WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Robert Wayne Cox 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:12.325 School of Humans. 0:00:13.485 --> 0:00:17.045 In the winter of twenty eleven, something was very wrong 0:00:17.165 --> 0:00:21.165 with fifty seven year old Robert Wayne Cox. Robert had 0:00:21.165 --> 0:00:25.365 always been healthy and athletic. According to his sister Lydia, 0:00:26.045 --> 0:00:29.885 Robert was basically happiest when he was at home. He 0:00:29.925 --> 0:00:33.005 lived on a thirty five acre plot of land in Havan, Arkansas, 0:00:33.405 --> 0:00:36.525 a tiny town where the population hovers between three and 0:00:36.565 --> 0:00:37.405 four hundred people. 0:00:38.525 --> 0:00:39.845 Robert was a homebody. 0:00:40.565 --> 0:00:44.085 He loved hanging out with his family and also, according 0:00:44.085 --> 0:00:47.325 to his sister, he loved messing around with old cars, 0:00:47.725 --> 0:00:52.205 restoring them and doing construction projects. He actually helped build 0:00:52.205 --> 0:00:54.965 the log cabin that was on his property. He was 0:00:55.125 --> 0:00:59.845 very proud of that accomplishment. Robert was happily married. He 0:00:59.885 --> 0:01:02.605 had been with his wife, Vicki for over twenty years. 0:01:02.965 --> 0:01:06.205 She had two children. Robert also had a son named 0:01:06.205 --> 0:01:10.925 Brian from a previous marriage. Robert's father, Jean, lived in 0:01:10.965 --> 0:01:12.805 a home he had built on the property back in 0:01:12.845 --> 0:01:16.045 two thousand and six, and his sister Lydia lived just 0:01:16.085 --> 0:01:21.125 down the road. For a long time, Robert Cox had 0:01:21.125 --> 0:01:24.925 a very happy and settled life. But in twenty ten, 0:01:25.485 --> 0:01:29.325 something started happening to Robert Cox. There was a very 0:01:29.645 --> 0:01:33.245 rapid physical deterioration, and by the fall of twenty ten, 0:01:34.125 --> 0:01:38.325 Robert couldn't really walk. His chin dropped down to his chest. 0:01:38.885 --> 0:01:44.805 He became completely nonverbal. His sister, Lydia, was terrified by 0:01:44.805 --> 0:01:47.325 what was happening to her brother. She took him to 0:01:47.445 --> 0:01:52.725 doctor after doctor trying to find answers. Then, on February nineteenth, 0:01:52.805 --> 0:01:58.525 twenty eleven, Robert Wayne Cox disappeared without a trace. He 0:01:58.565 --> 0:02:03.605 has never been seen again. I'm Catherine Townsend. This is 0:02:03.645 --> 0:02:07.325 Helen Gone Murder Line. If you have a case you'd 0:02:07.365 --> 0:02:09.485 like me and my team to look into, you can 0:02:09.525 --> 0:02:11.805 reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line 0:02:11.885 --> 0:02:15.605 at six seven eight seven four four six one four five. 0:02:16.205 --> 0:02:20.085 That's six seven eight seven four four six one four 0:02:20.165 --> 0:03:09.445 or five. When we asked for people to reach out 0:03:09.525 --> 0:03:13.005 and to leave voicemails about unsald murders, I knew that 0:03:13.005 --> 0:03:15.645 we would get a big response. I didn't quite understand 0:03:15.885 --> 0:03:19.925 how tremendous the response would be. I got seven voicemails 0:03:19.925 --> 0:03:23.445 about Robert Cox's case. Seven different people reached out to me, 0:03:24.085 --> 0:03:27.005 either on our murder line or on my personal number 0:03:27.165 --> 0:03:31.285 or via Facebook to tell me about this missing person's case. 0:03:31.845 --> 0:03:34.685 There are so many people in Arkansas and everywhere around 0:03:34.725 --> 0:03:38.445 the country who cared deeply about this case. One of 0:03:38.445 --> 0:03:42.525 those calls came from Robert Cox's sister, Lydia Cox Carter. 