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[Music] I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to spread the word about
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The Disappearance of meline Maddie Kingsbury our search efforts have included people on foot in vehicles as
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well as by water and air mine is a hard workking and um dedicated mother family is everything to her uh
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she's grown into an impressive and beautiful young woman please help us find meline the
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children need their mother my sister is kind and quirky and caring and my best friend Maddie
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Kingsbury a young Sorority Girl from Winona State University meets Adam fril a young fraternity boy they have two
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children they were not married Maddie was last seen the morning of Friday March 31st Maddie and Adam took the kids to
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daycare and dropped them off around 8:00 a.m. by really they got back to the house and Adam said he saw Maddie go
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downstairs and where a home office was to work he left and he didn't see her again I sent her this funny picture and
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we were just kind of laughing back and forth about it and that was at 8:15 that morning and then I didn't hear anything
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else madd's family and friends tried to contact Maddie throughout the day on March 31st without success I sent a
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message to Adam and I said hey none of us have heard from meline all day he said I'm concerned too because I haven't
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heard from her and so I met my parents you know with the kids so I contacted a friend of Maddie her name's Katie I said
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I need you to go to her house and see if she's there nobody was home so I called
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the police I started sobbing at that point they said that there was no sign of her there's no sign of a struggle we
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are very hopeful that we will find her no stone is being left unturned who is Spencer Sullivan Spencer Sullivan is a
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man that meline had started seeing it was an on andof type situation um because there were some times where she
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would tell me I don't know if this is going to work out because of Adam We Believe madd's disappearance is
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involuntary suspicious and we are using every tool at our disposal to find konel
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so I took to social media Tik Tok mainly hey Tik Tock I'm uh posting an update I
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am out in Filmore County we still haven't found my sister I mean hundreds of thousands of people saw her Tik toks
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almost 1,900 people signed up today to come look for my sister and she was pleading with the public to help and
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pleading with everybody to take a look everywhere and anywhere for her sister people just don't vanish my sister is
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still missing police and other law enforcement are obviously still searching everyone's frustrated
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and we just can't figure out where she is Maddie's still missing I think it's day
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68 I would talk to her when I was outlooking for her I wanted to be the one to find her I didn't want anyone
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else in my family to find her if it's going to be one of us please let it be me this has gone on too long we we want
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to bring her home [Music] [Music] there's just something about Winona that keeps pulling you back Scott Sherman is
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the mayor of Winona Minnesota a small City on the banks of the Mississippi living here in Winona
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is really cool so cool that TV and film star Winona Ryder is named for the town as
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she told the world in this Super Bowl ad there's something about this place [Music]
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something that feels so [Applause] me 26-year-old meline Kingsbury also felt that certain something about Winona
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so when mayor Sherman heard that she had gone missing he wanted to help I felt that Maddie was a daughter
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of Winona she was a bright young woman working through school working a job in Rochester and
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raising kids all at the same time that's a lot so I had respect for Maddie and mayor Sherman thought he could
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help because as an avid bicyclist he rides the woodsy paths around Winona all year long you know the back roads of
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this area I do and you went out yourself I did but as mayor Sherman felt his first job was to support Mattie's
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distraught mother Christa neighbor when she arrived at the Search Command Center she gave me a
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hug that I will never forget the rest of my life it was a hug that showed fear concern and so what were you what
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message were you sending with that hug I'm here for you we will do our damnedest to find her
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mty's family first began worrying about Maddie late in the afternoon of Friday March 31st 2023 when Christa realized
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she had not heard from her daughter for nearly the entire day something in my gut just didn't feel right mother's
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intuition right Christa contacted Megan mad's older sister but Megan said she was not
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overly concerned I sent her a couple text messages anyway hey mom hasn't heard from you can you call her can you
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text her back she's concerned and she didn't reply to that at the time Maddie was living with Adam frel the father of
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their children the two had met in college at Winona State University he was outgoing and seemed interested in
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getting to know us and he seemed very almost infatuated I guess with meline while still in college Maddie and Adam
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learned they were expecting their first child and decided to settle in Winona he
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manned up he manned up Teresa sis Mahia is Adam's sister and she says Adam quits
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school to support his new family he knew he was going to be a dad he went and got
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a job um and he had that job up until Co and then he got laid off while he let Maddie continue college so that she
