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in 1980 4-year-old Vicky Lions was found
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in a parking
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lot unconscious and near
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death there were no Witnesses no one
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knew what really
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[Music]
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happened but Vicki's mother was
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determined to find out
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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West Texas is far removed from big
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cities like Dallas and
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Houston the land is flat and
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dry dotted with the occasional oil well
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or cotton
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field at the crossroads of Interstate 20
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and Route 87 is a little town called Big
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Spring out here when the local high
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school marching band is invited to the
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state tournament it's front page
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news that front page belongs to the Big
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Spring Herald newspaper which Chronicles
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all the town's activities no matter how
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big or
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small I worked in circulation
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department and it was very nice I knew
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all the people there I'd known them for
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a long time in 1980 Crystal Lions was
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living in Big Spring with her husband
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Bill and four-year-old daughter Vicky
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very quiet baby she didn't like getting
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her hands dirty or her feet dirty she if
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you took her shoes off she would walk
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and take one step dust off her foot dust
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off her hands and take another step she
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was very very into being
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clean like all working mothers Crystal
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was often pulled in two
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[Music]
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directions one day when the babysitter
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didn't show up Crystal's supervisor gave
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her a tough choice I told my boss that I
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didn't have anyone to take care of Vicky
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that day and she he told me that if I
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didn't bother to come in I didn't have a
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job since Crystal had taken Vicki into
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work before she decided to do it again
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hi Vicki how are you today
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good her co-workers liked the little
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girl and Crystal kept her eye on Vicki
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as best she
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could while Crystal was moving papers to
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the loading dock for afternoon delivery
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Reverend JB Cardman drove
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up I go up there every
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day when I was in town I'd go there
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every then pick me up with the paper
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here to be there when they started
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running them as the delivery vehicles
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were preparing to leave the loading dock
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Crystal heard her supervisor tell Vicki
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to go outside and play in the parking
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lot and I was just fixing to tell him
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you know I don't feel comfortable about
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any of this so I'm just going to go home
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and you can make your
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decision but before she could say
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anything the supervisor saw Vicki lying
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on the ground not
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moving she could tell from even the
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distance that you know she'd been
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hit oh God when Crystal got there Vicki
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was unconscious and not breathing
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no one else was there and there was no
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indication what happened where are they
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Vicki was rushed by ambulance to the
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adessa hospital about an hour
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away Crystal followed in her car as if
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Crystal and Vicki hadn't already been
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through enough the ambulance broke down
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along the
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way we almost hit it we were right
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behind the ambulance and we almost hit
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the ambulance because it just slowed
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down and to such a point that we had to
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get out of the way eventually the
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ambulance got to the hospital and Vicki
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was rushed to intensive care that's when
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it really hit me that her condition was
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pretty severe that she may not make
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it she was mine and
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Bill's only child
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it was
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hard they finally took me and Bill in to
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see
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Vicki uh she was in a
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[Music]
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coma and then she started what they
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thought throwing up
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blood and uh so they asked us to leave
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we hadn't even been in there maybe 2
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minutes as they left the room they
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noticed unusual marks on Vicki's face so
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those are ti marks on her face and he
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said yes they're yes they are Crystal
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had the presence of mind to get her
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camera and take pictures of these marks
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on Vicki's face before they
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disappeared had she not taken this
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important step the story that follows
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might never have
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happened while Vicki lay in a coma with
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her mother by her side police questioned
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everyone at the newspaper but no one had
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seen the
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incident police issued an all points
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bulletin for JB Hardeman the man seen
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leaving the parking lot in a hurry just
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minutes before Vicki was found I was
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late leaving hadn't had no my wife
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didn't fix no lunch and I went by the
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chicken plate and got me a box of
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chicken come back down there they were
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running the papers I got me a paper and
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take off Hardman was a minister but made
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his living pedling fish from the back of
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his truck police caught up with him in
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the nearby town of
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Snyder well we got a re for your arrest
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so for what for running over a girl in
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be spring leaving the scene of the
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accident no girl in big spr Snider
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police put Hardman in a jail cell where
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he overheard officers talking on the
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phone I heard him talking to Big Spain
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he told I went that chuck with a
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scientif com and I can't find nothing
