Preventing Abduction Safety Tips Discussed

The Early Show on CBS-TV in Los Angeles discussed some safety tips that could help in preventing abductions like Lily Burk's.

Above, Lily Burk.

Child safety expert Robin Sax, a former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney and author of "Predators and Child Molesters," said on "The Early Show" Wednesday that parents and kids need to have a code word that can fit into conversations naturally, but be an indicator that something is wrong, signalling an emergency.

Sax recommended the word "ATM."

"(An) ATM is a place where no one should make a phone call anyway, as you need undivided attention. And if you say, 'I'm calling from the ATM,' that means there's danger."

Co-anchor Harry Smith remarked Burk was probably thinking that she had to stay cool throughout the abduction. Could she have done something to alert people on the street that she was in trouble?

Sax said one tip is to scream "FIRE!" because people respond to the word, rather than "HELP!"

She also recommended that, in an abduction situation, you do anything you can to buy yourself time. Sax recommended gouging the perpetrator with keys or hitting someone with your elbow.

"The goal isn't to win a fight or succeed," Sax told Smith. "The goal is to get a minute, buy a minute of time, so you can run and get some help."

To read the full article, go here.

Above, Kelsey Smith.

As written in an earlier post, the Kelsey Smith Foundation has tips on what to do if you find yourself in a situation where an abduction is imminent. They are:

1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.

2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.

3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.

4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed.

5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.

Remember the acronym TIPS:

Take Charge

Inform others of your whereabouts

Prepare for any situation

Survival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen).

I recall Greg Smith (Kelsey's dad) saying that one of the most important things in an abduction is to not leave the initial crime scene. Kelsey was taken by surprise as she was getting into her car at a Target department store in Overland Park, Kansas. She might have been able to survive had she been able to keep from being taken from the Target parking lot. The kidnapper gains more control by taking his victim to another location where he feels safe and free to do his deeds.

Suspect Charged With Lily Burk's Murder

Charlie Samuel, 50, the accused killer of 17-year-old Lily Burk, was charged today with murder, kidnapping and robbery. These are charges that could make him subject to the death penalty.

A photo of Samuel has been released:

Lily Burk Murder: The Media Gathers At Alleged Abduction Site

Above, the tower of the former Bullock's Wilshire, now the Southwestern University School of Law, pierces the night sky.

Lily Burk Murder: The Media Gathers At Alleged Abduction Site

Text and Photos by Armand Vaquer

(Click on photos to view larger.)

Tonight, three nights after Lily Burk was abducted and murdered, the media gathered at the alleged abduction location on Wilshire Place, just north of 7th Street.

Here, Lily had just completed an errand for her mother, who is an associate professor at Southwestern University School of Law which is housed at the old Bullock's Wilshire Building.

After leaving the building, Burk walked up Wilshire Place, which is a side street connecting Wilshire Blvd. and 7th Street, to get back to her car. Wilshire Place is on the east side of the building. It is speculated that her abductor approached her there.

Above, several television stations are set up on Wilshire Place, just down the block from the law school, and where Burk's abduction alledgedly took place.

The Lily Burk murder is big news in Los Angeles. The news media gathered three days later at the scene where Burk was found on Saturday morning and at the alleged location of her abduction.

Above, in the dark of night, one of many television reporters is broadcasting her report to the television audience at the alleged abduction site.

It has been reported that the suspect, Charlie Samuel, left fingerprint evidence inside of Burk's Volvo. It has been speculated that his image was captured on at least one ATM camera. It could be that police found something that belonged to Burk on him or some other evidence that tied him to the crime.

UPDATE: The L. A. Times reported today that Lily Burk's cell phone and car key was found on suspect Charlie Samuel at the time of his arrest. There was also traces of blood on him.

Lily Burk Crime Scene

Above, a news cameraman is preparing to shoot the flowers left at the location where Lily Burk was found last Saturday morning.

Lily Burk Crime Scene

Text and Photos by Armand Vaquer

The following photos show the crime scene of where 17-year-old Lily Burk was found murdered in her Volvo at 458 Alameda Street in Los Angeles.

Above, this photo shows the approximate location of where Burk's car containing her body was parked. Flowers were left at the location.

Above, same view but further back.

The news media were arriving at the location while I was there (approximately 1430 hrs.).

Above, the KCBS-Channel 2 news van.

Above, this is a view of the loading docks of the building where Lily Burk was found. Another television station's mobile news van is turning onto 5th Street from Alameda Street.

Above, the office of the L.A. County Coroner, where Lily Burk's body was taken for autopsy.

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the L.A. County Coroner's office found that Lily Burk's neck had been slashed, but it is unclear whether the slash wounds were the main cause of her death.

Thus far, the LAPD has put together this timeline of events based upon what has been learned so far:

3 p.m Friday: Samuel allegedly approached Burk at her car, which was parked near the law school on Wilshire Place, north of 7th Street. Samuel abducted Burk.

3:35 p.m.: Samuel attempted to withdraw money from at least one location in downtown L.A. using Burk's credit card. But the credit car was not set up to be used at an ATM.

3:35 to 4 p.m. Burk called both her mother and father, asking how to withdraw money using her credit card. She did not say she was in distress, police said.

4:52 p.m.: Samuel exited the driver's-side door of Burk's Volvo at 458 S. Alameda St. in downtown L.A.

5:25 p.m.: LAPD officers saw Samuel on 3rd Street drinking beer and in possession of a crack pipe. He was arrested.

