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[Music] my mom's gone she's nowhere to be found where would she be she's gone and we need to find
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her my name is Nikki Bates and my mom is Tammy Myers how old were you when your mother
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disappeared I was only 7 years old it was just like a heavy weight just a feeling like you couldn't breathe she
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would have called she would have found a way to call you got three little kids and they're missing their mom and what
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do you say I don't remember exactly how I did it but I know it was one of the toughest things I ever
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did I'm Ryan Myers and Tammy Myers was my wife even after we separated we remained
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close my mom was the love of his life Tammy was loving and caring fun easygoing electric an overall great
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person to be around your mother meets a man who would soon play a major role in all of your
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lives who was that man William Greer my mom and my dad split up and she gets with him this man's Rich he has
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money we we got to do all these fun things so immediately we just like were drawn to him until you know we realized
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that our mom wasn't happy when they were together he was very abusive as a little
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girl you remember seeing your mother in pain yes she was bleeding she was bruised she could barely walk did she
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ever report any of this to police not that I know of what happened on December 19th 2006
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in gre's home there was an argument that had ensued William Greer did not like the direction the conversation was going
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retrieved a shotgun and shot Tammy he's definitely among the worst and the worst he's an evil murderer my
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name is Cameron Welch I'm Josh Wright Leslie Raymond I was one of the US Marshals one of the US Marshals one of
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the US Marshals hunting William Greer they find blood all over the house they find the bullet holes is William Greer
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still at the house no he has fled nowhere to be found he's just SC to Georgia New Orleans Kentucky America's
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Most Wanted by this time he's making the TV scene we introduce you a William Greer when he saw himself on TV he just
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got up and left to move on to the next place our beloved Tammy americ Most Wanted they were the first ones to
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interview US did it give you some hope it did they had a few leads but it died down and we didn't have anything else
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for years where is she where's William at you kind of went on a mission didn't you I did what was that mission to not
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only find William but to just keep my mom's name and her case alive she'd be a great Deputy US Marshal
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you took the words out of my mouth she's tenacious yeah we love that the family wants somebody who's
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going to push hard to do what needs to be done we will never stop Justice is coming
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[Music] [Music] [Music] you always hear that time heals it'll get better it'll get easier that is not
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true I think it's harder as an an adult without a mom than it was as a kid you have graduations that she misses she
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missed my wedding she has eight grandchildren that she will never meet Nikki Meers Bates
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lost her mother nearly two decades ago when she was just 7 years old but she says no amount of time will heal this
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wound this is my family now a mother of three herself is still searching for her
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mother and fighting to bring the man who killed her to Justice pretty much when I
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became a teenager got my cell phone you know I read every article every news video I I seen it I read it Ryan even
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when you talk about her today uh you get emotional about it why is that I still love you still love
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her Ryan Meyers says he and Tammy were just teenagers when they first fell in love 20 when he asked her to marry him
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the first year we were together we had a kid and then following year had another
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kid a few years later we had Nikki Nikki says there wasn't much money to go around but there was always more than
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enough love especially between mother and daughter she was very loving she was made to be a girl mom even though she
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had two two boys she was very girly full alive fun energetic Ryan worked long hour hours as a window installer so
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Tammy could be a full-time mom then fate dealt the Meers family a devastating blow my dad was working on
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top of a three-story building he got electrocuted and fell off and hit the concrete I fell three floors broke my
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back and legs and uh unfortunately the company I work for didn't have insurance how did
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you pay for all this well I mean essentially Tammy had to work and and try to pay some of the bills while I was
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down and she had no experience so she did what she thought was easiest and became a stripper am I to say that you
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sure you say she became a female dancer how did your dad take all of this I don't think
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he loved it I think he wanted her to find another job but she was like it's fine nothing's happening here I'm just
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getting the money and so it was until Tammy met a big spender named William Greer he was as far as I know a regular
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at the club he would threw a lot of money around where did he get his money he owned a vending machine company so
