WEBVTT - Introducing: Dakota Spotlight - A Better Search for Barbara Episode 1 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.639 Hey, there is Steve Fishman, and thank you for listening 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:05.120 to Get the Money and Run. If you're into true 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:08.159 crime podcasts, then I want to recommend one to you 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:11.840 that I think you're going to appreciate. It's called Dakota Spotlight. 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:18.040 It's hosted by James Woolner, and it investigates unsolved cases, 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:22.880 suspicious death, and long forgotten stories. Most of them are 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:26.680 from North Dakota and the surrounding region, thus the title. 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.960 But what makes this podcast stand out is its focus 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:35.440 not just on the events, but the people, not just 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:40.920 the crime, but the characters around it. It's deeply researched 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:46.519 and it's driven by this kind of uncanny commitment to 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.600 get at the truth. There are eleven seasons of original reporting. 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:55.400 The sound design's immersive, The interviews are really powerful. You 0:00:55.440 --> 0:01:00.800 get victims, families, investigators, even some people connected to the accused. 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:06.000 Dakota Spotlight offers a level of depth and humanity you 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:09.039 don't often hear in the true crime space. If that 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.520 sounds like you're kind of podcast, then check out Dakota 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:16.480 Spotlight wherever you listen, or you can visit Dakota Spotlight 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.240 dot com. 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:23.240 You're listening to Dakota Spotlight. My name is James Woolner. 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:27.279 It's been four decades since a fifteen year old girl 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:31.000 vanished while walking home on the streets of Williston in 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:35.200 the North Dakota oil country. And it all started on 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:37.560 April eleventh, nineteen eighty one. 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.400 And we're waiting word on the President of the United 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:42.600 States by George Washington hospital. 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:46.040 Mister Reagan as we saw him pop up and sit 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:47.360 back down his grin. 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:50.920 Hospital and we get this story final aia wrapped up. 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.680 All of the executives are on the das applauding the 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:55.600 president's entry. 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.280 A few moments ago in Washington, US, President Ronald Reagan 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:02.440 has released from the hospital twelve days after being shot 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:06.560 in the chest by a would be assassin. And in 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.160 the state of Florida over at Cape Canaveral, NASA gives 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.320 the green light for the first ever launch of Space 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:17.280 Shuttle Columbia, set for the following day. The launch team 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:19.280 has been breathed on the way in which a halt 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.800 can be called to the countdown. The launch events are 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.440 being controlled by the ground lawnch sequencer. Now that has 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.400 been initiated elsewhere in the United States. It's business as 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:34.920 usual on this Saturday in the Upper Midwest, mother Nature 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:38.000 is hinting here and there that she just might follow 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:42.280 through on her pledge, her promise of the actual manifestation 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:47.200 of an actual springtime. All across this region. Northerners pack 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.760 up the family car and head to the local shops 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:54.480 and hardware stores, where parents inspect garden hoses and potting soil, 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.600 and the kids are drawn to easter basket isles where 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:01.160 they fondle bags of pink bunnies, yellow ches, and chocolate 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.560 eggs wrapped in colored foild. 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:07.200 There's a put swung off fyeballs center field easy out. 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:09.760 Gary Ward is there and he takes it. 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.920 In North Dakota, automobile owners who want to avoid a 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.079 fine have just four days to get the snow tires off, 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.639 and so all across the wide state, part of Saturday 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:23.800 afternoon is spent out in the garage spring cleaning, listening 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:28.040 to the Minnesota Twins lose again, this time against Oakland 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:29.160 three to nothing. 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:36.760 Son has went away. 