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but one little spot I did find one see
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one little spot of blood and I that kind
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of shook me up when he said that after
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almost 3 weeks in a coma Vicki regain
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Consciousness she suffered severe damage
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to her skull and one eye she could not
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walk or even
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speak as time went by Vicki's condition
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slowly improved
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[Music]
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hi
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Crystal one day Crystal took Vicki to
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the newspaper office to see everyone who
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had been concerned about her when are
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you coming back still not talking when
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one of the employees leaned into the car
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to say hello Vicki reacted violently be
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a couple times a
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week it was the first time Vicki had
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spoken since the
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accident and Vicki just started kicking
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and screaming you know um what little
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voice could come out you know that was a
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first sign of a voice actually was just
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this
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um um it wasn't even a clear voice it
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was just more of a screech type thing
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but Vicki was not well enough to explain
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her
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reaction Crystal decided to conduct her
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own
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investigation Crystal believed the
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answer to the mystery of what happened
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to
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Vicki were those marks on Vicki's face
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marks which hospital employees
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identified as tire
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marks I just started thinking you know
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what would the police
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do crystal made a list of all vehicles
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she could remember seeing in the
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newspaper parking lot prior to Vicki's
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accident then she needed to find a way
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to compare the marks on Vicki's face to
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the tires of those vehicles
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Crystal rub black shoe polish on each
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[Music]
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tire and then pressed plain white paper
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against
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it she kept careful records of which
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Tire impression came from each
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vehicle in all she took nine Tire
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Impressions from two Vans and a pickup
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truck then she showed detective work to
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the police I said you arrested the wrong
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person I said you've harassed a black
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man who was just a sweet harmless old
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man who never done anything wrong to
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anybody and I said you need to you know
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fix
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this the grand jury questioned Reverend
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Hardeman but did not indict him the spot
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of Blood on the truck turned out to be
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fish
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blood Crystal did not believe Reverend
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Hardeman was the one who ran over
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ick but police refused to investigate
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further saying it was a civil matter not
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a criminal
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one at the time the newspaper's parking
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lot was unpaved and bumpy it was
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possible that a driver may have driven
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over Vicki and mistaken the bump for a
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pothole by the time they got out there
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all they had was an empty parking lot uh
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they didn't really have any eyewitnesses
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in in fact there were no
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eyewitnesses and for the next 3 years as
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she nursed Vicki back to health no one
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in the small town of Big Spring was
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willing to help
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her one day while reading a magazine
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crystal saw an article about a man known
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as the Sherlock Holmes of tire
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marks this was the break that Crystal
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had been praying for
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Peter McDonald literally wrote the book
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on P impression evidence he was formerly
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the chief designer for the Firestone
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Tire Company he also assisted numerous
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police agencies and taught at the FBI
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Academy after reading the magazine
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article about McDonald Crystal lions
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called him in
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Ohio she explained the case as best she
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could and told him about the pictures
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had taken which appeared to show a tire
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mark luckily for the Lion's family
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McDonald was no stranger to Tire
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impressions in human flesh uh my heart
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went out to her with
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this almost like tattoo on her
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forehead with the evidence Crystal had
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gathered McDonald thought he could
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help I think it's
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amazing that she had the
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foresight to make rubbings of suspect
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tires I don't always get that sort of
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work from police on a major homicide
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case Crystal had labeled each of the
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tire Impressions with the date and its
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position on the
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vehicle two of the vehicles I could
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eliminate very quickly one was a big
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snow tire type design another was a
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passenger design but it had major
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grooves that were kind of lightning
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shaped which was different than the
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imprint on Vicki's
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forehead but the last three imprints
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were interesting they were golden Sonic
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78s a relatively rare tire no longer
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manufactur the imprint on Vicki's face
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looked similar but McDonald wasn't sure
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that the size matched the same tread
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pattern appears in as normally about 12
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different sizes so it's important to me
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to confirm that it's not only the same
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manufacturer the same
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brand but that it has exactly the same
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size but crystals photographs did not
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contain a size reference how could
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McDonald determine
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the size of a tire impression on Vicki's
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face Taken 3 years
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earlier another photograph was taken
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this time with a scale reference the
