1 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: I've been interviewing the families of murder victims since nineteen 2 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: ninety nine. It's one of the most profound and personal 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: aspects of my job, because well, I'm one of them. 4 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety six, my brother's wife, five months pregnant, 5 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: was strangled to death. Her case remains unsolved. So when 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: families tell me how difficult this is to talk about, 7 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: I can empathize. Opening up old wounds, digging back into 8 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: the past is not always worth the pain and vulnerability 9 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: of exposing yourself for the sake of keeping a memory alive. 10 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 2: I hate to get into this. We've heard the rumor 11 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 2: and we got a hold to Hanny and Mike, the 12 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 2: cop State were on the case, and they came to 13 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 2: the house and told us. 14 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,919 Speaker 1: There was that knock on the door. No family member 15 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: of a missing person ever wants to hear. 16 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,639 Speaker 2: I'm thinking they're lying like hell, because my little girl 17 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 2: wasn't dead, and that's really all I can talk about that. 18 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: The anguish in Georgia Stidham's voice truly emphasizes how murder 19 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: violates the core foundation of what family represents. When the 20 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: victim is your child, your world is not only shattered 21 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: but everything from that moment on is different. Danis Stidham's 22 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: family had been in emotional purgatory for nearly two months, 23 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: not knowing, wondering and waiting. But then on September seventeenth, 24 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, the Benton County Sheriff's Office shows up 25 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: to deliver the worst news imaginable. As you heard Dana's mother, 26 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,839 Speaker 1: Georgia Stidham explain, the mere memory of all that she'd 27 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: lost that day was still too difficult to talk about 28 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: in any detail some three decades later. 29 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 3: I also wanted to ask you about Lawrence. Tell me 30 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 3: about your husband. 31 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 2: Oh, he was so sick. He had rheumatoid arthritis, real bad, 32 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 2: and all the dregs had eating at his insides pretty much, 33 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 2: and he was just Dana was his everything. She went 34 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 2: to the stores for anything she thought he needed, she'd 35 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 2: go pick up. 36 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 4: And bring to. 37 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 2: And they were home a lot together, Laurence's Dutch where 38 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 2: he couldn't work with the kids while I were so 39 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 2: this crushed them, then, yes it did. It was the 40 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 2: beginning of the air for him. 41 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: Georgia believes Dana's murder contributed to the death of her husband, 42 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: who died in the years after Lawrence was only fifty 43 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: years old. Dana's cousin and best friend, Christy Smith, recalls 44 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: how harrowing those days leading up to finding Dana's body were. 45 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 5: Well, this whole time we have been driving around, we 46 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 5: have been posting flyers. We went all over Missouri, the 47 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 5: bordering cities of Missouri, all over Fayville, everywhere we can 48 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 5: think of, at every store that would allow us, we 49 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 5: posted flyers and never got a response. In the back 50 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 5: of your mind, you know that if you haven't heard 51 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 5: something by now, then she is either no longer alive 52 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 5: or somebody has her and you don't know who it is. 53 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 5: And then in September we had actually driven by where 54 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 5: they found her body, going to a place to put 55 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 5: out some flyers, and I believe it was the next 56 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 5: day they found her remains. 57 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 1: For BCSO Detectives. As horrible as the situation was, the 58 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: discovery of Dana's body gave the investigation a much needed boost. 59 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: They now had a crime scene to process. Justice for 60 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: Danis Stidham and her family could begin as the hunt 61 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: for her killer entered a brand new face. Previously on 62 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 1: Pay for Ghosts. 63 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 6: So I'll stopped there and Bill will Squahant and I 64 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 6: saw and a drag creek dead and saw scull and 65 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:48,559 Speaker 6: some rib bone. 66 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 7: And it became somewhat alarming when they found a dirty 67 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 7: magazine with some of van It's clothing. 68 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 6: So now you have a suspect that worked at. 69 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 7: The store with Anna, had an issue with email on 70 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 7: fullet text of harassment and also said have ativity for 71 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 7: thirty magazines. 72 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 8: You know, hey, we've got three or four suspects, why 73 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 8: not add another fifth suspect. 74 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 1: My name is em William Phelps. I'm an investigative journalist 75 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: and author of more than forty true crime books. This 76 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: is season four of Paper Ghosts the Ozarks. 77 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:42,919 Speaker 9: All right, so here this is leading to beale road, woods, 78 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 9: dirt road. We'll definitely drive in a truck. 79 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: Investigators enter a crime scene hoping to collect fingerprints, footprints, 80 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: tire tracks, blood, and additional bodily fluids, along with hairs, fibers, 81 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: fire debris, a cigarette butt, or any other item that 82 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: might lead them to a killer. Back to the vehicle 83 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: rocker parked up here. 84 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 2: Offee goes. 85 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: I have seen murdersov with the most obscure, smallest piece 86 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: of evidence lint from a blanket, sweat, DNA, unseen by 87 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: the naked eye, even a single cat hair. The crime 88 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: scene itself, where it is, what the terrain is like, 89 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: how it looks can say a lot about a killer. 90 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,919 Speaker 1: Here's investigative journalists Brandon Howard. 91 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 7: I went there a few years ago. I was shocked 92 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 7: to see that it's super rural, still almost forgotten in time. 93 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 7: It's a place you go from a paved highway that 94 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 7: sees thousands of cars to dirt road really quickly uneven 95 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 7: deep into the woods opens it to a large clearing, 96 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 7: sort of circular base, a culta sac without any pavement. 97 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 7: Yet despite being so far off the beaten path, you 98 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 7: can see not far the liquor store just up the 99 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 7: road that's crossed the state line. 100 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: And then so you get out, you walk through the 101 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: woods and there's a creek bed there where she was found. 