Jamie Cockayne's Family Seeks Answers (and Justice)

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Submitted by SaveArdmoreCoalition on Sun, 2007-07-29 17:13 Tags:

SaveArdmoreCoalition

Joined: 2005-10-13

Posts:

Recently, we brought you the story of Jamie Cockayne.

Last evening on CBS3 there was an update. This afternoon, a terrific story from Lynn Berry at NBC10. His family is seeking answers, closure, peace, and justice. It does not seem to us that they are on a crusade against the Virgin Islands, or the people who reside there. Put yourselves in their weary shoes for a minute: this family lost a son, a brother, a cousin. He was a young man with his whole life ahead of him.

Can it be considered it would behoove the island government down there to solve this crime, this murder because seriously, common sense dictates that the longer this goes unsolved and a family's questions go unanswered, the worse it is in the long run for tourism? How long before people really DO start boycotting another paradise vacation destination? Should people start boycotting St. John's Virgin Islands NOW?

Here's the news story and an excerpt of an e-mail received via the family that came with the message "Please forward to any and all that you think might be able to help."

New Hope Family Hopes For Answers In Island Death

(CBS 3) NEW HOPE, Pa. 21-Year-old Jamie Cockayne's voyage to paradise ended with his funeral.

"Jamie was stabbed and beaten and left to die," victim's mother Jeanie Cockayne said.

From inside their New Hope home Jamie's family has been busy going over the evidence trying to figure out who killed him in the early morning hours of June 19th on the Island of St. John.

"Jamie was stabbed multiple times, stabbed seven times from what we learned it looks like he was attacked twice. He was attacked he got away and they attacked him again," victim's brother Jeff Cockayne said.

The 2005 New Hope Salisbury High School graduate was a certified sailing instructor and was on St. John waiting for a job opportunity as well as to help his mom look for a retirement home.

"It's unbearable really. You can only take so much at one time," Jeff said.

More than a month after the murder Jamie's family has grown fed up with the Virgin Islands Police force which they claim has not been helpful and is incompetent.

"I have no real idea as to what state the investigation is in. There's really been literally no communication with us, his parents, or his family," victim's father Bill Cockayne said.

A month later, no arrests in murder case
By RILEY YATES
phillyBurbs.com

It has been more than a month since 21-year-old Jamie Cockayne was stabbed to death on a street in St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For his New Hope family, it has been a harrowing time, as they've pushed for justice for their son despite what they charge is a lack of interest from police.

Last week, fears culminated when they fled the island after the landlord at their rental house told them they could be in danger.

“Tonight, I found out that we are being forced out of the home we are staying [in] because the murderers are looking for us and our landlord fears for his property and our lives,” mother Jeanie Cockayne wrote in an open letter to the Gov. John deJongh Jr. dated July 19.

“This is not over,” Jeanie Cockayne said in the letter, published Monday in St. John Tradewinds, a local weekly. “If I have to return to the states because this is a war zone, do not think for a New York minute that this is over.”

And finally, the e-mail we were asked to pass along:

Jamie was murdered on June 19th between 12:15 - 12:30(just after midnight). Within 90 minutes and before detectives could arrive, the local police ordered that the scene be hosed off. Jamie was wearing a baseball cap. According to witnesses, the baseball cap was discarded because the police were out of evidence
bags. The local newspaper, The Tradewinds, routinely posts articles discussing law enforcement's inability to solve any crimes. After Jamie was murdered, one witness fled the islands in fear of his/her safety -- he/she was afraid of the perpetrators and the police. After the murder, we were candidly told by others that were victimized on the island that if you want the crime to be solved, you will have to do it yourself.

In addition, government officials have refused to provide any information to the family. After we repeatedly requested a face to face meeting to discuss the progress of the case, local officials told us they would meet. Ironically, they never agreed to meet until a day after the family left the island. When we agreed to participate in a meeting telephonically, they cancelled the meeting 45 minutes after it was supposed to begin. The meeting was supposed to begin at 9:30 am. Having not received a call by 9:45am, the family attorney called and was told they were running late. Still not receiving a call by 10:00am, the family attorney called again and was told they were running late. At 10:15am, they called the family attorney and said that they were canceling the meeting without any explanation. Subsequently, we found out
that Agent Schmidt (from the FBI) did not even know about the meeting -- yet, he was supposed to be present for the meeting.

