Found Deceased AL - Danniella Vian, 24, Mobile, 17 Jul 2018 #6

[Bryant_Denny]

From a medical perspective, I am having a hard time understanding how it has been determined that she was alive when her car entered the water. If she has been in the water for 9 mths....
There would be nothing but bones...are they making this assumption based on the positioning of the bones?
This is just nuts!!

 

[tmar]

Hey all, I'm new to websleuths but i live local amd grew up where she was found.
I've been following this case on fb groups pretty closely and the car being in park is the first Ive heard of it. Where did that info come from? I'm curious bc I've heard ppl asking about it but it never being answered. I've also heard ppl asking if the car was in reverse or etc. I've always thought the car had to be in drive or neutral to go into the water. I guess I just cant wrap my mind around the car being in park bc how else would the wheels be able to move. I cant see someone taking the time to put the car in park before jumping out. I dont know.....help me understand please lol. This case has had my emotions all over the place.

Welcome Alicia, being new here on WS, and living locally.
You have started posting at a time, many here don't understand 'what has resulted'.
I certainly hope, more facts are presented, as we will continue 'asking questions'
MOO.

 

[ChiCubs2016]

Do we still have a verified insider?

No we do not.

 

[afitzy]

No we do not.

Deleted

 

[otto]

From a medical perspective, I am having a hard time understanding how it has been determined that she was alive when her car entered the water. If she has been in the water for 9 mths....
There would be nothing but bones...are they making this assumption based on the positioning of the bones?
This is just nuts!!

So thoughtful of the police to let the public know that no one is running around abducting women in Mobile, Alabama. Did anyone actually believe that was happening? Did the police not consider the possibility that this was not a random abductor, but a targeted disappearance? There was the young woman who was kidnapped by her boyfriend, held and tortured for 3 weeks (targeted attack), plus Danni's disappearance, but neither of these events should lead anyone to think there is a random abductor of women on the loose.

 

[Hraefn]

Does anybody actually buy into her accidentally driving herself into that body of water? I don't, JMO, but didn't know if that reasoning actually passed with anyone else.

I've thought from pretty early on that they would find her and her vehicle in the water as the result of a tragic accident. No phone (panic), first day driving her car (unfamiliar maneuvering and may not know directions as well as daily drivers), probably had a couple of drinks (possible impairment, even if lightly) - it just added up to a tragic accident to me. I've seen it too often on here unfortunately.

 

[Xina_Marie]

The women being attacked statement is patently absurd. I grew up in Mobile, come back five times a year, and have numerous female relatives that still live there that I discuss this case with routinely and no one is afraid of a lady killer running amok. (West Mobile near where Danniella lived, there seems to be a bigger problem with fugitives being loose in neighborhoods. That happened twice this year alone.)

I pray this is subterfuge and that they are trying to make suspects think they have moved on. The police can use the press as a tool to do its bidding and they are not obligated to tell the truth.

This police chief is whip smart as far as I can see with previous cases. Very capable and effective. He usually doesn’t say anything and then bam, an arrest out of nowhere. He has deviated off course with this one. I have my suspicions of why.

 

[theides]

Body shows no signs of trauma.

Officials: Death of woman found in Danniella Vian's car may be accidental

 

[insearchoflight]

I've thought from pretty early on that they would find her and her vehicle in the water as the result of a tragic accident. No phone (panic), first day driving her car (unfamiliar maneuvering and may not know directions as well as daily drivers), probably had a couple of drinks (possible impairment, even if lightly) - it just added up to a tragic accident to me. I've seen it too often on here unfortunately.

I would agree if I were just looking at the very basic facts but when you really look at what happened that night it doesn’t add up. Why would she end up in the area she was? It was not where she was headed and it was not in an area she normally went to. There is no reason for her to be there. It’s not like she got a phone call and changed her plans and decided to go to saraland, because she didn’t have her phone. We do know she had a tumultuous relationship and just recently gave birth to a baby whose father was another man, not the man she was living with and in an on again off again relationship with for a very long time. We do know that she was working on achieving her goals and trying to regain more time with her daughter and there was a custody hearing the next week after she went missing. We know that her apartment was pretty quickly cleared out. We know that her phone was looked through prior to being handed over to police. Just lots of facts that point to more than an accident. Why disable your gps if it was an accident?

