Found Deceased SC - Faye Marie Swetlik, 6, Cayce, 10 Feb 2020 #5

[LittleBitty]

What does interest me is if there's LE body cam of CT's interview when being asked the FBI-developed questionnaire and letting LE search his home. There's been any number of killers where they just put out a bad vibe, yet that didn't appear to happen here. It really makes me think if the video shows him cool as cucumber that this wasn't his first rodeo and he could be behind multiple unsolved crimes.

I wonder if he had attempted an abduction in the past.
I also wonder about vehicles CT has owned or did own. Do we know? People have posted about a moped? Did he have any other vehicle or transportation? I would have imagined that LE would have seized it or towed it and there would be some type of footage of that if he had a vehicle?
It is entirely possible this was his first crime. I think it just boggles our minds (not being criminals or perpetrators) that anyone could (a) do this (b) appear normal or normal enough as to not arouse suspicion (c) not just confess out of guilt immediately.

 

[Arkay]

I completely agree.
Unfortunately the police are so busy with actual crimes that happen daily, that there isn’t enough time to handle things that are merely suspicious. I live in NYC and once saw a man hanging out outside of a playground that my child and I were at. He was there for a while but wasn’t doing anything strange, so I left and went to a different playground because I’m a safety Sadie but didn’t call the police (in nyc there are always people walking by playgrounds without children because playgrounds are literally on the streets with millions of people walking by daily). Well about 20 minutes after we got to the other playground (the other playground was about 10 blocks away) the SAME man appeared outside of the gates of the playground, who was now holding a large camera. He was watching the children closely. I called the police and was told that unless the man was inside of the playground, there was nothing they could do as there is nothing illegal about hanging around outside of the playground. It’s illegal for an adult to be in a playground unless they have a child with them, but outside of the playground is fine. Ridiculous, IMO.

Hi, fellow New Yorker. This rings so true.
Just due to the abundance of people here, you will see odd and strange looking people and situations every day, but not much can be done unless a crime is BEING committed. Of course, those are the overtly strange people. What can be done about the covertly strange who present as "normal?" Hence I was a helicopter parent and now a helicopter grandparent.
I'm retired now, but I spent a lifetime as a teacher, so I was home earlier than I would be from an office job. When my eldest granddaughter was 11 and stayed twice a week for after-school activities, as exhausted and reluctant as I felt, I would get myself up and get her from school when it was dark at 5:00. It was eight blocks from the school to her home (kids in NYC walk to school and back) and no one else was available to pick her up. I was truly exhausted every day but was so worried that in the dark, somewhere along those eight blocks someone would snatch her. I've posted before that I know there are negative ramifications to helicopter parenting, some of which I've experienced, but it is the ONE instant like Faye's that I fear.

 

[Ginny]

What do they mean when they say the neighbourhood was on lockdown? No one was allowed out for all those days or they just searched your vehicle before you could leave?

I believe they were stopping and searching every car that came in and left the neighborhood.

 

[Deleted member 278]

DBM

 

[sf618b]

What does interest me is if there's LE body cam of CT's interview when being asked the FBI-developed questionnaire and letting LE search his home. There's been any number of killers where they just put out a bad vibe, yet that didn't appear to happen here. It really makes me think if the video shows him cool as cucumber that this wasn't his first rodeo and he could be behind multiple unsolved crimes.

That is some Lovely Bones vibe.

 

[MemPat]

As far as the search goes (and I go back to John Couey/Jessica Lunsford), LE attempted or was successful in searching all 280 or so homes as much as possible in the two days that Faye went missing. Unfortunately, I don't believe that LE searched every closet, opened every cabinet, looked in every crawl space or attic, etc...I think that they did the absolute best they could outside of a literal search warrant.

Most everyone gave permission. Once permission is given, LE probably did a walkthrough of the residence looking for things that were amiss. As LE said, CT was cooperative and they did enter his residence. But it would not have been a thorough search like we see once a search warrant has been issued. Totally different. I don't blame LE and from what the ME's office said, Faye was killed within a few hours (guessing that came from her stomach contents---it stinks we have to know these things about pinpointing a Time of Death--JMO--but thinking that was largely how they arrived at that conclusion) of going missing.