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:42.320 Saturday becomes Saturday night, and after the evening meal, many 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:46.480 North Dakota's fall into one of three categories. First are 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.200 those who have to stay home for the night kids 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.600 and children with no say in the matter. They fall 0:03:52.640 --> 0:04:00.920 asleep in pajamas watching love Boat or Fantasy Island. The 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.600 second category of those who just want to stay in 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:07.000 for the night, the fatigued adults, many of them parents 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.920 and homeowners. These North Dakotas sit up late and play 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:19.160 cards or watch Chevy Chase hosting Saturday Night Live. Some 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.680 just go to bed, while others nod off on the couch, 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.480 only to wake up with a jolt again and cast 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.159 a panicked look at the clock. 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:28.160 Pleasant tomorrow. 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.280 Their day is not quite done yet, because they are 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:37.400 the parents and occasional chauffeurs of the third category, teenagers 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:40.200 who have no desire at all to stay home on 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:44.839 a Saturday night In April, of course, on April eleventh, 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:49.480 nineteen eighty one, the Saturday night options for teenagers are slim. 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.039 Some go to the movies, others ask a parent to 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.960 drive them to the indoor roller skating rink on this night. 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:01.440 One such roller skating rink is wheel Aware, just outside 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:09.320 of the town of Williston, North Dakota. 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.880 Was just a hangout where we'd all get together, you know, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:16.839 something to do on the weekends, especially in the cold, 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:19.080 you know, winter months and stuff. 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:25.120 This is Sandy Evanson in nineteen eighty one, she was 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:29.720 Sandy Schubert. On the evening of April eleventh, nineteen eighty one, 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.480 Sandy was just sixteen years of age when she went 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.560 roller skating with some of her friends at wheel Awhile 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.120 in Williston. The skating rink was a favorite hangout for 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:41.320 Sandy and her friends. 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.560 We were like, so hoot that, yep, I saved all 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:47.920 my money and I think my first pair of skates 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.000 were like one hundred and twenty dollars, which was a 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:50.920 lot of money back then. 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.600 At the wheel a while, the teenagers of Williston could 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:58.960 get out of their homes and yet stay out of 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.359 the cold and for the moment spartan out of trouble. 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:05.160 They socialized, bought popcorn and candy at the concession stand, 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:08.720 and skated to pop music beneath the giant disco ball. 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.359 They would, you know, turn the lights down sometimes and 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:18.720 have the strobe lights in the mirror ball and Joe, Yeah, 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.160 there were boys there. There was ones that I had 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:21.800 a crush on. 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:30.520 Sandy and her friends often stayed at wheel Awhile until closing, 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:32.120 when a parent would pick them. 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:36.200 Up and there would be two sessions, like a usually 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.360 like a seven to nine and a nine to midnight 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.279 or something like that. I believe it was, but we 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.120 would pretty much stay. I think we'd usually go from 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:44.440 like seven to midnight. 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.600 On this evening, if her memory serves her correctly. Sandy's 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.400 parents are out of town, and so her friend's mother 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:55.120 picks them up at wheel a while and drives them 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:57.159 back to her friend's house, where they hang out for 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:00.560 a while. Her friend's house is a few blocks north 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.520 of Sandy's. 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.920 Pretty close to eighteep Street and Ninth Avenue. 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.280 After some time at her friend's house, Sandy decides to 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:16.840 go home to walk home alone. Sandy never feels fully 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:20.320 comfortable doing this, even though Willson is considered a pretty 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.000 safe place by most of her friends at the time. 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:27.360 On this night, she's on edge, however, maybe because her 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:31.080 parents left town on business and she knows she's returning 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.280 to an empty house in the dark. 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:38.000 I'm scared. I'm like some parts I can remember running, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.600 you know, not because of the cold, but because I'm scared. 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.040 It's dark and where are the weirdos? And things like that. 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.800 Sandy arrives at home and is greeted by nothing but 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.840 an empty house. Still feeling cold and out of sorts, 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:05.520 she takes one look at her own bed and then 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:09.280 heads to her parents' bedroom. Maybe she'll feel a little 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.480 safer if she sleeps in mom and dad's empty bed. 