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her and my dad split up and she gets with him sometime in 2006 Tammy moved about
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an hour away to Spring Texas in this house with ker and two sons from his first marriage Nikki and her brothers
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would spend the weekends there was he kind to you as far as I remember yes uh always giving us money trying to take us
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on trips did your mom stop working as a stripper yes did you sense that that William gr was good for your mother when
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I first met him yes but things would turn ugly over time says Nikki not long before her mother went missing Nikki
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says there were clear signs of physical abuse which Tammy documented in these photos she stole his truck and came all
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the way to Cleveland from Spring and she could barely get out of the car and she
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was bleeding she was bruised Nikki says her mom tried to cover it up she told us
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that it was a dirk bike accident but she had told my stepmother that he had hit her with numchucks what's numcha you see
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Karate the um the wooden things you swing around he hit her with that yes Nikki says Greer came looking for
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his truck and her mother my dad was like you need to get off my property and he was arguing saying well she stole my
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truck and my dad's like I don't care you need to get off my property you know my
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dad always says I wish I would have just shot him cuz your mom would still be [Music]
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here Nikki says she has since learned that her mother had been warned about Greer's propensity for violence by
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someone who knew him well his ex-wife she would tell my mom that you know you need to leave him he's dangerous sadly
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it seems like Tammy may have been thinking about doing just that but ran out of time and is it true that the two
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of you were were thinking about getting back together talking about getting back
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together before she disappeared yes sir then as Christmas 2006 approached Tammy mysteriously vanished I had a Miss
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call from her and I tried to call her bik and I didn't get a response I remember crying a lot um just
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being devastated not only for me but seeing my dad the way that way was just devastating and that's when this case
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took the first of many bizarre turns just 8 days before Tammy was reported missing Greer was arrested for public
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intoxication can you tell me your full name William Joseph Greer this is Greer on dash cam video come here with me
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confessing to two sheriff's deputies that he had shot Tammy gun just went off oh my God it's the worst thing I ever
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did was were you aware that William Greer had been arrested by sheriff's deputies at that time no sir and in the
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next strange twist Greer was released I was still lost to why when somebody sit there in admitted to something why you
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would just turn them loose so easily [Music] back in 2006 Paul Lasco was a deputy for
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the Liberty County Sheriff's Office in the early morning hours of December 22nd Lasco and his partner got a call about
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suspicious activity on this road in Cleveland Texas there was a vehicle a truck in the ditch here and there was
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nobody around it the truck was running the lights were on door was open the whole thing was captured on this dash
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cam video Lasco says that at the time there was a fenced in field bordered by a large wooded area my partner went down
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the driveway here next to the driveway was like a brush pile that was pulled up that's where laco's partner found the
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missing driver a highly intoxicated William Greer William Joseph Greer it appeared that he had been using some
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sort of drugs that's what he acts like he acts like he's on me he was also half naked he had a a button-up shirt on and
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no pants no under he was naked from the waist down now you've seen a lot of things how strange was this this was
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pretty strange where do you think your shoes are your your boots at all them things got too M and bog down cuz it's a
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swamp out Greer's clothing was never recovered but much more alarming than his physical
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state was what Greer freely said to two detectives it was an accident not I love
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with all my heart he said that he accidentally shot Tammy uh in the chest and that he he
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watched her die gun just went off I could believe what happened oh my God the worst thing I ever did
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was Creer told them the shooting had taken place at his home in Spring about 40 Mi Southwest of Cleveland a different
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County with a different Sheriff back then Sid Miller was a homicide detective in the Harris County
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Sheriff's Office he would later learn that Harris County had been contacted by a Liberty County dispatcher and asked to
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send two deputies to GRE home for a welfare check they peer through the window looked inside the house and they
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didn't see anything that was out of the ordinary in their opinion our dispatch notified us that haris County went out
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there and everything looked fine lasasco says they attempted to question Greer some more but by then he had sobered up
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and stopped talking you confessed to killing her oh no I don't remember that part without probable cause that a
