I'm a new member to this BB, but I've been lurking around for the past week, trying to catch up with everyone's thoughts and theories. Now that I'm done, I'm gonna Windex my HINKERS and offer a humble take on this.
First, I gotta confess, I was a "free-rage" kid growing up - walking to school 2 miles in the morning and again 2 miles back home in the afternoon.
The walking was hard, specially during those days of record-breaking temps, and during thunderstorms. Oh yeah, if you happened to catch a thunderstorm in the morning, you got to spend the rest of the day with wet hair and clothes. It was also hard to deal with speeding cars, stray dogs, mosquitos, bees, and the oggling of dirty old men along the way.
But, the whole experience made for more confidence (it creates character we were told) and for muscular legs.
As an adult, because of work commitments, I had my three children walk back and forth to school on SOME days, though we lived just about a mile from school (like the Thompson kids.)
The rules of walking were: walk in groups, don't talk to strangers, don't take rides from ANYONE, and... mainly stick to a path and don't take shortcuts through people's properties.
This brings me to think that the Thompson children had a routine going back and forth from school. They waited for each other after school (which they did Oct 19th,) and then they would walk together (which they started to do Oct 19th,) following a usual route.
Looking at the map, I guess their usual route was West on Gano and then North on Debarry.
But, that is a long way, they could've taken other routes, like:
(1) The Grove Road, and then walking behind the two long buildings that are fenced in, to shortcut to Debarry Avenue or
(2) Grove Park Drive to Arbor Circle and shortcut through people's houses to Post Oak Circle or
(3) Grove Park Drive to Elm Street and shortcut through people's houses to Post Oak Circle or
(4) Grove Park Drive to Willow Lane (this is out of the way, so not likely.)
On October 19th Somer could've stopped somewhere to wait for her sibs (after she calmed down) and gotten abducted while doing so. She could've gone out of her way because she was upset and maybe afraid to get in trouble. Her mother even went East, past the school, looking for her (per police report) maybe thinking this same thing.
But, because Somer was very upset that day, she could've also gotten in mind to make it home ASAP, before her sibs. So it is possible she INTENDED to take one of the shortcuts she already knew would get her home fast, and taking Grove Park Drive would've been her best choice to reach both Arbor and Elm, to shortcut to Post Oak Circle (a short walk to 1706 Horton Drive.)
Some news reports in the first days of her disappearance said that the guard at Miller and Gano saw Somer, and the guard at Grove Park Drive and Gano was not sure if he saw her, but the third guard at Debarry and Gano is certain Somer did not come by. So, maybe (if she was not held at 1080 Gano) Somer could've taken a detour between Grove Park Drive and Debarry Avenue.
As to who assaulted and murdered Somer, I will not dare to guess. There is no evidence to point to one person or the other, and until the evidence gathered comes back pointing at someone, or unless the criminal has remorse and comes forth, or until someone who has concrete information contacts the hotlines, I will leave the reasoning to law enforcement .
I do have my opinion on some of the theories expressed in this BB, though.
First off, there was NO long-term premeditation on this crime.
Had Somer remained with her brother and sister that day, CHANCES are that the crime would not have happened. Her running away from her brother and sister was a spur of the moment act on Somer's part (as a typical child her age) and NOBODY but NOBODY could have anticipated it - even if she had done something similar in the past.
So, forget about the mother, the boyfriend, the indigo nut, the brother and sisters, the father, teachers, etc.. Nobody related to her was lurking for Somer that day, per se.
This was a crime of oportunity.
The criminal saw Somer alone, and took advantage of the fact that she was away from view of the other kids and of the people driving on the street, and of other neighbors' sight. The person could've been waiting for the first lonely child to come along, but then again, Somer was not targetted, as nobody could've predicted that she would be walking alone that day.
About the Indigo guy, the only way SP could've done something to her, is IF Somer had made it home. BUT, there is NO evidence to prove that Somer made it to her home that day, and NOBODY saw her past the second crossing guard.
About the criminal who did the horrible act, it seems that most everyone in Orange Park has a criminal record. And, if we put emphasis on solely sexual offenders, then we are excluding a pool of other criminals who could've committed the crime. And, it could've been a first time offender with a spotless record after all.
About the Sheriff's statements on sexual offenders... he has said that SOs have been interviewed but that doesn't mean that any of them has been excluded as a potential suspect. Notice that he always says "within a 5-mile radius." So, we have to remember than some SOs interviewed (i.e. GV) lived more than 11 miles away, in another county.
Also, why is everyone focusing at industrial-size dumpsters? A child Somer's size can very well fit in a household refuse container, and some trucks pick up just the residential garbage because they may not be equipped to handle the large dumpsters (I don't know if those used in the area are,) but it has been said that Tuesday was regular trash pickup day for the area. So one can assume it was residential garbage pick up day.
I have emailed Justino (PA for the Sheriff's office) about the four men arrested to get the truth on that... so far no reply.
One last thing that I wanted to mention, people will discuss possible suspects, and that's okay. But, not everyone who is "beauty-challenged" is guilty. Meaning, that just because a man does not look like Brad Pitt in pictures, doesn't mean he's done it.
Glad to have joined this board. I have seen very valuable information being put out, and very heart-felt discussions, along with the Kooky theory. But, it is the best BB on crime that there is, and that includes the simian site.
:twocents::twocents:
