WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Cass County Three (Archive Episode) 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.921 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.001 --> 0:00:55.361 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite 0:00:55.401 --> 0:00:58.761 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.961 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.001 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.961 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.041 --> 0:01:14.041 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.961 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.041 --> 0:01:23.601 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.161 --> 0:01:27.121 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.121 I had info on the Cass County three triple Black 0:01:31.161 --> 0:01:35.681 child murder case out of Atlanta, Texas, which is Cass County. 0:01:36.401 --> 0:01:39.081 Three little black girls were murdered about a year ago 0:01:39.321 --> 0:01:42.600 to cold case right now has some documentation from the 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.801 police and a judgment. Texas also appoints at him and 0:01:46.881 --> 0:01:49.201 I have some information with the family, the mother and 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.481 some other witnesses to the murders of these three girls. 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.921 It was July twenty ninth, twenty twenty two, just another 0:01:57.081 --> 0:02:00.921 quiet summer night in Atlanta, Texas. A tiny town in 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:05.441 East Texas. Atlanta is about a twenty five minute drive 0:02:05.481 --> 0:02:08.800 from Texarkana, which is right on the border with Arkansas. 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:11.921 The sun had just gone down when twenty eight year 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:16.641 old Shamanique Oliver got a panicked phone call. Shamanique is 0:02:16.641 --> 0:02:19.681 a single mom and a certified nurses aid. She works 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.841 at a nursing home in Texarkana. She later told Nancy 0:02:23.921 --> 0:02:27.561 Grace that it had been a totally normal day. She 0:02:27.641 --> 0:02:30.441 was hanging out with her six children between the ages 0:02:30.481 --> 0:02:33.401 of one and ten years old at home. They watched TV, 0:02:33.721 --> 0:02:36.680 played and ate a meal together while Shamanique got ready 0:02:36.721 --> 0:02:40.800 for a shift. When Shamanique went to work that afternoon, 0:02:41.041 --> 0:02:43.641 she left her children in the care of their babysitter, 0:02:44.121 --> 0:02:47.881 a thirty one year old cousin of hers named Paris Props. 0:02:48.601 --> 0:02:51.161 She and the kids lived in a very rural area. 0:02:53.041 --> 0:02:57.281 The one story home is pretty secluded. There are neighbors around, 0:02:57.521 --> 0:03:00.121 but it's the kind of home where you can't really 0:03:00.161 --> 0:03:04.241 see the neighbors, and it's pretty wild out there. There 0:03:04.241 --> 0:03:07.520 are woods and fields behind the house, and the fields 0:03:07.521 --> 0:03:11.761 are blocked by barbour fences. Shamanique was helping change a 0:03:11.841 --> 0:03:15.201 patient later that evening. She was called to the nurses 0:03:15.201 --> 0:03:19.481 station a little after nine pm, and that's when her 0:03:19.561 --> 0:03:23.841 nightmare began, because that's when she found out that three 0:03:23.921 --> 0:03:27.960 of her children, her three middle daughters, nine year old 0:03:28.041 --> 0:03:32.161 Zayariel Robinson Oliver, eight year old a Maya Hughes, and 0:03:32.281 --> 0:03:35.641 little five year old to mari Robinson Oliver, were all missing. 0:03:36.961 --> 0:03:41.801 Law enforcement found the little girls a few hours later. Unfortunately, 0:03:41.841 --> 0:03:46.321 though this was not a half in. Divers dragged their 0:03:46.361 --> 0:03:51.841 lifeless little bodies out of a neighboring pond. Initially, this 0:03:52.041 --> 0:03:55.281 was described as a drowning in the local media, but 0:03:55.441 --> 0:03:59.121 months later law enforcement in Texas said these three little 0:03:59.121 --> 0:04:03.321 girls had been murdered. The cause of death was exphyxiation. 