Missing Iowa Girls

[Aaronsmom]

I heard reports too that officials think the missing girls are still alive. I don't know what could make them think that, unless they are kidnapped and there's been a ransom demand. But if that was the case, I seriously doubt that could be kept secret. I don't know if it's wishful thinking, or some sort of tactical strategy on the part of LE. It's not the first time I've heard of this in a missing person's case. An example is the disappearance of Dru Sjodin from a shopping mall parking lot in North Dakota several years ago. After she was missing a week or two, local LE said in a press conference they believed she was alive, but they never said why. People following the case were very skeptical. There was overwhelming evidence the young woman was abducted, and the obvious suspect was a sexual predator. It sure looked grim for her. After spring thaw, the body was found.

As for the stepfather, Morrissey, I wouldn't take anything reported about him seriously at this point. LE will always focus on immediate family (especially parents) at the start. A common strategy to shake out a confession is to come on very strong and tell the one being interrogated they know he or she is guilty. They figure if the person is scared enough, it may be enough to break him/her. This goes triple for a parent w/ a criminal history or discovered drug use. This doesn't mean anything, but it's something the media and public typically seize upon as significant. A very close parallel is the homicide of two little girls in Zion, Ill. in 2005. The girls went bike riding and didn't come back, just like the cousins in Iowa. They were missing a day, then found in a nearby park, dead, savagely beaten. Suspicion fell immediately on the father of one of the girls (I think his name was Jerry Hogan). He had an incarceration record, and had been released just months earlier. He also had a record of violent rage, and LE said he was angry w/ his daughter shortly before the girls disappeared. It sounded like a no-brainer. What the public didn't know was the prosecution repressed key evidence, such as both girls were sexually assaulted and a neighbor had a cousin visiting that day who was a sex offender. Hogan was found guilty and sentenced to death. A defense team fought for a court order to do a DNA test on the semen found on the girls and run a match on criminals in the data base. Listen to this: the prosecutors fought the petition, saying the semen may have gotten on the girls after coming in contact w/ a tree in the park where a man may have m********ed! Can you imagine? Anyway, the petition was granted and the DNA was not a match w/ Hogan. It was a match, however, w/ a sex offender who was visiting a cousin who lived on the block where the girls lived, and was there the same day the children disappeared. It came out the police knew this but suppressed the evidence because they had closed in on the father and were set on pinning him. Hogan was eventually exonerated and released after spending five years on death row. He left the state and changed his name, a shattered, broken man. The lesson I take from this is, don't jump to conclusions.

[devilmaycare]

I am sorry for the parents but considering how badly they are (or were) invloved with meth It all adds up in terrible ways. I think they were abducted for sure. The parents state that the girls knew better and had never went on a long bike ride such as down to the lake. Unfortunately believing they are alive imo is a fantasy and why the dolt police would say such a thing is a clueless statement unless they were literally trafficed and there is a trafficing ring in the area we are not being told about. The lesson I take from this is don't let grandma nor meth watch the kids.

[supervike]

Do you know when that occurred...that the father stormed out?

It appears that authorities were at a loss until sometime Friday when the new evidence came about, which just happened to coincide with the completion of the lake search.

That was either Wed. or Thurs. of last week

[Chris Baker]

What's this about the news reports of a potential witness who was boating on the lake?

[JonathanVonErich]

What's this about the news reports of a potential witness who was boating on the lake?

FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said Monday that investigators want to interview a person who was paddleboating on the lake around the time the girls disappeared. She said that person, who has not voluntarily come forward, could help investigators learn what happened to the girls but was not considered a suspect.

Full article: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/23/12910086-police-look-for-boater-in-missing-iowa-girls-case-mom-says-she-passed-polygraph?lite

Apparently evidence that the two girls are still alive was sent to the crime lab. So seems like they really have evidence to back up their theory that the girls are alive. That's great.

[Regi]

FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said Monday that investigators want to interview a person who was paddleboating on the lake around the time the girls disappeared. She said that person, who has not voluntarily come forward, could help investigators learn what happened to the girls but was not considered a suspect.

Full article: http://usnews.msnbc....-polygraph?lite

Apparently evidence that the two girls are still alive was sent to the crime lab. So seems like they really have evidence to back up their theory that the girls are alive. That's great.

That part in the article about the meeting over donuts...that's just too funny.

Anyway, I'm completely intrigued with what the evidence sent to the crime lab could possibly be....and how such evidence could support their conclusion.

