Missing Marine Wife Erin Corwin Breaking News: Husband Was NOT On Duty The Day She Disappeared
Erin Corwin, 19 and approximately 2 weeks pregnant when she disappeared on Saturday June 28th was last seen at about 10AM on Valle Vista and Ranch Rds, according to Police witness Michael Beasely and his sister Jeanette. Corwin is the wife of Corporal Jonathan Corwin, stationed at The Marine Corp Air Ground Combat Center ( MCAGCC).
Erin Corwin credit Facebook
Beasely describes a young man in a compact red car having a brief conversation with her, and watched her get into the red vehicle after locking the passenger side door. While Beasely said he could not state for certain it was Erin Corwin, it was definitely her car that was located about 100 yards into the desert from where he saw it on June 30th. Beasely’s sister Jessica also recalled seeing the car at some point that morning, but did not see the exchange with the man in the red car. The Beasely’s gave this information to police at the scene while interviewing the water services worker who called detectives.
“When I came back a half hour later, just the (blue) car was sitting there. Next thing, I hear the weekend goes by and Monday morning the sheriffs are there looking for this girl because she ain’t home yet,” Beasley recalled.
Four search warrants have been released in the investigation into the disappearance of Erin Corwin, one of which has prompted and internet firestorm of friends and family members describing what they allege are direct accounts from Cpl. Corwin. As the affidavits to the subpoenas for exigent warrants have been sealed, it is not clear why one of those search warrants was for the dark colored Jeep of fellow Marine Christopher Brandon Lee. According to several online sleuthing sites claiming to have members that are in touch with John Corwin and in some cases investigators, Lee and Erin had a previous relationship that ended last Spring, but following her disappearance Cpl. Corwin located items he says, on June 29th , prompted him to believe that the child Erin was carrying may not have been his.
Corporal Corwin credit Facebook
In an exclusive development in the case, through a source that agreed to speak to BOC on the strict condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak officially on the investigation, a review of Cpl. Corwin’s duty roster shows that he was NOT on duty Saturday June 28th ; the morning after he attended a neighbor’s outside gathering that Erin Corwin left early.
Corwin told investigators that his wife had made plans to scope out sites to photograph during her Mother’s scheduled visit a few days later. It is not clear why Corwin said that he last saw Erin at 7 AM but was not able to offer a description of her clothing or why it appeared (Beasely) that she just headed toward the park at 10 AM. Corwin told investigators he thought he had to wait 24 hours to report a missing person and reported her missing to a San Bernardino county deputy Sunday morning. In an earlier interview, Erin’s mother Loretta ( Lore) Heavilin said her son in law told her he did not report her missing because he thought she was staying overnight at the White Rock Ranch and Rehab – where Erin had adopted her horse Cassy. Both Nichole and Christopher Lee adopted horses at White Rock as well.
Later that evening, when Corwin’s commanding officer went to the couple’s home to check on Jon, fellow members of his 3/11 India Battery were called to Corwin’s residence after he was found inebriated and apparently destructive to the property to assist in it’s clean up and repair . He was placed on PTAD orders the same day.
Source
Investigators will not confirm nor deny if they have developed a suspect or suspects in Erin’s disappearance, but they have stated that neither Christopher Lee nor his wife Nichole are considered suspects or persons of interest in Corwin’s disappearance.
“Just because their names are in a search warrant or you received their names from some other source rather than the sheriff’s department; they’re not listed as suspects or persons of interest so we wouldn’t have a comment.”
In what may be an unrelated event, Lee was charged on July 4th with possession of a destructive device. Lee secured a $25,000 bond according to police records and is scheduled to be arraigned in September. Lee was arrested during the execution of a search warrant at the White Rock Horse Rescue.
Chris Lee credit Facebook
Late this afternoon, within an hour of the San Bernardino County press release, a portion of the previously sealed affidvavits surrounding warrants were released. Although SBSD has previously stated that Christopher Lee was not considered a suspect, he is absolutely implicated in the documents according to The Desert Sun.
“It is highly likely that Erin could have been harmed by an unknown firearm,” detectives wrote in court documents. “Sometime after Erin left with Lee, her phone was deactivated (turned off). Detectives believe if Erin was injured and left at an undisclosed location, she would not (be) able to call for help.”