0:04:04.401 --> 0:04:08.001 All three of these little girls had been strangled. There 0:04:08.001 --> 0:04:10.801 seemed to be a lot of misconceptions about this case. 0:04:11.561 --> 0:04:14.881 Some of them involved local rumors. Some of them involved politics, 0:04:15.241 --> 0:04:18.641 charges of racism, and of police not doing their jobs. 0:04:19.361 --> 0:04:22.521 If you listen to this podcast, you'll know that these 0:04:22.561 --> 0:04:24.481 are a lot of the things that often come with 0:04:24.561 --> 0:04:29.521 investigations in small towns. But once you look past all that, 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:32.561 at the heart of this case, you have three dead 0:04:32.601 --> 0:04:35.720 little girls whose lives were over before they even started, 0:04:36.361 --> 0:04:39.881 and you have a family and an entire town crying 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.921 out for justice and answers. I said back at the 0:04:43.961 --> 0:04:48.241 beginning that Shaumnik's nightmare began on July twenty ninth, twenty 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:52.601 twenty two, but she never woke up. It's still going on, 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:57.200 and in East Texas there's a child killer still out 0:04:57.241 --> 0:05:01.440 there and this person could strike again at any time. 0:05:02.601 --> 0:05:08.241 I'm Catherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Over 0:05:08.281 --> 0:05:10.921 the past five years of making my true crime podcast, 0:05:10.921 --> 0:05:14.001 Helling Gone, I've learned that there's no such thing as 0:05:14.001 --> 0:05:17.921 a small town where murder never happens. I have received 0:05:18.041 --> 0:05:21.321 hundreds of messages from people from all around the country 0:05:21.361 --> 0:05:24.041 asking for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, 0:05:24.401 --> 0:05:28.200 their families, and their communities. If you have a case 0:05:28.241 --> 0:05:30.880 you'd like me and my team to look into, you 0:05:30.921 --> 0:05:32.960 can reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder 0:05:33.001 --> 0:05:36.601 Line at six seven eight seven four four six' one four. 0:05:36.801 --> 0:05:40.881 Five that's six seven eight seven four four six one 0:05:41.161 --> 0:06:31.681 four or. Five so to find out what happened To shamanique's, 0:06:31.721 --> 0:06:35.161 daughters we have to make sense of the. Timeline we 0:06:35.281 --> 0:06:37.640 need to go back and find out exactly what was 0:06:37.681 --> 0:06:41.041 going on and who was around that. Day in her 0:06:41.081 --> 0:06:44.561 interview With Nancy Grace, Shaw manique said that while she 0:06:44.601 --> 0:06:47.841 was getting dressed and preparing for her, shift the kids 0:06:47.881 --> 0:06:51.121 were behaving totally. Normally she made sure they had something 0:06:51.161 --> 0:06:54.080 to eat and they were playing and WATCHING, tv just 0:06:54.161 --> 0:06:59.081 generally messing. Around shamanique said that all of her children were, 0:06:59.121 --> 0:07:03.161 close but that her three middle, Daughters, Syaril, amaya And 0:07:03.161 --> 0:07:07.001 tamari were the best of. Friends they liked to do 0:07:07.481 --> 0:07:09.721 things that all little girls like to. Do they like 0:07:09.801 --> 0:07:13.041 to play outside and ride bikes. Together they also loved 0:07:13.081 --> 0:07:15.521 to hang out in the house and make TikTok. Videos 0:07:16.041 --> 0:07:19.681 in the interview With Nancy, Grace shamanique clarified that the 0:07:19.801 --> 0:07:22.401 last time that she spoke to her children was when 0:07:22.441 --> 0:07:25.801 she called, them and that was sometime between five and six. 0:07:25.881 --> 0:07:29.041 Pm she asked them what they were going to. Do 0:07:29.641 --> 0:07:31.241 they said they were going to stay in the house 0:07:31.281 --> 0:07:35.121 and finish eating and take a. Bath Sha monique was 0:07:35.161 --> 0:07:38.321 adamant about the fact that they would not go. Outside she, said, 0:07:38.401 --> 0:07:41.081 quote they know not to go outside when it gets 0:07:41.121 --> 0:07:45.761 dark because there's no lights outside end. Quote this is 0:07:45.761 --> 0:07:48.641 an important point because