Forensics Camp

by Kate Banco

  Security officer’s knock on the door to Marilyn’s room and a tiny young blonde answers the door in her pajamas and earbuds in her ears, “What?” She shouts.

  “Are you Jackie, Marilyn’s roommate?”

  “Yeah, why? Is she moving finally? I want a different roommate. She barely speaks English. I can’t hang out with her or anything. She doesn’t understand half of what I say.”

  “You’ll need to allow access to the police officers. Get what you need for the next two days and you’ll be housed in a different room at the end of the hall.”

  “What? Why do I have to move? She should move. I want to stay here.”

  Fred steps in and says, “Missy, how would you like to call your parents from a downtown jail cell eh? This is a police investigation and you need to gather your things and get out. You have five minutes and don’t touch anything of Marilyn’s. Leave it the way she did.”

  “Oh, is this about those two guys that came and took her away? I bet she was illegal.That’s why isn’t it.” She snarls.

  “No one is illegal, the word is undocumented. If her papers weren’t in order she would be called undocumented, not illegal. I’m surprised you didn’t know more about your roommate,” I say.

  “Who are you? You can’t be police, you’re too young. Besides you’re Mexican. You probably are illegal too.”

  Marcos steps in and pulls me back from the doorway, “Let the police handle this. Don’t get in a fight with her. She’s an idiot. She isn’t going to help answer any questions.”

  Reluctantly, I move away and let the police enter the room. Jackie is escorted down the hall. Fred shows her to a room security has opened for her. He tells her he needs to ask her some questions and I hear her yell, “Call my lawyer, this is unconstitutional.”

  “Remember I told you we can do this here or downtown, your choice.”

  “Okay, but I’m calling my father,” she answers.

  “Go ahead, I prefer it. I’ll be right back,” Fred says.

  Fred comes back down the hall and motions to one of the officers “You need to question her and ask what actually happened this morning. I’m not on the case officially and we need everything by the book on this one.”

  “Ok, Fred. I’ll take care of it,” the officer answers and walks down the hall toward Jackie’s new room.

  Fred lets us come in to Marilyn’s room but tells us not to touch anything. The three of us stand in the middle of the room and observe everything that is going on. The detectives pick up Marilyn’s laptop and put it in an evidence bag along with her cell phone. Her winter jacket is still hanging in the closet along with her UGGS boots she always wore. That makes me think she neither has a coat or boots. I don’t want Dana to see that, but he has already noticed.

  The officer from down the hall returns with his notepad, “She wasn’t very cooperative. She did say the two men who came in were Asian and they had accents. She doesn’t think they are police or immigration. She thinks they are Marilyn’s friends. Marilyn seemed to know them.”

  ‘What did she have to say?” Fred asks.

  “She says two guys knocked on the door about 6 am, when they didn’t answer they kept knocking harder. When she got up to open the door they burst in and grabbed Marilyn. She started speaking her language to them, she doesn’t know if she speaks Mandarin or Cantonese. She seems like a real nice roommate, doesn’t know much about Marilyn. When I asked her what she did when they dragged Marilyn out, her response? Oh, I went back to bed, they knew her. How was I supposed to know they were kidnappers?”

  “A real friend,” Fred snarls.

  “What do we do now?” Dana interrupts. “How do we find Marilyn?”

  “Who is the friend who told you she saw what happened?”

  “Her name is Sierra, she lives downstairs. I can text her to see if she is in the dorm.”

  “Go ahead, we need to get her statement. Let me know if you get a response,” Fred says.

  The officers in the room continue to place evidence in plastic bags marked evidence. All seem very methodical and act without emotion. I wonder if they think of Marilyn at all when they look through everything. I think for me to be an investigator in this case, I would be too upset to distance myself. I would like to think I could be professional, but I know it would be difficult.

  “We found something,” one of the investigators yells out to Fred.

