1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:08,640 Speaker 1: Paper Ghosts is a production of I Heart Radio. If 2 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: you lived anywhere near New England in the early to 3 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: mid nineteen seventies, the name's Debbie Spickler, Janice Pocket, and 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: Lisa Joy White were synonymous with a ghost stalking the area. 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:26,600 Speaker 1: Girls walking, playing, talking to family and friends, one minute, 6 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:34,639 Speaker 1: moments later gone, one after the other. From nineteen six 7 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: to ninety, young girls vanished from Tolland County, Connecticut, in 8 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: the quiet farming towns of Ellington, Rockville, and Vernon. I 9 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: grew up here and still live here. It's a place 10 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: where people run into one another in town, at the lake, 11 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: in the local grocery, we talked p t A, sleepovers, 12 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: in town politics. Back then. When the abductations began, panic ensued. Literally, 13 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: my parents and our neighbors locked our doors and closed 14 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: the shades. We weren't allowed to play on supervised in 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: our own yards. People looked at one another differently, you know, 16 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: with that raised eyebrow. I went to school with the 17 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: families of the missing. I can remember walking down the 18 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:27,199 Speaker 1: hallway hearing the whispers, where is she? That's the missing 19 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: girl's sister over there. You think her brother did it. 20 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: It's been over fifty years and not one of these 21 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: cases has been solved. My name is m William Phelps. 22 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: I'm an investigative journalist in New York Times, bestselling author 23 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,639 Speaker 1: of forty three true crime books. My passion has always 24 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: been rooted in the forgotten stories of the missing and 25 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: murdered m After growing up around so many disappearing children, 26 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: and later when a family member of mine was murdered 27 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: a case still unsolved, I decided to dedicate my career 28 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: to seeking justice for crime victims and their families. But 29 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: these missing girls, some of whom I knew, it's personal cases. 30 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: I've been investigating for the past eleven years. I've become 31 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: close to these families. I've experienced their pain, I've made promises, 32 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: and I don't feel I can stop until I find answers. 33 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: This is paper Ghosts for Kennan Patty Wendell. Their involvement 34 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,399 Speaker 1: in the missing cases began in two thousand fifteen when 35 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: they relocated to my hometown, Ellington, Connecticut. Their middle aged, wholesome, 36 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: good people who have been married about thirty years. They 37 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: only use bookstore in town that their son runs. I've 38 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: gotten to know them pretty well over the past few years. 39 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: And visit them from time to time to catch up. 40 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: The windles remind me of my neighbors back in the day, 41 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: growing up around here, people who do anything for you 42 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: and expect nothing in return. Starts at the beginning of 43 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: Window Road, where through dirty Ken is an electrician. He 44 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: wears glasses and reminds me of one of those guys 45 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: who can fix anything behind my house. That was his wife. 46 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: Patty looks much younger than her age. She speaks with 47 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: that King of Queen's Long Island accent. There's a toughness 48 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: I sense, and Patty, if nothing else, she is tenacious, 49 00:03:52,680 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: unafraid to say exactly how she feels. They work. I 50 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: did to move to the country. It was a dream, 51 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: something that always wanted to do. Settled down in quiet 52 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,839 Speaker 1: country life, surrounded by woods, they spent years commuting back 53 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: and forth from their hectic life in Long Island, New 54 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: York to build a house on what is a massive 55 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: plot of land across the street from a popular summer destination, 56 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: Crystal Lake. But that excitement turned well, very disturbing. Just 57 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: after finishing the home and settling in, I moved here 58 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: in October in the summer of fifteen, and in October 59 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: of that year, two detectives came to the door. My 60 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: son was home and they wanted to talk to the 61 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: owner of the property. So it was a state police 62 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: cold case detective and his partner who recently took over 63 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: the cases of the missing local girls. And then he said, well, 64 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: we have a tip. We have a tip. That's how 65 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: cold cases of this nature generate action and lead to breakthroughs. 66 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: What is incredible to me is this, after fifty years, 67 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: five decades, these cases still produced detectives knocking on doors. 68 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: That alone gives me and the families of the missing 69 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: hope somebody knows something and they share it. The windows 70 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 1: allowed the detective and his partner to walk to property 71 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: all forty six acres. They spent two hours, Promising they'd returned. 