It is unknown if what investigators swore is accurate, or perhaps were unaware of Beasely described as a “…light haired, skinny guy, small guy, not much hair, but sandy colored hair, shorter than 5’9″, who could have been a Marine…” individual appeared to meet up with Erin Corwin at approximately 10 AM the morning of her disappearance. But it is clear that if Mr. Beaseley’s account is accurate, it is not likely to fit the description of Chris Lee.
In the wake of the recent developments, The Heavilin family returned to Tennessee over weekend.
BlinkOnCrime Editor Jacqueline Beaufort contributed to this report.
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Scout says:
July 28, 2014 at 5:14 pm
Good morning Scout! Yes, it would be interesting to know if CL left his phone on the whole time. If he is involved, I would bet not, but anything is possible.
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Blink, I would like to see the raw analysis on EC’s phone as well. No doubt LE is gathering all that evidence.
O/T: I am following the case of Jennifer Huston who is missing out of Oregon. LE announced yesterday that her husband passed his poly. I think she has three little boys. Very sad.
O/T: I believe she is missing voluntarily, and I fear the outcome. I commend LE response to her disappearance and releasing the info they have.
B
GraceintheHills says:
July 30, 2014 at 10:07 am
Scout says:
July 28, 2014 at 5:14 pm
Good morning Scout! Yes, it would be interesting to know if CL left his phone on the whole time. If he is involved, I would bet not, but anything is possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blink, I would like to see the raw analysis on EC’s phone as well. No doubt LE is gathering all that evidence.
O/T: I am following the case of Jennifer Huston who is missing out of Oregon. LE announced yesterday that her husband passed his poly. I think she has three little boys. Very sad.
O/T: I believe she is missing voluntarily, and I fear the outcome. I commend LE response to her disappearance and releasing the info they have.
B
http://blinkoncrime.com/2014/07/21/missing-marine-wife-erin-corwin-breaking-news-husband-was-not-on-duty-the-day-she-disappeared/comment-page-2/#comment-2227260
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I have been following Jennifer Huston’s disappearance, too, and I agree. She has two little boys. I can’t believe they are telling them she is on vacation. Maybe they want her to know, if she is alive out there somewhere, that she could come home and the boys wouldn’t need to be traumatized. I wonder how long they’ll keep it from them.
Sorry to have to ask again Blink, but could you please explain to me, as you also did with EC, why you fear the outcome if she is voluntarily missing? Is it because you fear the family will break apart, or that she is with someone that would be more of an upset to the family?
I apologize for having to ask such questions but my analytical intellect does not measure up to you or the posters on here.
tiberious- I do not feel erin is voluntarily missing whatsoever. The outcome I fear, and what I believe will ultimately be known , is that Erin is deceased as a homicide victim.
B
Blink, this may be a silly question, but is that a male or female standing by the horse in the above article you wrote?
A female, specifically Nichole Lee. Not silly.
B
Fox News reporting they are looking for Erin on San Juan islands today
I am super confused. I mean our missing Jennifer Huston on San Juan Islands. To many missing people
And all this time I thought it was Erin. Makes me wonder.
GraceintheHills says:
July 31, 2014 at 10:03 am
Blink, this may be a silly question, but is that a male or female standing by the horse in the above article you wrote?
A female, specifically Nichole Lee. Not silly.
B
High Grace
Good to see your posts again.
I didn’t know who the person in photo was, but thought it was a female-hair,clothing & fingernails.
erose says:
July 31, 2014 at 1:55 pm
And all this time I thought it was Erin. Makes me wonder.
GraceintheHills says:
July 31, 2014 at 10:03 am
Blink, this may be a silly question, but is that a male or female standing by the horse in the above article you wrote?
A female, specifically Nichole Lee. Not silly.
____________________________________________
Hmmmm. I thought that was Erin also. Interesting.
Blink,
Sorry if you’ve covered this, or maybe it’s not important, but on Jan 17th, Erin announced on facebook that she was pregnant. Was that a failed pregnancy, thus you saying that she was around two weeksish pregnancy as of recent?
