img path corrupted when site gets copied

the path got stripped from my post above. here they are without the <>

path working for reuploaded =
img class="imagefield imagefield-field_imagefield" width="640" height="480" alt="" src="http://oneday3.sitename.com/sites/oneday3.sitename.com/files/chimpanzee_..."

path for "copied" image =
img class="imagefield imagefield-field_imagefield" width="600" height="491" alt="" src="http://oneday3.sitename.com/sites/oneday3.sitename.com/files/sites/defau..."

/sites/default/files inserted in "broken" path

More info:
1. the image field is being shared between three content types: a custom CT called company, story, and page.
2. it was first created on the company CT.
3. image on company CT's show image correctly without re-upload.
4. problem is occurring on story CT.
5. the following is stored in content_node_field_instance table - I assume this is an imagefield module table. why are they all referencing the default site path to one image? Also, the imagefield_default_images directory only has the one image. the other images are directly under files. Maybe this has nothing to do with it but it seemed odd.

In the company content type widget settings includes: s:8:"filepath";s:62:"sites/default/files/imagefield_default_images/placeholder2.jpg";

In the story CT, widget settings includes: s:8:"filepath";s:62:"sites/default/files/imagefield_default_images/placeholder2.jpg";

In the page content type widget settings includes: s:8:"filepath";s:62:"sites/default/files/imagefield_default_images/placeholder2.jpg";

update: i should note that these paths are in the database associated with site copy.

Ran another test. I gave story its own imagefield. recreated the test node with the images. then made a copy of the site. the copy still doesn't display the images in the text node. Plus ... the data stored in content_node_field_instance table makes no filepath reference either in the original db or the copy. It shows this:

a:19:{s:15:"file_extensions";s:16:"png gif jpg jpeg";s:9:"file_path";s:0:"";s:18:"progress_indicator";s:3:"bar";s:21:"max_filesize_per_file";s:0:"";s:21:"max_filesize_per_node";s:0:"";s:14:"max_resolution";s:1:"0";s:14:"min_resolution";s:1:"0";s:3:"alt";s:0:"";s:10:"custom_alt";i:1;s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:12:"custom_title";i:0;s:10:"title_type";s:9:"textfield";s:13:"default_image";N;s:17:"use_default_image";i:0;s:6:"insert";i:0;s:13:"insert_styles";a:8:{s:4:"auto";i:0;s:4:"link";i:0;s:5:"image";i:0;s:20:"imagecache_image_150";i:0;s:20:"imagecache_image_250";i:0;s:20:"imagecache_image_300";i:0;s:20:"imagecache_image_325";i:0;s:20:"imagecache_image_350";i:0;}s:14:"insert_default";s:4:"auto";s:12:"insert_class";s:0:"";s:12:"insert_width";s:0:"";}

so ... I am really stumped. Where is the corrupt path coming from? One of the settings above must be code for how the path is configured because the new copy of the site with the new imagefield renders this in the
HTML source:

http://oneday2.nameofsite.com/sites/oneday2.idcminnovations.com/files/si..." />

/files/sites/oneday3.nameofsite.com/ - this is the "original" site in this test and oneday2 is the copy.

help please!

I am sorry to have missed the other posts on this issue. So many ... how did I miss them. I hunted for a long time. I guess I didn't search on the right terms. Thank you forgetting back to me so quickly. Good to hear about D7.