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Speaker 1: School of Humans.

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Speaker 2: In the winter of twenty eleven, something was very wrong

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Speaker 2: with fifty seven year old Robert Wayne Cox. Robert had

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Speaker 2: always been healthy and athletic. According to his sister Lydia,

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Speaker 2: Robert was basically happiest when he was at home. He

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Speaker 2: lived on a thirty five acre plot of land in Havan, Arkansas,

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Speaker 2: a tiny town where the population hovers between three and

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Speaker 2: four hundred people.

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Speaker 1: Robert was a homebody.

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Speaker 2: He loved hanging out with his family and also, according

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Speaker 2: to his sister, he loved messing around with old cars,

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Speaker 2: restoring them and doing construction projects. He actually helped build

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Speaker 2: the log cabin that was on his property. He was

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Speaker 2: very proud of that accomplishment. Robert was happily married. He

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Speaker 2: had been with his wife, Vicki for over twenty years.

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Speaker 2: She had two children. Robert also had a son named

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Speaker 2: Brian from a previous marriage. Robert's father, Jean, lived in

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Speaker 2: a home he had built on the property back in

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Speaker 2: two thousand and six, and his sister Lydia lived just

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Speaker 2: down the road. For a long time, Robert Cox had

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Speaker 2: a very happy and settled life. But in twenty ten,

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Speaker 2: something started happening to Robert Cox. There was a very

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Speaker 2: rapid physical deterioration, and by the fall of twenty ten,

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Speaker 2: Robert couldn't really walk. His chin dropped down to his chest.

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Speaker 2: He became completely nonverbal. His sister, Lydia, was terrified by

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Speaker 2: what was happening to her brother. She took him to

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Speaker 2: doctor after doctor trying to find answers. Then, on February nineteenth,

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Speaker 2: twenty eleven, Robert Wayne Cox disappeared without a trace. He

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Speaker 2: has never been seen again. I'm Catherine Townsend. This is

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Speaker 2: Helen Gone Murder Line. If you have a case you'd

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Speaker 2: like me and my team to look into, you can

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Speaker 2: reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line

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Speaker 2: at six seven eight seven four four six one four five.

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Speaker 2: That's six seven eight seven four four six one four

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Speaker 2: or five. When we asked for people to reach out

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Speaker 2: and to leave voicemails about unsald murders, I knew that

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Speaker 2: we would get a big response. I didn't quite understand

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Speaker 2: how tremendous the response would be. I got seven voicemails

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Speaker 2: about Robert Cox's case. Seven different people reached out to me,

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Speaker 2: either on our murder line or on my personal number

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Speaker 2: or via Facebook to tell me about this missing person's case.

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Speaker 2: There are so many people in Arkansas and everywhere around

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Speaker 2: the country who cared deeply about this case. One of

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Speaker 2: those calls came from Robert Cox's sister, Lydia Cox Carter.

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Speaker 3: Hello, my name is Lydia Cox Carter. My brother has

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Speaker 3: been missing, possibly murdered for the last twelve and a

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Speaker 3: half years. I have struggled with law enforcement like nobody's business. Uh,

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Speaker 3: there has never been a proper investigation done. I believe

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Speaker 3: there is family involvement, the wife, his own son, and

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Speaker 3: step kids. He was on hospice at the time of

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Speaker 3: his supposed disappearance. We are in Havana, Arkansas, which is

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Speaker 3: Yale County, and the new sheriff that we have now

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Speaker 3: that come into office this year, he has opened up

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Speaker 3: my brother's case to outside agencies.

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Speaker 2: Over the years, Lydia has been her brother's biggest champion,

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Speaker 2: and she has fought ever since the day he disappeared

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Speaker 2: to get answers and to figure out what happened to

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Speaker 2: her brother. Robert Wayne Cox was born and raised in California.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty seven, he moved to Arkansas.

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Speaker 2: He went to work for the county Road Department and

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Speaker 2: became a road foreman, a job he would have for

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Speaker 2: the next fifteen years. Robert married and he and his

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Speaker 2: first wife had a son named Brian. Eventually, the couple divorced,

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Speaker 2: and apparently it was acrimonious.

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Speaker 1: In fact, according to Lydia, Robert's.

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Speaker 2: Ex wife hated him after the divorce, but Lydia said

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Speaker 2: that Robert always maintained a close relationship with his son Brian.

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Speaker 2: After the road form and job, Robert started working for

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Speaker 2: a close friend of his. This involved working with heavy equipment,

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Speaker 2: helping with cattle, and doing rural projects clearing trees for logging,

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Speaker 2: that kind of thing. This suited Robert because he loved

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Speaker 2: working outdoors. In the early nineties, Robert married again to Vicki.

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Speaker 2: Lydia moved back to the area in nineteen ninety five,

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Speaker 2: and she and Vicki became close friends.

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Speaker 4: Here's Lydia, Me and Herber liked best friends from the

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Speaker 4: get go. Yeah she was funny, she had a great

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Speaker 4: sense of humor. She fit in with our family. She

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Speaker 4: thought the sun rose and said on Robert Cox. She

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Speaker 4: was always with him every opportunity at that time. And yeah,

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Speaker 4: we used to go grocery shopping together. Yard sailing. We

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Speaker 4: drive to Kentucky to go see her daughter and her

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Speaker 4: little granddaughter. I mean we did everything together.

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Speaker 2: Vicki had two kids. Lydia said that they were all close.

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Speaker 2: The two sons went to high school together. They were

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Speaker 2: tight even after the boys grew up and moved out

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Speaker 2: of the house. Vicky worked as a supervisor for Levi.

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Speaker 2: Later she began working as a hairdresser. In two thousand

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Speaker 2: and six, Robert helped his father, Jean, build a home

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Speaker 2: on the property. For a long time, Robert's life was great.

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Speaker 2: He had a happy marriage, a happy, blended family, and

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Speaker 2: he was able to work outside doing what he loved.

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Speaker 1: But things started to change.

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Speaker 2: In two thousand and eight, there was a global recession,

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Speaker 2: so Robert's friend had to let Robert go. By now

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Speaker 2: Robert was in his mid fifties. He found himself out

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Speaker 2: of work and at a loose end. This hit Robert

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Speaker 2: hard Lydia said this was the beginning of his depression.

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Speaker 2: His mental health started to deteriorate. Now around this time,

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Speaker 2: Robert also started to fixate more on Vicki. He began

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Speaker 2: to suspect that Vicky was being unfaithful. At first, Lydia

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Speaker 2: said she thought Robert was being paranoid. She could not

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Speaker 2: imagine Vicky betraying her brother.

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Speaker 4: Toward the end of two thousand and nine, he started

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Speaker 4: in saying, telling me, you know that he felt like

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Speaker 4: Vicky was messing around Donnie. He'd been following her and stuff.

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Speaker 4: And I said, you're crazy. She ain't miss her hound,

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Speaker 4: don you And He's like, yes, she is, Yes she is.

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Speaker 4: At that point in time, I just never believed that

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Speaker 4: she was doing something like that. Now, whether she was

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Speaker 4: or not, I don't know.

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Speaker 2: When Vicky took a cruise with her family, Robert's extreme

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Speaker 2: anxiety increased. Vicky would leave the house, Robert would wonder

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Speaker 2: where she was and who she was with. Sometimes Robert

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Speaker 2: would get into his truck and follow Vicky. Throughout twenty ten,

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Speaker 2: things kept getting worse.

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Speaker 4: He got very I guess you could say, kind of

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Speaker 4: clingy with her. And then he started driving back and forth. See,

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Speaker 4: we live almost thirty miles from here to Russellville where

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Speaker 4: she was working, and he'd drive over there, sometimes two, three,

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Speaker 4: four times a day just to make sure she was

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Speaker 4: at work because he just knew that she was messing

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Speaker 4: around on him. So there was also something, you know,

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Speaker 4: I guess mental going on, I don't know.

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Speaker 2: Later in twenty ten, as things were continuing to escalate,

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Speaker 2: that's when the physical symptoms started. Lyddy and her dad

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Speaker 2: drove Robert to different doctors. They put him on several

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Speaker 2: different medications, Zoloft first and then some other drugs, but

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Speaker 2: he was experiencing some negative side effects from the medication.

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Speaker 4: I believe it was zoloft, and when he was on that,

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Speaker 4: he started hallucinating. He'd look out into the field and

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Speaker 4: he'd say, you see that bear or that lying down

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Speaker 4: there or something like that. And then at one point

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Speaker 4: he got to where they had him on a psychiatric drug,

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Speaker 4: and he would think that he would see my mom

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Speaker 4: or our mom's deceased and our oldest brother is deceased.

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Speaker 4: He would think that he would see them down in

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Speaker 4: my dad's vehicles, sitting in the vehicle. So he would

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Speaker 4: take like a blanket or a jacket, or a bowl

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Speaker 4: of soup or something down there because he thought he

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Speaker 4: was seeing them sitting in there.