Thanks,
According to friends, she miscarried in February, so her pregnancy status was new.
B
Bumble
Your statement about the raw analysis on the phone is not going to make much sense as it will be either in binary or hexadecimal numbers. Phone forensics involves much more technology than that of a computer hard disk.
There are three or four memory areas where data are stored on the phone. One thing that is available regarding texts and photos and that would be finding the phone that either the photo or text was sent from or to as both phones would have the data. The major problems are memory over-writes when space is exhausted.
We can hope that SBCSD has people on staff that have been trained to extract that data or that they have contracted with a forensics lab that have the proper equipment and knowledge.
A Texas Grandfather says:
August 2, 2014 at 12:58 am
Bumble
Your statement about the raw analysis on the phone is not going to make much sense as it will be either in binary or hexadecimal numbers. Phone forensics involves much more technology than that of a computer hard disk.
There are three or four memory areas where data are stored on the phone. One thing that is available regarding texts and photos and that would be finding the phone that either the photo or text was sent from or to as both phones would have the data. The major problems are memory over-writes when space is exhausted.
We can hope that SBCSD has people on staff that have been trained to extract that data or that they have contracted with a forensics lab that have the proper equipment and knowledge.
http://blinkoncrime.com/2014/07/21/missing-marine-wife-erin-corwin-breaking-news-husband-was-not-on-duty-the-day-she-disappeared/comment-page-3/#comment-2227429
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@ATG,
I don’t know what you are referring to. I think you mean someone else? Please provide a link back to what you are talkng about. Thanks.
I confessed a couple pges back I too thot photo above was Erin. Knowing Blink chose this pic of NL made this quote of Beasley make even more sense–I am bring my prior post of his JVM transcript forward. You will see in the first paragraph there is a word missing between “the” and “green.” I suggest the missing transcript word is “word.”
Rose says:
July 27, 2014 at 6:54 am
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1407/16/ijvm.01.html
wrt cap
“BEASLEY: Yeah, yeah, it was a dark-colored ball cap. I should say it was a light blue or dark blue with the green on it. You know, from, again, ”
Perhaps he had a word on NL’s cap (Green Bay) in his impressionistic mindbank.
The transcript suggests someone other than jvm has previously asked Beasley if it could be another woman. He confirms all he is sure of is it is her car.
“…how can you be so sure it is this young woman that you saw?
BEASLEY: Yeah, I never – I`ve never have and never could say that for certain this was Erin. …
until the following Monday morning. You know, and I seen the picture of her husband on there. Now, a very well possibly it could have been another woman in that vehicle. It – that I found out. It very well may not have even been her. But I mean …
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So in other words what you`re saying is that it wasn`t just the fact that you saw her, this woman with the dark glasses”
—-
told cbs (link below) he was on his way to work.
told JVM he was going in his sister’s car to buy balloons for niece’s birthday.
http://www.kesq.com/news/search-warrants-served-in-effort-to-find-erin-corwin/26990830
came back a half hour later
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/jul/17/witness-erin-corwin-search-warrant-beasley/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kpbs%2Flocal+%28KPBS+News%3A+Local+Headlines%29
On JVM he said 10:30; elsewhere, 10.
—-
http://blinkoncrime.com/2014/07/21/missing-marine-wife-erin-corwin-breaking-news-husband-was-not-on-duty-the-day-she-disappeared/comment-page-2/#comments
A Texas Grandfather says:
July 31, 2014 at 2:44 pm
High Grace
Good to see your posts again.
I didn’t know who the person in photo was, but thought it was a female-hair,clothing & fingernails.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi ATG, good to be back. I think my eyesight might be declining a bit. It was very difficult for me to be sure it was a female. I can’t enlarge the pic so I couldn’t see the fingernails. The hair is pulled back, and the clothing could be worn by a male or female. From a distance, if this person was sitting in a car’s driver’s seat, I am not sure I could identify the sex of the driver.
Bumble
I was referring to your post #2 on this page. Your post is not real clear about who is making the statement about the phone analysis. If it is not you, I apologize. However, what I posted is applicable to the statements about the phone content in the post.