I also understand everyone's frustration about wanting to keep our kids safe and trying to understand how we can better do that.

I do appreciate that LE did not refer to CT by name in the presser. As far as I am concerned, Faye's name is the only one that matters and her name Faye Marie Swetlik was said multiple times.

I don't really get the ladle either. But I am glad that for whatever reason, upon seeing it, LE again immediately searched the woods. Glad for this.

I only thought of an outside closet/storage unit on the balcony as it seems like a logical place for him to have hidden her body, especially if his roommate came and went, etc...NO doubt he was feeling tremendous pressure as LE had not left the neighborhood/playing by the FBI playbook.

It was the right decision to roadblock the neighborhood off as, if they had not, CT could have been able to take her body elsewhere where it may never have been found and he may not have been caught. I am glad he spent the last hours of his life likely in a panic.

I will never understand what makes someone kidnap and kill a child. No matter what the intent or motivation was behind it. Which is also something I will never understand. I try to imagine a person sitting there with these thoughts and fantasies and wonder why they never sought help. Asked for help to stop that from happening. It will never ever make sense to me.

I'm also thankful the dirty ladle sent LE into the woods.

If Faye's life was taken within hours after the kidnapping, the tissue had to have already started breaking down and with each hour that passed her body would be deteriorating, making an accurate autopsy less and less likely.

The probability that there was already decomposition seems to make it more likely that CT kept her in an outside storage unit. The smell would have overwhelmed him in a small apartment plus he would be concerned about the return of his roommate.

MOO

 

[MemPat]

What does interest me is if there's LE body cam of CT's interview when being asked the FBI-developed questionnaire and letting LE search his home. There's been any number of killers where they just put out a bad vibe, yet that didn't appear to happen here. It really makes me think if the video shows him cool as cucumber that this wasn't his first rodeo and he could be behind multiple unsolved crimes.

It won't surprise me if we hear that LE did make note of CT's weirdness in that initial door-knocking interview.

Unfortunately, they can't start tearing apart a home based on weirdness.

I would think there will be lots of discussion among the Cayce LE folks as they try to figure what about CT's behavior might possibly have tipped them off.

 

[LittleBitty]

I'm also thankful the dirty ladle sent LE into the woods.

If Faye's life was taken within hours after the kidnapping, the tissue had to have already started breaking down and with each hour that passed her body would be deteriorating, making an accurate autopsy less and less likely.

The probability that there was already decomposition seems to make it more likely that CT kept her in an outside storage unit. The smell would have overwhelmed him in a small apartment plus he would be concerned about the return of his roommate.

MOO

ITA. I figured if he had a storage closet connected to the back patio/balcony that he could have hidden her in there. After her murder. The smell would have become overwhelming and it didn't appear as though he would have been able to leave the neighborhood in a vehicle with her body (assuming he had such a vehicle). Makes me so sad to even mention Faye in this context at all. Ugggh...As I mentioned on other threads my father (RIP) was a pathologist for 30 years and performed hundreds of autopsies in his career--so I may be more desensitized than most and for that I am sorry.

The main thing that separates this case from others: LE closing off the neighborhood so that any car coming in or leaving was searched. It is striking that the search for Faye ending almost basically less than a football field from where she lived.

 

[kiki2020]

I'm new here due to this case since I live very close to Cayce, so ignore my ignorance, but do you think they will release the doorbell camera footage or any other footage they have of CT in the future? Since there is not a trial I'm assuming no?

 

[K9Enzo]

A statement from someone who lived in the neighborhood where Faye went missing. I don't know how uniform they were with their home searches but it appears some were more than a quick peak around. IIRC, LE talked to CT on Wed - by this time it's assumed she's been deceased for close to 2 days. Where was she then? We'll most likely never know...

“They came in ours. They looked in the laundry room, in the washer, in the dryer, in the dishwasher, the fridge, the freezer, in all the cabinets,” she said.

Neighbors questioned, homes searched in quest to find Faye Swetlik

 

[SpanishInquisition]

I think it just boggles our minds (not being criminals or perpetrators) that anyone could (a) do this (b) appear normal or normal enough as to not arouse suspicion (c) not just confess out of guilt immediately.

