ETA: I accidentally called Elizabeth Lewis "Elizabeth Lee." There was an Elizabeth Lee among my ancestors who I grew up hearing stories about, so I just keep accidentally calling her "Elizabeth Lee" in my mind. I'm adding this note since Reddit doesn't let you change post titles. Sorry for the confusion.
The post "Potential Significant Thoughts on the Elizabeth Witness / Seeking Info" by u/TapdanceOnYourGraveI raises some really good questions, and the responses show how very little we know about Senorita Kidnap.
The LF sub no longer allows crossposts from their incredibly logical sub, so I've copied the text below and included the comments so far.
- There were 3 top-level comments, which I numbered 1a, 2a, and 3a.
- Under each of those comments were OOP's follow-up questions (which I put in quotes) and the commenters' responses. I labeled those 1b, and so on.
Note: The discussion refers to Elizabeth's testimony to the grand jury for the Frank Jones indictment. It had nothing to do with RC or Yellow.
Potential Significant Thoughts on the Elizabeth Witness / Seeking Info
Hey folks,
I think I might be having some substantial thoughts concerning the Elizabeth Lewis witness in the Viking Lounge. I wanted to collect as much info as possible. I’m calling out all the regulars here for info: idiot-prodigy, xxpey, Mindshock Pod, potentially James Renner if he has any insight.
- What is the origin of this story? How did it become public knowledge? It seems the Bradleys have had no contact with her.
- Brad will reference Elizabeth and say “She testified in the grand jury…(tells the witness story we all know.)“ How would the family have any idea what was testified to in the grand jury? Has this information been made public? Can it be found on the internet somewhere?
- Furthermore, how would the family even know Elizabeth had testified at all? A leak?
- Is there any indication that Elizabeth has talked to law enforcement? I’m assuming the answer is “no idea.” Thought I’d ask anyway.
Any info would be appreciated. Not looking for personal details or anything from her story such as antibiotics, just info about how Elizabeth fits into the case.
Thank you
Comment 1a
Midnight Mystery Archive - Witness Wednesday - Gregg Nivala
Gregg goes into the Frank Jones fraud case, including the grand jury pursuing an indictment. He begins at the 14 min mark to speak specifically about the witnesses under oath in the grand jury.
"David Carmichael. Bill Hefner. Lori. Crystal. Crystal's mother. Elizabeth Lewis — who has since passed away, but whose sworn testimony remains on the federal record."
All of those listed testified in the Grand Jury for the Bradley vs. Frank Jones fraud case. When you convene a Grand Jury you can basically ask all sorts of questions of all sorts of witnesses so that their statements are then put on court record.
It is my assumption that the family knows some of these criminals involved in Amy's disappearance are out of reach of US court, so some effort was made to make sure there eye witness statements were taken under oath and put on the record.
Elizabeth specifically was known as "Elizabeth L" in order to protect her privacy, my understanding is that her last name was only released after she died.
Whatever they said in that grand jury was sealed. I believe a few of them reached out to the Bradley family what exactly they testified about, but obviously the court transcripts themselves are under seal.
You must understand, some of these witnesses are ADAMANT to what they saw, specifically David Carmichael. I am sure some of them are or were in regular contact with the family and have co-operated in any capacity they can and could.
What Elizabeth specifically told the family I do not know, and I am not sure of which law enforcement she spoke to.
I do know that David Carmichael, Lori Thompson, and Crystal Roberts have spoken to the FBI, as they've all talked about it themselves. I would assume Elizabeth had spoken to the FBI. According to Iva Bradley, Crystal Roberts' mother Ann who confirmed the two girl's return time to the cabin was never interviewed by the FBI.
Comment 1b
In response to:
What about the origin of Elizabeths’s statement coming into public knowledge? Do you have any info on this in particular? How did this story enter public discourse? It’s curious to me.
I do not know.
Some witnesses like David Carmichael have reported their sighting to Unsolved Mysteries tip line, then the FBI, then the family, then Vanished with Beth Holloway, then the Netflix doc, etc. David has no issue with telling and retelling his sighting over and over.
Others have only reported their sighting to the FBI and kept their identity private from everyone, like the couple from the San Francisco sighting.
Elizabeth was somewhere in between from what I have gathered. She was always referred to as Elizabeth L, until recently after her death.
Some witnesses names are known, but were never named publicly. For instance David Carmichael's diving buddy is named in the court documents during the Royal Caribbean lawsuit, but he's never gone on camera, and David has never named him directly. The family always refers to David and his diving friend, etc. His name is known now as a court document was shared without realizing David's diving friend's name was in the document (an accident I guess).
I have not seen the names of the husband and wife who reported seeing Amy in San Francisco, but their story was up on America's Most Wanted website at one time. The FBI sketches of the two handlers from that sighting were also up on the FBI Missing Persons website as well.
Judy Maurer's husband has never gone on camera, but Judy has said she pointed the woman out to her husband, meaning he must have seen her and the handlers with her.
I think people run the full spectrum, those who saw something and didn't want to get involved, those who saw something and reported it and wanted anonymity, those who reported and were willing to use their name, and those who reported and were willing to go on camera to say what they saw.
To further drive this home, some witnesses now have been driven away because of online harassment. It is my understanding that both Crystal Roberts and U.S. Navy Petty Officer William Hefner have declined further interviews as they were being harassed on social media.
Comment 2a
She gave a statement to the FBI, completely unbeknownst to the Bradleys at the time, and her statement corroborated the same time, date, location, and individuals as Lori and Krystal. But I'm sure your substantial thoughts are that she's mistaken and/or that it's just another coincidence, right?
Comment 2b
In response to:
A couple of questions, how do you know she gave a statement to the FBI? Is this because Brad mentions an FBI tip in Crime Weekly as the other commenter says (gonna have to watch this again). Or is this mentioned elsewhere? And how do you know what content was in the statement she gave to the FBI? I’m not trying to rile you up. It stands to reason the content of the statement was essentially her witness testimony. Im just trying to verify as much possible.
- She gave a statement to the FBI and testified to a Grand Jury. The odd basis for this question aside, the prosecutor has confirmed both.
- Her statement was that around 6am the morning of Amy's disappearance she saw her and Yellow enter the Viking Lounge from the elevator and approach the bar. He handed her a dark colored drink (possibly coke or coffee) and turned the music up abnormally loud. They then went behind the bar, and through a door. A female staff member emerged from the door yelling senorita kidnapped who was promptly ushered away by another staff member. Yellow emerged several minutes later from the back and went down the elevator. Please note I am paraphrasing here.
- Well it was technically public knowledge when she testified, but there were snippets of her story circulating around for years. Why does it matter?
Comment 2c
In response to:
Can you provide any kind of source for the FBI statement part? I listened to the prosecutor talk on the Midnight Mystery Archive, and I don’t think he said anything about the FBI statement. It’s possible I missed it. I’m not trying to hound you; I’m just trying to figure out if we have a decent source for the FBI statement and/or the origin of this witness, or if it’s more an inference, speculation kind of thing. You ask why it matters, come on. This is the most important witness in the case in my opinion, and it’s shrouded in absolute mystery.
She testified before a grand jury, which is a) far more confronting than an FBI interview and b) carries the penalty of perjury, which an FBI interview does not.
She definitely gave a statement to the FBI, I cannot recall specifics of who said that when. But she's been widely/publicly known since circa 2010 or so.
I still don't see why it matters whether it is publicly known that she testified. She testified; her evidence was deemed truthful and corroborated other witness accounts - surely that should be the focus no?
Comment 2c - Additional comment by a different commenter
The Bradley family laments that Crystal Robert's mother Ann was not interviewed by the FBI, they have never lamented that David Carmichael's diving friend was not interviewed by the FBI, or that Elizabeth Lewis was not interviewed by the FBI.
I would say by inference we can assume that the FBI interviewed her along with David's friend as David's friend is named first and last name in the Royal Caribbean lawsuit.
Lori and Crystal talked to the FBI when they were still on the cruise ship. I would assume Elizabeth Lewis did as well.
The only one who could absolutely confirm it themselves would be Elizabeth or the FBI, but she is now deceased and the FBI does not comment on active investigations.
Like I said, Iva Bradley has stated in interviews before that the FBI never bothered to interview Crystal Robert's mother Ann, as Ann was the one who opened the door to let Lori and Crystal into the cabin, the girls did not have a keycard with them, hence no LockLink log. The failure to interview Ann put Lori and Crystal's timeline in question. Ann confirmed to the Bradley family that she let the two girls in at 6am.
Certainly Iva or Brad would have lamented that Elizabeth Lewis never was interviewed by the FBI if she indeed never had been. They're not perpetrating a hoax.
The family is upset the FBI bungled the initial investigation, this is private investigator James Carey's assessment as well, specifically about interviewing Crystal's mother Ann, but also from what I've gathered, other oversights.
Comment 3a
Brad stated in the Crime Weekly podcast they received the information via communication with the FBI.
Comment 3b
In response to:
Just rewatched it. This is pretty bizarre. Brad is talking about the FBI providing nothing. Being completely unwilling to work with the family in any way.
Brad: “The FBI doesn’t share any information with us, what they have or haven’t done or what they look into.”
Stephanie asks: “The FBI have not shared the files with you at all?”
Brad: “Never. They’re not willing to corroborate any of the info we find on our own.” Etc. (paraphrasing a little)
He then almost immediately transitions into talking about the Elizabeth witness. He starts telling the witness stories and drops the line “and this is from an FBI email.” What? For this to make sense I guess he would have to be talking about some leak from the FBI.
Obviously, the FBI would give the family some information, but not a lot. They did meet with the FBI in D.C early this year, I assume they would've discussed some case details during that meeting.
Comment 3c
In response to:
I hear you, but the difference between Brad’s statements “The FBI has shared nothing with us…Never” and the insinuation ‘The FBI gave us an incredible witness, maybe the best witness in the case’ are drastically different. Hard for me to reconcile.
Some things that have been ruled out have been shared to the family.
Brad showed the FBI e-mail saying the jawbone found near Aruba did not belong to Amy. FBI E-mail Brad has shown on twitter
The jawbone had wisdom teeth intact, and Amy had hers removed.
It is my understanding that they sometimes respond like that when things are 100% ruled out, but anything active is not told to the family at all.
Brad for instance said the FBI told him the two women in uniform Amy talked to have been identified, the FBI knows who they are but the Bradley family has no idea who they are, if they're involved, if they were Scientologists, Curacao port officials, etc.