WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:05.759 This podcast is intended for mature audiences. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:24.320 On a dark winter night in nineteen ninety two, high 3 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:28.199 school senior Kelly day Wilson finished her shift at NTV 4 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:31.920 Northeast Texas Video, a movie rental store on the town 5 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.920 square in Gilmer, Texas. Kelly locked up the shop with 6 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:37.119 manager Joe Henry. 7 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.640 I say, you opened tomorrow and she says yes, and 8 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:41.159 I said, okay. 9 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.119 See that was the last time anyone is known to 10 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:44.960 have seen Kelly. 11 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:49.679 The mom called me about six the next morning and 12 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:54.000 asked me if she'd go anywhere sink. I said, yes, 13 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:57.560 you going with the girls house? And that's all I 14 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:59.439 knew at the time. It was a little bit disturbing 15 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:01.920 to me, but I mean's like much of. 16 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:05.040 A Kelly and one of her friends, a fellow student 17 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:07.840 at Gilmour High School, had made plans to attend a 18 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:12.239 party together, a party out of town. Kelly never showed. 19 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:16.319 At seven a m Kelly's mom, Kathy, called the police department. 20 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:19.280 She got on the phone with a veteran sergeant named 21 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:23.200 James York Brown. From the get go, Sergeant Brown wondered 22 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.319 if Kelly simply ran away from home he asked Kathy 23 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.760 and her husband Robert to come down to the station 24 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.519 to file a missing person's report. Then Sergeant Brown drove 25 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.840 over to look at Kelly's car. Her gold Dodge Charger 26 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.799 was still parked beside the video store. There was a 27 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:41.879 bottle of vodka inside the car. The keys were missing, 28 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.280 no signs of a struggle, but the left rear tire 29 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.280 had been slashed. The tire had even come off the rim. 30 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:53.480 That's an important detail. Obviously Kelly or someone had tried 31 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:57.359 to drive the car before realizing it was flat. After 32 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.280 closing up the video store with Joe Kelly's life, last 33 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:02.599 task of the night would have been to drop off 34 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:06.079 all the cash from that day's movie rentals. The bank 35 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.360 was just a couple of blocks northeast of the store, 36 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.879 and when Sergeant Brown checked with the bank, sure enough 37 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:14.240 the nightly deposit had been made. 38 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:18.159 Lati has probably been slash by this time. Is not 39 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:22.719 known if she backed out, started off in the tires 40 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:26.240 flat and cooled back in, or if she went all 41 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:28.240 the way around to the mine to do the deposit 42 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:29.639 and then come back in. 43 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:34.400 Kelly's parents were divorced, her dad and stepmom Robbie and 44 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:37.919 Waverlin lived in the town of Knaketish, Louisiana, which is 45 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:41.159 about two and a half hours southeast of Gilmour. That winter, 46 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:43.599 Kelly had been telling her friends that she was moving 47 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.599 back to Louisiana, where she'd spent most of her childhood. 48 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:52.080 Had she left Gilmour without saying goodbye, Kathy called Waverlin. 49 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:53.960 Waverland called Robbie. 50 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:56.000 Won't say. It was like eight or nine o'clock in 51 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:56.479 the morning. 52 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:59.360 Wavern called me at work, said, told me a little bit, 53 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:01.639 and you know, I told my people I had to 54 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:03.240 go sham home. 55 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.439 We got backed up, we went, we went to So 56 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:09.360 you were worried at that point. 57 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:09.599 Oh? 58 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:10.919 Yeah. 59 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.039 Robbie had always felt that his daughter was just a 60 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:15.039 little too trusting. 61 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:18.879 Kearn never met a stranger. She was very, very outgoing, 62 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:19.960 probably to her own. 63 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:25.360 Yeah, it concerned me a little bit because she again, 64 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:28.560 she never she could go up to a perfect stranger, 65 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:34.520 strike a conversation, just like she'd known them all her life. 66 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.120 Best I can remember, we went straight to the police 67 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:38.080 station and talked to. 68 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:41.800 Uh, sorry Brown. 