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

[theides]

I just perused the web for videos of cars being removed from bodies of water, and some of them had significant front end damage and some did not. I think it really depends on the depth of the water and how it entered. Right off of a boat ramp is probably a smoother entry with greater depth - easier angle and more time for water to slow it down before it collides at the bottom. It's been quite a few years since my college physics courses but I think water has a pretty high amount of energy absorption, especially depending on the angle the force is acting at.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Did she think she was following someone?
Any of her friends have a boat?

 

[theides]

This may be way out there, but the specs for the Chevy Cruz note a separate on-board navigation system. I wonder if it was active. This one wouldn't be accessible by Pearl Motors. This is pretty far out in left field, especially considering that DNV KNEW where Ollie's is which is why it was weird she was following DW in the first place, but if she was trying to type Ollie's into her GPS and was intoxicated and messing it up, she might have gotten Cofield (you can't spell either without o, l, i, or e) as an autocompletion option and accidentally clicked it and just went with it? I know that's way out there and wild. Just trying to think of how she got there.

 

[theides]

Did she think she was following someone?
Any of her friends have a boat?

DW's home is on a river, and I'd assume being of money and on the water, he has a boat.

 

[theides]

I know Cassie from NBC 15 said that the damage on the vehicle was due to the removal or mostly due to the removal, but I wonder if that's completely accurate?

ETA: I know Cassie joins most of the discussion groups about cases on Facebook. I wonder if she'd be willing to join Websleuths.

 

[3dzer0]

I know Cassie from NBC 15 said that the damage on the vehicle was due to the removal or mostly due to the removal, but I wonder if that's completely accurate?

ETA: I know Cassie joins most of the discussion groups about cases on Facebook. I wonder if she'd be willing to join Websleuths.

That is an excellent idea .... I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't already browsing through these threads ..

 

[Keyedin]

I'm not caught up on the thread (and apologize in advance if this has already been stated), but I think we can reasonably assume the GPS did NOT malfunction when the car went into the water. If that were the case, they'd have been able to track her car past the Shell and it wouldn't have taken 9 months to find it.

 

[Claireishere]

But I still can't find a single incident near Mobile, Alabama where a murder victim was dumped this way. When I Google searched I actually turned up more incidents of accidental drownings after mistaking boat ramps for a road in that area.

Usually just the body is dumped not car and body.

 

[Claireishere]

I'm not caught up on the thread (and apologize in advance if this has already been stated), but I think we can reasonably assume the GPS did NOT malfunction when the car went into the water. If that were the case, they'd have been able to track her car past the Shell and it wouldn't have taken 9 months to find it.

In the new podcast out it said the GPS May have been the type to only ping when the car was started.

 

[3dzer0]

Usually just the body is dumped not car and body.

This is on the body just found the other day in Dog River which is one of the major rivers in Mobile.

Body found in Dog River identified, ruled a homicide

 

[Keyedin]

In the new podcast out it said the GPS May have been the type to only ping when the car was started.

Would be interesting to know whether the car was ever shut off at the Shell station. I always just assumed it was left running while they searched for the phone. I'm not sure why because it's never been said one way or the other.

 

[Vaccine]

So in the beginning I was so perplexed by the stop at Shell, which was not on the way to Ollies, the disabling of the car tracker and the arrival of the 3rd car, and then the complete vanishing into thin air of poor DV that I was convinced there was some form of foul play. Now I am less sure.

I might be able to buy into a scenario where DV was following DW (perhaps to go with him to return his hire car), flashed him that she'd lost her phone. Or alternatively that they were stopping off to buy some weed form a dealer at the Shell garage before heading to Ollies. Realising she'd lost her phone they searched her car, calling her phone to try and locate it. In the process they accidentally disconnected the tracker or it malfunctioned.

It is then possible that DV may have had a quick chat with the 3rd car or done a quick deal for some weed - (not victim shaming here at all). She then followed the wrong car my mistake or was just wildly disoriented, and ended up accidentally driving into the water. Yes the video of the drive to Saraland does emphasise what a long way in the wrong direction it is but it also confirmed to me that the ramp into the water is not signed or fenced off in any way. I think it would be easy to mistake it for a driveway or road. And I agree with posters that she might not have had a quick enough reaction time, tried to put it in reverse before trying to get out. Opening her own window would have released the water pressure but you have to know that to do it as its counter intuitive.

I fear the watery grave is unlikely to reveal any other answers or compelling evidence. So I think for me the most likely conclusion is an accident. There are too many cases of people getting lost and driving into a river in the dark. Just because its been a mystery for some time it doesn't make it more likely to be foul play. Despite the perplexing details of the manoevres at the Shell garage. And for the record I think DW was the good guy in this.

 

[Traymar]

Thank you for using begging the question correctly.

So now my thought is perhaps while she was out with friends she was lured via phone to a meeting place by a third party, causing her to discontinue her previous plans. Perhaps she followed the third party willingly and voluntarily to the Saraland boat launch to “talk” and then something happened there.