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Speaker 2: The doctors took him off the drugs and his hallucinations

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Speaker 2: went away, but his paranoia remained. Lydia was frustrated. She

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Speaker 2: thought that Vicki didn't seem to be worried enough about

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Speaker 2: Robert's rapid physical and mental deterioration. Lydia said she wanted

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Speaker 2: her brother to go to the doctor to be tested

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Speaker 2: for dementia. He did see a couple of different doctors.

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Speaker 2: One doctor said it was possible that Robert could have

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Speaker 2: frontal lobe damage, but the doctor said they needed to

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Speaker 2: get a pet scan in order to get a more

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Speaker 2: definite diagnosis.

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Speaker 1: But there was a hitch.

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Speaker 2: Robert didn't have health insurance because he had been out

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Speaker 2: of work for so long, and that pet scan would

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Speaker 2: cost four thousand dollars. Jean, Robert's father, said that he

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Speaker 2: would pay for the treatment, but Vicky refused, even when

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Speaker 2: Lydia claimed she told her sister in law that Vicky

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Speaker 2: would not have to pay Gene back. She claims that

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Speaker 2: Vicky just said no. Testing for dementia was scheduled, but

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Speaker 2: Robert never made it to the appointment. At this point,

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Speaker 2: Robert was also experiencing a lot of physical problems. I

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Speaker 2: saw a home video that Lydia is shared with a

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Speaker 2: local news station, and it really gives an idea of

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Speaker 2: how difficult it was for Robert to move around. We're

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Speaker 2: going to provide a link to that video in our

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Speaker 2: episode notes, and I really recommend that you check it

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Speaker 2: out because within a few months this man went from

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Speaker 2: being a vital, fifty something active guy who was in

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Speaker 2: shape to literally shuffling, barely moving forward. He looked like

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Speaker 2: a ninety year old man walking around. The difference is

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Speaker 2: extremely dramatic.

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Speaker 4: The last time that he was actually verbal was on

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Speaker 4: his birthday, which is September twenty eighth to twenty ten.

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Speaker 4: After that it was just downhill. After that, he was

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Speaker 4: having trouble swallowing, like eating whole foods and stuff like that.

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Speaker 4: So I started making his food purade. My dad went

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Speaker 4: and lotch you know, insurance stuff, and by Thanksgiving of

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Speaker 4: twenty ten, the head was dropping and by Christmas of

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Speaker 4: twenty ten, his chin was resting on his chest.

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Speaker 2: By December of twenty ten, ten were continuing to mount

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Speaker 2: between Vicky and Lydia. Then one day, Lydia got a

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Speaker 2: Facebook message that she said stopped her cold.

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Speaker 4: One night toward the end of December, Vicky sent me

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Speaker 4: a Facebook message told me that you know that she

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Speaker 4: had talked to the kids, and Brian's wife, Rebecca sent

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Speaker 4: Vicky a Facebook message and then Vicky shared it with me,

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Speaker 4: and Rebecca said, will go along with whatever y'all want

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Speaker 4: to do. But Robert told Brian that if he ever

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Speaker 4: got sick like his mom, he'd want Brian to kill him.

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Speaker 4: So I immediately printed that off. I don't know why

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Speaker 4: I did, but thank God that I did. And I'd

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Speaker 4: come back at Vicky and I said, who would even

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Speaker 4: talk or be thinking about that in a time like this,

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Speaker 4: And She's like, I know, She said, I don't know

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Speaker 4: what I would do without you if I didn't have

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Speaker 4: you help in me, because you know, Brian, once his

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Speaker 4: dad started getting sick, he just quit coming around as

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Speaker 4: much and stuff, and him and his dad was pretty tired.

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Speaker 4: And then after when all this took place, Brian come

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Speaker 4: out and he seen him a couple of times out

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Speaker 4: in a pasture across the road from his dad's house,

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Speaker 4: and then after that him and his wife just kind

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Speaker 4: of disappeared, and everybody was asking me, my husband and

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Speaker 4: other neighbors, like, where's Brian, Where's Brian? Why ain't Brian

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Speaker 4: out here? Because nobody's seen Brian.

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Speaker 2: Again, we're coming up to the day when Robert Cox

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Speaker 2: went missing in February of twenty eleven. But first I

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Speaker 2: want to take a step back here and talk about

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Speaker 2: this property that Robert and Vickie lived on, because understanding

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Speaker 2: that terrain is crucial to figuring out what happened to

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Speaker 2: Robert Cox. Robert and Bickie's home was on a thirty

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Speaker 2: five acre piece of land. Robert's father, Jean, had a

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Speaker 2: small house on that property on a three acre plot.

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Speaker 2: Lydia lived just about a mile away. There were a

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Speaker 2: couple of neighbors between them. The entire area around Robert

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Speaker 2: Cox's house was bordered with something called clearcut.

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Speaker 4: I don't know if you know what a clearcut is,

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Speaker 4: but they'll plant like a pine thicket and they let

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Speaker 4: them trees grow to about for about fifteen twenty years,

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Speaker 4: and then they'll come in and they'll clear cut it

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Speaker 4: and they take the biggest part of the tree and

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Speaker 4: then they delimit. So when a clearcut is done being cut,

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Speaker 4: it is very very rough ground and there is tree tops, branches,

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Speaker 4: you know, big holes where they pull the trees out

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Speaker 4: of the ground and all that stuff. I mean, it's

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Speaker 4: just a big mess.

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Speaker 2: In his week in state, Lydia explained there was no

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Speaker 2: way that Robert could have navigated that property by himself

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Speaker 2: because he would be in danger of falling. Also, Lydia said,

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Speaker 2: by the time her brother disappeared, he was not going

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Speaker 2: out by himself. Going out by himself would have been

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Speaker 2: completely out of character.

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Speaker 1: It would have been very dangerous for him.

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Speaker 2: The last time that Lydia saw her brother was on

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Speaker 2: Wednesday night, February sixteenth. On that evening, Vicky brought Robert

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Speaker 2: by Lydia's house. Lydia said the next couple of days

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Speaker 2: were pretty busy. Her dad Jean saw Robert, but she

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Speaker 2: didn't see him on Thursday or Friday. She and her

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Speaker 2: husband were getting ready to have company, and so she

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Speaker 2: was getting the house ready and just taking care of

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Speaker 2: a lot of things. So now we come to that

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Speaker 2: fateful day, Saturday, February nineteenth, twenty eleven, the day that

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Speaker 2: Robert went missing. Lydia took us through her memories of

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Speaker 2: that day, a day she says she relives over and over.

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Speaker 2: Her day started at around eight thirty. She called her dad,

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Speaker 2: Jean to ask if he had breakfast yet. Jean told

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Speaker 2: her that he was planning on driving to chalk taw At,

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Speaker 2: nearby town. He was taking a drive to pick up

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Speaker 2: some wagon wheels that he had left there to be repaired.

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Speaker 2: This was Lydia's regular routine. By the way, she often

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Speaker 2: went to her brother's house at least once a day,

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Speaker 2: sometimes multiple times, in order to check on her elderly

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Speaker 2: father and her brother. Lydia told Jean he needed to

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Speaker 2: have something to eat, so at around eight thirty, her

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00:16:37,285 --> 00:16:39,525
Speaker 2: dad stopped at her house to have a quick breakfast.

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Speaker 2: Then he left to run his errand Lydia spent the

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Speaker 2: rest of the morning cleaning her house, taking care of chores.

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00:16:47,085 --> 00:16:51,205
Speaker 2: She was getting ready to have company. Then at twelve thirty,

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Speaker 2: Lydia said she realized that she hadn't checked in on

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Speaker 2: her brother yet, so she called her brother's house and

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Speaker 2: Vickie answered the phone.

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Speaker 4: So it was exactly twelve thirty two pm when I

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00:17:04,085 --> 00:17:09,045
Speaker 4: made the call up there. She answered the phone, and

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Speaker 4: I said, what are y'all doing? She said, well, Angie's

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Speaker 4: painting my toe nails and doing laundry. And she said Shelby,

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Speaker 4: the granddaughter, was doing something. She may have been outside

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Speaker 4: riding before will or something, I don't know, I don't remember.

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Speaker 4: And then I said, well, what's brother doing? She said, well,

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Speaker 4: I don't know. She said, he was in here pulling

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Speaker 4: on my arm. But he's been gone for about ten minutes.

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Speaker 4: And I said, well, don't you think you need to

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Speaker 4: send somebody outside to make sure he's okay? Because I

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Speaker 4: wasn't worried about him wandering off because he was very homebody.