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could graduate and she did she graduated he supported her after graduation Maddie
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began working at the Mayo Clinic and became a clinical research coordinator and madd's Father David Kingsbury said
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she recently had begun studying for an advanced degree she was a graduate student master's program at the
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University of Minnesota had just completed her first semester there and was doing very well Adam who had studied
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computer science in college began taking flying lessons with an eye toward getting his pilot's license when he was
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taking pilot lcons that that he felt so accomplished you know it made him feel good and I was so proud of him for doing
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it for doing something for himself I enjoyed being around him and I could tell that he really cared for
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meline on the evening of March 31st Megan was hours away from Winona when she reached out to Adam who said he was
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concerned he said I got home today and she was gone Adam and the children were at his parents home in Mabel an hour
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south of Winona that's when Megan messaged Mattie's close friend Katie kka who lived in Winona my parents and I
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haven't been able to get in contact with Maddie all day Katie responds I'm on my
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way over there right now the house was eerily silent and it was at that point Katie called the Winona police and you
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want this missing person's report to be filed but what did they tell you they told me that I wasn't able to report it
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because it hadn't been 24 hours yet I was pacing in my kitchen I was getting really really worried so was
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mti's father who tried to reach her where are you what's going on the next morning with Maddie now missing nearly
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24 hours the Kingsbury family filed a missing person's report and then Adam went to Facebook asking for help
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his post read in part if anybody has seen Maddie please contact the Winona PD me or any of her family members please
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help me find the mom to our two beautiful kids the police went to Great Lengths I have to say to try to find
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Maddie quickly because they know that there's a ticking clock on these things and the
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investigation took off I mean it's extraordinary what they did the news that Maddie was missing spread
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quickly through Winona and Beyond Haley Scott one of Matty's sorority sisters wanted to help I
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reached out to our sorority I reached out um to news outlets I was grasping at straws at the same time did detectives
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reached out to Adam fral according to police reports Adam told them how on the morning of March
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31st the couple dropped off their children at the daycare center investigators confirmed the drop
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off after speaking to the daycare provider who gave police this videotape fire this video has never been seen by
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the public until now it was one of the last times Maddie is seen on video before she
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vanished police say Adam told them he and Maddie returned home after the drop off and she went to her office in the
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basement to do a little work before heading to the Mayo Clinic and I have taken a look at all the evidence that we
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have thus far in the Maddy Kingsbury case Mary feni a former prosecutor and defense attorney is a 48 Hours cons
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consultant she says that in his police interview Adam told detectives he left Maddie his car and borrowed her blue
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minivan to haul some boxes he proceeded to put some boxes in the van that he was going to move to his
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parents house said he didn't see Maddie again he drove to his parents house along Highway
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43 police say Adam told them he got as far as the town ship of choice Minnesota when he realized he had made a mistake
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the boxes that he had in the van were ones that he actually wanted to put in storage so he turned around and he went
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back to the home police say Adam told investigators he arrived back at his Winona home
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around 11:30 a.m. and saw his car still in the driveway he said he had texted her a few
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times asking about dinner and whether or not she was going to pick up the kids there was no response police say Adam
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told them he'd assumed Maddie had car pooled to work and when he did not hear from her he went alone to do that pickup
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of the kids again the video from the daycare appears to corroborate that part of
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Adam's story so he ultimately picked up the children around 4:20 or 4:30 um from
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daycare and brought them to his parents house in Mabel Minnesota during a police interview
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investigators noted that Adam had fresh scratches on his face the day after Maddie disappeared Adam's sister says he
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told her the scratches came from a friend's dog on Saturday April 1st police searched the Winona house
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where Adam lived with Maddie and investigators reported they saw no overt signs of Foul Play but what
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was in the house was her purse her jacket her credit cards um but no Maddie 2 Days Later an anxious Megan rushed out
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of her shower and alerted her Tik Tock followers to what was going on Tik Tock I need you to do your thing I wasn't
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thinking about the fact that I was in a towel I need your help this is my sister
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meline Kingsbury um she's missing [Music] the post eventually had over a half million views help us find her she's got
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two kids she's my best friend she's my little sister we need to get her back please help
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us yeah I mean you're obviously in Terror here the look on your face but you're reaching out for help and people
