Person doing a backbend or hanging upside down in dense foliage

[punklove]

I think your theory is quite plausible. This picture is so disturbing it is hard to forget. I still think this is a male. Do you have any comments Wildhuncher to suggest this person is definitely a female? To me this person has very straight hair and the girl has wavy hair--not the same person. Also the girl's hair does not have a reddish tint as the hanging person does.

I go back and forth thinking the 'hanging' person is male/female - the person looks to have a male hairline and seems to have male eyebrows and the forearm looks more male to me than female.

I without a doubt dont feel the hanging girl and the helmut girl are the same -someone asked for a side by side and I posted one, noting that I didnt believe they were the same.

The hair is very different (the color different, also the helmut girl has much more curly hair) the skin tone is different, the eyebrows are different, the neck area is different, the hairline is different. Even the forearm is bigger in the hanging person than the helmut girl. Also, it doesnt look like the photos were even taken in the same area to me.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[punklove]

I think we also need to keep in mind according to LE there were more than 1000 pictures and I am presuming (don't know for a fact) that LE picked these particular pictures out, not Alcala. One of the articles implied it was because these were the ones that were decent enough to show and the others weren't. We do know not a great deal of thought went into presenting these pictures and it is certainly a shame they didn't release them earlier. I think they thought if they just quickly put these out victims family and friends and people still alive would come forward.

The police didnt pick the photos to release - Alcala had a locker they found with around 1000 photos and the police released every photo from that 'collection' that they could - they cropped photos that could be cropped, and left out the ones that couldnt be cropped due to their 'sensitive' nature.

 

[Billylee]

Hi, everyone! First post here. Been lurking on this discussion for a while. Everything that follows is just my humble opinion.

This picture didn't make sense to me at first. When it did, it snapped in as Rodney using his shutter timer to run around and get into his own picture. The sketch gives the idea and the less said the better. The main reason I don't see bridging is that there isn't the tiniest indication of strain in the face or the arms. That upper body looks relaxed.

I had looked hard at that picture and didn't notice the blood on the face until it was pointed out on this thread. You can't see whether the left eyeball is gone or still there because a leaf is perfectly in the way, but there is blood trailing from that area. It may not be as much as you'd have if the eyeball had been removed. (Don't suppose anyone here has ever ... ? Never mind!)

Doesn't matter much. She's dead. Been hanging for a while already. That's why the blood trails go the way they do. The discoloration at the top of her forehead is dependent lividity. There may or may not be a gash there as well. Then you have what looks like a faint ligature mark on her neck. The hair that doesn't hang down as it should may be stuck to the blood.

As for who she is, all you have is some hair and her eyebrows. The hair is in deep shadow, but when I brighten it and add some contrast a streaky-light appearance emerges. You get crudely the same look if you do the same things to the ballet dancer's hair. She's probably the best candidate. Woodsy setting. Hair, skin, and eyebrows fairly consistent. Still, there's far too little to go on.

(Pretty upsetting material and if the mods want to delete or edit anything I'm fine with it.)

I agree that it is blood running down the side of her nose, guessing it is coming from the mouth. I also see a gash on the side of her head. If you lighten it up and then magnify or even put a negative effect on it, you'll see the difference from the hair line, and yes some of it looks dried. ( I just don't know how to magnify and make it come out large here. So far everything I've tried doesn't work.) Your theory on her being hoisted is interesting and looks possible. Not sure why he'd want a picture of himself hoisting a victim, but who knows what the PD already has that we haven't seen. I don't think these two girls are the same either, straight hair versus wavy, different looking color and texture as well. And the eyebrows look different to me also. The girl in this picture has eyebrows that go down as opposed to up arched and then down. (Sad eyebrows is what I call them, kinda like Paul McCartney.) Anyway, I totally agree about the blood. Sorry I'm not a better photo poster, but I'm workin' on it.

