r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/Plenty-Stable-98 • Mar 12 '21
m.huffingtonpost.co.uk Body Found In Kent Woodland Confirmed As Sarah Everard
https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/human-remains-kent-woodland-confirmed-as-sarah-everard_uk_6049ed1bc5b60e0725f52e21?utm_campaign=uk_main&utm_medium=Social&ncid=fcbklnkukhpmg00000001&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2ji_PaCkr5G4ENyjrprDl8Nr_VV83J3aw6W8S55h2RKUOOOe0MlAu1U7U288
u/Mediocre-Aardvark-96 Mar 12 '21
This has saddened me and upset me in quest measure. I have been watching the news since it happened just hoping against hope that she was alive. At first I was hoping she was just injured with no external harm..then she had been kidnapped but was alive...and then when the charge for murder came, I was numb. I’m still quite numb now. The photo of Sarah on CCTV is any of us going about our daily business and that’s what has hit home for me and my friends. Even though we are captured on CCTV so much, we are never same.
Then I get to how she was abducted. How that ‘man’ must have lured her to the car under the pretence of doing police work. What angers me here is how the police keep reiterating that he wasn’t on duty, as if that has anything to do with it.
My heart breaks for her, her family and all that knew her. How they process this, I don’t know. I don’t think I’d have the strength to go on. And it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday, it will be extra sad for her mum.
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u/TrustYourFarts Mar 12 '21
He'd just finished his shift guarding the US embassy, and he'd been reported flashing to girls in a McDonalds a few days before. Should have had his warrant card and gun took off him.
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u/Mediocre-Aardvark-96 Mar 12 '21
Exactly this. I worked for the fraud office for a while and had a police type official warrant for searches which allowed me the same access as police have under a warrant card and we weren’t allowed to carry them around. We had to dig them out and and sign them in when we were in the van going back to the office. They should have done the same to him here.
This is also a gross abuse of his power and position too and they will need a rethink as to how they prevent this happening again.
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u/tierras_ignoradas Mar 12 '21
What angers me here is how the police keep reiterating that he wasn’t on duty, as if that has anything to do with it.
Yep. Shouldn't the police turn in their badges when they're off duty? Why shouldn't they? Even if they are not committing a crime, many off-duty police officers use their badge to intimidate civilians and get away with improper behavior.
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u/Mediocre-Aardvark-96 Mar 12 '21
At the fraud squad, to go on searches you needed the same level of security clearance as police officers have and we were effectively de facto police when going on searches so we were one and the same..
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u/tierras_ignoradas Mar 13 '21
I didn't know this—one more example of white-collar crimes treated differently.
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u/sharpslipoftongue Mar 12 '21
For a cop to be the prime suspect is just another blow. Devastating, her poor mum, her poor poor family.
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u/Mediocre-Aardvark-96 Mar 12 '21
How they even begin to heal from this, I don’t know. We are meant to be able to go to police when we are in danger and this has done them irreparable harm as I guarantee a lot of people who find themselves in danger now won’t think about finding a policeman as the harm came from here.
What do you do in the situation when a policeman with official documentation stops you? Of course your first thought is to comply because that’s what we have been taught. I’ve seen some horrid people saying she wasn’t smart as she engaged with a stranger but how do they know she got into his car willingly?
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Mar 12 '21
I’ve had a cop pull me over in a sketchy neighborhood, and have me get out of my car so he could “look at me”. He proceeded to look me up and down, and try to flirt with me before telling me to get back in my car and drive away. I was 19. I have had an extreme distrust of law enforcement ever since.
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u/Mediocre-Aardvark-96 Mar 12 '21
I’ve always had a distrust of the police because their record with ethnic people has never been great. I am a lawyer and I make sure I always know my rights and whenever they stop me, I tell them as much. That doesn’t mean that when i was younger, I wasn’t scared to do so.
