Howard's Mill (2021) - full transcript

(birds chirping) (air whooshing)

(mischievous music)

- [Cameraman] Is yours working?

- [Cameraman] Mm hm.

(Dwight sighs)

(cameraman speaking faintly)

- [Kaiser] All right, we're just gonna start easy.

Can you give me your name, age and where you're from?

- Okay.

My name is Dwight Nixon.

I'm from Atlanta, Georgia.



I'm 37 years old.

- [Kaiser] And your wife?

- My wife's name is Emily Nixon.

She's from Springfield, Tennessee.

We both are livin' here now.

- [Kaiser] Where's your wife now?

- (sighs) Emily went missin' 32 days ago.

- [Kaiser] Do you know what might've happened to her?

- No, but I plan to find out.

- [Kaiser] Did you kill your wife?

(singer vocalizing)

My name is Kaiser Whitmore.

Me and my college classmate, Charlie Burris,

are film students in Nashville, Tennessee.



We read about the disappearance

of Emily Nixon - Emily!

- [Kaiser] and her husband Dwight's ongoing search

for her while also remaining the primary suspect.

We thought it interesting enough,

so we inquired about doing this interview.

(Emily laughing)

What we thought was gonna be a single day

of filming turned into much more than that.

Something more mysterious,

(shutter flashing)

more unexplainable.

- [Dispatcher] 911, what's your emergency?

- [Kaiser] More sinister.

(dramatic music)

- Oh my God! - Oh God!

Get outta here.

(somber mysterious music)

- A few days after our initial interview,

Dwight agreed to walk us through the day Emily disappeared.

It happened on an 82 acre farm

in Springfield, Tennessee called Howard's Mill.

Abandoned for nearly 50 years,

the land consists of mostly overgrown fields,

some small wooded areas and a large pond.

That much stuff?

Oh, he's here.

- Okay, okay. - Do you need help?

- [Charlie] No, I'm good, I'm good.

- [Kaiser] Hey, good to see you again.

- Hey, how you doin'?

- [Kaiser] Good, how are you?

- I'm all right.

- Well, thank you so much for coming.

Do you mind just walking us through that day,

beginning of the day up until her disappearance?

- Yeah, sure.

Emily and I got here probably about 12:15.

- Okay.

- We stopped by the nursing home.

Emily's mom is in the nursing home.

- Oh, okay.

- And we made sure she got her meds

and talked with her for a minute, then we drove up here.

Yeah.

- What were you guys doing over here again?

- Metal detector,

metal- - That's right.

- Yeah. - Okay.

So, when you did bring him in

was there anything off about him?

- Nothin' stuck out at first.

He had a good recollection of the day.

And what were you doin' on the property?

- My wife and I are amateur treasure hunters.

- Do you ever find anything?

- No, it's just a way of spending time together.

So, we're up here.

We're metal detecting and then we decided, okay.

We decide we're gonna split off.

All right?

So, I go- - Wait, y'all split off?

- When did you decide to go in different directions?

(Dwight sighs) (mysterious music)

- We didn't.

Well, I mean, it's what we do.

We walk in different directions

so we're not coverin' the same area.

- Kinda counter to spendin' time together wouldn't you say?

- And we always agree to meet at a certain,

meet at a middle point.

And so, we agreed to meet right over here, over that ridge.

Do you see way up there where that ridge is?

- Yeah. - Okay.

That's where we agreed to meet.

- When he started walkin' us through the routes

that he and his wife took around the property,

that's when his story began fallin' apart.

- So, you saw her the whole time?

- I saw her most of the time, yeah.

- Can you show me on the map, the area you covered?

- And if you look over this ridge here,

you really can't see down into that.

So, I figured that maybe she'll

come over the hill eventually.

So, I stop right about here in this little open space.

- And where we found a piece of Emily's metal detector?

(Dwight sighs)

- And I feel somethin' under my foot.

(dramatic music) (shutter flashing)

- [Charlie] Did the police come here

and meet you here?

- Yes, yes.

They couldn't find anything, I couldn't find anything.

(mysterious music)

- [Kaiser] While searching the property,

police discovered Emily's phone.

(shutter flashing)

The following footage

was the last thing Emily recorded

just moments before her disappearance.

- I'm gettin' a strong kick here.

It seems to be about six inches down.

(dramatic music)

What do we have here?

Dwight's gonna be so mad.

He never really finds anything.

I'm not sure what it is right now

but it seems kind of heavy and metallic.

I'm gonna have to get it home to wash it off.

(dramatic music)

(children singing)

- [Dwight] Emily was born in Springfield, Tennessee.

- [Man] What are y'all posin' for?

This is a movie camera.

- [Dwight] Her dad died when she was six months old.

- They can't bring no camera with you.

- [Dwight] So, she was raised by her mom.

Just she and her mom.

(solemn music)

- I've known Emily since we were kids.

- We grew up together.

We had lots of classes together

and we just became best friends.

- We've been best friends since junior high.

She was always happy.

She always had a smile.

- She was sweet, kindhearted and hilarious.

- Beautiful personality, liked by everyone.

- This town has always been really fun for us.

We hung out, we got our own little places

that we love to go and we spend a ton

of time just runnin' around and bein' goofy girls.

- Emily and I met in 2011.

- When he got with Emily,

it's like his whole life just changed.

- Hi. (Dwight laughs)

- Isn't she cute?

- He loved Emily.

He'd just do anything for Emily.

♪ Happy birthday

- It felt really quick, like pretty quick for her.

I mean, that was a unique situation.

I wasn't used to her responding so quickly.

- It was fast, but he just fell head

over heels in love with her.

(Emily laughs)

(Dwight groans)

- We got married in 2013.

(soft music)

- [Emily] So, Dwight just got to Springfield, Tennessee.

(Dwight sighs)

(Emily giggles)

You ready for your first pair of overalls?

(Dwight laughs) (Emily giggles)

- What'd you think we didn't have 'em Atlanta in the 1990s?

(Emily laughs)

I just hope you don't care

if I have one strap on with no shirt (indistinct).

(Emily laughs)

Oo yeah! - Oh, whatever (laughs).

Well, I think you're gonna love living here.

It's a great place to raise a family.

- So, you're ready for a family?

(Emily laughs)

- Hm, maybe.

(somber music)

- Robertson County was founded in 1796

the same year the state of Tennessee was established.

(clock chimes)

It is a small town, but we do have a lot of history.

We have tobacco, we have the whiskey industry.

It's a wonderful place to live.

- Been here all my life, so far.

- I feel like everyone's family here.

- That Eagle was picking up baby pigs,

and so it had to be killed.

(somber music)

- [Kaiser] Did you ever regret moving here?

- No, not at all.

I don't- - Even if it means

you never see Emily again?

- No, I don't regret moving here and I definitely

don't blame moving here for Emily's disappearance.

- [Kaiser] Is it possible that Emily just left on her own?

- Absolutely not.

She wouldn't just leave.

(eerie music)

- There was somethin' about Emily's disappearance

that never seemed right to me.

The clues weren't there.

In my experience, when somebody goes missing,

there's always a clue.

We had nothin' to go on.

- [Man] She just flat disappeared.

- [Man] He was the last person to see her.

That's going to obviously put him

at a higher level of suspicion.

- [Kaiser] Do you think her husband

had something to do with it?

- Man, I hate to speculate on stuff like that.

- When this case with she'd been gone a month,

I would likely expect to find

a body instead of a living person.

- Course everybody's got an angle.

Who you gonna believe?

(eerie music)

- [Bobby] Were there any problems in your marriage problems?

- No, we didn't have any problems.

Not any different than any other couple.

- Any major fights recently?

- No.

- Why are you harassin' me?

- Why do you think I had lunch with you?

- Last chance. - You're crazy.

- Do you recall that argument?

(Dwight speaking faintly)

- Yes.

- We were able to uncover a bit more evidence

about the relationship between Mr and Mrs. Nixon.

