WEBVTT - Season 08 Episode 31: Morning Has Broken

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, it's Richard mccleinsmith here with a quick update before

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<v Speaker 1>we dive into today's episode. Unexplained is very excited to

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<v Speaker 1>be a part of Crime Wave at Sea this November,

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<v Speaker 1>joining forces with some of the eeriest voices in the

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<v Speaker 1>world of true crime and the paranormal four nights in

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<v Speaker 1>the Caribbean, with amazing podcasts like Last Podcast on the Left,

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<v Speaker 1>Scared to Death and many more live shows Meet and greets,

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<v Speaker 1>Creepy Stories under the Stars and you can be there too,

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<v Speaker 1>but don't wait. Rooms are nearly sold out. Head to

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<v Speaker 1>Crimewavetsea dot com forward slash Unexplained to grab your fan

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<v Speaker 1>coat and lock in your cabin. We'd love to see

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<v Speaker 1>you on board. It was a hazy summer morning in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety two when eighteen year old Janelle Kirby turned

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<v Speaker 1>her car onto a quiet suburban street in Springfield, Missouri.

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<v Speaker 1>She'd been up late the night before celebrating her high

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<v Speaker 1>school graduation when she was running on fumes. Despite this,

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<v Speaker 1>she didn't feel tired. If anything, she felt too awake,

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<v Speaker 1>a little on edge. She'd been trying to reach her

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<v Speaker 1>friend Susie Streeter since seven a m. But all of

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<v Speaker 1>her calls had gone to voicemail. It wasn't like her

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<v Speaker 1>at all, and Janelle couldn't help shake the feeling that

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<v Speaker 1>something was wrong. Janelle pulled into the driveway of Susie's home,

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<v Speaker 1>relieved to see her friend's car parked up outside. See,

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<v Speaker 1>said her boyfriend Mike, who was sitting next to her,

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<v Speaker 1>nothing to worry about. Finally, Janelle could relax. She knew

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<v Speaker 1>she was overreacting after the late night they'd had. Susie

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<v Speaker 1>had just slept through the calls, but even still, it

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<v Speaker 1>was strange. She thought that Susie's mum, Cheryl, hadn't picked

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<v Speaker 1>up the either. She was always up early, even on

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<v Speaker 1>a Sunday. Janelle parked up and got out of the car. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>together she and Mike walked up the driveway toward the house.

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<v Speaker 1>As they climbed up the porch steps, Mike put a

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<v Speaker 1>hand on Janelle's arm to stop her. Careful, he said,

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<v Speaker 1>pointing to the top step. It was covered in tiny

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<v Speaker 1>shots of broken glass. Janelle looked about, wondering where it

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<v Speaker 1>had come from. Then she clocked the broken porch light overhead.

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<v Speaker 1>That's weird, she thought. That feeling of unease which she'd

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<v Speaker 1>been trying to ignore, grew stronger. They rang the doorbell

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<v Speaker 1>and waited. Then they rang it again. Growing impatient, Mike

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<v Speaker 1>knocked hard on the front door, but still no one came.

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<v Speaker 1>Janelle pressed her ear to the door, straining to hear

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<v Speaker 1>any sound from inside. The plan had been to drive

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<v Speaker 1>to a water park for the day along with another

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<v Speaker 1>friend of Janelle and SUSY's, named Stacy McCall. As far

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<v Speaker 1>as Janelle knew, Stacy had spent the night at SUSY's,

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<v Speaker 1>so both girls should have been there. But the house

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<v Speaker 1>was completely silent, and after ringing the bell one more time,

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<v Speaker 1>Janelle and Mike gave up. Janelle spotted a broom leaning

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<v Speaker 1>up against the side of the house and carefully swept

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<v Speaker 1>up the broken glass. Then she and Mike discussed their options.

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<v Speaker 1>The house was within walking distance of a number of

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<v Speaker 1>local restaurants. Maybe Sheryl had offered to treat the girls

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<v Speaker 1>to a post graduation breakfast. Janelle and Mike hovered on

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<v Speaker 1>the porch, unsure what to do next. In the end,

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<v Speaker 1>they decided just to wait it out at the house.

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<v Speaker 1>The missing trio with no doubt to show up soon.

