IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #23

[MotherOcean]

If they've sawn off "trees" plural, not just one or two, this is starting to remind me of one of Australia's worst serial killers, Ivan Milat.

He would take hitchhikers to his forest hang out, let them go, and shoot them like animals. Hunt them, essentially.

Please dear God let this not be how it ended, with our girls frightened and running...

lease:

OMG!! That is horrible!!

My first thought was that the perp. had tied them to trees to secure them but how would LE know that unless there was some sign of it left on the trees. I wonder if they found a campsite anywhere nearby? From the pictures you can tell that the site is now quite cleared with room to move around. I guess it would have been a lot different during the summer and early fall.

 

[LaborDayRN]

So investigators took the trees?

I'm not sure if investigators actually took the trees. In picture #2 there is a "pile of removed brush". I'm wondering if they had to clear some of the brush to get vehicles in.

 

[SapphireSteel]

I feel sick. I honestly can't think of any other reason why they would take trees from the crime seen though. UGH!

I just had a look at the photo and freshly sawn doesn't look all that fresh to me either.

Maybe they were cut down for firewood at some stage...which would again imply the girls haven't been there that long if so.

I wish they'd issue more information, not knowing really makes you think the worst...!

ETA - they're spindly looking trees, I doubt that many caught bullets if it was a hunting type situation...although I suppose that depends on the gun used. Semi automatics could spray out enough bullets to hit several skinny trees, I guess...?

I'm leaning away from the trees having bullets just because they're so skinny looking.

 

[FrayedKnot]

She was 4'11" and the size of her feet would have been proportional to her height. She would not be wearing adult size shoes.

Again, my daughter is 11 and currently stands 5'3". She wears the same size shoe as myself and I am 5'11". (And that shoe size is a 9 or 10)

And she has been wearing adult sizes for a couple of years now, when she was 4'9" and on.

HTH!

 

[MotherOcean]

I think the trees may have been taken as just a standard part of clearing the scene. It's not unusual for brush to be cleared. Maybe LE needed to take down some of those trees for access, etc. Idk??

There is another picture that says:

A pile of removed brush remains at the scene where officials investigated the finding of the bodies of missing cousins Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins, that were discovered by hunters last week, in Seven Bridges Park in Readlyn, Iowa on Monday, Dec. 10, 2012

Doesn't look like much of a pile to me though.

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...ion_12862912-cdd5-11e1-a9b3-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[RNER]

I still can't get over the absence of warnings and alerts issued to the community...FROM DAY 1!

I guess in a community where 2 children were abducted in broad daylight, hidden for 5 months and murdered, with no reported suspect, one would expect LE to issue statements regarding neighborhood watches, safety and precautionary measures, potential threat for repeat abductions, etc.

It would appear to me that LE does not fear a repeat abduction!

WHY???????

Possibly...suspect is in custody already, suspect specifically targeted these girls and no one else is at risk, family connection?

 

[Marilynilpa]

bullets in the trunk of the tree?

That's possible - there is hunting in the area, perhaps LE noticed bullets in the tree trunks and cut the trees down in order to conduct testing.

Seems like they could have just taken the bullets, though, rather than the entire tree, unless they needed the tree to determine how long the bullets were there?:waitasec:

 

[tlcya]

Freshly cut trees would mean someone was in that area fairly recently, right? If so, and they didn't find the bodies, perhaps that's an indication that the bodies weren't there until very close to the time they were discovered.

Unless the trees were cut down for some reason after the bodies were found, possibly for access to the scene, or for forensics?

ETA: It's been stated that this area does not receive maintenance from DNR, so I doubt it was done as part of any routine clearing of the area. JMO

this was my thought

 

[SapphireSteel]

OMG!! That is horrible!!

My first thought was that the perp. had tied them to trees to secure them but how would LE know that unless there was some sign of it left on the trees. I wonder if they found a campsite anywhere nearby? From the pictures you can tell that the site is now quite cleared with room to move around. I guess it would have been a lot different during the summer and early fall.

He was evil. The personification of evil. They still don't know for sure how many he killed, as he was fairly transient too.

 

[hambirg]

Well there does seem to be some tree trunks there. Who knows. I asked earlier, but I think it got lost in the flip flop stuff. Is there any reason to believe that the perp didn't have the girls walk-in?

This is coming off the idea that the perp would have had to use an ATV, etc to get the bodies back there. So, I'm wondering if this could be the secondary crime scene, as opposed to just a dump. Thoughts?

 

[Marilynilpa]

I still can't get over the absence of warnings and alerts issued to the community...FROM DAY 1!

I guess in a community where 2 children were abducted in broad daylight, hidden for 5 months and murdered, with no reported suspect, one would expect LE to issue statements regarding neighborhood watches, safety and precautionary measures, potential threat for repeat abductions, etc.

It would appear to me that LE does not fear a repeat abduction!

WHY???????

Possibly...suspect is in custody already, suspect specifically targeted these girls and no one else is at risk, family connection?