at least in the beginning of the, 0:07:48.721 --> 0:07:53.241 investigation everything that came out about these little girl's disappearance 0:07:53.321 --> 0:07:56.761 made it sound like just a horrific, accident like the 0:07:56.801 --> 0:08:00.041 three little girls had gone, outside maybe for a summertime 0:08:00.081 --> 0:08:03.601 swim or, something and then somehow gotten into. Trouble But 0:08:03.641 --> 0:08:06.801 shamanique insists it would have been totally out of character 0:08:06.921 --> 0:08:09.201 for any of her children to go outside in the 0:08:09.321 --> 0:08:12.521 dark to a dark. Field she's been saying that to 0:08:12.601 --> 0:08:16.521 anyone who would listen from the very. Beginning shamanique said 0:08:16.561 --> 0:08:20.281 her shift normally ended at around TEN, pm and her 0:08:20.361 --> 0:08:23.601 normal routine was that after she got off, work she 0:08:23.641 --> 0:08:26.201 would drive from the nursing home from work back To. 0:08:26.241 --> 0:08:30.521 Atlanta and, again just to clarify, here we're talking about 0:08:30.521 --> 0:08:34.521 a small town In, Texas, Atlanta, texas Not, Atlanta. Georgia 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:38.521 it was only about twenty five minutes, away so normally 0:08:38.641 --> 0:08:41.721 she would have gotten home at around ten thirty. Pm 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.881 but that night she got that, call and when the 0:08:45.961 --> 0:08:50.281 call came, in it was from her neighbour's home. Phone 0:08:50.361 --> 0:08:53.160 When shamanique picked up her Cousin, paris who had been 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.361 staying with her at her house and helping her out with, 0:08:55.401 --> 0:08:59.440 babysitting while she, worked told her that her kids were. 0:08:59.441 --> 0:09:04.121 Missing shamanique didn't get many details at that. Point she 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.401 Said paris didn't specify which kids were missing or exactly 0:09:07.441 --> 0:09:10.361 what had. Happened once she heard that her kids were, 0:09:10.401 --> 0:09:13.241 missing she jumped in the car and said she started driving. 0:09:13.441 --> 0:09:17.681 Fast shamnique was. Panicking she called nine to one one 0:09:17.721 --> 0:09:20.081 and at the same time she was trying to call her, 0:09:20.121 --> 0:09:22.961 aunt who she said live. Nearby she was trying to 0:09:22.961 --> 0:09:24.881 see if her aunt could meet her at her. House 0:09:25.721 --> 0:09:28.481 shamanique said at that point she was. Terrified she was 0:09:28.521 --> 0:09:30.801 trying to hold it, together trying to get home as 0:09:30.881 --> 0:09:33.481 quickly as she, could and through it, all she really 0:09:33.561 --> 0:09:36.361 had no idea what was going. On she made it 0:09:36.401 --> 0:09:38.641 sound like the next events were kind of a. Blur, 0:09:40.721 --> 0:09:43.721 now as we know from listening to this, podcast sometimes 0:09:43.881 --> 0:09:47.521 when people go, missing police don't come right. Away sometimes 0:09:47.601 --> 0:09:50.001 even when small children go, missing there's a. Delay but 0:09:50.121 --> 0:09:53.761 fortunately that was not the case. Here by the Time 0:09:53.881 --> 0:09:57.361 shamanique made it, home law enforcement was already there on the. 0:09:57.401 --> 0:10:02.241 Scene there were rangers from The Texas Wildlife, Department Emergency services, 0:10:02.241 --> 0:10:06.761 personnel and detectives from The Cass County sheriff's. Department all 0:10:06.841 --> 0:10:09.721 of these people in law enforcement were scouring those dark. 0:10:09.761 --> 0:10:14.601 Woods they were looking everywhere for those little. Girls When 0:10:14.641 --> 0:10:17.161 shamanique got, home the first thing she did was check 0:10:17.201 --> 0:10:20.921 on her three other, children who were fine and. Safe 0:10:21.001 --> 0:10:23.521 The Texas Game wardens got the call at around ten. 0:10:23.561 --> 0:10:26.601 Pm they knew there were three children missing from a, 0:10:26.641 --> 0:10:29.481 residence so when they got, there they brought the canine 0:10:29.561 --> 0:10:34.481 unit with. Them the dog alerted and started walking through 0:10:34.601 --> 0:10:38.161 those backwoods toward a. Pond it was a pond that 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:41.401 