WEBVTT - A Death Pact 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:19.965 School of Humans. Catherine Townshend, journalist, licensed investigator looking into 0:00:20.045 --> 0:00:23.325 the death of Rebecca Google that occurred in September around 0:00:23.365 --> 0:00:28.405 September twentieth, nineteen or twentieth, two thousand and four. I'm 0:00:28.445 --> 0:00:31.325 on the air with Gary Bridgeman, or as everybody around 0:00:31.325 --> 0:00:34.725 here calls him, Gary B. It's been about a month 0:00:35.085 --> 0:00:37.485 and we're getting the word out in a small town 0:00:37.925 --> 0:00:41.565 that means hitting local radio. Everybody listens to Gary B, 0:00:42.205 --> 0:00:47.565 including hopefully someone who knows something anything new about Rebecca's murder. 0:00:53.005 --> 0:00:56.005 In September of two thousand and four, twenty two year 0:00:56.005 --> 0:00:59.485 old Rebecca Gould was brutally murdered in a remote area 0:00:59.485 --> 0:01:04.045 of the Arkansas Ozarks. Fourteen years later, her killer is 0:01:04.085 --> 0:01:07.365 still out there. I've come back to Mountain View with 0:01:07.405 --> 0:01:12.525 one mission to get justice for Rebecca. I'm Catherine Townsend 0:01:12.925 --> 0:01:21.165 and this is Helen Gone. We're one month into our 0:01:21.245 --> 0:01:24.685 investigation and we've made a lot of headway. We've talked 0:01:24.685 --> 0:01:27.565 to Chris and JB, the guys who we've heard are 0:01:27.605 --> 0:01:31.605 the police's main suspects. But the physical evidence doesn't seem 0:01:31.645 --> 0:01:34.165 to point to a frenzied meth murder or to a 0:01:34.165 --> 0:01:38.125 sexual assault. The blunt forced trauma of the head indicates 0:01:38.125 --> 0:01:41.165 that someone killed Rebecca in a rage. The lack of 0:01:41.205 --> 0:01:44.525 defensive wound seems to indicate that there wasn't a fight beforehand, 0:01:44.885 --> 0:01:48.285 but the decomposition of her body could have hidden them. 0:01:48.365 --> 0:01:51.085 The one person we'd like to get in touch with, Jennifer, 0:01:51.325 --> 0:01:54.405 has left town for Florida, so we're back to looking 0:01:54.405 --> 0:01:57.125 for new potential leads. And that's why I'm sitting here 0:01:57.165 --> 0:01:59.525 in front of Gary B. Because if we can get 0:01:59.525 --> 0:02:02.685 the town talking, someone will say something that may give 0:02:02.725 --> 0:02:07.005 us the break we need. Catherine Township, Hello, Katherine. Hello. 0:02:07.245 --> 0:02:11.525 WRD Entertainment operates six radio stations covering everything from top 0:02:11.605 --> 0:02:14.765 forty to country and heavy metal, and Gary B plays 0:02:14.805 --> 0:02:17.685 on all of them, which means pretty soon everyone in 0:02:17.725 --> 0:02:21.845 town will hear this interview looking into the death of 0:02:21.925 --> 0:02:27.085 Rebecca Gould. Yes, Gary B has a silky, soothing voice 0:02:27.125 --> 0:02:31.365 that's made for radio. It matches his personality. He has 0:02:31.445 --> 0:02:35.005 a grandfatherly, caring and completely genuine manner that puts me 0:02:35.125 --> 0:02:38.965 instantly at ease. Even though the case we're discussing is 0:02:39.005 --> 0:02:43.125 disturbing as hell. I know things can get exasperating when 0:02:43.125 --> 0:02:47.245 you're investigating what kind of gets on your nerves about 0:02:47.725 --> 0:02:51.365 trying to follow up on a lead or something like that. Well, look, 0:02:51.405 --> 0:02:52.925 I think it's important to take a step back and 0:02:52.925 --> 0:02:56.365 remember that this is someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's family member, 0:02:56.365 --> 0:02:58.925 and if it was your daughter's sister or someone in 0:02:58.965 --> 0:03:01.565 your life, you'd want someone to come home. If someone 0:03:01.645 --> 0:03:04.325 knew something, you would want them to come forth. I 0:03:04.405 --> 0:03:07.365 think that's a good way to look at absolutely absolutely, 0:03:07.445 --> 0:03:09.845 so that you know, the reluctance to come forward or 0:03:09.885 --> 0:03:12.165 kind of rock the boat has been a little bit difficult. 