With this background, we were faced with the unfortunate reality that the police were not going to solve this crime and we employed a private investigator. This was done at a great expense to the family. We received the final report along with tape recorded interviews from key witnesses on this past Wednesday, July 25, 2007. Our original plan was to turn this report over to the local police in a meeting. We requested a meeting and requested that the U.S. attorney's office and Agent Schmidt be present. Candidly, it was our hope that the federal government get involved. On Thursday, our private
investigator received a telephone call from one of our key witnesses. That witness was told that his/her story concerning a key piece of evidence must change or else. This witness lives on St. John and, quite obviously, cannot rely on local law enforcement for protection. Our private investigators had this witness' statement and the witness also disclosed the same information to the police. Our investigators did not release the statement so we logically assumed that the police released the information. The information was very specific and not information that could be spread by innuendo or rumor.

With this information concerning threatening a witness, we felt a moral obligation to change plans and immediately turn the entire private investigation report over to federal authorities. We were already working with Senator Specter's office in an attempt to get federal authorities involved. We sent the entire report to Specter's office with a plea that he turn the matter over to federal authorities. Because we
fear further witness intimidation, we will not be turning the report over to local authorities. We are confident that Senator Specter will deliver the report to the appropriate authorities.

The following is information from the report that we could release. We have agreed not to identify anyone by name and after the threat described above, we are being very careful not to disclose any information that could inadvertently identify a witness (thus, the he/she above).

Jamie was at the Front Yard bar which is immediately adjacent to the police station. There is a video camera facing the police station but across the street. At the Front Yard, two locals were upset with Jamie and accused him of kicking a girlfriend's car. We are not sure if Jamie knew what they were talking about but Jamie was told to leave. The two locals began to follow Jamie out of the bar and broke pool
cues to use as weapons. The two locals were slowed own by a person in the bar for a second but eventually left the bar running after Jamie. The person that attempted to slow down the two locals immediately found a police officer in front of the police station and told that officer that there was going to be a fight. A witness saw one of the locals pick up a two by four. Another witness simultaneously said something like they are hurting the white boy up the street. We don't know how long it took the police
to get there but the officer eventually drove the 150 feet without lights on. One witness estimated that it took the police five minutes to get there. The drive takes fifteen seconds if you are driving the speed limit - 15mph.

The murder happened approximately 150 feet from the police station. The witnesses have identified the two locals that ran after Jamie by their street name. Keep in mind that St. John has a population of a large high school (about 5,000 )and the population is generally broken down 50/50 by locals (West Indian) and non-locals. The perpetrators are males and relatively young. The point is that the police would obviously know who the perpetrators are -- their options are relatively limited. Our investigators
have identified one by his given name.

By all accounts, Jamie was killed within minutes after he left the Front Yard. A witness that saw the altercation described the perpetrator. The perpetrator, not surprisingly, fit the description of one of the two locals that chased Jamie from the Front Yard. That perpetrator ran from Jamie to the passenger seat of a car and left the area.

The witnesses that disclosed this information to the police have specifically stated that they are afraid to be witnesses. One witness called the police (subsequent to the murder) to tell the police that he/she could see a key piece of evidence involved in the murder. (We cannot disclose the specific piece of evidence because it would reveal the witness' identity. This is the same witness that was already threatened.) Not surprisingly, the police stated that they were too busy and could not do anything at that time concerning the critical evidence. Apparently, they couldn't do anything later either because they never followed up. On other occasions, the same witness called the police and no one answered.

All of the key witnesses told our investigators that they were interviewed within approximately three days of the murder. In short, the police had the same information that we now have and have had that information for over a month while murderers run loose on St. John.

Everyone should email any media outlet that they think might be interested in this story. We need to keep the pressure and spotlight on local law enforcement.

NBC10 Lynn Berry:Mother Seeks Justice In Son's Virgin Islands Slaying
Family Claims Police Corruption
POSTED: 4:20 pm EDT July 30, 2007
UPDATED: 6:24 pm EDT July 30, 2007

NEW HOPE, Pa. -- A mother is seeking justice for the killing of her son, Jamie Cockayne.