 

[mks762]

Looking at the map of the area where her car was found. I can't get to "accident". Either she did this on purpose or someone else did this on purpose.
She accidentally turned onto THAT road, drove over two sets of rail road tracks, navigated in the dark while supposedly "drunk" around either a very odd curve in the road to stay on Anderson Rd, took a right at Dale Street, and left on Ruben or took that weird diagonal street Grady Drive to then drive down a boat ramp into water???
Or she took a sharp weird right turn off Anderson which turns into Ruben at another bend in the road, drove a little ways more then drove into a boat ramp and accidentally into the water????
In what world does this make sense?

 

[Xina_Marie]

It would require a certain elasticity of the mind, gymnastics of intellect and abandon of reason. But that’s my opinion.

 

[Hraefn]

To me it doesn't add up that this was foul play. Any nefarious scenario would be such a stretch in my mind, whereas accidental drownings in cars occur more than once a day in the US (400 avg. annually).

A 24 year old who realizes they don't have their cell phone is going to struggle to function and be in complete panic mode. It was her first day driving (in awhile at least), and her first day driving a new car. She didn't have her phone for GPS or maps, and she may have thought she was following someone and ended up following the wrong car in the wrong direction. I think it is possible the GPS malfunctioned after the car hit the water. I also think she could have accidentally lowered the rear window when trying to escape from the car as it sank. It would have been impossible for her to open her door due to the water pressure and I hit the wrong window button all the time in my car. She had been pregnant and sober for a significant duration and her alcohol tolerance was probably down. I personally do not think she was black out or even necessarily drunk. But we do know she had drank and was probably somewhat impaired, even if minimally.

LE has been so tight lipped. I think people have given them way too much credit as well. I doubt they are scrutinizing every word that they state on this matter as much as everyone here is. Saying there is no woman abductor out there can seem strange to us, but it's extremely common to alert the public on whether or not there is a threat. He may have gone home that night and thought, "man, I should not have worded it like that." We don't know what LE knows, we don't know what DW told them. We don't know anything from them, really. Even if they knew whether it was 2 or 3 cars, and even if they knew every person's identity, and even if they knew whether the timestamps added up, and even if they knew certain things about her impairment levels or mood, this LE dept. was not going to tell us. The public interest seemed to make them want to play things even closer to their chests, IMO. They are under so much scrutiny that their behavior makes sense to me.

IMO it's dark, she's freaking out and feeling naked and alone without her phone, she isn't used to driving, she isn't used to navigating roads, she is at least a little impaired, and once she realizes she's lost she probably starts panicking even more. Just being lost and alone as a young female is scary. She stays on the road and doesn't hit anything, sure. But even perfectly sober, non-panicked people who have their phones accidentally drive down boat ramps sometimes. In the dark it looks just like a road often until it's too late.

JMO

It's really sad to say, but this happens more than we think. Some examples from just the first page of a Google search:
2 women, one pregnant, dead after car drives off boat ramp
Narrows Marina boat launch: Dark, deadly and unregulated
Mystery surrounds woman who drove off Lowry Park boat ramp
Man dies after driving SUV off Port Jeff boat launch (quote from this one: "The incident marks the fifth time someone has driven into the harbor in recent years and the second fatal accident at the boat launch in the past six months." This is just ONE boat ramp!)
Leon County aims to improve boat ramp safety after deadly crash
Motorist sinks car in Lake Ontario after mistaking boat ramp for driveway
https://www.caseyshomolaw.com/womans-death-prompts-fort-lauderdale-boat-ramp-warnings/

 

[Bryant_Denny]

Body shows no signs of trauma.