I'm trying to think of murderers who didn't arouse suspicion after being interviewed by LE. Scott Peterson for instance instantly aroused suspicion because he was too calm and lacked curiosity in his wife's disappearance. Dahmer was able to trick LE when they could have caught him, but he fooled police as an experienced murderer who already had a criminal record. Catching CT wouldn't have required a warrant as all it would have taken was surveillance. Acting normal while lying to LE is tricky not not giving yourself away in some way by changing your story, acting strangely, etc. I'd really like to see how he responded when asked the last time he saw Faye, which presumably he was asked as part of his questioning.

 

[LittleBitty]

I'm new here due to this case since I live very close to Cayce, so ignore my ignorance, but do you think they will release the doorbell camera footage or any other footage they have of CT in the future? Since there is not a trial I'm assuming no?

I took from the presser that LE does not intend to release any more information about Faye (meaning autopsy, specifically how she was asphyxiated, what condition her body was found in, whether or not she was sexually assaulted, etc...). I am not sure how much given SC laws how much more will be released about CT. I can't imagine MSM has just stopped digging on anything they can possibly find about him. They have hundreds of hours of I am sure video footage/camera stuff they are still combing through. But who knows how much of that we will ever hear about or see...I would imagine if they can provide more information regarding timeline gaps that can shore up their case, if they feel it is necessary, they will? Anyone's guess is as good as mine here. I feel confident that LE feels confident they have the sole perpetrator here. Outside of that, they may release more information specifically about CT and or his movements ect...
Others have mentioned a civil suit (should one be filed) might bring forth more information. But I imagine that their investigation now is specifically to shore up their case for Faye's dignity and her loved ones. It was incredibly important to these officers that Faye be found and that her killer be brought to justice. I believe that.

 

[evilwise]

What does interest me is if there's LE body cam of CT's interview when being asked the FBI-developed questionnaire and letting LE search his home. There's been any number of killers where they just put out a bad vibe, yet that didn't appear to happen here. It really makes me think if the video shows him cool as cucumber that this wasn't his first rodeo and he could be behind multiple unsolved crimes.

It's unlikely that there would have been a recording of every single walk through even if done by a patrolman. For the most part they only enable their cams when they would turn on their siren or draw their weapon.

It won't surprise me if we hear that LE did make note of CT's weirdness in that initial door-knocking interview.

Unfortunately, they can't start tearing apart a home based on weirdness.

I would think there will be lots of discussion among the Cayce LE folks as they try to figure what about CT's behavior might possibly have tipped them off.

"Weirdness" should have been exactly what they would have been looking for. Cops are well trained to detect when their presence is making someone uncomfortable. Usually even more than hoping to actually find anything when doing a walk-through of a residence, they're looking for someone to have a suspicious reaction. I believe that Taylor managed to stay cool. Had he acted in a way that would have been worth making special note of, he would have been under special scrutiny. It's possible he was on a "short list" that was cross-referenced against the particular dumpster but if that was the case I have my doubts about whether he would have even had time to kill himself or that the room-mate would have needed to be the one to alert law enforcement of it.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

It won't surprise me if we hear that LE did make note of CT's weirdness in that initial door-knocking interview.

Unfortunately, they can't start tearing apart a home based on weirdness.

I would think there will be lots of discussion among the Cayce LE folks as they try to figure what about CT's behavior might possibly have tipped them off.

My thought wasn't of tearing his place apart as suspicion isn't enough to get a warrant, just a matter of watching him where he could have been caught in the act of moving the body and captured alive. It surprises me that there wasn't some kind of surveillance out in the area where post-interview he was able to move a 60 pound object into the woods and attempt at least some digging without immediately triggering an LE response due to having their eye on him. Faye's family was able to avoid a lot of terrible stuff by this outcome, but there could be other unsolved crimes that could get a resolution with him being alive and confessing. I'm having a hard time seeing this as his first major crime...maybe they'll get stuff off his computer and a more thorough search but maybe not.

 

[Seattle1]

A statement from someone who lived in the neighborhood where Faye went missing. I don't know how uniform they were with their home searches but it appears some were more than a quick peak around. IIRC, LE talked to CT on Wed - by this time it's assumed she's been deceased for close to 2 days. Where was she then? We'll most likely never know...

