GUILTY AR - Jersey Bridgeman, 6, raped & murdered, Bentonville, 20 Nov 2012 #1

[wfgodot]

bbm

I see that B-ville is a smallish town (pop ~ 35,000), wfgodot. Is this "Triangle" due to a good-ol-boy network (seen it, lived in it in a similar-size town in NC), or just not wanting B-ville to look like a "bad" place, or are they just badly understaffed or under-trained, or do you have any idea?

One way one might think of northwest Arkansas is to imagine that it is a bar called The Old South. Except, out in front, the signboard reads, "Under new management."

When I lived in Fayetteville I actually saw such a place, with such a sign.

There's a "good old boy" network there, though not nearly as pronounced as when I was a child. One must understand that, in Arkansas, the effects of the Depression lasted till the 1950s. That creates, still, a sort of darkness about those mountains.

It's right next door to Oklahoma but I think we're more corrupt over here. Because of the university in Fayetteville and the modernizations brought by the Walmart empire, northwest Arkansas tries very hard to be up to date.

Sometimes it succeeds, sometimes not. Yes, one might imagine certain people there enjoying protection from their crimes.

Though that sort of thing can happen practically anywhere.

 

[claudicici]

Pictures of her on her mom's facebook page show that she was a heartbreakingly beautiful child with the sweetest smile ever.

There is a stepfather figure in the home.

I wouldn't call a boyfriend the mother has been with for less than 2 month a stepfather figure.Mother's boyfriends seem to have changed frequently.I also find it sort of odd that the boyfriend started his facebook when he started seeing the mother,him overwhelmingly proclaiming love for the children that came into his life just recently seems a bit too much IMO
I'm also very concerned about mom's post in 2010,supposedly one of the dogs bit Jersey on her eyelid and she fell into the bed frame and gashed her head open ........that poor beautiful baby went through so much,sadly I suspect the living situation with her mother was not any better than it was with her dad

 

[Jacie Estes]

I wouldn't call a boyfriend the mother has been with for less than 2 month a stepfather figure.Mother's boyfriends seem to have changed frequently.I also find it sort of odd that the boyfriend started his facebook when he started seeing the mother,him overwhelmingly proclaiming love for the children that came into his life just recently seems a bit too much IMO
I'm also very concerned about mom's post in 2010,supposedly one of the dogs bit Jersey on her eyelid and she fell into the bed frame and gashed her head open ........that poor beautiful baby went through so much,sadly I suspect the living situation with her mother was not any better than it was with her dad

The woman at this link talks about Jersey being covered with scabies, there were 12 animals in the house and it was filthy.

http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas/...#ixzz2CxaldCTQ

 

[STEADFAST]

I wouldn't call a boyfriend the mother has been with for less than 2 month a stepfather figure.Mother's boyfriends seem to have changed frequently.I also find it sort of odd that the boyfriend started his facebook when he started seeing the mother,him overwhelmingly proclaiming love for the children that came into his life just recently seems a bit too much IMO
I'm also very concerned about mom's post in 2010,supposedly one of the dogs bit Jersey on her eyelid and she fell into the bed frame and gashed her head open ........that poor beautiful baby went through so much,sadly I suspect the living situation with her mother was not any better than it was with her dad

I totally agree with you. There's an unrelated man in the home, and a fairly unknown one, at that. There do seem to be more indications that all may not have been as wonderful at the home as what is shown on facebook -- not surprising. We've all seen many cases (one in Florida in particular) where family photos do not tell the true story at all!

 

[STEADFAST]

One way one might think of northwest Arkansas is to imagine that it is a bar called The Old South. Except, out in front, the signboard reads, "Under new management."
snipped

:floorlaugh: Perfect!

 

[Lois Lane]

5NEWS Update:

Police moved the investigation’s command center from Southeast A Street, where Bridgeman was found dead Tuesday, to the Bentonville Police Department. Chief Jon Simpson said the move would help detectives and other law enforcement agencies better utilize resources for the case.

Bentonville police said Wednesday they have nobody in custody, and would not comment on whether they had any suspects or persons of interest. Simpson said such information could compromise the case.

http://5newsonline.com/2012/11/20/police-investigate-childs-death/ (Updated)

Article includes additional new information.

As always, the comments on 5NEWS are interesting.

 

[STEADFAST]

5NEWS Update:



http://5newsonline.com/2012/11/20/police-investigate-childs-death/ (Updated)

Article includes additional new information.

As always, the comments on 5NEWS are interesting.

This is interesting:

Police estimate Jersey’s death took place between midnight and about 6:45 a.m. Thomas worked at the convenience store from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., an E-Z Mart employee told 5NEWS.

