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E044: The Springfield Three
1.6k Plays5 years ago
When potential evidence is contaminated, leaving the police little to no leads, it looks like the three women in this week’s episode vanished without a trace. When the house is in perfect order, money is still in purses, and the family dog is left untouched, what possibly could have happened to the Springfield Three?
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Transcript
Introduction and Gratitude
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to my favorite day of the week. Allison and I want to thank you so much for spending time listening to our podcast each week. If you're new to Coffee and Cases, welcome to the show. We hope you love listening to the stories we share as much as we love sharing them with you.
Self-care and Listener Support
00:00:14
Speaker
This week I want to challenge you to make yourself a priority. I feel like over the past year I've lost some of myself.
00:00:20
Speaker
I seem to never have enough time to read or enough time to exercise. There's just not enough time in my day. It's like the day's gone before it really starts. I know a lot of you probably feel the same way. So while we are still living in the crazy COVID world, I want you to not forget about yourself. You're important. You're loved.
00:00:37
Speaker
So make time to read the book that you just got in the mail, even if it's the new Twilight book, which is what mine is, don't judge. Put some air in those bike tires and burn some calories when you bike around town. I think right now we're so focused on giving to others, giving our talents to someone else, giving our time to someone else that we forget to give to ourselves. Allison and I want to thank you for being an outlet for us, for being that escape that we need each week. Your support and love remind us that
00:01:06
Speaker
Some things are good in the world still, so please continue to listen, to share, to reach out, and to show your support until everything can return to normal, take care of yourselves. Please don't lose faith, continue to love one another, and to know with each other, and to know that with each other we'll get through this, even if I can't say everything correctly. So stay together, Sleuth Mounds, and stay safe. Now on to this week's episode.
Episode Theme: Disappearances
00:01:31
Speaker
We hear stories every single day of people disappearing, simply vanishing. But I think most of us, anyways, would go through life thinking, oh, that can never happen to me or never to my child. But when a person disappears, that is someone. And that is someone's child. So a family's left searching.
00:01:52
Speaker
Death is its own beast we struggle to understand. We take comfort in thinking of the long life lived or the accomplishments achieved. We find ourselves thinking, oh, he had such a wonderful life, or she accomplished so much in her short time with us. When someone disappears, those tiny words of comfort we whisper to ourselves. When coping with death, they mean nothing. There's no solace found in those empty words.
00:02:18
Speaker
When there's so much left for someone to give and they're suddenly gone, we try to wrap our heads around the empty space. And we try to patch our broken hearts, but the holes keep opening back up every time we think of what could have been. It seems a little bit harder when someone who's young disappears. We think of the life they could have had. We think of the promises we saw in them of great things to come. There are a few moments in life that give you a sense of promise.
00:02:45
Speaker
weddings, births, starting a new job, but none so much as graduation, and in particular, high school graduation. At 18 years old, life is just beginning when you walk across that stage and shake your principal's hand. All your plans for life are starting to unravel and you're filled with nerves and excitement as you step away from childhood and begin the journey into adulthood.
00:03:06
Speaker
There's nothing like that feeling, not knowing what the future holds, looking forward to your next step, while holding on to your last childhood summer, thinking that nothing can touch you. Sadly though, none of us are immune to the cruelty this world offers. None of us are immune to heartbreak, and no matter how much we want to tell our loved ones we'll never go, we really can't make that promise. None of us know what tomorrow holds.
00:03:29
Speaker
On the brink of a bright future, our victims today slipped from their promising future with no clues left to bring them home. On
Case Introduction: Springfield Three
00:03:36
Speaker
a night of celebrating finishing up a huge milestone in life graduating high school, horror struck this town when three ladies disappeared without a trace. Just hours before a promise hung in the air, thick with a promise that two recent high school graduates would change the world, leave their mark on society. Little did their family and friends know that they, along with one of their mothers, would go missing.
00:03:57
Speaker
and leave all those promises empty. This is the story of the Springfield Tree.
00:04:39
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams and my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement.
00:04:55
Speaker
so justice and closure can be brought to these families. With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, because, as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:05:17
Speaker
All right. It's that time in the show again. That's right. Promo time. We just wanted to remind you that we are still running our bonus episode promotion. So if you are returning listener and you have not yet rated us on Apple podcast, we would love for you to take a second and give us a five star rating.
00:05:36
Speaker
If you're feeling generous and you really want to make us smile, you'll also leave us a written review. If you're a new listener, Maggie and I have been trying for some time now to reach 150 ratings on Apple Podcasts. We have 115 now, so we're slowly climbing each week, but we're allowing ourselves to be slightly greedy and continuing to ask for 150 total ratings.