0:03:43.805 --> 0:03:48.725 Hello, my name is Lydia Cox Carter. My brother has 0:03:48.805 --> 0:03:52.685 been missing, possibly murdered for the last twelve and a 0:03:52.725 --> 0:03:59.685 half years. I have struggled with law enforcement like nobody's business. Uh, 0:03:59.725 --> 0:04:03.845 there has never been a proper investigation done. I believe 0:04:03.885 --> 0:04:08.245 there is family involvement, the wife, his own son, and 0:04:08.405 --> 0:04:12.885 step kids. He was on hospice at the time of 0:04:12.965 --> 0:04:19.005 his supposed disappearance. We are in Havana, Arkansas, which is 0:04:19.085 --> 0:04:23.845 Yale County, and the new sheriff that we have now 0:04:23.925 --> 0:04:27.605 that come into office this year, he has opened up 0:04:27.645 --> 0:04:30.045 my brother's case to outside agencies. 0:04:31.325 --> 0:04:35.045 Over the years, Lydia has been her brother's biggest champion, 0:04:35.085 --> 0:04:37.725 and she has fought ever since the day he disappeared 0:04:38.125 --> 0:04:41.045 to get answers and to figure out what happened to 0:04:41.085 --> 0:04:46.365 her brother. Robert Wayne Cox was born and raised in California. 0:04:46.805 --> 0:04:49.085 In nineteen eighty seven, he moved to Arkansas. 0:04:49.525 --> 0:04:51.725 He went to work for the county Road Department and 0:04:51.765 --> 0:04:54.085 became a road foreman, a job he would have for 0:04:54.125 --> 0:04:57.645 the next fifteen years. Robert married and he and his 0:04:57.685 --> 0:05:01.725 first wife had a son named Brian. Eventually, the couple divorced, 0:05:01.805 --> 0:05:03.885 and apparently it was acrimonious. 0:05:04.525 --> 0:05:07.485 In fact, according to Lydia, Robert's. 0:05:07.045 --> 0:05:10.885 Ex wife hated him after the divorce, but Lydia said 0:05:10.885 --> 0:05:14.645 that Robert always maintained a close relationship with his son Brian. 0:05:16.445 --> 0:05:19.165 After the road form and job, Robert started working for 0:05:19.245 --> 0:05:23.605 a close friend of his. This involved working with heavy equipment, 0:05:23.965 --> 0:05:28.605 helping with cattle, and doing rural projects clearing trees for logging, 0:05:28.685 --> 0:05:32.205 that kind of thing. This suited Robert because he loved 0:05:32.245 --> 0:05:37.245 working outdoors. In the early nineties, Robert married again to Vicki. 0:05:38.405 --> 0:05:40.805 Lydia moved back to the area in nineteen ninety five, 0:05:41.165 --> 0:05:43.165 and she and Vicki became close friends. 0:05:43.805 --> 0:05:47.725 Here's Lydia, Me and Herber liked best friends from the 0:05:47.765 --> 0:05:51.045 get go. Yeah she was funny, she had a great 0:05:51.125 --> 0:05:54.925 sense of humor. She fit in with our family. She 0:05:55.125 --> 0:05:58.565 thought the sun rose and said on Robert Cox. She 0:05:58.805 --> 0:06:02.805 was always with him every opportunity at that time. And yeah, 0:06:02.845 --> 0:06:05.965 we used to go grocery shopping together. Yard sailing. We 0:06:06.045 --> 0:06:08.725 drive to Kentucky to go see her daughter and her 0:06:08.765 --> 0:06:12.405 little granddaughter. I mean we did everything together. 0:06:13.405 --> 0:06:17.045 Vicki had two kids. Lydia said that they were all close. 0:06:17.725 --> 0:06:20.765 The two sons went to high school together. They were 0:06:20.805 --> 0:06:22.965 tight even after the boys grew up and moved out 0:06:23.005 --> 0:06:26.845 of the house. Vicky worked as a supervisor for Levi. 0:06:28.085 --> 0:06:32.125 Later she began working as a hairdresser. In two thousand 0:06:32.125 --> 0:06:35.205 and six, Robert helped his father, Jean, build a home 0:06:35.245 --> 0:06:39.285 on the property. For a long time, Robert's life was great. 0:06:40.165 --> 0:06:43.045 He had a happy marriage, a happy, blended family, and 0:06:43.125 --> 0:06:45.725 he was able to work outside doing what he loved. 0:06:46.765 --> 0:06:48.205 But things started to change. 0:06:48.205 --> 0:06:51.165 In two thousand and eight, there was a global recession, 0:06:52.005 --> 0:06:55.885 so Robert's friend had to let Robert go. By now 0:06:56.085 --> 0:06:59.085 Robert was in his mid fifties. He found himself out 0:06:59.085 --> 0:07:03.125 of work and at a loose end. This hit Robert 0:07:03.165 --> 0:07:07.165 hard Lydia said this was the beginning of his depression. 