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murder had occurred all GRE could be charged with was public intoxication so Lasco and his partner took him to the
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Liberty County Jail where he was booked released on bond the next day and disappeared it's frustrating because we
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had him and now he's he's gone Nikki says no one realized just how gone Greer was until days later when
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Greer's sons from his first marriage returned from Christmas Vacation with their mother
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and when their mom goes to drop them off they start freaking out we don't want to
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go home the boys had been with their mother since the day Tammy Meers disappeared now 11 days later they were
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telling their mother that the morning she picked them up they heard their father shoot Tammy Meyers their mother
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took the boys straight down to the Sheriff's office for an interview that's when detective Miller got involved they
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indicated that sometime in the morning of December the 19th between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. they heard Greer and Tammy
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arguing one of them described hearing what sounded like Tammy running down the hallway and being thrown against the
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wall he also described hearing a gunshot and he heard William Greer make the comment about are you dead are you still
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alive at this point they obtained a search warrant and they go into his house when detective Miller arrived at
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the house he discovered Greer's brother-in-law he was actually there cleaning out the house he told the
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detectives he didn't know the house was a crime scene and what was he cleaning up he was taking property out of the
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house uh we learned that he had taken some guns out of there at the direction of Mr
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Greer still says Miller the house was clearly a crime scene there was so many bullet holes in this house throughout
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this house I noticed that there was like blood smear uh on some of the walls I walked into the bedroom you know you had
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a mattress soaked Blood on the side of the mattress there were bullet Hol in the bedroom and so what William Greer
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had actually told those Liberty County deputies turned out to be true it turn yes you again one more thing you should
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know about that night deputies found Tammy's cell phone on the front seat of Greer's truck they used it to call
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Tammy's mother who Nikki says told deputies that Greer had been physically abusing her daughter the older I get the
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more angry I get they they really failed not only her but just everyone in this situation Nikki says it still infuriates
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her that on the night career confessed a search warrant would have made all the difference why didn't they seek a search
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warrant to get into the house that evening I think at that particular time based on what Greer had told Liberty
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County because of his intoxicated State they they couldn't verify substantiate whether that was credible information
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Miller says that night there just wasn't enough probable cause for a search warrant and even after searching Greer's
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home they still couldn't find Tammy we actually did a search of the house and we had cab dogs go out and and do a
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search of the property and we didn't find anything detective Miller says they also
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searched the woods where Greer had been arrested still even without Tammy's body
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the Harris County District Attorney's Office felt they had enough to charge Greer with first-degree murder and on
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March 16th 2007 nearly 3 months after Greer's drunken confession a grand jury voted to indict him there was just one
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problem says former deputy US Marshall lesie Rayman he was in the Wind by the time they figured out a murder had
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occurred with Greer was gone our beloved Tammy a daughter taken life shaken Nikki Bates was just 9 years
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old when she and her brothers shared memories of their mother with the television show America's Most Wanted
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reminds me of us spending time together Nikki hoped that viewers might recognize
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the man who had allegedly killed her mother and then disappeared William Greer did it give you some hope it did
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once we got him on America's Most Wanted we started getting tips detective Miller
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says that after the first mention of Greer on the show he and his partner were finally beginning to learn about
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the fugitives first few days on the run the day after Greer got out of jail he went to his sister's house and basically
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said that he had done something bad and he wanted to change his life and he was leaving town so the sister had given him
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some money for that purpose from there Greer had gone to Savannah Georgia to see his half brother Daniel Dobson so
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detective Miller and his partner did the same he said that he hit her with the gun and it went off and I said well this
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is a recording of Dobson being questioned he said she died in his arm he freaked out went out and buried her
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and buried her to where nobody would find her that's the phrase he used where nobody would find her would find her
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when he finally admitted what he did I did everything I could to get him off this property that day he had taken G to
