the encryption what's a warrant going to do? Sounds like they have his phone, or have cloned it, anyway. Hopefully they kept it, and advances in breaking encryption/newly-discovered vulnerabilities will allow them to get into it at some point.

As for "grounds to fire him," you don't need that in Virginia. You can fire anyone at any time for any reason. Of course, you open yourself up to lawsuits if your firing appears discriminatory in the usual discriminatory manner (age/race/sex), but I don't see that in his case. Nowadays, you can fire someone for bringing unwanted negative attention to your business.
Click to expand...

The problem is, he is probably telling boss and co-workers that his attorney advised him not to speak to LE because they are trying to pin the crime on him, unfairly, because he is the stepfather. He may be getting sympathy and support because of that excuse. JMO
 
katydid23 said:
The problem is, he is probably telling boss and co-workers that his attorney advised him not to speak to LE because they are trying to pin the crime on him, unfairly, because he is the stepfather. He may be getting sympathy and support because of that excuse. JMO
Click to expand...

Well someone should consider sending them an invitation to WS.
 
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