Once I was outside, I wandered around the parking lot. The images of Sera's autopsy seared their way into my memory. I knew they would be with me forever, even though I didn’t want them to. I thought about the case and recapped what I knew. There were so many missing elements to this investigation. Without some answers, this case was set to go cold.
I prayed I would get some answers from Sera’s laptop and cell phone. I prayed the water hadn’t washed away all of the evidence. I lit a cigarette and pulled out my notebook. I wrote down a list of things I needed to find out. I thought about Sera's murder, and the information I knew. This type of murder was brutal, and there was meaning behind it.
After a little while, Rene finally came out to the parking lot. The medical examiner had concluded that Sera had been dead between 24-30 hours. Her body had been in the water for about 12-15 hours. Rene was able to scrape debris from under Sera's fingernails. With any luck, there would be some skin from Sera's attacker.
There weren't any apparent foreign substances present in her vagina or anus, but maybe some of the swabs would pick something up. Rene decided to take the items over to the DOJ lab and wait there while they processed them. She agreed to call me as soon as she was done. We parted ways, and I headed back to the command center.
I arrived back at the river and met with the assisting detectives. They had covered over two square miles of the river, and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, they had nothing to show for it. I told them to conclude the search and wrap things up. My initial hunch was most likely what had taken place. Sera’s body was dumped and the water had washed it down to this point.
After the command center was gone and all the personnel were released, I returned to my office. I sorted through the crime scene logs, the printed photographs and looked at the list of vehicles that came by the scene. I was looking for a red Chevy truck, but didn't see one.
I took the list of license plates to dispatch and had them run each plate. They printed out the registration sheets on each vehicle and gave them to me. I looked over the sheets, and then put them in the file.
I made my way back to my office and called the computer forensic analyst. I asked about the progress on the laptop and cell phone. To my delight, he was finished with both. He said he was getting ready to leave and would bring them to my office. He estimated that he would be at the department in about 30 minutes.
I got excited and quickly organized my files. I prayed for some good news.
The analyst arrived, and I escorted him to my office. We sat at a small interview table and discussed the contents of the laptop. He told me he was able to find several password-protected files. Once he was able to bypass the passwords, he discovered numerous photographs. The photographs were taken at what he described as a rave party. In addition, he found some sexual photographs of Sera. She had posed nude in several positions. A male subject was with her in several images. They were performing sexual acts on one another. The photos had a time and date stamped on them. They were taken approximately a month ago.
He found several other conversations on her social media accounts, between Sera and multiple subjects. In addition, he was able to find several visits to a website called EDM Meetup. Sera had accessed the site over thirty times, in the two weeks before her abduction. I asked what EDM Meetup was all about. The analyst said it was a website that posted locations for scheduled raves and dance parties.
As for the cell phone, he was able to extract all the photographs, contact information and text messages from the last 90 days. He provided me with two thumb drives that he saved his findings on. He gave me the laptop and cell phone, which were already repackaged and sealed with evidence tape. I thanked him for his help and escorted him out to the lobby.
I rushed back to my office and plugged the first thumb drive into my computer. I pulled up the photographs and began sifting through them. The pictures of Sera appeared to be taken while she was at a large gathering, possibly a party or club.
There were vibrant lights in the background of the pictures. The people were wearing bright colored outfits. I could see a DJ and speakers, as well as a dance floor. The pictures contained images of people dancing and drinking. Their ages seemed to range from late teens to early twenties. All of the people seemed to be wearing costumes, consisting of large hats and oversized necklaces with emblems.
Some of the outfits were very erotic. Several of the photographs showed females wearing items that barely covered their breasts. Other pictures showed Sera wearing fishnet tights, g-string underwear, and a bikini top.
After going through the photographs, I found a few images of Sera and an unknown male. The two of them were holding each other, posing for the camera. Some showed Sera and the male dancing erotically with one another. The male appeared to be in his early twenties. He was fit, with brown curly hair, and had paint and glitter on his face and torso. Who the hell is this guy, I thought to myself, staring at the image.
Throughout the investigation, I had identified the majority of Sera’s friends. This guy was definitely not on my list.
I began to wonder, as I studied the images of the male. Could this be the guy who took Sera? Was he a secret boyfriend? Did he try to do sexual acts with Sera and she said no? Did he force himself on her? Did it go too far, to the point where he ended up torturing and killing her?
I quickly shook my head and sat back in my chair. I told myself to quit jumping to conclusions. All I had at this point was an unknown male, who apparently knew Sera. I reminded myself to take things in stride. I printed out several of the photographs containing the male. I was going to show them to Erica, and hopefully, she would know who he was.
I then went over the conversations on Sera’s social media. After reading the conversations for hours, I had only found the usual teenage gossip. I grew a little frustrated, but I knew I had more content to go through.
