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Speaker 1: School of Humans. On September fourteenth, twenty eighteen, in Galesburg, Illinois,

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Speaker 1: a twenty three year old graduate of Western Illinois University

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Speaker 1: named Tyler Smith headed out to party with some friends.

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Speaker 1: Tyler had dreams of becoming a police officer. He was

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Speaker 1: always super athletic. He played football in high school, and

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Speaker 1: after graduating from Western Illinois University, he applied to and

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Speaker 1: was accepted into the Police Academy in San Jose, California.

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Speaker 1: According to his family, he was one of only fifty

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Speaker 1: candidates out of five thousand who were selected for that program.

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Speaker 1: Tyler's mom, Sandra, said that Tyler loved California. He loved

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Speaker 1: everything about it, especially surfing in outdoor sports. He was

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Speaker 1: super excited about his upcoming move. Once he entered law enforcement.

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Speaker 1: Tyler hoped to eventually possibly become a DEA agent or

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Speaker 1: work with a canine unit. He was starting his life

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Speaker 1: and chasing his dream, and he was actually making it happen.

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Speaker 1: Tyler had also been in the Army National Guard since

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Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, and he had come back to Illinois to

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Speaker 1: fulfill his commitment because the next day, September fifteenth, Tyler

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Speaker 1: was due to report for drills. Tyler and his friends,

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Speaker 1: a guy named Evan and Evan's cousin Robbie, were out

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Speaker 1: drinking that night. They were blowing off some steam and

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Speaker 1: taking advantage of their last night of freedom. According to

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Speaker 1: Tyler's mother, Sandra Halsney, who has been working on a timeline,

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Speaker 1: they went to several bars in the area. He and

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Speaker 1: his friends left a bar at ten thirty and were

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Speaker 1: seen at a nearby atm at around ten forty two.

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Speaker 1: Then at some point Tyler got separated from his friends,

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Speaker 1: and what happened next is kind of a mystery because

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Speaker 1: later his friends told his mother that they were all

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Speaker 1: intoxicated that night and they can't remember exactly how they separated.

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Speaker 1: I will say I think that one of the things

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Speaker 1: that first got to me about this case was the

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Speaker 1: fact that, in my opinion, we've all been there. We've

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Speaker 1: all gotten separated from our friends, maybe had a little

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Speaker 1: bit too much to drink, and not known where we are.

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Speaker 1: There are all times in our lives when we've been

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Speaker 1: a little bit vulnerable and in a strange place. I

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Speaker 1: know it's definitely happened to me. But Tyler was five

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Speaker 1: foot eleven and weighed just over two hundred pounds. He

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Speaker 1: was very muscular and fit, so it's not surprising he

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Speaker 1: probably felt like he could take care of himself. Tyler

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Speaker 1: started walking around lost and made several phone calls starting

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Speaker 1: at eleven oh five pm. Then at some point he

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Speaker 1: stopped answering the phone, and the next morning he never

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Speaker 1: showed up at the National Guard Armory to report. At

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Speaker 1: seven thirty am, around twelve hours later, his body was

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Speaker 1: found in the Cedar Fort Creek area, just two blocks

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Speaker 1: away from where he was last seen the night before.

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Speaker 1: Since then, Sandra Tyler's father, Keith Smith, and the rest

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Speaker 1: of his family have been desperately trying to find out

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Speaker 1: what happened to him. How did Tyler end up in

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Speaker 1: that drainage ditch, did he fall, did he drown? Or

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Speaker 1: could he have been murdered? I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the

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Speaker 1: past five years of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone,

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Speaker 1: I've learned there's no such thing as a small town

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Speaker 1: where murder never happens. I have received hundreds of messages

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Speaker 1: from people all around the country asking for help with

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Speaker 1: an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and their communities.

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Speaker 1: If you have a case, you'd like me and my

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Speaker 1: team to look into You can reach out to us

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Speaker 1: at our Helen Gone Murder line at six seven eight

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Speaker 1: seven four four six one four five. That's six seven

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Speaker 1: eight seven four four six one four or five. This

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Speaker 1: is Helen Gone Murder Line. Sandra and her son Tyler

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Speaker 1: have always been close. In fact, Sandra said she was

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Speaker 1: going to drive with him to start his new life

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Speaker 1: in California, but before he left town, Tyler made those

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Speaker 1: plans for a night out with some of his old friends.

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Speaker 1: Sandra said that Tyler told her and his father, Keith,

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Speaker 1: that he was planning on staying at a friend's house.

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Speaker 1: Here's Sandra.

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Speaker 2: And they went out and they were drink king and

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Speaker 2: I'm assuming he was celebrating leaving, you know, Drill. So

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Speaker 2: that was a big thing for him. And he went

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Speaker 2: out with his friends, and you know, he's just turned

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Speaker 2: twenty three. I mean, that's what they do. They go out,

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Speaker 2: they drink, they have fun. They went to light maybe

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Speaker 2: four or five bars. There's just one block of bars.

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Speaker 2: They walked everywhere, and so he had went missing and

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Speaker 2: he didn't show up for Drill. And I didn't even

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Speaker 2: know this until about Saturday, at about four point thirty.

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Speaker 2: I got a messenger. I got a phone call from Evan,

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Speaker 2: who was this guy that he was supposed to stay with.

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Speaker 1: Sandra said she was not familiar with the area where

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Speaker 1: Tyler and his friends were, but they weren't worried because

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Speaker 1: Tyler was obviously a very physically fit guy who could

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Speaker 1: take care of himself. Also, Tyler was gregarious and kind

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Speaker 1: and had no issues with talking to strangers. The next day,

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Speaker 1: Sandra could not reach her son. Then she got a

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Speaker 1: call from Evan, one of the guys who was out

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Speaker 1: with Tyler the night before, saying that Tyler never showed

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Speaker 1: up for the National Guard drill. This was an immediate

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Speaker 1: red flag because Tyler always showed up on time. Sandra

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Speaker 1: and Keith made the drive to Gilsburg. They found Tyler's

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Speaker 1: car in the driveway of the house where he had

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Speaker 1: been staying, but there was no sign of their son.

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Speaker 1: They talked to his friends, Evan and Robbie about the

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Speaker 1: night before. Basically, the guys said they had all been

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Speaker 1: pretty drunk and that after they left the last bar,

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Speaker 1: they got separated from Tyler, and they said they hadn't

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Speaker 1: seen him since. At some point, Tyler ended up with

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Speaker 1: Evan's car keys. They were found in Tyler's Jean's pockets.

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Speaker 1: Sandra claims that Evan told her at some point, I

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Speaker 1: guess they must have decided that of the three of them,

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Speaker 1: Tyler was the most sober, and so he apparently was

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Speaker 1: going to drive at one point. Obviously this is not

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Speaker 1: a great choice, which I guess they must have realized,

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Speaker 1: because in the end none of them drove home. Evan

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Speaker 1: said he woke up at five thirty am the next

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Speaker 1: morning he realized that Tyler wasn't there, but his stuff

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Speaker 1: was there, and his car was parked in the driveway,

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Speaker 1: and he knew Tyler still had his car keys. Evan

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Speaker 1: started trying to call Tyler. He called him at five

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Speaker 1: thirty eight am five forty five am, but Tyler never

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Speaker 1: picked up and never responded. Evan texted again a little

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Speaker 1: while later, but that text stayed unread. Evan immediately reported

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Speaker 1: Tyler missing to the police that morning and also called Sandra.

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Speaker 1: Sandra said that she has no reason to doubt any

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Speaker 1: of the story that Evan and Robbie told her, and

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Speaker 1: that they seemed very cooperative and helpful, but she did wonder,

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Speaker 1: just being human, if there could be more to that story,

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Speaker 1: maybe they got in some kind of argument, maybe even

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Speaker 1: just a minor dumb, drunken argument that can we sometimes

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Speaker 1: get into after a long night out. And then she

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Speaker 1: wondered if some reason Tyler decided to leave suddenly, and

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Speaker 1: maybe he was going to stay somewhere else. That was

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Speaker 1: just a possibility. It's also possible that after they split up,

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Speaker 1: he went on into another bar by himself. Because it

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Speaker 1: seems so weird that he had just randomly disappeared into

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Speaker 1: the darkness.

