AL AL - Danniella Vian, 24, Mobile, 17 Jul 2018 #2

[otto]

That is very helpful: so it definitely had a screen for GPS if it came with OnStar, and she would not have had a separate GPS like Garmin.

In thread 1, pretty sure it the first comment about GPS was built-in OnStar.

 

[Keyedin]

This may be answered before I finish, but PF Changs is not within walking distance to any of the three named locations. Its on Airprt Blvd in the mall close to the interstate


Government and service road run parallel briefly. When you exit the interstate and go right. You take a very slight, imagine a lane merge, onto government and can continue straight or cross the service road on the right to the gas station. It's not a huge change, if that makes sense.

 

[AtticusFitz]

I read through Thread #1 in the last couple of days, and the first mention of the GPS is that it is built in OnStar. After that it morphs into "LoJack", but the original information is OnStar.

I'm curious how long it takes pro-carjackers to disable OnStar systems.

Yes, we had always assumed OnStar + secondary entertainment system that has GPS based on the 2014 Cruze car specs from GM. I think you brought up the idea of LoJack when you returned and I thought your idea would make sense given the kind of operation Pearl Motors is and some of the consumer compliants I had seen that referenced cars being repo'd by Pearl. I would think that Pearl would prefer LoJack to depending on OnStar as the difficulty with disabling LoJack is much higher. Pearl could have LoJack installed and then when loan is paid off they would pay to have it removed. OnStar and secondary system would be much easier to disable IMO. I think the only thing we know for certain is the car had OnStar. We don't know if it was activated as its a subscription based service. If she had a certain car trim level then there was the Entertainment package that had GPS which was built into the dash and doesn't require subscription like OnStar.

 

[tinkerbella]

I know I can't answer for all Buy Here, Pay Here places and I'm in a different state so not sure if that affects the information I do have. I know a few different BH PH dealers. They don't tell people they are on their car. They are hidden, sometimes very well, sometimes not. If you don't know what you're looking for, you would never even know it's there. Some place them under the hood of the car by the battery, some are placed under the car. Different BH PH places in my area have different places they hide them & depending on the place, they may not always put them in the same place if that makes sense? Place A may always hide them by the battery like I mentioned above. Place B might place one under the hood on one car & underneath on the next. While disconnecting may be no problem, unless you know WHERE it's hidden, it may take some time to find it. My guess would be the person who disconnected the LoJack knew something about the dealership or the car to know where to look to disable it. None of the places I know of ever had it installed inside the car. They were all on the outside. If the car comes in & it's a quick turnaround, the LoJack stays in the same place. If it sat on the lot for a bit, the LoJack is removed & placed on a different car & before it's sold again, another one is installed.

 

[otto]

Yes, we had always assumed OnStar + secondary entertainment system that has GPS based on the 2014 Cruze car specs from GM. I think you brought up the idea of LoJack when you returned and I thought your idea would make sense given the kind of operation Pearl Motors is and some of the consumer compliants I had seen that referenced cars being repo'd by Pearl. I would think that Pearl would prefer LoJack to depending on OnStar as the difficulty with disabling LoJack is much higher. Pearl could have LoJack installed and then when loan is paid off they would pay to have it removed. OnStar and secondary system would be much easier to disable IMO. I think the only thing we know for certain is the car had OnStar. We don't know if it was activated as its a subscription based service. If she had a certain car trim level then there was the Entertainment package that had GPS which was built into the dash and doesn't require subscription like OnStar.

I don't know anything about LoJack, I was simply quoting what I read before I had all the information.

There's still no answer to whether there was an exterior antenna. Is there anything about that on the car description? If there is, disrupting the antenna is one way to disable the system.

 

[Slowmotion]

Yes, we had always assumed OnStar + secondary entertainment system that has GPS based on the 2014 Cruze car specs from GM. I think you brought up the idea of LoJack when you returned and I thought your idea would make sense given the kind of operation Pearl Motors is and some of the consumer compliants I had seen that referenced cars being repo'd by Pearl. I would think that Pearl would prefer LoJack to depending on OnStar as the difficulty with disabling LoJack is much higher. Pearl could have LoJack installed and then when loan is paid off they would pay to have it removed. OnStar and secondary system would be much easier to disable IMO. I think the only thing we know for certain is the car had OnStar. We don't know if it was activated as its a subscription based service. If she had a certain car trim level then there was the Entertainment package that had GPS which was built into the dash and doesn't require subscription like OnStar.

Pearl 100% had some sort of lojack device on the car unless Danielle bought the car outright and didn't owe and money on which i do not think is the case. Mostly all car dealerships especially the mom and pop ones have these devices. I'd imagine this device would be hard to disable in that time frame for a regular street criminal but a season car thief i'm not so sure..then again why would a seasoned car thief be car jacking people at gas stations

 

[ChiCubs2016]

A couple of possibilities come to mind. The obvious is that Car 3 in some way blocked the exit of Danni's car. Barring that, either she recognized someone in the car, or perhaps a weapon was used. A gun might cause people to freeze.

