WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Christina Pipkin Part 3 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:15.165 School of Humans. I'm in Hickory Ridge, Arkansas, trying to 0:00:15.205 --> 0:00:18.365 investigate the case of nine year old Christina Pipkin, who 0:00:18.405 --> 0:00:20.845 went missing from her home on Doty Street in May 0:00:20.885 --> 0:00:24.245 of nineteen ninety one. I'm with Amy Tubbs, whose father 0:00:24.325 --> 0:00:27.005 in law was a suspect in the case, Denise who's 0:00:27.005 --> 0:00:29.685 a friend of the families, who's been investigating this case 0:00:29.725 --> 0:00:34.005 for several years, and Denise's friend. We've been driving around 0:00:34.125 --> 0:00:37.605 town for a while now, and the whole town seems 0:00:37.605 --> 0:00:40.925 to be talking about this case. Hickory Ridge is pretty 0:00:40.965 --> 0:00:44.485 small right now. The population is between one and two 0:00:44.605 --> 0:00:47.765 hundred people. Needless to say, the entire town has been 0:00:47.765 --> 0:00:51.365 talking about the Christina Pipkin case. Our investigation has even 0:00:51.365 --> 0:00:52.285 made the local radio. 0:00:53.085 --> 0:00:57.285 Catherine Townsend, host of the Hell and Gone podcast, is 0:00:57.365 --> 0:01:00.805 investigating the nineteen ninety one kidnapping and murderer of nine 0:01:00.885 --> 0:01:05.085 year old Christina Pipkin and Hickory Ridge Pipkin with kidnapped 0:01:05.085 --> 0:01:05.365 and kill. 0:01:06.165 --> 0:01:09.005 Christina was selling jewelry door to door for a school 0:01:09.005 --> 0:01:12.285 fundraiser on May fourth, nineteen ninety one, when she disappeared 0:01:12.285 --> 0:01:16.365 without a trace. Three days later, Christina's body was found 0:01:16.485 --> 0:01:19.605 in Cow Lake ditch, a body of water about three 0:01:19.645 --> 0:01:24.445 point five miles from her home. Police suspected foul play, 0:01:24.925 --> 0:01:27.765 but they haven't commented on the manner of death, and 0:01:27.805 --> 0:01:29.845 when Amy and I got the case file from the 0:01:29.925 --> 0:01:33.605 Arkansas State Police after our foury requests were granted, the 0:01:33.645 --> 0:01:38.445 autopsy was not included. Over thirty years later, this case 0:01:38.565 --> 0:01:42.885 is still unsolved. There's very little hard evidence in this case. 0:01:43.485 --> 0:01:46.045 With a lot of witnesses dead or missing, it can 0:01:46.085 --> 0:01:49.365 sometimes feel like we're chasing ghosts. We'll pull up to 0:01:49.445 --> 0:01:53.245 buildings and find vacant lots, we knock on a lot 0:01:53.245 --> 0:01:55.565 of wrong doors, and we've run into a lot of 0:01:55.565 --> 0:02:01.005 dead ends, but we are making progress. In our last episode, 0:02:01.125 --> 0:02:03.805 we track down the last place where Christina Pipkin was 0:02:03.805 --> 0:02:07.085 seen alive, the bear Cat Grocery Store on the main 0:02:07.165 --> 0:02:10.365 drag of Hickory Ridge, Arkansas. It shares a parking lot 0:02:10.405 --> 0:02:13.965 with a Cross County bank. In a case where rumors 0:02:13.965 --> 0:02:17.445 have been flying for three decades, it's hard to separate 0:02:17.525 --> 0:02:21.165 fact from fiction, but we do have two things that 0:02:21.205 --> 0:02:24.965 we know for sure. One that Christina was last seen 0:02:25.125 --> 0:02:28.445 by multiple witnesses in the area of the Bearcat Convenience 0:02:28.445 --> 0:02:31.965 Store in the bank and two the location where her 0:02:31.965 --> 0:02:35.645 body was dumped. We need to go to that site. 0:02:35.725 --> 0:02:38.805 We need to go to col Lake Ditch, so we 0:02:38.925 --> 0:02:43.005 head out Route forty two toward Bedeville to the spot 0:02:43.045 --> 0:02:48.365 where Christina's body was found in the water. I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:02:48.845 --> 0:02:50.765 If you have a case you'd like me and my 0:02:50.845 --> 0:02:53.325 team to look into, you can reach out to us 0:02:53.365 --> 0:02:55.925 at our Helen Gone Murder line at six seven eight 0:02:56.325 --> 0:03:00.285 seven four four, six one four or five. This is 0:03:00.325 --> 0:03:55.165 Helen Gone Murder Line. In our last episode, we tracked 0:03:55.205 --> 0:03:58.205 down the cashier who worked at the Bearcat grocery store 0:03:58.245 --> 0:04:01.125 on May fourth, nineteen ninety one, the night when Christina 0:04:01.125 --> 0:04:04.525 Pipkin went missing. Police did talk to the other three 0:04:04.565 --> 0:04:08.085 employees who on the job that day, but according to 0:04:08.085 --> 0:04:11.045 the case file, either they didn't see the stranger or 0:04:11.085 --> 0:04:13.045 they were gone by the time he came in the store. 