72 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: The detectives were back a month later, only this time 73 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: they brought along a team of crime scene texts, shovels, 74 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: a bacco and began excavating a water well on the 75 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: edge of the windows property. They spent the entire day. 76 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: The dig turned up piles of garbage, an old oven 77 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: and refrigerator. But get this Inside that water well, they 78 00:05:54,839 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: recovered five pairs of children's saddle shoes alarming, yes, but 79 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: why five pairs? Were these at all related to the 80 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: missing girls I've been investigating or wasn't an anomaly? More 81 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: junk tossed into the woods. The Wendells assumed the police 82 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: would return and continue searching their land, but instead, Patty 83 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: and Ken grew kind of frustrated after not hearing anything 84 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: for quite some time. It's as if the state police 85 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: completely gave up. It would not even answer text or 86 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: emails in a timely fashion, and when they did, the 87 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: response was generic and disappointing. But Ken, well, he's a 88 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: task guy. Get in there and get your hands dirty. 89 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: And he refused to let this go, so he continued 90 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: to search his land himself. So after the cops came by, 91 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: I started to walk around, and then that's when I 92 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: found a a fox that doug a debt, and I 93 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: see where he was digging, and he ripped open a bag. 94 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: It was a girl. The buttons. The other side, Ken 95 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: is talking about finding several pieces of seventies era clothing 96 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: in a plastic bag. The bag was buried in an 97 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: abandoned artesian water well in an area on his property 98 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: where a set of small cabins that Crystal Leg visitors 99 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: could rent for a weekend or summer vacation. During the 100 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: sixties and early seventies used to be I think dirty dancing, 101 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: that kind of atmosphere. This specific area, an old logging road, 102 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: is overgrown with brush and trees. Now then after running 103 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: across that bag of clothes, Ken discovered something else. It 104 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: was sneakers that can have the ground. I think it 105 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: over here and find out what you are. I mean 106 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: all that the sneakers that can out. So I stopped digging. 107 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: At that point, Ken called the state police, thinking he 108 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: might have just found a body. One of those missing girls. 109 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: Janis Pockets certainly has not been forgotten in this tight 110 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: knit community. Check how this bench that has been dedicated 111 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: in her memory. You can see forty years ago today 112 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: she went missing and it happened just around the corner 113 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: while she was riding her bike. Janice Pocket was only 114 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: seven years old when she went missing in nineteen seventy three. 115 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: She's the youngest of the missing girls I'm focused on. 116 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: The Pocket family lived in the town of Talland, Connecticut, 117 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: about twenty miles east of capital City, Hartford and just 118 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: a few miles from Crystal Lake. At the time, talland 119 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:41,679 Speaker 1: Vernon and Ellington, where my cases originate, were very rural 120 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: woodsie the country totally Mayberry, USA. The road where Janice 121 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: was last seen was dirt and gravel, surrounded by woods 122 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: and a Christmas tree farm. Well, it was a three 123 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: bedroom ranch that we lived in, wooded on behind us 124 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,319 Speaker 1: and on one side of course where the school was 125 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: now that was all woods. There. That's Mary angele Breck, 126 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: who has become a good friend and close confidant over 127 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: the past ten years of my investigation. We met online 128 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: after she realized I was looking into Janice's case. Mary 129 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: was six when her older sister went missing in She 130 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: has shoulder length brown hair and wears glasses. Her cheerful 131 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: demeanor and kindness are indications she has not allowed Janice's 132 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: disappearance to destroy her. Today, I see a drive in 133 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,080 Speaker 1: Mary to find her older sibling. We're sitting on a 134 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: large rock beside her sister's memorial, near the last location 135 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 1: Janice was seen. It's a hot summer morning. Mary has 136 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: always seemed anxious to me whenever we meet, but on 137 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: this day, within this space, she is different, as if 138 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:01,719 Speaker 1: in her element, more relaxed, and of course nostalgia. There 139 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:03,319 Speaker 1: was a lot of kids in that, a lot of 140 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: kids in the neighborhood. Oh yeah, are you know my 141 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,439 Speaker 1: sister's age and my age. We were always out in 142 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: the you know, in the yards, playing together. And tell me, 143 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 1: you know what you remember about James, Well, you know, 144 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: we were both We loved to play outside. Our big 145 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: thing was out in the yard or we had a 146 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:27,719 Speaker 1: big backyard. We would love to go looking for bugs, butterflies. 