0:03:12.645 --> 0:03:15.805 And then also just the physicality just finding people, you know, 0:03:15.845 --> 0:03:19.205 as I said, I mean finding where they are, getting 0:03:19.205 --> 0:03:21.765 a hold of them. Also just getting them to understand 0:03:21.765 --> 0:03:24.365 that I'm not from here. I'm a journalist, you know, 0:03:24.405 --> 0:03:26.605 I'm a female. It's just letting everyone know they can 0:03:26.725 --> 0:03:30.525 talk to me, and you know, I am here to help. 0:03:30.805 --> 0:03:33.485 She's here to help. She wants to talk to you. 0:03:33.565 --> 0:03:35.805 If you know something, or if you'd like to tell 0:03:35.805 --> 0:03:38.605 her something. Hopefully someone can come through that one piece 0:03:38.605 --> 0:03:41.205 of information that'll help solve it. And sometimes it only 0:03:41.245 --> 0:03:44.805 takes one piece that's right, that's right, so and you 0:03:44.845 --> 0:03:48.805 never know what that piece of information might be absolutely 0:03:48.845 --> 0:03:51.605 When a beautiful and popular local college student was murdered, 0:03:51.765 --> 0:03:55.445 it dominated the headlines, but as time passed with no 0:03:55.605 --> 0:04:00.725 new leads, the media coverage became scant. Rebecca's father, Larry, 0:04:01.045 --> 0:04:04.005 was determined to keep the case alive however he could. 0:04:04.605 --> 0:04:07.045 In two thousand and six, he was interviewed for an 0:04:07.085 --> 0:04:09.885 article written by George Jared and Ak Barnes that provided 0:04:09.925 --> 0:04:13.405 new details on the case. Several days after the story 0:04:13.485 --> 0:04:16.645 was published, an anonymous letter arrived at doctor Gould's house. 0:04:17.005 --> 0:04:20.285 Her father received a letter. He really thought it was 0:04:20.365 --> 0:04:23.365 the real deal. Yes, tell us a little bit about Dan. 0:04:23.525 --> 0:04:25.685 I have not seen the letter. I've heard about it. 0:04:25.805 --> 0:04:28.365 I know that someone claimed to have heard and in 0:04:28.765 --> 0:04:31.365 the college parking lot claimed to have overheard some people 0:04:31.365 --> 0:04:34.125 talking about murder. It's hard to say, you know, I'm 0:04:34.165 --> 0:04:35.925 hoping to see a copy, but based on what I've 0:04:35.965 --> 0:04:38.165 sort of seen and heard, it's really hard to say 0:04:38.205 --> 0:04:42.125 whether it's someone who was involved, or possibly maybe someone 0:04:42.125 --> 0:04:45.245 who was trying to stir something up, or you know, 0:04:45.805 --> 0:04:47.725 it's really hard to say. I can't really say too 0:04:47.805 --> 0:04:49.965 much because I haven't seen it. When I first showed 0:04:50.005 --> 0:04:52.925 up in town and started asking questions. A lot of 0:04:52.925 --> 0:04:57.165 people told me you're not the police, you have no power. 0:04:58.085 --> 0:05:01.925 In a way, they are right, But making people talk 0:05:01.965 --> 0:05:04.005 to you because you have a badge and making people 0:05:04.125 --> 0:05:07.205 want to talk to you two totally different skill sets. 0:05:07.925 --> 0:05:10.085 And I have always been good at getting people to 0:05:10.125 --> 0:05:13.605 tell me their darkest secrets. The radio station plays my 0:05:13.685 --> 0:05:17.605 interview three times in three days, and it doesn't take 0:05:17.645 --> 0:05:24.405 long for my Facebook and text messages to start lighting up. Dude, 0:05:24.445 --> 0:05:30.165 someone else anonymous text, gotta love it. What does it 0:05:30.245 --> 0:05:32.165 say if it's me? The woman who was on the 0:05:32.245 --> 0:05:35.525 radio today they replayed it again. Okay, I'm in love 0:05:35.525 --> 0:05:39.605 with the guys at Katieboozy Radio. They have been amazing. 0:05:39.925 --> 0:05:41.965 They got me on the radio, they made it a priority. 