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.080 And I get covers all wrapped around me, and I 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:27.840 had just drifted off, and I remember looking over. There 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:32.080 was a clock by my mom's bedside table and it 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:37.560 said like one. It was pretty much right on the 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:46.720 dot at one, I believed, And I was like, who's 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:55.800 calling at one? At first I thought it might be 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.040 my mom and dad, but I thought, nah, they wouldn't 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.080 be calling the sleeve. But maybe they're calling to see 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:06.880 I got home from roller skating her. I remember thinking, though, 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:10.600 this probably isn't a good phone call. Nobody calls at 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:21.440 that time of night, you know, for something good. And 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:23.000 I pick it up and it's Louise. 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:36.280 Louise is Louise Cotton, a parent, the mother of fifteen 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:41.000 year old Barbara Cotton, Sandy's childhood friend. But Sandy and 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.640 Barbara don't hang out together anymore, you. 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:46.840 Know, And so Louise knew that she probably wouldn't be 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:49.880 hanging with me, And I thought, that's where she's calling 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.600 to ask? And I said, no, I haven't seen her. 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.480 And truth be told, nobody has admitted to seeing Barbara 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:01.160 Cotton since that night. He didn't come home or call 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.360 the next day, or the next year, or ever. Again. 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.760 Some seemed to think she just ran away, ran away 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:13.520 without her savings, without her eyeglasses, without any clothes, without 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:19.240 taking anything with her. April of twenty twenty one marks 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:23.800 forty years since Barbara Cotton vanished in Williston, North Dakota. 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:26.959 What happened to Barbara Cotton? 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.320 I would go to the movies with friends all the 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.240 time and walk through that park. 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:40.520 I'm standing at the corner of Main Street. 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.200 Did you see anything unusual that night? Or you know? 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:53.400 Her boyfriend watched her walk to Recreation Park, which is 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:54.800 five blocks from her home. 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:59.040 That house was there. There was another little house that 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.160 they first moved into right back here. She didn't she 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:03.199 didn't have a boyfriend. 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.280 The pieces that I put together are not good. She 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:09.160 does not end up into a good puzzle. I don't 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:10.640 even remember the police coming to the house. 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.800 Be lost with you, but mostly gentle and kind is 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.960 what I remember about her. She didn't want to share something. 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.440 She was hiding something, and her mom told me it 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:24.559 was a new boyfriend. I'm like, but she didn't tell 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.360 me about this boy and I don't know anything about 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:27.000 this boyfriend. 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:30.000 So are you telling me that law enforcement never interviewed 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:30.760 you back then? 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:34.280 Never, She's not gonna You're gonna run away with more. 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:35.640 Money's close. 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.200 I want to say, over three thousand, close to four 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:39.559 thousand dollars in the savings. 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:41.640 Can and then we all be hanging out together now 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:48.760 instead of doing a podcast about her. 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:55.600 According to the North Dakota Attorney General's website, Barbara Cotton's 0:11:55.600 --> 0:12:00.600 case is open and ongoing. It's a cold case. The 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:04.440 full description on the website states, quote, during the evening 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.600 of April eleventh, nineteen eighty one, fifteen year old Barbara 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:13.199 Louise Cotton disappeared in Williston, North Dakota. Period end quote. 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:17.000 That's all. The attorney General's website says, as if maybe 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.439 sending a fair warning to any would be detective, suggesting 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:24.920 this case is starving itself to death, Slowly proceed with caution, 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:29.920 capier expectations or dreams of finding out what really happened 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.440 to Barbara Cotton, Or maybe I'm just reading too much 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:39.040 into it. Anyway, I recently ignored this potential warning and 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:43.200 headed to Williston with my camera and audio recorder. My 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:45.840 first stop in Williston would be the corner of Fourth 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:51.520 Street and Maine. I'm standing at the corner of Main 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:55.160 Street and Fourth in Williston, North Dakota, a cross the 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:59.320 street from the Plainsman Building, which is the location where. 