He was killed in the U.S. Virgin Islands and they don't feel enough is being done to solve the crime.

It has been nearly a month and a half since Cockayne was slain outside a popular St. John bar.

NBC 10's Lynn Berry interviewed the family Monday in their home in New Hope, Bucks County.

The Cockaynes were speaking out in what they say is a case of police corruption, hoping to find justice for the young man, who had just turned 21 and planned to begin working on St. John at a yacht club.

His family was on the island at the time looking for a home to which they could retire. Instead, they are looking for people they say killed their son.

"What was Jaime like? He was warm, caring, effervescent," said Jeanie Cockayne, who along with her husband, Bill, said they are seeking justice in the July 19 slaying.

"'Please, won't somebody please show me where my son died?' and she just said, 'Well, you'll have to talk to the supervisor.' And I said, 'Well, here's my name, and here's my number,' and of course no one called me," Jeanie Cockayne said.

That was when the family hired a private investigator, who they said obtained witness accounts of that night...."He was hit in the head with a two-by-four twice. You know, he was stabbed seven times," said Jeff Cockayne, the victim's brother.

Police were only 150 feet away, the family said.

"He told police officer, 'You better hurry and get up there. There's going to be some trouble. There's some guys after a white boy,'" Jeanie Cockayne said.

But reports said police didn't arrive until five minutes after the killing.

The family said the crime scene was then hosed-off before detectives arrived, leaving many questions unanswered.

"Every time they told us we had to talk to somebody else, we'd ask the same question and they'd say, 'You have to talk to somebody else.' They just wouldn't take us," said Jeanie Cockayne.

At the end of June, the family's private investigation got them into trouble of their own, getting a phone call recommending they leave the island.

"I don't think I can put it into words. It's an impossible situation, and you can't even begin to grieve because you know they're still walking around," said Jeanie Cockayne, the mother....

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Mon, 2007-07-30 13:31

SaveArdmoreCoalition

Joined: 2005-10-13

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Please read this letter written by Jamie's mother to a Virgin Islands Newspaper:

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_editorial?id=17612527

Guest Opinion for July 27
A mother's plea: Will justice prevail?
Friday, July 27th 2007

Jamie Cockayne was butchered in Cruz Bay on June 19, 2007.

The statistics prove that the police are incapable of arresting and convicting criminals. They have about a 2 percent arrest and conviction rate on St. John it is most likely worse on St. Croix and St. Thomas. Although it is most important for me to have Jamie's killers arrested and convicted it does not seem likely. The police, administration, governor ... have been passing the buck from one to another for more than a month.

Unfortunately the bigger story is the incompetence, corruption and an attitude of no one cares, so why should I, prevails. It has been reported that St. John has for years been the dumping ground, a punishment for officers that either cause problems or annoy their superiors. The worst of the worst rather than the brightest or finest. St. John's finest unlike N.Y.C.'s finest are and will continue to be criminally negligent if we the people that adore St. John continue to let these statistics continue.

We need to stand up and say, "We are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore."

I have pleaded with everyone including the governor to hand this investigation over to the proper federal authorities -

Crimes go on with no arrests, witnesses flee for fear of their lives, victims are chased from their homes, other witnesses are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution. Also, I have heard that in Jamie's case people have been heard saying, "They didn't need to go so far."

Another quote I heard was "it isn't my business." I am going to tell you there is a group of murderers free on the streets......We posted a reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers ($10,000).

Police Commissioner McCall set up the phone lines (340) 715-5534 and 715-5546. Surprise, I have called those numbers more than once and no one answers the darn phone.

Should I put my home phone in the paper? I want to but am told I cannot - (215) 862-1142. So there it is, call me, someone. I will fight this fight for you and your island but you need to help me do it. I will fight to return St. John to the idyllic place it was only a few years ago. I will fight until my last breath. I need your help though.

This promise comes from a grieving mother of a boy who did not see color when he looked at another human being, a boy who had a light, a boy who struggled, a boy who had found his path, a boy who was lonely and wanted to make friends, a boy who was hit by a 2 by 4 and stabbed in the back, the neck, the femoral artery, the chest and rib cage twice ...