 

[otto]

There sure are a lot of very strange stories about this child. When I read that she was chained to furniture because she was hungry and got out of bed in the middle of the night to eat, I have to think that the parents must have limited mental abilities ... to the extent that they should be deemed mentally incompetent regarding childrearing. It looks like a failure of the system to properly intervene, and as a result an under-privileged child fell between the cracks.

 

[Jacie Estes]

There sure are a lot of very strange stories about this child. When I read that she was chained to furniture because she was hungry and got out of bed in the middle of the night to eat, I have to think that the parents must have limited mental abilities ... to the extent that they should be deemed mentally incompetent regarding childrearing. It looks like a failure of the system to properly intervene, and as a result an under-privileged child fell between the cracks.

The first thing when a child comes into a DV shelter, they are offered food and conversation. That is then a baseline to see what further action is needed.

About the WSM[wicked step mother], you can tell from FB that she has never missed a meal and for her to deny a child food is criminal. IMHO

 

[Donjeta]

Edited to add: Never mind -- I watched it w/o sound and pics of her dad and stepmom and a different house than the one on SE A St. showed up. This must be about the abuse at the hands of her dad.

I am on a computer with no sound. There's another video at this link with the headline, "

Woman who knew Jersey Bridgeman says she witnessed abuse

Read more: http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas...17521558/-/890kn9z/-/index.html#ixzz2CxaldCTQ

Could someone watch it and post what this woman says? Thanks! (--specially for taking the time on Thanksgiving.):seeya:

​

This is not verbatim but I think it's the gist of it.

A woman who lived near J contacted us and said that she saw abuse and tried to get help for her. see shocking interview only on this channel
Ashley Fillbeck's (SP?) family used to live in the same apartment complex
because of what she saw then she wasn't surprised to hear of her death

-I was just so mad because
-but you didn't know
-I didn't know she would end up dead, I should have just grabbed her out of that house but I'm not sure the cops would have done anything because they have to have proof, the cops had been there before
-in 2011 j was staying with her father and stepmom ashley says she can't believe what she witnessed
-she was always in trouble, she would get up in the middle of the night to eat because she was hungry
-you called DHS because you thought this was so wrong
-it was like no help at all, I couldn't walk up in there and take her out of the home I thought i did what i should do
-she says she was shocked by the response of DHS
-we told dhs about everything, all they did was put a card on the door
-we asked her about her response to the child abuse case
-it did not surprise me one bit, i almost made a visit to the jail because I was so angry
-when j went back to live with her biological mother she couldn't believe it
-I knew from talking to her they had at least twelve animals and she had rash and they said it was the scabies, ive seen the cream they put on the child head to toe because she's broken out in rash and it's because of the filth. i promise on my child's life that i witnessed it
-ashley says she hopes that by talking to us DHS will have to say something
at this time DHS is not releasing any info at the request of the prosecutor

 

[STEADFAST]

The woman at this link talks about Jersey being covered with scabies, there were 12 animals in the house and it was filthy.

http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas/...#ixzz2CxaldCTQ

But the woman is not talking about the mother's home. She was talking about the father's home. The visuals with the story are also not pictures of the mother's home. I don't know about the scabies. There are dozens of pictures of Jersey throughout her life on her mom's facebook page and she looks clean and healthy in all of them. There is a post about her being attacked by one of the mom's dogs and also getting some extra injuries -- that could be sinister or could be just the sort of accident that could happen anywhere. My point is that there is nothing out there to indicate that Jersey was ever abused or neglected at her mom's. So I'm holding onto the hope that her mom was good to her and made her feel as happy as all her pictures make her look.

 

[Donjeta]

I kinda got the notion that the scabies episode was after she went back to mom's.

From the video:

Reporter: "And when Jersey went back to live with her biological mother Desiree Bridgeman Ashley couldn't believe it."
"I knew from talking to her that they had at least twelve animals and I've witnessed the rash..." then she goes on talking about the scabies.

But it's a contagious disease caused by a parasite, not necessarily evidence of abuse. Otherwise there are a lot of abused people worldwide... according to Wikipedia 50-80% of people have it in some populations.
Scabies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At least she got treatment.

 

[STEADFAST]

I kinda got the notion that the scabies episode was after she went back to mom's.

From the video:

Reporter: "And when Jersey went back to live with her biological mother Desiree Bridgeman Ashley couldn't believe it."
"I knew from talking to her that they had at least twelve animals and I've witnessed the rash..." then she goes on talking about the scabies.

But it's a contagious disease caused by a parasite, not necessarily evidence of abuse. Otherwise there are a lot of abused people worldwide... according to Wikipedia 50-80% of people have it in some populations.
Scabies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At least she got treatment.