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human skull grows most rapidly in the
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first 3 years of life but between the
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ages of 4 and seven the distance between
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the eye sockets and mouth usually
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remained the
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same this knowledge helped McDonald to
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compare these two photographs with a
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scale of reference
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on Vicki's forehead McDonald saw tiny
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lines made by Tire cyes which are narrow
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Cuts put in the tire to improve traction
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and they are a forensic scientist
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greatest tool because I can help
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determine the wear of the
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tire cyes are made by small metal blades
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placed in the tire mold to make the tire
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stronger the blades sometimes have a
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small indentation creating a raised area
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of rubber called a tie bar as the tread
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wears the tie bar is exposed and the
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tire's imprint
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changes in Vicki's skin McDonald found
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interruptions in the cypes caused by the
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exposed tie bar he determined the tire
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had worn down about 51 100s of an
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inch two of the Sonic 78 m imprints
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could now be eliminated since they had
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very little
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wear but the last imprint showed the
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same degree of wear and matched in
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size McDonald believ that the right
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front tire of the newspaper truck driven
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by an employee we'll call Bob Jones had
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run over
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Vicki Jones was the man who said hello
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to Vicki after the accident when Vicki
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had reacted violently
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in
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1985 Crystal Lions filed suit against
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the Big Spring Herald claiming that
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Jones hadn't taken the proper
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precautions while backing his truck out
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of the parking
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lot the unfortunate accident would mean
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a lifetime of neurological difficulties
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for Vicki and Crystal wanted
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Justice Vicky lions needed dozens of
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surgical procedures because the accident
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damaged her hearing vision and sense of
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balance but she was able to attend
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school they
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just um asked me if I'm like mentally
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or if I had a
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stroke but I don't mind people asking
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give me cuz I'd rather them ask me what
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happened than like sit there and stare
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at
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me there was no way to just do what the
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doctors had suggested which is put her
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in a wheelchair and just forget her I
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couldn't do that she's my child I love
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her Christal lion says she didn't sue
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the Big Spring Herald just for financial
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motives she wanted them to take
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responsibility for the accident that
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left her daughter permanently
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disabled I wanted everybody to know the
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truth and it came down to the point
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where uh in order for Vicky to get the
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the appropriate medical attention and to
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stay where she was at and get good
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medical attention and and have a life
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that money was going to be
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involved Vicky Lions tries not to think
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about the accident
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but she remembers
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it I remember my mom's bus tell me to go
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play in the parking
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lot and I had some toy dishes with
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me and I went behind this truck I was
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just playing in the
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sand on the day of the accident the
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driver of the vehicle in a rush backed
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out over Vicki in the unpaid bumpy
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parking
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lot apparently without realizing
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it I saw him like look in this rivy
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mirror but
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but I guess well I was four years old I
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didn't know what to do
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even before the lawsuit Janes suspected
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he might have been the one who ran over
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Vicki the driver made comment to
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Crystal that he did not think he did it
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but if he did it that he was sorry that
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it
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happened all I can say
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is it's done it's over
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with I don't like they did that but but
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I'm willing to
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forgive him cuz I'm no person to
00:19:06
[Music]
00:19:08
judge
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so and he's got to live with way
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done the herald wanted to settle the
00:19:19
case the newspaper offered to pay
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$750,000 towards the care Vicki would
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need for the rest of her life Crystal
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accepted but demanded one more thing 15
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minutes in the judge's Chambers for her
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and Vicki to meet with a representative
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of the herald
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alone Vicki I asked her if she had
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anything to say to him and uh she told
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him you destroyed my
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life that was pretty much well the end
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of the lawsuit right then and there the
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Big Spring heral did not report the news
00:19:58
of this settlement the paper now has new
00:20:01
owners and a completely different
00:20:04
staff Crystal had the insight to take
00:20:07
the photographs she had the insight to
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get the tire imprints she had the
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insight to tear out this uh piece of
00:20:15
paper in the magazine that had Peter
00:20:16
McDonald's uh name on it uh without her
00:20:21
having done all of that obviously I
00:20:24
don't think any any of this would have
00:20:25
gotten
00:20:26
done Peter McDonald is is more than a
00:20:29
forensic specialist he's also an artist
00:20:33
and his paintings and sketches cover the
00:20:35
walls of his
00:20:37
home some of his works are inspired by
00:20:40
the many cases he has helped to
00:20:43
solve one is based on the photo of a
00:20:47
young girl he never met over the past 20
00:20:50
years he has wondered what happened to
00:20:55
her in a case like this you do get
00:20:58
emotion
00:20:59
involved Crystal was able to arrange for
00:21:02
the best medical care for Vicki and
00:21:05
Vicki has learned to speak and walk
00:21:09
again although Vicky tries to put the
00:21:12
accident in the past she lives with its
00:21:15
Legacy every
00:21:18
day I like getting out
00:21:22
but I don't always get out that much
00:21:27
because
00:21:29
I don't like how people make me feel
00:21:33
when I go out
00:21:36
somewhere but Vicki is thinking about
00:21:39
getting out more she's finished high
00:21:41
school and is considering
00:21:44
College her mother now divorced is
00:21:47
already attending college in Denver
00:21:50
studying forensic
00:21:52
science I really applaud that I bet
00:21:56
she'll be really good in the ction on
00:21:59
how to make imprints
00:22:02
[Music]
00:22:12
[Music]