was back through the woods about two hundred yards away 0:10:41.801 --> 0:10:45.201 near a neighboring. Property, again this is where it's so 0:10:45.441 --> 0:10:48.521 important to try and clarify a, location and this is 0:10:48.521 --> 0:10:51.401 why it's so important to understand both the dynamics of 0:10:51.441 --> 0:10:54.601 the small town and of the crime, scene because just 0:10:54.641 --> 0:10:57.561 hearing the details on the, news you might think this 0:10:57.681 --> 0:11:00.601 was a local swimming hole or. Something BUT i took 0:11:00.681 --> 0:11:02.881 a look at the footage that was filmed from local news, 0:11:02.881 --> 0:11:07.081 stations and that footage tells a very different. Story Sha 0:11:07.161 --> 0:11:09.961 monique said she had lived in that spot pretty much 0:11:09.961 --> 0:11:11.920 her whole, life and she never knew there was a 0:11:11.961 --> 0:11:14.881 pond back. There to get to, it you had to 0:11:14.921 --> 0:11:18.001 go through a barbed wire fence and through a pretty 0:11:18.161 --> 0:11:22.201 dense wooded. Area looking at the pictures that looked more 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:25.761 like a, Swamp shamanique said her kids would not have 0:11:25.841 --> 0:11:29.441 known about that. Pond as it got later and, later 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.001 Sha minique became more and more. Frantic she was focused 0:11:33.041 --> 0:11:35.641 on one thing and that was finding her. Daughters she 0:11:35.761 --> 0:11:38.641 was out back in her yard while law enforcement continued their, 0:11:38.681 --> 0:11:42.401 search and then one of the canine dogs alerted and 0:11:42.441 --> 0:11:47.601 they saw something an overturned. Bike in pictures in the news, 0:11:47.601 --> 0:11:50.481 reports you can see that it's a purple kid's bike 0:11:50.521 --> 0:11:53.321 with pink. Petals next to the bike was what looked 0:11:53.361 --> 0:11:56.561 like a blue scooter kind of tipped, over leaning in 0:11:56.601 --> 0:12:00.721 on the. Bike after the dog alerted and the police 0:12:00.721 --> 0:12:05.001 found the, bike they saw something. Else the dogs were 0:12:05.041 --> 0:12:08.641 pulling toward that pond and police saw a pair of 0:12:08.681 --> 0:12:12.761 tennis shoes next to the. Waterline then they saw footprints 0:12:12.761 --> 0:12:17.001 in the mud leading down to the water and the 0:12:17.041 --> 0:12:20.441 family confirmed a law enforcement that that pair of little 0:12:20.441 --> 0:12:23.681 tennis shoes belonged To shamaniqu's five year old, daughter To, 0:12:23.761 --> 0:12:27.921 maury and there was something else that was very strange 0:12:27.961 --> 0:12:32.680 about those. Shoes On Nancy Grace shamanique said To mari's 0:12:32.681 --> 0:12:36.161 shoes quote were found out, there stacked on top of each, 0:12:36.161 --> 0:12:39.121 Other Chris, crossway like you would pack them in a. 0:12:39.121 --> 0:12:44.841 Suitcase end. Quote she said, Emphatically, mike kids never do. 0:12:45.001 --> 0:12:45.160 That. 0:12:45.561 --> 0:12:51.201 Never divers went into the, water and then in the 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.960 early morning hours Of july, thirtieth at around two, am 0:12:55.361 --> 0:13:01.361 they Found shamanique's eight year old, Daughter. Amaya amaya was the, 0:13:01.441 --> 0:13:06.721 first but unfortunately not the. Last in the, end investigators 0:13:06.761 --> 0:13:11.201 found all three girls dead in that. Pond they pulled 0:13:11.201 --> 0:13:13.840 their little bodies out of the water one by one 0:13:14.001 --> 0:13:20.280 and sent them for. Autopsies after hearing That amaya's body 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.161 had been, Found shamanique had to be taken to the. 0:13:23.161 --> 0:13:27.281 Hospital she later learned that she was having a heart. 