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<v Speaker 1>Surely they couldn't have just disappeared. You're listening to Unexplained

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm Richard mc lean smith for forty seven year

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<v Speaker 1>old Sheryl Leavitt nineteen ninety two had started on a

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<v Speaker 1>high note. After years of scrimping and saving from her

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<v Speaker 1>wages as a cosmotologist, she'd finally been able to afford

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<v Speaker 1>a down payment on a home of her own. Seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen East del Mar Street was a modest house in

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<v Speaker 1>a lovely historic neighborhood of Springfield, Missouri. It needed some work,

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<v Speaker 1>but that suited Sheryl perfectly. She'd always been house proud,

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<v Speaker 1>but she'd never had the chance to put her own

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<v Speaker 1>stamp on a place before. For the first half of

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<v Speaker 1>the year, Chryl spent most of her spare time redecorating

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<v Speaker 1>the house room by room, transfer forming it into a

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<v Speaker 1>dream home for herself and her daughter, Susie. At nineteen,

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<v Speaker 1>Susie was about to graduate from high school. She and

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<v Speaker 1>her two best friends, Stacy McCall and Jenel Kirby had

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<v Speaker 1>spent weeks planning out their graduation weekend. By the beginning

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<v Speaker 1>of June, they had it all pinned down. After the

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<v Speaker 1>graduation ceremony, they would attend a series of parties that

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<v Speaker 1>classmates were hosting all over town. Then they'd drive forty

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<v Speaker 1>miles south to the nearby city of Branson and spend

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<v Speaker 1>the night at a fancy hotel. The following day, they'd

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<v Speaker 1>continue their celebrations with a visit to Whitewater, a thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>acre water park in Branson. On the evening of graduation day,

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<v Speaker 1>June sixth, eighteen year old Stacy went out to dinner

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<v Speaker 1>to celebrate with her family at a local steakhouse. Afterwards,

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<v Speaker 1>she gave her mother Janice, a goodbye kiss on the

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<v Speaker 1>cheek and headed out to the parking lot at the restaurant,

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<v Speaker 1>where Susie was waiting to pick her up. The two

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<v Speaker 1>girls headed to three different parties that evening, meeting Janelle

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<v Speaker 1>along the way. At some point, they realized they'd been

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<v Speaker 1>over ambitious with their plan to drive to Branson that night.

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<v Speaker 1>They decided to stay in town at Janelle's house instead,

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<v Speaker 1>then drive to the water park. Early the following morning,

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<v Speaker 1>Stacy called her mum to give her the update and

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<v Speaker 1>let her know that she was planning to stay the

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<v Speaker 1>night at Janelle's. It was the last time Janice ever

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<v Speaker 1>spoke to her daughter. Around one am. On graduation night,

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<v Speaker 1>Susie Streeter and Stacy McCall were both flagging. The party

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<v Speaker 1>they were at was still in a full swing, but

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<v Speaker 1>both girls wanted to be relatively fresh for the water

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<v Speaker 1>part the next day. Just as they were debating what

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<v Speaker 1>to do next, as Siren was hurt approaching the property,

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<v Speaker 1>then blue lights began to pulse through the window. A

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<v Speaker 1>neighbor had called the police complaining about the noise, and

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<v Speaker 1>now they'd arrived to break up the party. The young

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<v Speaker 1>women took it as their cue to leave. Janelle was

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<v Speaker 1>ready to leave too, so she, Stacy, and Susie headed

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<v Speaker 1>home for the night, but when they arrived at Janelle's

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<v Speaker 1>they realized there was a problem. A lot of Janelle's

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<v Speaker 1>family had come from out of town for her graduation ceremony,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning the house was completely full. Janelle's mother offered to

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<v Speaker 1>make up beds for the girls on the living room floor,

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<v Speaker 1>but Susie had a better idea. She'd just been given

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<v Speaker 1>a brand new water bed as a graduation gift, and

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<v Speaker 1>it was more than big enough for two, so she

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<v Speaker 1>and Stacy decided to stay at Susie's house. Janelle would

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<v Speaker 1>meet up with them the following morning to drive to Whitewater.