0:04:14.685 --> 0:04:17.485 Even though they don't think they saw anything, I'm really 0:04:17.525 --> 0:04:19.885 hoping they we'll get in touch with us, because, as 0:04:19.925 --> 0:04:23.645 we've said many times before, the interviews that the police 0:04:23.685 --> 0:04:27.645 did were very brief. One tiny detail can be the 0:04:27.685 --> 0:04:31.045 thing that makes this case change course. We're looking for 0:04:31.165 --> 0:04:34.525 all of those missing pieces. The cashier who we talked 0:04:34.525 --> 0:04:37.245 to gave us the composite drawing the ones she did 0:04:37.285 --> 0:04:40.085 with the Arkansas State Police. It's been in her safe 0:04:40.125 --> 0:04:43.965 for over thirty years. She described a brown car that 0:04:44.005 --> 0:04:46.645 the stranger who came in the Bearcat that day was driving. 0:04:47.285 --> 0:04:50.565 The image that we saw in the composite photo looked 0:04:50.645 --> 0:04:53.805 very similar to photos of Robbie Tubbs back in the day. 0:04:54.485 --> 0:04:57.605 But I want to be clear, his being there, even 0:04:57.645 --> 0:05:00.045 if it's confirmed have been him, does not mean that 0:05:00.165 --> 0:05:03.725 Robbie Tubbs did anything wrong. There were several other people 0:05:03.725 --> 0:05:07.005 in the Bearcat's store that night. Based on what we're seeing, 0:05:07.125 --> 0:05:09.485 it seems like half the town passed through there that day. 0:05:10.045 --> 0:05:17.645 We need more information. One of the other cashiers who's 0:05:17.685 --> 0:05:20.725 working at the bear Cat that night has called me back. 0:05:21.365 --> 0:05:23.485 This person did not want me to use her name, 0:05:23.725 --> 0:05:26.925 but she said she was working at the register between 0:05:26.925 --> 0:05:32.005 around six and seven pm on May fourth. She vividly 0:05:32.205 --> 0:05:35.245 remembers Christina Pipkin coming into the store that night, and 0:05:35.285 --> 0:05:38.405 I think that the information she has could be crucial. 0:05:38.845 --> 0:05:39.725 Here's what she said. 0:05:40.525 --> 0:05:42.765 I was at one of the registers, and I'm not 0:05:42.805 --> 0:05:45.525 sure if I was fagging for someone, if I was 0:05:45.565 --> 0:05:48.565 actually running the register at scene. I was running the 0:05:48.605 --> 0:05:53.725 register and Christina walked in, and nevertheless the carpet or 0:05:53.845 --> 0:05:56.965 the mat the stores have, but she just walked at 0:05:57.005 --> 0:06:00.165 the door and stood there and we said, hey, Christina, 0:06:00.285 --> 0:06:03.845 goes up. I do not remember any kind of paper 0:06:03.965 --> 0:06:06.645 or pencil in her hands. As I remember, it was odd. 0:06:07.285 --> 0:06:11.005 You know, normally kids just like are not scared of 0:06:11.045 --> 0:06:12.965 my something, and they would have talked. I feel like 0:06:13.085 --> 0:06:15.165 she would have been selling jewelry at that point. She 0:06:15.205 --> 0:06:18.365 would have asked us, But that's beside the point. At 0:06:18.405 --> 0:06:20.445 the time I saw her, I did not know she 0:06:20.525 --> 0:06:23.205 was selling jewelry. That was later, but she, you know, 0:06:23.325 --> 0:06:26.845 was hey, what's up? And she just kind of shrugged. 