Where was she right before Shell? I am trying to figure out if getting to the interstate via Government/hwy 90 is the most direct. You can also take the beltway to Airport, but that’s a little trickier than taking Hillcrest to Cottage Hill to Azalea to Government which will get you there, but by going a little more south, just so you can head north.

I am sure there is a reason why this does not fit the facts available. Let me have it.

Thank you for knowing what begging the question means (a pet peeve of mine, but that's a whole other discussion!). Exploring some of the issues you mentioned, I started doing a whole bunch of peripheral research and really went down a rabbit hole. Unfortunately I'm up against a huge deadline at work today and don't really have the time to put my thoughts together for sharing. As soon as work is out of the way, however, I will dive back into this. Also need to catch up in case I missed anything important while I was down the rabbit hole...

 

[afitzy]

I thought I was following this case closely. What is this about the grandfather having CT out of town? Is that something we have discussed before?

Yes, for some reason JDT made it clear early on that CT and Mr JDT had 'gone up north' and only returned in time for the scheduled CT/DNV visit on Thursday. In the long and very winding/changing road of JDT commentary in this case she never wavered on this particular comment so far as I can tell. I always was curious as to why CT was away at this time along with Mr JDT given what transpired during this key period. Given that JDT was the alleged primary caretaker of CT it always seemed odd that she would have Mr JDT take CT out of town allegedly to visit relatives up north. If Mr JDT and CT were in fact 'up north' then it might have given Mr JDT an alibi of sorts (I'm not 100% but my recollection was that they went about 3 hrs north to around the area where at one time TT was in 'rehab' but if someone can confirm my memory on this please chime in). My main thought is that I hope MPD throughly checked this JDT statement to verify the location of CT and Mr JDT.

 

[Traymar]

Traymar I think you and I think alike on this, maybe being local helps a great deal knowing and understanding the major routes.

To expand on your excellent write up, there are just as many questions as there was when she disappeared, I am afraid if those questions are not answered we will all come up with a different sequence of events. I would have thought we would have a lot more answers after she was found.

Here is the sequence of events that has been put together based on what "Information" we have. Thank you @Vail for putting it together.

July 17 - Purchased car in the afternoon with JDT where she last saw DV drive off.
July 17 - Evening - arrived at Hero's in downtown Mobile where her friend RC was bartending. At some point RC's friend DW arrives with MK(unknown relationship).
July 17 - Before 10pm - DV leaves Hero's with DM and MK to go to Dublin's to wait for RC's shift to end, after which he would meet them.
July 17 - DV, DM and MK arrive at Dublin's
July 17 - 10:45pm RC texts them to meet him at Ollie's. They all leave Dublin's.
July 17 - Approx 11:00 - DV Is reportedly following DW south on I-65 when she flashes her lights to pull over (original story)
July 17 - 11:05PM - Car 1 DW and Car 2 DV on video at Shell Station entering from right (West as camera appears south-facing towards road)
July 17 - around 11PM last GPS ping location at Shell Station, after this there is no further activity. GPS is disabled.
July 17 -11:07PM - Car 1 leaves
July 17 - 11:08PM -Car 3 pulls in and both Car 3 and Car 2 DV stay parked
July 17 - 11:24PM - Car 2 DV and car 3 leave turning left towards interstate/frontage road
July 17 - Approx 11:45pm DW returns to Dublin's to retrieve DV's phone
July 18 - Approx 12am DW Arrives at Ollie's and stays for a few minutes (???)
July 18 - Approx after 12am DW drops rental car off, (Unsure of location)
July 18 - 7:30am JDT receives a call from DW that he has DV's phone. JDT says to drop it off at PF Chang's
July 19 - DV misses work and her date with her daughter.
July 20 - DW calls JDT again about DV's phone. JDT tells him to meet her at the police station.
July 20 - Reported missing by JT and DW together in person. DW gives DV's phone to LE.
July 20 - Police search DV's apartment
July 25 - Confirmed Case given to Mobile Homicide by media

Now for the unanswered questions: MOO

Why or how did DW and Danniella end up at the Shell station when they were supposed to be going to Ollie's?

How or why was the tracking GPS disabled at the Shell station?

Who were in car 1 and 3? were they the same vehicle?

Were there more than just DW and Danniella at the Shell station?

Why would they take I-65 South in the first place? (This is an odd route, when following other major roads would have been faster and shorter)

Who found Danniella's phone at Dublins? Was it DW or was it a waitress?

Did DW ever show up at Ollie's ?

If the damage to Danniella's front driver's side fender car was caused by the removal from the water then why is there no front end damage to the car? (There should have been damage to the car upon entering the water unless the car went in at a low speed)

Sorry for the long post just trying to get all of these thoughts in one place.


*Edit cleaned up formatting

Thanks - I have essentially the same questions you have, except possibly about damage to the car, because I am just not knowledgeable enough about that sort of thing to have any particular opinion on it at the moment.