147 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: We were all into that, the nature stuff. Picking flowers 148 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: for mom all the time. Um, you know, she was 149 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:39,199 Speaker 1: older than me. She was definitely my fossy older sister. 150 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: She would tell me what to do all the time, 151 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: and I, you know, pretty much would do anything she 152 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: told me, you know, because she was in charge for sure, 153 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:49,199 Speaker 1: and it was that was okay with me most of 154 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: the time. You know, we used to fight a lot. 155 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: I asked Mary about her mother. She was just a 156 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: h My mom was a sweetheart. Everything we did was 157 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: with my mom. Like if my dad worked a lot, 158 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: you know, my mom was a stay at home mom. 159 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: We were. My sister was a year and a half 160 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: older than me, so we were very close in age. 161 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: You know, we did everything together and my mom was 162 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: very you know, we were not allowed out of her sight. 163 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: I mean, we would play outside all the time, but 164 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: my mom was always there. You know, we weren't allowed 165 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: to do go out on our own in the neighborhood 166 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 1: at that age. The day she disappeared, do you remember, 167 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: as clear as day. Certain things stick out in my mind, 168 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: like we had um we had gone grocery shop. I 169 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: remember the grocery shopping trip, not so much the actual trip, 170 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: but when we got home. And I think it's because 171 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: my sister and I had a huge fight when we 172 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: got back from and I can I can still picture 173 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: it in my head. My mom was down at the 174 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: bottom of our basement stairs and she was putting stuff 175 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: away in a pantry like cabinet we had there. And 176 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: I when we had been shopping, I said, and I 177 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: both picked out new toothbrushes, and we got back in. 178 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: Somehow we were fighting over which who's was who's, like, 179 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: which color was mine, which color was hers. It seems 180 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: so silly and ridiculous, but I remember I was crying 181 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: because I was out upset about it, and I'm just thinking, 182 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: my poor mom. I think it must have driven her crazy. 183 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: We were fighting over something so silly when you think 184 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: about it as a mom now I know it's like 185 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: here they're going again, you know. That was July seventy three, 186 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: mid afternoon, near three pm, sonny perfect seventy three degrees. 187 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: Janice decided she needed to do something, and she pleaded 188 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:46,959 Speaker 1: with her mother to go alone. The next thing I 189 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: remember is my sister she had asked if she could 190 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: go on her bike up the road to get the butterfly. 191 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: And and I can tell you what that means, because 192 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,079 Speaker 1: it was year in that week, probably a couple of 193 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: days before. We were out for a walk with my 194 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: mom and the dog. I was walking, my sister was 195 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: riding your bike, and my mom had the dog, and 196 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: my sister found and it was right around the corner. 197 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,319 Speaker 1: Here she found on the side of the road, just butterfly. 198 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: It was dead, but it was perfect, and it was 199 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: one of the yellow and black ones. It was perfect. 200 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: Mary and Janice's mother used to take them for walks 201 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 1: down that dirt road. They'd recently gotten a new puppy, 202 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: so there was a good reason to be out a 203 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: lot during the summer of nineteen three. On that day, 204 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:43,320 Speaker 1: Janice wore navy blue shorts with an American flag emblem, 205 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: a striped pull over shirt and blue sneakers. She had 206 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: unmistakable strawberry blonde hair shoulder length with those seventies eero 207 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: banks covering her forehead. I can recall her gap tooth 208 00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: smile from her second grade class photo and image that 209 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: is stuck with me since growing up in this area. 210 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: That photo on a missing person flyer was everywhere, So 211 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: she tucked it behind a rock that was on the 212 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: side of the road, and I think, thinking I'll come back, 213 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: we'll get it the next time we walk or whatever. 