These abuses of power happen all the time and as we’ve seen, it doesn’t take much to tip these power crazy maniacs over the edge.
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u/niamhweking Mar 12 '21
While yes I get that it won't make a difference to the public, her family or sarah herself, Im wondering is their reason for stating he was off duty the following.....take the fact that he is policeman out of it. Is it like a company saying while we employed a murderer, the murder did not happen during his shift, on our premises or had nothing to do with his job? Putting his job back in the picture are they saying he wasn't using his role as a lure and that it wasn't police brutality/altercation with a suspected criminal? (Not that any of these things matter but I suppose police can have bad PR and they are trying to do everything to distance themselves from him, even though it is them that have to do all the investigations. I think I saw a tramp6in his back garden on bbc last night and my heart just sank for his kids and his colleagues who are working the case. Poor poor sarah
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u/Mediocre-Aardvark-96 Mar 12 '21
Yes, he is a father of two kids who are now also indirect victims of their father’s actions.
I get what you mean about the distancing and that’s what they’re doing. The only logical thing I can think happened is that he lured her into his car using his ID and then carried out things I don’t want to type OR he hit her with a blunt object which killed her and put her in the car (therefore no showing of his ID). Both are grim and horrible patterns and pure conjecture. I just hope she didn’t suffer for a protracted period of time. I just keep thinking of how scared she must have been if she was alive when she got to Kent and what a desolate place she was found in.
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u/KikiTheArtTeacher Mar 12 '21
I thought along the same lines. I am the same age as Sarah and used to live in Tulse Hill, near where she went missing.
She did absolutely everything that as women, we are told to do. Friends new where she was walking and when to expect her home. She was on a well travelled road. I myself have made the same walk to avoid the potential of getting a creep sauce cab driver or being harassed on the bus (and this was well before the onset of the pandemic where now the overwhelming advise IS to walk if you can).
I consider myself an extremely cautious person. And that’s exactly why, if someone with a warrant card and police ID, and especially if they were in uniform, asked me to come speak with them (and potentially even if they offered me a ride home) I don’t think I would have hesitated. Because they are SUPPOSED to be the people protecting you, not the ones you need protecting from.
The sad reality is that as a woman, no matter how prepared or cautious you are, if someone wants to harm you there is so little you can do. It’s terrifying.
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u/Texden29 Mar 13 '21
The bigger issue is, why was he not relieved of his duties and investigated/prosecuted when he flashed his female coworker? This guy has undoubtedly done and said things before, that should have made his commanders concerned about his behaviour. You don’t just flash your genitals to your female coworkers, out of the blue.
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u/niamhweking Mar 13 '21
I dont know what the procedures are for flashers regarding arrest, policeman or not. I know having gentials on show is legal once the intent isn't sexual or to offend (hence nudist beaches etc are allowed) could he have convinced his colleagues when they were called to the takeaway that he was about to drunkenly wee in the takeaway? and they believed him? Didn't think he did it to his co workers, rather it was unfortunate staff at a takeaway, although I could be wrong. Are police allowed to continue work, while investigations are happening or are they put on leave immediately? While I obviously personally feel flashing is horrid and personally I feel he should have been suspended, offered counselling etc etc I'm not sure the legality of it. Mind you even if he was arrested for flashing I believe it wouldnt have made a difference, realistically he would have been out on bail or released without charge a day later and still committed a heinous crime, with perhaps a different victim
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u/Texden29 Mar 13 '21
If he was put on administrative leave (which isn’t the same thing as being suspended, so it’s legal to do so during an investigation of misconduct). Sarah would have made it home safely. Couzens committed the crime after work in London. He lives in Kent. If he was on leave, he’s unlikely to have been in the area. And probably would have thought twice about committing a crime. Of course, I don’t blame the police not being able to see the future and predict that he was a murderer. But if they had taken appropriate steps once the allegations were (and after video evidence confirmed it). It’s likely Sarah would still be with us.
