WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:10.919 In the last episode, we began our deep dive into 2 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:15.439 the story of Sharon Marshall. Today we continue that story 3 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:17.920 with part two, so be sure to check out part 4 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:21.559 one before carrying on with us today. But if you're ready, 5 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.480 then let's continue the story. 6 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:28.640 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked 7 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:32.320 and Grim, a true crime podcast. Warning. 8 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:39.359 The following podcasts and material intended for a mature audience. 9 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:42.479 Listener discretion is advised. 10 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:02.880 Your Weight is finally over. 11 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:05.480 It's part two, Part two. I know a lot of 12 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:09.159 people try and they try and listen to both episodes 13 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:11.640 in the same day at eight for it. Yeap, So 14 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:13.920 if you're doing that, you're going for the binge. Hey, 15 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.680 here we are. Even if you've been waiting for days 16 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.879 to listen to part two, well, same thing. Here we are. 17 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:22.480 I hope the weight was worth it. This is it's 18 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:24.680 quite the tail. There is a lot of details, so 19 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:29.319 it definitely needed two parts. I honestly I probably could 20 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:31.519 have even done a third part if I really wanted to. 21 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:34.359 Really probably, there is that much to this case. 22 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:36.200 It's a really big one, it is. 23 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:37.480 That's what she said. 24 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:43.040 Oh my goodness, gracious, sorry, Okay, well, honestly, though, if 25 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.799 you did listen already to part one, you may need 26 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.879 a little bit of a recap. So do you got 27 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:48.400 that for us? 28 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:49.719 I do have a recap. Are you ready for it 29 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:50.480 right out of the gate? 30 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:52.560 I think so. I think we've been making people wait 31 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:54.599 long enough. I'm on the edge of my seat. 32 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:56.680 You don't want to talk about the weather today. Look 33 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:58.920 at that frost out there. It's a frosty sunny morning. 34 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.680 I could go on for at least fifteen minutes about that. 35 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.760 Okay, I will just say the sun is nice. We've 36 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:07.760 been lacking some serious son here lately, so I am 37 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:08.400 into the sun. 38 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:11.280 That's true. But I also think people are lacking a 39 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:13.360 part two. So I think you're right. We should just 40 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:15.000 get right into the recap. 41 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:16.280 And not be little menaces. 42 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:20.360 Not be little menaces? Yeah, all right, so let's recap this. 43 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.680 In the last episode, we left off with Sharon Marshall 44 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.800 dead and almost no one understanding who she really was. 45 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.039 We went through the story of a man named Franklin 46 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:34.759 Delano Floyd aka Floyd. We were going all the way 47 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.719 back to his childhood and he had a life that 48 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:40.719 was marked quite early on by violence, abandonment and abuse, 49 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:43.520 and we followed how that chaos turned into a long 50 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:47.240 pattern of sexual violence, kidnapping, and escalating crime through his 51 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.280 adult life. Now, despite his convictions for abducting and sexually 52 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:55.759 assaulting a child, also with armed robbery and repeated escape 53 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:59.840 attempts from prison, Floyd was released again and again until 54 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:05.080 nineteen seventy three, he skipped bail and disappeared completely, becoming 55 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:08.240 a fugitive free to start over under a new and 56 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:12.439 false name. Now that reinvention led him to meet a 57 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:16.280 woman by the name of Sandra Brandenburg, a struggling single 58 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:19.319 mother of four who believed she had finally found someone 59 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:22.560 who could help her hold her family together. She married 60 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:25.520 him with the high hopes, but instead, during a short 61 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:29.280 jail sentence in nineteen seventy five, Floyd vanished with her 62 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:32.919 children in tow. Now. Two of them were later recovered 63 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:35.960 and reunited with their mother as they were quietly placed 64 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:39.039 in adoption, but another one was placed in a private 65 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:45.080 adoption situation and was never seen. The oldest was Suzanne 66 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:48.120 Maurice s Vegis, and she was taken by Floyd and 67 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:51.599 was never officially searched for because she was well taken 68 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:56.560 legally by her stepfather because the two had married. Now 69 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.840 from that point on, Suzanne was raised in plain sight 70 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.960 under false identities to make sure that he could keep 71 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.479 her hidden. She was taught that her mother was dead 72 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.159 and that the man controlling her life was in fact 73 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:13.120 her father. Over the years, those lies hardened into reality. 