  Fred walks past us and closes the door in our faces. He doesn’t want us to have any information that might make it worse for us. We wait outside the door and hope he will come out and let us know what they found. The door opens and Fred calls Dana in.

  “Did you know she had received a threatening note? We found a note stuffed in her bag. Here it is.”

  We watch Dana read the note, “I had no idea. Who would send her a note like this? We just started going out, she wouldn’t have told me I don’t think.”

  “What does the note say, Dana?” I ask.

  “It says, “You knew we’d find you. We’re coming to get you. You can’t escape us.”

  “Any signature?” Marcos asks.

  “No, no signature.”

  Just then Dana’s phone beeps, “It’s Sierra. She is downstairs. We can go down and ask her what she saw.”

  “Fred, can we go too?” I ask.

  “You might as well. If it weren’t for the three of you we might never have heard she was missing. Her roommate wasn’t going to call the police.”

  We walk down the one flight of stairs to Sierra’s room. Fred asks Dana how he knows her and if she a dependable witness. Dana assures Fred she is someone who wouldn’t make anything up about something so serious.

  We all make our way to Sierra’s room and see the door is wide open. She looks up from her desk with a concerned look when she sees Dana.

  “How are you Dana? I wish I could help more. I can tell you what I saw.”

  Fred takes out his notebook and pencil, “Is it okay if I sit down? It’s been a long day already.”

  “Sure, go ahead. Make yourselves comfortable.”

  “Okay, what did you see? When and where?” Fred asks.

  “I was out for an early morning run. I have an eight o’clock class so I was out early today. I wanted to get my run in before class. It helps me concentrate.”

  “And?”

  “I was coming up the sidewalk when I saw a white passenger van,” she says.

  My throat closes up when I hear her say white passenger van. I could have disappeared in a white passenger van when I lived with my Tío Enrique. He was involved in transporting victims to the cartel for sex trafficking. I hope Marilyn doesn’t end up in that situation.

  “What exactly did you see, can you describe the van?” Fred asks.

  “It was strange because it looked like a regular passenger van, but across the back were the letters ICE. That’s why I thought it was immigration, but it didn’t look like a government vehicle, you know?”

  “What was different about it?”

  “The tires for example, they didn’t match and there weren’t any hubcaps. The van was dirty and didn’t look well taken care of.”

  “That’s good to know. Did you happen to get a license plate?”

  “That’s the thing, I noticed the license plates were covered with like dirt or mud, like they didn’t want anyone to be able to track the vehicle.”

  “Typical, it happens all the time. What about the guys? Anything you can tell us.”

  “They wore black jackets with ICE on the back. Their shoes looked muddy, not like a government official. They were both Asian and they were speaking an Asian language I assume. They were pushing the two girls toward the van. Neither one had a coat or shoes, they were both in pajamas and crying.”

  Dana turns and looks at me with the saddest face. I can only imagine what he is go
ing through. I reach over to put my hand on his shoulder and he collapses in to my arms for a hug. He just met Marilyn and already is so concerned about her safety.

  “How are we going to find her, Margarita? We need to help her.”

  “We will find her, let’s see what Fred thinks we should do.”

  Sierra continues to give more details to Fred. She mentions the last thing she heard when they put them in the van, “Marilyn, you know you have clients waiting. You need to get back to work.”

  I wonder why they switched to English. Why speak in their native language and then switch, that doesn’t make sense.

  Marcos looks at me with concern and whispers, “Do you think it’s a group like what your Tío Enrique was involved in?”

  “Shhh, let’s talk about that later. Don’t let Dana hear that,” I say

  Fred takes Marcos aside and tells him, “You two need to get Dana and get him back to your house. This isn’t going to get solved tonight. It sounds like a gang or family clan type abduction. We may need to contact the FBI and get them involved.”

  Marcos turns back to us and looks bewildered, “Fred, I’ll get Dana back to our house. Please let us know if you hear anything. Who will contact her family in New York City?”

