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Every week, 25 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:25.959 another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and infamous 26 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:30.040 killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host 27 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:33.480 journalist and author Dan Zupanski. 28 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:45.359 Good Evening. For nine years, South Carolina officials struggled to 29 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:48.799 identify the Boy in the Woods, a young man whose 30 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:52.239 body had been discovered just south of Myrtle Beach in 31 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:57.400 a fishing village called Morel's Inlet. Meanwhile, twelve hundred miles 32 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:01.680 away in Kansas City, Missouri, Frank mcgonagall's family searched for 33 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.599 him at Grateful Dead concerts and in the face of 34 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.759 every long haired hitchhiker they passed. Consumed by guilt by 35 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:12.240 how they treated him, Frank's eight siblings came to understand that, 36 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:16.560 like Jerry Garcia, saying he's gone and nothing's going to 37 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:20.680 bring him back. Frank mcgonagal was finally found and identified 38 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:23.719 as the Boy in the Woods. Four years later, the 39 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:28.400 case still unsolved. Jim Cosgrove, a mcgonical family friend and 40 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:32.240 investigative journalist, picked up the trail of Frank's coal case 41 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:36.520 and began uncovering connections to a ruthless local crime boss, 42 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:41.199 and blunders by the threadbare Sheriff's department. When his research 43 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.759 began to stall, a chance meeting with the soft hearted, 44 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:49.680 straight talking energy reader Carol Williams provided a metaphysical spark 45 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:53.719 that reignited Jim's resolve. Although his work as a journalist 46 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.719 trained him to be skeptical, Cosgrove found himself starting to 47 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:01.240 become a believer when Carol provided the details about Frank's 48 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:06.280 murder that turned out to be freakishly accurate. In twenty nineteen, 49 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:10.360 Cosgrove returned to Morel's Inlet with one of Frank's brothers 50 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.439 to dredge up old leads and settle Frank's case once 51 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:17.520 and for all. The book that we're featuring this evening 52 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:21.639 is Ripple, A long Strange Search for a Killer, with 53 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:25.360 my special guest and guest of investigative author and journalist 54 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:29.199 and narrator Jim Cosgrove. Welcome to the program, and thank 55 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:32.520 you so much for this interview. Jim Cosgrove, Thank you, Dan, 56 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:35.280 I appreciate it. Thank you so much. This is an 57 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:40.159 incredible tale. As I was mentioning just before, thank you 58 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:41.240 so much for joining us. 59 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:43.919 Oh yeah, you know, I love to talk about it. 60 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.759 Let's talk about how you got this start. You say 61 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:51.039 that this book has its start in Saint Peter's Catholic 62 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:54.319 Church in Kansas City, Missouri, in the fall of nineteen 63 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:57.919 ninety four. Who were you We mentioned in the introduction 64 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.960 about you being a journalist. Tell us where you were 65 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.840 professionally and your connection to this Frank mcgonagal and the family, 66 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.599 and how this book got started in the fall of 67 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:10.599 nineteen ninety four. 68 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.919 Yes, you bet well. I grew up in Kansas City, 69 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:18.040 and Frank was the middle child of another large Irish 70 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:21.000 Catholic family in our neighborhood. And in our neighborhood it 71 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:25.439 seemed everybody was Irish, Catholic, or Jewish. That's just the 72 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:27.199 way it ended up in our neighborhood. And we all 73 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.560 belonged to the Jewish Community Center, and we had kind 74 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.879 of an idyllic community there where everybody knew each other, 75 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:37.639 and everybody, seemingly, at least on the surface, got along. 76 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:42.120 And their family was close with my family. Our parents 77 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:45.959 were friends, and many of my siblings were in school 78 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.600 with many of the McGonagall siblings. But by the fall 79 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:52.120 of nineteen ninety four, I had been I'd moved and 80 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:55.079 I was living in Albuquerque in New Mexico, and I 81 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:57.920 was writing for the Albuquerque Journal at the time. And 82 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.680 I happened to be home back in Kansas City for 83 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:03.959 a vacation or just to see to see my mother, 84 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:06.439 and she asked me to take her to Mass at 85 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.600 Saint Peter's Church, so I did. It was a midday Mass, 86 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.720 and as we were coming out, there in the courtyard 87 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:15.680 is a statue of a Saint Francis of ASSISI and 88 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:18.279 I looked at the plaque and it was dedicated to 89 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:21.959 Frank McGonagall, and I said, oh, yeah, Frank, I remember 90 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.759 when he disappeared. He disappeared when I was in high school. 