Posted on 07/26/2006 10:55:03 AM PDT by Lunatic Fringe
FORT WORTH -- The two girls stare into the camera with little expression on their faces..
They are young, possibly pre-teens. One appears to be sitting in the front seat of a vehicle. The other is leaning forward from the backseat.
It is not what is shown in the cropped photograph that concerns Fort Worth authorities.
It's where it was found: under the jail cell mattress of serial killing suspect Juan Mesa Segundo.
On Tuesday, police released the image to the media. It's the second time in less than a week that an area law enforcement agency has asked for help identifying a child from a photo belonging to a suspect in a sex-related crime.
Lt. Dean Sullivan, a police spokesman, stressed that investigators have no indication that the two girls are victims of a crime. But he said police hope someone will be able to tell them who and where they are.
"We'd be remiss to the public in our responsibility to do a thorough and complete investigation if we didn't share this picture and see if anyone has any kind of information with regards to either of these two little girls," he said.
Segundo's attorney Wes Ball said he had not seen the photograph.
Segundo was arrested in April 2005 after police say a national database linked his DNA to semen found in the body of Vanessa Villa, an 11-year-old girl who was raped and strangled inside her home in August 1986.
Since his incarceration, police say tests also linked Segundo to two other rape and strangulation deaths. Prosecutors have since asked for a review of unsolved sexual assaults and homicides.
Segundo remains in solitary confinement in the Tarrant County Jail. He is expected to go on trial in Vanessa's slaying in September. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty.
According to a search warrant affidavit, the photograph was found after police received a tip from inmate who said Segundo showed him pictures of 15 to 20 females.
One of the pictures, the inmate told investigators, was of Vanessa.
Cold case Detective Manny Reyes said he has shown the photo of the two girls to Segundo's relatives, none of whom recognized the girls.
While giving the photograph to the media may upset the girls' families, he said, "Under the circumstances we need to make sure who they are and, more than anything, are they OK."
On Thursday, Arlington police released a photo of a girl that had been found in the home of Nicholas Demont Wilborn, a man suspected in a series of southeast Arlington sex crimes and break-ins. Within hours, family friends who recognized the girl contacted police.
Do you know these girls?
People with information are asked to call Fort Worth police at 817-335-4222 or CrimeStoppers at 817-469-TIPS (8477).
Mercedes?
In many societies ear piercing is cultural expectation for infant girls - Italian, Hispanic, others - has been that way for many many generations.
Also, does anyone know why the crop lines appear sort of unclean (two-toned, whatever) They don't look to me like a flat single-ply photo has been trimmed with scissors, but it doesn't look like Photoshop work either.
Hey, it's been a cultural expectation in that society for many generations!
Not such an unusual name: for example, one of the gypsies in Carmen.
Jack Bauer hell. Go get Torquemada.
It looks like a photo of the cropped photo lying on a surface, so we see shadow such as below the bottom left edge. Was probably cropped with an Xacto knife or a razor blade rather than scissors.
I meant the car :-) - it looks like a 70s vintage passenger seat
As we found out here, a missing child is not always treated as missing. If they are considered a runaway, the LEO won't file much of anything.We are attending the funeral of a "runaway" on Friday.
There is enough of an image of the seat shape in the photograph that an expert should be able to identify at least the manufacturer of the vehicle.
"Mercedes?"
Maybe an older model....being in Black & White and cropped the way it is to reveal as little additional evidence as possible makes me think this is a trophy shot. While looking at these images, this guy most likely gets off by reliving what he did to the victims.
How he got a stash of these images into the prison is the question we should be asking.
Ah, sorry. I read your reply but not the story (following the example of someone who’ll go unnamed), and assumed it was one of the girls.
So..it was in color.
I feel strongly that this is almost certainly a "spirit squad" type shirt the little dark haired girl is wearing.
The one in front looks alot like one of the Olsen twins.
The drivers seat is barely visible on lower right and the headrest has the two chrome posts. Also, the back edge of the headrest is raked forward and the smooth side border of the seat surrounds a woven inner section.
How do they eat with those in?
Looks to me like it could have been taken in the side of a mini-van. The girl in the back would be resting her chin on the upraised armrest, while the piece blocking her arm could be the rear armrest. I agree that it looks like she's wearing a cheerleading outfit that could say "OR" or "OP" on it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.