Also I was thinking, she is sitting there alone without a phone. 20 minutes is a long time to sit alone in a parking lot of a dark closed down gas station. And to also have a creepy car pull up and sit next to you! I would have plowed my car into them! Something to at least try to get away!! She knew the people or they somehow incapacitated her.

 

[otto]

If we assume that Danniella was grabbed at the Shell station seconds after DW left, who did it and why?

 

[Slowmotion]

I don't know anything about LoJack, I was simply quoting what I read before I had all the information.

There's still no answer to whether there was an exterior antenna. Is there anything about that on the car description? If there is, disrupting the antenna is one way to disable the system.

I would imagine that these dealerships aren't in the business of getting ripped off. I really dont think it would be easy to disable the GPS. I mean think about it...if it was so easy what would stop people from going in with a down payment taking the car disable the gps and just never have to make a payment again on it.

 

[LaylaD]

Do we know if Danni had the MyChevrolet app installed on her phone? This allows remote starting of her vehicle, and appears to work regardless of how close the phone is to the vehicle.

Not certain if I have any theories related to this, but just letting my thoughts percolate on it for awhile.

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[otto]

I would imagine that these dealerships aren't in the business of getting ripped off. I really dont think it would be easy to disable the GPS. I mean think about it...if it was so easy what would stop people from going in with a down payment taking the car disable the gps and just never have to make a payment again on it.

It's sounding like there were two systems: built-in GPS, and dealer applied LoJack. Apparently all of this was disabled in 16 minutes at the Shell station.

Could someone with a criminal history do this?

 

[AtticusFitz]

Do we know if Danni had the MyChevrolet app installed on her phone? This allows remote starting of her vehicle, and appears to work regardless of how close the phone is to the vehicle.

Not certain if I have any theories related to this, but just letting my thoughts percolate on it for awhile.

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DNV had a Chevy Cruze previously so was familiar with the car and its features. But if she had just gotten the car do you think most people set up the phone app the same day they get their car? Maybe but I'm not so sure.

 

[AtticusFitz]

It's sounding like there were two systems: built-in GPS, and dealer applied LoJack. Apparently all of this was disabled in 16 minutes at the Shell station.

Could someone with a criminal history do this?

Actually possiblity of max of 3 systems. OnStar, built in GPS and dealer applied LoJack. IMO to do this in 15 min person would have to be a specialist and very experienced with the LoJack taking the most time to disable.

 

[LaylaD]

Actually possiblity of max of 3 systems. OnStar, built in GPS and dealer applied LoJack. IMO to do this in 15 min person would have to be a specialist and very experienced with the LoJack taking the most time to disable.

Would a gps jamming device work?

 

[Slowmotion]

It's sounding like there were two systems: built-in GPS, and dealer applied LoJack. Apparently all of this was disabled in 16 minutes at the Shell station.

Could someone with a criminal history do this?

Two systems makes sense. One being on-star which if i'm not wrong you have to pay for that either by the year or 6 months i'm not sure. I know some people who opt out of that option. Being that its from a dealership maybe it came with 1 free year or something but if thats not case and she opted out of the on-star there had to be a backup which was the lojack/killswitch. Could someone with a criminal history do this? I think so. This quickly? I cant see it.

I look at it like this. If you have those kind of skills and are that good with cars, your stealing a lot more expensive ones, and ones without someone in it. Car thief's just want the car not the driver also. JMO

 

[ChiCubs2016]

I interpret it as 3 cars 3 people but it is not specific and I agree with @otto that car 3 had more than 1 person. Or she knew the person well and they were able to disable the GPS without her knowledge, which i do not know how, she did not have a phone to distract her!!

 

[Slowmotion]

I interpret it as 3 cars 3 people but it is not specific and I agree with @otto that car 3 had more than 1 person. Or she knew the person well and they were able to disable the GPS without her knowledge, which i do not know how, she did not have a phone to distract her!!

Would need more than my phone to distract me from something like this. I think if someone did disable it they were not trying to be sneaky about it. It happened way to fast to do it without her knowing about it. Right?

 

[otto]

Actually possiblity of max of 3 systems. OnStar, built in GPS and dealer applied LoJack. IMO to do this in 15 min person would have to be a specialist and very experienced with the LoJack taking the most time to disable.

Let's assume that Built-in GPS and OnStar are the same. Then we have the factory system (GPS) and the dealer system( LoJack). No one is going to install a third system.

How long does it take a couple of seasoned criminals with burglary and prison time to disable a GPS and a LoJack? Can car owners simply turn OnStar off?

 

[MimosaMornings]

What if the Shell station was not the last pinged location?
What if that information is being put out there because the last ping was somewhere else and LE saw someone in car #3 that was known to them and they are gathering additional information or waiting for that person (or people) involved to let a clue slip or be lulled into thinking LE doesn’t know anything.
Just a random thought.

 

[AtticusFitz]

Would a gps jamming device work?

From what I've read it might work with the built in gps system, might not work with onstar and most likely wouldn't work with lojack. The quality of GPS jamming devices are all over the map. Some are junk and some are excellent. From what I have read the LoJack is designed specifically to not be able to disabled by a jamming device. Never had much reason to research these systems. Reddit and Dark web are obsessed with GPS tracking so its been interesting to learn more.