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wanted to help yes so many people have asked to help look for meline Kingsbury that it allowed law enforcement to
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expand their search there's no no guide book on how to search for a missing loved one and searching for her was
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easily one of the most traumatic things I've ever experienced in my [Music] life we're all hopeful she's
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[Music] alive but by the end of the weekend there was no sign of Maddie day by day
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Megan continued to post updates to Tik Tok it's Tuesday the 25th still no medin now next week is May we're still
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in this hell I feel like all of us like every night we would look out it's cold it's
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dark is she like laying out there somewhere she like trapped somewhere um and you just you don't know
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what to do behind the scenes though investigators began taking a harder look at Adam especially after
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Maddie's friends came forward with some disturbing stories mateline called me shortly after an
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incident happened between her and Adam where he had told her that if she wasn't careful she was going to end up
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just like Gabby petito the Gabby Patito case fixated the nation in the fall of 2021 the search
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for missing 22-year-old Gabby Patito is now a multi-state effort after the young
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woman from Long Island was found dead human remains were discovered one month after she seemingly vanished from the
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face of the earth I told you need to get out and you need to get it get out now that's not an empty threat
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[Music] what do you think of Megan's Tik Tok posts chat now with the 48 Hours team on
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Facebook and [Music] [Music] X years before Maddie vanished her sister Megan says the on and off again
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relationship Queen Maddie and Adam seemed to be headed for a bad ending he just wasn't nice to her he didn't act
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like he loved her he didn't help take care of the kids he didn't clean and honestly did you reach a point where you
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you advised your sister you know perhaps it's time to move on in your life from him many
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[Music] times madd's Father David said it pained him to to see how shabbily Adam treated
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Maddie I think she literally poured out a river of love for him and she got nearly a drop in return
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madd's stepmother Kathy says Maddie often called saying Adam was of no help with the children and she'd be just
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sobbing miserably that Adam's not helping I hate this but Mattie's family and friends say there was more than just
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tearful arguments about 3 years before Maddie went missing Haley says she witnessed Adam slap Maddie during a
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video call Haley and Maddie were talking Haley says when Adam appeared in the background and began shouting at Maddie
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he yelled I don't understand why this house is such a mess and she said I don't know maybe you should help
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me um to which Adam turned and he slapped her with an open hand across the face and in September 20121 some 18
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months before Maddie disappeared she told Haley about Adam's dark fascination with the Gabby petito story Adam had
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a infatuation and I would call it an obsession with the Gabby petito case Haley says Maddie had told her that one
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night after she and Adam watched a news special about the petito murder Adam's Obsession turned
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threatening he had actually turned and grabbed her by the throat and pinned her down and told her that if she wasn't
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careful that she would end up just like her Katie says she tried to get Maddie to do something and I begged her and
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begged her please go to the hospital document it yourself do whatever you need to do you need to get this
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documented so you can get out of there safely with those kids but Katie says Maddie never
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reported anything to the police she was more scared that Adam was going to get arrested she wanted to protect him she
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was protecting him Maddie did however tell her father David and stepmother Cathy about the choking incident she was
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like horribly afraid she'd been choked and she was very very scared and wanted help Kathy says she and David drove to
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Maddie's house and got her and the children out of there she came with us we went to the house so she could get
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some of her things and some of the clothing for the kids and whatnot and put the kids in the van and followed
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us back to our home in Farmington but Kathy says Maddie stayed in the Kingsbury house only 3 days before
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returning to Adam because he was upset that she left I did tell her some point he's
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going to kill you you said that to mat yeah you felt there was enough danger that you had to say to your own daughter
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I think he may kill you and how did she respond to that statement or did she honestly I mean she became a pro at
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minimizing thing and it came back to well he was he was joking he told me he was joking and she wanted to believe
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that when Maddy went missing her friends and family reported those in ents to police according to a search warrant
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detectives interviewed Adam and asked if he and Maddie had ever had any physical
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altercations he said oh no when detectives asked about those Gabby Patito comments police say Adam admitted
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them but claimed he was trying to make a joke but according to a search warrant investigators found an old screenshot
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Maddie had saved of some texts she'd exchanged with Adam Maddie says you know I'm not really okay with or over the
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fact that you put your hand around my neck and pushed me down in front of the kids earlier so don't not okay with it
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at all but especially with them there Adam replies you'll adjust Maddie says the FI