102 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 6: Right. Yeah. 103 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 7: I had one detective mentioned that they thought it was 104 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 7: done hastily, and then they realized other items of hers romance. 105 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 7: They went back and tossed those and left. But I 106 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 7: would think that you'd have to be somewhat strong or 107 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,239 Speaker 7: able body to carry a person down into that area 108 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 7: of the woods and know about it. I don't think 109 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 7: that anyone just stumbled across that spot. 110 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: In June twenty twenty three, I made my way from 111 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,679 Speaker 1: the Phillips grocery toward the crime scene where Dana's body 112 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: had been discovered, and what struck me first was how 113 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: remote it is. We're talking about a densely wooded section 114 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: of Bella Vista. To get there, you travel along these narrow, 115 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: winding roads, zigzagging through the northern part of the state, 116 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: on the southern edge of the Ozarks. Houses are few 117 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: and far between. One would have to have prior knowledge 118 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: of this area, I imagine, to commit a murder here 119 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: and or dump a body. I was guided by GPS 120 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: and had the global satellite coordinates of the exact location 121 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: where Dana's remains were found, and still had trouble finding it. 122 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: The dry creek Betty's talking about, and she would have 123 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: been found about right here. I parked in what was 124 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: a dirt road cul de sac not yet developed into housing. 125 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: Walking down the steep embankment into a thickly forested valley, 126 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,679 Speaker 1: the road where I had parked disappeared from my view. 127 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 8: Cover here is remarkable. 128 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 3: The hill in front of me. 129 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 8: She's screaming no one's hearing. 130 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: Her standing where Dana's body had been found. The immense 131 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: sadness of this place had an overwhelming effect on me. 132 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 8: You're talking about an eighteen year old that just graduated 133 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 8: high school like two months prior. She's got her whole 134 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 8: life ahead of her, and all that gone in the 135 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:15,439 Speaker 8: blink of an eye for mother, for her to have 136 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,719 Speaker 8: to live with this, I can't even put myself in 137 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 8: her shoes. Un she's had to go through over the years. 138 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: That was Bcso Lieutenant Hunter betray Georgia Stidham told Brandon 139 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: Howard in an article he published in twenty fifteen, quote 140 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,319 Speaker 1: and her rest will never bring closure. I'll never get 141 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: her back, but I'd like to see her kill her caught, 142 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: so wouldn't feel like I just let my daughter die 143 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: and I walked away. Sadly, Georgia would not live to 144 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: experience justice. On October twenty sixth, twenty twenty three, she 145 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: passed away, seventy three years old. 146 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 8: You know, I talked to her and just kind of 147 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 8: revisited because I had not met her again. You know, 148 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 8: this was not my case to begin with, so I 149 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 8: had not met her and basically just went over to 150 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 8: her house and grabbed it and spoke to her for 151 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,079 Speaker 8: about thirty minutes to an hour and just it's always man, 152 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,319 Speaker 8: it's if he because you don't want her to have 153 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 8: to relive. Sure, bring all these things back up. 154 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 3: And so September comes, no Dana. 155 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 8: I think at that point in time, you're talking about 156 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:33,719 Speaker 8: six to seven weeks since she disappeared and nothing. And 157 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,719 Speaker 8: then all of a sudden there's a guy who was 158 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 8: squirrel hunting in an area clear on the other side 159 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 8: of town, basically on the east side of Bello Vista, 160 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,959 Speaker 8: ran across some remains. Pretty much at that point in 161 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:49,439 Speaker 8: time they had been skeletonized. So I don't want to 162 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,439 Speaker 8: get to sound like it's a body remains, is I 163 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 8: think probably the proper term. 164 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,079 Speaker 1: Many thought it was strange, if not suspicious, that the 165 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:02,079 Speaker 1: hunter had waited a day before calling police about the 166 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: discovery of a body. 167 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,840 Speaker 8: Again, it's unusual and it's weird because he doesn't report 168 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 8: it right away. He waits a day. He actually sees it, 169 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 8: looks at it, leaves because he says he was in 170 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 8: a hurry, goes and talks to a friend, tells the friend, hey, 171 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 8: I found some human remains. Friend kind of didn't didn't 172 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 8: really believe him at first, but basically told him, hey, 173 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 8: you need to report that. So the next day he 174 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 8: does report it. The skull. 175 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,079 Speaker 1: Let's talk about where this is. This is not a 176 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: place that you would put a body unless you knew. 177 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 8: Of the place, probably unless you were driving around, which 178 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,199 Speaker 8: you would be really high risk driving around with a 179 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 8: body in your car looking for a place. So yeah, 180 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,839 Speaker 8: probably you know the statistics and the odds are that 181 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 8: somebody you ever did this. One person two persons was 182 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,079 Speaker 8: familiar with the area. Bella Vista has a lot of 183 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 8: cull to sacks, a lot of dead end roades, a 184 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 8: lot of them are undeveloped. 185 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: Hunter Petray then mentioned something quite interesting, if you recall 186 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,079 Speaker 1: from a previous episode, I began to wonder about a 187 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: group of friends Dana hung around whom she hadn't discussed 188 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:18,440 Speaker 1: much with her family. Georgia and even Christy knew most 189 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: of the people within Dana's circle, but. 190 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 2: Not all of them. 191 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:23,959 Speaker 8: I don't know if you know this or not, but 192 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,079 Speaker 8: prior to this, maybe a year or two prior, that 193 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 8: area was kind of a party spot for kids. There 194 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 8: was a shooting that took place there and a kid 195 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,439 Speaker 8: died after that kind of everybody was afraid to associate 196 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 8: with that area. So there were people that were familiar 197 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 8: with that area as a party spot. So again things 198 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 8: start running through your mind. Are these people that same 199 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,319 Speaker 8: age group as Dana that knew about this area? Again, unknown, 200 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 8: but that's a possibility, but yeah, it was a party 201 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 8: spot for a while. That could sack. 202 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,719 Speaker 3: Did they try to find those people and interview. 