FL FL - Jennifer Odom, 12, Blanton, 19 Feb 1993

[DeepThinker]

OK I am super Map Challenged now Google and Bing Map are not helping :banghead:


Which one of these is Right??


View attachment 12093

Google Map!




View attachment 12094


Bing Map!!!



:banghead:

IMO, the Bing map is correct...is her house the one sitting in the middle? That would make about 200 yards...and she had to walk by the orange grove...or am I off? :waitasec:

 

[CN2Souls]

Deepthinker hers is the one with pool,

Not trying to be a pain :innocent: on this fact, But it is important because of:
If the Bing map is correct that her house was much farther than 200 yards more like 600 yards, and she would have had to turn and walk up that little road to her home, it changes the UNsubs character, than that of a person who could have sat on the Google map road where there is no hiding area for his truck and the road is dead ended.
Also it makes more sense that the Bing map road is correct in that the road drops 100 in elevation on Google earth so this would give the children on the bus a lower point of view to be seeing Jennifer walking and the truck following her on the higher elevated road. Also if she had to walk that farther road 600 yards, the Unsub would have had been able to use the “ride Home” rues, Because he would not have needed to turn around and alarm her, he would go straight, and maybe even sped up and taken the back road out to the Main road again.
The other road would require him to turn around and she would have been alarmed and would have been able to jump from the truck at that slow speed.
Also this tells me he new these roads very well...
See I had my reason :angel:

 

[Skully]

In my theory, I suggested that he offered her a ride as a ruse but quickly made an excuse that he forgot something, and it would be just a minute to get it. If she knew him, even for a short period of time, she may have thought it was okay to just go for the ride. The only thing about this is, her sister was locked out of the house, because she had to go to gradma's to let her in. Jennifer had the key. So what did he say to keep her in that truck? Threats of a knife or gun would make her stay put.

I have so many questions about the boldness of his approach in this case.

Why wasn't he concerned that people would see the truck at 3pm and ID it? Or even get a plate number, coming or going? Maybe the tags were not to this truck and it wasn't registered.

No signs of a struggle, could be that he knew her well enough to get her into the truck or again, a gun. But he didn't shoot her or stab her. So that is why I think she knew him. Just met him, probably a good looking, older guy, like early 20's or mid 20's. There is always the possibility there were two also. It would be hard to drive a truck, come on a person and get them into the truck without screams or a fight. All of her stuff was taken with her, she didn't drop anything, or leave it behind. I picture her, getting in, tossing the bookbag, clarinet case in the back seat.

Also the truck was open in the back, so there had to be a back seat, to transport the body. It didn't have tinted windows, so people could see what was in the truck if they were in a two lane at a stop light. So he had to have covered her up, and taken back roads, remember it is FL and daylight for longer here, even in February. If he was married he had to get back home, if he was single, he could have taken her back to his place or anywhere really and no one was waiting on him to be home at any given time. Or his wife was out-of-town. These are things I think about in this case. How brazen he was.

 

[DeepThinker]

IMO, she knew him, but socially. Not like they hung out together or anything, but he saw her on a regular basis. Maybe he was a clerk at a store or someplace she frequented. Older relative of one of her friends?

JMO IMO :cow:

 

[Skully]

He also knows his window of opportunity, he knows no one is home or coming up that road to see him. The grandmothers house is there, he takes a huge chance she won't look out a window or come out to see Jennifer. I really think he ruse of driving her up to the house makes sense. Even if he said, hey I need to talk to you, can we just go down the road? I don't know how much time before her sister got home, so if it was a half hour or so, she may have chanced it thinking they would be back in time.

 

[Skully]

Well if he worked for them, LE would have been all over him with that truck, he would have been remembered. But if he did a job nearby and he chatted with her, or she met him someplace like with friends, she may have felt safe to get into the truck for a ride.

Wow, look at my post number, 3333 I guess I spend a lot of time here....

 

[DeepThinker]

Sorry if I'm throwing random thoughts out...that's how they're coming to me :innocent:

My thoughts on where the truck was...IMO, he could have been parked on Jim Denney Road facing west - that would allow him to see her coming, but it is in direct contrast to eyewitness reports.

The other thought I have is what if the truck was behind the school bus? He would have seen her get off the bus, walk east, he could have easily turned the courner and started following her. The kids in the bus (especially in the back) could have easily seen this.