0:13:27.321 --> 0:13:30.761 Attack she had already had one hard episode after her 0:13:30.761 --> 0:13:34.321 mother died FROM, covid and now she had lost three 0:13:34.441 --> 0:13:40.761 daughters in one. Night After shamanique's three daughters were found 0:13:40.801 --> 0:13:44.961 dead in that, pond the story made local. News at, 0:13:45.001 --> 0:13:48.401 first the media reports indicated that these deaths were being 0:13:48.441 --> 0:13:52.841 investigated as a, drowning, which while, horrific is something that 0:13:53.401 --> 0:13:55.841 made it sound like it might have been an unavoidable, 0:13:55.881 --> 0:14:00.281 accident but that's not what happened. Here looking back in, 0:14:00.361 --> 0:14:03.161 HINDSIGHT i think that these reports might have come out 0:14:03.521 --> 0:14:06.081 because of some comments made early on by The Cass 0:14:06.121 --> 0:14:10.681 County sheriff's. Office Cass County Sheriff Larry rowe told a local, 0:14:10.681 --> 0:14:14.041 Newspaper The, gazette quote we have no idea what the 0:14:14.081 --> 0:14:17.601 girls were doing there end. Quote and then a lieutenant 0:14:17.601 --> 0:14:20.801 game warden Named Jason jones told a local news STATION 0:14:21.121 --> 0:14:24.601 ktl that it was unknown whether the little girls were 0:14:24.601 --> 0:14:29.121 swimmers or. Not there was another comment made by someone 0:14:29.161 --> 0:14:31.601 in law enforcement about none of the little girls having 0:14:31.641 --> 0:14:35.481 life jackets. On so all of those comments taken, together, 0:14:36.361 --> 0:14:39.961 definitely in my, opinion led toward the story being reported 0:14:40.001 --> 0:14:44.841 as a, drowning at least. Initially very, quickly this case 0:14:44.961 --> 0:14:48.241 was turned over from the local police department to The Texas. 0:14:48.361 --> 0:14:52.481 Rangers the officer assigned to that case was Named Josh. Mason, 0:14:53.841 --> 0:14:58.561 now The Texas rangers are unique. Organization, officially they're The 0:14:58.601 --> 0:15:01.841 Texas state law enforcement. Units so Like arkansas has The 0:15:01.921 --> 0:15:05.361 Arkansas State, police In, texas they're a little bit unique 0:15:05.401 --> 0:15:10.961 because they have The. Rangers The Texas rangers originally actually 0:15:11.001 --> 0:15:14.441 defended the frontier back in the eighteen, hundreds and they 0:15:14.481 --> 0:15:19.121 do have a complicated and sometimes brutal. Legacy Author Doug 0:15:19.201 --> 0:15:22.401 swanson wrote about the alleged war crimes that The Texas 0:15:22.481 --> 0:15:25.521 rangers committed back in the day in his, book which 0:15:25.561 --> 0:15:30.161 is Called cult Of, glory and he TOLD npr that 0:15:30.401 --> 0:15:32.761 back in the day they did murder a lot Of 0:15:32.841 --> 0:15:37.561 mexicans And Mexican americans and had a strange idea of frontier. 0:15:37.721 --> 0:15:41.921 Justice but over the, years The Texas rangers have. Modernized 0:15:42.361 --> 0:15:46.161 they've actually become one the country's most elite detective. Units 0:15:46.641 --> 0:15:49.401 The Texas rangers have solved a lot of cold. Cases 0:15:50.121 --> 0:15:52.721 it was actually A Texas ranger who got the notorious 0:15:52.721 --> 0:15:56.601 serial Killer Samuel little to, Confess but there have also 0:15:56.681 --> 0:16:00.001 been allegations over the years that in some cases they 0:16:00.041 --> 0:16:04.281 have coerce. Confessions Samuel little did confess to a lot of, 0:16:04.361 --> 0:16:07.601 murders but some of those murders were based on very little, 0:16:07.641 --> 0:16:11.561 evidence and a lot of people believe that The rangers 0:16:11.641 --> 0:16:15.641 let him confess to crimes even when there was not 0:16:15.681 --> 0:16:18.041 necessarily evidence to back it, up because they wanted to 0:16:18.041 --> 0:16:21.161 close those. Cases i'm not going to go too far 0:16:21.201 --> 0:16:23.761 into the weeds on. This if you're interested In Texas ranger, 0:16:23.841 --> 0:16:26.601 history you can see they've had a lot of successes 0:16:26.641 --> 0:16:30.761 and some, controversies just like many law enforcement. Organizations i'm 0:16:30.761 --> 0:16:33.121 bringing this up to make the point, that unlike some 0:16:33.201 --> 0:16:35.961 of the CASES i, cover this was not a case 0:16:36.041 --> 0:16:39.080 of just some small town police department with no resources 0:16:39.161 --> 0:16:42.481 doing everything. Themselves they did do the right. Thing they 0:16:42.561 --> 0:16:45.321 called for outside. Help they brought in The. Rangers The 0:16:45.361 --> 0:16:48.321 Texas rangers were there from day one when those bodies 0:16:48.321 --> 0:16:52.561 were pulled out of the. Water On august, second The 0:16:52.601 --> 0:16:56.881 Texas rangers released