214 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: Walking it, Mary and I figured out the distance was 215 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: about a third of a mile from her childhood home. 216 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: This was far first seven year old on a bike. 217 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 1: You left the pocket home, took it right out of 218 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: the driveway, went down the road, and came to a 219 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: stop sign at the beginning of the dirt road. Heading 220 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: straight the dirt road took a sharp right hand and 221 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: then a sharp left hand turn. Janice had placed the 222 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: dead butterfly just after the second turn on the side 223 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: of the road behind a rock. I know it was 224 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: a Thursday, just only because of knowing that now. But 225 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: and I my sister asking could she go get the butterfly, 226 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: and normally my mother would have said no, just wait 227 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: and let's go take a walk. But I think, you know, 228 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: she was trying to but stuff away and was probably 229 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: sick of us fighting. That's what I'm just thinking in 230 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: my head, and I remember her saying go quick and 231 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: come right back. Janice was given permission to go to 232 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: Loone for the first time. Her mother gave her a 233 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: blank envelope to put the butterfly in. She then hopped 234 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: on her bike and rode down the driveway, hit the street, 235 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: and headed back to the dirt road to get the butterfly. 236 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: Oh my god, what an image, a seven year old 237 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: in July on her bike going to get a butterfly. 238 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: This image is something no one in this area to 239 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: this day has forgotten. You bring up Janice's name and 240 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: they talk about that butterfly. As she hit the dirt 241 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: road and took that first corner, Janice Pocket vanished. The 242 00:15:48,920 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: last time anybody ever saw her picture this On the 243 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: day Janice disappeared, one of the Pockets neighbors, Nancy McDonald, 244 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: was at home down the road, approximately a quarter mile away. 245 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: On that July afternoon. There three pm. Nancy left her 246 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: house to run to the store. She drove up her street, 247 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: turned left, then headed down the road, passing the Pocket 248 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: home before coming to that stop sign where the dirt 249 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: road began. After introducing myself, Nancy invited me inside for 250 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: a chat. Sitting down in your kitchen, Nancy told me 251 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,160 Speaker 1: a story about the day Janice went missing. That quite honestly, 252 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: it was difficult to hear. Is the only one that 253 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 1: saw anything, and I decided all I was doing was 254 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 1: going for a gallon a mill. When she arrived at 255 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: the intersection just past the Pocket house, Nancy saw something 256 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: that grabbed her attention. It was a blue four door 257 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: station wagon parked blocking the road, the actual route she 258 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:29,679 Speaker 1: was planning to take to the store. The car was 259 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: positioned sideways east to west, not north to south as 260 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: the dirt road ran back then. This entire area was 261 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:43,160 Speaker 1: secluded woods on both sides, no homes. I couldn't get 262 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,399 Speaker 1: through because roads road goes this way. His car was 263 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: like that. I thought, when I come back, if that 264 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: car was still, they are blocking the road, I'm gonna 265 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: get out and get his license. Nancy could not continue straight. 266 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 1: That vehicle forced her to take a hard left and 267 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: drive around taking the longer back way to the store, 268 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: and no sooner did she begin to take that left. 269 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 1: Nancy saw something else. It was a guy. Nobody was 270 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 1: in the car. He was walking. I'll show you how. 271 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: That's what made me wonder to him. Nancy stood and 272 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: began mimicking a slow walk. The only way I saw 273 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 1: his face was side to He didn't completely turn around, 274 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: but I think he heard my car and he was 275 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:37,199 Speaker 1: walking the broken ahead very quietly. Major wonder what the 276 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:42,159 Speaker 1: heck like? He was peering looking for something. Yes, he 277 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 1: turned sideways and where you're starting a little bit right here, 278 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: Nancy pointed to my hairline. That's how his head was. 279 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: And he had brown hair, and he had a gold 280 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: watch on his left wrist or you remember that vividly. 281 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:05,440 Speaker 1: Plus the outfit he had on was those green shirts 282 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,880 Speaker 1: and pants that work is wear A did back then. 283 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: That's what he was wearing. Yes, because it haunted me 284 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: all this time, I can see it as if it 285 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,439 Speaker 1: just happened. I looked for years to find out what 286 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: kind of a car that was, and I think it 287 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: was a plymouth. Nancy described the man as six ft 288 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:34,680 Speaker 1: six to, brown hair, skinny, wearing green khaki pants and 289 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 1: a green khaki shirt, walking stealthily as if lurking or 290 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: perhaps stalking someone. Remember this was just after Jane's pocket 291 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: left her driveway and peddled her bike down that same 292 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: road in the same direction the man was now walking. 293 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: She definitely described a guy in a uniform that car place. 