Also, I think one reason people think this is a man is not only the armpit hair, but what looks like a receding hair line....thing is from what I can see when I blow the picture up, it's not a hairline, it's dried blood.

 

[Billylee]

This looks like a woman to me, however, it wouldn't be the first time I was incorrect. So, keeping my mind open, I ran across this missing man's case,
http://www.doenetwork.org/
Case File 1266DMWA

David Reuben Boniske, was 21 when he went missing in July 23 1977 from WA. If I'm reading his case correctly, he went missing from Evergreen College in Olympia, WA, but his car was found later in Seattle.

He was 6'5" and 170 lbs, which I think is rather thin for a man. He has similar type eyebrows (that go down instead of arch up, then down). Though his hair, in his doe network pictures anyway, looks more curly than the person in the Alcala back bend picture. But the main interest in posting him here for me is, he was an avid photographer and was working on a photography project for his science class when he went missing. Is it possible he met Alcala who was hanging around the college (looking for victims) and they began discussing photography? It says David was also into hang gliding and the dating game introduced Alcala as a "skydiver". Maybe this is more than a coincidence. Anyway, just trying to leave no stone unturned. Here's his picture.

[/IMG]

 

[Redbird]

Good work, Billylee.

 

[reasypeasy]

Hi, everyone! First post here. Been lurking on this discussion for a while. Everything that follows is just my humble opinion.

This picture didn't make sense to me at first. When it did, it snapped in as Rodney using his shutter timer to run around and get into his own picture. The sketch gives the idea and the less said the better. The main reason I don't see bridging is that there isn't the tiniest indication of strain in the face or the arms. That upper body looks relaxed.

I had looked hard at that picture and didn't notice the blood on the face until it was pointed out on this thread. You can't see whether the left eyeball is gone or still there because a leaf is perfectly in the way, but there is blood trailing from that area. It may not be as much as you'd have if the eyeball had been removed. (Don't suppose anyone here has ever ... ? Never mind!)

Doesn't matter much. She's dead. Been hanging for a while already. That's why the blood trails go the way they do. The discoloration at the top of her forehead is dependent lividity. There may or may not be a gash there as well. Then you have what looks like a faint ligature mark on her neck. The hair that doesn't hang down as it should may be stuck to the blood.

As for who she is, all you have is some hair and her eyebrows. The hair is in deep shadow, but when I brighten it and add some contrast a streaky-light appearance emerges. You get crudely the same look if you do the same things to the ballet dancer's hair. She's probably the best candidate. Woodsy setting. Hair, skin, and eyebrows fairly consistent. Still, there's far too little to go on.

(Pretty upsetting material and if the mods want to delete or edit anything I'm fine with it.)

This looks just enough like a Tarot card (The Hanged Man) that if your speculations about this picture are correct then I think LE should go through the rest of the non-public photos to check whether Alcala was trying to put together the Major Arcana at some stage.

 

[Filly]

This looks just enough like a Tarot card (The Hanged Man) that if your speculations about this picture are correct then I think LE should go through the rest of the non-public photos to check whether Alcala was trying to put together the Major Arcana at some stage.

Reasy,

Is the "Hanged Man" always depicted as hanging by only one foot?

Wild Huncher, thank you very much for your insight and hard work. Much appreciated. Oh and thanks also as now I see the one female does indeed still have her eye. Her eyelid is over it. Phew.

IF that is Alcala in his own photograph well as we already know sinister is the correct word.

Rest in peace whoever you are in this photograph. I am so sorry fate had you meet up with a monster.

 

[geojeffrey]

The first few times I saw this picture, I thought that the backbend was real and that it was some strange art photo. BUT, yesterday I was in a Yoga class and when we did backbends, I had a chance to glance around.

The angle is off somewhat...the chest and shoulders area is angled up too high. As much as I hate to say it....the diagram of the person lifting the body seems more plausible.