74 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:18.439 Suzanne became Sharon Marshall, a bright, well liked student who 75 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:21.839 looked on paper like a success story, even as she 76 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:25.319 lived under constant fear, physical and sexual abuse, and control. 77 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:29.839 As she got older, Floyd's grip didn't exactly loosen, it 78 00:04:29.959 --> 00:04:34.800 instead tightened. Friends noticed strict rules, odd behavior, and moments 79 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.399 that felt wrong, but never quite crossed into something they 80 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:41.519 could prove. When Sharon finally earned a full scholarship to 81 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:45.000 Georgia Tech, it looked like her way out, but that 82 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:48.600 chance disappeared when she became pregnant. The baby, however, was 83 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.600 placed up for adoption, and college was quickly taken off 84 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:54.680 the table, while Sharon stayed exactly where Floyd wanted her. 85 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.519 By the late nineteen eighties, Sharon was supporting Floyd and 86 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:01.240 her new son, Michael by working as an exotic dancer 87 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:05.319 in Florida. Floyd inserted himself into every part of her life, 88 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:08.360 including the dancing, controlling her money and her movements, and 89 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:12.240 even her body and appearance in public. When another dancer 90 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:18.399 named Cheryl Anne Comesso challenged that control, the situation turned violent, 91 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:23.759 and Cheryl vanished without a trace. Not long after. Then 92 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:27.680 came the final chilling step. Floyd legally married the woman 93 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:30.800 he had raised as his own daughter, using paperwork and 94 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.560 aliases to erase decades of abuse in the eyes of 95 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.879 the system. Sharon would have another child, and it too 96 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.360 was placed up for adoption, and eventually they moved to Oklahoma, 97 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.279 where for the first time she began planning to leave. 98 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.079 But she did have another child that she got to keep, 99 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:50.839 which was the one blessing in her life now. Even 100 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.680 though she planned to leave, she never got the chance. 101 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.480 In April of nineteen ninety, Sharon Marshall was found gravely 102 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:00.079 injured on the side of the highway. After five day 103 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.319 in intensive care, she died. Her death was ruled a 104 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:07.639 hit and run, but there was some suspicion Her husband 105 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:10.079 controlled access to the hospital room and things seemed to 106 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:13.920 be a little off during his stay. I mean, she 107 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.600 seemed to be on the men but then suddenly death 108 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.720 came out of nowhere. No one knew her real name, 109 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.759 no one knew her past, and the man responsible for 110 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:25.879 shaping her entire life seemed to be at the center 111 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.800 of it all. And that is where we left off. 112 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.519 That alone. That seems like that should have been more 113 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:37.319 than one episode. I know, right, because often when we 114 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:39.600 do part two is your little recap at the beginning 115 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:43.160 is half that length. So it's like, huh, yeah, this 116 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:43.879 will be exact. 117 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.079 This is an extensive case, to say the least, and 118 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.079 each part on its own, you probably could break it 119 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:51.680 down and do another like two parts per the each 120 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:54.120 part we have, so you probably could expand and go 121 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:57.439 for five six. I mean, depending how deep you go, right, 122 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:01.040 there are books and documentaries this though I didn't read 123 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:05.000 any books in my research. I did watch documentaries. I 124 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:07.639 did read a lot of articles in doing some deep dives. 125 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.240 There's a lot of info out there, a lot of 126 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:15.000 info out there. Yeah, so depending on how deep you 127 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:19.000 want to go, and I chose doing two parts, and 128 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.959 I think I've done it justice in these two parts. 