Friday evening: Burk's parents reported her missing. A missing persons report was filed and detectives began searching for her.

6:15 a.m. Saturday: Burk's body was found by local workers inside her car at 458 S. Alameda St. They called 911, and police arrived.

Burk Murder Hits Close To Home

The Lily Burk murder is really hitting close to home with me.

She was found in a parking lot at Alameda Street and 5th Street (or 4th Street, depending upon reports) Saturday morning after being abducted Friday afternoon while running errands. This is near where I've had lunch many times. There's a McDonalds on Alameda and 8th Street, and I have eaten lunch at any one of those lots several times (homeless people hang out at the McDonalds and are a constant annoyance).

The Los Angeles Times is reporting:

Burk had gone to the campus at the old Bullock's Wilshire building Friday to collect some papers for her mother, an attorney who worked there. The sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because the investigation was ongoing, told The Times that detectives believe the motive was robbery and that Burk appears to have been abducted from that area.

The old Bullock's Wilshire building is mere blocks away from the offices of Securitas USA, the company I work for. And, it is directly across the street from the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services, which is one of our accounts, which is on the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Westmoreland Av.

UPDATE: It is curious that the mugshot of suspect Charlie Samuels, 50, has not been released as yet. Wonder why?

Damn It! Not Again! The Abduction and Murder of Lily Burk

Burk family photo.

The scenario is all too familiar: A girl in her late teens goes missing. A worried family tries calling her by cell phone. The police are called. A search begins. A body is found. A family is left grieving.

Ever since the abduction and murder of Kelsey Smith of Overland Park, Kansas in June 2007, my concern over the safety of young women had heightened. Time and again, we see repeatedly news stories of the abduction of girls and women over the media.

This concerns me as a father of a 22-year-old daughter who is in her senior year in college. That is why the cases involving Amber Dubois, Kara Kopetsky and others have caught my attention along with the case of Kelsey Smith.

Now we have another abduction and murder of a young girl, age 17. Her name is Lily Burk. Sadder yet, she was an only child.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

Police said Burk left her Los Feliz home at about 2 p.m. Friday and later made at least two calls to her parents asking how to get cash from an ATM machine using her credit card. Investigators said that it appears she died from blunt force trauma. Her death is being investigated as a homicide.

As in the Kelsey Smith case, a cell phone is a major player in the investigation. Her parents frantically tried calling her. The pings picked up indicated that her movements were moving in an eastward direction. Los Feliz is near Hollywood and her vehicle with her body was found just east of downtown Los Angeles at the intersection of Alameda Ave. and 5th Street. She was found yesterday.

The intersection Burk was found is in an area I patrol frequently as a field supervisor for Securitas USA.

Again, the victim was one with career aspirations:

“Lily was looking forward to going to college, to being a writer, to what was ahead,” her parents said in the statement. “She had a really bright future and it was cut short. If there is anything that people can take away from this horrible tragedy, it’s that life is fragile and that they should live every minute of it fully.”

From the Los Angeles Times:

"She was my best friend," Deborah Drooz, 54, said of her only child. "She was warm and funny and incredibly gifted verbally. We read books together. We loved each other very much. She was looking forward to her life."

Sgt. Miguel Arana of the Los Angeles Police Department said there were signs of a struggle inside the car. Lily appeared to have head injuries from striking the passenger side of the front windshield, but the car did not show signs of having been in a crash, he said.

Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz said that the cause of death appeared to be blunt force trauma and that there was "strong evidence" that Lily was killed by 5 p.m. Friday. He declined to disclose more details.

Drooz and her husband, Gregory Burk, 59, said their daughter left home about 2:30 p.m. Friday to pick up exams for her mother, an attorney and an adjunct professor at Southwestern University School of Law on Wilshire Boulevard, near downtown.

Lily picked up the papers and, more than an hour later, made separate calls to each of her parents, asking them how to get cash using her credit card at an ATM, police said.

Lily seemed in a rush, her father said, but not frightened. She said she needed money to buy shoes. Her parents said they told her to come home.

When she had not returned by 5 p.m., her parents became worried.

The latest news reports are that police are closing in on a suspect in Burk's murder. I suspect that she was being forced to withdraw money from her credit card but didn't know how to do so and went to several of them. Her abductor may be seen with her in videos taken from ATM cameras. (Again, this is just me speculating, nothing official.)

Hopefully, the police will capture the killer of Lily Burk and get him off the streets. But there are others out there.

The Kelsey Smith Foundation (or Kelsey's Army) has tips for young women and girls on how to be aware of their surroundings. Although they are permanently posted on this blog, I am going to post them here as it bears repeating:

1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.

2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.

3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.

4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed,

5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.

Remember the acronym TIPS:

Take Charge

Inform others of your whereabouts

Prepare for any situation

Survival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen).

For more information on personal safety, contact Kelsey's Army.

UPDATE (7/27/09): The Los Angeles Police Department had made an arrest in the murder of Lily Burk.

According to MyFoxLA:

The Los Angeles Police Department announced today it had made an arrest in the death of 17-year-old Lily Burk, whose body was found in her car near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend.

Charlie Samuel, 50, of Los Angeles was booked for murder and being held without bail, the LAPD reported. He was arrested Sunday night, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Web site.

The teen "is believed to have been the victim of a botched robbery," according to the LAPD statement.

The LAPD has scheduled a press conference on the case for 11:00 this morning. Let's hope they have solid evidence to put this animal away for good or the death penalty. Kudos to the LAPD for the swift arrest!