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will detectives wanted to know everything about what Adam did the day Maddie went missing and began collecting
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surveillance videos from homes and businesses police say a blue minivan that looked like madd's was videotaped
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on Highway 43 the road Adam told police he' taken that morning but according to a search warrant the time stamps do not
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match Adam's timeline the cameras track the blue minivan until around noon police say and then there's a 45-minute
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Gap that Gap occurs around Choice Minnesota police say that is where Adam told them
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he realized he took the wrong boxes turned the van around and drove straight back to
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wona according to that warrant there is a 45 minute window that fraval could not
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be tracked I mean where was he during those 45 minutes I mean that was a big you know the big question right but with
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no direct evidence and no sign of Maddie investigator did not arrest Adam and he
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continued to live at his parents' home with the children meanwhile Megan continued her updates on Tik Tok meline
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still has not been located unfortunately um so we're still plugging along and looking for
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her as detectives continued to investigate they uncovered a new lead a romantic relationship Maddie had been
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having with another another man an army veteran named Spencer Sullivan I'm Spencer Sullivan and I was dating meline
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Kingsbury at the time of her disappearance and now police were interested to know Spencer's whereabouts
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the day Maddie went [Music] missing what do you make of the Gabby petito comment from Adam which he
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claimed to police was a joke chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and [Music]
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X in the spring of 2023 Maddie knew her relationship with Adam was falling apart
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and she was brutally honest with her father she says you know Dad I know that I'm in a bad relationship I know my
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family knows it I know my friends know it and I'm embarrassed about it but I don't know what to do about it but
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Maddie had joined Tinder which is where she reconnected with Spencer who she knew from
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college we were friends on Facebook so I knew that she had kids I wasn't sure what the status of the relationship was
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exactly with uh Adam prel as it turns out Spencer also knew Adam from Winona State he was in the same frat ET as I
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was tell me about the Adam you knew back then he and I didn't really talk all that much Maddie told Spencer that she
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and Adam had reached the point of no return Maddie and Spencer began dating but quietly we both kind of agreed to
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keep it a secret between us until she was on her own mostly the relationship was a secret from Adam Mattie's family
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and girlfriend knew about it and they told police about Spencer when Maddie went missing that's when investigators
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called Spencer in for an interview they were just kind of asking me general questions about when we had started
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dating where were you at this point what were you doing at this point what were you doing on March 31st 2023 uh that
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morning I was at work Spencer surrendered his phone while investigators checked out his Alibi as
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they looked into his story they also learned from mti's friends and family that only 6 days before she disappeared
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she finally had told Adam about Spencer she didn't want to lie and she just it bubbled up inside of her the this guilt
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is it true that Maddie told Adam about Spencer yeah that's a pretty gutsy thing to do H we wish she had it all came
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pouring out and Megan says MD told Adam she was leaving him and looking for an apartment where she would live with
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their children did she tell you how Adam reacted to the news I think she said he
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cried and he was really hurt at the time I'm sure he was personally hurt and heartbroken all of a sudden you find out
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she has feelings with somebody else and it's over Adam's sister Teresa as well as his brother Ryan say news of the
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breakup hurt them as well because Maddie was a cherished member of their extended
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family Maddie was a sister to all of us and our hearts are broken uh we lost a close family member they point out that
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although Adam and Maddie always had an on and off relationship they stayed together for S years I was completely
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shocked when I learned that she was dating Spencer behind my brother's back Manny's best friend Katie says
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tensions between mat and Adam were Sky High after her Revelation about Spencer it was the day before she
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disappeared she called me crying and she asked if she could come work at our house she said that Adam was
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hovering over her while she was working and making comments about some other man
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raising his kids and you know are you really going to leave me for another man she felt very threed Maddie left her
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house and went to Katie's before ending up at Spencer's home also in Winona she came over to celebrate my
00:28:35
birthday with me she brought a couple donuts that we could split with each other she had a gift for me it was a
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little Lego set Little Star Wars Lego set I got a a card from her it was a star wars card that last time you saw
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her person to person I remember she's standing on my front steps she turned around and smiled at me
00:28:55
and waved and the last time Aire within days of his interview police confirmed Spencer's Alibi and returned
00:29:09
his phone eventually police say he was clear Matty's friend Haley says Spencer was the best thing to happen to her in a
00:29:19
long time Spencer showed her that she deserves so much more than Adam Spencer says he was devast ated in the wake of
00:29:29