- Sometimes people are drunk and they fight,

and she'd spend some time with me when she felt

like she needed to let him cool off.

- [Kaiser] He would never physically hurt her, would he?

- Absolutely not, absolutely not.

He was not brought up around violence at all.

He comes from a family where

the women were very well respected

and that's just something totally against his nature.

- I warned her that it could possibly

be on the verge of actually turning violent.

- Even if you get angry with them, you walk away.

- What's wrong? - We're just friends.

- Just friends? - You knew that when

we moved here. - Why didn't you

tell me about him?

- [Emily] You knew about him.

- I knew you dated him - You knew we

- in high school. - had been best friends.

- I didn't know that

you had lunch with him. - We are friends, that's it.

- [Kaiser] Detective Latta believes you killed your wife.

- Of course he does (sighs).

But what you should concern yourself

with is what he's not sayin'.

This has happened before,

right there on that same property.

(eerie music) (singer vocalizing)

- People still say things happen around here all the time.

You can ask anybody in the community

and they've had some story or odd occurrence out here.

- It's kind of a local novelty.

Kids talk about the place and they dare

their buddies to go over there and walk around or whatever.

- [Sam] We went there one time, we'll never go back.

- Our friend went in and he didn't come out for 15 minutes,

and when he came out, he was crying.

- As soon as we pulled out my truck

just went (imitates engine chugging),

started givin' out and he said he saw somethin',

in my headlights.

He said he saw some woman or somethin'.

- I'm pretty sure it's like a ghost

because it was moving slightly.

And I don't believe in no supernatural

but I did run, so (laughs).

- I look up and there's like,

just this silver thing just sittin' in the sky.

And I was like, that's kinda weird.

- Yeah, I've seen some lights.

- And all this whole area,

this whole county is known to have odd events happen.

It could definitely be the reason you have strange events

and occurrences on the Howard's property.

All this property was sacred hunting ground to the Indians.

So, they supposedly protected this property

by way of blessing these rocks and the graves.

So, incidentally I don't mess with graves out here

because I don't wanna start it again, whatever it was.

- This has happened before,

right there on that same property.

- [Kaiser] What do you mean?

Who'd this happen to?

When?

- In 1994, a little girl named Sarah Winston disappeared.

Just vanished right there at Howard's Mill.

- [Sarah's Mom] Did you feed some chips to the birds?

- [Sarah] Uh (giggles)-

- [Sarah's Mom] Yeah, did you see that blue heron?

Want another sandwich, baby?

- No, I'm cool.

- [Sarah's Mom] Are you saving room for cake?

- Yeah. (Sarah's mom laughs)

- [Roger] I am, too.

- Chocolate cake. - Mm, mm, mm.

I love you, baby.

- I love you too.

- Mwah. - You want a sandwich?

- [Roger] No, no thank you, I'm good.

- You don't want- - I'm gonna go play.

- Be careful up there. - Love you, Dad.

- [Roger] All right, love you too.

- You didn't like that she didn't stay.

- [Roger] I don't think I do.

(Sarah's parents laughing)

- [Sarah's Mom] Look how fast she's runnin' in those boots.

She's running now.

- [Roger] Sarah?

- [Sarah's Mom] Sarah, are you okay?

- [Roger] She's playin' around.

- [Sarah's Mom] I don't see her.

- [Roger] Well, hold on.

- [Sarah's Mom] Sarah?

- [Roger] Sarah?

- [Sarah's Mom] Honey,

go see what happened. - Sarah?

Come on now.

- [Sarah's Mom] Sarah?

- [Roger] Sarah?

Sarah?

- [Sarah's Mom] Don't see her?

- [Roger] Sarah!

- [Sarah's Mom] Sarah?

- [Roger] Sarah!

Good Lord!

Where'd she go?

Sarah!

- [Sarah's Mom] Sarah?

- [Roger] Sarah?

- [Sarah's Mom and Roger] Sarah?

- [Roger] Oh my God.

Oh my God,

where did she go? - Sarah?

Sarah!

(dramatic music)

Sarah!

- [Sarah's Mom and Roger] Sarah!

(crow cawing)

- [Kaiser] We were able to track down

the lead investigator from the Sarah Winston disappearance,

retired Detective, Dan Thompson.

(train rattling)

- [Dwight] So, you worked the Sarah Winston case?

- Yes, I did and it was real tragic, that one.

- Well, what do you remember about it?

- Oh, I remember everything.

Everything.

She went missing practically right

in front of her parents, broad daylight.

- Hm.

- Yeah, that was a strange case.

There was an open field.

They were out, nobody around and next thing you know, gone.

Nowhere to hide, nobody anywhere around, nothin'.

No sounds.

Very strange.

- What do you think happened?

- I'm not sure.

That case was never solved,

so never found an end to it.

- [Kaiser] We found an address for Roger Winston

just outside Bowling Green, Kentucky.

All right.

- Ah, is that it?

- [Kaiser] Yeah, this is it.

- Okay. - Let's go.

- It was a Saturday.

We were celebratin' her 10th birthday

off of Old State Highway 41.

- [Dwight] The Howard place?

- We just treated it like a park.

Nobody bothered us there.

She liked to run around.

- Did you see that blue heron? (Sarah giggling)

- [Roger] She was the happiest kid I ever saw.

- I love you, Dad.

- [Dwight] And you didn't see anyone else around?

- Nah, it's just us.

(solemn music)

Then after (sniffs), I ran up there.

Hey, baby, come on!

Tryin' to find her and,

Sarah!

See if she was okay and...

Sarah!

- [Sarah's Mom] Sarah?

- Sarah?

She wasn't there.

Vanished (inhales sharply).

Just poof, she's gone.

Gone.

(solemn music) (singer vocalizing)

- Roger, to say he went to pieces is an understatement.

- After she went missin',

he just totally, just lost his self, lost everything.

- [Man] It was like all the life had been taken out of him.

- He started havin' to deal with that grief

and the way that he chose to deal with it was an addiction.

It ruined his family and you can't really reason

with somebody when they're in such a depression.

It hits you the way it hits you.

If you think about it we're all

one missing kid away from being a crazy person.

- Then he started chasing all these theories.

- He's not the person I knew back before this happened.

- How can you say goodbye when they're still out there?

(solemn music)

After she was gone, I went back everyday,

and then every Saturday,

and then once a year on the day it happened.

One year I went and it was 2004,

and I got there and it was already dark out.

It was sunset but it was dark.

(eerie music)

And it looked different, yeah.

Somebody put a pond in almost exactly

on the spot where Sarah...

Sarah!

(Roger sniffles)

There was somethin' floatin' in it.

(Roger sniffling) (solemn music)

I found this there that night.

(eerie music)

It was wet, but it was spotless.

Just like the day she made it.

There's no way this was laying in the dirt,

floatin' in that pond for 10 years.

(solemn music)

- [Dwight] So what do you think happened?

- I think she was tryin' to come home.

- [Dwight] Come home from where?

(eerie music)

- [Kaiser] Sarah in 1994.

Emily in 2017.

Two disappearances so similar, but over 20 years apart.

Are they connected or just coincidental tragedies?

- [Roger] That's 'cause she's not dead.

She's still out there.

You wife might be, too.

- [Kaiser] We needed a lead to connect Emily and Sarah.

Something real, someone.

(eerie music)

The day that Emily went missing,

why didn't you immediately call the police?

- I don't know, I did what anyone else would.

I started yellin' for her.

I called her cell phone.

That took some time.

- [Kaiser] Three hours?

- I mean, look, it took at least 10 minutes goin' back

and forth to the car.

Then goin' through the woods was like another hour.

(eerie music)

I wasn't thinkin' about time.

(eerie music)

- What do we have here?

- [Kaiser] Can I show you something?

(dramatic music building)

Do you see that?

There's someone in the background.

- Why am I just seein' this?

- [Kaiser] Because we thought it could be you.

(dramatic music)

- That's not me.