0:06:26.845 --> 0:06:28.725 And the reason I don't think anything was in her 0:06:28.765 --> 0:06:31.205 hands because I can remember the expression on her face 0:06:31.285 --> 0:06:35.685 so clearly, and she just kind of shrugged. And you 0:06:35.685 --> 0:06:37.645 know how little girls are those shrugs in her hands 0:06:37.645 --> 0:06:40.285 in the air, you know, just like she didn't have 0:06:40.325 --> 0:06:44.405 a look of fear. I can see her expression in 0:06:44.485 --> 0:06:47.685 my mind when I shut my eyes. It was a fear. 0:06:48.485 --> 0:06:53.485 It was more like, how no, why I stepped in? 0:06:56.125 --> 0:07:00.965 It was just I mean, she smiled and just turned 0:07:01.005 --> 0:07:01.805 around and walked out. 0:07:03.405 --> 0:07:07.325 I would still love to talk to anyone else, employees 0:07:07.605 --> 0:07:09.965 or people who were in the Bearcat store that night. 0:07:12.525 --> 0:07:15.005 So in the meantime, let's go forward in time to 0:07:15.085 --> 0:07:18.445 May seventh, the day when Christina's body was found in 0:07:18.525 --> 0:07:19.285 cal Lake Ditch. 0:07:20.405 --> 0:07:20.605 Yeah. 0:07:20.605 --> 0:07:22.805 It's actually a good body dump place, but not a 0:07:22.805 --> 0:07:25.605 good swimming place, you know what I mean? Yeah, because 0:07:25.605 --> 0:07:27.285 they say it. One time it was they thought it 0:07:27.325 --> 0:07:29.845 was a swimming hold or something. Well, they said that. 0:07:30.005 --> 0:07:34.725 People have We've looked at this location a lot on 0:07:34.765 --> 0:07:37.885 Google Maps, but sometimes you have to go to the source. 0:07:37.965 --> 0:07:40.085 You have to go to the site. But yeah, if 0:07:40.165 --> 0:07:43.125 you look at that value on the map and two 0:07:43.125 --> 0:07:49.405 figure runs to yeah, and when those fields are blooded 0:07:49.605 --> 0:07:53.485 like it. Jane is Amy, Denise and I took a 0:07:53.565 --> 0:07:56.445 ride out to Calake Ditch. We were trying to figure 0:07:56.485 --> 0:07:59.485 out where Christina's body had been dumped and to see 0:07:59.525 --> 0:08:02.005 if the location could tell us anything about what happened 0:08:02.045 --> 0:08:05.325 to her. It's like down here, there's water down here. Yeah, 0:08:06.125 --> 0:08:08.605 I mean it has come up. As you can hear. 0:08:08.765 --> 0:08:13.205 Its windy and clear and cold. Right now. It's a 0:08:13.245 --> 0:08:16.445 sunny day. The ditch is low and the water is 0:08:16.445 --> 0:08:19.845 flowing pretty slowly, but we discussed the fact that if 0:08:19.845 --> 0:08:23.405 there had been rained recently, the current could get super strong, 0:08:23.645 --> 0:08:26.965 like it was on the day Christina's body was found. Yeah, 0:08:26.965 --> 0:08:29.885 this is the melon nowhere. Man, there's just I was. 0:08:30.045 --> 0:08:31.365 You know, when you hear about it, you're like, oh, 0:08:31.405 --> 0:08:33.165 maybe it's like a local swimming hall, you know what 0:08:33.165 --> 0:08:39.325 I mean. But this is l huh huh. As we 0:08:39.365 --> 0:08:41.525 said in the last episode, we did not get any 0:08:41.565 --> 0:08:44.005 access to the autopsy report as part of the case file, 0:08:44.605 --> 0:08:47.805 but we did get documents followed by Robbie Tubbs's defense lawyer, 0:08:48.325 --> 0:08:51.325 and in those documents he refers to forensic testing that 0:08:51.405 --> 0:08:54.605 was done on Christina's body. It showed that the water 0:08:54.765 --> 0:08:57.805 and mud in her lungs matched the water from cal 0:08:57.845 --> 0:09:01.085 Lake Ditch. We also got a few more details from 0:09:01.085 --> 0:09:04.485 the case file that came from the autopsy report. Doctor 0:09:04.525 --> 0:09:08.005 Fammi Malik, the metal examiner at the time, indicated that 0:09:08.045 --> 0:09:12.365 there was obvious decomposition. He believed that Christina had been 0:09:12.405 --> 0:09:15.165 in the water for about three days, meaning that she 0:09:15.285 --> 0:09:18.405 was not kidnapped and kept somewhere else. For example, she 0:09:18.525 --> 0:09:21.645 was almost certainly dumped there or fell in there on 0:09:21.765 --> 0:09:25.605 the day she went missing. Doctor Malick also said there 0:09:25.605 --> 0:09:28.645 were no signs of strangulation. He said he'd X rayed 0:09:28.645 --> 0:09:32.045 the body from outside and inside. He found no stab