129 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:23.079 Okay, well, yeah, so far you have so. 130 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:24.519 Well, thank you. I appreciate that. 131 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:27.519 I guess let's put you to the test for part two. 132 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.439 Put me to the test for part two. Okay, well, 133 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.560 I'm ready for the test. Let's do it. After Sharon's 134 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:38.199 death in April of nineteen ninety, Franklin Floyd did what 135 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.560 he had always done when situations tightened around him. He 136 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:45.399 leaned onto the paperwork at the hospital. He presented himself 137 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:49.399 as Clarence Hughes, a grieving husband, and Sharon was now 138 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.480 at the time legally Tanya don Hughes on paper, which 139 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:56.079 of course was another false identity. It seemed like everything 140 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.680 lined up. It was a husband and a wife, But 141 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:02.319 when Floyd attempted to life insurance proceeds, the story began 142 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:06.720 to fracture. Social Security numbers, for example, well they didn't 143 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:11.040 match the names. Employment records also raised red flags. It 144 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:14.000 seemed that the identity of Floyd what he was using 145 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:18.079 it started to draw scrutiny, not because investigators suspected something 146 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:22.480 like murder yet, but because the documentation simply didn't behave 147 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:26.600 the way legitimate records should. Now, this obviously wasn't the 148 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:29.360 first time Floyd had relied on aliases, but it was 149 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:32.799 the first time the system actually pushed back hard enough 150 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:36.960 to matter. So the questions were mounting, and Floyd decided 151 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:41.480 to leave Oklahoma and placed Sharon's son, Michael, into state care. 152 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:45.159 At first, this appeared to be a practical decision. Michael 153 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.039 was just a toddler after all, and Floyd was facing 154 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.840 the mounting legal pressure. But what authorities soon learned was 155 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:56.480 that Michael arrived in foster care deeply traumatized. See Michael 156 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.600 was not yet even two years old. He was nonverbal 157 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.320 when he in the system, but he had poor muscle control, 158 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:06.559 in severe emotional distress, and suffered from frequent hysterical episodes. 159 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:11.840 Foster parents later described him as withdrawn and fearful, especially 160 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:17.159 of adult men. Thankfully, with stability, routine, and patience, he 161 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:20.879 began to improve slowly, learning to speak and gaining coordination 162 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.039 along the way, all while forming healthy attachments for the 163 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:30.399 first time in his life. Michael experienced consistency, but Floyd, 164 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:36.759 he didn't disappear completely. In nineteen ninety, authorities finally confirmed 165 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:41.879 that Clarence Hughes was actually Franklin Delano Floyd, a fugitive 166 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.519 with an extensive and violent criminal history stretching back decades. 167 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:50.279 Thanks to the social Security number Floyd provided which didn't 168 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:54.559 cleanly match the life history he claimed. Red flags began 169 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.080 popping up with authorities and it began to dig deep 170 00:09:57.080 --> 00:10:01.200 into them. Authorities attempted to verify this Clarence Hughes across 171 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:04.120 state and federal systems, but the identity began to collapse 172 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:08.840 under scrutiny. Investigators discovered that the social Security number and 173 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:14.440 biographical details attached to Clarence Hughes overlapped with multiple identities. 174 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:17.559 Now He was arrested for all this, but it was 175 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:21.159 after fingerprints were taken that they actually matched him to 176 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:25.440 his original identity of being Franklin Delano Floyd. But even 177 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.559 though he was in custody, Floyd was processed through the 178 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.639 system without the full scope of his actions being visible 179 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.759 because no one still had any idea about Sharon Now. 180 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:38.600 All the while Floyd cycled through the custody and release, 181 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:42.639 Michael remained in foster care. By nineteen ninety four, Michael 182 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.080 had been placed in foster care with Merle and Ernest 183 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.759 Bean in Choctaw. Soon though, they began actually going through 184 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:54.679 the adopting process, believing Michael deserved permanence after years of instability. 185 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.480 As part of the process, DNA testing was conducted to 186 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:01.879 establish paternity, and that is when they would confirm that 187 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:05.759 Floyd was not Michael's biological father, even though he said 188 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:11.559 he was. Now that single fact changed everything, because any 189 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:16.000 remaining legal claim Floyd had over Michael completely collapsed. His 190 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:20.519 request to regain custody was denied to the court. Michael 191 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.960 was now a child free to be adopted, and Floyd 192 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:28.399 was a dangerous non relative with no legal ground to 193 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:28.919 stand on. 194 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:32.559 Okay, this is really good because I was worried that 195 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.080 he was going to get control of this little boy again. 196 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:39.440 Yeah, he was trying, and well the system said no, 197 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:40.120 you're not his father. 198 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:44.559 Okay, thank goodness, the system work exactly now for Floyd. 