Maybe LE assumed that after the disappearance of Lyric and Lizzie, parents would take precautionary measures without being specifically told to do so?

 

[SapphireSteel]

I still can't get over the absence of warnings and alerts issued to the community...FROM DAY 1!

I guess in a community where 2 children were abducted in broad daylight, hidden for 5 months and murdered, with no reported suspect, one would expect LE to issue statements regarding neighborhood watches, safety and precautionary measures, potential threat for repeat abductions, etc.

It would appear to me that LE does not fear a repeat abduction!

WHY???????

Possibly...suspect is in custody already, suspect specifically targeted these girls and no one else is at risk, family connection?

That would seem to me to be the logical conclusion.

LE have been very, very tight lipped throughout but sometimes actions speak louder than words, and what isn't said, is more meaningful than what is.

 

[hollyblue]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...ion_12862912-cdd5-11e1-a9b3-0019bb2963f4.html


A picture of the stump of a freshly cut tree at the site where the girls were found. (It's the 4th picture). Hmmmm... :waitasec:. Why is that?

Could have been someone just cutting wood or kindling for the season, or perp used it for covering the girls, which I kind of doubt they went to all that trouble. Doesn't look like they used a saw tho. ??

The photographer missed the flags at half mast in this photo of the police station. This brought tears to my eyes.

 

[FrayedKnot]

I think that's what I meant.

I think Drew and Heather have every right to whatever celebration they choose...please don't misunderstand.

It just seems that Lizzie had everything a child could want or need in her life, and now in death, but Lyric has always had the short straw.

Yep. And also, even from the beginning it seems Lyric was the one most people suspected was responsible for the girls taking off for the lake (which IMO they did not do) and for hooking up with random guys on FB.

Thing is, Lyric really wasn't that much older than Lizzie. She was a big girl, and so looked older, but that does not make her a teenager. She was a little girl.

I suspect that the sins of the parents are (and have been) being visited upon the head of the daughter. And that makes me sad and angry.

I do not mean to start any trouble but the fact is that the murderer is the person responsible for the girls' death.

Thank you for recognizing that Lyric has seemingly been marginalized her whole life and now in death.

 

[cindersoot]

bullets in the trunk of the tree?

Blood stains?

 

[nikb]

Did I understand correctly that there is a group of perps with a cast fetish, seriously?!

Trying not to get too far off topic but IIRC there was a guy on college campuses several years ago that would break into dorm rooms and lick girls' feet... that was his 'thing.' There are some pretty freaky fetishes out there IMO.

 

[Zoe Zo]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...ion_12862912-cdd5-11e1-a9b3-0019bb2963f4.html


A picture of the stump of a freshly cut tree at the site where the girls were found. (It's the 4th picture). Hmmmm... :waitasec:. Why is that?

Maybe to collect fiber from clothing or DNA from the trees or bushes the person may have brushed against when walking around there - I'm guessing.

 

[writer7]

It says the fresh stumps were seen by hunters last week. Hmmmmmm.

Is there any reason other hunters would have cut them off?

I'm beginning to think the perp may have camped at least overnight with the girls at that 'beach' area. I do think this park may have been where they were killed. The stumps could mean firewood, yes.

Or the trees may have held evidence that the girls were tied or chained to them I tie my dogs to trees exactly that size when I'm out in the gardens, so they can be close to me on long leads. They don't rip out because the trees usually have a much thicker top canopy part, so the kind of small diameter of the tree doesn't mean they aren't good to hold a 100 lb dog. They do show lead marks when I'm finished with them being there, btw.

 

[not_my_kids]

Re the trees:

Could be that they took them down to bullet holes, marks that might have looked like hatchet marks, carvings in the trees, or any other number of things that might be case related.

They might have taken them down to gain access to the scene.

They might have taken them down so that they can be examined forensically. I know that sometimes a scientist can tell what kind of fertilizer was used to grow a tree, by examination and tests, I assume. I wonder if they might have taken the trees to help narrow down when the girls bodies were placed there, in other, more graphic terms, whether those trees were fertilized by their bodies.

P.S. DISCLAIMER
I am really trying to keep up here today, so if I suddenly stop making sense (or rather, start making less than normal), blame the painkillers. I had more teeth pulled today, so I'm not all here. If anything I say needs clarification or if I sound like more of an idiot than normal, let me know.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Bodies identified as missing Iowa cousins

Lyric Cook, Elizabeth Collins went missing in July

Author: By CNN Staff

Published On: Dec 10 2012 04:44:18 PM EST Updated On: Dec 10 2012 05:36:43 PM EST

(CNN) -
Relatives of 10-year-old Lyric Cook and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins got news Monday that no family wants.

Authorities identified the bodies found by hunters in a wooded area last week as those of the two young Iowa cousins, missing since July. Their bodies were found in the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area in Bremer County...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...3120/-/format/rss_2.0/-/108nsqsz/-/index.html