00:06:01
Speaker
You guys are awesome. You've been sharing our podcasts and posts on social media. And we have seen growth in numbers and interaction and we love that. We know that with your help, we can easily reach the 150 Apple podcast ratings. So again, take a second to rate the show if you like what you're hearing.
00:06:20
Speaker
When we get to 150 ratings, Maggie and I will do a bonus episode. Just make sure that you follow us on social media, Coffee and Cases podcast on Facebook or at Coffee Cases podcast on Instagram. Or as always, listen in each week to know when that bonus episode will air. Now, Maggie, let's get into our show.
Background of Victims
00:06:41
Speaker
All right, so Stacy and Susie had just graduated high school. They both walked across the stage to accept their diploma at Springfield Kickapoo High School on June 6, 1992. Yeah, Anthony... That's kind of a fun name. Anthony... Kickapoo. That was hilarious. He was like, I would never go to that school. I was like... I like it. Kickapoo.
00:07:06
Speaker
Well, according to the Charlie Project, Stacy planned to attend Southwest Missouri State University in the fall of 1992. She actually worked as a secretary and receptionist at Springville Gymnastics at the time this incident occurred. And she actually was also a model and she modeled wedding gowns at Total Bride in like a shopping center near where she lived. So I thought that was kind of cool. And her family members did say that she was really like conscientious of
00:07:36
Speaker
of how she appeared. And that was really hard for me to say just then.
00:07:42
Speaker
She dated occasionally, but Stacy actually didn't have a boyfriend at the time she graduated high school. Susie, also according to the Charlie Project, was employed at a local movie theater. She was enrolled in cosmetology school and had planned to do that as her career. She actually wanted to follow in her mom's footsteps because the third lady in our story today, Cheryl, was a
00:08:08
Speaker
beautician. She worked at New Attitudes hair salon on West Sunshine Street in Springfield. And she was actually pretty established. She had about 250 clients that she saw on a regular basis at the time of her disappearance. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I don't really know a lot. The standard amount that beautician see.
00:08:29
Speaker
Sounds like a lot because I mean you think I guess how often do you go? Well, see I don't go get well Corona. I have not had my haircut since Christmas. Yeah, I have literally go like once every six months. My mom's pretty regular. She does like once every six weeks. But I'm lucky if I go like once every four months or something.
00:08:56
Speaker
right she apparently was like really good at what she did and was described as like a model employee and she had a very close relationship with her daughter susie and so it's a lot of s's in this story yeah stacey and susie are the kids right and then cheryl right susie cheryl and susie are mother daughter stacey susie's best friend
00:09:21
Speaker
So as I researched, I didn't find anything that would hint to like a shady past for Cheryl. There was no one that was like really like quote out to get hurt or anything like that. And both Stacy and Susie were well liked. Neither of them were dating at the time and neither had really been through like a bad breakup. In fact, both of those girls had plans to go to some graduation parties after family dinners on graduation night, which I feel like pretty customary.
00:09:49
Speaker
unless you're me because I didn't go. I mean we saw that in like the Brooklyn Farthing case. That's true. Because they had the field party. Right. According to the article Three Missing Women, 10 years later, part one of five, first they went to a party in Battlefield, then they went to another party in Springfield. And this does sound very much like the Brooklyn Farthing case, like all these little small pounds.
00:10:14
Speaker
They have planned on staying in a hotel so that they can meet up with friends the following day to go to a water park. But by the end of the night, they had changed their minds. They didn't want to drive all the way to Branson to stay in a hotel and they didn't want to spend the night at their friend Kirby's house because it was too crowded. So they decided that they were going to go back.
00:10:34
Speaker
to Susie's house because Susie had just got a new water bed, because remember it's 1992. So she had just got this as a graduation present from her mom and they were wanting to try it out. So they call her around 1030 to let her know that they're coming home. And so in the early morning hours of June 7th, they head back to 1717 East Del Mar Street. And that is where Cheryl and Susie lived. They'd only lived there for about two months. Okay, so they're actually like
00:11:05
Speaker
calling in at night pretty early. I mean, 10 30. Well, I think that's just when they decide. Oh, okay. They actually don't come home until 2 15. Oh, so that yeah, that's kind of like it's a little later. We know that around approximately 11 15 Cheryl called a friend to ask about a DIY project she was working on. So she was doing a do it yourself thing. She was painting a dresser.
00:11:33
Speaker
And she wanted some advice on the best way to go about that. And I relate to this because I painted her bathroom vanity in the old house that we just sold. It was literally horrible. So many coats of paint. So much sanding.