199 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:48.200 This was well not a bureaucratic setback. It was an 200 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:52.279 existential loss, to say the least. See, even after Floyd's 201 00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:55.679 fingerprints exposed his real identity, there still wasn't enough on 202 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.600 the table to keep him locked up long term. Even 203 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.200 though Floyd had a long and violent criminal pass, the 204 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:04.840 law couldn't hold him just for being dangerous. His earlier 205 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.840 sentences were already served, his fugitive charge had limits, and 206 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:13.159 Sharon's death was still officially an accident. So once the 207 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:17.440 paperwork ran out, Floyd walked free, legally blocked from Michael, 208 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:21.919 but not imprisoned. Now Michael was the last person in 209 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:26.240 the world Floyd could plausibly claim as his own. I mean, yeah, 210 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:28.720 he wasn't a legal guardian, but he was still that 211 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.360 last attachment he had. Without him, there was no leverage 212 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:34.759 or cover story that he could come up with, no 213 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:38.639 emotional anchor to manipulate the system or other people. And 214 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:42.080 as the adoption process pushed forward, while Floyd realized something else. 215 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:47.279 Once Michael was legally adopted, he would be unreachable forever. 216 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:53.159 So Floyd made a decision. On the morning of September twelfth, 217 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.360 nineteen ninety four, six year old Michael Anthony Hughes arrived 218 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:01.159 at Indian Meridian Elementary School like any other first grader. 219 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:04.519 He was living with his foster parents, who were still 220 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.200 in that process of adopting him, and by all accounts, 221 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:10.440 he was finally beginning to feel safe. His speech has 222 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.559 improved and his behavior was stabilized, and for the first 223 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.320 time since his mother's death, Michael had routine. That routine, however, 224 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:23.279 was shattered shortly after class began this day, because Floyd 225 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:27.039 he walked into the school that morning. First, without raising 226 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:30.440 any immediate suspicion. He was calm and very purposeful, a 227 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.360 man who knew exactly what he was there to do. 228 00:13:33.159 --> 00:13:36.000 He walked in and asked to see the principal, James Davis, 229 00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:40.080 and he waited for him quietly. When Davis met him, 230 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:44.960 Floyd looked at him and partially revealed a handgun that 231 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:48.919 he had on his body, and made his intentions very clear. 232 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:52.720 He told the principle that he was there to take Michael, 233 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:56.320 and that Davis well he was going to help him 234 00:13:56.360 --> 00:14:00.120 do it. Then made sure he told him too who 235 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:03.919 if anyone resisted. Floyd said he was prepared to die 236 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.200 to make it happen. So under duress, Principal Davis complied 237 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:12.000 because he had no other option. You have a deranged 238 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:13.840 man in a school with a gun with all these 239 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:18.799 children around. The two men walked to Michael's classroom. As 240 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.039 of course, Floyd had a gun on his body the 241 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:25.000 entire time. The teacher was unaware that anything was wrong 242 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.919 and was asked to send Michael into the hallway. Michael 243 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:31.879 left the room, and Floyd then forced both Davis and 244 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:34.840 Michael out of the building and into the principal's truck. 245 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.080 As they drove away, Floyd dictated every single movement, every turn, 246 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:43.720 every speed, every stop sign, and he directed Davis past 247 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.919 the Bean family's home, which was Michael's foster parents place, 248 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:51.679 and they drove onto a rural dirt road outside of town. There, 249 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.320 Floyd ordered Michael out of the vehicle under the pretense 250 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.399 of looking for a dog, and then he marched Davis 251 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:00.720 out too, roughly forty to fifty yards into the woods. 252 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.919 He handcuffed him to a tree, wrapped duct tape around 253 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:08.720 his face, and there Floyd left the principle restrained in 254 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:11.159 the heat, with no water and no way to move, 255 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:14.679 and of course, with no certainty that anyone would find 256 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:18.360 him either. After Floyd had left him behind, driving away 257 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.759 in his truck, Davis managed to work at the tape 258 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:24.559 around his mouth, and he got it loose enough that 259 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.679 he was able to begin shouting. A nearby residence soon 260 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:32.000 heard him and called the police. By the time Davis 261 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:35.440 was rescued and authorities understood what had happened, more than 262 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:39.600 three hours had passed since Floyd fled with Michael. Now 263 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:44.480 those lost hours were extremely crucial, because no one inside 264 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:47.320 the school realized that a kidnapping had occurred until long 265 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:50.960 after Floyd was already gone. There had been no immediate lockdown, 266 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:53.960 no alert to law enforcement, and no roadblocks, which means 267 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.360 Floyd had ample time to leave the area and escape, 268 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:58.519 and of course he did. 269 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:06.360 Just making my heart just sink. I was not expecting this. No, no, Like, 270 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:08.879 why can't you not just let the boy be? This 271 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:10.159 is ridiculous? Really? 