Officials: Death of woman found in Danniella Vian's car may be accidental

Sounds simple enough, right? To most without a medical background or those not following the case closely. What this translates to is the recovered bones show no signs of fractures or being broken. There would be no skin, tissues, or organs remaining after being submerged in water for a period of 9 months.

The only conclusion I can come up with is that diatoms were present in the bone marrow-which is found in the bone. And that is how they determined she was alive when she entered the water. Which is still not 100% definitive.

MOO... of course

 

[Bryant_Denny]

To me it doesn't add up that this was foul play. Any nefarious scenario would be such a stretch in my mind, whereas accidental drownings in cars occur more than once a day in the US (400 avg. annually).

A 24 year old who realizes they don't have their cell phone is going to struggle to function and be in complete panic mode. It was her first day driving (in awhile at least), and her first day driving a new car. She didn't have her phone for GPS or maps, and she may have thought she was following someone and ended up following the wrong car in the wrong direction. I think it is possible the GPS malfunctioned after the car hit the water. I also think she could have accidentally lowered the rear window when trying to escape from the car as it sank. It would have been impossible for her to open her door due to the water pressure and I hit the wrong window button all the time in my car. She had been pregnant and sober for a significant duration and her alcohol tolerance was probably down. I personally do not think she was black out or even necessarily drunk. But we do know she had drank and was probably somewhat impaired, even if minimally.

LE has been so tight lipped. I think people have given them way too much credit as well. I doubt they are scrutinizing every word that they state on this matter as much as everyone here is. Saying there is no woman abductor out there can seem strange to us, but it's extremely common to alert the public on whether or not there is a threat. He may have gone home that night and thought, "man, I should not have worded it like that." We don't know what LE knows, we don't know what DW told them. We don't know anything from them, really. Even if they knew whether it was 2 or 3 cars, and even if they knew every person's identity, and even if they knew whether the timestamps added up, and even if they knew certain things about her impairment levels or mood, this LE dept. was not going to tell us. The public interest seemed to make them want to play things even closer to their chests, IMO. They are under so much scrutiny that their behavior makes sense to me.

IMO it's dark, she's freaking out and feeling naked and alone without her phone, she isn't used to driving, she isn't used to navigating roads, she is at least a little impaired, and once she realizes she's lost she probably starts panicking even more. Even being lost and alone as a young female is scary. She stays on the road and doesn't hit anything, sure. But even perfectly sober, non-panicked people who have their phones accidentally drive down boat ramps sometimes. In the dark it looks just like a road often until it's too late.

JMO

It's really sad to say, but this happens more than we think. Some examples from just the first page of a Google search:
2 women, one pregnant, dead after car drives off boat ramp
Narrows Marina boat launch: Dark, deadly and unregulated
Mystery surrounds woman who drove off Lowry Park boat ramp
Man dies after driving SUV off Port Jeff boat launch (quote from this one: "The incident marks the fifth time someone has driven into the harbor in recent years and the second fatal accident at the boat launch in the past six months." This is just ONE boat ramp!)
Leon County aims to improve boat ramp safety after deadly crash
Motorist sinks car in Lake Ontario after mistaking boat ramp for driveway
https://www.caseyshomolaw.com/womans-death-prompts-fort-lauderdale-boat-ramp-warnings/

I have to completely disagree here...
First of all, she doesn’t panic and realize that she doesn’t have her phone anywhere near the location of the “accident.” Audio recordings provided information that she was looking for her phone while at the Shell station and is supposedly why she stopped at the Shell station.

While GPS may malfunction when it comes in contact with water, this was not the case in this scenario. Video surveillance corroborated her GPS malfunctioned while in the parking lot at the Shell station.

As for LE, I firmly believe they are being very cautious as to every single word they say to the public regarding this case because they realize it is being scrutinized. This explains the annoying vague terms they are using. They are not in any position to not care if their credibility is damaged. I do not believe anyone has questioned their behavior. The public understands this is an ongoing investigation and specific information can not be stated. However, emphasis has been placed on the lack of transparency regarding release of video surveillance. If there is nothing on CCTV then there would be no reason to have it wiped from the internet.