0:05:41.965 --> 0:05:45.285 They've replayed it three times now, Like I got to 0:05:45.285 --> 0:05:47.965 give them a big shout out. They're awesome. It's big 0:05:48.005 --> 0:05:50.805 news around here, and everyone knows people involved in this case, 0:05:51.005 --> 0:05:55.045 so it's like everyone's got a personal involvement. They've gone 0:05:55.045 --> 0:05:57.125 above and beyond, and they also put it in a 0:05:57.125 --> 0:05:59.925 slot that's like drive time when most people would hear it. 0:06:00.685 --> 0:06:03.725 And it's working. And I'm continuing to tell them, Hey, 0:06:03.765 --> 0:06:06.805 this is working. Because every single week we've gotten hits 0:06:06.805 --> 0:06:09.205 on that radio show, because it's right here in the 0:06:09.245 --> 0:06:12.405 community and everybody listens to it, and because it takes 0:06:12.445 --> 0:06:15.645 an hour to get anywhere in this town. Yeah, everybody 0:06:15.725 --> 0:06:18.805 in Melbourne Batesville area, like everyone in the morning is 0:06:18.845 --> 0:06:22.205 going somewhere. They're taking their kids to school or going 0:06:22.205 --> 0:06:25.245 to work. But the other fact that's been racing through 0:06:25.285 --> 0:06:28.645 my brain since the interview is that anonymous letter that 0:06:28.725 --> 0:06:32.085 has never been publicly released. It seems like a lead 0:06:32.165 --> 0:06:35.765 we need to follow, especially since it mentions a group 0:06:35.765 --> 0:06:39.085 of people who supposedly were talking about the murder of Rebecca. 0:06:39.885 --> 0:06:43.285 Could this be members of Rebecca's friend group or the 0:06:43.325 --> 0:06:47.285 female we've heard rumors about getting into fights with Rebecca. 0:06:47.365 --> 0:06:50.565 As I told Gary, I haven't seen the letter, but 0:06:50.645 --> 0:06:55.405 George Jarrett has. The letter came right after I had 0:06:55.445 --> 0:06:59.565 written a series. Actually i've written some see kind of 0:06:59.605 --> 0:07:03.685 the chronology was, you know, for the first little bit, 0:07:03.765 --> 0:07:05.965 maybe a year after she died, there was lots of 0:07:05.965 --> 0:07:07.885 media attention, even when I was in the backtor Bolton, 0:07:07.925 --> 0:07:11.165 I wrote about it, but then it just kind of 0:07:11.365 --> 0:07:14.245 went away, and then I was writing my book about 0:07:14.245 --> 0:07:16.645 the West Memphis three case, and I didn't know if 0:07:16.685 --> 0:07:19.205 I'd ever write more than one book, you know. And 0:07:19.245 --> 0:07:21.965 so the first editor, you know, who edited it, I 0:07:22.045 --> 0:07:25.205 was like, I included the Ford and he's like, this 0:07:25.285 --> 0:07:27.485 is a really good story, but it doesn't really belong 0:07:27.525 --> 0:07:30.565 with this this case that you're writing about. And I 0:07:30.565 --> 0:07:34.005 told him I don't care. I said, if I'm only 0:07:34.005 --> 0:07:35.525 going to write one book, I'm going to get this 0:07:35.605 --> 0:07:38.405 out one way or the other, because somebody, besides people 0:07:38.405 --> 0:07:40.285 who live in these three or four little counties in 0:07:40.285 --> 0:07:42.405 the middle of nowhere Arkansas, are going to find out 0:07:42.445 --> 0:07:46.685 about this case. And so I wrote the book and 0:07:46.845 --> 0:07:51.565 universally the comments I would get people would always ask 0:07:51.565 --> 0:07:54.925 me about that case. And then of course that led 0:07:55.605 --> 0:08:00.205 to me reconnecting with her dad, you know. And actually 0:08:00.285 --> 0:08:03.405 it happened right here in Hardy. I was at the 0:08:03.405 --> 0:08:06.445 library here, Jess mac come on do a book signing 0:08:06.445 --> 0:08:07.845 one Saturday. I was like, yeah, I'll come over there. 0:08:08.045 --> 0:08:10.165 I mean, I enjoyed doing them, you know, meet people. 0:08:10.205 --> 0:08:13.605 And this gentleman came up, you know. I pitched the 0:08:13.605 --> 0:08:16.205 book and at the very end I always pitched her story. 