wounds, 0:09:32.125 --> 0:09:36.445 no obvious cuts or bruises. He also told investigators Christina's 0:09:36.485 --> 0:09:39.525 body had a blood alcohol level of point zero three percent, 0:09:40.325 --> 0:09:43.765 but he attributed that to the decomposition of the body. 0:09:44.725 --> 0:09:48.285 Blood alcohol level can rise as a side effect of 0:09:48.525 --> 0:09:54.485 the decomposition process. Other than that, the toxicology report. We're 0:09:54.525 --> 0:09:57.325 not quite sure what tests they performed in that talk screening, 0:09:58.005 --> 0:10:00.965 but according to what doctor Malick said in the case file, 0:10:01.765 --> 0:10:05.445 the results of those tests seemed normal. There was much 0:10:05.685 --> 0:10:09.805 found Christina's stomach. There were also pickles and carrots found. 0:10:10.605 --> 0:10:13.205 Investigators asked doctor Malick if he could figure out what 0:10:13.245 --> 0:10:17.565 had happened to Christina. Doctor Mallick quote was emphatic he 0:10:17.565 --> 0:10:20.605 could find no other cause of death other than drowning 0:10:20.885 --> 0:10:24.965 end quote. But when they asked him about the possibility, 0:10:25.085 --> 0:10:28.365 for example, that she could have been smothered or choked 0:10:28.365 --> 0:10:31.525 to the point of unconsciousness, doctor Malick said he didn't 0:10:31.525 --> 0:10:33.965 have enough information to know how to answer that for sure. 0:10:35.245 --> 0:10:38.365 The report reads quote when given the supposition that one 0:10:38.365 --> 0:10:41.445 could smother an individual to the point of unconscious and 0:10:41.485 --> 0:10:44.685 then throw that person into the river. Doctor Malleck could 0:10:44.685 --> 0:10:47.525 make no comment regarding this, but said that this was 0:10:47.565 --> 0:10:52.645 a possibility end quote. I know it's frustrating not to 0:10:52.645 --> 0:10:55.645 have access to the autopsy report, but again, we're like 0:10:55.685 --> 0:10:58.325 Sherlock Holmes here, we're trying to rule out the impossible 0:10:58.605 --> 0:11:02.565 and see what possibilities were left with. So we have 0:11:02.805 --> 0:11:06.965 ruled out the possibility that Christina drowned somewhere else. Whatever 0:11:07.085 --> 0:11:10.765 happened to Christina Pipkin happened out here in this ditch. 0:11:11.605 --> 0:11:15.325 So what we know is this cause of death drowning, 0:11:15.965 --> 0:11:22.525 manner of death undetermined. Christina's body was found about a 0:11:22.565 --> 0:11:24.805 mile and a half west of the Jackson and Cross 0:11:24.845 --> 0:11:30.805 County lines on State Highway forty two. Okay, Amy, Denise 0:11:30.805 --> 0:11:32.605 and I pull up to the address we have for 0:11:32.645 --> 0:11:34.685 a man named mister White. Where are you all going? 0:11:34.765 --> 0:11:38.485 We're just gonna walk up to the tour and hopefully 0:11:38.605 --> 0:11:40.725 he was the person who was out with his son 0:11:40.925 --> 0:11:45.325 when they found Christina's body on May seventh. Yes, you 0:11:45.365 --> 0:11:46.805 didn't leave him a business card? 0:11:47.605 --> 0:11:47.685 No? 0:11:47.725 --> 0:11:49.725 Because I think we need to kind of I feel 0:11:49.725 --> 0:11:52.165 like if they see it. Sometimes like it'll be like, oh, 0:11:52.165 --> 0:11:53.805 it's intimidating to call. But if you if we're really 0:11:53.845 --> 0:11:55.805 could come up, we're just like two nights agirls that 0:11:55.845 --> 0:11:59.965 you're just yeah. If we don't make contact at all, 0:12:00.005 --> 0:12:02.805 I will even note like explaining what it is, but 0:12:03.125 --> 0:12:05.805 I just think it's better to in this case, better 0:12:05.845 --> 0:12:11.525 if he sees us. One thing that seemed weird to 0:12:11.565 --> 0:12:14.165 me was that if Christina was dumped out here, this 0:12:14.285 --> 0:12:17.565 is a very rural area, if someone drove her here, 0:12:17.605 --> 0:12:20.645 I wondered, wouldn't that car have been seen by someone, 0:12:20.685 --> 0:12:24.125 maybe a neighbor. And it turns out, according to the 0:12:24.165 --> 0:12:27.365 case