Re: if the report is accurate about a person in a paddleboat, I'd find it strange if no one came forward.

Edited July 24, 2012 by regi

[JonathanVonErich]

Still no update. That's bothering me. They disappeared 9 days ago. That's an awful lot of time.

Hopefully we'll get an update very soon. And a positive one.

[Chris Baker]

Just read the girls have been caught on CCTV on their way to the lake,

not likely to be much use though, they know the girls made it to the lake as the bikes were found there

[Aaronsmom]

Correct Chris. The surveillance tape shows two figures on bicycles passing in front of the camera around the time the witness reporting the girls were last seen going for a bike ride said it was. Is that the grandma? The significance of this is only that, if the images do prove to be the girls, it would corroborate the witness' report. This would be good for the family in that it would significantly reduce the theory that a family member/s had something to do with the disappearance. The police could then focus more on a stranger abduction. The film does nothing to suggest the girls are alive NOW, as the time on the film is well before the girls were reported missing. I heard an interview on HLN w/ the aunt of one of the girl's that confirms NO ONE has any knowledge that the girls are alive or dead, including the police.

[JonathanVonErich]

Still no update ?? Sorry but I'm worried.

[Regi]

The footage only confuses me. Why would the girls head off in that direction?

I know there's another nature trail not far from that footage location and it's in that direction, but it doesn't fit with the bikes found at Meyer's Lake.

I stumped as to why the girls would head in that direction, and/or where they could have been going.

[supervike]

I've not seen the footage at all. Where did it place the girls?

[supervike]

Ah, ok, answered my own question.

If it's the CCTV tape from the 'cornbelt auctions'. This really doesn't add much to the investigation at all.

That's almost exactly where the Grandmother last saw the girls. I'm pretty sure she (the Grandmother) lives on Brovan. That is directly behind Ledermans (a clothing store). The Cornbelt Auctions is all part of that same little strip mall. The girls (if that is indeed them) were heading west it seems. That would actually make good sense, because the bigger road there, River Forest, has nice wide sidewalks that the kids would have ridden on. That's the way I would have ridden my bike to Meyers lake as well.

Of course, that's assuming they were really making that their point of travel, and not just meandering about on a bike ride.

So, I guess all the video does is corraborate the Grandma.

Edited July 26, 2012 by supervike

[Alienated Being]

It always breaks my heart to hear of children being raped, murdered or abused. Chokes me up, in all honesty. I hope that this story will have an ending that will choke me up, in a good way.

My thoughts are with the families involved.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Alienated Being

[Q-C]

I read today the FBI has asked for access to an interview the local news did with the two mothers. The FBI wants to see the entire interview (even what didn't make it on air i am assuming) and the local news was cooperating.

[Aaronsmom]

The thing that's really strange though is that (unless there was more than one perpetrator) it's not common for an abductor to take more than one child, especially children the ages of these girls. Of course it has happened, but it's not an easy feat. A child being grabbed by an abductor would struggle. Grabbing two children that size, both struggling, would be really difficult. And if the abductor grabs one child, the other child is going to run away. These are natural reflexes. Was it not an abduction? Was there more than one perp? Was a stun gun used? Puzzling.

[Regi]

If it's the CCTV tape from the 'cornbelt auctions'. This really doesn't add much to the investigation at all.

That's almost exactly where the Grandmother last saw the girls. I'm pretty sure she (the Grandmother) lives on Brovan. That is directly behind Ledermans (a clothing store). The Cornbelt Auctions is all part of that same little strip mall. The girls (if that is indeed them) were heading west it seems. That would actually make good sense, because the bigger road there, River Forest, has nice wide sidewalks that the kids would have ridden on. That's the way I would have ridden my bike to Meyers lake as well.

Of course, that's assuming they were really making that their point of travel, and not just meandering about on a bike ride.

So, I guess all the video does is corraborate the Grandma.

The first thing I noticed is that the grandmother was 40 minutes off with her time because the aunt had said that it was 11:30 when the girls left the grandmother's. Of course, the girls could have ridden around for a few minutes elsewhere before they were captured on that tape, and also, I realize people aren't always looking at a clock.

Yeah, that's a mere 4 or 5 houses from their grandmother's house, so I don't see much value in that tape. I assume it was the girls on the tape- it's most likely, although I did think that they appeared to be a little larger than I would have expected, but it's not a good tape, and they might have been on big bikes. I know that the aunt referred to one bike as a mountain bike.

