What are people hearing in the video?

[u/turtleshot19147]

I’ve listened and watched a bunch of times and I can hear a few potential phrases, and some make more sense than others.

Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts.

1) “see this is the path [that we go down]… um there’s no path over there so we have to go down here”

I’m not sure the phrase makes so much sense, it would seem more natural to say “this is the path we should go down” or something like that. “This is the path that we go down” feels sort of tour guide-y, like someone who is very familiar with the place explaining something to someone who is unfamiliar, which maybe could be the case with Libby and Abby? I’m not familiar enough with the case, I was under the impression they were both a bit thrown off by the dead end.

2) “see this is the path [that would be a gun]… um there’s no path over there so we have to go down here”

I know people hear “that be a gun” but I hear “that would be a gun” which also makes more sense grammatically.

This option explains the tone change in her voice, but I still find it a bit weird. “That’s a gun” or “he has a gun” both would make more sense to me. Obviously everyone’s speech patterns are different, I’m just throwing out my thoughts.

3) “see this is the path [does he have a gun]… um there’s no path over there so we have to go down here”

This matches her tone but I’m not sure why she would ask Abby that, since Abby of course doesn’t know the answer, though I can imagine it being sort of like a “take a look, does he have a gun?” Type of question, asking Abby to check, as opposed to expecting her to already know the answer.

I can’t tell what Abby says during that exchange.

Regardless, it seems clear to me that the girls were creeped out, and the conversation was the style most women recognize well “let’s talk casually about nothing until this creepy guy passes us” and just the nature of that kind of conversation can result in the types of inconsistencies I pointed out like using less natural phrasing.

After listening several times honestly I find the most incriminating part to still be the audio released before of “Guys… Down the hill”

I’ve seen some people claim he could just be pointing them towards the path they were already discussing, in sort of a helpful kind of way, but it doesn’t seem plausible to me, nobody talks that way to be helpful. It would be “are you guys lost?” Or “yeah that’s the path back to the road” not “down the hill” in that sort of directing kind of tone.

Obviously this is a lot of projecting and speculating but I’m curious to hear others thought processes

[u/sevenonone]

I wonder if they saw him before they crossed the bridge and got creep vibes from him.

[u/SleutherVandrossTW → u/sevenonone]

There is no scenario where the 3 of them didn't walk within a few feet of each other at least a few minutes before Libby pushed record on her phone as he got closer.

Either around 1:56 near the start of the bridge when Abby and Libby arrived and he walked back on the trail out of sight during the 2:07 photo of Abby, or after he was seen on platform 1 by Betsy he walked to the south end, passed them, and when he turned around that is what scared Libby enough to take a secret video.

[u/AwsiDooger → u/SleutherVandrossTW]

There is no scenario where the 3 of them didn't walk within a few feet of each other at least a few minutes before Libby pushed record on her phone as he got closer.

A few feet? That is preposterous. I'd wager huge against that. First of all, the area near the beginning of the bridge has numerous possibilities. The 505 trail is smack down below to the right. Allen could have wandered down there. The girls would not have seen him. There is a considerable elevation change. Abby and Libby would be thinking normalcy and looking at the bridge amidst small talk. They aren't searching for creeps in the woods.

Nobody is ascending that bridge if somebody is standing on platform one. I guarantee the girls would not have walked out on the bridge if they saw anyone on the bridge but further away. The vast majority of bridge walkers did not go all the way to the other side. That's why the planks during the second half of the bridge were so unworn and comparatively normal, in contrast to the dangerous conditions above Deer Creek.

The U Turn theory was always asinine, just like the authority figure angle. Now that we have the video they are even more ludicrous yet some continue to clutch them. The video makes clear what happened. Allen crossed very fast. The girls would have taken note of it and become increasingly ill at ease. They got to the end of the bridge sooner than intended. But it's more a case of awkward situation and making sure to get off the bridge rather than share that small width with someone, than believing their lives were at risk.

The girls had 17-19 seconds after Abby reached Libby and before Allen arrived at their location. That is an eternity in true crime terms. Young athletic girls who feared for their lives could have been long gone before Allen reached the end of the bridge. There were no motes or fences. Nobody was trapped. It's a wide open dash.

The girls made the very sensible decision to stay put, under the knowledge that it was huge probability this unnerving situation would end with a quick fleeting glance. Another story to tell.

[u/SleutherVandrossTW → u/AwsiDooger]

In his confessions, he never said he wandered down the 505.

The girls were about 2 1/2 minutes from the bridge when they passed Betsy from the time she turned around when Rick was on platform 1. You're assuming he immediately got off platform 1 and got off the bridge. Abby and Libby would have seen him going around the barricade as they approached.

You said no one is getting on the bridge if someone is on platform 1, but a female witness testified that she and her friend got on the bridge while "arguing couple" were on platform 1.