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a truck stop and just dropped him off there and he hadn't seen him since in July 2007 Greer had been on the run for
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6 months when he got a job as a cook at this Deli in New Orleans working alongside this man John Morales he told
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me that his name was Billy when I tried to ask him what his last name was he wouldn't tell me what his last name was
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Morales says he and the man he knew as Billy got along so well they decided to room together and Billy began to open up
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about his past Billy told me that he had kids he told me that he that he had an ex-wife and that his ex-wife wasn't
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allowing him to see the kids and that and that's why he was traveling Morales says it wasn't long before his new
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roommate began to drink heavily and became progressively stranger he would start crying and say that he didn't want
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to wind up in hell even more disturbing says Morales were Greer's plans for the future he uh would say that he wanted to
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live off grid that he wanted to um find another wife you know at some point and and have more kids then he would take
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the downward spirro again say if I ever find out she's cheating on me I'll kill her then says Morales Greer began using
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drugs the the men parted ways and Morales moved to Florida Weeks Later a friend from the deli called to say that
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the man they knew as Billy had just been featured on America's Most Wanted Morales was one of five tipsters who
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called police but by the time detectives arrived to investigate Greer was gone now this is definitely the the hat that
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was in that photo Left Behind was his signature cowboy hat a possible taunt aimed at his pursu
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ERS it would take two more months before there was another credible tip this time
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from Georgetown Kentucky where Greer had found God he just came into a service one Sunday morning Connie Jackson
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Osborne pastor of the Victory Tabernacle Church says she knew Greer as Billy Lesley he said he was new to the area
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and was looking for handyman work he offered to help around the church he seemed very nice very personable he got
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right in with different ones in the congregation participated Billy even asked to be
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baptized but when he learned that his photograph would be taken for posterity Pastor Cony says he nearly backed out
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but Greer changed his mind and allowed this photo to be taken of his baptism on August 26th
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2007 one month later a member of the congregation would see the now baptized Billy on America's Most Wanted and if I
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may quote uh one little passage from the Bible to you as a pastor even Satan disguises himself as an angel of Light
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yes he does and it was funny when I found out he was wanted because he was living right across the street from the
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police station hiding in plain sight but by the time investigator arrived Greer had taken off again he left in a hurry
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his CD player is still turning this guy literally thought that he could victimize not only Tammy but everybody
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else that he encountered while he was on the run and kind of just thumbing his nose in our face more than 3 years had
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gone by with no credible leads when Cameron Welch a deputy Marshal with the southern district of Texas US Marshall
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service joined the case Welch followed up old leads hoping for new information which one is gre's house dug deeper into
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Greer's past and found yet another ex-wife who told detectives that Greer had abused her as well he was able to
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convince these women that he was just a great guy and he would use him for everything that that he needed and then
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he would move on to the next one wilch spent two years chasing down New Leads but Greer was nowhere to be found so
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where do you go from there back to square one just keeping the pressure in 2012 Welch was assigned to
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another case Deputy Marshall Lesley Raymond took over the now 5year long hunt for Greer and named it operation
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catch a toe and why'd you name it that William Geer was missing a toe and how'd he lose that I think it was a bicycle on
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accident when he was younger this is the famous missing toe famous missing toe wow the marshals believed that unique
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feature would eventually tip people off to Greer's true identity if you have a murderer in your house and this murderer
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is missing a toe they're going to easily put two and two together do you think Greer's missing
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toe will help the US Marshals get their man chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X
00:24:27
[Music] in late 2012 when Deputy US Marshall lesie Raymond took over the hunt for
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William Greer he studied the case and investigated New Leads with no luck this is the best information then in 2016
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Raymond and his now associate investigator Deputy Josh Wright returned to the last place Greer had been seen I
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just wanted to show you some pictures this time the TV show crime watch Daily was helping keep the heat on The
00:25:08
Fugitive we spent some time in Kentucky travel and interviewing people following
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up leads I pretty much was sure that he was using the railways to move around hopping trains and the last good Solid
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Source put him on a train going Southbound and I said This Guy's in Mexico Raymond asked to have the outlaw placed