69 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.319 Sergeant Brown was lean and linky. He rocked a dark 70 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:49.719 brown mustache and aviator sunglasses. Picture a local cop from 71 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.000 like an eighties movie. That's James Brown. 72 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.199 Oh, he's a fairly typical small town police officer from 73 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:01.319 what I could you know, be away describe it. He 74 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:06.680 kind of ran us through what they had had so far. Uh, 75 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.439 pretty much the basics of the story. She you know, 76 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:14.840 she had closed the stores, she'd she'd her car had 77 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.240 been moved from where it was originally parked, assuming that 78 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:20.600 she had taken a bank deposits to the bank which 79 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:25.519 they were made. Uh, and her car was back at 80 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:28.240 the store in it but in a different parking slot. 81 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:32.720 I think there was a I think her person. 82 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:34.199 Was still in the car. There was I think I 83 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:38.639 remember writing a vodka bottle in the car. There were uh, 84 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:40.680 you know, who knows how long that stuff, and her 85 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:41.720 purse probably was there. 86 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:48.480 But that, you know, and that's pretty much about it. Really. 87 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:52.639 Why why they didn't impound the car treated as a 88 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:55.120 crime scene, I mean they were treating everything as just 89 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:00.959 a common, ordinary, everyday missing person runaway type same rather 90 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:02.680 than a crime scene. So there was a lot of 91 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:05.800 probably potential evidence that could have been collected. 92 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:06.639 It wasn't. 93 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:11.680 Hard to imagine the teenage girl running away without her purse. 94 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:20.759 Yeah, or without her car. Why wouldn't she take a car? Uh, 95 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:29.279 you know, let's unless somebody you know abducted her. What 96 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:32.120 else do you hear she voluntarily left for somebody else, 97 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:37.360 you know, that would be the only two scenarios I 98 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:38.120 could come up with. 99 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.839 That's what a lot of people thought at first. Maybe 100 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.120 Kelly couldn't decide which household to live in, so she 101 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:47.800 skipped down with a boyfriend. 102 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:50.759 I just remember in the beginning, it was a. 103 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:52.959 She ran off. 104 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:56.519 They just kept saying, Oh, she ran off with some boy. 105 00:05:56.920 --> 00:05:58.439 That's Kelly's friend from high school. 106 00:05:58.519 --> 00:05:58.680 Lee. 107 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:02.079 It was a lot of she's a wild child. 108 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.959 She definitely just ran off with some boy for the 109 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.360 first couple of days, I believe. 110 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:10.079 I feel like it took them a couple of days 111 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:11.759 before they took it seriously. 112 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.920 That mindset was about to shift. The bank where everybody 113 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:19.480 thought Kelly made the deposit right before she disappeared had 114 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:23.120 a security camera. Sergeant Brown got hold of the footage. 115 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:26.800 It showed three vehicles making deposits around the time that 116 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:29.680 Kelly would have left the video store. None of the 117 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:33.600 vehicles was an eighty five Dodge Charger, though, nor did 118 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:37.079 any of the drivers look like Kelly. Although the video 119 00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:39.680 quality was so bad it was hard to know for sure. 120 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:42.920 I just had a feeling, ominous feeling that just did 121 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:48.000 not go to run well, and that I can't tell 122 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.720 you why I did fail, and I just had that 123 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.480 as Unfortunately it turned out to be pretty true. 124 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:57.160 Robbie had no idea how bad it was going to get. 125 00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.319 It's the story of a missing teenage girl. 126 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:01.879 To find her would change the lines of just about 127 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:02.639 everyone she knew. 128 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.360 In this case of missing Gilmourtine Kelly Wilson. 129 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:09.920 She told be careful that I could end up like 130 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:16.240 Kelly Wilson. The strip put fear in me. 131 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.480 If there was devil worshiping back in the woods right 132 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:21.040 behind your. 133 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:23.720 House, Yeah, further back in the woods. 134 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.720 The details are sketchy, the trail goes cold, and Kelly 135 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:32.639 Wilson vanishes forever in the small town of Gilmour, everyone 136 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:34.959 wants to know what happened to Kelly Wilson. 