mti's disappearance I thought to myself like that stuff like this doesn't doesn't happen here you know we
00:29:38
were talking about her moving into her new place she wanted me to come over and help her decorate do stuff
00:29:43
and and the next day she's gone he says he couldn't stop thinking about the birthday card Maddie had given
00:29:54
him I think I reread that card at least 100 times that I all I could think was this this kid
00:30:14
sorry 4 days after Maddie vanished her parents were given temporary custody of her children my nie and nephew are no
00:30:24
longer in the custody of their father you know we appreciate the concern for them but um they're they're in good
00:30:31
hands when Matty's friend Lauren Deo thought about Matty's children she recalled a conversation she'd had with
00:30:38
Maddie a month earlier and she reported it to police she told me that she needed
00:30:45
me to know that if anything were to happen to her or her children that Adam did it she would never leave her
00:30:51
children for anything under any circumstances 10 days after Maddie disappeared police
00:31:00
had received a tip that Adam had been seen riding near his parents' home with a shovel in his family's utility vehicle
00:31:09
police seized his vehicle and according to a search warrant kadaver dogs alerted
00:31:15
to Ascent in the vehicle and on the shovel you know it's my understanding that they are trained and specifically
00:31:22
trained to find human human remains 2 Days Later Adam put out a statement through his attorneys it read in part I
00:31:32
have cooperated with law enforcement at every turn I did not have anything to do
00:31:37
with madd's disappearance I want the mother of my 5-year-old and 2-year-old to be found and brought home safely I
00:31:46
want that more than anything Maddie had been missing 35 days when Katie and others gathered to
00:31:57
remember her she was the kindest most beautiful soul even on the brightest days it still feels dark and gloomy
00:32:03
without her here David Kingsbury addressed the crowd inside a local church we know that
00:32:11
meline is around here somewhere she just didn't vanish someone knows something someone
00:32:24
saw something make this your Battle Cry right where's meline where is she make it loud and don't stop until she's
00:32:35
[Music] found go behind the scenes with the 48 Hours postmortem [Music] [Music] podcast for Megan Kings B June 7th 2023
00:33:00
started out like every other day since Maddie disappeared hey Tik Tock good morning
00:33:08
happy Wednesday Maddie still missing please continue to spread the word about my
00:33:15
sister meline but hours later we begin the hour with breaking news out of Southeastern
00:33:21
Minnesota 68 days after Maddie disappeared a sheriff's deputy found human s along this lonely Country Road
00:33:31
and while it hadn't been certified by the medical examiner there were fairly certain that it was my
00:33:39
daughter was on the floor and like scream crying you know what do you say when somebody tells you something like
00:33:45
that there's nothing that you can say for Maddy's best friend Katie the news was shattering her reaction
00:33:58
captured on her video doorbell [Music] camera the very next day Mattie's friends heard the news from Winona's
00:34:13
police chief law enforcement has confirmed the remains are those of meline Kingsbury you can't ever prepare
00:34:26
yourself for one of your children to die much less be found somewhere outside found as she was and she
00:34:43
was wrapped in a gray fitted bed sheet that had black duct tape around the ends and um there was a towel wrapped
00:34:56
around her head Adam fral was arrested and charged with second deegree murder the gray bed
00:35:05
sheet wrapped around Maddie according to the criminal complaint seemed to match a
00:35:10
set found in mti's home and the isolated Road where Matty's remains were found according to that
00:35:17
criminal complaint had been maintained by the fral family at one point this area is also close to the township of
00:35:26
choice where police believe there are 45 minutes unaccounted for in Adam's timeline this area here in this Culvert
00:35:42
is where mti's body was found someone left a little angel here to Mark the Spot mti's autopsy listed her cause of
00:35:52
death as homicidal violence nothing more and in October 2023 Adam was indicted on additional first deegree
00:36:03
murder charges Adam's possible motive for murder in a warrant investigators alleged Adam was in distress due to his
00:36:12
financial dependence on Maddie and was upset about the end of their relationship investigators also learned
00:36:20
that Maddie had a death benefit of $170,000 but had not listed a beneficiary she was his his meal ticket
00:36:31
she was the one who provided for them according to a search warrant when police entered the couple's house they
00:36:38
noticed that surveillance cameras inside the home had been removed and former prosecutor Mary fulin says it's the way
00:36:47
they appeared to have been taken down that caught detectives attention they found that the surveillance cameras that
00:36:54
he had installed have been ripped out that they were no longer there so all of those are indicators of you know he's up
00:37:01
to something in consciousness of guilt he had those down weeks before they were in the process of
00:37:07
moving Adam's sister and brother say at one point before Maddie and Adam broke up the couple was planning to move
00:37:15
together to Adam's parents home we want people to know that there are two sides to the
00:37:21
story take for instance those cadaver dogs alerting to the utility vehicle and and
00:37:28
shovel Adam's Family says that's because on the previous weekend their dad used that shovel to move a dead
00:37:36
raccoon that he used the shovel to pick it up every time we would try to clarify
00:37:42
anything to the investigators we were just treated with that like like we're just delusional I believe
00:37:48
Adam 150% that he is innocent he would never harm Maddie the mother to his children
00:37:56
you know he'd never do such a thing Adam's defense team has asked a judge to suppress Adam's police
00:38:05
interview because they claim he wasn't read his Miranda rights it's the interview where he admitted making
00:38:12
comments about Gabby Patito but said he was only joking in preliminary hearings his
00:38:20
lawyers also say there is not enough evidence to Warrant the first-degree murder charge Adam siblings insist
00:38:29
authorities should take a closer look at Spencer Sullivan we're trying to expand uh the
00:38:37
investigator's eyes that something else could easily have happened what do you think of
00:38:42
that I mean they're trying to protect Adam they kind of need to come to terms with the fact
00:38:49
that my personal opinion uh they got the right person there's a presumption of innocence in our legal system of course
00:38:57
that every everybody's entitled to but there's also the Court of Common Sense and then the Court of Common Sense
00:39:05
all roads lead to Adam Fel the Kingsbury family is speaking out now in hopes of saving someone
00:39:14
else that's the reason why we're here and that's the reason why we're talking about this because we don't want it to
00:39:22
happen to anybody else this is emotionally very powerful right now for you are you you don't blame yourself for
00:39:28
this do you I think we all blame ourselves to some degree cuz when I would talk to her I didn't push you know
00:39:36
I wanted her to be able to say things when she was ready to say things be out her hooks in her and the kids make it
00:39:44
really difficult for mti's father whatever the jury decides there was a larger truth
00:39:53
that haunts him I'll always be the father of a murdered girl Spencer Sullivan told us he too feels
00:40:04
haunted by a conversation he and Maddie had weeks before she vanished she told me that she was in love with me