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on the US Marshall's 15 most wanted list which alerts law enforcement agencies worldwide to be on the lookout for Greer
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a $25,000 reward was also offered for his arrest and money helps loosen lips and it wasn't long before that reward
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and Raymond's instincts appeared to be paying off we obtained information from a
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reliable source that William Greer had set up a new life South of the Border in Mexico the deputies would not tell us
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who that reliable source was but someone in Mexico had called in a tip telling investigators that they knew where Greer
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was hiding out we'd investigated hundreds of tips over the course of this fugitive investigation and so we knew
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that it had to be verified but US Marshals don't have jurisdiction in Mexico so operation catcho was now in
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the hands of Mexican authorities who checked out the tip while the Marshall's office was kept informed at every turn
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Mexican police were now surveilling the man they all hoped was William Greer I can tell you I did not sleep Jos and I
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were anxiously awaiting to find out what the results were oh yeah the next morning they got the confirmation they
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hoped for the man spotted in Mexico was indeed William Greer now he had to be [Music]
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captured Mexican authorities learned that Greer was living practically Off the Grid down this Dirt Road in the tiny
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southern town of Taxco he had a wife and two young children people tell me he was
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very reserved he was very nice very polite hardworking guy but very reserved Paulina Gomez a producer based in Mexico
00:27:35
City recently traveled to taxo for 48 hours and learned that Greer had most likely been in Mexico for about 6 to 7
00:27:44
years he met his new wife while living in the Mexican state of chapus by the time they moved to Taxco they had an
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infant daughter and toddler son named William he's the biological father Yes of these two
00:28:02
kids by 2017 locals say Greer had been living in Taxco for about 3 years we called him El Gringo do you didn't know
00:28:13
his name no okay tilo Perez lived next door to the fugitive and says he was a good
00:28:20
neighbor he was calm he didn't mess with anyone we had learned that he had a carpentry company he was building
00:28:28
furniture and he employed a couple employees Greer had been a master of avoiding arrest but on the morning of
00:28:38
November 28th 2017 his days on the Run finally came to an end when Greer was taken by surprise by a swarm of
00:28:48
undercover police us martial service would like to announce the arrest of William
00:28:59
Joseph he completely denied that it was him I just wish I could have been there to see his face when they removed his
00:29:05
shoe they did remove shoe absolutely and what did they see a missing toe operation catch a toe correct had
00:29:15
finally succeeded that's right it was a good feeling and I wasn't crying he was crying we might to tear
00:29:26
up Nikki was 18 years old when she got the news that her mother's killer had finally been captured I just cried I
00:29:35
just remember crying cuz it was not expected it was just over an overwhelming [Music]
00:29:45
feeling Greer was promptly flown to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston where he was arrested on us
00:29:55
soil these were the handcuffs used on William Greer and how satisfying was that extremely satisfying lesie Raymond says
00:30:05
Greer actually recognized him from all the TV coverage he saw me and said hey I know who you are I'm your biggest fan he
00:30:15
was exactly how I imagined he'd be very arrogant very eager to tell us how he eluded us and that's really what we were
00:30:22
interested in as fugitive investigators we wanted to know how how did he get away for so long and how did to get to
00:30:29
Mexico the deputy Marshalls say they always suspected that Greer had been getting around on 18 wheelers and trains
00:30:38
reer confirmed that he did end up taking a train from Kentucky and he headed west
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until he found another train heading south and that's how he ended up Crossing into
00:30:48
Mexico lean up against the there chest Raymond and Wright delivered Greer to the Sheriff's Office where Sid Miller
00:30:56
now a sergeant investigator attempted to interrogate him that's really why you're
00:31:04
here Miller tried to push Greer to tell him where he had buried Tammy and I was hoping be able to call the family
00:31:12
tonight and give some good news Greer suggested that he would cooperate get I'm not here to around but instead he
00:31:21
asked for an attorney and shut down the interview now whether you guys are willing to work with me or lot that's
00:31:29
get to be seen but I'm here to work with you guys but I need to talk to about with Greer Behind Bars it was now
00:31:39
up to the Harris County District Attorney's office to try the case I was like okay we're finally going to have
00:31:46
some closure but what ended up happening stunned just about everyone you were disappointed weren't you I'm greatly
00:31:54
disappointed [Music] it was now 2023 nearly 6 years since William Greer had been captured and now
00:32:15
the 58-year-old was still sitting in this jail awaiting trial Co and the legal process had slowed the proceedings
00:32:24
to a crawl painful says Nikki who longed for justice and finally locating her mother's missing remains recently around
00:32:34
the trial date I would have dreams that I was digging and I would just find her in the most random places Sid Miller was
00:32:42
prepared to testify at trial what's the strongest evidence you have against two children hearing what they heard both of
00:32:49
Greer's sons who believe they heard their father shoot and kill Tammy Meyers were on the witness list and while gre's
00:32:57
brother was now deceased the prosecution had that recording of what he told detectives back in 2007 he said that he
00:33:06
hit her with the gun and it went off and then of course there was Greer's dash cam confession oh my God the worst thing
00:33:14
I ever did was coupled with obviously the evidence that we found at the house the blood the
00:33:20
bullets seems like a strong case to me but Nikki says the prosecution was nervous worried that they were Miss ing
00:33:28
a critical piece of evidence Tammy's body only days before trial Nikki says she and her family were contacted by
00:33:37
assistant DA Stephanie Abner about a potential plea deal to avoid a trial she said would y'all consider man slaughter
00:33:45
if he tells you where she's at and I said you know what yes we will we just want to know where our mom's at we want
00:33:53
a resting place where we can go to where our children can go to so we took the deal because
00:33:58
they also made it seem like there was not another choice that he would probably walk free if we went to trial
00:34:04
as a condition of the deal Greer was now required to show detectives where he had
00:34:10
buried Tammy's body I had checked him out of the jail I had our warant te with us because he was such a Flight Risk
00:34:19
Nikki says when she heard where they all ended up she was crushed they were searching for her mother not far from
00:34:26
where Greer first Conn confessed to killing her and way too close to the home Nikki grew up in he walked up and
00:34:33
down the road and cuffs right next to my dad's house that went on for 3 Days says
00:34:39
Sid Miller nothing was found investigators then called off the search Greer still got his deal we were told he
00:34:48
will get his deal only if he tells us where he buried her I think it's bull crap and I think that he just once again
00:34:57
is getting off for murdering her the District Attorney's Office declined our requests for an interview but gave us
00:35:04
this statement We Believe Greer was acting in good faith and tried to lead law enforcement to her body so much time
00:35:12
has passed and the terrain has changed but we believe he tried on January 22nd 2024 Greer appeared in court for
00:35:23
sentencing it had been 17 years since Nikki laid ey on him you know everyone kept telling me he's not going to even
00:35:30
look at you he he'll be ashamed and he walked into court and he stared right at us you staring back yes you make eye
00:35:38
contact with him I was just trying to let him know like we are not giving up we're not backing down we are not scared
00:35:44
of him she trusted you we trusted you frustrated and angry Nikki gave a victim impact statement on behalf of her family
00:35:54
we had to look at the man who murdered her mom walk around our neighborhood trying to remember where he put her body
00:35:59
how do you not remember how was I not eating at you every day since I don't know what I was expecting maybe him to
00:36:04
talk back I don't know but I stopped and I said do you do you remember and he just stared at me you say you're a
00:36:11
changed man that you're a Christian and if that's the case you will continue to talk and help us try to find her you
00:36:16
want forgiveness that's what I need I need to know and I need to find her Greer's senten for killing Tammy Myers
00:36:22
and fleeing is 10 years do you have anything to say Sir as to why senton should not now be PR against you no with
00:36:29
time served he will be free in 3 years perhaps even sooner 10 years for taking someone's life away and then just
00:36:37
disposing of them like garbage that's not enough if you ask me he should be in jail forever Lesley Raymond now retired
00:36:45
says Greer better behave if he does anything I'll come back out of retirement I'll find him again are you
00:36:52
worried that and it could be as we are speaking now in as little as 3 years there may be more
00:36:58
victims I am concerned about that are you as well Cameron yes sir meanwhile the search for Tammy
00:37:07
continues without law enforcement morning and thank you for being here Texas equa search is a nonprofit
00:37:15
volunteer search and Recovery organization that offers their services to law enforcement and families for free
00:37:24
so everyone this is Nikki here this is Tammy daughter hi going make me cry can you have all
00:37:32
the volunteers out here I don't know any of them and they have kept me updated and just you know made me feel so loved
00:37:39
we ask you pray for the family I know they're looking for closure they prayed over us they have committed to helping a
00:37:48
daughter on a mission but being out here um so close to home and just possibly close to finding her is a little
00:37:55
overwhelming it won't be easy says K9 Handler Brenda Peak how large an area are you searching
00:38:02
today total about 4 Acres she says even highly trained dogs will have trouble detecting the scent of Bones buried
00:38:11
nearly two decades ago a lot of people won't take this task because it is it's a difficult one it's challenging okay so
00:38:19
these are the search areas on this day in February 2024 there were three kadab dogs with handlers
00:38:28
watch the barb wire and more than 30 volunteers covering the 4 acres and a spot that Nikki and her dad requested to
00:38:37
be searched can I show you something I think right here my dad works with the owner of the that goes all the way back
00:38:44
here it takes a lot to not let it consume me I try to focus on my kids and my husband but they will tell you I'm
00:38:50
very determined if I just have free time at home I'm on my computer looking at Maps looking at Old areas what they
00:38:56
looked like then and what they look like now that opening to that left it could be
00:39:03
it after searching for about 5 hours the team called it quits for the day but there was a glimmer of hope all three
00:39:12
canines had reacted to Something in the same area they think that it's possible that he drove into this area and that
00:39:22
maybe he buried her somewhere over here since there are all three dogs have picked up on this area but Texas equa
00:39:29
search didn't have the right tools to dig properly so they committed to trying again until then Nikki will be out
00:39:38
searching on her own do you believe she will one day be found I'm not sure I am trying to stay
00:39:47
hopeful but between weather and animals and if he's telling the truth or not that it's you know it could be hard I'm
00:39:56
hoping we can put us to rest and give Tammy a place get these kids some closure in their life somewhere they can
00:40:03
pay their respects my kids are young but they are fully aware of what's Happening they just want so badly for
00:40:13
her to be found I'm just trying to stay hopeful for myself but also for my children and
00:40:20
you know just keep looking cuz I don't want to give up [Music] a fertility doctor in his wife partners
00:40:44
in business and marriage until she's found dead after an alleged fall mother of twins a boy and a girl could a doctor
00:40:50
who gives women hope in life take a woman's life he was in many eyes a saint 48 hours Saturday on CDs and streaming
00:40:58
on Paramount [Music] plus I'm anarie green and welcome to postmortem this week I'm joined by
00:41:21
correspondent Peter vanent and producer Judy ryack to discuss their latest episode the day my mother vanished if
00:41:28
you haven't listened to this episode yet you know what you can do you can find it
00:41:32
just below this one in your podcast feed so this case was really unlike others this season because authorities didn't
00:41:39
have to figure out who killed Tammy Meyers they had to find the person who admits to killing her that person is
00:41:48
William Greer and it takes over a decade for authorities to find him to track him
00:41:54
down and arrest him that happens in 2017 when did 48 Hours learn about this case
00:42:00
this case came to us uh via Michelle sagona one of the development producers for this hour who actually used to work
00:42:06
on America's Most Wanted and interviewed um Nikki when she was eight years old 9
00:42:13
years old um so yeah so all the footage that we have in the show Michelle was there for that so she heard about
00:42:20
Greer's arrest and the plea deal and and brought it to us which made it a very personal uh story for us to work on this
00:42:28
is a case that um infuriates inspires uh the people that we met along the way here some of them are are just
00:42:37
remarkable characters but how this case turned out is just shocking to me and yeah and um to Judy and we're uh we're
00:42:47
still trying to deal with the aftermath of this because it's it's a very frustrating case well let's let's start
00:42:53
with Tammy's daughter Nikki she is such a pivotal character in this story what was it like interviewing her well she is
00:43:01
um one of the heroes in this story such an inspiring young woman try to imagine anyone listening to this go back when
00:43:09
you were 7 years old it's a few days before Christmas and your mother disappears vanishes off the face of the
00:43:16
Earth you never see or hear from her again and they were so close and Nikki was 9 years old when she was first
00:43:25
interviewed by America's Most Wanted and and she actually read a little poem and
00:43:29
she helped carry the show and inspire a nation to try to find the person responsible for taking her mother away
00:43:36
from her so interviewing her you you sense her enormous heart she's a gentle soul and you also sense the pain of all
00:43:46
of these years of all the things in her life she wasn't able to share with her mother cuz she was taken from them and
00:43:53
the hunt for justice is in her her DNA and such a part of her yeah and we noted that she didn't cry in the interview she
00:44:02
never got emotional that's how poised she is how accustomed she is to talking about the story telling the story trying
00:44:10
to get attention for her mother for the case I mean she is really really amazing
00:44:15
and you know I have to say I attribute that to her mother and her father her mom must have been amazing because
00:44:22
Nikki's so strong and her dad did such a good job of raising her alone it's it's
00:44:27
remarkable really what was so powerful for us was Nikki's dad Ryan Meyers now folks I'm going to do a little text in
00:44:36
here for you because he is a classic cowboy right he's got the look right out of a the old maror cigarette ads or
00:44:44
Clint Eastwood western he's got a way of talking that Texas Cowboy talk he starts
00:44:50
talking about Tammy the love of his life and he starts blubbering I'm sitting across from him
00:44:57
and uh I I'm almost tearing up he loved her so much and the tears that he sheds and throughout our hour um you see that
00:45:07
it just breaks your heart and it's that's that helps us get so invested in their stories because we so desperately
00:45:13
want this to have a happy ending yeah I just like this guy doesn't deserve all of this it's it's been it was it's been
00:45:19
such a tough road for him in so many ways he's so sweet too so sweet um okay let's get to the case um Tammy goes
00:45:27
missing on December 19th 2006 but on December 22nd 2006 authorities find a highly intoxicated half naked man on the
00:45:38
side of the road who was that and what was going on why did they end up out there we laugh cuz folks try to just
00:45:44
imagine this scenario a couple of uh uh deputies with a a rural uh Sheriff's dep
00:45:50
department they have a a call of a of a pickup truck that's gone off the road they get there there's no driver it's
00:45:57
pitch black they're looking around they got their flashlights out and then by George here comes a guy out of the
00:46:02
darkness wearing just a shirt uh no underwear pants anything and uh what a sight to see and he comes up and and
00:46:12
they have a dash cam on them and he says I'm sorry it was an accident the gun just went off and the officer what are
00:46:19
you talking about Tammy my wife and the gun went off and I accidentally shot her
00:46:24
in the chest and I watched her die now how are you taking all this in you're just out on patrol here's a guy
00:46:32
half naked and he's saying something absolutely what yeah and not just that he tells them where it happened I mean
00:46:39
he he tells them everything they need to know yeah right but I think what happened was because they were caught
00:46:45
between two Sheriff's offices two jurisdictions he fell through the cracks a little bit right but I mean to me it
00:46:54
was stunning that he was out the next day I mean I get it there's two different jurisdictions but even when I
00:46:59
was watching the dash cam you know he's he's intoxicated he's kind of in and out
00:47:03
it's not sort of a crystal clear statement but it's enough you would think to hold him just a little bit
00:47:11
longer right well remember after he sobered up a bit and they were asking now what did you say about what you did
00:47:17
to her well I didn't do that and then he he went quiet on them also they sent a couple of deputies over to the house the
00:47:24
other County to do a welfare check and they knocked on the door nobody answered they couldn't see anything as
00:47:30
they peered Through the Windows now they didn't go in I think if they had gone in
00:47:34
they would have seen blood and this would have a very different uh ending to it but the fact that they didn't he
00:47:41
according to the officers he was clearly intoxicated you know I think is this guy
00:47:47
just talking out of the side of his mouth is he just is this just the alcohol talking to us it's their County
00:47:53
it's our County and it just falls through the cracks and no one goes back to the site where his truck was no they
00:48:00
did they would eventually go back and look for Tammy there yeah they searched for Tammy's body there and remember in
00:48:06
in his truck they find Tammy's cell phone so I mean you have this link and and eventually uh they get a search
00:48:14
warrant and they go over and and go inside that house and and who do they find Judy uh cleaning up in there his
00:48:22
brother-in-law now I had a question about that as well because I mean what did he think he was doing there and even
00:48:30
if he didn't suspect anything once the cops show up you would think he would have started to ask himself well why did
00:48:37
why did he ask me to clean up his house I mean we don't really know right they didn't tell us much about that they
00:48:42
didn't charge him with anything um he claimed he didn't know that a crime had occurred so um who knows I mean we'll
00:48:50
never know how much the brother-in-law knew this is clearly a crime scene and it's a very odd part of this story that
00:48:58
is full of oddities right but like you point out he was never charged with anything at all but you know later once
00:49:04
authorities hear what Greer's Sons say they heard uh they were they decided they're going to charge him they're
00:49:11
going to charge William Greer with first-degree murder um the sons say that they hear him arguing with Tammy and and
00:49:19
did they hear a gunshots they heard there was arguing they heard they heard a shot and then it
00:49:26
later came came out that they also claim they could hear their father speaking to
00:49:31
Tammy and he says are you dead are you still alive right and and authorities considered what they heard including