a. Statement they, said quote at the 0:16:56.961 --> 0:17:00.321 request of The Cass County sheriff's, office The Texas rangers 0:17:00.321 --> 0:17:04.241 are investigating the drowning deaths of the three, juveniles ages, five, 0:17:04.441 --> 0:17:08.441 eight and. Nine the drowning Occurred july thirtieth around two 0:17:08.481 --> 0:17:11.880 am at a private pond Off State highway seventy. Seven 0:17:12.441 --> 0:17:15.400 the three siblings had been reported missing around ten pm 0:17:15.481 --> 0:17:19.321 the previous. Night this is an ongoing investigation and additional 0:17:19.321 --> 0:17:24.281 information will be released when it's. Available end. Quote police 0:17:24.281 --> 0:17:27.600 did not give out much, information which is totally normal 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:31.161 in cases like. This and remember this was two days 0:17:31.201 --> 0:17:35.001 after the girl's bodies had been, found and that statement 0:17:35.041 --> 0:17:39.361 did two. Things Number, one it reinforced the public perception 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:43.001 that these had been. Drownings and, Also i'm, noticing in my, 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:47.401 opinion the word wordings seemed. Strange they said the drowning 0:17:47.481 --> 0:17:50.440 occurred rather than saying the bodies were recovered at two, 0:17:50.521 --> 0:17:54.121 am and whether it was on purpose or. Not this 0:17:54.201 --> 0:17:58.201 later caused a lot of. Confusion this statement seemed to 0:17:58.321 --> 0:18:00.840 assume a cause of death and also a time of, 0:18:00.881 --> 0:18:05.721 death which is not normally standard protocol in these. Investigations 0:18:07.561 --> 0:18:11.640 for the next few, months there was basically nothing on 0:18:11.681 --> 0:18:14.721 the news about these. Deaths it was not until eight 0:18:14.761 --> 0:18:18.481 months later that The Cass County District, Attorney Courtney, shelton 0:18:19.041 --> 0:18:22.360 announced that they were investigating the deaths as a. Homicide 0:18:23.441 --> 0:18:27.001 On march twenty, nine twenty twenty, Three Courtney shelton said 0:18:27.041 --> 0:18:31.360 in a, statement, quote autopsy reports concluded the manner of 0:18:31.401 --> 0:18:35.001 death for all three girls with, homicide indicating evidence of. 0:18:35.041 --> 0:18:40.601 Strangulation the girls also suffered lacerations to their. Faces multiple 0:18:40.601 --> 0:18:44.400 witness statements have been, OBTAINED dna testing is ongoing and 0:18:44.481 --> 0:18:50.041 the investigation will. Continue. Quote so now everyone knew the 0:18:50.041 --> 0:18:53.001 three young girls had been strangled and put into that. 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:57.360 Pond the rangers were now investigating the case as a, 0:18:57.361 --> 0:19:01.401 homicide and there was a child killer on the loose In, Atlanta. 0:19:01.441 --> 0:19:08.080 Texas it had been eight months since the all of 0:19:08.121 --> 0:19:11.600 her sister's bodies were found in a. Pond the district 0:19:11.641 --> 0:19:14.481 attorney had announced that the girls had not drowned as 0:19:14.561 --> 0:19:18.160 everyone initially thought that their deaths were being investigated as, 0:19:18.201 --> 0:19:23.401 homicides and after months of, Silence shamanique started speaking. Out 0:19:24.161 --> 0:19:27.160 she Told The Daily beasts that strangers on social media 0:19:27.201 --> 0:19:30.561 had put horribly abusive. Things they were writing that she 0:19:30.641 --> 0:19:32.801 was a deadbeat, mom some of them writing that her 0:19:32.921 --> 0:19:36.401 kids were better off. DEAD i think at this point 0:19:36.441 --> 0:19:39.921 a lot of people were wondering why she had been 0:19:39.921 --> 0:19:43.161 silent all this, Time but it turned out according To. 0:19:43.161 --> 0:19:47.441 Shamnique she Told The Daily, beast she suspected foul play 0:19:47.641 --> 0:19:51.080 from the. Jump she also, said quote fuck everyone else's. 