That's Wayne.

(singer vocalizing) (soft music)

- [Kaiser] For the first time

since we began our documentary,

we had a suspect other than Dwight.

The Ritchie farm borders to Howard's property to the west,

giving Wayne the most direct access

to Howard's Mill than any of the other neighbors.

- Yeah, I know Wayne.

He's kinda keeps to himself.

He doesn't do much socializing or nothin'.

- He's just one of those guys that,

he's kind of like the town eccentric.

- Just kinda odd (laughs), kinda like the rest of us.

But anyhow.

- You see him sometimes with,

he's got a rabbit in his hand that he got on the road.

I don't know what he does with it.

- No (chuckles).

His job is pickin' up roadkill for the county.

Somebody gotta do it.

- I know when my kids were little,

I used to go to like the food store and the toy store,

he'd be buyin' like all this baby food.

- Heard a story about him awhile back,

that he, he's kinda off.

So his momma, he wanted the money from his momma

and she told him to go rob a bank.

Well, he goes up here and robs the bank

and he ain't gonna hurt nobody.

But he said, "I'm here to get some money.

My momma told me to come get some money from y'all.

I'm here to rob a bank."

(laughs)

(eerie music)

- I think Wayne's life was probably pretty tough at home.

I think his dad was pretty rough on him

and his dad was a no nonsense kinda guy,

a hard workin' man, hard drinkin' guy

and I think Wayne was scared to death of him.

And to be honest with you,

I probably was a little bit too.

- [Kaiser] Were you scared of Wayne at all?

- No, no.

- I don't think he's dangerous.

I think he's just kind of a loner.

- Most people just leave him alone, leave him be because-

- He'd probably run 'em off anyway.

- He probably would.

He was- - That's the way

his family's always been.

- There's been a lot of kids going to that house.

Like we would normally like ride four wheelers

down our road and stuff and we never do that anymore.

He has threatened to kill me and my neighbor.

- [Kaiser] What's Wayne's connection to the Howard's land?

- Well, he kinda takes care of it.

Used to be a farm several years ago

but it kinda died out.

Now he just does some mowin' and things like that.

- Well, I don't know why he's mowing that lawn

when the Howard's left decades ago.

Why would anybody do that? - I don't know but he had,

the Howard's ain't comin' back.

- Before he kinda tried to kidnap a girl

I think is the way that it turned out to be.

We all just kinda thought that he was strange.

- He gave this girl a ride home from school.

He didn't stop at her house.

He just kept going and she was gone for a whole hour.

(eerie music)

- [Kaiser] Is Wayne a suspect?

- (sighs) Wayne's slow.

He's always been slow.

He likes to keep to himself which upsets some people.

Kidnappin'?

No.

Wayne Ritchie didn't kidnap anybody.

- [Kaiser] But what about Terra Edwards?

(dramatic music)

(eerie music)

Although Wayne Ritchie was nearby

during the disappearance of Emily Nixon and Sarah Winston,

we wrote him off as a harmless misunderstood recluse.

But then we learned about Terra Edwards.

(eerie music)

- Yeah, I was 14.

We all thought he was harmless.

One day he said he'd take me home.

But he just drove right past my neighborhood.

- Apparently Mr. Ritchie had gone to the school

in his car and my daughter doesn't have a car to drive.

So, offered her a ride home.

They drove towards the house and when she said,

"This is my house,

just let me off in front of the house,"

he kept driving.

- Next thing I remember,

I mean, I just started screaming, freaking out.

Next stop sign I jump outta the car, run home, tell my dad.

- I could see right away.

I knew somethin' was wrong.

I called the cops.

(eerie music)

- Oh, I remember Wayne Ritchie very well.

It was my second year as a teacher.

Wayne was not a very good student

and his heart wasn't in it,

never really got in a whole lot of trouble.

He just didn't do much while he was here.

- Obviously he has somethin' wrong.

- It was a little awkward because he would come.

He was not a student here,

but he would come up and even enter the building at times.

So we ran him off on a number of occasions.

- I didn't think taking a ride with them was a big deal,

until he had that look that, I mean, it was just blank.

There was nothing there.

- I think it was just a big infatuation on his part

that had gotten to a point

that it was probably not healthy anymore.

- I never thought he was capable

of hurting someone until that day.

- [Stan] His intentions weren't good.

- Now, Wayne, he did have an uncle

or a cousin that was on the police force,

tried to make it look like it

was an innocent misunderstanding.

Of course, it went away

and Terra's dad was pretty upset about that.

- What I remember what the cops did was nothing.

- [Dwight] I mean, with Emily and Sarah Winston

both missin' so close to his property,

that's just too much of a coincidence.

So yeah, you're damn right,

I wanna talk to Wayne Ritchie.

(pensive music)

- [Kaiser] Mr. Ritchie, do you have a minute?

- No, I got nothin' to say, so.

- [Kaiser] Do you think Dwight Nixon killed his wife?

- No.

- [Kaiser] Who do you think did?

- Nobody killed nobody.

The land done it.

The land took 'em.

It took whatever it wants.

It took her away.

- [Kaiser] What about Sarah Winston?

- Yep.

Yep, and the Lopez's.

- [Kaiser] The Lopez's?

Wait, wait, wait!

Who are the Lopez's?

- I can't talk right now. - No, no, just,

- I gotta go. - who are the Lopez's?

- [Wayne] Leave me alone.

- Did you get that?

(eerie music)

Wayne's mention of the Lopez's led us

to a third missing persons case connected

to the Howard's property.

In 1977 a family of migrant workers vanished,

leaving behind their nine-year-old son, Daniel.

- [Daniel] My uncle cried out.

I looked up and he was gone.

(dramatic music)

Then my father, he fell,

dropped straight to the ground.

He was reachin' up for my mother's dress

when he was goin' down and then she was gone, too.

(dramatic music)

- [Kaiser] Are you familiar with the Lopez's?

- No, I don't believe so.

- In the '70s they started entering migrant workers

here to work the tobacco field 'cause they couldn't

get other people to work.

- The Howard's had foreign farm hands

come in before anybody else did.

- He used a lot of 'em, Mr. Howard.

He used a lot of 'em throughout the years.

- [Dwight] You remember the Lopez case?

- Mm hm, yeah.

They left a abandoned little boy, I think.

Left a little boy at 10 years old,

nine years old, somethin' like that.

- His family went missin' and we took them in for awhile

and we were hopin' that his family would come back

but they never did.

The county came and got him and sent him back to Illinois.

- It's really sad though,

that his family left him like that.

- I just had a hard time believin'

that they ever would abandon their son.

They were such a tight knit family.

- Do you have a case file I could look at?

- I don't, no.

That was Jennings case and he's passed on now.

So, I'm sure there's something in the archive.

We can go look it up.

(soft music)

- [Helen] I'm Helen Jennings.

David Jennings was my husband.

- [Kaiser] What did he do?

- He was on the police force here in Springfield.

He was on the force, gosh, for 40 years plus

and he was promoted to detective in '69, 1969, I think.

- [Kaiser] Is there a lot of detective work in this town?

It seems pretty quiet.

- Well, it does, but you'd be surprised.

We had a lot of crime here, including murders.

- [Kaiser] Any cases that stood out in particular?

- Oh yes, absolutely.

It was the Lopez case.

It just got under his skin more

than anything else he ever worked on.

They never found any trace of the family,

they left everything behind.

The boy even said, "They disappeared into the earth."

- [Kaiser] Did he believe Daniel's story

about being sucked into the earth?

(Helen sighs)

- He believed there was a logical explanation to it.

He investigated sinkholes, earthquakes,

anything that he could find

that would prove the boy's story,

but sad as it was, the Lopez family abandoned Daniel.

(eerie music)

- [Kaiser] We were able to track down Daniel Lopez,

who is now living in Raleigh, North Carolina.

- [Dwight] Daniel?

- Yes. - Hey, Dwight.

- Hey, how you doin'?

