WEBVTT - Episode 1 - The Call 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:08.920 Bbcsdis Hey, I'm Maggie. Just a quick heads up before 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:12.920 we start. The series does contain some descriptions of violence 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:23.000 and deals with adult themes. Close your eyes, hear that 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:29.000 sleigh bells tingling in the distance. You look outside at 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:33.159 the frosted street corners. A snow lightly falls on your 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:39.640 mom's garden. Gnome inside, you're warm, happy. Maybe there's a 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.720 fire lit in the corner. You're surrounded by people you love, 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:51.320 clinking glasses and good cheer. Oh, don't look at Martha. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:54.040 Maybe had a bit too much to drink. But you 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:59.800 know what, It's Christmas. It's the festive season, and everyone 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:05.120 is entitled to a good tiding here and there. Okay, 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:10.480 I admit this is like a quintessential Hallmark Christmas. No 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:14.319 one's Christmas is like this. My Christmas isn't like this, 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:17.880 But it's kind of what I think about when I 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:21.400 close my eyes and dream of the holiday. I think 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:26.199 of warmth, friends and family, and a moment in time 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:30.080 where nothing really matters but the present, this time of 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:36.920 celebration and togetherness. I'm not a Christmas proselytizer by any means, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:43.559 but I have to admit this idea of Christmas. It's nice, 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.000 but the holidays can also bring up a lot of 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:54.480 mixed emotions. They can feel lonely, isolating, especially if the 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:58.760 worst thing imaginable happens to you just days before the holiday. 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.000 Anthony and I are sitting on the couch and everyone's 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.520 like watching TV and the Christmas trees in the corner, 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.120 and like, I'm checking my Facebook. 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:14.240 This is Liz melgar Rose. She's celebrating the holidays with 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.880 her husband and his family in the UK. 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:19.639 And there's like these messages about how people love me, 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:21.280 and I'm like, they're here for me. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:27.919 A few days ago, Liz experienced a tragedy, a miscarriage. 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:29.720 It was really difficult. 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:32.040 We were hopeful that we were going to have a 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.320 baby and it just didn't work out. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.119 People back home in Texas must have heard about it. 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:42.120 I'm thinking, oh, they know I've had a miscarriage, so 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.240 they are sending their thoughts and love to me to 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:47.280 make sure they know that I'm not alone. 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:48.680 You know that they're thinking of me. 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:54.280 But one message on her husband, Anthony's Facebook, catches her eye. 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.000 It was like, call me, there's an emergency. 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.959 Anthony gets up from the oversized red couch, and goes 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:01.720 into the kitchen. 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:06.120 He makes a call I could hear before he closed 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:08.359 the door, him saying something about it's about my family 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:09.440 or my mom or my dad. 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:15.240 Time stretches what was likely a few seconds starts to 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:17.120 feel like hours. 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.520 And then he comes back and he's like he's shaking, 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.600 and he just looks like he's seen a ghost and 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:26.560 he's just in shock. 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:29.399 My first thought is my mom has died. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.480 Anthony looks at her, unsure of what to say. 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:37.080 And so I'm like, what happened? 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.119 And he's just he can't even talk, and I get 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.320 so frustrated because he's taking too long and it feels 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:44.119 like it's been an eternity, and I'm like, just tell 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:45.160 me what the fuck happened. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:50.280 He can barely get the words out. Something horrible has happened. 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.840 Their friend in Texas saw Liz's parents' house in the news, 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:58.160 their brick bungalow swaddled and yellow police tape, blue and 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:00.600 red lights flickering in the cold night air. 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:05.560 And he said, your dad, your dad's been killed. And 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:08.720 that is not what I expected him to say. So 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:12.000 I said what And he said, your. 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:15.600 Dad's been killed? And I thought what happened. 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.839 You know that feeling when the pit of your stomach drops. 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.360 You maybe hear a slight buzz in your ear, your 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.760 heart begins thumping against your chest. You can't focus on 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.200 what people are saying. It's like you can't hear at all. 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:33.680 That's how I imagine Liz felt in this moment she 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:39.480 heard the news, the moment her entire life imploded. Her dad, 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.440 miles away from where she is now, has been murdered. 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:48.200 She snaps out of the haze. There will be time 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:51.080 to grieve, but right now she needs answers. 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:53.800 I'm calling all these people. I'm trying to get a 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:55.440 hold of my cousin. It's like five or six in 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:56.679 the morning back in Houston. 0:04:57.279 --> 0:04:58.919 She needs to talk to her mom. 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:00.360 I'm like, where's my mom? 