IMHO...Maybe attempts were made in “fear of safety” as a means to get them to give us some type of update on the case? Maybe we are misinterpreting the vague statements, such as “condition of the car as accidental.” Well hell yeah it was an accident by certain definitions, but what caused the accident?? The body shows “no signs of trauma.” Of course they didn’t specify integrity of the bones. Such as blunt force trauma (like with other decomposed bodies-Terri Sullivan). If they did, they would have to yet again recant a previous statement and say this was a homicide, right?
The vagueness is killing me...I’d prefer they wait and not release preliminary anything. The community has been a frenzy over the last 24hrs over the newly released information. I have faith in our local PD and can only pray they continue to DO THE RIGHT THING.

 

[Bryant_Denny]

I have to completely disagree here...
First of all, she doesn’t panic and realize that she doesn’t have her phone anywhere near the location of the “accident.” Audio recordings provided information that she was looking for her phone while at the Shell station and is supposedly why she stopped at the Shell station.

While GPS may malfunction when it comes in contact with water, this was not the case in this scenario. Video surveillance corroborated her GPS malfunctioned while in the parking lot at the Shell station.

As for LE, I firmly believe they are being very cautious as to every single word they say to the public regarding this case because they realize it is being scrutinized. This explains the annoying vague terms they are using. They are not in any position to not care if their credibility is damaged. I do not believe anyone has questioned their behavior. The public understands this is an ongoing investigation and specific information can not be stated. However, emphasis has been placed on the lack of transparency regarding release of video surveillance. If there is nothing on CCTV then there would be no reason to have it wiped from the internet.

IMHO...Maybe attempts were made in “fear of safety” as a means to get them to give us some type of update on the case? Maybe we are misinterpreting the vague statements, such as “condition of the car as accidental.” Well hell yeah it was an accident by certain definitions, but what caused the accident?? The body shows “no signs of trauma.” Of course they didn’t specify integrity of the bones. Such as blunt force trauma (like with other decomposed bodies-Terri Sullivan). If they did, they would have to yet again recant a previous statement and say this was a homicide, right?
The vagueness is killing me...I’d prefer they wait and not release preliminary anything. The community has been a frenzy over the last 24hrs over the newly released information. I have faith in our local PD and can only pray they continue to DO THE RIGHT THING.

Wait a minute...if we agreed CCTV timestamp was off by 5-6 minutes that just really messes up what we thought we knew about a lot.
Also the GPS time with pearl motors may have had a different time compared to both CCTV and cell phone data? Could it be that the tracking device was deactivated/malfunctioned either in the parking lot at Dublin’s or on the way to Shell?

 

[theides]

Wait a minute...if we agreed CCTV timestamp was off by 5-6 minutes that just really messes up what we thought we knew about a lot.
Also the GPS time with pearl motors may have had a different time compared to both CCTV and cell phone data? Could it be that the tracking device was deactivated/malfunctioned either in the parking lot at Dublin’s or on the way to Shell?

If you change anything about any of the times we've been made aware of, it jumbles most everything since it all occurred in a tight time span. I am not convinced that any of the times are off at this point. There's a possibility, always, but we haven't been told anything that indicates that they were by LE or MSM. I know some believe that they have to be off because of the idea that Car 1 =/= Car 3, but even that's just speculative at this point. I do not think the tracking device malfunctioned before the Shell because the Shell is the last place it pinged, and it wouldn't have been able to show that they were there.

 

[Hraefn]

I have to completely disagree here...
First of all, she doesn’t panic and realize that she doesn’t have her phone anywhere near the location of the “accident.” Audio recordings provided information that she was looking for her phone while at the Shell station and is supposedly why she stopped at the Shell station.

While GPS may malfunction when it comes in contact with water, this was not the case in this scenario. Video surveillance corroborated her GPS malfunctioned while in the parking lot at the Shell station.