137 00:07:44.000 --> 00:08:00.480 From Imperative Entertainment. I'm West Ferguson. This is Deviltown. This 138 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:05.560 is chapter two, The Devil comes to town. It's been 139 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.800 thirty years since Kelly Wilson walked out of Northeast Texas. 140 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:12.360 Video and vanished into the night. I was a kid 141 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.800 back then. Now I'm trying to answer a question that 142 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.720 seems so simple, and yet it's been devil the town 143 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:21.279 of Gilmer for decades. 144 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:25.600 STA Steel, no answers, and the disappearance of Kelly Wilson. 145 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:28.079 Leaving the city wondering well they ever know. That's all 146 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:29.759 anyone can say for certain. 147 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:34.559 Kelly Wilson has vanished. 148 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:39.919 From day one. Sergeant James York Brown led the investigation. 149 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.960 He probably knows more about Kelly's disappearance than anyone else, 150 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:47.759 but this case changed his life. It nearly broke him. 151 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.559 To this day. Some folks in Gilmer wonder if Sergeant 152 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:55.120 Brown knows more than he's letting on. I mailed Sergeant 153 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:00.200 Brown a letter and called a few times. Nothing. One day, 154 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:02.399 I even tried to drive by his house to knock 155 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:04.879 on his front door. He lives way out in the country. Now, 156 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.039 the map on my phone sent me far off course 157 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:10.679 to a pine forest in the middle of nowhere, not 158 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:14.559 a house in sight. Kelly's mom, Kathy, had already decided 159 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.879 not to talk to me. Without Sergeant Brown, I'd probably 160 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.120 never find out what happened to Kelly. Then I dove 161 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.159 a little deeper into Facebook and Reddit comments about the case. 162 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:28.200 They were full of finger pointing and amateur investigators. James 163 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.399 York Brown was a prime suspect in the eyes of some. 164 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:33.960 Here are a few examples. 165 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:36.279 I still think it was the cop. 166 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:39.159 To me, he was so creepy. 167 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:41.559 It was in it up to his ears. 168 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.600 One of the commenters caught my attention. This guy was feisty. 169 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.120 Plenty of bad information here. I'd be proud to set 170 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:52.440 some things straight. I lost good years of my childhood 171 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:56.440 to this case. He is my father. I'd be happy 172 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:01.200 to answer any questions you have. Jan Brown has a son. 173 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.960 His name is Josh. I found a phone number. 174 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:08.480 Oh I've been mad. Yeah, I've been mad. 175 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:13.200 I've even questioned my own dad, just out of out 176 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.120 of fury, out of out of fucking lost time, and 177 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:26.360 just just being just flat out mad, you know, trying 178 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:31.360 to figure out why I've questioned dad, My brother's questioned dad. 179 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:36.639 My brother and I both questioned each other just you know, 180 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:39.799 we wanted to know what we were shielded from. But 181 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:44.799 I can guarantee you that I can guarantee you he 182 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:45.440 didn't do it. 183 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:49.159 Josh's mom and dad split up when he was a toddler. 184 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:51.799 He was eight when his dad took on Kelly's case. 185 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.360 They've been divorced. It's all I can remember, you know. 186 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:58.960 I just see dad on the weekends, first, third, and fifth. 187 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:04.000 Back then, Sergeant Brown was always on the job, whether 188 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:05.320 he was in uniform or not. 189 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:10.120 He had a Brown trans am and uh, you know, 190 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:13.000 we we would go ride the back roads on the weekend. 191 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:18.480 And uh, I didn't know this, but you know he 192 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:21.759 was he was looking. I remember he would talk to 193 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:26.000 people when we were just, you know, quote riding around 194 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.799 and he would ask him, hey, you know, you see anything? 195 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:37.000 You know, he was always asking questions. You know anybody 196 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:40.159 and everybody that you know, everybody. Gimmer's a small town. 197 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.080 Josh and I had been talking for a while. I 198 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.039 had to ask, do you think he'd want to talk 199 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:46.279 to me. 200 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:48.879 I don't know that he would. 