I don't necessarily consider this woman a credible source. For one thing, unless the mom hides some of her animals and only chooses to post about two of her dogs on facebook, she did not have 10 dogs. The only dogs she ever posted pics of were a Pomeranian and a Husky-looking dog. One of her dogs did bite Jersey, though. I'm not saying I refuse to believe conditions were bad; I'm just saying I haven't seen any evidence of it.

I can't stay away from the computer, expecting an arrest any minute! Hope this one doesn't go the way of so many before it and just fade out of sight with no justice.

ETA Forgot to add that I wrote the post below before I read your very excellent synopsis of the interview. Thanks!!!

 

[Donjeta]

Yeah, who knows. Sometimes it's whacky editing too that is responsible for misconceptions.

I'm not sure who Ashley refers to when she says she knows about the twelve animals "from talking with her". Jersey? A child of six could have counted the animals wrong. The biological mother? Someone else? In any case it sounds like hearsay information and Ashley did not actually witness those animals herself. She does not say if they're all dogs or what, it could be something smaller.

 

[Jacie Estes]

But the woman is not talking about the mother's home. She was talking about the father's home. The visuals with the story are also not pictures of the mother's home. I don't know about the scabies. There are dozens of pictures of Jersey throughout her life on her mom's facebook page and she looks clean and healthy in all of them. There is a post about her being attacked by one of the mom's dogs and also getting some extra injuries -- that could be sinister or could be just the sort of accident that could happen anywhere. My point is that there is nothing out there to indicate that Jersey was ever abused or neglected at her mom's. So I'm holding onto the hope that her mom was good to her and made her feel as happy as all her pictures make her look.

BBM Listen to the video. Never mind, it's a dead link now.

 

[Jacie Estes]

Yeah, who knows. Sometimes it's whacky editing too that is responsible for misconceptions.

I'm not sure who Ashley refers to when she says she knows about the twelve animals "from talking with her". Jersey? A child of six could have counted the animals wrong. The biological mother? Someone else? In any case it sounds like hearsay information and Ashley did not actually witness those animals herself. She does not say if they're all dogs or what, it could be something smaller.

BBM She says animals, not dogs.

 

[Abby Normal Again]

Sorry for the new username, I used to be here as Abby Normal, but I can't seem to find a way to access my old account. :banghead:

I live here in town, and I just wanted to say that there are tons of us who are not firearm enthusiasts. I only know two people who openly admit to owning guns. Bentonville is a different and growing community than some people may remember from past time in the area, and surely your circle within a community alters what you know of a town as well. There are so many transplants here now, that you can't really sum us up.

As others have stated, this is a "bad side of town" but bad is relative. I would walk through there at night alone without any hesitation. Assuming I trusted the family and parents, I would let my children attend a birthday party there. I drive through that area without any thoughts of safety or risk. None. All in all, Bentonville is generally a safe place to live.

Regarding the police force, they've been to my neighborhood to help me find my child. :blushing: I consider them extremely competent. They were on top of the situation, they secured the area, they searched my home, they eyed me with the appropriate level of suspicion. They used technology to get her photo circulating internally and had a great deal of manpower sent over. When they found out we were dealing with developmental delays and a possibly hiding child, they changed tactics immediately. When they found the child hiding, they were warm and kind and patient.

I would not describe any of them as good ole boys, though I'm sure some of what is implicated by the term exists. I've not met a police force yet that did not have some sort of brotherhood to it. I think the fact that they invited the FBI in is a good sign that they just want what is best for the case, and not a turf war or to prove anything of themselves. I think they are aware that this is big and want to make sure it is done by the books.

As far as the details of this case, I think you all know as much as we do. The fact that they state clearly that she passed away in the abandoned home implies to me that it was less likely unintentional abuse or neglect gone to far. The fact that they say there is not a public threat, implies that they already have a pretty good idea of what happened. The fact that they needed a search warrant is very suspicious to me because, as I stated, they were searching my house multiple times within 15 minutes. Perhaps they wanted it to be rock solid before removing anything from the home so any evidence obtained would hold up in court.

All the rumors I've heard about it have now been stated in the media, so I don't have any information that you do not. The only other word on the street is that the mom's boyfriend has a rock solid alibi, with video footage proving he was at work.

 

[tlcya]

Investigators went door-to-door interviewing people who live in the neighborhood.

“We do have several residents of interest on S.E. A Street,” the chief said.

http://5newsonline.com/2012/11/20/police-investigate-childs-death/

They don't confirm a suspect but do confirm "residents of of interest"

Close enough for me to call it that they have a person or persons of interest. MOO

 

[Abby Normal Again]

Yes, it is my impression as well that they are fairly certain what happened, and are making a rock solid case before proceeding.

 

[tlcya]

I feel badly for the grandpa, he really should avoid the comment section. People are just idiots.