- This is Kaiser - Kaiser, nice to meet you.

- and Charlie. - Pleasure, pleasure.

How's it goin'? - You ready to talk?

- Yeah, yeah.

Come on in.

- All right.

- Come on.

(gentle music)

- [Dwight] Let's start with you tellin'

us who your parents were.

- My parents were migrants.

We all traveled together.

- So what brought you and your family to Howard's Mill?

- Howard's Mill was a big tobacco farm.

We spent many months there.

- Do you remember a man named Wayne Ritchie?

- He lived nearby.

We spent some time together.

We didn't have much in common,

but neither of us really was around other kids.

- Tell us about the, what you remember

about the day your family disappeared.

- It was late afternoon.

I was about,

20 steps from the old barn.

My family was out in the fields, loading up the pickup truck

with the day's crop.

- [Dwight] Can you describe that field?

- It was directly behind the house.

The ground dipped down

and started to spring right back up into a ridge.

They were about halfway up the hill,

maybe about 100 to 150 yards from the house.

My uncle cried out.

I looked up and he was gone.

(dramatic music)

Then my father,

he fell, dropped straight to the ground.

He- - You remember it that well?

- Yeah, you can't forget something like that.

I got scared, so I ran.

Went back to the last spot where I saw my family.

After awhile, a police officer came and got me.

- I'm gonna show you something.

This video was taken in 1994.

- [Sarah] I'm gonna go play.

- [Roger] All right honey, love you.

Be careful up there. - Love you, Dad.

- [Roger] All right, love you too.

- [Sarah's Mom] You didn't like

that she didn't stay.

- [Roger] I don't think I do.

(Sarah's parents laughing)

- [Sarah's Mom] Look how far she's running in her boots.

- [Roger] Oh my goodness, honey.

- [Sarah's Mom] Birthday boots.

- She's fast. - Whoops.

- Yeah, yes.

That's exactly what happened.

(dramatic music)

- Her name is Sarah Winston.

- [Daniel] Okay.

- Daniel, she's still missing.

Nothing was ever found except

for that pink and white hair bow

that you can see in the recording.

That same hair bow was found 10 years later,

floating in a pond that was built

on the site of her disappearance.

(eerie music)

- So, Dwight is out there marking a location

where the Lopez's were working,

and we're about 20 steps from the old barn,

which would put Daniel right here.

Hey, how's it goin' out there?

- Well, based on Daniel's account,

this is the spot where the family disappeared.

The family was gathering supplies right here

where I'm standing and guy's,

looking around I don't see any obstacles

or anything that you can hop on.

- [Kaiser] So, how fast do you think it would take to get

to the tree line right behind you?

- Well, I mean, if you were running really fast,

maybe 20, 30 seconds.

- [Kaiser] So, if Daniel looked down for a second

they could have easily ran towards those trees.

- I mean, it's possible, but there are plenty

of easier ways of abandoning your kid than just waiting

for him to look down and then running to some trees.

- [Kaiser] Yeah, he's right.

(eerie music)

- [Dwight] Emily disappeared here.

- And Lopez's over there up that ridge about 100 yards.

- Yeah, and then Sarah Winston disappeared

over this region, near the pond.

We're talkin' three different disappearances,

all on the same property.

(eerie music)

(birds chirping)

(eerie music)

- [Kaiser] To get a better idea

of the geological layout of Howard's Mill,

we visited the Robertson County Archives.

(Dwight sighs)

- We've got all their names on the back side.

- Okay. - Yes.

Okay, so Howard's Mill should be there.

- [Dwight] Wow.

- So that bounds up to Highway 11 and mile marker 42.

Hm, that is really interesting.

You notice it's a triangular piece of property.

You seldom ever find triangular pieces

of property like that one anymore.

- Yeah, I see that.

Are there any other properties

like that here in Springfield?

- I doubt it.

(gentle music)

- Originally, it was Pickett's Mill.

It was named after John Pickett

who was the man who built it.

John was born in Virginia

and he and Thomas Kilgore

established Cross Plains, Tennessee near the Red River.

About three years after that, John and his wife, Hannah,

moved three miles to the east and built the mill.

In 1971, the Howard's came into town

from St. Louis and they bought

the mill from one Marty Lewis.

That's L-E-W-I-S Lewis.

And she was a direct descendant of the Pickett family.

- [Kaiser] Are you aware of any disappearances

that have happened on the property?

- You mean, Grant Pickett?

Grant Pickett vanished in plain sight of his family.

Story goes that he was working in his field

and his son who was climbing a tree fell out

of the tree and broke his arm and he started screaming.

So, Grant goes running toward his son and his wife, Mary,

who was in the house, goes running as well.

Mary is closer.

She gets to the boy first and as Grant Pickett

is running toward his wife and screaming child, he vanished.

Never heard from again.

- [Kaiser] Do you believe this story?

(laughs) (bright music)

- So this book should contain the current deed

for Ms. Rebecca Howard.

All right, here we go.

So, it is currently Rebecca Howard's property

to do with her as she places.

Now, I've heard a rumor that Ms. Rebecca wrote a will

and that it says that she's given

this land to the city at her death.

- So, the city has no jurisdiction over the land?

- That is owned by Rebecca Howard, period.

(eerie music)

(Dwight groans)

- [Dwight] You got it?

Good.

- [Kaiser] Heck yeah.

- [Dwight] All right, thank you.

- [Charlie] Got something here.

- Be careful.

A lot of glass. - What is that?

- Yeah.

- It's the Howards.

(eerie music)

You guys see this door?

It locks from the outside.

(eerie music)

We've got some kids' clothes over here.

- [Kaiser] I thought the Howard's didn't have any kids.

- I thought they didn't have any kids either.

(eerie music)

Again, here we are.

Same thing.

Lock is on the outside of the door.

- [Kaiser] Oh, God, it's a door.

(pensive music)

(indistinct)

(Charlie groans)

Gives me the creeps.

(Dwight coughing)

- [Dwight] Wait a minute, wait a minute.

I got somethin'.

- [Kaiser] What?

- What is this?

- [Charlie] A box?

(music box playing)

- [Dwight] It's like a music box.

Then I've got a box here.

(Dwight panting)

Wait, wait, I got somethin'.

Pictures. - It's pictures.

- [Dwight] It's a little girl (panting)

- [Kaiser] Who is she?

- [Dwight] I don't know.

(pensive music)

(singer vocalizing)

- [Kaiser] I thought the Howard's didn't have any kids?

- [Dwight] I thought they didn't have any kids either.

- I don't remember the Howard's having any kids.

- Yeah, I think they did have some kids, a boy I believe.

But again, they had a lot of farm hands over there.

So, it could've been one of them.

- I can remember one time my old truck broke down

out close to their farm,

and they were nice and kind enough

to let me use their phone

and I think I remember a girl

bein' there but I don't recall

them ever mentionin' her name or anything.

Like I said, that was back in the '70s.

- I know I wasn't, I wasn't able to find

any records that the Howard's had a baby.

Given this is a rural area,

it's pretty common that a lot of people

had children at home.

- [Kaiser] After trying to reach Rebecca Howard by Phone,

we decided to make the drive

to St. Louis to see her in person.

(eerie music)

- So, the Howard's had a kid also went missin',

or at least nobody can find him.

- So, what does that mean?

- I don't know what that means for Emily yet,

but between Sarah, the Lopez's and this,

it makes me wonder how big this thing can get.

(somber music) (singer vocalizing)

- After the Lopez incident,

the house didn't feel like home anymore.

It felt cold, soulless.

I started feelin' like people were watchin' me.

- There's been a recurrent theme

in a lot of the sightings in the area

from people who really have no contact with one another

and that is of these tall, slender figures who are watching.

They call 'em the Watchers.

People have seen them on the perimeter of their fields.

People have seen them in their barns, in the haylofts.

- They were all lined up on the horizon.

(eerie music)

I called Glynis a miracle.