91 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:27.839 And I said, you know what, And I knew that 92 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:31.560 that there had been, you know, some resolution as far 93 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:34.959 as the family at least finding out kind of what 94 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.079 happened to him. And I said, you know what, whatever 95 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:39.720 came of that, and she kind of filled me in 96 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:42.600 on it and had got my wheels turning. And I thought, 97 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:46.120 you know, that would make a great story. And do 98 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:47.680 you think you know, I asked her, do you think 99 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.079 that mcgonagall's would talk to me? And she said sure, 100 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:53.839 they're very open about it, and so I approached mcgonagall's 101 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:58.759 with the intention of actually just doing a story about 102 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:03.800 their journey and what they went through nine years they 103 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:06.240 searched for Frank. They didn't know what had happened to him, 104 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.600 so I kind of wanted to just focus on that. 105 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.920 And I needed a subject for a master's thesis for 106 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:17.000 I was getting a master's degree while I was working 107 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.439 at the newspaper, and I thought, hey, this would be 108 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:20.879 a perfect subject. 109 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:25.240 So you decided to use this as your master's thesis, 110 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.360 And first thing you had to get cooperation from the 111 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:33.920 mcgonical family and do the necessary interviews tell us about that. 112 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:38.879 Yes, so you know, I approached them. The mcgonagalls are 113 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.120 very well known in Kansas City. Bill McGonagall opened a 114 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:47.160 meat market in nineteen fifty and everybody, at least on 115 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:50.399 the south side of Kansas City knew the mcgonigal's. They 116 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:53.519 had the best meat in town and you went there 117 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:57.519 to get your brisket seure in your turkeys at Thanksgiving 118 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:00.759 and everybody, and they had such a lot large family 119 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:04.480 that everybody kind of knew someone who knew a McGonagall, 120 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:08.160 and so they were locally well known and great people, 121 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.560 very very generous, and they helped out people in their 122 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:14.360 in the neighborhood who maybe you know, would fall on 123 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:18.959 hard times, and so they were well loved as well. 124 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:22.120 So I approached them and said, I'd like to do 125 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:27.279 this story, and I would like, you know, to just 126 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:29.199 to just find out kind of what you went through. 127 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:32.639 And so I arranged interviews not only with Bill and 128 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:35.120 Joe and McGonagall of the parents, but every one of 129 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:40.480 Frank's siblings, and over the next several months I was 130 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.759 able to do that and write my thesis. Now missus 131 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:48.000 McGonagall Joan asked me at the time to not publish 132 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.800 it as a book. She said, we get into too 133 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:54.439 many family you know, you know, and family secrets, and 134 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:58.800 it's a difficult subject. And as a mother of a 135 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:02.319 large family, that was her life's work and any mother 136 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:05.000 would understand that. And so I said, sure, I will 137 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:09.160 just use this as my master's thesis and I won't 138 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.560 publish anything. Well, many years later, well I guess it 139 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:17.399 would have been almost ten years later. I, my wife 140 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:22.240 and I were at a brunch with my mother and 141 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:25.639 some of her friends and Joe mcgonagall's there and she 142 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:29.639 pulled me aside. She said, hey, Jim, I've been thinking 143 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.639 about you know, the story you did about Frank. And 144 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:36.080 she said that you if you want to publish it, 145 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:40.440 go ahead. I give you my blessing. And I said, okay. 146 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:42.679 But at the time, I was newly married, we had 147 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:45.200 a child on the way, a lot of other things 148 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.200 going on, so I kind of shelved it for a while, 149 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:49.720 and it took me then another ten years before I 150 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:50.240 got on it. 151 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:54.519 Tell us the story of what happens. And you mentioned 152 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.159 that you talked to all the siblings of Frank's siblings. 