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<v Speaker 1>That night, Susie and Stacy, in their separate cars, drove

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<v Speaker 1>away from Janelle's house. Based on the distance, they probably

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<v Speaker 1>arrived at Susie's house on East Delmar Street sometime around

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<v Speaker 1>two fifteen am. The girls both parked their cars in

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<v Speaker 1>the circular driveway of the house, gathered their belongings, and

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<v Speaker 1>went inside to bed. While her daughter was out celebrating

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<v Speaker 1>her graduation, Cheryl Levitt had spent a quiet Saturday night

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<v Speaker 1>in She spent the evening painting a chest of drawers

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<v Speaker 1>that she'd picked up at a vintage store and chatting

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<v Speaker 1>to an old friend on the phone. Around eleven fifteen pm,

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<v Speaker 1>she told the friend she was planning to get an

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<v Speaker 1>early night. Janelle woke up restless early the following morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Quite the late night, she had no interest in sleeping in,

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<v Speaker 1>keen to get on the road and make the most

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<v Speaker 1>of the day. White Water was bound to be busy

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<v Speaker 1>that weekend, and she wanted to get there for when

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<v Speaker 1>the doors opened at ten a m. As soon as

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<v Speaker 1>she was up, she called Susie's house, but there was

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<v Speaker 1>no answer. She tried again, figuring they were all still

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<v Speaker 1>probably sleeping still nothing. After three calls, Janelle got a

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<v Speaker 1>strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She brushed

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<v Speaker 1>it off as best she could, probably feeling more irritated

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<v Speaker 1>than anxious. Still, she told her boyfriend Mike to get

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<v Speaker 1>dressed as fast as he could so they could drive

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<v Speaker 1>over to the house, just to calm her growing nerves.

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<v Speaker 1>At seventeen seventeen East Delmar Street, all was quiet. Both

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<v Speaker 1>Stacy and Susie's cars were parked in the driveway and

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<v Speaker 1>Sheryl's was parked in the car poard to the side

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<v Speaker 1>of the house. After cleaning up the broken glass and

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<v Speaker 1>knocking to no avail, Janelle and Mike sat down on

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<v Speaker 1>the porch steps and waited under the morning sun. But

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<v Speaker 1>then Janelle thought to try something they hadn't done yet.

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<v Speaker 1>Jumping up, she stepped toward the front door and turned

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<v Speaker 1>the handle. To her shock, the door opened. She looked

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<v Speaker 1>back at Mike, no longer trying to disguise her unease.

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<v Speaker 1>This was a low crime neighborhood, but Springfield wasn't the

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<v Speaker 1>kind of town where people ordinarily left their doors unlocked,

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<v Speaker 1>not overnight, and definitely not when you weren't home. Suddenly,

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<v Speaker 1>they heard frantic yapping from inside the house, accompanied by

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<v Speaker 1>the teartap of little paws. A brown and black bundle

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<v Speaker 1>of fur launched itself out at the front door and

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<v Speaker 1>onto the porch Susie's Yorkshire terrier, Cinnamon. Janelle knew the

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<v Speaker 1>dog well. She reflexively caught him in her arms, afraid

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<v Speaker 1>he'd run out into the road. Thankfully, Cinnamon recognized her

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<v Speaker 1>and calmed down enough to let Janelle carry him back

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<v Speaker 1>into the house, But in sight, Cinnamon remained agitated. He

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<v Speaker 1>ran frantically back and forth between rooms, yapping and whining.

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<v Speaker 1>Janelle had never seen him act like this before. He

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<v Speaker 1>barely made a sound usually. Though Janelle had been inside

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<v Speaker 1>Sheryl and Susie's home many times before, it didn't feel

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<v Speaker 1>right tiptoeing around uninvited, and if they had just stepped

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<v Speaker 1>out for some food, she really didn't want them to

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<v Speaker 1>come back and find her. In sight, she quickly went

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<v Speaker 1>from room to room just to make sure there was

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<v Speaker 1>nothing unto ward. Certainly, from what she could see at first,

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<v Speaker 1>everything looked as it always did. Peeking into Susie's room,

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<v Speaker 1>she saw the bed had clearly been slept in, with

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<v Speaker 1>both sides of the covers pulled back on a dresser.