We tried for 15 years, prayed.

I was nearly 40 when I found out I was expecting.

She was playin' like she always was.

I went down to tell her supper was ready.

It seemed like she was talkin' to someone

but there wasn't anyone there.

Just before I got to her, the lights went out.

But then there was this sort of different light.

(wind chime chiming) (Rebecca gasping)

I yelled for her.

They were tellin' me to leave,

like that land was theirs, not mind.

I thought if I did what they said,

they'd bring her back to me.

(wind chime chiming) (soft music)

- [Dwight] So in 1988, a young girl was found wandering

outside the Howard's property.

- [Dan] Right.

- [Dwight] She was claiming that she was Glynis Howard.

Do you remember that case?

- I remember the case.

Now, it wasn't my case, but I do remember it.

It was pretty standard, really.

A missing girl.

It's a shame though, nobody came claimin' her.

(pensive music)

- No one here now was here back then

but I was able to find a little info for you.

We have anywhere from 10 to 15 kids here at a time.

Glynis was here for two months.

She came with a kind of a sad story back in 1988.

Didn't know much about herself

and our records show she didn't talk much.

Someone found her walkin' down the road barefoot

and nobody had reported any missing children at the time

and nobody came forward to claim her

and she did say her name was Glynis Howard.

- We checked out the Howard's house.

It was about a mile

from where the girl was picked up at there,

and they hadn't been there,

I guess probably 10 years at that point.

So, I mean, it's common enough, last name Howard, but no.

- Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I remember that.

Real sad story.

Got a call about a kid walking down the street alone,

pulled up in my car, checked her out.

She was in really bad shape, barefoot, unkempt hair,

looked like she hadn't eaten in a week.

- [Kaiser] Do you know if she was related

to anybody in town?

- Nothing.

Nobody reported anybody missing.

Not much more I could do beyond that.

- The last time we heard anything about Glynis,

she had been placed with a good foster family

and they decided to give her a permanent home.

This story had a very happy ending.

(eerie music)

- Well, I only can give

you what's non-confidential information.

She was in our care facility for a short amount of time

and then she was placed

with a foster family by the name of Lasseter.

- Okay, here's what we know.

In 1979, the Howard's left Springfield

and according to everyone who remembers,

that house remained empty ever since.

Then in 1988 this little girl shows up claimin'

her last name is Howard,

but the Howard's didn't have any kids.

And if they did have a daughter, she would have to be what?

11, 12 years old by 1988.

So, the dates just don't add up.

I mean, if this really is the Howard's daughter.

- I say we find her, ask her some more questions.

- [Woman] Hi.

- Look at mommy!

- [Woman] Behave like a little lady.

You are six years old.

Stop jumping on that couch.

(Glynis giggles)

- [Kaiser] So, how was she as a child?

- Oh, she was very special child.

Yeah, smart, funny.

You couldn't ask for a better daughter.

Sweet, sweet as could be, but we knew right away.

We just knew that we were meant to be a family.

That's all I can tell you.

1989.

And that's whose birthday?

- Mine.

- [Ben] Yours?

Is it your birthday?

Huh?

Wow.

What have you been doing today?

- [Dwight] If you don't mind for the camera,

would you tell us your full first name and last name?

- It's Glynis Williams.

Williams is my married name, I got married last summer.

- [Dwight] So, tell us a little bit

about your life growin' up.

- Well, I'm happy to tell you

the story I told everybody else back then

but I was little was little,

I was really little, though.

So, I think memories can change.

But,

I was playing inside.

I mostly only played inside,

and somehow I ran out.

I don't know if I was chasing something or...

It's not really clear but I got all turned around

and I couldn't find my way back.

Now it kind of feels like a dream,

like pieces don't really fit,

but you swear it was real.

Swear it really happened.

And,

yeah, I must've walked for,

I walked for a really long time

and then I think someone drove by

and they called the police.

- [Dwight] Glynis, do you remember why

you said your last name was Howard?

- I thought it was.

I thought it was.

Even now when I hear it,

it still sounds like my name.

- [Dwight] Feels natural?

- Yeah.

- [Dwight] Do you remember your parents?

(Glynis chuckles)

- No, not really.

I (sighs) remember my dad.

I remember my dad a little bit.

And people told me about the real Howard family,

started to talk to me about it and told me

that there was no way I could be their kid.

That even if they had a kid,

it was impossible I could even be theirs

because of my age and the time they lived in the house,

timelines and stuff.

And it just, nothing that would make sense to me,

a little kid.

A big, big part of me always felt like I was Glynis Howard.

And so, when I was 16 I actually looked up

the real Howard family, called 'em up.

And I thought if we could see each other

it would clear everything up.

You know? - Yeah.

- People would believe me, but I was wrong.

I had never seen them before.

(Glynis speaking indistinctly)

I've pretty much given up on that dream.

I used to have this fantasy that my real parents,

my birth parents would come back for me.

(Glynis laughs)

Like they didn't abandon me.

They just, lost in an accident or somethin'.

(Glynis sniffles)

I used to have a lot of fantasies back then,

that I was a princess or a time traveler.

(Dwight chuckles)

Yeah, to makes sense - Right there.

- [Glynis] of all the...

- Craziness? - Very, very pretty.

- Yeah, make sense - Okay.

- of all the missing pieces. - Too close.

- [Glynis] I would just...

I always wanted to be somethin' special.

- [Dwight] Speakin' of missing pieces,

I've got somethin' that I wanna show you.

Do you- - I know this.

- You recognize that box? - Yeah.

I...

- [Dwight] We found that in the Howard's house.

It was buried with some other things.

Yeah, I...

This was, I remember this.

I think you wind it on the bottom here.

(music box playing)

Yeah.

Oh my gosh. (music box playing)

(sniffles) That's crazy.

I...

Yeah, this was...

(sniffles)

(dramatic music)

This was mine (sniffles).

(pensive music)

- [Charlie] Why would they bury all of her things here?

- I don't know.

What do you think?

- [Dwight] I don't know.

(pensive music)

- [Kaiser] Is she really a lost child of the Howard's?

As intriguing as that theory sounds,

we needed to focus on the more plausible explanations.

- [Woman] Have fun on your big day.

Happy birthday.

- [Girl] Who, me?

- [Kaiser] During our investigation,

Dwight was called back in for questioning,

as more evidence of his possible involvement was discovered.

- Do you know this man?

- I don't believe so.

- [Detective] Edward Baker.

- Yeah, yeah.

Sure, I'm sorry, yeah.

- Were you aware that your wife knew him?

- Yeah, they would hustle together.

(gentle music)

- [Kaiser] Edward Baker was born

and raised in Springfield, Tennessee,

and was a close childhood friend of Emily

and their friendship turned into something more

when they dated throughout high school.

- They were sweet together.

I thought they were the perfect pair.

- They seemed pretty cute.

Very flirtatious around each other, high school sweetheart.

- Eddie was two years ahead of us.

Yeah, they were always together.

- When she went off to college, they broke up unfortunately.

- [Ashley] They tried the long distance relationship,

but it just didn't work out.

- [Kaiser] So, when she came back here,

they started hanging out again?

- Yeah, I mean, he worked a few blocks away

in this office building over here down on Eighth

and he'd come by for lunch or just to visit.

- When Emily moved back to take care of her mom,

of course Edward came around and we hung out with everybody.

So, it wasn't unusual for him to be around.

- They still hang out time to time.

I'm not sure if Dwight knows about it,

but I mean, it's just a friendship.

Everybody knows that.

- Thank you for moving here.

- [Dwight] You're welcome.

- [Heather] Dwight's not really a fan of Eddie.

I mean, can you blame him?

- Dwight just like, really did not like

that Edward was comin' around

and I think he kind of let that be known.

- [Dwight] I think when you start makin' that family-

- You wanna start right now?

- [Dwight] Oh, we can just pull over right now.

- No, no, no, no, no, no (laughs).

Let's at least get home first (laughs).

