Statement Analysis of Melissa Hines: Hero Mom Fights Or Domestic Violence Victim?

Will Corey Hines be arrested?  What expense  has this cost the town?

This is the mother who claimed to have fought off a kidnapper, while receiving injuries, including a black eye, in the process.  Just who gave her the black eye is the topic of this article: 

Was it the kidnapper in all black, or was it Corey Hines, her husband, the only other adult present not wearing a ski mask?

The mother's account has few statements, but the statements themselves are enough to raise the right eyebrow of Statement Analysis, as she described a man only as wearing all black, during the day time, with black gloves and a black ski mask; not something inconspicuous in a day time neighborhood where one is intent on stealing a child yet something that allows the subject to be vague in her description to the police. 

Her husband, also there at the time, was around the other side of the house and did not see the heroic mother fight off the kidnapper.

Is this a case of Domestic Violence on the part of the father, who now has the mother lying for him?

Note that she withheld her last name, even though her story might have become an element of media fame.

Police would do well to take a full statement from the mother.  It is there they will find the truth.

 95% of readers have concluded that she is deceptive, and covering for her husband, Corey Hines.

The guy came from behind me, he already had my son in his hands … and I kind of like looked, stopped for a second stunned … and then I kind of went after him and he took a couple of steps and he fell … and my son hit the ground.”

Media did not report full statements.  Here, he is "the" guy, not "a" man or "a" guy.  Was this how she introduced her story to media?

The law of economy says that the shortest sentence is best.  Here, she tells us his positioning before telling us that a man has her son.  This is like a lengthy introduction, which, on form, moves the needle closer to "deception indicated."  Why not just say "A man grabbed my son and I..."?  

Note the "stunned second" is an inclusion of her emotions (being 'stunned') in the perfect, or logical portion of the story.  This is often an indictor of artificial placement of the emotions, as it takes humans some time to process their emotions.  When she made a statement about her son's emotions, it was in the 'after' part of the story, indicating veracity.  This may be due to the fact that the son did, indeed, experience violence, but not necessarily at the hands of the man in black, but possibly from his father. 

Note "my son" and not "my son, Alex"

"The guy had him in his hands, and he brushed up kind of behind me, and I saw that he had my son in his arms," she remembers.

Please note the change from "in his hands" to "in his arms":  something must change in reality to cause a change of language in a truthful statement. 

Within the context of the statement, I do not see anything to justify the change. She appears to attempt to repeat the same thing, but changes it from "hands" to "arms" without anything happening in her account to elicit a change in language from her.  This happens when someone is not speaking from experiential memory.  

Note also the emphasis of "I saw that" instead of the economic, "He had my son!"  This additional word, regarding what she saw, is not necessary, making it doubly important to us.  Why the need to tell us that she "saw" him as someone having a mother's 3 year old son would be all that is needed for action. 

"When he kicked me, I lost the wind in me," she said. "I felt like I was kind of going out because I couldn't fight any more, because I fought him for a while. I kicked and punched him."

The man then ran away over the backyard fence.

If you have ever lost your wind, you recall your inability to do anything, no less fight.  Note the need to say she was only "kind of" going out, rather than having the inability at that point, to fight.  This may be an indication that she is not speaking from experiential memory of what happened, but of a rehearsed story.  

Note "for a while" as the subject has, in two places, felt the need to mention the passing of time in her statements. 

To a different media outlet, Melissa Hines said:

"As he fell, my son fell with him. My son hit the ground and as soon as my son was on the ground, I jumped on top of my son, and held my son down. The guy came back over and was trying to get towards my son and get my son, that sort of thing, and that's when he started hitting and punching me. It seemed like he was trying to get him or he was upset that I stopped him."

Note how often "my son" is used without using her son's name.  7 times he is "my son" but she does not use the name, "Alex."
Note that the perpetrator is a "guy" and not a "man":  this is critical in learning what the difference between a "guy" and a "man" is within the personal, subjective, internal dictionary of Melissa Hines.  Is her husband a "guy" or a "man"?

Note "started hitting and punching me" has a beginning of an action, but not a completion such as "he hit and punched me."  This is found, at times, in PTSD situations, where the action is 'continual' (sexual abuse victims sometimes speak this way), as the subject appears to be reliving what happened.  Domestic violence victims sometimes also speak this way. 

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Melissa Hines says she would do anything for her sons Logan and Alex — and she has the bruises to prove it.

Hines fought off a masked man who tried to take 3-year-old Alex as they were playing in the backyard of their White Center house Sunday evening, withstanding a barrage of kicks and punches, according to King County sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West.

On Monday, in one of four such incidents in the Seattle area in a week, deputies were hunting for the would-be kidnapper with only the barest of descriptions while Hines, 32, was nursing a black eye and bruises.

“I’m still in shock, because this neighborhood has been so nice,” said her husband, Corey Hines, 39.

Melissa Hines said she was playing catch with Logan, 5, and Alex just before 6 p.m. while her husband lit the grill on a side patio at their home in the 10400 block of Third Avenue Southwest. Logan went inside to get a baseball glove, and Hines told Alex they should race to the garden on the other side of the house to pick strawberries for dinner.

Hines said she got a head start, and when she looked back, a man was holding her son under his arm, she said.

She said it happened so fast she didn’t scream.

“I just stood there, shocked. Then I took off running, trying to get my son,” she said.

Note the inclusion of body posture, indicating an increase in tension for the subject. 

With Hines in pursuit, the man tripped and dropped Alex. Hines jumped on top of her son as the man punched and kicked her.

When the beating stopped, she looked up, but the man was gone.

She grabbed Alex and ran to her husband, yelling that they needed to get inside. In the house, they locked the doors and called 911. Authorities believe the assailant fled over the backyard fence.

“All I know is that I wanted to get my son back,” Melissa Hines said. “I feel like it was instinct.”

"all I know" is often used when someone wishes the flow of information to cease. It is often an indication that there is more that is known, but not wished to be shared by the subject. 

The man was described as tall and “lanky” and was wearing a black ski mask, black clothing and black gloves.

Hines, interviewed at home, said Monday she was still shaken but feeling better. Alex wasn’t hurt but had trouble sleeping Sunday night.

Corey Hines said their neighborhood has always been a safe place.

Melissa Hines said the family doesn’t plan to change its routine. They may fence the play area at the side of the house, but the boys won’t be allowed to go outside by themselves again.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.

Another apparent kidnap attempt occurred Sunday during a Race for the Cure event. in Seattle. A 35-year-old Edmonds man was arrested.

(Doesn't this 'prove' her story?)

And Monday just after 9 a.m., a boy, 4, waited in the car as his mom walked his sister to Coe Elementary School at 2424 Seventh Ave. W., Seattle.

The boy told his mom a man had tried to open the car doors, police say. The woman said the man got into a shiny, bright red Pontiac Grand Am.

He was described as Hispanic, 25 to 32 years old, about 5-foot-9, with a thin build. He had a light complexion, shaved head and wore a white T-shirt and bluejeans.

Last Wednesday, Seattle policed quickly found a 2½ -year-old who had been abducted from the Mary’s Place shelter on Ninth Avenue in downtown Seattle. The child was unharmed, and a woman, 33, was arrested.