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Speaker 4: He was either in and out of his house or

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Speaker 4: walking from his house to my dad's house. And so

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Speaker 4: she told Shelby, the granddaughter, she said, go outside and

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Speaker 4: see if you see or papaw. When I heard her

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Speaker 4: go out the door, heard her stand on the porch,

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Speaker 4: called Papa, pappaw a few times. Come back in. She said, no,

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Speaker 4: I don't see him. Vicky said, well, when my toenails dry,

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Speaker 4: she said, I'll slip my shoes on and I'll go

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Speaker 4: outside and see where he's at. And I said, no,

282
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Speaker 4: you get off your ass now and you go outside

283
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Speaker 4: and see where he's at. She said, okay, okay, and

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00:18:22,605 --> 00:18:26,485
Speaker 4: I said, keep me on the phone. They supposedly went outside,

285
00:18:26,565 --> 00:18:29,685
Speaker 4: looked around the yard. She's like, I don't see him anywhere.

286
00:18:30,285 --> 00:18:33,205
Speaker 4: I'm telling her places to look, and I said, make

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00:18:33,245 --> 00:18:35,725
Speaker 4: sure he's not in the garage, make sure he's not

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00:18:35,805 --> 00:18:39,445
Speaker 4: in the storage shed, and then next to his garage

289
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Speaker 4: there was a gap, and I said, well, go in

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Speaker 4: that gap and make sure he's not behind one of

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Speaker 4: those buildings. She supposedly did that, and she said, oh, yeah,

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Speaker 4: I see him. He's almost to the road. I'm going

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Speaker 4: to go get my keys and get my car out

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Speaker 4: of the garage and go up on the road and

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Speaker 4: pick him up. So we hung up. I went running

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Speaker 4: out to the shop where my husband was working, told

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Speaker 4: him what was going on. And I told him, I said,

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Speaker 4: I swear to God, she's going to wind up killing

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Speaker 4: my brother or losing him. And I said, I'm fixing

300
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Speaker 4: to whip out that power of attorney and take him

301
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Speaker 4: away from her and bring him down here. And he's like, well,

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00:19:22,045 --> 00:19:25,125
Speaker 4: whatever you want to do, we'll do it. So I

303
00:19:25,205 --> 00:19:28,485
Speaker 4: come back in the house. I start doing my chores

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Speaker 4: again because I'm thinking everything's okay. So about thirty minutes later,

305
00:19:36,285 --> 00:19:40,485
Speaker 4: I hear my cell phone telling me I had a voicemail.

306
00:19:40,645 --> 00:19:44,605
Speaker 4: So I pick up the voicemail. She says, well, we

307
00:19:44,685 --> 00:19:50,245
Speaker 4: can't find Rob and hung up. That's all she said.

308
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Speaker 4: So I go running out back out to the shop.

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Speaker 4: I told my husband. I said apparently they've lost him.

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Speaker 4: Get on your quad head that way. I'm going to

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Speaker 4: get my horse. I'll be there as quick as I can.

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00:20:03,405 --> 00:20:06,725
Speaker 2: Lydia jumped on her horse and rode toward Robert's house

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Speaker 2: as fast as she could. Her husband jumped on his

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Speaker 2: squad bike. It had rained recently in the area, so

315
00:20:13,165 --> 00:20:17,045
Speaker 2: that ground was saturated. Lydia said that her horse was

316
00:20:17,085 --> 00:20:20,565
Speaker 2: getting bogged down in that mud, so the area, which

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00:20:20,645 --> 00:20:23,325
Speaker 2: was tough to navigate on the best of days, became

318
00:20:23,405 --> 00:20:27,765
Speaker 2: almost impossible. Lydia saw a neighbor, Bob, approaching from the

319
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Speaker 2: north side of the clearcut. Lydia talked to Bob and

320
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Speaker 2: found out that Vicky had been to Bob's house. Now

321
00:20:34,245 --> 00:20:37,765
Speaker 2: it's unclear whether she actually talked to Bob, Lydia says

322
00:20:37,845 --> 00:20:41,365
Speaker 2: she believes that Vicky went to the house, didn't see him,

323
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Speaker 2: and then called and left him a message. Anyway, somehow

324
00:20:44,485 --> 00:20:47,605
Speaker 2: Bob got the message, so by the time Lydia got

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00:20:47,685 --> 00:20:52,805
Speaker 2: to Robert's house, several people were already there looking for him. Bob,

326
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Speaker 2: another neighbor named Don Angela, her daughter, Shelby, and Vicky,

327
00:20:57,685 --> 00:21:01,565
Speaker 2: plus the local mail carrier. By that night, there were

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00:21:01,605 --> 00:21:04,845
Speaker 2: over one hundred volunteers scouring the woods looking for Robert,

329
00:21:05,605 --> 00:21:08,805
Speaker 2: literally more than a third of the town. A friend

330
00:21:08,845 --> 00:21:10,925
Speaker 2: who had a private plane went up in the air

331
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Speaker 2: and flew around all afternoon. He found no sign of Robert.

332
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Speaker 2: Lydia said law enforcement showed up, and from the beginning

333
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Speaker 2: her relationship with the Yale County Sheriff's Department was pretty strained.

334
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Speaker 4: She said.

335
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Speaker 2: The local sheriff's department was really unprepared for a missing

336
00:21:28,365 --> 00:21:31,725
Speaker 2: person's case like this. Lydia admits she was frustrated by

337
00:21:31,725 --> 00:21:34,005
Speaker 2: some of their decisions, like the fact that they set

338
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Speaker 2: up their command post a quarter of a mile away.

339
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Speaker 2: Lydia wanted to know why they weren't setting it up

340
00:21:39,605 --> 00:21:43,245
Speaker 2: closer to home, and why they weren't questioning Robert's family

341
00:21:43,325 --> 00:21:49,005
Speaker 2: members already. Lydia was questioning aspects of Vicky's story. First

342
00:21:49,005 --> 00:21:51,805
Speaker 2: of all, she wondered, how could her brother, who had

343
00:21:51,805 --> 00:21:55,965
Speaker 2: difficulty walking a few steps, somehow walk hundreds of yards

344
00:21:56,005 --> 00:21:58,725
Speaker 2: to the edge of that clear cut and disappear within

345
00:21:58,805 --> 00:22:02,485
Speaker 2: just a few minutes. Secondly, Lydia thought it was strange

346
00:22:02,565 --> 00:22:05,325
Speaker 2: that Vicky went to see a neighbor, but that it

347
00:22:05,405 --> 00:22:07,685
Speaker 2: was it's the neighbor's son who actually called the police.

348
00:22:08,685 --> 00:22:12,725
Speaker 2: Her brother was vulnerable, why hadn't Vicky called nine to

349
00:22:12,725 --> 00:22:17,965
Speaker 2: one one? Then Lydia noticed something else. When she was

350
00:22:18,005 --> 00:22:22,205
Speaker 2: talking to their neighbor Don Don, was describing his attempt

351
00:22:22,285 --> 00:22:26,685
Speaker 2: to recreate the scene with Vicky. Don asked Vicky exactly

352
00:22:26,765 --> 00:22:29,045
Speaker 2: where she was standing when she was talking to Lyddy

353
00:22:29,085 --> 00:22:32,325
Speaker 2: on the phone and where Robert was standing. Lydia said

354
00:22:32,525 --> 00:22:35,405
Speaker 2: that from where Vicky said she was talking on the phone,

355
00:22:36,005 --> 00:22:38,205
Speaker 2: she could not have seen Robert through the dense brush.

356
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Speaker 4: So when my neighbor Don first got up there, he

357
00:22:42,365 --> 00:22:46,005
Speaker 4: was the first one there and he asked her, He said,

358
00:22:46,205 --> 00:22:50,365
Speaker 4: show me exactly where you last seen Rob. And she

359
00:22:50,485 --> 00:22:53,045
Speaker 4: took him down there and showed him and said right here.

360
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Speaker 4: And he said when he got down there, there were

361
00:22:56,405 --> 00:23:01,005
Speaker 4: no footprints whatsoever. And then when my neighbor Bob come

362
00:23:01,125 --> 00:23:04,365
Speaker 4: riding up on his horse, he come right along that

363
00:23:04,725 --> 00:23:07,965
Speaker 4: edge there next to my brother's property where she claimed

364
00:23:08,005 --> 00:23:11,605
Speaker 4: she had seen him. And Bob yelled from in the

365
00:23:11,645 --> 00:23:14,885
Speaker 4: clearcut up to the road. Who's got stars on the

366
00:23:14,925 --> 00:23:18,965
Speaker 4: bottom of their shoes? She says, I do. She had

367
00:23:19,005 --> 00:23:21,125
Speaker 4: on a pair of shoes that apparently had stars on

368
00:23:21,165 --> 00:23:22,005
Speaker 4: the bottom of them.

369
00:23:23,005 --> 00:23:26,885
Speaker 2: Remember, it had rain recently, which means that anyone walking

370
00:23:26,925 --> 00:23:31,205
Speaker 2: out there would presumably leave fairly deep footprints. Yet the

371
00:23:31,245 --> 00:23:34,245
Speaker 2: only footprints the neighbor found in that area, according to Lydia,

372
00:23:34,525 --> 00:23:38,845
Speaker 2: were Vickie's. I asked Lydia if law enforcement took pictures

373
00:23:38,845 --> 00:23:42,085
Speaker 2: of those footprints. Her response was telling.