201 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.879 I think he's I think he's pretty well done with 202 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:55.279 that stage in his life that you know, he's moved 203 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.600 on from that really doesn't want anything to do with it. 204 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.799 I will call him and ask him and see if 205 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:08.440 he'll do one more interview. However, my request, if I'm 206 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:12.240 going to do that for you, give us the direction 207 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.000 that's going to be geared, because if you're going to 208 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:17.200 try to make him look like a criminal, yeah, we 209 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:18.320 ain't got much use for that. 210 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:22.080 Josh and I hung up. Minutes later, the phone buzzed 211 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:25.799 in my pocket Josh again. He had his dad on 212 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:31.480 the line. I scrambled to find my recorder. Mister Brown, 213 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:34.519 thank you so much for being willing to get on 214 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:35.240 the phone with me. 215 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:37.600 My name is he. 216 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:40.639 Before you get started, lest I want you understand. 217 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:47.480 You've I've talked to Dad and h You've got a 218 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:48.200 few minutes. 219 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:53.120 And if he gets uncomfortable, I told him to hung up, 220 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.440 or he can say hey, I don't feel comfortable and 221 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:03.320 hang up. So understood, get started, understood, and I won't 222 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:05.519 take too much of your time. 223 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.360 Sergeant Brown. James had been a cop for several years 224 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.000 in Gilmer before he answered the call to search for 225 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:17.399 Kelly Wilson. He believed in his mission to serve and protect. 226 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.759 And that was the whole region of being in law 227 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:23.120 enforcement anyway, or in my opinion, it is is to 228 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:27.840 help people and take them And I mean I went 229 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:32.559 to shootings and bandage people up until they get the ambulance. 230 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.879 The whole hopefully they subviigned it. 231 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.720 You know, it didn't matter if they were the bad 232 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:39.679 guy or the good guy. 233 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:43.919 It was just your job was to take it. 234 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:47.000 Didn't take him long to realize that Kelly's situation was 235 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:49.519 more dire than a case of a teenage runaway. 236 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:54.559 Usually if somebody runs from their home or was a 237 00:13:54.759 --> 00:14:00.120 runaway or usually sign them within cyber or six days. 238 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:05.399 But then from what I understood, she was supposed to 239 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:07.080 live with her father in Louisiana. 240 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:10.279 And when he told me that, I said, just don't. 241 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.840 Look good at all, because usually a person don't maybe 242 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.000 eight from where. 243 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:16.320 They want to go. 244 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:22.440 They could have run away, or anything could have happened. 245 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:30.120 But you start at that point and then you. 246 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:30.679 Go from where the last place was. 247 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:35.120 And you know, even in this case, there was problems 248 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:40.000 with that because the vehicle was tampered with by this 249 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:45.000 stepfather and mother of her at that time, before we 250 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:45.759 were notified. 251 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:50.840 Kelly's stepdad, Robert, not to be confused with Kelly's dad, Robbie, 252 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.480 probably didn't give a second thought to grabbing the purse 253 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.519 when he found Kelly's unlocked car beside the video store. 254 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:01.360 But in Sergeant Brown's opinion, Robert had had already compromised 255 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:03.919 the crime scene purse. 256 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:06.840 With thetization of another They had already went. 257 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:08.840 Through that car before we got that. 258 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:10.960 You had to start at zero because you don't know 259 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.759 what was removed from the vega or anything. 260 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:17.080 Sergeant Brown didn't really think the car held any clues, 261 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.639 so he turned his search elsewhere. That meant interviewing everyone 262 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:22.240 he could find. 263 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:26.639 You talked to the people that were there at the story, 264 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:29.080 You talked to people outside you. 265 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:31.960 I mean, there's a lot of interviews that were done 266 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.480 with the last people that had contact, and from there 267 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:38.559 you start nearing your focus. And of course I was 268 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:40.120 and a loan in the investigation. 269 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.200 Enter Philip Williams. 