203 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 6: Any of them. 204 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 8: They talked to some people that had been out there before, 205 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 8: but they said that they had not been out there, 206 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,679 Speaker 8: you know, since that kid got killed out there with 207 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 8: the shooting. 208 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: As Dana's body was sent in for autopsy, investigators hoped 209 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: to learn something about her killer. They theorized she had 210 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: been out in the elements since the day after she 211 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 1: went missing, nearly eight weeks. Her body was skeletonized, torn apart, 212 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: and spread by animals over an area about the size 213 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: of a football field. One particular discovery by the corner 214 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,319 Speaker 1: gave a possible explanation as to how Dana might have 215 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: been murdered. 216 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 8: When you have passage of time and its remains, that 217 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 8: also complicates autopsies because you don't have an intact body. 218 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 8: But they found there was a nick on the collarbone 219 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 8: that they felt like was from a knife. Now, whether 220 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 8: she was stabbed, you know, in the neck throat cut, 221 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,199 Speaker 8: we don't know for sure because we can't tell, but 222 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 8: there was a nick in the collarbone that suggested that 223 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 8: it was some type of knife attack. 224 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 3: So that would beat the inside part of the. 225 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 8: Collars correct, yeah, close to the neck the throat area basically. 226 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 8: So they did note that and noted that that was 227 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 8: anti mortem, which would have been prior to death. They 228 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 8: rolled it a homicide. There was also some things that 229 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 8: suggested that this was possibly a sexual assault, like what 230 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 8: the braw the over the shoulder straps were cut with 231 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 8: some type of sharp instrument down near where they connect 232 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 8: with the backstrap. It appears that the braw had been 233 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 8: cut with a sharp instrument. 234 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: Several facts discovered during the autopsy become important for one. 235 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: Dana's clothing white shorts, white shoes, bra white T shirt 236 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: were all found in a hole about one foot deep 237 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: ten or more yards away from where her skull was 238 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: recovered in the creek bed. Her underwear, however, was found 239 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: close to her skull. The corner noted quote based upon 240 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: the presence of a sharply cut inner aspect of the 241 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: left clavicle. There was a violent injury through a cut 242 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: throat or a stab wound to the area. Two rings, 243 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: later identified as Dana's were found near her buried clothes. 244 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: Hares believed to be pulled out of her head were 245 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: also recovered, a lock of which showed heavy damage to 246 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: the roots from all the decomposition. It was also reported 247 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: that the right and left sleeves of Danish shirt had 248 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: been severed at the armpits, jagged cuts as if made 249 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: crudely with the knife. On the upper left front thigh 250 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: area of her shorts. The crime lab found a piece 251 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: of duct tape. Was there any bindings or anything like 252 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: that found? 253 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 8: Yeah, there was some twine O orangish red twine that 254 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 8: was there. There was also some found up at the 255 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 8: cull to sag. They sent a lot of that down. Now, 256 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 8: there were some knots in it, but the lab could 257 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 8: not determine or specify that any of those knots were 258 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 8: used for any type of ligature or binding of Dana. 259 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: The amount of bindings seemed significant. One section was nineteen 260 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: inches long with a two inch diameter or loop tied 261 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: in a double strand overhand knot. Forty three and a 262 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: half inches of baling twine was recovered directly next to 263 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: her body and divided into two pieces, tied together with 264 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: a clove hitch slip knot with a binding knot at 265 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: the end. That type of knot is indicative of binding 266 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: one thing to another and clearly intentional. Still, were the 267 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: bindings connected to Dana's murder. 268 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 8: That was never conclusively determined that any of that twine 269 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 8: had been used to tie her up or bind her 270 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 8: or anything of that nature. But it's interesting, and again, 271 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 8: you know, it's complicated because that area was a party spot. 272 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:23,719 Speaker 8: There were people that drove by there and dumped things. 273 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 8: You know, is this twine involved in this or is 274 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 8: it just unknown? 275 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: Up on bea lane along the embankment of the cul 276 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,400 Speaker 1: de Sac leading down toward where Dana was found, ten 277 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 1: additional feat of bailing twine, divided into six pieces and 278 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: enjoined by intricate different types of knots, were located. The 279 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 1: crime lab concluded that quote none of the cuts or 280 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,360 Speaker 1: knotted regions indicated that these twines had clearly been used 281 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: in ligaturing, restraining, or binding a person. A statement, I 282 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,680 Speaker 1: kind of have a problem with because there is no 283 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:06,479 Speaker 1: definitive way to answer that question by studying the twine alone. 284 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: After all, an inability to prove something doesn't automatically disprove it. 285 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: DNA testing was possible, but also unreliable since the material 286 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: had been out in the elements for so long. Near 287 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: the same time, the lab came back with another find. 288 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: They'd located a single Caucasian strand of hair three point 289 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: three inches long with the roots still attached inside a 290 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:42,720 Speaker 1: cup and Dana's car, a potentially significant discovery because they 291 00:18:42,800 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: knew immediately that one hair was not Dana's. After the 292 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:08,160 Speaker 1: discovery of her remains, Dana Stidham's murder dominated local news reports. 