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.440 Nobody knows where my mom is, so I'm calling all 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.239 the hospitals. She's nowhere. I'm calling the police. She's nowhere. 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:09.400 I had no idea what's happened to her? 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:15.080 Sandy, Liz's mom has seemingly vanished without a trace. Where 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:19.640 is she? What happened that cold night in December? And 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:25.839 who killed Liz's dad. I'm Maggie Robinson Katz and from 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:32.560 BBC Studios and iHeart Podcasts. This is hands Tied, episode one, 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:34.080 the call. 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:45.080 I Don't. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.599 I've come to England to meet Liz at her home 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.359 in Southwest London. It's a cold and dreary day, which 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:58.760 is exactly what I think of when I hear the 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:00.880 words of January and England. 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:04.120 She brings in rocks and shoes. 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:10.840 Am, she brings in rocks. Really, I don't know why 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.359 that's so funny. What type of dog is she? 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:15.040 Shallow? 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:18.880 Is sweetening? They call them a re Mexican hair Liz. 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.560 Her name is Nola. Liz has Mine roots, so this 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:26.320 is a KETCHKEI word, which means cute. 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.360 Very yeah, strange animals. 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:34.280 I like her. I meant to her. She feels mighty 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:39.000 for her size. You can say the same thing about Liz. 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.640 She's tiny, with long hair dyed a deep purple, these 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.560 big saucer eyes and although she may be forty, she 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.960 looks like she's about twenty. But make no mistake, Liz 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:57.120 is fierce. We sit on her couch, Liz wrapping herself 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:01.840 in sweats and countless blankets because again it's January in England, 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:06.120 and we began chatting when you think about your dad, 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:07.400 what do you remember. 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.960 So he has this type of sense of humor, and 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:14.920 everybody calls them Jim jokes because they're just so bad 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.320 that they make you just, you know, grown and say, 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:19.920 oh my god. 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:23.240 We all know those jokes. Maybe you've told a few yourself. 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:27.240 I know I have their dad jokes, and these grown 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.760 worthy Jim jokes were told to her countless times by 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:32.640 her dad. Jim. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:37.200 My dad was always pulling pranks and playing around. We 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.520 always say that he was just another kid, which is 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:42.960 why I had so much fun in my childhood, because 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:44.400 I had someone else to play with. 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:49.000 Liz grew up in Houston, the only child to parents 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:53.400 Jim also known as Hi may Or Jamie and Sandy Malgar. 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:57.400 When Liz thinks back to her childhood now, she can 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.320 easily recall the good times. 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.800 We just had these adventures. There was a creek in 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:03.520 the backyard. 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.280 Sometimes it would flood if it rained a lot, and 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.800 it would become this huge river, and there were alligators 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:10.280 in there. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.280 We had this little boat and we would. 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:16.680 Paddle out there and just ride down the river for 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:21.360 a little while. You're not afraid of alligators, no, you know, 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:22.480 they can't see Zach. 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.600 Meaning if one is chasing you, run in a zigzag 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:31.320 hot tip. You're welcome. Saved your life despite the alligators, 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:34.240 which I think are way scarier than Liz is letting on. 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:36.960 You can get a sense of what her childhood was like, 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:42.160 playful fun with ample timeout in the warm Texas sun, 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.640 and her two parents, Jim and Sandy, doting on her, 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.360 wanting to give Liz everything they didn't have growing up. 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:56.360 I was an only child, so I probably was pretty spoiled. 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.440 I didn't get everything I wanted, obviously, but it's not 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.600 like I was lacking in anything. I'm grateful and I 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:07.000 feel lucky that I had the parents that I do. 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.680 Were you close, Yeah, we were very close. We all 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:15.040 had a really good and close relationship. I enjoyed spending 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:16.120 time with my parents. 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:17.240 I miss it. 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:25.760 I'd bayea. Jim and Sandy both had difficult childhoods. Jim 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:28.520 grew up in Guatemala, coming to America when he was 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:32.040 just four years old. His mother worked as a house cleaner, 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:36.360 saving every penny to give her children a better life. 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.560 He would tell me stories as well as when he 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:41.200 was a kid, to try and show me how good 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:43.680 I had it and I think at first I didn't 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.280 believe him because they just sounded just so far from 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:48.280 what I knew. 