Your question about 65 is a good one. There is no reason for them to have gotten on 65 in the first place, much less to take it almost to the I-10 split and get off at Government, which is the last exit on 65 South. Then, if they got off 65 there, they should have come into the station from the east, or left side - not the right. There's a funny little dog-leg you take off 90 (Govt) to get on the service road. Right turns at the intersection there by the Shell (to turn into Lakeside or the service road) are prohibited. It's been that way for some time now.

It makes a lot more sense for them to have come down Lakeside and turned left onto the service road and then left into the station.

Similarly, leaving the Shell you would probably not turn left unless you were headed back up the service road/ S. Beltline that runs alongside the interstate. If you were getting on the interstate you would turn right out of the station and go to the light at Lakeside/service road/90. There you'd take a left onto 90 (Govt), heading east just a short distance to the interstate on-ramps.

IMO, they weren't headed to Ollie's - or at least not straight to Ollie's. I feel strongly they were going somewhere else altogether.

I have many more thoughts that will have to wait until I'm off work today - so busy, but it's hard to stay away from WS!

All MOO, as always

Edited to fix typos.

 

[afitzy]

Did she think she was following someone?
Any of her friends have a boat?

Only have an answer about the boat. DW has/d boat that was supposedly moored near his house (his house was on a smaller river that fed into Mobile Bay if I recall). That is why I was curious as to the distance of DW house to this Saraland location.

 

[afitzy]

DW's home is on a river, and I'd assume being of money and on the water, he has a boat.

He does have a boat and my recollection is that his house is in the Dog River area (Dog River eventually feeds into Mobile Bay). I will go back and look at the regional nautical maps we looked at early on as I was curious as to whether there was a direct connection point between Dog River and the Saraland location or if the only connection point was Mobile Bay. If I find anything I'll post back.

 

[afitzy]

Not a nautical map but interesting look at the Saraland boat launch proximity to major highway and local streets (you are able to zoom in and zoom out easily to look at possible routes to arrive at this location).

Saraland Boat Launch - Bayou Sara / Tensaw River | paddling.com

 

[Nerissa]

Was hoping the recovery of her body would have allowed some resolution to the mystery - but it hasn't whatsoever IMO

According to DW, both he & DNV were going back to Dublin's to look for her cellphone (which apparently it wasn't uncommon for her to be forgetful of) - so - he pulled out of the Shell station & he says he thought she was following along...

We know for a fact that she did not: her car remained at the Shell, @ minute later another car appears: 15-20 minutes later, after her GPS disabled, both cars leave the Shell....

From what has been posted about the route back to Dublins & the route she took that landed her on a boat ramp into the water were two VERY different things - no way she'd have gotten 'lost'.....SO: pretty clear she wasn't headed back to Dublins......

Where did she THINK she was headed, and why?
Why did DW think she was returning to Dublin's when seems clear that wasn't her intention? (of course unless that third car intervened with that intention...)

This is all too heartbreaking....I hate to think of her drowning in that car, alone, with no one, no help, incapable of getting out. It's just awful

 

[Nerissa]

To me the central mystery has always been WHY was she following DW - ?
He thought she was because he assumed she didn't know the way to Ollie's & that she thought he was going there. He says he was on his way home - he had no idea why she was following, so just assumed that.....but she used to work at Ollies: so she wasn't following him because she didn't know where Ollie's was: there was some other reason
So: he must have asked, huh? like when she flashes him to pull over, they head to the Shell....what did she say about why she was following? Maybe she thought they all were going elsewhere...?
......my first question if I were DW when pull into Shell would be like 'hey, I'm not going to Ollie's if you're following me there.....?'
All we get is: the conversation that her cellphone is back at Dublins - & he decides to go back & help her search - nothing about why she was following him...
She worked at Ollie's for goodness sake: she knew where it was - that was NOT why she followed him.....
I really want to know why she was following DW......I cannot help that LE does know why, but for whatever reason that is not public knowledge......
so much of this case has stuck in my craw - but I keep going back to the initial 'why' of her even following DW in the first place.........whatever the intention was: allow us to be in her mindset, know her plans, her assumptions, etc. - it's a fact she was not intending to follow him to Ollie's......
Otherwise: I'd really like to know more details @ how the GPS worked - someone said it pinged every two minutes...
Also: what was the movement of people, if at all, between all the three cars....?
These are the issues I keep returning to with this case....& now it seems, yet again: just like she wasn't headed to Ollie's & knew it: she wasn't headed back to Dublins, she knew that, because she knew the way & wasn't taking it (assuming she's conscious & driving her own vehicle at that point) that's why she ends up on this bizarre route, roads, turns, railroad tracks, yadda yadda well away from the route to Dublin's & down a boat ramp
Too weird...so frustrating: I really want justice, if it needs to be served - but, most of all: peace & closure for her, for her family & friends.....