272 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.559 Yeah, I can't say much right now because you give 273 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.159 away the story, Like, what. 274 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.600 The actual shit? Really? It just it's maddening. It pisses 275 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:20.559 me off. I'm pissed. 276 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:23.320 That's a respectable answer. I totally understand, Like, what the 277 00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:24.080 fuck are you doing? 278 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:25.759 Like this is a child. 279 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.080 I feel like you're directing your anger from me and 280 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:32.120 not the story I'm telling. Yeah, because I think I 281 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:34.399 felt when you said, what the fuck are you doing? 282 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:35.879 I think you were saying that to me. 283 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.759 No, I wasn't. Are you sure I was talking about 284 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:39.840 this Floyd. 285 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:41.399 You're talking to Floyd? 286 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:43.759 Okay, I was talking to Floyd, and Floyd. I'm done 287 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:44.320 with Floyd. 288 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:48.919 Understandable, I am too, trust me. Now. When police finally 289 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:53.320 contacted Michael's foster parents, Merle and Earnest, they were blindsided 290 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.399 in a very surprising way because the call came from 291 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.600 the school, not about an emergency. It was framed as 292 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:03.639 a routine question asking for Michael's caseworker. Only later did 293 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:06.279 they actually understand the truth that Michael had been taken. 294 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.480 Oh, that doesn't seem great. 295 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:12.079 No, So when they did find out actually what happened, 296 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.319 they were devastated but kind of not surprised at the 297 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:21.119 same time because they they actually warned Social Services multiple 298 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.480 times that they feared Floyd would make an attempt to 299 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.160 take Michael. In fact, they even thought they saw him 300 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:30.039 driving by their house slowly after he officially lost custody. 301 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:33.240 There was a call to Social Services being like I 302 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:36.839 believe it was a merle who made the call and 303 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:39.400 asking Okay, what's what's Floyd's truck looked like? And they 304 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:41.319 described the truck and like, yeah, we just saw that 305 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:44.960 truck and someone inside driving by slowly. We believe he's 306 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:46.200 kind of casing our house. 307 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:48.920 Yeah, but it's like, what are you supposed to do, 308 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:51.799 because like, you want this little boy to have stability 309 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.680 and go to school and stuff, right, So that's exactly. 310 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:59.440 But there was also no protection because these this situation 311 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:02.440 and others. Well, they were just dismissed as paranoia basically 312 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:06.319 at the time. But the reality is these are real fears, 313 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:09.759 and they had actually just materialized in the worst possible way. 314 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.960 Well, and two, they're in the process of trying to 315 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.720 get custody right, So I mean, if they stopped sending 316 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.559 him to school or something right for his own protection, 317 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.720 but there could be consequences for that, oh definitely. So gosh, 318 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:23.680 they're like in a really tough position here for sure. 319 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:27.519 Now. By the afternoon in September twelfth, nineteen ninety four, 320 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:31.640 law enforcement and Choctaw were on the hunt after learning 321 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:33.400 that the six year old child had been taken at 322 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:36.759 gunpoint from an elementary school. However, they also knew that 323 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:40.599 the kidnapper was not a stranger. He was Franklin Delano Floyd, 324 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:45.400 a known fugitive with a documented history of violence, sexual assault, 325 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:50.200 and child abduction. So within hours the case escalated beyond 326 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:55.039 just local jurisdiction. The Federal Bureau of Investigation the FBI 327 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:59.480 was brought in and retired Special Agent Joe Fitzpatrick was 328 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:05.279 assigned as lead investigator. From the onset, investigators were racing 329 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.920 against time. As many of us know In most kidnappings, 330 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.880 the first forty eight hours are the most crucial, but 331 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.000 this case carried a dangerous complication. Floyd was claiming to 332 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.200 be Michael's father. Now that claim had, of course already 333 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:24.559 been disproven legally, but it complicated early assumptions. And the 334 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:26.920 reason that this is so crucial is because initially there 335 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.319 was there was cautious hope that Floyd might keep Michael alive, 336 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:33.640 at least temporarily, because they believe Michael still had value 337 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.920 to him. But since Michael could potentially be taken away, 338 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.519 proven to not even be his kid, well, that could 339 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:44.920 pose a very scary situation, one where he may make 340 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.400 it so no one could take Michael away and if 341 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:50.519 he can't have him, then no one can kind of scenario. 