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.440 Like buying a glass of goat milk from a villager 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.840 for five cents only when they could afford it, or 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.200 flying to the States at a young age by yourself 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.760 and sharing a cramped, two bedroom, one bath roomhouse with 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:02.319 your parents and siblings. 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:04.960 But yeah, it's kind of like, you know, you have 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.319 these nice stories, but they're kind of mixed in with 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:10.120 a lot of trauma. 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:14.640 I think Sandy didn't have it any easier. She was 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:17.920 abandoned by her parents and dumped with her grandmother in Laredo, 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:20.360 a small town on the border with Mexico. 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.440 She grew up incredibly poor. Sometimes they didn't have food, 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:26.840 Sometimes they didn't have electricity or running water. 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:28.559 They struggled a lot. 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.840 Sandy also spent time in and out of the foster 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.120 care system, a time Liz says her mom doesn't like 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:35.840 to remember. 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.000 It was difficult to be in these foster homes. I mean, 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:42.920 you're thrown into these new environments that I mean, you're 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.000 just a kid, You're scared, you don't know what's going on. 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.959 And so I think she wanted me to have everything 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.640 that she never had, and so she was determined to 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:53.600 be just the best mom that she could be. 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:55.800 It was difficult for. 0:10:55.720 --> 0:11:01.120 Her, but eventually Jim and said Andy find each other 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:05.240 Fate or the alphabet bringing them together in a high 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.720 school class in Houston at age seventeen. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.319 So it was Sandra McCullough and then Jim and Melgar. 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:16.240 So he sat behind her and he would pull her 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.360 hair because she had really long blonde hair, and he 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.600 used to ask her out a lot, and she kept saying. 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:25.679 No until Jim comes up with a brilliant idea. 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.720 He finally asks her to go to this huge mall 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.360 in downtown Houston which is called the Gallery of and 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.080 there's a big ice skating rink in there. So he says, 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:37.080 some of my friends and I are going to be there. 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:39.240 Would you like to join us. 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:43.479 You know, a group thing. It will be totally relaxed. 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.480 Sandy agrees, and. 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.560 When she gets there, it's my dad and one other friend, 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:51.880 and the friend shortly leaves and they just ended up 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:56.080 spending that evening together and I guess the rest was history. 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:57.400 They were inseparable after that. 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:03.440 They married and had Liz a few years later. Jim 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:08.520 loved cars and music, his favorite bands being ACDC, Black 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.280 Sabbath back when Ozzie was still in the band, To 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:15.600 Be Clear, and Pink Floyd, a band Liz loves as well. 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.000 Jim worked as a computer programmer for the Houston Independent 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:23.720 Schools District, while Sandy was first a nurse then later 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:28.200 set up a medical billing company. From Liz's perspective, her 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.960 parents always seemed to have a loving and respectful relationship. 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:34.960 And I know people probably don't believe me when I 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:39.120 say this, but I never, ever, once in my entire life, 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:43.560 ever saw them fight or yell at each other or 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:45.079 raise their voices at each other. 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.880 Never. I don't know how they did that, because I 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:50.560 can't do that. 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:56.320 Disagreements, according to Liz, were solved by talking things out calmly. 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:01.880 It was never like yelling or fight even modeling that 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:06.280 behavior for her. One time, Liz says she called her 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.640 boyfriend stupid in front of her dad. 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.120 And my dad took me to the side and he 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:13.800 said that it is really disrespectful, and it might start 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:15.240 a habit where you do that and you think you're 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:17.840 just playing around, but then when you're angry, you're going 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:19.680 to say it and you're going to mean it and you're. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:20.640 Not going to be able to take it back. 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.560 So he always taught me how it was important to 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.240 be very respectful in your relationships and be mindful about 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:27.240 how you're talking to people. 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.680 I mean, a lesson for all of us. 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:35.200 I still struggle with it that they had somehow mastered 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.480 this and were able to practice it together. And you know, 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:41.319 I just I think that's a testament to their relationship 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.040 and to the love and respect that they had for 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:43.520 each other. 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:46.840 Liz grabs her phone to show me a picture of 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:47.959 her with her mom and dad. 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:50.520 We were taking a bunch of pictures together. I don't 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:51.680 know why this is the only one I have. 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:54.880 This is the last time she saw her dad. 