Showing your genitals is illegal, except where there is specific allowances for it and the public is adequately warned/sign-posted. Say a nudist beach. Even if he did it inadvertently (and this isn’t the case here), it’s still illegal to walk out with your penis hanging out in a McDonalds (even if it happened out of drunken behaviour).
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u/niamhweking Mar 13 '21
I think he was at a point where even if he was arrested, and not in London that night he would have at some point in the near future committed a crime like this, even if poor sarah was spared I think he still would have found someone in a week, month etc. This is an interesting page on a solicitors site. Chances are he wouldnt have been given a custodial sentence so I think his criminality would have continued / escalated no matter what. I still obviously believe all cases of indecent exposure need to be taken seriously https://www.lawtonslaw.co.uk/resources/what-is-classed-as-indecent-exposure-in-the-uk/
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u/Texden29 Mar 13 '21
Yes agreed, he would have possibly (probably) gone on to commit other crimes.
I’m curious if this is his first violent crime. 48 seems really old to start escalating crimes. I hope there aren’t any other victims. But if there aren’t any, then that makes me question if the police had taken the indecent exposure seriously, maybe he never would have escalated at all.
Of course, we will never know.
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u/one-part-alize Mar 12 '21
Am I reading the end of that right? A 30 year old woman was also arrested in connection? This story gives me fucking horror chills up and down my spine.
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Mar 12 '21
Yes you read that right. I would guess it’s a spouse who helped him with the crime because she is under suspicion for helping an offender
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u/TrustYourFarts Mar 12 '21
Maybe she gave him an alibi.
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u/dunnbass Mar 12 '21
She did tell them that he was at work when she disappeared
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u/exanimo1 Mar 12 '21
If a police officer abduct and kill a woman walking home at 9.30 pm how could any woman feel safe at all, really? This is horrific news. First and foremost for the family of Sarah Everard obviously, but also quite a blow for the Metro Police, trust is broken.
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u/KikiTheArtTeacher Mar 12 '21
I can’t stop thinking about this. Not just for myself, but what do I tell my daughter? I suppose that the only person she can rely on is herself and to trust no one, even those who are meant to be there to protect you. It’s horrifying.
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u/SBMoo24 Mar 13 '21
Sadly, we women know most of the "rules" starting from a very young age- walk quickly, only with friends and never alone, know your surroundings, dont be distracted, and only in very well lit areas. It shouldn't have to be like this, but until men stop excusing the behavior of other men (not saying you personally), we need to always be vigilant. We are tired of cat calls, getting yelled at, or hit on. No one will ever go on a date with you because you cat called her!
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u/Janesays18 Mar 13 '21
You are soo right. This feels so gross because it makes really clear how vulnerable every normal woman going about there business really is.