00:11:50
Speaker
I wouldn't, if I could help it, I will never do that again. So like I said, Stacy and Susie do finally get home around 2 15. And that is the last piece on the timeline that we know for sure. Oh gosh. Okay.
Discovery of Clues
00:12:08
Speaker
So that's all that we have right now. So remember that Susie and Stacy were supposed to meet up with friends to go to a water park the morning of June 7th.
00:12:17
Speaker
Okay. Even though that they get home at 2 15 on June 7th, they are still getting up early to go to the water park. Typical teenage thing, right? Like you can go on little sleep. Yeah. Um, so when they didn't show up to meet their friends, um, Kirby and her boyfriend actually drive to the house to look for them. And what they find is an empty house that looks completely normal. So the house is in perfect order.
00:12:47
Speaker
There's shattered porch light, but like they just dismiss that as like, you know, an accident of some sort. They're actually really sweet and clean it up so that the mom, so that Cheryl wouldn't have to do that later.
00:13:00
Speaker
the front door is unlocked and when they knock and nobody answers they just let themselves in because they're that host to the family and they didn't find anything out of the ordinary again there's nothing out of place and the only thing that Kirby did notice was everybody's cars were parked outside but nobody was inside and for some reason like she didn't really think that was weird. Well you know I mean
00:13:25
Speaker
obviously when you hear it this way, you're like, Oh my gosh, how would you not know? But I mean, I'm so clueless. I probably wouldn't have even, I would have, I don't know thought, Oh, maybe they went for a walk. Like maybe they, I don't know. I feel like in my head I would have come up with a reason. Yeah. We probably would have rationalized it. Plus I don't know. Like I didn't look at their house like on Google earth. So maybe they live like in town and she thought, Oh, I bet they just walk somewhere to get breakfast or something like that. Right. But I will tell you,
00:13:55
Speaker
the smashed porch light, it's making me think of some of our other cases, you know, like, could that be done on purpose? So like if somebody, it's dark when somebody comes to the door. I don't like that already. It made me think of that one case when all the light bulbs were unscrewed. Yup. Yup. Laureen ran. Yeah. Yup. I know.
00:14:20
Speaker
So while they're there, and I imagine it would be just for a short time, something odd did happen. So a few odd things happen. And it's something that if only Kirby would have known the fate of her friends, I feel like the hair on her neck would have stood on end. Oh gosh. So the family dog, Cinnamon, was there. And Cinnamon, who was usually a happy little Yorkshire Terrier, was on edge. I know. They're so cute.
00:14:46
Speaker
I'm allergic to cinnamon the spice so I would never think my dog that So he appeared to be aggressive and unlike usual didn't really want anyone to fit in like he just was kind of staying to itself which was weird and so while they're there the phone rings and Kirby just naturally picks it up and like
00:15:12
Speaker
I mean, I know it's not really out of the ordinary, but the call was from an unknown male. And so Kirby describes it as, quote, a strange and disturbing phone call and that the man may, quote, sexual into windows. So she picks up on it. Yeah. Which.
00:15:31
Speaker
I mean, you know, I guess people do prank calls. But looking back on it, you have to think, could this have somehow been connected to the case? So immediately after she hangs up, hangs up, there's a second phone call. And when she picks the receiver up, it's another weird phone call of a sexual nature. And so she hangs the phone up again. Uh, yeah, that's creepy. So they leave. Um, they don't.
00:16:00
Speaker
phone police, they just rationalize it, so they just leave. Several places that I did research all said the same thing. They said in several places that Kirby and other friends actually visited the house several times that day to check to see if the three had come back. But no one ever called the police when they realized that no one was there.
00:16:23
Speaker
that was until Janice, or that's Stacy's mom, arrived on the scene several hours later when all of her attempts to reach her daughter by phone went unanswered. Oh, cause yeah, cause I mean at first maybe she thought, okay well, you know, Stacy and her friend are supposed to go to the water park, so of course maybe she's not answering phone calls at first, but then, I guess, you know, if you keep calling and don't get an answer then you start to get worried.
00:16:51
Speaker
right and i'm sure it was probably one of those things like because i know my mom would be like call me before you leave or something you know something like that and she probably was worried because no call came you know i do wonder though if curvy and her boyfriend i think that's who you said we're supposed to go to the water park too i would think they'd be getting pretty like annoyed that their friends weren't there because then they don't get to go to the water park either
00:17:16
Speaker
Or they could have just left and been like, well, they decided to do something else, so let's just go ahead and go. I mean, maybe. I don't, I don't know, like Kirby and the boyfriend. Two, I think like sweeping up the glass was, you want to say that it's sweet, but then later on, you're kind of like, maybe not. Right. Was like the Molly Bish, like when the boss closes the first aid kit.