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<v Speaker 1>Next to the bed was the outfit that Stacy had

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<v Speaker 1>worn to graduation in a neat pile. Next to Susie's clothes,

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<v Speaker 1>there was also a bikini and a pair of shorts

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<v Speaker 1>laid out ready for the water park. Aside from that,

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<v Speaker 1>there was nothing much else to gleam. At a loss,

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<v Speaker 1>Jeanelle and Mike left Cinnamon inside and headed back to

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<v Speaker 1>their car. They made a quick search of the neighborhood,

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<v Speaker 1>checking on spots where they thought the trio might have

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<v Speaker 1>gone for breakfast. They asked if anybody had seen them

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<v Speaker 1>at all, but nobody had, and by then they weren't

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<v Speaker 1>the only ones who were starting to worry. Janie McCall

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't too surprised when she didn't hear from her daughter

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<v Speaker 1>Stacy first thing on Sunday morning. She knew the girls

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<v Speaker 1>were out late celebrating, and she was safe in the

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<v Speaker 1>knowledge that Stacy had gone to Janelle's house for the night.

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<v Speaker 1>By midday, she was starting to feel anxious. She called

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<v Speaker 1>Janelle's house to see if the girls were awake yet,

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<v Speaker 1>but when Janelle's sister answered the phone, she told Janie

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<v Speaker 1>that Stacy wasn't there. She'd spent the night at Susie's instead,

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<v Speaker 1>she said. Janis was surprised and slightly irritated. Stacy was

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<v Speaker 1>normally very responsible. Janis made a point of making sure

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<v Speaker 1>her daughter kept her updated at all times if her

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<v Speaker 1>social plans changed, and when she called Susie's house and

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<v Speaker 1>nobody answered the phone had left her even more on

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<v Speaker 1>edgeH Still, she tried to keep things in perspective. Stacy

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<v Speaker 1>and her friends had probably headed out early that morning

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<v Speaker 1>to beat the crowds at Whitewater. She thought she didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to be a killjoy on graduation weekend. But as

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<v Speaker 1>the day wore on with no word from Stacy, Janie

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<v Speaker 1>could no longer ignore the nauseating knotty feeling steadily growing

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<v Speaker 1>in her stomach. She called Susie's house again and again,

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<v Speaker 1>every unanswered call, making the knot Titan. Finally, with dusk approaching,

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<v Speaker 1>she couldn't stand it any longer. She drove over to

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<v Speaker 1>Sheryl and Susie's house, accompanied by some other concerned friends

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<v Speaker 1>and relatives. Janis immediately recognized Stacy's car in the driveway,

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<v Speaker 1>just like with Janelle. As soon as Janis and the

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<v Speaker 1>others entered the house. Cinnamon, the Yorkshire terrier, sprang to

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<v Speaker 1>his feet and began and yapping, frantically, racing back and forth,

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<v Speaker 1>heading to the bedrooms at the back of the house.

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<v Speaker 1>Janie too found Susie's unmade bed and saw her daughter

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<v Speaker 1>Stacy's outfit neatly folded on the dresser and the swimming

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<v Speaker 1>outfits too. Moving back into the main house, she then

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<v Speaker 1>found the three missing women's handbags, with their wallets and

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<v Speaker 1>keys still inside. Janice gasped when she opened her daughter's

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<v Speaker 1>and saw that her bottle of migraine medication was still

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<v Speaker 1>in side. Stacy had suffered bad migraine since childhood, had

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<v Speaker 1>never traveled anywhere without her medication in case she felt

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<v Speaker 1>one coming on at short notice. No longer able to

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<v Speaker 1>stop the deep panic rising within her, Janie was paralyzed

0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:55.640
<v Speaker 1>with fear. She called her husband, stew and relayed everything

0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:59.720
<v Speaker 1>she'd found to him without hesitation. He told her to

0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:10.520
<v Speaker 1>call the police immediately. Janie hung up the call with

0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:15.080
<v Speaker 1>her husband, then called the local police department. The dispatcher

0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:17.920
<v Speaker 1>asked her if she wanted to be connected to nine

0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:22.520
<v Speaker 1>one one, since that was the emergency number. Almost without

0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:27.440
<v Speaker 1>thinking Janice said no, Surely this wasn't an emergency, she

0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:32.600
<v Speaker 1>told herself, not yet, and so she asked the dispatcher

0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.760
<v Speaker 1>to send an officer over to the house instead. A

0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.960
<v Speaker 1>young officer named Rick book Out took the call. When

0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.680
<v Speaker 1>he arrived at the house, Janis greeted him anxiously and

0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.520
<v Speaker 1>filled him in on the situation. She emphasized the fact

0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:52.560
<v Speaker 1>that Stacy was a very responsible girl, not the kind

0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:56.920
<v Speaker 1>of teenager who might run away on a whim. Officer

0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.920
<v Speaker 1>book Out noted the fact that Stacy, Susan and Sheryl's

0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:05.000
<v Speaker 1>handbags were all together inside the house, lined up neatly

0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:09.359
<v Speaker 1>in the living room. That struck him as unusual. So

0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.600
<v Speaker 1>did the fact, according to Janie, all of the clothes

0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:16.840
<v Speaker 1>Stacy had with her were inside the house. If she'd

0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.199
<v Speaker 1>gone out willingly somewhere, she must have done so in

0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:24.800
<v Speaker 1>her pajamas. Book Out also learned that Susie and Cheryl

0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:28.760
<v Speaker 1>were both heavy smokers, and they'd left their cigarettes behind.