Perhaps you are referring to Grace or Scout.
ot iirc S Powell has not been found?
Similarities to this case?
If Beasley identified to his Second set of LE interviewers the Cap pictured above, there is no reasonable way to explain NL driving Erin’s car for her at 10 am. The voluble Megli said on camera that Erin regularly carpooled
with Nicole (not Chris) until Feb when that carpooling with Nicole. (That info gave me to wonder about no 1 foetus’ paternity.)
A Texas Grandfather says:
August 2, 2014 at 2:41 pm
Bumble
I was referring to your post #2 on this page. Your post is not real clear about who is making the statement about the phone analysis. If it is not you, I apologize. However, what I posted is applicable to the statements about the phone content in the post.
Perhaps you are referring to Grace or Scout.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ATG, the raw analysis comment was made by Blink after my post on 7/27/14 at 11:55PM. I then mentioned it again in a second post. I don’t think Scout or Bumble commented about the text messages.
A Texas Grandfather says:
August 2, 2014 at 2:41 pm
Bumble
I was referring to your post #2 on this page. Your post is not real clear about who is making the statement about the phone analysis. If it is not you, I apologize. However, what I posted is applicable to the statements about the phone content in the post.
Perhaps you are referring to Grace or Scout.
***************************************
@ATG
Okay, thanks for clarifying. My comment was only responding to the O/T part about Jennifer Huston, a missing woman from Oregon. The part about cell phones was Graceinthehills.
Grace
I will have to tell you my secret about the photos. I keep a fairly powerful magnifying glass on the desk that is used frequently. The vest buttons are on the left indicating a woman’s garment and the position of the hips also told me it was a female.
As a music teacher that teaches wind instruments, one learns to observe body posture and carriage carefully. The body is as important to the success as is the instrument itself.
GraceintheHills says:
July 27, 2014 at 11:55 pm
Scout says:
July 26, 2014 at 7:09 pm
“It was this same affidavit that included comments by Megli, which cast suspicion on the Lee couple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grace says: Hi Scout, imo, suspicion was cast on CL almost immediately when LE became aware that EC texted her friend in Tenn. telling her that she (EC) and CL were going to JT or some other undisclosed spot that morning to celebrate and hunt. Those texts from EC pointed LE directly at CL. As LE continued to work the case they found EC’s car and nearby tire tracks similar to CL’s jeep, but only one set of footprints leading from EC’s car to the jeep’s wheel imprints. Was he involved? Don’t know. Was JC involved? It’s possible, but I seriously doubt it given the circumstances so far. Were all three involved? Not a chance.
~~~~~
Grace, I agree, but that means that one is assuming that Erin sent those texts. Like you, I am a facts person, I would need the raw analysis on that.
B
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ATG, Bumble and Scout: my previous post trying to clear this up stayed in moderation for a while, then went poof. So, I will try again. If you notice, in reference to EC’s texts sent to her friend in Tenn., it was Blink’s reply that indicated that “raw analysis” was needed before she would consider this as fact. In a later text I agreed.
ATG are you are saying the “raw analysis” does not pertain to texting via phone? You have such a wonderful way of explaining things that I really look forward to your reply. Thanks!
Whoa….my post just showed up still in moderation. This has happened to me a few times on this site, and it is always eerie when it does!!
Grace- are you referring to the post you posted a minute before this one, lol?
All posts are moderated here. xox0
B
No, Blink, it was the one I posted August 2. It was shown in moderation, then dropped, and then when I posted my last post, on August 3, it materialized again. Not sure why this happens, but it has happened one or two times in the distant past. I don’t think it is anything on your end, Blink: it could be on mine. Kind of like when I go searching the house for my eyeglasses, and finally realize that are on the top of my head!!
Question: Does anyone know who owns the red car that Mr. Beasley allegedly saw EC get into that day? Blink, you may not want to answer this if it is only going to throw more fuel on the fire, so to speak.
Grace
As you requested, I will try to explain the problems associated with getting data from a smart phone. First of all we need to understand that solid state memories can be formatted the same as a hard disk. These memories include the main memory for the phone and other memories such as an SD card or in some instances a “thumb drive”. The SIM module (subscriber information module) also has memory that is used to store information that includes the complete identification of the subscriber and the particular phone plus some space for recording calls and texts. This is a removable card that is based on “smart card” technology developed originally in France around 1988 that was the size of a credit card.