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Speaker 2: We don't have clear why he was looking for another

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Speaker 2: place to stay. I don't know, you know, I just

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Speaker 2: it's I'm not saying Tyler was innocent. He could drink,

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Speaker 2: he could party with the best of them, you know,

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Speaker 2: he just did four years at the university. The kitchen party,

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Speaker 2: you know. But he also had a good head on

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Speaker 2: her shoulders. It wasn't stupid.

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Speaker 1: Sandra told Dateline that after she and Keith talked to

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Speaker 1: Tyler's friends, they went to the police station. Then what

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Speaker 1: happened next was horrifying. She said. A pizza delivery guy

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Speaker 1: randomly walked in and said something about a body being

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Speaker 1: founded nearby creek. She said she sensed immediately that the

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Speaker 1: body they found was Tyler. According to the Gailsburg Police Department,

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Speaker 1: someone was passing by the Cedar Fork Creek area. They

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Speaker 1: found Tyler's body at around seven pm on September fifteenth.

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Speaker 1: Forensic testing would reveal that Tyler's body had been lying

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Speaker 1: there since early that morning or the night before. He

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Speaker 1: was lying face down in about two inches of water.

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Speaker 1: Sandras said that from the beginning she thought the case

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Speaker 1: should have been investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise,

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Speaker 1: but the police very quickly concluded. She said that this

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Speaker 1: had been an accident. She said the autopsy was done

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Speaker 1: in just thirty one minutes, which she was later able

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Speaker 1: to figure out. And I'll get into this in much

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Speaker 1: more depth a little bit later and next week through

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Speaker 1: her own investigation.

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Speaker 2: It's so unfortunate that there's so much information I have

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Speaker 2: uncovered so much, and like nothing's being done about it.

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Speaker 1: In fact, Sandra's advocacy for her son and her determination

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Speaker 1: she has done an incredible amount of work really is

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Speaker 1: another one of the main things that made me want

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Speaker 1: to look further into this case. As you all know,

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Speaker 1: I like to take cases not just a talk about

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Speaker 1: what was done, and to bring the case public attention,

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Speaker 1: but also I want to help people. I want people

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Speaker 1: out there who may be dealing with these situations and

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Speaker 1: their homes and their towns and their families to be

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Speaker 1: able to advocate for themselves. I want to learn what

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Speaker 1: we can from this case, and in my opinion, Sandra

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Speaker 1: has done an amazing job of getting information when she

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Speaker 1: got frustrated with the police. Because we always struggle with

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Speaker 1: that balance. I talk a lot about this. We're always

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Speaker 1: trying to ask ourselves, how do we find information and

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Speaker 1: do our own detective work and support the police investigation,

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Speaker 1: but not interfere with it. We're always trying to get

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Speaker 1: that balance right. Tyler's phone was found pretty intact. The

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Speaker 1: screen wasn't even cracked. According to Sandra, there was no

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Speaker 1: password protect on that phone. So initially this would seem

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Speaker 1: like a really good piece of evidence. It seems like

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Speaker 1: you'd be able to trace where he was the night

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Speaker 1: before using GP. Yes, but there were some complications with that.

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Speaker 1: And this is where the difference between what we see

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Speaker 1: on shows like CSI and reality really coming to start contrast. Because,

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Speaker 1: first of all, at some point in the evening, Tyler's

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Speaker 1: battery died, but that wasn't the problem. The data was

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Speaker 1: still there. Really, the bigger problem was that apparently Tyler,

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Speaker 1: when he was walking around in that neighborhood, that area

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Speaker 1: was kind of a dead zone, so GPS tracking apparently

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Speaker 1: didn't really work there. Sandra said she was prepared to

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Speaker 1: assist with the police investigation, but she said she was

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Speaker 1: very surprised when police ruled so quickly that this had

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Speaker 1: been what they described as an accidental drowning, even though

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Speaker 1: Sandra said she later learned that Tyler had several wounds

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Speaker 1: on his body that made her believe that he had

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Speaker 1: been viciously assaulted. Sandra told me about the reaction she

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Speaker 1: had from police when she came to their office and

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Speaker 1: asked to see her son's body. At Lasse came in

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Speaker 1: and gave Sandra Tyler's belongings, including his wallet. They told

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Speaker 1: her that Tyler smelled of alcohol and that he had

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Speaker 1: been found in a creek bed. Now at the time,

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Speaker 1: according to Sandra, police said there was no way that

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Speaker 1: Tyler had fallen from the distance to where he was found.

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Speaker 1: They told her bodies don't just end up there side

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Speaker 1: note this would change later, because police later told Sandra

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Speaker 1: that they did believe that Tyler had fallen from above

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Speaker 1: the railing. Initially, though they said he must have gotten

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Speaker 1: down in there somehow fallen and knocked himself out from

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Speaker 1: the train tracks above. Just for clarification, there are train

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Speaker 1: tracks in the area where Tyler's body was found. The

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Speaker 1: ground there is very rocky and uneven. Police told Sandra

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Speaker 1: and Keith they believe Tyler had possibly fallen over the

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Speaker 1: railing and then drowned, but Sandra questioned that because Tyler's

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Speaker 1: body was found face down, her arms were stretched behind

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Speaker 1: him and his palms were facing up, So she wondered

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Speaker 1: how could he have gotten himself into that position? Why

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Speaker 1: would he not try to reach his arms out and

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Speaker 1: somehow break his fall if this was an accident, and

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Speaker 1: she had other questions about the scene. There were marks

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Speaker 1: in the muddy water near one of Tyler's hands that

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Speaker 1: to her looked like drag marks, looked like the hand

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Speaker 1: impossibly the whole body had been pulled a few inches.

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Speaker 1: She also saw marx on Tyler's wrist. Police later told

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Speaker 1: her they believed those were from the zip ties when

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Speaker 1: they had zipped Tyler into the body bag, but Sandra

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Speaker 1: wondered about that post mortem lebidity would normally have settled

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Speaker 1: in by the time Tyler's body was found, so could

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Speaker 1: those marks she wondered have been from something else, perhaps handcuffs.

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Speaker 1: There was also a beer can next to Tyler's body.

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Speaker 1: Sandra said that it was never tested for fingerprints. She

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Speaker 1: began to suspect that Tyler did not fall into that

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Speaker 1: position she believed he was placed there. Police did not

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Speaker 1: let her identify Tyler's body.

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Speaker 2: I literally begged to see him, and they refused for

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Speaker 2: me to see him or I tim I said, but

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Speaker 2: I'm his mother, like, don't you need a family member

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Speaker 2: in a dam? And they're like no, one of the

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00:14:26,525 --> 00:14:28,565
Speaker 2: police officers used to drill with your son and she

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Speaker 2: knew him and she ided him. Plus he has tattoos

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Speaker 2: that match or a tattoo, and I'm like, well, I'd

240
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Speaker 2: like I won't touch him. I'll just look at him

241
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Speaker 2: and promise I won't screw anything up because they're like no,

242
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Speaker 2: his body in a body bag and sip tight and

243
00:14:46,605 --> 00:14:49,445
Speaker 2: everything's evident. And then Steve and I had to drive

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Speaker 2: back home to two two and a half hours, you know,

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Speaker 2: after finding on our son's dead in this concrete canal

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Speaker 2: and with no answers and refusally even see him. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's just it's just been a nightmare.

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Speaker 1: Now, this is not uncommon, A lot of people do

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Speaker 1: ask about that. In fact, police departments are moving more

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Speaker 1: away from having family members identify the body and doing

251
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Speaker 1: it through DNA or other methods. But Sandra said this

252
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Speaker 1: was traumatic for her. She said they told her the

253
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Speaker 1: body was already in a body bag and that due

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Speaker 1: to chain of custody rules, they could not allow her

255
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Speaker 1: to see her son's face. They said they were taking

256
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Speaker 1: Tyler to Peoria for an autopsy. After that, Sandra said

257
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Speaker 1: she did have a conversation with the coroner, Mark Thomas.

258
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Speaker 1: She said that she got a call from Mark Thomas

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Speaker 1: on Sunday, September sixteenth, twenty eighteen, and at that time,

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Speaker 1: she said, Mark told her that Tyler's autopsy would be

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Speaker 1: performed the next day by forensic pathologists from Peoria who

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Speaker 1: was going to do a thorough exam.

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Speaker 2: I said, well, you're going to make sure that you know,

264
00:15:57,845 --> 00:15:59,565
Speaker 2: she didn't have a brain sleep, right, You're going to

265
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Speaker 2: make sure you can't do X rays writ in the

266
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Speaker 2: street and having broken balls or anything like that. And

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Speaker 2: the corner told me, oh, yeah, for sure. He's like,

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Speaker 2: you know, they know what they're doing and that'll all

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Speaker 2: be done. And then I found out later that, you know,

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Speaker 2: once I got the report back, I'm like, did they

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Speaker 2: act ray Tyler? And he's like, well, I'm sure they

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Speaker 2: did it. Let me look at so I guess they

273
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Speaker 2: did it. It's the corner. You didn't even know you're

274
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Speaker 2: putting this stuff on a death certificate. You don't even

275
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Speaker 2: know if he got X ray. Like, I just closed

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Speaker 2: my mind.

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Speaker 1: Sandra is no stranger to the medical field, so she

278
00:16:32,005 --> 00:16:34,525
Speaker 1: believed that the coroner and the medical examiner would do

279
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Speaker 1: a thorough job, so she was shocked when she got

280
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Speaker 1: the call after the autopsy was complete. The emmy said

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Speaker 1: Tyler's death was caused by drowning, and when that conversation happened,

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Speaker 1: Sandra said, they made it sound like Tyler only had

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Speaker 1: minor injuries. To Sandra, the investigation seemed rushed. She said

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Speaker 1: she was also shocked when she discovered the extent of

285
00:16:59,125 --> 00:17:01,645
Speaker 1: the injuries on her son, injuries she said that were

286
00:17:01,725 --> 00:17:04,005
Speaker 1: much worse than what she had been led to believe.

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Speaker 1: She said she was told that Tyler had a small

288
00:17:06,765 --> 00:17:10,085
Speaker 1: scratch on his face, most likely from falling and knocking

289
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Speaker 1: himself out. The funeral home director told her Tyler had

290
00:17:15,005 --> 00:17:21,045
Speaker 1: much more than just a scratch. She finally saw her

291
00:17:21,085 --> 00:17:24,725
Speaker 1: son for the first time on Tuesday, September eighteenth. She

292
00:17:24,805 --> 00:17:27,325
Speaker 1: had his visitation scheduled for the following Friday.

293
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Speaker 3: That's when I knew something's wrong. My cheek was ten

294
00:17:30,285 --> 00:17:33,325
Speaker 3: times the size it should be, and I didn't even

295
00:17:33,325 --> 00:17:35,485
Speaker 3: get to see the one side, you know, And I

296
00:17:35,765 --> 00:17:38,525
Speaker 3: telled this by looking at knuscles were all scratched up.

297
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Speaker 3: That I mean he he could he had a huge

298
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Speaker 3: like he had like a wound in his frontal.

299
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Speaker 2: Area, like temporal frontal area, like what happened to him?

300
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Speaker 2: I thought he had no I was told he had

301
00:17:50,845 --> 00:17:51,765
Speaker 2: a bump on his head.

302
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Speaker 1: It's heart wrenching for me to imagine the scene of

303
00:17:57,045 --> 00:18:00,405
Speaker 1: this mother who was having to have a conversation with

304
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Speaker 1: a funeral director about her son's injuries and how much

305
00:18:03,605 --> 00:18:05,765
Speaker 1: makeup they would need to use. I cannot imagine the

306
00:18:05,885 --> 00:18:09,445
Speaker 1: pain this must have caused her, she said. In the end,

307
00:18:09,485 --> 00:18:11,725
Speaker 1: the funeral director did his best and was able to

308
00:18:11,765 --> 00:18:18,205
Speaker 1: cover up some of the injuries with makeup, while Sandrew

309
00:18:18,245 --> 00:18:21,725
Speaker 1: prepared to bury her son. She kept calling the detective

310
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Speaker 1: to find out what was going on with the investigation.

311
00:18:25,045 --> 00:18:26,765
Speaker 1: She learned they were going to list the cause of

312
00:18:26,805 --> 00:18:31,605
Speaker 1: death as drowning, manner of death undetermined, but police told

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Speaker 1: her they did not suspect foul play. According to reports

314
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Speaker 1: by the Knox County Corner in the Galesburg Police Department,

315
00:18:38,765 --> 00:18:42,005
Speaker 1: they believed this was an accident. One of the factors

316
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Speaker 1: that led them to believe that was the fact that

317
00:18:44,165 --> 00:18:46,925
Speaker 1: Tyler's blood alcohol level was er point two four to

318
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Speaker 1: six percent. Now, this is very high. In fact, it's

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Speaker 1: almost three times the legal limit. He was clearly intoxicated,

320
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Speaker 1: and he was wandering around in an area he was

321
00:18:56,445 --> 00:19:00,605
Speaker 1: unfamiliar with. So we do have to consider the possibility

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00:19:00,685 --> 00:19:02,565
Speaker 1: that he did have some sort of accident and no

323
00:19:02,605 --> 00:19:06,365
Speaker 1: one else was involved. Sandra doesn't discount that, but she

324
00:19:06,525 --> 00:19:09,485
Speaker 1: believes that police closed the case much too quickly.

325
00:19:10,685 --> 00:19:13,005
Speaker 2: When I went to go see Tyler, Tyler was found

326
00:19:13,005 --> 00:19:15,365
Speaker 2: to see that. Even said to the police officer, Hey,

327
00:19:15,405 --> 00:19:18,085
Speaker 2: this person over here at camera, you know, did you

328
00:19:18,085 --> 00:19:20,205
Speaker 2: guys check these cameras? Yeah, yeah, you know, Well he's

329
00:19:20,285 --> 00:19:22,205
Speaker 2: like just kind of blew me off. And then when

330
00:19:22,205 --> 00:19:23,485
Speaker 2: we got back to the pay station, I said, well,

331
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Speaker 2: can you call the guy and see if you know

332
00:19:25,565 --> 00:19:30,445
Speaker 2: you can he has still has footage. And he's just like, oh, well, yeah,

333
00:19:30,485 --> 00:19:32,525
Speaker 2: I'll call him. You know, I know him. Blah blah blah.

334
00:19:32,685 --> 00:19:36,405
Speaker 2: Like the officer in Tyler's case was horrible. Every time

335
00:19:36,405 --> 00:19:38,445
Speaker 2: I gave him information, He's like, what's that going to

336
00:19:38,485 --> 00:19:40,085
Speaker 2: tell me? How's that going to tell me? I said,

337
00:19:40,925 --> 00:19:42,885
Speaker 2: it's going to give us something, you know, like did

338
00:19:42,925 --> 00:19:44,445
Speaker 2: you look at video to see if you could find

339
00:19:44,445 --> 00:19:47,165
Speaker 2: Evan walking? Did you look at street video? Did you

340
00:19:47,205 --> 00:19:49,045
Speaker 2: look at the bar video? Did you look at surveillance

341
00:19:49,125 --> 00:19:52,565
Speaker 2: video around? You know? Did you even do like a

342
00:19:52,685 --> 00:19:54,765
Speaker 2: you know, you go and knock on people's doors. Did

343
00:19:54,805 --> 00:19:57,045
Speaker 2: you hear anything, see anything? You know, There's a whole

344
00:19:57,125 --> 00:19:59,565
Speaker 2: list of stuff they were supposed to do, and they

345
00:19:59,565 --> 00:20:01,685
Speaker 2: were supposed to call in the state police to help

346
00:20:01,725 --> 00:20:04,165
Speaker 2: them with the investigation, and they just didn't do that,

347
00:20:04,805 --> 00:20:07,405
Speaker 2: And so they didn't follow any protocol at all, not

348
00:20:07,645 --> 00:20:09,645
Speaker 2: one single bit of it.

349
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Speaker 1: She was also frustrated that at every single turn it

350
00:20:14,085 --> 00:20:16,525
Speaker 1: seemed like she had to gather evidence herself, and the

351
00:20:16,605 --> 00:20:20,205
Speaker 1: costs were mounting. She did for a requests. She said

352
00:20:20,205 --> 00:20:23,165
Speaker 1: she had to pay seventy five dollars for an autopsy report,

353
00:20:23,285 --> 00:20:26,685
Speaker 1: plus an additional one hundred and thirty dollars for the

354
00:20:26,685 --> 00:20:30,285
Speaker 1: pictures of her son's body. She got them on December sixth,

355
00:20:30,685 --> 00:20:36,765
Speaker 1: almost three months after his death. Sandra decided to do

356
00:20:36,845 --> 00:20:40,405
Speaker 1: more of her own investigation. She started following her son's

357
00:20:40,405 --> 00:20:45,565
Speaker 1: digital trail. She started going through his bank account. Sandra

358
00:20:45,725 --> 00:20:49,405
Speaker 1: went through Tyler's email. She found a receipt that showed

359
00:20:49,525 --> 00:20:52,205
Speaker 1: that Tyler had used an ATM at ten forty two

360
00:20:52,245 --> 00:20:56,045
Speaker 1: pm on Friday, September fourteenth at a Wells Fargo bank

361
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Speaker 1: in Galesburg. He withdrew one hundred dollars. She asked the

362
00:21:00,405 --> 00:21:03,725
Speaker 1: police to get video surveillance from Wells Fargo, but says

363
00:21:03,765 --> 00:21:05,205
Speaker 1: she was told that it could take up to six

364
00:21:05,205 --> 00:21:09,245
Speaker 1: weeks and that Wells Fargo were very hard to deal with. Again,

365
00:21:09,765 --> 00:21:12,565
Speaker 1: Sandra said she was made to feel that Tyler's case

366
00:21:12,765 --> 00:21:18,605
Speaker 1: was not a priority. Sandra said where Tyler's body was

367
00:21:18,645 --> 00:21:21,285
Speaker 1: found was in a pretty dangerous area with a high

368
00:21:21,325 --> 00:21:23,925
Speaker 1: crime rate. There are people out on the streets late

369
00:21:23,965 --> 00:21:26,525
Speaker 1: at night, so it seemed to her that it was

370
00:21:26,685 --> 00:21:29,805
Speaker 1: very possible that he encountered someone who assaulted him.

371
00:21:30,485 --> 00:21:32,605
Speaker 2: I even went and found the guy that called nine

372
00:21:32,685 --> 00:21:35,245
Speaker 2: one one. I got the police report and got his

373
00:21:35,365 --> 00:21:37,845
Speaker 2: name and then googled him and showed up at his

374
00:21:37,885 --> 00:21:39,845
Speaker 2: house asking him questions. And he's like, how do you

375
00:21:39,885 --> 00:21:42,925
Speaker 2: know where was I at? Like who told you about me?

376
00:21:43,245 --> 00:21:45,125
Speaker 2: And I'm just like, well, the police report. I got

377
00:21:45,125 --> 00:21:46,805
Speaker 2: your name from fish report and I googled. He's like,

378
00:21:46,845 --> 00:21:48,485
Speaker 2: did they tell you where I lived? I'm like no,

379
00:21:49,045 --> 00:21:50,645
Speaker 2: I'm like, I found you on my own, and he's

380
00:21:50,725 --> 00:21:52,605
Speaker 2: just like, oh, because Keith and I showed up at

381
00:21:52,645 --> 00:21:55,405
Speaker 2: the house, and then that's when he shared his wife

382
00:21:55,445 --> 00:21:59,325
Speaker 2: took a video of what she saw down there, and

383
00:21:59,365 --> 00:22:02,325
Speaker 2: then I had the nine one one call and so

384
00:22:02,605 --> 00:22:04,645
Speaker 2: but I've never really spoke to him since I went

385
00:22:04,685 --> 00:22:06,965
Speaker 2: to his house, and I know the police never even

386
00:22:07,005 --> 00:22:08,285
Speaker 2: followed up with them.

387
00:22:08,885 --> 00:22:11,085
Speaker 1: Since she had not gotten any word from the police

388
00:22:11,085 --> 00:22:14,445
Speaker 1: about the ATM video, Sandra started to look for other

389
00:22:14,605 --> 00:22:18,445
Speaker 1: potential surveillance footage. Law enforcement gave her the rest of

390
00:22:18,445 --> 00:22:23,285
Speaker 1: her son's belongings. This included some change Tyler's watch, a

391
00:22:23,365 --> 00:22:26,085
Speaker 1: vaping device, a snuff box with some pills in it

392
00:22:26,125 --> 00:22:30,245
Speaker 1: that she was told were ibuprofen and seventy two dollars

393
00:22:30,245 --> 00:22:33,245
Speaker 1: in cash that was in his pocket. Now, Sandra thought

394
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Speaker 1: this was very strange because he had gone to the

395
00:22:36,365 --> 00:22:40,765
Speaker 1: ATM at around ten forty two and withdrawn one hundred dollars.

396
00:22:41,085 --> 00:22:43,565
Speaker 1: She had the receipt for that, and she said he

397
00:22:43,645 --> 00:22:45,605
Speaker 1: used his debit card at the bars he was at

398
00:22:45,645 --> 00:22:48,965
Speaker 1: that night, So where was this missing twenty eight dollars?

399
00:22:49,805 --> 00:22:53,165
Speaker 1: Then there was the beer can. She wondered why they

400
00:22:53,165 --> 00:22:55,645
Speaker 1: would just assume that it was unconnected to Tyler, Why

401
00:22:55,685 --> 00:22:59,485
Speaker 1: they wouldn't test for fingerprints. And Sandra also found herself

402
00:22:59,525 --> 00:23:02,485
Speaker 1: wondering if the case was so quickly dismissed because of

403
00:23:02,485 --> 00:23:07,445
Speaker 1: her son's race. Tyler is by ray, half black, half white.

404
00:23:07,885 --> 00:23:10,445
Speaker 1: She wondered if that could have factored into the police's

405
00:23:10,485 --> 00:23:13,365
Speaker 1: decision to, in her mind, dismiss this case so quickly.

406
00:23:16,365 --> 00:23:19,165
Speaker 1: The last place where Tyler was seen having drinks was

407
00:23:19,245 --> 00:23:22,285
Speaker 1: the Corner Connection Bar, just a few blocks from where

408
00:23:22,285 --> 00:23:25,605
Speaker 1: his body was found. After he left the last bar,

409
00:23:26,565 --> 00:23:30,765
Speaker 1: Tyler started trying to call his friends. The calls started

410
00:23:30,805 --> 00:23:33,925
Speaker 1: at around eleven oh five, so the phone records lead

411
00:23:34,005 --> 00:23:37,085
Speaker 1: Tyler's friends who remember are also trying to remember exactly

412
00:23:37,085 --> 00:23:39,565
Speaker 1: what happened, his mother and everyone else to think that

413
00:23:39,565 --> 00:23:43,925
Speaker 1: they probably separated just after that. And again, Sandra was

414
00:23:43,965 --> 00:23:47,165
Speaker 1: frustrated by the fact that police waited two months to

415
00:23:47,205 --> 00:23:50,725
Speaker 1: talk to Tyler's friends, because even though, as we said before,

416
00:23:51,005 --> 00:23:53,045
Speaker 1: and I want to make this clear, there's absolutely no

417
00:23:53,165 --> 00:23:55,845
Speaker 1: reason to believe they were in any way involved in

418
00:23:55,925 --> 00:23:58,445
Speaker 1: his disappearance. They were his friends. They did the right thing,

419
00:23:58,525 --> 00:24:02,165
Speaker 1: they immediately reported it to police. But as an investigator,

420
00:24:02,205 --> 00:24:04,325
Speaker 1: I would have wanted to talk to them anyway, because

421
00:24:04,685 --> 00:24:07,965
Speaker 1: they may re tiny details about the night before that

422
00:24:08,045 --> 00:24:12,205
Speaker 1: could end up being crucial. We're all human, and to

423
00:24:12,285 --> 00:24:16,685
Speaker 1: me it seemed like potentially these young men might have

424
00:24:16,805 --> 00:24:19,405
Speaker 1: given more evidence to police at that time when their

425
00:24:19,445 --> 00:24:22,885
Speaker 1: memories were fresh, simply because it must have been hard,

426
00:24:22,965 --> 00:24:25,485
Speaker 1: much as they wanted to be helpful, it's hard to

427
00:24:25,525 --> 00:24:29,205
Speaker 1: talk to someone's mom sometimes about a night of heavy

428
00:24:29,285 --> 00:24:31,885
Speaker 1: drinking and what they might have talked about. In my opinion,

429
00:24:31,925 --> 00:24:35,085
Speaker 1: police detective should have questioned these guys immediately for several

430
00:24:35,085 --> 00:24:40,485
Speaker 1: different reasons. After getting separated from his friends, Tyler walked

431
00:24:40,485 --> 00:24:43,445
Speaker 1: the streets for the next forty minutes or so. During

432
00:24:43,445 --> 00:24:47,005
Speaker 1: this time, he was making phone calls and sending snapchat messages.

433
00:24:47,525 --> 00:24:51,325
Speaker 1: At eleven forty six pm, Tyler sent a snapchat message

434
00:24:51,325 --> 00:24:54,565
Speaker 1: to another friend. It read quote, I don't know where

435
00:24:54,605 --> 00:24:58,285
Speaker 1: I am end quote. His final call was to a

436
00:24:58,325 --> 00:25:02,005
Speaker 1: friend at eleven fifty After that, the friend called him back,

437
00:25:02,085 --> 00:25:07,045
Speaker 1: but Tyler didn't answer. He never made another call. Something

438
00:25:07,285 --> 00:25:14,605
Speaker 1: happened at around eleven fifty pm. When Sandra came back

439
00:25:14,685 --> 00:25:17,045
Speaker 1: in to talk to police, she started to get the

440
00:25:17,085 --> 00:25:19,645
Speaker 1: feeling that the detectives were kind of blowing her off

441
00:25:19,645 --> 00:25:23,685
Speaker 1: and that something wasn't right. Sandra said they told her

442
00:25:23,725 --> 00:25:27,405
Speaker 1: to quote move on from this end quote. She said

443
00:25:27,485 --> 00:25:30,005
Speaker 1: she felt as though she'd done something wrong by investigating,

444
00:25:30,045 --> 00:25:33,045
Speaker 1: like the detectives were angry with her, and unfortunately, this

445
00:25:33,085 --> 00:25:35,805
Speaker 1: is a reaction that we have all seen far too

446
00:25:35,885 --> 00:25:39,085
Speaker 1: often in these kind of cases. She came back to

447
00:25:39,125 --> 00:25:42,165
Speaker 1: the Gailsburg Police Department and had another meeting with the sergeant.

448
00:25:42,925 --> 00:25:47,565
Speaker 1: Sandra said that she was following up on some ATM footage. Remember,

449
00:25:47,605 --> 00:25:50,565
Speaker 1: she had found the receipt saying Tyler had withdrawn some

450
00:25:50,645 --> 00:25:53,885
Speaker 1: money from Wells Fargo on the night he went missing.

451
00:25:54,525 --> 00:25:56,685
Speaker 1: She wanted to know if the detective had looked for

452
00:25:56,725 --> 00:25:59,245
Speaker 1: it yet. And if they had, if Tyler had shown

453
00:25:59,325 --> 00:26:04,845
Speaker 1: up on that footage. So Sandra was sitting there when

454
00:26:04,885 --> 00:26:09,325
Speaker 1: the detective played this video, and even though he said

455
00:26:09,445 --> 00:26:11,645
Speaker 1: that he had watched it and that Tyler was not

456
00:26:11,765 --> 00:26:15,285
Speaker 1: on the video, Sandra said she was shocked when about

457
00:26:15,325 --> 00:26:28,405
Speaker 1: twelve minutes in, Tyler showed up on that video. Sandra

458
00:26:28,725 --> 00:26:31,485
Speaker 1: was shocked when she saw that video, the one that

459
00:26:31,525 --> 00:26:34,125
Speaker 1: the police detective insisted that he had seen, and also

460
00:26:34,245 --> 00:26:35,445
Speaker 1: that Tyler was not in.

461
00:26:36,045 --> 00:26:37,885
Speaker 2: The sergeant before he even showed up on the video

462
00:26:38,005 --> 00:26:39,765
Speaker 2: was like what this is literally what he said to me,

463
00:26:39,805 --> 00:26:41,525
Speaker 2: what the fuck do you want from me? Or sonkra ound?

464
00:26:42,125 --> 00:26:44,645
Speaker 2: And I kid you not. Seconds later, Tyler shows up

465
00:26:44,645 --> 00:26:47,645
Speaker 2: on the video where he's supposed to be exact time location.

466
00:26:47,765 --> 00:26:48,805
Speaker 2: I gave him everything.

467
00:26:50,485 --> 00:26:54,205
Speaker 1: Tyler was captured on the Wells Fargo ATM camera at

468
00:26:54,205 --> 00:26:58,125
Speaker 1: ten forty two pm. According to the receipt Sandra had,

469
00:26:58,365 --> 00:27:02,765
Speaker 1: he withdrew one hundred dollars. Again this is a mystery.

470
00:27:02,765 --> 00:27:05,325
Speaker 1: He had been using his debit card at bars all night.

471
00:27:05,365 --> 00:27:07,365
Speaker 1: And you can see if you look at the video

472
00:27:07,405 --> 00:27:11,245
Speaker 1: footage which Sandra has, Tyler has one of those wallets

473
00:27:11,245 --> 00:27:13,765
Speaker 1: that has a money clip on the outside. You can

474
00:27:13,805 --> 00:27:17,085
Speaker 1: see on the money clip he has cash there. So again,

475
00:27:17,365 --> 00:27:19,325
Speaker 1: why at this point in the night is he going

476
00:27:19,365 --> 00:27:21,645
Speaker 1: to get money? Could they have been planning to call

477
00:27:21,685 --> 00:27:23,485
Speaker 1: a cab or were they going to go on to

478
00:27:23,565 --> 00:27:27,685
Speaker 1: another bar or buy something else. Now at this point,

479
00:27:27,965 --> 00:27:31,605
Speaker 1: I'm trying to put myself inside Sandra's mind. She's done

480
00:27:31,685 --> 00:27:34,325
Speaker 1: her own detective work. She's fought to get this video

481
00:27:34,645 --> 00:27:38,205
Speaker 1: after finding the receipt of her son going to an ATM.

482
00:27:38,525 --> 00:27:41,485
Speaker 1: They assure her they've got the video, that they've looked

483
00:27:41,525 --> 00:27:43,845
Speaker 1: at it and that her son is not on it.

484
00:27:43,885 --> 00:27:46,245
Speaker 1: And then right there in front of her eyes after

485
00:27:46,285 --> 00:27:48,325
Speaker 1: the detective she claims, got a little bit of an

486
00:27:48,365 --> 00:27:52,245
Speaker 1: attitude with her. She's finally sitting there and sees her

487
00:27:52,285 --> 00:27:55,485
Speaker 1: son on that video. I cannot imagine how it would

488
00:27:55,485 --> 00:27:58,685
Speaker 1: feel at that point. Of course, you're gonna wonder if

489
00:27:58,725 --> 00:28:01,085
Speaker 1: they insisted they had looked at it and he wasn't

490
00:28:01,085 --> 00:28:03,685
Speaker 1: on it, and you find out that's not true, what

491
00:28:03,805 --> 00:28:06,125
Speaker 1: else did they miss did did they look at the

492
00:28:06,205 --> 00:28:08,605
Speaker 1: video and just missed Tyler on it, or did they

493
00:28:08,765 --> 00:28:12,885
Speaker 1: never really look at it at all? Not surprisingly, at

494
00:28:12,885 --> 00:28:16,285
Speaker 1: this point, Sandra explained that her relationship with the police

495
00:28:16,285 --> 00:28:22,005
Speaker 1: department pretty much completely deteriorated. Detectives told Sandra their theory

496
00:28:22,565 --> 00:28:25,245
Speaker 1: that Tyler had been black out drunk and that he drowned.

497
00:28:25,605 --> 00:28:29,005
Speaker 1: Case closed, Sandra went through the process of filing a

498
00:28:29,005 --> 00:28:33,285
Speaker 1: formal complaint. Sandra, along with her family, opened their own

499
00:28:33,325 --> 00:28:36,285
Speaker 1: tip line. They offered a five thousand dollars reward, which

500
00:28:36,325 --> 00:28:39,565
Speaker 1: was eventually raised to ten thousand dollars for any information

501
00:28:39,685 --> 00:28:42,645
Speaker 1: that would help lead to an arrest and conviction. She

502
00:28:42,725 --> 00:28:46,245
Speaker 1: started a Facebook page, Justice for Tyler Smith, which led

503
00:28:46,245 --> 00:28:50,845
Speaker 1: to over twelve thousand followers and hundreds of comments and tips.

504
00:28:50,885 --> 00:28:53,765
Speaker 1: Sandra said that she and her family asked about other

505
00:28:53,805 --> 00:28:57,405
Speaker 1: surveillance videos from other businesses in the area. They were

506
00:28:57,485 --> 00:29:00,365
Speaker 1: heartbroken to learn that a lot of the videos had

507
00:29:00,405 --> 00:29:04,245
Speaker 1: been overridden after around two weeks after Tyler's death, So,

508
00:29:04,645 --> 00:29:09,965
Speaker 1: she says, pull waited too long. Again, this is devastating

509
00:29:10,005 --> 00:29:12,365
Speaker 1: and happens in so many cases, and this, in my opinion,

510
00:29:12,405 --> 00:29:15,325
Speaker 1: is something that should never happen. That surveillance footage should

511
00:29:15,325 --> 00:29:18,645
Speaker 1: have been a requested The next day. Sandra said she

512
00:29:18,725 --> 00:29:20,925
Speaker 1: and her family did not give up. They tried to

513
00:29:21,005 --> 00:29:24,845
Speaker 1: retrace Tyler's steps. They knew he had been seen at

514
00:29:24,885 --> 00:29:29,605
Speaker 1: several establishments around town, including the Cherry Street Bar. They

515
00:29:29,725 --> 00:29:32,085
Speaker 1: talked to the manager, and the manager of Cherry Street

516
00:29:32,085 --> 00:29:35,565
Speaker 1: Bar told law enforcement that Tyler was seen leaving there

517
00:29:35,765 --> 00:29:39,925
Speaker 1: with his friend Evan at around ten thirty. Sandra was

518
00:29:39,925 --> 00:29:43,205
Speaker 1: also trying to figure out under what circumstances Tyler got

519
00:29:43,205 --> 00:29:47,045
Speaker 1: separated from his friends. She said that she asked police

520
00:29:47,165 --> 00:29:50,925
Speaker 1: if they looked for Tyler's friends or their cars separately

521
00:29:51,085 --> 00:29:54,405
Speaker 1: from Tyler in that surveillance footage. She said she was

522
00:29:54,445 --> 00:29:57,085
Speaker 1: shocked when they asked her, why would we do that?

523
00:29:58,165 --> 00:30:00,845
Speaker 1: She said she was further discouraged when she learned that

524
00:30:00,885 --> 00:30:06,685
Speaker 1: police had not contacted many nearby businesses. Casey's on Northwest

525
00:30:06,685 --> 00:30:10,365
Speaker 1: Main Street Now Casey's was very close to where Tyler's

526
00:30:10,405 --> 00:30:13,485
Speaker 1: body was found, and the manager there was willing to

527
00:30:13,525 --> 00:30:17,085
Speaker 1: give Sandra six hours of footage between ten pm on

528
00:30:17,125 --> 00:30:19,845
Speaker 1: the night of the fourteenth and four am the next day,

529
00:30:19,925 --> 00:30:23,365
Speaker 1: September fifteenth. This was the crucial time period when Tyler

530
00:30:23,405 --> 00:30:27,685
Speaker 1: went missing. Sandra said she also saw her son on

531
00:30:27,765 --> 00:30:32,765
Speaker 1: that tape. This was the last video surveillance footage of

532
00:30:32,845 --> 00:30:35,685
Speaker 1: her son alive that we know of. We're going to

533
00:30:35,765 --> 00:30:37,965
Speaker 1: get more into the health app in a minute, because,

534
00:30:38,005 --> 00:30:41,285
Speaker 1: as it turned out, Tyler's phone had a wealth of

535
00:30:41,325 --> 00:30:44,285
Speaker 1: information on it that was not pulled by the police

536
00:30:44,765 --> 00:30:47,765
Speaker 1: and not related to anything involving as GPS. In fact,

537
00:30:47,845 --> 00:30:50,405
Speaker 1: I think this is pretty genius and could have impacts

538
00:30:50,445 --> 00:30:52,925
Speaker 1: in a lot of cases. So I'm going to talk

539
00:30:52,925 --> 00:30:57,725
Speaker 1: about that in a second. Sandra was getting closer. She

540
00:30:57,845 --> 00:30:59,765
Speaker 1: still didn't know what happened to her son, but the

541
00:30:59,805 --> 00:31:03,645
Speaker 1: window of time when it happened was getting smaller and smaller.

542
00:31:04,765 --> 00:31:07,125
Speaker 1: She reached out to other members of the community for help.

543
00:31:07,685 --> 00:31:10,765
Speaker 1: This included Gee Wright with a Missing Person's Awareness network.

544
00:31:11,285 --> 00:31:16,205
Speaker 1: That organization made a Facebook live. In that Facebook live,

545
00:31:16,325 --> 00:31:19,205
Speaker 1: they followed the steps that Tyler took on September fourteenth,

546
00:31:19,245 --> 00:31:22,165
Speaker 1: when he was last seen alive. They released the surveillance

547
00:31:22,245 --> 00:31:25,085
Speaker 1: video from Casey's General Store on Maine and West Streets.

548
00:31:25,645 --> 00:31:28,965
Speaker 1: That footage showed Tyler walking past there toward the direction

549
00:31:29,045 --> 00:31:32,725
Speaker 1: of the canal where his body was found. Sandra said

550
00:31:32,805 --> 00:31:36,565
Speaker 1: she saw something else on that final video of Tyler.

551
00:31:37,365 --> 00:31:41,485
Speaker 1: She saw several cars following her son at around eleven fifty,

552
00:31:41,925 --> 00:31:46,645
Speaker 1: including a police car. Sandra and her family went for

553
00:31:46,685 --> 00:31:50,045
Speaker 1: a meeting on January third, twenty nineteen with the city manager,

554
00:31:50,205 --> 00:31:53,725
Speaker 1: the city attorney, and the chief of police. She said, quote,

555
00:31:54,205 --> 00:31:56,765
Speaker 1: they told us that they failed us and communication could

556
00:31:56,805 --> 00:31:59,325
Speaker 1: have been better and our treatment could have been better.

557
00:31:59,885 --> 00:32:02,725
Speaker 1: They said this had been a learning experience and that

558
00:32:02,765 --> 00:32:05,165
Speaker 1: the investigation was still open and active.

559
00:32:05,685 --> 00:32:05,925
Speaker 2: Quote.

560
00:32:07,565 --> 00:32:10,525
Speaker 1: So Sandra found herself in the limbo in my opinion,

561
00:32:10,565 --> 00:32:13,685
Speaker 1: that so many families go through because police are saying

562
00:32:13,725 --> 00:32:17,405
Speaker 1: the investigation's open and active, but they've told her they

563
00:32:17,405 --> 00:32:19,885
Speaker 1: believe it's an accident, So you have to question how

564
00:32:19,965 --> 00:32:24,605
Speaker 1: much active investigation they're actually doing a few months later,

565
00:32:25,085 --> 00:32:28,685
Speaker 1: Sandra met with an investigator. She was put in touch

566
00:32:28,805 --> 00:32:32,045
Speaker 1: with a retired homicide officer, Mitchell Drake, through a mutual.

567
00:32:31,725 --> 00:32:36,925
Speaker 4: Friend, a friend of mine. He contacted me and he said, listen,

568
00:32:37,525 --> 00:32:40,925
Speaker 4: you know, his wife was an attorney had been contacted

569
00:32:40,925 --> 00:32:44,205
Speaker 4: by a friend of Sandy's. And he goes, you know,

570
00:32:44,285 --> 00:32:47,685
Speaker 4: I don't have the expertise to look into this, but

571
00:32:48,245 --> 00:32:52,485
Speaker 4: from what I've looked at, it seems him like there

572
00:32:52,565 --> 00:32:57,165
Speaker 4: was a really bad job done. And I said, yeah, well,

573
00:32:57,245 --> 00:33:00,525
Speaker 4: you know, my whole thing was was bad things happen

574
00:33:00,605 --> 00:33:03,565
Speaker 4: to good people all the time, and I was just

575
00:33:03,565 --> 00:33:06,965
Speaker 4: just retired and I wasn't really too interested in taking

576
00:33:07,005 --> 00:33:09,965
Speaker 4: on a project. He told me a little bit more

577
00:33:09,965 --> 00:33:14,285
Speaker 4: about it, and we met with Sandy and Keith and gush.

578
00:33:14,365 --> 00:33:18,125
Speaker 4: Within a half hour looking over the stuff that she had,

579
00:33:18,925 --> 00:33:21,845
Speaker 4: I realized that it was a really, really bad investigation.

580
00:33:22,365 --> 00:33:25,485
Speaker 4: I can't even describe how bad the investigation was. I mean,

581
00:33:25,525 --> 00:33:29,325
Speaker 4: it was really really bad. And what amazed me about

582
00:33:29,365 --> 00:33:31,605
Speaker 4: it is, you know, these were the parents of a kid,

583
00:33:31,725 --> 00:33:36,125
Speaker 4: and she had everything. She had the autopsy photos, she had,

584
00:33:36,165 --> 00:33:40,085
Speaker 4: the police report, she had everything. And I told her,

585
00:33:40,085 --> 00:33:43,605
Speaker 4: I said, well, give me the information and I'll get

586
00:33:43,645 --> 00:33:44,165
Speaker 4: back to you.

587
00:33:44,725 --> 00:33:47,645
Speaker 5: And I spent a few days, a couple of weeks

588
00:33:47,645 --> 00:33:51,245
Speaker 5: maybe going over the information she gave me, and the

589
00:33:51,285 --> 00:33:53,925
Speaker 5: more I got into it, the more I realized that,

590
00:33:54,485 --> 00:33:55,845
Speaker 5: you know, they really hadn't got.

591
00:33:56,445 --> 00:33:59,965
Speaker 4: Any investigation to speak of into there, and there was

592
00:34:00,005 --> 00:34:03,365
Speaker 4: a lot of unanswered questions. So I went back and

593
00:34:03,405 --> 00:34:04,885
Speaker 4: I told him I would look into it.

594
00:34:10,325 --> 00:34:13,045
Speaker 1: Mitchell did something that I think was so creative and

595
00:34:13,165 --> 00:34:16,365
Speaker 1: clever and in my opinion, potentially led to a huge

596
00:34:16,365 --> 00:34:19,965
Speaker 1: break in the case. He got Tyler's phone, the one

597
00:34:20,005 --> 00:34:23,165
Speaker 1: that apparently the GPS didn't show a tremendous amount of data,

598
00:34:23,805 --> 00:34:28,045
Speaker 1: and he went into Tyler's health app. That's the app

599
00:34:28,245 --> 00:34:31,605
Speaker 1: that measures how many steps we take per day and

600
00:34:31,925 --> 00:34:34,885
Speaker 1: also the length of steps, the length of the stride,

601
00:34:34,925 --> 00:34:37,645
Speaker 1: which can tell you a lot about how symmetrically a

602
00:34:37,645 --> 00:34:40,925
Speaker 1: person's walking, what their pace is, and lots of other things.

603
00:34:41,525 --> 00:34:46,845
Speaker 1: So Mitchell Drake was literally able to trace how Tyler

604
00:34:46,885 --> 00:34:50,405
Speaker 1: took his last steps. Sandra said, Mitchell Drake talked to

605
00:34:50,605 --> 00:34:53,765
Speaker 1: Robbie and Evan, Tyler's friends. He was a fresh set

606
00:34:53,805 --> 00:34:56,085
Speaker 1: of eyes with a balanced approach, and she felt that's

607
00:34:56,125 --> 00:34:59,725
Speaker 1: what the case needed. Mitchell analyzed the health app data.

608
00:35:00,405 --> 00:35:03,205
Speaker 1: He also walked the area where Tyler's body was found

609
00:35:03,325 --> 00:35:07,965
Speaker 1: many times. According to Mitchell Drake's report, Tyler's body was

610
00:35:07,965 --> 00:35:12,565
Speaker 1: found about nineteen hours after he stopped moving. Tyler Smith

611
00:35:12,685 --> 00:35:15,005
Speaker 1: was last seen at the corner Connection Tavern. This was

612
00:35:15,045 --> 00:35:19,485
Speaker 1: about eleven thirty. He was walking northbound along that road

613
00:35:19,765 --> 00:35:22,925
Speaker 1: right by Casey's General Store. That's at two twenty three

614
00:35:23,125 --> 00:35:26,925
Speaker 1: West Main Street in Galesburg. He was walking along Northwest Street.

615
00:35:27,725 --> 00:35:31,205
Speaker 1: Then that street dead ended at an iron fence. This

616
00:35:31,245 --> 00:35:33,285
Speaker 1: is about two blocks away from the place where he

617
00:35:33,325 --> 00:35:37,125
Speaker 1: was last seen. So what Mitchell Drake did was basically

618
00:35:37,165 --> 00:35:40,805
Speaker 1: break down Tyler's average step length. He figured out from

619
00:35:40,845 --> 00:35:44,365
Speaker 1: eleven twenty to eleven fifty two, Tyler was walking at

620
00:35:44,405 --> 00:35:47,565
Speaker 1: basically an average walking speed. He stopped a couple times

621
00:35:47,565 --> 00:35:50,085
Speaker 1: for around one minute and forty five seconds each. This

622
00:35:50,125 --> 00:35:52,525
Speaker 1: is when he was walking around lost, calling his friends,

623
00:35:52,725 --> 00:35:57,285
Speaker 1: and sending snapchats. In the time period from eleven twenty

624
00:35:57,325 --> 00:36:01,205
Speaker 1: to eleven fifty, so thirty minutes, Tyler walked two thousand,

625
00:36:01,445 --> 00:36:04,725
Speaker 1: nine hundred and three feet. But then just before eleven

626
00:36:04,805 --> 00:36:07,765
Speaker 1: fifty one, in what we now know were the last

627
00:36:07,765 --> 00:36:11,685
Speaker 1: couple of minutes of his life, something changed. Something happened.

628
00:36:12,565 --> 00:36:16,325
Speaker 1: At that point, Tyler started taking much larger step links,

629
00:36:16,845 --> 00:36:21,045
Speaker 1: which means, according to Mitchell Drake, Tyler started running. For

630
00:36:21,125 --> 00:36:23,525
Speaker 1: the last four hundred and seventy nine feet, Tyler was

631
00:36:23,605 --> 00:36:27,765
Speaker 1: running at full speed. So why was he running? Did

632
00:36:27,805 --> 00:36:30,405
Speaker 1: he get scared for some reason? Did he see someone

633
00:36:30,525 --> 00:36:34,845
Speaker 1: or something that scared him. Tyler's mom had seen a

634
00:36:34,885 --> 00:36:38,565
Speaker 1: police car pass at eleven fifty. Now, there's no suggestion

635
00:36:38,845 --> 00:36:41,165
Speaker 1: that Tyler had any kind of encounter with the officer,

636
00:36:41,245 --> 00:36:43,885
Speaker 1: but maybe just seeing a police car frightened him for

637
00:36:43,885 --> 00:36:47,685
Speaker 1: some reason. That does seem a little bit logical because

638
00:36:47,725 --> 00:36:50,325
Speaker 1: remember he was literally about to become a police officer.

639
00:36:51,005 --> 00:36:53,765
Speaker 1: But who knows, maybe in his mind somewhere he didn't

640
00:36:53,805 --> 00:36:56,605
Speaker 1: want to get picked up for being intoxicated. This is

641
00:36:56,645 --> 00:37:00,965
Speaker 1: all pure speculation. Mitchell Drake pointed out that there was

642
00:37:01,005 --> 00:37:04,725
Speaker 1: a railroad bed and railroad tracks out there, very rocky

643
00:37:04,845 --> 00:37:08,925
Speaker 1: uneven tern did someone grab Tyler out in the darkness.