294 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,920 Speaker 1: It too is interesting to me. But why was he 295 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: unafraid of being seen and Nancy's description of him? For 296 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: years up to this point during my investigation, I had 297 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: been hearing about a local guy who fit the same description, 298 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,719 Speaker 1: a guy who, within it all, was becoming from me 299 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:30,159 Speaker 1: much more than a person of interest. Something about the 300 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: scene didn't feel right to Nancy. She had kids at 301 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: home waiting for her with a teenage babysitter, so she 302 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: was in kind of a hurry. Nancy hesitated for a moment, 303 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: thinking she should write down the license plate number, but 304 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,199 Speaker 1: because of the direction the station wagon was parked, she 305 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: would have to stop, get out, and walk around the vehicle. 306 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,479 Speaker 1: So she turned left and headed to the store. Still 307 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: that image of the station wagon blocking the road nod 308 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: at her. Her gut was speaking something was wrong. So 309 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: you come back from the store, the car's gone. You 310 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: go home. What happens next? What happens nextus we find 311 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: out that she's been taken, and the police and everybody 312 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 1: is all over the neighborhood. It just made me sick. 313 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: Hundreds of volunteers descended upon the neighborhood, with the focus 314 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 1: on the dirt road and surrounding woods in lines holding hands. 315 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:48,360 Speaker 1: Dozens of people conducted grid searches. They combed the land slowly, dogs, men, women, children, 316 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 1: people on horseback, even helicopters flying overhead, all looking for 317 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,479 Speaker 1: a seven year old girl who could have been anyone's child. 318 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: They put up paper fly fires on telephone poles, hand 319 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: them out at the grocery. The town's mayor delivered more 320 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: than a hundred thousand signatures to President Richard Nixon, urging 321 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 1: him to get the FBI involved. The town's reaction was 322 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: already on high alert because this wasn't the first child 323 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: to go missing in the community. Some years before, the 324 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,719 Speaker 1: first of the girls I've been investigating had also disappeared. 325 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: Early belief, which would actually give Janice as abductor a 326 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 1: major head start, was that Janice Pocket had wandered off 327 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: into the woods and gotten lost. To double check, I 328 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: asked Nancy if Janice had left her home on her 329 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: bicycle that afternoon, which we know she did, is this 330 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: the direction she would have gone? Okay, so she comes 331 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: out into the road and goes down and this terms 332 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: not too far and they didn't find her. Bite to 333 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: over here. That photo of Janice's green bike lying on 334 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: its side on the dirt road is chilling and the 335 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: only piece of evidence in any of the abduction cases. 336 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: The Connecticut State Police still have the bike. They found 337 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: no DNA or blood. The butterfly and or the envelope 338 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: were never found. Seeing Janice's bike with its stripe bananacy, 339 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: old school fenders, and missing middle support bar without her 340 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: on it powerfully displays how heart wrenching this tragedy and 341 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: those like it are. Here's Janice's sister Mary talking about 342 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,880 Speaker 1: that day. I just remember seeing the bike and then 343 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: my mom calling for Janice, like she probably thought, oh, 344 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: she's in the woods or something, you know, or whatever. 345 00:23:50,680 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: Just remember her obviously getting more panicked. I asked Nancy McDonald, 346 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: the pocket neighbor going off to the store, what small 347 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: town country living turned into after Janice disappeared. Oh, everybody 348 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: was just vigilant. They really were everybody was how could 349 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: you not be I mean some of the family said, 350 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,679 Speaker 1: fortified kids. It wasn't like there was a lot of 351 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: traffic ever, except when people came home from work. I mean, 352 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:31,679 Speaker 1: we kind of tucked away. Indeed, that old cliche rang true. 353 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: Everybody knew everybody, with all of those kids in the neighborhood, 354 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: a neighborhood off the beaten path. If you did not 355 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,800 Speaker 1: live there, there was no reason to be there, unless, 356 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:50,399 Speaker 1: that is, you had other, maybe nefarious intentions. The search 357 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,680 Speaker 1: for Janice Pocket and information about her abduction continued for decades. 358 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,919 Speaker 1: Investigators dug in, including the FBI, but came up with 359 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: nothing substant Chill. It was not until recently, after ten 360 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,200 Speaker 1: years of looking into Janice's case myself, that I began 361 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: to piece together some answers and develop new leads. And 362 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,360 Speaker 1: wouldn't you know it, that new information sends me right 363 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: back to where I started. Crystal Lake. Crystal Lake has 364 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: always been a popular summer retreat for area residents in 365 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: the towns of Ellington, Vernon and talent boating, swimming, fishing, 366 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: water skiing, lake house barbecues. It's a small lake, just 367 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:49,679 Speaker 1: under two hundred total acres, but very deep in some parts. 