I worked with some of the early ones in 1991. They have a completely different storage structure and I/O (input/output) when compared to other memories.
Just recently Sandisk has added another dimension to data storage with their wireless thumb drive that can be used with some smart phones, computers and tablets. That one uses the FAT (file allocation table) method to store data. There are several versions of this method that have been developed to accommodate different word lengths of computers and computing devices.
A Telephone in the Smart category is actually a very small computer with a lot of power. The majority of these constructs use one of the many versions of reduced instruction set computers by ARM that have been enhanced by one of the solid state radio chip makers such as Broadcom in England. There are a half dozen or more companies that make such chips.
Phones and memories are digital devices which means that they are two state devices that use encoded bits of information made up of ones and zeros. The raw data in these devices are binary bits that are sometimes grouped in hexadecimal configurations (numbers from 0 thru 15 or 0,1,2,3,4,5,6.7,8,9,A,B,C,E,F)
As you know from your work background, forensics is about gathering the data correctly without destroying it in the process. It also means that forensics people have to understand the general methods of phone construction and how the operating system physically stores the data on a particular device.
The next thing is to find techniques that allow them to get the data off the device without changing the original. This is usually a combination of physical connections and appropriate software tools.
Assuming that the physical connections have allowed them to get the stored data, then one of the first things is deciding if that data can be introduced to another phone in the same model series as that of the original. It makes their job a lot easier if that is possible,but they must assure themselves that it is a true representation of data.
The bit streams acquired from a phone are binary digits and one of the things used to make sense of it is to transfer the data to a computer where a hex editor can expose enough of the file data to determine if it is voice or text or other such as control codes. From there, one would find the method used by the operating system to sequence the bits. Do the numbers follow the standard right to left method of our ordinary number system or is it the reverse. Computers can operate on numbers in either direction depending on the register design.
One of the first hex editors for personal computers was built by Peter Norton of Norton utilities in 1982. It was used to look at data on floppy disks and the early hard drives. All application programs have a particular design that is recognized by the control program section in the software. If one goes out to Google and searches for computer file types, the Wikipedia entry list over a thousand and that list is incomplete.
The concept and development of the GUI interface first developed at Xerox PARC and introduced in the Alto computer system was picked up by Apple in their Lisa computer product and then in windows by Microsoft. This interface hides the inner workings of the computer from the user. Prior to this development, people used a command line interface that showed a lot more about what was going on regarding the equipment and software.
Word processors use special symbols to indicate punctuation and formatting. Prior to the appearance of GUI’s, a switch could be set where all these symbols were visible on the screen. That made it possible to manually change the layout to one that the user desired rather than the default values normally used. This is the type of things that would be found in a text program on a phone. All hidden from the user.
Voice data is altogether different as the CODEC must translate speech accurately into a digital format prior to connecting to the phone network and the receiving end must take the digital information and convert it to analog via an A/D converter to drive a speaker for speech.
All of the above and we have not considered that phones now have one or two cameras that can produce still and video pictures that use large amounts of memory with particular std formats. In reading my new copy of Wired magazine, there is an application that will run if someone uses your phone and does not produce the correct password. The app directs the camera to do an automatic “selfie” and send the data to your in-box. This app is in response to the large number of phones that are stolen.
oops
A little editing required. I left out the letter D in the hex string and did not include the D/A converter. Actually those tasks that were once separate devices are now part of a chip that is named a DSP for digital signal processor. This function is integrated into the VLSI chip that contains the CPU and other functions.
Hope this helps everyone have a little better understanding of the huge amount of technology in the average phone.
more Megli verbal looseness about Nicole & Erin
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20140730/NEWS/307300072/Case-missing-Marine-wife-Erin-Corwin-cover-People-Magazine
elsewhere Megli said the 2 ladies stopped carpooling together as had been their habit in Feb.
Here she says they stopped dog park hangouts in Feb, & she ceased to see Erin with Nicole as usual.