00:17:44
Speaker
Like you think for a good reason, but then ultimately it's bad because it's tampering with something that, you know, is potential evidence. Right.
00:17:55
Speaker
So once Shana skipped inside, because remember the door's unlocked, she notices that all three women's purses were sitting on the floor in the living room. She saw that her daughter's clothes had been neatly folded from the night before and that she'd actually taken time to like innocently tuck her jewelry into the pocket of her shorts so that she wouldn't forget anything.
00:18:18
Speaker
So Cheryl and Susie were smokers, but cigarettes were left inside the house. Cheryl's bed appeared to be, or appeared to look like someone had been sleeping in it. Her glasses were on top of a book and it looked like someone had been reading it and just sat it down quickly like to run and get a drink of water. So everything just looks like somebody just went there. Yeah.
00:18:43
Speaker
So Janice frantically calls police from the house's telephone to report the three are missing. So the next thing she does, like when I was reading it, I was like, that's really weird and like odd of her to do. But then when I stopped to think about it, I was like, wait, this is not T92. So this is probably normal. So Janice checks the house answering machine.
00:19:07
Speaker
So like I said, I was like, why would she do that? She doesn't live there. But then I remember this, like, yeah, I'm 30, so y'all can judge me, but I'm rewatching. I'm rewatching Sister Sister because it's on Netflix right now.
00:19:23
Speaker
And they run away from home, but then when they come back, they're like, Oh, well, let's check the answering machine to see if like mom and Ray called to tell us where they were. So then I was like, Oh, I bet Janice check the answering machine to see if they called to let someone know where they were. Yeah. Yeah. The two girls called Cheryl to say, Hey, we're on our way back.
00:19:46
Speaker
Yeah, that makes sense. You know, it's not the naughty too. So we have to go back in time a little. So there's no message from the girls, but there is a message on the machine. Don't tell me it's the creepy guy. Well, it's, we don't know who it is. We all, we know that it is a strange message. She says that it's a quote, a strange message. We don't know anything else about it because she inadvertently erased it from the tape. Oh no.
00:20:16
Speaker
Okay. So we've had the light bulb thing sweeped up and then a message on the answering machine accidentally erased. Oh no. Yes. So Stacy's parents contacted police in reference to their daughter's disappearance from Cheryl's home more than 16 hours after the women were last seen. That's a long time. And that is a very long time. Um,
00:20:42
Speaker
Other people, like I said, have been in and out throughout that day. Oh, so they're contaminating the place too. Yeah. When police arrive on the scene, they actually estimate around 10 to 20 people have been on the scene of the crime before then.
00:20:57
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Well, luckily I don't have that many friends who would come to my house to check on me. I don't even know that I know like 20 people who would personally drive to my home to check. I don't even know if 20 people know where I live. I'm not complaining about that.
Investigation Challenges
00:21:13
Speaker
I would check on you. Oh my gosh. Thanks Maggie. Oh, that's so sad though because I mean every single person who comes in is corrupting everything.
00:21:25
Speaker
yeah so they basically like literally have nothing to go on just like everybody before the police find nothing out of the ordinary so according to that part one of that five-part long article all three vehicles were left in the driveway Cheryl's car was parked in the carport Zuzi's board was parked in a circle drive and Stacy's
00:21:47
Speaker
Parola was right behind it. The keys for the vehicles were found inside the unlocked house. The three purses were piled together at the foot of the steps going into Susie's sunken bedroom, which I think is cool, a sunken bedroom. All the purses had all the money and all the credit cards still inside. Okay, that's weird. And there was even an undisturbed graduation cake waiting in the refrigerator.
00:22:13
Speaker
Oh, that's super sad. But I mean, the fact that their purses are in plain sight with money and credit cards and they're still there tells me this wasn't a robbery. Right. And I think that would also, I would be like, where would they have gone without taking money or their purse? Yeah, you're right. It makes it seem like this was not a willing trip somewhere and it's not robbery. Right. Exactly.
00:22:42
Speaker
So it was apparent that the women had gotten ready for bed. So each had washed off their makeup and we know that because there were damp towels in the hamper that all their jewelry was either like in the shorts or left on like the sink. So to me that just says like everything was normal that they didn't sense anything unusual.
00:23:05
Speaker
So the Springfield police captain, Tony Glenn actually says, quote, the only thing unusual about this house was that three women were missing from it. You had this feeling as you looked around that something was missing, that something had been missing, but there wasn't just them. End quote. Oh man.