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.120 The reason I headed to the corner of Forth and 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.840 Maine and Williston is that although the Attorney General's website 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:17.560 offers that minimalist version of the case, there is more 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:21.840 information online and among other details, I've read that Barbara 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.559 Cotton was seen leaving the area of the Plainsman Building 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.640 at the corner of Forth and Maine. From there, she 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.240 walked two and a half blocks west into a small 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:36.800 city park named Recreational Park. Once at the park, she 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.360 was just five blocks from her home. The following is 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.480 from the Charlie Project at Charlie Project dot org. I 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.800 cannot at present verify the validity of the following, but 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.800 in a way, that is what this journey is all about, 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:55.400 getting clarity. I am currently attempting to get information directly 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:59.720 from the Williston Police Department. Ideally by the end of 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:03.480 this paro will have a lot more facts for now, though, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:07.160 this is what the Charlie Project has for Barbara Cotton. 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.880 Barbara was last seen leaving a restaurant on Main Street 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.360 in her hometown of Willison, North Dakota, during the evening 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:19.280 hours of April eleventh, nineteen eighty one. She had dinner 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:23.280 there with her boyfriend and another friend. Barbara's boyfriend offered 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.720 to accompany Barbara home afterwards, but she declined and left 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:30.640 the restaurant alone. Her boyfriend watched her walk to Recreation Park, 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:34.640 which is five blocks from home. Barbara never arrived at 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.160 her destination and has never been heard from again. She 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:42.520 did not take her clothes, eyeglasses, cigarettes, money, or any 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:46.440 other personal belongings with her when she disappeared. She also 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.800 left behind a paycheck from work. Her older brother stated 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.560 he was very close to Barbara and she never told 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.640 him of any plans to leave home. Barbara's case was 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.280 originally investigated as a runaway case, and a missing person's 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:02.120 report was not filed for several days. As a result, 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.640 authorities now believe she may have been abducted, but the 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.520 prime suspect in our disappearance, a former boyfriend, of Barbara's 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:14.480 is now deceased. Her case is considered open and unsolved. 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.040 I stood at the corner of Fourth and Maine, just 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:24.000 outside the Plainsmen Building. The Plainsman was built as a 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:27.600 hotel in the fifties during an oil boom. It's about 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.600 five stories tall, made of brick, and sits at the 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:35.480 northeast corner of the intersection. I thought, if Barbara's boyfriend's 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.720 story was true, how well can a person see the 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:42.040 park from that spot? If I'm stuttering here, it's really 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:46.680 cold and windy, And I thought, could he actually see 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:50.200 Barbara that far? And yes, I mean here, standing here 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:54.440 in person, I can definitely see the park and trees. 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:59.640 It's you know, I don't know, is that three hundred yards? Maybe, 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.040 As it turns out, you can see the park pretty well. 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.520 The distance is three hundred and ten yards two hundred 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.920 eighty four meters. Fourth Street actually runs right into the park. 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.880 That is, if you drive or walk from Main Street, 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.040 you have two and a half blocks to travel, but 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.000 once you get to Second Avenue West, you're at a 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.960 dead end, stirring straight ahead into the southeastern end of 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:27.760 Recreational Park. Barbara would have crossed Second Avenue and walked 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:32.000 into the park before she vanished. We will be looking 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.400 closer at the park and Barbara's remaining route home later. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.240 If you're like me, you probably have some questions you're 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.480 wondering about. Who was the boyfriend, how did he die? When, 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.960 Why did Barbara decline a walk home and head out 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.880 by herself? Did she have an argument with her boyfriend? 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.520 And who was the third person at dinner that night? 