file, there were people at cal Lake Ditch on 0:12:27.405 --> 0:12:31.125 the evening of May fourth, nineteen ninety one. A man 0:12:31.245 --> 0:12:34.165 named Morgan Davis and some of his friends, Ricky has 0:12:34.165 --> 0:12:37.525 and Ricky's wife were out frog gigging. Now, for those 0:12:37.565 --> 0:12:39.845 of you who aren't from Arkansas, and even those who are, 0:12:40.725 --> 0:12:43.085 I'm from South Arkansas and I had no idea what 0:12:43.165 --> 0:12:46.085 frog gigging is. A lot of people know that frog 0:12:46.165 --> 0:12:49.125 legs are a delicacy in places like France, but some 0:12:49.165 --> 0:12:52.725 people don't know they're also a popular menu item in Arkansas, 0:12:53.245 --> 0:12:58.285 so people go bullfrog hunting, which they call gigging. The 0:12:58.325 --> 0:13:00.965 best and indeed the only time to go frog gigging 0:13:01.045 --> 0:13:04.485 is really at night. On May fourth, Morgan Davis launched 0:13:04.525 --> 0:13:06.965 his boat at a around nine to fifteen to nine 0:13:07.045 --> 0:13:11.645 thirty pm off Calai Ditch. I asked my dad about 0:13:11.645 --> 0:13:14.525 frog gigging, and he told me how it worked. To 0:13:14.645 --> 0:13:17.885 hunt frogs, you shine a flashlight around the water, and 0:13:18.045 --> 0:13:20.165 the idea is that you can see the frog's eyes 0:13:20.245 --> 0:13:23.245 reflect back at you. My dad tells me, by the way, 0:13:23.285 --> 0:13:25.605 if you see eyes reflecting red back at you and 0:13:25.645 --> 0:13:28.485 not white, you should run because it's probably an alligator. 0:13:29.245 --> 0:13:31.405 You also have to avoid a lot of other pitfalls 0:13:31.405 --> 0:13:34.685 at night, like water moccasins and tree branches and other hazards. 0:13:35.325 --> 0:13:38.565 There are apparently two types of frog traps, the ones 0:13:38.605 --> 0:13:40.845 that simply entrap the frog in a net and the 0:13:40.965 --> 0:13:43.845 kind that kind of look like a trident. People use 0:13:43.925 --> 0:13:49.245 that to basically stab and scoop the bullfrogs into the boat. Morgan, Ricky, 0:13:49.285 --> 0:13:52.245 and Ricky's wife stayed out all night. They came in 0:13:52.325 --> 0:13:54.525 when dawn was breaking on the morning of May fifth. 0:13:55.325 --> 0:13:57.965 During that time, they said they never saw any stranger 0:13:58.085 --> 0:14:02.045 or any strange car. Everything seemed completely normal, and they 0:14:02.085 --> 0:14:06.005 were in that area where Christina's body was found. Also 0:14:06.125 --> 0:14:08.765 answered a question about the weather. A lot of people 0:14:08.805 --> 0:14:11.965 talked about how the area had been flooded and wondered 0:14:12.005 --> 0:14:14.285 if there had been rain the day Christina went missing. 0:14:14.725 --> 0:14:17.125 But he answered that question. He said, there was a 0:14:17.165 --> 0:14:20.205 big storm, but it happened on Sunday morning, the day 0:14:20.205 --> 0:14:23.765 after Christina went missing. On Saturday night, it was warm 0:14:23.885 --> 0:14:26.845 and dry. He said that the current was moving slowly. 0:14:27.605 --> 0:14:30.365 He said, quote, the current was not real strong at 0:14:30.365 --> 0:14:33.525 that time. I know that ditch and the current won't 0:14:33.525 --> 0:14:36.725 be real swift until the bio starts dropping. We got 0:14:36.765 --> 0:14:38.685 out of the ditch before the storm hit us that 0:14:38.725 --> 0:14:42.245 Sunday morning. I did not see any vehicles parked around 0:14:42.245 --> 0:14:45.565 the river bridge or ditch bridge at that time. End quote. 