There was more than one killer that night and Jamie had reportedly been drinking heavily; he was no match for these killers. They could have hit him with their 2 by 4, they even could have stabbed him a few times to teach him a lesson and he would have made it, he would have lived. If the police had put on their lights and sirens they may have scared the cowards away.

So many things could have been done to prevent yet another hate crime against a tourist on St. John. Those killers could not have butchered Jamie the way they did without hate in their hearts. How could they hate a boy they didn't know? They hated him because they saw him as a white rich kid from the states.

Again, I am reaching out to the good people of St. John for your sake as well as mine. Stand up....Give me something to hope for, please.

Jeanie Cockayne is the mother of Jamie Cockayne.

It is also interesting to note that a message board on trip advisor on St. John's has had the thread about Jamie deleted...was a nerve struck?

Comments like this were posted:

My deepest sympathies to the Cockayne family. I, too, was assaulted, almost one year ago, in the same spot as Jamie. I was attacked by four teens wielding a shovel. I was able to escape to the police station, a few hundred feet away from my attack. Although I wrote letters to the governor, police officials and the department of tourism, the crime was never solved. I provided complete descriptions of my would-be-killers and can relate to your frustration. There are probably only a handleful of kids who met the description of my attackers yet they didn't know who did it???? I followed up for several months and was always given the run around.
If they had caught and/or prosecuted my attackers, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided. I don't share this as discouragement but wish to assist in the Cockayne family's quest for justice. There are articles and pictures on the web of my violent attack and I have done my best to present this to the media. Please let me know if I can assist.
............
Wow! This is a disgusting story from an island that is supposed to be paradise. Why aren't the locals up in arms holding these hoodlums accountable?
Perhaps we should all send in an I-Report to CNN. maybe they would pick up on it.
BTW, is the establishment where this took place called Woody's? Please let me know what part of Cruz Bay to avoid. Going next week.
....................
The problems with the VI police are ineptitude and racism, in that order. Everybody tolerates the quaint ineptitude, but nobody wants to confront the racism. The conditions in this US territory have to be a huge embarrassment to the US government. On an island that is already experiencing real estate depreciation as well as skyrocketing costs, a problem like this (should word get out to the press) could be debilitating.
.....................
This is an incredibly sad event. I am so sorry to Jaime's mother and family for their loss.
As an aside, I grew up in Hopewell Township, NJ - a town that is merely miles away from New Hope. I grew up "hanging out" in New Hope as a kid - many nights roaming Main Street as did some of my friends. We never even thought about anything bad happening there. Even today, you don't hear much about that town, its a quiet fairly safe town. Now the couple of times that I went to St. John, I could say that I could feel the same way about it. When hearing this story my heart absolutely sunk. I am sure that Jaime spent many nights out and about in New Hope and didn't think any less of St. John in comparison.
At any rate, this is an absoultey heinous crime. When I was in Tortola last year, I got to speaking with a police officer there - he was from the Oranges in New Jersey. He was telling my husband and I that the BVI's stray from hiring police officers that are "native" to the islands because they usually know very well or are related to the people that have committed the crimes and are reluctant to do anything about it. When we discussed with him that we would love to live in the islands some day, he warned us by saying that if we liked privacy the islands were not the place for us - he said you go to the bathroom and everyone on island knows about it...in minutes. So, you mean to tell me that the police haven't got a clue who it was that killed Jaime? You have got to be kidding me. It is just ludicrous. I really hope that this news spreads. I love St. John and really would hate to see bad things happen to it because of some bad press. But what is the saying about you make your bed you must lie in it. If people don't start coming forward and start making some noise about the police that they pay with their hard earned money...then perhaps a decline in tourism would be good for them. Sorry - this is just despicable.
...................................
STJ, is my favorite island destination bar none! But, the apparent gross negligence and seemingly utter callous reaction by the STJ police force and USVI governmental agencies to the death of this young man sickens my heart.
I simply cannot fathom the pain that Jamie's family must be enduring. And then, assuming the accuracy of the information provided, it is compounded with the horror and helplessness of living in the day to day reality that the STJ law enforcement community that is paid to protect and serve, appears to be complicit in performing their sworn duties.
Again, IF the facts as presented are true.....this is an outrage. And with every sensitivity I can muster to the many that would be unfairly hurt by
its revelation.... I hope that the apparent complicity of law enforcement
and other VI government entities is exposed worldwide for all the evil it represents.
....................................
Has anyone heard about the more recent murder? An ATM worker was killed at the Emerald Beach Resort while he was working on the ATM at 9:23 AM. This just happened July 20th. We stayed at that hotel 2 days beore, it seemed very safe. There is a story about it in the caribbean net news. It sounds like the police used more effort in this case, but the story could be misleading. I was looking for a story about a drowning we witnessed at Bolongo Bay, but that wasn't mentioned.
.......................................
jamiesmomnewhope
new hope pa