On the otherhand, Erin might’ve simply avoided a neighbor with a child due to
her miscarriage. Interestingly, Megli said Lees ordinarily came together on Saturdays. So it is odd
if Jon was not working they were not together and he didn’t accompany her on Sat, whichever Lee she was with. If Chris had mentioned to Jon he was hunting at JT on Sat, Erin’s texts would’ve been a great franeup. But what does
one do with a 10 am lady exiting the blue car in a hat?
Now that everyone’s eyes are glazed over about all the technical data, I think the real question that needs to be asked is what is Blink’s definition of raw data from a phone?
We need to think of where does the data begin to make sense to humans that have to analyze it. The technical forensics guys do the grunt work to produce readable or visual data or audio data and that is their finished product. That finished product then becomes the raw data to those who must follow up with verify and other analysis.
To see in text the specifications and the large list of standards for a new phone, one can look at the new Amazon Fire phone. There we can see that the core processor is made by Qualicom and has four CPUs on a single chip with clock speeds in the GHZ range. That chip design probably uses an ARM ver. 11 design. The phone runs on an Android like operating similar to the Kendal Fire tablet. This is a crippled version of the full Android system.
Thank you so much, ATG, for all the information. You are a true jewel and a great teacher.
O/T: I was so afraid this would be the outcome in the Jennifer Huston case. Although the cause and manner of death have not yet been released, her disappearance reminded me so much of the disappearance of Leanne Bearden. Leanne was reportedly struggling with anxiety and depression the day she walked away. I suspect it may be the same with Jennifer. God bless and keep her family. Thinking of those two little boys brings tears to my eyes.
O/T. I agree GraceintheHills re Huston, but the outcome only occurred to me due to Blink’s always incisive insight. The way I see it, when she tanked up, & probably withdrew the cash balance in the account (I live that way too), she
had not proceeded to an exit plan. The next act on timeline was mother’s trxt. Her response was to 1) not reply, 2) disable phone, 3) proceed to Riteaid for equipment. Imo something about a Text from Mother, or its content, triggered her.That thot has made me go much easier on my girl in this transitional week & to pay special attention to use of & replies to her texts. We can’t expect adult daughters to have our judgment til they’ve lived our years.
Yes, such a tragedy. I read that LE said she disabled the phone soon after leaving Rite Aid. I don’t believe a text from her mom triggered her actions. I think we will hear more about a festering depression and/or anxiety. I think LE and the ME’s office, looking at the totality of the evidence, has stated that they think she died at or about the time that she was reported missing. She left note(s) for her family.
Agreed.
B
O/T…Hi Blink: With regard to Jennifer Huston the news is reporting suicide by asphyxiation, however, they are also stating her body was found away from her SUV. I’m a bit confused. Are you able to offer any type of explanation as to what they are referring to? When I first read the articles I thought perhaps she died from the SUV fumes (ala seal up the garage, etc.) but now I’m completely confused. Thanks ever so much!
I believe Ms. Huston either took the pills and deprived herself of Oxygen manually ( not going to expand on that as I feel it would be irresponsible to do so publicly), or hung herself. God rest her soul, and our sincere condolences to her family and all that loved her.
B
I have seen no further updates in the investigation into Erin’s disappearance. I hope and pray this is not a case that goes cold.
O/T: Just read the Jennifer Huston’s cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging. So tragic, especially when there is help out there for those who suffer from depression and/or anxiety.
Grace- unfortunately, I believe this case went cold before anyone knew she was missing.
B
Grace- unfortunately, I believe this case went cold before anyone knew she was missing.
B
*******
??Because focus is directed elsewhere??
I believe they focused entirely on one investigative avenue and with much respect to Erin’s family, they seem to have all but abandoned her out there. I apologize if that offends anyone but it is how I feel.
B
That means it went cold on Saturday.
Do you mean her “trail” was lost then?
—-
What if she died Fri nite, & Sat was clean up day?
—–
In terms of “abandoned out there” what could SanBernPD
and/or family do to rectify “abandonment”?
—
What role do you think a probable crime site on base plays?