368 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:55,199 Speaker 1: At the time of the disappearances late sixties early seventies, 369 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: this area was thriving. It was the major middle point, 370 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: stopped for people traveling between Hartford and Boston, gas up, 371 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 1: grab a hot dog. Lemon Ice used the restroom. Janison, 372 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,880 Speaker 1: Mary's mother often took the kids to the lake during 373 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: the summer. Living so close to Ellington, my work on 374 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,439 Speaker 1: the missing girl cases over the past decade has been 375 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:29,199 Speaker 1: a slow climb. I followed false leads, chased the wrong suspects, 376 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 1: had sources stop answering my calls, and door slammed in 377 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: my face. But I stuck with it. Then, in early 378 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen, I received a call that set my 379 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: investigation on the move. It was from Ken and Patty Wendell, 380 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: the couple I mentioned in the beginning of this episode. 381 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: They built their dream home across the street from Crystal 382 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,440 Speaker 1: Lake and all that land they owned where a dozen 383 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: or more water wells are scattered about. They initially reached 384 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,040 Speaker 1: out to me several years ago after googling the missing 385 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: girls names and running into all the work I've done 386 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: investigating the disappearances. Every one of these cases. Debbie Spickler 387 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: N sixty eight. Janice Pocket nineteen seventy three Lisa Joy 388 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: White nineteen seventy four got a jolt of adrenaline after 389 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,239 Speaker 1: I wrote an article for Connecticut Magazine and produced an 390 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: episode of my former cold case television series Dark Minds 391 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: on Investigation Discovery. The article dropped in the episode aired 392 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: the same week. In two thousand thirteen, people were interested again. 393 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,520 Speaker 1: Law enforcements stepped up. A task force was created and 394 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty thousand dollars allocated for information leading 395 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,920 Speaker 1: to an arrest and conviction. A new missing person's flyer 396 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,119 Speaker 1: featuring the three youngest victims was created, posted all around 397 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: town and spread on the internet. Hundreds of tips came 398 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: a man. I received emails, phone calls, social media messages. 399 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: Through that I was able to develop multiple news sources. 400 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 1: The Wendells included, it's April two thousand nineteen and I'm 401 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,359 Speaker 1: paying them another visit. It's one of those dreary New 402 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: England days. Grace gies a cold rain coming down. Yeah, 403 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: Hi Patty, Yeah, this is Mary. This is Janice Pockets sister. 404 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: How you but to see you guys on this day? 405 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: Marius come with me to meet Ken and Patty Wendell. 406 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: For the past few years, I've been telling Mary about 407 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,800 Speaker 1: the Crystal Lake connection I've developed and the Wendells. I 408 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: thought it was time she meet them, and we walked 409 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: the property, all of us together. I can tell Mary 410 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: is nervous. She has this funny way of hugging herself 411 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: as if she's cold when she's anxious. As Patty and 412 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: Mary are busy chit chatting, Ken tells me about a 413 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: recent discovery. My neighbor found the woods off that road. 414 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: When you come in a memorial with flowers nailed to 415 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: a tree, that was it, says an all I p 416 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: and uh A recent one. Yeah, this is the weird part. 417 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 1: It was. It looks like it was put in within 418 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: the least ten years. Flowers tacked to a tree with 419 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: an inscription carved in the bark, like young lovers might 420 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: do with a pocket knife. It cannot be a roadside 421 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,960 Speaker 1: cross memorial, same as you'd see on the shoulder of 422 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: the street after a deadly accident. This tree is in 423 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: the middle of a wooded area, not far from where 424 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: several of those water wells are located. Ken continues, making 425 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: a great point. Who would have put this in the 426 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: middle of the woods. Later at a later date, it's 427 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: like somebody who came back and a memorial. It was 428 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: just weird finding it. No that you know, that's that's 429 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: that's something people like to come back. People love to 430 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: come back to places where they've done stuff. Let's see 431 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: what's going on. Standing at that flower memorial with Crystal 432 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,560 Speaker 1: Lake directly in front of you, about two yards away. 433 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: You can see the water glistening the lake houses along 434 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: the water's edge. In front of this memorial, however, there 435 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: is a large divot in the ground about the size 436 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: of three compact cars. It's as if something underneath the 437 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: ground had given and caved in. Before leaving the Wendells. 