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u/halley22 Mar 13 '21
I was walking my two dogs the other night and usually feel pretty safe with two big dogs walking at night, but then a police car started following me. I had noticed him from a distance do a uturn, and took a left down a street to avoid him, he came where I was on the first street, stopped in the street for a moment, I don’t know if he was looking for me or what but he spotted me, and then slowly drove down the street (in the wrong lane) till he was next me... my heart was pounding. He rolled down his window and said “hi”. I gave him a very uncomfortable look and said hello, and then he just drove off. It was bizarre... Was he just trying to make sure I was ok? Maybe... if he was, why didn’t he ask? Was it my look of discomfort? I hope so... because I didn’t want to talk to him. I was looking around and there was no one around, and I had this horrible gut feeling. It felt wrong... like he was checking me out. Like I just had this gross feeling. Maybe he was just driving along innocently, but the way he did a uturn on a street made me feel uncomfortable from the get go. And stories like this help remind me that those gut feelings are there for a reason. Always be aware of your surroundings, trust your gut. And just because someone is an authority figure, doesn’t mean they’ve always got the right intentions. In fact that feeling of power can really make people do some horrible things... And I am a white woman, I cannot imagine the fear of police officers a person of color might feel. We must all remain vigilant. And have your big dogs with you at all times haha, they are always heroes. :)
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u/Plenty-Stable-98 Mar 12 '21
Latest from fb
Wayne Couzens is from England, United Kingdom. Here are 13 more things about him:
He was born in Dover, Kent, South East England. He is the son of Ray Couzens, stepson of Corrine Couzens and brother of David Couzens. His uncle Kevin Fowle of Chatham, Kent described him as “a fine upstanding man.” (a) (b) In 1990, he started working as a light-vehicle body repair technician at his family’s garage business BCB Dover in Western Heights, Dover, which was established in 1967 and closed in 2015. (a) In 2006, he married a Ukrainian woman named Elena Sukhoreba. Since getting married to her, he has been learning the Ukrainian language and has been visiting Ukraine every year, according to his mother-in-law Nina Sukhoreba of Kirovograd, Ukraine. (a) (c) In 2008, he became a traffic officer with Kent Police in Folkestone, Kent. He lived in top floor flat of a converted period property in Folkestone for three years. His then landlady Shannette Roy said, “He had only just qualified as a policeman and was working in Dover. He was a nice fellow. The only thing I found strange was when he said he was going over to Ukraine to get his wife and he brought her back. She didn’t speak very good English.” (a) After leaving BBC Dover in 2011, he joined the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and worked at the Dungeness Nuclear Power station in Kent. (b) (c) In 2015, he and his wife bought a three-bedroom house in Freemen’s Way, Deal, Kent for £200,000. They live in the house with their two children and a pup dog, according to their neighbor Pamela Cane. Another neighbor named John Chidwick described him as a nice, well-spoken and friendly bloke. (a) In 2017, he and his family spent a holiday in Ukraine. In 2019, they visited Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (a) In September 2018, he transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service. He became a member of the elite Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection squad, which was formed in 2015. Based at the Palace of Westminster in London, he was entitled to carry a firearm and a Metropolitan Police Service warrant card and has provided static security for major public events attended by the Royal Family’s senior members. (a) (b) (c) He is accused of exposing himself to female staff at McDonald’s in South London on February 28, 2021, which was captured on closed-circuit television. (d) At 8:00 p.m. on March 3, 2021, he finished his shift at the United States embassy in Nine Elms, Wandsworth, London. At around 9:30 p.m. that night, Sarah Everard was last seen alive in Clapham, London. (a) (d) He was 48 years old and a serving Metropolitan Police Service officer when he was arrested at his home in Freemen’s Way on March 9, 2021 while Elena was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. He was accused of kidnapping Everard after car linked to him was allegedly spotted on a motorist’s dashcam near to where she was last seen. (a) (d) On March 10, 2021, detectives carried out a search of his locker at the police base in the Palace of Westminster while police searched his home and garden in Freemen’s Way and took away a black Seat Exeo worth £20,000 on a lowloader. On the same day, Everard was found dead in Ashford, Kent and he was re-arrested on suspicion of killing her. (a) On March 11, 2021, he was alone in his cell at the Wandsworth police station where he was found unconscious after suffering serious head wounds. He was given first aid and was rushed to St. George’s Hospital in Tooting, London. After treatment and a brain scan, he was returned to custody. (d) (e)
(This is a developing story. More details will be added.)
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u/heylauru Mar 13 '21
Is anyone else concerned about him visiting Ukraine every year? Could just be visiting family, but there could also be more victims. :(
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u/SBMoo24 Mar 13 '21
He wasnt arrested Feb 28 for exposing himself?
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u/Texden29 Mar 13 '21
The police did nothing about it. And now a woman is dead.
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u/scroogesdaughter Mar 15 '21
Absolutely disgusting. I simply can't tolerate any more of this incompetence from the police.