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.920 It's at departures in the terminal there at the airport, 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:04.120 and it's just me in between my mom and dad 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.680 and they've both got their arms around me. I've got 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.240 my arms around them, and uh yeah, I'm about to 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.200 get on a plane to England. 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:17.559 Liz was starting her own adventure, beginning a neuroscience course 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.080 in Brighton with a focus on the brain chemistry of 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:24.280 violent offenders. She'd long had an interest in true crime, 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:28.320 something her parents thought was a little weird. The next 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.560 step up from her passion for horror. Back then, true 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:34.840 crime books were harder to come by than they are now, 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:39.720 Even so, Liz's room was stacked with books on serial killers. 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.640 Well, I remember this moment and then leaving and walking 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.120 up towards the gate. I was sad to be leaving, 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.520 but it wasn't as sad as usually was, because you know, 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.480 I kept saying, we're coming back and we'll see them soon. 0:14:54.520 --> 0:15:07.440 We'll spend lots of time together. And yeah, I think 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:09.400 I went into crisis mode. 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:13.520 Right back in December twenty twelve, on the night that 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.640 she hears that Jim has been murdered. There are two 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:21.560 questions crashing around inside Lissa's head. What has happened to 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:25.800 her dad, Jim And where is her mom Sandy. 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.160 I was able to just it just feels like everything 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.120 slows down, and I'm okay, what do I need to do? 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.240 Step one? And then I just take it from there. 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:38.640 Step one. Get from London to Houston as fast as 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:39.120 she can. 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.920 My husband started looking for the flights, but. 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:46.360 It's just before Christmas. Everything is booked up with people 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.440 traveling for the holidays. Finally, Anthony manages to book them 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:52.800 onto a flight, but it's going to take a while. 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.360 First we'll have to get to Paris, then on to Houston. 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:58.920 I remember sitting there just thinking, oh my god, I 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.040 have this long flight ahead of me. 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:04.920 I don't know, it was just very surreal. I felt 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:05.360 like I was. 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.480 In a dream state and none of it was real, 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:10.760 and I just had to get home. 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.000 Liz and her husband Anthony had no idea what they 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:18.360 would find back home. All they could do was literally 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.520 sit and wait with an in flight snack or two. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.600 On the long journey, they prepare themselves for step two, 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.640 find out what happened to Liz's parents. 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.000 We're heading to my uncle Jim's house. 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:42.760 Lizz's cousin Marissa was there the day Jim was found, 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.680 just before Christmas, December twenty third, twenty twelve. 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:51.560 And I remember I texted him actually before we left 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.840 the house saying, Hey, we're running late. That was just 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.720 a running joke honestly with us, because he would you 0:16:58.000 --> 0:16:59.800 say that we were always late to everything. 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.520 Jim had invited Marissa and her family around to eat 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:08.159 with him and Sandy. So Marissa, her mam, Maria, her dad, herman, 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:12.880 her sister, Monica, her boyfriend Gerson, and their baby Melanie 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:14.280 all squished together. 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.000 It's kind of embarrassing to say we fit six of 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.160 us in a five cedar car. 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.439 Somehow, Marissa finds enough elbow to text her uncle. 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.040 I will never forget telling my mom. I said, you know, 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.280 Uncle Jim hasn't texted me. Back, said, oh, maybe he's busy. 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:33.480 We're thinking maybe he's busy, he's grilling, he's doing something right. 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:39.080 And then I text him again we're getting close, and 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:40.520 again didn't hear from him. 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.280 Jim and Sandy live in Laurel Creek on the northwest 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.600 side of Houston Suburban and the way most American neighborhoods 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:52.960 are think, tree lined streets, cookie cutter houses a lot 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:57.879 of them, bungalows, big garages, and lush front lawns, and 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.480 a bit fancier than where Marissa's family live. 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:02.720 We were kind of sitting there in the driveway for 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:05.600 a little while because the neighbors, like directly across from 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:08.280 their house, they were out, and so we were just 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.320 kind of sitting there, laughing, thinking, how are we going 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:12.399 to get out of this car without them, you know, 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:13.240 judging us. 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:16.040 Eventually they get out of the car and knock on 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:17.840 the door. No answer. 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:19.760 So I'm thinking, okay, well let me call them. 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:20.840 No answer. 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.480 We tell my dad. He go check the backyard. They're 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.280 probably outside. They're grilly, I think, thinking they're grillly. 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.800 Herman makes his way to the backyard, peeks over the 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:31.680 fence and calls back. 