153 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:01.000 We in the introduction talked about some of the guilt, 154 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:03.080 what was this guilt that they had, and how they 155 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.919 treated him? What was Frank like? And before we talk 156 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:10.279 about what happened and his decision to leave home. 157 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:14.960 Yes, well, so coming from a large family myself, everything 158 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:18.600 I learned from the mcgonagalls was very familiar. I didn't 159 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:21.519 hear anything that hadn't happened in our own family, right. 160 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:31.559 The mcgonagalls are very energetic, boysterous, opinionated, a fun loving family. 161 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:35.879 They very much like ours, just allowed Irish Catholic family. 162 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:41.279 And Frank was really not so much like that. He 163 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:44.559 was a gentle soul. He was a little bit more 164 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:49.399 introverted and quiet. He was a trusting soul, and he 165 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:54.200 just never quite kind of fit in, I guess, and 166 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:57.080 his siblings would talk about how he just you know, 167 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:00.480 he would keep to himself. And then he struggled with 168 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.679 with depression, and yeah, of course at the time in 169 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:07.759 you know, like a lot of the young kids at 170 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:12.000 that time, and he's experimented with drugs and he was 171 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:16.039 as I interviewed his psychologists later on, he said, Frank 172 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:19.559 was almost too gentle for this world, too trusting for 173 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:23.080 this world, and so he struggled to find his place 174 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:27.000 in the family. And I tell people, almost know somebody 175 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:31.039 like Frank Frank was, you know, whether it's a brother 176 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.600 or a cousin or a friend or maybe we see 177 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:38.480 Frank or ourselves in Frank. He was just trying to 178 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:41.759 find himself. And he struggled. And he was in school 179 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:45.360 college for like six years and never graduated. At the 180 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:47.480 time he left home, he was twenty six years old 181 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.559 and he had moved back into his family home, was 182 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:54.799 working at the family market, meet market and grocery, and 183 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:57.679 you know, any twenty six year old at that point, 184 00:10:57.679 --> 00:10:59.679 he's like, you know, he wants to get out, he 185 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:02.440 wants to to you know, find him, you know, make 186 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:05.200 his own way in the world. But he struggled a 187 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:08.879 lot and his family had a hard time. His siblings 188 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:12.600 really trying to help him. They wanted to help, but 189 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:16.120 they couldn't figure it out. And so when he left, 190 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.200 they felt a lot of guilt like maybe they had 191 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:21.679 not done everything they could to prevent him from leaving. 192 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.759 He was close with his siblings and he worked with 193 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:29.440 his brother. Can we talk about what was said between 194 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:32.559 the brothers and the circumstances surrounding that. 195 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:36.519 Yes, the youngest four of the nine, the youngest for 196 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.360 are boys, and they were known as the Boys. And 197 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.679 they have an older brother too, who was amongst the sisters. 198 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.480 But the boys were tight and they spent a lot 199 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:49.759 of time together. They were always having a game of 200 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:53.440 hockey or they played you know, just broomstick hockey on 201 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:56.679 their patio. They were playing football, they would play foosball 202 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.279 in the basement. Anyway, they spent a lot of time together. 203 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:03.399 And really his Frank's best friends were his brothers. The 204 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.879 two of them went away to college and his youngest 205 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:09.120 brother Mike was still at home when Frank was twenty six, 206 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:11.679 and yeah, all the kids, at one point or the 207 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:13.919 other worked at the store. And so at the time 208 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.320 Frank and Mike were working at the store, they had 209 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.360 recently taken a long trip to California together and they 210 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:24.279 got back and one of their tasks at the store 211 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:27.720 was to clean it. And they had a process for 212 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:33.080 stripping the floors and waxing them, you know, periodically. So 213 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:36.960 this weekend, on a Sunday, when the store was closed, 214 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:39.200 they went out to wax the floor and they got 215 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:42.159 in silly argument about how to do it. You know. 216 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:43.399 Frank was like, this is the way you do it. 217 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:48.440 Mike the youngest, was saying, no, this isn't night. You're 218 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:50.639 messed up. And anyway, they got in this argument and 219 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.399 the final words that Mike said to his brother were, Frank, 220 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:58.360 why don't you fuck off and die? Yeah, And he 221 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.720 stormed out of the store and left, And those were 222 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:04.840 the last words that his brother, Mike said to Frank. 223 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.919 And as Mike said, he said, you know, it took 224 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:12.759 me five years of intense therapy to get over that guilt. 225 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:16.200 And Frank left the next day and he never saw 226 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:16.879 him again. 227 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.279 Now that what we were talking about music and everybody's 228 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:22.919 love and this family of the same band tell us 229 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.080 about the band, and well we alluded to it in 230 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:28.879 the introduction, tell us about their love of the band, 231 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.840 and this is a band that many many people are 232 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:32.960 dedicated to following. 233 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:37.399 So yes, so the boys in particular in that family 234 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.120 big fans of the Grateful Dead, and they had all 235 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:44.000 been too many shows. In fact, their trip to California 236 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:47.320 was kind of a as I think in this book, 237 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:48.559 I referred to it as kind of a trip to 238 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.080 Mecca for a Deadhead's day and went to Berkeley to 239 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:56.039 see the Dead. And they had planned this road trip 240 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:58.200 and they all went out there, or Frank and Mike 241 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.039 went out there and met of his siblings out there, 242 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:05.000 and it was a bond that they had through this 243 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:08.519 music and of course the experiences of going to the shows. 244 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.559 So when he disappeared, the big assumption was, hey, he 245 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.519 just you know, he's out following the Dead. So one 246 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:18.159 of the things they started to do was starting to 247 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:21.600 they started going to Dead shows and to see if 248 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:24.879 they could find Frank among the people who kind of 249 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:28.360 that community that follows them from town to town. And 250 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:32.720 he Frank liked to hitchhike, so they looked for him 251 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.240 and hitchhikers along the side of the road. They looked 252 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:38.200 in newspapers from around the country just to see if 253 00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:42.960 there were any news stories about someone who was, you know, 254 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:47.399 anything from you know, injured in an accident or you know, 255 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.360 had amnesian, didn't know who he was, and you know, 256 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:54.559 they were they were looking at any possible leads that 257 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:58.120 they could that they could get. But yeah, the Grateful Dead, definitely, 258 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:00.840 they had a real strong bond over their music. 259 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:05.200 Tell us of the last day with the family and 260 00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:09.679 when he leaves and then what is the response from 261 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.080 the parents, Joan and Bill and the police. 262 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:17.399 Yeah, so that the day after Mike and Frank had 263 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.039 their argument at the grocery store. By the time Frank 264 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:21.600 got up out of bed the next day, this was 265 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:27.399 a Monday, the boys were out and already at work, 266 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:29.480 and so he was kind of at home. The other 267 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:32.919 person at home was his mother, and he came out 268 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.120 and his mother. He and his mother mother had a 269 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.960 little argument about just keeping the place clean. She said, hey, 270 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:41.200 you know, kind of keep this place cleaned up, and 271 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:44.639 he got a little argument with her, and then joan. 272 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.120 His mother had to leave and run some errands. So 273 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:50.559 he then is when he left, and I don't know 274 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:53.679 if he had made the decision. Some of his siblings 275 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:55.960 speculated that he'd already made the decision the day before 276 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:01.200 leave or that morning. But somewhere in there, he drove 277 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.159 to the bank a few blocks from their house withdrew 278 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:07.039 all of his money. He had thirty eight hundred dollars 279 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:09.799 in his account. He took it all in cash. He 280 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.919 had asked the teller to convert part of it into 281 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:17.799 travelers checks, but they couldn't because the bank officer at 282 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:21.919 the time who handled that wasn't there. So he took 283 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:25.000 it all in cash. He immediately peeled part of it 284 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.519 off put it in a sock because he carried that's 285 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.279 where he carried his cash. He always carried a lot 286 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.519 of cash in his sock. And he left. And when 287 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:36.360 his you know family that later that day, when he 288 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.240 didn't come home, most of them didn't really even think 289 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:42.279 about much about it. They thought, oh, well, Frank's gone again. 290 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:44.600 I mean, he was not. It was not uncommon for 291 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:47.320 him to take off for a day or two and 292 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:50.559 either go camping or just go on, go gone. An 293 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:55.720 adventure somewhere, but his parents knew he always called, he 294 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.240 always let them know her. And so a day went 295 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:01.000 by and they didn't hear from him. So they thought, okay, 296 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:02.759 in a couple of days. When a couple of days 297 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.240 went by, they started to get a little a little concerned, 298 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:07.680 right that, you know, we would have heard from him 299 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.519 by now. And so then when you know, a handful 300 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.319 of days went by, they didn't approach the kans City 301 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:16.640 Police Department, who of course said, well, there's not much 302 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.200 we can do. He's an adult. There was no foul 303 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:21.279 play or anything or any and he left in his 304 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:24.079 own car, and there's not much we can do. So 305 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:29.960 they then had to kind of rally their community. And 306 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.200 you know, so again like I said, we grew up 307 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:35.160 in this big Irish Catholic community. Everybody knows everybody. So people, 308 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:39.640 you know, mobilized and contacted friends in other cities and 309 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.359 they they most of them suspected he headed west because 310 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:46.720 he loved the west, and so they hadn't really considered 311 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:49.480 that he went east, but he in fact then you know, 312 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:52.960 that's where he was. And it was just five days 313 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:58.880 after he left home that he was he was murdered. 314 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:06.519 You write that June fourteenth, nineteen eighty two, Nance's Oyster Roast, 315 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:10.079 a restaurant, there's a report of a dead body. Yes, 316 00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:10.839 what happens? 317 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:11.160 This is? 318 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:16.200 This is a Deputy Hymen makes a call South Carolina. 319 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:20.400 So now yes, so now we moved to the coast 320 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.759 of South Carolina. So merles Inlet is a little fishing 321 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:28.400 village just south of Myrtle Beach, north of Georgetown, which 322 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:33.480 is an historic town and the county seat there. And 323 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.160 so yes, a call comes in from Nance's Oyster Roast, 324 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:42.359 which is a well known local family seafood restaurant, and 325 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.240 they say, we haven't you know, we've they found a 326 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:47.400 body in the woods. Can you come and check it out? 327 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:52.039 So Deputy Hymen shows up and there are two local 328 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:56.880 boys sitting there, and he knows these guys, one of 329 00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:00.839 whom in particular is a guy who has a lot 330 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:06.200 of history with the local sheriff's department. He is a 331 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:10.799 local trouble maker. His name's Tommy mcdell. And everybody in 332 00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:14.079 town when I went down there first and started asking questions, 333 00:19:14.119 --> 00:19:16.759 everybody and now knew Tommy mcdell. Oh yeah, Tommy mcdell. 