00:40:14
fortunately I was too chick to say it back but does that bother you every day I saw a future with v
00:40:28
and it felt like somebody just ripped the next 60 years out of my life for Megan who is so close with her
00:40:37
little sister she still can't imagine a future without Maddie I feel like even just saying that we're sisters doesn't
00:40:48
describe being the closeness that we had we were confidants for each other how do
00:40:56
you want Maddie to be remembered somebody that mattered I andan I think everything we've seen and
00:41:04
heard from people really affirmed that she mattered to many many people all of her
00:41:13
friends said she's my best friend she was everybody's best friend [Music] [Music]
00:41:34
a mysterious illness turns fatal followed by a surprising toxicology report the medical examiner found tetrah
00:41:41
hydrosaline in Lin hearn's system how much does her caregiver know AER is the eye drops I didn't give her anything 48
00:41:48
hours Saturday on CBS streaming on Paramount Plus [Music] welcome to postmortem I'm your host
00:42:11
anarie green and today we are talking about Maddie Kingsbury 26-year-old mother of two who disappeared on March
00:42:18
31st 2023 after dropping her kids off at daycare about a week after her disappearance about 2,000 people turned
00:42:27
out to search for Maddie covering a large stretch of Southeastern Minnesota and her sister Megan took to Tik Tok for
00:42:33
help so with me to discuss their reporting on Maddie Kingsbury's case our correspondent Peter vanent and producer
00:42:40
Jordan Kinsey welcome guys hi I'm Marie hey I'm Marie good to be with you again once again this is a fascinating case if
00:42:48
you haven't watched or listened to the episode The Disappearance of Maddie Kingsbury then go do that now it's the
00:42:54
episode just below this one in your podast cast feed to start though Jordan we've uh had a few cases in Minnesota
00:43:02
this season how did you learn about this case yes so how I learned about the case
00:43:07
was that I was covering another trial in Minnesota and a court employee who I became really close with uh mentioned to
00:43:16
me about this case and knowing that the person missing uh was someone she went to college with and of course that blew
00:43:24
my mind uh in that moment and she did say that I also attended college with Maddie's ex-boyfriend and father for two
00:43:32
kids and that we think he might have some type of involvement wow so this is you knew about the story before there
00:43:40
was National coverage yeah yep day one uh it just happened in that moment in the courtroom just on break and there's
00:43:48
friends already texting trying to figure out what's going on so yeah I knew sort
00:43:53
of before it hit the headlines and that's when we reached out to the planning team to find out if we want to
00:44:01
really invest in and try to cover this case and then how do you go about doing that though how do you go about building
00:44:08
those connections because this is a really emotional sensitive time for everyone involved it is it is and it can
00:44:15
be a challenge right because people are going through the emotions at that moment um but I think for me what what
00:44:22
really worked out was that I have already been in Minnesota uh Court employee she connected me with some of
00:44:30
the college friends who I just met with over dinner and we made it we we stayed in contact and then from there they were
00:44:38
able to connect me to additional friends and family the other thing about Jordan
00:44:43
uh for the audience listening to this uh he learned to speak motan which is really important you don't
00:44:49
say and Minnesota nice and Jordan is Minnesota nice and he can really connect with people and so to have him there at
00:44:57
the very beginning was just crucial for us in in putting together this successful hour so Peter to give people
00:45:04
this backdrop this town in particular seems like a prime example of Minnesota nice it seems like a sweet Town it is a
00:45:12
beautiful beautiful town uh on the banks of the Mississippi River it is clear water that flows by and the Bluffs in
00:45:21
the area where Winona is is uh situated the locals talk about their geology with
00:45:26
pride and the town is something out of a Hollywood movie set the famous actress Winona Ryder is from Winona and it has
00:45:36
some sense of celebrity but everyone seems to know everybody there when someone goes missing as as Maddie did
00:45:43
the entire Community mobilized finding Maddie went beyond the work of investigators and it's all because of
00:45:49
Maddie's sister Megan she started posting on Tik Tok and people tuned in absolutely Megan who's an absolute
00:45:59
sweetheart and and loves her sister as deeply as as anyone can she went on Tik Tok because she had watched dozens of
00:46:08
videos from people who were in similar situations that she was in you know a missing loved one and in one of her
00:46:14
first posts she was so panicked and and anxious to to tell people an update that
00:46:20
she appears on camera which you'll see in the show fresh out of the shower just wearing a towel uh she's a remarkably
00:46:26
gen genuine person and she was desperate for any kind of tip uh that could help find Maddie and it was truly
00:46:33
heartbreaking for her she posted nearly every day for 68 days until her sister's
00:46:40
remains uh were found and one of her posts had half a million views and as a result the community mobilized and you
00:46:49
get this situation as you mentioned earlier adory couple of thousand people uh turned out to search I mean I've
00:46:56
never seen anything quite like this and it was all through uh Megan and Tik Tok so was this also therapeutic for Megan
00:47:04
absolutely I've done this now for 20 years on U on 48 hours I still cannot imagine what these families go through
00:47:12
uh the loss and the fear and knowing she's out there somewhere and it was cold and is she alive is she being held
00:47:20
somewhere is she dead and um Megan became the face of that uh for us and uh it's very powerful in this story so
00:47:29
people I mean who knows all over the world were transfixed by this story but even closer to home I mean you spoke to
00:47:36
the mayor and it almost seemed like he was personally offended that anything like this could happen in his town he
00:47:44
was uh Scott Sherman is his name an incredible human being uh he's a mountain biker and so as soon as he
00:47:51
heard about this he got on his mountain bike and went for mile after Mile in those Hills out there looking for her
00:47:58
and he had set up a command center there in downtown uh at the government complex
00:48:04
and what was really an incredible moment is when mti's mother walks into this room he said and and says who are you
00:48:12
and he says I'm the mayor she comes up and gives him this bear hug he said he'll never forget and she wouldn't let
00:48:18
go and he got emotional and he was hugging her back these two total strangers and he says that he was Comm
00:48:26
communicating that he will do anything he can to try to find her because she's a daughter of the community in other
00:48:33
words they were holding each other without speaking and it was very powerful he also shared with us that at
00:48:39
one of the vigils for Maddie uh they showed a video of Maddie singing You Are My Sunshine and he said that he sings
00:48:47
that same song to his daughter every night before bed and so every night he was thinking about Maddie as he would
00:48:54
sing that song So Peter you also spoke with former uh prosecutor and defense attorney Mary fujii who is a consultant
00:49:01
for 48 hours and she said with regards to the police investigating missing person's cases that they know there is a
00:49:09
ticking clock on these things can we talk a little bit more about how crucial it is to gain some Traction in those
00:49:16
