Photo of the Day

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Mr Pierce

I absolutely love looking at people to see what I can discern from their attire, facial expressions, facial features, demeanor, etc.  If we are cognizant, we can actual glean a lot of information about a person before a word is ever spoken, and this information is usually quite reliable.

This man is fascinating.  He is in a photo taken by a stranger and he doesn’t crack a smile.  The photographer wrote that he saw the man sitting outside a bar in the U.K. and just asked if he could take his picture and the guy said yes, and then afterwards, the man in the photo bought the photographer a drink.

He shows a serious side by his expression, and yet his attire is anything but serious, if you ask me.  It is very flamboyant–almost over-the-top, if you will.  His attire makes a bold statement that this man is willing to push the envelope, he is willing to step outside of societies expectations, and that combined with the flamboyancy of his clothing, we can speculate he is a man who likes attention.  We can further support that by the fact he let the guy take his photo and then bought him a drink.  He wanted to talk to a man who was interested in him!

His posture, jewelry and attire also suggest a bit of self-admiration. This man could be slightly arrogant, and perhaps insecure. He likes to portray a serious face that is somewhat foreboding:  “Don’t mess with me”  Yet he gives mixed messages with his clothing.  His attire tells me he’d crack a laugh without too much effort, and probably is quite the jokester.

I call what I have done here facial profiling. Science is researching this and finding that people do thin-slicing quite well and accurately.  Read more here.

Becky and Sergio Celis on The Today Show

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When I first look at Becky and Sergio, I immediately notice their demeanor. It stands out to me.  They are both extremely somber and hopeless looking.  There is no urgency in them whatsoever to find their daughter.  Why?  Why have they given up?  It seems they have been this way from day one.  How do you give up if you believe your daughter is abducted and could still be out there?

When Becky first talks, I feel like she is making a conscious effort to talk about her daughter in present tense, and as soon as Sergio slips and uses past tense, he corrects himself. It’s notable.  The last time Becky talked about her daughter, she used past tense, and while that can be a clue to deception, it isn’t always, but the change in her behavior now is what stands out.  You can just feel her thinking as she speaks.  

Sergio doesn’t seem to have a solid last memory of his last time with Isa.  He doesn’t talk about tucking her into bed, hugging her good night, getting her ready for bed.  I don’t hear him have recollection memories like “I didn’t tuck her in to bed that night and I so regret it.”   Instead his memory is one of her walking past him not wanting to eat. He says, “I was asking her…” instead of “I asked her…”.    He doesn’t talk in terms of what he remembers.  His memories are… “She just was …she was…she is…”
Becky does a lot of shoulder shrugging as she is talking, which is showing a lack of confidence in what she is saying. Why doesn’t the woman have confidence in what she should know to be true? That they are innocent, that someone took their daughter, that she is out there and can be found, if people work together and no one gives up!?
For Sergio to say that Isabel doesn’t deserve this is odd.  “Deserve” is a weird word for a child that he believes was abducted. I don’t think any parent would think in these terms if their child was a victim of a crime.  However, if something happened to Isa under their watch which caused her harm, they might use these terms.
Sergio is asked if he believes his daughter is being held somewhere by the Today Show. If you notice, Sergio doesn’t answer the question, but he does say they have a reward ready.  Are you kidding me?  There there has been nothing said about a ransom!  Where does this come from?  Most parents don’t automatically think of a ransom when a child is abducted. This is very strange!!
Sergio says when talking about being looked at in this case, “We do feel sometimes that they’re wasting time with us even though we know we have to be under, you know, scrutiny, absolutely, understandable:   but my goodness, she’s still out there.“
When he says this, he actually breaks out into a smile.  How could he ever find that funny?  Most people would be upset if the police were wrongly looking at them.  They also wouldn’t feel that “sometimes” they are wasting time.  They would feel like every time they look at the them, they are wasting time.
Clearly, their answers are not consistent with what they want us to believe.
I also find it odd that Becky only wants “prayers” to bring her daughter home instead of volunteers to search, people to look for their daughter at gas stations, supermarkets, convenience stories. Most moms would say anyone who you think looks like Isa, please call police. No lead is unimportant, but no she just wants prayers.  That is stressed way more than their desire for people to search. Very strange.
Becky specifically says she wants prayers to “bring her…to help us bring her home.”  You almost feel they are asking for prayers for someone to find their little girl’s body, to help them get her home without implicating them so this whole ordeal can be over with.
I have no doubt the parents know a different story than what they are telling us about Isa right now. Very sad.
 

Latest Update on Ryan Ferguson Case

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Here is the last update to the Ryan Ferguson case.  If you aren’t familiar with it, you can read my original post here.

Ryan Ferguson was locked up seven years ago for allegedly murdering Kent Heitholt, a newspaper editor in Missouri.  Two people testified against Ryan during his trial and now both have recanted their stories.