0:08:16.245 --> 0:08:18.485 And then I asked him, I said, did you want 0:08:18.485 --> 0:08:22.045 to buy one? He said yes, and I said okay, 0:08:22.045 --> 0:08:23.365 and he goes, well, I want to buy ten of them. 0:08:24.485 --> 0:08:28.245 I was like ten. Whatever I said to him, I 0:08:28.245 --> 0:08:32.365 need to say to everybody, you know. And as I 0:08:32.405 --> 0:08:36.085 folded over the first page, he took out a little 0:08:36.165 --> 0:08:38.845 ribbon with her face on it and he put it 0:08:38.885 --> 0:08:43.365 on the book and I had I hadn't seen him. 0:08:43.485 --> 0:08:45.525 I didn't recognize him. He was he had kind of 0:08:45.525 --> 0:08:47.565 had like a scruffy beard before. He's wearing a hat, 0:08:47.565 --> 0:08:49.365 you know, looking for his daughter. I mean, you understand, 0:08:49.925 --> 0:08:56.045 And I said, I know exactly who you are, and 0:08:56.085 --> 0:08:57.605 I got up. I shook his hand. Of course, we 0:08:57.645 --> 0:09:00.485 started hugging and started crying, but we reconnected and then 0:09:00.485 --> 0:09:04.485 we started really hitting hard. Doctor Glider received the letter. 0:09:04.525 --> 0:09:06.685 I believe he got it in a office. It was 0:09:06.725 --> 0:09:10.445 an anonymous letter. It had too it was either going 0:09:10.525 --> 0:09:12.285 to go to him or the return address was the 0:09:12.325 --> 0:09:15.085 FBI office in Little Rock. And in the letter, the 0:09:15.205 --> 0:09:18.085 person who wrote it claimed that they overheard a conversation 0:09:18.245 --> 0:09:21.405 at I believe it's ozarka college in Melbourne, between a 0:09:21.445 --> 0:09:24.645 couple of people, a female male, two or four people 0:09:24.685 --> 0:09:28.885 talking and you know, somebody said in quotes, we did 0:09:28.925 --> 0:09:31.205 that bitch, you know, and they were talking about Rebecca 0:09:31.325 --> 0:09:34.365 was pretty obvious. And then in the letter they gave, 0:09:34.445 --> 0:09:36.885 you know, some descriptions of what the people look like, 0:09:37.045 --> 0:09:41.685 and I didn't. I wrote about it, but I didn't 0:09:42.085 --> 0:09:45.885 include it in my latest book, and I didn't include 0:09:45.885 --> 0:09:48.005 it in the news stories. You know, the police are investigating, 0:09:48.045 --> 0:09:49.245 and you know that didn't want to tie it together, 0:09:49.285 --> 0:09:51.485 so I didn't want to impede their investigation in any way. 0:09:51.925 --> 0:09:54.925 It's important in investigations to not release every piece of 0:09:54.925 --> 0:09:57.405 information because you have to be able to compare and 0:09:57.525 --> 0:10:00.365 verify a new source. But I did want to make 0:10:00.365 --> 0:10:02.045 sure people knew that this letter was out there. And 0:10:02.085 --> 0:10:04.325 I read it, and I understand that the police think 0:10:04.405 --> 0:10:07.245 that it's it's a it's a false lead, But I 0:10:07.325 --> 0:10:12.605 read it. There was some sincerity in it. It looked 0:10:12.605 --> 0:10:14.645 like it had been written again. It looked like a 0:10:14.725 --> 0:10:18.365 woman had written it. It was uh, the grammar was good, 0:10:19.365 --> 0:10:21.525 you know, which you know, being a writer, you know, 0:10:21.605 --> 0:10:24.565 you just you see certain words put put together a 0:10:24.565 --> 0:10:26.325 certain way, and you and you can kind of tell 0:10:26.365 --> 0:10:28.365 the identity of the person writing it if you if 0:10:28.365 --> 0:10:30.765 you write every day, But it could be totally bogus. 0:10:30.845 --> 0:10:34.285 That's possible. It could be totally real. You know. I 0:10:34.325 --> 0:10:36.725 actually set him in the book. I said, if you 0:10:36.765 --> 0:10:39.085 wrote this, please identify yourself and come to the police 0:10:39.125 --> 0:10:42.005 and make a statement. I think that what happened was 0:10:42.045 --> 0:10:44.045 is this person who wrote the letter, if it's real, 0:10:45.165 --> 0:10:49.285 probably read a story somewhere that got out. I worked 0:10:49.325 --> 0:10:52.605 really closely with A. K. Barnes, the reporter over at 0:10:52.645 --> 0:10:55.085 Erowide Media. She's a really good friend of mine, really 0:10:55.125 --> 0:10:59.485 great human being by the way, and you know, we 0:10:59.565 --> 0:11:02.605 did stories together and we just hit it hard and 0:11:02.645 --> 0:11:07.365 then it just kind of died down again and at 0:11:07.365 --> 0:11:10.845 some point something it's just going to take one little crack. 