first few hours of an investigation it is so crucial when there's a missing person particularly when they suspect
00:49:22
Foul Play in case after case that I have covered police say that the first 12 hours hours are critical sometimes life
00:49:28
or death critical Maddie's friends are frantic they're trying to get a hold of her they're calling they're not getting
00:49:35
a response and eventually they go to the police they want to file a missing person's report let me ask you this is
00:49:42
it a myth that you have to wait 48 Hours like that's what they were told by police when they tried to say she was
00:49:49
missing this happens all the time these are really intelligent people they knew of a history of of alleged abuse in this
00:49:56
relationship and they go to Cops and say we have got a problem here she's disappeared none of us can get a hold of
00:50:02
her and they say Well it hasn't been 24 hours yet I hear that all the time in in
00:50:06
cases usually it is 48 hours because they think well maybe they had a fight she was just emotional she's gone off to
00:50:13
be on her own for a time she'll be back when you're close with someone you know when their movements are out of the
00:50:21
ordinary so madd's friends they text at him and say to him we're really concerned
00:50:28
but his response is not appreciation in fact this is what he said why are you doing this right it's she hasn't even
00:50:35
been gone 24 hours so I was able to connect with madd's best friend Katie Koko and she told us that there was a
00:50:43
text exchange between Adam and her husband which she shared with police and so I just want to read that text
00:50:50
exchange Adam said I talked to the police who or what prompted you guys to go check
00:50:57
at the house I'm so confused she hasn't been gone for a day yet so I'm not freaking out but everyone else is then
00:51:05
Adam responded again so Katie called the police he then said she was leaving for
00:51:09
Farmington in the morning Katie's husband responded Yes she did weird that no one could get a hold of her Adam
00:51:17
responded well wow that's a little out of bounds of Katie it hasn't even been 24 hours and I saw her this morning and
00:51:25
Kate's husband responded with not really when no one has heard from her most of the day apparently no one was able to
00:51:34
reach you either too so at least you've heard from her you can't blame people for being worried man and then Adam said
00:51:42
nobody tried to reach me until 7 p.m. which was Megan so IDK what you mean by that and then Adam said I get being
00:51:50
worried but no one asked me anything so it's like WTF laugh out loud laugh out loud yeah and I think that and that
00:51:58
interaction right there is what sent Haiti you know in a tell spin that's what got her really concerned about Adam
00:52:06
you interviewed Haley Scott one of Maddy's sorority sisters who shared that Adam had a fascination with Gabby
00:52:12
potito's murder for those who might not be familiar with that case Gabby was killed
00:52:18
by her fiance Brian laundry while the couple was on a CrossCountry road trip with this case in particular the judge
00:52:25
released 60 plus search warrants so all these search warrants were unsealed and it detailed Adam told investigators he
00:52:34
was infatuated with gab Patito and that he didn't tell Maddie if she didn't listen up that she would end up like
00:52:42
Gabby Patito and this statement was also detailed in the criminal complaint um so
00:52:48
he admitted to making that statement uh but claimed it was only a joke and you know he also told investigators that
00:52:56
there had never been any physical violence in the relationship and also during the search Adam released a
00:53:04
statement through his attorney which read in part I have cooperated with law enforcement at every turn I did not have
00:53:11
anything to do with madd's disappearance so this is kind of interesting Adam's defense team says that he wasn't read
00:53:17
his Miranda rights for one of the police interviews specifically his second interview for those who might not know
00:53:26
what are um you should know that for your own sake can you explain the Miranda rice and what's the defense
00:53:33
suggesting because I presume that this means that he was read his Miranda rights at some point at least initially
00:53:40
but I guess you got to do it each time well anytime you begin a new interview you have to read rights and we've all
00:53:46
seen this on police TV shows right and I know a lot of the audience listening right now can lipsync this along with me
00:53:53
but the Miranda Rights require police to inform a suspect that that they have the
00:53:56
right to remain silent that what they say can be used against them in court that they have a right to a lawyer and
00:54:02
that the suspect must indicate that they understand what's been said to them by the police officer and the defense
00:54:08
attorney said what may end up being a crucial moment for jurors his fascination with the Gabby petito case
00:54:15
he had not been read his rights so they want that thrown out of any uh trial that's that's coming up we can't say
00:54:23
this enough he's an innocent man Adam frel until proven guilty and his defense team and his brother and sister have
00:54:30
told us we have answers for every issue that you've heard that we've talked about this far and we'll talk about and
00:54:38
they say they are 150% confident in his [Music] innocence as we heard in the hour there
00:54:55
were ations made by Haley Scott that there were physical altercations between Maddie and Adam that this relationship
00:55:03
was Frid it was falling apart Adam had denied this uh Maddy's family said that she never filed any police reports
00:55:12
alleging violence and you really get from the family that they're conflicted about whether or not they should have
00:55:18
pushed her to do something like that according to search warrant and criminal complaint police discovered a screenshot
00:55:24
on madd's phone of his text exchange between Maddie and Adam dated September 21st 2021 and it details an alleged
00:55:34
choking incident that occurred Jordan can you read those text messages to us absolutely so Maddie says to Adam you
00:55:43
know I'm not really okay with or over the fact that you put your hand around my neck and pushed me down in front of
00:55:50
the kids earlier so don't not okay with it at all but especially with them Adam said you'll adjust Maddie responds
00:56:00
the f I will then MD says again you do that again without asking me you can go somewhere else Adam responded you got it
00:56:09
mother and then Maddie said don't patronize me that cross the line you see that she seems to stand up for herself
00:56:18
in these text messages but her friends her family they encourage her to leave Adam she does not leave
00:56:26
I want to play a clip from the hour Peter with you speaking to madd's Father David I did tell her some point he's
00:56:34
going to kill you you said that to mat yeah you felt there was enough danger that you had to say to your own daughter
00:56:41
I think he may kill you and how did she respond to that statement or did she honestly I mean she became a pro at
00:56:49
minimizing thing and it came back to well he was he was joking he told me he was joking and she wanted to believe
00:56:55
that you spoke to her dad this is a woman who was well loved by her family they would
00:57:02
have done anything to help her out to help her get out of that relationship if she wanted to can you talk to me a
00:57:08
little bit about how the dad was feeling I mean what's your take on that well David Kingsbury is a a brilliant man and
00:57:15
a a loving father and he did the best he could over and over again including to have her move in with him for for a
00:57:23
brief time no one imagin that this will actually end up in Murder they just can't believe that's that's that's not