I hope Alcala suffers greatly in prison; though I doubt it could compare to what he did to his victims...

 

[Filly]

As much as I hate to say it....the diagram of the person lifting the body seems more plausible.

Wild Huncher's diagram convinced me, Jeff.

 

[socalgal2]

Wild Huncher's diagram convinced me, Jeff.

Very disturbing and there he is again creepy in the background.:sick:

 

[Filly]

Is it just me or does the close up photo of his/her eyes look like his/her pupil is blown? I opened this photo in paint shop pro and drug my mouse over the eyes and it matched a shade of black.

Here goes me with the eyes again.

Sorry if I gave anyone the wrong indication that at any point someone didn't have an eye.

When someone lost their eye (depending on the trauma) the socket isn't dark. The socket is light. It's also smooth. However it's not white like we see here. The other photograph where I thought the girl's eye was missing I can see now her lid is closed.

Sorry about that.

 

[Bargle]

The way her hair is blowing really confuses me in the photo - wouldnt you think that you would be able to see at least some of the leafs on the many trees around her blowing at least a little if the wind was strong enough to blow her hair that way?

The trees probably are moving, we just can't tell it in the picture because there isn't any blurring of the close leaves. We know that the girl's hair would be hanging straight down if there wasn't a breeze, but other than that, there isn't really anything to tell us there's a breeze.
I notice that the trees in the background look like they're out of focus. To get that effect in daylight, Alcala had to use a large lens aperture opening in combination with a very fast shutter speed. If this was taken with a 35mm camera, I expect the shutter speed was set to 1/500th or 1/1000th of a second. With the shutter being open that briefly, there wouldn't be any detectable movement of the leaves.

 

[LadyL]

wow, thanks to everyone here for exploring so many angles
so much to ponder ...

my initial reaction was 'dead man'
after I read this thread & looked at all the pictures a few times, I went outside & just sat for a few minutes but my mind kept returning to that one, simple, first horrifying thought

 

[Billylee]

Hi, everyone! First post here. Been lurking on this discussion for a while. Everything that follows is just my humble opinion.

This picture didn't make sense to me at first. When it did, it snapped in as Rodney using his shutter timer to run around and get into his own picture. The sketch gives the idea and the less said the better. The main reason I don't see bridging is that there isn't the tiniest indication of strain in the face or the arms. That upper body looks relaxed.

I had looked hard at that picture and didn't notice the blood on the face until it was pointed out on this thread. You can't see whether the left eyeball is gone or still there because a leaf is perfectly in the way, but there is blood trailing from that area. It may not be as much as you'd have if the eyeball had been removed. (Don't suppose anyone here has ever ... ? Never mind!)

Doesn't matter much. She's dead. Been hanging for a while already. That's why the blood trails go the way they do. The discoloration at the top of her forehead is dependent lividity. There may or may not be a gash there as well. Then you have what looks like a faint ligature mark on her neck. The hair that doesn't hang down as it should may be stuck to the blood.

As for who she is, all you have is some hair and her eyebrows. The hair is in deep shadow, but when I brighten it and add some contrast a streaky-light appearance emerges. You get crudely the same look if you do the same things to the ballet dancer's hair. She's probably the best candidate. Woodsy setting. Hair, skin, and eyebrows fairly consistent. Still, there's far too little to go on.

(Pretty upsetting material and if the mods want to delete or edit anything I'm fine with it.)

Although this is a plausible scenario, in looking more at the photo, wouldn't the arms be dangling more if this person was hanging. It looks to me as though there is pressure on the arms, as in backbend. It also seems the person's head if being hoisted in the manner shown would be further back and the body seems to be at an angle, which if it's dead weight, it would hang straight up and down. Just noting.

 

[websurfer]

Here goes me with the eyes again.

Sorry if I gave anyone the wrong indication that at any point someone didn't have an eye.