00:23:25
Speaker
but something happened in the wee hours of the morning, something that causes these women to disappear without a trace. We just... Yeah, so between 2.15 and the time that, I mean, if there's no breakfast going, then it seems to say, or there's not, I guess I'm thinking they hadn't already gotten up. So it literally happened in my head between like 2.15 when they got there and probably like before eight o'clock.
00:23:54
Speaker
And that actually is the timeline that the police say. So they think that the disappearance happened sometime between 2 and like 8 30 in the morning. Because like you said, there was no evidence that there was like breakfast or anything. So look at you. Thanks. I'm telling ya.
00:24:11
Speaker
Yeah, that's really professional. I know basically. So the police have logged over 5,000 tips about this case. They have given countless polygraph tests, the potential suspects, friends and family have searched the woods and fields throughout the Ozark. Um, they've even followed leads into 21 different States and they have all led to nothing. Wow. So this is like national search. Yeah. And actually, um,
00:24:40
Speaker
they end up kind of like really pushing that i'm hearing a little bit so like i said searches are taking place prayers are being sent up like everyone's checking on their neighbor so within days they put 20 000 posters up of these missing women on telephone poles storefront windows restaurant truck stops
00:25:03
Speaker
Um, and they actually raised enough money to offer a $100,000 reward for information about the whereabouts of the Springfield three. Wow. That's a hefty chunk. Yeah. And quickly too, I think. Um, but this also is according to the Charlie project. Um, there apparently was a witness that reported observing a woman that matched Susie's description, driving an old model.
00:25:31
Speaker
Moss Green Dodge van later on the day of June the 7th and the witness says that the woman appeared to be terrified as a male that she couldn't see shouted quote don't do anything stupid but the witness didn't contact investigators with her account until several days had passed like I don't understand oh my gosh
00:25:52
Speaker
I mean, at first, when you were telling me this and you said that, you know, Susie's driving, I was like, that doesn't jive with the fact that they left their purses and all that. But the fact that the witness heard somebody say, don't do anything stupid, now that would fit, because then there could be somebody who's like, is holding her at gunpoint or something, and we just don't see him, so nobody thinks anything.
00:26:22
Speaker
Right. But I would hope that if I heard that, I would still be like, Oh, I probably call the police. But again, we rationalized things. So right. Right. I mean, that's not the only like thing that happens that you're going to be like, really? Really? Well, an additional witness reported seeing the same Dodge van.
00:26:44
Speaker
in a different area at Springfield and the man told authority that he saw a blonde female, so again matching Susie's description, sitting in the driver's seat in a parking lot of a global grocery store. He said that he wrote down the van's license plate number on a newspaper because the vehicle seemed suspicious. Okay, that's good. Yeah, good job guys. Yeah, yeah. But you know what he did? What?
00:27:25
Speaker
potential. So much potential but then nothing pans out. They actually hypnotize this guy to see if they can get the memories like out of his subconscious but he's only able to recall the first three digits of the license plate. I mean that's pretty good.
00:27:33
Speaker
he threw the newspaper away before he contacted investigators
00:27:41
Speaker
Yeah, but not good enough. Well, I mean, I know. But it makes me think though, like the Pamela Ray case, there was the cop who they hypnotized to try to see like if he remembered the description of like the man with the ferret. Yeah. And then that was actually super important because they found a man that had a ferret. Right. So, I mean, I'm just, I'm in awe that hypnosis can like
00:28:09
Speaker
recall anything because sometimes I always want to be hypnotized but it kind of scares me oh I'm terrified because then I'm like what could they have me do that I don't want them to have me do yeah or say so I totally believe in it and yet at the same time I'm like thrilled every time I hear that it actually works so it's kind of like a Ouija board like I'm intrigued by it but it's just not for me oh no we've talked about that you couldn't pay me to touch one nope
00:28:40
Speaker
So a server at George Steakhouse, and this is one of Cheryl's favorite restaurants in Springfield, reported seeing the women in the establishment somewhere between 1 and 3 a.m. on June 7th. So this would have been like right after they got home from all of those parties. But why would the Steakhouse be open between 1 and 3 a.m.? Perhaps it's like maybe like a bar maybe?
00:29:08
Speaker
Oh, or maybe the server was like cleaning up or washing dishes or doing whatever and then leaving. That's true. Cause she, all she said is that she claimed that Cheryl, Susie and Stacy arrived and left together. She said that Susie appeared to be highly intoxicated, which again, I think would fit for most kids graduating high school and leaving graduation parties.