0:07:07.925 --> 0:07:12.085 His mental health started to deteriorate. Now around this time, 0:07:12.325 --> 0:07:16.445 Robert also started to fixate more on Vicki. He began 0:07:16.565 --> 0:07:21.045 to suspect that Vicky was being unfaithful. At first, Lydia 0:07:21.085 --> 0:07:24.125 said she thought Robert was being paranoid. She could not 0:07:24.325 --> 0:07:26.325 imagine Vicky betraying her brother. 0:07:27.565 --> 0:07:30.605 Toward the end of two thousand and nine, he started 0:07:30.685 --> 0:07:33.885 in saying, telling me, you know that he felt like 0:07:34.005 --> 0:07:37.965 Vicky was messing around Donnie. He'd been following her and stuff. 0:07:37.965 --> 0:07:40.805 And I said, you're crazy. She ain't miss her hound, 0:07:40.845 --> 0:07:44.525 don you And He's like, yes, she is, Yes she is. 0:07:45.085 --> 0:07:47.445 At that point in time, I just never believed that 0:07:47.685 --> 0:07:50.125 she was doing something like that. Now, whether she was 0:07:50.285 --> 0:07:51.085 or not, I don't know. 0:07:51.925 --> 0:07:55.125 When Vicky took a cruise with her family, Robert's extreme 0:07:55.205 --> 0:07:59.045 anxiety increased. Vicky would leave the house, Robert would wonder 0:07:59.085 --> 0:08:02.565 where she was and who she was with. Sometimes Robert 0:08:02.565 --> 0:08:06.765 would get into his truck and follow Vicky. Throughout twenty ten, 0:08:07.005 --> 0:08:08.245 things kept getting worse. 0:08:09.285 --> 0:08:12.285 He got very I guess you could say, kind of 0:08:12.365 --> 0:08:17.005 clingy with her. And then he started driving back and forth. See, 0:08:17.045 --> 0:08:21.365 we live almost thirty miles from here to Russellville where 0:08:21.405 --> 0:08:26.245 she was working, and he'd drive over there, sometimes two, three, 0:08:26.325 --> 0:08:28.445 four times a day just to make sure she was 0:08:28.485 --> 0:08:30.685 at work because he just knew that she was messing 0:08:30.725 --> 0:08:33.885 around on him. So there was also something, you know, 0:08:34.965 --> 0:08:36.965 I guess mental going on, I don't know. 0:08:38.205 --> 0:08:41.965 Later in twenty ten, as things were continuing to escalate, 0:08:42.765 --> 0:08:46.285 that's when the physical symptoms started. Lyddy and her dad 0:08:46.405 --> 0:08:49.885 drove Robert to different doctors. They put him on several 0:08:49.885 --> 0:08:54.485 different medications, Zoloft first and then some other drugs, but 0:08:54.525 --> 0:08:57.685 he was experiencing some negative side effects from the medication. 0:08:58.645 --> 0:09:02.965 I believe it was zoloft, and when he was on that, 0:09:03.085 --> 0:09:08.085 he started hallucinating. He'd look out into the field and 0:09:08.125 --> 0:09:10.765 he'd say, you see that bear or that lying down 0:09:10.805 --> 0:09:14.165 there or something like that. And then at one point 0:09:14.245 --> 0:09:18.845 he got to where they had him on a psychiatric drug, 0:09:19.365 --> 0:09:24.045 and he would think that he would see my mom 0:09:24.605 --> 0:09:28.725 or our mom's deceased and our oldest brother is deceased. 0:09:29.085 --> 0:09:31.085 He would think that he would see them down in 0:09:31.205 --> 0:09:34.485 my dad's vehicles, sitting in the vehicle. So he would 0:09:34.565 --> 0:09:37.285 take like a blanket or a jacket, or a bowl 0:09:37.285 --> 0:09:39.325 of soup or something down there because he thought he 0:09:39.365 --> 0:09:40.685 was seeing them sitting in there. 0:09:41.805 --> 0:09:44.485 The doctors took him off the drugs and his hallucinations 0:09:44.485 --> 0:09:50.525 went away, but his paranoia remained. Lydia was frustrated. She 0:09:50.685 --> 0:09:53.205 thought that Vicki didn't seem to be worried enough about 0:09:53.245 --> 0:09:58.125 Robert's rapid physical and mental deterioration. Lydia said she wanted 0:09:58.125 --> 0:10:00.285 her brother to go to the doctor to be tested 0:10:00.285 --> 0:10:05.005 for dementia. He did see a couple of different doctors. 