293 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: Benton County was eager to put a face on evil. 294 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: You take away someone's sense of safety. Fear seeps in, 295 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: fear breeds accusation, reaction. 296 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 8: And a rush to judgment. That's just human nature. 297 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: In order for me to get a clear picture of 298 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: what could have possibly led up to Dana's murder, it 299 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: was important to look at the dynamics of Dana's life 300 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: from different perspectives. Here's Dana's mother again, Georgia, Can you 301 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:45,879 Speaker 1: just talk to me? 302 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 3: A little bit about Dana as a child growing up? 303 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 3: What kind of child she was? 304 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 2: She was a laugh a minute. She was the happiest 305 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 2: kid you've ever met. She was always being sol and snickering, 306 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 2: and she had a slap and all the time. 307 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 3: What did she talk about as a young kid that 308 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 3: she wanted to do? 309 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 2: You know, boy boys boys boys. 310 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 3: And when she was younger, what was she like? 311 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 8: What did she like to do? 312 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 2: She was into all kinds of stuff. She painted, and 313 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:26,159 Speaker 2: she did ceramics, and she did all kinds of stuff. 314 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 2: She was really talented. 315 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 3: And how was her relationship with mom and dad over 316 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 3: the years. 317 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 6: It was good. 318 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:36,719 Speaker 3: She had a lot of friends. 319 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 2: Yes, she wanted everybody to be her friend. 320 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 1: Three days after Dana's body was found, the BCSO brought 321 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: in a classmate whose name was given to them by 322 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: several of Dana's friends. I'll call him Stand for the 323 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: purposes of the podcast. He was never named as a suspect, 324 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 1: but he did provide some rather compelling information. He referred 325 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: to himself as Dana's best friend, but made it clear 326 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: he'd never had a sexual relationship with her. He had 327 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:13,719 Speaker 1: seen her the weekend before she disappeared. During Stan's interview, 328 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: detective Mike Sidoriac asked about Dana lending a friend a 329 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: pair of boots, which she had wanted back on the 330 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 1: day she disappeared. Stan corroborated this information. Zidoriac asked Stan 331 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,680 Speaker 1: if he would have pulled up behind Dana as she drove, 332 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 1: would she have stopped? Stan said yes, So you have 333 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,360 Speaker 1: the body, the bodies released, the body is buried. 334 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 3: What happens next? 335 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 8: So you know, the big thing back then was that, 336 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,399 Speaker 8: you know, they took people when they interviewed them. They 337 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 8: polygraphed him, they took their fingerprints, hoping that something would 338 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 8: come back off the chip bag or her clothing that 339 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 8: was sent down Layton's hair follicles, you know, something to 340 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 8: try to tie somebody as far as physical evidence to 341 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 8: the homicide and the abduction. 342 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 3: Or murder, and nothing came back. 343 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:09,640 Speaker 8: Nothing came back. 344 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 2: Really. 345 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: Detectives Mike Sadoriak and Danny Varner had been up the 346 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: ass of a local kid, Mike McMillan since almost the 347 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:23,120 Speaker 1: day Dana went missing. Several people I spoke to, including police, 348 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: said Mike was an easy target. Mike, however, didn't help 349 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 1: his own cause well. 350 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:35,120 Speaker 8: He was interviewed He was given several polygraphs, but initially 351 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,360 Speaker 8: he was confronted a couple of days after her disappearance. 352 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 8: He could not give well. He tried, but it was 353 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 8: kind of blown out of the water. He tried to 354 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 8: give an alibi that he was visiting a girl down 355 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 8: in Farmington, which is down by Fayetteville, you know, thirty 356 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 8: miles away or whatever, but she basically said, I don't 357 00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 8: remember that, you know, I don't think that I was 358 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 8: with you. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna lie for you. 359 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 8: I'm not gonna come up with some story for you. 360 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: If I'm a BCSO detective, I'm wondering why in the 361 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: hell lie about where you were? 362 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 6: Then this? 363 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,359 Speaker 8: You know, he was seen that night and I'm talking 364 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 8: about that night. I'm talking about the twenty fifth into 365 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 8: the early morning of the twenty sixth. He was seen 366 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 8: around three o'clock that next morning, and I want to 367 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,360 Speaker 8: say it was at the Bentonville Mercantile. Somebody had seen 368 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 8: him there, and he just didn't really have a good 369 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:42,159 Speaker 8: alibi other than just driving around. His mother said that 370 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 8: he had left home earlier that day on the twenty fifth, 371 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 8: and did not come back until you know, way later 372 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,119 Speaker 8: the next morning. So I don't know about you, but 373 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 8: I know, like, like I probably can't tell you what 374 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 8: I had for lunch yesterday, but I can tell you 375 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 8: I went if I thought about it. And you know, 376 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 8: just two days later to not be able to come 377 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 8: up with any valid alibi of where you were at 378 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 8: other than something you come up with which was blown 379 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 8: out of the water. 380 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,639 Speaker 1: And what's the connection to Dana with Mike McMillan schoolmates? 381 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: He was in a line of schoolmates that were questioned. 382 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 8: Yeah, and he was also really good friends with well, 383 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 8: I say really good friends. They kind of lived together. 384 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: I think I bleeped out his name. But Hunter Portray 385 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: is referring to Dana's ex boyfriend, so he starts looking suspicious. 386 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 8: Well, from people that were taught to he was somewhat 387 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 8: infatuated with her and had tried to make advances on her, 388 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,159 Speaker 8: and she had rejected him because she was seeing some 389 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 8: other people at the time and basically didn't want anything 390 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 8: to do with him. You know, there's some people that 391 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,959 Speaker 8: said that, you know, he was kind of infatuated with her, 392 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 8: wanted to go out with her, and she just kept 393 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 8: rejecting him, and he would get upset about. So there's 394 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:01,680 Speaker 8: a motive there. 