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:55.840 FEELINGS i want answers end. Quote she, wondered just like 0:19:55.881 --> 0:19:59.761 everyone else, did why investigators had waited so long to 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:03.681 tell the public about these. Homicides it's possible that they 0:20:03.721 --> 0:20:06.360 held information back in the beginning because they were focusing 0:20:06.521 --> 0:20:09.120 on a suspect trying to make a case against, someone 0:20:09.801 --> 0:20:12.321 and then after several, months maybe they hit a dead. 0:20:12.441 --> 0:20:15.201 End maybe they thought that they were going to get 0:20:15.241 --> 0:20:17.880 MORE dna or other types of physical evidence from the, 0:20:17.921 --> 0:20:21.481 pond and because the little girl's bodies had been there 0:20:21.521 --> 0:20:24.840 for several, hours they weren't able. To this is all just, 0:20:24.881 --> 0:20:28.481 speculation but the bottom line is that there had been 0:20:28.561 --> 0:20:32.600 months with no, arrest months where a child killer was 0:20:32.641 --> 0:20:38.521 on the loose and the public was totally. Unaware at 0:20:38.561 --> 0:20:41.880 the end of the press, release the District attorney asked 0:20:41.961 --> 0:20:44.360 anyone with new information that would help lead to an 0:20:44.441 --> 0:20:48.681 arrest to contact The Texas. Rangers so to, me the 0:20:48.761 --> 0:20:51.041 fact that THE da issued this press release and that 0:20:51.121 --> 0:20:53.640 the police made a point of asking the public for 0:20:53.721 --> 0:20:58.201 information means that somewhere there's a missing piece and they 0:20:58.321 --> 0:21:02.001 know someone knows. Something so now that we know that 0:21:02.041 --> 0:21:04.201 those little girls did not walk out of that house 0:21:04.241 --> 0:21:07.721 into that pond by, themselves we know that the crime 0:21:07.881 --> 0:21:12.120 could have begun somewhere, else possibly inside the. Home so 0:21:12.281 --> 0:21:17.041 what could have happened inside that one story. House let's 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.321 go back again to the night that the kids went 0:21:19.361 --> 0:21:23.201 Missing july twenty. Ninth Shaw monique is at, work she's 0:21:23.321 --> 0:21:25.960 changing a. Patient she goes to the nursing, station she 0:21:26.001 --> 0:21:29.161 gets a call from her Cousin. Paris and Now i'm 0:21:29.241 --> 0:21:32.041 just going to point out something else that she Told Nancy, 0:21:32.041 --> 0:21:35.640 grace because it seemed like even at this, point she 0:21:35.881 --> 0:21:39.121 wonders why he's just now letting her know about. This 0:21:40.441 --> 0:21:44.641 she also wondered why he was calling her from the neighbor's, 0:21:44.641 --> 0:21:47.521 house why he hadn't first called nine to one. One 0:21:48.001 --> 0:21:50.600 On july twenty, Ninth according to the historical DATA i 0:21:50.641 --> 0:21:55.001 found on the, internet on that date In, texarcana sunset 0:21:55.041 --> 0:21:58.080 was at eight EIGHTEEN. Pm remember this is the middle 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:00.521 of the, summer so it didn't get fully dark until 0:22:00.561 --> 0:22:04.801 about thirty minutes after. That, still it raises red flags 0:22:04.801 --> 0:22:07.921 for me that a babysitter in a small house didn't 0:22:07.961 --> 0:22:13.241 notice three kids were missing until after. Dark, later a 0:22:13.281 --> 0:22:16.601 local news station interviewed a, neighbor a woman Named Josephine. 0:22:16.601 --> 0:22:21.201 Webster she told this local news STATION ktla that the, 0:22:21.281 --> 0:22:24.881 guy presumably Meaning, paris who was staying In shamanique's, house 0:22:25.561 --> 0:22:29.721 came over and asked her for her. Housephone So i'm 0:22:29.761 --> 0:22:32.481 wondering the same thing that it sounds Like shamanique was 0:22:33.241 --> 0:22:35.640 why did he get the neighbor to call nine one? 0:22:35.721 --> 0:22:38.041 One did he not have a cell? Phone because the 0:22:38.161 --> 0:22:40.001 first thing THAT i would have done IF i was 0:22:40.041 --> 0:22:43.681 babysitting and someone's children were missing was called their mind 0:22:43.961 --> 0:22:47.201 right that. Second by the, Way josephine said she was 0:22:47.321 --> 0:22:50.921 driving home at around nine point thirty when she Saw. Paris, now, 0:22:50.921 --> 0:22:53.921 Remember shamanique said she got the call a little after 0:22:54.001 --> 0:22:56.761 nine p. M just a few minutes time. Difference but 0:22:56.881 --> 0:23:00.281 as we, know in cases like, this those