Historical imagery of "the field"

[jd]

(I made this one point into a series of posts so you can see each picture individually as I am talking about it.  Thought it might be easier that way.)

Here is what the search field at the corner of W Oak Ridge and S Orange Blossom looks like today:

[jd]

Here is a closer view of the exact section where LE is digging.

You can tell from this raw TV video footage that LE is digging in  amongst the trees:

http://www.wftv.com/video/22610456/index.html

[jd]

Here is how the field looked on Feb 28, 2006, just four weeks after Jen vanished.

Obviously, LE has the tip and I don't, but it strikes me that a criminal or anyone digging a hole wouldn't do it in the trees if it can be avoided.  Have you ever tried using a shovel to dig a hole near a tree?  Virtually impossible because there are too many roots.

[jd]

Looking slightly away from the dig location back in Feb, 2006, there seems to be tire marks in the grass.

[Sandy]

Looking slightly away from the dig location back in Feb, 2006, there seems to be tire marks in the grass.

yes, those are def tire tracks, and 'dusty' ones at that?  remember the light-colored 'mud' on jennifer's car?

[Sandy]

Here is how the field looked on Feb 28, 2006, just a few four weeks after Jen vanished.

Obviously, LE has the tip and I don't, but it strikes me that a criminal or anyone digging a hole wouldn't do it in the trees if it can be avoid.  Have you ever tried using a shovel to dig a hole near a tree?  Virtually impossible because there are too many roots.

maybe they are digging, only because debris from the trees, and plantings under those trees, may have covered up a body pretty well, if one had been there for so many years...  i agree that it would be difficult for someone to dig under those trees...

[jd]

Here is a blow up of the tire mark area.  Note the following:

* The tire marks come to an abrupt end.

* Leading away from the car is a very small foot path.  This foot path also comes to an abrupt end 20 feet later.

* The small short foot path is certainly not as well traveled as the larger wider foot path near the dig location.  It's as if the dig location foot path was used by many over time to cut through the field.  The smaller foot path looks like it was used only once.

* Even the tire marks look like a one time only deal because they are so narrow.  If you have seen dirt roads across a field, the tire marks carve out a path about 2 feet wide for each tire, with a grass strip in the middle.  But the tire marks in this field look they are the exact width of tires passing over the grass just one time.
 

[jd]

Then, by 7 months later, in Sep 2006, the tire marks and small foot path are gone.  Whereas  the larger well traveled foot path by the dig location is still there.  Further suggesting that the tire marks and small foot path were a one time thing and that they happened round about the time Jen disappeared.

[jd]

So one month after Jen disappeared there is evidence of tire marks in this exact field where the tip came in. 

And a foot path leading away from the car to an empty part of the field. 

First off, unbelievable that Google happened to have a photo of the field at exactly that time! 

I'm thinking Sopranos.  Someone pulls up in the night time.  It is dark.  They leave their headlights on.  And using that light they dig a hole 20 feet from the car.

If you look at the bigger picture of the field, the location, the car, the headlights are very well sheltered from the road and cars passing by.

The location is also far from tree roots.

Walking back to the car a few times, dragging something from the trunk, they carved out a small foot path.

I wish there was a way to suggest to LE to dig in this exactly location.  The "junk" as a reference point is still there today.  The exact spot marking the end of the small foot path could be easily found.

[Sandy]

bill - can you send this one in to LE?

i see everything as your have outlined it, jd!  very solid theory.  i totally think it is worth a shot to dig in that exact spot! 

[jd]

Damn, look at this image.

In March of 2008, a new small swirly path exactly next to the "junk" reference point.  You can actually see how the path goes in circles, as if someone was looking for something.

Also, you can see that areas of the vegetation in and around the "junk" reference point  have been cleared away and the white sandy soil was exposed, as if someone was digging.

More recent images of that exact area show the sandy patches overgrown with vegetation again.

It looks like someone was digging for something in that spot. 

[jd]

And just to make note, the sandy soil under the vegetation is white.

And on the image from a month after Jen vanished, there is a white  circle just at the end of the small foot path.  Exactly like you might expect to find if someone was digging a hole.

In later images, the white "junk" is still visible.  But that one white spot at the end of the foot path is no longer there, as if it has once again been overgrown.

[Sefora]

EXCELLENT work jd!!!
is this field private property? No trespassing etc?

[MPEA]

good job jd,always like reading your post,keep it up.

[Sandy]

good job jd,always like reading your post,keep it up.

isn't she amazing?  great work jd!