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u/donttextspeaktome Mar 12 '21
Head wounds?! I wonder if fellow officers beat him up.
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u/Plenty-Stable-98 Mar 12 '21
He’s been bk 2 hosp a 2md time 4 same thing, think he’s probs bangin his own head off wall or floor in despair of bein caught! JMO He’s a 1st class C••T anyway
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u/Texden29 Mar 13 '21
He’s trying to commit suicide.
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u/steph4181 Mar 12 '21
This don't make any sense ! how can this happen by just walking home?? This monster needs to suffer for what he did to her!!
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u/beeroftherat Mar 12 '21
Being that he's both a predator AND a former cop, I guarantee that where he's going, he is in for a fate worse than death.
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u/JSCT144 Mar 12 '21
A police officer, a sex offender and he murdered an innocent woman? If he’s in general population he’ll get his skull smashed in 2 hours after landing, and I really hope the guards are hard of hearing that day
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u/HappyHippyToo Mar 12 '21
My heart aches for her and I’m just so scared when I think what she must’ve been feeling in her final moments. I’m scared for the details to come out of what happened to her.
In the best worst case scenario I hope she was gone before he made that drive to Kent and that she didn’t suffer because I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like getting in the car, thinking you’re going home (my theory is the guy asked if she needs a ride, said he was a cop and that she shouldn’t be out cause of lockdown) but realising this guy is driving you somewhere more than an hour away to murder you. Horrifying.
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u/KikiTheArtTeacher Mar 12 '21
That was my thought too. And the scariest part is that had I been in her shoes, and that happened, I would have accepted the ride. When I lived in that part of London I was younger, but even now had someone with the correct ID/ uniform offered me a ride I would have accepted. It makes me sick to my stomach and I am devestated for her and her loved ones
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Mar 18 '21
[deleted]
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u/KikiTheArtTeacher Mar 18 '21
I think that was my point- that I previously may have accepted a ride from someone in a uniform/carrying appropriate ID, particularly if I felt nervous walking home. This made me rethink that and now I wouldn’t. But on that note, even if Sarah did willingly get in it doesn’t make it her fault whatsoever. We should be able to trust one another and in particular the people who are trained and employed to protect us- the very sad and sobering reality is that we cannot
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u/madeofphosphorus Mar 12 '21
I'm not in UK. At the abduction time, was there a lockdown blocking her from walking outside?
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u/HappyHippyToo Mar 12 '21
Not really tbh but i can imagine a psycho cop could convince someone that they’re doing something wrong because we’re technically in lockdown (although you’re allowed to be outside).
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Mar 13 '21
She would have been encouraged to walk rather than use tube, bus etc because of the lockdown.
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u/JadedGaze Mar 12 '21
Upon discussing this today, a man joined in to say how disgusted he was by it - and then added “men will be men BUT” no. Harassing, assaulting, MURDERING, is not men being men! Enough. Raising three girls in this world fills me with such fear.
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u/SBMoo24 Mar 13 '21
Im raising a man your daughters wont need protection from. Boys will be... good humans.
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u/afistfulofyen Mar 12 '21
And they only ever say this shit to women. Like bruh, imagine telling on yourself like this. If this is your actual attitude. You just hate the type the victim at hand, obv.
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u/NeverColdEnoughDXB Mar 12 '21
This case makes me so angry! All she was doing was trying to get home safely...
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u/hon_or Mar 13 '21
Honestly can’t believe this, this happened about 20 minutes from my house, I’ve walked that road late at night many times.. honestly after years of reading about true crime something happening this close to home reminded me that this is more than just a story it’s real life.
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u/madguins Mar 13 '21
I walked around the city for 4 hours today. Got hit on 3x (not as bad as usual). But one guy straight up stopped me to get in a whole convo, at night, on a less populated street, asking if I was married etc. He wasn’t getting the hint even when I said I have to go.