0:10:06.005 --> 0:10:09.125 One doctor said it was possible that Robert could have 0:10:09.205 --> 0:10:12.205 frontal lobe damage, but the doctor said they needed to 0:10:12.205 --> 0:10:14.165 get a pet scan in order to get a more 0:10:14.205 --> 0:10:15.885 definite diagnosis. 0:10:16.525 --> 0:10:17.485 But there was a hitch. 0:10:18.125 --> 0:10:20.525 Robert didn't have health insurance because he had been out 0:10:20.565 --> 0:10:23.925 of work for so long, and that pet scan would 0:10:23.965 --> 0:10:28.365 cost four thousand dollars. Jean, Robert's father, said that he 0:10:28.405 --> 0:10:32.085 would pay for the treatment, but Vicky refused, even when 0:10:32.165 --> 0:10:35.325 Lydia claimed she told her sister in law that Vicky 0:10:35.365 --> 0:10:38.245 would not have to pay Gene back. She claims that 0:10:38.325 --> 0:10:43.245 Vicky just said no. Testing for dementia was scheduled, but 0:10:43.365 --> 0:10:47.205 Robert never made it to the appointment. At this point, 0:10:47.765 --> 0:10:51.885 Robert was also experiencing a lot of physical problems. I 0:10:51.965 --> 0:10:55.045 saw a home video that Lydia is shared with a 0:10:55.125 --> 0:10:58.205 local news station, and it really gives an idea of 0:10:58.285 --> 0:11:02.405 how difficult it was for Robert to move around. We're 0:11:02.405 --> 0:11:04.765 going to provide a link to that video in our 0:11:04.765 --> 0:11:07.165 episode notes, and I really recommend that you check it 0:11:07.205 --> 0:11:11.045 out because within a few months this man went from 0:11:11.085 --> 0:11:15.365 being a vital, fifty something active guy who was in 0:11:15.445 --> 0:11:21.605 shape to literally shuffling, barely moving forward. He looked like 0:11:21.685 --> 0:11:24.605 a ninety year old man walking around. The difference is 0:11:24.645 --> 0:11:25.845 extremely dramatic. 0:11:26.765 --> 0:11:30.685 The last time that he was actually verbal was on 0:11:30.725 --> 0:11:33.605 his birthday, which is September twenty eighth to twenty ten. 0:11:34.485 --> 0:11:37.285 After that it was just downhill. After that, he was 0:11:37.325 --> 0:11:43.165 having trouble swallowing, like eating whole foods and stuff like that. 0:11:43.965 --> 0:11:48.045 So I started making his food purade. My dad went 0:11:48.085 --> 0:11:54.445 and lotch you know, insurance stuff, and by Thanksgiving of 0:11:54.525 --> 0:11:58.485 twenty ten, the head was dropping and by Christmas of 0:11:58.565 --> 0:12:02.205 twenty ten, his chin was resting on his chest. 0:12:03.285 --> 0:12:06.925 By December of twenty ten, ten were continuing to mount 0:12:06.965 --> 0:12:11.485 between Vicky and Lydia. Then one day, Lydia got a 0:12:11.485 --> 0:12:14.245 Facebook message that she said stopped her cold. 0:12:15.405 --> 0:12:19.645 One night toward the end of December, Vicky sent me 0:12:19.645 --> 0:12:23.445 a Facebook message told me that you know that she 0:12:23.565 --> 0:12:28.925 had talked to the kids, and Brian's wife, Rebecca sent 0:12:29.045 --> 0:12:32.605 Vicky a Facebook message and then Vicky shared it with me, 0:12:33.725 --> 0:12:39.085 and Rebecca said, will go along with whatever y'all want 0:12:39.125 --> 0:12:43.285 to do. But Robert told Brian that if he ever 0:12:43.365 --> 0:12:47.925 got sick like his mom, he'd want Brian to kill him. 0:12:48.565 --> 0:12:54.005 So I immediately printed that off. I don't know why 0:12:54.685 --> 0:12:58.325 I did, but thank God that I did. And I'd 0:12:58.365 --> 0:13:02.685 come back at Vicky and I said, who would even 0:13:02.885 --> 0:13:05.965 talk or be thinking about that in a time like this, 0:13:07.645 --> 0:13:10.365 And She's like, I know, She said, I don't know 0:13:10.405 --> 0:13:12.405 what I would do without you if I didn't have 0:13:12.445 --> 0:13:14.965 you help in me, because you know, Brian, once his 0:13:15.045 --> 0:13:17.565 dad started getting sick, he just quit coming around as 0:13:17.685 --> 0:13:20.005 much and stuff, and him and his dad was pretty tired. 