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.920 As you'll see, there is confusion about this. Another question 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.840 I have is where did Barbara, her boyfriend, and the 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.520 third person eat dinner. I assumed it was at the 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.280 Plainsman Building, but now I'm not so sure. I can 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.320 tell you something about one of these questions, though, Sandy 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:12.760 Evanson and others have told me that it was not 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:16.240 out of character for Barbara to want to walk home alone. 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.880 In fact, they remember her doing the same thing with them. 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:23.359 She didn't need an escort. She felt more than comfortable 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:27.960 walking alone. Hopefully, by the end of this podcast, we 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:39.439 will answer all of these questions and more. When Sandy 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.359 Evanson was a little girl, she lived along Fifth Street 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:47.080 West between sixth Avenue West and seventh Avenue West, and 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.720 just like in many communities. The houses on one city 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:55.000 block shared a common alleyway behind the houses. One day, 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.040 a new family moved into a home across the alley 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:02.760 from Sandy. It was the Cotton family. Louise Cotton, a 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:06.520 single mother divorced from her husband, moved in with three 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:10.520 of her kids, a son Kent, a daughter, Barbara, and 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.199 the youngest another daughter named Kathy. 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.120 Here well, like, there was a parking spot a little 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.040 bit longer than this, and right on the other side 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:26.280 of it was Barbe's house. Yeah, and then there was 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:30.879 a kind of a duplex thing in front that house. 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:34.639 Was there. There was another little house that they first 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.600 moved into right back here. Then this used to be 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:41.840 a big, huge courtyard where we all played. Ok. Yeah, 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:45.359 And I believe it was my mom let me know 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.520 that there were some new little girls in the neighborhood. 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:51.080 And I think it was her idea, go out and 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:54.600 meet him and take your barbies. That'll break the you know, 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:58.639 the ice. And so that was our first playdate that 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.800 I remember. We were fast friends from that moment on. 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.359 Sandy was a year older than Barbara in school, but 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:08.240 they soon became best buddies. 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.080 It was pretty much from like in the summertime, from 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.359 the time we got up, but it was run across 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:17.800 the alley and start hanging out together, you know. 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.800 Sandy, Barbara, Barbara's brother and sister, and the other kids 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.040 around the block often played together. 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.120 And in that courtyard, all us kids would gather and 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:32.639 we would play tag or you know, we would play ball, 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.840 or we would ride our bikes in there. We would 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:37.080 roller skates. 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.679 Sometimes they would ride their bikes down to the corner 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:44.400 store and get penny candy. They also gave skateboarding. 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.240 A try, and then we'd get hung up our rock 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:48.760 and go flying or something like that. 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:53.160 Like other kids all over the country, Sandy and Barbara 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:56.040 and the others made up a cluster of kids thrown 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.639 together by pure geography. They were just the kids on 0:19:59.680 --> 0:19:59.960 the block. 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:03.840 Oh yeah, it was like we were a gang, you know, 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:06.400 because we were all so close in age. And then 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.720 there was a couple of kids that lived across the 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:12.360 street and up and down the block, and the other 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:15.000 kids in the neighborhood, and sometimes we would play all 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:19.000 together in that courtyard or whatever. But kid Kathy and 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:23.000 Barbara and I were pretty much a fixture, especially in 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:25.840 the summer. You know, we would be all together all 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:26.440 summer long. 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.360 The Charlie Project also has this to say about Barbara 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:35.320 at the time of her disappearance, Missing since for eleven 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:43.200 eighty one, classification endangered missing sex female, race, white, Date 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:48.760 of birth eleven ten, sixty five, age fifteen years old. 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:53.040 Height and weight five foot two, one hundred pounds or 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:58.320 one hundred and fifty seven centimeters forty five kilos. Clothing 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:05.640 a blouse, jeans, loafers. Distinguishing characteristics Caucasian female, brown hair, 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:09.600 hazel eyes. Barbara's ears are pierced and her left ear 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.880 is slightly lower than her right. She has a dark 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:15.840 brown mole on the upper right side of her chest. 