I decided to switch over to the second thumb drive. This one contained the contents of her cell phone.
I started with the listed contacts. I compared it to the names of Sera's friends. The names I had written down while talking with Erica and Sera's other classmates.
As I scrolled through, one contact, in particular, caught my eye. The contact was listed as TT. On my list of friends, there wasn't anyone on it that started with the letter T. I quickly click over to the extracted text messages. I was looking for any communication between Sera and TT.
One the very first page I found a conversation between the two of them. I noticed the conversation was from the day of Sera’s abduction, about two hours before it happened.
Sera- Whatcha Doin?
TT- Just chilin, u?
Sera- Just thinking about u.
TT- What about?
Sera- How much I love you.
TT- Love u 2 babe.
TT- Are we on for tonight?
Sera- Of course, I will text you when mom falls asleep. Meet me at the same place?
TT- Sounds perfect. See you then.
Sera- I can’t wait.
My excitement was hard to contain. A new break in the case. It was exactly what I needed. Obviously, Sera and TT were involved and no one knew about it. I had my suspicions that Erica knew, but I would worry about that later. Regardless, I was going to gather whatever information on TT I could.
I quickly clicked back to the contact list and wrote down TT's phone number. I googled the phone number, but didn't find any information on it. I quickly searched the department's database, but the number was not in it. No big deal, I thought to myself. I will find out who it belongs to soon enough.
I decided to keep looking at the text messages, to see what else I could find. I found several more conversations between TT and Sera. Most of the conversations were similar to the first. They talked about meeting up at night and going to raves. Some of the messages talked about drug use and sex. After reading the messages, I was clear about one thing. Sera and TT were definitely romantically involved with each other.
I thought about Marsha and how she was going to feel, once she learned about this. I thought about how it was going to crush her emotionally. Sera and her seemed so close, yet here it was, a completely different life that Marsha knew nothing about.
I thought about my girls and wondered about their secrets. What were they hiding from me? How would I feel if I found this out about them? I couldn't worry about that now. I had to deal with Sera's lies.
I wondered how this was going to taint Marsha’s view of Sera? Thinking about it made me sad and angry, all at once. Sera's dark secrets may have gotten her killed. I had to find out who TT was. I had to find out what he knew. Most importantly, I had to find out who murdered Sera.
CHAPTER 9
Hiding in Plain Sight
It was almost midnight, as I drove down the desolate road. The website gave directions to the rave, but I was starting to wonder if they were accurate. It felt like I had been driving on this road for hours, but when I checked my watch, I realized it had only been one.
I traversed the winding road, which gradually took me farther into the high desert. I had never been to this part of the county, and I was curious what I would find. After a few more minutes, I came upon a line of cars parked on the shoulder of the road. I pulled over and got out of my car.
In the distance, I could hear the music and see the flashing lights. I must be at the right place, I thought to myself. I closed my door and started the long walk towards the party.
As I got closer, I could feel the music. The bass was bouncing off of my chest in a steady beat. The lights were bright and flashing rapidly. I could see people dancing and cheering in unison. The rave was in full swing, and it was crowded.
I looked around trying to figure out where I was. It appeared to be a forest service campground, that had been converted into a makeshift nightclub. There was a stage with light towers and huge speakers. The DJ was in the center of it, dropping his tracks and beats at random. The dance floor was nothing more than a dirt parking lot. It didn’t seem to bother the hundreds of people jumping up and down.
I stood on the perimeter and scanned around the crowd. I saw groups of people making out, others smoking weed, and some taking selfies. I saw a couple of fold-up tables being used as a homemade bar. There were water bottles lined up and a keg on ice. There were several people gathered around it, drinking and talking. It looked like as good of a spot as any to start showing Sera's photograph.
I made my way over to the bar and grabbed a drink. I started talking with people, but it was hard to communicate over the blasting music. I did my best, showing Sera’s photograph to them. I asked multiple people about her, but they just shook their heads indicating they didn’t know her.
I worked my way down the bar, towards the female lining up the drinks. I asked her if I could speak with her for a minute. She said yes as she continued to work.
I showed her the photograph and asked if she knew the girl. The woman studied the picture for a moment and said she had seen her at some parties before. I told her who I was and asked if we could talk somewhere a little more private. She agreed, and we walked out towards the road, to get away from the noise.
When we got to a quieter spot, we stopped.
“What can you tell me about the girl?” I asked.
“I’ve seen her at a few parties before. Usually at one or two a week. She always hangs out with some guy, but I don’t know his name.”
“Can you describe him for me?”
“White guy, in his early twenties, with curly brown hair.”
I pulled out one of the photos containing the unknown male, and then I showed it to her.
“Yeah, that’s him,” she said.
“Have you seen him tonight?” I asked.
“No, but I saw another girl that he also hangs out with.”
“Can you point her out for me?”
She nodded her head yes and then motioned for me to follow her.