374
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Speaker 4: Who law enforcements? Yeah, they done nothing. No, man, they

375
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Speaker 4: did not.

376
00:23:50,365 --> 00:23:50,405
Speaker 2: No.

377
00:23:51,805 --> 00:23:54,845
Speaker 4: I don't even know if law enforcement was even in

378
00:23:54,965 --> 00:23:55,765
Speaker 4: that clearcut.

379
00:23:56,725 --> 00:23:59,725
Speaker 2: The Yale County Sheriff's Department kept searching. The state police

380
00:23:59,725 --> 00:24:02,365
Speaker 2: came in at around ten pm that night. They brought

381
00:24:02,445 --> 00:24:06,045
Speaker 2: bloodhounds and volunteers and they did search everywhere. They went

382
00:24:06,045 --> 00:24:11,525
Speaker 2: through fields, barns, cars, abandoned wells, sinkholes, and anywhere else

383
00:24:11,565 --> 00:24:12,205
Speaker 2: they could think of.

384
00:24:12,765 --> 00:24:17,365
Speaker 1: But they found no trace of Robert. But the dogs

385
00:24:17,445 --> 00:24:18,885
Speaker 1: did alert on the property.

386
00:24:19,725 --> 00:24:23,285
Speaker 4: Dog handler come in and she said, well, my dog

387
00:24:23,445 --> 00:24:27,525
Speaker 4: trackeding north along the edge of the clear cut and

388
00:24:27,565 --> 00:24:31,285
Speaker 4: then out east part way across the clear cut. I

389
00:24:31,365 --> 00:24:34,605
Speaker 4: told her, I said, there ain't no way. Then she

390
00:24:34,765 --> 00:24:38,325
Speaker 4: said they tracked him, you know, out in the yard

391
00:24:38,925 --> 00:24:41,325
Speaker 4: and then up the driveway to the end of the

392
00:24:41,405 --> 00:24:45,885
Speaker 4: driveway and then the dog lost sin. So then that's

393
00:24:45,925 --> 00:24:48,285
Speaker 4: when the theory come in. Well, somebody must have drove

394
00:24:48,365 --> 00:24:49,365
Speaker 4: by and picked him up.

395
00:24:50,485 --> 00:24:55,005
Speaker 2: This seemed far fetched to Lydia. Lydia said that a

396
00:24:55,125 --> 00:24:59,405
Speaker 2: strange car going unnoticed would have been very strange in

397
00:24:59,445 --> 00:25:02,885
Speaker 2: their neighborhood. This was a place where everyone knew everyone.

398
00:25:03,365 --> 00:25:05,365
Speaker 2: They knew when the trash truck came in and when

399
00:25:05,365 --> 00:25:08,765
Speaker 2: it left, So the idea that someone could have driven

400
00:25:08,805 --> 00:25:11,005
Speaker 2: by and picked Robert up at that exact time of

401
00:25:11,085 --> 00:25:16,725
Speaker 2: day during a five minute period is very implausible. Also,

402
00:25:16,965 --> 00:25:20,605
Speaker 2: if they did, what would their motive have been? When

403
00:25:20,605 --> 00:25:24,765
Speaker 2: he disappeared. Robert had nothing on him, no wallet, no medication.

404
00:25:25,565 --> 00:25:28,445
Speaker 2: What would their motive be for picking up and kidnapping

405
00:25:28,445 --> 00:25:31,925
Speaker 2: an elderly man in the middle of the afternoon. Lydia

406
00:25:32,005 --> 00:25:35,525
Speaker 2: said that at some point someone told her that the

407
00:25:35,605 --> 00:25:38,765
Speaker 2: first search dogs had been tired, so she called the

408
00:25:38,805 --> 00:25:42,125
Speaker 2: sheriff at the time. Sheriff guilty. She said she would

409
00:25:42,125 --> 00:25:45,725
Speaker 2: like to get fresher search dogs out there, and she

410
00:25:45,885 --> 00:25:49,845
Speaker 2: said he cussed her out, but the sheriff did relent

411
00:25:49,925 --> 00:25:52,685
Speaker 2: and agreed to send more dogs. When the second group

412
00:25:52,685 --> 00:25:55,605
Speaker 2: of dogs came to the area, they alerted in only

413
00:25:55,645 --> 00:26:00,005
Speaker 2: one place, the front door. Vicki told law enforcement that

414
00:26:00,045 --> 00:26:02,725
Speaker 2: when Robert left the house that day, he was wearing

415
00:26:02,765 --> 00:26:06,685
Speaker 2: gray tennis shoes, gray sweatpants, and a navy blue hoodie.

416
00:26:08,125 --> 00:26:12,725
Speaker 2: To Lydia, the clothing description was also a bit strange.

417
00:26:13,045 --> 00:26:19,405
Speaker 4: My brother dressed western boots, jeans, flannel shirts, T shirts,

418
00:26:19,525 --> 00:26:21,645
Speaker 4: you know, very simple in plain.

419
00:26:22,685 --> 00:26:25,085
Speaker 1: So a hoodie would have been a little out of character.

420
00:26:25,645 --> 00:26:27,805
Speaker 4: Very much out of character. I mean I never seen

421
00:26:27,885 --> 00:26:31,005
Speaker 4: him wear a hoodie, even when he was, you know, sick.

422
00:26:31,885 --> 00:26:33,965
Speaker 4: I mean, she was still putting his T shirts on

423
00:26:34,085 --> 00:26:36,965
Speaker 4: and then putting a flannel on, you know, over the

424
00:26:37,005 --> 00:26:39,205
Speaker 4: T shirts, like he always did. I don't know where

425
00:26:39,205 --> 00:26:40,405
Speaker 4: the blue hoodie come from.

426
00:26:41,005 --> 00:26:44,205
Speaker 2: Could someone else have been walking around a hoodie, someone

427
00:26:44,205 --> 00:26:46,885
Speaker 2: who wanted to create the description that way in case

428
00:26:46,925 --> 00:26:50,165
Speaker 2: they were spotted from a distance. Lydia's mind came up

429
00:26:50,165 --> 00:26:53,685
Speaker 2: with many possibilities, but all of them, in her imagination,

430
00:26:54,445 --> 00:26:57,445
Speaker 2: ended with someone doing something unspeakable to her brother.

431
00:26:58,525 --> 00:27:01,885
Speaker 4: I got to the point to where I was following vultures,

432
00:27:02,285 --> 00:27:04,365
Speaker 4: you know, I'd see him circling out in the pasture,

433
00:27:04,405 --> 00:27:07,205
Speaker 4: and I'd follow him, and I'd get out and I'd

434
00:27:07,205 --> 00:27:09,605
Speaker 4: go look just to make sure, because you don't know.

435
00:27:09,885 --> 00:27:12,165
Speaker 4: At that point, it was hard for me to wrap

436
00:27:12,165 --> 00:27:14,645
Speaker 4: my mind around that somebody and my family could hurt

437
00:27:14,685 --> 00:27:20,045
Speaker 4: my brother. But it was kind of looking pretty iffy

438
00:27:20,245 --> 00:27:22,845
Speaker 4: that somebody very well could have done something to him.

439
00:27:24,005 --> 00:27:27,805
Speaker 2: But her conversations with law enforcement continue to be frustrating, since,

440
00:27:27,845 --> 00:27:30,285
Speaker 2: according to her, they did not seem to consider the

441
00:27:30,325 --> 00:27:32,845
Speaker 2: possibility of Robert being the victim of foul play.

442
00:27:34,525 --> 00:27:38,125
Speaker 4: Why ain't just setting up in his yard and questioning family, well,

443
00:27:38,125 --> 00:27:40,765
Speaker 4: because that's the last ones that supposedly seen him, But

444
00:27:40,845 --> 00:27:44,925
Speaker 4: they didn't. And they just kept coming up to me

445
00:27:45,085 --> 00:27:49,245
Speaker 4: and asking me different questions and about my brother. And

446
00:27:49,285 --> 00:27:53,325
Speaker 4: I'm like, you don't understand. I said, he ain't able

447
00:27:53,405 --> 00:27:58,085
Speaker 4: to navigate this. The man's chin was resting on his chest.

448
00:27:58,125 --> 00:28:02,205
Speaker 4: He was on hospice, and you know where's he gonna go.

449
00:28:02,725 --> 00:28:07,125
Speaker 4: He walked with a shuffled gate to disappear in five minutes,

450
00:28:07,165 --> 00:28:09,805
Speaker 4: and that's what she said. The timeline at was five minutes.

