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Woman Raped In Lay-By After Stopping For Child Seat

escargot

Disciple of Marduk
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If we have a thread for this type of attack, Mods can shunt it.

I'm sure I've read on'ere about folklore around child car seats dumped in lay-bys but I can't find it now.

Can remember mentioning that I'd seen child seats left next to a box that had held a similar item, and inferring that a new seat had been bought and the old one and the packaging from the new one dumped together.

In this case though the seat seems to have been left as bait. Seems unlikely but the police are seriously considering it.
Guardian link -
Woman raped in Berkshire layby after stopping for child seat

A driver was raped after she stopped to check if a child was safe after spotting an empty car seat in a layby, police have said.

Thames Valley police said the woman was raped in a layby on the A4 in Thatcham, Berkshire, opposite the junction with Cox’s Lane, in an attack late on 16 August.

The force, whose officers were called at around midnight, said it is now investigating whether the empty car seat was used to the lure the victim who had been driving on the A4 before she was attacked.
 
If we have a thread for this type of attack, Mods can shunt it.

I'm sure I've read on'ere about folklore around child car seats dumped in lay-bys but I can't find it now.

Can remember mentioning that I'd seen child seats left next to a box that had held a similar item, and inferring that a new seat had been bought and the old one and the packaging from the new one dumped together.

In this case though the seat seems to have been left as bait. Seems unlikely but the police are seriously considering it.
Guardian link -
Woman raped in Berkshire layby after stopping for child seat
From the Guardian: "She stopped her vehicle at the scene because she saw a child’s car seat in a layby and was concerned there might be a child at risk because the car seat was empty."

Its a horrific crime and so I won't comment other than to say If you look at this on Google maps the lay-by is in full view of passing traffic with street lighting on the opposite side of the road, so easy to spot the car seat even in the dark. It is right on the edge of Thatcham and it is the old main road to Bath before the M4 was built. It should have been quite busy on this road even at night and Police are appealing for witnesses and dash cam footage. It will be very interesting to see how the investigation pans out.
 
The locus of the alleged crime, Cox’s Lane turn at mid-right:

66BD30AA-C058-47CD-9AB8-89D417A2BBC5.png


l have to say that the idea of a suspect deliberately placing a child’s seat there, then waiting on the off-chance that a woman on her own would stop to investigate, seems implausible. There are plenty of more target-rich environments for sex offenders to frequent.

maximus otter
 
From the Guardian: "She stopped her vehicle at the scene because she saw a child’s car seat in a layby and was concerned there might be a child at risk because the car seat was empty."

Its a horrific crime and so I won't comment other than to say If you look at this on Google maps the lay-by is in full view of passing traffic with street lighting on the opposite side of the road, so easy to spot the car seat even in the dark. It is right on the edge of Thatcham and it is the old main road to Bath before the M4 was built. It should have been quite busy on this road even at night and Police are appealing for witnesses and dash cam footage. It will be very interesting to see how the investigation pans out.
People are busy, on their way to somewhere, driving past. There might be useful information from dashcam when the driver hadn't noticed anything.

Can remember a Crimewatch episode where a woman had been attacked in a parked car, possibly at rush hour. People in slow-moving traffic nearby saw the car's lights and wipers go on as the woman tried to attract attention but thought nothing of it. :(
 
The locus of the alleged crime, Cox’s Lane turn at mid-right:

View attachment 43930

l have to say that the idea of a suspect deliberately placing a child’s seat there, then waiting on the off-chance that a woman on her own would stop to investigate, seems implausible. There are plenty of more target-rich environments for sex offenders to frequent.

maximus otter

Yes, find it implausible too, but that probably won't prevent it from becoming an urban legend: don't stop if you see a car seat in a lay-by...

Breaking News: https://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/new...man-bracknell-arrested-following-a4-incident/
 
People are busy, on their way to somewhere, driving past. There might be useful information from dashcam when the driver hadn't noticed anything.

Can remember a Crimewatch episode where a woman had been attacked in a parked car, possibly at rush hour. People in slow-moving traffic nearby saw the car's lights and wipers go on as the woman tried to attract attention but thought nothing of it. :(
I think that's this one. It's one of my 'pet cases' because there are so many questions thrown up by it...
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/greenford-unsolved-murder-stabbing-17510986
 
I think that's this one. It's one of my 'pet cases' because there are so many questions thrown up by it...
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/greenford-unsolved-murder-stabbing-17510986
Yup, that's it. She seems to have tried to raise the alarm several ways but nobody acted.

Like this bloke -

A witness came forward six months after the murder and claimed he saw her driving into the car park with a passenger, mouthing the words "help me", which he ignored.

If that's true, which seems unlikely, he could have intervened.

People seem to have assumed Ruth's husband's former lover was responsible but he was cleared.

Is one of your questions 'If Ruth managed to drive the car so slowly, couldn't she have stopped and jumped out?'
That has occurred to me.
 