Thank you, As you know we truly love St john and the people of St john. Even after Jamie's murder we continued to view retirement homes there. it wasn't until the police and St john politicians made it clear that nothing was being done to arrest the murderers that we realized we could not live in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. We were chased off the in fear of our lives. People good people are afraid to come forward. My family is naive I guess. We never thought that in a US Territory we could feel so alone in regard to the police and government. people can't come forward with information because there is no protection and it is said the crimonals are related in some to officers. Now I don't know that to be true. However, it is a very small community and it is a posibility. If anyone has information thay can call me 215 862 1142 and I will not divuldge your name to anyone. Please help us find Jamie's killers
........................
This is terrible and can cause a backlash on tourism as it did in Aruba!
Be aware STJ businesses the travel industry is looking to how you handle this. We discussed the murder at our last travel agent conference last week.
........................................
go to www.stjohntradewindsnews.com to see letters sent to the gov regarding the murder of a tourist. A hate crime against a white boy. Some still believe he was a local. My son was a tourist, he didn't know anyone on St. John. The government is trying to cover this up.
.......................................
totnorange I dont really know how to do this blog stuff but what are the business people doing? I am sure they are concerned as I am. I am trying not to turn this into an Aruba. I don't know anything about Aruba. I know that you and all St johnians have a right to live safely without intimidation. I want to help you clean the streets of gangs and murderers. let me know what I can do.
......................................
I have read all of the comments on here and just want to comment that I hope NOT one ounce of blame should be directed towards this poor boy in regards to him being out late, by himself, etc. Granted, I am from Wyoming, but in my town of 20,000 people I feel safe walking home at night...yes alone. (Believe me there have been a few nights at the bar when I didn't want to get behind the wheel and opted to walk home). I understand that people need to exercise caution wherever they are, but it would be pretty sad to me if I ever felt in my town that I had to go everywhere in groups and be looking over my shoulder all the time. I live here because I feel safe. Cruz Bay is a small town and community where visitors and locals should feel safe at any time of day/night, atleast in a community so focused on tourism. I have read there have been a few murders/muggings/beatings in this small community and that is just downright scary. I had hoped to return to this paradise again with my little boy, but I am seriously rethinking my choice at this point as I'm sure many other people are. I'm aware this could happen anywhere, but I would hope if it did the police would take a more active role in finding who did it in order to put people at ease. If St. John loses tourism, what will they have left?
My condolenses on the loss of your precious son.
...............................
Sorry about your loss. Travel agents and tour companies are watching this closely. Hope there is some closure soon!
............................
We the family of Jamie Cockayne have been pleading with the VI government for 5 plus weeks to give us any indication that an investigation is even occuring. We have documentation verifying our asking over and over, why we can't be walked through the area with a cop to show us where and how jamie died. We were on St john until last Thursday July 19 asking for information and pleading for the VI to ask for federal help with the investigation and a US attorney to proscute. The vi goverment has refused. Not until we fled the island in fear for lives and we were actually unavailable on a plane flying back to the states did our attorney receive an answer regarding a meeting. Generously , Poole-Davis Vi government official then said they would meet with us on July 25. Now anyone can see they knew it would be very difficult to hit the ground and turn around and return to the VI. We have continued to request help from the states and continued to request a face to face with the VI gov. We gave them dates from Jul 30 until august 5. Still they refuse to allow the the US Attorney Paul Murphy to attend the meeting and we cannot understand why they woud refuse him entry to the meeting. We have asked the questions for weeks. Here is an example. Did anyone retrieve the video tapes from outside the police station/Front yard ( The Front Yard ) is a bar next to the police station and the place jamie was seen alive. 2. why was the murder scene washed down by the fire department before the Major Crimes Division arrived from St Thomes. 3. Why didn't the police go after the killers, they were given descriptions of the killers and their car that night? 4. Why did the police leave Jamie's brand new Philly's Cap at the scene ( we were told they said they were out of evidence bags) The locals need to know that the police thought Jamie was a local and this murder would go away quietly. They kept asking me who did Jamie hang with? I kept telling them he didn't hang with anyone we are tourists he did not know anyone on St. john. The governemnt has decided to go ahead with a meeting today even though we are not there. We have asked that they arrange a dial in so we can be apart of the meeting. ameeting that they tell is being held for our information. They have not responded. They never tld us what time the meeting is and we wonder if there is ameeting. Are they simply trying to make it look as though we were not interested enough to be there? This is insane. Someone needs to help us. Anyone out there please call your representative or Senator and get the US to intervene on our behalf. This was a hate crime a racially motivated hate and the police have done everything possible to let these murderers contiue to roam the streets of st jonh sorry but I gotta say they 2 for 99 in crimes committed so far this year. 2 for 99 think about it
...................................
Posted on: 9:57 am, June 29, 2007 Save