451
00:28:11,045 --> 00:28:14,005
Speaker 2: Lyndia was also wondering where her brother's son Brian was,

452
00:28:14,485 --> 00:28:18,205
Speaker 2: why he wasn't on social media posting why he wasn't

453
00:28:18,245 --> 00:28:21,365
Speaker 2: in her opinion, helping more with the search. Eventually, she

454
00:28:21,445 --> 00:28:24,525
Speaker 2: admits she suspected multiple people in the family may have

455
00:28:24,605 --> 00:28:27,565
Speaker 2: been aware, at least of what was going on. She

456
00:28:27,805 --> 00:28:31,485
Speaker 2: said that she really noticed that Vicky did not appear

457
00:28:31,525 --> 00:28:33,045
Speaker 2: to be that concerned about Robert.

458
00:28:34,565 --> 00:28:37,485
Speaker 4: She was out there talking and laughing with them and

459
00:28:37,525 --> 00:28:39,725
Speaker 4: carrying on. I don't know who it was. Could have

460
00:28:39,765 --> 00:28:41,845
Speaker 4: been somebody in her family, I don't know, because a

461
00:28:41,845 --> 00:28:45,405
Speaker 4: bunch of her family come home started flowing in after that.

462
00:28:46,285 --> 00:28:49,605
Speaker 4: Another person told me that she was outside in the

463
00:28:49,725 --> 00:28:51,805
Speaker 4: yard and there was people up there, you know, looking

464
00:28:51,885 --> 00:28:54,605
Speaker 4: all around the yard and around the house and everything,

465
00:28:54,645 --> 00:28:57,725
Speaker 4: and she's like, there's plenty of food and drink in here.

466
00:28:57,845 --> 00:29:00,125
Speaker 4: If you guys get hungry, thirsty, come on in, get

467
00:29:00,165 --> 00:29:02,805
Speaker 4: you whatever you want and whatever and stuff like that,

468
00:29:03,005 --> 00:29:06,485
Speaker 4: and just you know, nobody were seeing. The woman shed

469
00:29:06,525 --> 00:29:08,525
Speaker 4: a tear. I never seen her shed it here.

470
00:29:11,685 --> 00:29:16,285
Speaker 2: Also on Sunday, Lydia got another shock when she went

471
00:29:16,325 --> 00:29:20,365
Speaker 2: to her brother's house. She found hospice nurses there taking

472
00:29:20,365 --> 00:29:23,925
Speaker 2: her brother's things away. Robert had been missing less than

473
00:29:23,925 --> 00:29:25,045
Speaker 2: twenty four hours.

474
00:29:25,645 --> 00:29:29,365
Speaker 4: Sunday morning, she had Hospice out there and had them

475
00:29:29,365 --> 00:29:34,005
Speaker 4: come and pick up everything, the hospital bed, the bedside,

476
00:29:34,045 --> 00:29:37,285
Speaker 4: come ode, you know, just whatever they brought out, because

477
00:29:37,285 --> 00:29:38,525
Speaker 4: she said he wasn't coming back.

478
00:29:42,485 --> 00:29:45,245
Speaker 2: After Lydia saw the nurses taking Robert's things out of

479
00:29:45,285 --> 00:29:48,245
Speaker 2: his home only twenty four hours after he had gone missing,

480
00:29:48,965 --> 00:29:52,565
Speaker 2: she said the relationship between her and Vickie deteriorated fast.

481
00:29:53,805 --> 00:29:56,965
Speaker 2: Lydia had thought of Vicky as a sister, but Lydia

482
00:29:57,005 --> 00:30:00,085
Speaker 2: says they have not spoken since March of twenty eleven,

483
00:30:00,725 --> 00:30:04,325
Speaker 2: just a few weeks after her brother went missing. Lydia

484
00:30:04,365 --> 00:30:09,125
Speaker 2: also wondered about her suspicion started on Saturday night when

485
00:30:09,365 --> 00:30:13,365
Speaker 2: she asked Vicki about why Brian and his wife were

486
00:30:13,365 --> 00:30:15,085
Speaker 2: not out late searching for Robert.

487
00:30:16,085 --> 00:30:19,405
Speaker 4: I've seen her about ten o'clock and she said, well,

488
00:30:19,445 --> 00:30:23,925
Speaker 4: I finally heard from Brian. And I said, and she said, well,

489
00:30:24,605 --> 00:30:28,205
Speaker 4: they got wet and tired, so they went home and

490
00:30:28,245 --> 00:30:31,365
Speaker 4: took a shower and went to bed. And I said,

491
00:30:31,565 --> 00:30:35,645
Speaker 4: so your dad is missing, and he's a sick human being,

492
00:30:36,365 --> 00:30:38,605
Speaker 4: and you're wet and tired and you're going to go

493
00:30:38,605 --> 00:30:39,005
Speaker 4: to bed.

494
00:30:40,365 --> 00:30:42,765
Speaker 2: Lydia could not wrap her head around this. She had

495
00:30:42,845 --> 00:30:45,485
Speaker 2: always known Brian and her brother Robert to have a

496
00:30:45,645 --> 00:30:49,845
Speaker 2: very close relationship. She couldn't understand why, in her opinion,

497
00:30:49,925 --> 00:30:53,245
Speaker 2: Brian didn't seem to be more proactive about searching for

498
00:30:53,285 --> 00:30:58,245
Speaker 2: his father. However, as time went on, she kept thinking

499
00:30:58,325 --> 00:31:01,205
Speaker 2: back to that weird Facebook message, the one about a

500
00:31:01,245 --> 00:31:05,125
Speaker 2: mercy killing. She wondered, could Brian have known something about

501
00:31:05,165 --> 00:31:09,965
Speaker 2: what happened? Lydia says that after that, her relationship with

502
00:31:10,045 --> 00:31:12,085
Speaker 2: Brian also completely fell apart.

503
00:31:13,245 --> 00:31:18,605
Speaker 4: That following Monday, Brian was off work that day, so

504
00:31:18,725 --> 00:31:23,485
Speaker 4: I had gone that to Vicki's to my brother's house

505
00:31:24,565 --> 00:31:27,685
Speaker 4: to take care of the dogs. She had some goats

506
00:31:27,725 --> 00:31:32,325
Speaker 4: at that time and some chickens, so I went up

507
00:31:32,325 --> 00:31:35,285
Speaker 4: there to take care of them chores for her. And

508
00:31:35,325 --> 00:31:37,725
Speaker 4: when I come back around the front of the house,

509
00:31:37,845 --> 00:31:40,285
Speaker 4: Brian and his wife was there, and Brian had my

510
00:31:40,405 --> 00:31:43,725
Speaker 4: brother's quad in the yard and he was bent over

511
00:31:43,885 --> 00:31:48,085
Speaker 4: working on it, and I was talking to Becca. I

512
00:31:48,125 --> 00:31:51,085
Speaker 4: don't remember what we were saying, but anyways, I'm sure

513
00:31:51,125 --> 00:31:54,605
Speaker 4: something about what was going on. Brian never turned around

514
00:31:54,645 --> 00:31:57,565
Speaker 4: and looked at me, and I told him, I said, Brian,

515
00:31:58,685 --> 00:32:01,365
Speaker 4: I said, you know there's something wrong with this story, right,

516
00:32:01,725 --> 00:32:04,925
Speaker 4: I said, you know there is no way your dad

517
00:32:05,085 --> 00:32:08,125
Speaker 4: could have walked out in that clear cut and disappeared.

518
00:32:09,045 --> 00:32:11,765
Speaker 4: He said, well, we gotta go, he says, I got

519
00:32:11,765 --> 00:32:15,565
Speaker 4: to go to my friends. I don't remember why, but

520
00:32:16,205 --> 00:32:18,405
Speaker 4: they loaded up and left and night laid eyes on

521
00:32:18,445 --> 00:32:18,965
Speaker 4: that kid.

522
00:32:19,005 --> 00:32:23,445
Speaker 2: Since Later, her father Jean, went to Dan Bell where

523
00:32:23,445 --> 00:32:25,405
Speaker 2: Brian was working as a mechanic, and tried to talk

524
00:32:25,445 --> 00:32:25,765
Speaker 2: to him.

525
00:32:26,765 --> 00:32:28,245
Speaker 1: He also got the silent treatment.

526
00:32:29,805 --> 00:32:32,565
Speaker 4: After this all happened, my dad started going down there

527
00:32:32,605 --> 00:32:35,725
Speaker 4: trying to talk to Brian because my dad had a

528
00:32:35,725 --> 00:32:40,645
Speaker 4: good relationship with Brian too, and Brian wouldn't look at

529
00:32:40,645 --> 00:32:43,205
Speaker 4: my dad. He wouldn't talk to my dad. He would

530
00:32:43,245 --> 00:32:47,125
Speaker 4: just look through him, or look beside him, or drop

531
00:32:47,165 --> 00:32:51,045
Speaker 4: his head and just turn and walk away. So one

532
00:32:51,085 --> 00:32:53,365
Speaker 4: day he cornered him down there and he said, Brian,

533
00:32:53,525 --> 00:32:56,765
Speaker 4: he said, I don't know who did it, he said,

534
00:32:56,765 --> 00:32:59,285
Speaker 4: but somebody hurt my boy. And he says, and I'm

535
00:32:59,285 --> 00:33:00,525
Speaker 4: going to find out who it is.