395 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,479 Speaker 3: Yeah, could be strong person of interest for sure, right, 396 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 3: as were others. 397 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 8: As were others. Yeah, at this time. You know, again, 398 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 8: there's no physical evidence, there's no witnesses to tie. But 399 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 8: there's a lady that saw him driving, supposedly and saw 400 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 8: a brunette girl in the truck with him. Now we 401 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:25,439 Speaker 8: don't know necessarily if it was that day the day before. 402 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 8: It's kind of vague, but we it makes it seem 403 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:32,640 Speaker 8: like it might have been that night. He didn't deny it. Now, 404 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 8: he didn't say he said that, you know. Obviously he 405 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 8: didn't admit that it was Dane in the truck, but 406 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 8: he didn't really deny that somebody could have been in 407 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,719 Speaker 8: this truck. He didn't deny that when he was questioned, 408 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 8: did he go to Bella Vista? Could have You know, 409 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 8: you're this person saying that you didn't go down to 410 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:51,719 Speaker 8: Farmington and see her? 411 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:52,880 Speaker 2: Is she a liar? 412 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,760 Speaker 8: Well, you know, if she said that, I'm not calling 413 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 8: anybody a liar. So it wasn't real hard to deny. 414 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,159 Speaker 8: The only hard denial that he gave was that he 415 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 8: didn't kill Dana. 416 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 1: So he did deny that was he one of the 417 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 1: kids who partied in that spot up by Beale Road. 418 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 8: According to him, though most. 419 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: Everyone was polygraphed, including Mike McMillan. 420 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 8: The first polygraph he passed, but later on he was 421 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 8: given another polygraph because things just wouldn't go away. 422 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: I spoke to Mike. He didn't want to appear on 423 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: the podcast because he said, quote talking about this now 424 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: just keeps it going and fans the flames. The best 425 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: thing for me to do is live my life. I 426 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 1: don't live in the past. The BCSO, however, hyper focused 427 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: on Mike after he revealed some rather odd behavior that December, 428 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: just after Dana is buried, before there is even a 429 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 1: gravestone on her plot, the BCSO finds out Mike McMillan 430 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,359 Speaker 1: is going out to her grave every other night and 431 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: talking to himself while out there. 432 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,120 Speaker 8: People that were talked to said that he was supposed 433 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 8: to leave for Basic He was basically adamant that he 434 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 8: didn't want to go to the navy. You know, Dana 435 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 8: turns up missing, and then all of a sudden he's okay, 436 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,440 Speaker 8: I'm ready to go to the Navy. It's fine, you know, 437 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 8: let's go. So he leaves and goes to Basic. There's 438 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 8: issues that happened there, quite a few. He goes a wall, 439 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 8: but he comes back at one point in time, this 440 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 8: was prior to on a wall. But he's on leave, 441 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 8: I guess, and comes back and he goes out to 442 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:45,200 Speaker 8: the cemetery, instills her temporary grave marker and keeps it 443 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 8: in his house, keeps it in his bedroom. 444 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 1: Which makes Mike an even bigger target now for the Bcso. 445 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 8: He was out there with another juvenile female who witnessed this, 446 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 8: and it mean, it even gets stranger than that for 447 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 8: someone that they never dated other than just being classmates. 448 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 8: He had the most intimate feelings for her that I've 449 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 8: ever seen of somebody that wasn't physically in a relationship 450 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 8: with somebody, made statements like he loved her, went out 451 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,359 Speaker 8: to the cemetery like six or seven nights and would 452 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 8: stand out there and according to this other witness, would 453 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 8: just say things like he's talking to her just weird 454 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 8: man Like to me, that screams guilt. 455 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 1: Mike had indeed left for the Navy right after Dana 456 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: went missing, but he had signed up long before. He 457 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: told me. He didn't go a wall. He finished boot 458 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: camp and returned home. Likewise, it wasn't as if he 459 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: backed his truck up into the cemetery and loaded Dana's 460 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 1: gravestone and took it away. He stole a plastic grave 461 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: marker with her name on it, where the stone would 462 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: later be placed. But when the BCSO heard about Mike 463 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: stealing the grave marker, of course they were eager to 464 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: get him on record, lock him down to a statement. Still, 465 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: this hunter portray points out, so far all of this 466 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: is nothing more than circumstantial evidence. 467 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 8: Not enough to arrest somebody. But again, you're putting the 468 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 8: spotlight on yourself. Now, being a thief doesn't make your murderer, 469 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 8: but you still her temporary grave marker. You also carry 470 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 8: around a photograph of her in your wallet For somebody 471 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 8: that doesn't want to be in the spotlight. I guess 472 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:42,719 Speaker 8: you're not helping yourself. 473 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: Under a subpoena, Mike is brought in after the BCSO 474 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: hears about the grave marker theft. He tells detectives he 475 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: never dated Dana and never even asked her out. He admits, however, 476 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: to seeing her the day before she went missing. Usual, 477 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 1: how you been fine, take care type of thing. He 478 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: then claims he took the grave marker quote just to 479 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: have something to remember. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody. 480 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: During a phone call, Mike told me it was the 481 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: stupidest thing I ever did in my life because now 482 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: every move he made was scrutinized by the bcso he 483 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: had a target on his back. And after Mike confessed 484 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: to stealing the grave marker during his interview with detectives, 485 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: they stopped the interview, read them his rights, and arrested him. 486 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: Dana's ex boyfriend was brought back in for questioning right 487 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 1: around the same time Mike McMillan was charged with stealing 488 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 1: the grave marker. It'd spoken to a new girlfriend Dana's 489 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,440 Speaker 1: X was dating at the time Dana went missing. Detective 490 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 1: Mike Sidoriak explained to her where dana had been found 491 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: and wanted to know if Dana's X had ever taken 492 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 1: her the new girlfriend, out to that Beal Lane area 493 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: to have sex. 494 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 8: She said no. 495 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: Sidoriak pushed harder, asking if he was ever violent, to 496 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: which she repeatedly and emphatically answered no. Sidoriak and Varner 497 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,720 Speaker 1: then went back to focusing on Mike McMillan. I asked 498 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,120 Speaker 1: journalist Brandon Howard why he believed the BCSO became so 499 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: fixated on Mike. A large part of it, of course, 500 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,640 Speaker 1: was the grave marker theft, but there had. 501 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 6: To be more. 502 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 7: They find what appeared to be several hairs and what 503 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 7: they think is enough evidence to move forward with testing 504 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 7: it against hairs from Dana's mother, I think, to try 505 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 7: and prove that maybe she was in that vehicle. 506 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: Those hairs were found during a search of Mike's truck. 507 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: Mike McMillan told me quote by then it wasn't whether 508 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 1: I did it or not. They wanted me to have 509 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,640 Speaker 1: done it. The BCSO ends up interviewing Mike again later 510 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: on and are convinced Mike is their guy. 511 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 7: I would call that a marathon interview of probably six 512 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 7: to eight hours, where they try and essentially break him 513 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 7: to admit to what he's done to Dana, which she 514 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 7: never does. I would say he's actually kind of adamant 515 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 7: compared to other suspects that he has no involvement. And 516 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 7: it goes on and on, and he has his statements 517 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 7: and they do their best to get him to admit 518 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 7: to something that he feels he didn't do, and that's 519 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 7: the end of it. And he's named publicly the newspaper's 520 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 7: report that his hair was being tested in the case, 521 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 7: one of only two publicly named suspects. 522 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: So during my interview with Mike, I asked him about 523 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: his name being published. He said, quote, Yeah, they put 524 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: my picture on the front page of the newspaper next 525 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:13,640 Speaker 1: to Dana's with a story. And from that moment forward, 526 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: I was the guy. No matter what anyone said or 527 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:23,280 Speaker 1: additional evidence pointing in any other direction, people looked at 528 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,520 Speaker 1: Mike as Dana's killer. Here's Hunter portray Again. 529 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 8: You can't rule him out, just based off the sheer 530 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 8: fact that he can't come up with an alibi. You 531 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 8: know that they took the grave marker, and again that 532 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 8: makes him a thief, not a murderer. He sure hasn't 533 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,880 Speaker 8: helped himself any you know, by doing some of those things. 534 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 8: But yeah, you can't rule him out. And if you 535 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 8: had to make a list, you would probably put him 536 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:49,000 Speaker 8: at the. 537 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 2: Top, you know. 538 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 8: Sodorak he had McMillan at the top of his list. 539 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,480 Speaker 8: And I think they had actually consulted or collaborated with 540 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 8: the FBI profilers and they came up with the same 541 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 8: conclusion as far as who did this, but again you're 542 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 8: talking about you got to have enough to make an 543 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 8: a risk. 544 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,640 Speaker 1: I wondered if Georgia Stidham could offer any insight into 545 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: Dena's thoughts about Mike. 546 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 2: He said he was creepy. They got along good, they 547 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,960 Speaker 2: seemed to, but Mike, Mike wondered what he wanted and 548 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 2: he was spoiled and thoughted. 549 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,840 Speaker 3: Ought to have it, and she just wasn't interested that 550 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 3: way in him. 551 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:29,560 Speaker 2: No, No, she liked him were well as a friend, 552 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 2: but that was all. 553 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:33,839 Speaker 3: So she didn't really talk about Mike a lot. 554 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:38,160 Speaker 2: Then she didn't have a lot to say about him, 555 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:40,240 Speaker 2: just that he was you telling. 556 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,240 Speaker 1: Christy Smith, Dana's cousin, was sitting nearby when I spoke 557 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: to Georgia. After Georgia encouraged her, Christy told me a story. 558 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,279 Speaker 10: Well, there was one time, and it was probably we 559 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 10: were in junior high or just starting in high school. 560 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,400 Speaker 10: It was the summer, and I was saying with them 561 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:03,880 Speaker 10: during the summer, and Mike walked down because he you know, 562 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 10: he just flipped up the dirt road for her, and 563 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 10: he walked down the dirt road to come and see us, 564 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,320 Speaker 10: or come see her and her dad did not like 565 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,839 Speaker 10: that at all. Boys didn't come to see danam when 566 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,720 Speaker 10: she was at home and that young, so he random 567 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 10: he made him leave. 568 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:19,239 Speaker 2: He ran them off. 569 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 11: I mean, she was always his friend, but and I 570 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:27,280 Speaker 11: don't remember him ever saying anything or or doing anything, 571 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:29,640 Speaker 11: and she never complains too bad about him. 572 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 2: But he just wouldn't take no for an answer. 573 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 1: I must say hearing this, Mike's actions feel more like 574 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:40,959 Speaker 1: those of a love struck kid than a brutal killer. 575 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,719 Speaker 1: When you put yourself in the shoes of a teenager 576 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: in the throes of unrequited love and then the person 577 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:51,520 Speaker 1: you love is murdered, visiting her grave every night makes 578 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:56,200 Speaker 1: a little more sense. On the day Dana disappeared, we 579 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,360 Speaker 1: know that she needed to go to the store for 580 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 1: her dad was a general store right there in Highwaseee, 581 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,399 Speaker 1: down the road she could have gone to, yet Dana 582 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: made the extra trip into Bella Vista, out of the way. 583 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 1: Several sources had told me Dana avoided that High Wassie 584 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:17,000 Speaker 1: store because Mike McMillan hung around there all day long. 585 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:19,320 Speaker 1: His parents owned it. 586 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 11: He would write her notes about, you know, wanting to 587 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:23,799 Speaker 11: go out with her and stuff, and she would tell 588 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 11: him that she disliked him for a friend, and he 589 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 11: would just keep trying and asking. 