0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.840
<v Speaker 1>To the observant officer, that alone was a red flag.

0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.440
<v Speaker 1>Then Officer book Out took a walk around the perimeter

0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:39.520
<v Speaker 1>of the house, where he noticed the broken porch light,

0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:43.199
<v Speaker 1>a couple of shards of glass were still lying on

0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.640
<v Speaker 1>the ground, but most of it seemed to have been

0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.760
<v Speaker 1>cleared up. It seemed like a clue, perhaps an intruder

0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:53.719
<v Speaker 1>trying to cover his tracks. But when he began taking statements,

0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.959
<v Speaker 1>he learned from Janelle and Mike, who by then had

0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:59.560
<v Speaker 1>joined the group at the house, that they had swept

0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.000
<v Speaker 1>a glass that morning. It never occurred to them at

0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:07.960
<v Speaker 1>the time that they were destroying crucial evidence. Stepping back

0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:11.480
<v Speaker 1>into the house, the young officer looked about at all

0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:16.760
<v Speaker 1>the concerned relatives, friends and neighbors, and sighed, if this

0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:21.919
<v Speaker 1>was a crime scene, it was now hopelessly compromised. His

0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.640
<v Speaker 1>eyes fell on Cinnamon, the little Yorkie. It was now

0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.560
<v Speaker 1>curled up under a dining chair. If only that little

0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.800
<v Speaker 1>dog could talk, he thought he might be the only

0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.040
<v Speaker 1>creature in the world who knew what had really happened

0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:39.800
<v Speaker 1>in this house. As he left the property that night,

0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:43.360
<v Speaker 1>Officer book Out told Janie that he would be filing

0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.159
<v Speaker 1>this as a missing person's report with the suspicion of

0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.000
<v Speaker 1>foul play. He didn't want to panic her, but it

0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.439
<v Speaker 1>was better she hear it from him than from a

0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:58.040
<v Speaker 1>local newspaper. In truth, he had a very bad feeling

0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:11.879
<v Speaker 1>about it all. In the days following their disappearance, the

0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:16.639
<v Speaker 1>police made efforts to piece together information about Cheryl, Susie,

0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.400
<v Speaker 1>and Stacy's lives. They were on the lookout for anything

0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.960
<v Speaker 1>that might point to a suspect, somebody who might have

0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:27.760
<v Speaker 1>held a grudge against any of the women. There was

0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:30.800
<v Speaker 1>no sign of a struggle or forced entry at the house.

0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:35.600
<v Speaker 1>Investigator's best guess was that the women had left willingly,

0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:41.120
<v Speaker 1>perhaps with someone they knew or trusted. Cheryl's colleagues at

0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:45.880
<v Speaker 1>the salon where she worked described her as reliable, hard working,

0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:50.400
<v Speaker 1>and well liked, close to a model employee. That'd been

0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:54.240
<v Speaker 1>no indication that there was anything wrong in her life.

0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.720
<v Speaker 1>In fact, she seemed to be in a better place

0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:01.240
<v Speaker 1>than ever after moving into the new house. Susie and

0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:05.960
<v Speaker 1>Stacy were both known as dependable and responsible girls, not

0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:10.640
<v Speaker 1>trouble makers or likely runaways. But after a few days

0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:16.000
<v Speaker 1>police did identify one potential lead. Susie had an ex

0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:21.320
<v Speaker 1>boyfriend named Dustin Reckler, who'd recently had some significant run

0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:25.600
<v Speaker 1>ins with the law. The previous year, Dustin and two

0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.680
<v Speaker 1>of his friends had been arrested for crave robbing. They'd

0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:33.480
<v Speaker 1>broken into a Springfield Mausoleum and tried to steal gold