0:11:11.325 --> 0:11:13.405 As it was so frustrating. I remember reading because I've meant, 0:11:13.485 --> 0:11:15.525 like a long time, I've done articles about it and stuff. 0:11:15.525 --> 0:11:18.645 And then and then when in twenty sixteen, whenever this 0:11:18.805 --> 0:11:21.765 your series of stories came out followed by the letter. 0:11:21.805 --> 0:11:24.205 When I read about the letter, I was like, thank God, like, 0:11:24.285 --> 0:11:26.005 maybe something will happen now, even if it's not real, 0:11:26.005 --> 0:11:28.965 maybe it'll get someone to talk, you know. But then yeah, 0:11:29.005 --> 0:11:31.765 and now nothing, and so now that no, we're here. Yeah, 0:11:31.765 --> 0:11:33.565 we're back, I mean literally, we're back. To where we 0:11:33.565 --> 0:11:36.165 were the day that they found our body. I mean, 0:11:36.205 --> 0:11:39.965 that's where we're at right now. It's becoming clearer and 0:11:40.005 --> 0:11:42.565 clearer to me that we need to find out who 0:11:42.605 --> 0:11:46.005 wrote this synonymous letter, and to do that, we need 0:11:46.005 --> 0:11:48.365 to see it for ourselves and mine it for any 0:11:48.405 --> 0:11:52.245 new clues. So we go back to Larry. I'm hopeful 0:11:52.245 --> 0:11:54.485 that now that we've gained his trust, he'll share it 0:11:54.525 --> 0:11:57.485 with us. Over the years, I would get things. I'd 0:11:57.525 --> 0:12:00.565 get phone calls here at my office. I would get 0:12:00.685 --> 0:12:03.285 some notes that were taken by my secretary on somebody 0:12:03.285 --> 0:12:06.405 that called about Rebecca's case, and then they'd scribbles some things. 0:12:06.845 --> 0:12:08.725 In some cases there would be a phone number and 0:12:08.765 --> 0:12:11.565 I could follow up. And in some cases I got 0:12:11.605 --> 0:12:14.085 written materials. So I'd get letters, or i'd get things 0:12:14.085 --> 0:12:19.205 sent to me. I can recall just offhand that I 0:12:19.245 --> 0:12:23.885 did receive a phone call, and I believe I talked 0:12:23.885 --> 0:12:27.925 to this girl and she was frightened. She wanted to 0:12:27.925 --> 0:12:32.365 get some information to me, and bits and pieces of 0:12:32.405 --> 0:12:36.045 that did get passed to me. Larry has several overflowing 0:12:36.085 --> 0:12:39.525 manila folders filled with notes from years of collecting tips. 0:12:40.245 --> 0:12:42.485 They are neatly laid out on the dining room table, 0:12:42.565 --> 0:12:45.485 next to his own murder board, and I see pictures 0:12:45.485 --> 0:12:50.325 of Rebecca with Justin Casey Chris, so much red string 0:12:50.405 --> 0:12:53.485 linking the various parties, And in one of those Manila 0:12:53.485 --> 0:12:57.925 folders we find the letter. Like George mentioned, it looks 0:12:57.965 --> 0:13:00.805 like it was written by a female. We won't read 0:13:00.805 --> 0:13:03.005 the entire letter in order to protect parts of the 0:13:03.005 --> 0:13:06.485 police investigation, but we can share parts that have already 0:13:06.485 --> 0:13:10.205 been made public. The writer claimed to have overheard a 0:13:10.245 --> 0:13:13.925 conversation at ozarka college in Melbourne between at least four 0:13:13.965 --> 0:13:17.805 people who were bragging about Rebecca's murder. The author said 0:13:17.885 --> 0:13:20.725 two women and a man approached another man with dirty 0:13:20.725 --> 0:13:23.765 blonde hair who was a student at the college. As 0:13:23.805 --> 0:13:26.485 they walked toward the parking lot. The writer said they 0:13:26.525 --> 0:13:29.565 overheard the mail student asking the other three did you 0:13:29.605 --> 0:13:32.885 get it. The three people told him that they killed 0:13:32.925 --> 0:13:35.445 her and dragged her through several rooms at the house. 