First, Chuck Erickson, Ryan’s friend, recanted his story that he was with Ryan at the murder, and now Jerry Trump, an employee at the newspaper where Heitholt worked has recanted his story as well as that he saw Ferguson.

I have said from the first time I saw this case that Ryan (& Chuck) are innocent, and hopefully a judge will agree after this evidentary hearing is ruled upon sometime in July.

I absolutely LOVE Kathleen Zellner. She is brilliant!

The person who I believe should be a person-of-interest in this case is Michael Boyd.  I agree whole-heartedly with Kathleen!

The original prosecutor in this case needs to be held accountable, if you asked me for abusing the system, and Ryan needs to be set free.

Jeffrey Locker and Kenneth Minor on 48 Hours

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This has to be one of the most bizarre stories I have seen since writing this blog for seven years!  Jeffrey Locker was found stabbed to death in Harlem, and what police uncovered in the search for the killer was bizarre.  Video footage quickly lead them to Kenneth Minor as their suspect and murderer, but Minor’s story was like a twisted nightmare like no other I have ever heard!

Minor claimed that Locker asked him to kill him because he was involved in a ponzi scheme and was in serious financial trouble.  Minor said that Locker wanted to be murdered so his family could collect on his insurance policies.  According to 48 Hours, his insurance policies totaled a staggering twelve million dollars.

When I watched Minor tell his story, I have to admit, I was going back and forth like a ship rocking:  I believe him here, he’s lying here, and then I didn’t know what to think.  I had to absorb everything to make sense of it all.  As with many cases, the truth and lies are often blended together, and I suspect that is the case here.

Clearly, Minor has no remorse for what he did, and would have no problem killing a man for money.  We can see he went out to cash in immediately.  He also hit me as someone who could lie to anyone without worry. I wonder if he is pathological.

In the end, I personally do not believe Minor’s version of events that Locker plunged himself into a knife that Minor held. I think that was a story concocted by Minor to say it was suicide, and only suicide–thinking he could get off.  I believe Minor outright stabbed Locker, but I also believe that Locker did have a plan and wanted to be murdered because of the evidence uncovered by police–specifically the email from Locker’s son and the bizarre behavior of Locker’s wife and kids when the police alerted them about his death.

You can’t write fiction this crazy.  You simply can’t!

48 Hours reported that during Minor’s trial, no one from the Locker’s immediate family came to the trial. The Lockers haven’t done any interviews about this story at all, which I find suspect.  If their beloved Jeffrey was killed by a stranger, without their knowledge, you would think they would want justice and would want to call out a liar, but they don’t.  They keep out of the public eye, and have pursued the insurance money.

How I would love to see Jeffrey’s widow speak about this!!!

48 Hours also mentioned that Jeffrey’s wife is suing one insurance company for $4 million dollars.  The other company that issued $8 million dollar policy refused to release if they paid the Lockers or not.   I suspect by that statement alone that they did pay, and that combined with the fact Mrs. Locker is only suing the company, supports that, too.

Can you imagine allowing your husband to get “murdered” so you can live a rich life? 

How creepy is that?

Isabel Celis Parents Plea for her Return

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In another unfortunate twist this week, we see more parents pleading for their child’s safe return, but the problem, again, is we are seeing feigned emotions.

I am troubled by many things in this plea:

  1. Their focus is on themselves–“We just wanted to let you guys know…” “We are cooperating to the fullest extent..”  These are their first thoughts!!
  2. Becky slips and says, “We do not want you to focus…or…we don’t want the focus to be taken off of Isabel.” Is that a subconscious slip of the tongue?
  3. The higher pitch of Sergio’s voice…
  4. The lack of tears when they appear to be crying.
  5. The lack of oblique eyebrows at key times when they attempt to express true sadness.
  6. The lack of urgency to find their daughter. They start the interview by thanking people instead of pleading for people to keep a lookout for their daughter, give her description, etc. Which would be more important to you if your daughter was missing?
  7.  Their complete despair and lack of hope.  

While both of these people are undeniably feeling stress, they are trying to express sadness and fear, but show no sincere expressions to support it.

I also notice how they are fine before they talk, but get “emotional” when they are speaking, but as soon as the camera is off of them again, they go back to being normal.  This is called emotional turbulence and is not a good sign.

Becky also uses self-soothing gestures when she rubs her neck.  While these are not an indicator of deception, why does she have the need to self-sooth when she speaks to the media?

I am also troubled by how these two are extremely clingy.  They act like the need each other desperately.Are they hiding a horrible secret?  Most parents of children who are missing legitimately are not clingy.  They are strong, resolved, hopeful and plead for information to bring their child back.  These two seem troubled internally much more than they are about their missing daughter, if you ask me.

I suspect we will find out these two know more than they are telling us…how sad for Isabel.