0:13:21.285 --> 0:13:27.445 And then after when all this took place, Brian come 0:13:27.485 --> 0:13:30.325 out and he seen him a couple of times out 0:13:30.325 --> 0:13:32.645 in a pasture across the road from his dad's house, 0:13:32.725 --> 0:13:35.085 and then after that him and his wife just kind 0:13:35.085 --> 0:13:38.565 of disappeared, and everybody was asking me, my husband and 0:13:38.725 --> 0:13:41.645 other neighbors, like, where's Brian, Where's Brian? Why ain't Brian 0:13:41.725 --> 0:13:43.845 out here? Because nobody's seen Brian. 0:13:43.925 --> 0:13:48.725 Again, we're coming up to the day when Robert Cox 0:13:48.725 --> 0:13:53.925 went missing in February of twenty eleven. But first I 0:13:53.925 --> 0:13:56.125 want to take a step back here and talk about 0:13:56.125 --> 0:13:59.885 this property that Robert and Vickie lived on, because understanding 0:13:59.925 --> 0:14:02.925 that terrain is crucial to figuring out what happened to 0:14:03.005 --> 0:14:07.445 Robert Cox. Robert and Bickie's home was on a thirty 0:14:07.485 --> 0:14:11.485 five acre piece of land. Robert's father, Jean, had a 0:14:11.525 --> 0:14:14.445 small house on that property on a three acre plot. 0:14:15.365 --> 0:14:18.005 Lydia lived just about a mile away. There were a 0:14:18.005 --> 0:14:22.965 couple of neighbors between them. The entire area around Robert 0:14:22.965 --> 0:14:27.085 Cox's house was bordered with something called clearcut. 0:14:28.365 --> 0:14:30.565 I don't know if you know what a clearcut is, 0:14:31.525 --> 0:14:35.765 but they'll plant like a pine thicket and they let 0:14:35.805 --> 0:14:38.925 them trees grow to about for about fifteen twenty years, 0:14:38.925 --> 0:14:40.845 and then they'll come in and they'll clear cut it 0:14:42.165 --> 0:14:44.565 and they take the biggest part of the tree and 0:14:44.605 --> 0:14:49.925 then they delimit. So when a clearcut is done being cut, 0:14:50.645 --> 0:14:56.045 it is very very rough ground and there is tree tops, branches, 0:14:57.085 --> 0:15:00.245 you know, big holes where they pull the trees out 0:15:00.285 --> 0:15:02.325 of the ground and all that stuff. I mean, it's 0:15:02.405 --> 0:15:03.645 just a big mess. 0:15:05.245 --> 0:15:09.525 In his week in state, Lydia explained there was no 0:15:09.645 --> 0:15:12.725 way that Robert could have navigated that property by himself 0:15:13.365 --> 0:15:17.965 because he would be in danger of falling. Also, Lydia said, 0:15:17.965 --> 0:15:21.325 by the time her brother disappeared, he was not going 0:15:21.365 --> 0:15:23.885 out by himself. Going out by himself would have been 0:15:23.925 --> 0:15:25.125 completely out of character. 0:15:25.165 --> 0:15:27.325 It would have been very dangerous for him. 0:15:27.965 --> 0:15:30.085 The last time that Lydia saw her brother was on 0:15:30.125 --> 0:15:34.725 Wednesday night, February sixteenth. On that evening, Vicky brought Robert 0:15:34.765 --> 0:15:38.245 by Lydia's house. Lydia said the next couple of days 0:15:38.285 --> 0:15:42.565 were pretty busy. Her dad Jean saw Robert, but she 0:15:42.685 --> 0:15:45.605 didn't see him on Thursday or Friday. She and her 0:15:45.645 --> 0:15:48.445 husband were getting ready to have company, and so she 0:15:48.565 --> 0:15:50.525 was getting the house ready and just taking care of 0:15:50.525 --> 0:15:53.085 a lot of things. So now we come to that 0:15:53.165 --> 0:15:57.965 fateful day, Saturday, February nineteenth, twenty eleven, the day that 0:15:58.085 --> 0:16:02.365 Robert went missing. Lydia took us through her memories of 0:16:02.405 --> 0:16:05.445 that day, a day she says she relives over and over. 0:16:07.085 --> 0:16:10.165 Her day started at around eight thirty. She called her dad, 0:16:10.285 --> 0:16:13.565 Jean to ask if he had breakfast yet. Jean told 0:16:13.565 --> 0:16:15.645 her that he was planning on driving to chalk taw At, 0:16:15.685 --> 0:16:18.445 nearby town. He was taking a drive to pick up 0:16:18.445 --> 0:16:20.605 some wagon wheels that he had left there to be repaired. 