438 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: I asked Ken if he could find out if there 439 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 1: were any water wells right there where the divot is. 440 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,480 Speaker 1: Mary has never been to this particular location. Just across 441 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: the street from the lake on the east side, there's 442 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: an area of land where it's been thought throughout the years, 443 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: her sister Janis's body is buried on the Wendell's property. 444 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 1: Ken's discovery of the fly our memorial isn't the only 445 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: reason we're here. There's been some activity up here again 446 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: recently by the Connecticut State Police. They've been digging. The 447 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: State Police were finally digging, but they were focused on 448 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: a well at the edge of the Wendell property in 449 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:27,120 Speaker 1: an area about two yards across the street from Crystal Lake. 450 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 1: It was on Pine Street. Just after you make the 451 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 1: corner from Wendell Road. You embark down a slight slope 452 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: into the edge of the woods, and you arrive at 453 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:41,400 Speaker 1: the well about twenty to thirty yards in four State 454 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 1: Police detectives excavating equipment, crime scene text, all sifting through 455 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: more than fifty years of earth and garbage and buried secrets. 456 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: The State Police are acting on a recent tip they'd 457 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 1: received stating that a body is buried in one of 458 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,280 Speaker 1: the water well across the street from Crystal Lake. That 459 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 1: immediately makes me think who left the tip, If it's 460 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: connected to the Janis Pocket case, what kind of person 461 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: would wait almost five decades before telling the police, And 462 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 1: is it even credible If the state police have been digging, 463 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: this tip means something. There has always been the suggestion 464 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: that Janie Pockets body is either in the lake or 465 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: buried somewhere nearby. But not long after Mary and I 466 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: arrive at the Wendows to look into her sister, Janie's abduction. 467 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: I'm giving information that turns all these cases upside down 468 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 1: and forces me to look in an entirely new direction. 469 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: It turns out the state police weren't there looking for 470 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: Janis pockets body. They had come out to search for 471 00:32:55,920 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 1: someone else. A new name, A name I have not 472 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: heard connected to any of my cases in the decade 473 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: I've been at it. A young woman who lived just 474 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: miles from janice pockets home, directly across the street from 475 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: Crystal Lake. A young woman I'll soon find out who 476 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: could be related to the mysterious man. Janice's neighbor, Nancy 477 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:25,239 Speaker 1: McDonald allegedly saw the day she disappeared and kept this 478 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 1: She was reported missing in two thousand sixteen, and yet, incredibly, 479 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:35,120 Speaker 1: the last time anyone had seen her forty five years 480 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: before in nine and as I continued to investigate Janie 481 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,920 Speaker 1: Pockets case, I stumbled onto something that could change the 482 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:52,280 Speaker 1: entire game from me. Information telling me that this new 483 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 1: missing girl might not actually be missing at all. In fact, 484 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 1: I think she could will be alive, and if she 485 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: is well, I'm gonna find her. In the next episode 486 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: of Paper Ghosts. I remember that, and I didn't want 487 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,759 Speaker 1: to be, especially right after it happened when you would 488 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: see posters. I almost felt embarrassed because I didn't want 489 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: people thinking that my mother was a bad mother. We 490 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:31,239 Speaker 1: always had that cold, never by ourselves to so if 491 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,359 Speaker 1: we're one of us is alone too bad you walk 492 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,439 Speaker 1: it however far it is. That was the cold hind 493 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,239 Speaker 1: We had a cold now. So I don't know though, 494 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,840 Speaker 1: because you know, she was upset. We were all upset 495 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: over what happened and getting in trouble and thinking we 496 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: can never be friends again. She had, you know, a 497 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,279 Speaker 1: couple of girlfriends her age. The males that she was 498 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: hanging with five, six, even seven years older, young men 499 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:01,680 Speaker 1: not the best influences. Paper Oakes has written an executive 500 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,800 Speaker 1: produced by me and William Phelps, with help from producer 501 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,680 Speaker 1: Christina Everett and sound editing by Pete Cardi from back 502 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:14,520 Speaker 1: Room Audio special thanks to Lauren Paccio along with Abu 503 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 1: Safar and Will Pearson from My Heart Radio. The series 504 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,839 Speaker 1: theme four four two is written and performed by Tom 505 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:27,280 Speaker 1: Mooney and Thomas Phelps. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 506 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:31,760 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 507 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:33,480 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows