WEBVTT 1 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:29.359 Welcome back to the Pathway Chili. 2 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:32.799 I'm Robin, I'm Jules, and I'm Ashley. 3 00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:35.359 Let's dive right into this week's case. 4 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:42.520 November twenty one, nineteen seventy nine, Craig Colorado. After spending 5 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.359 the evening at a dance, fifteen year old Marie Blee 6 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:49.840 heads to a party but never returns home. Two days later, 7 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:53.320 Marie's parents receive an anonymous phone call demanding a five 8 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:57.079 thousand dollars ransom for her return. The caller turns out 9 00:00:57.079 --> 00:01:00.359 to be eighteen year old Monte Doolan, who originally drove 10 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.679 Marie to the party, but he denized any involvement in 11 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:08.959 her disappearance. Over the next few decades, investigators received contradictory 12 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:12.280 eyewitness accounts about what might have happened to Marie and 13 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:15.959 eventually named three persons of interest, but she continues to 14 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.159 remain a missing person. 15 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:21.480 After that, the path went chilly. So on this episode, 16 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:23.840 we're going to be exploring a missing person's case which 17 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.920 took place just over forty five years ago, the nineteen 18 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.599 seventy nine disappearance of fifteen year old Marie Blee. This 19 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:34.120 is a very complex but frustrating mystery because the victim 20 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:37.400 in this story went missing after attending a party, but unfortunately, 21 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.319 a proper investigation was not performed for nearly twenty years. 22 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:44.400 Many of the witnesses who attended that party were interviewed, 23 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:46.680 but the problem is that their accounts of what happened 24 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.719 often contradicted each other, so it's tough to work out 25 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:53.200 a concrete timeline and pinpoint the exact moment when Marie 26 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:57.120 Blee was last confirmed to be alive. Investigators would eventually 27 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:00.439 name three persons of interest, and one of them, Monty Doolan, 28 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:02.760 drove Marie to the party on the night she went 29 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.480 missing and soon made an inexplicable attempt to extort money 30 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:09.520 from her family. This is one of those cold cases 31 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:11.879 where it's been suspected that a number of people might 32 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.840 know the truth but are reluctant to come forward. It 33 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.879 seems apparent that something happened to Marie at that party, 34 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:19.919 but all the pieces of the puzzle have yet to 35 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:20.599 be put together. 36 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.319 I'm already frustrated. 37 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:28.639 You have a eighteen year old who drove Marie who's fifteen, 38 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:31.879 to a party, so clearly we already know that there 39 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.199 are multiple ages at this party. You have people who 40 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:39.360 are a legal adult driving a fifteen year old to 41 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:41.919 this party, And like you said, it's pretty clear that 42 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.039 something must have happened there because she arrives at the 43 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:48.400 party and then we know nothing about her whereabouts after that. 44 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:53.520 What is absolutely heartbreaking is that there's a family who's 45 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.759 waiting for their fifteen year old little girl to come 46 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.800 home and two days later they get a phone call 47 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.520 for a ransom and it turns out to be the 48 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:06.199 very kid that Marie trusted to take her to the party. It's, 49 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.439 i don't know, inexplicable, Like you just said, it's despicable 50 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:12.400 that someone could behave that way. I'm dying to know 51 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:16.560 more about Monty Doolan, the eighteen year old, why and 52 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.960 how he's a suspect and who these other people could be, 53 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:24.639 because already his behavior is it's just disgusting. You have 54 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:27.919 a grieving family, a worried family, and then they have 55 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:32.120 possibly a prank phone call for a ransom, or was 56 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:35.319 it Monty really trying to get something because he knew 57 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:37.960 where she was or what had happened to her, and 58 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.319 then starts to recant that he has any involvement. 59 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:45.159 It's diabolical if he is involved with Marie's disappearance. But 60 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:47.879 if he isn't as well, if he just does this 61 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.240 prank phone call, the callous nature of doing something like 62 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.560 that to parents who have no idea what happened to 63 00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:55.120 their daughter. 64 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:59.560 It's gross and you were responsible for her like she 65 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.039 if the parents didn't know that Monty drove her, Marie 66 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:05.719 trusted him to drive her, so to be in that 67 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:10.360 position of trust and her alleged friendship with him, and 68 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:13.719 then to manipulate and harm the family again when they're 69 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.160 baby's missing, it's oh, it's bad. 70 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.920 Yeah. Monty Dulin has always maintained his innocence and claims 71 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:23.040 he had nothing to do with Marie's disappearance. So when 72 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.759 you hear the excuse he gives for why he decided 73 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.240 to phone the family and try to extort money, you're 74 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.759 going to roll your eyes. So it's pretty obvious that 75 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:33.839 even if he wasn't directly involved, these pretty terrible human 76 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:36.439 being and that a lot of people did fail Marie 77 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:38.680 that night because she was a fifteen year old girl 78 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:40.680 going to one of her first grown up parties with 79 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.079 a lot of older kids, and it doesn't seem like 80 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:44.800 anyone was really watching over her. 81 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.120 Our story begins in Colorado in nineteen seventy nine. Our 82 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:53.639 central figure is fifteen year old Marie Anne Blee, who 83 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:56.480 lives with her parents, Paul and Monablee, and is the 84 00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.759 youngest of five children. The Blee family lives in Hayden, 85 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:04.279 a small town of around seventeen hundred located in Route County. 86 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.639 Marie is currently a sophomore at Hayden High School and 87 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.240 is very active in the sewing program for the local 88 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:13.600 four h club. She enjoys a very close relationship with 89 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.040 her parents and has gone on a trip to Germany 90 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.519 and Switzerland with them. In September of this year, on 91 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:22.600 the evening of Wednesday, November twenty first, which happened to 92 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:26.319 be the day before Thanksgiving, Marie traveled seventeen miles to 93 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:29.920 the town of Craig, located in Moffat County. She was 94 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.120 driven there by an eighteen year old friend of hers 95 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.959 named Monty Doolan, who had recently graduated high school, and 96 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.480 they would attend a four age dance being held at 97 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:42.800 the Moffatt County Fairgrounds Pavilion. When the dance ended, Monty 98 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.720 drove Marie to the Shadow Mountain Village Mobile home Park, 99 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:48.879 in order to attend a party. The party was hosted 100 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.040 by an eighteen year old high school senior named Michael O'Brien, 101 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.279 who would claim that he originally only intended to hold 102 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.720 a small get together with his brother and their friends. However, 103 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:01.439 once worred about the party spread, it wound up being 104 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:04.879 crashed by somewhere between fifty to one hundred people, many 105 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:07.920 of whom arrived there from the dance, and the mobile 106 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:11.240 home became so overcrowded the people started spilling out into 107 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:15.040 the yard. Some of Marie's female friends joined her at 108 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.160 the party, but they became uncomfortable once they saw there 109 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.600 was a lot of drug usage going on and most 110 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:22.759 of the people there were older males who they did 111 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:26.240 not know. Marie's friends decided to leave, but they claimed 112 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:28.639 that she insisted on staying and they were unable to 113 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.680 change her mind. The following morning, Marie's mother, moanably, woke 114 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:34.920 up at six a m. In order to start preparing 115 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.319 the turkey for the family's Thanksgiving dinner that night. She 116 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:41.120 took a glance inside Marie's room and was surprised to 117 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.600 discover that she was not there and her bed had 118 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.160 not been slept in since Marie never missed her curfew, 119 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:50.199 it was very uncharacteristic for her not to come home, 120 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:53.600 and her parents soon became greatly concerned when they checked 121 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:55.639 with her friends and learned that she had not spent 122 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.560 the night with any of them. Mona and her husband 123 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.920 Paul attempted to report Marie missing, but the Hayden Police 124 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.759 Department believed that Marie had simply ran away and would 125 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:08.519 turn up soon. However, Marie's parents didn't buy this, as 126 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.160 she was doing well in school and not experiencing any 127 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:14.360 personal problems at that time, so they plan to organize 128 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:15.759 their own search effort for her. 129 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:19.199 This is one of those cases that we've we've looked 130 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:22.959 at many many times where you have a young individual 131 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:26.399 who's doing what young people do and it's kind of 132 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:28.759 caught up in that trap of manipulation and kind of 133 00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:33.360 insecurity and seeking approval from people. I wouldn't be surprised 134 00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:36.560 if Marie didn't have somebody at that party that she 135 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.639 admired that she really wanted to be close to, that 136 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:43.759 maybe she had a crush on, and she's seeing there's 137 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:47.160 older people there, They're showing me attention. I want to 138 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:51.199 be here, and I guarantee many people who are listening. 139 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:53.319 And I myself have done the thing where my friends 140 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:55.920 say let's go, and I say I'm good, leave me be, 141 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:58.279 I have a ride home, just let me be. And 142 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:02.160 you're putting yourself in such a dangerous situation. But at 143 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:05.720 fifteen years old, you don't know that you trust people. 144 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:09.759 You have this kind of hope that someone's gonna find 145 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.439 you beautiful or funny and is gonna hang out with 146 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.360 you and take care of you and maybe be interested 147 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:17.839 in you. And so I wouldn't be shocked if that 148 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.480 was the motivation for Marie fighting to stay at that party. 149 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.279 Sounds like there's a lot of older people. It sounds 150 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.120 like a lot of dangerous things were happening at that party, 151 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.439 like drug use and drinking. And you have a lot 152 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:32.039 of people coming and going that might not actually have 153 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.000 anything to do with Marie, but they were involved in 154 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.639 let's say the drug use or the drinking, and they 155 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:41.399 pass her path and they could put her at risk. 156 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.320 And or it's the people she's truly trusting and wanting 157 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.399 to get close to who end up hurting her. So 158 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:50.720 there's two really big scenarios here going on. Is it 159 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:52.799 someone she was staying at the party for who ended 160 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:55.320 up hurting her? Or is it someone who was watching 161 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.159 her at the party and took an opportunity because they 162 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.799 saw a young fifteen year old who was vulne and 163 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:03.879 with fifty to one hundred people, good luck figuring out 164 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:05.000 which one of them could have done it. 165 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.279 And this is far from the only case we've covered 166 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:10.720 on the podcast. An old missing person's case from like 167 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.960 the seventies or eighties, where even though they're under age, 168 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.480 their parents tried to report the missing the police and 169 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:19.159 they say, oh, they just ran away. They'll turn up eventually. 170 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:21.559 And this is one case where that turned out to 171 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:24.039 be such a detriment because if they had gone to 172 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:26.960 work right away and interviewed everyone at that party they 173 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.240 when their memories were still fresh, we might have gotten 174 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:31.639 a better idea of figuring out what happened to her. 175 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.399 But because they went interview these people into a long 176 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.919 time later and just wrote off Marie's runaway as we're 177 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:40.679 going to talk about, we got so many contradictory eyewitness 178 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.600 statements about what Marie was doing and where she was 179 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:45.559 that it was just so tough to get a handle 180 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:47.120 on figuring out what happened to her. 181 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:51.200 I'm like you, Ash, I can't help but think of 182 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:53.440 all the stupid things that I did when I was 183 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:56.240 Marie's age, and how many parties that I went to 184 00:09:56.679 --> 00:10:00.639 and ones where my friends probably left me. I would say, like, 185 00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:02.960 just leave me behind. I'm with like this guy friend 186 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:05.879 or this guy friend, and I'm so thankful that horrible 187 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:08.799 things didn't happen. But every time that I did that, 188 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:11.879 it opened myself up to like such a dangerous situation. 189 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.639 So to think back in retrospect, when you hear a 190 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.759 story like Marie, it really makes you question your own 191 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:21.200 decisions in your youth. 192 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:23.799 Oh yeah, And I know that Marie's friends, it would 193 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:26.320 be easy to criticize them for leaving her behind at 194 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:29.200 the party, but they said multiple times that we did 195 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.200 what we could to try to convince her to leave 196 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:34.240 with us, and she kept saying no, And ultimately our 197 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.000 hands were kind of tied here. If she didn't want 198 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.679 to leave, we couldn't make her leave, And unfortunately, this 199 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:41.120 is one of those situations where she just was never 200 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:44.799 seen again. On November the twenty fourth, the case took 201 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:47.759 an unsettling turn when the Bleeze received a phone call 202 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.279 from an anonymous mail who demanded that they pay a 203 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:54.480 five thousand dollars ransom for Marie's safe return. Since November 204 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.120 the twenty fourth was a Saturday and the bank was closed, 205 00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:59.720 the Bleedes were forced to scrap together the five thousand 206 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.519 dollars by borrowing it from friends. This development finally caused 207 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:06.799 the police to take Marie's disappearance more seriously, and they 208 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:09.080 set up a tap on the bolic's phone, but the 209 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.320 anonymous caller never phoned back to provide instructions about how 210 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.759 to deliver the ransom money. However, within a few days, 211 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.519 police would discover that the caller was none other than 212 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.440 Monty Doolan, who had driven Marie to the dance and 213 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:24.480 the party on the night she went missing. Monty was 214 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.120 subsequently arrested and charged with extortion, but maintained that he 215 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:32.440 had no knowledge or involvement in Marie's disappearance. Monty claimed 216 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:34.679 that he had no intention of ever collecting the five 217 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:38.039 thousand dollars from Marie's parents and only decided to phone 218 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:40.799 them up and impersonate a kidnapper in order to give 219 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:44.200 them the hope that Marie was still alive. According to Monty, 220 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:46.799 he last saw Marie at the party sometime between one 221 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:49.320 point thirty and two am on the morning of November 222 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:52.759 twenty second. They did not leave together because Marie said 223 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:54.679 she had arranged to get a ride with another guy 224 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:57.399 at the party, though she never actually told Monty who 225 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:01.320 it was. Monty ultimately wound up pleading guilty to telephone 226 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:04.440 harassment and received a six month suspend a jail sentence 227 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:05.879 along with two years probation. 228 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:13.399 His explanation stinks when you look at this is decades ago, 229 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:16.759 and you're asking this family who's two days into their 230 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:19.759 baby being missing, and you say, I need five thousand dollars. 231 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:22.840 That's somewhere between I don't know, twenty and thirty five 232 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:26.399 thousand dollars today. That's not something that I have sitting around. 233 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:29.279 A lot of families would be scrambling and desperate and 234 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:32.639 would do anything to get that money and try to 235 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:35.320 make sure that they got their daughter back. So you're 236 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:39.399 asking a family in their most vulnerable state to then 237 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.000 be stressed and traumatized by having to put together a 238 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:46.960 large amount of money quickly, to think that their baby's 239 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:50.840 life depends on your efforts and ability to reach this person. 240 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.799 You're not able to remake contact with the person you're 241 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:57.480 scrambling to get the money together. How much more trauma 242 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:01.440 can a poor little family go through. Monty's explanation stinks. 243 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:05.240 It doesn't offer any hope, and anyone who has three 244 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:08.000 brain cells would know that all that would do is 245 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:11.159 add harm to the family. So I can't even begin 246 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:15.039 to understand how anyone, including the police, could say, Okay, 247 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:16.840 we understand. 248 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.840 But these are the same police that said, as soon 249 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:21.879 as she went missing, even though she didn't fit the 250 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:24.679 profile of a runaway, that she was a runaway. I 251 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:27.679 think their investigation was just lacking on every level, and 252 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:31.120 it seems like their investigation into certain individuals, they just 253 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:34.720 wrote them off really easily, where they should have like 254 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:38.200 dove a little bit deeper. Monty Doolan was known to 255 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.320 have been with Marie, and so we're just to believe 256 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:44.720 and like to take his word at face value. I 257 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:46.519 just I don't know if I can get behind that. 258 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:50.320 I mean, yeah, that is just such a terrible excuse 259 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.200 to say that. Oh, I just wanted to give hope 260 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.360 to the family that Marie was still alive, even though 261 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:56.720 she'd only been missing for a few days at that point. 262 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:59.519 And that is an incredibly cruel act if doing that 263 00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:01.720 to the pair when you don't know what's happened to her, 264 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.080 when she may very well be dead. And I have 265 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:06.519 my doubt said he was legitimately trying to collect a 266 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.679 five thousand dollars ransom, but I think there's a good 267 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:11.480 chance he made this fake ransom call because he was 268 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:15.320 trying to throw off the investigation and make the police 269 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.360 think that something else happened to Marie rather than focusing 270 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:21.519 their suspicion on him. But unfortunately Vermonty, he wound up 271 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:22.080 getting caught. 272 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:24.679 Also, you got to remember what year was. 273 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:26.960 This, nineteen seventy nine, Okay. 274 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:29.200 Nineteen seventy nine, So you're still you're coming out of 275 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:33.240 that like free love. Kids are still hitch hiking and 276 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.960 doing all these things that are troublesome behaviors now when 277 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:39.960 you look back. But they were very, very common that 278 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:44.080 young kids would jump in a car with just about anybody, 279 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:47.600 go just about anywhere, and you didn't have all the 280 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:51.279 communication and tracking devices that you have now. So I 281 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:56.279 can see where police would be kind of lazy and 282 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:59.000 ignorant to the idea of, oh, I bet she's a 283 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:02.320 runaway because at the time, you really did have a 284 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.960 lot of kids who were coming and going as they pleased, 285 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.559 and they didn't always know who was taking them to 286 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:12.759 different places. So I see at the time where there's 287 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:15.960 a little bit more kind of assumption that the kids 288 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.919 were going to come home. But still this kiddo, the 289 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:23.399 parents had a feeling this is not her. We know 290 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.519 where she was, she was doing great in school. She 291 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:28.480 had no reason to run and not tell us where 292 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:30.519 she was. And so I think at the point where 293 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:34.039 the family has a child who's acting out of character, 294 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:37.360 the police should have been alerted. But I do know 295 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.639 at that time it really was pretty common for, you know, 296 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.840 a kid to disappear and then go oh, I'm back, 297 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:43.600 and the. 298 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:45.080 Cases would be closed pretty quick. 299 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.679 But that hurts all the cases that were actually authentic 300 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:51.519 and needed the police to respond immediately to hopefully help. 301 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:55.639 Anyway, it was now a parent that something likely happened 302 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:57.720 to Marie while she was at the party, but the 303 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:01.200 investigation into her disappearance went no way due largely to 304 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:05.480 jurisdictional issues. The problem was that Marie lived in Route County, 305 00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:09.159 but technically went missing in MafA County, and it seemed 306 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.919 like neither of the sheriff's office in those counties wanted 307 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:14.320 to take the reins, and they both seemed like they 308 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:17.960 were trying to distance themselves from the case. As a result, 309 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:20.960 key witnesses were never interviewed, and it was hard to 310 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:23.960 pinpoint the exact time when Marie was last seen alive. 311 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:28.600 Many rumors circulated throughout the community about what happened to Marie, 312 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:31.879 including her dying of an accidental drug overdose or being 313 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:34.639 killed to cover up a sexual assault, and it was 314 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:38.000 speculated that her body was buried in a rural area somewhere. 315 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:41.440 There was even rumors that Marie's body had been dismembered 316 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:44.480 and dumped in an abandoned mind shaft, or that she 317 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:48.000 was encased in a concrete foundation of Craig's City Market, 318 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:51.240 which was under construction at the time. Four months after 319 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:55.279 Marie's disappearance, a sergeant with MafA County Sheriff's Office received 320 00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:58.039 an anonymous phone call from a man who said, quote, 321 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.279 my two kids know who disposed of Marie Blee, but 322 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:04.680 we're afraid to tell. Eleven people know, but they're afraid 323 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:08.079 end quote. Even though the caller was sobbing when he 324 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.440 said this, he was never identified, and his story could 325 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.799 not be substantiated. Marie's parents did their best to keep 326 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:17.599 their daughter's case in the spotlight, but they would eventually 327 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:20.720 find it too painful to remain in Hayden. They moved 328 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.640 to Grand Junction in nineteen eighty four, but made sure 329 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.960 to keep the same phone number in case Marie ever 330 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:27.319 tried to call them. 331 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:30.279 That's pitiful when you sit there and you think about 332 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:34.200 