Yup, that's it. She seems to have tried to raise the alarm several ways but nobody acted.

Like this bloke -

A witness came forward six months after the murder and claimed he saw her driving into the car park with a passenger, mouthing the words "help me", which he ignored.

If that's true, which seems unlikely, he could have intervened.

People seem to have assumed Ruth's husband's former lover was responsible but he was cleared.

Is one of your questions 'If Ruth managed to drive the car so slowly, couldn't she have stopped and jumped out?'
That has occurred to me.
Many many questions, some of which have answers, such as how could someone jump out of a car where they had just stabbed someone viciously to death and were therefore COVERED in blood, in the middle of a busy car park and not be seen by ANYONE? Why would you drive along flashing your lights instead of sounding the horn?
 
Many many questions, some of which have answers, such as how could someone jump out of a car where they had just stabbed someone viciously to death and were therefore COVERED in blood, in the middle of a busy car park and not be seen by ANYONE? Why would you drive along flashing your lights instead of sounding the horn?
Hey, this is spooky! :omg:

Just now I had an email from Cheshire News. I am a subscriber so that's nothing out of the ordinary.
However, it features an item on the unsolved murder of a Widnes woman whose body was found in similar circumstances to that of Ruth Bell, just two and a half months after Bell's death.

Hunt for killer of Cheshire mum found dead in car continues 30 years on

The hunt for a killer of a mum found dead in her car continues 30 years on.
Veronica Anderson, known as Vera, left her home in Widnes at 10.10pm on Saturday, August 24, 1991 after receiving a phone call.

But just hours later, shortly after 3am on Sunday, August 25, 1991, the 42-year-old was found slumped over the front seats of her car on land just off Tannery Lane in Penketh, Warrington with her throat slashed. She had also been strangled.

Not saying there's a connection, just that the story popped up soon after we reminded ourselves of the Bell case.

(Also, I'm half-watching The Haunting of M.R. James which mentions the date of James' death, 55 years to the day before Bell's murder.
Are we being told something?)
 
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Hey, this is spooky! :omg:

Just now I had an email from Cheshire News. I am a subscriber so that's nothing out of the ordinary.
However, it features an item on the unsolved murder of a Widnes woman whose body was found in similar circumstances to that of Ruth Bell, just two and a half months after Bell's death.

Hunt for killer of Cheshire mum found dead in car continues 30 years on



Not saying there's a connection, just that the story popped up soon after we reminded ourselves of the Bell case.

(Also, I'm half-watching The Haunting of M.R. James which mentions the date of James' death, 55 years to the day after Bell's murder.
Are we being told something?)

You're a qualified criminologist! That's why yiu got that email, they want you to solve the case!
 
You're a qualified criminologist! That's why yiu got that email, they want you to solve the case!
Strange though innit. OK, one woman was killed in daylight and the other at night, and the murders were nearly 200 miles apart, but they were similar enough for my to think the headline for the Northern one was about the West London one.
 
I think that's this one. It's one of my 'pet cases' because there are so many questions thrown up by it...
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/greenford-unsolved-murder-stabbing-17510986
I don't want to make light of such an horrific crime but crikey, what a tale, especially the husband with the former gay lover. I wonder if she was trying to pay-off someone from her past, someone for whom £8,500 would represent a lot of money and hence the 'appointment'....?
 
Strange though innit. OK, one woman was killed in daylight and the other at night, and the murders were nearly 200 miles apart, but they were similar enough for my to think the headline for the Northern one was about the West London one.
You are Jessica Fletcher and I claim my £5
 
Am I alone in wondering why anyone would think an empty child seat would make effective "bait"?

It seems unlikely that a car accident would result in both the seat being ejected from the car, and the child being ejected from the seat, with car, child and driver nowhere to be seen. I would just have assumed it had been fly-tipped.

Evidently it did work, though, unfortunately.
 
Well, yesterday I was on a train headed South West that passed close to the site of this crime. I caught a glimpse of the road as we sped by (or at least I think I did).

Still no further news. I wonder if the perpetrator will get snared by his DNA at some future date.
 
Am I alone in wondering why anyone would think an empty child seat would make effective "bait"?

It seems unlikely that a car accident would result in both the seat being ejected from the car, and the child being ejected from the seat, with car, child and driver nowhere to be seen. I would just have assumed it had been fly-tipped.

Evidently it did work, though, unfortunately.

Perhaps it didn't look empty. A rolled-up blanket or coat placed on it might look enough like a baby in the dark.

Have to say though, if I saw that I'd ring the police without investigating the seat myself. Drive to the next lay-by, pull up, make sure the doors were locked and make the call.

I have done similar in the past; reporting boulders on a road, malfunctioning temporary traffic lights that nearly got me killed etc. Wasn't waiting around to point anything out and the police were happy to be told.
 
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