0:13:36.405 --> 0:13:39.525 The alleged mail killer said blood was everywhere, and she 0:13:39.605 --> 0:13:43.045 put up a fight and screamed a lot. The letter 0:13:43.045 --> 0:13:45.845 contained specific descriptions of all of the people involved in 0:13:45.885 --> 0:13:49.765 the conversation. The letter writer apologized for not coming forward 0:13:49.845 --> 0:13:53.285 sooner and said they could identify those people. But because 0:13:53.325 --> 0:13:57.045 nobody has identified the writer, whatever knowledge they have remains 0:13:57.045 --> 0:14:00.885 a secret. If you just took that letter and spent 0:14:01.005 --> 0:14:03.325 some time on it, you'd probably be able to find 0:14:03.445 --> 0:14:06.165 the person that wrote it. And the person that wrote 0:14:06.205 --> 0:14:10.765 it definitely could have been able to and they even 0:14:10.805 --> 0:14:14.045 said that they could identify the people that just look 0:14:14.085 --> 0:14:18.365 at old pictures and probably put the faces to the 0:14:18.445 --> 0:14:22.725 description that was on there. I love to see somehow 0:14:23.405 --> 0:14:26.445 just get out to whoever wrote that one letter, if 0:14:26.485 --> 0:14:30.925 they could hear about it, and I mean possibly come forward. 0:14:31.205 --> 0:14:35.365 So what we've been doing is the Kat story got 0:14:35.445 --> 0:14:39.165 shared a lot, and it's all being shared people in 0:14:39.205 --> 0:14:42.005 that community, and then all these people are friending me. 0:14:42.125 --> 0:14:46.405 So it is becoming more hard to escape, I guess, 0:14:46.765 --> 0:14:48.325 you know, so I think so my point is, I mean, 0:14:48.325 --> 0:14:50.405 if there is someone who's a student, A lot of 0:14:50.405 --> 0:14:52.965 them were students at Ozarka too, So if there's if 0:14:52.965 --> 0:14:54.965 there are people who in that friend group a friend 0:14:55.005 --> 0:14:56.845 a friend, they're probably going to see it on Facebook. 0:14:57.565 --> 0:15:00.165 I mean, it's well, I think there's probably quite a 0:15:00.205 --> 0:15:02.645 few people that if they had access to that letter 0:15:03.205 --> 0:15:07.565 and that the description that that whoever wrote the letter provided, 0:15:07.645 --> 0:15:12.405 which was really well done. Yeah, that many people could 0:15:12.445 --> 0:15:15.165 probably say, oh, I know who this would have been. Yeah, 0:15:15.205 --> 0:15:19.525 and to come up with those individuals or maybe one 0:15:19.605 --> 0:15:22.085 or two that fit that description that would narrow it down. 0:15:22.445 --> 0:15:26.045 At one time, it's going to try to get into 0:15:26.405 --> 0:15:30.925 the people at Ozarka that were higher ups and try 0:15:30.925 --> 0:15:34.845 to get access to records. But then you're into areas 0:15:34.845 --> 0:15:37.325 where you're going to probably need some kind of permission 0:15:37.605 --> 0:15:40.285 or well, I'm sure I have a yearbook or a 0:15:40.325 --> 0:15:45.485 list of students. Yeah. Well, in the past, when certain 0:15:45.485 --> 0:15:47.845 things have been done to try to draw people out, 0:15:50.805 --> 0:15:53.685 a number of the people that I guess I would 0:15:53.685 --> 0:15:57.765 call suspicious or possibly suspects in my mind. Whether they 0:15:57.765 --> 0:16:01.005 are in law ENFORCEMNE, I don't know, but they would 0:16:01.005 --> 0:16:07.285 befriend the person that was out there. Yes, that's another complication. 0:16:07.645 --> 0:16:09.725 A lot of people will friend you for good reasons 0:16:09.765 --> 0:16:12.125 and some people will friend you to watch you. But 0:16:12.205 --> 0:16:14.725 either way it's good because then you can watch it's 0:16:14.765 --> 0:16:16.525 two ways, so you can see what they're doing too, 0:16:16.685 --> 0:16:19.645 and you can see who their friends are. So yeah, 0:16:19.645 --> 0:16:21.805 I think that's good. I'm friending. I'm accepting all the 0:16:21.805 --> 0:16:26.125 friend requests right now. I can really feel the frustration 0:16:26.165 --> 0:16:29.485 in Larry's voice, and I can't say I blame him. 0:16:29.925 --> 0:16:32.565 Every time he gets a tip he is forced to 0:16:32.605 --> 0:16:35.765 go on an emotional roller coaster and reopen old wounds. 