0:14:46.165 --> 0:14:49.565 None of them saw Christina Pipkin that night. None of 0:14:49.645 --> 0:14:52.085 them saw a strange car, and none of them heard 0:14:52.125 --> 0:14:55.685 any struggle or any screams for help. So the fact 0:14:55.725 --> 0:14:58.685 that Ricky and his boat, his party did not see 0:14:58.725 --> 0:15:02.045 anyone that night kind of makes me lean toward one 0:15:02.085 --> 0:15:06.085 of two possibilities. Either Christina was dumped some somewhere else, 0:15:06.605 --> 0:15:08.645 loaded down to where they were and got stuck in 0:15:08.645 --> 0:15:13.245 that tree branch or. She was dumped much earlier, perhaps 0:15:13.325 --> 0:15:16.685 before nine pm, before dark when they launched their boat. 0:15:19.805 --> 0:15:22.965 So now we need to go back again. What can 0:15:23.005 --> 0:15:25.925 we learn from the case fall about who was where 0:15:26.125 --> 0:15:30.805 at that time in Hickory Ridge between around six thirty 0:15:30.845 --> 0:15:34.965 and nine pm that night. We're looking for any inconsistencies 0:15:35.005 --> 0:15:37.165 in their stories that we can find, or anyone we 0:15:37.205 --> 0:15:42.525 can talk to who could help filling these gaps. We 0:15:42.565 --> 0:15:45.685 talked about Charles Cotton in our last episode. He was 0:15:45.725 --> 0:15:47.685 one of many people of interest at the time who 0:15:47.725 --> 0:15:51.765 were interviewed by law enforcement. He was interviewed by investigator 0:15:51.805 --> 0:15:55.005 Steve Doser on May fifth, the day after Christina went missing. 0:15:56.085 --> 0:15:59.245 At the time, Charles told detectives he spent May fourth 0:15:59.285 --> 0:16:01.645 fishing at Burdeye at a place called the Bay Ditch 0:16:01.725 --> 0:16:05.285 near Cherry Valley between one thirty and five thirty pm. 0:16:05.645 --> 0:16:07.005 He said he was out there with a guy he 0:16:07.085 --> 0:16:10.765 knew named Edward Hoague. He told police that Edward Hoague 0:16:10.805 --> 0:16:13.845 had a criminal record of some kind. Charles said he 0:16:13.885 --> 0:16:16.765 believed Edward was, as he put it, wanted either in 0:16:16.885 --> 0:16:20.485 when or for a city at some point, presumably after 0:16:20.565 --> 0:16:24.085 they finished fishing, at around five thirty. Charles said that 0:16:24.165 --> 0:16:27.925 he remembered heading home, but he told police a friend 0:16:27.965 --> 0:16:30.605 of his had reminded him that he saw Charles that 0:16:30.685 --> 0:16:33.325 day at the Bearcat store, which would have put him 0:16:33.325 --> 0:16:35.805 at the convenience store at around the same time Christina 0:16:35.885 --> 0:16:39.365 was there, around five thirty to six pm. Charles's wife, 0:16:39.365 --> 0:16:42.805 Rebecca confirmed investigators that yes, she and Charles were in 0:16:42.805 --> 0:16:47.885 the grocery store that afternoon. Charles said that later that evening, 0:16:47.965 --> 0:16:51.205 presumably after they left the store, he and his family, 0:16:51.245 --> 0:16:53.605 including his twenty one year old wife Rebecca, who was 0:16:53.645 --> 0:16:57.125 pregnant at the time, were home watching TV. Then, he said, 0:16:57.125 --> 0:16:59.605 at around ten thirty or eleven, his friend Nea Long 0:16:59.685 --> 0:17:02.125 came over and told him Christina Pipkin was missing. 0:17:03.405 --> 0:17:03.565 Now. 0:17:03.605 --> 0:17:05.405 At that point, he said, he borrowed a three wheel 0:17:05.605 --> 0:17:08.405 from another friend of his, and he and Rebecca volunteered 0:17:08.405 --> 0:17:11.685 to help with the search. Again, I just want to 0:17:11.725 --> 0:17:14.685 flag a couple of things up in Charles Cotton's statement, 0:17:14.845 --> 0:17:19.965 because it seemed like he was very invested in the search. Again, 0:17:20.085 --> 0:17:23.285 this could be completely innocuous. It could be because it 0:17:23.285 --> 0:17:25.445 was the biggest thing to happen around Hickory Ridge in 0:17:25.485 --> 0:17:27.485 a long time. He was trying to be a good 0:17:27.485 --> 0:17:30.685 neighbor whatever, But it does raise a couple of red 0:17:30.685 --> 0:17:34.125 flags for me. Because the Pipkins had only lived in 0:17:34.205 --> 0:17:37.845 Hickory Ridge for four months, how well could Charles Cotton 0:17:37.845 --> 0:17:43.885 know these people. Later, Charles Cotton told police that Pat Moore, 0:17:44.165 --> 0:17:47.925 who remember was the Pipkins neighbor who introduced James Pipkin 0:17:48.125 --> 0:17:51.525 to Charles, told Charles that another guy had been dreaming 0:17:51.525 --> 0:17:55.565 about a place on Highway forty two West. So Charles 0:17:55.565 --> 0:17:58.085 told police that he and a couple of his friends 0:17:58.125 --> 0:18:00.125 went out there to take a look at this place 0:18:00.325 --> 0:18:03.125 that this guy had seen in a dream. He said 0:18:03.165 --> 0:18:05.645 it was a shed and it was near a baby cemetery. 