00:29:31
Speaker
except let's hope Stacey was driving then because both of it that's exactly what I thought because both of their cars are in the vehicle and I'm like I know Susie did not drive drunk I would hope not but I'm not we're not going to judge so okay anyway so the group actually leaves the restaurant and the person reporting this says it looks like Cheryl is trying to calm
00:29:56
Speaker
Susie down but investigators were never able to confirm this possible sighting and it's actually not clear if maybe the women visited the eatery before their disappearance and she just had the days confused. Which again we've talked about that like unless something like really bizarre happens that stands out I mean you could I feel like I've done some research into and I know we haven't covered it here on the podcast but like the Lacey Peterson case and
00:30:26
Speaker
like people were talking about like how a house had been broken into or like, you know, seeing Lacey walk the dog, but she walked the dog every day, you know? So then people were like, well, was it on Tuesday or was it Thursday that this happened? And I feel like if that was Cheryl's favorite restaurant, then they ate there pretty often, I would imagine. And so then, you know, the server could be like, well, maybe they got the weeks confused or the, you know, whatever.
00:30:57
Speaker
Yeah, that's true because it's not like Cheryl came in on June 7th wearing like clown shoes. Right. Remember that specific day. Exactly. So other witnesses reported hearing a woman's screams and the squill of tires in Eastern Greene County, Missouri during the early morning of June 7th. But officials searched that area and there was no evidence that could like relate to the case whatsoever.
00:31:24
Speaker
So literally with nothing else to go on, law enforcement agencies like became desperate. People were calling in saying that they thought like this place was a fresh grave and they would go dig it up and it was like an ant hill that looked like a grave. They even went so far as to follow buzzards that were circling to hope to find the missing women.
00:31:48
Speaker
I mean, so they're, I mean, they're going above and beyond, like literally everything. They're desperate and they're looking. Yeah. And immediately, like they take this case serious from the beginning because they actually within the first, I think it was week, um, the Springfield threes faces appear on America's most wanted.
Media Coverage and Suspects
00:32:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that is quickly. They get the case on America's most wanted.
00:32:15
Speaker
They actually got 29 calls from across the nation regarding that episode of America's Most Wanted. And again, according to the Charlie Project, an anonymous caller phoned into America's Most Wanted hotline after the program profiled the Springfield Three in December of 1992.
00:32:35
Speaker
Um, authorities actually think that this person held important information connected to the disappearances, but he was disconnected before they could get him to Springfield investigators. Oh my goodness. So yet another thing that has just gone wrong. Yeah. And the public literally begged this caller to come forward again. And so did police officials, but they have never heard from that caller again. So they didn't call her. If you are listening, call back.
00:33:05
Speaker
That's what I'm saying. Just pull back. If that were me and I got disconnected immediately I would have pulled back. I will too. Unless they got spooked like they got scared or something. That's true because they might know. That's true. So years pass with no lead.
00:33:25
Speaker
But then in 1996, Robert Craig Cox, who was it that said, was it you that said all serial killer? Yes. Three names. It's like every time. So he's actually a convicted robber serving time on unrelated charges in a prison and take this at the time. But he is identified as a possible suspect in the case because he lived in Springfield at the time the Springfield three disappeared.
00:33:51
Speaker
And he actually worked with Stacy's dad at a local car dealership. So there's a lot of dots that can be connected there. He initially told investigators that he wasn't in the Springfield area on June 7th, but he later recanted that statement because he initially told them
00:34:09
Speaker
that he was at church with his girlfriend the morning the women disappeared. And she like agrees with that. But even she later recants her statement and says that Cox made her say the things that she said and that they weren't actually true. He also told a journalist that he knew the women had been murdered and that they'd been buried near Cheryl's home. And he claimed that their remains would never be discovered. Well, why not?
00:34:37
Speaker
He actually did not go into any further detail that I could find. Police really aren't even sure like the things that he said are true. They haven't really been able to prove any of that and he's never been charged in connection to the disappearance of Stacy, Susie, and Cheryl. Though, okay, I don't like the confessions, all that stuff, but
00:35:04
Speaker
One thing I will say, if this Robert Craig Cox is a convicted robber, then again, it doesn't really fit his M.O. that he wouldn't rob them. That's true, because all their money and stuff is still there. Right. Like, I feel like if you, you know, if you're somebody who, I don't know, always drinks Mountain Dew and then you leave an unopened Mountain Dew,
00:35:34
Speaker
You know what I mean? Like, you would drink them out and do. Like, I feel like he would take the stuff if that's, you know, what he's normally in trouble for. Right, and robbery and kidnapping are like... They're totally different things. Yeah, exactly. So, according to Wikipedia, and I know as a feature the whole time I was like, this is Wikipedia, but I'm rolling with it.