0:16:36.845 --> 0:16:39.485 I've heard from both George and Larry that the police 0:16:39.485 --> 0:16:41.965 think the letter is a red herring, but I can 0:16:42.045 --> 0:16:45.725 tell neither of them wholeheartedly believe that, and I'm not 0:16:45.765 --> 0:16:55.725 sure I do either. We'll be right back. It's the 0:16:55.765 --> 0:16:59.165 next day, and we tracked down Ak Barnes, who wrote 0:16:59.165 --> 0:17:03.125 the story that led to Larry getting a letter. I know, 0:17:03.205 --> 0:17:09.165 I'm not now. She works as a media teacher at 0:17:09.165 --> 0:17:11.925 the local high school. We meet in the hallway of 0:17:11.965 --> 0:17:14.605 the church she attends, and her son heads off to 0:17:14.605 --> 0:17:17.005 play in another room while we talk about Rebecca's murder. 0:17:17.565 --> 0:17:25.365 Oh yeah, can you give me twenty minutes? Definitely? You 0:17:25.445 --> 0:17:30.205 always gotten closer than me. Ak is excited to talk 0:17:30.245 --> 0:17:33.285 to us. She believes in the power of media attention 0:17:33.445 --> 0:17:35.205 and thinks that this is the best way to bring 0:17:35.245 --> 0:17:39.085 Rebecca's killer to justice. Okay, so I started doing a 0:17:39.205 --> 0:17:43.445 cold case series at the paper. I've always been interested 0:17:43.445 --> 0:17:46.405 in in unsolved murders. I guess it's been watching Insolved 0:17:46.445 --> 0:17:51.165 mysteries growing up, perhaps, and so I was just asking 0:17:51.205 --> 0:17:55.485 around and I had done one on Sabrina Underwood in 0:17:55.485 --> 0:17:58.565 Fulton County. And then there's another lady who was actually 0:17:59.245 --> 0:18:03.565 Connie Townsend from I think israc County, Fulton County maybe 0:18:03.685 --> 0:18:06.245 was burn alive and her trailer. And then one of 0:18:06.245 --> 0:18:10.125 my coworkers had brought up George author George Jared, and 0:18:10.525 --> 0:18:13.085 brought that he had worked this Rebecca Gooul case, and 0:18:13.645 --> 0:18:16.405 they told me I should check it out, and so 0:18:16.445 --> 0:18:19.005 that all they knew was that the dad was a 0:18:19.085 --> 0:18:22.445 doctor in Mountain Home. So I just looked up Golden Out, 0:18:22.565 --> 0:18:25.085 Baxter County, Mountain Home, and I found him and left 0:18:25.125 --> 0:18:26.725 him a boy smiling, I kid you not like I 0:18:26.725 --> 0:18:29.005 think that was in the fall, and he did not, 0:18:29.925 --> 0:18:32.085 And I just wrote it off because I thought I'd 0:18:32.085 --> 0:18:35.605 never hear from again. And then Easter Sunday, the weirdest 0:18:35.645 --> 0:18:38.685 days ever for him to respond. He sent me this 0:18:38.885 --> 0:18:42.645 long text from Bora Bora about how he wants to 0:18:42.725 --> 0:18:45.365 work with me in this case and let me just 0:18:45.445 --> 0:18:49.485 hit the ground running, Bora Bora. I remind myself to 0:18:49.525 --> 0:18:52.165 ask Larry about that the next time we talk just 0:18:52.285 --> 0:18:56.245 the way that he has overcome so much, and how 0:18:56.285 --> 0:18:58.565 he's able to function. I don't know that I could 0:18:58.605 --> 0:19:01.045 function if I lost a child, let alone a child 0:19:01.085 --> 0:19:04.125 that was brutally murdered, and nobody will help me solve it. 0:19:04.205 --> 0:19:07.845 I don't know how he functioned. And you got this 0:19:08.445 --> 0:19:11.245 awesome story and then someone and then you know, then 0:19:11.285 --> 0:19:13.165 someone did write a letter. Do you know what I mean? 0:19:13.165 --> 0:19:14.365 Like he asked them to write a letter, and then 0:19:14.365 --> 0:19:16.565 someone wrote a letter, and we feel like we made 0:19:16.725 --> 0:19:20.765 such progress, Like that's the most progress we think we've made, 0:19:20.845 --> 0:19:23.565 just because all of us just finally got together and said, Okay, 0:19:23.565 --> 0:19:27.125 you know what, let's do this, let's solve this, and 0:19:27.165 --> 0:19:30.005 we got so far, and we were so hopeful when 0:19:30.005 --> 0:19:33.005 we got that letter. You can sense how hopeful she, 0:19:33.365 --> 0:19:36.005 George and Larry were when they got the letter. I 0:19:36.165 --> 0:19:39.485 still think