0:18:05.965 --> 0:18:08.445 He said they saw what looked like drag marks on 0:18:08.485 --> 0:18:12.325 the dirt inside the shed. Supposedly Charles called the police, 0:18:12.605 --> 0:18:15.005 but he said law enforcement never came out to look 0:18:15.005 --> 0:18:19.045 in that shed. Around this time, there were all kinds 0:18:19.045 --> 0:18:21.245 of rumors flying around about what could have happened to 0:18:21.365 --> 0:18:24.405 Christina Pipkin. This was before her body was found. There 0:18:24.405 --> 0:18:27.805 were psychics calling the police. Police were inundated with people 0:18:27.845 --> 0:18:29.925 trying to talk to them, and police were out conducting 0:18:29.965 --> 0:18:32.405 tons of interviews, So this was a time when lots 0:18:32.405 --> 0:18:36.685 of rumors were flying around. It's very strange that Charles 0:18:36.725 --> 0:18:39.485 would say he was going out to a location because 0:18:39.485 --> 0:18:43.125 of something someone saw in a dream. Maybe it's because 0:18:43.365 --> 0:18:45.685 he again was just trying to follow any lead, or 0:18:45.725 --> 0:18:48.445 maybe it's because someone was trying to misdirect this investigation. 0:18:49.765 --> 0:18:54.605 Investigators questioned Charles again about the money that Charles had 0:18:54.645 --> 0:18:57.765 borrowed from James Pipkin. Remember, he borrowed two hundred and 0:18:57.805 --> 0:19:01.245 twenty five dollars from James Pipkin because he said he 0:19:01.285 --> 0:19:04.205 hadn't been able to pay some fines related to bad 0:19:04.325 --> 0:19:07.645 checks because he had been so busy searching for Christina. 0:19:08.085 --> 0:19:11.605 Just another weird story in this case. In the case file, 0:19:11.725 --> 0:19:15.245 it said that Charles admitted he had borrowed the two 0:19:15.285 --> 0:19:18.365 hundred and twenty five dollars from James Pipkin. He produced 0:19:18.365 --> 0:19:21.245 a receipt that showed Charles did make a payment on 0:19:21.365 --> 0:19:24.165 bad checks to the police department. But the thing about 0:19:24.205 --> 0:19:27.885 that receipt was that the receipt was dated May tenth, 0:19:28.045 --> 0:19:31.325 nineteen ninety one, and the interview was done on May fifth, 0:19:31.405 --> 0:19:35.285 So I'm not sure what happened here. Did Charles produce 0:19:35.325 --> 0:19:37.405 that receipt a few days later and the officer just 0:19:37.525 --> 0:19:40.845 did not note that in his report, or was the 0:19:40.885 --> 0:19:45.365 receipt post dated to May tenth? I don't know. But again, 0:19:45.405 --> 0:19:47.525 this is just one of those confusing disrepancies in the 0:19:47.525 --> 0:19:53.525 police report that I have no answers to. There was 0:19:53.565 --> 0:19:56.245 another woman who said she saw something strange the night 0:19:56.325 --> 0:19:59.725 Christina went missing. She said she saw something odd happen 0:19:59.845 --> 0:20:03.845 with Charles's wife, Rebecca Cotton. This woman's name is Donna King. 0:20:05.605 --> 0:20:09.165 There's just one problem with this police report. I talked 0:20:09.165 --> 0:20:12.405 to Donna King and she said she never told police 0:20:12.405 --> 0:20:15.685 the story that they noted in this report. I've also 0:20:15.725 --> 0:20:18.365 talked to Donna's friend, the friend who was with her 0:20:18.405 --> 0:20:22.165 on the night Christina Pipkin went missing, and Donna's friend 0:20:22.325 --> 0:20:26.805 confirmed her story now again according to the case file. 0:20:26.885 --> 0:20:30.365 According to this report from nineteen ninety one, Donna told 0:20:30.405 --> 0:20:33.325 investigators that she and her husband had gone to Memphis 0:20:33.325 --> 0:20:35.765 from Hickory Ridge on the day when Christina went missing. 