This is the third attack in the last couple of years in the same spot.
The first was a disabling injury, the second was brutal attack with shovel, this time a death by knife. There are no facts released by the authorities. The rumors are always extreme and it seems the victims did not know the attacker(. Do not walk alone, at night, under the influence from town is my suggestion.
.........................

Other blobs are picking up the story other than us and PhillyFuture:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=1589430&blogID=291186022

http://virgin-islands-news-source.blamfluie.com/2007/07/23/will-there-be-justice-for-jamie-cockayne-2704995.html

http://casamafrazz.livejournal.com/19344.html

Tue, 2007-07-31 15:41

SaveArdmoreCoalition

Joined: 2005-10-13

Posts:

trouble for www.tripadvisor.com - just picked up this thread on another forum - we are cross prosting in entirety like poster requests of folks:

http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39704#39704

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:37 pm Post subject: STJ is great but Censorship is not

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long time reader and contributor here, who just became aware of the censorship problem on that "other" (Trip Advisor) STJ travel board. This pertains to the murder of Jamie Cockayne - a 21 year-old tourist - in June. He was killed under the Tamarind tree on the sidewalk outside of the DPW trailer in Cruz Bay. The boy's mother left the island under some vague threats to her safety because the murderers have not been brought to justice, and started a campaign asking people to call their Senators, Representatives, VI authorities, etc., to bring closure to the case. This is another case, like David Geiger's murder in 2005, where the parents have hired a PI to solve the case. (For David's murder, STJ residents actually had to collect the money to hire the PI.) So far the VI police have released nothing, but apparently the PI has turned up some solid evidence. Unfortunately, the other forum chose to delete all of those posts. To me, this is contrary to everything that a travel forum is supposed to offer, so I would like to post this, which another reader captured from the Trip Advisor forum (before it, too was deleted). Also, I would like to see the case solved - not forgotten - and to let the tourists make their own decisions based on the information that's available. So if you don't mind, Anthony, here it is. And in keeping with Sunburn's advice, I, too, will boycot the Trip Advisor forum (not that I ever go anywhere!)

peace.... bert

"Posted by: Sunburn Kid (IP Logged)
Date: Yesterday, 07:39PM
This was posted to the Trip Advisor STJ travel forum today. I'll bet the ranch that the post will be gone by the time you try to read it.

Over the past couple of days I have been following the story of the young tourist who was stabbed to death 150 feet from the police station in Cruz Bay. The mother of the murder victim posted an impassioned plea for help in bringing the murderers to justice. Other family members wrote with specifics of the case, and it became clearer that there was police incompetence involved. Today, I watched as the Trip Advisor administrators deleted every trace of those postings. One had grown to six pages. Two more were started and quickly deleted. Then someone brought the thread about the tourist who was beaten with a shovel - 150 feet from the police station, last year - to the top of the queue, and it too, was deleted. That thread was over a year old.