  “We’ve got a number for an aunt, I’ll contact her personally. Don’t worry.” Fred answers.

  CHAPTER 5

  Oswego, New York

  Dana doesn’t want to go back to our house. He wants to follow Fred around and he thinks they’ll find Marilyn tonight. He keeps quoting crime shows and saying things like, “The first 48 hours are crucial. We need to find her before more time passes.”

  “Dana, Fred asked me to bring you back to our house. He’ll let us know anything new as soon as he hears it. He guaranteed it, now let’s go back to our apartment. We have our cell phones and computers. Fred will call us if he hears anything.”

  “I want to call her aunt but I don’t have the number. Can I get the number from Fred?” He asks.

  “No, he wouldn’t give it to me, he’s not going to give out that number until he talks to the aunt first.”

  Dana reluctantly gets back in his car to take us home, “What if she sends us some kind of signal and we aren’t available to get it?”

  I know the grief he is going through, he feels helpless and doesn’t know which way to turn. I’m very worried about Marilyn and wonder if we should use our WITSEC connection to try to get more information. I’ll ask when we get back home. It couldn’t hurt to touch base with our agent anyway. We are a bit overdue for a call.

  We get Dana in to our apartment and try to get him to rest on the sofa. I bring out a pillow and blankets. Then I realize he isn’t going to sleep unless we are here with him. I bring out more blankets and pillows for Marcos and me. Marcos spreads out the blankets on the floor and makes a bed for all of us.

  “Maybe we won’t sleep, but if we all lie down we may be able to rest a little bit. We will have our phones plugged in and if a message comes in we’ll hear it. Can you rest a little?”

  “I don’t even know any of her Chinese friends. I don’t know the other girl who is kidnapped.” Dana says. “I feel so helpless, I can’t even call her family or a best friend. I don’t know that much about her.”

  “Dana, Fred will let us know, okay?” I say.

  “I’m sorry, you guys need to sleep. Go ahead, I’ll try to rest.”

  I let Marcos know I need to tell him something. He glances over at Dana and tells me to go ahead to the kitchen and he’ll meet me there in a couple of minutes.

  “What are you thinking?” Marcos asks as he enters the kitchen.

  “We should use our contact with WITSEC to get information. Don’t you think they could get more info than Fred? If I send an email tonight they will call us early in the morning.”

  “Do you think they’ll share any info with us? They are pretty secretive about all of their placements. Why would they get involved in another investigation.” Marcos asks.

  “Because it’s a possible sex trafficking thing. Doesn’t it sound like it could be similar to what Yasmene went through when they found her and took her back. She wouldn’t have escaped if it hadn’t been for Fish Camp. They might help.”

  “If you think it will help, go ahead. I’ll go back in with Dana while you send the email. Hurry up though, he might get suspicious.” Marcos whispers.

  My laptop is on the table in the family room, I try to sneak in and grab it without Dana noticing. It’s hard to do because he looks to both of us for answers. Marcos tries to distract him by giving him an extra toothbrush and a towel. Dana grabs the towel and goes to the bathroom to freshen up.

  I grab my laptop and bring it to the kitchen. As I open the laptop I see a message from the Provost. The message more or less lets students know there was an incident on campus this morning with some intruders, but they don’t allude to the kidnapping. He asks for everyone to be especially vigilant of anyone suspicious on campus. The request is to call campus security the minute you suspect any problems. Well, that’s scary but very unclear. I wonder how many people know what happened. I’m sure Jackie is telling everyone Marilyn was kidnapped by an old boyfriend.

  I write an email to my “friend” Emily. Emily is our contact for WITSEC. We all have an Emily contact in our email. All we have to do is send Emily an email and say we want to contact our agent and they will call us the following day unless we indicate it is urgent and we need immediate removal from our placement. In the email I say it is about a situation we think may be connected to a previous situation. That’s all I can say in an email. No details, nothing else.