0:16:21.725 --> 0:16:25.165 This was Lydia's regular routine. By the way, she often 0:16:25.205 --> 0:16:27.885 went to her brother's house at least once a day, 0:16:27.965 --> 0:16:30.765 sometimes multiple times, in order to check on her elderly 0:16:30.805 --> 0:16:34.645 father and her brother. Lydia told Jean he needed to 0:16:34.645 --> 0:16:37.205 have something to eat, so at around eight thirty, her 0:16:37.285 --> 0:16:39.525 dad stopped at her house to have a quick breakfast. 0:16:39.965 --> 0:16:43.165 Then he left to run his errand Lydia spent the 0:16:43.205 --> 0:16:45.925 rest of the morning cleaning her house, taking care of chores. 0:16:47.085 --> 0:16:51.205 She was getting ready to have company. Then at twelve thirty, 0:16:51.845 --> 0:16:54.605 Lydia said she realized that she hadn't checked in on 0:16:54.645 --> 0:16:58.565 her brother yet, so she called her brother's house and 0:16:58.685 --> 0:17:00.485 Vickie answered the phone. 0:17:01.005 --> 0:17:04.045 So it was exactly twelve thirty two pm when I 0:17:04.085 --> 0:17:09.045 made the call up there. She answered the phone, and 0:17:09.085 --> 0:17:13.605 I said, what are y'all doing? She said, well, Angie's 0:17:13.685 --> 0:17:17.965 painting my toe nails and doing laundry. And she said Shelby, 0:17:18.045 --> 0:17:21.165 the granddaughter, was doing something. She may have been outside 0:17:21.205 --> 0:17:23.845 riding before will or something, I don't know, I don't remember. 0:17:24.765 --> 0:17:28.125 And then I said, well, what's brother doing? She said, well, 0:17:28.245 --> 0:17:31.085 I don't know. She said, he was in here pulling 0:17:31.125 --> 0:17:34.125 on my arm. But he's been gone for about ten minutes. 0:17:35.605 --> 0:17:37.125 And I said, well, don't you think you need to 0:17:37.125 --> 0:17:40.485 send somebody outside to make sure he's okay? Because I 0:17:40.565 --> 0:17:44.445 wasn't worried about him wandering off because he was very homebody. 0:17:44.725 --> 0:17:47.765 He was either in and out of his house or 0:17:47.805 --> 0:17:53.685 walking from his house to my dad's house. And so 0:17:53.725 --> 0:17:56.565 she told Shelby, the granddaughter, she said, go outside and 0:17:56.605 --> 0:17:58.845 see if you see or papaw. When I heard her 0:17:58.885 --> 0:18:01.605 go out the door, heard her stand on the porch, 0:18:02.085 --> 0:18:05.685 called Papa, pappaw a few times. Come back in. She said, no, 0:18:05.885 --> 0:18:10.925 I don't see him. Vicky said, well, when my toenails dry, 0:18:11.045 --> 0:18:13.125 she said, I'll slip my shoes on and I'll go 0:18:13.205 --> 0:18:16.205 outside and see where he's at. And I said, no, 0:18:16.445 --> 0:18:19.245 you get off your ass now and you go outside 0:18:19.285 --> 0:18:22.565 and see where he's at. She said, okay, okay, and 0:18:22.605 --> 0:18:26.485 I said, keep me on the phone. They supposedly went outside, 0:18:26.565 --> 0:18:29.685 looked around the yard. She's like, I don't see him anywhere. 0:18:30.285 --> 0:18:33.205 I'm telling her places to look, and I said, make 0:18:33.245 --> 0:18:35.725 sure he's not in the garage, make sure he's not 0:18:35.805 --> 0:18:39.445 in the storage shed, and then next to his garage 0:18:39.485 --> 0:18:41.885 there was a gap, and I said, well, go in 0:18:42.005 --> 0:18:44.445 that gap and make sure he's not behind one of 0:18:44.445 --> 0:18:50.725 those buildings. She supposedly did that, and she said, oh, yeah, 0:18:50.805 --> 0:18:54.805 I see him. He's almost to the road. I'm going 0:18:54.845 --> 0:18:57.445 to go get my keys and get my car out 0:18:57.525 --> 0:18:59.445 of the garage and go up on the road and 0:18:59.485 --> 0:19:04.645 pick him up. So we hung up. I went running 0:19:04.685 --> 0:19:08.085 out to the shop where my husband was working, told 0:19:08.165 --> 0:19:10.365 him what was going on. And I told him, I said, 0:19:10.365 --> 0:19:12.565 I swear to God, she's going to wind up killing 0:19:12.605 --> 0:19:15.205 my brother or losing him. And I said, I'm fixing 0:19:15.245 --> 0:19:17.685 to whip out that power of attorney and take him 0:19:17.685 --> 0:19:22.005 away from her and bring him down here. And he's like, well, 0:19:22.045 --> 0:19:25.125 whatever you want to do, we'll do it. So I 0:19:25.205 --> 0:19:28.485 come back in the house. I start doing my chores 0:19:28.525 --> 0:19:35.485 again because I'm thinking everything's okay. So about thirty minutes later, 0:19:36.285 --> 0:19:40.485 I hear my cell phone telling me I had a voicemail. 