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:20.359 Barbara has a pronounced S curve in her spine, which 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:23.959 causes her to walk with a slight limp. She smoked 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:28.440 cigarettes in nineteen eighty one. Barbara wears eyeglasses, but left 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:32.680 hers behind when she disappeared. Her teeth were in excellent condition. 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.879 She was a very great and loyal friend. I can't 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:43.280 remember ever having Really, if we had argument, it must 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.240 never have lasted very long, because I don't remember ever 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:51.960 being mad at her or her being mad at me. Ah, 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:54.560 there's so much I wish I could get it all 0:21:54.560 --> 0:22:01.000 into words and remember everything. But she was very beautiful always, 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:04.880 from the time she was little to she just got 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:08.159 more beautiful as she got older. I'll read you something 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.879 that I wrote down, you know, before you called. I 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:13.359 was just like, I want to get this right so 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:18.719 much for her, I wrote down. She had this long, beautiful, 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:21.920 slightly wavy hair that was just the thing about her. 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.960 When Barbara walked, she swayed back and forth a bit, 0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:27.840 and her hair swayed with her. 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:31.800 It was just unique. And then she had these skinny arms, 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:35.040 long skinny arms that hang by her side and kind 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:45.399 of go with this walk. But mostly gentle and kind 0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:50.720 is what I remember about her. I never remember, I don't. 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:53.800 I'm sure there had to have been one between us 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:57.159 after all those years, like where we got in an 0:22:57.240 --> 0:22:59.639 argument or a fight, you know, as kids do, and 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:02.640 then get back together or whatever, But I don't remember one. 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:07.400 I always remember being good to me and like we 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:08.480 were besties. 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.920 As close as they were. Barbara Cotton did not share 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:18.160 a whole lot of internal personal stuff with her friend Sandy, But. 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:23.479 At the same time, I never saw her depressed or sad, 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:25.840 where I would have asked her like what's bothering you 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:29.199 or anything. It's like once they had moved in across 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:31.920 they started a whole new life, and she just really 0:23:31.960 --> 0:23:33.119 seemed to flourish in that. 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:41.239 As time passed on, Sandy not only got to know 0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:44.600 Barbara and her siblings, she got to know their mother, Louise, 0:23:45.000 --> 0:23:47.760 and she would spend time with the family and was 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:52.000 included in the Cotton family outings. 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:55.520 She used to take us on little trips, like we 0:23:55.560 --> 0:23:59.879 would go to dumpster something more or run down houses, 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:02.919 you know that we're abandoned or whatever, and it'd be 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:05.560 like a treasure hunt and we come back with all 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:08.320 this dumb stuff that you really wouldn't mean, you know, 0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:10.200 but it'd just be a fun outing. 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:17.040 The girls grew older, twelve thirteen years old, and one 0:24:17.080 --> 0:24:20.119 of Sandy's warmest memories are the nights the duo spent 0:24:20.280 --> 0:24:22.360 in a camper parked in the alley. 0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:26.440 We had a bus camper. It had a big kitchen 0:24:26.480 --> 0:24:29.800 in it, living room and fridge and all that, and 0:24:29.840 --> 0:24:33.320 we would pack up the snacks and you know, maybe 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:38.800 the radio and maybe some cards or Connect four or something, 0:24:39.119 --> 0:24:41.840 and we would just stay in there all night, having 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:46.240 sleepovers and just stay up all night talking about everything 0:24:46.400 --> 0:24:47.159 under the sun. 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:51.840 Sandy recalls that when Barbara was in seventh grade, she 0:24:51.880 --> 0:24:55.520 had a crush on a neighborhood boy. I imagine Sandy 0:24:55.600 --> 0:24:58.760 and Barbara hunkering down in the camper during a North 0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:03.040 Dakota thunderstorm, playing cards and talking about their crushes. 0:25:08.560 --> 0:25:11.800 And so he had more freedom than we did, and 0:25:11.840 --> 0:25:13.840 we always just go I wonder if he's out in 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:16.520 the neighborhood riding around on his bike, you know, and 0:25:16.560 --> 0:25:17.400 things like that. 0:25:24.920 --> 0:25:28.120 These were the good years, the innocent years before high 0:25:28.119 --> 0:25:30.680 school and the things that often come with it. 0:25:32.840 --> 0:25:35.000 Barba and I hung together. There was never no drinking 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:38.480 or smoking or anything like that. It was good, wholesome 0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:39.399 kid fun. 0:25:42.080 --> 0:25:44.800 But somehow it seems all good things must come to 0:25:44.840 --> 0:25:45.280