334 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:21.240 They all had a story about him, and he was 335 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:26.599 known for stealing stuff, maybe setting some fires, you know, 336 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.359 throwing up trouble, shooting them, shooting off guns just to 337 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:35.559 just for fun, and generally just stirring things up. And 338 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.920 so he was there and his cousin, Chris Nant's younger 339 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:42.039 cousin was also there, and they reported to the deputy 340 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:44.200 that they had been out playing in the woods, riding 341 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:46.680 their bikes through the woods and had stepped off the 342 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.160 path and they found this body up propped up against 343 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:53.000 the trees. So they went back to the oys to 344 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.880 Nance's restaurant and called the Sheriff's department to come up. 345 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:00.920 And so there were two part time deputies who patrolled 346 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:07.000 merles Inlet at that time, and they and merles Inlet 347 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:11.599 is an interesting places. Not only does it it's on 348 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:14.240 the coast, and it's got a history of you know, 349 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:19.519 pyracy through and the bootleg liquor through prohibition and running 350 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.960 drugs in the sixteen seventies. But also to make things 351 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.960 more complicated, the there's a county line that runs through 352 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.519 literally the north side of town. Part of merles Inlet 353 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.920 is in another county, and part of it is it's 354 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:35.119 an unincorporated but you know, part of it is so 355 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:38.759 it straddles a county line, so the jurisdiction over which 356 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:43.279 sheriff is responsible for it is often toss up. So 357 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:46.599 this fell to Georgetown County on the south side, and 358 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:49.839 the sheriff have the sheriff's deputy then deput behind and 359 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:52.400 then took these two boys to the woods where they 360 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:55.559 showed him where this body was. And from then on 361 00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:57.559 he was known as the Boy in the Woods. 362 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:01.759 Now, the thing is that there's no this is many 363 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:05.480 miles away from where Frank mcgonaga is and where the 364 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:08.519 police are not even looking for him, but the family is. 365 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.839 And you say that the family employees everybody that they 366 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:16.160 know in their church, and there's mass masses being said 367 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:21.279 and every effort to make fires and get the word out. Yes, 368 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:26.440 how do you get involved in this and basically investigate 369 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:27.079 this case? 370 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.680 Right? So, at the time he was missing, all of 371 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.000 us in the neighborhood, you know, knew that he was missing, 372 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.079 and like a lot of things, you know, as it 373 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:39.720 it as it got longer and longer, you know, and 374 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:43.720 it became clearer that something had happened to him. But 375 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:47.400 then also as time goes by, you move on, right. 376 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:49.680 I then went to college and then you know, and 377 00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:53.480 then graduated from college, and you know, so I kind 378 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:55.920 of didn't kind of cat lost track of what was 379 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:59.640 going on until that moment with my mother and we 380 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:01.880 saw statue when she reminded me of what was going on. 381 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:05.680 So that sparked my interest. When I got involved with 382 00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:09.440 the mcgonigall's and started to interview them, what really piqued 383 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:13.000 my interest was Merles Inlet, this little town, and you 384 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.160 know that they had a suspect, but they just were 385 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.720 never able to, you know, pin it on anybody. It 386 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:21.839 was one of these deals where everybody in town was 387 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.279 convinced that Tommy McDowell committed this crime, but they never 388 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:28.319 had any evidence to depending on them. It was just circumstantial. 389 00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:31.759 So I thought, hey, in order to do this story, 390 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.559 well I need to go there. So I then in 391 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:38.440 the February of twenty fifth time, I'm sorry, nineteen ninety five, 392 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:43.400 I went to Merles I actually went to Georgetown and 393 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:45.519 where the county seat is in the Sheriff's department and 394 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:49.440 checked into a bed and breakfast there and started poking 395 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:54.400 around and just started the Sheriff's department was very helpful. 396 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:56.720 They let me, you know, look at us. The file 397 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.119 that they had was pretty skimpy file. It was just 398 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:02.839 basically had written police report, a couple of poor laroid 399 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:06.640 photos of the crime scene, and he's just a few 400 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.359 other items in there are a few other documents. And 401 00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:11.880