536
00:33:01,525 --> 00:33:05,805
Speaker 2: Then, Lydia said, Vicky started replacing furniture in the back

537
00:33:05,845 --> 00:33:08,165
Speaker 2: bedroom where her brother had been sleeping.

538
00:33:08,845 --> 00:33:16,445
Speaker 4: That weekend after this whole mysterious disappearance thing. Vicky's replacing

539
00:33:16,525 --> 00:33:22,165
Speaker 4: bedroom furniture in the back bedroom. She even called me

540
00:33:22,205 --> 00:33:23,645
Speaker 4: down there and told me to come look at it.

541
00:33:23,685 --> 00:33:26,525
Speaker 4: After they got done with it. She said, oh, come

542
00:33:26,525 --> 00:33:28,845
Speaker 4: and look at the furniture I got from my brother.

543
00:33:29,125 --> 00:33:31,445
Speaker 4: And I'm thinking to myself, I'm not saying anything, but

544
00:33:31,485 --> 00:33:33,925
Speaker 4: I'm thinking to myself, why are you worried about changing

545
00:33:33,965 --> 00:33:38,085
Speaker 4: out furniture when your husband's missing? And then there was

546
00:33:38,125 --> 00:33:40,565
Speaker 4: some stuff back there. I don't know what they was burning.

547
00:33:40,725 --> 00:33:45,565
Speaker 4: I don't know if it's furniture or what. So, I

548
00:33:45,605 --> 00:33:50,845
Speaker 4: don't know. Just too many red flags for me. And

549
00:33:50,925 --> 00:33:53,845
Speaker 4: you know, law enforcement didn't seem to think that some

550
00:33:53,925 --> 00:33:55,965
Speaker 4: of that stuff wasn't pertinent. I don't know.

551
00:33:57,005 --> 00:33:59,965
Speaker 2: Lydia began to believe that her brother never made it

552
00:34:00,005 --> 00:34:02,685
Speaker 2: past the front door and that something had happened to

553
00:34:02,765 --> 00:34:07,765
Speaker 2: him inside the house. After a few days, the searches stopped,

554
00:34:08,525 --> 00:34:11,125
Speaker 2: the case went cold, and it became just part of

555
00:34:11,205 --> 00:34:14,885
Speaker 2: local legend the guy who lived there but disappeared one day,

556
00:34:15,805 --> 00:34:18,885
Speaker 2: but Lydia and her father could not forget a few

557
00:34:18,925 --> 00:34:23,045
Speaker 2: months after Robert's disappearance, they hired a private investigator named Donnie.

558
00:34:24,165 --> 00:34:27,285
Speaker 2: Donnie eventually built up a huge case file, and one

559
00:34:27,325 --> 00:34:30,405
Speaker 2: of the first mysteries that Donnie helped solve was why

560
00:34:30,445 --> 00:34:33,685
Speaker 2: he believes the search dogs alerted out near the clear cut.

561
00:34:34,565 --> 00:34:36,365
Speaker 4: There's a lot of things I wouldn't know if it

562
00:34:36,445 --> 00:34:39,005
Speaker 4: hadn't have been for the private investigator that come in

563
00:34:39,005 --> 00:34:42,845
Speaker 4: in June of twenty eleven. What I found out about

564
00:34:42,845 --> 00:34:47,885
Speaker 4: the dogs the state police dogs saying they tracked him,

565
00:34:48,125 --> 00:34:51,845
Speaker 4: you know, along the edge of the clearcutting out east.

566
00:34:52,365 --> 00:34:56,245
Speaker 4: And the reason they tracked him along the outside edge

567
00:34:56,285 --> 00:34:58,405
Speaker 4: of the yard next to the county road and out

568
00:34:58,445 --> 00:35:03,805
Speaker 4: to the driveway is because that night when this all

569
00:35:03,845 --> 00:35:06,445
Speaker 4: took place, or that day when this all took place,

570
00:35:06,885 --> 00:35:10,165
Speaker 4: Angela was wearing my brother's house shoes and the granddaughter

571
00:35:10,245 --> 00:35:14,005
Speaker 4: had on my brother's muck boots. So that's why the

572
00:35:14,045 --> 00:35:17,485
Speaker 4: dogs tracked where they tracked, because those kids had my

573
00:35:17,525 --> 00:35:18,125
Speaker 4: brother's shoes.

574
00:35:18,285 --> 00:35:22,205
Speaker 2: Un this would seem to be a major discovery because

575
00:35:22,245 --> 00:35:25,525
Speaker 2: presumably the police based their theory that Robert could have

576
00:35:25,525 --> 00:35:28,325
Speaker 2: been picked up at that road edge largely on where

577
00:35:28,365 --> 00:35:29,645
Speaker 2: those first dogs alerted.

578
00:35:30,805 --> 00:35:32,885
Speaker 1: Did he talk to them? Did he talk to Angela

579
00:35:32,925 --> 00:35:33,645
Speaker 1: and the granddaughter?

580
00:35:34,685 --> 00:35:40,125
Speaker 4: Yes? And there's conflicting statements with Angie and Vicky, because

581
00:35:40,485 --> 00:35:44,085
Speaker 4: Angie's statement says there's no way Robert could have been

582
00:35:44,125 --> 00:35:47,085
Speaker 4: in that clear cut, and there's no way he could

583
00:35:47,085 --> 00:35:49,605
Speaker 4: have made it out of the clear cut up onto

584
00:35:49,645 --> 00:35:53,925
Speaker 4: the county road. And she's correct because it was wet,

585
00:35:54,085 --> 00:35:58,005
Speaker 4: muddy and slick, and it's a four foot incline from

586
00:35:58,165 --> 00:36:00,885
Speaker 4: coming out of the clearcut up to the county road.

587
00:36:01,725 --> 00:36:04,485
Speaker 4: But yet her mother says he was in the clearcut,

588
00:36:05,565 --> 00:36:08,645
Speaker 4: appeared within five minutes, and there's nowhere to go.

589
00:36:11,925 --> 00:36:15,245
Speaker 2: Donnie, the PI discovered something else, something else, he says,

590
00:36:15,285 --> 00:36:19,925
Speaker 2: the police missed. He said the police never asked Vicky

591
00:36:20,005 --> 00:36:23,885
Speaker 2: about insurance policies that she had on her husband. Lyddy

592
00:36:23,965 --> 00:36:26,805
Speaker 2: explained that Vicky had a life insurance policy on Robert

593
00:36:27,405 --> 00:36:29,605
Speaker 2: and that she found out later Vicky had made some

594
00:36:29,685 --> 00:36:31,845
Speaker 2: changes as a little.

595
00:36:31,685 --> 00:36:34,245
Speaker 4: Bit of time goes on. He asked her, he said,

596
00:36:35,405 --> 00:36:39,285
Speaker 4: did the police, state police, or the sheriff ever ask

597
00:36:39,405 --> 00:36:42,845
Speaker 4: you if you had any kind of life insurance policies,

598
00:36:42,925 --> 00:36:47,045
Speaker 4: burial policies or anything like that. She said no. He said, well,

599
00:36:48,205 --> 00:36:51,245
Speaker 4: he said, do you have any insurance policies and she said, yeah,

600
00:36:51,285 --> 00:36:54,085
Speaker 4: I have a burial policy in an accident policy. And

601
00:36:54,125 --> 00:36:56,485
Speaker 4: he said, well, I'll need copies of those. He said,

602
00:36:56,485 --> 00:36:59,405
Speaker 4: that way, if something comes up, I'll be able to

603
00:36:59,445 --> 00:37:04,245
Speaker 4: help you out with it. She said, well, I kind

604
00:37:04,245 --> 00:37:07,405
Speaker 4: of might have messed up. He said, what do you mean.

605
00:37:08,085 --> 00:37:11,685
Speaker 4: She said, well, that accident policy, she said, I increased

606
00:37:11,725 --> 00:37:16,525
Speaker 4: it after Robert disappeared. So what it was is it

607
00:37:16,645 --> 00:37:20,925
Speaker 4: was a accident policy like you get from banks if

608
00:37:20,925 --> 00:37:24,685
Speaker 4: you lose a limb or eye or something, or you

609
00:37:24,725 --> 00:37:28,125
Speaker 4: get accidentally killed. So what she did was is it

610
00:37:28,205 --> 00:37:31,005
Speaker 4: was that fifty thousand, and she increased it to two

611
00:37:31,085 --> 00:37:34,885
Speaker 4: hundred or two hundred and fifty thousand, and then she

612
00:37:35,045 --> 00:37:42,165
Speaker 4: made her son Carl the beneficiary on that policy. Bran, yes,

613
00:37:42,325 --> 00:37:47,245
Speaker 4: her son, not Brian, her son. So that's a big

614
00:37:47,285 --> 00:37:51,605
Speaker 4: red flag. Why would you increase a policy after your

615
00:37:51,685 --> 00:37:52,645
Speaker 4: husband disappears.