00:57:31
on their radar whatsoever and she kept going back to him which which is not uncommon and um that's that's what
00:57:39
really drove David crazy is he said that she told him too the fact that she had these kids it was just impossible to
00:57:46
leave Adam they were this partnership and it it just ended up in tragedy they tried anarie they tried yeah um as of
00:57:56
now Adam fil's uh trial is expected to start in the fall of 2024 can we talk about the evidence that we might see at
00:58:04
trial Jordan So based off of what we had in the search warrants Adam gave his timeline of what happened that day that
00:58:12
Maddie disappeared now when investigators reviewed surveillance footage uh they noticed that there was a
00:58:20
discrepancy in what Adam mentioned with the times where he was at and they weren't matching you know another
00:58:28
observation when police interviewed Adam in his first interview they noticed scratches along his face and neck and so
00:58:37
we spoke to Adam's sister she said Adam told her that he got those scratches from a friend's dog wait I'm hearing a
00:58:46
little noise in the background what's going on down there yeah there's uh some went happening uh there's a storm that's
00:58:52
hitting Florida at the moment so that's why you hear some rumbling going on now another interesting point is that Adam's
00:58:59
family has a UTV a utility terrain vehicle and so the cadav dogs had alerted to a scent actually on that UTV
00:59:11
and the shovel and also mentioned in the search warrant that cadav dogs are trying to pick up on any human remains
00:59:20
now Adam's Family mentioned that they have a reason for that they claim that the weekend prior their father had used
00:59:29
a shovel to move a dead raccoon I heard that in the hour and I thought there's a
00:59:35
difference between the smell of a body which is what these dogs are trained to pick up on and a wild animal but that's
00:59:45
their that's their response Jordan what other evidence is there the area where madd's body was found was previously
00:59:54
maintained by Adam's family they admit that they did know the area very well this came from a tip by the way that
01:00:01
someone had seen Adam Fravel on this allterrain vehicle driving out in that area and then they take the sniffer dogs
01:00:08
out there and they alert on that vehicle and prosecutors this is all circumstantial will are obviously going
01:00:15
to be suggesting the reason why they alerted on that vehicle was that Matty's body was back there and that this was an
01:00:22
area that Adam fril was familiar with and uh where her body was found again we can't say it strong enough the family
01:00:31
has says they are going to be presenting answers to all this remember the defense
01:00:34
attorneys did not speak with us in this now I know the prosecution doesn't have to present a motive but it certainly
01:00:40
helps when you're arguing a case and there's a motive that was floated which was that Adam was financially dependent
01:00:48
on her and if she was to leave it would pull the rug out from under him financially well she she did everything
01:00:57
and what her friends and family say is that she financially supported the family with her job at the Mayo Clinic
01:01:04
friends claimed that uh Adam did not help with the raising of the children um and that she was very much on her own uh
01:01:12
also this was not much of a loving relationship it was on again off again and as we know she sought another
01:01:19
relationship and she had made the decision that she was going to leave him in the very beginning of the hour uh
01:01:26
when you speak to his sister she says something to the effect of he did the right thing he dropped out of school and
01:01:33
got a job when she became pregnant I got the sense that she felt like there was an unfairness to this he made these
01:01:43
sacrifices for her and now this relationship could be ending and she could be leaving his family will tell
01:01:50
you that was all to support the family all to support her so she could get her degree and that he was being generous
01:01:57
with this he did have a job for a time but when covid hit he lost his job and so they depended completely on her
01:02:03
salary but on on her side of the U of The Ledger uh people say that he just was not much of a provider and not much
01:02:11
of a responsible adult yeah and sort of another really heartbreaking part of this story of the hour is Spencer madd's
01:02:21
new love at the time of the murder they were in a relationship and there's talk about whether she was going going to be
01:02:26
leaving Adam uh to to start a life with Spencer he certainly says that he was starting to think about a life with her
01:02:35
and now all of that potential all of that hope is lost yeah this is an incredibly moving part of of this story
01:02:42
a tragic part Spencer is a military veteran he was very softspoken man big-hearted he was just devastated by
01:02:49
the loss of the woman that he said he wanted to spend the next 60 years of his life with and keep in mind after she
01:02:57
disappeared when you have a what appears to be a love triangle there can be a motive for murder Adams Family says even
01:03:03
today you have to look more closely at Spencer now authorities have said he is no longer a suspect but he was generous
01:03:12
enough to talk to us he talked about the sadness and by the way the day I interviewed Spencer it was his birthday
01:03:18
and exactly one year earlier he'd spent that birthday with Maddie and he has a a
01:03:23
card that he he reads over and over again Spencer uh got very emotional with me when he said the last thing Maddie said
01:03:30
to him was love you um and he just wishes he had said I love you back and he didn't and every day he thinks about
01:03:37
that he's just a devastated man hoping for justice in this case Maddie's father said in uh the Court of Common Sense all
01:03:46
roads lead to Adam rvel what was it like talking to this clearly heartbroken family boy um MADD father said I will
01:03:57
always be the father of a murdered girl and um that pain you could just you could see it you could hear it and it e
01:04:06
it will echo in his life uh for the rest of his days we keep going back to Adam frel was innocent until proven guilty
01:04:13
and that's where we stand and we need to hear where all the evidence has been uh
01:04:17
presented it is intriguing though after they found madd's body the charges were elevated against Adam fro from second
01:04:26
deegree murder to First deegree murder why is that we don't know yet but to have the charge elevated to first degree
01:04:34
murder they have something new right um Mattie's family they just so desperately
01:04:39
want uh not only Justice for their daughter but to prevent this kind of domestic violence from from taking
01:04:45
someone else right now is a Facebook page called finding meline Kingsbury it has
01:04:52
28,000 followers and it's a good source to see what's happening in this case you
01:04:57
know you bring up something I thought there is going to be one family out there who's going to hear this story and
01:05:04
pick up the phone and say no I insist you leave absolutely uh they will save lives for sure I want to thank you Peter
01:05:14
and Jordan once again for joining me on the podcast thanks am thank you thanks Amry I appreciate
01:05:20
it so listen join us next Tuesday for another postmortem and watch 48 hours on Saturdays 109 Central on CBS and
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streaming on Paramount plus and if you are liking the show please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple podcast and
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follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast you can also listen at free on the Amazon music and wry app or with a
01:05:43
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