0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:38.800
<v Speaker 1>fillings from a corpse's mouth. It was a particularly disturbing

0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:43.239
<v Speaker 1>crime that had horrified the local community. Susie broke up

0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:47.240
<v Speaker 1>with Dustin around this time and had reportedly been due

0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:52.040
<v Speaker 1>to testify against him in an upcoming court case. According

0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:57.440
<v Speaker 1>to various unconfirmed reports, an acquaintance of Dustin's overheard him

0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:02.720
<v Speaker 1>wishing Susie dead before her discas appearance. Dustin was promptly

0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.840
<v Speaker 1>called in for questioning along with one of his grave

0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:10.400
<v Speaker 1>robbing accomplices, but due to a lack of any significant evidence,

0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:15.360
<v Speaker 1>the pair were released soon after. Another tip came in

0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:18.119
<v Speaker 1>from a woman who lived only a few streets away

0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:22.040
<v Speaker 1>from Sheryl and Susie. She recalled that on the morning

0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.000
<v Speaker 1>of June seventh, she was sitting out on her front

0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:28.679
<v Speaker 1>porch at around six thirty am when she saw a

0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:33.080
<v Speaker 1>green van park up in the street. This was notable

0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:36.159
<v Speaker 1>to her, not just because it was before dawn on

0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:39.800
<v Speaker 1>a Sunday morning, but also because she knew everybody on

0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.840
<v Speaker 1>her street. The neighbor claimed she saw a distressed looking

0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:46.880
<v Speaker 1>young woman in the driver's seat who looked as if

0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.879
<v Speaker 1>she'd been crying. Then she heard a man ordering the

0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.440
<v Speaker 1>young woman to back up and get out of here.

0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:59.400
<v Speaker 1>Seconds later, the van screeched into motion. When the neighbor

0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:02.480
<v Speaker 1>saw the news about the missing women the following day,

0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:06.359
<v Speaker 1>she recognized Susie, asked the woman in the driver's seat.

0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.760
<v Speaker 1>The police did what they could to pursue the tip,

0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.639
<v Speaker 1>but ultimately failed to track down the van or find

0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:19.320
<v Speaker 1>any corroborating witnesses. In the end, just like all the

0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:30.359
<v Speaker 1>others in the case, this lead went cold. Five years

0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:35.080
<v Speaker 1>after the Springfield Three, as they became known, disappeared, an

0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:40.000
<v Speaker 1>incarcerated kidnapper named Robert Craig Cox gave an interview to

0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:43.639
<v Speaker 1>a local reporter claiming that he'd been involved in the crime.

0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:49.560
<v Speaker 1>Speaking to Dennis Graves from KY three TV, Cox stated

0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:53.439
<v Speaker 1>that Sheryl, Susie, and Stacy had been murdered and that

0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:57.960
<v Speaker 1>their bodies would never be found. I know that they're dead.

0:22:58.840 --> 0:23:03.080
<v Speaker 1>I'll say that, and of that that's not a cleary yeah,

0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:04.720
<v Speaker 1>but I know that they're just sad as you know

0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:08.959
<v Speaker 1>that they're dead. Cox was a highly decorated army ranger

0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:13.359
<v Speaker 1>with a history of abducting women. He moved to Springfield

0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:16.919
<v Speaker 1>a few weeks before the three women went missing, but

0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:21.760
<v Speaker 1>he also worked with Stacy's dad at a local car dealership.

0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:26.000
<v Speaker 1>Had he stalked Stacy and followed her to Sheryl and

0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:30.640
<v Speaker 1>Susie's home the night they went missing, the police had

0:23:30.680 --> 0:23:33.280
<v Speaker 1>more than enough reason to bring him in for questioning,

0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:36.679
<v Speaker 1>but he was soon released when his girlfriend gave an

0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:40.639
<v Speaker 1>alibi for the night in question. The only thing was

0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:44.840
<v Speaker 1>when Cox was arrested some time later for a different offense,

0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:48.600
<v Speaker 1>his girlfriend seemed no longer willing to back him up,

0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:53.880
<v Speaker 1>and she retracted her initial alibi statement. In the end,

0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:58.879
<v Speaker 1>police decided that Cox, who was a notorious fabuloist, was

0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:04.359
<v Speaker 1>messing with them. A suspected serial killer by the name

0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:07.679
<v Speaker 1>of Larry de Wayne Hall has also been put forward