590 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 1: Cindy McMillan married Mike in nineteen ninety four, five years 591 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:37,160 Speaker 1: after Dana was murdered. At the time, the BCSO was 592 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:41,880 Speaker 1: still pursuing him as its main suspect. I spoke to 593 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:44,839 Speaker 1: Cindy in order to get an overall picture of who 594 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,920 Speaker 1: her husband was. Behind closed doors. I was in the 595 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:54,879 Speaker 1: minority of those unconvinced that Mike was involved with Dana's death. Look, 596 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,120 Speaker 1: I found it very hard to believe that Mike McMillan 597 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: had something to do with Dana's murder, which was methodical, 598 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,960 Speaker 1: organized and very well planned out. I can't help but 599 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,279 Speaker 1: feel that if Mike killed her, he would have left 600 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:15,280 Speaker 1: behind some sort of physical or trace evidence. 601 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:17,800 Speaker 3: What kind of guy was he? 602 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:22,280 Speaker 4: So he when I met him, very charismatic, very handsome, 603 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:26,440 Speaker 4: very charming, funny, you know, fun to be with all 604 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,920 Speaker 4: of that, He did tell me about Dana. So the 605 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,239 Speaker 4: fact that he talked about her, you know, and told me, 606 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,160 Speaker 4: because obviously I told him about my ex husband, my 607 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 4: first husband, I didn't think anything of it. He did 608 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 4: tell me that he'd been investigated because he took the 609 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 4: grave marker, which I would have never known that was 610 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:47,879 Speaker 4: a crime. 611 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:52,120 Speaker 1: Right, But he was a nice guy. Mike was upfront 612 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 1: about his history. He didn't hide anything. This sort of 613 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,840 Speaker 1: description of Mike was something I had heard from several 614 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: others who knew him. 615 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,200 Speaker 3: When he talked about Dana's case. What did he have 616 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:06,360 Speaker 3: to say about it anything in particular, Just. 617 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:07,120 Speaker 2: It was terrible. 618 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:08,799 Speaker 4: It was really hard for him because he left her 619 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 4: the Navy, and he was sad that he didn't get 620 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 4: to go to our funeral. That was why he went 621 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:17,480 Speaker 4: to the grave and took the grave marker. 622 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 2: But he didn't know. 623 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,359 Speaker 4: And when they started talking about it, you know, someone 624 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:23,880 Speaker 4: stole our grave marker. He turned it in because he 625 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 4: didn't know. You weren't supposed to take it. 626 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,799 Speaker 1: So the public image is that of a teenager who 627 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:34,719 Speaker 1: was allegedly infatuated with Dana and had chased her romantically 628 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:39,840 Speaker 1: throughout their youth. According to Mike, this is quote just 629 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:44,320 Speaker 1: not true. Everyone from that time knows this. After high school, 630 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: Mike says he hardly ever saw her. In talking to 631 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:53,600 Speaker 1: family and friends, I learned that Dana had never ever 632 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,800 Speaker 1: felt threatened by the guy he had never done anything 633 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,840 Speaker 1: violent toward her. He shipped off to boot camp and 634 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:05,759 Speaker 1: misses her funeral. He comes home, goes out to her 635 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:09,960 Speaker 1: grave night after night, which he admits during an interview, 636 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,800 Speaker 1: and on one of those nights he takes her grave marker. 637 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,960 Speaker 1: His easy admission of this to me says that he 638 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:21,640 Speaker 1: wanted to be forthright but didn't think these facts would 639 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:27,759 Speaker 1: be incriminating. Instead, he was arrested and charged, Yet that 640 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: case went nowhere and was eventually dropped. Then Cindy McMillan 641 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:36,960 Speaker 1: tells me this, He. 642 00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:40,880 Speaker 4: You know, I think that there was a policeman or 643 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:44,840 Speaker 4: a sheriff and he really felt like he may have 644 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:45,160 Speaker 4: done it. 645 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 3: That's what Mike thought, that some sort of police law enforcement. 646 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,000 Speaker 4: Yes, it was a young guy close to his age, 647 00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:55,920 Speaker 4: and maybe he dated Dana. I don't remember exactly. 648 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 1: This was not the first time I had heard of 649 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,719 Speaker 1: this same life local police officer, and Mike confirmed from 650 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: me that he and others had heard Dana was dating 651 00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:08,840 Speaker 1: a married police officer around the time she went missing. 652 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: Certain Stidham family members told me a different story that 653 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:18,400 Speaker 1: a cop had stopped Dana on occasion and she'd complained 654 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:22,239 Speaker 1: that the guy creeped her out. He had a wife 655 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 1: and kids, but would pull her over as an excuse 656 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:30,000 Speaker 1: to hit honor. It's not Mike Sidoriak or Danny Varner, 657 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,120 Speaker 1: I want to be perfectly clear about that. But I've 658 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:37,800 Speaker 1: repeatedly seen this CoP's name on reports associated with Dana's 659 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:43,440 Speaker 1: investigation as someone who had even interviewed suspects in this case. 660 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:50,240 Speaker 1: As I developed sources into twenty twenty three, I spoke 661 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:52,760 Speaker 1: to someone who had grown up in the Bella Vista 662 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 1: area and knew Dana socially. She was also familiar with 663 00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:59,920 Speaker 1: the crowd around Dana at the time and hung around 664 00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:02,960 Speaker 1: some of them. She doesn't want to be identified, so 665 00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:06,920 Speaker 1: I'm disguising her voice. What she has to say is disturbing, 666 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:12,320 Speaker 1: but also, I might add, problematic. I asked the detective 667 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:16,560 Speaker 1: I know who's spoken to the same source about her quote. 