I appreciate your perspective on this, supervike. I wouldn't have expected the girls to take River Forest because it appeared to be a busy road. Also, I wouldn't have expected the girls to head in that direction (west on Brovan) if at that point, Meyer's Lake had been their destination, but maybe Meyer's Lake wasn't their destination to start with. Since they apparently weren't seen on the tape coming back from that direction, I guess that's the way they got there.

The thing that gets me is that no one reported seeing the girls after they left home (except that one witness at the lake). Apparently, the girls didn't speak to anyone, so that lends me to think that they were continually on the move on their bikes.

On the map- and I don't know if they still exist or have surveillance- but there are 5 other businesses on that route that could possibly have captured the girls if they were headed to Meyer's Lake on River Forrest. Casey's General Store, ABC LIquor & Smoke Shack, and Advanced Auto Serv., Proliner, and another business closest to the entrance of that nature trail which would have taken the girls to precisely where the bikes were found. Hopefully and I would think, surely, authorities are asking all the businesses around there to view their tapes since this one's turned up!

[Regi]

The thing that's really strange though is that (unless there was more than one perpetrator) it's not common for an abductor to take more than one child, especially children the ages of these girls. Of course it has happened, but it's not an easy feat. A child being grabbed by an abductor would struggle. Grabbing two children that size, both struggling, would be really difficult. And if the abductor grabs one child, the other child is going to run away. These are natural reflexes. Was it not an abduction? Was there more than one perp? Was a stun gun used? Puzzling.

I think a lot depends on the location an abduction. And I think that children might feel the need to stick together, either in an attempt to protect each other, or they could have been forced to stay together, and didn't think or feel that they had a chance to escape, and they probably didn't have a chance. A remote location would surely create an overwhelming feeling of helplessness for anyone.

Still, even in the remote area of where the bikes were located, if the perp had taken one child, then the other child would have been a witness to exactly what occurred and who was involved, and also, the crime would have been immediately known, instead of hours later, which in this circumstance, it appears to be.

[JonathanVonErich]

Still no update !?

[Big Bad Voodoo]

I shared important information in the Kristen Modafferi case ( the possibility that she might have been a victim of serial killer Joseph Naso, an obscure killer from the area where Kristen disappeared in 1997 ), I also found interesting link between a case in Alaska and one in New Mexico.

Since there is no update and in purpose to keep thread alive I want to ask you a question.

Can you give insight on those cases and sum you contribution for us that even I can understand it. Please stage after stage.

Edited July 29, 2012 by the L

[supervike]

Still no word on anything. The local authorities have been even entertaining psychics. Not sure how I feel about that, but if these were my girls, I'd want every possibility looked at.

Sadly, although I'm sure inevietably, this story is becoming more of a back page story.

[JonathanVonErich]

Since there is no update and in purpose to keep thread alive I want to ask you a question.

Can you give insight on those cases and sum you contribution for us that even I can understand it. Please stage after stage.

Thanks for asking L.

Well I have already explained what I do in details in one of my previous posts. I first heard of the disappearance of Kristen years ago. The case really caught my attention, and usually when a case really catch my attention I contact the police department currently investigating the case. I did, sadly the investigator told me the basic informations, nothing new. Then months later I was reading a website about obscure serial killers and found a small entry about Joseph Naso, a serial killer who killed 4 young women in the 70's. There was nothing about Naso and the potential connection to Kristen. I did a little research on Naso and found some very interesting informations about him and his "Mo". Kristen disappeared while being in vacations in San Francisco; Naso lived in San Francisco at the time she disappeared ( summer 1997 ). Naso was a professional photographer and he used this as a ruse to meet some of his potential victims; just before she vanished Kristen enrolled in photography classes. So I took the information, contacted the investigator and told him about Naso. He knew nothing about him, was more than interested in the info I gave him and was very excited about the possibility that Naso might have done it. Sadly since then I've contacted the same investigator at least 2 times, each time he thanked me for the info but told me that they were still "looking at him" but couldn't say more. As far as I know the case is still unsolved, and there have been no updates in months.

About the case in New-Mexico: I simply did what I do best, and that is researching the criminal history of the city/county where the crime occured ( in that instance it was a missing person case ) and then I check the dates, try to make links between cases, then talk about these possible links with the investigator. At first the investigator who was working on that case wasn't really receptive and wasn't giving me much info, but I think he was impressed by the amount of work I did so he decided to give me a chance and listened to what I had to say. I basically told him about a case that had happened in Alaska in the same time period, a child almost the same age as the victim in New-Mexico, basically the same kind of case. He was impressed, he knew nothing about the case in alaska and wanted me to share all the infos/links to websites i had. Small victory, but still, maybe one day the small link I have found will help solve one of both of these cases. It's possible, who knows.

So that's it, I don't know if you wanted me to share more details L, if so just tell me. I've been doing this for years now and I'm proud of this. All of us can do the same thing; researching a case, researching the criminal history of the city/county where the crime occured, checking dates and trying to find links between unsolved cases....It's hard work but I just like doing it, for me it's more than a passion, I feel like I have to do it. I'm not the only one, at least 6 of my fellow students at Laval are doing the same, in fact last year we started a small group investigating missing person cases from our Country. I wish I had more free time to do it, right now with my job/GF/upcoming semester I don't have as much time as I had in the past, I wish I could do more. Also I live in Canada, so again I am limited in my work, but I always try to do my best and I try to make at least one phone call a week. Right now I have so many cases in mind, it's almost sad. ( sorry for my english, it's bad tonight lol )

[Likely Guy]

Apparently last Thursday Jeremiah Cook, an uncle to both of the girls, suffered a drug overdose and is currently in hospital.

In one article, according to his mother (the grandmother to both girls), he referred to Lyric and Elizabeth as his "prized posessions". That seems suspicious.

I'm having problems submitting a link, but if you google the above, you should find a link to Chelsea Hoffman, a 'crime analyst and profiler' at news.gather.com.

If the uncle was not directly involved (i.e.: he is just a despondent drug user) then, given the past drug history of Lyric's parents (also ruling them out), then the most likely suspect is a local gang that sources the drug, 'chystal meth', who had something against Lyric's father, who was to appear in court, what... the day before they were taken?

Please, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm going from recent memory here.

[supervike]

Apparently last Thursday Jeremiah Cook, an uncle to both of the girls, suffered a drug overdose and is currently in hospital.

In one article, according to his mother (the grandmother to both girls), he referred to Lyric and Elizabeth as his "prized posessions". That seems suspicious.

I'm having problems submitting a link, but if you google the above, you should find a link to Chelsea Hoffman, a 'crime analyst and profiler' at news.gather.com.

If the uncle was not directly involved (i.e.: he is just a despondent drug user) then, given the past drug history of Lyric's parents (also ruling them out), then the most likely suspect is a local gang that sources the drug, 'chystal meth', who had something against Lyric's father, who was to appear in court, what... the day before they were taken?

Please, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm going from recent memory here.

The grandmother has been quoted a couple of times as mentioning how Dan Morrisey (her former Son-in-Law) 'narced' on his drug dealing buddies to cut his own sentence (and from what I understand, so did the Mother)

I agree the fact that Morrisey's initial trial date was A DAY BEFORE the disappearances. They asked for and were granted an delay on those proceedings. Then the next day the girls go missing.

Given the lack of any other evidence, that fact has to be sending red flags up to the investigators...And maybe that is the 'evidence' they have that makes them believe the girls are still alive.

Also, it seems to fit in with the reports that certain investigators felt that Dan Morrisey is holding back.

Of, course this is just all conjecture on my part. I still trust the investigators are doing whatever is possible.

[Regi]

It's hard to "read" investigators. I always keep in mind that they have info that we don't, but still, it's hard to follow what they might be thinking, and where they're going.

I'm always intrigued by what evidence they choose to release and what they don't, and sometimes I wonder how much it helps or hinders an investigation.

The media...the investigators...whomever, seem to be focusing on the one father and his relationship to the drug world and his subsequent/recent legal problems, and his "solutions" to those problems... that that could have had a direct connection to the disappearance of these two girls.

Well, I don't see it. It doesn't make any sense to me given the facts and circumstances of the case...that is, as I know them to be.

I understand the angle, but to me, based on what I know and common sense, it seems very unlikely that that's what's occurred. Maybe I'm naive- I don't think so, but I do take into account that I'm uninformed re: all the evidence that the investigation has revealed to insiders.

Re: the paddle boater, I've thought about it and if the witness who reported the paddle boater didn't relay that sighting within the first days of the investigation, then it would appear to me that they were most likely mistaken about the day of the sighting.

Also, I'd forgotten about Robert Carpenter, who said he saw the girls ride by his house earlier that day. I think that sighting should be fairly accurate, since it was the same day and hours earlier- but mainly because he said Elizabeth was familiar to him. However, I'd feel better about the sighting if he could have narrowed the time frame down a bit from 12-3:00.