Even though I think that this is a fact, IMO, I feel that the shoulder bag is one of those details they would not release. It is the absence of that detail that causes me to feel confident that they found it. The only published picture of her that day leaving school shows her wearing the shoulder bag. I am confident there is much more footage of Abby that day around the school at various times. But how she looked and what she was wearing when she left is the focus.
In Jessica Ridgeway's case her backpack was found by a resident in Superior, CO. who e-mailed a public listserv looking for the owner, Jessica Ridgeway. He just was unaware of what that name meant. Since it was public, LE released the fact but they did not release any other details.
<snip>
"detectives believe that the backpack is Jessica's, but declined to discuss its contents or verify that it contained a water bottle with the girl's name on it as reported by the man who found it."
http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_21719734/jessica-ridgeway-search-hunt-missing-westminster-girl-shifts
IMO the shoulder bag is exceedingly important especially if they find that and nothing else. From Jessica's case;
"The backpack is the first solid lead police have had since Jessica vanished. In this type of investigation, a forensic examination of the backpack and contents would be likely conducted to look for possible fingerprints, hair, fibers and DNA that doesn't belong to Jessica."
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...eway-still-no-clues-after-3-days-of-searching
In that case they not only had DNA from the backpack but also had a DNA hit in CODIS. THAT Detail and the the details of what was inside were not released until Austin Sigg went to trial.
<snip>
"Inside the backpack, they found boots, prescription glasses, jeans, winter gloves, a tie-dyed T-shirt, a water bottle and Jessica's underwear. According to Lopez, police found "touch DNA" inside her underwear. That DNA matched a sample taken from the Ketner Lake incident where a jogger was attacked and the suspect was never found."
http://www.9news.com/dontmiss/318631/630/Suspect-in-Ridgeway
All of the details of the items found in the backpack told police that Jessica had died But they did not release that information;
<snip>
"Two days after Jessica disappeared, investigators found her backpack on a sidewalk in a Superior subdivision. Jessica's purple glasses were inside. "The glasses tell you she's dead," Sargent said. "There's a reason he chose the items that smelled of urine, her jacket and socks and other items of clothing he threw out. He chose carefully."
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_24631031/evidence-details-twisted-path-that-led-austin-sigg
All that they released after they found this evidence was that people should not focus on what she was wearing but rather on how she looked;
<snip>
"A new flier was prepared Monday that shows her without her glasses.
He said he wants the public to focus on Jessica's facial features, not necessarily the clothes she was wearing on Friday. Remember what she looks like, he said."
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_21724656/search-continues-missing-westminster-girl-jessica-ridgeway
The importance and the veracity of what actual evidence they Do find is critical in the investigation from the standpoint that if it is compromised in any way the child may not be found or the perpetrator may simply get away. ~Celina Cass~
In Abby's case I do not believe they have ANY of that kind of evidence but they have
something. If they do, in fact, have the shoulder bag there is
something about it, placement, position, location, DNA,
something - that led LE to rush into violent crime mode within 48 hours. We don't know what it is and I don't believe we need to know what it is , IMO.
The details we want to know are not necessarily the details that will help Abby get home. It might make me feel better knowing where this 'letter' was mailed, but if it was mailed in Fall River MA that might cause people in Springfield to not be looking? I could drive to Conway today and mail a letter because I don't want to be found. I can be back home and be done with it in about 5 hours ( I need lunch lol). But guess what! While yer all looking for Steleheart in Conway he is nowhere near there and no one is looking where I actually am!
I should probably apologize for going on about this But I think that sometimes the things we want made public, the things that frustrate us most, are exactly those things that could harm the effort to Get Abby home.