Again, JMO IMO :cow:

 

[Skully]

Deepthinker hers is the one with pool,

Not trying to be a pain :innocent: on this fact, But it is important because of:
If the Bing map is correct that her house was much farther than 200 yards more like 600 yards, and she would have had to turn and walk up that little road to her home, it changes the UNsubs character, than that of a person who could have sat on the Google map road where there is no hiding area for his truck and the road is dead ended.
Also it makes more sense that the Bing map road is correct in that the road drops 100 in elevation on Google earth so this would give the children on the bus a lower point of view to be seeing Jennifer walking and the truck following her on the higher elevated road. Also if she had to walk that farther road 600 yards, the Unsub would have had been able to use the “ride Home” rues, Because he would not have needed to turn around and alarm her, he would go straight, and maybe even sped up and taken the back road out to the Main road again.
The other road would require him to turn around and she would have been alarmed and would have been able to jump from the truck at that slow speed.
Also this tells me he new these roads very well...
See I had my reason :angel:

I vote Google map. If you look at the video standing at the house with the pool, you see the curve to the road from left to right and wind down the road.

 

[Skully]

No, I do the same thing, I also thought about him being behind the bus and turning onto the road behind her. It would explain why no one noticed the plate number. By the time the bus moves up the road, the truck turns onto JD road, they can't see the plate, just that his is heading up behind her.

Sorry if I'm throwing random thoughts out...that's how they're coming to me :innocent:

My thoughts on where the truck was...IMO, he could have been parked on Jim Denney Road facing west - that would allow him to see her coming, but it is in direct contrast to eyewitness reports.

The other thought I have is what if the truck was behind the school bus? He would have seen her get off the bus, walk east, he could have easily turned the courner and started following her. The kids in the bus (especially in the back) could have easily seen this.

Again, JMO IMO :cow:

 

[CN2Souls]

Sorry if I'm throwing random thoughts out...that's how they're coming to me :innocent:

My thoughts on where the truck was...IMO, he could have been parked on Jim Denney Road facing west - that would allow him to see her coming, but it is in direct contrast to eyewitness reports.

The other thought I have is what if the truck was behind the school bus? He would have seen her get off the bus, walk east, he could have easily turned the corner and started following her. The kids in the bus (especially in the back) could have easily seen this.

Again, JMO IMO :cow:

I vote Google map. If you look at the video standing at the house with the pool, you see the curve to the road from left to right and wind down the road.

Yes, I see him Following the bus, she gets off, he turns down her road after her, (the Google Road with the much longer walk) . and then pulls up beside her, (passenger side door close to her) says_____________________ she jumps in.....(and if you look at the video, there is no house on that corner at the time she was abducted)
So no one would have seen his truck, Grand mothers home was on the little bend in the road before her house.

 

[Skully]

I see it happening this way too, it makes more sense, no struggle, no items left on the ground. I also think this is why the cloths and book bag are in separate locations. He may have cleaned up where he was, and put the cloths in a dumpster or thew them out some where, but the she tossed the other items in the back of the truck, they were larger. When he got rid of the body, he could have disposed of them at the same time, but he didn't, I think he didn't see them. Later he may have stashed them in an attic or shed and in 1995 he got rid of them as CN2souls suggested, he may have moved. So the cloths could be near the crime scene, not where the body was found but another location.

 

[Skully]

My sister and I are about 8yrs apart. We talked the other night about how she knew people that I never knew she hung out with. She went places I never knew. I was the same at that age. So in 1993 where did the kids go to hang out? I looked at her video and some of the pictures and she was so pretty and she was active in barefoot water skiing and had trophies. She was in sports and looked like her parents kept her and her sister busy and not hanging out on corners, like we did for fun. So this had to be a very short interaction, but one she would trust. Like you said, a friend of someone she knew, a guy she has seen around.

 

[DeepThinker]

I have a question...what are the rules about linking to a blog? I have found a site that has an interesting comment, but I don't want to go against TOS...:waitasec:

 

[becca]

My sister and I are about 8yrs apart. We talked the other night about how she knew people that I never knew she hung out with. She went places I never knew. I was the same at that age. So in 1993 where did the kids go to hang out? I looked at her video and some of the pictures and she was so pretty and she was active in barefoot water skiing and had trophies. She was in sports and looked like her parents kept her and her sister busy and not hanging out on corners, like we did for fun. So this had to be a very short interaction, but one she would trust. Like you said, a friend of someone she knew, a guy she has seen around.