few, minutes 0:23:00.321 --> 0:23:04.880 those tiny details can be. Crucial there are some indications 0:23:04.921 --> 0:23:08.001 that very early on in the investigation police were asking 0:23:08.080 --> 0:23:11.281 some of the same questions That shamanique, was and that 0:23:11.441 --> 0:23:15.400 rather than focusing on sex offenders who were passing through the, 0:23:15.441 --> 0:23:18.360 area they might be focusing on someone much closer to. 0:23:18.401 --> 0:23:23.120 Home shamanique Gave Nancy grace some more details THAT i 0:23:23.201 --> 0:23:26.681 believe could be crucial to this. Case she said that 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:29.561 right after the authorities told her they found her little 0:23:29.601 --> 0:23:34.441 eight year Old amaya's, body she saw something. Else she 0:23:34.561 --> 0:23:38.400 said that the divers pulled some tangled clothes out of the. Pond, 0:23:39.441 --> 0:23:43.120 later investigators showed her photos of what they. Found she 0:23:43.321 --> 0:23:46.561 recogniz that clothing as jackets that belonged to her. Children 0:23:47.601 --> 0:23:51.481 but the strange thing, was according To, shamanique these jackets 0:23:51.641 --> 0:23:54.600 were ones that her kids had. Outgrown she said they 0:23:54.601 --> 0:23:57.640 had thrown them into the trash at. Home this again 0:23:57.881 --> 0:24:01.600 raises a huge red flag because that suggests that someone, 0:24:01.641 --> 0:24:05.001 else probably the, killer had been inside the house because 0:24:05.001 --> 0:24:07.200 someone had to fish those jackets out of the. TRASH 0:24:07.681 --> 0:24:09.521 i don't think that's something the little girls would have 0:24:09.521 --> 0:24:12.801 done on their. Own shamanique said something else that was 0:24:12.921 --> 0:24:16.881 chilling to. Me she said the jackets were quote tied 0:24:16.921 --> 0:24:22.161 together like a rope end. Quote this is getting really, 0:24:22.241 --> 0:24:24.761 dark but this, is unfortunately where my mind has to 0:24:24.801 --> 0:24:26.561 go to try and figure out what happened those little. 0:24:26.601 --> 0:24:31.121 Girls what were those jackets. For were they put there 0:24:31.241 --> 0:24:34.001 to tie the girls, up or to tie them together 0:24:34.121 --> 0:24:38.081 so their bodies would? Sink or did whatever bad thing 0:24:38.161 --> 0:24:40.801 happen to them happen first in the house and then 0:24:40.881 --> 0:24:44.601 somehow the killer dragged the bodies out to the using those. 0:24:44.681 --> 0:24:50.721 Jackets the Cass county DA's press release referred to the 0:24:50.801 --> 0:24:54.360 fact that the little girl's injuries were much more extensive 0:24:54.521 --> 0:24:59.681 than had been initially. Reported local news stations had reported 0:24:59.840 --> 0:25:02.801 that the little girl's faces were bruised and that they 0:25:02.840 --> 0:25:08.481 had lacerations on their, faces deep cuts and. Bruises shamanique 0:25:08.521 --> 0:25:13.721 Gave Nancy grace more disturbing. Details she said that investigators 0:25:13.761 --> 0:25:18.120 had showed her photos of her daughter's. Bodies shamanique said 0:25:18.241 --> 0:25:21.601 That tamari had what she described as a busted, lip 0:25:22.441 --> 0:25:25.960 but that her nine year old had extensive injuries and 0:25:26.001 --> 0:25:29.241 were not just talking about a few. Cuts she said that, 0:25:29.361 --> 0:25:32.961 they presumably meaning the people who prepared her daughter for, 0:25:33.001 --> 0:25:37.400 burial had to quote reconstruct one side of her. Face 0:25:38.161 --> 0:25:40.481 it looked like she took a beating on one side 0:25:40.521 --> 0:25:44.481 of her face and it pulled her skin. Off. Quote 0:25:47.681 --> 0:25:51.481 when the investigators talked To, shamanique they also broke the 0:25:51.641 --> 0:25:54.961 devastating news to her that they believed that all three 0:25:55.080 --> 0:25:59.721 of her girls had been. Molested, now at this, point 0:25:59.761 --> 0:26:02.761 a lot of people wondered why it took so long 0:26:02.801 --> 0:26:06.761 to release autopsy. Results there was some confusion, here AND 0:26:06.801 --> 0:26:09.880 i think it's really important to differentiate between what was 0:26:09.921 --> 0:26:12.321 being told to the family and what was being made. 0:26:12.401 --> 0:26:16.481