I have never posted on this forum before, but this has outraged me. Trip Advisor's slogan is "get the truth. then go". Where is the truth in the case of this crime? What is Trip Advisor's liability if somebody gets half the truth from rip Advisor, then goes, then gets killed?

I am certain that this thread will be quickly deleted too. I am sure that it is Trip Advisor's best interest to delete all these scary (but real) crime reports, to keep the board upbeat and keep the tourists using Trip Advisor. For me, I will just keep on NOT using Trip Advisor. There are some other forums out there that allow the truth.

I encourage all who might read this before it is deleted, to copy it and re-post it here or on the other boards or send it to your local newspaper. They love local color! Enough is enough. Let's have the truth for a change. Let's give all the readers credit for having enough sense to make an informed decision about where they vacation.

Go ahead, Trip Advisor - make my day."

Sun, 2007-08-05 18:31

Sailormars8987

Location: Boston

Joined: 2007-08-04

Posts:

I did some research and it's interesting to note that Trip Advisor is owned by Expedia. Expedia is owened primarily by a group called Liberty Media LLC as well as other names. I'm not business major (Communication/Media analysis and Journalism) but from what I compiled the stock of Expedia has been increasing steadily. It seems as if Expedia is afraid of getting bad press while their stock is beginning to rise.

Mon, 2007-08-06 13:11

dmuth

(Douglas Muth, Webmaster)

Location: Ardmore, PA

"I have a vocabulary that barely allows me to converse with Sour Cream and Onion Chips!"

Joined: 2005-09-13

Posts:

If it's Trip Advisor's own site, then it's pretty much within their rights to remove any thread that they like. Now, I haven't seen the thread in question. Was it off topic? Was the poster trying to cause problems or start drama? These are all valid reasons to remove a thread, regardless of actual subject content.

Remember that private property rights work both ways. If we can remove off-topic threads and problem users from this website, Trip Advisor can do the same on their website.

-- Doug

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin In The Mouth

Mon, 2007-08-06 19:40

SaveArdmoreCoalition

Joined: 2005-10-13

Posts:

Hi Doug - we actually did research and pulled up some of the posts on a cache that were eventually scrubbed out of existence, as well as seeing some of them BEFORE they were removed.

What we saw were family members posting to basically very politely ask anyone that moght have knowledge to contact them via e-mail - tripadvisor's VI forums are very active.

There was no real drama. Pretty much just the facts.

What else did we notice? OTHER posts in other forums on the site that concerned crime in various locales that people take vacations that were much worse.

We concur with your reasoning, but after snooping around (including on other travel websites with forums and posting), we concur that tripadvisor removing the posts was odd - after all, look at it this way - people like to know as much as possible before visiting a new place - and posts about crime won't necesarilly deter someone from visiting someplace, but it MIGHT help them make well rounded decisions on how to plan their itineraries, etc. Other travel websites have let the posts remain....

Just a thought

Fri, 2007-08-10 09:53

vimusic21

Location: St. John, VI

Joined: 2007-08-10

Posts:

Hi guys, I live on a charter boat doing trips between St Thomas and St John, USVI; and often to Tortola and Virgin Gorda, BVI for fun... First of all let me say I am very shocked and upset about what happened on St John. My mother lives there and i walk by that bar and up the street where it all went down all the time. I have lived here almost 7 years, from Morgantown, WV near Pittsburgh, PA. I have seen it all. But not on STJ. Its just not like that. I even met Jamie at 'Woody's' one afternoon and he was with some other guys. They all seemed nice, and like the normal boatie guys around here. Boaties usually stick together here. My mom writes for some of the papers here and online and I wanted to pass on the LATEST story, she just published today, because there have been major developments in the case and I think that is AWESOME! My prayers and wishes are with you, the community, and the family, as it all seems so senseless.

here's the article:

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-2960--0-0--.html

I love these waters, these islands. And so did he. But healing takes time.

Kris

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