00:36:00
Speaker
Investigators received a tip that the women's bodies were actually buried in the foundations of a parking garage at Cox Hospital, which I assume is in no way related to Robert Craig Cox, but whatever.
00:36:16
Speaker
So in 2007, so several years later, crime reporter Kathy Bard invited Rick Norland, who's a mechanical engineer, to scan that corner of the parking garage with ground penetrating radar. And I'm going to kind of go a little more into detail about ground penetrating radar. But Norland found three anomalies who he said would be, quote, roughly the same size
00:36:46
Speaker
as like what you would find in a graveside location. Oh my. Yes. So I mean, I feel like as I was researching, I was like, okay, we're getting somewhere. Two of these forms were like side by side or parallel and then the other was perpendicular. So again, I'm like, all right. Yeah, this could be. This could be it. Yeah. Police spokesperson Lisa Cox, however, said that the person who reported a tip didn't quote
00:37:15
Speaker
or quote provided no evidence or logical reasoning behind this theory at the time or since then. She also said the parking garage began construction in September of 1993, so over a year after the disappearances. But, I mean, it could be the case that whoever did something to them, if we assume that they did, you know, murder them,
00:37:44
Speaker
They could have buried the bodies and I think this isn't that uncommon They could have buried the bodies and then thinking that like police were getting too close Moved them
00:37:57
Speaker
OK, so that I totally think that that could be the case. And Anthony, so he's not a mechanical engineer, he's a civil engineer, but they still use the ground penetrating radar. And I obviously before I do these episodes, I read a script to him or whatever so that he can make sure it sounds OK. And he was like, we use that. And he was like, it can tell you how big things are, how far they are from the surface.
00:38:25
Speaker
And he was just like amazed, like, cause they use it for like rock when they're doing roads and stuff. And he was amazed. Yeah. And he was amazed that the police did not, that they just dismissed the finding that this found. Cause he was like, those are really spot on most of the time. Wait, wait, hold on. Hold up. So they see that there's three things they see that it's,
00:38:55
Speaker
fitting with a grave site. But because this parking lot was put in and a year after the three disappeared, they just were like, we shouldn't look into it. It's been a year too late. So they didn't even look. So they say that
00:39:15
Speaker
This is a direct quote from them. Quote, digging at the area and subsequently reconstructing the structure would be extremely costly. And without any reasonable belief that the bodies could be located here, it's illogical to do so. And for those reasons, SPD does not intend to investigate. End quote.
00:39:37
Speaker
Uh, okay. Hold up without any reasonable belief. There is a reasonable belief. There are three anomalies that look to be the size of bodies. I know. Oh my goodness.
00:39:53
Speaker
I know and they actually the someone from like their office actually said that it was a psychic who called that in or like somebody who had a vision so they're saying like it wasn't a reputable source but yet there just so happens to be three anomalies the size of bodies yep I don't know I don't know I think they should have dug it up that's like me too
00:40:23
Speaker
Let me tell you the story. No, and let me tell you the story real quick. My grandma told me this and well, my dad told me it about my grandma, but he said that she kept having this dream when he was younger of these two hills like in Carter County and this plane crashing on one of the hills.
00:40:50
Speaker
and she told like my grandpa about it and they just kind of dismissed it. Well then she had the dream again.
00:40:57
Speaker
And she was like, I really think you should call like the police about it. And he like laughed it off and he was like, it was a dream. I'm not going to call police. And then she had the dream again. And he was like, she was like, I really think you should call the police. He was like, I'm not calling the police. Well, she had this recurring dream. Like it happened several more times. And then like a week later, a plane crashed on the Hill.
00:41:22
Speaker
And so I know, so like I always said that my grandma had like ESP or something, but like I don't know. I feel like even though it's not from a reputable source, if the information is correct, that's correct. Like if there's something that happens to be right where this person says it's going to be, don't dismiss it just because of who's saying it.
00:41:46
Speaker
And that's what I'm saying. Like who is to say what is a reputable source in this situation and what is not. Like you have three missing people. Everything should be taken seriously. Yeah. Follow up every lead. Right. But they don't. And that lead fizzles out as well. So there are theories they abound in this case.
Theories and Speculations
00:42:10
Speaker
Like both what happened to the girls or how they were abducted.
00:42:13
Speaker
and all of that. And I mentioned, I'm just going to go over just a few because like I said, there are a ton. One theory, according to an article called the Springfield theory, states that the women were kidnapped and then murdered by a police officer or someone pretending to be one.