(Dwight laughs)

- Were you aware of Edward and your wife's history?

- Yeah, they dated in high school.

- Did you know that they were havin' an affair?

- What makes you say that?

- Mr. Baker came forward yesterday.

He was a little worried, feelin' guilty.

Thought that this information

might help our investigation a little bit.

- Why were you havin' lunch with your ex-boyfriend?

Emily, what the hell

is wrong with y'all? - We're just friends!

- Just friends, right. - You knew that

- Then why didn't - when you moved here.

- you tell me about him? - You knew.

- Mr. Nixon, I don't have a body

and I don't have a murder weapon

but what I do have is a motive.

- We're through.

♪ Remember the free

♪ Remember to hold your head high ♪

♪ Remember to smile some

♪ And just listen awhile

♪ Practiced enough, yeah

♪ That's what I told myself

Look at us.

- Mm hm.

- Play with you.

♪ Nervously asked you your name ♪

♪ And that's when the world seemed to stop ♪

♪ And I'd died when you looked up like that ♪

♪ Took my breath away

♪ Knocked me flat on my back

♪ I knew right then and there

♪ In that first second stare

♪ It would be awhile

♪ And everything falls out of focus ♪

♪ You walked through the door

♪ And one thing that's clear to me helplessly hopeless ♪

♪ I'm all right with that in a room full of people ♪

♪ Everything else disappears

We need to keep our focus on Wayne Ritchie.

Wayne practically grew up on the land,

and his house is nearby.

I've been lookin' at the city history,

old maps and things like that.

So, what I'm wonderin' is if this entrance

or this cave actually right here near Wayne's house

runs towards the Howard's land, or maybe even underneath.

We need to check this out and see

if we can find any tunnels or anything like that

that maybe some of these people could have just fallen into.

(eerie music)

- We headed out to find the cave,

and see if it could answer some of our questions.

Not knowing the exact location of the cave,

we decided to split up to cover more ground.

Charlie and I headed directly east,

while Dwight headed northeast.

Here you go.

(eerie music)

Dwight, do you copy?

- [Dwight] Yes, go ahead.

- Just testing the range.

Do you see anything?

- [Dwight] No, nothing yet.

You guys?

- Just woods.

(eerie music)

Charlie, come here!

I found it!

- [Charlie] Seriously?

- Yes!

It's gotta be it.

It's the only cave we've seen.

Come on, come on.

Dwight, do you copy?

Dwight?

- [Charlie] He's probably out of range.

- [Kaiser] It probably goes down 20 feet, it's narrow.

- [Charlie] Okay, I don't wanna risk the camera.

I guess I'll shoot on my phone.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah,

let's do that. - Okay, let's go.

- [Kaiser] Okay.

Charlie, how you doin'?

- [Charlie] I'm doin' okay.

How'd you get down - All right, be careful.

- [Charlie] there so fast?

- [Kaiser] (chuckles) That's a good question.

(eerie music)

- [Charlie] Do you wanna try Dwight again?

- [Kaiser] Yeah, good idea.

Dwight, do you copy?

Dwight?

We're in the cave right now.

Just wanna let you know if you can hear us.

- Oo! - Feel like our range

is still bad.

You good?

- [Charlie] Yeah, I'm good.

All right. - Look at this thing,

it's like an altar or something.

- [Charlie] It's crazy!

Look how steep it is.

I just wonder how far or where we are

in relation to the Howard's property.

Kaiser?

Kaiser?

- [Kaiser] Hey, hey, I'm right here.

- [Charlie] Okay.

- [Kaiser] I went down this way and it dead ended.

Did you find anything?

I found this weird little entrance thing

over here and I don't know.

I just, I feel like it might be a cave in.

- [Charlie] A cave in?

- [Kaiser] Yeah, I mean the walls are wet.

- [Charlie] Wet?

- Yeah.

But the only thing is it's blocked off up ahead.

I don't think we can go any further.

- All right, you guys okay?

- [Kaiser] Yeah, we're good.

You okay? - Yeah, I'm good.

Did you find anything?

- Well, we didn't make it too far in

before we hit a blocked part

but it looks like it might be a cave-in, though.

The rocks are wet, water ran down the walls.

- So maybe the cave was under the pond?

(eerie music)

After exploring the cave, I think at one time

the cave extended past the area, which is now a pond.

Take a look at this.

Here's the cave and here's where Sarah Winston disappeared,

in the same spot where the pond was built six years later.

Emily's metal detector ring where we found it,

this is where the Lopez's disappeared.

The Howard's house.

It's all one line.

So, if the cave does run underneath all these spots,

this could all be connected.

(eerie music)

- There are caves everywhere in Robertson County

and we are told that they are all connected.

And at Cross Plains you have Kilgore Cave

where Thomas Kilgore, the first white person

in Robertson County spent

the winter hiding from the Indians.

Our historical society had our annual picnic there

about two weeks ago.

- [Dwight] If we could get a better understanding

of what's below the property,

it could help us get answers about the disappearances.

- The Vietcong had networks

of tunnels that they used during the Vietnam War.

They could come up through one of these openings,

they could snatch someone out of the platoon

down into the tunnel, seal up the hatch,

and nobody would know what's going on.

They'd be like, "Where's Joe?"

Well, Joe's down in the bowels

of the earth somewhere.

(eerie music)

- Right now they're gonna be runnin'

some ground penetrating radar over the top of the site.

They'll lay out a grid pattern first and literally,

it'll map out every inch,

it'll penetrate just like a water saw does.

So if we had any ground that's been disturbed recently

or any type of cave system underneath us,

it'll pick that up as well.

Once they identify a cave or a cavern,

we'll be able to identify whether it does connect

to any other systems on the property, includin' the pond.

- [Man] One, two, three.

There you go.

- We're looking at the site scanning sonar,

which is directly underneath the boat,

penetrates all the way down to the bottom of the lake.

- Okay, so if there's a body,

it should appear like a white blob or a white-

- Yes, on either screen here,

it'll come up either white or kinda grayish.

It'll pick up anything that might've fallen

into the lake accidentally and maybe drowned,

such as an animal.

So, we don't wanna put a diver down on somethin'

that's not truly human remains.

As you come up here if you look at that

where the boat is right now,

directly underneath there,

you can see a black kind of indentation to the red U,

and that's an indication that there is an opening there.

- By opening deep, do you mean like a cave or-

- It can be a cave or it could be

just a really big depression

in the bottom of the lake

but that would appear to be a cave.

It's goin' that northerly direction,

almost directly where the boat is right now.

- So, in the same direction as the house?

- Same direction as the house.

(dramatic music)

- [Kaiser] Have you guys ever found a shaft

that connects to a whole cave system?

- Absolutely.

And that's most of the time what you do find.

You'll find a smaller opening that'll lead

into a bigger cavern or a bigger opening.

Diving in the shaft is extremely dangerous

'cause only one diver can go one at a time.

So, we're gonna take every precaution we can

to make sure the divers stay safe.

- [Kaiser] Which one of you are going down the shaft?

- T-Roy.

- [Kaiser] So, you've done this a few times?

- Yes.

- [Kaiser] What's it like down there?

- It's tight.

- So, what we're seein' down

there right now is low visibility.

- See by the (indistinct).

- [T-Roy] Located the shaft.

- [Mike] Top side, copy.

Located the shaft.

- [T-Roy] Proceeding down the shaft.

The walls are rock solid.

- Top side, copy.

Rock walled, entering the shaft.

Real good sign that we're in rock walls,

so this potentially could be a cave system.

The shaft should connect us down to the bottom.

This is not the bottom of the lake.

He's about 10 feet down now.

- [T-Roy] I've reached the front of the shaft.

Feeling the wall.

Hang on a sec.

Solid, looks like a (indistinct).

Solid (indistinct).

Top side, we have remains.

- What'd he just say? - Top side, copy.

We have remains.

They have remains.

See the girl on the GoPro? (T-Roy speaking indistinctly)

And you have it here on the sonar.