0:19:40.645 --> 0:19:44.605 So I pick up the voicemail. She says, well, we 0:19:44.685 --> 0:19:50.245 can't find Rob and hung up. That's all she said. 0:19:50.885 --> 0:19:53.445 So I go running out back out to the shop. 0:19:53.525 --> 0:19:57.285 I told my husband. I said apparently they've lost him. 0:19:57.365 --> 0:19:59.685 Get on your quad head that way. I'm going to 0:19:59.765 --> 0:20:02.045 get my horse. I'll be there as quick as I can. 0:20:03.405 --> 0:20:06.725 Lydia jumped on her horse and rode toward Robert's house 0:20:06.765 --> 0:20:09.405 as fast as she could. Her husband jumped on his 0:20:09.405 --> 0:20:12.965 squad bike. It had rained recently in the area, so 0:20:13.165 --> 0:20:17.045 that ground was saturated. Lydia said that her horse was 0:20:17.085 --> 0:20:20.565 getting bogged down in that mud, so the area, which 0:20:20.645 --> 0:20:23.325 was tough to navigate on the best of days, became 0:20:23.405 --> 0:20:27.765 almost impossible. Lydia saw a neighbor, Bob, approaching from the 0:20:27.805 --> 0:20:30.805 north side of the clearcut. Lydia talked to Bob and 0:20:30.965 --> 0:20:34.205 found out that Vicky had been to Bob's house. Now 0:20:34.245 --> 0:20:37.765 it's unclear whether she actually talked to Bob, Lydia says 0:20:37.845 --> 0:20:41.365 she believes that Vicky went to the house, didn't see him, 0:20:41.445 --> 0:20:44.445 and then called and left him a message. Anyway, somehow 0:20:44.485 --> 0:20:47.605 Bob got the message, so by the time Lydia got 0:20:47.685 --> 0:20:52.805 to Robert's house, several people were already there looking for him. Bob, 0:20:53.005 --> 0:20:57.365 another neighbor named Don Angela, her daughter, Shelby, and Vicky, 0:20:57.685 --> 0:21:01.565 plus the local mail carrier. By that night, there were 0:21:01.605 --> 0:21:04.845 over one hundred volunteers scouring the woods looking for Robert, 0:21:05.605 --> 0:21:08.805 literally more than a third of the town. A friend 0:21:08.845 --> 0:21:10.925 who had a private plane went up in the air 0:21:10.965 --> 0:21:14.885 and flew around all afternoon. He found no sign of Robert. 0:21:15.845 --> 0:21:18.685 Lydia said law enforcement showed up, and from the beginning 0:21:19.045 --> 0:21:23.405 her relationship with the Yale County Sheriff's Department was pretty strained. 0:21:24.325 --> 0:21:24.885 She said. 0:21:24.925 --> 0:21:28.325 The local sheriff's department was really unprepared for a missing 0:21:28.365 --> 0:21:31.725 person's case like this. Lydia admits she was frustrated by 0:21:31.725 --> 0:21:34.005 some of their decisions, like the fact that they set 0:21:34.045 --> 0:21:36.285 up their command post a quarter of a mile away. 0:21:37.205 --> 0:21:39.565 Lydia wanted to know why they weren't setting it up 0:21:39.605 --> 0:21:43.245 closer to home, and why they weren't questioning Robert's family 0:21:43.325 --> 0:21:49.005 members already. Lydia was questioning aspects of Vicky's story. First 0:21:49.005 --> 0:21:51.805 of all, she wondered, how could her brother, who had 0:21:51.805 --> 0:21:55.965 difficulty walking a few steps, somehow walk hundreds of yards 0:21:56.005 --> 0:21:58.725 to the edge of that clear cut and disappear within 0:21:58.805 --> 0:22:02.485 just a few minutes. Secondly, Lydia thought it was strange 0:22:02.565 --> 0:22:05.325 that Vicky went to see a neighbor, but that it 0:22:05.405 --> 0:22:07.685 was it's the neighbor's son who actually called the police. 