When someone lost their eye (depending on the trauma) the socket isn't dark. The socket is light. It's also smooth. However it's not white like we see here. The other photograph where I thought the girl's eye was missing I can see now her lid is closed.

Sorry about that.

if you look closely the eye looks out of it's socket!
also if you look at the foot/feet they seem twisted to the side
I think he started dismembering or breaking bones on this person after drugging him/her?

 

[websurfer]

Although this is a plausible scenario, in looking more at the photo, wouldn't the arms be dangling more if this person was hanging. It looks to me as though there is pressure on the arms, as in backbend. It also seems the person's head if being hoisted in the manner shown would be further back and the body seems to be at an angle, which if it's dead weight, it would hang straight up and down. Just noting.

The way this person is HANGING seems to be low to the ground...
possibly on a log?tree limb?

 

[websurfer]

Sorry but this girl looks dead to me.Eye look strange.And why is she lying down this way? under a leaf?

I see the eyeball!Out and round...look closer... somebody do you notice that?he may have hammered this person and did this..

Also look even closer it seems like the skull is cracked open! the skull nearest the ground...

 

[Filly]

I see the eyeball!Out and round...look closer... somebody do you notice that?he may have hammered this person and did this..

Alcala was known to bash people's faces and heads in. God forgive me for even having to write that.

As for this poor souls eye I don't believe it is out. I originally did, but looking further I think it's exactly what Punk Love said. The person's pupil is blown.

In strangulation by a ligature the pupils will dilate. For him to have gouged the poor persons eye out that's another story. There's muscle that still holds the eye even if it's out.

I never saw an eye removed surgically or otherwise, but daily I saw sockets. They are not dark. They're more a fleshy pink color. So seeing that dark I think it's the pupil.

Going back to the girl with the "thing" pinching her hyoid bone that "thing" I think could also be trapping the cartoid artery. That would keep the blood from going to her/his brain. We look at the photo of the presumably hanging person and it looks like the hyoid bone is bruised or indented. Probably broken.

This is all just too much. Too utterly sad another human being could do this to someone. However, the injuries may be the key to identifying this poor person/persons.

 

[WildHuncher]

Although this is a plausible scenario, in looking more at the photo, wouldn't the arms be dangling more if this person was hanging. It looks to me as though there is pressure on the arms, as in backbend. It also seems the person's head if being hoisted in the manner shown would be further back and the body seems to be at an angle, which if it's dead weight, it would hang straight up and down. Just noting.

Yes. The off-vertical position makes the most sense if the body is being hoisted up from laying flat, with the hands still dragging in contact with the ground down in the weeds. Even then, the head looks like it should be hanging straighter down. Rigor may be setting in. He might have been playing around posing the body for a while before this picture was taken.

Although I really can't rule out a backbend, it doesn't look like one to me. The person looks too dead. If she's draped over something, it isn't casting a shadow that I can find.

This picture is a maddening puzzle and I hope we get an answer to it before Alcala is dust. (Then again, I don't want him to get a deal for providing the answer.)

 

[reasypeasy]

Reasy,

Is the "Hanged Man" always depicted as hanging by only one foot?

Wild Huncher, thank you very much for your insight and hard work. Much appreciated. Oh and thanks also as now I see the one female does indeed still have her eye. Her eyelid is over it. Phew.

IF that is Alcala in his own photograph well as we already know sinister is the correct word.

Rest in peace whoever you are in this photograph. I am so sorry fate had you meet up with a monster.

Pretty much usually the hanged man is suspended by one foot, although the tarot set I had as a teen had him suspended by two. That picture is just close enough a resemblence that if I had all the pictures I'd be seeking to rule out whether recreating the Major Arcana was part of what Alcala was about at that time.

Personally though I suspect the suspension in this cropped picture must look more like http://www.aerialyoga.com/img/gallery/md-backbend2.jpg when not cropped, and the reason the jeans have been left on is that the belt loops serve to stabilise the rope for the waist suspension.