You see the difference in that white-ish gray

we were talkin' about earlier.

You can start to see the remains right there.

- We don't know what kind of remains though, right?

- We don't know until he can physically

and visually get up on top of it.

- [T-Roy] These are human remains.

Definitely remains.

Float the buoy.

- Top side, copy.

Human remains, floatin' the buoy.

(Dwight exhales)

(pensive music) (water gurgling)

- [Susanna] This is Susanna Connor reporting

for Channel 2 News from an abandoned piece

of farmland outside of Springfield,

where skeletal remains of a young girl have been found.

(eerie music)

(phone ringing)

- Yeah.

Okay, yeah, no, no, I appreciate it.

The results are in.

The body was identified as Sarah Winston.

(dramatic music)

(singer vocalizing)

- [Roger] I knew she was still out there.

- [Kaiser] Wait, how did Sarah end up in the pond?

It wasn't there in 1994.

(singer vocalizing)

- So, if the Howard's left Springfield in 1979,

and hadn't returned, then who built

that pond on that property?

- That big sinkhole opened up over there.

It was in '98.

It just boom, like that.

- And that hole was massive.

I went over there several times

to just stand there and look down into the thing.

It was huge.

- With the Howard's gone,

nobody went up there to put any sign

to warn people about it.

- A farmer's cow wandered off

and ended up in that sinkhole, fell right in.

- We did get her out, though.

She was kinda shaken up but she's okay.

- Yes, Sir, because of safety purposes,

we agreed to fill the pond in with water.

Well, they went in and filled it with rock

and hard clay and stuff just to try

to build a base in it where it would retain the water.

- [Kaiser] Who filled up that sinkhole?

- Wayne Ritchie.

- That pond was built by Wayne Ritchie.

- Wayne Ritchie.

- Well, I loaned him the equipment to do it with

in exchange for fishin' rights of course.

- My first thought was that he drowned her somewhere else,

kept her body and then moved her back

to the pond once he built it.

- [Kaiser] Could Sarah's body have been moved

to the pond after she was murdered?

We would need to talk

to the forensic pathologist to find out.

- After we determined that the cause

or manner of death was not from gunshot or a stab wound,

we then turned our investigation towards drowning

since the skeleton was found in the pond.

We were gonna look at the presence or absence of diatoms.

- [Kaiser] Diatoms are photosynthesizing algae

that are present in every aquatic environment.

- When we studied the bone marrow,

we noticed diatoms present,

indicating that the cause of death was drowning.

- [Kaiser] Every body of water has its own unique

and distinct form of diatom,

kind of like a fingerprint.

- We took a sample in the pond at Howard's Mill

and studied the signature of the diatoms present.

Interestingly, it was an exact match to the diatoms present

in the bone marrow of Sarah Winston.

- [Kaiser] The presence of diatoms in the lungs

and bone marrow would indicate

that the person entered the water alive and then drowned.

The absence of diatoms would prove a body had been dumped

in the water after they were deceased.

- Based on these findings, the science shows

that Sarah Winston actually drowned in 2004.

(eerie music)

- So in 1994, 10-year-old Sarah Winston disappears.

In 2017 the body of Sarah Winston is found

in the pond on Howard's Mill,

but the forensics report shows she drowned in 2004.

So, that means she should have been 20 years old

in 2004 when she drowned,

but she was still at 10 years old,

the same age she was in 1994 before the pond was ever built.

Are you confused yet?

(eerie music)

- Human time travel may not be probable

but it is potentially possible.

Technically, we are all time travelers.

In the past 24 hours, I traveled one day in time.

I presume that you did too.

The real question is whether

or not different people travel faster than others.

Einstein thought so.

In the case of Sarah Winston,

you have forensic proof that a 10-year-old girl disappeared

and then drowned at the same age 10 years later.

The Glynis Howard story doesn't

have the science to back it up,

but the coincidence of them both happening

on the same piece of bland is compelling.

- [Kaiser] Are you saying you believe

that Sarah Winston traveled 10 years into the future,

returning to this exact same spot she disappeared

where a pond had been built and then drowned?

- You have two related cases

of people with age discrepancies

connected to the same location,

and one of them is still living.

I would ask the one that's still living.

(eerie music)

(door creaking)

- Yeah.

It's all familiar.

(eerie music)

- Your old room.

- No.

No, I've never been in this room before.

- [Dwight] But this is the only child's room in the house.

- I don't remember this room.

When I, I remember I took naps though,

upstairs in this room.

(eerie music)

Yeah, I took naps in here with my dad,

but I had my own room, was in the basement.

So.

- The basement?

- Uh huh.

I mean, this place is so...

I mean, I know I was here.

I know I was here.

It's crazy, I felt like it was bigger.

It was like twice this size when I was here.

Like this wall wasn't here

'cause I had like a dresser and-

- Shine the light on here.

Let me see.

Yeah, this board is...

Hold that light right there. - Okay.

- [Glynis] Be careful.

(eerie music)

Got it? - Yeah, I got it.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

- Oh my God!

- Yeah, there's something - Yeah, yeah,

- in there. - yeah.

I knew this wall wasn't here.

I knew this wall wasn't here.

(eerie music)

- [Dwight] All right?

- [Charlie] Camera.

Got it.

- Oh my God.

- [Dwight] What are you seein', guys?

- [Glynis] Oh my God, this is all my stuff.

These are my...

I remember these books.

It was up against this wall but...

And this picture.

I mean, I looked at this picture every single day.

- [Dwight] Wow.

It's still here.

- Yeah, I...

Like...

I'm kinda in shock right now.

I'm shaking.

This bed, this was my bed.

This was my bed and all my things and...

Oh my God! - Oh God!

- [Charlie] Get outta here!

(dramatic music)

- [Reporter] For the second time in 28 days,

skeletal remains of a child

have been discovered on the abandoned Howard's Mill.

Police questioned a suspect, Wayne Ritchie,

after discovering the body of 10 year old Sarah Winston

who had been missing since 1994.

- I don't care what those scientists say.

I know Wayne did it.

- When I heard about Sarah Winston,

I immediately, I just got chills.

I mean, that could've been me.

- I guess I'm surprised.

I really didn't see him as the murdering kind.

- Never, I'll never believe that he did that.

(phone ringing)

- Hello?

- [Glynis] Hi, yes, this is Glynis Williams.

I just, I was watching the news and the man,

Wayne Ritchie, I think they said his name was, I know him.

I know who that is.

- [Dwight] You've met him?

- [Glynis] I'm positive that that man is my father.

(singer vocalizing)

(shutter flashes)

- [Detective] What was your relationship with Sarah Winston?

- Not much, it was a long time ago.

- Why'd you build a wall in the Howard's house, Wayne?

Come on now, answer the question.

- It wasn't safe.

- It wasn't safe for who?

Wasn't safe for who?

- Glynis, Bobby.

It wasn't safe for Glynis.

(eerie music)

- [Dwight] All right, what you go for me, Dan?

- Well, the lab results are in, brother.

You're not gonna believe it.

Wayne Ritchie and Glynis Williams are not related.

- [Dwight] Okay.

- [Dan] Rebecca Howard and Glynis Williams are not related.

- [Dwight] Wait, now what are you talkin'-

- (tutting) There's more.

Rebecca Howard and Jane Doe are related.

(dramatic music)

(pensive music)

- When was the last time you saw your daughter?

- June 1st, 1979.

- That's specific.

- It's not the kind of thing your forget.

- She went missing.

You and your husband didn't tell anyone

and didn't report it to the cops.

You packed up, you left.

You left most of your possessions behind.

Is that right?

- Not exactly.

- Well, what part of that is not factual?

- She didn't go missing.

She was taken.

(dramatic music)

- By who?

(eerie music)

This Glynis?

- [Wayne] Naw, she don't look like that no more.

- All right, wait a second here.

How 'bout her?

- Yep.