—-
If E met her demise on base, who was the 10 am girl in the blue cap
with “green”?
no Qs were rhetorical…
I think that we have a federal military agency and a county sheriff that are at odds with what to do. There could also be a jurisdictional battle going on. This activity, if true, will delay justice.
There could be some additional problems caused by the recent heavy rain in the area that created mud slides and water damage. Desert areas are subject to extreme flooding after a heavy rain.
Bill Garcia, Private Investigator is joining the search for Erin this weekend. Anyone know anything about him? I have read both good and bad things so not sure he will be of much help. What do you think?
Never mind, Erin Corwin’s mother asked Bill Garcia to bow out and leave the search to LE. He is respecting the family’s wishes and going back to San Diego.
Blink, my understanding is that SBCSD and NCIS are still actively investigating, so I don’t think the case is cold. The trail may be cold, but I read that LE agencies are searching this weekend. When LE said they are looking for a crime scene, I believe them. I think the Navy and SBCSD want this case solved.
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Ode says:
August 9, 2014 at 7:49 pm
Grace- unfortunately, I believe this case went cold before anyone knew she was missing.
B
*******
??Because focus is directed elsewhere??
I believe they focused entirely on one investigative avenue and with much respect to Erin’s family, they seem to have all but abandoned her out there. I apologize if that offends anyone but it is how I feel.
B
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blink, who do you think seems to have abandoned Erin out there? LE or her family?
Definitely not LE- I do agree with you that this is an active investigation and that both NCIS and SBCSD want this case solved. I think Lee was an early suspect (rightly so)but I think my contacts and in a vague reference of the case agent indicate Cpl. Corwin has not so much as been the subject of a TSI to date- CID/NCIS exerting JAG involvement. In some ways I don’t blame them to protect Corwin’s interests/rights, but I do think it lulls an investigation.
Unfortunately, I do feel that Erin’s family could and should be doing more to increase efforts in the case- that is just reality and the adage the squeakiest wheel.. I can’t say more than that because it would be compromising a source, but her parents leaving and their reasons given are not one I normally see in substantially similar cases.
I know they are deeply spiritual people and sometimes people just need to leave it to God, I can’t fault them for that.
B
I see how important & valuable it would be for her parents to remain there & advocate with the PD, & media.
But they have nowhere to stay unless Corwin opens his home & supports them. If he was involved, that’s the last thing he’d do. Likely they had jobs to keep & return to. And ordinarily folks with their education & economics & subcultural groups trust the pastor, the banker, the police without any question of any kind and follow their directions. Let’s face it, Erin eloped at 17 with no thought of college. I just saw a CNN Brad Bishop rehash. It happens. Maybe Corwin was growing beyond her & babies & in part that motivated her wanderlust.
You have established Cpl C became grievously destructive to his own property & home that weekend while drinking.
Any indication this was a regular issue (drinking to excess resulting in self control issues)?
Did they own a small red car?
Yes to the drinking, no lead on the small red car as to relevant ownership.
B
picking up reports that erin’s body has been found and lee has been arrested for homicide.
http://www.kesq.com/news/sb-county-sheriff-calls-news-conf-today-to-update-corwin-case/27584566
This is correct information. Apologize for not being more available. God Bless Erin and her family. Although we expected this news, it is never any comfort.
B
Shepard Smith on Fox News is reporting that Erin’s body was found and Lee has been arrested and is in jail. The charges are not known at the time of the report nor is the location of the jail.This is from the California news room. They also think that Lee’s wife is involved and she may be charged as an accessory.
My thoughts on this have always been that Lee and wife abducted Erin and took her somewhere for the murder. Then the wife dressed in clothing that would conceal who it actually was, to return the car to where it was found.
I don’t think the NCIS and SBCS investigators wanted to make this move until they had recovered the body. Lee could be in jail in Alaska. We may get more information later today.
My prayers to the family. To loose a young woman just beginning her adult life is always difficult on the family.
Expected, but so incredibly sad. Is it possible that the person who more than likely helped Lee commit the crime is now working with LE?
Btw, kudos to all LE involved, including the searchers who would not give up.
They were on the correct path all along.