668 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:22,520 Speaker 1: Don't discount what she says. My source claims she was 669 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:25,279 Speaker 1: out one night during the summer of nineteen eighty nine 670 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,520 Speaker 1: at a place called the Wonderland Cave, a bar in 671 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:33,160 Speaker 1: Bella Vista. Underage kids sometimes snuck into well. 672 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:37,359 Speaker 6: When I got there, I walked in and the first 673 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:41,279 Speaker 6: thing I noticed was there was this guy standing in 674 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:44,840 Speaker 6: the middle of the dance floor that I'd never seen before, 675 00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:48,840 Speaker 6: with his arms crossed, and he kind of had this smile, 676 00:41:49,719 --> 00:41:53,719 Speaker 6: like a smirk, like something was going on with him 677 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,439 Speaker 6: that night. And then I noticed there was a girl 678 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,360 Speaker 6: with him, and then I looked at him, and I 679 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,200 Speaker 6: the first thing I thought was, he's got this funny 680 00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:03,280 Speaker 6: look on his face. 681 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:04,520 Speaker 3: What did he look like? 682 00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:09,600 Speaker 6: Five nine five t and it was a little bit muscular, 683 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:14,719 Speaker 6: kind of a husky, I would call him husky, And 684 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:19,560 Speaker 6: he appeared Betty didn't really ever go out to dance, 685 00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:24,000 Speaker 6: so it seemed like that it was unfamiliar for him 686 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:26,960 Speaker 6: to be at a dance club and that it was 687 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:29,360 Speaker 6: something new to him. And then I noticed there was 688 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:33,120 Speaker 6: a girl with him, and it was so strange because 689 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,919 Speaker 6: she was kind of in the background, and I thought 690 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:43,279 Speaker 6: I looked at the situation and I thought, well, who 691 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:48,120 Speaker 6: is she? And then I realized, I know who that is. 692 00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:52,880 Speaker 6: That's the girl that works up at the grocery store 693 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:56,600 Speaker 6: down the road here at Bella Vista, because I had 694 00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:01,440 Speaker 6: briefly met her and talked to her. That's that Dana 695 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:05,920 Speaker 6: Stidham girl. And I looked at him again. I thought, well, 696 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:10,759 Speaker 6: what's he gonn't acting that way. I could see her, 697 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:13,760 Speaker 6: but it was like she was just dancing around everywhere 698 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:17,879 Speaker 6: behind him, just fluttering around and dancing kind of out 699 00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:21,920 Speaker 6: of control. Like maybe. I thought about it later and 700 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:25,280 Speaker 6: I thought, well, maybe uh, he had given her something 701 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:29,160 Speaker 6: to drink or something. And when I looked at him again, 702 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:33,200 Speaker 6: this was just in a matter of you know, a 703 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:38,440 Speaker 6: minute or two, I thought, something's not right here. Something 704 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:43,040 Speaker 6: in my mind told me that this guy is fixing 705 00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:46,840 Speaker 6: to kill this girl. Oh my god, this is some 706 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:47,840 Speaker 6: kind of a murder. 707 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,640 Speaker 1: My source claims that she went home, called the local 708 00:43:51,719 --> 00:43:56,200 Speaker 1: police and explained that this girl she casually knew, Dana Stidham, 709 00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,080 Speaker 1: was with a guy whose name she didn't know, but 710 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:03,520 Speaker 1: she sensed that Dana was in big trouble and. 711 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:07,080 Speaker 6: That something was wrong there, and something told me that 712 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:12,479 Speaker 6: he was fixing and plotting and planning to kill Hart. 713 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,320 Speaker 3: Well, let me just stop you right there. So do 714 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:17,840 Speaker 3: you recall the date the exact date of this. 715 00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:19,040 Speaker 2: No, I don't. 716 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:22,600 Speaker 6: I think it was either right around the time of 717 00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:26,600 Speaker 6: when she was reported missing. It had to bend the 718 00:44:26,719 --> 00:44:30,759 Speaker 6: time because after I talked to the police, they were like, no, 719 00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:35,760 Speaker 6: there's nothing going on. You're just that's crazy. There's nothing 720 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:36,200 Speaker 6: going on. 721 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,640 Speaker 1: I spoke to law enforcement and they verified she called them. Also, 722 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:49,040 Speaker 1: the Wonderland Cave is four miles south of the Phillips Grocery. Remember, 723 00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:53,120 Speaker 1: Dana was seen heading south on Route seventy one the 724 00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:56,680 Speaker 1: night she disappeared, and just a two minute drive from 725 00:44:56,719 --> 00:45:01,640 Speaker 1: Blowing Springs Park. If you recall, in the previous episode, 726 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:06,359 Speaker 1: Dana was supposedly seen at the park with Orville Mitch 727 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:07,680 Speaker 1: Goodwin on the night. 728 00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:08,640 Speaker 8: She went missing. 729 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:11,680 Speaker 6: I told him I thought something was going on, and 730 00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:14,839 Speaker 6: that it seemed like this guy was that something had 731 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:17,719 Speaker 6: told me, you know, so you know I think. I 732 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,839 Speaker 6: also then called the Bellavist police station and told them 733 00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:24,680 Speaker 6: and they were like, oh okay. Then the next thing 734 00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:29,279 Speaker 6: I know is somebody says that Dana Gry she didn't 735 00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:32,160 Speaker 6: go missing. I said, I told y'all, I tried to 736 00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:33,440 Speaker 6: tell y'all there's something going on. 737 00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:37,560 Speaker 1: The entire scene had a major impact on this woman. 738 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,480 Speaker 1: She could not shake it, and so she started asking 739 00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:43,960 Speaker 1: around trying to find out the name of the guy 740 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:48,040 Speaker 1: she allegedly saw at the cave that night with Dana Stidham. 741 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:51,800 Speaker 6: You know, we were maybe at somebody's house, and just 742 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:55,399 Speaker 6: somebody had mentioned it to me, somebody that knew the guy. 743 00:45:57,239 --> 00:45:58,520 Speaker 6: They told me his name is Mike. 744 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:05,360 Speaker 1: Coming next on Paper Ghosts the Ozones. 745 00:46:06,080 --> 00:46:08,960 Speaker 6: All of a sudden, he says, Linda, I see a skull. 746 00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:13,000 Speaker 2: I says, oh, surely not. But I went back there 747 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:15,400 Speaker 2: with him and we saw the skull. 748 00:46:16,239 --> 00:46:19,760 Speaker 6: I said, y'all know Dana Stidham, didn't she go missing 749 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:24,520 Speaker 6: around here somewhere? And she says, yeah, you better leave 750 00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:27,960 Speaker 6: there right now. She says, because if you don't, the 751 00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:29,800 Speaker 6: same thing's gonna happen to you. 752 00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:32,960 Speaker 2: I thanks, you bitch had a lot to do with it, 753 00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:36,680 Speaker 2: and that a bitch is exactly what she was. 754 00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:42,400 Speaker 1: Please listen and subscribe to my other podcasts, Crossing the 755 00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:45,480 Speaker 1: Line with m William Phelps and White Eagle, wherever you 756 00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:50,040 Speaker 1: get your favorite shows. Paper Ghost Season four is written 757 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:54,239 Speaker 1: and executive produced by me Em William Phelps, script consulting 758 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:59,200 Speaker 1: by Rose Bachi, sound design by Matt Russell, executive production 759 00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:02,759 Speaker 1: by Catherine in Law, and audio editing and mixing by 760 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:07,640 Speaker 1: Brandon Dicker Taka Boom Productions. The series theme number four 761 00:47:07,719 --> 00:47:10,520 Speaker 1: four to two is written and performed by Thomas Phelps 762 00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:11,480 Speaker 1: and Tom Mooney