- Now, Wayne, I don't understand.

Why do you know her?

- I don't know who that is.

- That's Glynis Howard!

The real Glynis Howard!

- [Kaiser] Wayne Ritchie didn't recognize

the photo of the real Glynis Howard,

but was able to identify Glynis Williams,

although referring to her as Glynis Howard.

He seemed just as confused as everyone else.

- First time Glynis went missin'

she was just a little baby.

That Howard woman, she was scared,

but she wouldn't talk about it.

And then she was gone just like Daniel's parents.

- No, the Howard's went away.

They didn't disappear, Wayne.

- A few years later I was walkin'

through that field and heard cryin'.

Saw a baby out there, Bobby.

Glynis comin' back.

Flies was all around her - wait a minute,

- out there in the middle - wait a minute.

- of the field. - Wayne,

you found a baby?

Why didn't you tell me?

- Well, I thought that if anybody knew,

then they might find out,

they might come back for,

take her back where took her the first time.

I was just tryin' to make things

the way they was before for her.

Figured she's better off.

- Why did you build a wall in that house, Wayne?

- Last time I was down there,

there wasn't nobody down there.

- [Bob] Okay.

- All right?

I know that.

Things was gettin' dangerous down there.

Caught Glynis playin' down there.

And the pipes were exposed, leakin'.

Seen a rat down there.

So, I walled it up.

- And you buried some children's toys down there, too?

- Yeah well, I was just sayin' bye.

(pensive music)

- This just all seems to point

more and more to Wayne Ritchie.

The fact that we have a body in the room

that he admits he sealed,

then we've got a body in a pond that he had field.

The question now is, where is Emily?

- [Kaiser] Are you happy with the arrest?

(somber music)

So, are we done?

- No.

I still need to find my wife.

(Dwight sighs)

Wayne, I need your help.

- All right.

I mean, I'll help however I can help.

- All right.

What I'm havin' a problem wrappin'

my mind around is this.

You admit to all these things,

buildin' that wall? - Yeah.

- Takin' that little baby,

but what about Emily?

What about my wife, Wayne?

- I told you Dwight, told you from the start,

I had nothin' to do with that.

I had nothin' to do with that.

- [Wayne] Why are you in the video

she took right before she went missin'?

That's you standin' right there.

- I don't know.

That wasn't me.

It's 'cause I go out there sometimes

and when I walk around I hunt.

That ain't a crime.

- No, that's not a crime.

But you didn't notice her there

even though she was talkin' awfully loud

and she wasn't exactly blendin' in?

- Well, so what?

If I did, it don't mean I hurt her.

It don't mean I done nothin' with her.

Sometimes I go out there and I watch people a little bit,

see if they disappear or whatnot.

- Are you sayin' you saw what happened to her?

- Naw.

A dog ran off into the woods,

and I followed the dog into the woods.

I figured she went home.

- If you don't have anything to hide,

while are you always chasin' people off that property?

- 'Cause I wanna make sure nobody out there disappears again

and I wanna make sure nobody else pops up,

like Glynis done.

- You were just walkin' by?

- I was just walkin' by.

They took her, not me.

- Who?

Who took her?

- I had nothin' to do with this.

I had nothin' to do with this.

I had nothin' to, - This person disappeared

- y'all can... - only a few weeks ago.

Who took her, Wayne?

(eerie music)

- Now you know we've got several people out there

that claim they saw lights

but there's no proof of that so we can't go anything there.

And you've got the Lopez's,

you've got Sarah Winston and you've got Glynis Howard

all disappearing from the same land.

- [Roger] Sarah!

- [Sarah's Mom] Sarah?

- [Roger] Sarah!

Did you see where she went? - Where is she?

- Some people believe theoretically

that the potential for traveling through time,

forward through time is possible.

(singer vocalizing) (soft music)

- 1979, Glynis Howard goes missing age six, all right?

She shows back up forensics report

that Glynis Howard's body found in a wall dead at age six.

Look, that's 10 years.

Sarah Winston, disappears at age 10, 1994.

10 years later forensics again says

she shows up drowned, dead but the same age.

- There's also the twin paradox.

The idea being that if you take identical twins

under the right circumstances,

one could travel to space and returning

have aged slower than the one who remained on Earth.

- Now, what's with the 10 years?

Now, you tell me how somebody's,

they disappear at a certain age,

their bodies are kept and then they show

back up dead at a certain age.

- So, you're sayin' that Emily will come back in 10 years?

- More importantly, will she show back up

in 10 years the same age as when she disappeared?

(eerie music)

- [Kaiser] Maybe Roger Winston's theories

weren't so far fetched.

Maybe he's not as crazy as everyone thinks.

- Twin Falls, Idaho, 1987,

this is an interview with a boy named Cole Thomas,

eight year old boy.

He claimed he'd been missin' for two days

and when they found him he'd only been gone,

he said four minutes, okay?

So, the only thing that he remembered

was the distinct feelin' of bein' watched.

Texarkana, Arkansas, 2001, right?

"I saw my sister climbing through the second floor window

but not really climbing.

It was more like she was floatin',

and when I got to the window, she was gone," right?

- And there were triangular lights

that appeared at the horizon.

- The lights comin' in the window.

- They would rotate and move.

- And lights floatin' in the distance.

- I got a lot of this stuff here

and it's just missin' persons

with no recollection of where they've been, okay?

Just, they all know that they've been watched.

- They were all lined up on the horizon, watching.

(wind chime chiming) (pensive music)

- The entities appear to study their subjects,

first as many abducted individuals

share the feeling of being watched.

All right?

"Sometimes months before the incident,

while there are numerous vivid accounts of abduction

there are just as many lost time incidents," all right?

"The victim goes missing for days, months, even years,

with no memory of being gone

and in the case of Marilyn Graham,

showing no signs of aging

despite being missing for over 10 years."

Okay, look at all of these, all right?

And you wanna say that you don't believe?

- I'm lookin' at all this, but what are you sayin' here?

- What am I saying?

Just read it.

- [Kaiser] If the 10 year time travel theory is possible,

could it be that Glynis Howard returned

to the exact same spot in the basement

where she disappeared only

to find herself trapped behind the wall Wayne built?

Did a starving child try to claw

her way out of what would become her tomb?

And did Sarah Winston return

to the same spot she disappeared

where upon it had been built and then drowned?

Did Roger Winston just miss an opportunity

to save his daughter from drowning

the night he found her bow floating in the pond?

- [Roger] I think she was trying to come home.

(singer vocalizing) (soft music)

- [Kaiser] But then what about the Lopez's?

Where did they go?

And what about Glynis Williams

who Wayne found in the Howard's field?

Where did she come from?

And then there is a reason why we started this journey,

Dwight's wife, Emily.

Maybe it all doesn't add up perfectly

but something unnatural is clearly happening

on this abandoned piece of land called Howard's Mill.

- [Wayne] No, you need to understand,

sometimes it takes people and sometimes it gives people.

Best just to stay away.

- For the first time in my life,

I really don't know what to think.

I mean, we finally got Wayne Ritchie in jail.

I don't know if he did it, Kaiser.

You got people movin' at different speeds,

reappearin' and disappearin'.

Little girls just poppin' up

in rooms with no windows or doors, and Emily.

I can't find my wife.

This whole thing's crazy.

It's just got my mind spinnin'.

I feel lost.

- [Kaiser] So, what are you gonna do now?

- Keep lookin.

- [Kaiser] Do you think she'll come back?

- I mean, yeah.

I have to believe that,

but if she doesn't,

I will be right here 10 years from now waitin' on her.

I just...

(gentle music)

♪ When everything falls out of focus ♪

♪ You walk through the door

♪ And one thing that's clear to me ♪

♪ Helplessly hopeless

♪ I'm all right with that

♪ In a room full of people

♪ Everything else disappears

♪ Everything else disappears

♪ Everything else disappears

♪ Everything else

(eerie music)

(dramatic music)

(eerie music)