As for LE, I firmly believe they are being very cautious as to every single word they say to the public regarding this case because they realize it is being scrutinized. This explains the annoying vague terms they are using. They are not in any position to not care if their credibility is damaged. I do not believe anyone has questioned their behavior. The public understands this is an ongoing investigation and specific information can not be stated. However, emphasis has been placed on the lack of transparency regarding release of video surveillance. If there is nothing on CCTV then there would be no reason to have it wiped from the internet.

IMHO...Maybe attempts were made in “fear of safety” as a means to get them to give us some type of update on the case? Maybe we are misinterpreting the vague statements, such as “condition of the car as accidental.” Well hell yeah it was an accident by certain definitions, but what caused the accident?? The body shows “no signs of trauma.” Of course they didn’t specify integrity of the bones. Such as blunt force trauma (like with other decomposed bodies-Terri Sullivan). If they did, they would have to yet again recant a previous statement and say this was a homicide, right?
The vagueness is killing me...I’d prefer they wait and not release preliminary anything. The community has been a frenzy over the last 24hrs over the newly released information. I have faith in our local PD and can only pray they continue to DO THE RIGHT THING.

I totally respect all of this, and understand it. It's definitely not a simple situation with a clear A to B to C explanation. I didn't mean to insinuate LE wasn't being cautious, just that not every comment has hidden or double meaning, at some points it's just a human in front of microphones and cameras and words can flow that cause issues and confusion. I don't see how the video surveillance or the quotes from the dealership provide any facts on the GPS technology, personally, but I know there is disagreement on that. I think pulling the CCTV was to prevent wild speculation and rumors, the picture was so bad you could almost "see" what you wanted to see and I think it would have caused danger for DW and the investigation (or I at least think LE could see it that way).

But for me it always comes back to how often people mistake boat ramps for roads and how rarely a perp. disposes of a victim in this manner. I actually can only think of Susan Smith killing her sons, and can't find any other incidents on Google even where a body was dumped or murdered via their own vehicle at a boat ramp.

JMO and as always I appreciate the thought provoking discussions with you all here.

 

[mks762]

I think it is possible the GPS malfunctioned after the car hit the water.

RSBM

The GPS tracker (which tracks her location) shut off when DNV's car was at the Shell station. It's a GPS tracker. If it "malfunctioned" after it hit the water it would have tracked her car there. Pearls Motors has said it pings every 2 minutes. Regardless of how often it pings, it sends an alert when it is disconnected. It was disconnected at the Shell station

 

[otto]

Wait a minute...if we agreed CCTV timestamp was off by 5-6 minutes that just really messes up what we thought we knew about a lot.
Also the GPS time with pearl motors may have had a different time compared to both CCTV and cell phone data? Could it be that the tracking device was deactivated/malfunctioned either in the parking lot at Dublin’s or on the way to Shell?

Pearl Motors reported that the car GPS indicated the car was at the Dublin, then at the Shell station, and then it went offline and was disabled at the Shell station. Police have said that is the last know location for Danni and that she was "occupying" her car.

 

[otto]

I totally respect all of this, and understand it. It's definitely not a simple situation with a clear A to B to C explanation. I didn't mean to insinuate LE wasn't being cautious, just that not every comment has hidden or double meaning, at some points it's just a human in front of microphones and cameras and words can flow that cause issues and confusion. I don't see how the video surveillance or the quotes from the dealership provide any facts on the GPS technology, personally, but I know there is disagreement on that. I think pulling the CCTV was to prevent wild speculation and rumors, the picture was so bad you could almost "see" what you wanted to see and I think it would have caused danger for DW and the investigation (or I at least think LE could see it that way).

But for me it always comes back to how often people mistake boat ramps for roads and how rarely a perp. disposes of a victim in this manner. I actually can only think of Susan Smith killing her sons, and can't find any other incidents on Google even where a body was dumped or murdered via their own vehicle at a boat ramp.

JMO and as always I appreciate the thought provoking discussions with you all here.

Mobile is surrounded by water, so the best place to hide a car and a body is in the water - preferably deep water at an obscure public boat launch. In other places, it may be easier to set the car on fire with the body in the car, or send it over a cliff.