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:35.119 Oh, there's nobody out there, he said. I'd tried calling 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:37.680 for my brother. Nobody's saying anything. I don't think anybody's 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:39.680 in the backyard, so this is. 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:45.480 Strange, even stranger. The garage door is wide open, well 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.720 one side is. It's a double garage. Herman decides to 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:51.200 have a look inside. 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.760 And I'm thinking, no, we don't break into people's homes, 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.200 so you know, let's wait, I said. Then I started thinking, 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.199 maybe they're taking a shower, you know, maybe, you know, 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:01.080 we got to give them some. 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:02.639 Space, you know, I'm sure they'll come out. 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:04.639 But my dad was like, no, no, no, this is 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.800 my brother's house, or we can make ourselves at home. 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.080 Herman walks in, goes through the door in the garage 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.080 that connects to the main house, and unlocks the front door, 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:16.159 letting the rest of his family in. 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:22.440 That's when I it just didn't feel right. As soon 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:24.800 as my dad opened the door. I remember I put 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:26.840 my arm up, you know, towards my mom's chest, and 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.880 I said no. I said no, let's just wait right here. 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:35.560 But herman ignores his daughter and turns back into the house. 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:41.520 The rest of the family follow into the darkness. Every 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:43.760 single shade in the house is drawn. 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:48.600 My dad started calling out, Sandy, Jim, we're here, and 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.879 that's when we started hearing what I would describe like 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:57.320 mumbling noises. We all stopped and we were like, wait, 0:19:57.400 --> 0:19:57.879 what was that. 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:02.560 It's a voice saying help help. 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:04.359 My dad. 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:08.400 He's sprang into action. He ran towards where the noise 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:09.040 was coming. 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:12.000 From, running towards the back of the house, the sound 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:14.480 of the cries becoming louder and louder. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:18.439 I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on. 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.240 It just kind of I don't remember hearing anything when 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:24.600 I was in the bedroom, it was just kind of quiet. 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:30.240 She goes through the bedroom and into the bathroom. Herman 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:33.040 spots a brown satin chair pushed up under the handle 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:37.280 of the bathroom closet, locking it shut from the outside. 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:42.959 He moves the chair and inside finds Sandy She's dressed 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:47.639 in a red nightie, black robe, and fluffy socks, lying 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:51.960 on the floor, her feet in her hands, tied up. 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:56.240 Herman and his wife cut her free and notice her 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:59.760 soiled underwear as they do. It looks like she's been 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:00.800 there for hours. 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:05.480 I'm standing there, you know, all the commotion. I see Sandy. 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:10.320 When I saw her, she was crying, she was hysterical. 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:14.959 She was saying, where's Jim, Where's Jim. I was standing 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:18.320 there frozen. I think she was crawling or almost like 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:23.159 dragging herself, asking where's Jim, where's Jim, And then my 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:25.320 mom trying to hold her back. No, no, no, like 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:30.080 don't go over there, or don't just stay here. I 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:32.760 start walking into the room a little bit more, and 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:34.520 you know, I turn around because. 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:37.119 The closet light was on, and I remember turning around 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:37.880 it was to my right. 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:42.440 Marissa goes back into Sandy in Jim's bedroom, where there's 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:44.520 another closet, and. 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:50.200 I looked down and I can see my uncle's legs, 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:54.760 his ankles, and they were tied up with of gray. 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:56.720 I want to say it was a telephone cable. 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:05.080 Marissa can't take it any longer. She needs to get 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:06.159 out of that house. 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:09.560 I just decided I turned around to head back out, 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:13.040 and I bumped into It was either my sister or Gerson. 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:15.239 When I bumped into them, They're like, what's going on? 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:16.120 I couldn't even. 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:18.399 Talk, she rushes outside. 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:21.760 The neighbors were out, so I was basically yelling at them. 0:22:21.760 --> 0:22:24.800 I was like, please calln on the one Frantically. She 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:28.359 reaches into her pockets, her hands shaking as she calls 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:29.720 for help, and. 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:32.360 The operator answered and I couldn't. 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:37.040 Talk, can barely get the words out. The worst possible 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:41.760 thing has happened. Marissa stands outside as the sound of 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:46.520 sirens grow into a crescendo. The quiet afternoon twisted into 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:50.719 a cacophony of alarms and shouting, the neighborhood lit up 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:53.440 by the blue and red lights of the police vehicles 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:58.640 and EMTs. The house soon swaddled in yellow police. 0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:02.200 Tape, you know, people going in and out. And so 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:04.960