616
00:37:54,565 --> 00:37:58,445
Speaker 2: In August of twenty eleven, Lydia said Vicky got rid

617
00:37:58,485 --> 00:38:01,085
Speaker 2: of the rest of her brother's clothes. That was also

618
00:38:01,245 --> 00:38:03,245
Speaker 2: around the time when Vicky took off her wedding ring.

619
00:38:04,125 --> 00:38:09,165
Speaker 2: The following year, Vicky was moving on, Vicky met George Keith.

620
00:38:10,165 --> 00:38:13,405
Speaker 2: Vicky and George started dating. They wanted to get married,

621
00:38:13,565 --> 00:38:17,325
Speaker 2: but there was one problem. Robert had not been legally

622
00:38:17,365 --> 00:38:21,605
Speaker 2: declared dead, and Lydia still had her brother's power of attorney,

623
00:38:21,725 --> 00:38:24,445
Speaker 2: which he had given her in two thousand and nine.

624
00:38:24,485 --> 00:38:28,045
Speaker 2: In July twenty twelve, Vicki petitioned the court to have

625
00:38:28,165 --> 00:38:33,125
Speaker 2: Robert declared dead, which they did. After Robert was legally

626
00:38:33,165 --> 00:38:36,925
Speaker 2: declared dead in twenty thirteen, Vicky and George were married.

627
00:38:38,085 --> 00:38:40,405
Speaker 2: I want to point out, and this is really important.

628
00:38:40,885 --> 00:38:44,845
Speaker 2: Over the years, Lydia and Vicki have obviously clashed. At

629
00:38:44,885 --> 00:38:48,085
Speaker 2: one point, Lydia was talking to local reporters and went

630
00:38:48,085 --> 00:38:48,805
Speaker 2: to the property.

631
00:38:49,445 --> 00:38:51,565
Speaker 1: Vicki told the reporters to get off her property.

632
00:38:52,165 --> 00:38:56,605
Speaker 2: Now, I'm sure that Vicky has a completely different story

633
00:38:56,605 --> 00:38:58,525
Speaker 2: to tell. I'm sure there's a whole other side of

634
00:38:58,565 --> 00:39:01,805
Speaker 2: that story. I have reached out to her for comment

635
00:39:01,965 --> 00:39:05,885
Speaker 2: and she's not replied. I've also reached out to Ryan.

636
00:39:06,925 --> 00:39:09,085
Speaker 2: I would love to talk to them because I really

637
00:39:09,125 --> 00:39:11,565
Speaker 2: do believe that it's only by piecing everything together we're

638
00:39:11,565 --> 00:39:12,965
Speaker 2: going to be able to find out what happened to

639
00:39:13,045 --> 00:39:16,685
Speaker 2: Robert Cox. Vicky has never been named as a suspect.

640
00:39:17,205 --> 00:39:20,205
Speaker 2: She did pass a lie detector test, She's never been

641
00:39:20,285 --> 00:39:22,765
Speaker 2: charged with anything and never to my knowledge, been a

642
00:39:22,805 --> 00:39:27,085
Speaker 2: suspect in her husband's appearance. Over the years, Lydia and

643
00:39:27,165 --> 00:39:31,805
Speaker 2: Vicky went to court several times. The judge mainly sided

644
00:39:31,805 --> 00:39:37,805
Speaker 2: with Vicky. Vicky ended up with Robert's property, but Robert's father, Gene,

645
00:39:37,845 --> 00:39:39,405
Speaker 2: was allowed to live in his house for the rest

646
00:39:39,405 --> 00:39:43,085
Speaker 2: of his life. Now, I can only imagine the tension

647
00:39:43,285 --> 00:39:46,365
Speaker 2: that must have been present at that property, because can

648
00:39:46,365 --> 00:39:51,165
Speaker 2: you imagine living on the property with your former father

649
00:39:51,245 --> 00:39:54,965
Speaker 2: in law, the father in law who suspects that you

650
00:39:55,005 --> 00:39:57,485
Speaker 2: have killed his son, and having to see him every day.

651
00:39:58,085 --> 00:40:00,045
Speaker 2: I cannot imagine what that must have been like for

652
00:40:00,125 --> 00:40:03,925
Speaker 2: any of those people. Over the years, Lydia reached out

653
00:40:03,965 --> 00:40:06,885
Speaker 2: to everyone she could think of. She called the Attorney General,

654
00:40:06,965 --> 00:40:10,325
Speaker 2: she posted on social media. She called the FBI and

655
00:40:10,405 --> 00:40:14,405
Speaker 2: true crime shows, including Nancy Grace, anyone who could help

656
00:40:14,445 --> 00:40:15,725
Speaker 2: her get answers.

657
00:40:15,965 --> 00:40:18,245
Speaker 4: And I said, and believe me, I am not here

658
00:40:18,285 --> 00:40:22,525
Speaker 4: to make enemies with you guys. But it's not your

659
00:40:22,605 --> 00:40:27,005
Speaker 4: loved one. It's not in your backyard, I said, it's mine.

660
00:40:27,085 --> 00:40:28,925
Speaker 4: I said. When you lay your head on your pillow

661
00:40:28,965 --> 00:40:32,445
Speaker 4: at night, you know where your people are. You know

662
00:40:32,525 --> 00:40:35,445
Speaker 4: where your family is. I said, I know where most

663
00:40:35,485 --> 00:40:39,125
Speaker 4: of mine are, living or dead. I know where they are,

664
00:40:39,605 --> 00:40:43,525
Speaker 4: I said, But Robert Cox, I have no clue, and

665
00:40:43,565 --> 00:40:48,805
Speaker 4: I said in Robert Cox, you got five suspects that

666
00:40:48,925 --> 00:40:53,405
Speaker 4: are just running them up, and not one person has

667
00:40:53,525 --> 00:41:00,725
Speaker 4: ever ever brought them in and investigated, interrogated, I said nothing.

668
00:41:02,405 --> 00:41:05,445
Speaker 2: In twenty fifteen, Lydia talked to a local Fox News.

669
00:41:06,485 --> 00:41:09,805
Speaker 2: This time it was a two part special. The reporter

670
00:41:10,365 --> 00:41:12,845
Speaker 2: went out to the property and climbed through the clear

671
00:41:12,885 --> 00:41:15,805
Speaker 2: cut and you can really see what hard and rough

672
00:41:15,885 --> 00:41:18,165
Speaker 2: terrain that is and how hard it would have been

673
00:41:18,245 --> 00:41:21,805
Speaker 2: for an elderly man byll these physical challenges to navigate it.

674
00:41:22,725 --> 00:41:25,765
Speaker 2: At the time, Robert's father, Jean, told the reporter he

675
00:41:25,845 --> 00:41:29,525
Speaker 2: thought of his missing son every single day. He said, quote,

676
00:41:29,805 --> 00:41:31,725
Speaker 2: I get up at night and I go out and

677
00:41:31,765 --> 00:41:36,445
Speaker 2: look he comes to me in my dreams end quote. Eventually,

678
00:41:37,085 --> 00:41:40,085
Speaker 2: Lydia got a meeting with the prosecutor. She said she

679
00:41:40,165 --> 00:41:43,765
Speaker 2: was underwhelmed by his response. When I was talking to

680
00:41:43,845 --> 00:41:46,485
Speaker 2: Lydia about her meeting with the prosecutor, I had to

681
00:41:46,525 --> 00:41:48,685
Speaker 2: ask her about something I heard her say to another

682
00:41:48,725 --> 00:41:52,925
Speaker 2: media outlet. She said the prosecutor told her that unless

683
00:41:52,965 --> 00:41:57,365
Speaker 2: they had a body and a confession, that they couldn't prosecute.

684
00:41:57,485 --> 00:42:01,005
Speaker 2: I thought, I misheard or maybe she misspoke, because to

685
00:42:01,085 --> 00:42:05,165
Speaker 2: me that was unbelievable, but she said that's exactly what happened.

686
00:42:06,165 --> 00:42:08,325
Speaker 4: So we just sat there and we started asking questions

687
00:42:08,325 --> 00:42:12,205
Speaker 4: of the private detective was there, and I had my

688
00:42:12,285 --> 00:42:16,085
Speaker 4: state rep and then an attorney from the Attorney General's

689
00:42:16,125 --> 00:42:19,085
Speaker 4: office there, and then he's like, well, there's nothing I

690
00:42:19,125 --> 00:42:21,085
Speaker 4: can do for you. He says, you'll have to go

691
00:42:21,125 --> 00:42:24,325
Speaker 4: over to the sheriff's office and hash it out with them.