0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:12.240
<v Speaker 1>as a possible suspect. Although Hall has never been convicted

0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:16.240
<v Speaker 1>of murder, he's currently serving a life sentence for kidnapping

0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:20.200
<v Speaker 1>and is suspected of killing dozens of women and girls

0:24:20.600 --> 0:24:25.560
<v Speaker 1>during the nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties. In nineteen ninety two,

0:24:25.720 --> 0:24:30.480
<v Speaker 1>Hall reportedly spent a lot of time in Springfield. Given

0:24:30.480 --> 0:24:33.800
<v Speaker 1>that his preferred approach was to abduct women from their

0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:37.800
<v Speaker 1>own homes, Many have theorized that he could have been involved,

0:24:38.320 --> 0:24:43.240
<v Speaker 1>but this too, has never been corroborated. One long standing

0:24:43.359 --> 0:24:47.639
<v Speaker 1>rumor posits that the women's bodies may be buried underneath

0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:52.040
<v Speaker 1>the Springfield Hospital. At the time of their disappearance, the

0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:56.800
<v Speaker 1>parking garage of Springfield's Cox Health Hospital was under construction

0:24:57.640 --> 0:25:00.919
<v Speaker 1>just five minutes from the house on East Delmar Street.

0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:06.399
<v Speaker 1>In two thousand and seven, local crime reporter Kathy Baird

0:25:07.080 --> 0:25:11.480
<v Speaker 1>hired a specialist to conduct the ground penetrating radar survey

0:25:11.800 --> 0:25:17.359
<v Speaker 1>at the hospital's parking garage. That survey reportedly detected three

0:25:17.359 --> 0:25:21.840
<v Speaker 1>anomalies of a size and shape that indicated human remains,

0:25:22.680 --> 0:25:26.160
<v Speaker 1>but this theory has been dismissed by the Springfield police

0:25:26.400 --> 0:25:33.080
<v Speaker 1>as implausible. Despite receiving nationwide attention and being featured in

0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:37.119
<v Speaker 1>an episode of America's Most Wanted, the disappearance of the

0:25:37.200 --> 0:25:43.400
<v Speaker 1>Springfield three is a complete and horrifying mystery. No arrests

0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:46.879
<v Speaker 1>have ever been made, no solid theory of the case

0:25:47.119 --> 0:25:53.119
<v Speaker 1>has ever emerged. Today, a bench dedicated to Sheryl, Susie,

0:25:53.119 --> 0:25:58.840
<v Speaker 1>and Stacy stands inside Springfield's victim's memorial garden, but it

0:25:58.920 --> 0:26:02.199
<v Speaker 1>has done little to stymy the gaping hole of grief

0:26:02.480 --> 0:26:05.840
<v Speaker 1>that their loved ones continue to carry to this day.

0:26:07.119 --> 0:26:10.920
<v Speaker 1>The question of what really happened on that night June sixth,

0:26:11.160 --> 0:26:19.600
<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety two remains to this day Unexplained. This episode

0:26:19.680 --> 0:26:23.879
<v Speaker 1>was written by Emma Dibden and produced by Richard McLain Smith.

0:26:24.720 --> 0:26:27.560
<v Speaker 1>Thank you as ever for listening Unexplained as an Avy

0:26:27.560 --> 0:26:32.080
<v Speaker 1>Club Productions podcast created by Richard McLain Smith. All other

0:26:32.119 --> 0:26:35.760
<v Speaker 1>elements of the podcast, including the music, are also produced

0:26:35.760 --> 0:26:40.240
<v Speaker 1>by me Richard McLain Smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook

0:26:40.480 --> 0:26:44.440
<v Speaker 1>is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon,

0:26:44.640 --> 0:26:49.320
<v Speaker 1>Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and other bookstores. Please subscribe to

0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:52.359
<v Speaker 1>and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts, and

0:26:52.440 --> 0:26:54.720
<v Speaker 1>feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or

0:26:54.760 --> 0:26:58.320
<v Speaker 1>ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps

0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:00.479
<v Speaker 1>you have an explanation or a store story of your

0:27:00.520 --> 0:27:03.040
<v Speaker 1>own you'd like to share. You can find out more

0:27:03.080 --> 0:27:06.960
<v Speaker 1>at Unexplained podcast dot com and reaches online through X

0:27:07.040 --> 0:27:11.440
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