Deepest condolences to Jon and the family.
e s
I agree to the kudos and the searchers. I also agree that there may be someone with knowledge that was cooperating. 140 ft in a mine shaft via camera I am not sure most folks realize how difficult that is. While there are some questions that remain, the most important thing is that Erin has been recovered. God rest her soul, and that of her baby.
B
The Associated Press is reporting the body of Erin was found 140 feet down an abandoned mine shaft. The SBCS investigators were conducting a planned search of all abandoned mine shafts in the area. The method of search was by video camera. Apparently there is a map of all abandoned shafts in the county.
The new video technology is something the perp(s)never thought about. The searchers probably decided to follow up on the comment that the body would never be found thinking that it would be in deep canyon or one of the the many abandoned mine shafts.
The body was recovered on Sunday after being found on Saturday. Identification was by dental records. The autopsy has not been completed and cause of death not released.
Lee is in jail in Anchorage,Alaska and will be expedited to California when paper work is complete.
Rest in peace Erin. I hope all involved in your murder will see justice! You were just a child who came upon evil and I am so sorry this happened to you. I send prayers to all who knew and loved you.
Congrats to SBPD.
Ditto, and to the fine men and women on the SAR teams who did not leave her, and did not give up. That can be a brutal existence in that climate especially. As soon as I know more details, I am making a donation on behalf of BOC.
B
One of the things that I and others often do not consider are the resources kept by the various county, city and state Emergency Management systems that are useful in conducting searches. This includes maps of underground structures including those that have been abandoned. In this case, the maps of abandoned mine shafts.
With the development of small video cameras with wide angle lenses coupled with the very bright luminance of multiple LEDs driven by small batteries, mine shafts and well bores can be searched efficiently by as few as two people. The new small robot developments are a potential aid in searching places that are difficult for humans to search.
I hope that LE agencies will continue to expand their use of technology in investigating crime and searching for those who are missing.
Blink- Can you explain this whole tire thing and ‘lying in wait’? Did he put her body in the tires and burn her?
http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/prosecutor-former-marine-murdered-comrades-wife/27620982
“Ramos wasn’t able to give many details regarding the case, but he says when those details are released the public will understand why the crime was so awful. He described lying in wait as a special allegation under California law that is used when a defendant “sets up or surprises their victim.”
“There was information that they were going to go on a special trip together,” Ramos said. “The victim had told somebody that information.”
Although court documents have described Lee as Corwin’s lover, Ramos says his actual plans involved Corwin’s death.
“The day she disappeared, he was collecting tires,” Ramos said. “And that ties to his research of how to dispose of a human being, because with tires they can burn for hours and hours.”
Ramos would not say if Corwin’s body was burned.
Despite Lee’s decision regarding his extradition rights Tuesday, officials have contingency plans for bringing him to California.
“If he doesn’t waive extradition then we have a different process that takes longer to get him back to the state of California but we will get him eventually,” Ramos said.”
Little by little information is being released by LE regarding what they were working from and what they found at the site.
They took the Lee computers at the time of the search of the Lee residence in California. Lee had used the computer to search for a way to bury a body. It is not clear if he did this on some social site and received some suggestions. This may have created the task of searching the various abandoned mining shafts in the area.
At the recovery site the search team recovered 22 cal. spent casings and rebar. It is not known what part the rebar played, if any, in Erin’s death. The spent 22 cal. casings matched those found in the home and other casings found in the red jeep.
Lee is being held under charges that if convicted will make it a death penalty case.
SBCS investigators are to be commended in their efforts to solve this case.
The arrests of Lee and wife were made in Anchorage, Alaska Saturday evening after discovery of the body earlier in the day. He is the one held in jail. However,nothing is available regarding his wife. If it was Lee’s wife spotted leaving Erin’s car and walking to the jeep, that may lead to charges as an accessory to the crime.
This case hurts my heart. Erin was too inexperienced to handle the situation. Was her husband a mean alcoholic that treated her badly? If so, she made a very poor choice to become involved with a married man who showed the world how little he cared for her by taking her life.
ATG- Like you, I am praying for answers that I hope will add some clarity as a “life lesson” for other young women. I do not think this case is over, to your point, I posted that I could find no image of Erin in a ball cap and I do not believe that Mrs. Lee was ignorant of the situation.
B