00:42:33
Speaker
So at first I was like, no, but then I was like, okay, because their house was in perfect order. Right? So it had to have been somebody, so somebody that lured them out of their house, like it would just come out of your house at two 15 in the morning for anybody. I mean, you're actually right.
00:42:59
Speaker
Right. Because it's the middle of the day and it's a boy scout selling cookies. It's 2.15 in the morning. Right. And if there's some strange person who's, first of all, I'm not opening the door, but if they came into my house, I'm going to be running around hiding, grabbing things, looking for a weapon, like grabbing my phone, like all that stuff. So it would be a mess.
00:43:24
Speaker
Yeah so the article takes it a little further asking like is it possible maybe that the doctor posed as a utility worker and claimed that the house had a gas leak and that's how they got the women out. I read in several places that several people actually believed that the police were involved in some way either with helping with abduction or trying to cover it up.
00:43:48
Speaker
But the question in my mind is why? None of the women really had any disagreements with police or any involvement with the police that I've read of and they didn't have really any issues with anybody. But there are like a ton of forms on Reddit that go down the police rabbit hole, I guess. I'm out on this theory. I don't think there's much that other than the fact that there's not a mess. I don't think there's anything really that
00:44:18
Speaker
Right. I think you'll like this next theory or not like it, but I think you'll find more like, yeah, substance in the second one. So one of the original investigators theorized that the women's assailant or salience, and I think it almost had to be a salience because one person's going to have a hard time overtaking three women and not making a mess in the house. Agreed.
00:44:43
Speaker
But they think that this, the assailant, took Cinnamon, the dog, out of Cheryl's yard sometime during the night of June 7th.
00:44:54
Speaker
in an effort to try to gain access into the house. And then they speculate that the people knocked on the door pretending that they had rescued Cinnamon, that who had innocently wandered away from home. And when the girls opened the door to let them in, that's when they're overpowered by the assailants. And Anthony even said like- That makes sense. And anybody would do it. So this, right, right. Even if it, no matter what time of the day it is,
00:45:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's your dog. It's your baby. Yeah, right. And if they said maybe that they like at that point, like you're held by a gun. So there wasn't really a time to make mess. It was to get out of the house now. Like, let's go. Right, right.
00:45:40
Speaker
And there actually seemed to be, I can't remember where I read this, but one of the things that I read said that it appeared that Stacy lived in only a t-shirt and panties, like no shoes or anything. So it was probably just like, get out of here, let's go, top thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I found the most like ground in that theory. Mm-hmm, I do too.
00:46:09
Speaker
But that is all we're left with.
Emotional Impact on Families
00:46:12
Speaker
That's all we have are theories and questions. According to Three Missing Women, 10 years later, part 105, quote, on the door of Bill Stokes one chair barbershop hangs a faded yellow poster with the faces of three Springfield women missing the bold headline screams.
00:46:29
Speaker
During December of 1992, when Stokes taped up that sign in his shop, he made a vow to himself, quote, I said I wasn't going to take that down until they solved the case, he said. I was hoping they would solve it. Now I think it will probably just rot off the wall, end quote. The barbershop poster hangs like dozens of others across the Ozarks, yellow and tattered. They remind us of the three women who vanished. For Janice, the pain of not knowing never leaves.
00:46:58
Speaker
She told several reporters that she would rather hear bad news than spend her life wondering. Janice told the writer of the Springfield Three, quote, I want them to find my daughter. You can go through so much, but you still want an answer. For them not to give us an answer, that was difficult, end quote.
00:47:16
Speaker
The mind is a marvelous thing. It gives us the power here to speak and to listen. But the mind is also ruthless. It replays moments we want to forget. Memories that rip open old wounds and thoughts that tear us from sleep. I know that Janice must want an off switch for her mind at times. The Springfield Three were taken right in the height of their lives.
00:47:37
Speaker
college, careers, family, all of that left behind. Their attackers left their family to wonder and to think about every possible scenario, every single thing they might have done differently, and every word they left unsaid.
00:47:52
Speaker
Dealing with the what if, it's hard. Janice said, quote, until I know 100% that Stacey is deceased, I will never declare her dead. They're going to have to find some remains somewhere before I call her legally dead. It's not for any reason other than if I do and she's not dead. Think of how mad she'd be when she gets back, end quote.
00:48:13
Speaker
Janice is in her 70s now. She's wandered long enough. She deserves to let her mind rest. Anyone with information into the disappearance of Cheryl, Stacey and Susie is requested to contact the Springfield Police Department or the Crime Stoppers Unit.
00:48:29
Speaker
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00:48:59
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.