342 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.279 And he would be the type of person that's. 343 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:57.200 Like that exactly. Special Agent Fitzpatrick's team quickly began digging 344 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:00.440 into Floyd's recent history, not just as alias is, but 345 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.759 his behavior, and what emerged was nothing short of alarming. 346 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:06.720 It was a history we already know all too well, 347 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.680 but for them, they were just learning it. And what 348 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:11.920 came out of this was they learned he wasn't a 349 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:15.720 man acting out of desperation. This was a man escalating 350 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:20.480 as he always did. The FBI contacted the bureau's Behavioral 351 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:26.880 Science Unit regarding the situation, and their assessment was blunt. 352 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:30.279 They told them Floyd would not be able to keep 353 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:35.400 Michael long term. He would simply become a liability to him. So, 354 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:39.119 based on Floyd's history, agents were told they likely had 355 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:42.880 about a week before they believed Michael would be killed. 356 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:47.079 Oh gosh, and they already like talk about pressure, they 357 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:49.599 already would have had pressure. And then learning that. 358 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:55.119 Exactly apbs were issued for the principal's truck. Agents flooded 359 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:00.559 areas where Floyd had lived or previously traveled Atlanta, Phoenix, Louisville, 360 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.480 and parts of Florida and Texas. Media coverage spread nationally 361 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:08.720 and Michael's photo was broadcast on television and printed in newspapers. 362 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:12.319 America's Most Wanted even featured the case twice. But this 363 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:16.079 was nineteen ninety four. This was even before Amber alerts. 364 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:19.799 There's no cell phone tracking, no traffic cameras, gas stations 365 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:23.599 weren't blanketed with surveillance. And to top it all off, Floyd, well, 366 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:27.119 he had a head start. Not only that he had 367 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:30.559 decades of experience staying one step ahead of the system 368 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:38.039 hiding so it looked bleak at best. Then, seven days 369 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:43.480 into the search, the investigation took an unexpected turn. It 370 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:46.680 was while retracing Floyd's pass that the federal agents began 371 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:50.799 canvassing neighborhoods where he had lived under previous aliases, speaking 372 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:53.880 with anyone who might still remember him now. During one 373 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.920 of those visits, an agent knocked on the door of 374 00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:00.400 a former neighbor, and in their conversation this neighbor well, 375 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:04.079 They showed him a photograph of the person that was 376 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:07.079 their neighbor, and it kept for years. It was no 377 00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:10.200 an official record or evidence preserved by police, just a 378 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:13.400 personal snapshot that had never been turned over to authorities. 379 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:17.960 The image showed Floyd sitting casually with a young blonde 380 00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:20.559 girl perched on his lap. She appeared to be around 381 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:24.119 five or six years old. The timeline made it impossible 382 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.920 for the girl in the photograph to be Floyd's biological daughter, 383 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:29.480 and at the time the picture was taken around nineteen 384 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:32.720 seventy five, Floyd was either incarcerated or had no legitimate 385 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:36.559 way of having fathered a child of any age. So 386 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.599 soon investigators compared the child in the photograph to known 387 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:42.880 images of Sharon Marshall, the woman who died in Oklahoma 388 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:47.720 in nineteen ninety under the name Tanya Hughes, and the resemblance. Well, 389 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:51.480 it was immediately difficult to ignore the bone structure in 390 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:53.759 the face, the eye spacing, the shape of her mouth 391 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:56.880 with her jaw, all of it aligned, and to agents 392 00:22:56.880 --> 00:22:59.839 reviewing it, this was not a vague similarity. It was 393 00:22:59.880 --> 00:23:03.319 the first concrete indication that Sharon had been with Floyd 394 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:08.160 since early childhood. Now, remember, they still don't know who 395 00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:13.960 Sharon was. For investigators, the case shifted in an instant 396 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:18.440 because they understood something chilling. Tanya Hughes had not met 397 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:22.640 Floyd as an adult. Tanya Hughes was clearly Sharon, and 398 00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:26.519 it went back further. The woman whose death once seemed 399 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:30.079 suspicious but isolated, was now instantly part of something much larger, 400 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:33.400 a long term pattern of abduction, control, and abuse that 401 00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:37.960