692
00:42:24,925 --> 00:42:28,645
Speaker 2: At that point, law enforcement did take action. They took

693
00:42:28,725 --> 00:42:31,645
Speaker 2: Lydia and her dad in and they separately questioned them.

694
00:42:31,965 --> 00:42:35,965
Speaker 2: They gave Lydia a lit detector test, which she passed. Again,

695
00:42:36,045 --> 00:42:38,845
Speaker 2: I should mention Vicky did eventually take a polygraph test.

696
00:42:39,725 --> 00:42:42,645
Speaker 2: Lydia said that she talked to VICKI after Vicky took

697
00:42:42,685 --> 00:42:45,645
Speaker 2: the test, and that Vicky was talking about taking xanax.

698
00:42:46,205 --> 00:42:50,285
Speaker 2: So Lydia believes that the xanacts that Vicky took could

699
00:42:50,285 --> 00:42:52,285
Speaker 2: have influenced the test, But it's important to mention that

700
00:42:52,325 --> 00:42:56,405
Speaker 2: she did pass the polygraph. The police department considers this

701
00:42:56,445 --> 00:43:01,205
Speaker 2: an open investigation, so they aren't revealing any details. In

702
00:43:01,245 --> 00:43:04,525
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, a new sheriff took over, he said

703
00:43:04,525 --> 00:43:07,125
Speaker 2: he was going to have an open door policy. Lydia

704
00:43:07,205 --> 00:43:09,605
Speaker 2: said she has a good relationship with the new sheriff

705
00:43:10,405 --> 00:43:13,125
Speaker 2: and that the new sheriff has said that he would

706
00:43:13,125 --> 00:43:16,005
Speaker 2: open the case back up and be open to outside help.

707
00:43:16,405 --> 00:43:18,525
Speaker 2: And I just want to say to the Yale County

708
00:43:18,525 --> 00:43:22,205
Speaker 2: Sheriff's Department and to the Arkansas State Police, if you

709
00:43:22,325 --> 00:43:26,045
Speaker 2: do want my help in any way, I would be

710
00:43:26,205 --> 00:43:29,045
Speaker 2: more than happy to put time and work into this

711
00:43:29,085 --> 00:43:30,845
Speaker 2: case if you're willing to share any part of the

712
00:43:30,845 --> 00:43:34,925
Speaker 2: case file. Eventually, Vicky sold the house where she had

713
00:43:34,965 --> 00:43:36,965
Speaker 2: been living with Robert, the one that he built with

714
00:43:37,005 --> 00:43:40,845
Speaker 2: his bare hands. She and her new husband moved to Russellville.

715
00:43:40,885 --> 00:43:45,165
Speaker 2: For years, Robert's former house sat there empty. The house

716
00:43:45,245 --> 00:43:47,805
Speaker 2: was sold to someone in another state, and now it's

717
00:43:47,845 --> 00:43:52,965
Speaker 2: rented out as an airbnb. Jean passed away and tragically

718
00:43:53,285 --> 00:43:57,605
Speaker 2: he died, never knowing what happened to his son. After

719
00:43:57,685 --> 00:44:01,045
Speaker 2: he died, Vicky's daughter, Angela and her husband moved into

720
00:44:01,125 --> 00:44:04,525
Speaker 2: Jean's former home, and meanwhile, Lydia still lives in the

721
00:44:04,565 --> 00:44:08,565
Speaker 2: same house near her brother's property, so she has to

722
00:44:08,685 --> 00:44:11,245
Speaker 2: drive by the place where her brother disappeared and look

723
00:44:11,365 --> 00:44:13,845
Speaker 2: at some of the people who she believes may have

724
00:44:13,885 --> 00:44:16,005
Speaker 2: had a pardon it, or at least know what happened

725
00:44:16,525 --> 00:44:23,285
Speaker 2: every single day. According to the Yale County Sheriff's Department,

726
00:44:23,605 --> 00:44:27,445
Speaker 2: the case is still active. They told Fox News back

727
00:44:27,445 --> 00:44:30,725
Speaker 2: in twenty fifteen. Quote we wish that we could share

728
00:44:30,725 --> 00:44:34,205
Speaker 2: more information, but since this is a complex, active investigation

729
00:44:34,405 --> 00:44:37,685
Speaker 2: into an incident which occurred under suspicious circumstances, we have

730
00:44:37,765 --> 00:44:40,605
Speaker 2: to consider all possibilities and maintain the integrity of the

731
00:44:40,605 --> 00:44:42,165
Speaker 2: investigation end quote.

732
00:44:43,645 --> 00:44:47,325
Speaker 1: So what really happened to Robert Cox? I agree with Lydia.

733
00:44:47,405 --> 00:44:50,565
Speaker 2: I think it's incredibly unlikely, if not impossible, that he

734
00:44:50,645 --> 00:44:54,125
Speaker 2: was out walking randomly by himself and was kidnapped in

735
00:44:54,245 --> 00:44:58,365
Speaker 2: broad daylight completely disappeared in a five minute space of time.

736
00:44:59,445 --> 00:45:02,245
Speaker 2: Over the years, Lydia's mind has gone to dark places.

737
00:45:02,805 --> 00:45:07,165
Speaker 2: She's had to consider every single possibility. She's wondered about

738
00:45:07,245 --> 00:45:11,165
Speaker 2: Robert's physical deterioration, how fast it all happened. She wondered

739
00:45:11,165 --> 00:45:14,245
Speaker 2: if that was a coincidence, or could her brother have

740
00:45:14,325 --> 00:45:18,325
Speaker 2: been poisoned. Lydia told The Missing Podcast she did wonder

741
00:45:18,365 --> 00:45:21,085
Speaker 2: at one point about Vicky's habit of giving her brother

742
00:45:21,205 --> 00:45:24,485
Speaker 2: in sheer milkshakes, and when Vicky gave him the shakes,

743
00:45:25,045 --> 00:45:27,845
Speaker 2: Lydia said she would put a lot of extra chocolate syrup.

744
00:45:27,525 --> 00:45:28,285
Speaker 1: In the drinks.

745
00:45:28,725 --> 00:45:31,445
Speaker 2: She said when she made Robert shakes, he never needed

746
00:45:31,445 --> 00:45:33,565
Speaker 2: that extra chocolate, so she kind of wondered why Vicky

747
00:45:33,605 --> 00:45:37,405
Speaker 2: did that. Then again, Lydia was the one making a

748
00:45:37,405 --> 00:45:41,525
Speaker 2: lot of Robert's food, and even before the physical deterioration,

749
00:45:41,645 --> 00:45:47,245
Speaker 2: he was clearly having issues physical and psychological. There's one

750
00:45:47,285 --> 00:45:51,125
Speaker 2: more area that Lydia believes needs to be searched more thoroughly.

751
00:45:51,725 --> 00:45:56,885
Speaker 2: When Vicky sold the property, she kept the three acre

752
00:45:56,965 --> 00:45:59,565
Speaker 2: patch of land with Jean's house on it in the family.

753
00:46:01,285 --> 00:46:05,205
Speaker 2: Lydia wonders if her brother is somewhere on that property,

754
00:46:05,965 --> 00:46:09,885
Speaker 2: somewhere close to home. To this day, she believes he

755
00:46:10,005 --> 00:46:11,965
Speaker 2: never made it off of that property alive.

756
00:46:13,445 --> 00:46:14,485
Speaker 1: I'm Catherine Townsend.

757
00:46:15,125 --> 00:46:28,725
Speaker 2: This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Helen Gone Murder Line

758
00:46:28,765 --> 00:46:31,365
Speaker 2: is a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts.

759
00:46:31,765 --> 00:46:34,885
Speaker 2: It's written and narrated by me Catherine Townsend and produced

760
00:46:34,885 --> 00:46:38,845
Speaker 2: by Gabby Watts. Music contributed by Ben sale And this

761
00:46:38,925 --> 00:46:43,405
Speaker 2: episode was scored and mixed by Miranda Hawkins. Executive producers

762
00:46:43,405 --> 00:46:45,725
Speaker 2: are Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, and L. C.

763
00:46:45,845 --> 00:46:48,285
Speaker 1: Crowley. If you have a case you'd.

764
00:46:48,125 --> 00:46:50,205
Speaker 2: Like me and my team to look into, you can

765
00:46:50,245 --> 00:46:52,525
Speaker 2: reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder line

766
00:46:52,605 --> 00:46:56,245
Speaker 2: at six seven eight seven four four six one four five.

767
00:46:56,765 --> 00:46:59,725
Speaker 2: That's six seven eight seven four four six ' one

768
00:46:59,805 --> 00:47:04,285
Speaker 2: four five. Please subscribe and leave us a review wherever

769
00:47:04,365 --> 00:47:14,485
Speaker 2: you listen to your podcast, School of Humans