00:49:40
this quote to be powerful evidence combined with a man who's confessing half naked out out in the dark but
00:49:49
confessing that he had shot Tammy and watched her die hello I think we got ourselves case here right even if we
00:49:58
don't have a body there's no body but there's everything but right I mean you've got you've got her blood in his
00:50:06
house you've got her phone in his car have him on dash cam saying that he shot her and watched her die and and then he
00:50:16
flees folks who what innocent guy flees and then he lies I mean it's it seems It's on a platter to me right yes yes
00:50:27
yeah I've seen a lot less in bodyless Trials yeah so as you guys say William Greer he's on the Run uh but thanks to
00:50:37
shows like America's Most Wanted crime watch Daily authorities always seem to have a pulse on him but he's still able
00:50:45
to get away I mean people watch these shows but he's still kind of popping up in different communities making friends
00:50:52
right and just kind of bopping along how was he able to do that that's true right
00:50:55
he was still bopping along people are watching across the country you know it's funny cuz we asked like was this a
00:51:02
good thing or a bad thing cuz every time he saw himself on television he would get up and take off right and the
00:51:07
Marshall said it's actually a good thing they want him to keep moving because eventually he'll make a mistake and
00:51:13
they'll catch him interesting and he's not using cards cuz he's got a bunch of cash from his business I guess right
00:51:19
probably probably and you know women would do things for him you know pay for things and yeah and in New Orleans when
00:51:26
he worked at a deli they paid him in cash so there wasn't a paper trail right and he rode a bicycle everywhere and he
00:51:33
was quite the charmer yep yeah it's quite remarkable how agile he was in being able to just pick up and go and then
00:51:42
ingratiate himself with someone else like that and just start another new life and also think of the casualties
00:51:50
that he left behind cuz these women many of them cared deeply some of them fell in love with him but once he got word he
00:51:57
was on America's Most Wanted the most recent addition of this case he's gone the US Marshals were involved in
00:52:13
this case and they were so invested in the case even one held on to the handcuffs that they used to arrest
00:52:19
William Greer it's a little trophy I guess what was it like interviewing them uh for me this was one of the great
00:52:25
Delights of of our show uh folks we love doing stories in Texas because everyone
00:52:31
seems to be a character actor down there and these US Marshals are right off of a
00:52:38
cowboy set they are plain talking straight talking they are absolutely driven they have a saying they told us
00:52:46
when we did the interview their saying is Justice is coming it's just like something Clint Eastwood would say right
00:52:53
wow I mean that's the nature of these guys is that that Texas tradition from the wild west days the Marshall was the
00:53:01
law of the County uh and these guys carry on that tradition with with dedication and they have enormous heart
00:53:08
I mean it I don't you think they're just they're they're special that's a good word for it yeah I don't know have you
00:53:15
ever done a story with the marshals before or is this your first because it's my it was my first and I was so
00:53:20
impressed with them I've done a marshall story in other states but this is the first time in Texas I was super
00:53:26
impressed with them they're and they're they're so helpful and and warm and inviting and you know they couldn't do
00:53:32
enough for us and uh yeah they're really special guys and and who else would come
00:53:37
up with operation catch to Leslie Raymond is such a character the guy with the big cowboy hat on such
00:53:47
a character but it was appropriate he's missing a toe that's a pretty distinctive feature uh after a bike
00:53:53
accident uh William Greer loses his toe um what' you make of the name I loved it yeah and ultimately they
00:54:01
do catch not the toe but everything else right because the toe is forever missing
00:54:07
but they but they caught everything else they catch William Greer he's started a
00:54:10
new life and I guess true to what you guys said about him as he was on the run you know he's found another lady and
00:54:18
he's heartbreakingly started another family um can we talk about the the fact that he had the nerve to to name his new
00:54:28
son William MH I mean it's just so stunning the whole thing is so stunning yeah so William Greer's sentence for
00:54:36
killing Tammy Meyers is just 10 years and with time served he'll be free in maybe 3 years perhaps even sooner why on
00:54:45
Earth was it was this sentence so short well that's the sentence for second degree manslaughter I mean they can't
00:54:51
they sort of have to go with the sentencing guidelines right so I don't think they had a choice the minute he
00:54:58
was sentenced he was up for parole they denied him and in two years he gets another bite at the Apple and then in 3
00:55:06
years he's out regardless no matter what right did you talk to the district attorney I mean is it clear why they
00:55:13
allowed Greer to plead down to a lesser charge second deegree manslaughter instead of first deegree murder and the
00:55:20
fact that they honored The Plea even though they never did find Tammy's body they sent us this statement which we
00:55:26
actually put in the show we believe Greer was acting in good faith and tried to lead law enforcement to her body so
00:55:33
much time has passed and the terrain has changed but we believe he tried we just
00:55:38
have that one statement from them that you know is it's a clear statement but it doesn't doesn't feel right Nikki and
00:55:47
her family continu to search for her mother Peter you were present for a search of Tammy's remains and you
00:55:54
actually participated in the prayer circle that they had there what was that like it was deeply emotional uh we all
00:56:02
felt a tie to Nikki we'd spent a lot of time with her and she's such a big-hearted person and has gone through
00:56:11
so much pain and when you see the volunteers out there you could understand how Nikki shed some tears for
00:56:18
the first time around us and also had all of this hope it it was inspiring and it was heartbreaking I was standing next
00:56:26
to Peter during that prayer circle and I could tell that he was getting a little
00:56:29
emotional so I whipped out my iPhone and got a shot of him I thought it was kind
00:56:34
of a nice moment it was powerful and we hope against hope that this circle can be closed for Nikki but it's going to be
00:56:43
very difficult and that was part of the emotion for us as journalists out there let's hope when EA search goes back out
00:56:49
there maybe they'll luck out maybe uh Nikki's dream will finally be realized wow um well of course another great hour
00:56:58
um Judy Peter thank you so much this has been another fantastic fascinating discussion thank you thanks always a
00:57:07
pleasure join us next Tuesday for another postmortem and watch 48 hours on Saturdays 10 9 Central on CBS and
00:57:15
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