  I close the laptop and leave it on the counter. I wish I could tell Dana that we’ll find Marilyn and everything will be okay. But, I can’t. I know how complicated it can be. We need a lot of luck to make this happen and for Marilyn and Vivian to return unharmed. We did learn today that the other girl’s name is Vivian.

  When I go back to the family room Marcos is on the phone talking with Fred. Dana is standing nearby listening and asking if they found her or not. I can tell by the look on Marco’s face they haven’t found her. Dana and I both wait for the call to end.

  “What did he say? Come on tell me,” Dana pleads.

  “Sit down Dana, you too Margarita,” he says.

  “Fred called the aunt in New York City. It turns out both girls listed the same aunt as their guardian. Did you know they were connected or related, Dana?”

  “No, I barely know her. We were just getting to know each other .She didn’t tell me much except she has an aunt in New York City.”

  “Fred says it appears there is no aunt. The number they gave is for a Chinese Restaurant Nightclub in New York City. The woman who answered the phone hung up when Fred identified himself as a police officer.”

  “What, she doesn’t have an aunt? Why would she lie to me?” Dana asks.

  “Dana, maybe she didn’t mean to lie, but just not tell all of the truth,” I say.

  “Fred says NYPD is headed over there right now. We should know within thirty minutes if Marilyn is there or not.”

  “She wouldn’t be there yet, they left Oswego this morning. Well, maybe if they drove directly there. They could be there by now.” Dana says.

  “Fred also says if they find her in New York he’s not sure if she can come back here if her documents aren’t legal. ICE may step in and take her to one of their detention sites.”

  “How can she be enrolled here if her documents aren’t legal. Wouldn’t she have to have legal documentation?” Dana asks.

  “I think there are many students who fall in the gray area of documentation, not just here in Oswego but nationwide. Kids who grew up here, went to school here and speak more English than their native language. Those kids were brought here by parents and they may not even know they don’t have the right docume
nts. Marilyn wouldn’t be the only student without proper paperwork,” I explain.

  “I had no idea,” Dana says.

  “Most people don’t. Fake documents can be purchased for less than one hundred dollars.”

  “How do you two know that? I didn’t know anything about that.”

  “We know many people who crossed the border illegally or who are here without the correct documentation. It’s a struggle for many families.”

  “Wow, no idea. No clue. I’m so in the dark about these things. All we hear about is how a wall is going to solve all of our problems.”

  I think about my experience crossing the border and cringe. I know a wall isn’t going to stop people. If they need a job to help their family they will do almost anything.

  “Let’s rest until Fred calls us back.”

  We all lie down, Dana props his head up and looks at his phone for messages. I see him texting frantically. I suspect he is sending another message to Marilyn. Doesn’t he remember they found her phone in her room with her coat and boots? I guess he just wants to send as many messages as possible. I would probably do the same if Marcos were missing.

  I close my eyes and so many thoughts run through my mind. Maybe Marilyn is undocumented and maybe she isn’t a victim of the traffickers. Let’s hope so. I look over to see Dana sitting up and leaning against the sofa. His eyes are half -closed and he has his phone in his hand. Poor guy, he is very worried. We never thought to ask Dana about his family, maybe we should let them know what is happening. They might want to help out. At the moment I think we are doing everything we can.

  Tomorrow is another day and my eyes close. At first I don’t hear when he answers the phone. It sounds like it’s far away and someone is calling my name. I roll over to see Marcos and Dana smiling and staring at me.

  “What?”

  “They found Marilyn. She is in police custody. They got the two guys who kidnapped her and they closed the club where she worked. The woman they called auntie is also in custody. It appears she was bringing girls in from China. She’d promise them jobs and get them social security numbers. When they arrived they were kept in a boarding house and forced to dance for tips at the night club. She took their passports so they couldn’t leave. Marilyn and Vivian met a man who helped them escape. He also helped them get to Oswego to go to school.”