So why didn't Trudy Darby just stay on the phone?

[Clockworkhigh]

Just got me thinking, I don't want to add salt to the wound, but apparently Trudy Darby was talking to her son on the phone before she closed up the convenience store. She complained to him about a man hanging around outside. Then she hung up, presumably closed up the store and was found dead.

Would Trudy be alive today if she had stayed on the phone with her son? I mean if it were me I'd have told my mother to fake being on the phone until I got over there. I know we don't know for sure that the man outside was the one who abducted her but we can assume he was. I just always thought about that.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by Clockworkhigh

Just got me thinking, I don't want to add salt to the wound, but apparently Trudy Darby was talking to her son on the phone before she closed up the convenience store. She complained to him about a man hanging around outside. Then she hung up, presumably closed up the store and was found dead.

Would Trudy be alive today if she had stayed on the phone with her son? I mean if it were me I'd have told my mother to fake being on the phone until I got over there. I know we don't know for sure that the man outside was the one who abducted her but we can assume he was. I just always thought about that.

Why didn't she hang up and call the police? I'm certain they weren't so busy that they wouldn't swing by and check out a guy "hanging out" in front of a store. However, the majority of the cases on UM required the victim to make several (or more) rather poor choices at the worst possible time to make them.

[Clockworkhigh]

Originally Posted by cocytus

Why didn't she hang up and call the police? I'm certain they weren't so busy that they wouldn't swing by and check out a guy "hanging out" in front of a store. However, the majority of the cases on UM required the victim to make several (or more) rather poor choices at the worst possible time to make them.

I agree, it was a poor choice in an uneviable situation. Calling the police would make sense, but if she's from a small town do they come right away? Is is taken seriously? If the guy is gone would they roll their eyes at her? Who knows? I say that staying on the phone and waiting for her son to come would have been the best option. Whoever this guy was I'd bet you he was afraid of confrontation from another man. Lord knows he targeted women whom he could overpower. The son gets a good look at him and confronts him and even if the guy makes up a story and says "screw you I'm waiting for my ride" I'll bet you he never comes by that store again since there is a credible eyewitness who saw him. In that scenario, Trudy is alive.

[WishfulDreamer]

I don't know if it necessarily would have saved her life. If the guy is callous enough to kill a clerk, he may have even decided to abduct her while on the phone anyway, despite the probability of alerting the police. You just never know. But it may have helped, also. Depending on how far away the police station was, hanging up and calling the police may also not have helped. I think I probably would have stayed on the phone if I was concerned, though and agree that the probability of a better ending would have been a lot higher if that was the case.

[CuriousMind90]

The guys who killed Darby have been captured. There was three of them, but two have been captured. Their names are Marvin Chaney and Jesse Rush. Read some of Rush's letters--He was a total psychopath who killed Darby just to "watch her brains come out". He'd have killed anyone who tried to help her.

[wiseguy182]

Originally Posted by Clockworkhigh

Just got me thinking, I don't want to add salt to the wound, but apparently Trudy Darby was talking to her son on the phone before she closed up the convenience store. She complained to him about a man hanging around outside. Then she hung up, presumably closed up the store and was found dead.

Would Trudy be alive today if she had stayed on the phone with her son? I mean if it were me I'd have told my mother to fake being on the phone until I got over there. I know we don't know for sure that the man outside was the one who abducted her but we can assume he was. I just always thought about that.

I think you're being just a wee bit harsh there. If this was the same person that abducted Angela Hammond, which is believed to be the case, and Angela was on the phone at the time of the abduction, I don't think it would have made any difference.

[kane7474]

It happened in Macks creek. This is not a high crime area at all and that is probably why she didnt call the police and why she didnt stay on the phone. They where not accustomed to this type of crime at the time

[kane7474]

Originally Posted by CuriousMind90

The guys who killed Darby have been captured. There was three of them, but two have been captured. Their names are Marvin Chaney and Jesse Rush. Read some of Rush's letters--He was a total psychopath who killed Darby just to "watch her brains come out". He'd have killed anyone who tried to help her.

Yes and he also spoke about killing other women in his letters. As well in Marvin Cheney's trial the prosecution threatened to introduce evidence that would show that he was involved in three other murders if he didnt take a plea. He took that plea and to this day we have no clue who the other three murders involved

[SageSlowdive]

It's pretty simple why: she didn't want to overreact. I'm sure she was afraid, but surely she didn't expect to be abducted by that man. Poor woman, and may all hell be greeted to the scum that killed her.