We made our way back over to the dance floor, and she looked over the crowd. She suddenly pointed to a female that was dancing. I made my way through the crowd and arrived at the female.
I tapped her on the shoulder. The female turned around and gave me a weird look. Her look basically told me that I didn't belong there. I held up the picture of Sera and the male, asking her if she knew who they were. She said she didn’t, but it was obvious she was lying. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. The female looked at the money, looked at me and then the picture again. She nodded her head, so I motioned for her to follow me.
We walked to the outskirts of the party.
“Tell me what you know about the people in the photo,” I said, in a blunt manner.
"That's T. I buy Molly from him. I don't know the girl's name, but he has been bringing her to parties lately."
“Is he here tonight?”
“No. I haven’t seen him in about a week or so. He hasn't been answering my text either. It sucks cuz he is my main hook up. If I need something, usually he can get it.”
“What doe he sell?”
“I only do Molly, but he is always trying to push crystal and special K on me.”
“Do you know his real name?”
“His first name is Tyson, but I don’t know his last.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
“No, I always meet him in a public place when we do business.”
“Do you see any of Tyson’s other friends here?”
She looked around for a minute, then shook her head no. I gave the female some money and thanked her for the information.
For another hour I walked around the party showing the photographs to people. A couple of people said they had seen them before, but didn’t know their names. When I was finished asking everyone, I made my way back to the road.
While walking back to my car, I looked for the red Chevy truck. There were over a hundred vehicles and not one red Chevy truck amongst them. I got in my car and made the long drive back to town.
◆◆◆
I made it home a little bit after 3:00 a.m. I walked down the hall and checked on the girls. They were sleeping peacefully. I watched them sleep for a moment and then made my way to my bedroom.
Allie was curled up into a ball, but somehow managed to take up the whole bed. I quickly undressed and crawled in next to her. I fell asleep for a few hours and was able to wake up in time to see the girls before school. I hadn't been able to get up with them recently, so it definitely made my day.
I sat and drank coffee with Allie and updated her on the case. I could tell she was concerned for me and my level of exhaustion. But with the new break in the case, she knew that I was going to be on the go for the next few days.
I got ready for work, kissed Allie goodbye and headed to my office.
On my way to work, I texted Goose. I asked if she knew anyone that went by the name T. A few minutes later she texted back. She said she knew T, so I asked her to meet with me. We agreed to meet at a rest stop, just outside of town.
“I appreciate the information you gave me on Cook,” I said, as I handed her an envelope containing money.
I gave her more than the information was worth, but I liked keeping her happy. She had always been prompt and gave me good information.
She took the envelope and smiled.
“What can you tell me about this guy T?” I asked.
“He is a local dealer that I met a few months back. He is big into crystal and also club drugs, like X. Rumor has it that he has a storage unit where he conducts his business.”
“What storage facility?”
“I’m not sure, somewhere on the westside. I’ve never been there, just heard p
eople talking about it. I have a friend that probably knows. I’ll hit her up and get back to you later in the day.”
“That sounds good, thanks for meeting me. I will catch up with you later.”
I walked back towards my car when Goose called out.
"Hey, John."
“Yeah,” I said, turning in her direction.
"Thanks for the cash, I needed it," she said, as she smiled.
“No problem. You earned it.”
◆◆◆
About a half hour later, I arrived at my office. I checked the database for any records with the name Tyson. I got about 40 results. I recalled the contact in Sera's phone was listed as TT. I sifted through the results and found one with the last name that started with the letter T. Tyson Thomas, 22 years old, out of Clarksville. I quickly clicked on the profile.
We had multiple contacts with Tyson, ranging from traffic stops to suspicious activity. One prior contact showed he was arrested a year ago, for possession.
I quickly called over to the county jail and spoke with a C.O. The C.O. confirmed Tyson had previously been booked there. He emailed me all the information they had on Tyson, including a booking photograph. I opened the picture and looked it over. A sense of excitement came over me. Tyson was definitely the man I was looking for.
I checked the address he had reported when he was booked. It was a Clarksville address, not far from the department. I ran a criminal history report on Tyson. I learned that he had been arrested in Florida, Texas and now Montana. They were all misdemeanor arrests, and he never did any real jail time.
I called over to the county courthouse. I checked on the disposition orders on Tyson's most recent case. The possession charge was dropped, and he plead guilty to a wet and reckless. Tyson was placed on court probation, but didn't have an assigned probation officer. I looked through the conditions of his probation and saw that he didn't have any search terms. I shook my head, as I thought about how weak our justice system can be.
I drove to the address Tyson had listed with the jail. I parked down the street and watched the house. This neighborhood was one of the more run-down parts of Clarksville. It was a low-income part of town, and it showed. The driveway was empty, the curtains were drawn, and I had no idea if Tyson still lived here.
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