this idea. On both sides, you have parents who are 333 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:36.839 saying that we'll do anything if we haven't. 334 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.319 Found our body. There's still hope. 335 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.640 If we haven't found our body, there's a chance that 336 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.599 she is going to call us right and to the 337 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:45.799 point where we'll stay in the home that we were in, 338 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:49.079 and when that becomes too painful, we'll move, but we'll 339 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:51.559 keep the same phone number and will continue to fight 340 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:54.319 to keep awareness around her case so that you know 341 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:58.160 she knows we're looking for You can just feel the 342 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:01.279 devastation that that's taking on the family. And then you 343 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:04.599 get that phone call, which in and of itself is 344 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:08.240 heartbreaking on a lot of different levels. The person sobbing 345 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.000 and saying, listen, two of my kids know what happened 346 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:15.079 to her, but were really scared. And there's a lot 347 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:16.759 of people who know. In fact, what do they say? 348 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:19.880 Eleven yeah, eleven yeah, eleven. 349 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:23.640 People know, but they're too afraid to talk. Something happened 350 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:28.000 and people witnessed it or and or heard about it. 351 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.759 But there's somebody or something they're scared of that if 352 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:35.599 this person that kills Marie could also then turn around 353 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:36.240 and kill them. 354 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:37.599 They don't want to talk. 355 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.319 That's why cases like this are fascinating, because if there 356 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:46.559 was any one of those eleven people alive today who says, 357 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:50.200 maybe the suspect or the perpetrator, maybe they passed away, 358 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.440 maybe they're so old, what are they going to do 359 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:52.680 to me? 360 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:53.039 Now? 361 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:56.559 If they just came forward now there could be answers 362 00:18:56.599 --> 00:18:59.000 in this case, not for any kind of quote closure, 363 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:02.279 it's not going to happen, but resolution to know what 364 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:05.319 happened to her. This idea that I just want to 365 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.440 know the details of what happened. 366 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:08.960 To somebody that we loved. 367 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:10.119 I do. 368 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:12.720 I feel sorry for the person calling too. There's a 369 00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:15.680 clear fear and to live with that kind of guilt 370 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:19.319 and knowledge that can't do anything but tear you apart. 371 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.519 Yeah, I've always wondered about the caller because if they 372 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:25.880 were sobbing, it sounds like they genuinely like we're fearful 373 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:28.960 of something or we're guilt written about something, because I 374 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:31.200 don't know if they would cry like that if it 375 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:33.480 was just a prank phone call. But at the same time, 376 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.119 I am kind of skeptical that eleven people know the 377 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:37.960 full truth about what happened. I mean, I could think 378 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:41.039 maybe like two or three possibly know the full truth, 379 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:43.160 but so much time has passed. I would like to 380 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:45.519 think that one of those eleven people, if they did 381 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:48.519 know what happened, would have come forward by now, especially 382 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:51.160 years after the fact, when we would finally identify a 383 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:54.319 couple of persons of interest. I mean. 384 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:56.000 The thing to me too, is when people say they're 385 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.039 too scared to talk, I get it. But at some point, 386 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:00.799 if the police are going to be to apprehend and 387 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:03.400 convict them, what else are you? I mean, what are 388 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:05.480 you scared of? Are you scared of their associates? And 389 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:08.759 you know the repercussions of that, I suppose, but I 390 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.359 don't know. Let's let's go hardcore and lock them up 391 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:13.759 and then they can't hurt anybody else, including us. 392 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:16.559 Yeah, I would like to think that if you're younger, 393 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:18.640 if you're a teenager, you would still be scared of 394 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:21.640 something like that, But once you reached adulthood and no 395 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.480 longer had to associate with these people, that your conscious 396 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.160 would get the better of you when you would finally 397 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:27.640 come forward and share what you know. 398 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:32.319 And even if they're like a criminal element, the landscape 399 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:36.240 would change considerably in that timeframe. So you've got to wonder, 400 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:40.119 like eleven people knowing nobody comes forward, Like eleven is 401 00:20:40.119 --> 00:20:42.920