CO - Jessica Ridgeway, 10, Westminster, 5 Oct 2012 - #1

[scorekeeper]

It seems to me as if someone is taunting the FBI and local LE. What reason would you leave the backpack and water bottle in plain sight?

 

[gliving]

Just some jumbled thinking here, and I could be way off, but could a woman be involved? A woman would attract less attention interacting with a child so could get Jessica into a car very easily. Plus the bag. It wasn't dumped in a bin or thrown in a lake etc. it seems almost placed with care. Like someone is sort of concerned and caring for the child?

Iykwim? Does that make any sense?

Yea. Alyssa Bustamante age 15, killed Elizabeth Olten age 9.

 

[mymadori]

Just watching the 10 o'clock broadcast of 9 news. Nothing new mentioned....and no mention of the bag. They are saying that the man who found the backpack believes the backpack was there since last night, possibly around 1 a.m.? Don't know how he'd know that...

 

[Seek&Find]

9News - backpack found where kids had been playing football earlier. Guy who found it said it may have been there since 1 am.

 

[mymadori]

and apparently very near to where that backpack was, there were young people playing football earlier today?

 

[Seek&Find]

"it's hope for investigators that Jessica might come home."

 

[mymadori]

They're showing the same area where the brown paper bag was before...the taped off area...but no bag there and no mention of it.

 

[Seek&Find]

Two bloodhounds circled for miles in this community. They didn't find anything. Only lasted 5 hours. Originally thought it'd go into the evening.

 

[Cubby]

I saw someone asking about the paper bag again, so I brought this post over from a few pages back. Yeah, they zoomed in on it on the 9news television broadcast, and it appears to be untouched. It appears in good shape- like it wasn't thrown out of a moving vehicle, but placed there. Also, all day the last couple days it's been cool and drizzly, so it couldn't have been placed there any sooner than overnight.

BBM. I've been pages and pages behind for hours.... so that was probably my posts about the bag way late.....

Excellent point about the bag.... now I'm really wondering how long it had been there because I didn't notice any rain or humidity/drizzle damage. Unless it is a heavier grade paper (I forget what they call that measurement for how much weight a bag will hold) that wouldn't be affected much by rain. Must be a heavier bag?

 

[Seek&Find]

There'll be additional police patrols and add'l security at the school so kids feel safe. Counselors too.

 

[TreeClimbingGirl]

Here is an overview of the attempted abduction incidents that have been reported in the Westminster area...There may be more, this is only what I could pull up:



March 20, 2012

A 15-year-old girl escaped an attempted abduction near the area of 110th Place and Harlan Street Monday night after freeing herself from the suspect's grasp and running to a friend's home.

<snip>

The suspect is described as a Hispanic man, 5 feet 5 inches tall, in his mid-20s, with short dark hair and a muscular build. He was wearing a white tank top and blue jeans.

May 30, 2012

A 22-year-old woman was jogging along a trail near Ketner Lake in Westminster Monday afternoon when a man grabbed her from behind and tried to put a chemical-soaked rag over her mouth, police said this afternoon.

<snip>

Her assailant was described as white, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall with brown hair and an average build. He was wearing a blue cap, a black T-shirt, jeans and small rimmed sunglasses.

Another jogger was chased by a man with a similar description in July 2010

Plus the child enticement incidents in nearby Aravada, just last month.

What in the hello is going on over there?! :what: :escape:

EDITED-NEVERMIND, a few of those were in Westminster CA, not Colorado :newhere::crazy:

 

[OwlMom]

TreeClimbingGirl--many of those reports are not from Westminster, Colorado. We don't have a La Quinta High School, but California does.

 

[hollyblue]

Makes perfect sense to me. A woman would be more likely to gain Jessica's trust quickly, IMO.

There haven't been many child abductions where women are involved (unless it's their own child they are abducting..) but I think it's important not to rule out women until LE officially does.

Sandra Cantu's case comes to mind (murdered by her Sunday school teacher) and I know there have been others. Rare, but not impossible, IMO.

There was just a failed attempt in Iowa about a month ago...man and woman tried to grab a 5 yr old boy riding his bike. Luckliy his father was on a motorcycle down the street and following him. In a white van...iirc. I believe in cases like that the child will be used for *advertiser censored*...and then trafficked years later. JMO

 

[scorekeeper]

There'll be additional police patrols and add'l security at the school so kids feel safe. Counselors too.

Those poor children - this will be their first day back to school since Jessica went missing - they need every bit of love and support

lease:lease:lease:

 

[Cubby]

My observations about the bag:

The bag does not appear to be a full size grocery bag. The grocery bags are much heavier paper, usually darker in color, and are difficult to roll at the top as neatly as the one in the photo.
Assuming the bag is not simply an artifact of the water bottle discovery, it is possible to guess at a few things based solely on the bag itself.
Paper bags are not as common as they used to be, and the weight and finish of the paper may offer clues as to what it was originally used for.
Origin of bag:
Purchased from store
Liquor Stores often place purchases in similar bags, although more often they are using black plastic bags. Sometimes, especially when packaging breakable items, they put the items in the paper sack and then place the sack inside a plastic bag with handles.
Take out restaurants

It seems as though most larger stores, grocery stores, etc. have branded bags.

I thought it looked as though the bag had been rolled and re-rolled at the top, albeit carefully, more than once.

It definitely looked like there was something in the bag. It seemed like the object was causing the bag to lean back a bit. Maybe something that did not fill up the width of the bag, but only half of the bag, and not heavy enough to lay it flat.
For example, a dvd or a plastic container of some kind. I do think the object is not super thick(front to back), but it is wide(side to side), and medium height.

I know this seems a little over the top, especially considering I am only basing these opinions on one photo. Just sharing my observations and opinions.

It may be completely irrelevant.

More good points. Even our local dirt cheap prices grocery store has printed grocery bags. A gas station with a convenience store is the only place I can think of with non printed brown paper grocery bags. I think most restaurants now have plastic take out bags so food doesn't spill or drip. Except for chinese take out, which is usually stapled atop iirc.

It's a good size bag, especially in comparison with the screen shots posted where the chairs holding the crime scene tape are posted upthread.

Folding a bag like this one was folded would become easier if the bag became a bit moist from body heat or sweaty/warm hands.

 

[TreeClimbingGirl]

TreeClimbingGirl--many of those reports are not from Westminster, Colorado. We don't have a La Quinta High School, but California does.

Thank you! I have amended my post :rocker:

 

[hollyblue]

I'm going to keep positive and believe she is still alive...and pray the perp will release her somewhere.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Just watching the 10 o'clock broadcast of 9 news. Nothing new mentioned....and no mention of the bag. They are saying that the man who found the backpack believes the backpack was there since last night, possibly around 1 a.m.? Don't know how he'd know that...

Maybe 1 a.m. was the last time he looked outside and the backpack wasn't there at the time? Or he came home around that time. Or had to walk the dog at that time.

 

[OwlMom]

Edited: already taken care of!

School tomorrow should be interesting. I already told my husband to leave extra time to drop off our daughter, since I suspect there will be extra people out at all of the schools between where she disappeared and I-70.

 

[Cubby]

Edited: already taken care of!

School tomorrow should be interesting. I already told my husband to leave extra time to drop off our daughter, since I suspect there will be extra people out at all of the schools between where she disappeared and I-70.

No school holiday tomorrow for Columbus day?

Also, I want to thank you again OwlMom for your very informative posts. they are incredibly helpful. :tyou: