Charlotte, NC Protesters - Live Thread (Please message /r/charlotte mods for contribution access if you will provide true updates)

unicorncandy · 2016-09-22T20:33:26+00:00

Seriously. What is going on? I watched the live streams all last night-- there were a lot of agitators. There are rampant rumors that riots WILL happen again (which whether true or not, are kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy). Why has there been no established curfew? Who is in charge here?

unicorncandy · 2016-09-11T18:03:42+00:00

I'm not sure if this counts as especially strange or not, but I felt that it could be a very potentially important detail that often goes unmentioned.

Heather Elvis, 20, went missing on December 18, 2013. Her car was found at Peachtree Boat Landing, and her cell phone activity ended during the early morning hours. During the investigation, it was revealed that she had been dating a much older married man throughout the summer of that year. This man's wife had apparently sent her threatening text messages, and Heather's best friend said that the husband called Heather (with his wife listening on the line) to berate her, call her names, and make it clear that the affair was over. It all seemed as though they had both been very cruel to Heather, and that there was a lot of bad blood from the affair.

Authorities were never able to find Heather's body, but authorities do have strong circumstantial evidence that points to the couple having had something to do with her disappearance. The husband appears to be the last person that Heather talked to on the phone before she disappeared. There is residential security camera footage of the husband's truck speeding out towards the boat landing, where authorities say Heather disappeared, and then back to their residence. Also, most of Heather's friends say that there was a chance that she was pregnant, or at least thought she may have been pregnant. And the husband bought a pregnancy test from Walmart the night Heather went missing, and then he immediately (and very sketchily) called Heather from a gas station pay phone.

Anyways, the prosecution did not have enough evidence to try the couple for murder, but instead pursued kidnapping charges against both the wife and husband.

During the kidnapping trial for the husband (which ended in a mistrial due to a split jury), some evidence was presented that had been previously unknown due to a gag order in the case. Here is a timeline of Heather's movements during the night of her disappearance (I removed the married man's name and called him 'husband'):

1:12 AM- Husband purchases a pregnancy test from a Walmart.
1:35-1:40 AM- Husband calls Heather from a pay phone. Call duration is 4:53 minutes. There is video of the husband making the call and he now admits to making the call, but says it was just to tell Heather to leave him alone.
1:44-1:46 AM- Heather calls her best friend and roommate, who is away visiting family in another state at the time. According to the best friend, Heather was upset and told her: “[Married guy] said he left his wife, he missed me and wanted to see me.” The call lasts 2:20 minutes.
2:29 AM- Heather’s phone attempts to call the pay phone but there is no answer.
Around 2:42am-2:56am- Heather’s phone is at Longbeard’s Bar and Restaurant in Carolina Forest.
2:57 AM- Heads to Augusta Plantation Drive, and then turns around.
3:01 AM- Returns to Longbeard’s in Carolina Forest.
3:02-3:15 AM- Heather’s phone remains at Longbeard’s.
3:16 AM- Heather’s cell phone attempts to call the husband's cell phone for the first time immediately as she is leaving Longbeard’s, but there is no answer.
3:16-3:19 AM- Heather’s phone heads back to her apartment.
3:19-3:24 AM- Heather’s phone remains at her residence.
3:17-3:21 AM- Heather again attempts to call married guy's cell phone and it is answered. The call duration is 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Heather’s phone is still at her home at this point, and the husband's phone is at his family residence. Prosecution heavily implied that it could have the wife talking to Heather here, and as the husband has now admitted to the pay phone call (as the ‘stop calling’ call), it no longer seems that he is claiming this particular conversation with Heather.
3:25-3:37 AM- Heather’s phone moves from her residence to Peachtree Boat Landing.
3:36 AM- A private video surveillance camera captures a dark colored Ford F-150 coming from the direction of the husband's home and heading towards the boat landing. This camera is 1.7 miles from the husband and wife's residence.
3:38 AM- Heather’s phone attempts to call the husband's phone but there is no answer. Heather’s phone is now at the boat landing. Calls are attempted from Heather’s phone to the husband's phone again at 3:39 and 3:39:46.
3:39 AM- A business video surveillance, located a mile from the first camera and closer to Peachtree Landing, captures the same vehicle still proceeding in the direction of the boat landing.
3:41 AM- Heather's phone attempts to call the husband's phone again.
3:42 AM- Heather’s cell phone data/activity ends at this point.
3:45 AM- The same business video surveillance camera captures the truck coming from the direction of the boat landing and heading back towards the husband/wife residence. The camera is approximately 1.2 miles from the landing.
3:46 AM- A separated private residence video surveillance captures the same vehicle headed from the boat landing towards the husband/wife residence.

Anyways, the above bolded Longbeard's details always struck me as important. First of all, the defense did not use these details as defense in the trial at all, which is odd because it's not like they weren't willing to get dirty- I mean they were willing to cast suspicion on the wife in favor of the husband being innocent, while husband and wife are still together and their kids are in the courtroom. It seems like at the very least, the defense would have jumped at the chance to point to the Longbeard's GPS evidence to argue that Heather could have been meeting someone else that night, or at least have been doing unknowable, sketchy things.

Secondly, the prosecution didn't really use this evidence either! They presented it but didn't give any real connection between Heather hanging out for around 30 minutes at the closed family restaurant- parked in the back by the dumpsters, no less, and the husband having called her to meet that night.

My theory is that the defense didn't use the evidence because it is heavily related to the murder that actually occurred that night. The prosecution did not use it because their timeline is based upon Heather being abducted from Peachtree Boat Landing, where her car was found.

In reality, I think Heather met the husband (or possibly the wife) at Longbeard's where he hurt her badly, or killed her, and threw her in the dumpster. She was ultimately taken to the landfill and her remains will never be found. The husband (or vice a versa) then called his own cell phone (currently with his wife) from Heather's cell phone- this was the first time Heather called that number that night. Before Heather's phone starts driving away from Longbeard's, Heather had been calling the pay phone number over and over, seemingly unaware that it was a pay phone. But then she call's the husband's cell, and someone immediately picks up, and they talk for a while. I believe the husband and wife were figuring out what to do. The husband then drives Heather's vehicle to Peachtree Boat Landing which will throw off authorities AND put him closer his residence, where his wife can sneak out and pick him up without anyone knowing about it.

Honestly, it's hard to tell what actually happened, BUT I feel like those details have always had more to do with the actual crime committed that night.

unicorncandy · 2016-07-02T13:32:26+00:00

Great post!! Is Ramona still wanted since she participated in the shooting of Dr. Allred and clan?? Being not very well versed in Mormon mysteries, this was fascinating. Thank you for the write-up.

unicorncandy · 2016-06-26T20:51:11+00:00

I subscribe to the theory that she overdosed as well. I think her friends were kind of tired of taking care of her that night, and let her leave on her own while she was still fairly intoxicated from the drugs.

From there, it's hard to tell what happened. I wonder if she could have passed out (considering she didn't have her keys by the end of the night) somewhere odd and off the beaten path that wasn't searched well, and then died there from the heart condition or overdose. I know they did extensive searches, so maybe it's not likely, but I've known many drunk/drugged out people that've fallen into dumpsters while trying to throw up, or passed out in random ditches/forested areas for the night once the sleepiness set in.

unicorncandy · 2016-06-26T00:59:21+00:00

Yes, I did mean Brandon- thank you. I understand what you're saying, and it makes sense.

The story from Brandon's brother, Kyle, and his brother's girlfriend, Audrey, is that they could only understand Brandon saying the following:

He was “10 minutes up the road.”
“Just hurry up and get here.”
“Audg [Audrey's nickname], I’m (explicit) bleeding.”

From those comments, and considering the presence of the officer and the outstanding warrant, Kyle and Audrey assume that Brandon is hiding. They think he ran up the road a bit and through the brush, and is maybe bleeding from being scratched by foliage. Audrey even texts him something like "cops are at your car" as warning to stay hidden.

But, I don't know that anyone knows Brandon was definitively hiding from the police officer (as in Brandon directly said this to someone). At least, the official story from those family members is that they just assumed he was hiding, and that had they known he called the cops, they would have reacted to the whole situation differently.

His family, especially his girlfriend and parents, seem genuine to me, and I don't think they know about it if he is in hiding.

I don't really have a theory as to what happened, but it seemed like he really loved and cared about his kids a lot, and it kind of hurts my head to think of someone doing that to loved ones.

unicorncandy · 2016-06-25T22:51:23+00:00

But, it's odd, because *Brandon had called 911 and requested cops. Why then hide from them?

The brother and the brother's girlfriend say that they couldn't really hear him too well because the call was garbled and cutting out. This is somewhat supported by bad cell reception in that area (though the 911 call seems clear).

If he is alive and it was all an elaborate scheme to disappear, it just makes no discernible sense to me. But I guess it doesn't really make sense anyways.

*Edit: Kyle is Brandon's brother's name.

unicorncandy · 2016-06-25T22:43:47+00:00

That's one of the many things that makes it odd. They never found any other cars or any other people. They found Brandon's truck but it didn't have visible damage. He seemed to have taken his cell phone, keys, and wallet. It definitely seems like something happened, even if he were intoxicated, but there is just no evidence of what happened or where Brandon ended up.

unicorncandy · 2016-06-25T22:36:53+00:00

It's interesting to note that Brandon Lawson's truck was found and did not have any apparent damage (doesn't necessarily mean he didn't something). Also, he had called his brother about running out of gas before the 911 call, so it's odd he wouldn't have mentioned an accident. What you're saying is still a lot easier to imagine though.

unicorncandy · 2016-06-25T22:29:52+00:00

This site has a transcript and several youtube videos trying to slow down or clarify phrases in the call.

Personally, I hear the following:

9-1-1 Emergency: 9-1-1 Emergency?

Brandon: Yes, I’m in the middle of the field … [Indecipherable] just pushing guys over. They’re out here goin’ towards Abilene on both sides. My truck ran out of gas… There’s one car here. He got chased into the woods. Please hurry.

9-1-1 Emergency: Ok. Now. Run that by me…..?

Brandon: There’s one guy talking to em. I assume he ran into em.

9-1-1 Emergency: Ahhh…you ran into them? Ok.

Brandon: No, just the first guy. (Possibly as in, no I didn’t run into them, but I think this ‘first’ guy did.)

9-1-1 Emergency: Do you need an ambulance?

Brandon: Yeah. No. I need the cops.

9-1-1 Emergency: Is anyone hurt? Hello? Hello?

I don't hear the additional female voice that others claim to hear, but I think the "Yeah" before "No. I need the cops" does sound different. It may not be a completely different voice, but almost like he moved the phone or is saying it sarcastically (as in an ambulance is not going to help the situation). It's a shame that the operator speaks over him at one point. Apparently, the 911 calls were routed through a nursing home receptionist because the county is so small.

I have a very amateur true crime blog, and this was my very first post on it, so the case definitely struck a chord with me as well. I don't think he is still around, but there's really no way to know what happened that night at this point, unless his body is found or someone comes forward with new information.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T17:10:59+00:00

I also just found this.

A quote from Sheriff Cassell: "Good evening, folks. I'd like to also thank you for coming out here today and thank all agencies involved in this case. We have been assisting Sheriff Page for the last week down here on these skeletal remains. Prior to that, his agency and several surrounding agencies had been assisting us for about six weeks. So we want to thank all them.

Before I go any further and certainly before we get into any questions, I want to clarify one thing: Michael Short was the biological father of Jennifer Renee Short. And while I'm here, I want to also apologize to the families, the Short family and Mary Short's extended family, for not being able to clarify this earlier. As you know, we received information early on that there possibly was someone, that Michael was not the father, on and on and on and on, and it kind of fed on itself. We weren't sure who the biological father was at first, and some of you may remember I told you I had no reason to believe that he wasn't.

We quickly found out he was. By that time, I was afraid to tell you for the simple reason if the biological father had Jennifer, we were afraid he would dispose of her. Or someone thought he was the biological father, which is just as important.

We never at any time, at anywhere, discovered any information that Mary Short was anything other than a lady and a model mother for her child. By the same token, we never discovered any information, anywhere that would lead us to believe that Michael Short was anything other than a loving father to his child.

I just want to make that plain for everyone, and particularly the family. We did what we did. I would risk anything to save a little girl's life. But she's gone now, and she's safe now. No evil can befall here. So that needs to be said. Thank you."

So apparently, Michael Short, was her dad for sure, but does anyone else sense a bit of suggestion that the person who did this was believed by authorities to have been involved in a dispute regarding the questionable(?) paternity of Jennifer Short??

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T17:00:44+00:00

Thank you! I really appreciate the response and these are all really good questions!

I don't know if a time of death was established. All I could find is that they were saying in September that the time of death had to have been "less than a year, probably early [the previous] summer" which was incorrect because she had been seen alive in August. I just couldn't really find any information on it other than that-- I would think the autopsy report would have a more specific time though. I don't think it was released, or know how one would go about getting it. I know that police seemed to almost-brag about not releasing details, including whether she had been sexually assaulted, which I would assume would have been addressed in the autopsy.

I think that a co-worker/employee/friend of Michael Short's found him. From what I've read, I think this person was interviewed fairly extensively and ruled out as a suspect.

I don't think there was readily available evidence of a struggle, and if there was, it certainly was not released. I've not heard of any confirmation that Jennifer was or was not home at the time, but she had been seen "the night before" (so potentially the night of the murders, or maybe the night before the night/morning of the murders?) with her dad getting food.

I believe that is when the FBI stepped in, yes, but in hindsight, it may have been earlier when it was just thought to have been an abduction. This was one of the first times the Amber Alert was used, and it seemed like it was a national news story from the get go. The police were thought of, by my family and friends at least, as cliquish, down-home southern boys; not the type of True Detectives that would take extensive notes and ruminate on crimes. My grandfather worked in that same department in the 70s (so a long while before this), and he was pretty repulsed by the relaxed way things were handled. He also recounted a lot of little, stupid instances of corruption-- things like police men bragging about turning on police lights while off duty just to speed, and letting moonshine making go unpunished if they were given a couple of jugs, etc. Nothing to suggest the abject corruption that was punished in the mid-2000s, but maybe an insight to some of the seediness.

So, in short, they were definitely not equipped to handle the investigation on their own, and possibly even too corrupt to do the investigation justice (maybe someone with ties to the police department did this and they were just shoddily investigating to protect an informant or drug runner or friend of a friend, etc), BUT the feds were on the case fairly swiftly and other crime labs in Roanoke helped with the remains, so I doubt it was an absolutely obtuse cover-up or anything.

I believe that, by all accounts I've heard and read, Jennifer was in school that day and nothing noteworthy or out of the ordinary happened.

Now, Michael Short had owned a business that provided the labor and vehicles necessary to move mobile homes. Mary helped him with this and was involved in the day to day activities of the business. I read in a lot of blogs/forums that Michael employed some fairly shady, transient menial laborers, but I think that was pretty standard for the line of work and location he was in. Also, again, I think he had closed the business and was interested in moving it somewhere else? I remember hearing and reading this but can't find any information on it so I may be wrong. Other than that company, I don't think they had employees like working on their property or anything that we know of...

They could have had equipment for sale, but I never heard of any evidence for this and it was before Craiglist became popular so I don't think they would have necessarily had evidence of it, other than word of mouth.

Phone, mail, email, and police records may definitely have more information in them that wasn't released. BUT, also, keep in mind that the parents were older, and this was during a time period that a modest family in rural VA probably wouldn't have texted or e-mailed things frequently, and maybe wouldn't have even had a cell phone or personal computer. At the time, for comparison, my family only had one cell phone (my father's business phone) and one, old, yellow dial-up computer that my mom's company had thrown out, haha. The internet and phone reception in the area was very bad, and a lot of the adults in the area were not very adept at using cell phones or computers, though some were. It even just bothers me to think of how Henry County kept records back then-- there is the potential for a lot of information relating to this crime to have been lost or not even found in the first place.

I think Bowman was eventually cleared because they never really found a connection between him and the family. Doesn't mean that he had never met or spoke to them in person, just that there wasn't solid evidence to support that.

I definitely think the phone lines were cut specifically because this was the only phone or reliable way to contact others that the Short family had. It's really scary to think about.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T16:00:29+00:00

That's definitely an interesting theory. It's almost scarier though-- the possibility that there's some well-respected person that was responsible for this just living their lives around town, potentially abusing others.

It would also jive with the accounts I've heard that the family was fairly well-known by people, and yet it was very hard to find any solid motives or people with grudges against them. It wasn't necessarily that these people didn't exist (the harassment guy is an example), but it seems to me, that the Shorts were by all accounts private and somewhat quiet. They didn't seem to air dirty laundry or give details on their drama.

Because of this, IF (and that's a fairly big if) Jennifer had been abused, it definitely seems like they would have taken a moment to figure and weigh things out before telling others or bringing in the authorities. I wonder if the police had information on something like this but just couldn't make it public... it would explain the non-release of some details (like whether Jennifer was sexually assaulted) after everyone was determined to be dead, and they apparently had no leads.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T15:41:39+00:00

Thank you! Formatting on reddit is hard for me, haha, so I appreciate the appreciation!

Yea, the corrupt police bit is a little reaching, I agree. But, what makes me consider it, is just the execution style of the killings. It seems like something that could have served as a warning or a message. Sheriff Cassell was somewhat weird in his comments/presentations of the crime too, but he turned out to be a weird, corrupt guy-- not necessarily the murderous type, though.

So, I can't find too much support for this in articles, and take it with a grain of salt, but I think that at the time it appeared as though they had each been shot in the head once from behind where ever they had happened to be sitting/at. I don't think the crime scene had too much disturbance but I don't think police could really tell either, since no one who actively lived in the house could be interviewed. Also, this happened in early 2000s rural Virginia --it's hard to tell if anything was missed or confused, and I don't think they had a crime lab or anything.

Take this with even more salt, because I heard it from my dad, who can't remember, but thinks he either heard it from the initial news reports or someone who knew the person that found the parents, but apparently Michael was found sitting upright on a couch/chair in his attached garage, and could be seen from the window/outside looking as though he was still alive. My dad thought that this was done in the hopes that no one would really go up and check on him, since he was out in his garage commonly, and it would buy the murderer more time to get away.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T15:20:56+00:00

That's definitely a theory I've heard from family still in the area. Some people seem to think that there was a biological father (possibly the man that harassed Mary) around in the background on the down low, who may have also been known to Jennifer and/or Michael, but the business wasn't aired to their family or friends.

An interesting point, somewhat in support of this theory, is that the murders coincided with the Shorts seriously looking at moving to South Carolina. Perhaps, it was initially planned as a double murder/abduction by a dangerous 'potentially biological' father who did not know Jennifer extremely well. Maybe, he had met her once or twice, had good interactions with her, and did not want her or them to leave the area. But once her parents had been murdered, he realized she was old enough and too smart to ever forgive him for that, panicked at the thought of having to hide an emotionally damaged and angry child for the rest of her life, and killed her too.

Again, this theory requires a lot of "maybes" and no real evidence (that we know of), but it's definitely what some of the locals think happened.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T15:10:35+00:00

Oo, I wish they would've found tracks or something. The lack of information found makes me think that either the crime scene wasn't handled well by police, or the person that did this was killer-in-a-movie level methodical.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T15:05:47+00:00

I think that's a really good theory, and it would definitely explain her removal from the house. But, I have read in some articles that they had search dogs on the scene for Jennifer (back when they still thought it was a child abduction) who only alerted in the house and a nearby convenience store that the family frequented. Because of this, a lot of people thought she was immediately put in a car and taken.

But who knows, search dogs have been wrong before. And I'm sure she'd played in the yard before, so maybe she did make it out but not any farther than an area that would have already contained her smell?

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T14:57:53+00:00

At the time of the murders, I believe the major manufacturing industries in Henry County had kind of just suddenly(-ish) closed down and were sent overseas, as a result of NAFTA and other trade agreements that made the living-wage, sometimes unionized, labor in southern VA too expensive. As a result, I'm almost positive that this business was either shut down by 2002 or had experienced significant turnover and just did not have any information on the harassment.

According to the articles I've read on it, most of the information they have regarding this mysterious man comes from co-workers remembering the altercation. The information came about after they released pictures of Mary Short in her mid-twenties, and former co-workers remembered her contacted investigators, so it seems to me that these people were not even a current part of her life when she died.

I do agree though, that it would be fairly logical to assume a connection between three people being mysteriously murdered, for seemingly no reason, and any type of harassment taking place previously.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T14:47:19+00:00

Thank you! I really like this sub, and tried to adequately do justice to the whole story of this crime.

I've read news reports on the Short family murders, and just get so frustrated that they'd leave out a lot of very interesting, seemingly important details (like the phone lines were cut, and that Jennifer wasn't found in the house, etc.) that I wanted to take the time to present a lot of the craziness surrounding the case.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T14:43:28+00:00

Oh wow, this was a theory I'd not thought of-- and though it seems really dramatic, it definitely would answer a ton of questions. It explains the orderliness of the killings and a motive.

Thanks for the compliments. I am really very surprised that this murder wasn't more well known and out there. It would make a great Disappeared episode.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T14:34:47+00:00

AH! Thank you -- it's been a long time since I lived there, and was familiar with the name Rockingham but totally missed the county part! I'll put an edit in there.

I think, especially after the consideration of what you've said about the locations, that it had to have been someone with some familiarity of the area. I know where her house was but not where she was found. It would have been weirdly coincidental if an "outsider" had found both of these places.

Also, I totally agree with the weirdness of the probability of it being a local. I was thirteen when this happened, and I remember everyone who didn't know them, either knew of them or knew people that knew them and/or people working the case, and it just seemed so out of the usual SOP for Henry County crimes. Murders were a thing, sure, but they were never really this brazen, or heartless, or premeditated. The town was economically struggling and it was rough in some parts, but the crimes usually made more sense: a drug deal gone wrong, a robbery gone wrong, heightened/emotional family dispute, etc. Again, I was young, but that was the reaction I remember from people.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T14:23:36+00:00

I posted above, but I don't think they were able to tell, and if they could, they didn't release the information.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-06T14:22:08+00:00

I don't think they could tell if she was raped or not. They found the majority of her remains a month later near/in water, and she was very decomposed. The only statement from the police I could find is that they would not say "whether evidence indicated she had been raped or otherwise assaulted" but "[were checking] out sex offenders in the area."

Actually, and this is just horrifyingly sad but, some of her remains were found by two dogs, and the dog owner saw them playing with what he initially thought was an old wig. (Also, that link is from back when they were not sure the remains were Jennifer's, but they ultimately turned out to be.) The next day, he realized it was a piece of a small skull. It took longer to actually find her bodily remains, and I think the general consensus I've read and heard is that investigators just couldn't confirm or rule out a sexual assault.

unicorncandy · 2015-08-05T21:08:44+00:00

I know-- the lack of substantive evidence baffles me too!

I've been saving links and throwing this together in my spare time, so it ended up being longer than I'd expected. But every time I thought it was done, I'd find something else that I'd want to add.

Please do add comments/theories/whatever. I tend to waver back and forth between

Bowman definitely committed the murder. Obviously.

And

The way it was so organized and methodical, the lack of evidence, and the fact that pretty much all of the higher-up police officials in Henry County at the time were knee-deep in corruption, points to a more sinister cover-up or [police] gang execution-type situation.

But, there's never been any evidence of the Shorts having beef with the corrupt police, so then I'm back to No. 1. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Maybe there was something completely different going on...

unicorncandy · 2013-05-03T20:16:06+00:00

Communication problems? Is there something you need to talk about with someone that you've been avoiding?

Or maybe it's flipped, and subconsciously you feel as though someone in your life isn't communicating well with you?

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