644
00:37:10,805 --> 00:37:13,565
Speaker 1: She and Mitchell Drake asked the Illinois State Police to

645
00:37:13,605 --> 00:37:17,685
Speaker 1: do some more investigation, and they were successful because in

646
00:37:17,725 --> 00:37:21,365
Speaker 1: September of twenty twenty, the Illinois State Police Department of

647
00:37:21,405 --> 00:37:26,245
Speaker 1: Criminal Investigations said they become involved and they were able

648
00:37:26,285 --> 00:37:32,205
Speaker 1: to request and get a second autopsy. Sandra said she's

649
00:37:32,285 --> 00:37:34,765
Speaker 1: not totally sure what the state of the investigation is

650
00:37:34,845 --> 00:37:38,165
Speaker 1: right now, but she does believe that police are still

651
00:37:38,205 --> 00:37:40,365
Speaker 1: following up on Leith. We're going to get a lot

652
00:37:40,405 --> 00:37:42,165
Speaker 1: more into it next week. There's a lot more to

653
00:37:42,205 --> 00:37:46,725
Speaker 1: this case, including leeds about a potential white supremacist and

654
00:37:46,765 --> 00:37:50,965
Speaker 1: his friend who were allegedly bragging about beating Tyler up.

655
00:37:52,205 --> 00:37:55,965
Speaker 1: They're also working to decrypt Tyler's phone, and more work

656
00:37:56,005 --> 00:37:58,445
Speaker 1: is apparently being done at a cold case institute in

657
00:37:58,445 --> 00:38:02,125
Speaker 1: South Carolina, and Sandra says despite her difficulties with the

658
00:38:02,125 --> 00:38:04,925
Speaker 1: police in the past, she is continuing to pass along

659
00:38:05,005 --> 00:38:08,765
Speaker 1: all really of an information to them. Mitchell Drake has

660
00:38:08,845 --> 00:38:13,045
Speaker 1: said that in his opinion, the investigation by the police

661
00:38:13,125 --> 00:38:16,645
Speaker 1: was mismanaged from the very beginning. He said police did

662
00:38:16,685 --> 00:38:20,405
Speaker 1: not follow the proper investigated protocol. He said no crime

663
00:38:20,445 --> 00:38:24,085
Speaker 1: scene technician was sent to the scene, and after they

664
00:38:24,165 --> 00:38:27,405
Speaker 1: pulled the metadata from the photos that were sent of

665
00:38:27,485 --> 00:38:31,445
Speaker 1: the autopsy, Mitchell and Sandra say they figured out that

666
00:38:31,525 --> 00:38:34,445
Speaker 1: autopsy had been done in just thirty one minutes for

667
00:38:34,565 --> 00:38:37,725
Speaker 1: a potential homicide, for the unexplained death of a twenty

668
00:38:37,725 --> 00:38:40,805
Speaker 1: three year old young man with absolutely no health problems.

669
00:38:41,565 --> 00:38:44,645
Speaker 1: Then there were the marks on Tyler's wrists and the

670
00:38:44,685 --> 00:38:48,765
Speaker 1: other injuries on Tyler's face, the fact that Tyler's feet

671
00:38:48,805 --> 00:38:51,645
Speaker 1: were very close to the wall of the canal. Mitchell

672
00:38:51,685 --> 00:38:54,965
Speaker 1: and Sandra both feel that he just couldn't have landed

673
00:38:54,965 --> 00:38:57,125
Speaker 1: that way naturally, And we've already talked about the fact

674
00:38:57,165 --> 00:39:01,085
Speaker 1: that his poems were facing upward. Mitchell said, in addition

675
00:39:01,125 --> 00:39:04,365
Speaker 1: to that, the authorities did not look for DNA underneath

676
00:39:04,405 --> 00:39:09,165
Speaker 1: Tyler's fingernails, which he considers a huge oversight. He said

677
00:39:09,285 --> 00:39:12,725
Speaker 1: that there are marks on Tyler's head, around his wrist,

678
00:39:12,845 --> 00:39:14,765
Speaker 1: and on the back of his hand and on his back,

679
00:39:15,245 --> 00:39:19,365
Speaker 1: many injuries that he said just are not explained. He

680
00:39:19,565 --> 00:39:23,525
Speaker 1: also criticized the first autopsy. He said no X rays

681
00:39:23,565 --> 00:39:28,085
Speaker 1: were taken and that Tyler's neck had not been dissected

682
00:39:28,165 --> 00:39:30,445
Speaker 1: to see if there were injuries there that could have

683
00:39:30,485 --> 00:39:34,365
Speaker 1: contributed to his death. According to Mitchell Drake's report, his

684
00:39:34,525 --> 00:39:38,485
Speaker 1: conclusion is that the most likely explanation is that Tyler

685
00:39:38,525 --> 00:39:42,445
Speaker 1: Smith was beaten by persons not yet known, and that

686
00:39:42,445 --> 00:39:47,285
Speaker 1: that beating had directly led to his death. And Mitchell wrote,

687
00:39:47,685 --> 00:39:51,485
Speaker 1: quote he was likely unconscious prior to his final placement

688
00:39:51,525 --> 00:39:58,045
Speaker 1: in Cedar Fort Creek end quote. In July of twenty twenty,

689
00:39:58,445 --> 00:40:02,285
Speaker 1: Tyler Smith's body was exhumed and a second autopsy was performed,

690
00:40:03,005 --> 00:40:07,645
Speaker 1: and this time the results were completely different because the

691
00:40:07,725 --> 00:40:12,165
Speaker 1: second autopsy found that Tyler had not drowned, but that

692
00:40:12,285 --> 00:40:16,445
Speaker 1: he had died directly as a result of catastrophic injuries

693
00:40:16,845 --> 00:40:18,005
Speaker 1: sustained in the fall.

694
00:40:18,685 --> 00:40:21,685
Speaker 2: It's the worst thing in the world. It's literally the

695
00:40:21,725 --> 00:40:26,125
Speaker 2: worst pain you could ever imagine. I mean, he was

696
00:40:26,205 --> 00:40:28,645
Speaker 2: just he was a best friend. He just was such

697
00:40:28,685 --> 00:40:31,725
Speaker 2: a good kid, you know, and he was all I

698
00:40:31,765 --> 00:40:36,245
Speaker 2: had and we just were very close. And I just

699
00:40:36,445 --> 00:40:39,245
Speaker 2: know that, you know, I have this gut instinct that

700
00:40:39,365 --> 00:40:45,085
Speaker 2: something was wrong and there's just too many wrongs and

701
00:40:45,165 --> 00:40:49,245
Speaker 2: not enough rates with it, and I just I'll never

702
00:40:49,285 --> 00:40:49,725
Speaker 2: give up.

703
00:40:49,925 --> 00:40:54,045
Speaker 1: So now Sandra believed her son did not accidentally drown.

704
00:40:54,845 --> 00:40:58,085
Speaker 1: The question was did he fall to his death by

705
00:40:58,125 --> 00:41:02,885
Speaker 1: accident or did someone chase him there? Or was he

706
00:41:03,205 --> 00:41:07,485
Speaker 1: as Sandra and Mitchell Drake believe place there? Did he

707
00:41:07,565 --> 00:41:11,085
Speaker 1: fall or did someone push him? And what was he

708
00:41:11,205 --> 00:41:18,165
Speaker 1: running from? I'm Katherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line.

709
00:41:18,245 --> 00:41:20,405
Speaker 1: Helen Gone Murder Line is a production of School of

710
00:41:20,445 --> 00:41:23,565
Speaker 1: Humans and iHeart Podcasts. It's written and narrated by me

711
00:41:23,725 --> 00:41:27,925
Speaker 1: Catherine Townsend and produced by Gabby Watts. Special thanks for

712
00:41:27,965 --> 00:41:31,925
Speaker 1: the research assistance provided by Amy Tubbs. Music contributed by

713
00:41:31,925 --> 00:41:35,445
Speaker 1: Ben Sale. Executive producers of Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, and

714
00:41:35,565 --> 00:41:37,965
Speaker 1: LC Crowley. If you have a case you'd like me

715
00:41:38,005 --> 00:41:40,125
Speaker 1: and my team to look into, you can reach out

716
00:41:40,125 --> 00:41:42,405
Speaker 1: to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six

717
00:41:42,445 --> 00:41:45,725
Speaker 1: seven eight seven four four, six, one four or five

718
00:41:46,245 --> 00:41:49,605
Speaker 1: that's six seven eight seven four four six ' one

719
00:41:49,685 --> 00:41:58,445
Speaker 1: four or five. School of Humans,