0:20:36.525 --> 0:20:38.765 Donna said in the report that they were on their 0:20:38.765 --> 0:20:41.165 way back into town at around nine thirty pm that 0:20:41.285 --> 0:20:45.045 night when she saw a woman quote walking the street 0:20:45.085 --> 0:20:49.365 between the Bearcat and that post office end quote. Donna 0:20:49.445 --> 0:20:52.165 told me that part of the report was correct because 0:20:52.205 --> 0:20:54.965 she was in Memphis that day and she was driving 0:20:55.005 --> 0:20:57.885 back to Hickory Ridge with her husband. But she said 0:20:57.885 --> 0:21:00.245 that after she got back to town, she met up with 0:21:00.285 --> 0:21:03.245 this friend of hers. She said they went riding around 0:21:03.285 --> 0:21:07.565 to help look for Christina. At nine thirty pm, Donna 0:21:07.685 --> 0:21:10.125 was with her friend and she said they did not 0:21:10.325 --> 0:21:12.725 see any woman walking along the side of the road. 0:21:13.405 --> 0:21:16.765 In the police statement from nineteen ninety one, the police 0:21:16.805 --> 0:21:19.765 said that Donna had recognized the woman she saw on 0:21:19.765 --> 0:21:23.685 the side of the road as Rebecca Cotton, Charles Cotton's wife. 0:21:23.725 --> 0:21:27.365 In the report, police quote Donna as saying she seemed 0:21:27.445 --> 0:21:30.805 very sure that this was Rebecca, and that Rebecca seemed 0:21:30.885 --> 0:21:35.845 upset and was crying. Then police said Donna told them 0:21:36.005 --> 0:21:38.645 that she saw Charles Cotton drive up to Rebecca on 0:21:38.685 --> 0:21:41.845 a three wheeler, Rebecca refused to get on the three wheeler, 0:21:41.925 --> 0:21:44.405 and then Charles Cotton come back and pick her up 0:21:44.405 --> 0:21:48.365 in a car. This was a very detailed story, and 0:21:48.445 --> 0:21:52.525 the whole thing supposedly took place several minutes before the 0:21:52.565 --> 0:21:56.365 search party started to look for Christina, but Donna told 0:21:56.405 --> 0:21:59.525 me none of that ever happened. In fact, she said 0:21:59.565 --> 0:22:03.485 she didn't know Rebecca Cotton at all by sight. Now, 0:22:03.605 --> 0:22:06.005 remember Charles said he didn't go out on that three 0:22:06.005 --> 0:22:08.245 wheel er until after ten thirty, so that would be 0:22:08.285 --> 0:22:12.725 after the search started. Also, Rebecca told police that it 0:22:12.805 --> 0:22:15.525 was not her out walking on that road. She said 0:22:15.565 --> 0:22:17.645 she had never been upset that night. She was home 0:22:17.725 --> 0:22:21.645 watching TV with her family. Rebecca Cotton did tell police 0:22:21.645 --> 0:22:23.645 that she had a pregnant sister at the time who 0:22:23.725 --> 0:22:26.285 kind of looked like her. She suggested it could have 0:22:26.325 --> 0:22:29.285 been her sister who was out there, but police apparently 0:22:29.365 --> 0:22:31.845 never talked to Rebecca Cotton's sister, or if they did, 0:22:32.325 --> 0:22:34.845 it's not part of the case file. I thought this 0:22:34.965 --> 0:22:39.045 was just another inconsistency that was never resolved. But when 0:22:39.045 --> 0:22:42.445 I talked to Donna King, she was adamant she never 0:22:42.525 --> 0:22:45.965 said this. She never said she saw Rebecca Cotton. She 0:22:46.125 --> 0:22:48.925 believes that police may have mixed their notes up or 0:22:49.005 --> 0:22:52.445 confused her with someone else. Donna also said there was 0:22:52.485 --> 0:22:54.965 another statement that she did give police, and she said 0:22:54.965 --> 0:22:58.245 it was very detailed about a brown car she saw. 0:22:58.845 --> 0:23:01.125 It does not appear to be anywhere in the case file, 0:23:01.165 --> 0:23:04.205 and we will have details of what she says about 0:23:04.205 --> 0:23:07.645 that in next week's episode. For now, though I don't 0:23:07.685 --> 0:23:10.685 know what to think, this actually really shocks me. I've 0:23:10.725 --> 0:23:13.805 seen cases where police reports had details wrong, and I've 0:23:13.805 --> 0:23:16.285 seen instances where people didn't remember a lot of what 0:23:16.285 --> 0:23:19.685 they said thirty years ago. But this seems like police 0:23:19.765 --> 0:23:23.485