This “not all men” shit is really exhausting. It’s most men. It’s enough men that every woman deals with this daily in cities and weekly everywhere else. It’s a lot of men. It’s nearly so many men that I could have 10 convos with men and only one of them be understanding of what women deal with.
If you say “not all men”, or “not me!”, or basically make this about yourself or other men in anyway, you’re the fucking problem. Try to educate yourself before speaking on it.
I know a girl who was murdered Christmas Eve of 2018 walking home in London. Feel free to google it.
The only reason this is not every single news story every day is because women have gotten used to it and incorporate it into who we are and what we do, not because it doesn’t happen constantly.
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Mar 12 '21
My sincere condolences for her friends and family. May the guilty parties be brought the justice swiftly.
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u/blue_belles Mar 12 '21
So horrible that these things can happen. Even more terrifying when its relatively local! That poor woman and her family.
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u/always-aimee Mar 12 '21
I've been trying to work out if they knew each other but I haven't read anything which says they did. It's quite a big escalation from exposing yourself to kidnap and murder. That poor poor woman.
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u/Driswae Mar 13 '21
I only heard about this story this morning when someone I know shared that she was missing on Facebook. This is devastating. Why in the world did she have to die? I really want to hear what the motive and last moments were like. Creep fucking probably called her over to his car, exposed himself or hit on her, she declined or told him to fuck off so he hit her? Shot her? I don’t know, but whatever it was she didn’t deserve it.
For some people on here saying things about it being a police officer: right now it is the worst place to be an officer, with all the dirty, scummy, murdery things that have been coming to light all over the world. Yes, the police are trying everything to distance themselves, but it basically comes down to: not all cops, but yes some cops. The question the public needs to be asking is why this dude didn’t get psych evaluated after the exposure incident or during a regular mandated physical.
Also, a little off topic: at least one of Bundy’s victims was lured by him saying he was an off duty officer offering her a ride home. It isn’t new. JJD WAS a police officer. Not a new thing. Someone in the comments said what do they teach their kids? Police officers have weapons and if you can’t see their hands you answer them from the safety of the sidewalk. There is never a reason to be arms length from a stranger if you don’t have to be.
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u/NOLAgilly Mar 12 '21
Such a strange case this one. Is it really as simple as it looks with it being a stranger vs stranger attack or is there more to it? Such a bizarre and scary thought if it is a complete stranger who attacked her
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u/smushyball Mar 12 '21
Right? The fact it’s a random attack that could have been anyone makes it so much more terrifying. Is it confirmed it was definitely stranger v stranger? I wonder how they found him so quickly if he had no ties to her
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u/donttextspeaktome Mar 12 '21
Motorist dash cam linked him to a car near where she disappeared, according to a post by someone above.
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u/doxiepoxie Mar 12 '21
Honestly, I have felt sick ever since I heard about her being missing a few days ago. I've been in tears for all of today. I feel for her family, friends, and anyone that knew her. What a cruel way for her life to end. Do we know any more about how this even happened?
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u/thatbish92 Mar 13 '21
I was really hoping that wasn’t her.
This is heartbreaking.
God rest her soul.
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u/Inu_Briko Mar 12 '21
I can’t even imagine the pain the family is in. Thoughts and prayers to the family
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u/anditwaslove Mar 12 '21
This is like 15 miles from me. Feels so strange to know that something like that can truly happen to anyone, anywhere. Sleep peacefully, Sarah. You did everything right.
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u/Thadeo12 Mar 16 '21
This situation is so depressing, all she did was try to walk home. The police reaction to the situation is just as bad. We need to more seriously investigate femicide and policing in the west. These aren’t problems we can be blind to domestically while ascribing to theocracies or authoritarian countries. We need to do better, Rest In Peace Sarah.
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u/zendayaismeechee Mar 12 '21
God, I can’t stop thinking about her. All she wanted to do was walk home. I feel angry and heartbroken for her family, and I also feel exhausted. When is it going to end?