270 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:45.039 About two or three days that you disa feared, he 271 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.000 called me in said I need some help. Distinct remember 272 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:50.039 saying that. 273 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:54.399 Philip Williams was and is a newspaper reporter in Gilmer. 274 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:56.960 You heard from him in the first episode. 275 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:59.159 And then he told me we got this missing girl. 276 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.440 To spread the word, Philip wrote a news article that 277 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:07.240 described Kelly blue eyes, sandy, blonde hair, five foot seven, 278 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:10.559 one hundred and twenty pounds. She was last seen wearing 279 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.159 blue jean cut off shorts and a purple rugby shirt 280 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:17.039 with a white collar and white sleeve bands. Sergeant Brown 281 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:21.440 also called the Texas Rangers, Louisiana Police, and the FBI, 282 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:23.960 looking for help anywhere he could find it. 283 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.519 The FBI help when Danley's and interview people. 284 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.200 There had been a few skateboarders out that night on 285 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.360 the town square. According to at least one news report, 286 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:36.279 A handful of people told police they saw Kelly go 287 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:39.600 back into the video store after she discovered her flat tire, 288 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:45.240 but apparently no one saw what happened after that. Asking around, 289 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:48.080 Sergeant Brown found out that one of Kelly's tires also 290 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:51.399 had been slashed that Friday, two nights before she vanished. 291 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:54.720 Another girl who worked with Kelly at the video store 292 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.720 also had one of her tires slashed on Saturday, just 293 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:01.200 one night before. Maybe this this last tire was related, 294 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:05.720 maybe not. Another baffling detail has to do with that 295 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:09.279 bank deposit. For some reason, Sergeant Brown told the news 296 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:12.559 media that Kelly was shown on the security camera making 297 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.000 the deposit, even though the camera didn't really show that. 298 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:19.240 I guess it's possible she walked two blocks to make 299 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:23.240 the deposit off camera, but that seems unlikely given that 300 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:25.559 it was dark and pretty cold in Gilmer that night. 301 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:28.599 If not Kelly, then who dropped off the money? 302 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:32.160 I'll let them carry my truck through to eliminate it. 303 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:35.279 That's Joe Henry again, the store manager. 304 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:39.000 We went drove through. Do that twice. Let's screw it. 305 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.119 Did that to us? Eliminated my truck. 306 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:46.359 Sergeant Brown, the FBI and Texas Rangers all interviewed Joe. 307 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.599 Joe was a bachelor in his mid thirties. He and 308 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:51.440 Kelly had been alone on her last night at the 309 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:55.640 video store. Was he hiding something? Did you get the 310 00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:00.480 impression that they were asking some certain questions because they 311 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:01.880 were trying to decide if you were. 312 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:06.319 Yeah, yeah, but they were very very nice. I mean yes, 313 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:09.880 because I mean you start, I'm the proverbial last person. 314 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:10.039 To see here. 315 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:13.480 That's that's you know. I wasn't but whatever happened was 316 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.119 the last person. But I'm the proverbial last person to 317 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:18.400 see her. So we started with me and you worked 318 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:18.880 away out. 319 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:19.480 Well. 320 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.359 We went through all this stuff, and it was very hard, 321 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:24.319 very difficult, because I'd gone home that night. My mom 322 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:26.119 was home the next door navy and that saw me 323 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.759 come home. A guy at the grocery store. I bet 324 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:30.400 and bought some stuff from my mom and group the 325 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:33.640 frozen and stuff. Went home, took shower, eight and supper. 326 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.079 Call my girlfriend and talked to her. She got me 327 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:38.480 back in a little bit and this was crazy and 328 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:40.400 asked me, he says, your dog in the yard. 329 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:44.079 And I said, yeah, I think so, kind of random. 330 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:45.400 So I got up and looked out the one and 331 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:47.680 there he was, you know, and her name was Angela. 332 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:51.519 She since passed away. But but all these people, now, 333 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:53.119 I tried to think, y'all, go comp. 334 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:54.160 Of these people. We don't need to. 335 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:54.640 It's hard. 336 00:18:55.960 --> 00:19:00.400 So okay, I mean I had never ready here, interesting, 337 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.079 anything like this before, and this is just terrifying, you know. 338 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:07.000 But yeah, but they were very courteous and I didn't 339 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.599 want They told me too and all that, and we 340 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:11.400 went through any time they wanted. 