Laci's Walk - The A&E Docuseries

Among the many revelations in the recent A&E Docuseries, “The Murder of Laci Peterson,” was the appearance of several people who saw Laci walking in the neighborhood with her dog McKenzie on December 24 during the time period after Scott left home.  This map identifies the people who appeared or were mentioned in the series and the locations of their sightings.  It shows the 2+mile well-defined route from the time Laci left home until she returned around an hour later.

Sometime after Karen Servas returned McKenzi to the Peterson’s yard between 10:10 and 10:18 on December 24 and before Russell Graybill delivered the mail between 10:35 and 10:50, Laci opened the gate and took McKenzi for a walk.  She did not head to La Loma park, but rather south on Covena.  When Laci reached 211 Covena Avenue just north of Miller, she and McKenzi were seen by Homer Maldonado shortly after he and his wife left a gas station at Miller and Camellia.  A few blocks later, in the area of the triangular park on La Loma Avenue at Santa Barbara, she and McKenzi were seen by Tony Freitas who was on his regular delivery route.  Continuing northwest on La Loma Avenue, she and McKenzi were seen by Frank Aguilar and his wife, Martha, who were driving toward downtown Modesto.  One block further at the intersection of La Loma Avenue and Buena Vista, she and McKenzi were seen by Gene Pedrioli as they were getting ready to cross the street to Kewin Park.  She apparently did not enter the park at that time but continued on to Del Rio Avenue where she turned south and then east on La Sombra Avenue.  Just as she turned back north on Buena Vista Avenue toward the park, she and McKenzi were seen by Vivian Mitchell whose husband Bill came to the window just in time to see the dog who was trying to go in the opposite direction.

When Laci and McKenzie got back to La Loma Avenue, they apparently entered Kewin Park by the steps leading down from entrance at the corner.  It would have been unusual for Laci to go into this area of the park because of the high concentration of homeless people who congregated in the adjacent Moose Park; but just at the intersection of the trail leading to the path east, there was a public bathroom which may explain her decision.  Apparently, she then continued on the path going east through Dry Creek park but after just a few minutes ran into a couple of homeless men who started harassing her and yelling at McKenzi; so she turned back toward the entrance of Kewin Park.  It was at this time she was seen by Diana Campos who was taking a smoking break shortly before she was to start her work shift at the hospital.  When Laci got back near the entrance, she must have taken the stairs leading up to Buena Vista Avenue.

Continuing on Buena Vista to Encina and then up to Edgebrook Drive, she would have been on her way home.  When they reached Covena,  McKenzi may have pulled her toward the park entrance where Mike Chiavetta noticed him near the fence on the path that leads down into the park.  Chiavetta was concentrating on the dog, as his dog was off leash at the time, but he also noticed someone with the dog who fit Laci’s description.  Shortly after the Chiavetta sighting, Laci returned home.  Apparently she put McKenzi back in the yard and closed the gate and went inside the house where she changed clothes from black pants to tan.  She may then have gone out through the front gate to get the mail when she noticed something suspicious going on at Medina’s.  According to the Aponte tip and statement, Laci confronted Steve Todd and others as they were starting the burglary.  Exactly what happened to Laci after that is not known.  She was never seen again until her body and the body of her son, Conner, were found in April on the shores of the San Francisco Bay.