Natalee Holloway skeleton?

Whether or not this is Natalee Holloway's skeleton, or whether it is even a skeleton at all, someone will have to dive down to this location to verify.

Click for larger view.

Maybe it is a skeleton, though. I took the image from foxnews.com, then modified it slightly, to bring out details, using the simple color controls in the Apple Preview application. A real photo-analyst could probably do better, but here is what I did:

1. Optimized sharpness
2. Desaturated the color to black and white
3. enhanced contrast, brightness and exposure.

but when I did these enhancements, it did bring out some maybes:

1. Near arrow, a human mandible, slightly detached from skull?
2. Near arrow, a row of human teeth?

Maybe an expert photo-analyst will have more success.

Some caveats:

1. I am not sure why the image is all blue; did the news agency do this for some reason?
2. Also, I am not sure if that banded creature in the lower right is a sea snake or a moray eel. I thought sea snakes were only in the Indian and Pacific, not the Caribbean.

Everyone hopes that this and all the other mysterious disappearances are solved as soon as possible.

Caylee Anthony autopsy and lab analysis

The sad story now has more details. The autopsy report and lab analyses are available on Orlando Sentinel website: Autopsy of Caylee Marie released

A few findings seem important:

1. Concentration of gaseous chloroform in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car was roughly a million times higher than a similar Pontiac car trunk that was used for comparison.
2. The remains found in December were only a skeleton and hair. Apparently animals scattered the remains before it was completely decomposed, judging by sets of vertebrae found together and not scattered to individual locations.
3. Duct tape adhered to the front of the skull and kept the lower jaw (mandible) from falling away -- it was still in contact with the upper skull (maxilla), meaning that the tape was attached before the body decomposed.

The FBI report analyzing the plastic bags was difficult to understand.

A sad end to a precious life.

Stalker slays student in Orlando

Another horrible stalker kidnap and slaying in Orlando.

Jogger abducted, killed by someone familiar with area, investigator says Amy L. Edwards, Sarah Lundy and Walter Pacheco Orlando Sentinel Staff Writers 2:02 PM EDT, June 12, 2008

A jogger killed Tuesday night in east Orange County was abducted from the trail by someone familiar with the area, a sheriff's investigator said today. Nicole Ganguzza, a graduate student at the University of Central Florida, probably was killed where she was found, off the Little Econ Greenway just north of Colonial Drive, sheriff's Sgt. Allen Lee said.

Police think it is someone who knows the area near this park.

Television viewers will have their hearts broken to hear the sadness in this woman's voice.

On Wednesday night, Jessica Gallo came to the overpass on Econlockhatchee Trail to pray for Ganguzza's family. Gallo said Ganguzza was her marriage counselor. "She's just truly a great person. Just wonderful. I mean she helped so many people," Gallo said. "My prayers are with her family. In my heart, she's my family, and I love her so much," she said.

Who is this person that kills young women in Orlando? Is it the same person who "disappeared" Jennifer Kesse two years ago? On the surface, one would say no, it is clearly another person. Even so, I wager that the police are double-checking very carefully.

And there seem to be undercurrents. From the same news report:

1. "Investigators think the killer planned the attack carefully and may have sat off the trail, working up his nerve, Lee said." So perhaps the bloodhounds found this beaten down patch of grass near the trail? If working up nerve, was Ganguzza the planned victim or just the first potential victim to come by?
2. "Detectives have searched transient camps in the area ..." This is a small similarity to the Jennifer Kesse case. There is a transient camp behind the shopping center near where her car was found.
3. "Investigators planned to review surveillance tapes from local convenience stores for any signs of Ganguzza." I hope they find something, but why are they looking for signs of Ganguzza at convenience stores? Not the murderer? She was jogging the trails. Did the reporters make an error here? Or have the police inadvertently let slip a small piece of evidence? Usually they are very careful to avoid that.

I sincerely hope that this guy gets caught quickly, and then the police can get back on the Jennifer Kesse case.

Soon, oh Lord.

Where is Abel thy brother?

Burial fiasco appalls family July 10, 2007, ANI MARTINEZ, Miami Herald

Fort Lauderdale's Sunset Memorial Gardens cemetery has come under fire once again over allegations that it mishandled a grave site -- this time allowing a casket of a 28-year-old murder victim to float in a pool of water in an open grave. Errol Williams said he found the coffin of his daughter, Cassandra Williams, of Coconut Creek, in the open grave on July 2, following a heavy rain. Her funeral was two days earlier, on June 30... Cassandra Williams and her boyfriend, Chris Thompson, were shot to death in the 5200 block of Northwest 16th Court in Lauderhill on June 16. Their bodies were found that night stuffed in a car trunk a few miles away in Sunrise, said police... Family and friends attended Williams' 3 p.m. service at Grace Funeral Chapels, 5980 W. Oakland Park Blvd., on June 30. From the funeral home, they traveled to the cemetery at 3201 NW 19th St. After a quick service there, the family left, thinking the grave site would be covered. It was not. On July 2, Errol Williams returned at 9:30 a.m. to visit his daughter's grave site one more time before he and his wife returned to their Cape Coral home in Lee County. He was distraught to find the open grave.

The precious daughter Cassandra is murdered, then her family suffers again to see their daughter's body neglected and alone.

It seems impossible that Earth can keep spinning once per day and not crack apart into a million fragments because of this cruelty and pain.

And the Lord said unto Cain, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."

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Jennifer Kesse case similar to Ft. Lauderdale case?

This Ft. Lauderdale kidnap/murder case has a few factors that resemble the Jennifer Kesse kidnap case up in Orlando.

LAUDERHILL: 2 bodies found in trunk June 18, 2007 Nirvi Shah and Jennifer Mooney-Piedra, Miami Herald

An hour after Lauderhill police were called and told that someone was placing what looked like a body in the trunk of a silver car Saturday night, Sunrise police found a car matching the description about a mile away... The car had apparently been driven from the 5200 block of Northwest 16th Court in Lauderhill to an apartment complex about a mile away at 6121 NW 11th St. in Sunrise near Sunset Strip, Lauderhill police said.

The similarities are that the criminals drove a mile away and dumped off the car at an apartment complex near a shopping center with easy access to major highways. The Fort Lauderdale crime involved a group of three criminals, not an individual.
Geographic layout of Lauderhill/Sunrise crime scene