“They came in ours. They looked in the laundry room, in the washer, in the dryer, in the dishwasher, the fridge, the freezer, in all the cabinets,” she said.

Neighbors questioned, homes searched in quest to find Faye Swetlik

I think it's important to understand that these are trained investigators doing the door to door canvassing. They were asking questions designed to elicit specific information. The home consent searches are not one size fits all. The party quoted here may have had individuals in their household fitting certain criteria including location and means -- we'll never know. Also, it's possible that CT's apartment did not have a washer/dryer in his apartment but a common laundry room in the building.

MOO

 

[LittleBitty]

The Dailymail has posted the thumbnail I included in this post in multiple articles. What it shows is that CT's residence backs into the woods. He could have left through his back patio and trudged into the woods at night with Faye's body (early morning hours) as LE suggested he did.

Also numerous articles from local Columbia, SC MSM said that the LE were trailing the garbage pickup truck on the morning that Faye's body was found and CT was found dead by suicide on his back patio. They followed this truck throughout its pickup that morning and rifled through the garbage as it was being picked up. It is what led to them finding the polka dot boot and ladle with fresh dirt in the garbage of CT. And sparked the immediate search in the woods.

 

[FrostedGlass]

They would be required to show his autopsy results but not hers for the same reason the public can't see it. If her estate was to sue his estate then Faye's autopsy would probably be discoverable or if any other legal action was taken against his estate based on Faye's autopsy.

Thank you. That was helpful.

 

[auggieandchip]

I saw a ID show awhile back, and the father of a murdered child said he knew generally what the murderer had done to his son, but it took him, and his wife months before they could read the autopsy report.

He said at times they both wish they had never opened it, and read it. He said it was only then they knew how much their innocent little son had suffered at the hands of his raping murdering pedophile.

To this day I think about Steve Greone, and how he said he finally watched all of the video Joe Duncan had taken for 7 weeks showing all of the daily tortures, and rapes of little Shasta, and Dylan including him murdering Dylan. He said it was the hardest thing he had do ever do.

They asked Steve how he could do it. Steve said if his own children had to endure all of it, he owed it to them both to have the courage to know what they both went through.

In JED federal case the FBI prosecutor said the video tape must never been seen by anyone in the public.

The FBI have made sure it's in a top level secure location. The only ones who have ever seen it are the investigators, DA, Shasta, Steve, and the sadist pedophile kidnapper, serial rapists, and serial murderer, JED..the monster who took it.

Jmho[/QUOTE]

That case and Jessica Lunsford have haunted me from day one, this one will too.

 

[ZoriahNZ]

I took this image from Google Earth. It is from Piccadilly Drive looking at the back of the 600 block of flats. You see a bit of the woods that is at the back of where he lived. You can see where the trash probably gets set out and I think you can see that there are little wooden storage sheds/units attached to the apartments with back stairs. CT's apartment 602 is further in and not visible from this angle. But I think you can get a very good idea of what is behind these apartments.

I think it's a good theory that he may have stored her in the storage/utility unit on the back porch. It's possible that this was missed on the walkthrough by LE, if they were more concerned with the interior. JMO.

 

[auggieandchip]

I took from the presser that LE does not intend to release any more information about Faye (meaning autopsy, specifically how she was asphyxiated, what condition her body was found in, whether or not she was sexually assaulted, etc...). I am not sure how much given SC laws how much more will be released about CT. I can't imagine MSM has just stopped digging on anything they can possibly find about him. They have hundreds of hours of I am sure video footage/camera stuff they are still combing through. But who knows how much of that we will ever hear about or see...I would imagine if they can provide more information regarding timeline gaps that can shore up their case, if they feel it is necessary, they will? Anyone's guess is as good as mine here. I feel confident that LE feels confident they have the sole perpetrator here. Outside of that, they may release more information specifically about CT and or his movements ect...
Others have mentioned a civil suit (should one be filed) might bring forth more information. But I imagine that their investigation now is specifically to shore up their case for Faye's dignity and her loved ones. It was incredibly important to these officers that Faye be found and that her killer be brought to justice. I believe that.

I think we may end up with a complete report at some point (excluding the autopsy results, although I think that will happen by "leaks" which I really really hope not) but it may be a while. I foresee some background investigating to continue to happen for a while.