0:22:08.685 --> 0:22:12.725 Her brother was vulnerable, why hadn't Vicky called nine to 0:22:12.725 --> 0:22:17.965 one one? Then Lydia noticed something else. When she was 0:22:18.005 --> 0:22:22.205 talking to their neighbor Don Don, was describing his attempt 0:22:22.285 --> 0:22:26.685 to recreate the scene with Vicky. Don asked Vicky exactly 0:22:26.765 --> 0:22:29.045 where she was standing when she was talking to Lyddy 0:22:29.085 --> 0:22:32.325 on the phone and where Robert was standing. Lydia said 0:22:32.525 --> 0:22:35.405 that from where Vicky said she was talking on the phone, 0:22:36.005 --> 0:22:38.205 she could not have seen Robert through the dense brush. 0:22:39.485 --> 0:22:42.245 So when my neighbor Don first got up there, he 0:22:42.365 --> 0:22:46.005 was the first one there and he asked her, He said, 0:22:46.205 --> 0:22:50.365 show me exactly where you last seen Rob. And she 0:22:50.485 --> 0:22:53.045 took him down there and showed him and said right here. 0:22:53.925 --> 0:22:56.205 And he said when he got down there, there were 0:22:56.405 --> 0:23:01.005 no footprints whatsoever. And then when my neighbor Bob come 0:23:01.125 --> 0:23:04.365 riding up on his horse, he come right along that 0:23:04.725 --> 0:23:07.965 edge there next to my brother's property where she claimed 0:23:08.005 --> 0:23:11.605 she had seen him. And Bob yelled from in the 0:23:11.645 --> 0:23:14.885 clearcut up to the road. Who's got stars on the 0:23:14.925 --> 0:23:18.965 bottom of their shoes? She says, I do. She had 0:23:19.005 --> 0:23:21.125 on a pair of shoes that apparently had stars on 0:23:21.165 --> 0:23:22.005 the bottom of them. 0:23:23.005 --> 0:23:26.885 Remember, it had rain recently, which means that anyone walking 0:23:26.925 --> 0:23:31.205 out there would presumably leave fairly deep footprints. Yet the 0:23:31.245 --> 0:23:34.245 only footprints the neighbor found in that area, according to Lydia, 0:23:34.525 --> 0:23:38.845 were Vickie's. I asked Lydia if law enforcement took pictures 0:23:38.845 --> 0:23:42.085 of those footprints. Her response was telling. 0:23:42.765 --> 0:23:48.685 Who law enforcements? Yeah, they done nothing. No, man, they 0:23:48.725 --> 0:23:49.045 did not. 0:23:50.365 --> 0:23:50.405 No. 0:23:51.805 --> 0:23:54.845 I don't even know if law enforcement was even in 0:23:54.965 --> 0:23:55.765 that clearcut. 0:23:56.725 --> 0:23:59.725 The Yale County Sheriff's Department kept searching. The state police 0:23:59.725 --> 0:24:02.365 came in at around ten pm that night. They brought 0:24:02.445 --> 0:24:06.045 bloodhounds and volunteers and they did search everywhere. They went 0:24:06.045 --> 0:24:11.525 through fields, barns, cars, abandoned wells, sinkholes, and anywhere else 0:24:11.565 --> 0:24:12.205 they could think of. 0:24:12.765 --> 0:24:17.365 But they found no trace of Robert. But the dogs 0:24:17.445 --> 0:24:18.885 did alert on the property. 0:24:19.725 --> 0:24:23.285 Dog handler come in and she said, well, my dog 0:24:23.445 --> 0:24:27.525 trackeding north along the edge of the clear cut and 0:24:27.565 --> 0:24:31.285 then out east part way across the clear cut. I 0:24:31.365 --> 0:24:34.605 told her, I said, there ain't no way. Then she 0:24:34.765 --> 0:24:38.325 said they tracked him, you know, out in the yard 0:24:38.925 --> 0:24:41.325 and then up the driveway to the end of the 0:24:41.405 --> 0:24:45.885 driveway and then the dog lost sin. So then that's 0:24:45.925 --> 0:24:48.285 when the theory come in. Well, somebody must have drove 0:24:48.365 --> 0:24:49.365 by and picked him up. 0:24:50.485 --> 0:24:55.005 This seemed far fetched to Lydia. Lydia said that a 0:24:55.125 --> 0:24:59.405 strange car going unnoticed would have been very strange in 0:24:59.445 --> 0:25:02.885 their neighborhood. This was a place where everyone knew everyone. 0:25:03.365 --> 0:25:05.365 They knew when the trash truck came in and when 0:25:05.365 --> 0:25:08.765 it left, So the idea that someone could have driven 0:25:08.805 --> 0:25:11.005 by and picked Robert up at that exact time of 0:25:11.085 --> 0:25:16.725