341 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:12.039 To talk, we talked. 342 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:15.680 Everybody in town knew Joe, and not just from the 343 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:19.119 video store or his burger joined around the block. Joe 344 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:21.599 was from a good family with deep ties in Gilmer. 345 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:25.079 He also had a solid alibi. Pretty soon he was 346 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:27.960 more or less eliminated from the list of suspects, at 347 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:31.759 least in the eyes of law. Enforcement, although Joe says 348 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.319 he remained in touch with Sergeant Brown and the FBI 349 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:37.119 and goa Jane to tell me something. 350 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:39.920 We were kind of confident with each other. After a time, 351 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:42.720 we got over the hurdle of me and I mine. Obviously, 352 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.039 they ever quit looking at me in that respect. But 353 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.720 after a while it changed and they would come over 354 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.359 and eat lunch. We would talk and I told the 355 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:56.319 guy I felt bad about that, about not staying an 356 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:00.759 extra ten minutes or whatever. He said, you cannot lay yourself. 357 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.680 He said, that is not your problem. He said, I 358 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.039 know it's a bad situation, but he said you can't. 359 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:09.240 You can't put yourself in that situation that if you 360 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.359 had been then this wouldn't have happened. I mean, it's 361 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:15.079 just that you just can't speculate on my kind stuff. 362 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.720 Winding through the woods northwest of Gilmour is a narrow, 363 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:23.519 and some would say mysterious road named the Cherokee Trace. 364 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:26.839 It's much older than all the other roads in the area. 365 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:31.240 In fact, Cherokee Indians blazed the trail more than two 366 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:35.720 centuries ago, supposedly by dragging buffalo skins through the brush. 367 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:38.759 To this day, it remains a lonely out of the 368 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:42.279 way black Top Lane meandering out of town for several miles. 369 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:46.400 In this story, the Cherokee Trace will come up again 370 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:51.720 and again. One month after Kelly disappeared, three hundred volunteers 371 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:54.599 and a pack of search dogs combed the woods near 372 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:58.559 Cherokee Trace. The spot was a popular hangout for local teens. 373 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:03.079 What's more, a new reservoir, Gilmour Lake, was being planned 374 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:06.599 for the area. The searchers found some mounds of recently 375 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.799 turned earth, but it turned out that a team of 376 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:12.319 archaeologists had been digging for Indian relics. There were no 377 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.960 signs of Kelly. Sergeant Brown kept up the search on 378 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:20.799 his own time. Meanwhile, Kelly's dad and stepmom practically moved 379 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:21.279 to Gilmour. 380 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:27.119 It seemed like every weekend there for quite a few months, we. 381 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:27.599 Were over there. 382 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:30.640 You know, we would follow a lead or just find 383 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:32.480 a place in search. I mean, it was just, you know, 384 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:33.680 he felt like he had to do some. 385 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.000 Finally, in late April, Sergeant Brown seemed to get his 386 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.799 first real break. A high school dropout named Michael Biby 387 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:46.680 confessed to slashing Kelly's car tire on the night she vanished. Biby, 388 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:50.079 who was seventeen years old at the time, was arrested 389 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:52.400 on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. 390 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:57.079 The guy that's last retire He was brought in the court, 391 00:21:57.119 --> 00:22:02.519 played guilty and to a missdemainor, and I was there 392 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:06.640 when he was sentenced. But apparently, through a remarkable coincidence, 393 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:11.079 he had nothing to do with her disappearance. He's last retired, 394 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.240 she disappears, but he didn't have thing to do with 395 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:14.559 the disappearance. 396 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.920 Or as a law was concerned. That's quite the coincidence. 397 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:25.799 Michael Biby moved out of state a long time ago. 398 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.720 I've tried really hard to reach him, phone calls, emails, 399 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.319 he blocked me on Facebook. Ultimately police decided his tire 400 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:38.640 slashing was just a random act of vandalism. Police were 401 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:42.920