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THE BLUE VAN

Patty Brightwell Vaughan

27 Dec 1996 : Patty's relatives notified Bexar County Sheriff's Office that her van had been found by the side of the road at Loop 1604 and FM 1937.

Piecing it together:

December 25, 1996: anonymous caller's friend (to Bexar County Sheriff Office) saw a blue van on the same road pull over. "A white male exited the van and began running away from the van, then stopped and ran back towards the van as if he had forgotten something."

26 Dec 1996 at 8 am Patty's van was not where it was later found (according to her co-worker Terry)

26 Dec 1996 morning Patty's van was not there (according to her co-worker Manual Lopez)

26 Dec 1996 at 9:30 am Patty's van was not there (according to her co-worker Del Quinney)

26 Dec 1996, around 1:30 pm Patty's co-worker Del Quinney discovered her van parked on side of the road way. Front tire was flat, but no puncture. [Lopez also examined it later and found no cuts or punctures. Later the flat tire was found to effectively hold 26 pounds of air pressure.]

26 Dec 1996 afternoon: after getting spare set of van keys from JR, Patty's co-workers Quinney and Lopez went to Patty's van and noticed exhaust manifold to the engine was still warm to the touch. They changed the flat tire. Lopez did not have to adjust either the seat or the mirrors to drive the van (to Patty's place of work Quinney Electric.)

27 Dec 1996: Bexar County Sheriff's Deputies A. Ramirez and B. Johnson investigated the van. Ramirez found a dark colored stain on the bottom portion of the rear center seat. When Johnson kneeled down on the van's carpeting (in the area between the rear seat and the sliding door) to look at the stain, he discovered that his jeans now had wet stains on the knees. Ramirez believed the carpeting in the area between the rear seat and sliding door had been washed or cleaned. When they removed the rear center seat, they observed that the seat holders nearest the sliding van door contained a significant amount of water. Using the chemical substance Luminol, Ramirez found a reaction in the areas of the carpet between the van's sliding door and the center seat, under the rear portion of the front passenger seat, under the rear seat sliding door side, and on the interior of the sliding door. After removing the plastic covers around the center seat closest to sliding door area, Ramirez noticed some red and brown stained condensation under the larger piece of plastic that holds part of the seat belt strap.

Later Chief Forensic Serologist Lonnie D. Ginsberg positively identified human blood from an area under the rear seat of the van.

W O R K in P R O G R E S S

Patty worked at Quinney Electric

Patty's co-workers:

Terry

Manual Lopez

Del Quinney

Lloyd Quinney

Bexar County Sheriff Office:

A. Ramirez

B. Johnson

Chief Forensic Serologist Lonnie D. Ginsberg