someone it was a genuine letter. I don't know. 0:19:40.085 --> 0:19:42.405 George goes back and forth, but I think for the 0:19:42.445 --> 0:19:46.765 most part, we're pretty sure that was a genuine letter. Well, 0:19:46.805 --> 0:19:48.845 if I mean, if the letter is genuine, so who 0:19:48.925 --> 0:19:50.205 what do you think? I mean, do you have any 0:19:50.245 --> 0:19:53.405 theories about who killed Rebecca? What's your thoughts now? I 0:19:53.405 --> 0:19:55.365 think we all have our theories, and I think we 0:19:55.445 --> 0:20:02.525 all kind of speculate who did it, and I think 0:20:02.725 --> 0:20:05.205 the p I don't know. I do have my theories, 0:20:05.245 --> 0:20:07.765 don't I want to like say names, but I think 0:20:07.805 --> 0:20:09.925 I know who did it. AK like a lot of 0:20:09.965 --> 0:20:12.805 the town seems to think that there were multiple people 0:20:12.845 --> 0:20:16.445 involved in Rebecca's murder. She also seems sure that the 0:20:16.525 --> 0:20:19.965 letter is genuine, but I'm not convinced. It's just so 0:20:20.165 --> 0:20:24.165 hard because it's you just can't pinpoint one person because 0:20:24.165 --> 0:20:26.245 I think there were so many people involved in this. 0:20:27.485 --> 0:20:32.125 Especially in that letter really supports our theory that we 0:20:32.245 --> 0:20:35.645 already had. That's why it was so bizarre, because it 0:20:35.725 --> 0:20:41.045 was like totally backing the theory we already had. Obviously, 0:20:41.085 --> 0:20:42.565 the person is still anonymous. Do you have any theory 0:20:42.565 --> 0:20:45.405 about who wrote it or where they are? No? And 0:20:45.485 --> 0:20:47.685 we wish that they would come forward because it's not 0:20:47.725 --> 0:20:50.205 like we're gonna blast them to the press or blast 0:20:50.285 --> 0:20:52.765 them in the paper, like we just we just want 0:20:52.805 --> 0:20:55.045 to talk. I have so many people that it will 0:20:55.125 --> 0:20:57.765 tell me little hints or tell me something, and then 0:20:57.765 --> 0:20:59.805 I'm like, can you just meet with me and Larry 0:20:59.805 --> 0:21:02.325 and George for just a minute, and we don't even 0:21:02.325 --> 0:21:06.045 want to publish anything, and they're scared they won't do it. People, 0:21:06.445 --> 0:21:08.805 it's very hard, and you know, to get people to 0:21:08.845 --> 0:21:12.005 talk about this, and we just wish whoever wrote this 0:21:12.445 --> 0:21:15.685 would come forward. If anyone understands how hard getting people 0:21:15.685 --> 0:21:19.045 to talk about this case is, it's me. In many cases, 0:21:19.045 --> 0:21:21.365 we've had to just show up because if we call 0:21:21.405 --> 0:21:24.725 and ask, it's so much harder for people, or either 0:21:24.765 --> 0:21:26.885 we show up or we'll have to be introduced through 0:21:26.925 --> 0:21:29.325 a friend of theirs, because it's so hard when you 0:21:29.365 --> 0:21:31.725 call someone and just say you're from the press and 0:21:31.765 --> 0:21:34.125 you want to talk. It's like it's really hard, and 0:21:34.165 --> 0:21:36.565 people are scared. There's some scary people involved in this case, 0:21:36.885 --> 0:21:39.405 so especially since you don't know who it is, you 0:21:39.405 --> 0:21:41.365 don't really know who to trust and who not to 0:21:41.405 --> 0:21:45.325 trust because it could literally be anyone. And I'm sure 0:21:45.325 --> 0:21:48.165 we've seen them at this point and absolutely, and you 0:21:48.245 --> 0:21:51.845 know they're following your stuff, they're reading your stories, and 0:21:51.885 --> 0:21:54.445 they get spoofed out and then it's like a nope, 0:21:54.485 --> 0:21:57.365 contact order. They all just zip it. And I think 0:21:57.405 --> 0:21:59.765 we put some pressure on people, and I think people 0:22:00.085 --> 0:22:02.645 were starting to get scared because I would go through 0:22:02.765 --> 0:22:05.325 Sonic and people would make little comments be like you 0:22:05.525 --> 0:22:10.525 better be careful writing this article. I think the people 0:22:10.725 --> 0:22:14.005