These girls didn't hang out like kids do today. They were active in sports, band and if they went someplace it was with other kids to the movies or to the mall. But it often was just going to each other's houses.
Which leads me back to where I started years ago, this blue truck and its driver blended in to each neighborhood for easy exits. He didn't waste time when he grabbed her and I really understand how that was done. When someone calls a child over to a car or truck saying they are lost the first thing a kid does is get close enough to be grabbed. He could very well have had a piece of paper saying do you know where the *advertiser censored*'s live ? I have their address as ....... very easily done . Remember this is a rural area , houses are not close together and most people are not home during the day.

 

[Beatrice]

One ploy of abductors is to say, "Hurry, get in my vehicle. Your (mother) was in an accident & I'm here to take you to the hospital..."

 

[becca]

One ploy of abductors is to say, "Hurry, get in my vehicle. Your (mother) was in an accident & I'm here to take you to the hospital..."

I have never believed he used the parents as a ruse to get her in the truck. After all her grandmother lives right there , if there was a problem with a member of the family she would have met her at the bus stop. I think he asked if she knew someone or where someone lived.

 

[Skully]

Still thinking out loud....

Okay, she gets off the bus, the truck was sitting off to the side of the road and she doesn't run up to it, so she doesn't recognize it, he follows her, pulls up beside her. If he is on the driver's side, closest to him, and he is asking for directions, the door swings out, meaning if he goes to exit the truck, she is now closest to the hood of the cab. Why doesn't she run, drop everything and take off to Grandma's house screaming....? Trucks are higher than cars too, so she would have to get close enough for him to grab her, would you do that at age 12? Stranger Danger, she is 12 she has to know not to get too close to the truck. Just throwing stuff out there to see how he got her and all her stuff into a strange truck, a man she doesn't know and no fight or screams in broad daylight. If you are fighting, you have to drop the case or the book bag, your purse. The only way I see her getting into that truck under these circumstances is if he had a gun. She was into sports, water skiing, archery ; I think she was strong enough that she put up a fight and left some marks on him. JMO

 

[DeepThinker]

Still thinking out loud....

Okay, she gets off the bus, the truck was sitting off to the side of the road and she doesn't run up to it, so she doesn't recognize it, he follows her, pulls up beside her. If he is on the driver's side, closest to him, and he is asking for directions, the door swings out, meaning if he goes to exit the truck, she is now closest to the hood of the cab. Why doesn't she run, drop everything and take off to Grandma's house screaming....? Trucks are higher than cars too, so she would have to get close enough for him to grab her, would you do that at age 12? Stranger Danger, she is 12 she has to know not to get too close to the truck. Just throwing stuff out there to see how he got her and all her stuff into a strange truck, a man she doesn't know and no fight or screams in broad daylight. If you are fighting, you have to drop the case or the book bag, your purse. The only way I see her getting into that truck under these circumstances is if he had a gun. She was into sports, water skiing, archery ; I think she was strong enough that she put up a fight and left some marks on him. JMO

You know, I was thinking along these same lines. She was athletic, so she was probably pretty strong for her size and age. I would think she would have left marks if she put up a struggle. Remember, though, back then people were a LOT more trusting. Especially in rural areas. Everybody knew everybody. That's why I don't understand why no one recognized the truck....it was either a truck that somebody dismissed as (oh, it couldn't be HIM), or it wasn't local. Maybe it was borrowed? :waitasec: Just thinking out loud again...

I am not from that area, have never been to that area, so maybe things were different there. I remember when I was in elementary school...we lived just down the street from the school and my grandmother could stand and watch me walk home. Back then, that was enough. Nothing could happen when they were watching, right? Unfortunately, that's not true anymore. People are after our kids.

 

[Skully]

I just thought of something that happened to a young girl in our neighborhood.

She was walking home from a store we used to all hang out at. The road we walked on was a busy road, no sidewalks, and the berm was narrow. It was dusk, and she was walking with traffic, so she couldn't see what was coming up behind her. This truck was coming up, fast, and too close to her and the side mirror hit her as he passed. It nearly killed her, and her injuries were horrific.

What if, something similar happened to Jennifer? He is behind her and he "taps" her with that side mirror, just enough to push her off balance, not real hard, but she falls. Now he exits the cab, goes around to the passenger side to help her, (sheep in wolves clothing). He acts upset, "please let me drive you up to your house or your grandmothers" "I am so sorry, are you okay?" "I have to tell your parents I hit you, it's the law, OMG, I am so sorry". She gets in. This would explain, no struggle, how all her stuff is in the truck, maybe some tossed in the back seat. He has her in the truck, maybe he renders her unconscious and drives off. The bad part of this, he is a total stranger, and to connect him to her, or that place is near impossible. :furious:

 

[myzzy]

Jennifer had also appeared on florida's playing cards to try and round up more leads